Honored Guest (2)
“Ahem. This lady’s husband and little sister have newly earned the titles of the Yongbong Tournament this time. The Three Powers Sword Dragon and the Bright Flame Saber Peak… In my husband’s case, if his draw in the bracket had been just a bit better, he could’ve gone all the way to victory! And furthermore……”
Hong Yeonhwa lifted her chin high, rattling off praises about me and Paeng Soso like some overzealous parent at a school event. I started feeling a bit embarrassed listening to it all, so I poked her side until she finally stopped.
“Mmph…!”
Hong Yeonhwa puffed out her cheeks in protest. Fortunately, she wasn’t too upset—she quieted down again once I let her nibble on my finger as she wanted.
Myeongwol Jin-in, clearly still not used to seeing Hong Yeonhwa like this, nodded with an awkward smile.
“I-is that so? Well, then. In any case, those things you saw back then must’ve lingered somewhere in your mind, young hero, and evolved into something even more powerful.”
Come to think of it, I had seen the 24 Plum Blossom Sword Technique, the Diamond Unmoving Divine Method, and even the Tang family’s dark arts once each at the Yongbong Assembly. I hadn’t faced any of them directly in sparring, but I’d watched others’ matches. Beyond that, I’d witnessed the responses of Murim’s elders to the ambushes by Sama Lian spies.
Paeng Soso had been up on the main dais, so I’d only glanced her way, but there were definitely Hwasan and Shaolin masters present too.
If those glimpses had stuck in my subconscious and the Spirit Fire had drawn on them, that made sense enough.
“Does that make sense to you?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, the thing that was bothering me is resolved. One last thing… If we call it a trial, is there some kind of reward for overcoming it?”
“Indeed. Why don’t you focus inward on yourself for a moment? You’ll notice something has changed.”
As Myeongwol Jin-in suggested, I closed my eyes and looked within for a bit.
The first thing I felt was the heavy weight of my dantian. It was only natural, but unlike during the trial, my inner energy hadn’t evaporated. In fact, it had grown by a considerable amount… Though honestly, I’d had plenty of inner energy before, and with the Martial Spirit Divine Art on top, more wouldn’t make much difference—
“Huh?”
I’d been about to feel disappointed, thinking the gains didn’t match the hardship, when a sense of incongruity hit me.
“What’s this…?”
For some reason, my meridians had expanded and toughened to nearly twice their previous size. The stagnant qi that had built up inside them was completely gone too.
So that’s why my body felt so light? It was like being reborn.
But the real surprise came next.
I circulated my inner energy experimentally, and it moved faster than expected. It wasn’t just the improved meridians—the energy itself was responding more sensitively to my will.
To test it, I spread out my qi sense, and my hunch turned to certainty. I could perceive a much wider range, far more clearly than before.
I’d always been lacking not just in swordsmanship, but in qi sensitivity too. Even after reaching the Peak realm, it had only gotten somewhat better—up until then, it was more efficient to just reinforce my body and heighten my physical senses.
Now? I could probably go about my day with my eyes closed and be fine.
Excited, I shared this, and Hong Yeonhwa stood on tiptoe to pat my head.
“Stay still for a moment.”
“Yeah? Okay.”
She didn’t just pat me—she began lightly infusing her inner energy.
Letting someone else’s inner energy—especially into the head, home to one of the body’s most sensitive organs like the brain—is absolutely forbidden.
But Hong Yeonhwa was the exception.
After fiddling with my head for a good while, she nodded with a pleased smile.
“It seems your upper dantian has opened.”
……
A brief silence.
Then, everyone except Hong Yeonhwa jumped in unison.
“What? Upper dantian?”
“No way?!”
“H-how is that even possible?”
The upper dantian normally only opens upon reaching the Present Realm. And it had opened now?
I wasn’t the only shocked one—Paeng Soso and Myeongwol Jin-in had their eyes wide too.
“…Why are you surprised, Myeongwol Jin-in?”
Was it really Mosanpa’s trial if even he didn’t know?
Under my skeptical gaze, Myeongwol Jin-in averted his eyes and cleared his throat repeatedly.
“Ahem. Up until now, the only one besides you, young hero, to pass the Spirit Fire’s trial has been our sect’s founding patriarch, Jujon. So we don’t know much about what fortunes those who succeed encounter. Ah, so that’s why the patriarch……”
Jujon Mohongok. Originally an ordinary Daoist, he underwent rapid growth after the Spirit Fire trial, eventually earning the title of Jujon. After founding Mosanpa, he ascended to the immortal realm, or so the legends went.
