Chapter 119: Training
“What the hell are you doing? They've been sitting like that for three whole hours already.”
“Can't you tell just by looking? They're training.”
“I see. Their cross-legged posture is so picture-perfect, I didn't even think it could be training.”
“Finally, you lot are starting to get it!”
“T-Tak, Leader Tak?”
“That's right. This humble body belongs to none other than the closest confidant of our family head—the First Captain of the Black Shadow Guard, who rose from the ranks of the Black Shadow Corps, Tak Horak!”
“Ooooh!”
“Which means I know exactly what our family head is up to right now.”
“Wh-what is it?”
Tak Horak's voice boomed on.
“Even Super Peak masters can't neglect physical training, of course, but the core of it all is cultivating the simsang.”
“Ooooh!”
“That's why the family head has come out here to train his simsang.”
“Th-then shouldn't we be quiet?”
“Fool!”
Tak Horak bellowed.
“Battles aren't played out like a quiet game of go! Combat happens in chaotic frenzy that scrambles the mind! That's why the family head is training right now to keep his simsang unshaken, no matter the situation!”
“Ooooh! No wonder he radiates such an extraordinary aura.”
Another voice chimed in.
“But what is the family head's simsang, anyway?”
“Hm?”
“I've heard that Cheol So Pyeong, the young master of the Goe Mountain Iron Family, manifests as a giant of flame, and Jin Yeong Ryeong, head of the Eum Hyeol Jin Family, as a blood-drenched bat-like monster.”
“And?”
“But no one knows what simsang our family head uses!”
“Hahaha!”
Tak Horak's booming laughter echoed. Then, still chuckling, he continued.
“You really want to know the family head's simsang?”
“Of course!”
“I see. You—how many retainers do you have?”
“I'm not married yet.”
“Other family?”
“My father died on a mission in the jianghu long ago. I've been caring for my mother alone all these years.”
“A filial son, eh? Well, time to become an unfilial one.”
“Pardon?”
“Your lifespan's shorter than your mother's, that's why.”
“Wh-what kind of nonsense is that?!”
“Out!”
Tak Horak roared again. Was this truly the might of a Peak expert?
His aura forced choked gasps and stifled groans from the onlookers—“Kuhk! Kruk!”
“Want to know why the family head's simsang is a mystery? Simple. Everyone who's seen it isn't long for this world. If you don't have the resolve for that, don't even ask.”
“Gasp!”
“If you're that curious, go ask in the underworld. Snooping around a master's simsang will shatter your mind! Haven't you learned from Sa Wol's?”
“H-Huh! Forgive us!”
“No need to apologize.”
Tak Horak's tone softened benevolently.
“Our family head may look like a cold city slicker on the outside, but deep down, he's got a warm hea—”
I couldn't take it anymore and opened my eyes.
“Shut your mouth, Tak Horak.”
“Hup!”
“You're all too damn loud. Get lost.”
“Understood!”
At my command, the family warriors scattered like I was some zoo monkey they'd been gawking at.
I was in the middle of private training with Pa Cheon.
When I said I wanted to learn martial arts, Pa Cheon retorted that a klutz like me had no business trying.
Which only made me more determined to learn.
Up until now, my fighting style was downright primitive by Murim Return standards—crude and unrefined.
No precise inner energy control, no footwork patterns, no proper forms.
Just dodging what I saw with raw reaction speed—which wasn't even mine; it was the Time Wheel Jade's doing.
But that wouldn't cut it for real fights.
So far, I'd ended things in one blow or muddled through on bluffs, but that luck wouldn't hold.
No, this wasn't about luck.
Could I keep up the act forever?
If I didn't get more proactive, more aggressive, I'd die anytime in this martial arts-dominated world without it seeming odd.
And I'd definitely cross paths with Sado Gwang again.
So I set out to learn proper martial arts.
But Pa Cheon...
[I told you to maintain focus.]
...was teaching me the mind method first.
His logic: Mastering the body starts with taming the mind.
And I wasn't in the noisy public training grounds for nothing; this was the family head's private cultivation hall.
The point: Sustain inner focus amid any distraction.
'As if that's easy. Even cross-legged is suffocating.'
[To think this blade's body is so poorly controlled—lamentable.]
'I can't even use inner energy properly anyway. And the Heavenly Demon Divine Art moves on its own will.'
[No helping dullards like you.]
'Call me an idiot, at least.'
[Even cult disciples shed that by age ten. Dullard fits. Anyway...]
Pa Cheon clicked his tongue in archaic disapproval before continuing.
[This blade knew the Heavenly Demon Divine Art as the Asura Demon King Divine Art. Like most mind methods, it circulates through specific acupoints during cultivation.]
Pa Cheon's point boiled down to this:
What is a mind method for wielding inner energy?
Just as people carve paths to travel faster, easier, and more comfortably, it's the technique for channeling energy through specific acupoints.
