Storm Over the Nether World
Was it _Yodan_?
The term Dan that Seo Hyoel spoke of...
It could only mean the _Nae Dan_.
Right now, nothing else existed that could be called Dan.
“Why do you say it is _Yodan_?” I asked. “This is...”
The moment I tried to explain the _Nae Dan_, my words died in my throat.
The _Nae Dan_ was something only I and Kim Young-hoon, who had reached the realm of _Deungbongjogeuk_, possessed.
In a world where even _Ogijowon_ experts were considered rare, appearing only once every few hundred years, the number of martial artists who had reached _Deungbongjogeuk_ was probably no more than the two of us in the entire history of Wulin.
Yet I had no idea how to even begin to explain this _Nae Dan_, which was something that could only be created by someone of that level.
“...I have only just realized my own knowledge is limited. I hope you will kindly instruct me, however briefly, on what _Yodan_ is.”
“_Yodan_ is the spiritual essence formed by the species of _Yao Shou Xian Shi_ like me. At the same time, it is the catalyst that allows ordinary _Yao Shou_ or _Yao Gui_ to acquire true _Zhishi_ and begin cultivation. Our human race is born with _Zhishi_, but most beasts simply absorb heavenly and earthly spiritual energy through instinct. At some point, that spiritual energy condenses into a nucleus inside their bodies, becoming _Yodan_, gradually awakening _Zhishi_, and enabling them to cultivate.”
“Even our dragon race and a few other species can pass down _Yodan_, so they gain _Zhishi_ from a very young age...”
Generally speaking, it seemed that only the _Yodan_ formed by _Yao Shou_ or _Yao Gui_ was called _Yodan_.
And I understood why Seo Hyoel called my _Nae Dan_ a _Yodan_.
‘If concentrating heavenly and earthly spiritual energy to gain _Zhishi_, then the _Yodan_ of the _Yao Shou_ is ultimately the aggregation of their own _Zhishi_. My _Nae Dan_ was formed by mixing the aura of the _Ganghwan_ with my own inner energy.’
And the _Ganghwan_, in turn, was the aggregation of another part of myself.
In a sense, it could be called an aggregation of _Zhishi_.
That was, in other words, convergence and evolution.
We had evolved under completely different conditions and through completely different means, yet the end result looked almost identical.
That was what my _Nae Dan_ and the _Yodan_ of the _Yao Shou_ appeared to share.
“Human beings are usually born with _Zhishi_, so it is impossible for them to create a _Yao He_ by condensing it separately. There is no human who forces their own brain into the dantian to condense _Zhishi_. Therefore, ordinary _Yodan_ and _Yao He_ are created only by _Yao Shou_, or rarely by a very small number of _Yao Shou Xian Shi_ mixed with humans. But you, who are condensing a _Yodan_, thought you were not a hybrid?”
The _Hai Long Wang_ seemed to have misunderstood my true nature and kept asking me about being a hybrid of beast and human.
“Hmph, I am curious about your hybrid status, but time is passing. I must go to the Ascension Gate.”
After asking me a few things, the _Hai Long Wang_ shook his head in disappointment.
He shoved Kim Young-hoon through the spatial rift, decided to bring along Kim Yeon-jwim as well thanks to my persuasion, and then looked at me.
“Even an _Inyo_ hybrid is rare, appearing only once every thousand years. This too is a matter of _In-yeon_. Here, I have recorded a _Yao Shou Gong Fa_ containing the _Yao Shou Gong Fa_ method. It is one of the cultivation manuals passed down from our _Hai Long_ clan.”
“...! I don’t know how to thank you...”
I trembled as I accepted the book the _Hai Long Wang_ pulled from his bosom.
The book was bound in the hide of some beast and emanated a cold aura.
“...One thing, I am sorry, but may I ask what kind of script this is?”
“Ah, that is the script of the _Yao Shou_. I thought you had a _Yodan_ and didn’t even know it, and didn’t know you were a hybrid either, so of course you wouldn’t know _Yao Shou_ script.”
