Chapter 55: Water Too Clear Has No Fish (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 55: Water Too Clear Has No Fish (3)
Trickle, trickle…
In the pitch-black cave, where not a single speck of light could penetrate, a spring bubbled up from the earth and flowed into the unknown.
That sound was Yeon So-wol’s only guide.
“Here it is.”
After fumbling his way to the water’s edge, Yeon So-wol immediately stripped off his clothes.
“Ugh!”
He cast aside the garments. They were revoltingly sticky, as if he’d been drenched in cola, left to dry, then soaked in liquor and dried all over again.
Reaching out, he found a gourd dipper, scooped up the spring water, and poured it over himself.
He washed between every strand of his hair. Down his nape, under his arms, and all the way to the tips of his toes. The stickiness turned slick before being washed away entirely, leaving his skin squeaky clean.
“Hah! I feel alive again!”
A low hum escaped his lips.
Squeeze, scrub.
Splash, splash.
He held up his fouled clothes, pouring water over them as he kneaded and scrubbed the fabric. After drying himself and changing into a fresh set of robes, the reality of his achievement finally began to sink in.
“I… I’ve actually reached the first-rate realm?”
Now, when he circulated his energy, smoke no longer billowed from his mouth. He had surpassed the stage of Breath of Smoke and Clouds and entered the realm of Soaring Dragon Fire.
It was proof that the True Fire blooming in his dantian had incinerated the impurities within his Eight Extraordinary Meridians. Now, only pure Innate True Qi filled those vessels.
Innate True Qi refers to the scorching, pure Essence, Qi, and Spirit that a person receives from heaven and earth at birth. When one kindles the True Fire and situates it in the dantian, the three most vital of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians—the Conception, Governing, and Penetrating Vessels—simultaneously ignite.
Eventually, the Essence within the Innate True Qi melts and transforms into Qi.
That was the realm of a first-rate martial artist.
The Daoist School called this Refining Essence into Qi. For this reason, only upon reaching the first-rate realm could a martial artist finally wield the harmony of Qi.
“So this… is what Qi really is.”
The ancients used to say: Qi is that which cannot be spoken of.
If you say, “It is this,” it is already that. If you say, “It is that,” it has already become something else.
Qi is also that which is left unsaid. It is the unspoken part of a sentence, like the hidden weight behind the words, “I’ve never liked you.” It is not the part severed by the sword, but the events that didn’t happen because the sword cut.
Therefore, Qi is not something defined, but something that exists before definition. It is not something felt, but the very capacity to feel—the entire context that encompasses existence.
When Essence abides, Qi flows.
When Essence is firm and clear, Qi is transformative and profound.
Before matter, before power, before limitation and definition, it is the purer, freer, more fundamental essence that exists before all else. A harmony that flows through the relationship of all things.
“To think something like this exists…”
Yeon So-wol could never have imagined it. That such a sensation could exist in the world.
An unseen world. A world that did not operate on laws like action and reaction, but a world of pure potential that existed before such laws. Within it, Yeon So-wol felt truly free.
Whoosh—
Wind flowed over his body without him having to exert force, and Qi lightened his frame without the need for conscious refinement. Everything was different. If his Qi became strong enough, it felt as if he could lift his body without even needing to push off the ground. This was how first-rate martial artists moved and fought.
“I want to become… even stronger.”
Yeon So-wol clenched his fists.
The True Fire he had just managed to kindle was still far too weak. As a result, the process of his Essence melting into Qi within his Eight Extraordinary Meridians was agonizingly slow. At this rate, it felt like it might take ten thousand years for all his Essence to melt.
And that wasn’t all. He hadn’t realized it before, but he did now.
His Twelve Standard Meridians had undergone Self-Cultivation once before with Lee Yu-baek’s help. His Fire Phase had progressed by leaps and bounds since then, but now he felt that even that was far from enough.
“The flow of energy is choppy. I have so little Qi to work with that creating harmony is difficult, and even that small amount keeps getting interrupted…”
How had he ever managed before? Suddenly, his own body felt like a treacherous mountain path, overgrown with messy weeds and tangled vines. He couldn't stand it.
Click.
Unable to bear the inefficiency any longer, Yeon So-wol took out a small wooden box.
“I was originally going to train for a few days to acclimate to the first-rate realm…”
But there was no need. It didn’t feel like a few days of training would make things any better.
“Actually, when I think about it, I’ve been saving this for this exact moment.”
