Chapter 9: Reading a Book a Hundred Times Reveals Its Meaning (8)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 9: Reading a Book a Hundred Times Reveals Its Meaning (8)
Yeon So-wol practiced the Breathing Technique and the Soft Willow Art relentlessly.
He repeated them until they became as natural as breathing itself, whether he was awake or asleep.
Even when a deathly exhaustion washed over him, even when his muscles screamed in protest and his entire body shuddered with the pain of being torn apart, Yeon So-wol kept breathing. He kept moving.
Ten days passed.
Lee Yu-baek’s voice drifted in from outside the door.
“Ten days have gone by. Are you still alive?”
“...Yes.”
Yeon So-wol swallowed the surge of anger and sorrow, forcing out a quiet answer.
“What did you use to endure?”
“I endured by making my heart sincere.”
“And what did you use to make your heart sincere?”
Yeon So-wol gritted his teeth. The words formed of their own accord, clawing their way out of his throat.
“Hatred. I hated myself for being unable to control something as simple as my own breath. I loathed this body that felt like it would shatter from a single movement. But what I loathed more than anything was this world—and you, for making me this way.”
“...”
The voice outside fell silent.
Just as Yeon So-wol was about to lash out with more vitriol, the voice returned.
“Your heart is not yet sincere.”
“What?”
It was absurd. Yeon So-wol stomped toward the door.
“Do not get excited.”
“How can I not be—!”
Clang!
He shoved the door with all his might. Though it was secured with a bolt and chain, it was still just a crude wooden barrier. Under his forceful shove, a small gap opened, revealing a sliver of the outside world.
“...”
Yeon So-wol froze.
Through the crack in the door, he saw no one. He looked at the ground; there wasn't a single footprint in the dirt.
It was another hallucination.
This was Lee Yu-baek, the man who had lost his master to senior disciples driven mad by their Inner Demons. There was no way he would have come here.
“Ah.”
Yeon So-wol slumped against the door and collapsed.
“Aah...”
He clutched his forehead, his breath hitching.
“I can’t go on like this.”
He forced himself to his feet and pulled out the Meridian Chart Lee Yu-baek had given him.
“He said the closed-door training would end when I achieved my own enlightenment regarding the Twelve Standard Meridians and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.”
Yeon So-wol decided then and there to end this horrific training as quickly as possible.
His body was a wreck. He had recently grown somewhat accustomed to the breathing technique, allowing him to snatch fitful moments of sleep, but he still woke up every ten minutes.
“It’s not like I’ll ever be in perfect condition anyway,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “Let’s do this.”
With bloodshot eyes, he stared intently at the Meridian Chart.
Neither blood vessels, nor lymph nodes, nor a network of nerves—the lines stretched densely across the figure in the drawing. Yeon So-wol looked at it again and again, but for the life of him, he couldn't grasp what it truly represented.
“He could have at least explained it a little...”
Reading a book a hundred times reveals its meaning.
Enlightenment will come on its own by repeating the Soft Willow Art.
“What is this, some Joseon-dynasty study method?”
Students of the 21st century didn’t study in such a primitive way. Time wasn't an endless resource. Why would anyone use such an ignorant method when they could listen to a proper lecture, grasp the key points, and study them intensively to understand things faster and more accurately?
It was a musty, outdated philosophy.
It’s just a method lazy, incompetent teachers use to gaslight their students.
But complaining was pointless. Complaints were a luxury for those with alternatives or time. Yeon So-wol shoved his rising frustration back down and focused.
He had to devote his entire mind to cultivation. If he let his guard down for even a moment, he didn't know when an Inner Demon or Qi Deviation might seize him.
“First, I’ll memorize this thing inside and out.”
It wasn’t just about memorizing the drawing.
“I’ll engrave exactly where each point is on my actual body.”
He had to feel it. It had to reach the point where, even in his sleep, if someone pointed to a random spot on his body, he could immediately identify it. This is the Quchi acupoint of the Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian. This is the Dazhui acupoint of the Governing Vessel, and this is the Qihai acupoint of the Conception Vessel.
By Yeon So-wol’s standards, that was the true meaning of memorization. It was an active, progressive form of learning, incomparably more effective than mindlessly reading something a hundred times.
“Hoo. Hooo...”
He maintained the breathing technique, pinching his thigh whenever his eyes drifted shut as he memorized the Meridian Chart.
The three Hand Yang and three Hand Yin meridians that ran through the arms.
The three Foot Yang and three Foot Yin meridians that ran through the legs.
Together, they formed the Twelve Standard Meridians.
The Conception Vessel, which ran along the front of the body, from the abdomen and chest to the tip of the chin.
The Governing Vessel, which ran along the back, from the waist over the crown of the head to the philtrum.
The Penetrating Vessel, which pierced the center of the body, rising from the anus to the top of the head.
The two Linking Vessels. The two Qiao Vessels. And the Girdle Vessel.
Together, these formed the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.
“...What on earth are these? They’re not blood vessels, and they're not a neural network.”
On Earth, this was all considered pseudoscience...
The irreverent thought popped into his head, and Yeon So-wol quickly shook it away. This wasn’t Earth. He had to believe there was something real here and investigate it seriously.
After confirming through repeated checks that he had memorized every meridian and acupoint on the chart, Yeon So-wol shot to his feet.
“Hooo... Haaah. Hoo.”
Continuing the breathing that had now become second nature, he slowly began the movements of the Soft Willow Art.
“Hoooooo!”
Gathering Fire.
One could blow gently on a small ember to make a fire grow. Similarly, one could blow breath into the body to kindle a fire within.
But how is that possible? It’s not like there’s a real ember inside me.
