A Single Tear's Inner Power (2)
Baek So-cheon sat cross-legged, circulating his energy in meditation.
How long had it been since he'd done this? His chest swelled with emotion, tears threatening to spill.
He wasn't using his old heart method but the Bu-dong Myeong-wang Sim-beop. As a technique hailed as the greatest of past and present, it surpassed any heart method he'd cultivated before.
'Ah!'
An exclamation escaped him naturally. Reading about it in manuals and imagining it were worlds apart from actually circulating it.
The true energy coursing through his meridians moved faster and more vigorously than before. The inner power accumulating in his new dantian was far purer too. Perhaps because it was his first time, or because it was the first power filling an empty dantian, the amount building up felt smaller than expected.
'There's a way to check.'
Once familiar with the Bu-dong Myeong-wang Sim-beop, Baek So-cheon pulled a box from his travel pouch.
It was the box of century-old ha-su-o he'd received from Wang Gon back then. He'd never imagined it would one day be used on himself.
He'd kept it sealed in the pouch until now, but upon closer inspection, it was lower-grade ha-su-o. Even among century-old specimens, upper-grade ones fetched several times the price. Well, that explained its use as a bribe.
Still, it was precious. With the great war between good and evil sects having consumed most elixirs in the Central Plains, good ones were hard to come by. Especially those prefixed with "thousand-year" or "ten-thousand-year"—they were rare and exorbitantly priced.
Baek So-cheon chewed and swallowed the ha-su-o carefully. Compared to the Eternal Life Poison-Net Herb fruit he'd taken earlier, it was sweet and fragrant like candied dew. After consuming every bit, he began circulating the Bu-dong Myeong-wang Sim-beop.
Typically, a warrior consuming century-old ha-su-o could gain five to ten years' worth of inner power at once—mid-grade standard. His lower-grade batch would yield four to nine years. Upper-grade offered six to eleven. It varied around the mid-grade baseline.
At Baek So-cheon's martial realm, he could extract the maximum from any elixir. And with the greatest heart method of all time, the effect would be amplified.
Shhh.
Baek So-cheon began circulating. He melted the clustered medicinal power of the ha-su-o and sent it through his meridians. Though it amounted to just a few years' worth, it was incomparably more than that single drop of inner power he'd first sensed. Throughout the circulation, shivers ran through him.
The energy, having swept through his body once, gathered in his new dantian.
Upon completing a full heavenly circuit, Baek So-cheon let out a sigh.
It was a mix of joy and regret.
The inner power in his dantian amounted to a mere three years. It should have been nine. His earlier sense during meditation—that less power was accumulating—had been spot on.
Yet those three years' worth was purer than anything Baek So-cheon had ever felt. How could inner power be this pure? It was astonishing. The heart method contributed perhaps a tenth; the rest was purely due to the new dantian. It was a step beyond his old one.
Baek So-cheon understood. This new dantian made gathering inner power harder, but once gathered, it was matchlessly pure.
The same inner power unleashed from a purer source produced far greater force in techniques.
What if fate granted him fortune enough to fill this new dantian with three full cycles—180 years—of inner power?
Before his dantian was injured, Baek So-cheon had possessed three cycles' worth, thanks to the Murim Alliance's full support.
If he could achieve the same three cycles, but purer, atop the greatest heart method and his fist arts? He'd be definitively stronger than before.
Of course, it wouldn't be easy. Even with the Bu-dong Myeong-wang Sim-beop's superior efficiency, gathering 180 years solely through cultivation would take over seventy or eighty years.
In other words, he needed elixirs or opportunities.
Thus, he had to secure at least one full cycle somehow. Only then could he stand a chance against the Black Heaven Alliance Lord or Blood Cult Leader.
Even one cycle might not be enough—he'd lose now. He'd lost even with three full ones before.
While he recovered, the Black Heaven Lord might have grown stronger, and the new wildcard Blood Cult Leader had reached great success in Hyeol-cheon-gi.
Baek So-cheon pushed aside the grim reality and smiled broadly.
'This is enough for now.'
Future worries could wait. For the moment, he should rejoice in these three years.
A mere three years, yet it felt sturdy enough to topple mountains. Like having two lives now. And it might literally save his in a critical moment.
Even better: the new dantian formed behind his ruined old one, undetectable if someone probed with their energy.
The original remained shattered in place. They'd only sense that.
This was crucial. If the Black Heaven Lord learned he could cultivate again, he'd kill him immediately. He toyed with him now from overconfidence.
'At minimum, until I gather one cycle, no one can know my dantian is restored.'
In the interim, gather every elixir possible, consume them, and cultivate with the Bu-dong Myeong-wang Sim-beop.
Until he could defend himself, grow quietly.
