The Power of Internal Heavy Hands
“···What the hell are you doing?”
“······.”
At Seol Ayeon’s puzzled question, I remained silent and focused my mind. When every ounce of concentration gathered into a single point and a single thought was maintained, nothing in this world would be impossible from the start.
‘I need to use my inner energy efficiently.’
Tap—
The tip of the sword embedded in the tree trunk trembled ever so slightly. I felt the essence of the object. At the critical point where my focused will compressed energy at the sword’s tip—
Oooong—
Finally, a wave began to ripple outward.
“······!”
I could clearly sense Seol Ayeon, standing at a distance, growing visibly flustered. Ignoring her reaction, I detonated the energy concentrated at the sword’s tip.
‘Now.’
The instant that thought flashed through my mind, I snapped my eyes wide open.
Then, something astonishing began to happen.
Crack—
The sound of something snapping at every joint of the tree reached my ears. Starting from the roots, the trunk, and all the way to the branches—
Crraaack—!
The entire tree began to shatter into pieces. It was a feat that could only be called a miracle.
“This is…!”
I heard Seol Ayeon cry out in shock beside me.
What I had just accomplished was simple.
‘It could be called a kind of internal heavy hand technique.’
Striking the outside of an enemy to destroy their internals was considered basic at higher realms. This was essentially the act of lightly embedding the sword tip, gathering inner energy, and detonating it from the base of the tree upward.
In truth, calling it a “technique” felt a bit embarrassing. In real combat, its power would likely be cut in half.
‘There’s no way you’d ever get this much time to concentrate in the first place… At the very least, an opponent locked in a life-or-death battle would never give you that kind of opening.’
“Huu.”
I let out a short sigh.
Thud. Tap.
Shattered fragments of the tree lay scattered everywhere. I had gone beyond simply splitting the trunk—I had pulverized the entire pillar.
As I caught my breath for a moment, Seol Ayeon, who had been staring at me in a daze, asked,
“How did you just do that?”
“It’s a technique that should be taken for granted if you want to advance to the next realm in your current state. First, you need to be able to draw out sword energy naturally. But once you’ve gained some proficiency with it…”
“Then?”
“The best thing would be to train exactly as I just did—gathering inner energy at the sword’s tip and exploding it in an instant.”
“······.”
When I said that, Seol Ayeon, who had been listening intently, gave a small nod. She didn’t seem to place much significance on the marvelous feat itself. She had her own priorities, and she already instinctively understood the overwhelming gap between us.
“······.”
Those who are merely a little better than others usually invite jealousy and envy. But when someone stands overwhelmingly above the rest, they receive admiration rather than jealousy.
In that sense, the killing intent I had felt from Lee Taeryang earlier was so ridiculous it left even me speechless.
‘No matter how oblivious he is… he saw me perform brilliantly at the sparring event with the Jongnam Sect, and now I’ve even been appointed as the sect leader’s direct disciple. I thought something as trivial as this wouldn’t happen.’
A chuckle escaped me without meaning to. Judging by Lee Taeryang’s lingering obsession, I had a gut feeling that some annoying incident would occur soon.
It had already been several days since I reunited with Seol Ayeon and spoke with her.
“······.”
It was still early morning. After finishing my morning run, I had immediately sat in the lotus position and begun meditating.
The place where I was meditating was not far from the residence of Mount Hua’s sect leader. Unlike the training hall for the Myeongryong Sword, this was an independent building. It was commonly called the War Pavilion.
‘Focus.’
I began cultivating my mental technique to shake off distracting thoughts. To check my current realm, I first practiced the heart method I had received from Mount Hua.
‘Six Harmonies Art and Ten Dan Art… Honestly, the Six Harmonies Art is something even ordinary disciples of Mount Hua can easily cultivate.’
I had already reached the pinnacle of the Six Harmonies Art. However, the Ten Dan Art—more precisely, the Lotus Flower Ten Stages Art—was on a slightly different level.
‘It’s a bit ambiguous. Its completeness and depth are lacking to call it an advanced martial art, but it’s too good to be considered a basic heart method.’
I slowly nodded. From my perspective, it did feel somewhat disappointing. After all, this was a heart method passed down to direct disciples of the elders—those among the second-generation disciples with fairly high seniority.
