Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Bright Light Great Hand Seal
Near the end of the bookshelf, in a place that was not likely to catch the eye, something bulged slightly. It was something Jinpung had been able to discover because he had carefully inspected the bookshelf.
Jinpung pressed the bulging part lightly with his hand.
‘It’s pressing down. It really is pressing down!’
His heart pounded heavily. With a thud, a small drawer about one ja in length sprang out from one side of the bookshelf. Inside it was a martial arts manual. Judging from its yellowish color, it seemed to be quite old.
With trembling hands, he picked up the martial arts manual. The fact that it had been hidden in a double structure within the bookshelf already suggested there must be some special reason behind it.
“Bright Light Great Hand Seal?”
‘Once cultivated, true qi condenses into golden hand seals that can be projected into the air, and they are as hard as iron. In the early stages of training, one can shatter wood and stone; later on, one can move mountains and fill seas. It shines with a brilliance like the scorching sun. It is suitable for those who cultivate extreme yang energy or a vigorous and powerful true qi. The drawback is that the consumption of true qi is enormous. Ah, this is a Huang-grade third-tier cultivation method! It’s such a pity that this is only an incomplete version. No wonder it was discarded in the outer sect’s martial pavilion. If it were a complete version, it would surely have been stored in the inner sect or the core sect’s martial pavilion. Even among the outer sect techniques of the Genyuan Sect, it is said to be the highest-grade method, yet it is only Huang-grade third tier… Even an incomplete version should be enough to raise me to the first level of the Xuanmen realm! This is it. It truly suits me perfectly.’
Jinpung’s heart was filled with excitement. He felt that this Bright Light Great Hand Seal matched him extremely well. Since every martial artist had a different constitution, the nature of their cultivated true qi also differed. Once one opened the Divine Gate and entered the mystic realm, the nature of true qi would be influenced even more by that realm. There were not many martial artists whose true qi was strong and possessed pure yang energy like the blazing sun, so very few could cultivate the Bright Light Great Hand Seal. But it suited Jinpung’s disposition perfectly.
He tucked the Bright Light Great Hand Seal manual into his robes and hurried downstairs. He paid his respects to the Grand Elder and left the place with Hanjong.
After Jinpung left, the Grand Elder walked over to the bookshelf at the innermost part of the second floor. Although Jinpung had returned everything to its original state, it still did not escape his eyes.
The Grand Elder slightly furrowed his brows and muttered to himself.
“So he took that manual. Its power is indeed immense, but it is incomplete and has many flaws… I wonder whether what he took will become a blessing or a curse.”
Jinpung returned to the thatched hut. In his hand he carried a sack. Inside the sack were many lower-grade spirit stones. There were sixteen in total. These were given to him by Hanjong. Although Hanjong was an elder, he was not particularly well-off, so Jinpung felt deeply grateful for his kindness.
The thatched hut was located by a river. It was separated from Danjeon Peak by wide grasslands and wilderness, making it a quiet place with few people.
Jinpung moved a chest filled with miscellaneous items that had been inside the hut, then began digging the ground beneath it. In a short while, he unearthed a very large box. Inside it were spirit stones—altogether one hundred and eighty of them.
Five years. Over the course of sixty months, the three spirit stones he received each month had all been stored there.
Jinpung sat down in a cross-legged posture. Holding a spirit stone in his hand, he entered a meditative state as soon as he began sitting in seclusion. He knew how powerful his opponent was. If he wanted revenge without being killed and to wash away his humiliation, he had to devote every possible moment to cultivation.
As his master had once taught him, he drew true qi into his palm and slowly rolled the spirit stone. He had to extract the essence within the spirit stone, absorb it into his body, and then use his cultivation method to transform that essence into his own true qi—only then would one session of cultivation be complete.
With Jinpung’s third level of the Houtian realm, absorbing the essence of a single spirit stone would normally take a full day.
Jinpung quickly entered a meditative state. Then he turned his consciousness inward to examine his danjeon. A bronze cauldron was suppressing his danjeon with tremendous force, emitting the rough breath of an ancient wilderness from long ago.
Suddenly, Jinpung felt a sense of emptiness in his palm. The spirit stone he had been holding had disappeared. Moments later, that spirit stone appeared above his danjeon. Then the bronze cauldron quickly drew it in. The cauldron made a humming sound as it rotated once. In that brief moment, before Jinpung could even react in surprise, a rich and heavy essence rose from the bronze cauldron and entered his danjeon, circulating within it once.
Even without Jinpung’s intention, the Padarayepgeum Sutra began to circulate on its own, guiding the essence that had emerged from the danjeon as it flowed along the meridians throughout his entire body. In doing so, it rapidly generated true qi. Although the amount of true qi was not large, it was sufficient for Jinpung to use. In fact, his strength had increased even further.
When Jinpung opened his eyes, a vibrant light flashed within them. He picked up two more spirit stones. Just as before, they were drawn into the bronze cauldron, then emerged as essence and were transformed into true qi by the Padarayepgeum Sutra.
By the time the moon reached its zenith, Jinpung had already absorbed thirty spirit stones.
He felt as though his body was filled to the brim with air. He could no longer absorb the essence of any more spirit stones. To absorb further essence, he would need to reach the fourth level of the Houtian realm.
