Kkiwoong?
As Dojin headed down to the first floor, Kkiwoong chased after him. Dojin lifted Kkiwoong by the finger, dangling him in the air.
“Where do you think you’re going? You should just sleep next to Master.”
Kkiwoong!
“Look at you, squeaking away.”
Dojin tossed Kkiwoong aside. Offended, Kkiwoong didn’t follow him anymore.
Dojin strode down to the first floor, brimming with confidence, and crossed the garden without hesitation.
Today was the last day.
General So had said that once today passed, he would give up, thinking, ‘The time to duel Kim Dojin hasn’t come yet.’
But that didn’t sit right with Dojin’s temperament.
It’s fine if Master worries about me, but I hate being seen as weak.
Dojin, who had been protected like a baby bird in Immortal Iri’s arms, finally made his decision.
He would prove to his master that he wasn’t young and weak—that he could even defeat the mighty General So.
He’d been watching for the right timing, and Immortal Iri had just departed for the True Mortal Realm. If not now, there would be no chance to prove his strength.
Bang!
Without a single second of hesitation, Dojin flung open the front gate of the rental shop.
“…….”
General So didn’t immediately charge the moment he stepped outside.
Dojin carefully closed the shop gate and walked down the alley. It was early evening, and since the fog that usually blanketed the alley had lifted, a few people out for walks could be seen here and there. Being near the rental shop, there were many Wia around as well.
The place Dojin arrived at was an empty lot that had once been planned as a park, but due to various human circumstances, only tall barricades had been erected, leaving it vacant for years.
He set up a barrier around the area and stepped inside the lot.
As he warmed up amid half-dismantled rebar structures and wooden pillars studded with nails—
“Uahahahahaha!”
A thunderous laugh echoed from all directions.
“I thought I’d never have to fight you, but here you are, walking right into it on your own!”
Puh-woong!
Amid five-colored clouds, General So appeared—his massive frame clad in golden armor, his long beard flowing. The first General divine spirit Dojin had ever seen was Yama King, who hadn’t felt particularly intimidating, more like an exhausted office worker. But this young General radiated such overwhelming vigor that even Dojin couldn’t help but admire him inwardly.
He stood well over two meters tall, thick not just side to side but front to back as well—so massive that even Dojin’s own large build looked small by comparison. His eyes bulged fiercely, his gaze sharp and savage, and a large scar at the corner of his mouth made him look all the more menacing.
His Dragon Horse was pure white, from its mane to its hooves. Iri had once said that General So’s Dragon Horse was the fastest in the True Mortal Realm. One glance was enough to know it was a superb steed—dignified and unyielding.
“So. You want to fight me too, do you?”
“If I don’t defeat you, my master will keep seeing me as young and weak for the rest of my life.”
Dojin met his gaze head-on.
“I’ll say this in advance—the result of this fight won’t be known just between the two of us. It’ll be made public. Do you agree?”
“Hahahahaha! Only announce it if you win. If word gets out that I defeated a young Jangsa like you, it’d be a humiliation instead!”
“Fine. Do whatever you want. What kind of fight should we have? Ssireum? Arm wrestling? Cockfighting? Or just barehanded brawling?”
“For teaching an arrogant brat a lesson, barehanded combat seems fitting.”
“That’s exactly what I want too.”
Dojin curled his lips into a feral grin. General So laughed as if incredulous. The next instant, neither waiting for the other, they charged.
If they’d been Taoists or Immortals, they might have exchanged introductions, strolled around with their hands clasped behind their backs, chatted about the world, and only then entered a duel. But a fight between a Jangsa and a General was brutally straightforward.
“Hrah!”
“Hmph!”
General So and Dojin clasped both hands together and began a contest of raw strength. The ground beneath their feet caved in. Their power was evenly matched, but General So’s hands were two knuckles longer than Dojin’s, and little by little, Dojin began to bend.
Sliding back, Dojin poured his inner force into a pebble caught under his toe and flicked it toward General So’s vital point. When General So bent his waist to guide the strike into his armor, Dojin used the resulting angle difference to drive his knee upward. But just before the knee could connect with his chin, General So released his grip and swept Dojin’s ankle.
Dojin skidded from the recoil, his ankle struck, staggering for a moment—but instead, he grabbed General So’s calf with one hand and hoisted him up, slamming him backward.
Boom!
