The Harmony of Yin and Yang

"A gift?"

"That's right. Take this jade token."

The token my master held out to me was carved, with exquisite care, into the shape of a dragon, and upon it was written only a single character.

"It is Paejon's jade token."

Paejon? Paejon was one of the Three Supreme Venerables of the world, the leader of the Four Hegemon Sect — one of the strongest beings alive.

"When you come of age, take that to him, and he will teach you martial arts."

"But why give it to me? Anyone can see it's important."

"He owes me a debt, but looking him in the face has grown... awkward. So I'm foisting the nuisance on you. Two birds, one stone."

What sort ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of man was my master, that he could put the Lord of the Four Hegemon Sect in his debt?

"Even so, I can't accept something like this."

"Ahem. When an elder gives you a thing, you say 'thank you' and take it."

I reached out to hand it back, but Master pushed my hand away.

"Th-thank you."

In the end I took the jade token with a sour face and slipped it into my sleeve.

"Right, then. Go eat your supper and get some sleep. I've more to teach you tomorrow."

With those words, Master vanished without a trace.

An uncanny man.

Unease lingered on both Tomusa's face and Myoryeong's, but they gathered themselves at once.

"Young Master, shall we go to dinner?"

"Yeah... we should."

I ate, and I bathed, and through all of it I could think of nothing but what I had learned that day. I could hardly believe I had learned martial arts at all — and yet this power, which had settled into me so naturally, no longer felt entirely strange. When I closed my hand and opened it again, with every single step, I could feel the force running through my body.

"Young Master, is something troubling you?"

Tomusa had seen me still awake, opening and closing my fist over and over, and she spoke.

"No. I just can't believe I'm actually learning martial arts."

At that, Tomusa pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Is that what's worrying you? Don't worry. I'm right here."

"I'm not worried, exactly. I just can't believe it."

"Today's training must have been a terrible shock. It's all right, Young Master. You may act spoiled if you like."

Not to be outdone, Myoryeong wrapped her arms around me from behind.

"I told you, it's not like that."

But the two of them scarcely listened. They were too busy competing, each determined not to lose me to the other.

Ah, forget it.

I slipped away into sleep in their arms.

Early that morning, Myoryeong and Tomusa watched I-hyeon receive his instruction.

"Who is that old man?"

"How should I know? But one thing is certain. He's a master."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Isn't he? We're this close, and not a sound leaks out. He must be sealing it with internal energy."

"Exactly. I watched yesterday, and I'm watching today, and I still can't even tell what martial arts he uses."

Tomusa bit her lip.

"And the killing intent that seeps off him, whether he means it or not, is no joke."

"I know. The first time I saw him, I thought my breath had stopped."

Myoryeong let out a sigh.

"I can't read his realm, either. How high is that man's cultivation? Can you gauge it?"

"If even you can't, Senior, how could I?"

Myoryeong smiled with feigned innocence.

"But aren't you excited?"

"About what?"

"The Young Master. He's being taught by someone that strong. Don't you wonder just how powerful he'll become?"

"...I'd rather it stayed like this forever. Me, protecting the Young Master."

"I don't think you need to worry about that. There will never be a moment when the Young Master doesn't need us."

"How can you be so sure...?"

"That's a secret."

Myoryeong laid a finger against Tomusa's lips.

"Th-this is no time for jokes!"

Meanwhile, with I-hyeon.

"Your guards get along well."

"Haha. Do they?"

I-hyeon gave an awkward laugh.

"Anyway. To borrow the words of those horse-nosed Taoist bastards, the energies of yin and yang oppose each other, and yet they depend on each other as well. This is called the Harmony of Yin and Yang. When yin and yang come into harmony, they give birth to qi — and that is what we are going to use."

"And what happens then?"

I-hyeon's master smiled a sly smile.

"If it's the Harmony of Yin and Yang, wouldn't it be simpler to just go learn it at the Wudang Sect...?"

His master gave him a light rap on the head.

Had Tomusa or Myoryeong seen it, they would have drawn their blades and charged. Fortunately, neither ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of them had.

"You little brat! I can teach you better than those horse-nosed Taoists! All they know is empty ritual and hollow show — pure frauds, the lot of them. Chase a famous name and you'll lose your nose for it. Besides, the procedure we're about to perform is one Wudang won't even do!"

Faced with his fuming master, I-hyeon reluctantly nodded.

"Your Innate True Qi is completely blocked right now. You were born bearing both yang and yin, but the two are mixed together in a turbid mess. Bring them into harmony, and your internal energy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠will never run dry."

"Innate True Qi... it isn't dangerous, is it...?"

I-hyeon looked at his master with a worried face.

"Well, if some nobody from next door tried it, sure, it'd be dangerous.... Don't worry. It's none other than me doing it myself."

