The warm sun scorched with blazing heat, dazzling radiant beams in all directions. The soft wind gently caressed the skin. Varied drifting scents emitted from the plants gently teased the nasal senses. The soft. mushy soil was tender to the treading of the soles. The distinct gurgling sound of water was soothing to listen to in the background. Feeble, adorable, and cuddly animals… This was the universe that thrived above the ground surface level. This was the earthly paradise in which he was going to dwell in. Kamdoong flared his nostrils wide open and inhaled gulps of air from the surrounding atmosphere.
“Kkkhrp!”
Kamdoong let out a bizarre cry and shuddered in shock. The heady oxygen that filled his lungs, the pungent stench of ozone, various blended scents drifting through the air, and scintillating aromas caused him to lose his mind in wild. manic ecstasy.
The atmosphere of the nether world was mostly composed of the oxygen that was emitted by cyanobacteria, the gaseous sulfuric acid erupting out intermittently from the volcano, and the methane rising out from the lake of lava. Compared to that grim, inhospitable atmosphere, how pleasant and liveable this atmosphere seemed in contrast!
Kamdoong inhaled the atmospheric air up to the point that the cells within his lungs were close to exploding. His nano bionic generator fuelled by solar energy and abundant oxygen started whirring with a noisy, disruptive din. Kamdoong shut his eyes close and became immersed in a decadent sense of pleasure.
‘Look at this fellow. I saved his life and brought him here to familiarize him with the habits, practices of human beings. And all he is doing is flaring his nostrils open!’
Mu Ssang threw Kamdoong the evil eye. Kamdoong was overeacting. The monastery resembled a mere minute nostril in contrast to Kamdoong’s vast, sprawling natural habitat. Truth is often unsettling, a bitter pill to swallow. Rather, in case one says that a 165-square-meter luxury condominium is shabby, desolate, slum-like, this remains rather thinly veiled bragging or exaggeration, distortion. If one claims that a 16.5-square-meter room is shabby, that is a rather ironic, acerbic, thinly veiled truth. He had an instinctive compulsion to smack the back of Kamdoong’s head but restrained himself, thinking that this was the first time he was bathing in the sunshine, within the stretch of 150,000,000 years.
“Didn’t you say there was a monk?”
“Refer to him as a spiritual master.”
Mu Ssang lowered the volume of his speech. The mentally conjured images and connotations of the word “Monk” did not accurately reflect his teacher’s personality. There were all kinds of monks, some dishonest, insincere, and even lacking in scruples, corrupt. Some profit-seeking shamans passed themselves off as monks to conceal, disguise their true motives, character, with the spiritually ennobling, edifying image and purported sanctifying purposes of Buddhism.
“A teacher? A master? He shall earn my recognition of that title if he proves himself to be stronger than me.”
Kamdoong snorted snidely. Kamdoong had no idea that a being gifted with clairvoyance and clairaudience had been observing him from the time he entered through the gate.
‘He seemed more insightful, gifted with greater perception than when I had met him underground. After he consumed Ocelot, he has become quite arrogant. Could it be a side effect of the drug?’
Mu Ssang mused and pondered. Kamdoong’s personality had changed. Or rather, he had an alternate personality channeled through him. His behavior bore semblance to that of an ordinary human. Mu Ssang didn’t worry excessively. Just a few potent fist blows could pound some common sense into a human who flared up in rebellious defiance. Kamdoong was no different.
Mu Ssang could not wait to meet his teacher in person once more. He had hoped, yearned to be embraced with open arms stretched out widely with burgeoning warmth, hospitality. His Dimensional Sight scanned the 600 meters in the surrounding area. His mind’s eye scanned through, observed the ants following the trail of aphids, a caterpillar munching on pine leaves, and wasps invading, swarming around a honeybee hive.
“Has he gone out to gather alms? I don’t sense his presence at hand.”
He didn’t sense his teacher’s energy field around.
“I shall scan for presence too.”
Kamdoong’s scouting scanner was activated.
“Friend, 15 degrees to the left, 1,013.5 meters away, there is someone who emanates a similar energy to yours.”
“He is currently in the inner sanctum. How wide-spanning is your scanning range?”
