Chapter 54: Internal and External Arts (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 54: Internal and External Arts (2)
"Wait, how are you already on your feet?"
Early the next morning, Hyeok-jin asked in shock as he watched Seok Myeong warming up in the courtyard.
He had heard from the physician that it would be difficult for Seok Myeong to even move for at least half a year. His external injuries had been that severe.
"I recovered overnight."
"Recovered? But they said your condition was critical!"
"I was given some exceptional medicine."
Hyeok-jin blinked repeatedly, looking as if he couldn't quite wrap his head around Seok Myeong’s words. However, seeing him move with such fluidity, the reality of the situation slowly began to sink in.
"That’s wonderful. Truly wonderful," Hyeok-jin said, a genuine smile breaking across his face.
Seok Myeong stepped closer and patted him on the shoulder. "Hyeok-jin."
"Yes, Brother Seok Myeong?"
"There is something I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
"Let’s sit over there for a moment."
Seok Myeong pointed to a quiet corner, and Hyeok-jin followed him to the garden behind the building. With a slightly troubled expression, Seok Myeong spoke in a low voice.
"For the rest of our journey through the Jianghu... Lady So-yeon will be accompanying us."
"What? Lady So-yeon? Why?"
"It’s not so much a matter of 'why' as it is... that’s just how things turned out."
"That’s absurd! How can we possibly travel with a girl who has such a prickly personality?" Hyeok-jin’s voice grew louder as the weight of the news hit him.
Seok Myeong sighed and finally revealed the truth. "To be honest, the Leader of the Golden Martial Association made it a condition. In exchange for the elixir that healed my injuries, I had to agree to let her come along. I didn't have a choice. Once I recovered, I had to return to Qingcheng immediately anyway."
"Ah..."
"I’m sorry to put this on you."
Hyeok-jin thought for a moment before sighing in resignation. "It can't be helped, then. Well, as long as you’ve recovered like this, I can endure a little discomfort."
"Thank you."
"Don't worry about me; focus on your own body first. No matter how great the elixir was, you need to rest for the time being. Even the Great Return Pill of Shaolin has its limits."
Hyeok-jin left with those parting words. Watching him go, Seok Myeong’s eyes grew somber.
"Yes... there are limits."
Even if it had been the Great Return Pill of Shaolin itself.
*
"How strange. You aren't going to protest?"
Cheol Mu-jin was genuinely surprised. He had summoned Cheol So-yeon to his room and told her to stay by Seok Myeong’s side for the next six months to observe him. Given her usual temperament, he expected his granddaughter to snap at him instantly. Instead, she just listened calmly.
"Should I be protesting?"
"No, it’s not that, but..."
"Then it’s fine. I was getting bored of being dragged to all those trivial social gatherings anyway."
"Hahaha!" Cheol Mu-jin laughed heartily. He couldn't tell if this was a sign that things would go well or not. "I really thought you would be angry."
"There’s no need for that," Cheol So-yeon spoke flatly.
Her reaction piqued Cheol Mu-jin’s interest. "May I ask why?"
"I want to find out for myself."
"About that man?"
"Yes. Whether it was simple luck or true skill. And if it is skill, I want to know what kind of martial arts he possesses."
"Hmm."
Only then did Cheol Mu-jin understand. It must have been a significant shock to her. After all, Seok Myeong had held his own against Cheol Gun, who was considered peerless among the younger generation.
"And more than anything, I want to find out one thing."
"…?"
"Whether the energy he possesses belongs to the Orthodox Faction or the Unorthodox Faction."
In that moment, Cheol Mu-jin’s eyes widened. This wasn't a joke or idle chatter; he was genuinely startled. "Did you... see something?"
"No."
"Then how did you know?"
"My Iron Ridge Fire Bright Sword didn't react to him."
"…What?"
"The moment that woman, Yeon-hui of the Qingcheng Sect, drew near, the Iron Ridge Fire Bright Sword reacted violently. But it’s strange, isn't it? The energy emitted by that Taoist, Seok Myeong—the one who was actually my brother's opponent—passed right through as if... as if they were of the same kind."
