My Secret Training Space
Yeop Hyeon arrived at his quarters, cradling Yeop Ryeong in his arms. He gently laid his sister on the bed and examined her swollen cheek.
"That must hurt...."
Yeop Ryeong wiped away her tears and said,
"No, it doesn't hurt at all! How could they cast out my brother, who fought tooth and nail for the family? Just because Yeop Rang is the Heaven's Chosen One? That's so unfair!"
Yeop Hyeon stroked her cheek and shook his head lightly.
"None of that matters. What bothers me is that my incompetence got you hurt."
Yeop Ryeong shook her head vigorously, fresh tears spilling from her eyes.
"It's all my fault! I couldn't even protect you, like a fool... I'm not fit to be your sister!"
Yeop Hyeon smiled faintly and pinched her nose.
"Silly girl. It's the brother's job to protect his sister—who ever heard it the other way around?"
Yeop Ryeong struggled to sit up.
"Brother! When I get better from this illness, I want to learn martial arts too. So I can protect you!"
Amused by her earnest expression, Yeop Hyeon replied with a warm smile,
"Alright then, I'd better get our little Ryeong healed up quick! But it's late—you should sleep first, right?"
Yeop Ryeong nodded.
"Yeah... tell me a story from the old days."
Yeop Hyeon chuckled and began.
"Once upon a time, on a certain mountain, there was a temple. In that temple...."
Yeop Ryeong squinted at him slyly.
"Brother, I know I've heard this one hundreds of times. But I still wanna hear it... hehe."
Moments later, Yeop Ryeong had drifted off completely.
Yeop Hyeon slumped against the wall and rolled up his sleeve. A deep gash near his abdomen was revealed, still oozing blood where the wound had torn open.
This injury had come during his recent clash with the Li family over the mine rights.
In the midst of battling a dozen warriors, he'd been ambushed from behind by some bastard. Though he'd slain the attacker, his dantian had been pierced by the enemy's blade.
Something felt terribly wrong. Yeop Hyeon instinctively knew his dantian was destroyed.
'My dantian... ruined....'
He closed his eyes slowly. A destroyed dantian meant he could no longer cultivate inner energy. Even reaching the Qi Transformation Realm—a sixth-grade realm—was now impossible.
But the dantian wasn't his only worry. Yeop Ryeong concerned him more. Even bundled under three blankets, her face remained deathly pale, as if gripped by chill.
Shanghan disease.
Yeop Ryeong had been frail since childhood, plagued by an excess of cold energy. For her sake, Yeop Hyeon had risked his life to claim the crown prince position and racked up countless merits for the family.
The Ye family sent her precious elixirs every month as the crown prince's sister. Without them, she wouldn't have survived this long.
Yeop Hyeon clenched his right fist.
'Now that I'm no longer crown prince, they won't send any more, will they?'
Her condition was worsening. To save her, he'd need to head to Cangmu Academy in the imperial city of Jiang Kingdom. It housed the kingdom's greatest physician.
But entry required reaching the Control Qi Realm before age eighteen.
Yeop Hyeon would turn nineteen in half a year. He still had that much time.
With his dantian shattered, though, reaching Control Qi Realm was impossible.
He turned to gaze at Yeop Ryeong, lost in dreams.
"No matter the cost... I'll make sure you get better!"
Suddenly inspired, Yeop Hyeon rummaged in his pocket and pulled out the black ring left by his mother.
His memories of her were hazy. She'd left when he was ten.
On the day she departed, at the Ye family mansion's back gate, he'd been in her arms.
Behind her stood a man in black robes—or rather, floating in midair.
Yeop Hyeon still remembered the man's words clearly.
"Miss, we must hurry. If the clan head learns of the young master's existence, even his life could be in danger!"
Finally releasing him, his mother handed him the black ring he now held.
"Hyeon-ah, take good care of Ryeong. Please stay safe... and don't hate your mother too much...."
With that, she fled in haste.
Yeop Hyeon had chased after her madly but couldn't catch up. She and the man were already soaring through the sky.
Hoping against hope, he'd watched until they vanished into the clouds without a backward glance.
As memories of his mother flooded back, Yeop Hyeon gripped the ring in his wounded right hand. The cut reopened, and a drop of blood fell onto it.
At that instant, the ring trembled violently. As Yeop Hyeon stared in shock, it morphed into a streak of black light and burrowed into his forehead between his eyes.
His figure vanished from the room in a flash.
Moments later, Yeop Hyeon found himself in a mysterious space filled with countless stars.
Before him floated a twelve-story tower, its four pillars bound by massive iron chains. Strangest of all were the three swords embedded at its pinnacle.
