Chapter 59
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Gradual Cultivation
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“There we go, that's as far as it goes. That was the point of telling you this story. From here on, ponder it yourself and gain enlightenment on your own.”
So-hyang's guidance had certainly been effective.
In fact, it was nothing short of brilliant.
On a practical level, it pinpointed the flaws in his martial arts, making him aware of his deficiencies.
On an inner level, it offered a way to resolve the roots of his impatience and obsession, filling his heart with leisure and hope.
The unconscious obsession and impatience—a knot that was vaguely a heart demon but undeniably blocking his growth.
It was fading away.
The Sect Leader, Cheongha, closed his eyes.
He had viewed the body as a constraining obstacle, believing that escaping its limitations through qi cultivation was his path forward.
Compared to the infinite and free arts of qi manipulation, how insignificant were the movements of flesh driven by just over a hundred joints.
Yet, what about the sparring match that had just unfolded?
Even without internal energy, his displayed power was negligible, yet he hadn't felt truly powerless.
Though his opponent had held back her strength, this was a matter of his own tangible sensation.
There were no infinite choices like when wielding qi arts, but clear, limited options lay before him.
And when he instinctively recognized them without deliberation, he was already selecting the optimal one without realizing it.
The primal principle that the body reacts on its own.
Rather, by devoting himself faithfully to the present moment, the paradoxically free nature of those limited futures emerged.
Why had he fixated only on the body's limitations as a flaw, turning a blind eye to its true meaning?
That the "self" includes not just mind and internal energy, but the body as well.
“...Wait a moment.”
“Hm? What's the matter?”
So-hyang tilted her head, gazing at the Sect Leader with a hint of expectant anticipation.
“Could you... receive just one technique from me?”
“Ahaha.”
As expected, he didn't disappoint her hopes.
“Of course! Come at me whenever you're ready.”
The Sect Leader had never struggled with growth before.
Even when facing walls, he was certain he could leap over them, and soon enough, he did.
However, after reaching the transcendent realm and manifesting his ultimate technique, he had been stalled at one wall for years.
Theoretically possible, and his intuition—born of unparalleled qi talent—had concluded it was achievable.
The pinnacle of his ultimate art, the Five Elements Sword Art's profound secret.
The mighty blow he had once unleashed at So-hyang, pouring all his internal energy into it, had been an incomplete version of that profound secret.
The principle was simple.
An infinite cycle and amplification by repeatedly enacting the generative cycle: wood begets fire, fire begets earth, earth begets metal, metal begets water, water begets wood.
In theory, up to the limit of his control, he should have been able to draw out infinite power without restraint.
Yet, strangely, he couldn't.
One cycle was his limit; forcing two was possible but unstable.
Concentrating vast internal energy to impose an inertial flow was somewhat effective, but merely a stopgap.
Now, he glimpsed the key to resolving it.
“...The body is the center, the essence.”
Entering a trance, his dilated pupils and dazed expression murmured the words unconsciously.
He didn't pick up the sword dropped to the ground. It wasn't something to be gripped by hand.
Body and techniques were important, but his strength lay in qi mastery; the Five Elements Sword Art was a martial art wielding the five elements through the sword, his ultimate technique.
He just needed to anchor the center.
The Sect Leader raised both hands.
Right and left palms facing each other, spread to the width of his head, forming a sphere.
Within it, the energies of the five elements began to gather.
Given the brief respite, he had recovered somewhat, but it was still woefully insufficient.
It didn't matter.
A perfected profound secret wasn't bound by the quantity of power input, be it a mountain or a speck of dust.
“...Here I go.”
“Whenever you're ready.”
So-hyang's lips curved into a beaming smile of anticipation, as the Sect Leader's energy began to amplify.
Starting with wood qi.
Wood begets fire; logs fuel the flames.
Fire begets earth; ashes become soil, merging with the land.
Earth begets metal; ores grow beneath the soil.
Metal begets water; water gathers on metal.
