Chapter 14
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Life's Second Round Has No Perks
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After overcoming countless nights of deep sleep and stray thoughts, I finally succeeded in sensing my inner energy. Then, it took another full two weeks to sense the outer energy.
Sensing the outer energy was far trickier than sensing my inner energy.
They tell you to feel something in the world surrounding you, but all I could feel was the wind. What was I supposed to do about that?
The energy inside me was something I could sense if I focused somehow, but sensing qi in the world I faced every day?
Still, with time overflowing, I spent most of the day sitting cross-legged with my eyes closed in a relaxed state, and eventually, it worked.
"Now, I'll recite the incantation for the Six Harmonies Art, so listen carefully."
And today was finally the day I learned the Mount Hua Sect's foundational internal art, the Six Harmonies Art.
At Uihyeon's words, I nodded with a resolute expression.
"Maintain an empty hold on the crown's energy. Harmonize with the spiritual essence of creation. Inhale qi into the dantian—"
Unable to hold back at the torrent of Chinese characters, I cracked open the eyes I'd had closed. Was it real that the only thing I understood was "inhale qi into the dantian"?
"What's 'Heoreojeogyyeong'?"
"Maintain an empty hold on the crown's energy. It means keep your head upright and relax your neck."
"What about 'Johayeongseo'?"
"It's not 'joha', it's harmonize. It means to resonate with all things."
Hard. So hard. Nothing in this world is easy.
If I'd known I'd possess a wuxia world, I should've studied Chinese characters instead of pointless soap-making recipes.
At my endless questions, Uihyeon now broke down and explained each incantation one by one, giving full lectures on their meanings.
I mulled over those explanations in my head over and over, then closed my eyes again.
Breathing slowly, I circulated my qi following the incantation.
The drawn-in energy flowed through my meridians along with my inner energy, gradually gathering below my navel—in my dantian.
Soon, a speck of internal energy took root in my dantian.
I exhaled with a whoosh and snapped my eyes open.
"I did it!"
I met Uihyeon's gaze, who was looking at me with pride, and grinned.
And just like that, I succeeded in my first qi circulation in two weeks.
Even though it was the basics, a foundational internal art that usually took a month to grasp in the beginner stage—I'd mastered it in just two weeks.
"So now teach me Plum Blossoms by the Roadside!"
At my triumphant shout, Uiseong, who had been lying on a plum tree branch in the Jade Maiden Grounds with his arms propped up, cracked his eyes open and looked down at me.
"Oh, you already learned the internal art?"
"Yeah! In just two weeks!"
Proudly holding up two fingers, I watched Uiseong chuckle and slowly sit up.
"Of course. The Sect Leader himself performed the hair-washing ritual on you. If you were like any ordinary guy, that'd be a waste."
Huh? I got the hair-washing ritual?
As I just blinked, Uiseong scratched his head vigorously and added an explanation.
"Right, the hair-washing ritual is, uh... that thing. Cleansing the meridians. It clears out all the impurities in your body, so of course your internal energy flows smoothly."
No, I already knew that concept, so I wasn't really curious. But I have no memory of it—when the hell did it happen?
"When?"
"Tsk, my memory's fuzzy... Probably right after you passed the stone milestone?"
Thud. Uiseong hopped lightly down from the tree and tapped my crown.
"At that age, only the kids from prestigious clans get it, but our little kid's got some real luck."
I'd thought my place in Mount Hua was just as a ward of the sect, but they even did the hair-washing ritual for me. Kinda touching.
If I'd announced I was going to Wudang Sect like I'd thought as a kid, that would've been a disaster.
Uiseong picked up his sword, which was leaning against the tree trunk at an angle, and gestured as he walked toward a flat, barren field.
"I'll teach you for now. A promise is a promise."
Gripping my custom mini wooden sword, which I'd been swinging idly, I scurried after him.
"You'll explain the incantation too, right?"
"Kid, the incantation is something you repeat after your master recites it, understand it on your own, and apply it. Got it?"
"Sigh, Senior Brother Uihyeon explained it for me."
Yep, nothing beats comparison to get under someone's skin. As expected, Uiseong bristled and started lecturing on the Plum Blossoms by the Roadside incantation.
And that's when the first crisis hit.
I understood half of nothing—not even a third.
Whether it was because I retained memories and intelligence from my past life, or because I figured I was the protagonist of a possession childcare story (wuxia-style), I was dead certain that just hearing the explanation would let me grasp it like the Six Harmonies Art.
And I'd just been forcibly humbled. Was my brain always this bad...?
Yeah, maybe my stats were all-in on physical ability instead of intelligence. Who knows if I could just watch the form and mimic it to success.
Soothing my wounded heart, I moved on to practice.
"Relax your elbows! Power! Don't tense your shoulders!"
"You can't get this? This? Snap! Snap! Snap! Like this!"
"Hey, I got it right after hearing it once! If you're my disciple, you should be at that level at least!"
