Once again, the sound of the alarm rang out.
Soohyeok immediately opened his Force Status window.
***
[Force Status]
Name: Yang Soohyeok
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Level: 13
Class: Martial Artist (武人)
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Karma: Excessive (過)
Strength: 33
Agility: 35
Stamina: 37
Wisdom: 35
Willpower: 43
Special Notes: Karma level is extremely high relative to age and racial baseline.
Body purification at 70%. Efficiency increases when using techniques involving Qi.
Ren and Du meridians are open. Real-time internal energy (Qi) regeneration and usage efficiency are doubled relative to base stats.
Unified Body and Mind: Internal energy is divided among dantians. The more densely packed the dan-tian used, the more powerful the output. Currently, lower dantian at 100%, middle dantian +70%, upper dantian +150%.
***
It was natural that his stats had increased with his level.
However, there was a distinct difference this time.
First of all, his Wisdom had risen sharply.
In fact, Wisdom as a stat always felt a bit ambiguous.
Did higher wisdom make Soohyeok smarter?
Did it improve his cognitive ability or comprehension? If asked, Soohyeok would shake his head.
The stats shown in the Force Status window weren't abstract notions like "being smarter."
Instead, they each clearly brought intuitive and practical effects.
Just like Strength, Agility, and Stamina.
After much consideration, Soohyeok concluded that Wisdom was directly linked to Qi — internal energy.
It clearly affected his ability to control Qi and possibly his rate of recovery.
And indeed, even with only the Ren and Du meridians open, Soohyeok's Qi regeneration rate was unusually fast.
He could clearly feel the benefits increasing as his Wisdom grew.
That gave him confidence in his assessment.
As for Willpower — unlike Wisdom, its growth had noticeably slowed.
He found it odd, but not disappointing.
It likely had its own practical effect as well — one he hadn't discovered yet.
And he was sure that once he encountered the right situation, it would naturally increase.
Soohyeok decided to set aside his interest in Willpower for now.
Instead, he turned his attention to the newly listed special trait: Unified Body and Mind.
Once again, he found himself impressed by the Force System.
"It's surprisingly accurate."
The middle and upper dantians, compared to the lower, had far less Qi — but much greater power.
And the power boost percentages matched exactly with what Soohyeok had experienced in practice.
At the moment, the amount of Qi stored in his middle and upper dantians was too little to rely on in real combat — but if used strategically, it could deliver immense power.
"With this, I've finally taken a proper first step."
Heaven and Earth Unified Divine Art .
One of the martial arts that had once symbolized him during the Hwan Continent era — had been regained.
Now it was time to reclaim the second — a movement technique.
***
The scorching sun, the sandy terrain — a desert-like environment that even seasoned hunters preferred to avoid.
Many monsters dwell in desert-type worlds.
Among them, the one that appears most frequently in Grade-3 portals is the Gherra — a mole-like creature with a blunt head lacking eyes, nose, or mouth, instead featuring shark-like serrated teeth and long, sharp claws.
Though portal worlds differ slightly, these Gherra are nearly always the same: burrowers who ambush hunters from beneath the sand.
While not particularly strong as Grade-3 monsters, they're infamous for how troublesome they are.
Sharha thought the 8th squad would struggle with them since it was their first encounter.
But she was completely mistaken.
More precisely — today's Soohyeok was overwhelming.
He was slaughtering the Gherra like a child at a whack-a-mole game, swinging his metaphorical mallet and smashing heads as they popped up.
Gherra had incredibly tough hides.
Even Soohyeok had never taken one down with a single hit before.
Today was no different — at first.
At first, he simply dodged and countered with speed, toppling them one by one.
Then, at some point — in the blink of an eye — his movements became dramatically faster.
At the same moment, Soohyeok's fist pierced straight through a Gherra's chest.
***
"Iron-Breaking Fist Art – Final Move: One Thought Penetrates the Mountain "
A punch focused through complete mental concentration can pierce even stone in an instant.
It was the most domineering technique of the Iron-Breaking Fist Art — the Final Move.
Something only made possible because of his middle dan-tian speeding up his movements, and upper dan-tian concentrating the blow.
If he had used only his lower dantian's Qi, this would've been impossible.
It was a terrifyingly powerful strike — but the Qi in his upper dan-tian was completely drained in a single moment.
"As expected, there's still too little of it."
Fortunately, his middle dan-tian still had some reserves left.
Soohyeok began accelerating its Qi flow, preparing to unleash the Eightfold Taiji Steps — a movement technique he still hadn't fully mastered.
His companions were left stunned.
"Soohyeok-ajusshi is on another level today."
"I can't even think about keeping up with him."
Even Baek Iyeon and Jin Changhyuk could clearly feel the difference.
For Sharha, the change was unmistakable.
"His movements are more refined. The efficiency of his Qi has improved."
