Chapter 30
"Grandfather... was the Deputy Hall Lord of the Demon Hall."
Bu Eun-seol's body trembled faintly.
He had long suspected that Bu Jan-yang was no ordinary undertaker.
But to think he was the second-in-command of the Demon Hall, which ruled the Demonic Path Murim.
No. That can't be.
Bu Jan-yang had been working as an undertaker under the Magistrate's Office for some thirty years.
No matter how unspeakable a past he carried, there was no way a figure who managed the Demonic Martial World would work as an undertaker, washing the corpses of those who had died away from home.
"Hmm."
Blood Vajra's state of mind was equally confused.
The Seven Fingers Demonic Blade was a master of Shaolin? That cannot be.
There was no way the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade, said to be second only to the Lord of the Demon Hall, would have cultivated the Tendon Transformation Sutra of Shaolin.
But he could swear that what Bu Eun-seol had learned was the Qi Circulation Breathing Method from the Tendon Transformation and Marrow Cleansing Sutra. This was because he had once read the original text of the Tendon Transformation and Marrow Cleansing Sutra, known as the foremost heart method of the Righteous Faction.
"I do not know whether I should teach you, or tell them to bring someone else."
"I do not understand what you mean."
Blood Vajra stared directly at Bu Eun-seol and spoke.
"That breathing method you have cultivated until now is, in truth, a secret art of the Shaolin Sect."
When this shocking answer came back, Bu Eun-seol's face turned ashen.
Then Grandfather was originally a master of the Righteous Faction?
If Bu Jan-yang was a master of the Righteous Faction, and if this fact were to come to light before the Demon Hall?
Bu Eun-seol would find himself in a situation where he could not guarantee his life, let alone his position as a Ten Demonic Heir.
"Are you suspicious of me?"
"I am not."
Unexpectedly, Blood Vajra's expression was one of indifference.
"The Demon Hall has already completed its investigation of the Ten Demonic Heir candidates. If your background had been suspect, you could never have become a Ten Demonic Heir."
"But... is that not because the Demon Hall did not know about the breathing method I cultivated?"
At Bu Eun-seol's sharp observation, Blood Vajra wore a peculiar smile.
"Correct. If they knew you had cultivated a Nourishing Life Secret Art of the Righteous Faction, the Demon Hall would certainly investigate again."
Bu Eun-seol closed his mouth.
Whether he could become the inheritor of Langya Pavilion, or whether he would be subjected to the Demon Hall's investigation as things stood—it all rested solely in Blood Vajra's hands.
"This humble monk..."
After a long silence, Blood Vajra opened his mouth.
"Whether you have cultivated the internal energy of the Righteous Faction or the internal energy of the Demonic Path, I have no interest."
"Why... is that?"
"Why, you ask."
Letting out a low snort, Blood Vajra gazed at the distant sky and spoke in a low voice.
"Pretend I did not hear that question."
Across Blood Vajra's eyes flickered a lingering memory of something beyond his reach.
It was clear he was recalling a distant past, not the present.
As if proving that among those of the murim who live with blades at their throats, there is no one without circumstances.
"Thank you."
As Bu Eun-seol bowed his head, Blood Vajra shook his head.
"There is no need for thanks. If I teach you the Reverse Polarity Heart Method, this humble monk can also leave this place."
"You mean... you will be leaving?"
"Indeed. That was the promise I made with Langya Pavilion in the first place."
Upon hearing those words, Bu Eun-seol could guess how Blood Vajra, whose dantian had been destroyed, had been able to recover his internal energy and reappear in the murim.
And why he was staying at the summit of Sword Brow Mountain, where Langya Pavilion was located.
He owes a debt to Langya Pavilion.
It was clear that Langya Pavilion had helped Blood Vajra, whose dantian had been destroyed, in exchange for his Internal Energy Method.
Otherwise, there was no way he would transmit an Internal Energy Method—the lifeline of a martial artist, taught only to direct disciples—to a complete stranger.
"Hmph."
As if seeing through Bu Eun-seol's inner thoughts, Blood Vajra spoke in a murderous voice.
"If you expose the heart method I teach you to anyone from Langya Pavilion, or to any other person..."
His eyes, pausing for a moment, seemed to unleash hundreds of blades.
"No—if you reveal even a single character of the teachings, I will immediately kill not only you, but everyone connected to you."
Had it been an ordinary martial artist, they would have sworn an oath with a solemn expression.
But Bu Eun-seol bowed his head and made a deep, formal bow.
That gesture carried more weight than hundreds of solemn oaths.
"..."
For a moment, a silence like death itself flowed across Iron Palm Peak.