I-hyeon regarded him with suspicious eyes.

"Well, look at this one. An elder says he'll do you a favor, and a 'thank you~' would hardly be enough."

"Tha—"

"Enough! Nothing but gratitude from the heart will do, and only after the procedure is finished."

Master, you're an elder, and yet you sulk.... A complete petty man.

So I-hyeon thought.

"Hey. You just called me a petty man in your head, didn't you."

I-hyeon startled and waved his hands.

"No! Of course not! I was looking forward to witnessing Master's martial prowess!"

"Hmph. Anyway — you know all twelve meridians, yes?"

"Yes. From the dantian it flows out to the thumb, then from the index finger up to the face, and then—"

"Enough. That'll do. Then can you draw out yang energy and yin energy at the same time?"

I-hyeon tilted his head.

"No — you can. When it comes to handling internal energy, you're already first-rate."

"M-me?!"

"Yes. Didn't you know? You can gather internal energy in your hand, can't you?"

I-hyeon gathered his internal energy into his right hand.

"Like this?"

"Yes. If you cannot feel qi, you are third-rate. Learn an internal method and feel qi, however faintly, and you are second-rate. Wield qi freely enough to pour internal energy into a weapon, and you are called first-rate. And you are already first-rate."

"But I've only been learning martial arts for a day."

"Mm... up through second-rate, I helped you, so it came easily. I beat it straight into your body."

The pain of yesterday rose in I-hyeon's memory, and a chill crawled over his skin.

"But reaching first-rate was purely your talent. Who would have thought you'd fall into a trance right there? Anyway — shall I beat this into you as well? Or will you do it alone?"

"I-I'll do it alone!"

I-hyeon hurriedly folded his legs into a lotus seat.

"Gather the yin energy first. That should be easier."

Separate yin and yang within my internal energy.... First, let me go back over the heart method.

So he thought.

A quarter of an hour, perhaps, and a bluish chill began to gather in I-hyeon's left hand. His master stroked the hand.

"Mm. Good. Now gather the yang."

At those words I-hyeon returned to the heart method. To handle two energies of different natures at once was no easy thing, and his master, knowing it, waited for him without hurry. I-hyeon knew it too. Sweat poured from him, and still he did not give up.

An hour, perhaps, and a warm heat began to rise from his right hand.

"Good. Now hold that energy fast, so it cannot leak away."

I-hyeon nodded.

His master stepped behind him.

Riiip.

And tore I-hyeon's clothes open, laying his back bare.

"No matter what happens, you do not release that energy until I tell you to."

"Yes. I understand."

"Then brace yourself."

Master set both hands upon I-hyeon's back, sent energy down into the depths of his dantian, and shattered his Innate True Qi.

Hk—!

The moment it broke, a tremendous pain crashed over I-hyeon.

This is nothing like any pain I've felt before. My body feels like it's going to burst!

He endured an agony as if his limbs were being torn from him, and still he clenched both fists hard so the energy in his hands would not leak away. The vast flood released when his Innate True Qi burst raced along his acupoints and circulated through his whole body, and at once he began to sweat at a speed beyond all comparison with before. More precisely, the impurities that had accumulated in his body were being driven out as sweat.

Kkugh....

But the more the impurities left him, the greater the pain that crushed him.

"Endure a little longer... just a little more...!"

I-hyeon heard his master's words clearly, and held on to a mind that felt ready to fly apart.

"Senior, shouldn't we stop those two? They've been like that for six hours already."

"No. Let's trust the old man. I don't know what he's doing, but if we interfere, we might ruin everything."

His master wanted to end the pain quickly as well. Separating the power released from the Innate True Qi into yang and yin, then compressing it again, was grueling work. He had already spent more than a full cycle — sixty years — of internal energy, a depth of power an ordinary person could not even imitate.

And so another two hours passed.

"Now! Release the energy in both hands!"

The moment he succeeded in separating and compressing I-hyeon's Innate True Qi, he shouted. I-hyeon heard him and slowly let go of the energy in his hands. At once those currents plunged deep into the dantian and began to wrap, each in its turn, around the yang and the yin his master had compressed.

Fwah....

Hah... hah....

When the ritual — no, the procedure — came to an end, both of them dragged in deep, ragged breaths.

As the pain receded, I-hyeon understood by instinct what had happened to his body. The strength gathered in his grip was different. Vitality overflowed in him. And from his dantian, faint but unmistakable, came a feeling of freshness. He could not help but marvel at the body he now inhabited.

"Th-thank you, Master!"

Overcome, I-hyeon bowed low before him.

"Yes. That's what I was waiting for."

Master broke into a great, open laugh, then pulled I-hyeon up from where he knelt upon the ground.

"Now let's go eat the meal we've been putting off!"

Whoosh.