Chapter 10: Reading a Book a Hundred Times Reveals Its Meaning (9)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 10: Reading a Book a Hundred Times Reveals Its Meaning (9)
The students of the Pungryu Martial Arts Hall whispered amongst themselves.
“Hey, you know that Yeon So-wol kid? The one who supposedly paid his way in with gold.”
“Ah, that old-looking guy? Lucky bastard. As if martial arts is something you can buy with money. I’m so fucking jealous. Just because he threw some gold around, he gets one-on-one lessons from the Master and the instructors. Damn it all.”
“But I heard he was put into closed-door training.”
“Huh?”
“It’s true. Ju-cheol heard about it when he was hauling several racks of beef jerky to the training chamber. Apparently, it’s already been almost half a month since he went in.”
“That’s insane. Why would someone who’s just starting martial arts be in a closed-door training chamber?”
“They must be teaching him a proper internal cultivation method.”
“Not the Soyo Art?”
“Not the Soyo Art.”
“...He’s going to die, isn’t he?”
“Probably.”
“Ah, you said it’s been half a month, right? Then he’s probably dead already.”
“Haaaah…”
“Shit. Does that mean we have to clean it up? A corpse from Qi Deviation is a horrifying sight.”
“Remember Cheol-bung last year? He didn’t listen to the Master and pushed himself too hard with his mental cultivation method, and his lungs burned up. The stench of rot was just…”
“Hey, that was a clean death. About five years ago, I think? When I first got here, there was a senior named Geum-hun. For him, his perineal acupoint got too hot.”
“Perineal acupoint? His ass?”
“Yeah. Around the anus. Anyway, all the essence in that area got so heated up that it turned to mush… and all his organs just spilled out from there.”
“Holy shit.”
“His pants were sagging like he’d shit himself because of all the organs that had spilled out… He died staggering toward us, begging for help. Wow. After seeing that, I couldn’t eat for a month.”
“Ah, I remember that story. I heard it when I got here. My god. You actually saw it happen. That’s insane.”
“I know, right? People should just not do what they’re told not to do… But it’s always the ones who are good at it that push things. I guess once they start being called second-rate, they get greedier. They always overdo it, and then, ugh.”
“It’s really not easy. But to make an eighteen-year-old who’s just starting out do something like that… Wow. What was the Master thinking?”
“I know. Poor guy. …I take back what I said about him being a lucky bastard.”
“I take back what I said before, too.”
“What did you say?”
“Doesn’t matter. I take it back. All of it.”
“…But still. The Master must have taught him the internal cultivation method in detail, right?”
“He must have. He would’ve stuck right by him and taught him everything, theory and all. For something that dangerous.”
“I’m a little jealous of that. I’ve already heard the explanation three times, but I still get confused about how the Twelve Standard Meridians and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians connect. Since we’re all learning together, I feel self-conscious about asking questions…”
“So? You’re jealous?”
“…Ah, no. No, I’m not. I take it back. I take it back.”
“That guy, Yeon So-wol… he’s probably either burned to death alone on the cold floor of the training chamber or died after spilling something out of his body… and you’re jealous?”
“…Fine. I’m a piece of trash.”
“Yup.”
“…But when are they going to open the chamber? I mean, if he died in there, no one would know.”
“Oh, that. I heard that if he doesn’t come out on his own, the Master will open it himself in two years.”
“Two years?”
“Yeah. Apparently, he told him not to come out until he enters the Fire Phase. Since he told him to awaken the Twelve Standard Meridians and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians before coming out, that’s what it must mean.”
“That makes sense. In two years, he’ll either have entered the Fire Phase or be dead. Sounds like he gave him plenty of time.”
“He’ll never be able to do it. It’s been over a year since I entered the Fire Phase, and I still don’t really get the Twelve Standard Meridians and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. I haven’t even felt whether things like the Twelve Divergent Meridians or the Fifteen Collateral Vessels exist or not.”
“Ugh. Just thinking about it gives me a headache. Oh, but what about that other thing? Didn’t the Master say he’d watch him for three months and then decide whether to take him as a disciple?”
“About that. It seems like he’s planning to make him a direct disciple as long as he survives.”
“What! A direct disciple?! Not an outer disciple like us?”
“What? Jealous again? Then why don’t you go into closed-door training?”