Yeon So-wol unleashed the characteristic curiosity of a 21st-century man and observed the process in minute detail. His sensitive Qi Sense, which had even impressed Lee Yu-baek, began to shine.
Ah. The breath isn’t just air. There’s an unknown energy mixed within it. Something similar to the Essence, Qi, and Spirit in my body.
The air entered his lungs and exited, but that energy was filtered into his lungs, passed through them, and sank deep into his body. Yeon So-wol observed its flow with even greater care.
I see. Through breath and movement, it flows.
The energy that had sunk into his body rose again like sparks with the rhythm of the Soft Willow Art, scattering to every corner of his being. And wherever it touched, a small ember was born.
It’s getting warmer. Gradually.
Yeon So-wol began to guide the energy coming in through his breath more consciously. And then he realized.
This is fire.
The energy mixed in the air was hot, like sparks. When he gathered them in one place, they became a flickering flame. Yeon So-wol was seized by a sense of awe.
This world is full of fire.
The air was filled with hot sparks of low density. By drawing them in and condensing them, he could kindle a fire within his body.
But why is the world full of these sparks?
He suddenly recalled something from an Earth science class.
「Cosmic microwave background radiation. The heat released during the Big Bang that spread throughout the universe.」
“Ah.”
An intuition flashed through his mind.
“Could these sparks be a kind of residual heat left over from this world’s creation?”
Come to think of it, Lee Yu-baek had said something similar.
A person’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit are borrowed from heaven and earth; they are originally pure and full of life. But from the moment of birth, they gradually cool and become clouded with Turbid Qi, until they can no longer be used. When the Essence, Qi, and Spirit have completely cooled and stopped, only then does a person reach death.
Viewed this way, a person’s ‘life’ was like the ‘residual heat’ left over from the warmth of their creation.
“If that’s true for a person, couldn’t it be true for the universe?”
Perhaps this universe, too, was still filled with the residual heat of its creation, and that was what kept it alive. Though Yeon So-wol did not know it yet, this was what people called the ‘Innate One Qi’—the sole energy from before the birth of the universe.
“And we can use that to revive our own cooling Essence, Qi, and Spirit.”
He had been tired, pained, and terrified this whole time, but Yeon So-wol suddenly felt a thrill of excitement. This was the feeling of slowly uncovering the secrets of a world he knew nothing about. The fear that had filled his heart receded just a little more with every discovery.
“Right. Knowledge is power. Yes. You need something like this to be a martial artist.”
Yeon So-wol focused his mind even more intently, observing the movement of the energy.
Fwoosh—
He gradually grew the condensed flame and moved it with great care.
“It can’t stop for even a moment.”
If he left the flame in one place, only the Essence and Qi there would grow hot. If he let that happen, he would become the next protagonist in one of the bizarre horror stories Lee Yu-baek had told him.
“Hoooo. Haaah!”
Using the breath and movements of the Soft Willow Art, Yeon So-wol kept the fire moving. Like hot steam flowing through boiler pipes to heat a room, he circulated the flame condensed from his breath throughout his body, retrieving it and sending it out again, gradually warming his entire being.
In the process, he had a sudden realization.
“Ah. So this… this is the Twelve Standard Meridians!”
As he circulated the flame, he felt that its path was fixed. The channels through which the fire passed were none other than the meridians he had memorized so diligently.
“But why is the flow so weak?”
Yeon So-wol frowned. After breathing for a long time to gather the flame, it would scatter and vanish without a trace after just a couple of circuits through his body. He would have to gather the flame all over again.
He focused his mind once more and observed his inner self. This time, he wanted to see exactly how the flame was passing through the paths of the Twelve Standard Meridians.
“...Ah.”
Before long, Yeon So-wol realized the problem.
“The paths are a total wreck.”
The twelve major meridians were supposed to be channels for the fire to pass through. But right now, those paths were frozen cold. A sticky sludge of waste products had dried up and was obstructing the way, and impurities that had pierced through the channels were causing heat to leak out.
In some places, especially sticky waste had almost completely blocked the path. The flame managed to seep through, but its heat was significantly reduced each time. With its heat stolen by the cold channels, scattered by blockages, and vented through holes, it was no wonder the flame couldn't last.
“This is horrible.”
Yeon So-wol looked down at his own body with a look of disgust.
“Was my body always this much of a mess?”
He suddenly remembered what the old man, the Demon Slayer, had said on his first day.
“Is this why he called me sewage water?”
Yeon So-wol observed his inner body with a queasy gaze.
I want to get rid of this...
It hadn’t bothered him when he was unaware of it, but the moment he recognized it, it became unbearable.
It’s really getting on my nerves.
So filthy. So broken. The waste products even seemed to be squirming as if they were alive.
I really hate this!
Yeon So-wol observed the waste inside his body, his gaze filled with revulsion. He thought of how he wanted to squeeze out all the impurities, just like popping a pimple.
Just then, his Qi Sense touched a particularly large piece of waste.
“Hm?”
Yeon So-wol suddenly noticed that the waste felt flat. It was as if a ‘thin thread’ was fluttering from the mass.
“What is this...?”
Since it was inside his body anyway, there was no need to physically touch it. Yeon So-wol reflexively cut the thread.
Chiiiiii—
At that moment, white smoke with a savory scent rose from his mouth and nose.
“It’s gone.”
One of the clumps of waste that had been stickily obstructing a channel had vanished. The channel was still cold and embedded with impurities, but at least in that section, the flame passed more smoothly.
“I can do that?”
He quickly focused his mind again. He observed his inner self. The waste. The impurities. He was looking to see if there was anything else that felt flat, that seemed to have a fluttering thread.
“There is.”
A smile spread across Yeon So-wol’s face. It was a joyful smile—perhaps the first one he had worn since falling into this world.