I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 516

"Battle-hardened." It was an idiom meaning seasoned by vast experience.

Wiheuk had learned this expression from Wi Ho-chang, and he took pride in using it with confidence.

Upon being born, he found himself in the Forest of the Four Seasons, and through surviving countless perils, he rose to become the proper leader of his pack.

In that process, Wi Ho-chang’s sudden appearance was nothing short of a turning point for Wiheuk.

For by learning martial arts alongside internal energy, his survival rate was pushed to the absolute extreme.

Had it not been for martial arts, he would have succumbed to the grueling trials and lost his life.

That was why Wiheuk came to realize: in this forest, as long as you survive, strength naturally follows.

By subjugating all the Hunters who raided their territory over time, Wiheuk’s martial prowess grew stronger with each passing day.

—Master. I have something to ask.

—Speak.

Before Wi Ho-chang ascended to heaven, Wiheuk had asked him out of curiosity.

Strict as Wi Ho-chang was, he always viewed things with an objective eye. Meaning he was a man far removed from exaggeration.

—In Master’s eyes, how strong am I right now?

—Usable enough, more or less.

At that time, Wiheuk had just stepped into the Transcendent Realm. Because of that, he was able to gauge just how terrifyingly strong Wi Ho-chang was.

For the closer Wiheuk drew to him, the further away Wi Ho-chang’s martial power felt.

—Can you speak more specifically?

—Strong enough that if you went outside, you wouldn’t get stabbed to death by some random blade.

He didn’t know how impressive that was. Because Wiheuk was a gorilla born and raised in the Forest of the Four Seasons.

As Wiheuk tilted his head in confusion, Wi Ho-chang offered a proper analogy.

—You don’t need to worry about anyone picking fights with you here either. Is there any beast around who can send trees tumbling with a single Palm Strike?

—Not that I know of.

—Right. At least not around here. But keep this in mind. You never know what fucked-up thing will pop out in this damned forest.

Saying so, Wi Ho-chang brought up a past incident. Namely, the phenomenon where an ocean floated in the sky.

Giant, long tentacles had reached out from there and abducted countless brethren.

Had Wi Ho-chang not stepped up back then, the losses would have been catastrophic.

—That squid-like thing might still be lurking somewhere in this forest. So do not neglect your training and keep striving forward.

—What if it seems impossible to win? Master must have experienced such a thing too.

—Of course. Why else do you think I’m stuck in this garbage forest? Still, keep this in mind.

If you rack your brains, a countermeasure will always present itself.

In a life-or-death battle, the level of your martial arts or the depth of your internal energy mean nothing.

—The one who finds the way to win fastest is the one who triumphs.

—How does one find that way?

—That’s for you to figure out yourself. Whether you crush his head or break his limbs first to neutralize him. Back in my day...

Naturally followed Wi Ho-chang’s glorious tales of the past.

How he became the public enemy of the Central Plains and ignited a great war, how he earned all kinds of magnificent titles, and so forth.

To Wiheuk, born and raised in the Forest of the Four Seasons, it was uninteresting chatter. His younger brother, Wi Baek, would have loved it though.

—At it again. Just eat a banana.

—Hey! You ape! You saw my power and still don’t believe me?

—I only believe what I see with my own eyes.

—Then what will you do if you encounter someone who doesn’t die no matter how hard you beat him? Go on, tell me.

—Keep beating him until he dies.

—Truly an answer fit for an ape.

Wi Ho-chang said, offering a solemn piece of advice.

—Remember. As I said earlier, when you must search for a way to win...

...it means you are in danger of dying.

Up until then, Wiheuk had been confident that no such thing would ever happen to him.

Most beasts were floored by a single Palm Strike, and tough creatures were no exception.

He only had to break the opponent using techniques that destroyed their innards.

Kkwadeuk!

"Kkeu-ak!"

Just like the human right before his eyes. Wiheuk looked apathetically at the human screaming with a broken arm.

The second human he encountered after Wi Ho-chang ascended to heaven. Unlike Wi Ho-chang, he used tools actively.

’However, he is weak.’

The tools that human used were extraordinary even in Wiheuk’s eyes.

A sword showcasing razor sharpness, and a shield gleaming brilliantly in golden light.

Yet unlike his tools, the man’s own martial prowess was pathetic. Far too different from Wi Ho-chang.

’Crude and stiff.’

Having received instruction from Wi Ho-chang, Wiheuk possessed outstanding martial talent.

Therefore, he could instantly discern how strong an opponent was and how exceptional their skill was.

Thus, he quickly realized that this strange human had a large body that was hollow inside.

Did he seem to possess hidden talent then? Honestly, Wiheuk wasn’t sure about that part.

He hadn’t taught him directly, and furthermore, Wiheuk himself didn’t wield weapons.

Thus he judged the human to be no threat, choosing instead to remain wary of the sloth the human served.

’He was still alive.’

Wiheuk knew that sloth. There was no way he couldn’t.

The territorial war that erupted before Wi Ho-chang came to the gorilla pack. A survivor of that war.

