Time of Growth (2)
The next morning, Cheon-geuk opened her eyes.
She had circulated her energy until dawn and then caught a brief nap, but morning had already arrived. As she sat up, Baek So-cheon's outer robe slipped off her.
"Awake?"
Baek So-cheon was boiling something in a pot a short distance from where she had slept, the fragrant aroma whetting the appetite.
"What's that?"
"Just a stew with whatever I threw in. The inn's not open, so I grabbed some basic ingredients and whipped this up. Gotta eat a solid breakfast if we're training today."
"Smells good. You cook?"
"Never done it properly. Just tossing stuff in and boiling."
On the battlefield, warriors assigned to cooking might prepare meals, but most times they made do with jerky or simple fare, or roasted wild game like deer or rabbits.
"Come eat."
"Okay."
Baek So-cheon ladled the stew into a bowl. He'd picked up bowls while buying ingredients. She took a sip and exclaimed in delight.
"Whoa! Delicious!"
"Really?"
"You could be a chef."
"Glad it tastes good."
"I'll make breakfast tomorrow."
"You'll have an even harder time getting up."
"Oh."
She made a deliberately pitiful face, thinking of yesterday's training all over again.
"Chew thoroughly and eat slowly if you wanna live long."
After finishing their meal and loosening up, the two began their serious training.
Today was practical sparring again. Though called sparring, their fights were close to desperate life-or-death struggles. The difference now was that they controlled it meticulously.
Baek So-cheon was the one truly managing the real combat.
It looked the same speed as yesterday, but it wasn't. He had subtly increased the pace and intensity.
Cheon-geuk couldn't tell, but such minute differences weren't to be dismissed. They accumulated over the entire day.
That's why, by the end of the second session, she collapsed completely.
If Baek So-cheon hadn't forced her up for energy circulation, she wouldn't have woken the next day.
When she barely managed to rise, Baek So-cheon had breakfast ready again. He'd reheated dishes bought from the inn the night before, making a decent spread.
"I was supposed to make it today. Sorry."
But Baek So-cheon was the one truly sorry. He was pushing her to exhaustion by ramping up the difficulty.
On the third day, he raised the overall speed and attack power even higher than the day before.
She should have been adapting more each day, but the sparring felt increasingly harder. She chalked it up to fatigue.
But it was all part of Baek So-cheon's meticulous plan.
For her sake? No. This process was purely training for himself.
Controlling a match against a master like Cheon-geuk was incredibly demanding. That's why Baek So-cheon was drained by the end as well, pouring every ounce of mental and internal energy into it.
This was the true measure of his prowess.
On the fourth day, Cheon-geuk nearly slipped up. She almost got stabbed by Baek So-cheon's sword again.
"Get your head in the game!"
Baek So-cheon barked.
"Sorry!"
It wasn't a lapse in focus. Her mental fortitude was at its peak. The training had reached a level where a split-second mistake meant life or death.
By the end, she was swinging her sword half out of her mind. She lacked even the strength to hold it, yet executed forms. It was another testament to the human body's greatness.
Day five of training. The sparring intensity rose further.
If they'd done today's bout right after day one, she'd have noticed immediately. But like clothes soaking in a drizzle, the escalation was gradual, so she didn't. She still blamed the mounting fatigue.
She had to fight with everything she had. It was brutally tough, but she endured for Baek So-cheon's sake. She feared one day regretting not being a better training partner.
'I should have trained harder with him back then.'
And so the final day ended. Now she understood why he'd set it at seven days. She was utterly spent, unable to continue.
"That's it!"
The sweetest words she'd ever heard.
"Ah! Finally over."
Cheon-geuk flopped backward.
Baek So-cheon lay beside her.
"My back hurts. Prop me up."
"Too tired."
"Why's it so exhausting?"
"Fatigue buildup."
He planned to keep escalating and wouldn't tell her until she figured it out herself.
"At this rate, my martial arts might improve again."
Said half-jokingly instead of complaining about the hardship, but Baek So-cheon gave an unexpected reply.
"Not far off."
"What?"
"Your next breakthrough."
"What?!"
Cheon-geuk shot up in shock.
"Say that again. You mean my skills can advance again now?"
"If we keep this up. It's close."
This training's grueling danger and massive stimulus for a warrior spoke volumes.
"It's only been how long since my last breakthrough?"
"So how long does it take? Three years? Ten? Is it set in stone? At your level, it could happen the next day or never in a lifetime."
"Still, too soon."
"Varies by person. Talent, circumstances."
"And who you train with, right?"
Baek So-cheon chuckled.
"Don't get cocky. It's in sight, not imminent."
"Got it!"
Thrilled as she was, Cheon-geuk hoped this training wasn't ultimately for her own growth.
"What about you? See your next step?"
"Not sure. Wrong method? Not enough effort? Feels like filling a huge jar drop by drop with a tiny cup."
"Hang in there. It'll overflow someday."
