Love Ballad of the Tyrant King

Chapter 102: Seolyoung, Achieves a Breakthrough

Dan Woobin, who had been silently observing everything until then, finally asked,

"But why did you request that?"

"You remember how Ban Yeo gave me the gauntlet earlier? I was curious if there was some connection."

"Do you think there is?"

Lee Jaseung nodded. To be precise, it wasn’t the gauntlet itself, but something related to the Limitless Iron Chest. He hadn't felt the need to bring up the iron chest to Dan Woobin just yet.

Lee Jaseung picked up a piece of paper from the floor and handed it to Dan Woobin.

"Withdraw the money and move it to our side."

"Understood. I’ll handle it immediately."

Dan Woobin took the paper and quickly left. Military funds were being steadily accumulated. It was a massive sum, but if war broke out, it would disappear in the blink of an eye.

Tens of thousands of fighters from the Black Way Alliance would need food, clothing, shelter, and weapons for months or even years. The costs were unimaginably high.

This is why even the Demonic Cult, Orthodox and Unorthodox Factions didn’t lightly wage war.

"Mook Young."

"Yes."

Responding to Lee Jaseung’s call, Mook Young appeared.

Lee Jaseung took out three Taiyi's Divine Pills from a box.

"Take one yourself, and give the other two to Mujin and Ma Young-gi."

"Thank you."

Mook Young received the pills with a joyful expression, without any hesitation. That was how effective the pill was.

Because it was an elixir that increased inner Qi, he didn’t give any to Dan Woobin. Even if he could have given one to boost even a little bit of inner Qi, the effect would have been too valuable to waste. Normally, the stronger the person, the more inner Qi they would gain.

Lee Jaseung could gain thirty years’ worth of inner Qi. Mujin, Ma Young-gi, and Mook Young could gain around twenty to twenty-five years.

Dan Woobin would not gain even five years. That’s why he wasn’t given one.

Seven Taiyi's Divine Pills remained.

Lee Jaseung consumed five of them on the spot.

Sssssss.

The five pills were quickly absorbed into his body. Normally, when multiple elixirs were consumed, their effects would be diminished.

He should have gained a hundred and fifty years of inner Qi, but Lee Jaseung only gained sixty years. Since he already possessed a large amount of inner Qi, there was a limit to how much more he could gain through elixirs.

At any rate, Lee Jaseung now had three hundred years of pure Yang inner Qi and one hundred eighty years of pure Yin inner Qi. Since they weren't combined in use, his maximum usable Qi at present was still three hundred years at max.

His gaze grew even clearer.

Lee Jaseung looked down at the box. Two Taiyi's Divine Pills remained.

He had someone in mind for them.

* * *

"What’s this?"

Baek Seolyoung widened her eyes as she looked at the Taiyi's Divine Pills. She immediately recognized it as an elixir that boosts inner Qi. Elixirs had a distinct scent.

"It’s Taiyi's Divine Pills."

After hearing the name, Baek Seolyoung was taken aback. She had taken one before, given to her by her father when she was young.

Since she had been so young, she hadn’t fully benefited from its effects, gaining about fifteen years’ worth of inner Qi, and even that was only possible thanks to her father’s support.

Thanks to that, she had ended up possessing around thirty years worth of inner Qi, far more than others her age.

And yet such precious pills were in front of her? Two at that.

"Where did you get them?"

"I got it as a gift."

"From who? I heard it’s extremely hard to get these."

As she examined the pill curiously, Lee Jaseung spoke abruptly.

"You take them. Both of them."

"What? Are you saying these are for me?"

He nodded.

"What about you?"

"I don’t need them."

"Seriously?"

"Don’t worry and just take them. You know I’m not the kind of guy who gives up my own stuff for others."

"Yeah, true that."

At her response, Lee Jaseung gave a slightly baffled look.

She simply looked down at the pills in silence. Ever since he spoke about his dream, and she had agreed to help him, the way he looked at her had deepened.

Could these Taiyi's Divine Pills also be connected to that dream? If so, then his sense of drive was truly incredible.

Yes, to achieve something great like that, you’d need this level of determination.

As she was lost in her thoughts, Lee Jaseung spoke in a teasing tone.

"What? Are you afraid I’m trying to poison you?"

Baek Seolyoung smiled faintly and raised her head.

"Of course not. I’m just overwhelmed by how grateful I am."

"In that case, I’m sorry."

"Why?"

"Because I’m giving them to you so I can really put you to work. And here you are being so thankful."

After laughing briefly, Baek Seolyoung asked seriously,

"Stop with the joke now. Why are you giving them to me?"

"The reason’s simple. I don’t want to see my wife getting beaten up somewhere."

Their gazes locked in mid-air. His eyes were like a deep abyss, unreadable. But she could tell at least one thing. His gaze was filled with kindness.

