Chapter 227
Chapter 227
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 227
Chapter Title: Heavenly Realm
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Mingryongja's demand was to practice the Six Harmonies Swordsmanship until my internal energy was completely depleted!
Naturally, it was a training method I had never even considered before, leaving me utterly bewildered.
"Why must I do it that way?"
At my question, Mingryongja stared at me intently before speaking.
"What do you think are the characteristics of your martial arts right now?"
"Well, they're based on the Thunder God Style, blended with the Wudang Sect's ultimate techniques..."
"No. From what I see, there are three or four more things mixed in. There's a considerable amount of profound energy woven in, and you occasionally employ the essentials of other martial arts. Am I wrong?"
"......"
"It's杂乱. Unless you're a master of the Thunder God Style or the Wudang Sect, no one could pin you down to a single sect."
Hearing his words, I realized my mistake. Come to think of it, as I had elevated my martial arts, I had incorporated the secrets of Yeo Dongbin's Heavenly Stealth Swordsmanship, and mixed in a lot of spear and fist techniques into my swordsmanship. Mingryongja continued.
"Of course, it's not a major issue, but your martial arts aren't following a single lineage—they're a form where many roots coexist. Can you precisely separate the Thunder God Style martial arts from the Wudang Sect's ultimate techniques in your own skills? Do you fully grasp the origin of each one yourself?"
"...No."
"If your talent were exceptional, this wouldn't be a problem. But because your talent falls short, this trait has become a weakness, binding your achievements."
Mingryongja said.
"The reason you don't understand sword aura at all isn't anything else. The memories of miscellaneous martial arts are scattering your enlightenment, so you can't clearly distinguish between qi and intent. The chaotic threads of various martial arts are blocking that one great step forward."
"Then what should I do?"
"I just told you. Deploy the Six Harmonies Swordsmanship."
His eyes gleamed faintly.
"The first thing you ever learned since birth was the Six Harmonies Swordsmanship! You must draw out the body's memory in a state of complete internal energy depletion, a trance free of distractions, to attain intent. Fortunately, the simplest one is perfect for this extreme training."
"......"
"Only when you eliminate all stray thoughts, forget your qi techniques, and focus solely on a single intent will you comprehend sword aura."
I understood the theory.
And judging from my experience with martial arts, Mingryongja's theory made perfect sense and was highly persuasive.
'Scary... damn scary.'
But I shuddered, foreseeing how grueling the training process would be.
What is hellish training?
It's called that because it feels like plunging into the literal hell of human suffering. Even ordinary people often died from it.
I had once undergone a month of hellish training with the Sword Demon, vomiting bile, passing out, fainting, dizzy with headaches, tears streaming down. Even seasoned martial artists would beg to quit after three or four days. It was that agonizing. You'd have to rise again, forcing your exhausted muscles that screamed for release after total depletion.
And now, I had to endure that process repeatedly, until some unknowable limit?
In a state of complete internal energy depletion, stamina drained even faster, leaving only pain, forcing a direct confrontation with the overwhelming fatigue and torment enveloping the body. The utter misery of it defies words. You can't understand unless you've heard your entire body screaming that every muscle must collapse and die right then.
Mingryongja chuckled.
"Don't blame me. Normally, sword aura is attained by gradually applying enlightenment of intent. But for someone as deficient in aptitude as you, I have no choice but to use special measures. You must endure it."
"...Is there really no other way?"
"Well. Swing the sword mindlessly for about a hundred years in a state of no-thought. If you're up for that."
No matter what, I couldn't swing a sword alone for a hundred years. I gritted my teeth and replied.
"I'll do it."
What else could I do but face death? Excuses like that wouldn't fly now. Better to die peacefully than endure hellish training. But since I had a reason to gain power by enduring pain worse than death, I decided to take on the challenge.
After receiving the transmission of the Coiling Dragon Sword, my days were filled with intensive hellish training under Mingryongja.
On the first day, I bled from my nose.
"Ugh."
