Cultivation Methods, or the Art of Not Relying on Cultivation Methods (1)
Hyeongeuk came running up with a face gone pale as paper, then quietly led Dam So-dam away.
Listening to him, she could hardly close her mouth. “I-is that really true?”
Dam So-dam had only recently become a cultivator.
She had simply ridden the gift of a single Earth spiritual root and her immense talent, rocketing to the middle stage of Qi Condensation Realm in the blink of an eye and securing her place as one of the sect’s foremost disciples.
And since she had been secluded inside the inner halls of the Ungyu Sect Main Hall until just yesterday, immersed in cultivation, she still knew nothing about the situation inside the sect.
So when Hyeongeuk explained everything that had happened so far, she was naturally shocked.
Not long after, Dam So-dam approached Baek Sang-ah with careful steps.
“I’m sorry, Senior Sister. I was ignorant and rude to you without realizing it. Please forgive me with your kind heart?”
Baek Sang-ah, who didn’t really understand what was going on, tilted her head at Dam So-dam’s sudden change in attitude.
“It’s fine. You can do it like before.”
Dam So-dam, who had been a little intimidated, met Baek Sang-ah’s innocent eyes and immediately grabbed her hand.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow, then can I call you Sister?”
“Yeah.”
Of course, Baek Sang-ah could never truly be Dam So-dam’s older sister.
Baek Sang-ah had only just passed ten in shark years, while Dam So-dam was at least in her thirties.
On the other hand, Baek Sang-ah had the larger build.
As though the traces of her former life as a shark the size of a whale still remained, she was tall enough that Hyeongeuk and the other disciples had to tilt their heads back to look up at her.
By contrast, Dam So-dam stood at a mere four cheok and six chon—by the standards of the Republic of Korea Baek Sang-ah had once lived in, roughly 135 to 140 centimeters—small and youthful in build.
Even now, she had to lean so far back at the waist just to look up at Baek Sang-ah that there was hardly any need to say more.
Still, as long as everyone was happy.
To anyone who knew the full truth, the scene would have looked absurd beyond reason, but on the surface it was oddly convincing.
“Then please take care of me, Sister.”
“Yeah.”
In the middle of all this, Dam So-dam seemed to notice something strange about Baek Sang-ah’s appearance and narrowed her eyes.
The top sliding off Baek Sang-ah’s shoulders, the bottoms barely staying on thanks to her tail.
It was clothing that looked completely out of place on Baek Sang-ah.
Then Dam So-dam clapped her hands and said, “Sister, I have some clothes I still can’t wear. I’ll go get them. They should be more comfortable than what you’re wearing now.”
“Okay. I like comfortable clothes too.”
What Dam So-dam soon brought out from her room was a crimson skirt and an Ungyu Sect outer robe top in a color similar to Baek Sang-ah’s hair.
“I bought them big, thinking I’d grow into them, but I still haven’t, so I can’t wear them yet.”
“A skirt…?”
“Yeah. I figured pants wouldn’t work because of your tail, so I brought a skirt instead.”
Come to think of it, Dam So-dam seemed to have a point.
The pants she was wearing now kept snagging on her tail and riding up, tightening around her thighs.
If she wore a skirt instead, it wouldn’t be uncomfortable.
“I’ll wear it.”
“Okay, then in the guest room— eek!”
Baek Sang-ah blinked, looked down at the top and skirt, and immediately stripped off the clothes she was wearing.
At that moment, Hyeongeuk’s eyes flew wide open on pure instinct.
Dam So-dam noticed it, and in the blink of an eye she darted toward her junior brother with an odd footwork.
Then—
“Junior Sister So-dam?”
“W-what are you looking at!”
She slapped Hyeongeuk across the eye.
While he clutched the corner of his eye with his palm from the sudden pain, Dam So-dam quickly dragged Baek Sang-ah into her room.
Baek Sang-ah, who had been hauled off to the quarters of a first-ranked disciple before she knew it, looked around the room with her head turning this way and that.
Dam So-dam’s room wasn’t much different from the room of the Cloud Society disciple. If anything, it looked a little better.
“Yo, are beast-race cultivators always this careless? This won’t do, Sister.”
“Kng?”
“Hold still for a second.”
