Chapter 124
Chapter 124
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: Halfway to Spirit Ignition
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Though they had set it for a week.
It was hard to tell exactly how much time had passed. The sealed training chamber felt like a world completely cut off from the outside.
He had a vague sense of how much time had elapsed, but he couldn't fully trust it. Perceived time was relative, after all.
The only things he could somewhat rely on were hunger and thirst. He hadn't even caught a glimpse of the meals the caretaker brought every morning. That was because he hadn't left the training chamber for the grand hall even once since entering.
"He's been like that the whole time?"
"Yes, nonstop for a week."
Seo Il clicked his tongue at Heo Cheol-u's response. The two of them were in the basement of the shack where the caretaker resided, next to the training chamber.
A massive crystal wall displayed the appearances of the students inside the training chamber.
It was a sight he'd seen many times, but one he still couldn't get used to. The Mysterious Spectacle Formation, said to have been created by the Jang Clan hundreds of years ago.
Not only did it induce various phenomena within the training chamber, but it also projected the chamber's interior onto the crystal wall.
This Mysterious Spectacle Formation could be called the greatest treasure possessed by Yi Cheon Academy.
Countless formation masters had studied and attempted to replicate it over the years, but none had succeeded.
"The senior asked me to keep an eye on him, so I have been, but among the kids who entered the training chamber, this one's been the most well-behaved."
Thanks to the Dark Shadow Division Chief's orders, he'd been closely monitoring Wi Seong-cheon for the past week.
But Wi Seong-cheon hadn't done anything particularly noteworthy during that time.
Just sitting cross-legged on the borrowed rock slab for days.
"He barely slept at all, just stayed like that."
"And his meals?"
"He's getting by on Wall-Shrinking Pills alone. One every two days or so. He hardly drinks any water either."
"Huh."
Seo Il let out a sigh and shook his head.
Even without moving his body, enduring such an extreme intake for a week was grueling even for a martial artist who cultivated internal arts.
In fact, Wi Seong-cheon looked thinner than when he'd seen him a week ago.
"...He's at least breathing, right?"
"Why ask when you can see it for yourself."
Heo Cheol-u grumbled, furrowing his brow.
Heo Cheol-u knew Seo Il from his days as the Thunderclap Ghost Blade, so he couldn't get used to how Seo Il was now.
'He's changed even more lately.'
He'd thought the assassin's edge was fading, but now it was completely gone.
Perhaps becoming a professor and being influenced by the young students. Strangely, his aura was calmer than before, with no openings.
It might not suit an assassin, but as an aura, it was superior to his past self.
"You're that worried about the kid?"
"Is it strange to worry?"
"It is. You're a professor at the academy to monitor the students up close. And the Division Chief approved you as the Sleeping Dragon's supervising professor because the Chief is watching him."
At those words, Seo Il's expression stiffened slightly.
Heo Cheol-u continued without hesitation.
"I don't know why the Division Chief is interested in the Sleeping Dragon, but if the time comes, the Chief might order you to kill him."
"I know."
Seo Il answered without letting him finish.
Heo Cheol-u's lips slowly closed. A chilling wave of killing intent pulled his feet back.
Seo Il stared at the crystal wall without turning around. But the intense killing intent he emanated filled the sealed room.
"If that time comes, I'll naturally follow the Division Chief's orders."
There was no need for Heo Cheol-u to say it. Seo Il knew it himself.
Though Division Chief Seok I-jin had designated him as Wi Seong-cheon's supervising professor, he could have refused if he wanted.
He hadn't refused because the Dark Shadow Division Chief had approved it.
Seo Il himself had been pleased. He'd long yearned for a martial artist's life over that of an assassin. Becoming a professor had only strengthened that longing.
But he had gradually realized. The Dark Shadow Division Chief had appointed him because the Chief himself was watching Wi Seong-cheon.
How could Seo Il not think that way? Someday, the Division Chief might order Wi Seong-cheon's death.
And the one who could most 'reliably' assassinate him would be Seo Il.
"As long as you're aware."
Heo Cheol-u nodded with a smile. Seo Il withdrew his killing intent without a word.
He gazed at the crystal wall with troubled eyes.
He earnestly hoped the Dark Shadow Division Chief would never give such an order.
* * *
"...Hoo."
Wi Seong-cheon steadied his breathing and opened his eyes. His mouth was parched, and his stomach ached.
Was this the seventh day? He wasn't certain, but he figured about that much time had passed.
'Good thing I borrowed this.'
Mu Yeon-jun had seemed like he didn't need it, but the rock slab had been a huge help to Wi Seong-cheon.
He'd spent the entire week barely sleeping, tending to his internal injuries atop the slab. Thanks to that, they had improved significantly.
'Better than before fighting Jin-woo hyung.'
It wasn't fully healed yet.
He'd survived thanks to the Dawn Heaven Divine Pill, but the internal injuries from the Poison Blood Ghost Demon had been that severe.