This body already had those roads paved. I just wasn't using them right.
Like ignoring a highway to hack through thick brush bare-handed.
[Even without projecting energy, positioning it in key acupoints overcomes physical limits.]
True enough.
Even third-rate warriors outclass elite modern athletes. Second-rates would be superhumans.
Hell, the big three lifts at 1,000 each? Piece of cake.
Inner energy reinforcement made it possible.
I was already doing it instinctively. Channeling Heavenly Demon Divine Art energy to my eyes boosted vision and dynamic acuity.
To my chest, and my back straightened with uncharacteristic boldness.
[This isn't some trash art. The Founder Heavenly Demon created it so 'a Heavenly Demon fights untiring in any plight.' That's why it crowns the King of Ten Thousand Demons.]
In other words, its body reinforcement far outstripped other arts.
Made sense. Its recovery was insane. For Guardian Demon Ring, I had to slice my palm each time, but by First-Rate level, wounds healed fully in moments.
[Focus, you yokai.]
I closed my eyes again.
The key to wielding inner energy: Introspective observation.
Hence the cross-legged meditation pose for mind methods.
[Beginners waste days or months sensing energy alone. But you're already using it.]
I knew the heavy energy coiled in my dantian.
[Close your eyes. Imagine a single candle flame in a dark room. That's your energy.]
I pictured the candle as instructed.
[Now, let it flicker with your breaths, in and out.]
I focused hard on the flickering flame.
[Visualize your body. As perfectly as possible.]
I summoned an image of my body.
[This blade will stab. Draw a portion of the flame along the path.]
Pa Cheon, still sheathed, darted to prod my body.
[From Kihae, through Yeongjeong, Guji, Susamli, Samyangnak, Daeryeong, to Waegogung.]
From lower abdomen, up the shoulder to the fist.
I tried drawing the flame along that path—and failed.
'Why isn't it working?'
I could wield inner energy at will.
Yet now, it sat stuck like a pegged stake.
[Focus again! Without self-belief, energy won't follow.]
I refocused per Pa Cheon, but no dice.
[...What in the world is wrong?]
Pa Cheon muttered in disbelief.
[How can something so simple fail? Just like this, then that, easy as pie. Dullards...]
A sigh escaped me. Geniuses.
Explaining the 'breathe-like-natural' to others? Impossible.
[Give up, yokai. Better wait for Sa Wol and try another way.]
'No.'
I shook my head.
'I need to learn martial arts.'
Learning wouldn't make me a peerless master overnight.
'It's a mindset shift.'
Until now, I'd been casual: 'Try it, bail if it fails.'
But upcoming trials demanded steelier resolve.
Learning martial arts meant hardening my will.
'And better wielding what I have.'
I couldn't rely on Pa Cheon forever: 'Dodge with Myofang!' then dodge; 'Fall back!' then retreat.
Delays were inevitable—and now, deadly.
Super Peak elites, especially top-10 Heavenly Beyond like Yu Il O, could catch me even with Time Wheel Jade active.
[Three hours plus, impressive grit... but smart ones cut losses.]
'Grit conquering is the cliché.'
[Gibberish again.]
Smirking, I closed my eyes and refocused.
[Candle again. Body first. Detailed as possible.]
'No matter how detailed...'
Visualizing my body objectively was tough.
We see ourselves subjectively—how to—
'Ah.'
Realization hit.
'Duh.'
Until now, I'd pictured my real self.
But this Heavenly Demon Divine Art body was Sado Hwan's.
So...
'I am Sado Hwan.'
I affirmed it. Then—
Rumble-rumble-rumble—!
No candle.
A raging wave—no, tsunami of energy surged through my acupoints at terrifying speed.
Worlds apart from my casual summons—in speed, volume, everything.
[Control it, yokai!]
'Guh!'
My arm acupoints swelled visibly, bulging.
The final point, Waegogung on the back of my hand, ballooned grotesquely.
[Reel it in! Your hand will explode at this rate—not just acupoint damage!]
No sooner said than the back of my hand split, blood spraying!
Guardian Demon Ring reacted instantly, morphing into a massive wall. Blood-infused, it was larger, tougher than ever.
'—Listen for once!'
[Unstable energy mustn't—!]
I ignored even Pa Cheon.
Instinct drove my fist into the iron wall.
And—
BOOOOOOM—!
The wall gouged a long scar across the training ground floor, shoving from center to wall.
The sheer force and destruction shook the entire Sado Family domain like an earthquake.
Guardian Demon Ring demolished a third of the wall before reverting to ring form and flying back.
Dust billowed thickly.
[What in the...]
Pa Cheon sounded baffled.
He wasn't the only voice.
“...Came for a drink, and this is the welcome? A bit overkill, no?”
Yu Il O emerged, caked in dirt.
Pretending to be the Heavenly Demon