Chapter 83

Danwooseong boiled noodles made from wild ginseng and shared them with Gwangshin. At first, the astringent taste was too strong, but savoring that bitterness made it quite a delicacy in its own way. Above all, the broth was quite palatable.

Kwang-shin also ate heartily.

After licking every last drop of broth clean, the two set down their bowls. Danwooseong was full after three bowls, and Gwangshin nodded as if his stomach felt solid.

Kwang-shin said.

“Let’s rest a moment, then go get some water.”

“Huh?”

What was he talking about? Dan Wooseong asked again.

“There’s no water?”

“Drinking water is in the valley. Why would I be so presumptuous as to store water here? It is right that we visit to drink the great water.”

Dan Woosung nodded.

“Ah, I see. But what about when you wake up thirsty sometimes?”

“I should go get some water then.”

Dan Woo-sung nodded calmly.

“You’re absolutely right.”

Dan Wooseong had momentarily forgotten that this man was considered the craziest in the martial world. He seemed to have forgotten it all over again.

When Gwang-shin pointed at the dishes as if telling him to wash them, Dan Woo-sung said,

“How can I wash dishes when there’s no water?”

“What are you talking about? We collected rainwater.”

After His Majesty the King washed the dishes with rainwater and returned, Kwang-shin said.

“Let’s go. To drink water.”

As soon as Gwangshin finished speaking, he vanished, deploying his lightness skill. Danwooseong, without even a moment to respond, followed Gwangshin, deploying his own lightness skill. In an instant, the two figures darted about the battlefield, where arrows rained down, moving as busily as a messenger racing through the fray.

Kwang-shin was astonishingly fast.

Moreover, he knew the terrain perfectly, moving so naturally he seemed to glide over the mountains. Only Dan Wooseong’s pursuit was rough and violent.

Danwooseong, who had been following Gwangshin, looked ahead and saw a massive waterfall cascading down.

‘No way? That crazy senior?’

Of course, Danwooseong didn’t expect that senior to go to the valley, bury his head in the water, and drink like a docile deer. Gwangshin dashed toward the waterfall, burst into laughter, and leaped into the air.

“Hahahahahaha.”

Kwang-shin collided with the cascading waterfall, fell back, then opened his mouth wide and gulped down the pouring water.

While Gwangshin briefly turned his back, Danwooseong clapped his hands cautiously.

‘Indeed, our senior possesses a truly extraordinary spirit.’

My goodness, he’d never seen a man drink water so fiercely before.

Kwang-shin called out from within the waterfall.

“Drink the water.”

Kwang-shin was drinking water like that, and as a junior, Dan Woo-sung couldn’t just stand there like a deer. He sprinted forward, picked up speed, then leaped into the air before slamming into the cascading waterfall in a sprawling position. He then fell with the waterfall, drinking the water as he did.

Watching from within the cascading waterfall, Gwang-shin clapped for Dan Woo-sung with an expressionless face.

Clap clap clap-

“Not bad.”

Dan Woosung, mouth wide open beneath the waterfall, gulped down the cascading stream. Whether Gwangshin was crazy or he was crazy, it felt utterly refreshing.

For a moment, Danwooseong and Gwangshin braced their entire bodies against the torrential flow of the waterfall.

Whoooooosh!

Gwang-shin moved his body while surrendering himself to the cascading waterfall. It looked as if the waterfall itself was applying acupressure to his acupoints.

Kwang-shin said.

“Whenever I faced difficulties with demonic possession, I resolved them this way.”

It was indeed a credible statement. Coming from none other than Gwangshin himself. Danwooseong followed Gwangshin’s lead, pounding his own acupoints with the waterfall’s stream.

Kwang-shin surged up from the waterfall again and burst out in an instant, his entire body erupting with ki waves that instantly dried his soaked clothes. It wasn’t just madness; it was the madness of a powerful man, and there was something mystical about the sight itself.

Of course, Danwooseong could have done the same.

When Danwooseong tried to dry himself off like Gwangshin, Gwangshin spoke as if telling him not to come out.

