Chapter 84: Peak (True) Master Peng Hyeon-hwi (5)
Chapter 84: Peak (True) Master Peng Hyeon-hwi (5)
It happened when I heard the reason why I hadn't been able to fully open my middle dantian.
When I was told that I couldn't reach the Peak Realm because I understood things too quickly—essentially performing "pre-learning" as a reflexive habit—something occurred to me.
"Wait, does that mean I have to live as a First-Rate warrior for the rest of my life?"
"That is not the case."
The Hao Clan Leader shook her head.
"Engage in your training as I have instructed. Do not wish for success overnight; instead, build your practice through daily diligence and sincerity. Martial arts are, in essence, the accumulation of effort. He who looks far and walks long will surely reach the highest peaks. Great vessels are late in completion, and the bird that remains silent the longest sings the loudest."
I thought the standard for training in wuxia novels was just clicking through a skill window.
This isn't the kind of wuxia I know.
"Your level is already sufficiently ripe. There are only a few steps left—a mere gap of that much. Do not hurry, and do not seek answers from others. A martial artist must be one who walks alone."
The Hao Clan Leader stayed at the Purple Tiger Hall for a few days, giving me various pieces of advice.
She didn't teach me any particularly new martial arts, nor did she grant me the enlightenment of some grand divine art.
Instead, it was about the attitude of living as a warrior, occasional advice, the direction of my training, and calming my acupoints by striking them when I intentionally induced Qi Deviation.
To be honest, the way the Hao Clan Leader acted over those few days was the closest thing to a true master-disciple relationship I had experienced in my seventeen years in the martial world.
"I must leave now. Seeing your achievements, there is no longer any need for me to look after you."
"Where are you going?"
"There was a great bloodbath in Yunnan recently. There are even grim rumors of the Blood Cult's movement. It wasn't long ago that the Five Poisons Sect of the Southern Barbarians caused a stir in Sichuan, so this is no ordinary matter. I must verify this and gather the disciples in that region."
The position of Hao Clan Leader required wandering across the entire Central Plains.
It was said that she had never stayed still in one place nor pursued a peaceful life throughout those long years.
From the time she should have been spending her most brilliant years until now. Continuously.
There is a certain emotion unique to those who have become accustomed to loneliness.
That same look reflected in the Hao Clan Leader's eyes as she stroked my head once and turned away.
I bowed deeply to her and said, "Please stay safe."
"Hehe, to think the day would come when I would hear such words from a member of the Peng family in the Peng family's own backyard..."
The Hao Clan Leader smiled for a long time as if something pleased her, then approached me.
"My youngest disciple, have you ever felt disappointed that I did not bequeath my ultimate techniques to you?"
"Well... it would be a lie to say I haven't."
"You need not think such things. For I possess no such thing as an ultimate technique."
She pressed both of my cheeks with her hands, smiling warmly.
"Originally, the Hao Clan did not possess any grand divine arts. It is a place where people who live day by day gather. Thus, it is people, not martial arts, that support the Hao Clan. Therefore, what you can learn and master from me cannot be compared to the martial arts of the Peng family."
"..."
"But do not worry. When we meet again, if you are doing well enough, I will personally bequeath the next stage of martial arts to you."
In my current situation, learning more martial arts wouldn't help anyway.
The Peak Realm is the process of consolidating the martial arts one has learned into one and transcending human limits.
Learning a wide variety of martial arts is a structure that inevitably hinders the rise in realm.
Is my current situation not the price for having glimpsed too many places and too high a level beforehand?
I'd describe it as a society where a specialist focused on one thing is more valued than a generalist who is good at many things.
A single-element root is definitely better than a five-element root.
"What a precious child."
With those final words, the Hao Clan Leader gave me a lingering smile and vanished.
For some reason, throughout the entire day I spent with her, the thought of a pink elephant didn't seem to cross my mind once.
*
Peng Ik-jin sat staring down at the Go board for a long time.
Dae-gak-do, Dae-ap-ryang, Do-su-ryeon. It was a situation where a chaotic battle, deviating endlessly from standard play, continued in a chain.
Reviewing the match, Peng Ik-jin's hand traced the moves one by one, from the first stone to the counting after the final move.
It was a tie. In other words, it was a Jangseong—a rare draw in Go...
"Hah."
A sigh escaped him, though he didn't know how many times it had happened today.
Peng Ik-jin recorded today's match in his record book and fell back into thought.
Violent and fierce, yet sharp. That was the style.
As if telling the maxims—like Buduk-tam-seung (Do not be greedy for victory) or Ip-gye-ui-wan (Enter the boundary slowly)—to go to hell, he rampaged like a tiger and lunged like a wolf.
In a clearly disadvantageous situation, he miraculously carved out a path to life and achieved a draw.
"I was wrong."
His vision had narrowed after seeing the boy form his middle dantian.
He supposed his stubbornness had grown with age.
Or perhaps it was because he was greatly shaken by the empty fame of being the youngest ever.
His vision had blurred without him realizing it, blinded by the brilliant talent shown once again by his youngest grandson, who was the apple of his eye.
He had almost lost his grandson.
He had even been infuriated seeing the boy use martial arts by forcibly manifesting Astral Energy while his acupoints were unstable.
What could one possibly achieve with such incomplete martial arts?
That was nothing more than a shortcut. A member of the Peng family should walk the Great Path.
He believed that stimulating and opening the middle dantian according to the standard was the most certain way.
But he was wrong. Just like today's match, where the standard was pushed back by a clever stratagem to achieve a draw.
Peng Hyeon-hwi clearly understood his own situation and instead used ferocity to overturn the disadvantage and shake the match.
