What A Windfall. (3)

Yu Jinsan slowly took the prayer beads off his left hand.

As always, creeping black aura rose up. The alien sensation made his hand feel as if it weren’t his own.

Moreover, a tremendous power, like a volcano about to erupt, could be felt.

It felt as if another dantian existed in his hand.

“Huh.”

He took a deep breath and clenched his left hand.

First, he wanted to test it once.

As Man-ho had warned, he couldn’t stay long with the beads removed.

Having prepared, he was about to thrust his left hand forward.

He merely thought so.

But his grip had, before he realized it, struck a tree in front of him.

‘Gasp!?’

It was natural that Yu Jinsan was inwardly astonished.

Amazingly, his body reacted before his mind did.

And the result that followed was even more startling.

KRAAASH-!!!

The heavens trembled as a massive ancient tree snapped with a cracking sound and was flung away.

Its girth was something two strong men couldn’t even embrace.

“…Unbelievable.”

He couldn’t close his mouth at the tremendous destructive force.

He stood stunned for a long moment.

Perhaps because the noise was so loud, a small figure darted over the wall like lightning.

It was his granddaughter who had abandoned her training and come running at the sudden roar.

When Yu Seol met his eyes, she furrowed her brow and shouted outright.

“Who are you!”

Yu Jinsan countered with a bewildered look.

“Who am I? Why are you yelling at Grandpa?”

Yu Seol glanced at the broken tree, then looked over her grandfather from head to toe.

“Are you really Grandpa? But why do your eyes look like that?”

At that moment, Yu Jinsan realized with a jolt.

For some reason he had forgotten to put the beads back on. Having undergone Age Revival, he couldn’t be senile, so it was truly strange.

On top of that, he felt his left hand twitching.

Yu Jinsan hurriedly slipped the beads back onto his wrist. The tremor in his hand gradually stopped and his mind began to calm.

“I was just testing something for a moment. But my eyes—what about them?”

“Grandpa, your eyes were completely black a moment ago.”

“What? Then now?”

Yu Seol circled her grandfather, inspecting him here and there.

“They’re fine now. I thought you were possessed.”

Just removing the beads turned his eyes black, truly bizarre.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.”

“Really okay?”

“Yes. You were training too, so I must’ve interrupted you.”

Yu Seol looked around and then asked, eyeing the broken tree.

“Did you do that, Grandpa?”

It was a rare thing to boast about.

Yu Jinsan nodded with a proud expression.

“Of course! Grandpa did it. What do you think?”

At that moment Yu Seol suddenly pinched her grandfather’s earlobe, a lightning-fast move before he could stop her.

“Ooh~”

Yu Jinsan couldn’t hide his bewilderment; his granddaughter was looking at him with an expression that said he was cute.

He considered snapping at her but gave up, his youthful looks from Age Revival were the likely reason.

If he ate well and regained some physical maturity, it would be solved.

“Now hurry up and continue your training.”

“So will you train here, Grandpa? Want me to help you?”

Seeing mischief all over his granddaughter’s face made him uneasy.

If he agreed, he’d likely just be toyed with.

“No. There’s no time. Go quickly and learn the Air Spear Technique.”

At that, Yu Seol shook her arms and complained petulantly.

“Tch~ You won’t even play with me.”

It seemed she really wanted to play.

Yu Jinsan chuckled and nodded toward the right.

“When training’s done, shall we cool off and swim together in the valley?”

Yu Seol, who loved water play, immediately brightened.

“Hehe. That sounds great~ Come to the training ground when you’re done, Grandpa!”

Her granddaughter nodded and bounded off toward the training ground.

In a heartbeat she was already out of sight.

Truly, her immortal-like light footwork skill always drew his admiration.

‘Tsk. When will I be able to fly like that?’

His granddaughter had achieved enlightenment of the Supreme realm at only two, and by nine had mastered the Buddha Lion Roar Divine technique, joining the ranks of the Profound Realm.

Yet he himself was still blocked by a wall, stuck at the peak-expert level.

Though the road ahead was long, it no longer felt as hopeless as before.

Yu Jinsan examined his left hand, deep in thought.

‘If I can use this power properly, it might be worth trying to fight someone of the Supreme realm.’

The power exceeded his expectations.

It had reaction speed faster than thought and brutal destructive force.

If he honed it properly, he’d have no envy for peerless techniques.

But it was still unstable, so steady research was needed.

‘But I can’t neglect spear training either.’

He looked around, found a bamboo stalk, and trimmed it.

The strongest spear technique ever conceived by his granddaughter.

It was to practice the Invincible Seol Spear Technique’s move, the One Hundred and Eight Strikes, which he’d delayed until now.

For now it was the only move he had, but it was a deadly spear technique of tremendous power.

Using the bamboo for support, he hung upside down from its tip.

Then he began bouncing on the spot.

‘I don’t like this training method much, but I have to follow what was taught.’

His posture looked a bit ridiculous, but he couldn’t afford to be picky.

Dangling from the bamboo, he practiced for a full four hours.

After training he still had to play with his granddaughter. There was no time to rest.

In his busy schedule, half a month flew by.

