An Investment Worth Making
“It feels like my life is being stolen away.”
“Stolen?”
“Every time I lose consciousness, three days vanish. If I cultivate my inner energy more often, I’ll lose even more days. I wonder if I can live like that.”
“I understand how you feel, but didn’t I tell you? It seems to me that you’re the one gaining from this.”
“Gaining? I’m losing the days I have left to live.”
At Dan Yeop’s rebuttal, Dan Bul-wi answered with perfect nonchalance.
“You only know one side of the story. Think back on the past fourteen years you spent in the Amun and Jeommun training halls. You lived in the training hall for a full five thousand days, yet all you managed was to grasp the first form of the Heaven and Earth Saber Art. And now? You invested six days and achieved complete mastery of it.”
Dan Bul-wi pressed his advantage with smooth, persuasive words.
“What about the Hundred Streams Saber Art, then? Don’t think of it as time being taken from you—think of it as an investment. Consider who truly benefits. If three days of investment can yield the results of a thousand days of training, I would gladly give thirty days, not three.”
“……”
The argument made sense at a glance, and Dan Yeop found himself tempted.
Handing over thirty days to another personality in exchange for ten years’ worth of training results?
That didn’t sound like such a bad deal after all.
When Dan Yeop’s expression softened, Dan Bul-wi inwardly rejoiced.
‘There we go! He’s hooked!’
Honestly, Dan Bul-wi didn’t dislike either version of Dan Yeop. He felt pity for the dull-witted Dan Yeop, but the genius Dan Yeop was a foster son he could trust and rely on.
“What do you think?”
“……It seems you’re right, Instructor. When I think of all the time I wasted on training before, I feel hollow.”
“There’s no need to blame yourself for wasted effort. Now that you’ve realized it, all that remains is to live wisely from here on.”
“Yes……”
“If you’ve come to see it that way, then from now on you should practice the Prajna Heart Method even more frequently.”
“I will.”
Once Dan Yeop readily agreed, Dan Bul-wi changed the subject.
“By the way, it’s about time you started thinking about leaving the training hall. It feels like I only met you the day before yesterday, yet fourteen years have already passed. Time truly flies.”
“……”
“I still remember the first time I met you, lost and wandering. There were so many wounds on that child’s neck…… Even after fourteen years, the scars remain unchanged.”
Dan Yeop unconsciously brushed his fingertips along the side of his neck.
He could feel the torn flesh, yet it no longer frightened him as much as before.
“I’ve always wondered whenever I saw them. Who did that to you?”
“……”
As Dan Yeop’s silence stretched on, Dan Bul-wi probed further.
“Your parents, I suppose. Tch! What wretched people. If they didn’t want to raise you, they should have simply abandoned you rather than tormenting a perfectly fine child.”
“Um…… If there’s nothing else, may I take my leave?”
“Hm? Ah, yes. Go and rest.”
Dan Yeop rose, bowed politely, and stepped outside.
Left alone, Dan Bul-wi suddenly found himself puzzled.
‘Strange. The genius Dan Yeop seems to be learning about the dull-witted Dan Yeop’s past, yet why can’t the dull-witted Dan Yeop remember anything the genius Dan Yeop has done?’
Unable to find an answer no matter how much he thought about it, he soon pushed the idle speculation aside.
Meanwhile, upon returning to his quarters, Dan Yeop mulled over Dan Bul-wi’s words for a long time.
—Don’t think of it as time being taken from you—think of it as an investment. Consider who truly benefits. If three days of investment can yield the results of a thousand days of training, I would gladly give thirty days, not three.
Until now, he had believed his life was being stolen by the heart demon.
That was why he had kept his distance from inner energy cultivation.
But after hearing Dan Bul-wi, he realized it didn’t have to be viewed that way.
Mastering the Heaven and Earth Saber Art overnight after clinging to it for fourteen years was, even to him, nothing short of a miracle.
Could he bring about such a miracle himself?
Refusing a miracle even while knowing it existed would be foolish.
‘That’s right.’
If, someday, Baek Yu-hwa were to see how much he had changed……
The mere thought made his heart race.