Even if there was a slight mistake, he would commit acts that were certain to lead to death as if they were nothing, throwing his life away like gambling tiles, and even smiling in the face of the pain of his entire body's acupoints burning—
He would place the next stone. Only with ferocity, with a fierce momentum that never faltered.
"The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, is it?"
Only after clearing all the stones did Peng Ik-jin press his eyes and lean back against his seat.
"Slaughtering dragons is, after all, the work of a tiger."
The Hebei Dragon Slaying Alliance. It was the Hebei Peng Family that led those who slaughtered dragons, and the symbol of the Hebei Peng Family was the Mountain Lord—the tiger.
How could one raise a tiger confined within a three-inch wall?
When Peng Ik-jin's hand dropped, his face was full of a wrinkled smile.
And beneath that light illuminating the main hall of the Family Head...
"You have grown splendidly, so now all that remains is to go forth and make it known."
The solid stone floor, the massive pillars, and the elegant wooden furniture were all deeply scarred and intertwined as if they had been struck and crumbled by lightning.
From the front of the empty Go board to the seat of the Family Head, the remnants of lightning were long and dense.
Only after tracing those marks one by one did the smile fade from Peng Ik-jin's lips.
He figured if the boy had enough malice to strike his own grandfather with a full-power blow, there was nothing he couldn't do out there.
*
Ugh.
That really didn't work at all.
"What on earth did you do in the Family Head's hall to cause such a commotion?"
"I told you, I tried to challenge him for the succession and got beaten up."
"Talk sense, you rascal."
"No, I'm serious."
Elder Peng Jeon-gun stood in the doorway, grumbling as if he thought my words were a joke.
I stuffed the clothes Nang-rang handed me into my travel bag and said, "I managed to withstand three moves, though. Man, you should've seen it, Elder. It was such an incredible exchange that I could've used it as a funeral dirge later."
"Cut the crap."
I'm serious.
It was totally highlight reel material for a funeral.
I deflected the Finger Flicking Art of the world's strongest man aimed at my heart, immediately struck down with the Thunderbolt Blade, and then, as soon as I was bounced back, I slammed in a Thunderbolt City-Destroying Cannon with zero delay.
I just didn't expect all of that to be blocked and for me to get beaten half to death.
"I would've died if not for my Protection Aura."
Anyway, I've received permission to participate in the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
I had to make a somewhat problematic promise, but in other words, it wasn't a bad thing for me either.
Nang-rang looked troubled as she saw the 'promises' I had secured.
"Are you really okay going like that?"
"What can I do? Grandfather told me to."
"The Orthodox Faction will never look upon this favorably..."
"It'll be the same for the Black Path."
Peng Jeon-gun nodded at Nang-rang's words.
Yes, 'this' was an act that could be seen as a provocation to the Orthodox Faction and arrogance to the Black Path.
It was also something one shouldn't easily choose unless they had spare lives lying around.
"I'm the one who said I'd do it."
—Since I achieved a draw as promised, shouldn't there be at least one reward for your grandson?
I held up the 'promises' to 'my people' who were worrying about me and smiled.
—Fine, I will give you a chance, just as I promised ten years ago.
—A chance?
—What you need most is surely the recognition of the family.
The ultimate techniques practiced by the direct lineage of the Peng family are still premature for me.
If I were to learn the Soul-Stealing Blade now, opening the Peak Realm would become even more difficult.
It's not that I need more wealth, either.
The Hao Clan is already a wealthy sect, and as the direct disciple of the Hao Clan Leader, I can use all Hao Clan-affiliated businesses across the world for free.
Therefore, what I need most in the succession battle of the Hebei Peng Family is the recognition of the family... or to be more precise, reputation.
I need a reputation that can be widely spread not only among the family members but throughout the entire Sima Alliance.
I need a reputation strong enough to overtake the fame my older brothers have already firmly established through years of training—enough to surpass their time and effort.
Therefore.
—The Sima Alliance, a massive flag of black silk painted with a demon's face in red and the character for 'Evil' (Sa).
—The Hebei Dragon Slaying Alliance, a massive flag of black silk with the image of a slaughtered dragon painted in white.
—And the Great Hebei Peng Family, a massive flag of black silk embroidered with the Peng family crest in gold thread.
These three flags are the opportunity and the test my grandfather left for me.
To take these to Wuchang, where the Orthodox martial world is gathered for the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, and to return alive after bringing about the downfall of the Jinju Eon family.
In other words, the moment I reach the Martial Alliance gathering, it means I will act and be recognized as an envoy representing the family, the Dragon Slaying Alliance, and the Sima Alliance.
It has only been sixty years since the Righteous-Demonic War ended.
Those who died in those days still grit their teeth in suppressed rage at the name of the Peng family.
The grudges of this era are settled much more severely than in modern times.
In the midst of that, the moment I suffer an insult while representing the Black Path, it's obvious that not only my prestige but also that of the Hebei Peng Family will fall within the Sima Alliance.
The Ten Great Sects of the Black Dao are constantly watching for the downfall of the Hebei Peng Family.
But what if I can endure all those risks, go forth, succeed in everything I planned, and return alive?
That becomes prestige. A powerful prestige that none of my brothers, nor any other rising stars of my age in the Ten Great Sects of the Black Dao, have ever achieved.
I will be able to firmly engrave my name upon the world, including both the Black and White Paths.
So, there's no better opportunity than this to increase my weight in the world.
"I'm off. Take care, everyone, and if anyone bullies you while I'm gone, write it down. You too, Nang-rang. I'll scold them all when I get back."
"The only one who ever bullies me is you, Young Master."
"My nanny sure knows how to joke."
I mounted my saddle, receiving the send-off from my people.
The horse, with three flags planted crosswise, trotted out onto the main road.