Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Closed-Door Training
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Before entering the Heartless Cave, Baek Hyun first stopped by the Scripture Pavilion and read through every manual he could get his hands on.
Most of the contents were things he already knew, but he did it to create an alibi that he'd memorized the manuals here.
"Oh, this sword art is new to me."
Of course, his harvest from the Scripture Pavilion wasn't entirely empty.
Very rarely, there were manuals he'd never seen before.
They were new martial arts added to the Starpoint Sect after the remake.
'Ten Thousand Stars Rain Sword... It looks pretty useful, but damn, it's tough. Probably because it was made by the Yeonmu Pavilion Master.'
The Yeonmu Pavilion was the place responsible for researching, developing, and preserving the Starpoint Sect's martial arts. It was an institution where the people with the deepest understanding of Starpoint martial arts gathered.
The Vast Cold Moon Shadow Step that he'd recovered was also being completely disassembled and analyzed there for research.
So, it was only natural that a martial art created by its leader would be extremely difficult.
'I'll have to leave this for a few years from now.'
He'd memorized the incantations more or less, but the difficulty was far beyond what a novice like him could touch.
It felt like they'd extracted and concentrated only the most difficult parts from all of Starpoint Sect's martial arts.
Thanks to that, its performance and potential were second only to the Shoot the Sun Sword Art, but to even imitate using it, he'd probably need to reach the transcendent realm at minimum.
'For now, I need to steadily learn the other martial arts.'
After roughly exploring the Scripture Pavilion like that, Baek Hyun immediately entered the Heartless Cave and began his closed-door training.
At first, he was a bit scared at the thought of being locked in a sealed space for over a month, but once he started training, it turned out to be surprisingly bearable.
Because martial arts training never seemed to end, no matter how much he did.
He acutely knew how far he still had to go, so even gaining big or small insights felt like drinking saltwater—his thirst for achievement in martial arts never faded.
Besides, there were no distractions or interruptions here at all.
It was the perfect environment to focus solely on his martial arts and insights.
No unnecessary mental or physical drain was required for training.
As a result, all of Baek Hyun's capacities—which were already superior to others' training time thanks to the Clear Mind Heart Method and Solar Body effects—were poured entirely into martial arts practice.
That allowed him to steadfastly conquer the righteous sects' martial arts, which had no shortcuts or tricks.
-Shik, shishik! Saaak-!!
Baek Hyun trained the Starpoint Sect's martial arts in his head starting from the lowest ones, building up his martial tower step by step like climbing stairs.
The Shoot the Sun Sword Art had the characteristic that its multiplier increased every time he achieved great success in a Starpoint Sect martial art, its usability improved, and additional abilities unlocked.
Theoretically, to maximize the Shoot the Sun Sword Art's potential, he needed to achieve great success in every martial art in the Starpoint Sect.
A realm nearly impossible even if he trained them his whole life.
Thus, it was a goal worth devoting himself to fully.
"Whew... Time for a short break."
Baek Hyun wiped off the sweat pouring down like rain from his whole body and headed to the wall-grain pills and the hole with water.
The floor had a basin's worth of his sweat pooled, so every step made a splashing sound.
"Six or seven... I've trained without rest for a week, huh."
Baek Hyun gauged the passage of time from the number of stacked wall-grain pills, then dumped all the piled-up ones into his mouth at once.
Since they were rationed one per day, they were very convenient for tracking time without anything else.
'But how does one of these tiny things sustain a whole day? Doesn't it defy physics?'
After pondering the realism of the wall-grain pills for a moment, Baek Hyun realized it was pointless and gulped down the water from the bowl nearby.
Thinking about it, nitpicking in a world where people flew through the sky and cleaved mountains was pretty dumb.
"Puha, alright, let's get back to it."
Taking a break of less than ten minutes like that, Baek Hyun resumed reciting the incantations in his head and swinging his sword.
Thanks to the Solar Body's effects anyway, his stamina was practically infinite.
He still needed small amounts of food for now, but if the Solar Body evolved to the next stage, he'd be able to live forever without eating or sleeping, just by consistently circulating his qi.
The only remaining issue was mental strength, but he was already getting a base correction from the Clear Mind Heart Method's great success effect.
Moreover, in this stuffy, gloomy space, training martial arts was better for his mental health than just resting idly.
Lost in training, he didn't feel lonely or stifled here.
Every time he moved and recited incantations, the yang qi circulating through his body made it feel refreshingly clear, and sensing his swordsmanship steadily improving filled his chest with pride.
So rather than stopping, he wanted to keep going.
He wanted to test, with full effort, how far he—the real him, not a game avatar—could go.
-Whoong!!
Baek Hyun's sword ceaselessly cleaved the air of the Heartless Cave.
The bowls filled up with wall-grain pills and water, only to vanish in one gulp.
His already short breaks grew even shorter.
His blade's tip grew ever more profound and swift.
