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Chapter 55. The Cold Glint of a Well-Polished Sword (2)

So, he nodded.

“Good. Then let’s do just that... agh!”

Suddenly, Woo-Moon reached out a hand and knocked Jae-Hwa on the head with his fist.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

Woo-Moon disregarded Jae-Hwa’s resistance as if it were child’s play and continued to hit him on the head.

“I heard you hit Cho Myeong yesterday, right? Not only that, but you often got into arguments and fought with the other kids, right?”

It was once again the “brotherly love” that even Song Woo-Gang, an eminent disciple of Mount Hua, hadn’t been able to bear.

Jae-Hwa barely took a few hits before he also shed tears.

“L-leave me alone...”

Although Woo-Moon made to hit him again, suddenly, he felt someone’s gaze from behind him. Looking back, he saw Jae-Hwa’s younger sister, Gun-Ha, watching them from behind a window.

Woo-Moon stopped hitting him, and said, “Remember this. If you can’t shed yourself of that horrid temper, every time you fight with the others or do something rude, I’m going to beat you up just like this. Also, remember that you’re a guard. How dare you curse at your master just because I hit you once?!””

“I-I’m sorry. I will be more careful in the future.”

Even though he said that, Jae-Hwa was fuming on the inside.

‘You bastard! You’re not even my dad, so why the hell are you so meddlesome?’

Meanwhile, Gun-Ha closed the window and giggled to herself after seeing Woo-Moon scolding her older brother.

“You need to be scolded a little, oppa.”

Because she knew that there was no malicious intent in Woo-Moon’s actions, Gun-Ha was grateful to Woo-Moon for teaching a lesson to her brother. She knew that he was becoming too brash for his own good.

“Okay, that’s it for today... is what you’d like me to say right now, huh? Go back to doing the horse stance. If you mess around again, you won’t get breakfast, either. What are you doing? Hurry up and start!”

“Understood!”

Everyone quickly stood in the horse stance once more as Woo-Moon leisurely walked among them.

He stopped in front of Cho Myeong and jabbed at his shoulder.

“Maknae[1]! Which acupoint is this?” he said, pointing to the Gyeonjeong point.[2]

Cho Myeong was unable to answer quickly and hesitated.

Thud!

Woo-Moon kicked Cho-Myeong’s thigh with his foot, but Cho Myeong only stumbled slightly and didn’t fall. In the beginning, he had been prone to falling at the slightest touch, but now his posture was very stable.

When learning martial arts, the ability to hold firm was just as, if not more, important than the ability to adapt. If the children were to practice holding their stance when attacked in unstable positions like this, it would definitely be helpful for them later on.

Properly familiarizing themselves with the three hundred and sixty acupoints and their locations was also very important, as it was necessary when cultivating their qi or learning qi suppression techniques.

Woo-Moon had actually stirred and circulated his qi conceptually rather than methodically. However, that had only been possible because he had learned his cultivation and martial arts through the landscape painting, and that had been an opportunity unique to himself.

Everyone else knew the exact location of the acupoints and circulated their qi through them. Thus, while teaching the children, Woo-Moon himself also studied the qi meridians and points. As he did so, he found out something unusual.

‘Within my body, there are more than three hundred and sixty acupoints and meridians. To the point where it’s not comparable to other people.’

It was due to the influence of the Forbidden Divine Art. Because of practicing it, the distinction of meridians or acupoints in Woo-Moon’s body was meaningless—they were virtually infinite in number. There was no place in his body that the Forbidden Divine Art couldn’t reach.

Thus, he had always just circulated his qi based on a general feeling rather than by analyzing his body thoroughly.

‘This is just a characteristic of the Forbidden Divine Art. In any case, I feel that it’s better than other arts, given that it has no limitations.’

The optimistic Woo-Moon just thought of the best possible result of what he had discovered.

Then, Woo-Moon called over Rat.

“Hey, Rat!”

“Yes!”

The man who was sweeping the yard behind them came running.

“Go to Seowon and buy about twenty books on meridians and points. Also, buy any of the common qi cultivation methods you can find.”

“Understood!”

Rat scurried away as Woo-Moon called over Ryeok-Gwi this time.

“Ryeok-Gwi!”

“Yes, master!”

At that moment, Ryeok-Gwi, who had been fetching water, came rushing toward him.

“From this point on, teach these brats about the meridians and points one by one. Be honest and diligent, okay? If any of them get even a single one wrong, you’ll die.”

“Understood!”