"What? Did you think the Six Harmonies Swordsmanship doesn't consume internal energy just because it's called that?"
Mingryongja, watching from the side, sneered.
"You know better than anyone that's not the case."
He was right. If I just infused it with ordinary qi and swung, I could practice the Six Harmonies Swordsmanship all day and recover my stamina and internal energy. But now, I was pouring thunder essence in, rapidly depleting my internal energy while channeling massive amounts into each simple form of the Six Harmonies Swordsmanship. Training like this meant stamina and internal energy would run out in less than half a shichen.
As I collapsed in exhaustion, wiping nosebleed, Mingryongja said.
"Recovering alone would take time, so I'll help."
Fwaaa!
"......!!"
I felt my internal energy pulsing and filling at tremendous speed as Mingryongja approached, placed a hand on my shoulder, and infused energy. Stunned, I turned to him, and he smirked.
"It's the function of the Wudang Sect's secret Immeasurable Divine Art. It accelerates recovery."
"Th-this..."
I was speechless.
Incredible true energy recovery!
No matter how vast my internal energy or how fast my natural recovery, the Immeasurable Divine Art's stimulation surpassed imagination. In less than half a gak, I felt more than half my total internal energy restored.
For a moment, I felt fear.
'What? With just the True Energy Unification Conclusion of the Profound Heaven Divine Art, I incorporated it into the Thunder God Style to create the Baek Woong Conclusion... Does that mean the Wudang Sect possesses an internal art even superior to the Profound Heaven Divine Art?'
Truly the orthodox divine art!
It might fall slightly short in single-point destructive power compared to the world's other internal arts, but it matched them in profound energy, versatility, and potential for development. The Wudang Sect's internal heart method being the world's finest was no exaggeration.
After about one shichen, I could stand again, ready to resume training. Arms crossed, Mingryongja looked at me and said.
"Get your head in the game. We haven't even started yet."
"Yes."
"When deploying each form, you think too many variables. Years of training have ingrained those thoughts into the forms, making them fast but executed via qi movement, not intent. That distances you from sword aura attainment."
He raised one index finger.
"One! While deploying the simple Six Harmonies Swordsmanship, think of only one thing. Imbuing your intent into the sword tip!"
"Yes!"
Imbue your intent into the sword tip!
Imbue your intent into the sword tip!
I repeated it like a scream in my mind, immersing myself solely in the Six Harmonies Swordsmanship.
A sudden thought crossed my mind.
'This Six Harmonies Swordsmanship just won't leave me, come hell or high water.'
Who would have imagined that now, of all times, I'd be drilling it to death? What a tiresome bond. But since it was the path to strength, I had no choice. After nearly half a century etched into my body, it would eventually become a trance state.
After training with Mingryongja ended, I went to the Sword Demon to learn the essence of the Coiling Dragon Sword. Seeing me drenched in sweat and a mess, he said.
"There's a stream nearby. Wash up and come back."
"I'm sorry."
When I returned after washing, the Sword Demon said.
"I didn't expect it to be this intense... We'll have to change the schedule."
"Pardon?"
"Rest today. Starting tomorrow, train with Mingryongja all day."
"......!!"
The Sword Demon shook his head.
"Transmitting the Coiling Dragon Sword's essentials would harm you in your current state."
His words made sense.
But inwardly, it stung deeply.
'Am I delaying learning the practical Coiling Dragon Sword essentials because of sword aura attainment, which who knows when I'll achieve?'
It felt like a huge loss.
Seeing my dissatisfied expression, the Sword Demon chuckled heartily.
"You seem drained, so I'll share some encouraging words. Do you know how much advantage someone with sword aura has over those without?"
"Not really..."
All the qi realm experts I'd met were insurmountably strong for me. I couldn't even begin to compare their qi might specifically. My ignorance of qi itself contributed.
The Sword Demon said.
"The moment you can use qi, an ultimate technique's attack power multiplies several times."
"Hmm..."
"Anyway, qi is also manifested using intent. It's just a highly efficient, excellent-performance intent ultimate technique."
