Shaolin (8)
I came to my senses.
I didn't open my eyes right away.
Pop—they snapped open.
An unfamiliar ceiling.
—How many times had I thought that now?
This time, a chuckle slipped out first.
What did it matter if it was unfamiliar?
It wasn't home anyway.
Sure, I'd briefly hoped that closing my eyes and opening them again might magically put me back there.
But no such luck.
[Are you conscious?]
Especially not when that voice rang out.
"Yeah. Pa Cheon. Sleep well?"
[I can't sleep.]
"Heard that one before. How much time passed?"
[About five shi.]
"Sun's gotta be high in the sky. Hmm."
[Anything feel different?]
"Different? Oh."
My half-awake brain kicked into gear at Pa Cheon's words.
Right.
I hadn't just fallen asleep and woken up.
Ten spirit medicines from the elixir garden.
Those insanely potent elixirs I'd scarfed down—and at some point—
"...I passed out while eating the meds?"
[That's right.]
"Crazy. How strong were those pills? Passing out mid-swallow."
[Monster. You really don't remember?]
"What? Something happen? Like that 'hand' thing before?"
[No, not that... but...]
"Then what?"
[Monster. You underwent bone transformation and marrow shedding.]
At Pa Cheon's words, I...
"Huh?"
...could only blurt out something idiotic.
"Bone transformation and marrow shedding? Me?"
[Yes. Bone transformation and marrow shedding. You.]
It was absurd.
Bone transformation and marrow shedding was something only enlightenment masters underwent. It was essentially optimizing the body for one's cultivated arts.
Enlightenment for me?
Sure, I had some.
But it was more about mindset for survival than deep martial insights.
And besides...
"Sniff sniff!"
[...What are you doing?]
"No smell at all."
[Smell?]
"Normally, after bone transformation, Pa Cheon, all the body's impurities flush out, leaving you stinking like you rolled in shit. That's the cliché."
That's why servants pinch their noses and mutter, "Did the young master shit himself in there?"—the whole sequence.
The inconvenient truth of bone transformation.
[Sounds plausible, but that body wouldn't have impurities anyway.]
"True."
What dwelled in my body?
Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
No ordinary energy would dare scoff at it, let alone tolerate waste buildup.
"So what's changed?"
I stretched, twisted this way and that. Hopped lightly, gripped a teacup.
"Weird. Normally, you'd leap too high and smack the ceiling, dangling like an idiot, or crush the cup because you can't gauge your strength."
Hence the episodes of adapting to sudden physical boosts.
[Try circulating your energy then.]
"Energy? Right."
I sat cross-legged.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art wasn't a chant-based method, so no need for rote meditation like other arts.
Just guide it along the meridians as Pa Cheon instructed.
"Way faster than usual?"
Already quicker from improved control, now even more so.
Like walking a pet dog.
Before, Heavenly Demon Divine Art was a fierce hound acknowledging its master but doing its own thing.
Brutally strong, dragging you along its path to satisfy itself.
The Tang Clan incident strengthened control—like a reluctant follow on a tight leash.
Not anymore.
The hound now obeyed my lead perfectly.
Maybe the First Heavenly Demon's elixirs tamed it?
Though its ferocity remained unmatched.
[Is it?]
"Yeah. But the path feels longer?"
[Just checking.]
Not the usual route, yet it followed smoothly.
"Isn't this the dangerous path you said to avoid?"
[Yes. Needed to confirm.]
Pa Cheon's path led toward my head.
"Hmm."
Honestly, a bit scary, but...
"I trust you."
Pa Cheon knew martial arts better than I did.
I boldly guided Heavenly Demon Divine Art upward.
Then...
Nothing happened.
The energy coolly passed through the cranial meridians—
Completing a full circuit.
"Wait. A full loop?"
[Ren and Du meridians connected. Great Circulatory Heaven.]
Ren and Du meridians.
The body's two major channels.
Simply: Draw a line down the body's midline from profile view—front is Ren, back is Du.
Normally blocked by the Life-Death Barrier.
Energy from either side hits it and U-turns.
Like a mountain forcing a detour.
Breaching it? Tunneling through.
Shortens the path massively.
And that's...
"Super Peak...?"
The entry to Super Peak mastery. Minimum for Gang Qi.
Gang Qi demands vast energy; impossible without the tunnel.
[One can hope.]
"No such luck."
External meridians still sealed tight.
"Super Peak body with no wheels? Useless."
[Indeed.]
"Not asking about the metaphor this time?"
[Got the gist. Anyway, promising: Ren-Du connected, energy obedient.]
"True enough."
[Just the final hurdle left. External meridians open, and you're...]
"I'm...?"
[...Nothing special.]
Pa Cheon trailed off.
Something felt off, but prying when he clammed up was pointless.
He'd spill when the itch got too bad.
"Still bugs me. Better bathe and eat. Starving... Huh?"
That's when I noticed something new.
The mark of the Blink Jade on my hand.
From three...
To five.
Not just more uses.
Whoosh!
My body dissolved into smoke from its spot, reforming twenty meters away amid dark blue qi streams.
"Whoa."
Range jumped from five meters to twenty—seven zhang in this world's terms. Quadrupled.
Cooldown halved from one minute to thirty seconds.
[...Bone transformation optimizes for arts. Applies to jades too? Rare for absorbers to also transform simultaneously.]
Peak experts often shunned external aids.
Relying on jades or treasures inversely cut enlightenment odds.
Thus, no jade-wielding Super Peak in history.
Others mistook my blinks for Phantom Shift—never imagining jade power.
"Wait. Not the only jade I absorbed."
Blood Burst Jade too.
One drop's power? At least 1.5x before.
From smashing wood to splintering it.
Aim for vitals? Lethal. Mastering Hidden Blood Burst? Multiplied further.
From meh utility to powerhouse.
[Problem: Landing it. Experts won't eat it raw.]
"If it hits, it's devastating."
[And you'd get called Blood Cult.]
"Got it. Don't get cocky?"
[Exactly.]
[Know when martial artists die most?]
"Debut in the jianghu?"
[No. Freshly ascended to a realm.]
Pa Cheon continued.
[Debutantes are green but cautious—everything's new. Higher survival ironically. Cult too. But new ascendants? Different.]
"Paper-thin difference?"
[Yes. Fights turn on subtle body shifts.]
Real combat wasn't a game.
No ding! level-up strength spike.
Why 'mind methods' for self-training? Objective self-view.
Beyond mere meditation.
In that sense, envied the First Heavenly Demon's status window.
Anyway.
"Don't get arrogant."
[Your crowd? No non-Super Peaks. Even Hwarang.]
Power inflation—wuxia staple.
[Still, you could beat Peak experts without me.]
"That good?"
[That good. Depends on your skill, though.]
High praise from Pa Cheon.
"Gotta train. Blink changed, energy feel different—fist techniques too."
[That's the spirit.]
"I learn fast."
[Chatty for a weakling.]
Fact-checkmate. No retort.
"Seriously need that bath and food first."
[Presence nearby. Sa Wol.]
"Ah."
I'd said no visitors, so she had good reason.
"Come in."
Sa Wol entered.
Almost laughed.
Her eyelids were puffy. From yesterday's crying fit.
Played it cool desperately.
"Sorry, Young Master. You said no visitors, but the matter's urgent."
"What is it?"
"Paeng Yu-gun seeks you."
"Dao King?"
Not enough for a personal visit.
He'd have laughed it off: "Haha, spirited lad!"
"Someone's with him."
"Yes."
Sa Wol said,
"The Shaolin abbot is looking for you, Young Master."