“I don’t know yet. I haven’t adapted to the world above the ground surface yet. I first need to have my energy replenished and my eukaryotic cells regenerated.”
“That is certainly the case. Teacher! I am back!”
Mu Ssang leaped into the inner sanctum with a yell that resonated, echoed around the mountain. He sought to see his teacher as soon as possible. He had many stories to tell and many things to boast, brag about. Kamdoong followed him at a leisurely pace. Mu Ssang was quite a monstrous mutant to leap 30 meters at once but Kamdoong was functioning on another level altogether, leaping 100 meters at one go.
The inner sanctum referred to a valley where a creek flowed through. all year round. Numerous mushrooms and edible plants thrived across the valley but the unfavorable topography and many venomous snakes were the reason for the local residents not setting foot in it.
Mu Ssang, taking huge strides, winced. Robust energy flowed out, traversed in front of him. He heard a sound that resembled water gushing out of a collapsed, unleashed reservoir dam.
“F**k!”
The familiar, earth-shattering sound caused Mu Ssang to grimace. Even Samdi with his body as tough as steel, shuddered at the very thought of the master’s psychokinesis.
Hundreds of big and small stones honed in on Mu Ssang. like a swarming fleet of crows.
“What is happening now? I will shield you, my friend.”
Kamdoong spoke in a tone resembling a character from an animated television show for young children that aired at 5 p.m. Mu Ssang caressed the cringe-induced goosebumps upon his forearm.
Kamdoong stood by and stared at the rocks crashing down. A great howl rang out, piercing through the silence. The high-level ELF, Kamdoong’s major weapon, shot through the air. with multiple strokes resembling a fine-toothed comb. The scorched, burning atmosphere simmered down.
The double-helical ELF was wrapped around the rocks that hurtled in. Vibrant fireworks blossomed 100 meters above the ground surface level.
Hundreds of big and small rocks that flew into the ELF’s range were crushed into the sand. The stone powder with a texture that felt as fine as flour pelted down heavily upon them.
“What a feat!”
Mu Ssang was highly impressed. Kamdoong had neutralized his teacher’s psychokinesis to which he remained rather vulnerable. The accuracy remained vastly superior to the anti-air missiles of the Americans.
Kamdoong was not even working at his optimal state. He had converted Ocelot’s human power over into energy and conserved it but that simply replenished merely 40 percent of his total energy reserves.
‘My teacher does not forget any slight made against him…’
Mu Ssang had a bad feeling about the situation. Even if Kamdoong was an overpowered monster, he still wasn’t his master’s match. He managed to neutralize the psychokinetic blows pummelling through, but this was merely a tease.
Even though he was already in his nineties, his teacher remained rather playful. He loved children and got along with them very easily. He would play marbles, hopscotch, and squid game with all the children in the neighborhood.
When he was playing around with the children, he behaved exactly like one. He would have been delighted then if he had lost all of his marbles, he took offense and ceased to play. He was going to take offense that Kamdoong had fully neutralized, repelled his psychokinetic strike.
Tremendous energy flowed through. The cumulus that hovered above the mountain was shoved back away by the repulse. Mu Ssang gazed at the top of the mountain to check as an instinctive reflex.
The mountaintop towered as a single giant rock plane. It stood at 30 meters tall and 250 meters horizontally measured
“Could this be the case?”
Mu Ssang glared suspiciously at the rock plane with eyes brimming with mistrust. Unless he was God, he couldn’t uproot the 150,000-ton rock and hurl it towards them. Even though his teacher was an extraordinary being in possession of supernatural powers, his body remained merely mortal, human. Even his potent spiritual gifts couldn’t overcome the confines of his physical body.
“Is he for real?”
Mu Ssang’s eyes widened to the fullest with awe and wonder. The mountaintop had come loose, dislodged, resembling a radish that was being pulled out of the ground. Rock and debris crashed down in a rapid, descending avalanche. The area around the mountaintop was in a disastrous mess.
The mountaintop floated upwards into the air. It wasn’t just a special effect created by film editing and CGI graphics in a movie. It was actually taking place in reality. Mu Ssang shivered at the majestic show that unraveled on the stage of clear, blue sky and bright, blazing sun.
