Sichuan's Mad Dragon (Novel) - Chapter 15 - A Minnow of the Martial World
Chapter 15 – A Minnow of the Martial World
===================
Translated by Heavenly Cat
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
===================
When Ju-seong had finished the Elementary Learning and could stumblingly read the Four Books and Three Classics, the Divine Physician immediately began transmitting the incantations of the Flame Crow Six Stage Art.
Once he memorized the incantations of the Flame Crow Six Stage Art, indeed, circulating energy was smoother than before.
Thanks to this, he began to understand what could be called the essence or core of this martial art.
The Flame Crow Six Stage Art pursues endless heat.
This heat burns away all harmful things. Once mastery is achieved, poison cannot harm the body.
Afterward, by becoming endlessly hot, one tempers one’s own body like iron in a forge.
This is called True Fire Body Refinement. It was a refinement method that could be performed after the level of Yellow Crow that Ju-seong was currently aiming for, at the level of Red Crow, and had nothing to do with him now.
Anyway, he could better grasp the direction and characteristics of the art he was learning, and with this boost, he grew rapidly.
One dawn. While circulating energy, a clear sound tickled Ju-seong’s ears.
-Jjeong!
It was a sharp cracking sound.
This was an auditory hallucination created by his mental imagery.
He felt something inside him shatter, and the emission and reception of energy became far freer.
It seemed like he might even be able to push this energy outward if he tried.
So he extended his hand forward and tried to project energy. Like his master did when firing crimson palm force or finger wind.
But though it seemed like it might work, it would not go as he wished, and soon he was scratching the back of his head as he got up for morning preparations.
The Divine Physician woke up late.
He sat at the table, took a spoonful of the rice Ju-seong had prepared, then glanced at him and said with a start of surprise.
“My word… Already? Now that you have risen to Black Crow mid-level, this is the level called second-rate in the martial world. Finish eating and demonstrate the Three Yang Fist outside.”
After finishing the meal, master and disciple stood in the courtyard at the center of the quadrangle. They had converted it into a training ground.
“Whew.”
Ju-seong inhaled deeply and began circulating energy through his body. The Three Yang Fist was a martial art that perfectly matched the Flame Crow Six Stage Art.
This was because the internal energy operation in the techniques was in line with the circulation path of the Flame Crow Six Stage Art.
This was why learning cultivation methods and martial techniques from the same root together was important.
Ju-seong began moving his hands and feet nimbly.
Along with blazing heat, the techniques of the Three Yang Fist poured out from Ju-seong’s fingertips at fearsome speed. They were swift, decisive, and fierce.
‘To express it like a street ruffian, I would call it a damn fiery martial art.’
The higher his proficiency grew, the deeper Ju-seong fell into the charm of the Three Yang Fist.
-Papak! Tududududuk! Peok! Peopeok!
When Ju-seong executed the first five techniques of the Three Yang Fist against the wooden stakes, wood splinters scattered everywhere.
The Divine Physician approached and touched the scorch marks left on the stakes with his hand.
“Look at this. ‘Second-rate’ is the level where you begin to emit energy. However, because the emission and reception of internal energy is not yet free, energy only bursts out when executing techniques.”
“Then first-rate would be the level where you can emit energy even without executing techniques.”
The Divine Physician nodded.
“You, as a fist practitioner, can emit energy from your hands to further enhance your power. At that point, internal energy will shimmer on your hands like heat haze.”
“When will I be able to project it outward like you, Master?”
“That is a skill possible for peak-level martial artists… It is a level you cannot even aspire to yet, so do not even think about it.”
He turned to leave after saying that, then sighed and turned back around.
“Hmm… Come with me. I will show you how strong a martial artist can become. This will also be a lesson for you.”
The place he took Ju-seong was a large boulder behind the quadrangle.
Standing before the boulder, his Master said.
“I am a martial artist who has reached the level of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown. Youngsters these days call it super-peak level, above peak level, but that term obscures the essence.”
Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.
Interpreted literally, it meant three flowers gathering at the crown of the head, which Ju-seong found hard to understand.
The Divine Physician continued, his palm glowing crimson.
“Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown means that Essence, Energy, and Spirit achieve unity, allowing the emission and reception of internal energy to follow one’s will.”
His palm was now emitting light bright enough to make his eyelids squint.
The energy risen on his hand did not shimmer like heat haze.
The crimson energy was aligned neatly, like a cat’s fur standing on end, like pine needles blown by the wind.
