First Battle of a Long War (1)

Every week another Namgung spy would appear within the forest. And every week I would relive a portion of my anger by torturing said Namgung spy.

The problem with a continuous stream of people to torture and a limited amount of knowledge to gain, is that soon even torture became boring. So boring in fact that I didn't even care to torture them after half a year had passed.

Soon I found a more entertaining hobby to keep myself entertained for the next half a year of training.

Every time a new Namgung clan spy would try to obtain information on me, Pyo Kang or Pyo Yong, I would try to kill them in the hardest, weirdest or most interesting way possible.

And with my internal energy growing week by week, I was able to sense the new spy approaching me before they even came within a kilometer of my location. Which just further fueled my creativity in killing them.

But soon after the fiftieth spy was sent to die by my hands, the Namgung clan quit sending spies to watch over us. It took them fifty attempts to learn their lesson and send someone who could properly stand against me and the twins, and that stubbornness was a grave mistake.

In that year, Pyo Kang had risen to the Supreme Realm*, and Pyo Yong had managed to reach the Transcendence Realm. Their combined strength would easily put them above most of the members in the Namgung clan.

However, with Pyo Kang and Pyo Yong's major success in cultivation and martial arts. My progress was akin to a drop of water in the ocean. As my qi had only risen from sixty years to eighty years of qi. Placing me just before the Peak Realm in terms of qi.

But the amount of qi within a martial artist isn't what makes them truly powerful. Someone could have an infinite supply of qi within them, but they could still lose to someone who outmatches them in experience and martial arts techniques. It would be hard, but it could be done.

It was that same principle which made me stronger than Pyo Kang and Pyo Yong combined. I didn't have the qi to beat them in a blow for blow fight, but I had the experience and martial arts to force them into submission.

But soon, someone I had met quite a while ago would appear within the forest I've called home for the past year and a half. A certain old man with a glimmering golden sword hilt in his hands and a furious yet gleeful expression on his face.

He had been waiting for this chance to redeem himself for the past year after all, why wouldn't he be happy to make amends for his mistakes?

Leaving a path of fallen trees behind him as he walked through the forest, Namgung Jiwoo called out into the forest.

"Come out and fight, you young brat! I'll slaughter you and your friends like I did your precious golden dragon!"

Even though the man was well over three hundred meters away from me, I could still hear the cocky tone in his voice as if he was whispering directly into my ear.

Since the old man I so desperately wanted to pierce with my own two hands had finally shown his face within this forest, I might as well greet him in kind. I began to walk toward Namgung Jiwoo, knocking over every tree in my path with a well placed palm strike.

With each step I began to speed up as I traveled toward Namgung Jiwoo, I could only assume he did the same. It didn't take long before I had began full on sprinting, traveling so fast that even the trees around me looked like blurs.

Only a few minutes later Namgung Jiwoo entered my eyesight, with his sword drawn he charged straight toward me. However, I could tell right away that he had improved quite a bit since the last time I saw him.

If I had to guess, he probably surpassed even the Supreme Realm. Thanks to absorbing the spiritual core of another spirit beast no less. An Absolute Realm martial artist from the Namgung clan, this would be an interesting battle.

I surrounded my fists in Palm Force as I continued to charge at Namgugn Jiwoo, screaming at the top of my lungs as I did.

"Your time ends here you greedy old bastard!"

"I'd like to see you kill me you overgrown brat!"

Soon the once quiet forest was filled with the echoes of iron like fists being blocked by a sturdy sword. Neither me or Namgung Jiwoo had used a martial arts technique yet, just the simple punches, palm strikes, slashes and stabs were enough to destroy everything around us.

Within the clash, just as I was about to counter Namgung Jiwoo's sword strike, he swiftly altered his sword's path and swung for my neck. Such a tactic didn't fool me however, as I leapt back a few meters to avoid being beheaded.

"You're quite the hidden dragon within this world. But even a dragon is helpless against the Namgung clan!" Namgung Jiwoo yelled as he charged at me once more, not giving me the chance to keep the distance between us.

I quickly unleashed a barrage of palm strikes filled with Palm Force as he came nearer. That wasn't enough to stop his pace however, as a second later he appeared beside me with his sword ready to cut me in two.

However, his slash intended to cut me in half missed, as a simple backflip sent me out of the sword's tragectory and several meters away from Namgung Jiwoo.

Namgung Jiwoo was surprised I managed to dodge that blow, but that only made his desire to kill me fester even further. That wasn't the worst part about the entire situation however. Even though I was multiple stages lower in terms of qi, I could tell he was barely trying, whilst I had been giving it my all since the beginning.

I quickly changed my position into a palm fighting stance and gathered Palm Force onto my hands once more.

Yet the second I took a step towards Namgung Jiwoo, an eager voice came from behind me.

"You should have stayed on that mountain and never trained yourself in martial arts."

Heiiik!

Author's Notes:

Cultivation stages for non Mount Song Sect members: 3rd rate -> 2rd rate -> 1st rate -> Expert -> Master -> Peak -> Transcendence -> Supreme -> Absolute -> Divine.

Palm Force: A better and more efficient version of Palm Qi. Palm Force is the exact same thing as Sword Force or any other weapon force, it just depends on the weapon being used. All weapon force or weapon qi strength depends on how much qi is being implemented into the weapon.