Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Samadhi True Fire
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After entering the indoor training hall, Shin Bi-hyeong slung the spear over his shoulder once more and sank into meditation.
"Hey."
Soon after entering the realm of his mind,
he spoke to the spear again.
"I'm sorry."
....
"This time, we'll do a proper spirit-weapon unity... What? Are you sulking?"
...Whirr.
The spear shaft trembled faintly.
Seeing it, Bi-hyeong scratched his cheek awkwardly.
'What kind of divine weapon expresses its will so clearly?'
This just made him feel all the more sorry.
"Hey, hey."
Bi-hyeong plopped down on the spot and addressed the black spear.
"I'm sorry, okay?"
...Whirr.
It seemed his apology was working, as the trembling felt fainter than before.
Still, that childish 'It hurt...' vibe was hard to shake off.
Bi-hyeong had to spend quite a while stroking and soothing the spear, breaking a real sweat.
Time passed like that,
Whiiiing—!
The spear rang out with a cheerful spear cry, back to its usual energy.
"There, there."
Now, then.
"Shall we get serious?"
In the lower dantian's mental realm, he closed his eyes again.
One hand extended toward the spear, palm wide open.
The black spear, humming a fine spear cry as it trembled, slipped perfectly into his grasp with a click!
'...I can feel it.'
It didn't seem ready for full unity yet,
but at least it no longer held any hostility toward him.
In the realm of intimacy, Bi-hyeong frolicked as one with the spear.
'In this state, infuse it with yang energy.'
He immediately circulated his spiritual power, spreading it evenly along the spear shaft.
Whirr.
Riding the faint vibrations of the shaft, Bi-hyeong sensed the cold yin energy clashing with the warm yang energy.
'...Not enough.'
Far from enough.
Both the amount of yang energy and his own level.
Nothing was sufficient to melt all the yin energy dwelling within this spear.
'Through Yin-Yang Transformation, yang energy mixes into every breath, entering my body even now.'
Thus, the sun in his lower dantian was gradually growing larger and purer.
Yet it still fell short of melting this spear's yin energy.
For Bi-hyeong, who desperately wanted liberation from the divine relic's weight even a moment sooner, this was utterly disheartening.
'Isn't there a way?'
But spirit-weapon unity was still a distant realm for him now.
He had to surpass the realm of intimacy, step onto the heart-mirror stage, before finally achieving spirit-weapon unity.
In other words, leap over two whole stages beyond his current attainment.
Absurd as it sounded,
Bi-hyeong decided to give it a shot.
'For some reason, it doesn't feel impossible.'
The spear's will—friendly toward him—no, its legacy.
If he resonated with it, who knew?
'Let's do it.'
Bi-hyeong withdrew his yang energy and faced the spear once more.
"Spear."
Whirr?
"I know how stifling that yin energy inside you must be. So let's challenge it sooner rather than later."
Saying that, Bi-hyeong gripped the spear firmly and changed his mindset.
'Spirit-weapon unity is the realm where I become one with this spear.'
But he knew his own shortcomings all too well.
So Bi-hyeong didn't get greedy—instead of his whole body, he focused on uniting just one hand with the spear.
"Show me your legacy."
The moment he said it, a fierce presence erupted from the spear in his grasp.
Roooar—!
A mere fragment of the divine relic.
An incomplete something.
Even that shattered piece's presence rivaled his own.
Just what kind of being had wielded this spear?
As that thought crossed his mind,
Roooar—!
Suddenly, his own presence swelled dramatically, filling the mental world.
'...What?'
Why was this happening?
He'd only been trying to read the spear's legacy, to take one step closer to it.
'Something's gone wr—'
Wrong.
That was his last thought.
'This is?'
Bi-hyeong sensed a subtle dissonance amid the presences.
The legacy.
The story of those heavenly beings he'd received as a reward from the covenant.
He hadn't been qualified to read it all yet—but now it stirred clearly amid the presences.
'What's about to happen?'
And then,
"Fwoosh!" ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ "The fire ignites." "What was once pitch-black darkness now blazed red-hot, like iron in a forge." "'What the hell did I do wrong to deserve this damn thing?'" "An octagonal cauldron." "Flames rose within, devouring even immortality and indestructibility alike." The legacy advanced no further.
'...Wait. Octagonal cauldron? Where even immortality and indestructibility don't work?'
This was totally...
'Sun Wukong?'
