Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Initiation
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The Namgung Clan's artificial elixir, the Azure Heaven Pill, was about the size of two finger joints and had a jade-like hue, resembling a small jade bead at first glance.
Lee Soo-hyuk, who had grown up without parents, had never tasted traditional medicine in his life, but he figured the faint scent wafting from the Azure Heaven Pill was probably similar.
“Never thought I’d get to try something like this in my life. Guess I’ve really made it.”
He muttered it with pure sincerity, no exaggeration intended, but Elena’s cheek twitched across from him. She had been prepared to give her best reaction if he bragged more, but he hadn’t even done that.
“Have you memorized the Clear Resonance Heart Method completely?”
Instead, she asked with a serious expression. It was a first-class low-grade martial art, and while one didn’t need to memorize the entire manual for initiation, the incantations were not short.
“I have.”
Yuri replied with an equally serious face. This was a crucial moment where no mistakes could be afforded. Yuri had already opened his dantian with the Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art and accumulated internal energy. But only Yuri knew that.
He had to make everyone else believe that he was opening his dantian and accumulating internal energy for the first time right now through the Clear Resonance Heart Method. In other words, this was Yuri’s first step.
“If I had reached the 6th tier, I could have guided Yuri’s internal energy myself. What a shame.”
Ha-ryeong said with an expressionless face.
“Yes, it’s a shame.”
He said it, but inwardly he thought it was fortunate. If he had let someone else guide his internal energy, not even the Veil of Deception could have hidden the deception. Yuri took a deep breath and sat cross-legged in place.
“The moment you swallow the Azure Heaven Pill, you must guide the energy according to the Clear Resonance Heart Method incantations. The elixir’s energy will flow through your meridians to the dantian, opening the sealed dantian and allowing the energy to accumulate as internal energy.”
The Clear Resonance Heart Method was far inferior to the Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art, but they wouldn’t use the latter in this process.
“You won’t be able to guide all of the elixir’s energy to the dantian, but don’t regret it. As long as you succeed in opening the dantian, the energy won’t dissipate from the body. From then on, you can slowly take time to guide the remaining energy in the body to the dantian.”
Yuri nodded and placed the Azure Heaven Pill in his mouth.
“How is it? Does it melt smoothly?”
“Miss Elena, how can you talk to him during this crucial moment of swallowing the elixir and performing his first meditation? Besides, an elixir like the Azure Heaven Pill doesn’t melt smoothly. You have to chew it up.”
Yuri chewed the Azure Heaven Pill while half-listening to the conversation. It wasn’t something he could call tasty even as a white lie. The bitterness spread instantly as he chewed, crumpling his face involuntarily.
Still, he chewed through it.
Pop.
Something burst in his mouth. Before he could even think to swallow, the energy from the chewed elixir surged down his throat on its own.
He immediately circulated the Clear Resonance Heart Method. The incantations swirled in his mind, and his meridians twitched.
“...”
He had approached it with utmost seriousness, but it ended too quickly. Even with his focus, the internal energy flowed into his dantian in an instant. Without using the Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art, the Azure Heaven Pill’s energy coalesced perfectly in his dantian without the slightest loss.
As expected of the Namgung Clan’s artificial elixir. Just like its high value in the game, the internal energy gained from the Azure Heaven Pill was substantial. It filled his dantian far beyond what he had accumulated in a month with the Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art. Even considering the possessor’s privileges and it being a divine art, this was several years’ worth of internal energy from a single elixir.
But he couldn’t open his eyes right away. According to Ha-ryeong’s advice before starting meditation, even with the elixir’s power, opening the dantian for the first time and completing the Grand Celestial Circuit took at least a few hours.
Yuri kept his eyes closed and maintained his breathing. In his mind, the first-class low-grade Clear Resonance Heart Method and what seemed like a divine art, the Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art, confronted each other.
It came to him more intuitively. The Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art appeared as a massive blaze, while the Clear Resonance Heart Method looked like a small spring.