“…No. Never mind.”
“You piece of trash.”
“…”
* * *
“Good. Another piece of trash dealt with.”
Yeon So-wol repeated the Soft Willow Art, continuously seeking out the waste, dregs, and trash within his body.
It was not an easy process.
The body may seem small on the outside, but when observed through the flow of Qi, it felt as vast as a mountain. The task of meticulously combing through every corner of this mountain-like body to find and remove every large piece of waste required immense concentration and patience.
The work was made even more difficult by the fact that some of the waste blocked the meridians so naturally. More than once, Yeon So-wol would think, ‘Huh? This section must just be shaped this way,’ and move on, only to realize later that the entire thing had been a lump of waste.
He had to identify the waste and confirm multiple times that it was external Turbid Qi unrelated to his own Essence, Qi, and Spirit. It was as exhausting as finding a single typo in a book filled with tiny text and no spaces.
But after enduring that arduous process, a sweet reward awaited him.
Ssssss—
White smoke escaped from between Yeon So-wol’s front teeth. His eyes were bloodshot, and the skin beneath them was dark, but his lips were curved into a smile.
“Why is this so much fun?”
Find it, and eliminate it. Then, acrid smoke would billow from his mouth. It was a thrilling impact hidden within a simple act—as addictive as a mini-game. Even better, the rewards were tangible.
“I’ve cleaned two meridians now, right?”
The Twelve Standard Meridians were the twelve major energy pathways. They existed in perfectly symmetrical pairs, one on the left and one on the right. If there was a meridian called the Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian, an identical one existed on both sides. In other words, though they were called the Twelve Standard Meridians, there were actually twenty-four channels.
Of those, Yeon So-wol had cleansed two: the Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian rising from his right hand, and the Foot Yangming Stomach Meridian descending to his left foot. In the process, his understanding of the Twelve Standard Meridians deepened.
“It’s strange. When I looked at the chart, they were separate, but when I actually move the Gathering Fire, they’re connected.”
According to the meridian chart, the Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian and the Foot Yangming Stomach Meridian existed separately. The right Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian started at the index finger and ended at the Yingxiang acupoint on the left side of the nose. The left Foot Yangming Stomach Meridian started at the Chengqi acupoint below the eye and ended at the left index toe.
They were separate on paper, but when he actually moved the Gathering Fire, he discovered a direct channel connecting the Yingxiang acupoint beside his nose to the Chengqi acupoint below his eye. Though they had two names, they were in fact a single pathway that started from the right index finger, passed through the head, and continued down to the left index toe.
Once he had cleaned it all out, that part of his body felt unbelievably light.
“So this is what it feels like for the Essence to grow warm.”
As the Gathering Fire flowed easily through the cleansed pathway, his right arm and left leg grew warm. He felt a surge of strength and flexibility. It wasn’t just a feeling.
Whoosh—!
“Damn. It actually made a sound.”
Planting his left foot on the ground, he threw a hard right punch and heard the sound of it cutting through the air. It was a movement that should have been impossible for the body of a third-year high school student.
But it was happening.
Essence was the foundation that composed the physical body. As that which had been cold and stiff warmed and loosened, vitality sprang forth.
“My head feels clearer, too. If I had known about this when I was studying…”
He felt even the fatigue that had built up over half a month melt away. Yeon So-wol was greatly encouraged.
“Alright! Let’s clean out the rest!”
Excited, Yeon So-wol repeated the Soft Willow Art. Having cleansed the intersecting pathway from the right Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian to the left Foot Yangming Stomach Meridian, he now planned to do the opposite: cleanse the path from the left Hand Yangming to the right Foot Yangming.
A full month passed like that.
Yeon So-wol managed to cleanse all of the Twelve Standard Meridians. Though “cleansing” only meant removing the large, thread-like pieces of waste he could feel, the difference he felt when he was done was night and day.
“…I feel like I’ve been reborn.”
His body was so light. It had become flexible and resilient. His body moved as he willed it, and power extended effortlessly. It felt as if his motor skills themselves had been completely overhauled. It was as if a talent he never had had suddenly blossomed. With a body like this, couldn’t he try to become a soccer player or a UFC fighter?
But as Yeon So-wol moved his body lightly, his expression wasn’t entirely bright.
“But what in the world are the Eight Extraordinary Meridians?”
