Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: The Tai Chi Sword Lord's Counsel
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The Tai Chi Sword Lord had handed the Formula of the Immovable Heart to Paeng Yeonhwa, but he had nothing particular to give to Wi Seongcheon.
Wi Seongcheon wasn't disappointed. In fact, he would have been troubled if the Tai Chi Sword Lord had tried to teach him some new martial art.
It wasn't just because it was called a divine art. Wi Seongcheon was fully satisfied with the techniques of the Heavenly Harmony Sect that he had cultivated.
Having spent his entire life practicing only the Heavenly Harmony Sect's arts, learning something entirely new at this point wasn't easy.
"Stepwork or fist techniques—I could teach those if I wanted, but if I did, you'd be the one in trouble."
The Tai Chi Sword Lord's sect was the Wudang Sect. Wudang was one of the Three Great Sword Gates of the orthodox factions, alongside Mount Hua and the Namgoong Clan. That didn't mean Wudang's martial arts consisted solely of swordsmanship, however.
Wudang's Supreme Cloud Step was a lightness skill that was always mentioned alongside Kunlun's Cloud Dragon Eight Forms and Shaolin's Immovable Diamond Divine Method whenever the foremost lightness skill of the orthodox factions was discussed.
It also boasted numerous fist techniques worthy of the absolute arts, such as Face Breaker Palm and Tenfold Gold.
Of course, the Tai Chi Sword Lord had mastered those as well. But his nickname was the Tai Chi Sword Lord, and both he and others called him the supreme swordsman under heaven.
He had developed his swordsmanship far beyond what he received from his sect, but he hadn't devoted himself to other arts to the same degree.
They had remained "Wudang arts." Teaching those to Wi Seongcheon would lead to all sorts of complications.
"I've already spoken to your supervising instructor, Seo Il, so come here every Monday. I can't teach you a new martial art, but I can at least offer some advice."
"Yes."
"Be honest with me first."
The Tai Chi Sword Lord flashed a mischievous smile.
"Have you opened your middle dantian?"
"...Halfway?"
Wi Seongcheon tilted his head as he replied. The Tai Chi Sword Lord burst into hearty laughter. It wasn't fully open, but halfway was still impressive.
How many people had opened their middle dantian at his age?
"And you've begun forming protective aura?"
"I can do it, but it's not easy."
Wi Seongcheon answered frankly. Once the middle dantian was fully opened and familiarized, forming protective aura would become as natural as breathing.
Without opening the middle dantian, no amount of effort would get him beyond forming sword aura.
"Being able to do it at all is remarkable. As I said earlier, mastering a divine art doesn't automatically open the middle or upper dantian. Great martial arts are naturally difficult, and breaking through that difficulty requires talent and perseverance. This means your aptitude is far from ordinary."
"So I'm not a genius?"
"Don't take the word 'genius' lightly. Even I don't consider myself one. A true genius is one blessed by heaven itself, a title only the Heavenly Being or... the Heavenly Demon could claim."
The Tai Chi Sword Lord spoke with a wry smile. To most people, his words would have been infuriating. If even the Ten Heroes' Tai Chi Sword Lord wasn't a genius, weren't the standards set impossibly high?
"You've already formed your intent body, so you'll be able to open your upper dantian 'faster' and 'easier' than others. In that process, your middle dantian will open fully as well."
With that, the Tai Chi Sword Lord stared intently at Wi Seongcheon. His gaze seemed to scrutinize every inch. Wi Seongcheon cleared his throat and asked,
"Why are you staring like that?"
"No matter how I think about it, it's astonishing. To form an intent body without even fully opening your middle dantian... Even if the Heavenly Harmony Sect's arts are divine, this is extraordinary."
"I won't tell you about the Heavenly Harmony Sect's martial arts."
"...Really? I could swear an oath if needed. I absolutely won't tell anyone."
"Hah."
Wi Seongcheon let out a disbelieving laugh at the blatant pleading.
"If you want to swear, you'll have to swear not to practice it too."
"...Huh?"
The Tai Chi Sword Lord blinked.
"Isn't that going too far? Learning about an excellent new martial art and then being told not to practice it— you know well that martial arts aren't simple things you figure out just from the formula. To truly understand, you have to practice it first."