The blaze of the Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art could grow endlessly. Depending on what fuel was added, it would burn even more fiercely. But the spring of the Clear Resonance Heart Method had limits to its source. To add more water, one had to dig new ground.
‘I see.’
A fiercely burning blaze wasn’t always good. If one couldn’t control a fire grown too large, they would become the fuel and be consumed by it. But the Clear Resonance Heart Method had less such risk. Even if the spring dried up someday, one could dig deeper to find a new source.
‘Consumed by the flames. Burned up as fuel. Is this qi deviation?’
Unlike in the game, martial arts in reality were divided into various types, roughly into three categories.
Righteous martial arts, black dao martial arts, demonic martial arts.
In Yuri’s judgment, the Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art didn’t seem righteous at all. Nor did it feel like black dao. A fiercely burning fire. One moment of carelessness, and it would swallow him whole, reducing everything to ash.
‘I am the fire that enacts heavenly punishment, the asura that annihilates evil, the apostle that upholds heaven’s principles.’
‘My hands uphold the holy flame, my feet trample demons.’
The incantations of the Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art that he recited during every meditation session floated in his mind. Comparing it openly to the Clear Resonance Heart Method sent chills down his spine.
‘This... is a demonic art.’
Cold sweat dripped at the realization. Demonic arts carried far higher risks than righteous or black dao arts. Not everyone who cultivated them self-destructed, but the mere possibility warranted caution.
‘No, why would a priest of the Order Church cultivate a demonic art?’
Moreover, she had directly transmitted it to him. But it wasn’t incomprehensible. Just looking at Lorellia’s personality that glorified violence, demonic arts suited her perfectly.
‘It doesn’t necessarily lead to qi deviation. If I cultivate it well, yes, if I do it right.’
It was too wasteful to abandon the Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art for being demonic and only cultivate the Clear Resonance Heart Method. Besides, seeing it so clearly now, the ‘lows and highs’ Ha-ryeong mentioned were evident.
‘Still, wouldn’t it have been better to teach a normal martial art instead of a demonic one?’
Order Church.
Exiled from the city for sheltering possessors, the church was nearly extinct. Even the goddess who should protect her followers had fallen into a long slumber as punishment for repeated miracles.
The ferocious Lorellia was the embodiment of violence representing that Order Church. It was said the church barely clung on thanks to her existence.
Not only had Yuri received the Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art directly from that Lorellia, but also the gift of the Veil of Deception. It wasn’t without reason. It was recompense for setting an overwhelming record in the Hall of Fame, ensuring no more possessors crossed into this world.
‘But it’s not just that.’
Even with an overwhelming record, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t be broken. Time flowed differently, so decades later, ‘Padrip Immunity’ could fall from first place, and a new possessor might appear.
He hadn’t completely prevented possessions, yet the Order Church gave him overly generous gifts. Before that, the fact that ‘Lorellia’ became his handler was suspicious.
‘Lorellia isn’t originally in charge of possessors.’
‘I can’t go into details, but due to circumstances in our church! I, who wasn’t a possessor handler, ended up in charge of you, Lee Soo-hyuk.’
He hadn’t heard about those ‘circumstances.’ It might have been Lorellia’s solo decision.
‘The Order Church doesn’t seem like total pushovers.’
Did they expect him to become a hitman hunting other possessors? Or the root of it all, the evil god? They must have considered the possibility of some possessors siding with the evil god. Precautions against betrayal?
‘Fuck, what’s the point of thinking. No answers anyway.’
No matter the situation, protecting himself came first. Just look at that bastard Ox God Head from Full Moon Night Revelry openly declaring himself a possessor and living fine. In this world, power was everything.
‘But why Full Moon Night Revelry of all things?’
His thoughts gradually faded. The blazing Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art flames vanished, and the Clear Resonance Heart Method spring flowed quietly. The incantations floating in his mind dissolved into the spring water, and Yuri’s consciousness flowed with it, becoming water itself.
“H-How... how’d it go?”
When he opened his eyes, Elena was sitting in the same spot as before.
“Seems like it went well?”
“Let’s take a look.”