At first, he had thought it would be simple. Just as he had discovered the Twelve Standard Meridians and understood their meaning while practicing the Soft Willow Art, he assumed he would naturally learn about the Eight Extraordinary Meridians as he continued to cleanse his channels and cultivate.
He was completely wrong.
“Do these things even exist?”
When he gathered the flame with his breath and moved it, he could naturally feel it flowing along the Twelve Standard Meridians. But there didn’t seem to be any pathways where the Eight Extraordinary Meridians were drawn.
Yeon So-wol pondered. He pondered while he trained, he pondered while he chewed on beef jerky and fasting pills, and he pondered while he drew spring water to scrub his body. He didn’t just think with his head; he contemplated while endlessly continuing his breathing and movements. He constantly observed his inner self.
A pathway. Where is another pathway?
But there was none. Nothing. Nowhere. Instead, he only discovered other pathways besides the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.
“This one… it’s a channel that branches off from the Twelve Standard Meridians and goes deep into the body.”
Observing his inner self was like fumbling through a pitch-black, complex cave with a single, faint candle. Because of this, he frequently found new pathways he hadn’t discovered before. Another pathway, not drawn on the meridian chart Lee Yu-baek had given him.
“What is this…”
Yeon So-wol explored those as well. They were clogged with impurities and waste. He wanted to clean them, but since the channels were narrower than the Twelve Standard Meridians, he couldn’t feel the thread-like waste, making it impossible to clean them. He had no choice but to explore them slowly, losing chunks of his Gathering Fire every time he ran into waste.
“Still, I have to check. This might lead to the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.”
And so, Yeon So-wol discovered twelve side paths branching off from the twelve major meridians. They had a name—the Twelve Divergent Meridians—but Yeon So-wol didn’t know that yet.
Another month passed. Two and a half months had passed since he entered closed-door training. But Yeon So-wol still hadn’t found the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. The side paths he had found did not connect to them.
“Will it connect this time?”
Instead, he found another, even smaller set of pathways. If the channels of the Twelve Standard Meridians were long, large caves, and the channels of the Twelve Divergent Meridians were side paths one had to duck to enter, then the new pathways he had discovered were as small as doggy doors or mouse holes. He had found them only by searching so meticulously.
“This looks tough. But I have to explore it. Where the hell are these Eight Extraordinary Meridians…?”
Yeon So-wol carefully began to explore the small pathways.
“It’s incredibly complex. The channels are connected like a net. Huh? Wait. This connects to here?”
Yeon So-wol was startled. The channels of the Twelve Standard Meridians, which he had thought were separate, were all connected through the newly discovered small pathways. It didn’t stop there. The pathways grew smaller and smaller but continued to extend, creating an endless number of microscopic connections, like capillaries.
“Wow. This is insanely complex. And fun.”
The pathways Yeon So-wol had found this time also had a name: the Fifteen Collateral Vessels. These were the meridians that martial artists also called the body’s network of vessels. Yeon So-wol explored these pathways as far as his strength would allow, but he found no results.
“What is this?”
Chwaaak!
He pondered as he washed himself with spring water.
“Where could they be?”
Munch, munch.
He pondered as he ate beef jerky and fasting pills.
“The Eight Extraordinary Meridians…”
Hooo. Heup!
He pondered as he practiced the Soft Willow Art. He had the type of personality that had to see something through to the end once he started. It had been the same when he was studying back on Earth.
Then one day, Yeon So-wol suddenly felt it.
“But why does the Gathering Fire keep weakening in certain sections?”
It had been a long time since he had cleansed the Twelve Standard Meridians. The flame he gathered with his Gathering Fire now moved quite smoothly throughout his body, but strangely, he observed the flame weakening at several points.
“It only happens when the flame gets stronger than a certain point.”
It was as if the heat was being sucked away somewhere. And only in specific sections…
“Wait!”
Yeon So-wol trembled as if struck by lightning.
“Could it be?!”
Specific sections. What if those were the places that connected to the Eight Extraordinary Meridians?
“Did the flame escape into the Eight Extraordinary Meridians from here? But there’s no connecting pathway.”
Yeon So-wol closed his eyes and observed his inner self. He sharpened his already keen Qi sense even further.
Where are you? Where in the world are the Eight Extraordinary Meridians?
