The Fifth Day of Grinding
Yoo Eunhyeon cracked open the door the next morning, the wood creaking faintly in the early light.
From just beyond the treeline, the faint traces of mountain beasts still lingered in the air, but staying cooped up inside forever was never an option. Once he confirmed no one lurked nearby, he stepped out.
Heading straight to the courtyard, he hunted for the axe he’d used during practice—only to realize it had vanished somewhere in the chaos. That left him fetching a sickle from inside the house and hastily chopping a stout wooden pole.
‘This should work fine enough,’ he muttered.
Through the clash with Ga Un-seok and Sun U-gi, Yoo Eunhyeon had learned the hard way why martial arts mattered—not just to beat opponents, but to steer clear of needless trouble in the first place. So he had decided to drill Mudong Hwanmu with even greater focus.
Finishing his inner-energy cultivation inside the house, he hurried outside for the same reason: Sa Unsik and So Biwon had taught him only oral traditions, and letting them fade over time would be a pity.
So he had to embed them deeply while they were still fresh.
Whish!
Arms pumping, Yoo Eunhyeon swung the newly made pole. Mudong Hwanmu accepted any weapon, yet a sword-like shape felt right. So Biwon himself had demonstrated with a branch that mimicked a blade, after all.
Whish!
After a few more swings, a smile tugged at Yoo Eunhyeon’s lips. Even with his mind fully on the strikes, something felt sharper than before.
Yet without a master to guide him, relying solely on half-remembered lessons, Mudong Hwanmu remained brutally difficult.
Whenever a question arose, there was no one to ask. Thus his progress had to come from within.
“The problem is the formless… I still have no idea what it actually means.”
Following the stance again and again, Yoo Eunhyeon soon hit a wall and clutched his head.
He knew all too well how useless mere imitation was without true understanding.
“It said that because it’s formless, anything is possible. It holds infinite potential. Hmm…”
Muttering, his eyes suddenly lit up.
“Right. The root of everything. The seed. The starting point. The stance is the seed, and the earth that nurtures it… my own inner energy. In the end, it’s up to me.”
Inside him there was nothing but farming. So when he finally found the answer, he nodded with satisfaction.
Whether it was truly correct or not, the path had been cleared. From now on, his training would move forward without hesitation.
“Huu…”
Still swinging as he recalled So Biwon’s words, the sun had already crossed its meridian.
Just as Yoo Eunhyeon was about to sheath the pole, he shook it once more and raised it again.
Closing his eyes and gathering his focus, a tiny wisp of mist rose from his body.
From his dantian he pulled up his inner energy and circulated it through every meridian exactly as So Biwon had taught.
Finally the power spread throughout his entire frame. Without a thought he slashed outward in a cross-shaped stance.
Swoosh!
A clean, razor-sharp whistle split the air as a cross-shaped trajectory bloomed in the sky.
Because he now understood how to weave the formless and the tangible, his movements had become utterly precise.
Swish!
The cross slashed straight into the nearest tree. Yoo Eunhyeon studied the damage, then sighed in disappointment.
“Of course it didn’t work…”
The trunk bore a deep, clean cross-shaped gash, yet that was all. It was nothing more than a forceful swing; true Cross-River Slash required the clash of intersecting trajectories to produce real shock.
Since no such impact existed, the stance could not be called properly executed.
“If it were easier, at least it would be better, but… ah well.”
Sullen, his thoughts drifted to his mother, Su Hwa-seon. With the fields like this, there was no reason to stay here waiting for her return.
He needed to master Mudong Hwanmu as quickly as possible. So Biwon had promised that, with focused practice, a decent imitation could be achieved. Trusting his teacher’s word, Yoo Eunhyeon gripped the pole tighter and began again.
*
Five days had passed since that terrifying incident.
That day, too, Yoo Eunhyeon devoted every moment to cultivation.
After grasping the principle behind the stance, he had adjusted how he nurtured his inner energy, treating it exactly like a seed he must cultivate. How to grow it depended on what one wanted to grow—and that, to a lifetime farmer like Yoo Eunhyeon, was the most obvious truth.
“Huh?”
While training, Yoo Eunhyeon suddenly caught it—a faint tremor at the exact point where the Cross-River Slash trajectory crossed itself.
“Wait… did it really work? No way. I was told it couldn’t. Still feels different though…”
Staring at the pole in his hand, he muttered to himself. Something had changed, yet it wasn’t quite the same as what So Biwon had shown.
