Chapter 8
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Spirit Stones and Dantian Creation
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‘A magic academy. In terms of the Central Plains, it's something like a martial sect.’
Though it was his first time seeing one, Ruyan was fortunate enough to find information about magic academies in his memories.
To put it simply, it was a gathering of mages.
Just as the sects of the Central Plains passed down martial arts and built strength, the magic academies here served the same purpose.
‘Gatherings are all the same, no matter where you go.’
Whether it was magic or martial arts, the academies and sects behaved in exactly the same way.
They checked and opposed one another, and even dove into various profit-making ventures to expand their influence.
Such selfish groups were far from welcome to Ruyan, who had wandered the martial world alone because he despised them.
‘I don't want to get involved, but I need those items right now, so no choice.’
Ruyan kept his displeasure in check, managing his expression as he entered the Brighton Magic Academy.
On the first floor, just like the building's exterior, there was a lavishly decorated shop selling magic items.
A middle-aged mage wearing a distinctive pointed hat spotted Ruyan and approached slowly.
"What do you want?"
The mage's response was rather curt.
Ruyan's clothes were shabby, and his face still held a youthful innocence, so he clearly wasn't being seen as a customer.
‘What a poorly disciplined fool.’
Someone who judged others by appearances alone. With such a shallow character, Ruyan saw no reason to treat him warmly.
Ruyan pulled out a note and casually held it out. It listed the materials he'd seen in Blanc's research journal.
"Got these?"
The mage glanced at the note, then scanned Ruyan up and down with a reluctant nod.
"We have them, but are you buying? They're not cheap."
"How much?"
"Let me see. All this together... it'll be at least 22 silver."
22 silver!
One silver equaled 100 coppers, making it a whopping 2,200 coppers.
‘Damn! I heard they were expensive, but this is outrageous.’
22 silver meant he'd have to empty every coin he'd saved over the past fortnight—including today's wages.
‘Tch. That was money for Dad's favorite fruits and meats.’
Ruyan felt a pang of regret, but he had no other choice at the moment.
If it was for Blanc, he'd buy it no matter the price.
"I'll take them."
Ruyan replied curtly and set down his heavy coin pouch with a thud.
The mage tilted his head, opened the pouch, and his eyes widened at the overflowing coppers.
"P-Please wait just a moment. I'll fetch the items right away."
Having confirmed the money, the mage panicked and hurried off somewhere.
He soon returned with a few fingernail-sized stones.
‘These pathetic pebbles cost that much?’
They were uniquely brimming with mana, but they were still just stones.
Even Ruyan, who had no greed for wealth, couldn't hide his sense of futility.
"This is really it?"
"Yes, exactly as listed on the note. But, customer, may I ask why you're purchasing them?"
Perhaps because Ruyan had thrown down such a large sum, the mage's attitude had turned polite.
But Ruyan had no reason to answer.
"I need them."
"Of course, of course. My apologies."
The mage bowed deeply, his head low in an almost servile manner.
‘Tch. If it weren't absolutely necessary, I wouldn't deal with the likes of him.’
Ruyan swallowed his disdain inwardly, turned on his heel, and left the shop.
But for some reason...
The moment Ruyan left and the shop door closed, the mage's demeanor flipped.
His eyes gleamed as he glared sharply at the door Ruyan had exited through.
‘Better report it, just in case.’
The mage pulled out a piece of parchment and scribbled hastily.
-Spirit Stone buyer appeared. Will monitor.
Ruyan clutched the magic materials close to his chest and quickened his pace.
‘Dad's going to love this, right?’
Imagining Blanc rushing excitedly to his workshop eased the hollow feeling in his chest.
He'd blown through his entire fortune, but money could always be earned again.
Even hurrying as he was, by the time Ruyan reached home, the moon hung high in the sky.
In the dark mountains, only a single ramshackle hut persisted with its faint lantern light.
From afar, Ruyan could detect the subtle breathing coming from the front yard.
‘Knew it. That's why I told him not to wait up.’
Muffling his footsteps, he approached quietly—and sure enough, Blanc was sprawled asleep in the front yard.
He'd waited for his son until exhaustion took him.
‘Pushing himself too hard again.’
Hardly any mana remained in Blanc's body, a sign he'd been deeply immersed in his research.
‘In that state, who was he planning to wait for?’
Ruyan clicked his tongue inwardly, carefully scooping Blanc into his arms.
Laying him on the soft bed and covering him with the fluffy quilt eased Blanc's expression.
The very first things Ruyan had bought with his earnings were that bed and quilt.
‘Research is fine, but he really should take better care of himself.’
Ruyan gathered natural energy with all his might and pushed it into Blanc's body.
He couldn't fully heal him yet, but suppressing the pain was within his power.
Woooong.
As the natural energy seeped in, a faint light emanated from Blanc's body.