With plans for the future set, Baek So-cheon ended his long session and opened his eyes.
Ban Yun-saeng stared at him, face full of emotion.
"Truly fortunate."
"Thanks to you, elder."
"Is this success? Or failure?"
"Call it what you will, but for me, it's a resounding success."
"Congratulations."
Ban Yun-saeng chuckled heartily.
His hoped-for Hwan-gol Tal-tae had failed. But he'd glimpsed hope in the failure.
If there were more like Baek So-cheon, and he could procure Eternal Life Poison-Net Herb fruit yearly, repeating the great law might eventually succeed.
A vain thought, but Ban Yun-saeng smiled brightly. Had he felt this good in ages? Yes, this was enough.
"What now?"
"Back to the Alliance."
"Tell Go-yeo my regards."
Ban Yun-saeng offered a prepared bottle of liquor.
"Give her this."
"Understood."
"You said you'd stop the war?"
"Yes."
"If you do, I'll share the credit."
"Of course. It'll be thanks to you."
"Come now, I'm not that shameless. A share in such good deeds suffices. And remember what I said: the Alliance, the martial world—live for yourself."
Ban Yun-saeng gazed at lazy clouds drifting past the window.
"Looking back, I wonder if I truly wanted to master the Hwan-gol Tal-tae Dae-beop. Without meeting my master and starting this path, who would I have become?"
Baek So-cheon understood his regret. He'd lived the same way—possessed by something, treating it as his life. No regrets, but he wondered sometimes: what life without this path?
"I'll keep it in mind. After stopping this war, I'll live purely for myself."
"Well thought."
Then Ban Yun-saeng suddenly spat blood and collapsed.
"Elder!"
Baek So-cheon supported him, channeling his three years' inner power to heal, but Ban Yun-saeng stopped him.
"Too late for me."
While Baek So-cheon meditated, he'd swallowed poison.
To apologize and bid farewell one last time, as the toxin slowly spread.
Ban Yun-saeng had no regrets.
Death wasn't just from failure or inability to retry the great law.
"...My greed killed many. Time to seek their forgiveness."
Many died in failed attempts. They'd volunteered, risking life for Hwan-gol Tal-tae, but now he felt deep remorse.
"...Better go while someone willing buries me. Sorry to burden you."
"No, elder."
Baek So-cheon grieved his passing.
"Your Hwan-gol Tal-tae succeeded. Thank you."
Ban Yun-saeng smiled radiantly.
"Thank you... May you achieve true Hwan-gol Tal-tae someday. Then... no regrets."
With that, Ban Yun-saeng closed his eyes.
Baek So-cheon buried him in a sunny spot overlooking the distant Eternal Life Poison-Net Herb and stayed three more days before departing.
* * *
Baek So-cheon didn't head straight to headquarters. To meet someone, he entered an inn in the marketplace of Lanzhou, Gansu.
"Best liquor and your signature dish."
"Right away."
"And fetch the real owner."
"That's me."
"Not you. The true owner."
The innkeeper's face stiffened.
"Deliver this letter to your master. Leak it, and your head rolls."
This was the Gu-ryong Inn. Several dotted the Central Plains; the one where he'd sent Beon Saeng before was in Jeol-gang Province. Baek So-cheon had come to meet Cheon-geuk again.
All Gu-ryong Inns connected to the Sal-su Yeon-maeng, known to few.
Three days later, Cheon-geuk appeared.
"You really excel at surprising people."
"Missed you."
"No jokes."
"I need your help."
Cheon-geuk thought the world unpredictable. She'd never dreamed of meeting Baek So-cheon so soon. It meant the martial world's tides were shifting fast.
"Speak."
"First, a request. Just us two."
Meaning, dismiss her four guardians.
Before she replied, powerful energy swept the room—the guardians' rejection, fierce and raw.
"Know what that means? Handing me my death warrant."
"Exaggeration! You're far stronger than me."
"Symbolically."
"Please."
Please—twice now. It signaled grave importance.
Then Dong-seong's transmission rang out.
-No. We know the Alliance Lord trusts him, but absolutely not.
-I know. Just this once.
-Lord.
-War looms. No one knows his role. Invest in him now.
-......
-Trust me. Or trust the fate that made me Assassin Queen young and female.
Thus pressed, Dong-seong relented.
-Understood.
-Thanks.
The guardians vanished.
"They're gone. Kill me now."
Baek So-cheon played along.
"No witnesses? Time for man-woman business?"
Cheon-geuk smirked.
"Want to sleep with me, huh?"
"Business first."
Baek So-cheon drew something from his pouch.
Shockingly, deposit receipts from the three great battlefields.
"One million four hundred thousand nyang."
Money from three battlefields, leaving only emergency funds.
"My entire fortune."