Ha-ryeong, who had been sitting on a nearby sofa, jumped up and approached. Yuri calmly extended his hand to her without panic.
“Hmm...”
Her internal energy flowed in through the grasped hand. She checked the internal energy in Yuri’s dantian and nodded.
“About half?”
“Did I do well or poorly?”
“You did well. As expected, my eyes don’t deceive me. Yuri’s martial talent is quite good.”
Yuri swallowed a sigh of relief at the answer.
“Now you can claim to be a 1st tier martial artist, Yuri. Brag about it if anyone asks.”
“It’s not a tier worth bragging about.”
“Now that you know, train diligently. Don’t skip daily meditation, and when circulating the dantian’s internal energy through the meridians to the whole body becomes as natural as breathing, beyond mere conscious control, you’ll reach the 2nd tier.”
Ha-ryeong released his hand as she spoke.
“Then, you two enjoy the celebration party for Yuri’s dantian opening and martial initiation. And thank me.”
“Why thank you?”
“I sat here for hours for Yuri, who isn’t even my protectee. I deserve thanks.”
“Thank you.”
“Verbal thanks are so light. Don’t you think?”
Her serene gaze turned to Elena. Elena blinked, unsure why Ha-ryeong was looking at her, then furrowed her brows sharply.
“This requires extra payment too?”
“Miss, saying that makes me sound like a money-grubbing hag. I only watched once, so no need to pay.”
Was it true? In any case, Ha-ryeong didn’t take money. She bowed politely to Yuri and Elena before leaving the mansion.
“Celebration party... wanna do it?”
“Not hungry?”
“Ch-champagne at least is fine.”
Come to think of it, Yuri hadn’t drunk alcohol once since becoming Yuri. He wasn’t particularly tempted, but Elena’s expression said otherwise.
“Let’s have a light one.”
He had no sense of his capacity. From memory, he was decently tolerant before possession, but would it be the same now? Didn’t intoxication depend more on mental fortitude than the body?
‘No way I’d get drunk on a few glasses of champagne...’
The biggest risk was getting wasted and blurting out things he shouldn’t. That bastard Yuri became even more obnoxious when drunk. He’d pick fights, half his words were curses, and depending on the opponent, his fist flew before words.
On the other hand, ‘Lee Soo-hyuk’ had the virtuous habit of passing out when drunk. Even so, he couldn’t relax.
“Do you drink often?”
“Not often. Maybe once a month?”
“Not with Ha-ryeong, I bet.”
“Of course not. Most recently, with adventurers who helped on a rank-4 commission. Lightly before parting.”
Pop! The cork of a fairly expensive-looking champagne popped cleanly with magic.
“Before that, dragged by the tower lord... or a few times with Rayシー senior.”
“That senior who reached 5th tier? You’re close?”
The name stuck clearly because of the whisper that they might be a possessor.
“Yeah. When I first came to Derusia Magic Tower, I shared a room with Rayシー senior.”
“Don’t drink with other seniors?”
“Arist senior? I told you last time, I don’t like that senior. Until last year, they openly ignored me, but after I reached 4th tier, their gaze became all...”
Elena paused pouring champagne into the glass and glared at Yuri with intense eyes.
“They look at me like this every day. Well, not incomprehensible. I reached 4th tier a year faster than them. Rayシー senior did it at my age too? So our talents are similar, meaning I can reach 5th tier in 7 years too.”
Elena relaxed her eyes and smiled brightly. She shook the half-filled champagne glass and said,
“Well, tiers don’t climb that straightforwardly. Past 4th tier, it’s not just talent—experience... or rather, a trigger is needed.”
“Trigger?”
“Unique magic is reaching the ideal one mage pursues. Even if shallow, creating one’s own magic requires aspiration, or the mana inside won’t respond.”
Trigger, huh. Yuri pondered briefly. Reaching 5th tier was grueling for martial artists too. Unlike mages completing unique magic, martial artists needed perfect harmony of mind, energy, and body to manifest gang qi.
“So, how do you feel?”