"Why are your feet standing still? If you're only moving your upper body, why'd I teach you footwork? Doing hand and foot movements separately isn't swordsmanship!"
The second crisis came from the teacher.
No matter how much of a genius you are, you can't be a genius at teaching too.
No, it was even worse. Uiseong handled the sword by pure feel, so his explanations were a mess, and he couldn't understand why I couldn't follow.
Grinding my teeth at the barrage of insults and Uiseong-style tirades, I swung my wooden sword.
I absolutely wouldn't choose that guy as my master. Poor future disciple of his. So pitiful.
In the endless barrage of scolding and nitpicking, I finally completed the form perfectly.
"You messed up the hand movement in the middle. Oh, and the footwork two steps later too."
"......"
"Again."
Charred white, I looked up at Uiseong with my eyes lowered as much as possible.
"I got the movements mostly right—can't I just practice alone?"
"Nope. I'll point out the mistakes, so hurry up and do it again."
"Hoo...."
"You begged me to teach you."
And so, under Uiseong's guidance, I swung my sword until I perfected the form—perfect, perfect, perfect!
The sun, which had been scattering morning light, was now sinking lazily.
With the setting sun at my back and the sunset as my backdrop, I endlessly recited the incomprehensible incantation in my head and executed Plum Blossoms by the Roadside, the first form of the 24 Plum Blossom Sword Techniques.
Contrary to expectations, not a single plum petal appeared until the final movement.
"Oh, now it's starting to take shape."
At the sound of applause, I reflexively turned to Uiseong, who approached with his sword resting on his shoulder, looking down at me with a grin.
That smile held no trace of the devilish instructor from before.
"Could you show it one more time?"
"Of course. What's so hard about that?"
Nodding at my request, he drew the sword form with fluid motions.
It was exactly the same as what I'd done, but unlike my sword that only whistled through the air, dazzling plum blossom-like sword qi bloomed from the tip of Uiseong's blade.
Now I was even suspecting it was a cash item sword with skill effects equipped—ridiculous as that was.
"Why can't I do it?"
"Tsk tsk, do you think the 24 Plum Blossom Sword Techniques is some mutt's name? It's one of Mount Hua's signature arts, notoriously tricky, reserved only for Core Disciples."
"I know that."
Grumbling back, I felt Uiseong ruffle my hair lightly and chuckle.
"So a kid who barely learned the Six Harmonies Art failing is natural. If plum blossoms burst from your sword, we'd drag you to the elders thinking some rejuvenated master had infiltrated Mount Hua."
I slumped my shoulders and shook my head.
"A genius could do it."
My feeble retort earned a gentle pat on the crown—no pain.
"What.... Even if Mount Hua's founding patriarch came back to life, he couldn't. That's not a genius—that's someone living life twice."
Those words offered zero comfort. Because I was that second-life guy.
Yeah, I'm the second-lifer who can't even nail one form properly. What a blockhead.
Should I start by understanding the incantation? No, internal energy operation first...
"Hard. So hard."
In my tangled emotions, I face-planted into the grass and sprawled out in a big X. Uiseong shook me, giggling, and teased.
"Hey, kid. You crying?"
"I'm not crying!"
* * *
Lately, I've been depressed.
Because I'd realized all too abruptly that I wasn't some protagonist-level genius. Call it facing reality.
"What? You mimicked a sword form before you were even one? Oh my, a prodigy in Mount Hua!"
"Your downward strike is so clean. Genius, genius!"
"Our kid swung a sword before he could even walk— a heavenly swordsman, haha."
I reminisced on those glory days when I'd strutted around after endless genius praise.
To think those "you're talented" compliments were just the usual parental hype of "our kid must be a genius!" Yeah, I'm the idiot who took it at face value despite living twice.
Ah, of course, my past-life parents never gave me that kind of praise, so I enjoyed it a bit.
"Sigh..."
"Young one, what's got you sighing like that? What's the worry?"
At my sigh, the Sect Leader paused his brush and looked at me kindly.
Sprawling out flop in the middle of the Sect Leader's office, I muttered weakly.
"I'm not a genius."
"Why do you think that?"
"Because I fail at the exact same things everyone else fails at."
"But if everyone succeeds, it's not failure just because you failed—do you need to take that failure to heart?"
"If you succeed where others fail, you're special, but if you fail where everyone fails, you're ordinary."
I pouted and grumbled.
The Sect Leader burst into hearty laughter and spoke softly, as if he'd indulge any complaint.
"Alright, tell this old man what you failed at to make you like this."
"Plum Blossoms by the Roadside. First form of the 24 Plum Blossom Sword Techniques. Senior Brother Uiseong taught me, but no plum blossoms came from my sword. I nailed the movements perfectly, though."
"Hmm... You're sunk in despair over failing that?"
Seeing the Sect Leader slightly flustered, I confessed the real worry I'd buried deep inside.
"Will an unremarkable kid like me pass the entrance exam safely? My name isn't one of Mount Hua's famed prodigies."