Dan Yeop was lost in a sweet fantasy of reuniting with Baek Yu-hwa when someone called out to him.
“Senior.”
Startled, Dan Yeop turned around.
Gwan Gu-jong of the fourth generation stood there with an awkward smile.
“Oh? What brings you here……”
“I heard you completed the Heaven and Earth Saber Art. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
“So from now on, you’ll be training the Seven Phases Saber Art, right?”
“No?”
“No?”
“Yeah, I’m learning the Hundred Streams Saber Art.”
Gwan Gu-jong’s eyes widened in surprise.
“The Hundred Streams Saber Art? Why?”
“It just feels right for me.”
“But you’re from Amun, aren’t you? If you want to join Amun, shouldn’t you start training the Seven Phases Saber Art right away?”
“I’m not going to Amun.”
“What? Then where?”
Gwan Gu-jong looked at Dan Yeop with puzzled eyes.
He had assumed that as Dan Bul-wi’s foster son, Dan Yeop would naturally head to Amun.
“There’s a place. Why do you ask?”
“Ah, well, I’m from Amun myself. I was hoping to build some rapport with you, Senior Dan. But if you’re not going to Amun……”
Within Haomun, Dan Bul-wi was rapidly rising as a new powerhouse.
In the martial world, connections with the strong were power itself.
Gwan Gu-jong, who had no backing of his own, had approached Dan Yeop purely to cultivate useful connections.
“……Well then, I’ll be going.”
With an embarrassed expression, Gwan Gu-jong turned and left without hesitation.
Dan Yeop was no fool.
Having guessed Gwan Gu-jong’s sudden visit was motivated by ulterior motives, he gave a bitter smile.
To be treated as a person in Haomun, one had to become strong.
In the past, no matter how desperately he tried, it had been impossible, so he had given up. But now things were different.
‘An investment, huh?’
If he wanted to hold his head high in front of Baek Yu-hwa someday, he would need to invest heavily.
Dan Yeop opened the book containing the Prajna Heart Method and began to read.
The next day.
When morning training time arrived, Dan Yeop headed for the Seonmun training hall.
He knew that training the Prajna Heart Method would be far more effective, yet the human heart was not so easily swayed.
He did not want to hand his time over to the heart demon.
The so-called genius who had mastered all six gates’ martial arts had even written a letter begging to leave the training hall, only to fall because of his own foolish actions.
The heart demon would never grant his wishes.
Considering that his opponent was a heart demon, it was hardly surprising.
He had been foolish to ask for help without realizing that.
Though he tried to ignore the miserable, wretched feeling, his resentment toward the heart demon only grew stronger.
While awakening the heart demon would allow his martial arts to advance by leaps and bounds, that was precisely why he deliberately went to the Seonmun training hall instead.
‘No matter how easy and fast it is, I can’t entrust my life to the heart demon.’
Dan Yeop stepped into the Seonmun training hall and reaffirmed his resolve.
Seonmun training hall.
So Yu-gang paid Dan Yeop far less attention than he had the day before.
He had already learned enough about him.
In his eyes, Dan Yeop was no fool as the rumors claimed, yet he was nowhere near the level required to master the Hundred Streams Saber Art.
Perhaps a notch above swinging a blade at random?
There were plenty of such disciples in Haomun, so it wasn’t worth criticizing.
“First form, Sucheonchu!”
With Go Wol’s shout, the Hundred Streams Saber Art training began.
Dan Yeop diligently swung his straight saber along with the others.
Despite practicing it countless times the day before, he became confused starting from the very first form.
He barely managed to mimic the others through the first form, and from the third form onward he fell completely behind.
He was terrified of being struck by another trainee’s blade.
Once the third form ended, roughly half the trainees moved to safer areas.
Only the fourth-generation trainees managed to keep up through the fourth form.
After finishing the fourth form, Suryunhoe, they moved on to stage-by-stage training.
Dan Yeop blended in with the trainees practicing the first form.
At that moment, fourth-generation trainee Wang O approached him.
“Dan Yeop, senior, want me to give you one-on-one guidance?”
He had spoken informally from the start, but Dan Yeop pretended not to notice.