Especially during One Thought Penetrates the Mountain — the Final Move.
The moment it landed, Sharha's own foot involuntarily twitched forward.
She wanted to experience it firsthand.
He couldn't fully gauge its power just by watching it.
Who would believe that Soohyeok, just a trainee, had obliterated the heart of a Grade-3 monster Gherra with a single blow? Even those who thought highly of Soohyeok would likely think it a joke.
"And that footwork…"
It was special.
The way he quickly detected hidden Gherra using his Qi was already astonishing — but what came next, when he deliberately forced them to leap up from underground, was beyond shocking. It was practically mystical.
Soohyeok's movements had always been exceptional, but this was on a whole new level.
It looked almost like he was casting magic.
But Soohyeok paid no attention to the stares from Sharha, Baek Iyeon, or Jin Changhyuk. He was fully immersed in the fight.
As a Gherra burst out of the sand, the Qi flowing through Soohyeok via his Heaven and Earth Unified Divine Art formed an invisible Taiji (Tai Chi) symbol.
And Soohyeok stepped within that circular symbol.
Three steps total.
But to others, it appeared as if he had only taken one.
Swoosh—!
He gazed calmly at the Gherra lunging out — and took another step.
Eight steps in all.
At the moment he completed those eight mysterious steps, a new alert chimed in Soohyeok's head.
***
Ding—!
Legendary Discovery.
Secret Martial Mastery.
You have learned the SS-Rank martial art: Eightfold Taiji Steps .
***
It was the moment he had perfectly executed another martial art classified as a Secret Mastery.
Soohyeok's fingers, now flowing with the mystic rhythm of the Eightfold Taiji Steps, tapped across the massive body of the Gherra.
The gentle, almost playful touch of his fingers — combined with the swift transformations of the Taiji Steps — scrambled the creature's entire nervous system.
Then, Soohyeok took one more step and casually passed by the frozen Gherra.
In that instant, its body twisted unnaturally — then exploded with a violent bang, spraying blood in all directions.
Soohyeok glanced sideways at the result and gave a slight nod.
Plague-Burst Demon Finger , Exploding Blood Technique .
"It hit perfectly."
Compared to the other techniques Soohyeok had learned, Plague-Burst Demon Finger was a tier lower — a B-rank martial art.
As a demonic art, it had tremendous destructive power. But its core method — planting Qi like explosives throughout the enemy's body — was overly complex and inefficient.
To use it properly, the user either had to be fast enough to overwhelm the opponent, or stealthy and precise enough to avoid detection — which made it unreliable in many real combat situations.
But when combined with the Eightfold Taiji Steps, the story changed.
The Taiji Steps had such mystical effectiveness that even higher-level masters had trouble tracking its movements.
And if Soohyeok could even slowly implant explosive Qi into the enemy's body, the resulting power would be tremendous — even with a relatively small amount of internal energy.
With this combination, he could now face opponents a full tier above his level and still seize the upper hand.
He had now clearly stepped into the realm of a first-rate master.
Right now, he wouldn't fear even a tiger barehanded.
He had achieved what he set out to do.
Sure, his middle and upper dantians were already emptied shortly after entering the portal — but that didn't matter.
"It's refilling quickly anyway."
With the Ren and Du meridians open, and many bodily impurities expelled, the increased Wisdom had awakened further Qi abilities.
Even in the middle of combat, if he held out using only his lower dantian for about five minutes, both his middle and upper dantians would fully recover.
He had now confirmed his own level — understood the full extent of his power.
Soohyeok calmed his racing excitement.
Only then did he fully register the gazes behind him.
He had been so caught up in rediscovering the strength of his martial arts that he'd forgotten — he wasn't alone.
Everyone here was still a trainee.
"Uh…"
Feeling awkward, Soohyeok scratched the back of his head and laughed sheepishly.
There was no trace of the deadly hunter who had just slaughtered seven Gherra hiding in the sand.
Maybe that's why—
Baek Iyeon let out an involuntary chuckle and said,
"We appreciate the demo from our very experienced assistant instructor, but… I think it's supposed to be our turn now."
There were no more Gherra left nearby. It was time to go find a new nesting site.
"S-sorry," Soohyeok said, a bit embarrassed.
Normally, he would've left at least a few monsters for the others to train with — but this time, he had gotten so caught up in his own progress that he'd completely forgotten.
It was a mistake, no doubt — one born from being swept up in emotion.
"It seems, Yang Soohyeok… no, Assistant Instructor Soohyeok — that your rightful place is no longer there."
Sharha chuckled as she watched the exchange and pointed to her side with her index finger.
"By the authority of the instructor, I hereby end Yang Soohyeok's field training.
Instead, as Baek Iyeon suggested — I appoint you as an assistant instructor.
Until the final day, guide your teammates well. Heh."
It was the moment Soohyeok's role officially changed.