Upon gaining sufficient power capacity, the mountaintop rapidly crashed down with rising speed. The giant rock honed in on Kamdoong, hurtling towards him like a lightning. The high-pressure atmosphere shimmered violently, as a result.
“This is not fair! This can’t be!”
The shock was mind-blowing, staggering. Whether it was a mere illusion or actual reality, they had to survive the threat. The spiritual manifestation of Mu Ssang was seen flashing across from a distance.
Mu Ssang sprinted 500 meters at once, running along with Fearless Steps. Taking shelter on the foot of the opposite side of the mountain, Mu Ssang released a huge sigh of relief.
Kamdoong, with no prior experience, acted rather recklessly. Kamdoong stood on a wide rock and stared at the hurtling, soaring rock. An unknown danger was gravely endangering his friend’s life.
His friend who had sacrificed his ego and physical body was now his master and creator. If anyone ever touched his friend, even if it were God, Kamdoong was not going to ever forgive them. Kamdoong’s eyes were ablaze with fury.
Kamdoong stretched his neck forward and gaped, with his mouth wide open. He then released a maximum-yield ELF. The ELF surpassed the speed of sound travel. Sonic booms blasted out, one after another.
The entire mountain was blown apart, while the temperatures of the atmosphere soared up to hundreds of degrees in heat. Grass and trees withered away and the fleeing birds dropped down, resembling the fall of autumn leaves.
Even Mu Ssang felt sweat oozing out from his clenched fists. It resembled the legendary fight between Zhuanxu, an emperor’s scion, and Gonggong, a god’s son. Their fight was fantastic fiction that recurred frequently in Chinese mythology, but the fight unfolding before his eyes was real action.
The ELF grew to the size of a cartwheel as it struck down on the mountaintop. Stone powder started enveloping, descending over everything. A big hole was gorged out on the mountaintop.
“That’s not right!”
Mu Ssang shook his head in dismay. The ELF was powerful as a blast but it was like a mantis trying to fend off a cart. Even in the event that a high-level ELF was magnified, amplified by 100 times, it couldn’t deter the 150,000-ton rock with sufficient momentum. Kamdoong’s ELF only blasted open a one-meter wide, 10-meter deep gorged cave. The rock continued to fall down relentlessly in free fall.
“What?”
Kamdoong’s breath was stuck., choking in his throat. Even before the rock struck him, the pressured air crushed down on his body. Startled, Kamdoong attempted to teleport away in flight. Kamdoong vanished and emerged directly next to Mu Ssang.
“Haaah!”
Mu Ssang kicked the ground, like a frog that had just encountered a snake. His teacher wouldn’t stop at this. He needed to flee from his teacher’s attack. Otherwise, he would be caught up in the blast zone. As anticipated, the rock abruptly halted its free fall.
“What is that?”
Kamdoong squinted his gaze. The rock soared up into the sky again. It seemed to defy the laws of gravity and inertia. The rock, once again loaded up with renewed energy, charged towards Kamdoong, resembling a black cruise missile flying forward.
“How foolish! I can just escape it once more.”
Kamdoong’s body seemed to dissolve, then reverted back to its original form. A tremendous force field disrupted atomization processes. Kamdoong was stunned into silence by the sensation of the atoms that were being teleported back to the set coordinates then returned to their original location. When Kamdoong winced in pain, the rock had already reached close to his face.
“Argh!”
Stunned, Kamdoong kicked at the ground. Before he could flee for 10 meters, the 40-meter wide rock charged forward with immense force. Kamdoong’s eyes, which contained the pupils and whites that resembled a human’s, betrayed an emotion that closely resembled fear, fright. A desperate scream rang out.
The rock crashed down on Kamdoong. Despite his immense power, Kamdoong was crushed down beneath the bloody sand after striking out.
Half of the rock exploded above the ground surface level. Debris and dust burst out explosively. The mountain was shattered. resembling violent earthquake debris. Large pines were uprooted while cliffs crashed down, collapsed. The mountain was drawn, entangled into the fight by unfortunate circumstance, and became a collateral casualty.
“This must be a mere dream!”
