“As expected of the Alliance Leader’s successor!”

“You’re incredible, Young Master So!”

I was startled by the unexpected turn of events, but as the warriors continued praising me with admiration, I scratched my head and answered awkwardly,

“It’s... it’s a humble level at best.”

Clearly, because of the Beast-Heart Martial Art within the Five Poisons Returning to the Origin technique, Cheongwol’s poison or physical traits had somehow affected my Iron Shell Technique. But the Alliance Leader seemed to think I had achieved this through dedicated training.

I felt a bit guilty about it, but it wasn’t like I’d planned it—and in any case, it let me dodge a bullet. So I responded quickly.

In the end, what’s most important in life is quick thinking, right?

Whether in my past life as a streamer or my current life in Murim, improvisation has always been the key.

Then the Alliance Leader spoke in a satisfied tone.

“No need to be modest. Reaching the level of Seven Stars in less than a year is something to be proud of. There’s nothing more I need to teach you now.”

“Ooh, Seven Stars in under a year!”

“Seven Stars! He’s already reached Seven Stars in the Alliance Leader’s Iron Shell Technique!”

The warriors erupted in excitement, then quickly fell silent as they realized they were getting carried away.

The Alliance Leader continued.

“Seems I chose the right person. That little one over there looks tired, so go on and get some rest. Thanks to you, I had a truly enjoyable evening.

I believe you’ll do well, but if you ever need advice, feel free to come find me.”

He glanced at Unmirang as he said it—it was true, she had been dozing for a while.

Finishing his words, he stood and placed the bamboo hat back on his head, then turned away.

“Thank you for the meal and your wisdom.”

As I bowed behind him, the warrior who had guided me—and was part of the Alliance Leader’s guard—turned and returned the gesture. Then he left a whisper in my ear:

[My name is Iron Palm Jang Gil, Captain of the Tiger Dragon Guard under the Alliance Leader. If you ever return to the Martial Alliance, ask for me. I’ll take you straight to him.]

And just like that, the Alliance Leader and his group vanished.

Hwa-eun stepped up beside me, brushing my arm as she asked,

“So-ryong, °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° this definitely looks like Cheongwol’s poison or shell manifested because of the Beast-Heart Martial Art, doesn’t it?”

“Probably.”

“But why the shell and not the poison?”

“Exactly.”

“Hm. We should gather with Lady Cheongyu and Sister Seol to talk this through.”

“Let’s go now.”

It seemed Hwa-eun’s suspicion was correct, but the strangest part was still—why not poison, but a shell?

Just like she said, it would be best to sit down with Cheongyu and Sister Seol to discuss it.

“Pfft... puff...”

As we turned to leave, a strange puffing, snoring noise suddenly came from nearby.

“Hm?”

“Unmirang?”

We turned our heads, and there she was—Unmirang, head bowed in deep sleep, completely unaware that everyone had already left.

She had been nodding off the whole time and had now completely dozed off.

Having lived in the palace, Unmirang was used to a very strict routine. An all-nighter like this was clearly too much for her.

Hwa-eun carefully lifted her onto her back, and even in her half-asleep state, Unmirang mumbled,

“S-sorry... Miss...”

She still had the awareness to apologize.

Hwa-eun chuckled softly.

“Hehe. Poor girl must’ve been exhausted. Let’s go, So-ryong.”

“If she’s heavy, I can carry her.”

Even though she was a woman, she was one of us—so I offered to carry her just in case Hwa-eun was struggling.

But Hwa-eun quickly adjusted her hold and didn’t respond.

Still, as I thought about it, it might be a bit awkward to walk all the way back to the boat with her carrying Unmirang like that.

“What?”

Hwa-eun blinked like she hadn’t heard me right—then gave me a look of slight discomfort.

As if I’d said something wrong.

‘Wait, did I say something bad?’

Her stare made me flinch. Then she continued:

“So-ryong, I know you’re kind and thoughtful. But your kindness and care should only be for me. That means only I get to ride on your back. Got it?”

A declaration that her place was exclusively on my back.

Her face turned a little red, as if even she was embarrassed by her own words. But her expression was firm, and I quickly nodded.

“O-of course! Of course that’s how it should be! Uh... but what about Sister Seol?”

“...”

I said yes to only her riding on my back—but then immediately asked if Sister Seol was also off-limits.

I meant it logically. I mean, what if Sister Seol got sick while we were traveling? Someone would have to carry her, right?

But asking if Sister Seol was also included in the restriction clearly didn’t go over well. I got a sharp glare.