'Still, it'll be fully healed before I leave the training chamber.'
His gaze naturally drifted to the Wall-Shrinking Pills and water pouch, but he steadied his mind.
'A bit more.'
He wasn't sure if this method was right. But it was worth trying.
Two days ago, he'd taken one Wall-Shrinking Pill and a sip of water. Yesterday, nothing at all.
He planned to do the same today.
Wi Seong-cheon closed his eyes again.
For the week, he'd circulated the Heavenly Flower Chain Art atop the rock slab. He'd pushed away sleep, endured hunger and thirst.
With that, it felt like his entire body's senses were sharpening.
Was it just his imagination? What was clear was that amid the body's exhaustion, his consciousness grew clearer.
He needed that 'feeling.'
Wi Seong-cheon swallowed his breath, then exhaled. Slowly, without rushing, honing the edge of his senses.
Things brought to mind with clear consciousness.
The spar with Jin-woo. The defeat to U Ha-yeon. The fights he'd watched from the spectator seats. Things he'd recalled countless times before.
In that way, another day passed, then two.
His head spun. Four days without sleep. No Wall-Shrinking Pills, no water.
Yet Wi Seong-cheon remained seated on the rock slab.
At some point, he stopped even circulating the Heavenly Flower Chain Art.
Or had he? He just wasn't conscious of it. His internal energy continued flowing through his meridians.
But that flow wasn't intense. Unlike when he consciously circulated the Heavenly Flower Chain Art, the internal energy's flow was... very quiet. This wasn't anything special.
Internal energy always flowed. From the moment he learned the mental art and opened his dantian to accumulate it.
Internal energy flowed through the meridians unconsciously, strengthening the body.
In other words, it was natural.
'The Spirit Ignition of the Heavenly Flower Chain Art.'
He recalled the moment during his spar with U Ha-yeon.
That sensation. True perfect unity. The feeling that everything had become one.
What was I like then? His internal injuries had prevented him from moving his internal energy freely.
At the same time, he hadn't resisted U Ha-yeon's sword. He'd wanted to flow with it, neither dodging nor shrinking back.
That was the Heavenly Flower Chain Art, the principle of Heavy Weight Receiving Position.
'Spirit Ignition is a method of utilizing innate true qi.'
Not burning it. 'Using' it.
Burning innate true qi shortens lifespan. Then what does using it mean?
'Using "me" more surely.'
'Father's dantian was shattered.'
He fasted another day. Now he no longer felt hunger. No thirst. No saliva.
Strange noises seemed to come from inside his body.
Wi Seong-cheon's body was dying.
No one but Wi Seong-cheon himself was driving his body toward death.
No matter how much martial arts he'd learned, he'd gone over five days without a sip of water. No sleep.
'I never once beat Father like that.'
That was because Father perfectly utilized innate true qi, not internal energy.
What about me? How am I?
Internal energy was refined natural qi accumulated from outside.
All internal energy mental arts accumulated that natural qi in the dantian through breathing. That was internal energy.
Such accumulated internal energy ultimately wasn't fully one's own, which was why all internal energy mental arts emphasized the unity of mind, qi, and body.
'I.'
Am I properly using myself? On the fifth night, Wi Seong-cheon blankly pondered.
The Supreme Profound Sword Lord had said his mind-body form was achieved, albeit imperfectly.
If the mind-body form was achieved through mind, what about my qi? My body?
Things he'd never truly considered.
He'd heard them in childhood martial arts lessons and Yi Cheon Academy classes, but never seriously contemplated them.
They were basic martial principles.
"Good."
Wi Seong-cheon parted his lips. His cracked lips bled.
He let the blood flow without licking it.
"Step by step."
Wi Seong-cheon murmured as he extended his hand forward. It trembled and shook.
Too little food, after all. With that trivial thought, he consciously circulated the Heavenly Flower Chain Art.
Rumble!
The massive internal energy in his dantian flowed through his meridians.
'Empty the mind.'
Empty the mind.
Words he'd heard from U Ha-yeon and during Heavenly Flower School martial arts training.
They probably didn't mean it this way. Wi Seong-cheon knew that much.
A foolish act.
Fully aware of that, Wi Seong-cheon ignited his qi reinforcement. Brilliant colored qi reinforcement covered his palm.
Wi Seong-cheon stared at it with bloodshot eyes.
He condensed and condensed the qi reinforcement, gathering it to a single point. Just maintaining it burned away his internal energy.
Wi Seong-cheon newly realized how profound his internal energy was.
'I took the summoning pill and the Dawn Heaven Divine Pill.'
He'd trained internal energy since childhood.
Recalling that time, Wi Seong-cheon chuckled.
Grueling training was familiar. But looking back now,
'Did I really almost die back then?'
Yes.
He'd nearly died fighting the Poison Blood Ghost Demon too. But never during training.
Even when slashed to grow accustomed to pain, or learning various pains, or twisting meridians to learn Backflow. It hurt terribly, but he'd never been on the brink of death.
