The Heavenly Thunder (1)
The continuous rumble of thunder rolled through the pitch-black clouds that had once blanketed the heavens. A sudden flash of blue light split the darkness, followed by the deafening crash of thunder itself.
I found myself wondering if the heavens truly possessed any will at all—if their anger truly existed, it should have been a blazing crimson. After all, they seemed to be raging at me for forcibly tearing through the clouds to seize their power.
“If you’re going to strike me down, then strike.”
I condensed my sword qi once more, letting it hover above my palm. Tens, hundreds, thousands of sword qangs converged, forging the Sword Gang Pressure Pellet.
Whoosh—
A single star-like light bloomed above my hand. But to my relief, the heavenly thunder did not descend. It merely grumbled, then scattered the clouds as if to give me one last look.
‘With this… perhaps I can block it after all…’
I grinned at the thought for a moment, but quickly realized it was impossible. A lightning strike traveling at the speed of light? What power in a mere sword gang could withstand that? The energy contained within was indeed potent, but speed alone made interception unthinkable.
‘Well, that can wait for later…’
I stared at the sword gang I had formed in the air before me. From the Monthly Water Monthly Wood Record, many truths I had once failed to grasp now made perfect sense.
‘Kim Hyung’s trial and error…’
Thanks to his pathfinding, I could now skip the painful process of testing realms through failure. For example, I no longer needed to experiment with whether a sword gang was merely a bomb that could be hurled and detonated.
Uuuuung—
I sat in the lotus position atop the altar, eyes closed, and released the sword gang. It appeared overwhelmingly powerful, yet in truth it was nothing more than a crude mass of qi.
“Huuuup…”
By drawing it into my body, I could finally bring it under control. Of course, I was simply reabsorbing the internal energy I had already exhaled—no true increase in power would result. But…
‘The pressure and suction force that once formed inside my dantian… why did such suction ever appear? Now I finally understand.’
This was the signal that I had crossed the Five Qi Consorting with the Origin and was nearing the realm of Deungbongjogeuk.
My sword gang entered my body and settled naturally into my dantian, as if that had always been its purpose. I fed it my will until I could no longer contain it and simply poured myself inside. It was as though I had condensed my very self into a tiny bead.
The dantian is said to be the field of the mind, is it not? Had I condensed myself into that field, it seemed odd that no change had occurred. Yet once the sword gang had settled, it instinctively occupied the center of pressure and suction, as though it had been born there. And in the form of a bead, it took root completely. At the same time, I felt the pressure and suction force growing dozens of times stronger.
‘This is…!’
Until now my dantian had contained a chaotic mixture of the methods of the Pure Force Technique and the inner energy of Wulin martial arts. But the moment the sword gang activated its suction, the entire turbulent inner energy was drawn inward. Simultaneously, the qi that had been circulating through my meridians along with my law power separated completely and was pulled toward the center of the dantian.
‘Ahh…’
I felt it. The fact that, so long as my consciousness permitted, an enormous amount of inner energy could flood into this bead! The previously insurmountable limit of the dantian had expanded beyond all measure.
The moment I breathed power into the bead, it compressed and continued to draw in without end. It was as if the space inside had become boundless.
‘No… the sword gang that had settled in my dantian was no longer truly a sword gang.’
It had merged with the nature of the dantian and become something entirely different. Yes… it would be far more accurate to call it my inner dan rather than the sword gang.
The moment the inner dan formed, I suddenly understood.
‘Ah, so that was it.’
In my previous life I had once felt a vague unease toward the inner energy of the Dragon Vein Circulation Technique. I had not known why. But now I did.
Uuuuung!
With the Jiwol Ipdogyeol activated, I felt the spiritual energy of heaven and earth pouring in far faster than before. My mastery of spiritual power had become incomparably smoother. It was like breathing clean mountain air after being suffocated by dust for years.
‘Up until now, the turbulent inner energy mixed with law power had obstructed my practice of the Pure Force Technique to a certain degree.’
In my past life, Kim Young-hoon had once thought he possessed a slightly better aptitude for the Pure Force Technique than I. After all, without a master who had invested long years into me, he had still reached the second stage of Qi Condensation faster.
But now I realized he had possessed no greater aptitude. He simply had not been burdened by the chaotic inner energy that I carried. He had stored his power cleanly within his inner dan, preventing any mixing.
Huuuup!
I inhaled the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and began circulation. It flowed faster than ever before. At the same time I employed the Eonsiksul.
A technique that compressed one’s consciousness to accelerate cultivation! The effect was on an entirely different scale from before.
‘At this rate… my efficiency is no longer that of a third-grade spiritual root, but closer to a fourth?’
Stunned by the sheer speed, I stared in open-mouthed amazement. Of course, I still possessed nothing better than a third-grade spiritual root. Yet the efficiency I now felt was staggering.
After confirming the cultivation speed, I examined the other effects of the inner dan.
Whoosh—
Inner energy erupted from the inner dan. Simultaneously, the dantian itself became a true axis and center. Instead of layering sword qi in empty space as before, I could now form and expel a sword gang directly from within the dantian.
A sword gang burst forth from my palm, radiating light. It was the same technique Kim Young-hoon had once demonstrated. Had the Monthly Water Monthly Wood Record not survived, I would still have been experimenting with how to convert a sword gang into an inner dan.
‘Thankfully, the moment the inner dan formed, I could create it immediately.’
I clenched my fist and absorbed the sword gang once more. Then I stood and stomped the ground.
Boom!
In an instant, five inches of distance vanished. With the dantian as its new center, my inner energy efficiency had become overwhelmingly superior. The amplification of body reinforcement through inner energy had reached an extreme. My reaction speed, strength, and endurance were now incomparable to before.
