Our escape was a cycle of running, stopping, and running again.
That was intentional—we were controlling the pace with care.
We’d break through the Five Venoms Sect, flee about a hundred meters, then get caught up in a clash when Hoja caught up, and the fight would start all over again.
To break it down in detail:
Tang Hwa-eun and Gun Hye-rin would clash with the leader of the Five Venoms Sect and push him back.
Then they’d fly over toward me and unleash a flurry of palm techniques on the enemies trying to block the banks on either side of the river.
Once the path was clear, I would advance with Seom and Byeok along the waterway—only for the two of them to be intercepted again by the Five Venoms Lord trailing us, and the whole battle cycle would repeat.
—THUD!
“Ghhhk!”
It happened again.
Gun Hye-rin collided with the Five Venoms Lord midair and was sent flying backward.
Her arm hung limp—struck hard by his palm technique.
As she was flung back, Tang Hwa-eun and Cho rushed in to block the Five Venoms Lord and Hoja from pursuing and unleashed dual palms.
—BOOM!
The Five Venoms Lord blocked the dual strike and burst out laughing.
“Hahaha! You bitches have some bite, don’t you? Good, good. Obedient prey is boring. Keep throwing your tantrums—see what it gets you.”
“Tch. Are you okay, Lady Gun?”
“I-I’m fine.”
Hwa-eun glanced back and asked. Gun Hye-rin grimaced but adjusted her stance.
Her expression looked really painful.
『Lady Gun, you’re not actually hurt, are you?』
I asked through the group chat, worried.
It seriously looked like a real hit.
You know when friends mess around and accidentally land a blow on the bone? It had that kind of expression.
『No. I was faking it. I concentrated my defensive internal energy at a single point to absorb the impact.』
“Hooh. That’s a technique?”
“Hehe. Do you forget who I am? I am the So-Cheonma, am I not? Of course I can handle something like this. It’s all just body control.”
I figured as much—Gun Hye-rin was full of surprises.
She’s not good at acting as my concubine in public, and her facial expressions often make me nervous—but when it comes to body acting? She’s a natural.
I was just marveling at her creativity and martial application skills when—
A new wave of throwing weapons suddenly rained down on me.
—Shing. Shing!
Those Five Venoms bastards on the bank were hurling projectiles again, so I quickly dove underwater.
—Swoosh. Splash-splash.
The weapons pierced the surface but quickly lost momentum.
They’d already tried jumping into the water twice without thinking.
After getting zapped by Seom and Byeok’s electric shocks, they’d learned their lesson. Now, every time I showed my head above the water, they’d just fire off darts or arrows from the banks.
They didn’t fully understand how electricity worked, but they definitely figured out that entering the water = death.
But without internal energy infused, those weapons lost all power the moment they hit the water. So they weren’t doing me any harm.
Heh. If you’re not infusing them with internal energy, don’t bother. You won’t even scratch me.
I thought smugly that no one below the level of a true expert could even graze me now.
Then—right after surfacing again—
I spotted some stronger-looking enemies emerging at the riverside. They shoved aside other warriors and picked up throwing weapons.
And then—bam—internal energy manifested visibly in their hands.
That meant they were masters. High-level enough to infuse their weapons with true qi.
Damn it! Spoke too soon!
I cursed my loose tongue.
I dove back under instantly, spreading my arms and body over Seom and Byeok to shield them.
Those attacks were definitely going to pierce the water—and I couldn’t let the kids get hurt.
So I used my whole body to shield them.
—Swoosh. Splat!
—Crackle. Pop-pop-pop!
The surface of the water rippled violently.
It sounded like beans roasting inside my entire body.
I braced myself for pain—expected to get seriously hurt.
But... strangely, it didn’t hurt.
Wait... I’m not in pain?
『So-ryong! Are you okay!?』
“Master, are you alright!?”
“Uh... I’m fine?”
“You’re fine!?”
I tore off my soaked, ruined shirt underwater—and saw the holes where the projectiles had pierced it clean through.
But my skin?
Fine.
Actually, my muscles looked... reinforced.
And I instantly realized why.
I had instinctively activated Iron Tortoise Art.
Ah! Iron Tortoise Art!