General So’s massive body crashed into the ground, kicking up sand and dust with a deafening roar. Dojin immediately seized the opening and threw a punch, but General So dodged swiftly and chopped down on Dojin’s wrist with the edge of his hand. With his other hand, palm open, he struck toward Dojin’s face as if launching a palm wind. Dojin initially tried to retreat, then changed his mind—he let his chin take the hit and instead drove his knee up into General So’s abdomen. The golden armor warped.
Without exchanging a single word, the Jangsa and the General continued their fierce exchange. Dojin was more aggressive than defensive. Though he’d been the first to take a hit to the chin, he managed to land a punch squarely on General So’s jaw. In return, he took a knee to the abdomen.
As if he felt no pain at all, Dojin leapt high, mounted General So’s back, and locked his arms around his neck. General So grabbed Dojin’s ankle, which was wrapped around his waist, preventing escape, then slammed himself backward with a thud, collapsing onto the ground.
But instead of being crushed between General So and the earth, groaning in pain, Dojin was suddenly in front of him, sneering as he pummeled him with his fists. Realizing anew that this young Jangsa was one who could use Taoist arts, General So quickly rolled away.
Dojin pulled his fist from the ground, straightened his stance, brushed the sand from the back of his hand, and advanced. General So lifted the corners of his mouth, preparing to continue the exchange.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Had that voice not suddenly cut in, the fight would have gone on.
Startled, Dojin glanced behind General So. General So turned as well.
Immortal Iri stood there, a Dark One perched on his shoulder, staring at the two of them with a look of utter exasperation.
“Dojin. Did you really have to make all my efforts to avoid this fight completely meaningless?”
“I’m sorry, Master. But I wanted to show you that I’m not as weak as you think—”
“And you too, General So. If you had a complaint, you could’ve settled it leader to leader. Why are you having a strength contest with a young Jangsa?”
General So brushed the dirt from his armor and spoke with a crooked look.
“Your disciple told me himself that if he had grievances, he’d come find me. And I have no desire to fight someone like you. One flick from me, and it looks like your whole body would shatter.”
To the thick, massive General So, Iri must have seemed as fragile as a drifting dandelion seed.
Iri sighed and walked forward.
“Anyway, that’s enough fighting now. Looks like you’ve both landed a hit or two….”
“Immortal Iri. There is no such thing as a draw in a duel between a Jangsa and a General.”
“Then let’s say you won, General So.”
“What?! Why?! I was winning! I’m still full of strength! I dealt more damage!”
“Dojin, that’s enough now—”
As Iri reached out to pat his shoulder to calm the rampaging puppy, his hand suddenly stopped.
“…….”
“Master?”
Iri looked up at Dojin silently, then tilted his head. The Immortal extended his arm and caught Dojin’s chin, tipping it downward.
There was a scrape on Dojin’s chin.
As Iri stared at the abrasion beaded with red blood, he abruptly turned around.
“General So. You injured my disciple’s face.”
“Immortal Iri, that is what a fight between Jangsa entails. Do you not see the wounds on my own face? Now stop interfering and step aside. I have no desire to harm the weak.”
As General So frowned and issued a dismissal, Iri calmly lifted the corner of his mouth.
“Do I look that weak to you….”
“Immortals are pitiful beings with nothing to boast of except Taoist arts, and I am immune to such arts. How could you not look weak to me?”
“I see. Then I suppose I’m curious too—just how strong that innate immunity of yours really is.”
General So, about to retort, froze. A strange sense of dissonance washed over him. With trembling eyes, he looked down at his palm. The thick flesh of his hand was shrinking away, wrinkles forming. His once-straight spine bent like a reed.
The beard he’d taken pride in turned white, then fell out in patches, leaving him pitiful-looking. His vision blurred, his knees ached so badly he couldn’t stand. As his bones were crushed under the weight of his heavy armor, he struggled to remove it—and noticed age spots blooming across the backs of his hands and wrists.
He was aging.
Rapidly, violently aging.
As General So trembled and dropped to his knees, the Dragon Horse he’d tethered nearby let out a neigh and trotted over.
The finest steed of the True Mortal Realm gently bumped its muzzle against General So’s deeply wrinkled face, then clopped over to Iri.
Hii-iiing.
As if acting cute, the white horse brushed its mane against Iri’s lowered arm and licked the back of his hand. Iri smiled bitterly.
“Alright.”
At that word, General So’s body reverted to normal. Still kneeling, he frantically checked himself over.
A mountain-like build, thick hands, a magnificently groomed beard.
Everything was as it should be. The white horse whinnied and hurried back to him, licking his face.
“Hahaha…….”
General So laughed hollowly.
“I can’t believe it……. So that was Taoist art?”
Iri did not answer.
