When the long-awaited day finally arrived, Chen's face showed no sign of joy. His opponent, on the other hand, looked extremely confident—and that confidence was well earned. The man was a well-known spear master in the region. His name was Kang. Standing around 180 centimeters tall, with a well-balanced body that was neither bulky nor thin, he possessed a truly intimidating presence. However, Chen was no longer an ordinary person either. Thanks to months of relentless training, he had found the weapon that suited him best, integrated it seamlessly into his techniques, and come to fully understand both his strengths and weaknesses.
At Aka's signal, the fight began. Kang immediately lunged forward, unleashing rapid strikes with the tip of his spear. Chen evaded every one of them as if he had already seen them before. When he finally found his opening, he dodged past the spear and dashed forward, escaping the reach of its tip and attempting to sweep Kang's leg.
But Kang, whose years of experience had made his techniques flexible and refined, spun his spear through the air and slammed the tip downward in one swift motion, piercing straight through the inside of Chen's leg as he attempted the sweep. He then pulled the spear back out. Although the pain was intense—enough to make him writhe—Chen forced himself to retreat without breaking his composure. Even as Chen pulled away, Kang struck his chest twice with the spear tip, yet Chen still managed to create distance.
Chen's original plan had been to get close to Kang and overwhelm him using the gauntlets he had mastered. Unfortunately, Kang's experience completely shut down this simple plan. Still, Chen did not give up. He quickly devised another approach and began closing the distance once more.
Kang again attempted to injure Chen with the spear tip, but Chen somehow avoided the attacks and advanced step by step. Kang did not stop striking. Just as Chen seemed about to be hit, he stepped forward, grabbed the spear, and yanked it toward himself. Kang had not expected such a move and failed to break free, stumbling forward along with his weapon. Chen seized the opportunity, swept Kang's leg, and slammed him to the ground before raining punches down on him.
Kang, however, had no intention of surrendering. He grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and flung it at Chen's face, momentarily blinding him. Using that opening, Kang threw Chen off and reversed their positions, slamming him to the ground instead. Against a spear—even one covered in thorns—Chen stood little chance. Unable to dodge the barrage of spear strikes raining down on him, he quickly lost consciousness.
Kang considered being knocked to the ground an act of disrespect, and thus attacked with the intent to kill. Yet, in the middle of his assault, something happened that he could not comprehend. In an instant, he found himself flat on the ground, his spear no longer in his hands but held by someone whose face he could not clearly see. He began shouting in confusion.
Of course, Aka had noticed everything long ago. The moment he confirmed that Chen had lost consciousness, he intervened and stopped Kang. When Kang was reminded—despite having forgotten in the heat of battle—that his opponent was the eldest son of a village lord, he immediately shrank back in fear and froze in place. Aka shouted for the steward. The man arrived calmly, surveyed the state of the garden, then the young master, and finally Aka. After stating that he would inform the Lord, he left, taking Kang with him to the Lord's chamber.
Meanwhile, Aka had already administered and applied various medicines to Chen. Even so, it was obvious that he would need at least a full day of rest.
While Aka was meditating beside Chen, the door opened and Kang entered to speak with him.
"Greetings, Master Aka," Kang said. "I have now begun working at this estate. If you permit it, I would like to stay by the young master's side and apologize once he awakens."
"That's fine, Master Kang. Welcome to the estate," Aka replied. "May I ask something of you as well?"
"Of course."
"Would it be a problem for us to spar together when time allows?"
"Not at all. I was hoping to fight you myself. Your move this morning truly took my breath away."
"Thank you, Master Kang."
With that, the conversation ended. Aka quietly resumed his meditation while Kang sat and waited for Chen to wake up.
Chen opened his eyes once again on the soft silk bed and slowly sat up, glancing around. Two pairs of eyes were fixed on him—one belonging to his master, Aka, and the other to the man who had brought him to this state. After briefly checking Chen's condition, Aka respected Kang's request and stepped outside to wait by the door, leaving them alone. After some time, Kang left as well, and Aka returned to the room, now alone with Chen. He applied more medicine to ease Chen's exhaustion, and together they headed to the training grounds.
This time, Kang was present as well. Aside from Aka and Chen, there were no others. From Aka's perspective, it was clear that Kang had now become one of Chen's instructors—though Aka still held the higher position. When training began, Aka decided to do something unusual: without using any internal energy, he attacked Chen with his full physical strength.
Although Aka had warned him that he would be serious, Chen was shocked to witness his master's true power for the first time. Still, he was certain that Aka would never kill him and that everything he did was for Chen's own good. With that trust, Chen stood his ground and fought back with everything he had.
He managed to dodge several of Aka's attacks, but for every strike he avoided, Aka launched another—each one harder to evade than the last. Realizing this, Chen stopped trying to flee and instead decided to meet Aka's attacks head-on, countering at the right moment.
He took Aka's incoming punch directly with his forehead and countered with a kick to Aka's knee. Though only slightly affected, Aka reacted just enough for Chen to land his very first punch on his master. Even so, Aka endured the blow and sent Chen flying far away with his counterattack.
Of course, Aka had not been harmed by Chen's punch or the strike to his knee. Still, he deliberately gave Chen an opening and stepped back, unwilling to crush his disciple's confidence. Chen stood up and continued fighting Kang until nightfall, eventually collapsing unconscious once more after taking a powerful blow.
Aka ordered Kang to carry Chen back to his room, while he himself went to the workshop to inspect his experiments. Within a black liquid—created by mixing human remains with various herbs—he had submerged a deep crimson flower grown in the palace's ornamental garden. Taking a tiny piece of its petal, he placed it in his mouth. Nothing happened immediately, but as Aka meditated, he could clearly observe the poison slowly taking over his body.
As it passed through his throat and esophagus, the poison left fragments of itself everywhere it touched, each fragment expanding independently. Because it initially affected only the throat and took ten minutes to fully spread, it was ideal for assassinations. Satisfied, Aka named this marvelous poison Cough and moved on to his next experiment.
In the second test, he liquefied flowers previously used for antidotes and soaked the crimson flower within that solution. After consuming a small piece and meditating to observe the effects, the results were astonishing. This time, the antidote's influence spread slowly through every area it touched, yet reached its maximum effect in only five minutes. Aka believed this flower—and especially this enhanced antidote—could change fate itself. He named this medicine Miracle and proceeded to the final experiment.
Lastly, he took a flower he had gathered recently, one he knew nothing about. Its petals were mostly blue with yellow streaks, while its stem and root were red. He placed the entire flower into his mouth and chewed, observing through meditation. The result was surprising: nothing happened. Confused, Aka took some antidote and began testing systematically—first mixing it with the stem, then with the petals, and finally with both together.
When mixed with the stem, nothing occurred. When both were combined, still nothing. But when only the petals were mixed with the antidote, Aka realized that the antidote's effects were weakened. It seemed that the stem completely nullified most effects, while the petals partially suppressed them. Aka had never possessed such an effect-nullifying material before. Pleased with the outcome, he left the workshop.
If you've read or taken a look, thank you so much. If you have any thoughts — good or bad — please leave a comment. I'll probably see and reply right away. Thanks again, and I wish you a great day.