Chapter 26
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Muscle-Tendon Change Classic
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Muscle-Tendon Change Classic
I returned home and lay down to sleep, but my heart was still pounding.
The events of a moment ago wouldn't leave my mind.
Was it because I was told I was going to die?
No! I never cared about things like that in the first place.
For a third-rate ronin, death was a constant companion, an ever-present descriptor of my life.
Back then, death was just another thought, like wondering what to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
I had lived like that for thirty years.
What was disturbing my sleep now was something else.
-You can do it.
Everyone experiences their limits at some point in life.
Ha Yuseong felt his before he even became an adult.
The world cannot be overcome with effort alone.
Because the world is divided from the start into those who have and those who have not.
From the moment he was born, the world was unfair to Ha Yuseong.
Those with parents.
Those with money.
Those born with talent.
Those fortunate enough to be adopted.
And so on.
Amidst countless injustices, people made a choice.
How they would live their lives.
Some fell into gambling, giving up on themselves.
Some conformed to the world, committing evil deeds.
Some learned demonic arts to take revenge on the world that had abandoned them.
Those who forsook their humanity and became beasts.
The path Ha Yuseong chose was to prove his existence to the world.
I am human.
To prove this one belief, Ha Yuseong lived for fifty years.
He prided himself on it being the only thing he, who had nothing, could compare with others who had so much.
Yes, to those with everything, it might have been nothing more than childish defiance.
But this was the first time he had been acknowledged by someone.
-I do not know how you came to possess such a body. Nor do I know what is in your heart. But the potential you hold tells me this: the life you have lived until now has not been wrong.
Not wrong.
On the right path.
To be told this by none other than a former Grandmaster of the World.
He was acknowledged.
Though it wasn't entirely about his true self.
The man didn't know he had undergone Rebirth.
Even so, Ha Yuseong.
He stepped out of his room and looked up at the sky.
The stars in the night sky were twinkling.
He had never even dreamed of it, knowing it was impossible.
He wanted to join the Murim Alliance, but he couldn't. He wanted to become a master that everyone envied, but he couldn't.
If he was going to be a master, he wanted to be one of the Ten Grandmasters of the World, but he couldn't.
I, who had nothing.
These were things he dared not even look at.
He had achieved one of them.
They say that sometimes, miracles happen in life.
“Just like how even a third-rate nobody can achieve Rebirth through effort.”
It seemed it was still too early to give up on his dreams.
-If you accept my offer, come to the place where we first met tomorrow.
Ha Yuseong watched the stars until dawn.
***
The next day.
Thanks to the official leave from the Murim Alliance, he had nothing to do today. They had specially given him the day off to ensure he was in peak condition for tomorrow's mission.
As soon as he opened his eyes, Ha Yuseong climbed the mountain.
“You’ve come.”
The former Poison King was waiting there. And next to him stood a bald monk.
“We said most of what needed to be said yesterday, so let’s begin right away.”
The man with the former Poison King.
Until now, he had just thought of him as a bald old man, but he was surely no ordinary person.
The bald old man introduced himself.
“I am the Great Monk Cheonsu. In the world, they call me the Grand Elder of the Shaolin Temple, or the former Fist King.”
Indeed! He had expected him to be extraordinary.
But he had never imagined he would be a former Grandmaster of the World.
At this point, Ha Yuseong was confident he wouldn't be surprised by anything else.
Even if Myeongwon, his lifelong friend, suddenly said, “Actually, I am the Ronin King,” he was sure he could accept it calmly now.
Perhaps the Ten Grandmasters of the World were closer to our daily lives than he thought.
Ha Yuseong accepted the situation more easily than expected.
Sometimes, a long life could be used to accept the abnormal as normal.
“Yes, I am Ha Yuseong.”
Great Monk Cheonsu continued speaking concisely.
But the content was anything but concise.
“Do you remember the pill I gave you a while ago?”
“Yes.”
“You took it, of course?”
“Yes. I took it that very night.”
“Good. You must have heard about your body's condition from this fellow, and the reason we are doing this?”
“Yes. I was told that at this rate, I will die within three years at most.”
“You don’t seem very surprised.”
“I’ve lived quite close to death since I was young.”
“A very good attitude for a martial artist. Those who fear death can never become masters. In that sense, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say you already possess the qualities of a master.”
It was praise from none other than the former Fist King.
Ha Yuseong suppressed the natural excitement welling up inside him.
“What I will teach you now is a method to train your body internally.”
“An internal energy cultivation method?”
“Normally, that would be the standard approach. Unfortunately, that does not apply to you.”
Ha Yuseong couldn't properly understand the Great Monk Cheonsu's words.
Great Monk Cheonsu's explanation continued.
“You know that internal energy cultivation methods must be learned early, correct?”
“Yes. I’ve heard that’s how one can gather internal energy more efficiently and quickly.”
“Precisely. And there is one more thing you must know. Depending on the cultivation method, paths for internal energy are formed within the body, and they grow larger and stronger as the body develops. Once a path is formed, it can never be remade. Trying to create two paths in one body would cause them to clash, shattering the body.”
“Yes, I think I’ve heard something like that before.”
“The problem is, as you know, a path for a cultivation method already exists in your body.”
“The Three Talents Cultivation Method.”
The first and last cultivation method Ha Yuseong had ever learned.
“Yes. Most people practice the Three Talents Cultivation Method only briefly to train the unformed paths before learning their main method. But from what I can see, you seem to have practiced it for quite a long time.”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
He had practiced it for a long time. About thirty years.
“Learning a new cultivation method in this state would only create a greater imbalance in your body.”
