Chapter 18: Peak Master (1)

The morning dawned.

As in previous regressions, the three-tailed fox as large as a house, the supposed ruler of this forest, came to visit us.

I bowed simply to the fox and offered my arm, proposing as tribute..

During this, a curiosity struck me.

'Would I see red lines on the fox?'

As the fox drooled over my arm, I activated the vision of a peak master

I then witnessed a terrifying sight.

Red everywhere!

The whole world around me was covered in red!

“Huh, gasp...!”

If humans had shown me trajectories in the shape of lines, the fox was different. From the center of its forehead, a crimson light engulfed everything around.

It wasn't just lines.

It was more than a surface; it was a three-dimensional form, with the red light devouring the surrounding space.

'I can't win.'

Acknowledging the fox's red light, its 'domain', I could only extend my arm in awe.

Crunch, crunch!

Even as the fox chewed off my arm, I could only groan in astonishment, observing its domain.

'What is this? How can space be filled with red light like this?'

I couldn't understand.

What kind of creature was this?

And then, a few days later, the arrival of cultivators made me wear an astonished expression again.

'Red!'

The three monsters who came to retrieve Jeon Myeong-hoon, Oh Hyun-seok, and Kang Min-hee were similar to the fox, with red light emanating from them, engulfing the space around.

That's when I understood the difference between cultivators and martial artists.

'In martial arts, at best, their paths and intents form lines. But with cultivators, for some reason, their intents take over the entire space.'

I imagined fighting those cultivators in a space dominated by their red light.

'I can't win...'

I understood why even the lowest cultivators were on par with a peak master.

Even without actual combat experience, if they can dominate space with their intents like that, it's impossible for a peak master to read a cultivator's intentions.

Conversely, within their dominated space, a cultivator would know everything like the back of their hand.

It was a complete mismatch in terms of compatibility.

The next day, after they took my colleagues, I seized the opportunity to ask Sea Dragon King Seo Hweol, who came for Deputy Manager Oh Hye-seo.

"I have a question for Lord Sea Dragon King."

[Hmm, what is it?]

After briefly explaining what I saw, I asked about the cultivators' red territory.

Seo Hweol laughed and explained to me.

[Cultivators all possess something called 'divine consciousness’ (識). Ordinary mortal’s consciousness doesn't extend beyond their brain, but cultivators can extend it to cover the surrounding space, allowing them to know anything they wish. I, as a spiritual creature, have the same ability. Is this answer sufficient?]

"Thank you."

Since our conversation was in the language of Yanguo, Kim Young-hoon and others seemed to not understand.

Shortly after Seo Hweol left, a hunchbacked grotesque figure appeared to take Manager Kim away, pushing me and Kim Young-hoon into a spatial rift.

I lost consciousness again.

Splash!

"…!"

Gurgling, bubbling!

I suddenly found myself engulfed in a current, snapped to my senses, and struggled.

'What's this, this is...'

It was underwater.

Gulp, gulp!

Regaining my senses, I swam towards the light above.

Having learned to swim decently in my past life while hunting water bandits, I had no problem swimming.

"Puff, damn it. Last time it was a tree, now it's underwater. What variety."

It was likely Yanguo again, but the problem was I was randomly dropped somewhere in Yanguo.

Looking around, it was a large lake.

'Wait, where's Kim Young-hoon?'

While scanning the surroundings, I suddenly looked down into the lake.

I saw Kim Young-hoon with bubbles escaping his mouth, sinking below.

'Damn, he'll die if I leave him!'

I quickly swam down, lifted Kim Young-hoon, and swam back to the surface.

On the shore, I laid Kim Young-hoon down and used acupressure to force the water out of his lungs and stomach.

Sploosh!

Kim Young-hoon spat out water from his mouth and nose and seemed to regain consciousness after a while.

"Huh, gasp! Where is this!"

"We're completely somewhere else."

After briefly explaining the situation to him, we surveyed our surroundings.

"Hmm, judging by the location, this must be Chicken Head Lake (鷄頭湖)," I mused.

The lake was named so because, from above, it resembled the head of a chicken.

After four lifetimes, there was no place in Yanguo I didn’t know.

