Human Fruit.

Sword marks remained in the shape of lightning.

The marks were deeper than when either of them had done it alone. The two men’s eyes gleamed.

After that, they simply kept repeating the task.

“This really reminds me of when I first trained.”

Jeon Pyeong spoke while letting out ragged breaths.

He was smiling, but he could not stop the corners of his eyes from trembling.

It was the same for Seo Jong-dae.

‘I do not like this kind of training.’

After he had stepped into the first-rate level, he had focused more on using internal energy than on his body.

Once internal energy accumulated, it would make up for the body.

Training like this was inefficient.

He had certainly thought so.

But as he did it, he could feel it.

His swordsmanship was improving.

Perhaps Jeon Pyeong felt the same, for his gaze sank.

Strength entered the hand gripping his sword.

‘…Wait, even if my swordsmanship improves, I cannot use it.’

As that thought came to mind, his strength drained away.

But he soon shook his head.

The improvement of his swordsmanship was not what mattered. Getting out of here alive was what mattered.

Even so, the limit came quickly.

The two could see just how fragile a human body that could not hold internal energy was.

The sword fell from Seo Jong-dae’s hand.

His hand trembled uncontrollably. Jeon Pyeong still held his sword, but he was no different.

At best, he could swing it only once or twice more.

But it would not mean much.

“…Young Master Gyo, just what are you?”

“I am curious as well.”

There was a reason the two spoke that way.

Gyo-ha was still moving.

He was breaking the tree without rest.

It was unknown just how many times he had already thrown his fists.

All the bodily fluids had been washed away by his sweat. Every time he exhaled roughly, steam rose.

Even so, he did not stop.

They had no way of knowing.

For Gyo-ha, this was everyday life.

He had to push his body to its limits to empty his internal energy.

And when Gyo-ha’s dantian became completely empty, a change occurred.

Gyo-ha rolled his shoulders. With that, the broken shackles fell to the ground.

Seeing that, the corners of Gyo-ha’s mouth lifted.

“It seems my body’s stubbornness is stronger than I thought.”

They were words the two could not understand.

But Gyo-ha could feel it clearly.

To fill the emptied dantian, his body was absorbing the qi around him.

The qi that should have become fertilizer was flowing in little by little.

And the amount was growing faster each time his dantian emptied.

No, it was returning to the state of Gyo-ha’s usual body.

It was as if his body had adapted to this place.

‘Is that not a good thing?’

Gyo-ha scratched his cheek.

To Gyo-ha, internal energy was like a shackle.

But thanks to this, it now seemed possible.

Gyo-ha stepped back two paces.

The internal energy accumulating in his body was no longer being taken by the tree.

A handful of internal energy.

That much was enough.

Gyo-ha’s eyes blazed as he glared at the tree.

---

Seeing Gyo-ha retreat, Jeon Pyeong thought he had given up.

But when he saw Gyo-ha take a stance, he knew that was not the case.

Seo Jong-dae knew what Gyo-ha’s stance meant.

He was not moving in a mood of despair.

For some reason, he was now able to use internal energy.

And the only ones whose eyes were drawn to Gyo-ha were not just the two of them.

“Gigigigigi!”

“Gigigi!”

With bizarre cries, the enemies began to cross the boundary.

They had realized that Gyo-ha was dangerous.

Watching that, Jeon Pyeong and Seo Jong-dae swallowed curses.

“Do you still have internal energy left?”

At Jeon Pyeong’s question, Seo Jong-dae nodded.

He had used only his body, so he had preserved his internal energy.

He had lost only about three or four years’ worth of cultivation. No, he could not say ‘only.’

The amount of training the two had piled up to gain those three or four years of internal energy was no small thing.

“It seems we will have to overdo it.”

Instead of answering, Seo Jong-dae lifted his sword.

He circulated his internal energy.

His body felt lighter, but he could feel his internal energy vanishing at a rapid pace.

It was a dreadful sensation for a martial artist.

Seo Jong-dae glanced at those who had collapsed.

They were unconscious and unable to move, but he had no strength to look after them.

Contrary to Seo Jong-dae’s worries, the enemies did not target them.

