Chapter 165. Inside the Cave (1)
“You’ll be training here.”
The Three Venerables brought Kang Yujin to a cave east of Shanghai.
It was the same place where Ma Taesu... no, Yang Jian disguised as Ma Taesu, had brought him before.
“This cave is a place where the energy of the earth gathers. It’s ideal for training.”
“There’s a reason Chairman Jin often came here to circulate and regulate his qi.”
“It’s quiet, so all you need to do is stay here and focus on training.”
Listening to the Demon Venerable, Sword Venerable, and Fist Venerable, Kang Yujin looked around the cave again.
It certainly was quiet.
The path leading inside was narrow, but the interior itself was spacious enough that training wouldn’t be difficult.
Still, he was a little worried about how difficult it would be to leave and how completely cut off he would be from outside events.
“What about meals?”
“See that refrigerator Chairman Jin used?”
The Fist Venerable pointed.
“Ma Taesu packed it full of food.”
"..."
Just as she said, there was a refrigerator connected to a generator.
Seeing a modern appliance sitting alone inside a cave felt strangely out of place.
“What about the bathroom...?”
“Go that way and you’ll find a bottomless cliff.”
The Fist Venerable waved her hand.
“Use that.”
“Hmm...”
“And don’t get any funny ideas about leaving. You’re staying here until your training is finished.”
"..."
Apparently, the Three Venerables had no intention of letting Kang Yujin out of this place.
“Now then, let’s begin.”
The Demon Venerable stroked his beard.
“We don’t have much time, so this training will be even more intensive than last time.”
“More than last time?”
“That’s right.”
The previous training had already been brutally difficult.
And now it would be worse?
“Kang Yujin.”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to become stronger?”
“I do.”
“You must never lose again.”
The Demon Venerable repeated what he had said before.
“To ensure that, you need to become stronger.”
“So... train hard.”
“Understood.”
It seemed Kang Yujin needed to brace himself.
The fundamentals were the same as before.
The Demon Venerable showed Kang Yujin various illusions and trained him to sharpen his senses within them.
The Sword Venerable focused on teaching him how to control internal energy, helping him practice until he could use it more efficiently.
The Fist Venerable examined every movement Kang Yujin made and forced him to relearn the fundamentals of martial arts from the ground up.
“Now, eat this.”
“This is... a Great Spirit Pill, isn’t it?”
What the Fist Venerable handed him was the same Great Spirit Pill he had received from Liu Zhenping before.
It was one of the Black Dragon Society’s signature spiritual elixirs, capable of rapidly increasing internal energy the moment it was consumed.
“There are this many...?”
Inside the box were six Great Spirit Pills.
“I’m supposed to eat all of these?”
“Yes. The effects become weaker after repeated use, but six of them should still increase your internal energy considerably.”
“I was getting hungry anyway. Perfect.”
Kang Yujin reached out.
Smack!
The Fist Venerable slapped his hand away.
“Why did you hit me?”
“Brat, don’t tell me you were planning to eat them all right now.”
“Am I not supposed to?”
“Fool!”
The Fist Venerable suddenly shouted.
“Are you trying to fall into qi deviation?! How could you eat all of them at once?!”
“You should have told me that first.”
“Whether it’s a spiritual elixir or cold medicine, you don’t overdose on medicine!”
“I’ll just eat one, so please stop nagging.”
“Look at this brat...”
Kang Yujin unwrapped one Great Spirit Pill and chewed it.
The sensation was definitely weaker than the first time.
Even so, he could directly feel his internal energy increasing.
“Then how am I supposed to take the rest? One per day?”
“Hmm... probably?”
“Wait. Why do you sound unsure?”
“Well, no one in the Black Dragon Society has ever had several of these sitting around and eaten them one after another.”
The Fist Venerable scratched her cheek.
“Usually, someone takes one, then several months or even more than a year passes before they get another.”
"..."
“But we don’t have time, so let’s go with one per day.”
“Are you using me as a clinical trial?”
“Brat, don’t you want to become stronger?”
“The Demon Venerable already used that line earlier.”
“Tch. Insolent brat.”
Kang Yujin was starting to wonder whether continuing to train under these old people was actually safe.
The afternoon of the third day of training inside the cave.
Kang Yujin had eaten his third Great Spirit Pill and was wondering, Is this really okay?, because his stomach was starting to churn.
That was when the Demon Venerable called him over.
“Come here.”
The Demon Venerable led him to Jin Gahui’s study.
“There are a lot of books, aren’t there?”
“Are all of these martial arts manuals?”
Could reading them allow him to learn new martial arts Skills?
Kang Yujin’s eyes lit up with expectation.
The Demon Venerable looked at him as if he were an idiot.
“Martial arts manuals? Can’t you distinguish reality from martial arts novels?”
"..."
“You think reading a secret manual suddenly lets you use a new martial art? Nothing like that exists, so stop getting excited.”
“Then what are all these books?”
“Just things Chairman Jin read when he was bored.”
The Demon Venerable shrugged.
“There are even erotic books.”
"..."
Since translation items didn’t translate written text, Kang Yujin couldn’t read the book titles anyway.
“But.”
"...?”
“Hmm. It really is here.”
The Demon Venerable pulled one item from the shelf.
“What is it?”
On closer inspection, it wasn’t really a book.
It was a binder designed to hold documents.
“Talismans.”
“Talismans...?”
“I made them and gave them to Chairman Jin.”
The Demon Venerable flipped it open.
“But since he never used them, I suppose I can just take them back.”
Several yellow paper talismans covered in red writing were stored inside plastic sleeves.
“If you put a price on them, each one would be worth several hundred million Coins.”
“What?”
“They’re that valuable.”
The Demon Venerable handed the binder over.
“So only use them carefully when you truly need them.”
“Senior...”
Kang Yujin stared blankly at him.
The Demon Venerable stroked his beard and nodded.
“Unlike the Sword Venerable or Fist Venerable, I’m not a Contractor who specializes in physical attacks.”
“So I should help you with things like this.”
“Training inside your illusions already helps me a lot.”
“Is that so?”
The Demon Venerable smiled.
“Then I’m glad.”
“To be honest, I was a little worried.”
“Worried?”
“Yes.”
