The Sword's Intent and the Path of No Regret
Only Dan Yeop remained in the office.
The Chief Instructor, Dan Bul-wi, approached the young man who stood there with an awkward expression.
“Don’t take the words of the Ma-sang Hall Master too much to heart. The recent heavy losses suffered by the Amun have made everyone rather sensitive.”
“Is the situation in Hadong also unfavorable?”
“No, our Guannei Circuit has taken over nearly half of Hadong. The problem is that the remnants who refused unification have fled to Henan and Hebei, which has become a bit of a headache.”
“Then the Haomun branches of the other eight circuits will begin mounting proper resistance?”
“That’s right. You… who exactly are you?”
Surprised by the sharp insight that had pierced straight through the situation, Dan Bul-wi stared at Dan Yeop.
“I am the Eternal Genius, Dan Yeop.”
“Ah! So the Eternal Dunce Dan Yeop has finally awakened you?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, he even left a letter begging me to pass the exit examination for him.”
“Tsk, he must be terribly disappointed.”
“In time, he’ll actually be grateful. If he had left now, what would he have become but another sword fodder?”
“That may be true, but I still don’t understand why Dan Yeop suddenly wants to leave the training grounds. Do you have any guesses?”
“Not at all. I don’t remember the time the Dunce Dan Yeop spent here.”
“I see. Truly, it’s impossible to tell.”
“By the way, I’m troubled because the Dunce Dan Yeop is desperately trying not to wake me. He knows that using internal energy will bring me out, so he’s deliberately avoiding it altogether.”
“Good heavens! Can’t the two of you reach some kind of compromise?”
“Since I didn’t grant his wish, he’ll only grow more twisted from now on.”
“This is ridiculous! It would be perfect if the two of you could simply blend together in moderation…”
“Is there no way to make the Dunce Dan Yeop train his internal energy?”
“Hmm! Tell him that to cure his deviation into fire qi, he must absolutely train his internal energy. That should stop him from avoiding it so stubbornly.”
“Oh! That sounds good. Father, please push him hard on this. I’ll find my own way to reconcile with the Dunce Dan Yeop.”
“Yes, yes.”
At the word “Father,” the corners of Dan Bul-wi’s mouth rose with clear satisfaction.
“Ah, right. I was thinking of training in a quiet place. I’m worried that if the Silent Ink Hall Master comes looking for me because of the Ma-sang Hall Master, it might cause trouble.”
“I’ll speak properly with the Silent Ink Hall Master.”
“I’ll trust only in Father.”
“Hahaha, good. Is there anything else you need?”
“I plan to train hard for several days, so I’d like some byeokgokdan pills. Even going back and forth to the dining hall feels like a waste of time.”
He intended to follow the same path the Dunce Dan Yeop had taken—forgoing sleep for several days to devote himself entirely to training. For that, the byeokgokdan were essential.
“Understood. The Ma-sang Hall Master has some. I’ll get them for you.”
“Can it be done now? If possible, I’d like to begin closed-door training today.”
“Oh, alright. I’ll go see the Ma-sang Hall Master immediately. Come to the Amun training ground in half a shichen (one hour).”
“Thank you, Father.”
Dan Bul-wi patted his adopted son—the Eternal Genius—on the shoulder a few times, then hurried off in the direction the Ma-sang Hall Master had disappeared.
A short while later, as Dan Yeop was returning to his quarters with light steps, someone called out to him.
“Senior Brother Dan Yeop.”
When Dan Yeop turned around, he saw Geum Seo-jin standing there with a lonely expression.
“Ah, Junior Sister Geum. Congratulations on graduating.”
“Thank you. Once I leave today, it’ll be hard to see Senior Brother again, won’t it?”
“It seems so.”
“I’m returning to the Amun. When you eventually graduate… let’s meet then.”
Geum Seo-jin had almost said “Come to the Amun,” but held her tongue. With Dan Yeop’s current skill, even if he died and came back to life, he would never be able to set foot in the Amun.
“Alright. Stay healthy.”
After their brief farewell, Dan Yeop turned away without any lingering attachment.
17. Survive and Rise Without Fail
Dan Yeop had just finished packing his travel bag in his quarters and was stepping outside when this time Baek Yu-hwa blocked his path.
“Senior Brother Dan Yeop.”
“Baek… Yu-hwa?”
The Eternal Genius Dan Yeop gazed at her with ambiguous eyes.