Steadying his pounding heart, Yeop Hyeon eyed what appeared to be the entrance. Above it, bold red characters proclaimed:
To the left and right of the entrance, more red script read:
Left: Imprison Heaven, Imprison Earth, Imprison the Gods and Demons of All Heavens.
Right: Forbid the Dao, Forbid Fate, Forbid the Humans and Immortals of Ten Thousand Realms.
Staring at the black tower, Yeop Hyeon's heart raced. It was a mystical presence unlike anything he'd encountered.
He calmed himself. This could be a fateful opportunity.
Of course, danger might lurk within.
'Either way, I can't turn back now.'
Yeop Hyeon pushed open the tower door and stepped inside.
The first thing to greet him was a skeleton seated in meditation pose. Beside it lay a long sword stabbed into the ground.
Yeop Hyeon's gaze shifted to the inscription before the skeleton.
"Cangjie Sword Lord! Took up the sword at twelve, achieved great success at seventeen. By twenty-one, no rival remained in the Cang Realm. At twenty-seven, perfected the Supreme Sword Dao, reaching the realm where the sword shatters souls.
Imprisoned here for twelve hundred years. Knowing today is my last, I leave all I have. If you inherit my legacy, please protect the Cang Sword Sect well."
'Cangjie Sword Lord?'
Yeop Hyeon couldn't make sense of it. Glancing down, he spotted a fist-sized jade stone.
'A legacy stone!'
His blood surged with excitement.
'I could become a sword cultivator!'
Swordsmen were rare in Qingzhou, even among countless warriors. Becoming one required a special spirit root. Yeop Hyeon didn't know the details, but he knew it was no easy feat.
He tucked the legacy stone into his bosom. As he moved deeper inside, an invisible force suddenly pinned him in place.
Yeop Hyeon panicked.
'What?'
[Newcomer?]
A woman's voice echoed from somewhere.
Startled, Yeop Hyeon leaped back and scanned his surroundings.
'Did I imagine it?'
[Who governs the Heavenly Dao?]
Yeop Hyeon shouted in alarm,
"Heavenly Dao? What is that?"
Silence fell. Then the voice returned.
[Why are you so weak? Ah, you're not a prisoner!]
Yeop Hyeon couldn't grasp her meaning.
Suddenly, the woman's voice sounded surprised.
[Innate Dao Body, no less—and dual spirit roots! Two souls sharing one body... No wonder the Jieyu Tower chose you!]
'Innate Dao Body? Dual spirit roots?'
Yeop Hyeon's curiosity deepened.
"Who are you? Could you at least tell me your name?"
[With such aptitude, you should be at a decent realm by now. Tsk tsk, how are you this weak? And your physical foundation is a mess too. I can't bear to watch!]
"......"
The woman asked,
[How did you train your body?]
Yeop Hyeon hesitated before answering,
"Push-ups, running with weights, blocking clubs... Why do you ask about my training methods?"
[What era do you think this is? Primitive times? Those backward methods will ruin not just your constitution, but your spirit roots too!]
Yeop Hyeon stammered,
"But everyone in Qingcheng trains like that!"
The woman fell silent. Yeop Hyeon looked around but found no trace of her.
'No physical form?'
Feeling something amiss, he waited. When she didn't speak again, his eyes drifted back to the distant legacy stone. As he approached cautiously, her voice resounded once more.
[Do you wish to learn the sword?]
"Yes, I do!"
Who walking the martial path hadn't dreamed of wielding a flying sword and lording over the world?
[But with your shattered dantian, cultivating that sword cultivator's legacy will be difficult.]
His face darkened instantly.
And it wasn't just sword cultivation—even becoming an ordinary warrior was now beyond him.
[Then again, I have a slightly different method. Care to learn?]
"Can I learn without a dantian?"
[No dantian? Even better.]
'I can learn the sword without a dantian?'
Yeop Hyeon nearly leaped for joy but composed himself.
"I'm grateful you'd teach me swordsmanship, but... what must I offer in return?"
There had to be a price. Excitement at dantian-less sword training warred with vague dread of the cost.
[Listen well! This tower recently suffered severe damage. Its Nine Dao Tokens scattered across the Qingcang Realm, and its seals weakened. That sword cultivator died before you entered—a stroke of luck. Otherwise, you'd be a corpse by now.]
"......"
[You must have questions about this tower. But its profound principles are beyond you now. I'll share the basics. The tower has twelve floors, each imprisoning absolute beings of this world—humans, spirits, demons, even fragments of the Heavenly Dao.... It once held them all, but with the seals loosening, it won't hold much longer.]
Fresh inside the tower, Yeop Hyeon was stunned.
'Won't hold much longer?'