The reason he had held back for so long was for this very transition. He had been waiting for the moment he reached the first-rate realm—when he was at a loss for how to proceed—to use it and reap the greatest benefit.
He had waited for the Great Restoration Pill.
“Okay.”
Yeon So-wol opened the wooden box.
“Hoo.”
He took a deep breath. There was, in fact, another reason he had considered waiting.
‘This time, the danger of an Inner Demon is greater than the risk of Qi Deviation. Always be aware that it’s pitch-black around you and you can’t see anything. That way, you’ll know that anything you see is a lie.’
Yeon So-wol recalled Lee Yu-baek’s warning.
An Inner Demon.
He had never for a moment forgotten that chilling fear. He had intended to buy time under the pretext of stabilizing his realm just to prepare himself mentally.
“Let’s do this.”
But now, his mind had completely changed. Once he became first-rate, once his way of perceiving the world shifted, his mindset changed with it. The world was still dangerous and terrifying, but somehow, it felt familiar. The path to getting closer to that world was the Great Restoration Pill now resting in his hand.
“This time, too. I can overcome it.”
Yeon So-wol believed in himself. He believed in his own mind, which had begun to connect not just with himself, but with the energy of the world.
Gulp.
He swallowed the Great Restoration Pill.
The pill, which had looked unremarkable on the outside, instantly dissolved the moment it touched his tongue, sliding down his throat like silk.
Fwoooosh!
Immediately, a tremendous heat flared up inside his body.
…!
He almost screamed. He barely managed to hold it in; opening his mouth at the wrong time during cultivation could lead to disaster.
‘What… what is this heat…!’
It was an absurd amount of energy. It hadn’t been this intense even when Lee Yu-baek had forcibly refined his body. Yeon So-wol frantically maintained his breathing and moved his body, performing the Soft Willow Art. He fought for his life, sweat pouring down his skin.
But a moment later, Yeon So-wol’s expression suddenly relaxed. His eyebrows shot up in surprise.
‘It’s this… gentle? No. It’s more than just gentle.’
The flames that erupted as the Great Restoration Pill dissolved were startling at first, but though the blaze was hotter than anything he had ever felt—hotter even than his own True Fire—it wasn't dangerous.
‘Are the flames controlling the Fire Phase on their own…?’
At first, the flames gathered in his Pericardium—his dantian.
Fwoooooosh!
The Collateral Meridians, which spread out like a net or a cloud inside his abdomen, enveloped the roots of the Conception, Governing, and Penetrating Vessels. The flames settled into even the finest of those root-like meridians and began to emit a ferocious heat.
That was when Yeon So-wol had first broken out in a cold sweat, afraid his insides were about to melt. But the situation unfolded differently.
‘My Pericardium is undergoing Self-Cultivation on its own.’
The flames, having penetrated even the smallest roots, began to flow gently, strengthening his dantian. Because the Soft Willow Art was a dynamic technique, it was performed while moving rather than sitting still. As a result, the Twelve Standard Meridians that circulated throughout his body were refined quickly, but the Self-Cultivation of his dantian and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians had been slow.
But the Great Restoration Pill, as if it knew this, promptly entered his Pericardium and began to refine his dantian. It cleared away the path that had been blocked by weeds and rocks, creating a picturesque road adorned with pavers carved from clear stone and a bamboo fence.
Fwoooosh!
The flames of the Great Restoration Pill surged with even greater force as they coursed through the newly cleared path. Then, within the intensely heated Conception, Governing, and Penetrating Vessels, Essence began to melt and transform into Qi.
The speed was simply absurd. Like ice melting into water under a summer sun, the Innate Qi swelled in an instant. As the sticky, hard Essence became soft, flowing Qi, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians began to soften and pulse violently.
Wuuuuung!
In response, all the meridians in his body resonated, and True Qi arose. Receiving the heat radiating from the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, the Twelve Standard Meridians, the Twelve Divergent Meridians, and the Fifteen Collateral Vessels all began to grow hotter in resonance.
Throughout this entire process, Yeon So-wol barely struggled. All he did was follow the flames of the Great Restoration Pill, ensuring that not a single wisp of heat was wasted.
Of course, this was only possible because he had reached the first-rate realm, but even so, the pill did most of the work. The pill’s flames controlled the general Fire Phase on their own; Yeon So-wol merely supplemented and assisted it.
After heating the dantian for a long while, the pill’s energy began to disperse throughout his entire body. It used its remaining heat to perform Self-Cultivation on every nook and cranny of his physique.
