Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Part 4. Walking the Path Together (2)
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It had taken a full month for Damho to regain the ability to move under his own power. During that time, he had spent most of his days circulating his energy.
He would rise at dawn, consume a Yunyang Pill, and then run the Central Heaven Mind Method. Before he knew it, the day would be gone.
Just as Daoist Hyeonso had promised, the Yunyang Pill and the Central Heaven Mind Method created a perfect synergy. The sticky, swamp-like energy of the Central Heaven Mind Method would blaze up like wildfire the moment he took the pill.
Unable to move his body, Damho delved even deeper into the Central Heaven Mind Method. His relentless pursuit revealed aspects he had never noticed before.
While Damho was immersed in the Central Heaven Mind Method, Daoist Hyeonso ventured back into Samgong Mountain to gather herbs for more Yunyang Pills.
When Daoist Hyeonso finally returned to their dwelling, he was carrying a massive bundle on his back like a mountain. Without a moment's rest, he immediately began refining more Yunyang Pills.
By the time Damho could move again, Daoist Hyeonso had produced hundreds of them.
“How’s your body feeling?”
“I can move.”
Even as he said this, Damho’s condition was pitiful. After so long without movement, his entire body had stiffened like stone. Restoring his rock-hard muscles to their original state was the top priority.
His left leg was especially problematic. The muscles he had barely built up from climbing the mountain had wasted away completely. He would have to start from scratch.
But Damho never despaired. He had lost much, but gained even more.
“Master.”
“Hoya! As you know, the existing Mount Hua Sect techniques don’t suit you. We need to create a new martial art tailored just for you—one meant only for you.”
Damho’s eyes gleamed.
He already knew this. He had felt it in his bones over the past five years.
“The first thing we must do is perfect a footwork unique to you. You don’t need flashy steps. With that leg, you couldn’t learn them anyway, and they’d only hinder your other training.”
“I know.”
Damho agreed readily. He had thought the same as his master.
“A simple footwork without variations, yet optimal for unleashing your techniques. What could that be?”
Daoist Hyeonso bent down and gathered small pebbles rolling on the ground, arranging them on the platform.
They were stacked like a miniature city wall.
“This is your enemy.”
“…….”
“Those who have perfected their own martial arts, fortifying themselves like an impregnable fortress. How do you face such foes? What footwork do you use? Have you ever thought about it?”
“Overwhelm them with power. That’s the only way for me.”
“Exactly. Crush them with power. So, have you considered how to multiply that power?”
“By building strength…….”
“Speed.”
“What?”
“Greater speed means greater power.”
Daoist Hyeonso picked up a small twig from the ground and placed it on the platform.
The twig now faced off against the stone wall.
Daoist Hyeonso suddenly flicked the twig with his finger. It shot forward at high speed, toppling the pebble wall with a crash.
“The battering ram—a siege weapon that shatters walls in one strike. Your footwork must be like this battering ram.”
“Battering ram?”
“Yes! Charge like a battering ram, concentrating all your power on a single point at terrifying speed. Do that, and simplicity will triumph over complexity. That’s the answer I’ve come up with.”
“…….”
Damho was speechless. The fog in his mind cleared.
New possibilities, previously invisible, began to emerge.
Daoist Hyeonso’s voice rang out.
“A footwork like a battering ram smashing a wall—I’ll call it the Charging Step.”
“Charging Step…….”
“That’s what we’ll create together from now on.”
Daoist Hyeonso’s words resonated deeply in Damho’s heart.
***
Charging Step.
A footwork like a battering ram charging toward a wall.
Once the core concept was set, Daoist Hyeonso and Damho threw themselves into it with frightening intensity. Daoist Hyeonso unpacked the knowledge he had only theorized in his head until now.
“Among the famed ultimate arts of the martial world, there’s one called the Blood Heaven Legs.”
“Blood Heaven Legs?”
“It’s the unique ultimate technique of Wu Gyeongpae, the Iron Blood Tyrant Demon who wandered the jianghu alone a hundred and twenty years ago. They say a single kick dyes the sky red with blood—a weapon of extreme ferocity.”
Wu Gyeongpae had risen to the ranks of the Ten Great Masters with Blood Heaven Legs alone. But his brutal nature and indiscriminate affairs made him a public enemy of the martial world.
Hundreds of experts had banded together to eliminate him. Yet Wu Gyeongpae shook off their pursuit and vanished without a trace.
He never reappeared. He became a legend, and now few even remembered his name.
“People thought he simply grew weary of the jianghu and secluded himself, but that’s not true. In truth, Mount Hua’s Sword Immortal, Elder Sangcheonja—the greatest master of our sect at the time—stepped in, unable to bear the damage he caused.”
Sangcheonja was also among the Ten Great Masters, rivaling the era’s best with his sword.
Their battle lasted a full day and night. The clash threatened to upend heaven and earth, but in the end, Sangcheonja won by a hair’s breadth.