"Alright. If that’s your reason, I won’t refuse."

Baek Seolyoung sat down, took a deep breath, and held the pills.

"How do I take them?"

"Just swallow them."

"Both at once?"

He nodded. In his view, two pills were the most efficient amount for her. Any more would have diminishing returns, like giving one to Dan Woobin.

"I thought there’d be some elaborate ritual or something."

She swallowed one, then the second.

Her body flared up with heat. Though the Taiyi's Divine Pills was of the Yang type, it didn’t matter much even if a woman took it. As both pills dissolved at once, powerful inner Qi surged through her body.

Lee Jaseung placed a hand on her back.

A stream of his own inner Qi flowed into her. Feeling his presence made her relax, believing he would help guide this intense force.

But he didn’t.

Instead, Lee Jaseung’s Qi pushed the inner Qi of the Taiyi's Divine Pills roughly.

‘What is this? What are you doing?’

She panicked, but couldn’t speak as she concentrated on guiding the Qi within.

With Lee Jaseung’s added Qi, the speed of circulation through her meridians increased.

The blocked pathways were being struck forcefully. Pain surged through her.

Then his voice came, like a whisper in her mind.

— Endure it!

It was a harsh thing to say, but strangely, those words gave her strength.

The blocked Qi points were hammered harder. It felt like her whole body was being torn apart.

Thankfully, she had recently grown quite used to enduring pain.

She gritted her teeth and bore it.

Aaaaah!

She only screamed in her heart.

Wave after wave of pain hit her, and she endured it all. Lee Jaseung’s ruthless inner force only made it worse.

Just when it felt unbearable,

Boom.

Something burst inside her.

As the explosion hit, she lost consciousness.

Ting-a-ling.

To the sound of clear birdsong, Baek Seolyoung opened her eyes.

A face looked down at her, it was Lee Jaseung.

She was lying with her head resting on his lap under the shade of a tree.

"You’re awake?"

He asked, and she responded while still lying down.

"What happened?"

Instead of answering, he smiled.

Baek Seolyoung sat up. She gasped at how different she felt.

"Try standing."

She stood and was shocked.

"My body feels light."

Everything felt different. As if the heavy burdens on her limbs and back had been lifted.

"What on earth happened to me?"

Lee Jaseung replied with a bright expression.

"Congratulations. Your Ren and Du meridians have opened."

Baek Seolyoung’s eyes shot wide open. She was too shocked to speak.

The opening of the Ren and Du meridians was a phenomenon where two major Qi channels, naturally blocked from birth, become unblocked. It was something every martial artist dreamed of achieving.

When they opened, it was like entering a whole new world. Power surged, and Qi flowed smoother than ever before, making even difficult techniques easy.

The children of noble families sometimes underwent a procedure called expelling filth and purifying the inner body, where all their meridians were forcibly refined at a young age. But this process was so dangerous that both the practitioner and the subject could easily die.

That’s why her father never put her through it. He had only given her a single Taiyi's Divine Pill.

Yet now, she had opened her meridians by pure chance.

That wasn’t the only change.

"My inner Qi has increased a lot too!"

"Of course, you took two pills."

Her Dantian, once a small pond, now felt like a massive reservoir, filled to the brim with Qi.

She closed her eyes and checked her inner Qi. Originally, she had around thirty years worth.

"Gasp! I now have ninety years worth!"

She now possessed ninety years’ worth of Qi. The two pills had yielded their maximum effect.

Not just that, the opening of her meridians and the effect were thanks to Lee Jaseung’s help.

"Our road ahead is dangerous. We both need to get stronger."

She nodded, eyes full of determination.

"You don’t know how grateful I am."

Lee Jaseung gave a faint smile.

‘One day, you might end up hating me just as much.’

But he didn’t say that aloud.

Still dazed, she murmured,

"I don’t even know what I should do now."

"Train of course."

She let out a short laugh. How could he love training so much?

"Do I just keep doing what I’ve been doing?"

He nodded. Her training would naturally evolve. No one needed to teach her, she would figure it out herself.

"I need to go somewhere for a bit. I’ll be gone for about ten days."

He turned around, not wanting to linger and make it seem like he was fishing for gratitude.

"Where are you going?"

Without turning back, he walked off and said,

"To make some money."

Lee Jaseung had made up his mind to handle Ban Yeo directly. Or more precisely, to meet him.

Whether it was Jang Wonso or Ban Yeo, he didn’t need to blindly side with either.

Just because he got money from Sa Jo-pyeong didn’t mean he’d run off and kill Ban Yeo.

No way. That was never his intention.

He’d simply keep the one who was more useful. If necessary, keep them both.

And drain these rotten power brokers to the bone.

Just like they had done to others all this time.