The leisurely swaying champagne glass approached.
“You’re a real martial artist now. No感想?”
“Honestly, it hasn’t sunk in yet.”
Yuri extended his glass similarly.
Oldor’s orphan Yuri had aspired to be a martial artist or mage but died from stab wounds without even opening his dantian.
The current Yuri could already claim to be a martial artist even before meeting Elena. Yet it still didn’t feel real.
Because he hadn’t properly fought as one.
“Realization... huh...”
Elena chewed her lip, unable to clink glasses. She wanted to ignore it forever, but she knew she couldn’t.
She couldn’t live with Yuri in this house indefinitely. If he hadn’t become a martial artist, maybe, but now—the foundation for independence was set.
“Still, congrats, Yuri.”
Elena smiled without showing her inner thoughts. The belated glasses clinked lightly.
“Thanks to you.”
Ah.
Why did those words sound so sweet?
Coming to Oldor for Yuri was the right choice.
She’d worried he’d changed too much. That he wouldn’t be the Yuri she knew. That she’d be disappointed upon meeting. So she’d forcibly ignored it.
‘If I’d known, I would’ve brought him sooner.’
Elena thought that as she brought the glass to her lips.
*
They emptied a bottle of champagne between them, but nothing happened. Barely any buzz, no blunders.
Late at night, back in his room, he meditated once more. This time using the Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art instead of Clear Resonance Heart Method.
He quickly felt the increase in internal energy. Even spreading it through his body, plenty remained in the dantian.
The next day.
He thoroughly studied the Languid Sky Cloud Fist manual.
[The lofty sky has no ceiling or walls.]
[Clouds disturb the sky. Flowing clouds lower the sky, hide the sun, and bring the night.]
[Standing on earth, gaze at the sky. A cloud-filled sky looks terribly low. Ascend to the sky, stand with the clouds. The earth remains below; the sky is never low.]
[I become the clouds drifting in the sky. The sky’s hue changes by how I flow.]
[Sweep the hand to part the clouds. The parted clouds continue flowing.]
“What the fuck is this nonsense...?”
Similar drivel continued for a while. Yuri shuddered, rereading the incantations repeatedly.
Fortunately, below the nonsense were illustrations. At least that was viewable. Yuri stared piercingly at the fist technique drawings and annotations.
‘Do they make you practice drawing too when leaving manuals...’
Combining drawings and incantations revealed the fist technique. Yuri stood and tried following the illustrations.
The room was too cramped. He went to the garden and practiced the forms in earnest.
Languid Sky Cloud Fist had four initial forms total.
First form: Drifting Cloud Wander.
He extended and retracted his fist repeatedly. Fist techniques didn’t stick to one fist. Languid Sky Cloud Fist required skillful use of both.
He focused solely on Drifting Cloud Wander for a long time. Swinging, retracting, extending again, but never satisfactory. Something was missing. Unlike games where a keypress unleashed the skill, grasping one form’s time was uncertain.
The more he swung, the closer it felt. The gap between the Languid Sky Cloud Fist seen on the monitor and the one he now embodied seemed to align bit by bit.
Thump.
His heart pounded hard enough to ache. In that instant, something connected in Yuri’s mind. The puzzle of the unknown ‘lack’ clicked into place.
Whoosh.
No internal energy rode the extended fist. Ultimately, just a plain fist. Yet Yuri felt a small satisfaction with it.
“Haa...”
He couldn’t bask in the afterglow. A gasp came from behind. Startled, Yuri whipped around.
He couldn’t turn. Dizziness hit as he pivoted, legs giving out. Someone caught him as he slumped.
“A-Are you okay?”
It was Elena. Yuri blinked, still not grasping the situation.
His whole body was soaked in sweat. The sun hadn’t set, but hours must have passed since starting. Realizing it, his shoulders ached like they’d shatter.
“W-What... happened?”
Yuri stammered, turning his head.
Kwon Rang Bakerd, whom he was supposed to meet tomorrow, stood in Elena’s mansion garden, eyes wide in shock.