"If you really want to that badly, join the Heavenly Harmony Sect."
On second thought, it didn't seem like such a bad idea. If the Ten Heroes' Tai Chi Sword Lord joined the Heavenly Harmony Sect, its name would echo across the entire martial world without Wi Seongcheon lifting a finger.
'...But I don't like that.'
"Anyway, if you want to know more about the Heavenly Harmony Sect's arts, don't ask me—join the sect. Then, by seniority, I'd be your senior brother."
"What?"
"Why act so surprised? It's only natural. Sure, you're likely a hundred years my senior in age, but sect seniority isn't based on years. I was born into the Heavenly Harmony Sect, a disciple since twenty years ago. The only one who teaches our sect's arts is our sect leader, my father. So if you joined, you'd be his direct disciple, but even then, I'd still be your senior brother. Plus, I'm the young sect leader."
At those words, the Tai Chi Sword Lord looked distinctly uncomfortable. He was no stranger to how sect seniority worked.
What flustered him, though, was Wi Seongcheon's audacity in saying it to his face. If the Tai Chi Sword Lord wanted to join, even the Nine Great Righteous Sects or Three Great Families would welcome him with open arms and make exceptions to seniority rules.
"You really don't want to share?"
"Of course not. And even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I'm not the Heavenly Harmony Sect leader."
"I see. Well, nothing to be done then. I'll have the Heavenly Harmony Sect send a formal invitation before the Righteous Heaven Tournament."
Wi Seongcheon thought he had given up when he heard "nothing to be done." But his follow-up words left Wi Seongcheon's mouth agape.
"You're really going to join?"
"If that's the only way, what choice do I have?"
"The Heavenly Harmony Sect, of all places?"
"It's no lowly sect—that much is proven by the arts you've mastered and your own skill. I'm curious right now, but oh well. What's important is this."
The Tai Chi Sword Lord's eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"You're not aware of your own intent body. But nothing in martial arts is meaningless, especially in divine arts. If you've formed it without even opening your upper dantian, there must be a reason. What kind of training have you undergone?"
"...Uh... I haven't done anything particularly impressive."
He wasn't confident about that answer. Having grown up solely in the Heavenly Harmony Sect, Wi Seongcheon didn't know what training others received as children.
The first training he underwent was learning what "pain" truly was. It began at age eight.
The first was a sword slash. The reason was simple: the most commonly used weapon in the martial world was the "sword." A sword was forged steel stretched long and sharpened to a keen edge.
A sword was, ultimately, a blade, and whether double-edged or single, blades were "sharp." The most carried weapon among martial artists was the sword, but "blade" encompassed all edged weapons, not just swords.
Being cut. The most basic injury in the martial world. That spring at age eight, his side was the first to be slashed.
It wasn't done recklessly.
Can you endure being cut?
Yes.
His father had asked, and Wi Seongcheon had answered. That day, the swinging sword strike held no hesitation, but up until the day before, his father had wavered countless times. Wi Seongcheon didn't want to see that hesitation.
So he said to cut him, that it was fine.
'What nonsense is this?'
The Tai Chi Sword Lord's pupils trembled as he listened to Wi Seongcheon's description of his training. Becoming accustomed to pain.
On its own, that wasn't particularly unusual. Every sect had its own "endurance methods."
Practicing martial arts meant acquiring skills that could harm others—and that could harm oneself.
Pain clouds judgment and hinders the body. Thus, one learned the "knack" of enduring it.
But could Wi Seongcheon's training be called mere knack? An eight-year-old child, not even initiated into basic breathing methods, was slashed. And not just once. It wasn't only slashing. Back then, Wi Seongcheon endured every kind of "pain."
To the point of not dying.
To the point of not being crippled.
"...Unbelievable."
There was a martial art called Poison Hand. It infused the bare hand with poison qi. Its training was simple in description: just soak the bare hands in poison.
Iron Sand Palm wasn't much different. First hot water, then hot sand, then hot iron... gradually escalating "heat" to temper the hands, skin, muscles, blood vessels, and bones like steel.
That way, one could snap a blade barehanded without drawing on internal energy.
Most external arts training was like that. Ruthlessly pushing the body to extremes, remaking flesh into something beyond flesh.
