Chapter 9
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Initiation into the Martial Path
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The constitution check was finally over.
Suffering from the intense aftereffects, I rolled around on the bare training ground floor, drooling everywhere.
"Oghuk... Oghogogo..."
"Newbieee..."
And there was the Color Sovereign, stroking me with a look of pity.
Sob sob, sorry about this.
But hey, it really was an incredible experience, wasn't it?
"Nnghit... Something that big won't fit..."
"You're talking weird..."
"It's gonna rip me apart..."
"Sorryyy..."
The Color Sovereign shook her head ruefully, all the while expressing her deep regret.
In truth, even though it seemed like I was just babbling nonsense, this was mostly her fault.
"I knew there were no martial arts in Newbie's world, but I didn't expect the foundation to be this completely absent. Still, since you were invited to the Martial God Gallery—and even became a moderator—I had some expectations."
The Color Sovereign had shoved a constitution scanner into me to check my aptitude.
But that scanner was way too massive for a total newbie like me.
Thanks to that, my first experience involved taking in something far too big, leaving me writhing on the floor like this.
"Ugh... It's fine."
Still, since she did it for my sake, I didn't really hold it against her.
If there was one regrettable thing...
"So in the end, I'm just completely ordinary, huh."
"...Yeah."
Despite all the fuss, I turned out to be utterly talentless.
Man, I figured there'd be something...
The scan results showed I possessed no special constitution whatsoever—surprisingly ordinary.
After building up my hopes with talks of Earth Yin Body, Heavenly Sword Body, Blood Ignition Body, and the like, this was a letdown.
She was watching my reaction carefully now, but...
"Eh, it happens."
I wasn't particularly bothered.
Because I hadn't expected much to begin with.
A regular guy from the modern world suddenly having a Heavenly Martial Body in another world? What is this, some web novel?
If I had that kind of amazing constitution, I'd already be a famous athlete back home.
I was just a doomsday survivor who'd thrashed around a bit longer than most in this ruined world, nothing more.
And "until the end" just meant a few extra years at best.
In a life where I'd never won more than third prize in the lottery, there was no way I'd hit the premium jackpot. If I had any luck, I'd already used it all finding this mine shelter.
"Surviving this long without dying means you're lucky enough."
"Uu... Sorry..."
Whether she felt bad for getting my hopes up or for harshly judging ordinary folks earlier, the Color Sovereign kept apologizing profusely.
"No, no. Let's move on."
I couldn't just keep getting pampered forever, so we finally got to the main event: initiation into martial arts.
"Yeah, sure?"
"Yep."
The Color Sovereign glanced at me awkwardly before nodding.
"Alright...! Don't worry too much, Newbie! I'll make sure to solidify your foundation properly!"
With that, we began the proper martial arts initiation.
She had me sit in a comfortable position first.
"Sit comfortably!"
"Like this?"
"Yep!"
"Uh... Is this really the right posture?"
"Why? Does it feel weird?"
"No, not really."
I just sat cross-legged normally.
But usually, don't these things have a special pose?
"No need for the lotus position or anything?"
"Lotus position?"
"Like this."
I summoned every bit of my amateur wuxia novel knowledge and struck the pose I remembered.
But the Color Sovereign tilted her head at the sight.
"Is that comfortable for you, Newbie?"
"Uh... No?"
"Then why sit like that?"
"...Never mind."
The little martial purist inside me screamed in protest, but I quickly untangled my legs and returned to the original position.
Truly feeling once again how different this world was from the wuxia novels I knew.
"Okay, now for the real deal. What I'm going to teach you is an internal art called the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture. It's a cultivation method that organizes the interactions between the two phases of yin and yang, and the five elements."
"Most people think of yin-yang as rigid binary concepts—good or evil, man or woman, fire or water. But in the philosophy of the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture, they're not fixed. They're a framework for the two interdependent, ever-changing phases in the universe, nature, and all living phenomena."
"But there were too many things to encompass just with those two, so we added the cycles of mutual generation and mutual conquest from the outside—that's the five elements."
The Color Sovereign lightly waved her hand in the air.
Black and white formed a taiji symbol, circulating. Then, five phases appeared around it, rotating as if embracing the taiji.
Having shown that much, she gave an awkward smile.
"See? Pretty complicated, right?"
Complicated?
"Uh... I think I get the gist?"
"Good. As expected... Wait, what?"
The Color Sovereign's eyes went wide.
"You understand this?"
"Yeah, kinda..."
Understand? Pfft.
This is just the taegukgi.
The thing I'd been drilled on endlessly in school during national pride classes as a kid.
"We had something similar back home. Though it was four trigrams instead of five elements."
"Four trigrams?! What does that mean?"
"Huh? Oh, it's not that big a deal..."
"Can you draw it for me?"
"Sure."
I immediately sketched the taegukgi on the ground.
And explained its meaning as far as I remembered from lessons.
"The red and blue in the center symbolize the taiji. Around it are the four trigrams: heaven, earth, thunder, and lake. The white space outside..."
As I went on, I started doubting myself—Is this right? Isn't this just peak national pride meta?—but
"...For real? This existed in your world, Newbie?"
The Color Sovereign, listening intently, stared with wide eyes in disbelief.
"Uh... Why are you so shocked?"
"Why so shocked? In a world without martial arts, this has incredibly profound implications!!"
"Huh?"