Water begets wood; water nurtures trees.
“And again...!”
Trees become fuel for flames. Then again, and again.
Each energy swells the next, rotating fiercely, the amplification continuing endlessly.
One cycle, two, three—
“Oh my, what's that?”
Four, five, six, ten, twenty, a hundred.
A ring-shaped mass of energy roaring like tearing space, emanating brilliant light.
Like a particle accelerator from his past world.
Even more so, generating infinite power akin to nuclear fusion.
“...I get it now.”
The Sect Leader intuited it.
This was his ultimate pinnacle.
This boundary was his zenith, the end of his growth.
A realm reached in a fleeting moment of focus and epiphany.
Probably, after this instant passed, it would vanish like a daydream, a divine prowess beyond his current level.
But it held meaning. Reaching it even once proved he could touch it again someday.
Forgettable, yet indelible.
Engraved deep within, it would serve as his future compass and goal.
And right now, such things were irrelevant.
“Uwaaaaaah—!”
What mattered was fidelity to the now.
The small yet immense, iridescent ring brimming with near-infinite energy shot toward So-hyang.
Five Elements Sword Art, profound secret.
Five Elements Mount Sumeru.
A force worthy of being called a world beyond mountains was about to engulf So-hyang.
“...Ahaha, this is beyond expectations?”
It surpassed even the Coiling Dragon shown by the Jeon family head.
Unlike that omnidirectional, uncontrolled explosion of overwhelming violence, this was volatile and unstable yet clearly controlled.
Space warped under the immense density of power.
An overwhelming energy she wasn't sure she could withstand even without the seals embedded in her body.
Facing a natural disaster's despair, So-hyang's lips curved into a tearing grin.
Yes. This was it.
Transcendent realm for sure, and superior to the Jeon family head she had faced before—yet it had all been too easy.
Even on the way to Wudang Mountain, focused on teaching children, she ended up merely lecturing while sparring this Sect Leader.
Of course, watching the children grow was joyful. She had learned things herself.
But what So-hyang truly desired wasn't that.
This was why she had ventured into the martial world.
Trembling with thrill amid overwhelming pressure and faint fear, she raised her sword.
Concentrating her mind into a single intent, sharpening spiritual gang qi into a blade.
Maximizing adaptation to disperse the five elements' qi, absorbing resistance via Bright Mystery Sword Art principles.
Controlling muscles and blood flow, even cellular metabolism under perfect dominion.
Perfect unity of mind and body.
No—forging something beyond perfection.
High stance, sword raised overhead straight.
Right foot forward, weight fully loaded, slashing down purely and concisely with the raised sword.
Polished to the extreme, unwavering save for its simplicity—a plain downward cut.
In his past life, it was called Zornhau in Lichtenauer's teachings; somewhere in the East, Yi Mun-ja.
A form found everywhere, a frontal slash too basic to call a technique.
And in the Central Plains, it had a name.
Among the Three Powers Sword, the Heavenly form.
Mount Tai Pressing Down.
Originally meaning pressing down with Mount Tai's weight, but now its meaning differed.
A sword cleaving Mount Tai.
Light incinerating the air, silencing even sound, descended upon Wudang's peak. A slender line bisected its center.
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Five Elements Mount Sumeru, in principle, yielded the same maximum power regardless of input qi volume.
Though control faltered from excessive amplification, its destructive force matched a full-state ultimate technique.
“Not a single scratch...!”
So-hyang had cleanly bisected and nullified the Five Elements Sword Art's pinnacle.
Awe and respect dawned on the Sect Leader's face.
“A hair's breadth off, and this side would have shattered. Sect Leader, congratulations on your achievement.”
So-hyang's hands trembled.
Not from failing to endure the strike, but from uncontainable thrill at the exquisite handfeel.
A rare opponent worthy of her full slash.
Without Gang Qi manifestation or mastering Bright Mystery Sword Art's absorption, even she might have struggled.
It truly embodied her growth to date, a most satisfying display.