If compared to the other Eight Great Sects, it wasn’t lacking at all. Still—
‘Now that I’ve nearly reached the pinnacle of the Lotus Flower Ten Stages Art, I need a more powerful heart technique than this.’
Oooong—
Something began to rise from my entire body.
“Huu…”
I exhaled. At some point, every breath felt like it was expelling the inner energy accumulated in my dantian. It was as if I were breathing out flames with every breath.
‘Heavenly Division Flame Art…!’
The Heavenly Division Flame Art was the heart method I had obtained from the hidden vault of the Heavenly Sword Gate. It was an advanced martial art I acquired after my deadly battle with Na Heerin, the successor of the one-man inheritance lineage of the Heavenly Sword Gate.
To be honest, I had also obtained a sword art alongside it… but it didn’t feel particularly necessary for me right now.
‘The Heavenly Division Flame Art is quite helpful since I lack a proper advanced heart method, but the Heavenly One Sword Art feels insufficient even for cultivating advanced sword techniques like the Plum Blossom Sword Art. I have no desire to train it to the pinnacle.’
Huu.
I exhaled once more. As expected, the Heavenly Division Flame Art carried an extremely yang nature, further accelerating the yang-leaning tendency of my own heart methods.
‘However, training the Heavenly Division Flame Art to its pinnacle is dangerous…’
I nodded slowly. Considering that the martial arts of the Heavenly Sword Gate—specifically their heart methods—were in direct opposition to the nature of Cheondun, I had zero intention of pushing the Heavenly Division Flame Art to its limit like Na Heerin and her master had.
‘Besides, when compared to the divine arts the original protagonist learned, the shortcomings of this heart method feel overwhelmingly apparent…’
Since I had barely grasped even the clue to Cheondun, I had no plans to make the Heavenly Division Flame Art my main focus.
‘For now, I just need to train it to a certain level.’
The Heavenly Division Flame Art had a stage called Flame Transformation—a kind of realm. All the high-level experts of the Heavenly Sword Gate were obsessed with reaching this Flame Transformation stage. The reason was simple.
‘If you don’t train the Heavenly Division Flame Art up to Flame Transformation, the power of the Heavenly One Sword Art and the other advanced techniques of the Heavenly Sword Gate will be cut in half.’
In that regard, the Heavenly One Sword Art felt even more ambiguous. If I had to compare it, Flame Transformation was quite similar to the Thunderous Lightning Extreme Heaven form among the sword techniques Mu Yeong had learned. Since Thunderous Lightning Extreme Heaven was Mu Yeong’s ultimate technique, Flame Transformation could be considered the Heavenly Sword Gate’s decisive ultimate art.
‘Of course, if I reach Flame Transformation here… I would gain another ultimate technique, allowing me to grow rapidly once again in a short time. However—’
Abandoning Cheondun to obtain Flame Transformation was the same as abandoning the future to choose the present. It was a kind of binary choice.
Having somewhat sensed the potential and possibilities of Cheondun, I had been refraining from training the Heavenly Division Flame Art for some time now.
Even so, the reason I cultivated it today was simply to confirm my current realm.
‘The conclusion is that I need a new heart method.’
I swallowed a low hum. It seemed I would soon have a reason to meet with the sect leader.
Ooong—
I stopped cultivating in the lotus position and slowly rose to my feet.
“Huu.”
I stretched, and a faint cracking sound echoed in my ears.
It was then.
Knock, knock—
The sound of someone lightly knocking on the training room door reached me.
“···Who is it?”
When I asked toward the door, a familiar woman’s voice answered immediately.
“It’s me, Seol Ayeon.”
“···Come in. I just finished my cultivation, so your timing is perfect.”
“Hmm. You were cultivating even at this hour?”
Slide—
The door opened at once, and Seol Ayeon appeared. Unlike me, who wore black martial robes, she was dressed in gray ones. She used to wear pure white, but now that she was no longer an ordinary disciple, the color had changed to a pale hue.
‘Anyway, what’s going on?’
I brushed off my clothes and stood up as Seol Ayeon slowly walked toward me. I asked her,
“What brings you here?”
“Ah, well…”
Seol Ayeon hesitated for a moment before nodding and opening her mouth.
“My father… No, the Mugyeong Gakju has summoned you.”
“···What?”