That was the true reason for her brother Cheol Gun’s defeat.
"Hmm, I see. I hadn't thought of that."
Cheol Mu-jin was impressed. Had he been taking his granddaughter too lightly? He often forgot because of her difficult personality, but her passion for martial arts was no less than Cheol Gun’s.
"That Qingcheng Taoist should be mostly recovered by now. You can leave with them in a few days."
"I understand."
Cheol So-yeon stood up, offered a polite bow, and turned to leave. After she departed, the look in Cheol Mu-jin’s eyes changed. It was a gaze that was slightly bitter, yet full of affection.
"If that child had been born a man, the Golden Martial Association might have aimed for the whole world, not just Sichuan..."
He let out a long sigh. Until now, Cheol So-yeon was a girl who never allowed any man other than Cheol Gun to get close to her. Yet, her reaction when mentioning Seok Myeong was quite different. Although she was providing logical reasons for now...
To Cheol Mu-jin, those reasons were a bit too perfect. It was as if she had prepared an excuse. To his experienced eyes, his granddaughter’s heart was already beginning to stir.
"Well, it doesn't matter," Cheol Mu-jin muttered as he looked at a dragon statue.
He felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Even though he was the one who had set the stage for this, knowing that his granddaughter was moving of her own accord gave him a strange feeling.
"Yes, yes. Fated connections always start from such small things, don't they? If I leave them be, they’ll find their own way. According to the natural order."
Trickle. Trickle.
Water flowed steadily from the mouth of the stone-carved dragon. Following the laws of nature, the water flowed down and away.
*
"Whew..."
In the middle of the night, Seok Myeong stood alone in the courtyard. He couldn't sleep at all. Things were complicated in many ways, and the feeling had only intensified after he had taken the Kyoryong Pill.
"This is a problem."
The physician had spent half an hour emphasizing how precious the elixir was, telling him he must have saved a nation in his past life to deserve it. But the moment it entered his body, its effects had scattered instantly.
There was certainly an effect—his external wounds had healed in a flash, and his internal injuries showed significant improvement. However, his internal energy would not gather. Because of Song Hak’s Five Elements Four Changes Formation, the medicinal energy could not settle in his Dantian; instead, it scattered through the fine meridians of his entire body.
"I wasn't expecting much, so there’s nothing I can do... but I’m worried about the future."
A body where internal energy cannot gather in the Dantian—this was the greatest obstacle for any future duels. It was a matter directly linked to his survival.
"If it’s come to this, my only option is to use External Qi."
External Qi. It was also commonly referred to as External Arts.
The foundation of martial arts is the study of tempering the physical body—swinging fast and strong, parrying, and enduring. Internal energy is what happens when one adds breathing methods to this, allowing for explosive power and the constant accumulation of energy.
Because of this, most warriors in the Jianghu prefer to settle matters with internal energy. The primary reason is destructive power. In the Jianghu, it is common for someone who has trained in External Arts for decades to be brought down by a single strike of Penetrating Energy from an internal arts master. Therefore, the higher the level of one's martial arts, the more pronounced the tendency to prioritize internal energy and heart methods becomes.
'And yet, internal energy does not always hold the advantage over external arts.'
The human body possesses infinite potential. When the body is tempered to the extreme through countless hours of training and hardship, an external arts master can sometimes gain the upper hand in close combat and defeat an internal arts master who is several realms higher. With superior kinetic vision and reflexes, they can crush an opponent before they even have a chance to gather their internal energy.
Techniques like Shaolin’s Xing Yi Quan or the Diamond Invincible Body—which does not crumble even against internal energy—are considered peerless wonders of the martial world.
"Martial Uncle, do you know what your biggest mistake was?" Seok Myeong muttered to himself.
Currently, his internal energy could not gather due to Song Hak’s restraint. Paradoxically, because of that, his physical abilities were at their absolute peak. If he could use External Arts effectively, he might not surpass internal energy, but he could exert a power equivalent to it.