“...”
Then what was I supposed to do?
‘Wouldn’t he have a method to transmit knowledge and teach me _Yao Shou_ script...?’
I looked at him with expectant eyes. However, Seo Hyoel must have read my gaze, because he shook his head.
“The consciousness of _Yao Shou_ and humans is quite different in its frequency waves, so forcing the transmission of knowledge usually drives the weaker consciousness mad. It is regrettable, but I fear you will have to learn _Yao Shou_ script on your own. Let me see... If you go to _Geukran Island_ in the _Heukpung Sea_, there is my descendant, a late Foundation Establishment _Xi Hou Sun_ named Seo Ran. He is fluent in both human and _Yao Shou_ scripts. If you offer a reward, he will teach you.”
“I don’t have much experience, but since my hybrid nature is obvious, what should I do if he attacks me?”
“What nonsense are you talking about. You are a hybrid _Yao Shou_. Since you have condensed a _Yodan_, a _Zhishi_-bearing _Yao Shou_ would never dare to treat you lightly. Well then, I will be going. That cultivation manual is a fairly good _Yao Shou_ cultivation method. It should help you, a _Yao Shou_ hybrid.”
After hugging Kim Yeon and Oh Hye-seo, Seo Hyoel left the cave.
After a while, I saw him once more, flying away through the black clouds.
I bowed my head toward the departing Seo Hyoel.
‘A _Yao Shou Gong Fa_...’
Suddenly, I began to think about the origin of martial arts.
Most of all, the origin of martial arts was traced to the cultivation manuals of the _Suo Shi_.
They said that from the _Suo Shi_ swordsmanship they operated, the inner energy heart method was born.
But martial arts was not composed of only heart methods and qi techniques.
Forms. Where did the technique a Wulin person used to move their body come from?
‘It was taken from the countless forms found in the movements of beasts.’
The movements of tigers, the pacing of horses, the wingbeats of wasps, the hardness of turtles.
Humans, imitating those stronger than themselves, completed martial arts.
They made heart methods by imitating _Suo Shi_, and forms by imitating beasts.
When those qi techniques and forms were combined, after thousands of years, they became completely integrated.
That was how the existence of “Wulin people” fully took root in this world.
Was my _Ganghwan_ qi or technique?
It could be said to be an aggregation of aura, or an aggregation of technique.
It was similar to those of the _Suo Shi_, yet at the same time it was born from the beasts.
Therefore, my _Nae Dan_ was undoubtedly similar in nature to the _Yodan_ of the _Yao Shou_.
And that meant...
‘Perhaps by researching _Yao Shou_ cultivation methods, I could learn the next stage of martial arts.’
The _Suo Shi_ cultivation manuals had a history of thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of years and continued to evolve.
Even if I did not know, the _Yao Shou_ cultivation methods probably had a similar history.
But compared to that, no matter how well I honed the martial arts of the Wulin people, they would never have that kind of history.
That was why martial arts was weak and the realms were limited.
It was no coincidence that Kim Young-hoon continued to create new realms by sacrificing his own life.
If he did not do that, martial arts could never reach new realms.
‘If I learn _Yao Shou_ script, interpret the _Yao Shou_ cultivation methods, and teach Kim Young-hoon about them...’
Wouldn’t he see the realms beyond much faster?
I made my decision.
‘All right. First, recover the realms of my past lives as quickly as possible in Deungsunhyang.’
After that, go to _Geukran Island_, where Seo Ran, a dragon race lives, learn _Yao Shou_ script, and study the _Yao Shou_ cultivation method left by Seo Hyoel.
That was the goal of this life.
* * *
The time it took to recover the realms up to the seventh stage of _Qi Condensation_ was far shorter than in my past life.
Only seven years.
I had almost raised one realm per year.
After repeating the advancement through _Seon Gahou Tong_ several times from the beginning, my understanding of realms gradually deepened, and the speed at which I recovered realms increased.
And I performed the _Chilseong-je_ ritual once more.