“Haap!”
I drew law power from the dantian and struck with a fist.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
The previously weak law power now burst forth with terrifying force, shattering a one-inch boulder to dust.
‘No waste in the inner energy whatsoever. My control over it is now perfect.’
From now on, the same stances would produce far greater power. I continued testing various stances while observing the dantian, becoming accustomed to it. At the same time, I pondered the difference between the golden dan formed by Core Formation experts and my own inner dan.
‘Could the golden dan of Core Formation experts produce the same effects?’
After a moment’s thought, I concluded that while they might look similar in form, they were entirely different. The martial arts of the Wulin were already a diluted version of the Pure Force Technique; even if they resembled it, they could never be equal. And when a Core Formation expert formed a golden dan, its power would shatter mountains and cut through oceans. A Foundation Establishment expert like Makri Hwang-shin might level a pavilion or two with a whirlwind, but a Core Formation master would raise an entire imperial palace with a single gale. A Core Formation expert could probably level an entire continent while counting from one to ten with closed eyes.
Yet with my inner dan, I could only improve martial efficiency and accelerate the use of sword gangs. That was all.
After experiencing the dantian’s utility several more times, I checked the effect of the Qi Condensation Seven-Star Ceremony.
Looking at the sky, I realized I could now sense what the heavenly qi truly was. By absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, I could read the heavens themselves and understand their will. Of course, even as a Qi Condensation expert I could not grasp much meaning—only that I knew precisely how much of my lifespan remained, and that I now possessed enough inspiration to predict the weather of the next day by gazing at the sky.
‘My lifespan is useless to me; I already know the exact moment of my death. The weather can be calculated if I use the formation my master taught me.’
The higher my realm rose, the stronger my ability to read the heavenly qi would become. Eventually I might even glimpse fortune, misfortune, and destiny themselves. I felt that the Six Harmonies Full Road at the eighth stage of Qi Condensation and the Five Elements True Intent at the ninth would allow me to break through rapidly.
After all, in my previous life I had already trained beyond the Seven-Star Ceremony and grasped nearly the entire meaning of the higher realms.
“Huuu…”
I settled into position and began circulating the Jiwol Ipdogyeol at the eighth stage. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth rushed in faster than ever before. The law power that had once obstructed my circulation had vanished into the dantian, and the Eonsiksul activated, accelerating my cultivation speed to that of a fourth-grade spiritual root.
***
One year passed. Adding the dense spiritual energy of Deungsunhyang, I finally reached the ninth stage of Qi Condensation after over a year of trial and error.
The Six Harmonies Full Road was the realm in which one stimulated one’s consciousness with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, expanded the size of the mind, and filled every meridian with spiritual power. Once I had completely understood the realm, I could reach it at incredible speed through steady cultivation.
Now at the ninth stage I had entered the Five Elements True Intent. From this point, the attributes of the basic cultivation manual began to shine brightly. Up until now they had only allowed crude manipulation of soil; now I could unleash true supernatural abilities.
“Haap!”
Forming the correct hand seal, I activated the supernatural ability recorded in the Jiwol Ipdogyeol. A massive earthen wall rose before my eyes. Approximately two inches high, it was compacted by law power and extremely solid. From it I could fire earthen bullets, and I could ride the wall itself like sliding on sand. I could also build earthen houses or freely use earth-diving techniques. My supernatural abilities and techniques with the earth attribute had increased dramatically.
Moreover, from the stage of the Five Elements True Intent, the process of forming incantations and hand seals for techniques suited to the basic cultivation manual’s attribute was greatly simplified.
Tap!
Forming a quick hand seal, the earth-attribute technique that had previously required full incantations and seals now completed instantly.
Around this time, I had begun to make up my mind to leave Deungsunhyang.
‘With the Six Harmonies Full Road, no, even from the Five Elements True Intent, such dense spiritual energy was unnecessary.’
Merely filling my own attribute’s spiritual power would suffice. And rather than remaining in the sky, it was far better to expand my earth spiritual power from the earth itself.
I looked back at the place I had inhabited for forty-one years. A sixty-inch altar stood beside my former dwelling, and my traces remained. I gazed at it briefly, then turned and headed toward the outskirts of Deungsunhyang.
Below me lay the Dabcheon Desert. I gathered basic food and water, then leaped downward without hesitation.
Whoosh—
The wind whipped past me. The ground grew rapidly closer at terrifying speed. Suddenly—
Whoosh—
I felt as though I were passing through something. An eerie sensation gripped me. I looked up to see that the Deungsunhyang I had known had vanished completely.
‘Was there… some kind of barrier surrounding it…?’
After all, the Dabcheon Desert was a place the culprits themselves often crossed. If such an enormous sky gate existed, it could not have gone unnoticed. I hid no surprise and pulled a sword gang from my palm, shooting it upward.
Whoosh—
Flash!
The sword gang was blocked in mid-air and instantly shattered.
‘Easy to leave from within, but impossible to enter from outside. Makes sense.’
In any case, I had already seen everything in Deungsunhyang, so it did not matter. The desert ground grew steadily closer. I read the wind’s flow and stomped the air once more.
Boom! Boom!
Thanks to the inner dan, the Void Step used even less inner energy yet produced even greater results. My speed decreased rapidly, and as the sand dune approached, I could land on the ground as if stepping down stairs.
Plop!
Swaaaa—
Sand exploded outward. I formed a law seal and swept the incoming sand aside with my earth law power.
‘Let’s see… where shall I go first?’
Toward the north, where the suspicious stone building had vanished. Or west, toward the Byeokra Kingdom?