Cultivation
So in order to fully master the martial arts of the family, he had to cut off his manhood?
Just imagining it was terrifying enough to make cold sweat bead across Cheongwol’s face. She went pale at once, for although she had thought herself prepared to endure anything for the sake of revenge, she had never expected the path to begin with such a vicious obstacle.
"Seeing that expression, I’d say you are definitely a man."
"Pardon?"
"Your looks say as much, and you’re so overflowing with yin energy that I was worried you might be a woman in disguise. As I said before, the ritual can only be performed by a man."
So Gayul rested her chin on one hand and pointed at the manual with a finger as she went on, "The Sunflower Manual is a formidable internal art based on extreme yin. A normal human body can’t withstand the rising yin energy, so any descendant who seeks to learn it must first undergo the ritual and become a body of extreme yin. So it is written here."
Listening quietly, Cheongwol found herself with one question.
"...If it’s a martial art that needs yin energy, shouldn’t it be something a woman learns rather than a man?"
At that, So Gayul gave a slight nod, as though she had expected exactly that question.
"That was what I thought at first as well. But perhaps because the one who created the art was a man, or perhaps for some other reason, it says here that if a woman learns the Sunflower Manual, she cannot endure the yin energy and will die. Though it deals with the power of extreme yin, it seems some measure of yang is still required."
"Then... why cut off the manhood? If yang is needed, I mean."
"One of two things. Either that amount of yang is not truly necessary, or the one who created it never had any to begin with."
When So Gayul finished speaking, Cheongwol swallowed hard.
Truly.
Was there really no other way to avenge the family?
After a silence so deep even the sound of breathing seemed like a disturbance, Cheongwol looked up at So Gayul with trembling eyes.
"If I seal the pressure points... could it be done without pain?"
She was already frightened out of her wits, and yet she still said she would cut it off.
So Gayul found her both admirable and pitiable.
What sin has that child committed to deserve this...
It only sharpened her regret, because she knew that this child would bear the weight of her entire family’s crimes and in the end would be the one to carry out the Im clan’s revenge.
Forcing down the groan that threatened to escape along with her filthy guilt, So Gayul shut her eyes.
"...There is no need for that."
"No need to seal the pressure points?"
At Cheongwol’s bewildered reaction, which was serious in a very different way, So Gayul finally managed to recover a faint smile.
"I mean there’s no need to cut it off. If that had truly been the only way, I would never have told you I intended to teach you martial arts."
"...Really?"
"Yes. In my view, the reason the ritual requires the removal of manhood is simply that one must leave only the bare minimum of yang energy in the body before performing it."
So Gayul drew in a breath, then continued, "In other words, if you reduce your yang energy to the extreme, there may be no need to cut anything off at all."
!
Cheongwol’s dead eyes had just begun to regain their light, but So Gayul’s expression only grew more severe.
"Even if that is true, the problem remains. No, there are even more now. Look."
As she said that, So Gayul held both hands out before Cheongwol.
Ffft!
A moment later, as So Gayul lifted her internal energy, an indescribable opposing force began to flow from both her palms.
It was warm enough to lull one into sleep, and yet at the same time it felt so eerie it raised gooseflesh along the arms.
"This is the martial art you must learn, Yin-Yang Grind. It is my secret art, stripped of the Five Elements from the Seven Vicious Fists, leaving only the powers of yin and yang."
"Yin-Yang Grind..."
The energies of yin and yang were so mesmerizing that Cheongwol could not look away. She stared dumbly at So Gayul’s hands.
"From today onward, you will learn this art and regulate the balance of yin and yang within your body. But as I said before, there is still a problem."
So Gayul clenched her fist, and like a flame snuffed out, the yin and yang energy vanished in an instant.
"We do not know exactly how much yang energy must remain in the body in order to perform the ritual. So we will have to find out gradually. How much yang is enough to keep you alive."
"...So you mean I only need to keep the same amount of yang energy in my body as someone who has had his manhood cut off?"
"Easy enough to say, but every step of the process will be so painful you’ll wish you were dead instead. The only fortunate thing is that that person seems to have already done part of the work for us."
"My grandfather?"
"The fact that yin energy overflows from your body is proof. That is not the kind of yin energy that can come from an ordinary boy. Perhaps he... no, never mind."
So Gayul cut off the words that had nearly slipped out on their own and shook her head.
"In any case, what I’ve had to say is finished, and now the only thing left is your choice. Well? What will you do?"
Unlike when she had first heard that she needed to cut off her manhood, Cheongwol rose this time without the slightest hesitation.
"From this day forward, I wish to establish a master-disciple bond. Please guide this disciple, Master. I will never commit the crime of betraying one’s teacher or destroying one’s lineage, and..."