“I've learned much. It was a delightful time.”
So-hyang raised her hand with a refreshed expression, forming a fist-and-palm salute in respect.
“No, I...! I've received an inestimable boon I can scarcely repay...!”
“If you wish to repay it, consolidate your enlightenment, claim your love, grow even stronger, and spar with me again.”
The Sect Leader nodded resolutely.
“Definitely...! I will!!”
“Good, that's the spirit.”
Thus, the spar with the Sect Leader concluded.
The next turn arrived.
“True Person, shall we go another round right away?”
Appetite whetted and excitement brimming, So-hyang addressed the next opponent with flushed cheeks.
Truth be told, what she truly anticipated was the clash with True Person Cheongheo.
“Well, hmm...”
True Person Cheongheo looked up at So-hyang with an exceedingly complicated expression.
She had undoubtedly shattered his disciple's wall and guided his growth.
Blending physical methods and verbal counsel to induce natural enlightenment.
A teaching approach far superior to his own as master.
He had only hoped his disciple would gain a growth spark from defeat to a younger warrior, not have enlightenment hammered in and heart demons erased.
However, however...
“Did you have to tell Cheongha that, of all things?”
Far from quelling his disciple's misguided affections, she had fanned the flames and even offered practical methods...
“Heavens, misguided? Where else is there a sentiment as sublime as love?”
“No, that's not...!”
That "love" was his disciple's lust for his master...!
True Person Cheongheo massaged his furrowed brow, swallowing a rising outburst.
Not a jest, but advice proven to fuel growth—he could say nothing.
Endlessly conflicted, he could only thump his chest.
“So, about the spar?”
Whether oblivious, aware yet indifferent, or monstrously parrot-like in fixation, the prodigy harped on the duel.
“Haaaah...!”
Exhaling a sigh bubbling from his dantian, he pushed aside stray thoughts for now.
“Very well, let's spar.”
Her radiant smile, glowing like an eruption of light, drew endless exasperated sighs.
She empathized so well with his disciple's feelings—why not his own?
True Person Cheongheo summoned the Songmun Ancient Sword bequeathed to his disciple via void grasp, raising a fist-and-palm salute.
For now, as Wudang's elder, he must accept the challenger's duel.
“One technique, if you please?”
“...I as well, kindly.”
And since the challenger's prowess was no lesser, he must clear his mind and focus.
True Person Cheongheo's black-and-white irises swirled, scanning the surroundings.
Wudang's peak, wrecked from disciple and challenger's spar.
Not a terrain-shattering battle, but its aftermath threatened the summit's collapse.
“Cheongha, the ground is crumbling. Use your ultimate technique to bind and mend the terrain.”
“Yes!”
At his beloved master's request, the Sect Leader's face lit up, gladly accepting.
A response brimming with affection over respect, tone laced with innate positivity toward future hopes.
Infusing earth qi to anchor, metal qi for reinforcement, fire qi to weld cracks.
No matter the consumption, this was effortless.
He suppressed another leaking sigh.
“Shall we move elsewhere as well?”
With his quarters nearby, True Person Cheongheo hesitated to fight here.
So-hyang had no reason to refuse.
“Sure, where to?”
Mid-mountain near the sect gates, or the plains at the base—So-hyang considered options.
True Person Cheongheo's proposal was even more unique.
For transcendent superhumans, terrain and gravity lost meaning; solid ground or sticky marsh made no difference.
Much less on the Yangtze's surface or in the skies.
“Aerial battle it is. You can manage void stepping, I assume?”
Then, spreading his swordless left palm, he infused internal energy and swung fiercely.
“Hm?”
A soft yet flawless, profound circular Taiji propelled So-hyang skyward—
Wudang's ultimate art, Cotton Palm.
Caught off guard, So-hyang soared high, staring blankly at True Person Cheongheo before bursting into laughter.
“Ahaha, this'll be fun!”
Such a novel experience—she couldn't help giggling loudly.