Chapter 030
[Chapter 030]
< The 1st Method to Shatter a Rift >
70,000 points.
If converted to real money, it's 70 million won, which is a not-small amount of money.
But since the donation points accumulating every minute and second from the Gorani video already surpassed that amount and were overflowing, I pressed the purchase button without hesitation.
Thud!
Then light particles gathered in the air, and a heavy something appeared in my hand.
It was the spatial transfer service of the Association store.
“This is exactly....”
[Item: Anonymous Daoist's Old Breath Record]
[Rank: Normal]
[Price: 70,000 P]
[Description: A record of a breathing method left by a Daoist who is said to have trained alone in the mountains long before the Tower appeared. Most of the content is too old to be deciphered, but some phrases can be read. (Efficacy not verified)]
The book in my hand was old enough to crumble at any moment.
The cover was worn out from failing to overcome the traces of time, and a dry soil smell wafted from the paper along with a faint ink scent.
[One-line review: Never buy unless you're into Murim roleplay. Buying a B-Rank longsword for 70k points is more profitable.]
To other hunters, it would just be an old book with a lot of writing that couldn't even be interpreted.
But I could feel a very faint but clear and pure energy wafting from that book.
It was energy that only my senses, which became sensitive after absorbing Stalactite Petroleum, could capture.
‘Is this... the Heart Method I was looking for?’
The technique to emit Internal Energy (Naegong).
In this undecipherable record, that answer might be contained.
Flip-
I carefully opened the record.
The paper was old enough to crumble at any moment, and the ink was mostly faintly smudged so the characters couldn't be recognized.
"Hmm. The condition is worse than I thought?"
I didn't have high expectations from the start anyway. Because I didn't think I could obtain a proper book related to martial arts at such a cheap price easily.
I quietly scanned the book.
The phrases I could barely read were like,
"When inhaling, the energy of heaven and earth...."
"When exhaling, condense it into a single point," which sounded like abstract nonsense.
"Well, I guess it can't be helped?"
Thinking about it, it wasn't a very expensive item. If this was a real martial arts manual related to martial arts, the price would have been dozens of times more at least.
It was regrettable, but since it was as I expected, I closed the book and threw it onto the veranda.
It was then.
Muryong, who was dozing on my lap, sniffed its nose at the faint energy wafting from the record.
-Hmyo?
Muryong began to circle around the record.
As if a very delicious smell were wafting from it, it dilated its small nostrils.
And then, before I could stop it.
Crunch!
It bit off a corner of the book.
“Hey, no! That's expensive!”
-Mu-nyo-o-ng!
Muryong swallowed the old piece of paper as if it had eaten a very delicious cookie.
Then it made a satisfied sound.
-Hmyoooooo-o-o-t!
At that very moment, an amazing thing happened.
As Muryong’s small breath settled on the old record like fog.
Slid-slid-slid···
The faintly smudged ink began to appear in clear forms as if dry sponge were absorbing water.
“Huh?”
The moldy and worn-out paper turned crisp and was restored, and the undecipherable characters were coming alive clearly before my eyes.
[Breathing Method (호흡법): The first step for those who handle Qi]
“What is this?”
A real name surfaced, completely different from the item description [Anonymous Daoist's Old Breath Record] I saw earlier.
I picked up the restored record before my eyes.
‘Breathing Method.’
It wasn't a grand martial arts manual.
The most basic principle where every Heart Method in the world starts.
How to feel, gather, and manage Qi.
It was a record of the root of roots, like the foundation stone of a building.
[When inhaling, gather the energy of heaven and earth in the dantian, and when exhaling, condense it into a single point....]
‘...It’s been restored?’
Looking at Muryong, it just cried as if it were proud of what it did.
-Hmyoot!
“Just a moment.”
I held the paper stuck to Muryong’s mouth in my hand.
I focused my mind to find out what this was.
[Item: Time Dust]
[Description: Traces of time that only accumulate on objects that have passed a very long time. For someone, it's a very delicious snack.]
Probably, the dirt of time dwelling on this old paper was a very delicious nutritional snack for Muryong.
And upon eating that dirt, the record naturally returned to its original state.
“It's completely different from before.”
The old and worn paper turned into a crisp and smooth Hanji (Korean paper) as if it were made just yesterday.
The faint ink writing had a deep and thick light, appearing to squirm as if it were alive.
“What's written?”
[Heaven and Earth Unity (Cheon-ji-gwi-il). As the energy of heaven and earth returns to one, one achieves everything with a single breath.]
It was a record of the most basic yet core breathing method for accumulating and operating Internal Energy (Naegong).
Closing my eyes quietly, I inhaled deeply following the first phrase written in the book.
‘Open the gate of heaven and earth (Cheon-ji), and accept a single energy....’
A minute heat rose in my dantian.
I slowly moved that heat along the blood paths drawn in the record's illustrations.
The energy that was lost and wandering at first gradually began to flow smoothly along the set path after a few repetitions of breathing.
Whoosh-
Every time I exhaled, the stuffy energy trapped inside my body left, and clear and pure Internal Energy (Naegong) filled that void.
“!”
I felt it surely.
That the giant power inside me finally found its path.
The Internal Energy (Naegong) that was running wild like a wild horse became a well-trained warhorse and began to move according to my will.
Order was finally established in my power which I had operated haphazardly until now.
The Internal Energy (Naegong) inside my body began to squirm upon meeting a new law.
* * *
Before the persimmon tree again.
It was exactly the tree I had beaten to test the efficacy of Golden Bone Grass.
‘I must test it.’
