The Remains Of Shaolin (1)

“Grandpa, my body feels hot…”

The feeling was a natural reaction, as she had consumed the Great Vitality Pill, which greatly increased the internal qi.

“Hurry up and direct the qi into your dantian!”

Heeding her grandfather’s instruction, Yu Seol sat cross-legged and began to channel the qi.

An immense qi quickly circulated through her body.

A tremendous amount of qi surged within her, potent enough to instantly kill an ordinary warrior.

“How? My qi is vanishing!”

Yu Jinsan was aware of the situation. He understood why his granddaughter was struggling so much. In truth, when one consumes a pill, the absorbed qi rarely exceeds 5 percent.

The qi enveloped and pulsated around the child’s body.

This phenomenon occurred when the true qi, which had not been accumulated through the dantian, dissipated.

“It’s a natural occurrence, so there is nothing to worry about. It wasn’t yours to begin with.”

“Ehh…”

Yu Jinsan, after pondering for a moment, suddenly had an epiphany. The monk, who had mastered the prayers, could aid his granddaughter’s growth.

By doing so, she would be able to maximize the pill’s absorption.

“Don’t just stand there; help.”

The apostate monk was picking his nose.

“Why should I?”

“Because we need to finish this quickly so that we can quickly get the treasure for you.”

To his surprise, the monk did not respond with enthusiasm.

“If you eat this, then I will consider it.”

The monk, with his eyes wide open, extended his finger.

A black, round object rested on his fingertip.

Yu Jinsan, upon seeing it, was taken aback.

‘Where on earth did this fool get the idea to offer snot…?’

And he wasn’t even saying he’d help, just that he’d think about it?

There was no chance he would consume snot in front of his granddaughter.

“You need my help, right? It’s not as if you can find the cave with just the spear.”

“I can find it!”

“There is no use being this stubborn. If the murim treasure doesn’t think of you as its rightful owner, it will not respond in any way, no matter how close you get to the cave.”

The monk, looking down arrogantly, flinched.

“Then, what should I do?”

Yu Jinsan smiled at his attitude, which had turned 180 degrees now.

“If you help us now, I will help you. Until we find the cave.”

As soon as he said it, the apostate monk’s entire body was stained with golden light.

“Just trust me, Hyung!”

In the blink of an eye, he was already sitting behind Yu Seol. At the same time, the rugged hand of the old man completely covered the small back of his granddaughter.

His qi shone brilliantly.

The immense internal qi rising from the palms of his hands was truly amazing.

Maybe it was the warm and cozy qi that made her feel drowsy? Yu Seol slightly opened her mouth with her eyes half-closed.

“…strange. I feel nice.”

Sitting beside his granddaughter, Yu Jinsan looked into her eyes seriously.

“Quickly concentrate your mind and accumulate the true qi of the pill as much as possible.”

“…yes.”

The swirl of qi escaping from the child’s skin was no longer visible.

She had started to absorb the qi of the pill without losing a single bit of it.

The circulation of qi throughout her body was endless. As time passed, Yu Seol’s dantian accumulated endless qi.

It was about half an hour later.

Suddenly, the apostate monk raised both hands and shouted like a child.

“Done!”

The work was finally complete.

Yu Jinsan looked at his granddaughter with excitement. Her eyes sparkled like the depths of an unfathomable lake.

And her clear eyes overflowed with vitality.

Yu Seol squinted her eyes and clenched her fist.

“I feel like I’ve become much stronger. I’m overflowing with power.”

The monk danced around Yu Seol joyfully.

“Invincible monk! The fifth rank! The fifth rank!”

“Oh, the fifth rank?”

Yu Jinsan’s mouth dropped open.

His words meant that his granddaughter now possessed the inner strength of the fifth rank.

A mere eight-year-old had attained the level of inner strength that took three hundred years to cultivate. Naturally, it was astonishing.

“Grandpa, I’ll go and come back quickly.”

Yu Seol seemed unable to contain her overflowing strength.

Perhaps she wanted to release the suppressed qi through light footwork.

“Okay, okay. I’ve left it with your Uncle, so go and bring it back.”

“Okay, just wait a bit!”

No sooner had she finished speaking than her figure zipped away from sight.

After a breath, she became a small dot and disappeared.

‘Heh. At this rate, joining the ten great masters of the world is just a matter of time.’

Yu Jinsan’s chest swelled with pride.

What grandfather wouldn’t be proud to see his only bloodline grow?

As his emotions surged,

“Hyung, what do we do now?”

And he started again. All he had to do was wait quietly.

But because he was an insane monk capable of changing at any moment, Yu Jinsan couldn’t even relax for a moment.

“We’ll just sit and wait a bit since she’ll be back soon.”

“…”

As he closed his mouth firmly, Yu Jinsan inwardly felt a twinge of regret.

An awkward silence ensued.

Soon, the monk’s face began to contort slightly.

“I will kill you.”

“Wh-why?”

Why was this monk acting insane again?

Yu Jinsan couldn’t help but feel anxious.

“Bad one…”

“Me? But you called me ‘Hyung’ earlier.”

His anxiousness was reaching its peak.

Yu Jinsan realized that he had misunderstood. This was because the monk’s eyes were looking over Yu Jinsan’s shoulder.

‘What is it now? Who is behind me?’

Yu Jinsan looked back, surprised, and this was because someone was walking toward them, holding his shoulder.

His face was covered in blood, and his clothes were tattered.

Someone he couldn’t forget.

