Chapter 82: Peak (In-Progress) Master Peng Hyeon-hwi (3)
Chapter 82: Peak (In-Progress) Master Peng Hyeon-hwi (3)
Is this... is this really right?
It had been a week since I started my grandfather’s "heart massage" classes.
I opened my eyes, gasping for air, in the main room of the Purple Tiger Hall.
Ever since the third day, my heart would feel like it was being squeezed every time I tried to sleep, jolting me awake.
This teaching method definitely felt hazardous to my health. Heart failure, myocardial infarction—it felt like an environment designed to induce some kind of cardiovascular disease.
"Whew, whew..."
Since I was already awake, I slung the blade hanging in the corner over my shoulder and headed out to the training ground.
It was a relief that the bodies of the Peng family were sturdy. Even after several days of poor sleep, my physical condition didn't drop significantly.
The air had grown chilly enough that I could see my breath. Autumn was nearing its end. And naturally, after autumn comes winter.
I had to reach Tianjin before the threshold of winter passed. I was under a clear time limit.
‘If I ask to go to the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering like this, there’s no way they’ll let me.’
Given my grandfather’s personality, he was the type to smile and send me off if I said I wanted to go. After all, coming back alive from such an event would be an unprecedented achievement.
However, as long as a direct descendant of the Peng family was participating in an event hosted by the Orthodox Martial Alliance, he wasn't the type to let me go without having reached the Peak Realm.
He likely intended to send me only after I had opened my Middle Dantian.
I swung my blade a few times and took a deep breath.
‘Stay calm.’
Only a week had passed. There was no need to be impatient yet.
Hadn't a peerless master who reached the Harmony Realm guaranteed it? That this was the fastest path.
I grit my teeth and continued training until sunrise before returning to my room.
*
Another fifteen days passed.
"Cough... Gah!!"
I was starting to lose my sense of time.
To be honest, I wasn't sure if it had been exactly fifteen days or closer to a month.
From the tenth day onward, my memory became a bit hazy the moment my grandfather’s finger delivered a "Middle Dantian-flick."
More accurately, I remembered returning to the Purple Tiger Hall and lying down, but everything after that was a blur. Then, I would wake up in the late hours of the night because of an agonizing pain near my heart.
Those days repeated in a cycle.
I wiped away the cold sweat and headed to the training ground. Since sleep was out of the question, it was better to move my body.
"You’re going to die."
"!!"
Just as I was about to swing my blade, I spun around, startled by a voice coming from under the eaves of the Purple Tiger Hall.
A woman with a familiar silhouette was standing there, dressed in a maid’s uniform—
"Nanny...? No, Nanny wouldn't be awake at this hour."
My nanny was the type to practice a "Miracle Morning" routine, so she went to bed early. That physique definitely belonged to her, though.
Who would infiltrate the Purple Tiger Hall disguised as my nanny and wait for me at the training ground at dawn?
I gripped my hilt and turned fully toward her.
"The Blade Emperor’s judgment was wrong. You will die."
"Who are you...?"
"Ah, right. I haven't undone the disguise."
The woman standing in the shadows of the eaves stepped forward slowly.
With every step she took out of the darkness, her height increased and her body shape shifted. As if pulling back a veil, her faint presence grew distinct, and a hidden fragrance began to unfurl.
The woman who stepped into the moonlight was wearing a brilliant smile.
"Big Sister...? What are you doing here?"
"Have you forgotten who I am? If I truly desired it, not even the walls of the Peng Family Estate could keep me out."
The Hao Clan Leader walked toward me with a confident smile.
"But last time... didn't you say you couldn't enter the estate?"
"Indeed. If the Blade Emperor knew I was here, he would surely try to take my head. But do not worry. Unless I personally strike, the Blade Emperor cannot sense me."
A master of the Harmony Realm always possesses at least one method that works, no matter the gap in power. The Hao Clan Leader explained this as she approached me.
"Besides, I took you as my disciple, yet I have never properly taught you martial arts. That was my oversight. Things have been quite hectic."
"I heard you were away from Beijing recently."
"I was on my way back from some business in Chongqing. I am not one who can stay in one place for long."
That was unavoidable. The Hao Clan is a massive sect spread across the world, and the Hao Clan Leader must be a parent to all its members. If such a person remained pinned to one spot, even the most capable shadows of the clan couldn't protect all the disciples.
The Beggar Immortal of the Beggars' Sect and the Hao Clan Leader must never reveal their exact locations. It is because no one knows where they are that their disciples across the world are guaranteed safety.
Because no one knows when or where the Beggar Immortal or the Hao Clan Leader might appear.
The Hao Clan Leader scanned my body for a moment and then stepped back slightly.