They were even ignoring Seo Jong-dae and Jeon Pyeong, who were cutting them down, and were trying only to charge at Gyo-ha.

Meanwhile, as if he had finished his preparations, Gyo-ha stepped forward.

He planted his foot and twisted his ankle.

Then his hips, his waist.

The motion rose step by step. At last, his fist reached the tree.

It was the technique he had named Radiant Burst Strike.

True to that name, the tree burst from its center.

It tilted.

The tree swayed.

Along with it, leaves and fruits came raining down.

The enemies’ reaction grew even more violent.

Seeing the gouged mark, Gyo-ha clicked his tongue.

‘It’s a bit lacking.’

It was because he had not gathered enough internal energy.

But he was not worried.

‘If once is not enough, I can do it two or three times.’

It grew noisy behind him, but he paid it no mind.

The ones left would take care of it.

Gyo-ha took his stance again.

And the Radiant Burst Strike erupted from Gyo-ha’s fists once more.

Kwaang!

Kkudeuk. With a creaking scream, the tree tilted.

Gyo-ha, staggering from the loss of strength, had his eyes flash.

The tree did not fall and endured.

But now, anyone could see it was on the verge.

He no longer even needed the Radiant Burst Strike.

Gyo-ha’s body leapt up.

Cloud Crane Palm. Both of Gyo-ha’s hands struck at the cracks in the tree.

A flurry of follow-up blows.

Whirling Lotus Kick. Gyo-ha’s feet hammered the tree again and again.

Each time, the tree lurched visibly.

He finished with Descending Goose Fist.

Kwaang!

Having delivered the final blow, Gyo-ha slumped down onto the ground.

Kkigigik.

The tree slowly toppled.

Soon, the tree hit the ground.

Koogoong!

The impact was great enough to make the ground tremble.

Dust swept around them with it.

It was not only dust that billowed.

Gyo-ha frowned at the pain surging up. His skin prickled.

The qi contained in the tree was being absorbed on its own.

The qi that flowed in churned through his entire body.

The change did not happen only to Gyo-ha.

The enemies charging at them also changed.

From children to youths, from youths to elders, they changed in an instant and then burst.

In moments, a red mist hung thick.

Seo Jong-dae, staring blankly at the scene, realized something.

“Circulate your energy!”

Jeon Pyeong also set down his sword and began to circulate.

His dantian filled in an instant.

He recovered even the internal energy he had lost. It was more than before.

It was no different from a fortuitous encounter.

Even the Plum Blossom Pills he had received when he became a Plum Blossom Swordsman had not been like this.

Greed rose in him, but he forced it down.

‘Anything more would be greed.’

Jeon Pyeong stopped circulating.

The Plum Blossom Pills were elixirs attuned to Mount Hua’s martial arts.

But this was different.

It felt like all kinds of qi were mixed together.

He needed time to settle it.

Perhaps Seo Jong-dae thought the same, for he stopped circulating as well.

Jeon Pyeong’s gaze reached his fallen juniors.

“…May I ask this of you?”

At his words, Seo Jong-dae nodded.

Jeon Pyeong told him Mount Hua’s basic mantra.

It was such a simple mantra that one could not call it a secret art.

Sitting cross-legged, Seo Jong-dae placed his hand on Jeon Hong’s back.

He was guiding qi on his behalf.

Of course, simply knowing the mantra did not mean just anyone could do it.

It was only possible because Seo Jong-dae, too, had learned Taoist cultivation methods.

Soon, the complexions of Jeon Hong and Jeon Gwang visibly improved.

Jeon Pyeong and Seo Jong-dae lifted their hands from their backs.

There was no need to assist their circulation any longer.

It was not as great as circulating their cultivation methods themselves, but it was still akin to a fortuitous encounter for them.

Their gazes turned to the one man left.

Bong Seok.

However, unlike Jeon Hong and Jeon Gwang, he had learned a different cultivation method.

Even if they wanted to help, they could not.

All Jeon Pyeong could do was take out a treatment pill from his breast and put it into his mouth.

“…We may have resolved things here, but.”

At Jeon Pyeong’s words, Seo Jong-dae nodded.

Their eyes turned to one spot.

Gyo-ha.