"It’s that you don't truly know what kind of martial arts are contained within the Azure Cloud lineage."
And that would be the key to breaking the restraint. When internal and external energy of the same strength collide, they can be considered equal. The outcome simply depends on how one has trained them.
"Among the Taoists of Azure Cloud, many researched External Arts. They even classified it as its own field, like swordsmanship or movement techniques."
Shring.
Seok Myeong drew his sword. The sound was as clear as ever. He had done nothing but sharpen his blade since he woke up, so it was only natural.
"Internal energy is about the Small and Great Heavenly Circuits centered around the Dantian, while External Arts are about tempering through constant hardship. But the method of exerting power is the same."
Seok Myeong swung his sword as he spoke to himself. The motion he repeated over and over was a single form: a fast, straight thrust while maintaining his center. In a way, it was similar to the Three Disaster Sword technique that even a common street thug might know. He stepped forward, swinging the sword rapidly as if drawing it from a sheath, then returned to his original position.
"The reason I’m not worried at all despite being restrained is..."
After repeating the same movement several times, Seok Myeong moved to a specific spot. It was a stone pillar standing in the center of the garden, looking as if it had been left there for a building that was never finished. Seok Myeong approached it.
"External Qi isn't about gathering energy like internal energy; it’s about focusing all your strength into a single point in an instant..."
He concentrated. The flow emanating from his breath connected once more from the tips of his toes. The flow surged naturally through his calves, waist, shoulders, and wrists.
According to the research of the Azure Cloud Taoists, this phenomenon was called 'Sensitization.' It was a technique to concentrate the power of External Arts—which would otherwise scatter because there was no place to store it—and focus it into a single point.
"The energy isn't materialized, but it can be fully imbued into the sword. If I’ve done this correctly, this should be cut clean through."
Clang!
The sword struck the stone pillar with a powerful blow. Seok Myeong’s body trembled. A shock so intense it made him want to drop the sword surged through his entire frame.
'Did I fail?' Seok Myeong’s worried gaze lingered for a moment.
And then...
Crack. Crack.
A change occurred.
Rumble!
Seok Myeong’s eyes widened. The massive stone pillar was crumbling into pieces before his very eyes. In that brief moment, an image began to form in Seok Myeong’s mind. It was the movement of Baek Yang-cheon swinging his sword.
'A stroke of fate!'
Seok Myeong had gained an unconscious realization from the movement he had just performed. That realization transported him back to the time of his duel with that man.
Whoosh!
The two figures moved. Baek Yang-cheon performed his first and second movements. His opponent—Seok Myeong himself—was parrying those strikes. Then came the third movement.
From that point on, it differed from the situation he remembered. Suddenly, a taut energy gathered around Baek Yang-cheon’s body and was sucked into his sword. There was no visible change to the blade, but that energy was clearly imbued within it.
Then, he saw himself receiving that third strike. He had been flustered by a pain that felt like his wrist was snapping. His face had contorted as if he were about to suffer an internal injury.
— This is the sum of all the secret truths of the Heavenly White Divine Art I have mastered.
At the time, Seok Myeong thought only one thing had changed. He thought it was just the direction of the wrist holding the sword. But that wasn't it. Hidden within was a profound logic: using pure external force instead of internal energy, and the secret of transforming external force into internal energy.
"That was it. Internal energy should be used like external force, and external force like internal energy. For instance, controlling the breath with internal energy to steady oneself, while striking the opponent with external force..."
He couldn't understand everything yet. But he felt he knew this much: to reach a higher realm, External Arts were absolutely essential.
For some reason, Seok Myeong felt a taut energy enveloping him. He felt a tingling sensation he had never experienced before pulling at him. He thought he knew what this feeling was.
'Azure Wind Origin Heart Method!'
It was the same energy that, before his three energies had merged, had lingered outside his body as External Qi to fight against the Demonic Qi.
"I... I can become even stronger!"
Seok Myeong let out a great laugh. The qi flowing through his entire body, over the surface of his skin—the external qigong of Qingcheng—wrapped around him like a sturdy suit of armor.