Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 8
>Chapter Title: Aura of Death (3)
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Go Chan, the escort who had been staring intently at Mok Kyung-un, soon steadied his breathing.
Everything this guy was saying sounded like a blatant lie.
For someone who didn’t even know the precise definition of martial arts—no, internal energy—to sense qi on his own from reading a manual, in less than half a day of self-study? Impossible.
Well, it wasn’t entirely impossible.
It would require a talent in martial arts that could be called a once-in-a-millennium prodigy.
‘Even those born with innate qi sense struggle at the start.’
Yet Mok Kyung-un claimed he had done it.
Honestly, he couldn’t bring himself to believe it, but there was no reason for this demon-like guy to lie about something like this.
So the solution was simple.
Just check.
See if it was real or not.
“Young Master. May I check personally?”
“How?”
“You said you took in qi through the Breath Intake Method, so just do that. I’ll verify if you’re circulating the qi during the process.”
“Is that possible?”
“It’s not that difficult to confirm.”
“I see. Then please do.”
“Understood.”
Mok Kyung-un sat cross-legged on the bed.
Nothing difficult up to this point, so nothing could go wrong.
With his posture set, Mok Kyung-un closed his eyes and began breathing slowly.
“Huu.”
Go Chan watched him closely.
Then he stepped down from the bed and approached Mok Kyung-un’s side.
And then,
“This is just to confirm, so don’t mind me and keep focusing on the Breath Intake Method.”
With those words, he pressed two fingers together against one of the acupoints on Mok Kyung-un’s neck.
If even a faint qi was being circulated through the Breath Intake Method, he could feel it.
He didn’t have high expectations, but just in case...
‘!?’
Go Chan furrowed his brow.
What was this?
He had thought there was no way.
But,
‘...Ha.’
Qi was truly flowing through the meridians.
This meant he was properly sensing and absorbing qi.
Go Chan was utterly bewildered.
Even for the third or fourth generation, known to have the most sensitive qi sense, sensing qi in less than half a day was incredibly difficult.
Even the most talented took at least half a month, and without luck, it could take months.
Yet Mok Kyung-un, whose meridians were clogged with waste from impurities and whose qi sense should be dulled at his age, had sensed qi in just a day.
‘Does this guy really have martial talent?’
Go Chan’s gaze changed.
Just moments ago, he had been half-doubting, but now he thought maybe.
There were no absolutes in anything.
Exceptions existed.
Mok Kyung-un might be one.
‘Let’s take a closer look.’
He said the qi was scattering, so he needed to check directly to find the cause.
Go Chan quietly said to Mok Kyung-un,
“I’ll infuse some internal energy to check. Bear with it even if it feels uncomfortable.”
“......”
Since he was in the midst of the heart method, Mok Kyung-un gave a faint nod.
-Swish!
Go Chan focused and infused true qi into Mok Kyung-un’s Qimen acupoint.
Passing through Liangmen and Zhongwan, he guided the true qi toward the dantian area to trace Mok Kyung-un’s circulation path.
In that process, Go Chan was shocked once more.
‘...What is this guy?’
Normally, one had to practice the Breath Intake Method from childhood to avoid waste buildup in the circulation paths.
Yet Mok Kyung-un’s meridians were almost free of waste.
It was like looking at a third- or fourth-generation child.
‘How is this possible? He’s never cultivated internal energy before, right?’
It was a bizarre phenomenon.
To have such clean meridians at this age without practicing the Breath Intake Method would require prolonged purging and acupoint stimulation from a profound internal energy master.
Go Chan looked suspiciously at the back of Mok Kyung-un’s head.
‘Didn’t he say he lived alone with his grandfather in the mountains?’
What the hell?
Shaking his head in doubt, Go Chan first sent his true qi toward the dantian area.
Almost there.
He had one guess.
‘The reason it’s scattering is probably because he just started taking in qi.’
That was usually the case.
Mok Kyung-un had only practiced the Breath Intake Method for less than half a day.
No matter how much qi he gathered, the amount was too small, and without properly forming a dantian, it was likely scattering...
-Flinch!
Suddenly, Go Chan got goosebumps.
He felt something chilling and eerie.
But,
‘Huh?’
His palm wasn’t detached, yet the connected true qi was severed.
What phenomenon was this?
Frowning, Go Chan tried infusing true qi into the Qimen acupoint again, just in case.
And sent it toward the dantian once more.
But,
-Flinch!
Again, that bizarre sensation, and the infused true qi scattered.
No, more precisely, it dispersed.
Go Chan was momentarily stunned.
‘What?’
He couldn’t comprehend this phenomenon.
It wasn’t qi absorbed by Mok Kyung-un himself—it was his own true qi.
Yet the moment it reached the dantian area, he lost control, and it dispersed completely.
Why?
Unless the qi was directly severed, this shouldn’t happen.
As he struggled to understand, Mok Kyung-un’s voice came.
“The escort’s qi scattered too?”
“...You felt that as well?”
“Yes.”
‘Unbelievable. This guy’s qi sense is innately ridiculous.’
At this level, it had to be instinctive talent.
He had just started sensing qi, yet he could perceive another’s qi.
It was mind-blowing.
What if this guy had learned martial arts as a child?
‘He might have rivaled the youngest young master in talent.’
Mok Yu-cheon, the youngest young master of Timber Sword Manor.
His talent was overwhelming, something that might appear once in three generations of Timber Sword Manor.
Reaching first-rate master level at fourteen, and entering the peak realm’s entry at just sixteen.
A true monster of overwhelming talent.
This guy might have approached that if he had started early.
If not for one problem.
‘Why is it scattering?’
He tried sending it one more time just now.