‘Bloody Infernal Divine Demon?’

He was the great guardian of the Demonic Cult, who escaped from the Repentance Cave.

Why was this man, who had rushed to the entrance of the sect, here?

He, who had been fine when they parted ways, now looked almost dead. Could it be that his escape had failed and he had run here?

What was important was that the monk harbored hostility toward him.

“… die.”

And without another word, he rushed at the Bloody Infernal Divine Demon.

“…?”

The Bloody Infernal Divine Demon was shocked, but he couldn’t just stand there. His right hand emitted this red qi, which fiercely struck the approaching golden light.

Kwang!!!

One hit. In just the first clash, the difference in their skills was revealed.

“Kuak!”

With a low groan, the Bloody Infernal Divine Demon was pushed back. On the other hand, the monk wasn’t even slightly shaken. No, on the contrary, he moved toward him and began to attack again.

Yu Jinsan watched the scene from a distance with interest.

It was a fight that had nothing to do with him.

‘Even though he is now a derailed man, the instinct to hate the demons still runs inside him.’

The sight of the gold and red lights clashing created a spectacle that was so majestic.

The Bloody Infernal Divine Demon, who stubbornly held on even though it looked dangerous, was amazing, but the monk’s martial arts skills, which overwhelmed him, were more surprising.

No matter how injured he was, this man remained the great guardian of the Demonic Sect. It seemed like he focused only on defense without being able to mount a proper counterattack.

Kwang!!

With a dull roar, the distance between the two widened.

After competing for tens of movements in the blink of an eye, they had only caught their breaths then.

The Bloody Infernal Divine Demon, now turning to think, rolled his eyes, looking for a way out of this. His gaze soon settled on Yu Jinsan.

“H-help me out!”

Yu Jinsan, who had been distracted by looking at the mountain, said,

“The weather is really nice today. Such a good day to die.”

It was an expected reaction; he not only did not want to help but also had no reason to.

If he clumsily confronted this monk, Yu Jinsan might die too.

Above all, he disliked the fact that they continued to be informal. If one got caught in conversation, then the monk might come for Yu Jinsan as well.

“I-I am the Bloody Infernal Divine Demon! The great guardian on your side!”

Yu Jinsan felt the monk’s doubtful gaze upon him. It was necessary to make his position clear before it was too late.

Yu Jinsan frowned as if scolding the great guardian.

“Look at you! You seem younger than me. And to speak such things when I just met you!”

“Y-You!”

It seemed like the Bloody Infernal Divine Demon had more to say, but he had no more chances because the monk resumed his attack.

The fight didn’t last long.

Yu Jinsan clenched, leaning back with a relaxed expression.

“Hmm. You cannot be rude and look adults in the eye. It seems a demonic being has escaped from the Repentance Cave, and since he met the monk with the greatest strength, today must be the day his rites are spelled out.”

As soon as he finished mumbling, a dull noise erupted.

Kuak!

The Bloody Infernal Divine Demon’s back bent.

As expected, the apostate monk’s palm struck him in the stomach.

“Kuak!”

He withstood one attack, and then the man collapsed.

Whak! Kwang! Crack!

The assault continued unabated.

After another breath, his body appeared as though it might go limp.

The apostate monk seized the demon by the back of his neck as though he were holding a chicken by the head and glared into his eyes.

The demon, known to possess the finest martial arts in the world, closed his eyes in vain.

‘Such a reversal… this is the true skill of Murim. It would be great if our Seol could learn something like this.’

It was the pinnacle of Shaolin’s martial arts, passed down through a single palm.

Yu Jinsan, who had thought about befriending the monk, abandoned the idea. Since he was facing an opponent he couldn’t even consider challenging, he couldn’t take the risk now.

And there was one more thing.

Yu Jinsan still had questions in mind.

‘But who was that guy running away from?’

Who had so thoroughly defeated the great guardian of the Demonic Cult?

Though unlikely to have won, had he not been injured, he might have held out a bit longer.

His doubts were answered more easily than he had expected.

The gaze of the monk, still clutching his body, fixed on something in the distance.

‘…?’

Someone was coming.

A high monk with thick eyebrows and large prayer beads hanging from his neck approached. Despite his slow pace, each step was taken with the utmost care. The distance was closing, one step at a time.

After a short time, Yu Jinsan regarded the newcomer’s face with surprise. He appeared to be in his 30s or 40s.

As he was preparing to retire from Murim, a young monk with powerful martial arts skills roamed the world. His face matched one he had seen before.

The greatest Shaolin warrior of his era, he was also among the top ten warriors in the world.

‘…Hae Kwang?’

The apostate monk and Monk Hae Kwang remained silent, their gazes locked intently.

Amidst the tension, a silence lingered. Then, at some point, it broke as Hae Kwang’s expression softened.

“Master. Are you still unable to escape your mental clutch?”

Yu Jinsan was taken aback by those words.

‘Does this mean Monk Hae Kwang was actually a disciple of this apostate monk?’

Yu Jinsan had no opportunity to intervene. He could only hold his breath and observe the unfolding events.

Abruptly, the monk cast the demon aside and clenched his fist.

“Let’s fight!”

“I did not come here to fight you, Master. If you hand over that demon, I will leave.”

Yu Jinsan’s heart skipped a beat.

Hae Kwang’s gaze was fixed on him.

If he were captured now, he would spend his life in a prison cell.

Fortunately, the monk showed no intention of surrendering him.

“Touch my Hyung, and I will kill you!”