The myth of that ridiculously famous monkey—known more as a fairy tale than anything real—flashed through Bi-hyeong's mind.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [You have grasped the sense of a legacy belonging to someone of 'Higher Rank.'] [A monkey's gleeful cry echoes across the heavens!] Seeing that message, Bi-hyeong thought.
Apparently,
'I've inherited the legacy of someone truly extraordinary.'
If he didn't put in the work, his belly button might end up bigger than his stomach.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ '......'
The original owner of the legacy he'd inherited.
He realized it was the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong.
Otherwise known as the Victorious Fighting Buddha or the Handsome Monkey King.
'...Come to think of it, there were hints.'
The heavenly beings' chatter about the thunder-wielding rascal.
And Sun Wukong's voice mocking them—casual, almost leisurely.
As if no matter how they thrashed about, they couldn't touch a single hair on his head.
Utter self-existence, absolute self-confidence.
A being innately extraordinary, who ultimately transcended even yokai constraints to ascend as a Buddha.
Small wonder he exuded such arrogant poise.
Still, Bi-hyeong couldn't help but be dumbfounded.
'How was I supposed to know!?',
This was his first time encountering a real, living Sun Wukong—how could he judge the Great Sage from speech and mannerisms alone?
Besides, in myths, that level of arrogance was par for the course.
Divine beings naturally viewed the world differently from humans, after all.
'...Above all, Sun Wukong became a Buddha in the end. Who'd expect someone like that to have such a foul mouth?'
Even so, should he be glad to finally know the owner of this legacy?
Bi-hyeong gazed at the spear in his hand—the biggest hint of all.
'...Pillar. Ore. Black gold.'
No, more precisely, the infamous divine relic modeled after this spear's form.
"Are you, by any chance, 'Ruyi'?"
One of the most iconic items representing Sun Wukong.
Ruyi.
Vwwwong—!
As if thrilled to hear its true name after so long, the spear rang joyfully, making no effort to hide its identity.
"...No idea how I ended up with a relic like this."
More shocking still: its true form, the staff, had been stashed in his warehouse.
"That's why you took a liking to me."
Bearing a piece of its master's legacy, it was glad to see him.
That explained its welcoming attitude.
But that line of thought led to a puzzling point.
"...Why are you so friendly, while the staff you're part of is such a handful?"
The spear wagged like a puppy's tail, yet the pillar—its true body—acted all picky.
A divine relic that was hard to figure out.
Maybe it perfectly mirrored its master's personality.
'Or perhaps.'
Maybe he hadn't earned the right to be called its master yet.
'Which makes sense, given its owner was Sun Wukong.'
The weapon of a myth-making yokai.
Legends even claimed it was used by the Supreme Elderly Lord before—and by Pangu to shape the earth itself.
Best not expect instant recognition from a weapon like that.
"Still, thanks to you, I got a little closer to the legacy. Appreciate it."
Rumble!
As Bi-hyeong grinned and said it, a strange rumble echoed oddly from within the staff.
Wait, I was thanking the spear—why are you, the true body, reacting?
'...Anyway.'
Bi-hyeong tightened his grip on the black spear—no, the Ruyi Spear fragment—and focused his senses.
'Got something out of this.'
Soon, his will seeped into the Ruyi Spear, and the sensation of his hand gripping it fused seamlessly.
'More.'
At his desire, the fusion extended from his wrist a bit further.
Because he'd unveiled more of the legacy?
Or perhaps,
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Your true self's rank is gradually rising.] [Proficiency of Hierarchy (3) is rising sharply.] [Congratulations! You have entered 4th Hierarchy!] A byproduct of comprehending the legacy, pushing his hierarchy to the early mid-tier '4th Hierarchy'?
Either way, it was undoubtedly good fortune.
'Here we go.'
With that, he extended the fusion from his wrist to his shoulder.
Not quite spirit-weapon unity, but enough to call it arm-weapon unity.
His right hand—including the shoulder—had become one with the Ruyi Spear.
'Now, yang energy.'
No.
'Something else.'
Perfect—he'd seen just the thing in the legacy.
The octagonal cauldron.
The surrounding blaze kindling.
And the hint of eyes burning red-hot.
'The legacy snippet from Sun Wukong was from the Eight Trigrams Furnace.'
The Supreme Elderly Lord's alchemy furnace.
Known for purifying and melting all manner of impurities.
Bi-hyeong sought to imitate that 'power' from Sun Wukong's legacy.
Fwoosh!
Yang energy drawn from his dantian surged through his shoulder's meridians, refining and blazing fiercely.
Samadhi True Fire.
The power of the Supreme Elderly Lord's smelting began to infuse his spiritual power.