Jinpung threw a punch. The air vibrated and trembled. A bursting sound could even be heard. By now, he possessed at least a thousand jin of strength. Though still at the third level of the Houtian realm, he now had the strength of two tigers. Normally, even a martial artist at the fourth level of the Houtian realm would only possess around a thousand jin of strength. But with the bronze cauldron combined with the Padarayepgeum Sutra, the power was terrifying.
Although a cold breeze struck his face in the frigid surroundings, within his chest a blazing fire surged, and overwhelming excitement welled up.
Ordinarily, a martial artist at the third level of the Houtian realm would need at least a month to absorb spirit stones of this level of essence. Thanks to the bronze cauldron, Jinpung was able to instantly convert spirit stones into essence, accomplishing in a single night what would normally take far longer. His cultivation speed had increased dozens of times over.
With such miraculous capabilities, the bronze cauldron was truly a treasure among treasures. It maximized the efficiency of spirit stone absorption. He had never even heard of such a treasure before. Therefore, he had to keep it an absolute secret so that no one would discover it. Otherwise, everyone would try to take it from him.
Although the origin of the supreme dragon blood within the bronze cauldron was unknown, a thread as thin as one ten-thousandth of a hair had been enough to help him break through the first level of the Houtian realm and open his danjeon. However, since then, it had not shown any further movement. It was hard to believe that such a mysterious power had manifested at all.
And then there was the Padarayepgeum Sutra. It was undoubtedly an extremely high-level and powerful cultivation method. The essence extracted from spirit stones was, after all, external energy, and it had to be carefully refined using a cultivation method. Removing impurities required great effort. Yet the Padarayepgeum Sutra could transform it into the purest form of true qi after only nine circulations through the meridians, without any imbalance. No other cultivation method could compare to it.
It was said that with ordinary cultivation methods, one would need at least ninety-nine circulations to transform essence into true qi. Lower-grade methods required even more.
“Thinking about it, it’s truly unfortunate. Master once said that the Padarayepgeum Sutra I practice is only a small fragment torn from the first volume, less than one-hundredth of the whole. At most, it is useful up to the tenth level of the Houtian realm; beyond the Divine Gate realm, it can no longer be used.”
Jinpung shook his head. He intended to cast away such thoughts, considering them overly greedy. Having something useful right now was already something to be deeply grateful for.
As the sky brightened, a streak of white light appeared in the distant heavens. Within the dense forest, faint sounds of wind and thunder echoed. It was the sound of Jinpung practicing the Bright Light Great Hand Seal.
Sweat seeped through the blue clothes he wore. The damp garments felt heavy, and heat rose from the top of his head. Although he had cultivated through the night, he felt no fatigue at all. With a thousand jin of strength and abundant true qi, his potential seemed limitless. Not only did he not feel tired, but as his true qi circulated, his mind became increasingly clear.
Golden radiance emanated from his hands, while a faint golden glow surrounded his face. This was the sign that he had entered the introductory stage of the Bright Light Great Hand Seal.
The Bright Light Great Hand Seal was a Huang-grade upper-tier cultivation method and was by no means easy to master. After the mysterious dragon blood had transformed Jinpung’s body, his mind became much clearer, and his ability to comprehend things greatly increased. Having only practiced the Bright Light Great Hand Seal a few times, he quickly became familiar with it, achieving results that would normally take months of training.
Through repeated practice, Jinpung gradually attained a certain mastery of the Bright Light Great Hand Seal. There were no longer any clumsy aspects.
Each time true qi circulated through his body, his level of proficiency deepened further, and his understanding grew.
At a certain moment, Jinpung sensed something. A heavy sensation arose in his right hand as his true qi began to surge. A golden hand seal, as if cast from gold, condensed in the air.
The hand seal, about the size of Jinpung’s palm, struck a tree as thick as a bowl with a loud crash. Wood fragments scattered at the point of impact. With a cracking sound, the upper half of the tree swayed before falling to the ground.
The golden hand seal vanished like smoke, leaving only Jinpung standing there. He stared down at his own palm in disbelief, filled with astonishment and joy.
“Is this the power of the Bright Light Great Hand Seal? I’ve only just begun the first level, yet it was enough to break a tree as thick as a bowl. This power must be at least twelve hundred jin. As expected of a Huang-grade upper-tier cultivation method. It enhances one’s original strength by about twenty percent. If just the first level yields this much power, how terrifying will it become in the future?”
Jinpung’s cultivation speed was remarkably fast, and he quickly mastered the first level of the Bright Light Great Hand Seal.
The reason for his speed was not only the increase in his comprehension after his constitution changed, but also because the technique suited him extremely well.
Originally, Jinpung’s constitution had not allowed him to cultivate true qi at all. The only reason he could now gather true qi within his body was entirely due to the Padarayepgeum Sutra and the mysterious dragon blood within the bronze cauldron.
The Padarayepgeum Sutra was like a blazing sun, while the single drop of dragon blood within the ancient and dignified bronze cauldron possessed power like a vast, surging sea. Together, they enabled Jinpung’s true qi to become perfectly suited for the Bright Light Great Hand Seal.
The fact that the technique consumed a large amount of true qi was no problem for Jinpung. The mysterious dragon blood had already altered his constitution, and the Padarayepgeum Sutra allowed him to possess far more true qi than other martial artists of the same level. While other third-level Houtian realm experts had only five hundred jin of strength, Jinpung possessed a full one thousand jin.