‘She’s not going to pick a fight over what happened with Yu Ja-cho and Deung-pyeong, is she?’
But his misunderstanding was quickly resolved.
“Even though it was because of Senior Sister Hong, I’m still sorry I couldn’t help you with your graduation exam. I hope you can definitely graduate next year.”
“Senior Sister Hong?”
“Senior Sister Hong Cho-yeon. You haven’t already forgotten what happened with her, have you?”
“Ah, Hong Cho-yeon. But what exactly happened?”
Baek Yu-hwa was stunned when Dan Yeop pretended not to know.
‘Is he acting like this because he’s angry about failing the exit exam? Or did the Ma-sang Hall Master scold him severely?’
She could understand his anger, but that didn’t mean he should blame others.
“Sigh, never mind. Seeing you with your travel bag is making me confused again. Don’t tell me you failed the exam on purpose?”
“You know I fell into fire deviation, right?”
“I heard.”
“If the current me is ‘Gap,’ then it was intentional. If I’m ‘Eul,’ then it was inevitable.”
“Are you Gap, Senior Brother? Or Eul?”
“I am always Gap.”
At Dan Yeop’s answer, Baek Yu-hwa shook her head slowly.
“Ah, yes. Of course you are. I don’t know what you’re trying to obtain from the Byeongmachong, but anyway, I hope you achieve your wish.”
“Yeah, thanks. Junior Sister, you too—try not to die and rise steadily.”
The casual way Dan Yeop threw out his farewell made Baek Yu-hwa frown.
The phrase “try not to” carried a strange sense of distance.
What could she say? It was as if Dan Yeop had zero interest in whether she lived or died.
She had thought they had grown somewhat close, but it seemed that had been her own delusion.
After a brief hesitation, Baek Yu-hwa left without looking back.
Half a shichen later.
Dan Yeop met Dan Bul-wi at the Amun training ground, received the byeokgokdan and a water bottle, then headed to the outer stone chamber that served as his personal training ground.
He first loosened his body with light warm-up forms from the Six Gates, then began serious training starting with the Taeheo Muyeonggeom.
Even without using Taeulgi, fierce sword winds stormed through the stone chamber like a typhoon.
Once he grew familiar with the Taeheo Muyeonggeom, he moved on to training the Muaegeom.
Geom-gwang-baek-pa. Geom-ui-seong-hwan. Geom-ryeong-myeol-jin.
After executing the three forms in succession, Dan Yeop slowly sheathed his blade.
Only then did the ferocious sword winds gradually subside.
Huuuuuu—.
“Huk! Huk! Haa!”
Once his boiling breath calmed, he unfolded the Muaegeom once more.
Shiiiik! Shiiik—!
When training the Taeheo Muyeonggeom, his breathing had remained steady.
But the Muaegeom was different.
Just one form left his breath ragged, and after completing all three, his shoulders heaved violently.
This was true even though he had only used the forms without employing Taeulgi.
After finishing the three forms of Muaegeom, Dan Yeop gasped for air again.
“Huk! Huk! Huk! Why is this so difficult?”
Of course, he wasn’t asking because he didn’t know the answer.
The difficulty of the sword intent required him to pour in every ounce of his concentration, which left him utterly exhausted.
The Taeheo Muyeonggeom had been high in difficulty, but it couldn’t compare to the Muaegeom.
The Muaegeom contained the myriad phenomena of the universe and the very order of the cosmos. Every time he executed a form, unknown realms revealed themselves before him.
From the perspective of the practitioner, it was enough to drive one mad.
When he poured his mental energy into those unknown realms, his breath would soon rise all the way to his throat.
“This is just…!”
A sigh escaped Dan Yeop’s lips.
They said one would understand as they continued, but no matter how far he went, it was always a new path.
It was indeed no easy task, just as expected of the cultivation method practiced by the true disciples of the Taego Sect.
“Even with the same form, the result must change depending on the depth of one’s comprehension. Terrifying. Truly terrifying.”
He had felt secretly proud after memorizing the Muaegeom in one go, but now his insides felt hollow.
He was even embarrassed that he had acted so confident in front of his master, Red Pine.
Once his breathing settled, Dan Yeop unfolded the Primordial Chaos Sword.
His master had said that the secret lay in Il-geom-il-che and Il-che-il-geom.
In other words, “One sword is all things,” and “All things are one sword.”
While the Muaegeom had three forms, the Primordial Chaos Sword had only one.