“Dok-Du! You go and finish everything that Rat and Ryeok-Gwi were doing.”

“Understood!”

Although his answer may have been loud and clear, Dok-Du was making faces in response in a corner that Woo-Moon couldn’t see.

Woo-Moon then went into his room, lay on his bed, and held onto the hilt of his sword. For some reason, he felt at ease and peaceful whenever he did this.

As he lay, he consciously recited the sutra and circulated his qi according to the Forbidden Divine Art as he pondered on the intricacies of the Gentle Celestial Sword.

In the past, he had only uncovered the two stances, Raging Wind and Heavy Rain. But now, there was also the North Wind and Cold Snow. Although he was proud of this new accomplishment, it was still far from enough.

He thought to himself how great it would be to be able to unfold it all!

‘For now, let’s focus on learning the four skills to perfection. Alright, let’s do this. I have to find the flaws and get them straight.’

He thought back to the first time he had unleashed Raging Storm.

Comparing his proficiency with the Raging Wind and Heavy Rain back then and his proficiency now, he felt that he had mastered them up to the eighth level. In truth, he had only been at the fifth level as of this morning, and he had been able to reach this level in one go due to the state of enlightenment he had reached.[3]

‘Now all that’s left is to completely master them. If I do that, I’ll be able to combine Raging Wind and Heavy Rain into one!’

A combined technique could only be properly used when its individual foundational techniques were perfected.

Ranging Storm!

Just thinking about the technique made his heart pound.

Shing!

His sword also resonated with a low tone. It wasn’t a response that Woo-Moon had elicited but rather a spontaneous one in response to Woo-Moon’s mental image training.

Woo-Moon began a spar within his mind in order to further his comprehension of the Gentle Celestial Sword. His opponents were mainly his grandfather and the Night Spear Devil Gyeong Hong.

Occasionally, the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor appeared as well, but as he had only seen that Absolute Master once, Woo-Moon’s memory of his skills was vague.

Of course, Woo-Moon had never won as of yet, but he was never discouraged. The more he mentally sparred like this, the higher his experience and skill would grow. Then, one day, he, too, would be able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them!

Thus, Woo-Moon immersed himself in his mental image training.

Meanwhile, Eun-Ah, who was sleeping, curled up by Woo-Moon’s bedside, noticed a strange sound and awoke. Then, she tilted her head, looking at the sword with dazed eyes.

Mew?

Because Woo-Moon had already entered a state of extreme concentration, he hadn’t noticed his sword resonate on its own or that Eun-Ah had woken up and made a sound. As they were both so dear to his heart and he had complete trust in them, his subconscious had decided that there was no need for him to respond to their movements.Suddenly, the sword moved!

It wasn’t a living being; it had never moved before and it wasn’t supposed to be moving at all. And yet, it was now moving!

Eun-Ah was startled and she cried out again. She then started running quickly around the bed and all across the floor. She was confused and disoriented, but after a few moments, she stopped in place and started groaning again, looking like she was bravely standing her ground against the sword.

Finally, as if the sword recognized her bravery, it stopped moving.

Sniff.

Eun-Ah looked over at Woo-Moon, who, as usual, was lying down with his eyes closed as if he had fainted, and she walked over and tapped his forearm with her front paw. She was trying to make him get up, but it was of no use.

Shaking her head left and right, Eun-Ah gave up in boredom and left, pushing open the door with her head. As she exited, she saw many people standing in the training hall. Eun-Ah felt proud at the sight—all these people were of lower standing than her!

Before she knew it, the concerns and thoughts about the sword suddenly moving and startling her had already disappeared. Now in a good mood, she ran to the main residence with light steps.

Sniff, sniff.

However, on arrival, her mood completely fell as she saw Dae-Woong sleeping next to Jin-Jin. Eun-Ah ran over and tried to bite Dae-Woong’s arm. She didn’t want to hurt him, just to make him get out of her spot.

However, Jin-Jin wasn’t completely asleep yet. Noticing the cub’s approach, she slowly opened her eyes. She stretched her hand to stop the baby tiger and softly said, “No.”

Snort.

Amused by Eun-Ah’s jealousy, Jin-Jin lifted the cute Eun-Ah with a hand and put her down next to her.

She patted Dae-Woong and Eun-Ah’s head equally using both hands. At her touch, Eun-Ah’s jealousy disappeared like the first snowfall, and her eyes gradually closed.

***

‘I couldn’t win today either, huh.’