Father was skilled at 'control' in those things.
But now.
'Control can wait.'
Having gone through such training, Wi Seong-cheon knew exactly the 'limit' he could handle. That's why he'd always fought without crossing it.
But now he ignored that line.
Had hunger, thirst, and fatigue driven him to recklessness?
No, Wi Seong-cheon was calm.
He still didn't know if this method was correct.
But to truly feel 'me,' he thought he needed to strip away what he had, one by one, returning to raw essence.
The brilliant light of the qi reinforcement faded.
Wi Seong-cheon's profound internal energy had completely burned away.
It meant the internal energy that had sustained his body at its extreme limit was gone.
His insides twisted, his mind reeled.
A massive lethargy crushed Wi Seong-cheon's body. In that state, he staggered to his feet.
His legs buckled, nearly collapsing him, but he gritted his teeth and forced strength into them.
'Need to strip away more.'
Wi Seong-cheon dragged his feet toward the mechanism.
Grind!
With feeble hands, he barely lifted the rod upward. His vision went pitch black.
Eyes accustomed to darkness, but now he truly saw nothing.
In that state.
Wi Seong-cheon assumed the horse stance. Something he'd done daily as a basic upon starting martial arts.
That familiar horse stance now felt harder than the first time. Muscles quivered, bones felt like crumbling.
Pain he was long accustomed to. Yet now it didn't feel familiar at all.
His dying body heightened sensations to the extreme, craving survival.
'Yes.'
Wi Seong-cheon squeezed his eyes shut.
His internal energy fully burned, but he recalled the Heavenly Flower Chain Art's incantation.
'I don't want to die.'
He wasn't doing this to actually commit suicide. He was simply desperate.
He'd clearly felt it but couldn't grasp it. He wanted to recreate that unity he could only recall.
Was that complete Spirit Ignition?
He didn't know.
In perfect darkness. Only his ragged breathing proved he was still alive.
Wi Seong-cheon still kept his eyes closed in horse stance.
The pain of his body shattering gradually faded.
Wi Seong-cheon knew well what this was.
'It's been a while.'
When pain reaches its peak, strangely, it fades. Father had called it the brain's mystery.
'Gradually.'
It was settling. That's how it felt. Though he was clearly standing.
Or was he really standing?
The thick darkness showed nothing, his body numb.
'Stand.'
He clearly recognized the numbness.
He hadn't fallen. He stood. He lived.
How long could he keep it up? He'd die soon. It wouldn't be strange whenever.
He'd crossed the line long ago. But not dying yet meant...
Was the 'limit' line in his mind too low? Or had he surpassed it long ago, surviving on poison qi alone?
'It's the longing.'
Hunger, thirst, sleep desire. He wanted to give up and collapse.
But the longing to 'attain' was stronger.
More than Heavenly Flower School's secrets, destiny, Heavenly Demon or whatever.
The defeat to U Ha-yeon stung.
Watching the later spars from the seats, he hated his pathetic, powerless self.
He wanted to win at the Yi Cheon Tournament.
His mind settled quietly.
As he recalled his longings one by one, he wondered if he should strip these away too.
After some time, he answered. No. These longings were part of him.
Wi Seong-cheon had no intention of becoming desireless. That's not what he pursued.
Rather, longing drove him.
How much more time passed?
It felt like days more, or just a few hours.
His horse stance broke. Wi Seong-cheon brought his feet together neatly, straightened his back. Then he walked slowly. His legs no longer wobbled.
In the darkness, his eyes gleamed fiercely. Extreme body pushed to limit and will craving life. That unified his imperfect mind-body form.
Will moved Wi Seong-cheon's body.
"Half."
Wi Seong-cheon murmured softly.
He slowly extended his fist. The punch was too slow, but he was satisfied. Just being able to extend it like this had value.
Wi Seong-cheon had succeeded in 'similarly' recreating the unity he'd felt before.
"No. Not even half."
Crusted blood on his split lips irritated.
Wi Seong-cheon smiled bitterly as he turned his body. Only after forcibly emptying his internal energy and pushing his body to the brink had he recreated unity.
Excluding qi from mind, qi, body—only mind and body unified.
"This is the limit."
Any more and he'd die.
Wi Seong-cheon calmly accepted it. In truth, he should have died long ago.
'No point pushing further.'
He reached it only after emptying his dantian. Meaningless. To make all one, complete self. He could never achieve perfect unity in this state.
Wi Seong-cheon slowly raised the mechanism's rod. The sealed room brightened slightly.
He opened the water pouch and brought it to his mouth. Slowly drank.
'Had I not formed the mind-body, I'd be dead.'
He put a Wall-Shrinking Pill in his mouth. Swallowed as it melted, then a few more.
'How many days has it been?'
No idea.
Wi Seong-cheon stopped thinking and flopped onto the rock slab.
And so, Wi Seong-cheon slept like the dead for two days.