"The Blade Emperor’s method is aggressive, but it wasn't necessarily wrong. If the subject weren't you, that is."
"Is there something wrong with me?"
"I wouldn't call it a problem, but if I had to pick something... yes. I would say you are too exceptional."
"Pardon...?"
Wait, how is being too exceptional a problem?
"Hyeon-hwi. Have you heard how a first-rate martial artist reaches the Peak Realm?"
"Uh... no?"
"I thought as much. Seeing the nature of the martial arts the Peng family uses, they wouldn't have bothered to explain. The Peng family’s Hunyuan Thunderbolt Art is a peerless divine art that 'guarantees' the Peak Realm simply by learning it."
The Hunyuan Art and the Thunderbolt Art. By mastering both, one naturally enters the path of the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Art. And the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Art is a system that falls under Astral Energy Skills. In other words, the entry requirement is the Peak Realm.
This meant that by the time I mastered the Hunyuan and Thunderbolt Arts, I should have already reached the Peak Realm. While it had the disadvantage of having very strict requirements for constitution, talent, and meridians, growth itself was guaranteed once you got in.
"There is only one way for a martial artist to reach the Peak Realm."
The Hao Clan Leader placed her hand on my chest, flowing her True Qi into me as she spoke.
"One must be able to weave the principles of every martial art they have ever learned, lived, and breathed into a single enlightenment. If they can fully melt down the Hunyuan and Thunderbolt Arts, then yes, those who can do that will reach the Peak Realm. Provided those are the only two arts they've learned."
Therefore, the more one has learned, the higher the wall to the Peak Realm becomes. More accurately, the more 'understood martial arts' one has.
To master the learned arts, melt them down, and make them entirely one's own. To weave everything learned in every moment of life as a martial artist into a single thread of enlightenment.
That is the Peak Realm.
If the limit of what ordinary people can reach is the First-Rate, then the Peak Realm is the first step into a realm permitted only to geniuses. The absolute pinnacle that a human body can contain.
It is not determined simply by the amount of internal energy or physical development. It is a realm permitted only to those who can sublimate everything in their lives into a single ray of enlightenment.
After explaining this calmly, the Hao Clan Leader stepped back again.
"I have fixed your heart. It was starting to break down from being exposed to a peerless master’s Astral Energy too often. Now, do you understand why you haven't reached the Peak Realm?"
"I still don't understand what you mean by being too exceptional."
"You mastered a realm above yours far too early."
"Pardon...?"
"It means you learned martial arts of a realm that shouldn't have been permitted to you yet. You achieved something that should have been impossible under normal circumstances."
I fell silent as I realized what she was getting at.
I had deduced the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Art even before learning it, and I mastered it the moment I did. There was a reason I could immediately utilize Peak-level martial arts the moment I doped myself with the Heavenly Silkworm Purple Blood Tear.
I had already fully mastered the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Art. And not just that.
‘I know that once the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Art is mastered, it leads to the martial arts of the next realm.’
The martial arts of the Hebei Peng Family likely branched out from a single source. I felt it when I first mastered the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Art—that at the end of this path, there existed a single martial art created by one person.
The martial arts of Peng Dan-san, the strongest man in the world 200 years ago. His martial system had been fragmented and passed down as the current Hunyuan Thunderbolt Art. It was a martial art split into pieces so that it could be learned according to one's skill and level.
If all these pieces were woven into one, one could reach Peng Dan-san’s true divine techniques. I realized this the moment I refined the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Art. I saw that long path.
And that was exactly what was holding me back now.
"You were too exceptional. Your martial talent allowed you to peek at a place you weren't meant to reach yet. Because of that, you cannot take the next step even though all the conditions have been met."
The Hao Clan Leader was right. To reach the Peak Realm, I had to master all the martial arts I had learned. However, to even begin mastering the 'all' that I had learned, I had to be in the Peak Realm.
It was a terrible dilemma. Because I had learned Peak-level arts while still at the First-Rate level, my own progress was tripping me up.
"Is there... is there any way?"
"There is, but it will take some time. However, your condition... as long as you continue training the Blade Emperor’s way, you won't last long. If you follow his training, well, you will die before seven days and nights pass."
"Did my grandfather not know about my condition?"
"He likely knew but chose to ignore it. He would think it a shame if you broke because you couldn't overcome it, but wonderful if you did."
"That certainly sounds like his way of thinking."
"And in a normal case, the Blade Emperor’s training would have definitely forced one into the Peak Realm."
The fact that a Middle Dantian had formed meant I was just one step away from the Peak Realm. So, he was forcing a near-death experience by exposing me to a peerless master’s killing intent and pressure, while simultaneously stimulating the Middle Dantian to wake it up.
As any martial artist would agree, the survival instinct is the most powerful evolutionary pressure. If one is standing on a razor-thin line, it's enough to give them the final push.