Originally, the gorilla pack was vastly larger than it was now. They had simply been wiped out by a single war.

The cause of that wipeout was none other than that sloth—or more accurately, his pack. It wasn’t for nothing that he remained a symbol of terror to this day.New chapters come out on novelping dot com first.

’I must avoid conflict if at all possible.’

Wiheuk had decided to leave the human’s territory alone. That side wouldn’t pick a fight with his pack.

Even if they did, it would be nothing short of a suicidal act.

Above all, he judged that without the sloth’s protection, that human would die quickly.

So he half-ignored him. This remained true even as time passed.

Even when Hunters and apex predators vanished entirely from the human’s territory, he didn’t find it strange.

He assumed they were either lucky, or that the human had grown adequately enough to repel the Hunters.

Furthermore, with the sloth present, it wasn’t particularly strange news.

For Wiheuk, it was a truly rational judgment, but the news Gu-chil brought back was somehow odd.

’He took a direct hit from a bear’s forepaw and was fine.’

Wiheuk knew well how powerful a bear’s forepaw was. Even he would be severely shaken if hit head-on.

Yet the human—the human named Grylls—had endured it effortlessly.

Achieving such growth in a short time was astonishing. But this was the Forest of the Four Seasons.

Since all sorts of bizarre phenomena occurred here, it could be brushed off lightly. Of course, his growth rate could not be ignored.

’I wonder how much he has grown.’

And...

Ppeok!!!

That curiosity quickly turned to utter shock.

Though dizzy for a moment, Wiheuk hurriedly rolled his body to dodge the follow-up strike.

Narrowly dodging, the human slammed his sword into the exact spot where he had fallen.

Had he remained still in his confusion, he would have been skewered like a kebab.

’He grew this strong?’

Wiheuk was bewildered. At the same time, a phrase flashed through his mind.

"A sea turning into a mulberry field." A total transformation. He had grown stronger to a realm beyond recognition compared to their last fight.

Originally, that human’s punches couldn’t inflict a single scratch on Wiheuk.

But not just now. Beyond throbbing pain, even his bones felt like they had sustained considerable damage.

Had he not activated his Body-Protecting Gangqi right before the punch landed, it would have dealt a fatal blow.

"You’ve got a panicked look in your eyes, haven’t you?"

Meanwhile, Grylls read Wiheuk’s expression and radiated confidence. It felt as if all the hardship he had endured was finally paying off.

Wiheuk had no idea what he was saying, but took it as a general provocation.

As such, he quickly collected his confusion and regained his composure. It wasn’t a completely unanticipated scenario.

Ever since hearing that Grylls was unharmed after taking a bear’s forepaw, he had deduced Grylls’s weight class.

’Could it be that the Heavenly Martial Body truly exists?’

There was a story he heard from Wi Ho-chang. That occasionally, heaven bestows ultimate talent.

One of them was the Heavenly Martial Body, a perfect ’physique’ suited for mastering and understanding all martial arts.

No matter if this was the Forest of the Four Seasons, achieving such growth wouldn’t make sense unless he possessed the Heavenly Martial Body.

’First, test him.’

Wiheuk scrambled up and assumed a combat stance. In battle, momentum was crucial.

If your momentum broke, your chances of winning plummeted drastically. Wi Ho-chang had emphasized this as well.

Woong—

He activated his internal energy and flared his Body-Protecting Gangqi. It felt like a long time since he last used Body-Protecting Gangqi.

Because there were virtually no predators around here capable of standing up to him. At most, the sloth would have been the only one.

Woo-woong!

Noticing the change in Wiheuk, Grylls likewise activated Body-Protecting Gangqi. But its shape was strange.

Normally, Body-Protecting Gangqi takes the form of a faint ’membrane’ wrapping around the entire body. But Grylls’s was on a completely different dimension.

Armor encapsulating his entire form. Yes, armor was the perfect word for it.

’What on earth is that...’

Even Wi Ho-chang didn’t do something like that; he was a truly bizarre human. Wiheuk could not afford to drop his guard for a second.

What was certain for now was that it was hard to measure how far this human had grown. Therefore, he decided to start with a probing skirmish.

Chwa-ak!

Wiheuk glided toward Grylls as if sliding across the floor. Though his legs were short, it didn’t mean he hadn’t learned Lightness Skills.

Grylls also realized that full-scale battle had begun and swung his sword immediately.

The Sword of the Heavenly Demon, now capable of fully channeling Sword Gang thanks to mastering Unity of Self and Object.

Realizing that weapon was no ordinary blade, Wiheuk watched it intently.

Si-ing!

A sharp sound whistled past the side of Wiheuk’s head, barely missing.

Surprisingly, aside from the fact that his raw realm had heightened, his technical skill was ordinary.

But Wiheuk did not let his guard down. He chose evasion over defense.

’If I clash my fist against that, my hand might be split wide open.’

It was the ultimate weakness of a martial artist. The fact that their own body served as their weapon.

Until mastering Body-Protecting Gangqi, it was standard for martial artists to work their bodies to the bone.

Perhaps because of that, their physical weight class was often far superior compared to other warriors.