—If the sword rides the void, its light shall sever the nine heavens.
A flashing sword light swept through the stone chamber in a single stroke.
Kagagak—!
Marks were carved into the stone walls and stone powder scattered, yet the expression of Dan Yeop, who held the straight blade, remained dark.
“This isn’t it.”
He instinctively knew something was off.
Yet he couldn’t even guess what the problem was.
He focused once more and executed the Primordial Chaos Sword again, but the result was the same.
No—on the second attempt, it felt even more wrong.
“It’s the complete opposite of the Muaegeom…”
With the Muaegeom, the more he practiced, the more his comprehension grew.
Yet with the Primordial Chaos Sword, the more he repeated it, the more mistakes he felt he was making.
It was like sinking deeper into a swamp the more he struggled.
They said there had never been a cultivator who had reached great completion in the Primordial Chaos Sword, and now he understood why.
“At my current level, the Primordial Chaos Sword is too much.”
Dan Yeop decided to focus on the Muaegeom for now.
If he swung it once and gained one insight at a time, the day would eventually come when he reached its end.
He would challenge the Primordial Chaos Sword again once his comprehension had deepened.
Having set a clear direction for his sword arts, his mind felt lighter.
Finally, he unfolded the footwork of Suwol Sinheng.
Compared to the baffling Primordial Chaos Sword, Suwol Sinheng was surprisingly easy.
He didn’t know exactly why, but it matched his aptitude perfectly.
If the beginning of Suwol Sinheng was Dong-jung-jeong—stillness within motion—then its end was Jeong-jung-dong—motion within stillness.
Dan Yeop was able to comprehend its mystery without much difficulty.
As if performing clone techniques, his afterimages multiplied one by one inside the stone chamber.
The figures increased to three before being sucked back in and merging into one.
Dan Yeop, now whole again, let out a long breath.
“Huuuuuu—! A moon reflected on water. It truly is a flawless lifesaving technique.”
However, reaching the realm of Eo-ui-sin-haeng—where the body moves the instant the will desires—would clearly require long training.
At that moment, a loud growl erupted from his stomach.
He eased his hunger with the byeokgokdan and water from the bottle, then dove back into serious training of the Muaegeom.
After repeating training and rest, the water ran out first.
Dan Yeop grabbed the empty bottle and ran to Yeongcheon, the spiritual stream located to the west of the Byeongmachong.
Yeongcheon was the name of the underground waterway that flowed west of the Byeongmachong.
A stele erected by people of the ancient Taego era stood beside the naturally formed underground stream, and the name Yeongcheon was engraved upon it.
The people of the Byeongmachong drew water from Yeongcheon to drink and occasionally washed themselves there.
After filling his bottle, he stripped off his clothes and jumped into the stream.
A short while later, Dan Yeop emerged from the water, dressed, and sat down by the bank.
“It feels good…”
Yet despite his words, his expression remained indifferent.
It did feel good, but his insides felt empty. He couldn’t tell whether he was hungry from playing in the water or simply hollow.
“How much time has passed?”
He had been training the Taego Sect’s methods with all his heart and soul until the water ran out.
The main training grounds of the Byeongmachong received sunlight so one could tell the time, but in this remote stone chamber it was difficult to distinguish day from night.
Perhaps counting the remaining byeokgokdan would give him a rough idea.
With that thought, Dan Yeop picked up the water bottle and raced back to the stone chamber like the wind.
A moment later, he set the bottle down on the stone table in one corner of the chamber and counted the remaining byeokgokdan.
There had been a whole pouch full, yet only five pills remained.
“Was I in here that long? Or did I eat that many?”
Dan Yeop scratched his head with a puzzled expression.
He had been popping one into his mouth whenever he felt the slightest hunger, so he couldn’t be sure.
Then he suddenly remembered what Dan Bul-wi had said when giving him the byeokgokdan.
—It should last at least fifteen days.
“No way, that can’t be right.”
Above all, the idea of not sleeping for fifteen days was absurd.
Besides, it didn’t feel like that much time had passed subjectively.
“It must have been about a week. I ate quite a lot.”
Having reached that conclusion, he took out the Geumruokui from his travel bag and put it on.
It was time to begin cultivating Taeulgi.
He lay down wearing the Geumruokui and practiced the Tae-eul-bon-won-yeon-seong-gyeol. Whenever hunger struck, he would get up, eat a byeokgokdan, and repeat the cycle several times.
Finally—