To hammer the Middle Dantian and the heart with stimuli just short of death to force growth—that was my grandfather’s way.
"It’s likely because he misjudged the reason your Middle Dantian appeared in the first place."
"Do you know how it was formed, Big Sister?"
"I have read all the reports about you, so I can make a deduction. You consumed the Heavenly Silkworm Purple Blood Tear a total of three times, repeatedly recovered as your Innate True Qi was shattered, and in the meantime, you had to endure the poison arts of the Five Poisons Sect. Is that correct?"
"Yes, that’s right."
"The Heavenly Silkworm Purple Blood Tear is a drug that scatters Innate True Qi and converts it into Astral Energy. In that process, your acupoints became sufficiently accustomed to Astral Energy, and immediately after all your internal energy was scattered, you were soaked in poison and recovered, tempering your body. Your Middle Dantian did not form on its own."
It wasn't that I intentionally formed a Middle Dantian to use Astral Energy. Rather, to utilize Astral Energy, my body created the most suitable organ for it on its own.
I could easily find a concept for this in my modern memories.
‘It’s close to a kind of convergent evolution.’
It wasn't made intentionally, and since its essence wasn't the same as a normal Middle Dantian despite having a similar function, it made sense that side effects occurred when I tried to use the existing Astral Energy skills.
"You can think of it as a late bloomer. Thanks to your talent, you completed a massive vessel far too early. Naturally, it will take longer than others to fill it. However, you can look at it positively. As they say, the bird that is the last to fly, flies the highest and the furthest."
"Is it even possible for me to reach the Peak Realm?"
Summarizing her words made it feel even more out of reach. To achieve the basic requirements for the Peak Realm, I had to complete my current martial arts. But since the arts I learned were Peak-level and beyond, I couldn't complete them unless I reached the Peak Realm.
How on earth was I supposed to solve this?
"The method is simple, but it will be neither comfortable nor fast."
"Please tell me. I’m listening."
"What did you do when you first noticed the formation of your Middle Dantian?"
"I tried to properly execute the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Art and almost suffered Qi Deviation, right?"
"Do exactly that."
Saying so, the Hao Clan Leader stepped far back.
"Do it in front of me."
"The Qi Deviation?"
"Yes. Without going so far as to fully succumb to it, you must train until your acupoints become accustomed to the Middle Dantian, bit by bit. In that process, you will be able to complete the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Art."
I mean, basically...
She was telling me to knock on the door of Qi Deviation and come back, and to keep practicing the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Art during that process. Since I could use Peak-level arts for the brief moment the Middle Dantian was stimulated before Qi Deviation set in.
She wanted me to complete the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Art by repeating that split second. Like stacking a tower stone by stone. Like weaving a cloth thread by thread.
Except I had to endure the risk of losing my Dantian in horrific pain if I made even a slight mistake.
"Martial arts is the accumulation of effort. Building up day by day to reach the heavens. Your talent skipped that process by a wide margin, so it won't be easy for your body to catch up to your talent."
"How long... will it take?"
"I have about fifteen days left."
The Hao Clan Leader did a quick calculation and spoke.
"I can supervise your training at this hour for the next fifteen days. If you haven't succeeded by then, you will have to do it on your own."
I had fifteen days where the Hao Clan Leader could prevent the threat of Qi Deviation. After that, I would have to repeat this "game of chicken" on my own—running toward the brink of Qi Deviation and stopping just in time.
And that meant...
‘During the day, I get my heart stabbed by my grandfather, and at night, I have to endure the pain of having kidney stones planted throughout my entire body. I have to survive this every single day.’
I turned around for a moment, my back to the Hao Clan Leader. I knew it was quite rude to do this to a master according to the etiquette of this era, but I really couldn't help it.
I couldn't let her see my face right now.
‘Oh, heavens!!’
After taking a moment to compose myself, I turned back. The Hao Clan Leader was still looking at me with a smile.
Right, there was no use running away. If I didn't want to live the rest of my life as a First-Rate martial artist, I had to break through this anyway. Besides, I had two peerless masters helping me.
It was just a little bit of pain. Just... as much pain as having kidney stones pop up all over my body... just that much.
"Well, let's give it a shot."
I took a deep breath.
I immediately placed my hand near my heart and forcibly pulled up my True Qi. Lightning surged from my Lower Dantian and pierced into my heart.
"Gaaaaaaah!! Status window!! Status!! Dammit!! Give me something!!"
For three days, Peng Hyeon-hwi wailed, desperately praying for a blue holographic window to appear.
"From the start, no one has ever stood in the heavens... this tedious vacancy of the heavenly throne ends now."
He succeeded in manifesting Astral Energy.