Nearby should be Changho City.

"Uh, ugh... What do we do? If we've fallen completely somewhere else... Are there any people around?"

"It seems so. Look, there's a building over there."

"Oh, really?"

I pointed to a waterborne building erected at the corner of Chicken Head Lake.

"I can swim, so I'll go to that building and borrow some clothes, money, and food."

"Wait, will they understand you?"

"Actually, I’ve learned Chinese, and it seems to work well enough. I'll teach you later."

After making an excuse, I swam towards the building.

If my memory serves me right, this building was...

'The den of Chicken Waterway Fort (鷄湖水路砦).'

A place I had raided in my past life.

The head of Chicken Waterway Fort was a late first-rate master, and the vice leader was mid first-rate. The other four major bandits seemed to be barely first-rate.

The rest were insignificant, mostly between third and second-rate.

Still, I had to previously use poison due to their numbers.

Splash, splash!

A few second-rate water bandits, keeping watch at the den, shouted upon seeing me.

"Hey! Who are you, man!"

"Haha, who’s this crazy guy? Swimming to Chicken Waterway Fort?”

"Hahaha, is he trying to join the Fort or what?"

"Looks like a newbie!"

Hahaha—

I ignored their remarks and slowly approached the building.

Then, one of the bandits started to lower his trousers.

"Hahaha, hey newbie. If you want to enter the main house, you have to undergo hazing!"

Drip, drip—

A yellow stream accompanied by a foul smell came towards me.

Droplets of the yellow liquid splashed on my head.

The guy aimed directly at my head, trying to hit me with it.

Splat, splat.

Calmly taking the hit, I climbed up Chicken Waterway Fort.

But...

Thump, thump!

"How dare you come up here! Won’t you go back down?"

"Man, hurry up and take the holy water baptism from the brother! Hahaha!"

The low-ranked bandits pushed me with wooden sticks, trying to push me back into the water.

I ignored their attacks and eventually made it up to the Fort.

"Damn it, I told you not to come up..."

A bandit with a wooden stick charged at me.

Whack!

"Krr... Aaargh!"

I kicked his ankle at an invisible speed, knocking him down.

"Hmm, decent enough."

I picked up the wooden stick he dropped, weighed it in my hand, and held onto it.

"First, you. How many have you killed in Chicken Waterway Fort?"

"You, you damn bastard. I've killed more than fifty with my own hands..."

Thwack!

I didn't wait for his full response and swung the stick, beheading him.

"Next, you guys. How many have you killed so far?"

"What, what the hell is he doing!"

Swoosh, swoosh!

The remaining bandits drew their swords without hesitation and charged at me.

"Seeing no hesitation in your stabs, you must have killed a lot."

Swoosh, swoosh!

I swung the stick again, cleanly slicing the charging bandits and dropping them into the water.

"Ugh, ugh... Wait a minute..."

The last one left was the bandit who had urinated on me.

"I'm a newbie in Chicken Waterway Fort! I haven’t killed anyone yet..."

"The others called you brother."

"Please, spare..."

Whoosh!

Swoosh!

I cleanly cut him from his lower parts to his head.

Splat!

After washing off the dirty urine with the blood of the bandits, I entered deeper into Fort.

Bandits were wildly smoking cigarettes and drugs, drinking, and playing with women.

The women, mostly captured, were tied up and bruised.

"Haha, what's that?"

A bandit noticed me covered in blood and rubbed his eyes.

"What, what’s this?"

"What kind of guy is this?"

"Hey, grab your weapons. Looks like we have a guest."

Though drunk, they were used to killing people and naturally took positions with their weapons.

"There’s no need to ask about those inside."

Woosh—

I infused the wooden stick with sword energy.

"Die, all of you."

"What are you doing? Welcome the guest!"

"Yaaahhhh!"

"Hehehehe!"

From the front, above, and both sides, the water bandits each holding a weapon, rushed towards me.

I entered the vision of a peak master.

Red lines were prevalent all around.

Those lines were the trajectories of attacks aimed at me.

'So this is what it feels to be at the peak.'

It felt somewhat ludicrous.