When I trained under the Murim Alliance Leader, he told me—if you can keep this art activated at all times, you’ve reached true mastery. But even if you can only activate it in moments of crisis, it still means you’ve stepped into the realm of ascension.
I had reached that state.
Just like Grandpa said—life-and-death moments are when martial artists grow. And it was true.
Nice!
Energized, I lifted my head above the surface again. The Five Venoms warriors were dumbfounded.
I couldn’t hear them clearly over Hoja’s deafening wingbeats, but judging from their lips, they were clearly stunned I had blocked internal energy.
Wait a sec... does this mean I can completely block qi attacks too?
I watched their mouths more carefully, and realized something important I hadn’t noticed before.
I always thought taking on Cheongwol’s trait just made my body harder, like hers.
But now that I’d been struck directly by weapons imbued with internal energy, and didn’t even have a scratch?
It wasn’t just resistance.
I was immune.
Even factoring in the water, those weapons were still wrapped in force that should’ve broken the laws of physics.
But they’d done nothing to me.
Which meant—I had inherited Cheongwol’s carapace ability.
This is basically invincibility.
Thanks to Cheongwol, I now had the same qi-blocking armor as the Ten-Thousand-Year Stone Armored Scorpion.
My whole body tingled with adrenaline.
I realized I really needed to practice martial arts more seriously from now on.
Gun Hye-rin was already a genius with incredible adaptability, and Tang Hwa-eun was keeping up with her.
Meanwhile, I was also in the Flower Realm, but lacked application and foundation. I hadn’t truly earned my place among the elite.
As a man, sure—if you’re strong in one department, that’s usually enough. But for the family’s honor, I knew I had to be stronger than Hwa-eun.
But now, with Iron Tortoise Art plus Cheongwol’s carapace?
I had acquired the ultimate defense in Murim.
And honestly, that made me feel like I didn’t even need to train that hard anymore.
If a fight broke out, I’d just turtle up, activate Iron Tortoise, and let them exhaust themselves.
Then all I’d have to do is counter with a burst of poison—like Cho’s venom, or Hwayang’s acid—with a clean hit from the Toad Explosive Palm.
That’d be enough for victory.
No matter the opponent—land one hit, wait a bit, and they’d poison themselves to death. Guaranteed.
“Oh damn—this is it. This is what you call true invincibility! I’m a tank, but I’ve got an instant-death DOT attack!”
Just as I was marveling at the fact that I had essentially unlocked an invincibility skill—
“Kyah!”
I heard Hwa-eun scream.
Whipping my head around, I saw her falling from the sky, separated from Cho, and crashing into the river below.
Cho followed right after her, also plummeting down.
『Whoa! That fall looked insanely real!』
I thought she was just inspired by Gun Hye-rin’s physical acting and had decided to give it her all. Hwa-eun was pulling off a full-performance dive, complete with her daughter for dramatic effect.
The kind of stunt performance that could fool anyone.
I praised her over the group chat—but then Gun Hye-rin’s urgent voice came in.
『T-That one’s real!』
“What!?”
I shielded my back from the rain of throwing weapons and swam as fast as I could toward the spot where Hwa-eun had fallen.
Underwater, Cho had already come to her senses. She lifted Hwa-eun from the depths and burst through the surface.
“Hwa-eun, are you okay? What about Hyangi? Hongdan?”
“Haa... Haa... I—I’m sorry, So-ryong. I slipped up. I didn’t expect him to know Penetrating Force. Are you two alright?”
Tssrrr. “Hyangi’s fine... but Mom...”
Hwa-eun clutched her chest, blood trailing from the corner of her lips.
Cho shook her wet antennae and spoke.
Tsssrrt. “Mom took the brunt of it, but the shock knocked all of us out of the air.”
Kiiii!
Hyangi and Hongdan seemed to be okay, but the attack must have used Penetrating Force—a strike that bypasses external defense. It likely pierced Hwa-eun and caused a ripple effect that sent all three crashing down.
Damn it—so I’m not completely invincible. Penetrating Force still exists...
Just when I was riding high on my new defense, this happened.