"Good. Then there is no need to waste time—let us begin at once."
Blood Vajra, breaking the long silence, continued speaking.
"The mental cultivation method this humble monk will teach is called the Reverse Polarity Heart Method. Because this heart method is an internal energy method that crosses over from the Demonic Path to the Righteous Path..."
He paused for a moment, then furrowed his brows.
"Do you know the difference between the internal energy methods of the Righteous Faction and the internal energy methods of the Demonic Path?"
"I do not."
Internal energy methods are the most profound part of martial arts.
Bu Eun-seol, who had only learned the basics of Sword Studies, could not possibly know such a thing.
Blood Vajra, as if he had no choice, began explaining one thing at a time.
"The internal energy methods of the Righteous Faction accumulate internal power through life-nourishing secrets such as qi circulation and breathing exercises, and store it in the dantian. It is the same as the sun rising in the morning and the moon rising at night. In other words, it is extremely natural to the human body, and can be called a method of walking the Righteous Path."
"Natural..."
"Indeed."
He paused for a moment, then asked Bu Eun-seol.
"Then can you guess what the heart methods of the Demonic Path are like?"
Bu Eun-seol, after thinking for a moment, answered.
"As long as one can accumulate true qi, do they not attempt any method whatsoever?"
"Exactly right."
Blood Vajra nodded.
"The internal energy methods of the Demonic Path use any method whatsoever, so long as true qi can be accumulated within a short period. Because of that, most of them contain formulas that allow one to accumulate enormous true qi from the very beginning."
Blood Vajra's eyes narrowed as he continued speaking.
"But such methods can be called a reversal that does not suit the body or the natural order. Do you understand the difference?"
When Bu Eun-seol shook his head, Blood Vajra spoke.
"If you train in the internal energy methods of the Righteous Faction and the Demonic Path for ten years, you cannot feel a great difference. But after twenty years, a gap opens in the purity of true qi, and after thirty years, the level of internal energy differs to the point that comparison is no longer possible."
Bu Eun-seol took a deep breath.
"So in order to properly learn martial arts, one must ultimately learn the internal energy of the Righteous Faction."
"Not at all."
Pride spread through Blood Vajra's eyes.
"The Reverse Polarity Heart Method that this humble monk will transmit is the most wondrous and superior of all the internal energy methods scattered throughout the world. This heart method has completely escaped the restrictions of Demonic Path Martial Arts."
Despite its astonishing merits, Bu Eun-seol's expression was not particularly pleased.
Rather, the more the Reverse Polarity Heart Method was spoken of as extraordinary, the darker his expression became.
'Whatever is outstanding demands a price equal to its worth.'
As if to prove him right, Blood Vajra's expression darkened as he continued speaking.
"However, this Reverse Polarity Heart Method is far too difficult to learn. One must forge a body that can synchronize with the circulation of internal energy and the flow of qi vessels in any situation whatsoever."
And then he held out his left finger. There was nothing left on the finger.
"That process was so agonizing that I opened my mouth and chewed off my own finger and swallowed it."
For a master like Blood Vajra to chew off and swallow his own finger.
That pain was not only unspeakably intense, but clearly lasted for a long time.
"The Reverse Polarity Heart Method is divided into eight stages. Merely by reaching the fifth stage, I was able to possess the greatest internal energy under heaven."
Even though Blood Vajra spoke of being the greatest under heaven, he wore a bitter expression.
"However, martial arts cannot gain the upper hand through the realm of internal energy alone. It is merely one means among others."
"I will do my best."
"It is too early to say such things. I have not yet decided to teach you the heart method."
Blood Vajra said something unexpected.
Then what was everything he had said up until now?
"Because the Reverse Polarity Heart Method is not something one can learn simply by being taught it."
A profound light flowed from Blood Vajra's eyes as he looked at Bu Eun-seol's face.
"If you cannot learn it, then this humble monk will have failed to keep the promise of transmission... and so this body, too, will be unable to leave."
Then he gazed at the distant sky and spoke in a low voice.
"In the first place, that man Dan Cheong said he would send me a prodigy capable of learning the Reverse Polarity Heart Method. Before I knew it, ten years have passed since then."
Ten years.
Blood Vajra, in order to keep his promise, had waited ten years for a prodigy to whom he could transmit the Reverse Polarity Heart Method.
"I will definitely learn the Reverse Polarity Heart Method."
At Bu Eun-seol's words, Blood Vajra nodded.
"To do so, you must first pass a test. Whether you are capable of learning the Reverse Polarity Heart Method."
"If it's a test."
"From now on, I will use Reverse Polarity True Qi to pierce your acupoints. Because to learn the Reverse Polarity Heart Method, there must not be a single speck of turbid qi in your qi vessels."