Baek So-cheon hoped so too. One day, sudden enlightenment: Why didn't I think of this simple thing?
"Shall we head back?"
"Yeah."
They left the secret training ground. Too exhausted for intimacy. But the joy of surviving that hellish training rivaled the satisfaction of lovemaking.
They parted in the alley.
"See you at the training ground in seven days."
After parting with Cheon-geuk, Baek So-cheon dove straight into his solo training.
Training could be interrupted anytime. Maximize time when possible.
First, he entered the Cheon-ryong Secret Realm and soaked in the Dragon Spring.
He spent the day there, shedding the accumulated fatigue.
Fully recovered, he emerged.
Now he ran. Time to seriously train Wind God Movement.
He'd poured everything into Thousand-Handed Asura God Sword lately, so this different lightness skill would clear his head.
Baek So-cheon ran and ran.
Few people in the remote areas, but he wore a mask anyway. Better safe.
First time seriously training Wind God Movement since his martial prowess advanced. He focused, certain of gains.
After lightness training, he visited the Bi-gak warriors. Under Wang-ho's command, they were in full training.
Like with Hyun-cheon-dae, he corrected their forms, fixed bad habits, and advised focused training tailored to their arts.
No time during war, then his wandering phase. This was his first real instruction.
The Bi-gak warriors were overjoyed at his earnest guidance.
Baek So-cheon hated demanding blind loyalty. He'd lived that life but wanted better for his subordinates—fair rewards for loyalty.
After guiding them, he cultivated his heart method in the Dragon Spring, then ended with Heavenly Thunder Nine Fists.
Wind God Movement, Bi-gak guidance, heart method, Heavenly Thunder Nine Fists.
He repeated this cycle.
On the seventh day, real progress.
Immovable Wisdom King Heart Method reached the seventh stage. Wind God Movement advanced from fourth to fifth, then sixth. These basics grew rapidly with training.
Less training results, more aligning with his martial realm.
Heavenly Thunder Nine Fists, freely wielding up to the fifth—Ten Thousand Li Vast Sky—now reached the sixth: Clear Moon Light Wind.
From the sixth, power shifted. Fist forms swept multiple foes at once, despite being fist arts.
Unleashing max internal energy, his fist wind ravaged surroundings. Massive boulders shattered. Ordinary warriors, let alone those without protective aura, couldn't withstand—flesh and bone would fail.
Seven days later, second round with Cheon-geuk began.
Baek So-cheon escalated daily again, starting from the prior session's end. Far tougher than before.
Even fully rested, Cheon-geuk felt the difference. But she thought it was his growth, not deliberate escalation.
His progress outpacing hers made it relatively harder.
As intensity mounted, both struggled more. He had to protect her while sustaining the madness.
On the morning of the seventh day after the sixth session's end, during circulation, Baek So-cheon's eyes snapped open.
A thought flashed through his mind.
He bolted up and swung his sword.
Startled, Cheon-geuk halted circulation. Sensing his epiphany, she watched silently, barely breathing.
Baek So-cheon unleashed Thousand-Handed Asura God Sword.
Sword lines traced: first form to fifth in an instant.
The next moment.
Another line appeared. Previous traces gone, but unmistakably new.
Sixth form: Heaven Extinguishing Form.
Success at last in executing the blocked form.
Recalling the day's spar with Cheon-geuk, it clicked. Unrelated at first, then linked to the jammed part.
'Huh? What if I do it this way?'
Incredibly, it worked. He could perform the sixth.
Baek So-cheon laughed loudly, joy uncontained.
"Hahaha!"
Cheon-geuk rose and asked.
"You did it?"
"Yeah. Just one form left."
"Congrats!"
She rushed over, hugging him.
"Thanks. This is your doing."
"Ah, feels so good."
She was thrilled as if it were her own. No—more than her own breakthroughs.
"Push through and finish the last one!"
Nothing more to wish for.
But the final form of Thousand-Handed Asura God Sword remained.
Would it yield easily?
From the next day, Baek So-cheon changed approach.
Postponed all else, including Cheon-geuk spars, focusing solely on swiftly chaining the sixth in the secret ground.
First to sixth in one go.
But not even the sixth's twenty-three sub-forms seamlessly.
No disappointment. Compared to learning it initially, this was miraculous—defying impossibility. The sixth would follow eventually.
Baek So-cheon toiled relentlessly.
Winter passed, spring arrived.
On the day of the first spring rain, he succeeded in unleashing the sixth form at once.
Twenty-three sub-forms of Heaven Extinguishing Form blazed in splendor. Last sword line crossed space before first vanished.
Now, chain first to sixth seamlessly.
One step closer.
Entering his room in the best mood ever, Baek So-cheon froze.
Someone stared at the rain from his window. The massive back told all.
"You're here."
Yeom Hwa-sin turned with a grin.
"You look pleased."
Baek So-cheon sighed lightly.
"I was. Till you ruined it."