“Since a junior martial artist has come today, I suppose I must open the realm of life.”

Danwooseong looked at Gwangshin.

‘What?’

He couldn’t immediately interpret what he meant.

Gwang-shin pointed to the valley extending from the waterfall and said.

“If you’ve come to the waterfall, you must catch fish. Bring up just two. Big ones.”

Dan Woo-sung asked.

“Senior, I heard you only eat one meal a day.”

Kwang-shin waved his hand dismissively.

“That may be true for me, but you’re still young and in your prime eating years. Stop talking and catch them quickly. Who do you think you are, talking back?”

“Understood.”

His Majesty the King entered the water to catch fish. Swimming and catching fish with bare hands is no easy task. However, Danwooseong had experienced this mountain life before, so he didn’t panic. Using the Five Elements Divine Technique for swimming, he chased the fish with the Transcendent Light Body Technique. After making a huge commotion underwater, he finally caught two large river fish and emerged from the water.

Meanwhile, Gwangshin had been preparing to light the fire. Seeing Danwooseong’s delay, he clicked his tongue.

“Can’t even catch one easily and you’re making such a racket. Did you think fishermen had it easy in this world?”

“Exactly. Nothing in this world is easy.”

Kwang-shin placed the branches and stones on a flat rock, then gave Dan-woo-seong another errand.

“Go gather some firewood and bring it back. Focus on the small branches lying on the ground.”

“Understood.”

Kwon Wang started running off to gather firewood. He was a senior who demanded a lot of effort. Still, Dan Wooseong wasn’t feeling too bad about it, since the freshwater fish he’d caught was a chunky minnow, truly plump and appetizing. While Dan Wooseong gathered firewood, Gwangshin pressed his finger into the center of a large stone, making a slight indentation.

Next, he ground a few leaves into the hole and wedged a long branch into it. This must have been how they started fires tens of thousands of years ago. He was no different from a primitive man. The only advantage was that his martial arts skills were so high that he could start a fire much faster than primitive people.

As Danwooseong gathered fuel in an instant and rushed over…

Kwang-shin grabbed the branch with both palms and began rubbing it. The pinnacle of the White Path kindled the fire.

“Haah!”

Whoosh-!

Dan Woosung said as he set down the firewood.

“Oh.”

It was a fire-making skill bordering on divine. Kwang-shin transferred the flame to the kindling, then skillfully surrounded it with stones. He scraped out the fish’s innards with a twig, skewered it onto a wooden stick, and completed one grilled fish.

Thus, Gwangshin and Danwooseong each held one of the two chun fish as they roasted them over the campfire.

When Gwang-shin flipped his fish, Dan-woo-seong flipped his too. A moment later, Gwang-shin glanced at Dan-woo-seong’s fish and said it looked ready.

“Let’s eat.”

“Enjoy your meal.”

Wild ginseng noodles were a delicacy in their own right, but they couldn’t compare to the cheon-eo. Gwangshin and Danwooseong picked the bones clean as they chewed on the golden-brown, perfectly cooked fish.

Dan Wooseong marveled as he ate the cheon-eo.

‘What a delicious fish.’

Gwang-shin asked.

“How does it taste?”

Danwooseong gave a thumbs-up.

“It’s incredible.”

Gwangshin devoured a whole fish in the blink of an eye, dug a hole in the ground with his hands to bury the bones, then went to the waterfall to wash his hands. Danwooseong, of course, followed suit.

Gwang-shin nodded and said.

“Since ancient times, immortals always ate peaches after consuming meat or fish.”

“Peaches? That’s news to me.”

“Let’s go!”

As Gwangshin’s figure vanished without a trace, Danwooseong hurriedly followed. He was slowly getting used to Gwangshin’s sudden actions. He wondered if immortals really ate meat or fish, but there was no way to confirm it. He heard Gwangshin muttering.

“The peach is the most perfect fruit among all things in heaven and earth. The most perfect fruit means it is an elixir.”

“A peach is an elixir?”