Since I obtained new power, I had to accurately grasp how much that power was.
I decided to check my change in three stages.
First, pure physical body strengthened with Golden Bone Grass.
Second, inefficient Internal Energy (Naegong) in the old way.
And finally, true Internal Energy (Naegong) perfectly controlled through the Breathing Method.
Comparing these three, it would be clear how much I’ve grown.
Just as I was about to clench my fist.
Wooooo-
A minute spatial vibration was felt from the direction of the valley far away.
Weak but certain.
It was quite a long distance, but my senses, which became transcendental after absorbing Stalactite Petroleum, were clearly catching that minute wave like a seismograph.
‘This feeling is... a Rift?’
But it was different from what I felt before.
It wasn't an unstable energy that felt like it would explode any moment, but a feeling like an extinguishing flame barely maintaining its form.
I headed straight to where the sound came from.
Cr-crack-
There, as I expected, a small palm-sized Rift was faintly glowing.
Probably it was an incomplete Rift reaching the verge of vanishing without expanding properly, being suppressed by the powerful energy of the cave where Stalactite Petroleum was.
‘Wait.’
What if I can close this Rift with Internal Energy (Naegong)?
I stood before the Rift without hesitation.
First test. Pure physical body.
Without loading any energy, I punched toward the unstable space of the Rift with only my fist trained like steel.
Cr-crack!
“Ugh!”
The fist that touched the boundary of space felt a tearing pain as if cut by sharp glass pieces. My physical body became strong, but it was not enough to face the dimensional wall with bare body.
Second test. Internal Energy (Naegong) in the old way.
Gathering all the Internal Energy (Naegong) of the dantian by force, I condensed it at the tip of my fist like a flame. Then I struck down toward the Rift with all my might.
Bang-!
Along with a roar, the Rift momentarily grew larger then returned to its original size.
It was powerful, but the power scattered in all directions and failed to deal proper damage to the core.
Rather, it was like just stimulating the Rift.
Last, third test.
I closed my eyes and operated the [Breathing Method].
All the Internal Energy (Naegong) gathered in the dantian was forged like a needle at only one point of the fist tip without waste.
Then, I lightly brought my fist toward the most unstable core of the Rift as if pricking with an awl.
....
No sound was heard.
My fist was just touching the boundary of the wavering space.
Is it a failure?
In the moment I thought so.
Crack.
A very small sound of a hairline crack was heard.
Starting from the very point my fist touched, cracks thinner than a hair began to form.
Cr-cr-cr-crack-!
As if frost on a frozen window were cracking, white cracks covered the entire small Rift in an instant.
And a moment later.
Crash-!
The small Rift shattered like glass pieces and vanished as light particles.
‘The Rift... vanished.’
I stared blankly at my fist.
Although it was on the verge of vanishing, I had shattered the Rift itself with just one punch.
‘This is it.’
There was no waste of power, nor pain from recoil.
A perfect control delivering 100% of the intended power to the spot I wanted.
I finally learned how to manage the giant power inside my body through breathing.
This was exactly the foundation becoming the root of every Heart Method (Simbeop).
And above all.
“Is a Rift a phenomenon that is destroyed in this way?”
Naturally, it was originally impossible.
If a Rift was a phenomenon that could be destroyed with just strength mindlessly in this way, there would have been no reason for humanity to suffer this much until now.
Narrowing my eyes, I quietly watched the Rift that had been destroyed and was beginning to vanish.
-....
Complete 소멸 (vanishing).
The thought flashed through my head that perhaps the power called Internal Energy (Naegong) I obtained might not be simply Internal Energy (Naegong).
* * *
At the same time, a cafe terrace in Gangnam.
There was someone who was enjoying leisure as much as possible after taking a break near the Bureau.
“Wh-what the fuck?”
Park Jin-soo trembled slightly at the chilling feeling that surged in an instant.
Prickle!
A spine-chilling sensation making the hairs stand on end.
His hand holding the coffee cup was also trembling uncontrollably.
“Am, am I crazy?”
It was a tremor of unknown cause.
Is his body weak?
Maybe he had been working too much lately.
Anyway, only by raising the Bureau's performance could he also climb to a higher place.
‘I just have to endure a little longer.’
Park Jin-soo laughed inwardly.
Representative Park Min-cheol, who was backing him.
As the next presidential candidate, he was preparing a massive reorganization of the hunter management system.
Exactly he himself was at the center of that plan.
The position to control the entire South Korean hunter system beyond the Bureau.
That was the real ambition Park Jin-soo dreamed of.
For that, he needed powerful pieces like Kim Tae-seong.
“Muryong? I should also slowly approach this hunter....”
If Kim Tae-seong became unnecessary, he had to think of the next move.
“Anyway, what would that human be doing?”
He was a bit curious.
Bureau low-rank bottom civil servant, Jang Kang-hyun.
He pretended to have some knack for work in his own way, but in the end, he was a cowardly fugitive who ran away after being unable to endure.
Without needing to know, he probably wouldn't be living very well.
Isn't he a low-rank commoner by birth?
No matter where he fled, a commoner was just a commoner.
“But... I keep trembling?”
Splash-
“Ai!”
While Park Jin-soo was lifting the coffee cup with a trembling hand, he ended up spilling half of the coffee.
Frowning, Park Jin-soo let out a low sigh and barely managed to set the coffee cup back down.
“Really strange?”
It was truly a strange and mysterious day.
Feeling a spine-chilling sensation every time he recalled Jang Kang-hyun.
< The 1st Method to Shatter a Rift > END