'Is merely clearing the turbid qi accumulated in my body supposed to be a test?'
"Injecting true qi to pierce the acupoints and clear the turbid qi accumulated in them is something that must be done slowly, over time. No matter how iron-boned a man is, he can only have one acupoint pierced per day."
When Bu Eun-seol made an expression of incomprehension, Blood Vajra bared his fangs and smiled.
"This humble monk will now pierce all three hundred sixty-five acupoints at once. I guarantee that the pain will be unbearable without chewing off a finger or two."
Blood Vajra, who had been staring intently into Bu Eun-seol's eyes, opened his mouth.
"I warn you, if you lack confidence, it would be best to give up."
And then he revealed his own left hand, from which all the fingers had been severed, and smiled.
"For without fingers, no matter how great the internal energy you have cultivated, you would not be able to learn the martial arts of Langya Pavilion."
"I will do it."
At Bu Eun-seol's answer, which came without a shred of hesitation, Blood Vajra nodded.
"Good. Do not regret it!"
Simultaneous with his shout, hundreds of rays of light poured out from the fingers of Blood Vajra's right hand.
The Beginningless Endless Finger, the True Body Supreme Technique of Heavenly Dragon Temple, had been unleashed.
Swa-ra-ra-rak.
The finger wind that Blood Vajra scattered poured onto Bu Eun-seol's body like a brilliant flame exploding.
Pa-pa-pa-pak.
Bu Eun-seol's pupils dilated as the finger wind struck him.
Crackle.
His muscles began to swell, pushing out against his worn martial uniform. At the same time, sweat began to stream down his face like rain.
'So it begins now.'
Blood Vajra narrowed his eyes.
The act of piercing the acupoints to remove the turbid qi within the body is, in truth, close to an act of torture.
Because when one pours out true qi to pierce the acupoints, a pain is felt as if one's bones were being forcibly pulled out and scraped with a blade.
The famous torture techniques of the murim, such as the Hellish Yin Punishment or the Blue Death Hand Punishment, are for the most part methods of forcibly pouring true qi into the acupoints.
'He will soon howl.'
Blood Vajra was certain.
Since he had pierced the acupoints in a short time... Bu Eun-seol would feel a pain as if every blood vessel in his entire body were on fire.
"Mm."
But Bu Eun-seol let out a short groan.
And with a very low and impassive expression, at that.
'Hm?'
When Bu Eun-seol, whom he had expected to writhe in agony, let out no more than a short groan, a light of puzzlement flashed in Blood Vajra's eyes.
'Has the turbid qi in his blood vessels not yet been expelled enough?'
He soon shook his head.
Thick sweat was already pouring from Bu Eun-seol's body like rain.
That was a phenomenon that occurred when the true qi injected into the body acted properly, forcibly driving out the turbid qi.
"Euhm."
At that moment, Bu Eun-seol let out another groan.
With a very satisfied tone, and with an expression as if he were sitting in a pleasant resort receiving an energy channeling treatment.
'So this is what it means to have one's acupoints pierced.'
Bu Eun-seol had quietly closed his eyes.
The true qi circulating through his body was gently caressing his acupoints, as if it were a mother's touch.
At times, a fierce energy burrowed in as if to tear his blood vessels apart, but soon the warm heat rising from his dantian alleviated the pain.
"Euhm."
Heat rose ceaselessly from his dantian, warming his entire body, and each time sweat flowed from his body, it felt as if the filth inside him was being expelled.
"No way."
Blood Vajra, who had been looking down at the drops of sweat Bu Eun-seol had shed, began to widen his eyes.
His expression was like that of a fraudulent shaman who, while writing a talisman, had seen a real ghost.
'You mean to say there was no turbid qi in his acupoints to begin with?!'
The sweat expelled after piercing the acupoints is not only stained black, but also gives off a terrible stench.
But the sweat Bu Eun-seol had shed was merely darkish, and gave off no smell whatsoever.
His qi vessels were in a clean state, as if he were a newborn baby.
"Heh-heh-heh-heh."
Laughter burst from the mouth of Blood Vajra, who had now grasped everything.
The Reverse Polarity Heart Method, a deathly internal energy secret that could never be learned due to its death-like pain.
But sitting before his eyes was a prodigy who could complete that very method.
"Ha-ha-ha!"
Blood Vajra burst into mad laughter.
"You said your name was Bu Eun-seol."
From Blood Vajra's eyes as he looked at Bu Eun-seol, a heat burst forth that seemed capable of melting even iron.
"From today onward, I shall transmit the Reverse Polarity Heart Method to you."