Meanwhile, tiny particles of energy sparkled. It was like looking at a star cluster.
Ju-seong stared at it, lost in wonder, and thought.
‘It is extremely beautiful…’
Energy is formless and has a nature of constantly flowing. In this, it resembles water or air.
But the energy emitting from the Divine Physician’s hand was fixed in place without the slightest fluidity. The Divine Physician explained to Ju-seong.
“This is called Sword Energy. Does it not resemble a star cluster? That is why it uses the character for star cluster.”
“…It is beautiful.”
“Correct. It is beautiful. Not just in appearance but in power as well.”
Having finished speaking, the Divine Physician placed his hand on the boulder.
-Kudeudeuk…
The Divine Physician’s hand, going right through the boulder. Ju-seong stared with wide eyes in startlement.
He had not thrust his palm hard, nor used any special technique.
Just by wrapping his hand in this thing called Sword Energy, he was boring through the boulder like tofu.
Ju-seong imagined if that were a person instead of a boulder.
Just patting someone on the shoulder saying “Hey friend” with Sword Energy active would tear the arm right off.
In short, a super-peak level master must check whether Sword Energy is activated on his palm every time he shakes hands or greets someone, which seems quite inconvenient.
Ju-seong realized that the Divine Physician had not used even a tenth of his power in the battles he had fought in front of him until now.
The power of this Sword Energy was that tremendous.
Then the Divine Physician released the Sword Energy gathered in his hand to disperse it, and the condensed, aligned internal energy instantly lost its order and released, exploding outward.
-Kwagwang! Kururururu…
Spider-web-like cracks appeared on the boulder, and in that moment, crimson energy flickered through those crevices.
The next moment, the boulder was nowhere to be seen, only large rocks rolling about everywhere. Moreover, those rocks had their surfaces melted red.
Ju-seong stared blankly at the scene and said.
“Truly, martial arts should not be transmitted to those who are less than human.”
Non-human non-transmission. The saying that one should not transmit to those who were not proper people, an expression particularly common in the martial world.
Only after seeing the power of Sword Energy did Ju-seong realize the true reason.
What if someone who was not a proper person became a super-peak level master?
They would go around trying to greet people with Sword Energy-wrapped hands. They would greet commoners and martial artists alike.
Those who received such greetings would have their limbs torn off or lose their lives in the blink of an eye.
That would inevitably lead to chaotic times.
Unfortunately, the current martial world was like that. Though he had never heard the term Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, “super-peak” was commonly used even in the streets.
And among those rumored to be super-peak masters, there were not a few evil path and dark path figures.
The Divine Physician nodded at his words.
“Non-human non-transmission, a good saying. But it is merely an ideal. Humans can be virtuous a hundred times and then harbor evil intent once, so no matter how upright a person you transmit to, humans can become twisted.”
“Then it is power that humans should not possess.”
“But the problem is that they can possess it. Suppose all those with righteous hearts stop cultivating power, fearing they might disturb the world. Would those whose humanity is lacking also stop? There is no chance of that.”
His Master stroked his beard and continued.
“In the end, there is no solution. Those who would have been heroic in peaceful times become bandits who disturb the land in chaotic times, that is the way of the world.”
Ju-seong stared blankly at the place where the boulder had been crushed and pondered, but he concluded that this was not a problem for him to worry about right now.
He was merely a minnow of the martial world who had just entered second-rate, a meager earthworm of the martial forest.
How amusing would it be if a minnow sat worrying about the welfare of the vast lake?
However, from that day on, he devoted himself to training with even more life-or-death determination. He dissected every detail of the Flame Crow Six Stage Art’s incantations, and rushed to the Divine Physician several times a day to throw questions at him.
He pushed himself even more harshly in physical training. The wooden stakes used for Three Yang Fist training turned to rags so many times that finally the Divine Physician exploded.
-You damn dog of a disciple! Come to think of it, it makes my blood boil. Why should I have to make your training stakes? This is the tenth one already! Use them more carefully, or I will give you an axe so make them yourself!
Come to think of it, wooden stakes were not animals that reproduced on their own. Someone must have been making them all along, and apparently that was the Divine Physician.
The Divine Physician threw him an axe, but even the time to chop wood and make stakes felt wasteful to him.
So he started training against the trees around the quadrangle.
What made all of this possible was the Stillness-Bright Incantation that Young Lady Wol-hyang had taught him.
When circulating energy, sometimes resentment would knot up in his heart.