“If Wu Gyeongpae hadn’t exhausted his energy evading the other experts, even Elder Sangcheonja couldn’t have subdued him. That’s how strong he was.”
After defeating Wu Gyeongpae, Sangcheonja tried to burn the manual of his unique technique, Blood Heaven Legs. But upon examining it, he changed his mind.
“Though misused by its master Wu Gyeongpae, Blood Heaven Legs itself was a superb martial art. So Elder Sangcheonja had the erudite scholars memorize it instead of keeping it publicly.”
Thus, Blood Heaven Legs was passed down orally through the scholars to the present day.
“They say Shaolin’s Shadowless Kick allows eighteen kicks while floating in midair once mastered. It maximizes energy distribution and chaining subtlety. But Blood Heaven Legs is different. It ignores chaining or distribution, aiming to pulverize the foe in a single strike.”
Damho stared at Daoist Hyeonso.
In their five years together, he had never seen his master so impassioned.
“Blood Heaven Legs needs no fancy footwork. Just sturdy legs to serve as pillars. Master and delve into it, and the Charging Step will surely take shape.”
“Understood.”
Damho nodded.
He trusted his master. There would be good reason behind his words.
Daoist Hyeonso’s face was flushed red. Yet he taught Blood Heaven Legs to Damho without hesitation.
Sect Leader Hyeoncheon Daoist had forbidden teaching Damho Mount Hua Sect techniques. But Blood Heaven Legs wasn’t one of them. There was no reason to hesitate.
After learning all the forms and energy circulation of Blood Heaven Legs, Damho understood why his master had been so fervent.
It required no intricate movements. Just preparatory motions to maximize destructive power. Even Damho, with his crippled leg, could perform it.
The problem was that executing Blood Heaven Legs demanded immense leg strength, explosive lung capacity, and precise energy control.
‘Master.’
Damho felt a surge of respect for Daoist Hyeonso.
This wasn’t just pulling out an ultimate art and saying “practice it.” It accounted for Damho’s physical condition, past efforts, and future growth.
He could clearly see how many days and sleepless nights his master had agonized over this.
Afterward, Daoist Hyeonso poured out all his knowledge without end. Damho engaged in heated debates with him, absorbing everything.
It all boiled down to the Charging Step Daoist Hyeonso had first mentioned.
Creating a battering ram-like footwork and matching techniques—that was their ultimate goal.
The two debated fiercely day after day. Staying up all night was routine; sometimes they went days without sleep.
Creating a new martial art was no easy task even for grandmasters. For a mere scholar with theory alone and a novice driven by recklessness, it was near impossible.
But they had an advantage others lacked: they never gave up easily. And they were tenaciously persistent.
Neither Damho nor Daoist Hyeonso held much sway in the Mount Hua Sect. No one paid much attention to what they did. This allowed them to experiment and develop freely.
Daoist Hyeonso provided the theoretical direction; Damho tested it with his body.
Without the stable foundation of the Central Heaven Mind Method, they wouldn’t have dared attempt it.
Damho stopped climbing Mount Hua. It drew too much attention. Instead, he began training in a special way.
Behind Daoist Hyeonso’s dwelling was a small clearing and a massive boulder the size of a great hall.
Daoist Hyeonso drew a small circle on the boulder at about Damho’s eye level.
Damho watched calmly.
Daoist Hyeonso then drew a straight line from the circled boulder toward the clearing.
A straight line marked on the ground, with Damho at its end.
“This is your task from today onward.”
“How do I do it?”
“Leap from here to that boulder in a single step and strike the circle with your fist.”
Damho furrowed his brow slightly.
The distance from his position to the boulder was a full three張—about six meters.
Even a healthy person, let alone a martial artist, couldn’t cover it in one leap.
Daoist Hyeonso pointed to the line on the ground.
“You must leap off your left foot, and you absolutely cannot step beyond this line.”
“Master.”
“I know it’s nearly impossible with your leg. But you must do it.”
Damho nodded silently at his master’s words.
His left leg was slightly bent and twisted. It couldn’t generate proper power or aim accurately.
This training wasn’t just about strengthening his left foot.
Because of the deformity, Damho’s balance was severely off. Completing this would sharpen his sense of balance to the utmost.
“Begin.”
“Yes!”
Damho obeyed without complaint.
Thud!
He launched toward the boulder.
“Ugh!”
Damho’s face twisted.
His fist didn’t even reach the boulder—he hadn’t covered a third of the distance. Worst of all, he had veered far to the left of the line Daoist Hyeonso had drawn.
That proved his body twisted leftward.
Daoist Hyeonso’s stern voice rang out.
“Again!”
Damho returned to position without a word and leaped once more.
“Huff huff!”
Damho’s breathing grew ever rougher.
He kicked off the ground, rolled across the dirt, his body caked in mud. But his eyes burned brighter than ever.