A glare I couldn’t quite interpret.

‘Was that glare because it’s allowed and I shouldn't have bothered asking? Or was it because it’s obviously not allowed?’

Unable to figure it out, my eyes just darted around uselessly.

***

As we went down to the first floor, the hallway was quiet—but the door was open.

Only when we stepped outside did we hear signs of life behind us.

Maybe they didn’t want to get involved with martial artists and purposely didn’t check who the guests were?

Or maybe, since the guest was the Alliance Leader, they kept things strictly private.

Either way, as we stepped into the night market, it was pitch-black.

The streets were completely shrouded in darkness.

We hurried toward the harbor.

Thinking back, we’d been gone too long. The kids and Sister Seol were probably worried.

“Sister Seol and the kids must be worried.”

“Ah! I completely forgot because of the Alliance Leader. Let’s hurry!”

As expected—when we arrived, Lady Cheongyu, Sister Seol, and the children were all standing at the dock, looking very worried.

They’d lit lanterns on the ship and waited for us.

—Shiaa! [Young Master So, what happened to Unmirang!? I woke up and you were gone, and when I asked Sister Seol, she said you two just went out to the market. But you still weren’t back, so we were getting really worried!]

“Hwa-eun, what happened to Unmirang? The kids were about to go out looking for her, and I had to talk them down. Did she get hurt?”

—Tsrrrk! [Daddy, what’s going on!? Auntie just told us to wait, and we were getting scared.]

—Kishit. Kishishi!

They were definitely worried.

I should’ve asked the warriors to send word to the boat—but meeting the Alliance Leader completely made us forget. That was on us.

“Sorry, everyone. You were all worried, weren’t you? It’s nothing serious. The three of us just went to the market, got something to eat, and—well, the Alliance Leader happened to be there. We couldn’t get away. Unmirang just fell asleep, that’s all.”

As Hwa-eun explained the situation and apologized, the people—and creatures—reacted with surprise and confusion.

“What? The Alliance Leader?”

—Shiaa? [The Martial Alliance Leader?]

—Kishit?

—Chii?

“He’s the old man who lives near where we dropped off the Dragon Fangs. We hadn’t seen him in a while, so he wanted to chat—and time got away from us. I’m sorry, everyone. You were really worried, weren’t you?”

As Hwa-eun explained and I joined in, things finally started to settle down.

But then came a wave of disappointed chirps—and what sounded like complaints aimed at Sister Seol.

—Siiia. [Sister Seol, see? You were wrong!]

—Tsrrrk. [Auntie, seriously, what gives?]

—Gguggwoo. [Auntie, that was misleading. You were wrong!]

“I, um, well...”

Sister Seol, flustered, could only stammer in response to the children's sharp little protests—despite not understanding a word of what they were actually saying.

For some reason, it felt like Sister Seol had become a national criminal. Tilting my head, I asked,

“What happened? Did Sister Seol do something wrong? The kids sound like they’re really blaming her for something.”

—Shii. [It’s because Sister Seol said something weird... Ahem...]

“Weird?”

I tilted my head at the mention of weird words, and that’s when Cho answered awkwardly, and Bini fired off bluntly.

—Tsruruu. [When we tried to go out and look for you, Auntie said you and Mom were... having a special time. That we shouldn’t bother you. That a baby might be made...]

—Tsrurut! [What the heck, Auntie! You said they were off making a baby! We waited so patiently!]

—Gyut! [A baby!?]

“What... What is this supposed to mean? Sister Seol? What exactly did Hwa-eun and I ‘make’? A baby?”

I looked to Sister Seol for an explanation, repeating what the kids had said. She scratched her head and answered,

“So-ryong and I made something!?”

“No, I just meant... you two were late, so I thought maybe you were off somewhere... losing track of time and enjoying yourselves...”

“With Unmirang?”

“Well, maybe she was standing watch or something...”

“Sister Seol!”

“Sister Seol!”

As soon as Hwa-eun and I realized what she meant, her sharp voice cut through the air, and Sister Seol quickly tried to bolt for the cabin.

“Ahahaha, kids, I guess that baby’s going to take a bit longer, huh? Oh dear, I’m sleepy. Auntie needs some rest!”

Maybe it was because Sister Seol was at that age where she was ready for marriage?

Lately, her thoughts seemed a little... spicy.

As she tried to flee, I chased after her and caught her by the cabin door.

“Sister Seol...”

She turned her head at the feeling of my hand on her shoulder, giving me a guilty look.