Knowing in advance that none of them could touch me.

I closed my eyes.

For facing such people, sight was unnecessary.

With my eyes closed, not listening to any sound, not paying attention to touch.

Focusing only on the red lines, I raised the stick in my hand.

"First move, Transcending Peaks."

Swoosh!

Bending my waist, I dodged the weapons of the first three, then swung my sword horizontally, bisecting them.

"Second move, Entering Mountain."

Switching to a lower stance, I cut off the legs of five bandits charging from around.

"Third move, Ascending Vein."

In the lower stance, I adjusted my grip on the sword and swung upwards.

Then, using the Transcending Peaks Step, I leaped into the middle of the bandits and swung my sword again.

Transcending Peaks, Entering Mountain, Ascending Vein

Continuously using these three basic techniques, I avoided the red lines and extended my sword energy in the direction the blue lines indicated, cutting them all down.

"Transcending Peaks, Entering Mountain, Ascending Vein."

"Ascending Vein, Entering Mountain, Ascending Vein"

"Transcending Peaks, Ascending Vein, Entering Mountain.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

With minimal movement, I cut down all the bandits.

When no more red lines aimed at me were visible, I opened my eyes to find a sea of blood around me.

"Urgh...argh...arghh..."

Looking to one side, the leader of Chicken Waterway Fort was writhing, trying to crawl out.

'From my memory, he was a late first-rate master.'

Among those I had recklessly cut down, he was one of them.

"Hey."

I approached the nearly dead leader and spoke to him.

"I, I, peak, peak master...! Spare, spare me..."

"Hey, I have one question for you. How long have I been fighting in this place?"

"A-about one moment..."

"Alright. Thanks. Die."

"Wa, wait. The money, where I hid it..."

Swoosh!

I didn't wait for his answer and beheaded him.

"I already knew where you hid your private funds from my last visit."

Leaving the leader's head, I freed the tied women and went to the prison, releasing those who seemed to be captives.

"Th, thank you, great hero!"

"Thank you for avenging us against those damn water bandits!"

I nodded to the captives and women thanking me and went to the leader's room to take out two of the most decent-looking sets of clothes.

Then, I broke the wall of the leader's room and took out a small wooden chest containing his hidden funds.

When I opened the chest, there were three silver ingots inside.

"He was a thrifty bandit."

I changed out of my bloodstained clothes into the leader's clothes and boarded a rowboat attached to the Fort.

"Gr-great hero. If you could tell me your name or title, I will surely repay you."

"Hmm, name or title..."

When one of the freed captives asked, I pondered, scratching my head.

'I haven't regressed for long, so I didn't spend much time yet...'

After a moment of thought, I brought up the title I used in my past life.

"My title is Infinite Fighting Monster. That's all you need to know."

"Th, thank you, great hero! I will surely repay you someday..."

"I understand~ I'm off then, so make sure you all get out safely."

To avoid any further hassle, I rowed the boat back to the lakeshore.

Kim Young-hoon was waiting for me there.

"Oh, you changed your clothes?"

"Yes, the owner was kind enough to give them to me. I told him our situation, and he even lent us money. Such a simple and kind person, it's refreshing to see such countryside generosity."

"Hahaha, we should thank the owner. I couldn’t see the house well from afar, but what kind of place was it?"

"Hmm... As far as I heard, it's like a... something made by local fishermen. A place made for easier fishing, something like that."

"Is that so? That's quite interesting..."

I half-listened to Kim Young-hoon, and together we headed towards the nearby Changho city.

'In my past life, it took about a day to raid Chicken Waterway Fort and annihilate them.'

That too involved pre-poisoning them and setting fire to Chicken Waterway Fort to kill as many possible with carbon monoxide poisoning.

Even with all that, it took a day to annihilate them.

But now, fighting in the Pinnacle Realm, I wiped them all out in just a moment.

'All that with just a wooden stick.'

That was the difference between peak and first-rate.

'In my previous life, as a first-rate warrior, I obtained things suitable for first-rate. Now as a peak master, I can obtain things befitting a peak master.'

It hadn't been long since I regressed.

But this life seems more promising than any previous one.