‘Focus! I have to focus!’
From this point on, Yeon So-wol grew busy. While the flames were contained within his dantian, there wasn’t much to attend to. But once they began to spread throughout his body, assisting them was no easy task.
Flicker! Fwoosh!
Currently, Yeon So-wol’s Twelve Standard Meridians were in the state they had been in after he ate the Dragon Scale Mushroom. To use a metaphor, it was a path with a few paving stones laid down and sparse bamboo trees standing here and there. Lee Yu-baek had called that bamboo-like energy Soseon Bamboo—an energy achieved through the secret arts of the Pungryu Sect.
But now, as the flames of the Great Restoration Pill passed through, everything changed.
The bamboo bent and wove itself in the flames, forming a fence. The paving stones on the ground were fired in the intense heat, transforming into ringing Hwaseon Chime Stones, which were then cut into perfect squares to adorn the path.
Yeon So-wol didn't know it, and neither did Lee Yu-baek, but this was the energy that the great orthodox sects called Hwaseon Chime Stone and Hwaseon Bamboo. It was an Acquired Essence of the highest grade among the 72 Earthly Fiends.
Yeon So-wol’s body was refining itself.
How many shichen had passed? No, perhaps it had been several days. When the flames of the Great Restoration Pill finally subsided, Yeon So-wol suddenly came to his senses.
“Uh…”
He felt strange. As if he were drunk, though he hadn’t had a drop of alcohol. Yeon So-wol staggered as he moved.
“What is this…”
His face felt stuffy. He fumbled at it and found a thick beard, as if months had passed.
“Has that much… time passed? But why am I not that hungry…”
Yeon So-wol chewed on a Fasting Pill and some beef jerky and lit an incense stick to mark the time. He shuffled around, shaved his beard, and washed his body. But the drunken feeling wouldn’t go away. The world was spinning, heat rose with every breath, and his mind was hazy.
“Hoo. So this is why he said a month. My Spirit must have been severely shaken. I guess it was just too hot.”
Yeon So-wol swayed, slowly moving his body. Since it was dark and there was nothing else to do, he decided to just cultivate. As he was training, he suddenly saw the incense he had lit quietly go out. Two shichen had passed.
“Hmm.”
As he was about to light another incense, Yeon So-wol felt a strange sensation on his face again.
“…”
His beard was thick again. This time, his hair was also long and shaggy, reaching his shoulders.
“What the hell is going on?”
His sense of time was completely off. It felt like he had been here for years, but also just a few days. Yeon So-wol shaved his beard and cut his hair again. He felt a strange, drunken sensation but didn’t pay it much mind.
That was when it began.
“So-wol. Are you in there?”
Lee Yu-baek’s voice came from outside the boulder. Yeon So-wol didn’t answer. He had already experienced this during his previous closed-door training. He silently continued his cultivation, hoping his shaken Spirit would find its place.
“So-wol! So-wol! It’s an emergency! Quick! Open up!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
This time, he heard Mo Cheong pounding on the boulder. Yeon So-wol didn’t answer this time either.
“So-wol-ah.”
As he dozed off for a moment, Hang In-woo would whisper in his ear. That was a bit creepy, so he forced himself awake.
“Yeon So-wol.”
At other times, while he was eating beef jerky, he would hear Eun-yeong’s voice. He missed her a little, so he put the jerky aside and said a prayer.
Still.
“This is manageable.”
It was his second time, so it didn’t feel as difficult as before. The darkness and the inability to see anything were just a bit frustrating. Yeon So-wol was proud of his growth.
Until he heard a faint, distant voice.
— So-wol-ah. You’re moving your eyelids a lot today, aren’t you?
“…”
Yeon So-wol’s hand trembled. That voice just now. What was that?
— Oh my? I think he heard me! He wiggled his finger! Honey, look. So-wol is…
— What? Really? So-wol!
Uh… this is…
It hadn’t even been that long. Only about a year had passed since he arrived in this world. But for some reason, those voices already sounded unfamiliar.
“…Mom? Dad…?”
In the darkness, Yeon So-wol muttered without realizing it.
— Honey, honey. So-wol is…
— He’s going to wake up. He’s showing more and more reactions.
— Of all days, for the bus to crash on the day of his college entrance exam…
— It’s okay. It’s okay. Everything will be okay.
Yeon So-wol’s body trembled.
“An Inner… Demon?”
He felt as if he were standing naked in a blizzard in the dead of winter.