Same result.
If it was the faint qi he gathered himself via the Breath Intake Method, the reason would be clear, but this was inexplicable.
“Young Master...”
“Do you know why?”
“I’m sorry, but with my level of skill, I can’t determine the reason.”
It stung his pride, but Go Chan was merely second-rate.
In the martial world, only from first-rate onward were called masters.
Second-rate were stronger than ordinary people, but not quite at the level of experts or grandmasters.
“Unless a higher-level master examines you, it’ll be hard to know.”
“Even though you’ve cultivated martial arts, no guesses at all?”
“...I don’t know. There’s some alien qi near your dantian, but I can’t identify it.”
It was completely different from internal energy.
It was so chilling and unpleasant that Go Chan wasn’t even sure if it could be called qi.
To such a Go Chan, Mok Kyung-un asked in a low voice,
“Then let me rephrase it. If it keeps happening, I won’t be able to form a dantian?”
A direct question.
Go Chan looked troubled but answered.
“...Honestly, yes. If the qi gathered through the Breath Intake Method keeps scattering, you can’t form a dantian.”
“So ‘that’ is the problem after all.”
“Pardon?”
“No, no. Just talking to myself.”
With that, Mok Kyung-un stroked his chin.
Go Chan hadn’t pinpointed it exactly, but the cause seemed clear enough.
It was probably the deathly qi near the dantian.
‘Hmm.’
What to do.
The qi absorbed through the Breath Intake Method didn’t mesh with it and scattered.
And neither the Breath Intake Method nor this circulation method could move the deathly qi.
No solution came to mind.
‘Troublesome.’
His goal from the start was to learn martial arts.
That monstrous man he had encountered.
Even recalling that sensation, he still couldn’t fathom fighting—no, even facing—that man.
‘Can’t I learn martial arts?’
If so, there was no reason to stay here.
Mok Kyung-un’s mind grew complicated for a moment.
It was too early to despair completely.
As Go Chan said, he was only second-rate, so he might not have grasped the exact cause.
Maybe getting help from a proper master was the answer?
He was pondering this when,
“This is truly bizarre. It scatters true qi, so it seems completely opposed to normal qi from circulation...”
“Opposed?”
To Mok Kyung-un’s question, Go Chan waved his hand.
“It’s, just my guess. Don’t take it too seriously...”
“Opposed... opposed...”
Mok Kyung-un furrowed his brow, lost in thought.
The word “opposed” reminded him of when he first absorbed this chilling, yin deathly qi.
Qi taken in through breathing was vital qi—living energy—while this was pure deathly qi.
So maybe the method was wrong from the start?
Mok Kyung-un reached his own conclusion and said,
“The escort is right. I should try reversing the Circulation Principle and Breath Intake Method.”
With that, Mok Kyung-un closed his eyes.
To put his realization into practice.
‘What?’
Go Chan couldn’t hide his shock.
Did he just say he’d reverse the Circulation Principle and Breath Intake Method?
He doubted his own ears for a moment.
The Breath Intake Method originated from Daoist longevity techniques, designed to boost vital and yang qi.
Reversing it meant taking in death and yin qi.
Moreover, reversing circulation was the Reverse Blood Great Law, which drove one into demonic deviation.
“Y-Young Master! Stop! You could fall into qi deviation!”
Qi deviation.
It happened if the qi in one’s body twisted even slightly.
If even a slight twist caused this, fully reversing the circulation direction was tantamount to self-destruction.
-Pfft!
Cheong-ryeong, who had been watching, smirked.
She wondered what that fool was up to, and here he was doing something stupid with half-baked knowledge.
-How does he even think of that?
Even the Reverse Blood Great Law, developed after long research by their sect, often destroyed the dantian post-use, caused severe side effects turning people into cripples, or killed them.
Yet this novice without a formed dantian was reversing his circulation himself.
Suicide, plain and simple.
-Good, he might free us.
Cheong-ryeong sneered at the Demon Monk.
If harmed externally or by a servant spirit, it reverted to flesh.
But self-inflicted death was different.
They might escape their shackles and regain freedom.
-Don’t interfere. Mortal.
-Swish!
Cheong-ryeong lightly swung her pipe.
Go Chan, who had tried to stop Mok Kyung-un, was involuntarily pushed back, forced onto the bed he had been lying on, and stuck there.
-Grip!
“W-What?”
The panicked Go Chan tried to rise using internal energy.
But he couldn’t move.
“Y-Young... Mmph!”
-Shh. Be quiet.
With a gesture from Cheong-ryeong, Go Chan couldn’t even move his lips.
Meanwhile, Mok Kyung-un had already begun reversing the Breath Intake Method and circulation.
Watching this, Cheong-ryeong’s red lips twitched.
-I’ll personally scatter your soul into five pieces if you kill yourself.
She was looking forward to it.
But then,
-Shwaaaaa!
White breath emanated from the circulating Mok Kyung-un.
‘!?’
It wasn’t warm qi—it was intensely chilling and yin.
Just moments ago, Cheong-ryeong thought Mok Kyung-un would overexert, reverse his circulation, fall into qi deviation, and die.
But it was heading in an unexpected direction, so one eyebrow arched involuntarily.
‘What?’
She had never seen anything like this, even in life.
Why were yin qi energies gathering around him when he was reversing circulation?
Her ghost eye saw it clearly.
The world wasn’t filled only with vital and yang qi.
Yin and yang balanced, so deathly and yin qi were evenly distributed.
But here was the key fact.
Living beings couldn’t sense or feel these opposing energies.
So what was this?
-How?
A living being, Mok Kyung-un, was drawing in deathly qi?
Utterly incomprehensible.
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