Without anyone to ask, that frustration would never fade.
Tap.
At that moment, his senses flared.
Given how alert he was, he almost thought he’d misheard—but it was unmistakably footsteps.
Instantly he spun, raised the pole in perfect instinctual defense.
“Easy now. If you rush in swinging that, you’ll only hurt yourself.”
The figure approaching was a woman whose height nearly matched his own. Though Yoo Eunhyeon was far from short, the woman’s stature suggested she stood well above average.
Wearing a simple light-blue jacket, she chose comfort over flash. Her face was gaunt, sharp eyes piercing, and fine lines at the corners hinted at a few more years than him.
“Very keen senses. You hold your stance well.”
“And you… who are you?”
Recalling the events of recent days, Yoo Eunhyeon replied curtly.
Yet unlike Gu Jung-ho or Jang Man-eung, who had eyed him suspiciously, this woman smiled at him with genuine warmth.
“You’re Eunhyeon?”
Yoo Eunhyeon could only nod. Seeing the kind smile and the relaxed way she lowered the pole, she added, “I knew it. Anyway… what in the world is going on here? I came for a quick visit, but a mountain of corpses? Demonic Cult remnants and Heavenly Martial Alliance warriors…?”
Looking down at the field below, she frowned slightly. Yoo Eunhyeon realized she was also a martial artist.
Now that he was one, he found the sight tiresome. His own brows furrowed, but she turned away and spoke again.
“Ah, allow me to introduce myself. I am Yeo U-hui. I came at your mother’s request.”
“M-Mother?”
Still on guard, Yoo Eunhyeon’s tension vanished the instant she mentioned Su Hwa-seon.
“Indeed. This…”
Yeo U-hui nodded and reached into her sleeve, handing over a letter. Yoo Eunhyeon snatched it and unfolded it hurriedly.
Guilt-ridden over leaving so soon, she had planned to travel quickly but found the situation worse than expected. She would return as fast as possible—please rest well and stay safe.
The bearer of this letter is my friend; treat her with courtesy. You’re not a child anymore, so you should be able to manage alone.
It may not be clear, but no matter how late, she would definitely return by harvest season. Your mother is not ill or anything—please do not worry and focus on your own affairs.
The letter ended there. Yoo Eunhyeon recognized the elegant script at once.
He let out a sigh of relief, knowing Su Hwa-seon was safe.
“Thank you for delivering the letter, Yeo U-hui-nim?”
Su Hwa-seon had warned Yeo U-hui not to be rude, and Yoo Eunhyeon had no intention of being rude to a stranger either. He bowed deeply in gratitude.
Still, the proper way to address her lingered in his mind, so the words came out a little hesitant.
Yeo U-hui chuckled softly, finding him adorable. “Call me Auntie U-hui. Your mother and I have known each other since we were children at the study hall.”
“Yes, Auntie U-hui. It’s not proper to linger out here. Please come inside.”
“Mmm… all right. Let me enjoy being treated like a nephew, shall I?”
Yeo U-hui swept the area with a sharp glance, as if weighing something, then accepted the invitation and stepped into the house.
Yoo Eunhyeon quickly set out water and served tea, along with a simple plate of dried fruits and jerky.
“Coming from so far must have been tiring.”
“Not at all. I actually took my time and feel even more energized. Still, it looks like I should have come sooner.”
“Thank you for coming anyway.”
“Indeed… I was only supposed to deliver the letter and stay a day before leaving, but that won’t work now. You must explain what happened here.”
“Well…”
Since there was nothing to hide, Yoo Eunhyeon calmly recounted the events after his mother left. As he spoke, Yeo U-hui’s expression grew steadily grim.
“So Sa Unsik and So Biwon really said that?”
“Yes.”
“That’s impossible. The Thousand-Year Dark Demon and the Twin Immortals of Sword and Blade actually came here? The Twin Immortals seem to have followed the Thousand-Year Dark Demon here, but… wait. More importantly, did they take something from us? What was it?”
Yeo U-hui demanded, urgent in her tone, yet Yoo Eunhyeon shook his head.
“They only taught us how to farm. Who are you calling ‘they’?”
After a brief hesitation, Yeo U-hui finally spoke. “The Lord of the Demonic Cult, Sa Unsik, the Thousand-Year Dark Demon, and the Leader of the Heavenly Martial Alliance, So Biwon, the Twin Immortals of Sword and Blade. The greatest figures under heaven.”