Something was wrong around him.

The flow of qi was visible to the eye. Each time Gyo-ha exhaled, the very air shuddered.

His face twisted in apparent pain.

Not only that, his complexion was changing moment by moment.

It flushed red, then turned pale, then this time darkened black.

Blood was flowing not only from his eyes, nose, and mouth, but also from his ears.

Yet the two had no idea what to touch or where to begin.

At that moment, something white began to flake off from Gyo-ha’s body.

‘A shell?’

It was white, peeling shell.

For a moment, the phrase “reborn in bone and flesh” rose in their minds.

But true rebirth was the transformation of bones and sinew.

In Gyo-ha’s case, it was only skin peeling.

No, that was putting it nicely.

It looked more like dead skin sloughing off.

Before long, the flow of qi gradually stabilized, then disappeared.

Only then was Gyo-ha able to open his eyes.

“Keuk.”

Gyo-ha coughed up blood. It was black.

“Young Master Gyo!”

“Sahyung!”

The two rushed to him in a panic. Gyo-ha looked at them with blurred eyes and spoke.

“I thought I was going to die.”

With those words, he collapsed onto the ground.

Seo Jong-dae hurriedly checked his pulse, then spoke to Jeon Pyeong, who was looking on with worry.

“He is asleep.”

But they could tell even without hearing it.

It was because they could hear Gyo-ha snoring.

Thus the incident came to an end.

---

When they awoke from sleep, the group gathered once more at the hut.

Their faces were poor, as if they had all had nightmares.

That was how horrific it had been.

Unlike Jeon Gwang and Jeon Hong, whose complexions had improved somewhat, Bong Seok was on the verge of tears.

It was only natural, since he had woken to find five years of cultivation gone.

Not to mention Jeon Pyeong and Seo Jong-dae, even Jeon Gwang and Jeon Hong had gained internal energy.

“What on earth was that?”

“A yokai. What else would you call a tree that bears human fruit.”

Human Fruit.

Jeon Pyeong answered Jeon Gwang’s question.

There was no other way to put it. The rest of the group also nodded.

It was not as if Jeon Gwang had asked because he did not know.

“There are many strange things in this world.”

“There is no way something like this will ever happen again.”

Bong Seok answered bluntly. This time, the others felt no different from him.

However.

“There will be many more from now on.”

As the group’s eyes turned to him, Seo Jong-dae began to speak about the Kunlun Sect.

“…this….”

“Wudang and Shaolin knew about it?”

Their faces filled with disbelief, but after seeing it with their own eyes, they could not deny it.

“Then this is no time to sit around. We need to stop it at once!”

“Go and tell them yourself.”

At Seo Jong-dae’s retort, Bong Seok shut his mouth.

Only a short while ago, Bong Seok himself had been furiously insisting that he could not believe it.

It was obvious that if they spoke of this elsewhere, people would not believe it.

Even having just gone through it, they themselves found it hard to believe.

“Do not worry. Master said we will go back once preparations are complete.”

Even at Gyo-ha’s words, the group could not easily feel relieved.

“Hold on.”

Bong Seok’s eyes trembled as he recalled something.

“Is this why you wanted stories about monsters and spirits gathered?”

The group’s eyes turned to Gyo-ha and Seo Jong-dae. At first they had not understood, but now they did.

As their gazes gathered, Gyo-ha nodded.

“My goodness.”

Bong Seok despaired. Seeing him, Seo Jong-dae gave a small nod.

Seo Jong-dae had purposely brought it up in front of them.

From Yun Heo’s story, the whole Murim would be needed to deal with this incident.

If even one more faction lent a hand, it would be welcome.

‘That much less I will have to do.’

A Plum Blossom Swordsman could make his voice heard even within the Mount Hua Sect. All the more with his two juniors.

Seo Jong-dae’s gaze, which had been on Mount Hua, now turned to Bong Seok.

‘That side does not inspire much confidence, but it is better than nothing.’

Even if they did not believe it at first, the Beggars’ Union dealt in information, so they would soon notice any anomalies.

‘Sigh, what a mess this is.’

As Seo Jong-dae shook his head, his eyes met Gyo-ha’s.