A thought struck me, and I said.
"If sword aura is a type of intent ultimate technique, then why can I manifest it by gathering internal energy to the extreme?"
The Sword Demon shrugged.
"Think simply. Forming sword aura with intent gives 100 power for 1 effort, but with internal energy, it's 100 effort for 100 power. Just a matter of efficiency."
"......"
"Of course, variations depend on the martial arts or internal art you've cultivated..."
Leaving that lingering, the Sword Demon said.
"One thing's certain: to beat Lee Gwang, you must master sword aura."
He had read my mind. I didn't hide it and affirmed.
"Indeed."
"Lee Gwang doesn't just create qi with his spear—he freely wields intent ultimates, killing moves, even virtual and real in his Heart Realm Space. He's a supreme expert. Even I'd struggle to decide a winner against him."
My face grew heavy.
I knew that without him saying. After decades by his side, you learn despite yourself. Experts who could beat Lee Gwang were few and far between across the heavens and earth.
My current martial arts could lightly crush ordinary peak experts, but whether I could withstand Lee Gwang's full-force assault for over a hundred exchanges was doubtful. He hid as a mere martial hall master, but he was a transcendent supreme expert roaming the world.
'But I'll defeat that man. Definitely... give him a taste of his own medicine.'
That's why I could endure the hellish training. Because I believed stacking these painful, insignificant steps would eventually reach the goal.
At minimum, I needed to counter Lee Gwang's Thunder Dragon Fragment with my sword aura! Without that, a confrontation with him couldn't even be established. As resolve flashed in my eyes, the Sword Demon said.
"Stay strong."
He laughed heartily.
"This too shall pass!"
This too shall pass.
His words eased my mind a bit. No matter how immense the pain and despair, it's just a fleeting segment in life's vast flow. It was the most hopeful phrase for me, more than anyone. Perhaps a verse for a regressor.
The next day onward, I repeatedly half-died while deploying the Six Harmonies Swordsmanship over and over.
"Uwaaaaaah!!"
Screaming, I deployed the fiftieth Six Harmonies Sword form and collapsed in exhaustion. Tears and snot streamed, bile coated my tongue. My body was already wailing its limit.
'This is insane!!'
Compared to my ten million cuts before, fifty seemed paltry. But it meant I'd fully depleted my internal energy and stamina fifty times. No warrior in this world would endure such depletion and recovery in a single day.
And this terrifying recovery count was thanks to Mingryongja's Immeasurable Divine Art. As he restored my stamina and internal energy with it, he cackled.
"Have you heard of super-recovery?"
"......"
Lying on the ground, too drained to reply, Mingryongja continued.
"You know this, but after pushing muscles to the extreme, they recover stronger. I personally call it super-recovery. You know it applies not just to muscles but overall stamina."
"......."
No strength to answer.
"Of course, for an internal art expert like you, it doesn't apply well. Before muscles hit limit, instinct uses internal energy to protect the body. But I think this super-recovery applies to abstract martial enlightenment too."
"What... are you..."
"Repeatedly depleting everything to the limit, barely clinging to life—repeat that, and regardless of talent or aptitude, martial arts will grow. Because the body's defense instincts keep stimulating your fighting instincts!"
At that moment, I was flabbergasted.
He threw me into this endless hell of repeated depletion based on that hypothesis alone? If it fails, my body could break, or I might actually die midway? Even with confidence in Immeasurable Divine Art recovery, it was unbelievable.
Mingryongja grinned more wickedly.
"Now fifty times."
I barely lifted my head and said.
"How... many... times are you going to make me do this madness..."
Even with resolve, my voice trembled.
The fatigue so far equaled crossing the North Pole on foot. In other words, I'd rather run to the North Pole than this hellish training. Seeing me murmur in dismay, Mingryongja said.
"Hmm... Not sure myself. But no matter how dull you are, after dying about a thousand times, it should work somehow, right? Even for you, that much ought to do it."
"......!!"
I'd died countless times, but those words still sent chills down my spine.
"Now, begin!"