Day after day he devoted himself almost entirely to training.

The Demon Divine Art he was developing and the One Hundred and Eight Strikes his granddaughter had taught him.

And he continued qi training to raise the afterflame of the Vajra Indestructible Divine Arts.

Meanwhile guests kept coming and going, so he couldn’t catch a break.

Most were there out of courtesy, so he couldn’t very well send them away.

“Ah, there’s no time to rest.”

It was late. After finishing his work, Yu Jinsan lay down on his bed and closed his eyes.

Having not stopped for days, fatigue washed over him.

It had been four days since he had proper sleep.

Maybe that’s why he fell asleep immediately, but the depth of his sleep was different from usual.

‘Hmm?’

A hazy mist gathered before his eyes.

A nauseating feeling he had sensed somewhere before.

The shape soon turned into a woman with long hair.

It was clearly a dream, but it felt terribly unpleasant.

Her body was more than twice that of a normal adult.

And she had a grotesque face.

‘What is this? A ghost?’

Yu Jinsan’s heart sank when he met her blood-red eyes, even though it was a dream.

At that moment something absurd unfolded before his eyes.

Her hair lengthened rapidly and began to coil around his entire body.

‘That damn thing…’

No matter how he struggled, it was useless.

The hair then began to burrow into his left ear.

The endless sensation of it burrowing in was so vivid, as if it were real.

“…Ggh.”

Yu Jinsan thrashed, foaming at the mouth.

It was when the pain reached its peak.

The spirit that glared at him as if to kill him began to fade.

And he realized he had finally woken from the dream.

“Whew.”

He sighed in relief with his eyes closed, but it didn’t last long.

His left ear kept itching.

When he slowly opened his eyes, he felt a chill; he could see human hair in his sight.

‘…What’s happening?’

Could a lesser spirit have possessed him again? He swallowed his trembling and slowly turned his head to the left.

At that moment his heart dropped.

“Gah!? Wh-what is this?”

Ridiculously, his granddaughter was playing a prank beside him.

She was tickling his ear with hair.

Yu Seol burst into uncontrollable laughter.

“Puhihihi!”

All of it had been his granddaughter’s prank.

Anger surged in Yu Jinsan.

“You brat, you nearly gave Grandpa a heart attack! What are you doing at this hour?”

“Grandpa, I’m bored~”

Yu Seol whimpered, shaking her arm for attention.

Why was she like this today? Her day and night must have been swapped after continuous meditation training.

“Tomorrow go to the Defeating Blade Clan and play with the kids.”

“No fun. I want to play with Grandpa~”

Yu Jinsan sighed and closed his eyes again.

“It’s late now, so I’ll play with you tomorrow.”

“What will we do tomorrow?”

“First check the vegetable plot in the morning, and let’s spar for the first time in a while.”

He needed to test the results of his recent training anyway.

He was secretly curious how long he could hold up against his granddaughter.

“Really? Promise.”

“Alright. Go upstairs and sleep.”

Normally sleepless, Yu Jinsan let his guard down and slept for once.

He even woke up later than his granddaughter.

“Grandpa, wake up quickly!”

“Mmm. Is the sun already this high?”

“Yep. Hurry, let’s go out.”

Yu Jinsan rubbed his sleepy eyes and got out of bed.

“Alright. Lead the way.”

The pair went out to the vegetable plot behind the house and inspected the crops.

“Grandpa, sprouts have already grown.”

Perhaps from abundant vitality, pumpkin and eggplant sprouts had already appeared.

Yu Jinsan nodded with a proud smile.

“Hmm. It looks like in three to four months we’ll be able to harvest them.”

“Hehe. That’ll be tasty~”

“Of course—Grandpa planted them so they’ll be delicious. Now let’s go check the crops you planted.”

They moved to the other side.

Half the plot had seeds planted from the treasure chest they’d retrieved underground.

Yu Jinsan was most curious about these plants.

So far all he knew was that they were root vegetables.

“Grandpa. Why is this growing so fast?”

In just half a month, the leaves had grown to the size of nodes.

Compared to the mere sprouts of pumpkin and eggplant, the growth rate was on another level.

“Its vitality is no ordinary thing. To be this big already…”

“Shall we pull one out and try it?”

They’d planted hundreds of seeds anyway.

Checking just one wouldn’t change anything.

Above all, Yu Jinsan was very curious himself.

“Alright, let’s have a look.”

Yu Jinsan crouched and began digging away the soil with both hands.

The root’s shape was gradually revealing itself.

At a glance it looked like a ginseng root.

But its appearance was extremely odd.

After pulling one out, Yu Jinsan tilted his head for a long while.

Yu Seol, watching, spoke with a curious expression.

“It looks exactly like a person.”

It truly matched a human figure in a startling way.

Limbs and even a face—the leaves looked just like hair.

Yu Jinsan carefully brushed off the dirt and said.

“What does the look matter? If the effects are good, that’s what counts. Here, try eating one first.”

Manho had called it a divine elixir; he was curious what effects it might have.

He’d only know by trying.

“Can we eat it now? Is it ripe?”

“It’s okay to eat. Ginseng is actually tastier when slightly undercooked.”