Cultivation methods were half mind cultivation, but Ju-seong was a man whose mental world itself was unstable, despite having talent for meditation.
At such times, reciting the Stillness-Bright Incantation would turn his mental imagery blank as white paper again, allowing him to continue cultivation training.
When training in Three Yang Fist, sometimes hot killing intent would surge to his head and techniques would warp on their own. A technique for grabbing and pulling an opponent’s collar would transform into a technique for grabbing and tearing out the throat to see blood.
At such times, reciting the Stillness-Bright Incantation would calm the killing intent, allowing him to beat the trees with a cool head.
‘The Stillness-Bright Incantation is always right. The Stillness-Bright Incantation is light…’
Ju-seong, who had been repeating this to himself, muttered foolishly.
“Maybe I should convert to the White Lotus Cult at this rate.”
It was suspicious whether it was alright to receive such benefit. So, as a way of repaying her, he visited Wol-hyang two or three times a week to chat.
Of course, she was awake for so few hours that it was hard to see her face often.
-I am glad I could be of help. The more you recite it, the stronger the seal in your upper dantian will become to suppress the killing intent.
Wol-hyang had said so with a weak smile.
Each time he recited the Stillness-Bright Incantation, it felt like a thin net formed in his head, spreading over the squirming killing intent.
The more he repeated it, the thicker the net covering the killing intent became.
But the Divine Physician seemed unable to shake his worry.
“Just strengthening the seal on the upper dantian like that, what is bound to burst will still burst eventually… Since you seem to be benefiting from it, I will not stop you. Even I am a layman when it comes to the upper dantian.”
And so, one day while he was continuing training, an unexpected guest visited the quadrangle.
“Young man, excuse me.”
“You nearly gave me a heart attack. Who are you, old man?”
Indeed, it truly felt like his heart was about to drop to his sternum.
Ju-seong, who had been enthusiastically beating trees while training in the Three Yang Fist, whirled around in shock when an elderly voice suddenly sounded in his ear.
He was a medium-height old man with an ordinary build.
His head was bald and his white beard was scraggly like a goat’s. Even looking at his face, you would forget it as soon as you turned away, an utterly ordinary face.
But his steps made no sound, and a brilliant light dwelt in his eyes, making him look increasingly extraordinary the more you examined him.
“By any chance, does a fellow who calls himself Divine Physician of Life and Death still live here? You look too inexperienced to have killed that friend and taken over his house…”
Seeing the old man casually say such murderous things, Ju-seong judged that he was of the same ilk as his master.
Birds of a feather, and if of the same ilk, then surely a friend? Ju-seong dropped his guard and answered readily.
“Master is inside the house.”
“Master?”
The bald old man raised one eyebrow in disbelief, then soon burst out laughing.
“Ho ho ho! This friend who said he would never take a martial arts disciple even if beaten to death, got lonely in his old age, did he! He should have had children early like I did!”
As the old man was laughing heartily, Ju-seong was already looking behind him.
“Is this person looking for Master? Do you know him?”
A fearsome smile bloomed on the Divine Physician’s rugged face.
“Know him? I know him all too well.”
The bald old man turned around with a smile still on his lips and greeted him warmly.
“Ho ho, Wi Ji-baek, my friend, it has been a while. Ho ho, ha… Hmm, hmm.”
But upon seeing the Divine Physician’s murderous smile, his laughter began to fade. Soon, confused babbling tumbled out from between his goat beard.
“It has truly been a while. Coming up behind me without a trace. Did you get stronger? Indeed, they say one must daily renew oneself, and you are the very picture of remarkable progress. Ho ho, ha…”
The Divine Physician smiled as he put his arm around the bald old man’s shoulder. Then he spoke to Ju-seong.
“Let me introduce you. This is one who goes by the famous name Shadowless Divine Thief in the martial world.”
It was the very man who had gotten drunk and stolen the Divine Physician’s pill.
Anyway, since he was his master’s friend and far above him in seniority, Ju-seong immediately bowed with a fist-palm salute.
“Greetings, Elder Shadowless Divine Thief. Master has told me much about you. Stealing Master’s pill, how brave of you. I personally respect that.”
“Thank you, young man.”
The Shadowless Divine Thief said that, and immediately began having his neck squeezed by the Divine Physician.
“Keeek! I was wrong, Wi Ji-baek! No, Brother Wi Ji! Please let go of this!”
Ju-seong watched the bald man’s face turn red and veins pop out as he was choked.
‘…It has been a while since I craved stir-fried octopus from Cheongdo.’