He scoured the walls of the pathway. But there wasn’t even the tiniest channel.
“…Then let’s see where the flame is disappearing.”
Yeon So-wol chose one of the points where the flame weakened the most: three cun below the navel, the Guanyuan Acupoint. He gathered his fire there. Normally, he would have kept the Gathering Fire moving instead of holding it in one place, but this time, he decided to risk it for a moment.
He built up the Gathering Fire. And kept building it.
Ah!
Finally, Yeon So-wol felt it.
Holy…!
The flame, which had grown quite large, suddenly soared. It scattered sparks in all directions like a firework. The sparks seeped into the walls of the Guanyuan Acupoint as if being absorbed. The walls of the pathway rippled, as if alive.
Could it be that the Eight Extraordinary Meridians are beyond this wall?
Yeon So-wol mobilized all of his Qi sense to observe what lay beyond the Guanyuan Acupoint.
Ah!
He shuddered.
“Found it.”
He hadn’t recognized it before because he had been obsessed with finding a pathway.
“The Eight Extraordinary Meridians weren’t simple pathways.”
They were different from the Twelve Standard Meridians. They were vast and full. Like a sea.
“What is all this…?”
Beyond the Guanyuan Acupoint, something far hotter and far denser than what Yeon So-wol had been calling ‘fire’ was packed tightly. Not fire, but lava.
Only then did Yeon So-wol realize.
“This… is residual heat.”
The Eight Extraordinary Meridians, deep within the body. There, the innate heat a person received from heaven and earth at birth was still packed tightly, not yet cooled. That was the very source of life force—what martial artists called ‘Innate True Qi.’
The Eight Extraordinary Meridians were both the vessel that contained the Innate True Qi and the pathway for it.
“The Eight Extraordinary Meridians are the source of life itself. If the flame flowing through the Twelve Standard Meridians is strong, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians absorb that heat to make the interior even hotter. Conversely, if the Twelve Standard Meridians become too cold, heat is released from the Eight Extraordinary Meridians to warm the exterior…”
Yeon So-wol had completely grasped the relationship between the Twelve Standard Meridians and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. He had perfectly met the standard Lee Yu-baek had demanded.
Though Yeon So-wol didn’t know it, at this point, he had already entered the Fire Phase. Having felt the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and understood their connection to the Twelve Standard Meridians, he could now indirectly use the heat of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians to create an even greater flame.
That was the core of the Fire Phase—the control of fire.
It was now time for Yeon So-wol to break his closed-door training and leave. But that fact never crossed his mind.
“Damn. This is fascinating.”
The Eight Extraordinary Meridians. A kind of insulated tank, packed full of the heat one received at birth. As he practiced the Soft Willow Art, Yeon So-wol carefully observed and experimented with how it interacted not just with the Twelve Standard Meridians, but with the Eight Extraordinary Meridians as well.
And so, the seasons changed. Overnight, the first snow of the year fell heavily. The snow piled up high.
And from outside the door, Lee Yu-baek’s voice was heard.
“Are you alive?”
Yeon So-wol, who was practicing the Soft Willow Art while dripping with sweat, answered reflexively.
“Yes. I am alive.”
“So-wol. Three months have passed.”
“I see.”
Three months. That was the time Lee Yu-baek and Yeon So-wol had agreed upon. The time he had said he would watch him before deciding whether to take him as a disciple.
But that thought never occurred to Yeon So-wol. He was completely captivated by the structure of heat circulating through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and the Twelve Standard Meridians.
The voice came again from outside the door.
“…So-wol.”
“Yes.”
“I mean that the promised three months have passed.”
“I see.”
By now, Yeon So-wol wasn’t hearing the words at all. He was replying, but his mind was turned completely inward. Then, a small laugh was heard from outside.
“You have finally achieved a state of supreme focus.”
“…”
Yeon So-wol did not answer. He had already fallen into a state of selflessness. He was moving beyond Gathering Fire and mastering the Fire Phase on his own.
“…So-wol?”
“…”
At some point, the voice was no longer heard. Yeon So-wol was no longer swayed.
Around the closed-door training chamber, which Lee Yu-baek had sealed with a golden rope, the first snow lay in deep piles. Untrodden, the pure white first snow was spread like a flawless cotton blanket.
But due to a strange heat, the snow on its roof was slowly, steadily melting and dripping away.