Wiheuk was no exception. Born a gorilla in the Forest of the Four Seasons, his weight class was inherently formidable.

Yet he lacked the confidence to clash head-on against that sword. It was just that threatening.

’However...’

Teong!

Wiheuk’s fist struck Grylls’s belly cleanly. A solidly landed hit.

Grylls’s weight class had gone up, but his technical skill hadn’t raised much.Get faster updates on novelping(.)com.

As someone once said: the difference between one who has learned martial arts and one who has not is as vast as heaven and earth.

Martial arts, by definition, were techniques created to defeat opponents. A gap was bound to exist.

And Grylls merely possessed a Heavenly Martial Body; as for his technical talent... one couldn’t help but say, "Well?"

Teo-eong! Teong! Teong!

Because of this, Grylls had no choice but to get battered by Wiheuk’s agile moves at first. Did he sell off his Unity of Self and Object somewhere?

Even with Unity of Self and Object, if your attacks don’t hit, it’s meaningless. Wiheuk was confident in this area.

’...Why is he completely unfazed?’

The problem was that even while Grylls allowed clean hits continuously, he silently kept swinging his sword.

Acting as if it were nothing, Grylls kept moving, leaving Wiheuk thoroughly bewildered.

Kwang!

This momentary lapse opened a flaw in Wiheuk’s stance. Grylls violently slashed the Sword of the Heavenly Demon.

Under that intense pressure, Wiheuk ultimately had to retreat backward. His face was still flushed with panic.

"Ah. As expected, that doesn’t work."

Grylls wore a sheepish expression, seemingly fine despite taking Wiheuk’s combination attacks.

Although his face was hidden by Body-Protecting Gangqi and couldn’t be seen, embarrassment seeped through his tone.

"I guess confronting him with pure technique is out of the question."

—I do not understand your words.

Wiheuk retorted to Grylls’s muttering. Simultaneously, he racked his brain as fast as possible.

How could he pierce through that tough outer shell(?) and deal damage to his insides?

Using the Internal Heavy Palm Technique would be ideal, but it required setup.

Furthermore, Grylls wasn’t using a shield anymore. Wiheuk couldn’t even get his fists close easily.

Chwa-ak!

Shortly after, Grylls stopped obsessing over technique and made a serious push.

He realized that trying to rely on skill would only get him toyed with and yield no effective hits.

Perhaps because of that, the frequency of Wiheuk only dodging without countering increased dramatically.

Since every single swing was a lethal strike, it felt like the epitome of absurdity to Wiheuk.

Peo-eong!

Still, his years of survival experience in the Forest of the Four Seasons weren’t for show.

Seizing an opportunity, Wiheuk slammed a Palm Strike straight into Grylls’s abdomen. In the aftermath, Grylls was blasted backward.

Ujikeun! Kkwadeudeuk!

Flying back, trees crumbled and crashed around him. Surely he must have sustained substantial damage.

Wiheuk rushed toward Grylls without hesitation. He had to keep hitting without pause to secure victory.

"Phew."

Grylls stood right back up completely unhurt, merely brushing off the dust on his body.

Seeing this, Wiheuk pulled his arm back as if expecting it. He intended to land a devastating blow like this.

Furthermore, Grylls was showing his back. No matter how tough his outer shell was, the shockwave would be unavoidable.

But why? Why did an intense sense of anxiety well up when looking at his exposed back?

The survival instinct he had honed in the forest screamed at him: Do not attack right now.

’If not now, there is no chance.’

Uncharacteristically for a gorilla, his reason won over his instinct. Wiheuk slowly approached Grylls.

Up until that point, Grylls remained still. No, he was pretending to stay still.

Seuk—

As if sensing something, Grylls reached for a log lying nearby.

Grasping that log loosely with both hands...

Boong!

Without even turning around, he swung it right at Wiheuk.

"?!"

Ppa-ak! Ujikeun!

Wiheuk couldn’t even dodge and took the full impact of that log swing. And that wasn’t all.

As he barely opened his eyes, he saw Grylls charging fiercely like a wild bull.

Peok!

"Keu-eok!"

Suspended midair, Wiheuk was completely helpless against the body slam.

Kwajijik! Kwadeudeuk! Kwadeuk!

Grylls charged like a predatory beast, snapping countless trees along the way.

Wiheuk gritted his teeth at the crushing impact on his back. Instead, right now is the right moment!

At once, he placed his hand on Grylls’s shoulder and unleashed his internal energy right then and there.

Peo-eong!

"Ack!"

A technique that utilized the opponent’s own internal energy. That was why it succeeded in harming Grylls.

Thanks to that blast, Wiheuk separated from Grylls. He checked Grylls’s condition.

Seuseuseuk—

"...Ha."

He had clearly blown up the shoulder area, yet how was he recovering completely uninjured?

All his desperate counterattacks had been rendered completely meaningless.

—Remember. As I said earlier, when you must search for a way to win...

Suddenly, Wi Ho-chang’s warning resurfaced in his mind.

—...it means you are in danger of dying.

It seemed that right now was precisely the time he needed to find a way to win.