Dam So-dam came forward with the light-blue top in hand.
Baek Sang-ah tilted her head without a word, then stood quietly with both arms hanging limp at her sides.
“You can’t just stand there all dazed. Come on, lift your arms first.”
“I lifted them.”
Suppressing a laugh, Dam So-dam slid Baek Sang-ah’s arms into the sleeves.
The blue-tinted robe top was drawn slowly over Baek Sang-ah’s skin, and the cloth barely settled over her broad shoulders.
But for some reason, the garment would not fall below her ribs.
In fact, because the size around her chest was completely wrong, the top ended up floating away from her body.
Dam So-dam pursed her lips and tied the red ribbon hanging from the top, but it still looked too small.
As a result, Baek Sang-ah’s smooth abdomen, the straight line of her navel, and a glimpse of her ribs were all left exposed.
“W-why is this so small? It was definitely huge on me.”
Dam So-dam stared at Baek Sang-ah’s chest for a moment, then lowered her gaze to her own.
A chest with no curve at all.
Dam So-dam gave a pointless little cough, then picked up the crimson skirt.
“Sister, could you lower your tail for a moment?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow, your tail moves however you want, too.”
“It’s mine.”
Baek Sang-ah let the tail droop toward the floor.
Her long, heavy tail fin swept softly across the ground as it spread out.
“Now, could you lift your left leg?”
As if squeezing herself between them, Dam So-dam held up the skirt and carefully lowered it over Baek Sang-ah’s legs.
The skirt swelled up to her waist, and at last Baek Sang-ah’s tail slipped free.
The slightly flared hem only added more rippling folds to the skirt, and the deep crimson hue oddly suited her silver hair.
Dam So-dam stepped back after turning the skirt ties around and fastening them snugly in the back.
“Haaah….”
The robe top still floated there, exposing her stomach, but somehow the whole thing looked better than expected, and Dam So-dam was briefly struck speechless.
“Y-you’re so pretty I can’t even speak.”
“My tail is comfortable.”
Baek Sang-ah lifted the hem of the skirt slightly and tilted her head.
Then she flicked her tail once, making the skirt billow up and settle again.
Seeing Baek Sang-ah’s satisfied expression, Dam So-dam placed a hand on her own waist, feeling oddly proud.
“Yes! It suits Sister! Still. Next time, we should definitely get you something that fits properly.”
……
……
……
And so the Ungyu Sect’s proper morning began.
Hyeongeuk, who had returned from the village with Baek Sang-ah’s clothes, finished dealing with her affairs and had the eight disciples sit down in the main hall.
Muyeonja’s voice echoed again inside her.
This is the Ungyu Sect’s newly introduced cultivation method. It is utterly unnecessary for you at present.
The cultivators of the Ungyu Sect took up meditation in various ways, settling into cross-legged postures.
While they did that, Cloud Cultivator quietly called Baek Sang-ah over.
He led Baek Sang-ah out toward the front gate. Baek Sang-ah followed behind with quick little steps.
“Senior Baek, you said you wanted to learn the Ungyu Sect’s cultivation method, yes?”
“Cultivation method? Ah, yeah. I did.”
Cloud Cultivator opened his mouth carefully, gauging her reaction.
“Truthfully, most of the Ungyu Sect’s cultivation methods are just basic methods. This junior here is only in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, so it can’t be helped.”
“Basic methods are fine with me.”
Cloud Cultivator blinked, looking a little surprised.
“You mean basic methods? I’m sorry, Senior, but the Ungyu Sect’s basic methods have no special features. They’re really nothing more than basic methods….”
Baek Sang-ah tilted her head.
“That’s enough.”
Cloud Cultivator went silent for a while.
He had heard that beast-race cultivators practiced differently from other cultivators, but he had no way of knowing how.
And if he tried to teach her a newly created cultivation method, a cultivator at the Gold Core Realm would surely already have her own awareness, so that would be useless.
O Five Elements methods won’t help either. Then the only thing left is body refinement?
Only after finishing his long internal debate did Cloud Cultivator continue.
“Then what about a body-refining method? It isn’t especially popular among cultivators, but it may be the most worthwhile thing for Senior to learn.”
“Body refinement? Is that a cultivation method that makes your body all floppy like an octopus?”