‘Gotta be careful. Might wake him otherwise.’
Ruyan ensured the pure energy didn't clash rashly with stagnant qi, gently massaging Blanc's muscles.
Blanc's rigid body soon went limp.
The tension released, plunging him into deeper sleep.
Perhaps dreaming of a breakthrough in his research— a thick smile spread across Blanc's face.
‘Can't say I don't understand.’
Blanc had devoted his life to researching new magic theory solely to save his family.
But with Ruyan's health restored, the urgency was gone, allowing pure scholarly pursuit.
Reclaiming a life long abandoned. How could he not be joyful?
‘I was the same once.’
Ruyan knew well the immense happiness it brought a martial artist.
Discovering a new realm or its clue left him too thrilled for sleep.
‘Keep walking that joyful path... I'll always have your back.’
Ruyan smiled softly and quietly slipped out of the house.
Today had run later than usual, but it wasn't time to end the day.
No—it was just the real start.
As Ruyan ventured a bit into the mountains from home, his private training ground appeared.
At a glance, it was a barren clearing with crude exercise equipment.
But closer inspection revealed the trees encircling it positioned oddly.
A formation incorporating natural five elements principles, allowing sunlight and wind to flow freely.
Training here sped muscle and stamina recovery fivefold and greatly aided energy circulation.
‘It's fully charged with energy.’
Though not a formation expert, Ruyan was a martial artist who could command nature through will alone.
Such basic formations were well within his ability.
Basic to him, perhaps—but objectively, even a Shaolin high monk would covet it greedily.
Savoring the natural energy, Ruyan regulated his breath, then snapped his eyes open and stepped forward.
A martial artist who had reached the peak knew his path clearly.
A bow's power is determined by the resilience of its body and string.
The sturdier and less flexible the bow, the more powerful the arrow it launches.
Such bows are naturally heavy and massive.
People often think aiming is hardest, but lifting it with one hand is the real challenge.
‘For an archer, raw strength is paramount.’
Ruyan was convinced.
Flexibility, reflexes, focus—all came after properly drawing the bow.
That's why he was sweating profusely, wrestling with a long rope.
He needed to build strength.
Weaving hides and tendons from hunted beasts into a rope, tying it taut between trees created an excellent apparatus.
The rope was so tough that initially, even with both hands, he could barely pull a handspan.
Now he could manage five with one hand, but Ruyan wasn't satisfied.
‘Time to ramp up the intensity.’
A normal archer would suffice here, but Ruyan's goals were different from the start.
‘Ordinary strength handles only ordinary bows.’
On the Sobles Continent, there were "Heavy Bows" weighing 20kg.
But Ruyan wanted at least three times that.
In his past life, he'd drawn a 100-catty (60kg) bow like rubber.
Reaching that required far more than his current training.
Finishing the pulling drills, Ruyan immediately grabbed a lump of iron with one hand and held it steady.
A hunk from the smithy, roughly 30kg.
Pure physical strength, no natural energy.
Gritting his teeth, he endured—but after just 20 minutes, his arm drooped.
‘Still a long way to go.’
Not satisfactory. He needed at least 30 minutes to advance weights.
That was merely a step.
Ultimately, 60kg for over three hours, without a tremor.
Only then could he shoot.
In the Central Plains, all revered the Divine Bow as innate, but his fame was hard-earned.
Solely through effort.
To wield past life's prowess in this body, grueling training was essential.
After two hours of strength work, torn muscles healed rapidly, leaving his body creaking.
A brutally tight schedule.
But without rest, Ruyan sat cross-legged.
Internal cultivation was as vital as physical.
Or rather, for current Ruyan, what followed was even more crucial.
‘Form the dantian!’
Embarrassingly difficult to express in mere words.
It was akin to turning the impossible possible.
Yet Ruyan closed his eyes calmly, focusing his mind without a twitch.
‘Even a stray thought is dangerous. Concentrate.’
The start was oddly imaginative.
Ruyan pictured a dantian in his lower abdomen.
Visualizing its form relentlessly, never doubting.
‘I have a dantian!’
Gradually, the image solidified, imprinting fully in his mind.
A phantom dantian!
Without hesitation, Ruyan forced natural energy into his lower abdomen.
Astonishingly, it condensed into inner power, settling there.
The imagined dantian began functioning for real.
‘Nothing special. Energy gathers where a dantian exists—natural, right?’
Ruyan never doubted, brainwashing himself to the end.
Naturally, he drew inner power from the dantian and began the Lesser Heavenly Circuit per the Return Heart Technique.
Woooong.
The inner power obeyed his will, surging from the dantian along the Conception Vessel.
But that was it.
Following the technique, it scattered before reaching the first acupoint.
A physical limit willpower couldn't overcome.
Perfect failure, on the surface.
But it wasn't over. Here, the Return Heart Technique's wonder activated.