After passing the True Ancestor's trial, Kang Yeop rested deeply.

From the war with the Georyong Gang to the fight with the True Ancestor disguised as a trial.

No matter how strong a vampire's body was, it was a tight schedule that was bound to drain his energy.

It was a good thing he had some leeway thanks to drinking Guyang Ik's blood; otherwise, he would not have been able to endure it.

Kang Yeop, who had fainted as soon as he came out of the mental space, regained his senses only after a full two days.

"...Hoo, it feels like I've died and come back to life."

It wasn't just a feeling; it was as if he had been completely submerged in the Sanzu River. To the point where he wondered how he had managed to survive.

Kang Yeop, who had performed breathing exercises at dawn, was surprised.

'My internal energy has increased?'

According to the True Ancestor, the internal energy he originally possessed was around eighty years.

Kang Yeop, who had not been able to gauge the amount while accumulating internal energy, was able to accurately realize his internal energy level thanks to that.

It was an internal energy that an ordinary martial artist could obtain only after practicing for eighty years.

It was surprising enough that he had accumulated this in less than half a year, but it had increased by another quarter, literally becoming a hundred years of internal energy.

It seemed that by absorbing the True Ancestor's power, he had not only awakened a new ability but had also increased his internal energy.

'I heard that ordinary martial artists can't even reach thirty years no matter how hard they try....'

Although his reunion with the True Ancestor was surprising, he could see how fraudulent a heart method the Blood Art was.

He had achieved in less than half a year an internal energy that others would be lucky to obtain even after a lifetime of effort.

Of course, just having a lot of internal energy did not necessarily make one stronger. Because if one did not carry out the forms correctly, one could lose even when fighting someone with less internal energy.

But it was also true that the more internal energy one had, the more advantageous it was.

Kang Yeop, who had adjusted his senses by moving a few times, confirmed that there was no problem with his senses and nodded his head.

"Then now....”

As he let out a long breath and raised his hand, a wave flowed out from his palm and spread like a ripple.

It was not a wave that was visible to the naked eye. It could not be felt with the skin either. But Kang Yeop sensed the wave hitting the stone wall of the training room and returning.

How far would this wave spread?

Kang Yeop, who had gone out of the training room, confirmed that it was night and went up to the roof.

As he pointed his finger, which contained Blood Art true qi, into the air, the air shook as if rippling. Kang Yeop, who had confirmed that the wave was spreading in all directions, furrowed his eyebrows.

'It's spreading much farther than I thought.'

But nothing happened.

As he pointed at the air with more internal energy than before, the wave spread far again.

As expected, nothing happened.

"......."

This isn't it?

It was when he was tilting his head and looking ahead. Kang Yeop, who had suddenly heard the sound of wings flapping, was seized by a creepy feeling and slowly turned his head.

And he was so startled that his eyes popped out.

"You crazy bastard!"

Buzzzzz...!

Weren't hundreds, no, thousands of insects flying towards him, flapping their wings?

In fact, only moths had flown over, but he was so surprised that he could not even confirm the species of the insects.

"Ugh!"

Even a vampire had no answer in front of the sight of thousands of insects flying in a cloud.

Especially when he saw a moth as big as two palms put together, he was plunged into shock and fear.

'N-no. I have to get out of here!'

I can't let those things into the house!

Kang Yeop, who was terrified, jumped off the roof and ran out of the wall. Then the moths also flapped their wings vigorously and followed him.

Although it seemed as if the moths were courting him, Kang Yeop didn't care about that at all.

'Was this what you meant when you said it would be fun to try!?'

Kang Yeop lamented. He should have known when the True Ancestor had smiled with his eyes and had not explained it properly!

To think he would be threatened by thousands of moths. Wasn't this a case of being defeated by his own ability?

'This grudge, I will not forget...!'

Kang Yeop, who had suddenly entered an era of suffering, ran along the mountain path, his face as pale as a sheet of paper.