"In the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture, yin-yang is the language for directing energy flows, and the five elements compress those changes into five phases. It frames the world with laws like opposition, mutual roots, waxing and waning, and transformation. And these four trigrams follow the exact same principles—even filling the missing axis with white space."
What?
Was this the Martial God Gallery or the National Pride Gallery?
"Is it really that impressive?"
"Of course! You said martial arts don't exist in your world, right? To academically contemplate something nonexistent and reach this depth... Imagine what we could achieve in a world where it does exist!"
That... so?
Anyway.
Having established some theoretical groundwork wasn't a bad thing—for me or her.
We could move on quickly.
"Good. Theory time's over. Now for the practical part based on that. I'll infuse internal energy into your body, circulate true qi, and imprint the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture's formulas. Like I said, think of it as drawing the grand diagram of the universe inside yourself. You have to use every part without missing anything, so follow closely, okay?"
"Yep!"
Finally, the hands-on part.
Even though it seemed basic up to now, she'd spent hours lecturing me on theory.
Honestly, I nearly dozed off midway.
"Ready? Here we go?"
"Yep! Please take care of me!"
"Okay!"
Wooong—!
Next, a cold energy flowed in from my lower back.
Similar to the constitution test earlier.
But incomparable in intensity.
Because this wasn't just a test—it was laying the first foundation.
"Don't speak, Newbie—just listen. The energy I'm infusing now is the yin-yang qi I mentioned. It's the essence of all circulating things. It'll feel cold at first, but soon it'll turn hot. It might even surge wildly inside you, causing agony. You have to endure it. If your body is the universe, the cold and heat are just phenomena within it. Accepting them means you've entered the basics of the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture."
As she said, the cold soon turned to heat.
The chill creeping up my spine was followed by a scorching wave racing along the same path.
I worried my spinal nerves might snap, leaving me paralyzed, but I steadied my mind.
Soon, the cold and hot energies spread throughout my body.
"Like I said, I infused yin-yang qi first because it's the foundation. It creates a massive driving force through taiji circulation, which you then harness with the five elements."
"Kughhh!!!"
Even as she explained, the pulsing of hot and cold energies intensified.
Unbearable pain, incomparable to the start, crashed over me.
To steel my resolve, I recalled what she'd said right before the infusion, during theory time.
—But Newbie, there's something you need to prepare for.
—Huh? What?
—Accepting yin-yang qi isn't easy. It'll be incredibly tough. Even for me... it was.
Her expression back then had seemed so distant, full of unspoken stories. I hadn't pried and just nodded, but—
I should've asked more!!
Damn, huge regret!!!
But the die was cast.
I gritted my teeth against the whirlwind of extreme heat and cold raging inside me.
Then, the watching Color Sovereign asked worriedly.
"How's it going, Newbie? Can you handle it?"
Straining against the pain, bloodshot eyes and all, I nodded without opening my mouth.
"Newbie, you don't have to push so hard from the start. Like I said, the first time is just paving the path..."
The Color Sovereign said.
Out of all the gallery members' martial arts, she'd chosen her Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture as the foundational one because nothing else compared.
I'm already too old to start martial arts properly. To catch up, I need to completely reset my body's state—and the scripture fits perfectly.
So this process was about smashing away all impurities in my body.
Like demolishing an old building for reconstruction, incinerating the worn and broken in the yin-yang cycle.
That's why...
"Kghrk... Hrk!"
"Eh? M-More?"
This step was crucial.
Foundations must be laid solid from the beginning.
"Kuuughhh!!"
She'd warned this would involve tremendous pain and recommended doing it in multiple sessions.
But splitting it up would weaken the effects and reduce permanent bodily durability, she'd added.
In other words, the agony would be worth the risk—but—
Pain? I'm used to it to the point of nausea by now.
If I'm saying this now.
The past five years had been pure torment for me.
I'd masked it with humor, but those memories were seared in like brands, unerasable.
Hunger, cold, betrayal, loneliness...
They'd tormented me from inside and out.
But back then, the pain only took from me. This pain was different.
If I overcome this.
Just overcome this.
"New-Newbie!!!"
"E-Ei-nim...!"
"Should I stop?!"
Flames and ice danced in visions within me.
The dazzling spectacle of Black Sky and Anger Control Expert.
If I could recreate that...
"Never...! Don't stop... until I say so...!"
Even in hellish agony, I was ready to throw myself in.
Rumble rumble—
The hot and cold torrents rampaged fiercer through my body.
I let them run wild like untethered horses.
"Now...! You really have to stop...!"
The Color Sovereign, unable to watch, tried to intervene.
She clearly hadn't expected me to go this far.
But that's why—
"Ei-Ei-nim...! If we... keep going like this...!"
"Right! It's too dangerous!! I'll stop right—"
"...Rider."
"Newbie?! This isn't the time for jokes!!"
"Heh heh... Ask... and double it...!"
Joke?
I'd never been more serious.
Crunch.
I bit down hard enough to shatter my teeth.
Indescribable pain surged, but I could endure because of one reason.
I can still... do more...!
I could feel it.
The frail parts inside me breaking one by one, reborn anew.
I knew nothing of martial arts, yet even I could clearly sense the massive changes crashing like waves.
"Kaaaaaaaagh!!!"
Pounding.
Pulsing.
And.
Fetal movement.
In that sensation of everything shattering and everything being reborn—
"...Congratulations."
A slightly weary voice brushed past my ear.
"On your entry into the world of the martial path."