Like that, a month passed in the blink of an eye.
-Kkii... eek...
"Baek Hyun, it's been a month today. You've been through a lot staying here..."
So-san, the second-generation disciple from Azure Cloud Pavilion who came to release Baek Hyun from the Heartless Cave, witnessed it.
"Ah... Has it already been a month? It's a shame; I feel like I could have done more."
A solitary room heated up like a cauldron.
In that extreme environment thick with sweat turned to steam, one boy was swinging his sword while sweating profusely like rain.
In the steam hot enough to burn ordinary people, a superb physique unbelievable for a boy his age was revealed.
Like top-grade white porcelain crafted stitch by stitch by a master artisan.
Not a single blemish on his pure white skin, as massive amounts of sweat poured down—it was like watching steel being endlessly tempered.
Baek Hyun, who had stripped off his upper garments to train, calmly picked up his clothes when the Heartless Cave door opened and faced the outside world for the first time in a while.
Normally, even warriors who did short closed-door training grew sick of the solitary room and wall-grain pills that confined them.
So even those who entered voluntarily would emerge from closed-door training with emotional, weary steps on the final day.
"Sigh... This wasn't quite enough."
But Baek Hyun emerged from the Heartless Cave with a slightly dissatisfied expression, as if something felt unresolved.
His will was still in an incomplete combustion state.
Even though he'd been forced into a month of seclusion, not voluntarily.
"Senior Brother, can I use this place again next time?"
"Uh, uh? Well... You've long finished the initiate disciple curriculum. If Senior Brother Hyun-gang permits it, there shouldn't be any issue."
"Heh, is that so? That's fortunate."
With those words, Baek Hyun felt the fresh outside air for the first time in ages and enjoyed worldly comforts.
He ate meals beyond wall-grain pills, washed in cool water, and lay on a soft bed instead of the hard floor.
On the second day after resting like that and checking his closed-door training results...
"I want to enter the Heartless Cave again."
Baek Hyun requested closed-door training once more.
This was the complete opposite of his usual self, freely wandering Starpoint Mountain for training, leaving the Azure Cloud Pavilion instructors flustered.
"...You've surely realized this time how difficult closed-door training is. It doesn't suit your usual training style either, so why do it again?"
"Indeed, closed-door training was truly grueling. Training in a sealed space on nothing but wall-grain pills was no joke. Spending the last two days living normally here made me feel it even more."
But.
Baek Hyun emphasized that and continued.
"After a month of closed-door training, I clearly realized it. That I'm still just a shoddily built tower."
"A shoddily built tower... What makes you think that?"
"This disciple reached the peak realm quickly thanks to various opportunities and heaven's luck, but unlike the other senior brothers, I didn't build my martial arts steadily, leaving many holes.
From now on, rather than just aiming for higher realms, I plan to hone my martial arts and external arts to fill those overlooked gaps."
Hyun-gang couldn't help but burst into laughter at Baek Hyun's unwavering response.
Because Baek Hyun's self-assessment and drive to improve, without anyone teaching him, felt so admirable.
"You're already excellent enough that I have nothing left to teach you. You're right. A tower built too quickly always has holes. For you now, the roundabout path may be the shortest to the next realm.
I permit your closed-door training. This isn't punishment, so train as long as you want and stop when you're ready."
"Thank you, Grand Senior Brother."
Like that, Baek Hyun entered closed-door training once more.
Back in the Heartless Cave, he swung his sword no differently than before.
Chewing the stacked wall-grain pills every three weeks, he trained Starpoint Sect martial arts without rest.
In that harsh training, his already robust body from the Solar Body effect was endlessly tempered and continued to grow.
His still-rough martial arts filled more flawlessly over time, becoming an impregnable fortress that would never crumble.
Around six months later like that.
-Taaang!!
Baek Hyun kicked open the door and burst out of the Heartless Cave again.
It wasn't that his patience had run out, but the tremendous accumulated heat in the solitary room had melted the wall-grain pills he'd used to track days.
To figure out how much time had passed, he rushed straight to Azure Cloud Pavilion and asked the second-generation disciples.
"How much time has passed now?"
"Uh, uh? Ah, well... About half a year since you went back in?"
"Sigh, it passed faster than I thought... Anyway, got it. I think I'll stay longer than expected, so wake me a month before the mountain entry exam. Oh, and no more wall-grain pills from now on!!"
"Uh... Huh!?"
With those words, Baek Hyun returned to the Heartless Cave and resumed training.
This time, alongside Starpoint Sect martial arts, he also trained things he'd put off, like One Yang Finger.
His One Yang Divine Art progress, trained sporadically, had risen enough that Baek Hyun no longer needed even minimal food intake.
Just circulating qi whenever he lacked strength provided all the nutrients needed for training and physical growth.
Having discarded even the minimal sense of time like that, Baek Hyun focused all his mind on training.
Time flew by swiftly.