“Does that mean I cannot learn any cultivation method other than the Three Talents Cultivation Method?”
Great Monk Cheonsu chanted a prayer to Amitabha before answering softly.
“You’re a quick learner.”
Hearing those words, Ha Yuseong fell into despair. It meant he could no longer learn any new cultivation methods.
Having practiced only the Three Talents Cultivation Method for nearly his entire life, he knew its limitations better than anyone.
“As you know, the Three Talents Cultivation Method is not meant for gathering internal energy. Therefore, it is nearly impossible to accumulate internal energy with it.”
Just as he was thinking that the inherent limitations of the method mirrored his own, the Great Monk Cheonsu continued.
“That is why it could be a great advantage for you.”
“Pardon?”
“Other cultivation methods have strong, distinct properties that make it difficult for anything else to intrude. In contrast, the Three Talents Cultivation Method has no distinguishing features. And you have already been pioneering the second method I am about to propose.”
“Pardon?”
He couldn't understand what the Great Monk Cheonsu had been saying for a while now.
“It is called health-preserving exercises. Or dynamic exercises. A second means of gathering internal energy that overcomes the inherent limitations of cultivation methods. It is also what I will teach you from now on.”
“W-wait a moment.”
Ha Yuseong was well aware of health-preserving exercises. But they could never surpass cultivation methods.
If they were superior in the first place, everyone would be practicing them instead of cultivation methods.
“Aren’t health-preserving exercises inferior to cultivation methods for gathering internal energy?”
“That is correct. To balance your internal and external self, you need a more reliable means of replenishing internal energy. Dynamic exercises are not an appropriate solution either. They are merely a temporary fix.”
Then by what method was he supposed to resolve the disharmony between his inside and outside?
The answer followed.
“We estimate that you will need seven elixirs on par with a Great Rejuvenation Pill to bring your internal and external self into balance. You have already taken one, so that leaves six.”
He had already taken one? So the pill he took back then was a Great Rejuvenation Pill.
So former Grandmasters of the World just hand out elixirs like Great Rejuvenation Pills.
Ha Yuseong was momentarily stunned by this entirely different world.
“And the health-preserving exercises I will teach you now will help slow down the imbalance occurring in your body. It’s quite a remarkable technique, you know. You can look forward to it.”
Ha Yuseong learned a set of health-preserving exercises from the Great Monk Cheonsu. This left him with no choice but to wonder.
“Why are you going to such lengths for me?”
It had only been two days, but what he had received from them was a debt he could never repay in a lifetime.
“Does one need a reason to chase a dream?”
-Myeongwon. I’m going to become a warrior of the Murim Alliance.
“I see.”
“That’s how it is.”
Dang Mandok, who had been quiet until now, stood up and stretched.
“Alright! We only have today, so shall we start with a quick crash course? Besides, we don't have much time left in total, do we?”
Dang Mandok held out a bottle containing a strange liquid.
“Drink up!”
“What is this?”
The color of the liquid in the bottle was so black it looked suspicious to anyone.
A grin.
Dang Mandok simply smiled.
Ha Yuseong squeezed his eyes shut and drank the ominous black liquid.
In that moment, his heart began to race, and his breathing grew ragged. His body instantly became heavy, and it took all his strength just to lift an arm.
“You fight poison with poison. You’ve heard of that, right? What you just drank is the venom of a seven-step snake. It’s said that those poisoned by it usually die before they can take seven steps. The amount you just drank is enough to kill ten grown men.”
Huh? Did I just mishear that?
“This much is needed to put a strain on your body. Now! Proceed with your training in this state. For your reference, if you fail to detoxify, you will die today. What's the difference between dying in three years and dying today, anyway! Haha!”
Now that he thought about it, he had forgotten. The former Poison King, the Divine Physician, also had another moniker: the Ten Thousand Poisons Strange Physician.
The mad physician.
Ha Yuseong felt that if he stayed like this, he might actually die.
“Hurry up and use the health-preserving exercises to detoxify! You’ll really die if you don’t!”
His tone was as if he were teasing him.
The two old men were already sitting leisurely to one side, taking out a wooden Go board.
Ha Yuseong reconsidered whether his choice had been the right one.
‘First, let’s just survive.’
No matter how he thought about it, this didn't seem right.
Ha Yuseong began to perform what the Great Monk Cheonsu had just taught him.
The one that belonged to the highest tier of health-preserving exercises.
The Muscle-Tendon Change Classic.
***
A day passed.
Ha Yuseong was lying on the ground, gasping for breath.
The two old geezers had played Go nonstop, occasionally teasing him, and then left at sunrise.
He had truly come back from the dead.
If he had detoxified even a moment later, he would have melted into a puddle of poisonous liquid.
Still, it wasn't without effect.
He could feel that the internal energy in his dantian, though faint, had increased.
“So this is how hard it is to become a master.”
Next to Ha Yuseong lay a dozen vials filled with black liquid and a pill.
-For now, we will use this poison to diminish your physical abilities.
The sole purpose of this training was to balance his internal and external self.
-Of course, it’s not as potent as the one you first took. If that was a ten, this is about a five. But don’t overdo it. One bottle at a time, understood? This pill is the antidote for the poison, so be sure to take it with you.
Pop!
Ha Yuseong opened one of the bottles.
He downed it in one go.
His body, which had felt light, instantly became heavy again.
“Ugh!”
Ha Yuseong struggled to his feet.
His sweet(?) vacation from the Murim Alliance was over; it was time to go to work.
Ha Yuseong realized it once more.
“It’s so damn hard to become a master.”