“Pardon…? N-no, it’s better to think of it as a method for tempering the flesh and bones. So you haven’t learned a body-refining method before?”
“Nope, haven’t.”
He took a small bamboo slip from his waist and unrolled it.
“The reason body-refining methods are avoided is that they involve tremendous pain and a far harsher process than other cultivation methods, but….”
“Pain?”
“Still, I thought it might help Senior a little, so I brought this out.”
On the surface of the bamboo slip, these characters were carved in a rough hand:
Stone Bone Strong Flesh Method
“The subtlety of this method is to harden the bones like stone and temper the flesh until it is firm. In short, it’s a basic cultivation method that tempers the body itself.”
Baek Sang-ah peered at the bamboo slip.
She understood some of the content, but the tightly packed writing made her eyes spin.
She closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head.
“In the past, cultivators in the Qi Condensation Realm were always in danger of dying. They had only just entered the path of cultivation, and were not so different from ordinary mortals, but they already carried spiritual energy within them.”
“So?”
“So they became excellent prey. If a Qi Condensation cultivator who knew nothing wandered alone, they were almost certain to return as a corpse.”
Cloud Cultivator closed the bamboo slip and said, “And yet it was difficult for those without talent to expand their awareness or learn spells. That is why people began seeking ways to temper the body, and body-refining methods came into being.”
With that, he led Baek Sang-ah to a rock at the back mountain of the Ungyu Sect.
There, a flat stone slab and a large water jar had been placed.
“Stone Bone Strong Flesh Method was also born from that need. Even if it isn’t especially outstanding, it should still be enough for a Qi Condensation cultivator to protect herself.”
“Did all the Ungyu Sect cultivators learn it?”
“Not quite. That was true in the past, but nowadays there are many ways for a Qi Condensation cultivator to protect themselves even without a body-refining method.”
Baek Sang-ah simply nodded.
As far as she could tell, it was probably about making the body stronger—maybe something like external martial training, if one compared it to martial arts.
“Then how do I do it?”
Cloud Cultivator hesitated, avoiding Baek Sang-ah’s eyes for a moment before he spoke.
“The first step is to break your own bones. Then spiritual energy seeps into the bones, and when they knit back together, they will be stronger for it.”
Cloud Cultivator avoided her gaze for good reason.
Any cultivator with even a little experience would loathe pain and injury to themselves.
After all, a cultivator was a being as lofty as the heavens to ordinary mortals, and they could accomplish anything with spell techniques without needing to move their bodies at all.
That was why he was careful around Baek Sang-ah.
He was telling her she had to break her bones, after all.
“What happens if they get stronger?”
“You’ll be able to smash rocks with your bare fists.”
“Rocks…?”
Baek Sang-ah’s eyes moved toward the huge boulder sitting by the water’s edge.
Just looking at it, it seemed hard and heavy.
“In Stone Bone Strong Flesh Method, that is called crashing and striking to temper the flesh. It means breaking the bones by colliding with rocks to refine them.”
“So I just have to break the rock?”
“Pardon? T-that is indeed the goal.”
Baek Sang-ah swayed her plump tail and walked toward the stone. Looking down at the rough boulder, she clenched her fist tight.
“Break the rock….”
Then she bit into the rock with her sharp shark teeth.
The boulder shattered into pieces exactly along the shape of her bite.
Cloud Cultivator blinked, then said quietly, “Y-you said you had never learned a body-refining method?”
“Yeah. But the rock just broke.”
“Ah….”
Cloud Cultivator hurriedly unfurled the bamboo slip and turned to the next page.
“Th-then what about Cold Qi Settling the Bones? You enter extremely cold water, let the chill tear through the flesh, and allow spiritual energy to seep in and strengthen it….”
Baek Sang-ah’s chubby tail was slapping the water with splash after splash.
“Senior, you lived in the sea, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. So I just have to go into cold water?”
“No, no.”
Cloud Cultivator hastily closed the bamboo slip and stuffed it back into his robes.
Looking at it now, no matter how he thought about it, this didn’t seem like it would help Baek Sang-ah at all.
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“I-I’ll quickly find another cultivation method.”
Cloud Cultivator felt the world go dark before his eyes.