“Oh? Sure, thanks.”
As Dan Yeop stepped out from among the trainees, Wang O led him to a corner of the hall.
Wang O swiftly demonstrated the first form, Sucheonchu, then said,
“See that? Now you try.”
Dan Yeop began the first form but stopped halfway.
“Once to the left, once to the right, then slash upward diagonally from below. The water has to rise to the sky before it can fall as rain, right?”
“Ah, right……”
Dan Yeop raised his straight saber diagonally upward once to each side, then stopped again.
“You don’t know what comes next? Whoa, this is no joke. You’re even worse than Jang So-pal.”
Wang O’s mouth fell open.
Jang So-pal was the least talented trainee among the fourth generation.
The fourth-generation trainees called Jang So-pal an idiot, yet Dan Yeop was even worse.
“Watch carefully! Do it like this.”
“Why’d you stop again? I just taught you!”
“Damn it! You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? The direction’s completely wrong!”
“Slash upward from below! How many times do I have to tell you the sky part comes first!”
“You brain-dead moron! After that, it has to become rain and come crashing down! From above to below!”
Wang O’s shouts echoed throughout the training hall all morning.
The other trainees’ gazes toward Dan Yeop gradually changed.
Finally, the morning training session ended.
Dan Yeop left the Seonmun training hall and trudged back toward his quarters.
His head felt foggy after being hounded by Wang O the entire morning.
Unlike the kind Go Wol, Wang O had driven him like a madman.
It felt as though he had become an idiot.
Despite receiving guidance, he felt he had regressed compared to yesterday.
As he passed the fourth-generation quarters, he heard Wang O’s voice from inside.
“See? I told you. Dan Yeop really is a blockhead. Compared to him, Jang So-pal is a genius. It took Jang So-pal about two years to learn the first form, right? I’ll bet my left hand that Dan Yeop will take four years.”
“That long?”
“Kek! Dan Yeop isn’t even human. No wonder his nickname is Stone Monkey. He might get called ‘senior’ inside Byeongmachong, but once he’s out in the martial world, he won’t even be able to meet our eyes.”
“He can’t even look people in the eye here.”
“Right, damn it. I wonder what Ha Yong-wol sees in a guy like that.”
“Dan Yeop’s face is pretty decent. Women care more about looks.”
“Damn it, I should’ve been born into Gimun instead of Seonmun.”
“What does that matter? Once you leave the training hall, you can just go to the Hongyeondan where Ha Yong-wol is.”
“Ah, right. I can go to the Hongyeondan. Damn it.”
“Don’t tell me you’re tormenting Dan Yeop because of Ha Yong-wol?”
“Tormenting? Who’s tormenting anyone? I’m just trying to turn that Stone Monkey into a proper person.”
“What if the Amun kids take notice?”
“So what? We’ll just have a fight. Besides, Dan Yeop seems to be wandering around alone these days. Amun probably doesn’t care about him anyway. They stayed quiet even when Dan Yeop was getting beaten up by the third-generation trainees.”
“That’s true, but still, be careful. It looks like even the Amun kids are starting to treat Dan Yeop as a senior lately.”
“As long as I don’t hit him and just crush him with words, it should be fine. If he’s got any sense, he’ll say he doesn’t want to learn from me. Until then, I’m going to make his life absolute hell. Guys who use their looks to steal women need to be taught a lesson.”
“Anyway, if word gets out from Amun, drop it immediately. Getting on Amun’s bad side would be disastrous.”
“Obviously. By the way, Dan Yeop’s grown a lot. Until last year he was a total pushover, but now even Amun has to watch out for him.”
“Because Dan Bul-wi is looking out for his foster son. Without Dan Bul-wi, those Amun brats with personality issues wouldn’t even spare him a glance.”
“Ah, damn it. I need to get myself a backer like that too……”
Hearing footsteps behind him, Dan Yeop quickly slipped into his own quarters.
He had thought Wang O was being excessively harsh, but now that he knew the reason, he felt hollow.
‘So he wasn’t trying to help me—he was tormenting me because of Ha Yong-wol.’
Suddenly, second-generation Ma Eun—