It wasn’t until it had become dark that Woo-Moon woke up from his mental image training. The result was 563 bouts and 563 losses. Although it had only been a short period of time, Woo-Moon had been able to go through an incredible amount of sparring.

It was only natural, as he was battling against the Palm Martial Emperor, Night Spear Devil, and the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor. It was difficult for him to endure even ten seconds in front of such opponents. As the outcome of each bout was determined almost instantaneously, it was only natural that the frequency of the bouts would be high.

Putting his regrets aside, Woo-Moon drew his sword from its scabbard and threw the sheath to the floor. He then sat down, laid down a cloth, and started sharpening his sword with a whetstone. His mind, which had become chaotic and haggard from the mental image training, gradually became more organized as he worked on his sword, becoming clearer with each stroke down the whetstone.

While he was concentrating on sharpening his sword, Rat returned.

“Here you go, master!”

“Yeah. You did well. Thank you. It’s almost time to sleep, right? I’m sorry for troubling you this late, but take these books and hand them one by one to the guards. And don’t forget to tell them to read it diligently and work hard to memorize the contents. Oh, and make sure you tell them they can stop doing the horse stance and go to bed.”

“Understood!” Rat said, emerging with a proud expression and eight books in his hands.

Woo-Moon returned his sword to its scabbard and took a look at the two qi cultivation methods that Rat had brought.

Cultivation of the Three Aspects.

Six Harmonies Art.

They were exceedingly common qi cultivation methods that existed all throughout the gangho.

‘Ryeok-Gwi also learned the Six Harmonies Art, right?’

They had been some of the greatest blessings to the people throughout the long history of the Nine Sects and One Gang. As some of the most basic yet stable qi cultivation methods of the Nine Sects and One Gang, there were more of them dispersed through the market than expected.

As the Cultivation of the Three Aspects and the Six Harmonies Art were the qi cultivation methods of the Mount Hua Sect and the Wudang Sect, they had become popular among many third-class martial artists.

It was possible for Woo-Moon to create and teach a new qi cultivation method using the Forbidden Divine Art and the qi circulation method detailed in the Martial Arts Fundamentals. The reason he had ordered Rat to find these arts instead was that he thought it would be both easier and safer to use existing methods as a basis for creating a cultivation method for his guards.

“Shall we start?”

Woo-Moon was secretly impressed as he carefully examined the two qi cultivation methods.

‘How impressive.’

In terms of basics, there was nothing better than these. If people consistently cultivated using these two methods, they would be able to accumulate incredibly pure qi. The two methods were stable enough that no matter how far people progressed in cultivation, they didn’t have to worry about falling into qi deviation or succumbing to heart demons.

The problem was that compared to other excellent qi cultivation methods, they allowed the user to collect much less qi in the same time interval, and although the purity of this qi was high, its power wasn’t.

Even the disciples of the Wudang Sect and Mount Hua didn’t limit themselves to these methods, as they had many teachers and numerous resources available to them. It was more effective for them to be able to build their cultivation more quickly, even if it meant that they would have to give up some purity.

In any case, Woo-Moon was most impressed with the framework of the Cultivation of the Three Aspects and the Six Harmonies Art. He thought that if he were to add some of his own enlightenment to them, he would be able to come up with an incredible cultivation method.

With that in mind, Woo-Moon forgot about rest and concentrated on his work.

*

A sunny afternoon, two days later.

Incredibly strong hands, full of calluses, were doing laundry on the bank of a stream.

Thwack! Thwack!

Their motions were exceedingly skillful.

There were a total of three pairs of hands carefully washing the clothes.

At a small stream behind the Baek Estate, Ryeok-Gwi, Dok-Du, and Rat were huddled together doing laundry. All of the Song family’s laundry—except for Jin-Jin and Gun-Ha’s—was handled by these three.

If there was any dirt left on the clothes, Woo-Moon would beat them up. If by any chance they failed to control their strength and tore apart a garment, then Dae-Woong would beat them up as well.

Thus, the trio washed the clothes with more care and sincerity than the most masterful laundress.

“Hyung-nim.”

Ryeok-Gwi was doing laundry with a peaceful and happy expression on his face. When Dok-Du called him, he looked at the former with a kind smile.

“What’s up?”

“Are you some kind of Bodhisattva?”

1. Youngest member of a group. ☜

2. Located midway between the 7th vertebra and the shoulder. ☜

3. This is the first time an actual mastery level is mentioned, so probably 8/10. ☜