Mu Ssang was overwhelmed by what had just taken place. He couldn’t laugh or cry. Kamdoong dissolved into soybeans ground down into liquid seeping down between millstone cracks. The incredible, highly improbable incident, finally caught Kamdoong off guard.
Mu Ssang frantically scoured through for Kamdoong by tapping into his Dimensional Sight. The location where the rock crashed into Kamdoong remained just 450 meters away from him. In that range, Mu Ssang could visually discern a single ant. But he actually saw nothing at all. He couldn’t sense Kamdoong’s presence. He could only sense a mysteriously magnetic force field.
Mu Ssang, in incredulity, leaped over to the site of the disaster.
“How could this happen?”
Mu Ssang collapsed, crashing down to the ground. Up close, the rock appeared even more massive, intimidating. Half of it was buried deep beneath the ground surface. He didn’t dare to make an estimate of the force of the momentum. Even a god wouldn’t have survived the blast, let alone Kamdoong, a mere mortal. He developed ominous premonitions when Kamdoong made vague, thinly veiled threats like: “If he is stronger than me…”
The sole remaining Adras on the planet, Kamdoong’s life came to an abrupt, crashing end. Kamdoong did retort with a rude response, but it did not make sense to mercilessly wipe them out just because of a trifling remark. Even the Buddha had left a breathing hole when he locked up Sun Wukong. Mu Ssang gazed in wonder at the scene in a dazed state of bewilderment.
‘Wait, Teacher goes for a walk barefoot because he fears he might tread on ants. He respects the life of a mere insect. Why would he smash Kamdoong heartlessly with a rock?’
It didn’t make sense. But the apex of the mountain was indeed just before his eyes, and Kamdoong had completely vanished. Maybe the Teacher considered him as a being that shouldn’t exist.
“Alas, Kamdoong! You died on the very day you were born. What a cruel fate! The teacher is so brutal. How could he snuff out your life like this?”
“You are a foolish chap! Yes, I am rather brutal.”
The teacher’s voice rang loudly through his ear. Mu Ssang, startled, ceased complaining.
“Teacher!”
Instead of articulating a response, a terrifying earth-shattering sound rang out. Mu Ssang’s head swung around by 180 degrees. A pile of rocks hurtled towards him from behind.
“Hap!”
Mu Ssang’s eyes grew wide with terror. The pile of rocks collapsed to the ground as if pulled over by a magnet. Dirt, dust, and leaves exploded out into the open.
“It seems like I wouldn’t be able to do that again for a second time.”
Mu Ssang wiped the sweat that broke out upon his forehead, with his sleeve. It was no simple task to attribute the coordinates to each of the hundreds of large objects with gathering momentum, then alter their course via using psychokinesis. He felt a throbbing, skull-shattering migraine.
This was the biggest distinction between a supernatural power and a mere technical skill. A supernatural power moved objects with mere intentional concentration, but a skill required manual. physical steering, movement.
“Hmm. It seems like you have picked up a crude skill while you had gone missing. Here, I have a gift for you.”
Before Mu Ssang had time to register the Teacher’s voice, the atmosphere started trembling, shaking violently.
“Teacher, what is this petty grudge! Save Kamdoong as a priority.”
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Mu Ssang yelled out suddenly but was met with a chilling silence and no reply. Mu Ssang froze in anguish. Silence descended over the mountain, barren of birds chirping.
“What is this object here?”
Mu Ssang kicked at the ground and leaped back. A small explosion burst out where he was. Cold sweat dripped slowly down his spine. It was the legendary Thunderclap. This technique compressed all surrounding air as forcefully as steel on both sides of the target object like clapping of one’s hands. He could have been vanquished, just like a fly smashed by a swatter.
The national arsenal of France was developing a weapon that was similar to this. It was a projectile shooter fuelled by the strong magnetic force of neodymium. A powerful electromagnetic force accelerated the projectile to reach close to the speed of sound, then the power was abruptly cut off, and the projectile was shot out. Of course, the slow, lazy, inefficient bureaucracy of France meant that no one knew when the device would enter the public domain.
An authentic neodymium magnet was a hazardous object in itself. If a ballpoint pen had been positioned between two neodymium magnets 500-millimeters apart, it would then get shattered within seconds. If your finger got trapped in between, you needed to be rushed to a hospital..