There’d been endless debate about how that was possible, but Myeongwol Jin-in explained excitedly that an opened upper dantian made it entirely plausible.
To sum it up, the upper dantian was important in martial arts, but even more crucial in Daoist arts.
Things were getting long-winded, so before Hong Yeonhwa could glare, I cut in appropriately.
“I see. Well, not many could pass something like that. He must’ve been an incredible person. Me? I just got lucky.”
Without the Martial Spirit Divine Art, I never could’ve escaped that situation, so it wasn’t wrong.
But Myeongwol Jin-in shook his head firmly at my humility.
“Lucky? What nonsense is that? In all my years, I’ve never seen anyone as remarkable as you, young hero. …Truth be told, in Mosanpa, we’d always thought the latter half of the trial was just about enduring a hopeless situation.”
“It wasn’t?”
“No. It was only after seeing your trial that I realized. To pass, it’s not enough to just endure until the end—you have to overcome the hopeless reality yourself and put a period to the trial.”
He sighed, admitting they’d been thoroughly mistaken, then looked at me with a serious expression.
“Tempering oneself, reaching higher, overcoming your former self. Shedding the mortal shell to become an immortal—that is the ultimate goal of all Daoists. And so, young hero, I truly think you’re remarkable. In a way, worthy of respect.”
“Uh, um, thank you.”
Having such a venerable Murim senior gild my face like that was extremely embarrassing… Wait, now I noticed—he kept glancing at Hong Yeonhwa?
“Ahem, ahem.”
Hong Yeonhwa actually looked pleased at the praise I was getting, puffing up a bit with pride.
What kind of bootlicking line was that…? How terrified of her was he, exactly?
Our eyes met as I stared in disbelief, and Myeongwol Jin-in smiled sheepishly before speaking.
“Ahem. Well, there was an unexpected hiccup midway, but you must’ve come here for some purpose. Per our patriarch’s last words, we’ll welcome you, young hero who passed the Spirit Fire trial, as Mosanpa’s honored guest. Please stay as long as you like.”
“Y-yeah……”
As I gave a vague response, Paeng Soso—who was even more thrilled than me—sparkled her eyes and asked Hong Yeonhwa,
“Big sis Hong! Big sis Hong! Doesn’t the upper dantian normally open when you reach the Present Realm? So has hubby Jin reached the Present Realm?”
“As if. Do you really think so?”
Hong Yeonhwa chuckled at Paeng Soso and continued.
“To correct you slightly, it’s not that you open the upper dantian upon reaching the Present Realm—it’s that opening the upper dantian is the condition for reaching it.”
She wagged her finger, pointing to her own chest.
“Besides, his middle dantian hasn’t opened, nor does he have the necessary enlightenment. So he can’t do anything as grand as you’re imagining, Soso.”
“Aww… That’s a shame. But if it’s not that big a deal, he can still do something, right?”
“Exactly. His qi sensitivity will rise, or perhaps his instincts will sharpen. Ah, and with the lower and upper dantians leading the way, his middle dantian’s opening will definitely speed up a bit.”
“Isn’t that huge on its own?!”
“It is, but with this lady here, he’ll reach that realm eventually anyway.”
“Ah……”
Paeng Soso nodded blankly at Hong Yeonhwa’s confident words. She probably believed Hong Yeonhwa could make it happen.
“More than that, I’m curious about what you comprehended. They say the experiences in the trial scatter like bubbles, but what about the insights?”
“I’m wondering that too. …Mind giving me some space to focus?”
Hong Yeonhwa and Paeng Soso hadn’t left my side since I opened my eyes—not even for a second. Right now, the heavy softness pressing against my side and the breath tickling my ear were major distractions.
Could I concentrate like this…?
I tried to shoo them away, figuring it wouldn’t work, but Hong Yeonhwa buried her face in my chest and shook her head, refusing to let go.
“This lady has no intention of separating for a while.”
“Then at least you, Soso……”
“Go for it, hubby Jin!”
Paeng Soso grinned and wedged my arm right between her breasts.
“…Fine, whatever! Let’s do this!”
Ignoring the sensations on both sides as best I could, I sank my mind into the mental image space.