But doing it blindly was mere abuse, destroying the body. All external arts began with "preparations" to endure the abuse. External arts didn't completely exclude internal energy.
But what about Wi Seongcheon? He had undergone that insane training before even starting internal breathing methods. The astonishing part was... that he hadn't "broken" despite such training at age eight.
'Innate talent... or perhaps...'
Or it was designed not to break him.
The Tai Chi Sword Lord had never met the Heavenly Harmony Sect leader of this generation, the Four Heroes' Wi Juseok. He had only heard a few rumors. Little was known about his skills, despite claiming the sect leader title.
He spent most of his time in the Heavenly Harmony Sect, only appearing at events hosted by the Martial Alliance.
As leader of a despised sect, he faced provocations everywhere, but Wi Juseok had never accepted one or fought.
Thus, beyond "bat," he was scorned as a coward.
'No. He's not a coward. Not a bat either. He couldn't be that kind of man.'
To subject an eight-year-old son to such brutal, absurd training—and be called a coward?
'A true Asura.'
"...Wasn't it painful?"
"Why ask something so obvious? Of course it was."
"Then why didn't you stop?"
"What could I do if I stopped?"
Wi Seongcheon countered.
"I was born the son of the Heavenly Harmony Sect leader. With no siblings, if I didn't do it, the sect would have ended with my father's generation."
It wasn't a lie. Back then, Wi Seongcheon had no brothers. His father brought Wi Seongyeol when he was ten.
"Did your father force you?"
"He said I didn't have to if I didn't want to."
"Did you feel burdened by that?"
"I did wonder why he was making such a fuss when I said I would."
"You're born for this."
The Tai Chi Sword Lord laughed in disbelief.
"The reason you could endure such harsh training from a young age was probably the Heavenly Harmony Sect leader's arrangement."
"...Arrangement? What do you mean?"
"Who knows. I can't say for sure, but... since you said you didn't learn anything else before that, it must be his doing."
The simplest explanation was acupoint strikes and massages. But performing those on a child's body was no easy task.
Without exceptional internal energy control and force distribution, it would ruin the child. Moreover, if it was for tempering the "body" rather than just relieving fatigue...
'The more I hear, the more enigmatic he becomes.'
Not just the sect leader. The Wi Seongcheon before him defied understanding as well.
The Heavenly Harmony Sect they inherited. Even the previous leader, Wi Seonak Wi Jeonguk, whom he had seen in his youth. All of them were enigmas.
"You learned pain, grew accustomed to it, and learned to distinguish it. And all that as an eight-year-old child."
That tempered both body and mind simultaneously.
"Having endured all that without even opening your upper dantian and forming an intent body—impressive. So that's why your movements are so extraordinary."
"Are my movements unusual?"
"They don't match your level. They surpass human limits at times. The most astonishing is the explosive power. Your shift from stillness to motion is incredibly swift."
Explosively so.
"Reaching that speed with pure physicality isn't easy. Especially for deliberate movements. Overlaying conscious speed with bodily reflexes requires grueling effort.
Only when they align do you truly 'use' the intent body."
Once more, the Tai Chi Sword Lord vanished from Wi Seongcheon's sight. Startled, Wi Seongcheon whipped around, and thwack! The Sword Lord's finger flicked his forehead.
"All movement starts with the mind commanding and the body following. But upon entering intent, it becomes 'companionship' rather than command. The intent forms the intent body, the intent body moves, and the physical body follows along. That's the foundation. Making it faster and stronger is the martial art of intent. Your intent body is formed but incomplete. That's why it's slow and weak."
The Tai Chi Sword Lord smiled faintly.
"Now I know what to teach you. Come here every Monday. Don't neglect meditation on the days you don't. Think of it as facing the 'you' within your mind. Heart is the body. Meditate on that, cultivate your spirit, and immerse yourself in the Heavenly Harmony Sect's breathing method."
"Yes."
"The Heavenly Harmony Sect's art—what's its name? You can tell me that much, right?"
"It's the Heavenly Harmony Continuous Technique."
"Heavenly Harmony Continuous Technique... Heavenly Harmony as one continuous whole..."
The Tai Chi Sword Lord closed his eyes and murmured the words.
"Heavenly Harmony Sect leader. I truly want to meet your father someday."