Chapter 17: 4th Cycles First Day

Chapter 17: 4th Cycles First Day

Ah.

I opened my eyes.

A familiar feeling.

"Another regression, it seems."

I recalled the last moments of my past life.

Resisting until the very end...

"Finally, I have ascended."

Yes, I'm fully conscious now.

In that last moment, I certainly...

"I reached the peak!"

Overwhelmed with excitement, I looked up at the sky, oblivious to my surroundings, and shouted.

"Finally! At last!!!"Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

I had reached the long-coveted peak!!!

Buzz!

A familiar sound echoes.

Jeon Myeong-hoon, a face I haven't seen in a while, is there.

But I didn't even glance in his direction, just closed my eyes again.

Swoosh!

Jeon Myeong-hoon's hand cuts through the air towards me.

Feeling his movement, I awakened 'that sensation' I had reached just before dying.

'I can see it!'

Even with my eyes closed, it's vivid.

A red trajectory was aimed at my cheek.

With my eyes still shut, I dodged Jeon Myeong-hoon's slap with the optimum movement.

"This guy dodged it?"

Whoosh, whoosh!

Jeon Myeong-hoon swung his hand several more times, but I, still with closed eyes, dodged every one of his strikes with minimal movement.

'I can see it. Jeon Myeong-hoon's next move. The direction of his hand. It's cearly visible.'

In the past, I could dodge someone like Jeon Myeong-hoon without even looking, but that was all based on decades of martial arts training and 'predicting' where he'll strike.

But now, it's different.

The red threadlines reveal his path.

Whether my eyes are open or closed, these threadlines are vividly present.

This is not 'prediction,' but more like 'premonition.'

'Is this the [vision] of a peak master?'

I finally understood why a first-raate master, even when outnumbering the enemy, could never defeat a peak master.

'It's visible. The direction and trajectory of attacks by inferior first-rate warriors are clearly visible. How could they win if their attacks can't even touch a peak master?'

To confront a peak master, a first-rate warrior would need to attack with dozens of people in a swarm strategy.

'Setting aside the direction and trajectory of the attack.'

I set my determination and faced Jeon Myeong-hoon, who was rushing towards me.

At the same time, the red lines indicating his trajectory disappeared, and my vision was filled with blue lines.

Face, shoulders, chest, arms, flanks, stomach, lower abdomen, pelvis, legs, knees, feet.

Blue lines densely targeted dozens of spots.

Instinctively, I knew.

These blue lines indicate the opponent's vulnerabilities and the optimal path for my attack.

The gap in combat skills between me and Jeon Myeong-hoon must be so vast that so many vulnerabilities are exposed.

'So that's it. The red and blue back then.'

"Ah, a master of Three Flowers. The first I've seen in this city besides myself."

"Three Flowers aren't common. Most live their lives only in red and blue. I, too, haven't met a master like you in a long time."

A conversation between Kim Young-hoon and Pal Jik-tae, supreme elder of the Qia River sect, during my second regression.

Pal Jik-tae indeed mentioned 'red and blue' back then.

At the time, I didn't understand a word, but now I do.

With my single sword stroke, their techniques were dismantled, their balance destroyed, and all were defeated.

"Haa..."

When I opened my eyes, there were numerous split leaves around me.

Drip...

Despite the nosebleed and the burning sensation in my brain from using the vision, I felt exhilarated.

"I am now a peak master!"

I stopped the nosebleed with a medicinal herb, then wandered around digging up centuries-old yellow bamboo roots.

"Perhaps the inability to maintain the vision for long is due to the lack of internal energy."

A certain level of internal energy is necessary to endure and extend the duration of the vision.

After digging up the roots, I chewed and swallowed them right there, leaving only a few for Kim Young-hoon.

Now that I had ascended to a peak master, there was no need to sell them.

"Yellow bamboo roots... I'll leave just a couple for Kim Young-hoon and consume the rest."

There were about ten roots around my vicinity in Ascension Path, and probably more if I expanded my search, but it wasn't necessary.

I consumed eight yellow bamboo roots, excluding the two for Kim Young-hoon.

Gurgling...

Guided by the Dragon Vein Qi Method, the immense spiritual power of the yellow bamboo roots surged through my meridians.

Whew...

An immense reserve of internal energy accumulated in an instant.

I had more internal energy now than in my previous life, where I had practiced for 50 years.

"Shall I try again?"

Aided massive internal energy, I activated the peak master's vision again.

I practiced with the vision for about an hour with no significant issues.

The burning discomfort started after about a meal's time.

"That's my limit, about an hour and a half."

No matter how much internal power I had, it only delayed the onset of pain; it didn't eliminate it.

"The only way is to repeatedly train using the peak master's vision."

To reduce the burning pain and gradually acclimate my brain to the vision.

"Endless training is the answer."

I might not be a genius, but this is the best way for someone not born with talent.

This life's goal is to first overcome the burning pain when using the peak master's vision and ultimately...

"Three Flowers Gather at the Summit...!"

To reach the Three Flowers Gather at the Summit, also known as the pinnacle of pinnacle.

"I won't aim for the Five Energies Converging to the Origin realm in this life. The Three Flowers Gather at the Summit is already challenging enough."

The realm of Three Flowers was somewhat graspable.

As the supreme elder of Qia River Sect said, "The third."

Red symbolizes the enemy's intent; blue, my intent.

Besides these, there is a 'third' color, the line that separates the Three Flowers Gather at the Summit from the rest of the Pinnacle Realm.

The third.

"Though I can't quite grasp what it is."

The leap from first-rate to peak felt insurmountable, but reaching the Three Flowers Gather at the Summit from the peak seems slightly easier.

Smiling, I looked at Kim Young-hoon, sleeping in the cave.

"Surely, I'll be able to learn much more from him now."

Having reached the peak, the level of teaching I could receive from Kim Young-hoon would be incomparable to when I was just a first-rate master.

Moreover, I possessed the six volumes of insights and the final formula left by the previous Kim Young-hoon.

This life's Kim Young-hoon will certainly surpass the one from before!

"I, too, in this life, will achieve the Three Flowers Gather at the Summit and get closer to being a true cultivator!"

With that resolution, I peacefully watched the rising morning sun in front of the cave.

Translator Notes: Things start to get a bit more interesting from now on.

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