As Cheongwol knelt to bow formally, So Gayul nodded and then added, "You are becoming my disciple, not entering the Kongdong Sect, so bow only three times."
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"You must send yin energy through the left meridians and yang energy through the right. Excluding the Conception Vessel and Governing Vessel among the Eight Extraordinary Vessels, circulate the small heavenly cycle so that yin and yang can meet within the remaining six channels."
So Gayul demonstrated in person, showing Cheongwol how to move her energy, but Cheongwol only stared back with a confused expression.
To be precise, it was impossible to understand.
"Do you not understand?"
"...Yes. I’m sorry."
At So Gayul’s question, Cheongwol bowed her head deeply.
But contrary to expectation, So Gayul merely smiled.
"It’s all right. If you can’t even truly feel yin and yang energy yet, how could you possibly control it? You’d be asking after having already learned once."
Seeing the bright smile on So Gayul’s face, Cheongwol had just begun to smile faintly herself when So Gayul moved behind her back.
"Don’t worry. No matter what, I will make sure you learn to handle yin and yang energy. Is that not why you came here?"
As So Gayul patted Cheongwol’s shoulder in encouragement, strength had already begun to gather in her hand.
"If you want to feel and control yin energy, you have to go where yin energy flows."
"Master, wait—!"
Cheongwol belatedly realized what So Gayul intended, but by then it was already far too late.
Just as her grandfather had once done, So Gayul seized Cheongwol and hurled her mercilessly beneath the waterfall.
"If you can feel even one of the two energies, you will naturally come to feel the other as well! Take in as much yin energy as you can!"
So Gayul shouted after the form plunging beneath the falls, but her voice vanished beneath the roar of the water.
"So this is what that legendary training looks like in practice. If it works well, I may have to try it on our children too."
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Thunk.
At the end of the violently cascading waterfall, a pale, slender hand shot out and seized a jagged rock with great effort.
"Ugh..."
The one who emerged through the raging current was none other than Cheongwol.
"Haa..."
She swept her drenched hair back and staggered forward before collapsing to the ground.
It was still difficult to climb the waterfall without using much internal power, but compared to when she had first begun the training, she looked far more at ease.
"You do seem much more comfortable now."
As always, So Gayul appeared where she had not been visible even moments before Cheongwol fell, and she approached to stand beside her.
"...It’s been two years already, after all."
Cheongwol muttered with a face full of complaint and pushed herself up into a seated position.
"So you mean to say you are ready?"
At So Gayul’s question, the last two years of training flashed through Cheongwol’s mind.
The time she had been driven out in the dead of winter, wearing only a thin layer of clothing, so she could properly feel yin energy amid snow and howling blizzards.
The time she had been lured away under the pretense of entering a Kongdong cave and then locked inside until she was on the verge of starvation before being released.
The time she had circulated the small heavenly cycle using only yin energy, only to suffer reversed flow of blood and qi and collapse while coughing up blood.
There had been countless other trainings no different from torture, but thanks to them Cheongwol had certainly learned how to handle yin energy.
Along with that, she had come to feel a faint warmth blooming near the lower dantian, and So Gayul had called this yang energy.
"How should I know? If Master thinks it’s not enough, then it isn’t enough."
Cheongwol spat the words out with obvious annoyance and turned her head sharply away to avoid So Gayul’s gaze.
It had been two years since she began training to control the energies of yin and yang.
Though the time was far too short to call it full mastery of a martial art, Cheongwol could now handle the two energies with some skill.
Was it from that moment on?
Before she knew it, impatience had begun to grow in her heart.
So Gayul’s never-ending training, and the burden of revenge.
Impatience that sprouted from those as fertilizer soon became anxiety, and anxiety in turn became dissatisfaction with nowhere to go.
All of it had been caused by the extreme imbalance of yin and yang within her body, but So Gayul had deliberately not told Cheongwol that fact.
The greater Cheongwol’s dissatisfaction grew, the more yin energy would press down and expand over yang.
One wrong move and Cheongwol might even have fallen into deviation, but So Gayul had no choice.
She had to reduce the yang energy within Cheongwol’s body by whatever means necessary.
Still, Cheongwol was human, and humans had limits.
Looking at the young woman who could no longer be told apart from a man by sight alone, So Gayul spoke with gravity.
"Indeed, it seems you may be somewhat prepared."
"Then—!"
Though So Gayul had murmured softly, Cheongwol sprang to her feet at once.
Seeing the face of eager expectation before her, So Gayul shook her head and gave a small snort of laughter.
"Yes. Then it’s about time we set a day for the ritual."
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