The ritual to receive spiritual energy from the heavens.
And once again, I saw the familiar phenomenon.
The _Cheong-hyeon_ phenomenon appearing without error.
Dark clouds blocking my path.
But I smiled and raised my hand.
Paaaat!
Light exploded, creating a hole in the sky.
Through the hole in the sky, starlight poured down and bestowed heavenly and earthly spiritual energy upon me.
I reached the eighth stage of _Qi Condensation_ with surprising smoothness.
* * *
It took about three years to reach the eleventh stage of _Samjae Gyeil_ from the eighth stage of _Qi Condensation_.
And I noticed recently that changes were occurring in my _Ganghwan_ as I entered the final stage of _Samjae Gyeil_.
“Heaven... Earth... Human...”
I had experienced a change in the _Ganghwan_ when I reached the _Samjae Gyeil_ stage in my past life as well.
But back then, the feeling was unclear and I hadn’t understood it. Now, I had a vague sense of it.
Of course, it was still difficult to explain in words.
Wuuuung!
It seemed I could cause a change in the _Ganghwan_.
Paaaat!
The _Ganghwan_ split into two.
The left _Ganghwan_ became Earth, the right became Heaven.
And myself, between the two _Ganghwan_, became Human.
Thus, centering on myself, Heaven and Earth began to revolve.
Woong, woong, woong!
The two _Ganghwan_ spun around me and stabilized.
I raised the two _Ganghwan_ in both hands.
‘Because the principle of _Samjae_ was applied, the _Ganghwan_ split.’
Why was that?
Why did the _Ganghwan_ apply the principle of _Samjae_ so perfectly?
Bong, bong!
I raised the two _Ganghwan_ in one hand.
The two _Ganghwan_ representing Heaven and Earth spun and merged.
Into one _Ganghwan_.
‘The principle of _Samjae_...’
I thought about the principle of _Samjae_ and split the _Ganghwan_ again.
For now, the number of _Ganghwan_ I could split was still two.
Because I did not yet have proper understanding, when I relaxed my grip, the two _Ganghwan_ merged back into one.
I briefly stared at the _Ganghwan_, then continued with the _Jiwol Ipdogyeol_ cultivation.
After about a year, I succeeded in completing the twelfth and thirteenth stages of _Qi Condensation_.
Ui He Hap Il_ and _Il Won Il Ung_.
Paaaat!
All spiritual meridians merged into one, and a single point of spiritual energy gathered in the dantian.
When I completed the fourteenth stage of _Qi Condensation_, the realm of _Mugeuk Yeong Un_, I would finally be qualified to challenge Foundation Establishment.
In fact, the fourteenth stage of _Qi Condensation_, _Mugeuk Yeong Un_, was a stage designed to make it easy to reach Foundation Establishment through _Ui He Hap Il_, a kind of bridge between Foundation Establishment and _Qi Condensation_.
Therefore, I who had entered the fourteenth stage by completing _Ui He Hap Il_ was, in effect, at the absolute peak of _Qi Condensation_.
“...At last.”
After nearly eleven years.
I had fully recovered the realm of the fourteenth stage of _Qi Condensation_.
Ku gu gu guk!
When I clenched my fist, without any hand seals or incantations, the surrounding earth folded and formed a formation.
Now, it was possible to form simple formations directly with _Mu Yeong Chang_.
All that remained was to enter Foundation Establishment after completing the fourteenth stage.
‘But I should take my time entering Foundation Establishment.’
With my current talent, it might not be possible even if I devoted my entire life to refining it.
So, as I had originally planned, since I had fully recovered the realms, I would go meet Seo Ran, who lives in the _Heukpung Sea_, learn _Yao Shou_ script, and study the _Yao Shou_ cultivation method given by Seo Hyoel.
In the eleventh year of my regression,
I descended from Deungsunhyang after recovering all the realms and reaching the fourteenth stage of _Qi Condensation_.
Now, it was time to investigate the _Yao Shou_ cultivation methods.