“Sorry, So-ryong. You two were late, so I just naturally assumed... Ahaha...”

She looked like she was about to go off into another spicy joke again, so I cut her off quickly.

If I left her unchecked, she'd definitely take it up a notch.

“No, not that. I actually wanted to talk to you about something—come here.”

“Oh? You want to talk? I said I was wrong—”

“No, it’s not about that. I want to talk about martial arts.”

“Hmm? Martial arts?”

When I mentioned martial arts, she blinked in confusion but followed me.

Hwa-eun passed by Cho and me and said,

“I’ll go lay Unmirang down.”

—Tsruruu. [Daddy, I’m sleepy. See you tomorrow.]

Then the kids’ sleepy mutters continued as they headed for the cabin.

—Gyut. [A baby...]

—Tsruruu. [Auntie’s a liar. But how do you make a baby?]

—Gguggwoo. [Uh, ask Father? Or... Mother?]

Looked like I’d be dealing with these questions for a while.

When I glanced at the culprit behind this mess, Sister Seol, she just gave me an awkward smile.

“Hehe.”

Rubbing my throbbing temple, I led her toward Cheongwol.

And from the moment I stepped onto the boat, Lady Cheongyu had been quietly following me.

“Lady Cheongyu, you too, this way please.”

—Shiaa. [Understood.]

“So what martial arts stuff are we talking about?”

I activated Iron Shell Technique and explained,

“I ran into the Alliance Leader earlier, and he asked how far I’d progressed with the Iron Shell Technique he taught me. So I showed him—and this happened.”

—Shiaa? [Wait, this is...]

“What the—? This looks exactly like Cheongwol’s shell!”

Both Sister Seol and Lady Cheongyu touched my body, now smooth and hardened, and examined the parts that had become similar to Cheongwol’s shell.

Then Lady Cheongyu spoke with a thoughtful look.

—Shiaa. *[When you learn Scorpion Tail Swift Kick, I thought it would just use Cheongwol’s poison. But I guess not. How did we miss this?

When you use Lizard Gecko Movement, climbing walls shows you’re gaining not just poison, but other abilities from the spirit beasts too, right?]*

And it made perfect sense.

When I used Centipede Poison Fang Claw, I could emit Cho’s poison from my nails.

Toad Explosive Palm borrowed Hwayang’s heat to create toxic energy in my palm.

So naturally, I assumed I was simply using the poisons of the registered venomous creatures. But Lizard Gecko Movement showed otherwise.

That one created a strange energy in my hands and feet that let me climb walls—it wasn’t poison-based at all.

Since the first two added poison effects, I had assumed it was all poison-related.

Then Sister Seol chimed in.

“Maybe it’s because you’ve mastered the Beast-Heart Martial Art. It must have evolved—not just using poison, but actually gaining individual powers from the spirit beasts.

And since it’s the original Beast-Heart, not a degraded version, it’s strong enough to influence even other martial arts.”

She guessed that the original Beast-Heart Martial Art was strong enough to affect not just the Five Poisons Techniques, but other martial arts as well.

Which now had me curious...

‘So what kind of powers will Snake Life-Seizing Hand and Scorpion Tail Swift Kick get?’

The only beast I hadn’t inherited abilities from yet was the Golden-Crowned Mantis King.

Would my legs become more flexible when I used kicks?

As I pondered this, Cheongwol suddenly growled warmly.

—Grrrng. [S-So-ryong... You look really, really cool.]

She clearly loved that I now resembled her.

***

It had been a while since I looked at the Iron Shell Technique manual.

To reach the level of Seven Stars, it said you had to vividly imagine the hardest thing you could think of and manifest it on your skin.

The Alliance Leader had imagined steel and manifested it, so when my skin hardened, he naturally assumed I had reached Seven Stars.

“So that’s why he misunderstood...”

While I wasn’t technically at the Seven Stars level, thanks to gaining Cheongwol’s toughness, I now had a defense strong enough to resist blades—if not quite inner energy-based attacks.

Since this martial art was now enhanced with Cheongwol’s power, I figured I really shouldn’t slack off with training.

That’s when a voice came from outside the cabin.

“So-ryong, the Dragon Fangs are returning.”

Upon hearing that the Dragon Fangs were back, I called out toward the deck.

“Once everyone’s back on board, let’s set sail.”

“Yes, Young Master So.”

As for martial arts... I’d think more about that later.

Now it was time to head for the vortex in Dongting Lake.

‘Eh, martial arts will sort themselves out somehow.’