He absolutely could not let those things into the house. For now, he had to run to a place where those things would not follow him.

A helping hand came to save him.

Screech!

No, to be precise, it was another flapping of wings.

"What is that...?"

Something much bigger than the moths.

"Bats?"

Kang Yeop's eyes widened.

A swarm of bats, which seemed to be at least a few hundred, was eating the moths until their stomachs burst.

* * *

Ultrasound.

That was the ability Kang Yeop had obtained.

'This is a sound that ordinary humans cannot hear. It's the same for most martial artists. Unless they are people who have reached a truly transcendent realm, they will not even be able to sense it.'

A sound that people could not hear.

Although it was surprising that such a thing existed, he honestly had doubts about where he would use this.

But just because people could not hear it did not mean that animals could not hear it either. The bats, which had feasted on the moths, circled above Kang Yeop's head for a long time before returning.

"The ability to command bats and moths....”

In fact, that was not the only function of ultrasound. According to the True Ancestor, it could also be used on martial artists.

However, the True Ancestor had only taught him how to use it, and had not told him what would happen. He had said that it would be faster to understand by experiencing it directly rather than by explaining it in words.

'That fellow is really....'

Kang Yeop sighed.

He had realized it keenly while receiving teachings. That the True Ancestor had a desperate lack of talent for teaching.

Well, it wasn't strange. Just because one was good at something did not mean one could teach it well to others, right?

'Although geniuses tend to be like that....'

He couldn't grasp how to teach something that he could do as easily as breathing.

He had to set a standard for an ordinary person and explain it logically based on theory, but he couldn't do that.

The reason he had not explained the function of ultrasound was also because, before the intention of teasing Kang Yeop, he did not have the talent to explain how to unravel the function of ultrasound.

'Come to think of it, it was the same when he taught me how to apply the Dark Body.'

It was a style of showing it roughly and telling him to learn on his own.

If he had not inherited the True Ancestor's spirit and had not developed his inspiration, he would not have been able to realize it even after a few months.

Although the teaching was terrible, should he say that he had at least a minimum of conscience since he had passed on his own talent?

'Conscience, my ass. If he had something like that, he wouldn't have thought of turning a perfectly fine person into a vampire.'

Kang Yeop, who had grumbled inwardly, returned home and his eyes lit up when he discovered something.

A white envelope stuck in the crack of the main gate.

The only person who knew Kang Yeop's house and would send a letter was Jang Gyeong. When he tore open the envelope with Jang Gyeong's name on it, a letter written in Jang Gyeong's handwriting came out.

"Umm....”

The contents of the letter were largely two.

One was that the Bronze Heaven Plaque had come out, so he should go and get it, and the other was about the Black Fog Dark Lock Formation.

Perhaps because he was worried that someone else would steal a look, he did not reveal anything about the Black Fog Dark Lock Formation or the Black Dragon Cult. Just that he had found a clue to what Kang Yeop was looking for.

Although he had no intention of going to the Cheongsong Inn for a while, the story changed now.

Kang Yeop prepared to go out.

* * *

It had been about twenty days since he had come to the Cheongsong Inn.

Originally, if he had entered, breaking through the curtain, he would have heard the noisy chatter of the ronin who were drunk.

But today, the atmosphere was quite different.

Instead of the sound of drunken chatter, a voice that was angry and could not be controlled struck his eardrums.

"That dog-like Daoist has stolen our job!"

"Hey, watch your mouth."

Jang Gyeong frowned.

"I know why you're angry. I'm not in a good mood either. But just getting angry is not the answer."

"Then are you saying we should just leave it like this? Our jobs are decreasing because that fellow is playing the hero."

"What do you want me to do? Should we go in a group and threaten him?"

"If we have to, we have to!"

Although he didn't know what it was, the ronin were protesting, and Jang Gyeong was clicking his tongue with his arms crossed.