Dan Wooseong asked as he chased after him, and Gwangshin answered.

Of course, how else could Sun Wukong have caused such a ruckus? The monkey became the Great Sage Equal to Heaven because he gobbled down peaches. And it wasn’t just Sun Wukong. Ultimately, the legend of Dongfang Shuo also began because of the Queen Mother of the West’s peaches. People don’t know this, but there’s a rumor that even the Great Sage, Lord Xiao Han, ate a peach when he was young. That’s how he became the greatest under heaven. Everything in this world—it’s all because of that damn peach. Do those heavenly swords or demon swords even know the taste of a peach?”

“They wouldn’t.”

“Exactly.”

This time, the path was treacherous. He scaled jagged rocky peaks and climbed sheer cliffs of unimaginable peril. Few in the martial world of that era could match his lightness kung fu so closely. It was only because he was a man of such formidable skill, worthy of being called a King, that he could keep pace without falling behind.

Guangxin showed no mercy from the start.

He charged up the cliff as if he couldn’t care less about falling off, then took a deep breath atop a high peak that looked like a utopian paradise. When Danwooseong quickly caught up, Gwangshin nodded several times, as if praising his lightness skill.

“Not bad, junior.”

“Thank you.”

Dan Woosung looked around the peak covered in peach trees and marveled.

“Does this peak have a name?”

“There isn’t. It’s the Nameless Peach Garden. Even when I discovered it, it was a place untouched by human footsteps. Only those with lightness skills comparable to yours or mine can reach it, so unless you’re an ancient sage or a top-tier master, you’ve likely never been here. Peaches, too, require skill to savor. Eat your fill. It’s dessert.”

The dawn mist settled like pure white clouds around the peaks, and in that place, Danwoo-seong and Gwang-sin picked and ate perfectly ripe peaches.

The peach was as large as Danwooseong’s hand. With each bite, juice dripped from the peach. The scenery was so beautiful that Danwooseong ate the large peach after peach while admiring the Peach Blossom Spring.

Gwangshin said.

“Having eaten the peach, you will accomplish great deeds henceforth. Just as I tore the celestial horse apart and killed it alongside the Three Deities.”

Danwooseong replied while surveying the peach garden.

“Did you eat peaches back then too?”

“No? I discovered this place afterward. Had I eaten them before, I might have faced it alone.”

When Danwooseong turned back, Gwangsin was scratching his head.

Kwang-shin asked.

“Why? Don’t you trust me?”

“No. I trust you. Anyway, it’s a bit hot.”

“How could it be hot? You idiot, the air is this chilly. If you’re hot, just do some breathing exercises.”

Suddenly, Danwooseong stopped walking and stared intently at Gwangshin. Gwangshin spoke.

Did you think it was just ordinary wild ginseng? Was the heavenly fish you caught less than a mere elixir? No. Do the peaches here look like those sold in the marketplace? Wild ginseng, heavenly fish, peaches. All three are connected to yang energy. My level has already reached the stage of pure blue furnace fire, so it won’t affect me much. But if you feel the heat, it’s because you haven’t contained the yang energy properly. Use qigong to gather it all up.”

Startled, Danwooseong sank to the ground and began regulating his breath. While following Gwangshin, a truly bizarre qi encounter had befallen him.

As Danwooseong began his qigong practice, Gwangshin spoke in a calm tone.

“Take your time. Observing you, I see the Extreme Yang martial arts suit your temperament well. Wild ginseng, heavenly fish, and peaches are all elixirs that invigorate the extreme yang energy. Even after reaching the highest level, a vast sky will open before you. Fortunately, your level is already quite high, and your five elements are exceptional. You followed well even at the waterfall. You should be able to reach the state of eternal youth here on Cheongyak Mountain.”

Dan Woo-seong closed his eyes, absorbing Gwang-shin’s words as he began to regulate his breath and qi. Goosebumps rose along his spine.

Kwangshin’s actions and words were pure madness from start to finish.

ⓒ Yoo Jin-seong