Still, I worried whether Hwa-eun could fight again when—
The Five Venoms Lord, having knocked Gun Hye-rin back, flew straight toward us and sneered.
“So this is the end? What an entertaining diversion.”
Just as he grinned, believing victory was at hand—
—WOOOOOOONG. WOOOOONG.
The buzzing of wings suddenly grew louder from downstream.
A familiar sound.
“They’re here!”
I shouted, elated. But the Five Venoms Lord just smirked.
“Looks like your fastest spirit beast—the Golden-Furred Wasp Queen—has arrived first. But so what? They’re mid-grade only in swarms. Individually, they’re low-grade trash. This ends before they matter. All units—attack!”
As he shouted for a full assault—
I sent a message through the group chat.
『Hwa-eun! Can you throw me at that bastard!?』
“Throw you?!”
“Hurry!”
“O-Okay!”
Without hesitation, Hwa-eun grabbed me and hurled me straight at the Five Venoms Lord riding on Hoja’s back.
As I flew toward him, I activated the energy of Iron Tortoise Art, charging both hands with the power of the Toad Explosive Palm.
『Gun Hye-rin! You need to knock that bastard off Hoja!』
“Got it!”
Gun Hye-rin responded—and then began pulling in all the ominous energy in the air from a high point above.
Her aura surged, dark and vast.
The Five Venoms Lord’s eyes went wide at the sudden shift.
“D-Demonic energy!?”
Until now, she had only circulated her power internally—but now Gun Hye-rin fully unleashed her demonic energy.
A black sun-like sphere formed around her.
As I closed in, the Five Venoms Lord seemed wary of my explosive palm, and swerved to avoid it.
“If it doesn’t land, it’s meaningless!”
He shouted, thinking that as long as he dodged, nothing would hit him—neither my strike nor Hye-rin’s technique.
But in the very next instant—
The black sun exploded into fragments, and Gun Hye-rin suddenly appeared behind him.
She had slipped out of Yeondu’s body and warped behind him as if by teleportation.
The black sun had been a decoy—while he was distracted by it, she had made her move.
Her fist was already at his back.
Grinning fiercely, she roared:
“Fine! Let’s see you dodge this! Heavenly Demon’s Infinite Fist!”
—CLAAANG!
The sound was like steel slamming into steel as her fist collided with his defensive internal energy.
“GAAAH!”
—CRAAAAAAASH!
Blood sprayed from his mouth as he was launched like a meteor into the riverbank.
At the same time, the Golden-Furred Wasp Kings locked in on Hoja.
Even without orders, they knew exactly who their target was.
—BWOOOOONG.
—BWOOOOOOOOONG.
I had worried that Hoja’s wings would emit a screech that would disrupt their assault.
I’d even considered attacking him directly just to silence that sound.
But it seemed their own wingbeats canceled out his frequencies—because the wasps shot in with no hesitation, surrounding Hoja completely.
“Everyone—latch on and release the heat!”
Startled, Hoja flailed in the air, snapping his jaws in every direction trying to crush the wasps.
But the moment one landed on his back, the others followed instantly, clinging to his body all at once.
In no time, a circular swarm ball formed around Hoja in midair.
He fell straight toward the riverbank, completely engulfed.
Even then, the Golden-Furred Wasps didn’t stop.
They spun wildly, creating a vortex of heat around him.
That swarm was surely releasing intense, suffocating heat.
BWOOOONG! BWONG! VRRRRR! BWOOOOOONG!
One of them screamed with joy.
“See that?! This is how the mouse takes down the elephant!”
What the Golden-Furred Wasp Kings were doing was a technique known as Bee Ball Defense.
A method used by certain Asian honeybees to kill massive hornets.
When a predator invades the hive, the bees cling to it and vibrate rapidly, generating intense internal heat.
They can collectively raise the temperature above 40°C.
The hornet’s upper heat limit is around 44–46°C.
But honeybees can survive up to 48–50°C.
Using that mere 2-degree difference, they cook their enemies alive.
So what if they’re individually low-grade?
Even the lowest-ranked in class can take down the top ten—that’s the beauty [N O V E L I G H T] of the insect world.
And with this spicy Fabre as their coach?
Victory was guaranteed.