"You idiots, get a grip. If we're going to argue about it, isn't it you who are the problem? I heard you were dawdling there for three days."

"W-we weren't dawdling. We were doing a preliminary survey, and the village chief was just picking a fight with that!"

"You're talking nonsense. Is getting drunk as a skunk a preliminary survey?"

"We just had a drink with our meal!"

"I heard you also made a pass at a village girl."

"Damn it, it's a false accusation! We just talked to her!"

"Why?"

"T-to hear some testimony.... Oh, it's true! The village chief is framing us with a ridiculous accusation because he doesn't want to pay us!"

"Alright. I'll know if it's true or not if I investigate. If what you say is true, I'll warn the village chief. But if it's not, you'd better not expect any soup for a while."

"What do you mean...!"

Although the ronin had eyes that were boiling with anger, Jang Gyeong was calm in this area.

But as if he was aware that he had to soothe the ronin's hearts, he sighed and said.

"This kind of thing happens quite often when you do this kind of work. Then the client picks a fight because they don't want to pay."

"That's what we're saying!"

"So you shouldn't give them a pretext to pick a fight. What client would look kindly on you when you go to a place of work and get drunk and play? If you're going to do that, you should at least do the job properly."

"......."

"Endure the matter of the Wudang Daoist. If you try to get revenge, you'd better not expect any soup."

Kang Yeop, who had been watching the scene with interest, tapped the shoulder of another ronin nearby.

"What. What bastard... hup!"

The ronin, who had almost made a slip of the tongue, belatedly recognized Kang Yeop and swallowed hard.

"Gh-Ghost Shadow?"

"What's the situation?"

"Ah, that, that is... those fellows received a request for a village where a beast that harms people had appeared, but those fellows were dawdling. In the meantime, a Wudang Daoist caught the beast."

"A Wudang Daoist?"

"Why, you know. Daoist Master Cheongsu."

"Was that person still in Chongqing?"

"What was it. I heard he was a guest of some merchant guild."

Although he didn't know what circumstances had led him to become a guest of a merchant guild and to steal the ronin's job, he didn't think he had done it with any malice.

"It seems he's playing the hero here and there. He's also catching bandits and handing them over to the authorities. I heard he's being called the Whirlwind Dragon these days."

A whirlwind referred to a whirlwind, and since a wind would blow every time Cheongsu fought, he had gotten such a nickname.

"But those bandits were also originally our job. It was a case entrusted by the authorities. But because that Wudang Daoist stepped in, our job was canceled...."

"Hmm."

Kang Yeop nodded his head. Hearing it, it seemed that the ronin had ruined their request because of Cheongsu.

A ronin was a tribe that lived by the sword. But if a hero stepped in and solved the problem, their jobs would decrease.

Of course, it wasn't as if Cheongsu was meddling in all the problems related to the Ronin Hall's requests, but it was natural for the ronin who had ruined their jobs to be annoyed.

From the ronin's perspective, a hero was a harmful existence that threatened their business.

'If they try to intimidate him with force, they can't handle it, and there's no proper pretext to protest... it's a dilemma.'

Jang Gyeong, who had been arguing for a while, returned.

"You're here?"

"It seems you're in a difficult situation."

"It's something that happens often. It's common for the disciples of the Nine Sects who have come out on a journey to help people. But you can't just tell people who are doing good things to get lost, can you? The problem is that the clients ask for their request fees back."

"Do you give it back obediently?"

"Are you crazy? We make it clear when we make the contract. That if something like this happens, we'll only give back half. But the clients still make a fuss, saying why should they pay when the ronin haven't done a damn thing.... So I've told them time and time again not to get caught."

Jang Gyeong, who had been cursing for a while as if his anger had exploded, looked around and asked cautiously.

"Anyway, so... you know Daoist Master Cheongsu, right? Could you perhaps ask him when he's leaving?"

(End of Chapter)