Turns Out He's the Sect Leader's Son?
Three days after Dan Yeop and Ha Yong-wol met, the outbound examination was held.
Unlike the first batch, the second group of trainees numbered only twenty-two.
Including Dan Yeop, there were twenty-three in total.
With so few participants, the assessment was meticulous, yet every second-generation trainee earned the right to graduate.
Once again this year, Dan Yeop challenged the Heavenly Earth Technique, but the outcome was disappointing.
He executed the first form as smoothly as the others, yet he faltered from the second form onward.
With fewer students in the second group than the previous year, it was difficult to copy their movements by observation alone.
Alone in striking the wrong rhythm amid the perfectly synchronized second-generation trainees, he became a source of great amusement for the third-generation juniors and below before failing outright.
Right before the examination ended, Ma Eun-rok slapped Dan Yeop across the face and issued a stern warning: if he dared to meet Ha Yong-wol, he would die by Ma Eun-rok’s hand the moment he graduated.
Having failed the outbound exam yet again, Dan Yeop had become a persistent headache for the martial arts instructors of Byeongmachong.
As the new year arrived, the instructors split into two camps: those who said, “Just graduate him and give him odd jobs,” and those who insisted, “We must make him carry his own weight.”
Dan Bul-wi, the Hyangju and chief martial instructor, belonged to the latter group. Yet as his own martial prowess deepened with each passing day, the notion of forcing Dan Yeop’s graduation quietly vanished.
“So ease your mind and devote yourself fully to training. Rushing only ensures that even achievable goals slip away.”
Dan Yeop felt genuine gratitude at Dan Bul-wi’s words.
He had never imagined the once-terrifying Dan Bul-wi would look after him so attentively.
“Thank you.”
“That said, I hear you’ve been practicing the Split Mind Technique?”
“Pardon?”
Dan Yeop flinched and tried to pretend he hadn’t heard, but Dan Bul-wi refused to let it slide.
“It’s greed. I once saw you as a boy without a shred of ambition, but it appears I was mistaken.”
“I only tried it to calm my heart a little…”
“When the highly effective Amun Heart Pill Technique is right there?”
“…I’m sorry.”
This time, even Dan Yeop could offer no defense.
He understood that Dan Bul-wi spoke out of sincere concern.
“There is a reason people do not practice the Split Mind Technique. Do you know it?”
“Because it might be fake?”
“That is one reason, but a far greater one exists.”
“What is it?”
Dan Bul-wi tapped his own forehead with an index finger.
“Because the Split Mind Technique directly stimulates this very spot. It is a martial art perfectly suited to inducing qi deviation if practiced carelessly.”
“Ah!”
Even Dan Yeop, notorious for his slowness, instantly grasped the meaning.
It was because the true mind resided in the heavenly eye—between the eyebrows.
“The Heart Pill Technique is slow, but it guarantees safety. Use it as your foundation and learn the Ox Horse Technique from the Gakmun branch. That would be wise.”
Dan Bul-wi recommended the Gakmun’s Ox Horse Technique because it was simple enough for Dan Yeop’s mind to absorb, comparable in straightforwardness to the Heavenly Earth Technique.
“I will consider it.”
“Good. Let me repeat myself: do not grow impatient simply because you lag a few years behind the others. Traveling safely matters more than traveling quickly. Understood?”
“Yes.”
“You may go.”
“Instructor… one more thing.”
“What is it? Have something else to say?”
“If we call the divine ‘light,’ then where does that light reside?”
“If outside the body, it would be in the heavens. If inside the body, it would be in the mind.”
Dan Bul-wi recognized the question as pertaining to the Split Mind Technique and answered casually. After all, it was merely a manual circulating in the markets—what need was there for seriousness?
Yet Dan Yeop did not dismiss the words lightly. For some reason, they resonated with the notion that “the mind resides in the breath.”
Avoiding the junior trainees, Dan Yeop made his way to the outer regions.
Fortunately, not only Dan Bul-wi but the other martial instructors left him alone regardless of where he went or what he did. After thirteen years without mastering even the Heavenly Earth Technique, they had essentially given up on him.
The place where Dan Yeop stopped was a stone chamber in the undeveloped northern sector of Byeongmachong—the very spot where he had once lost all track of time while immersed in the Heart Pill Technique.
Sitting cross-legged before the stone wall, he quietly recalled the verses of the Split Mind Technique.
The first half concerning the true mind and consuming mind held no more secrets for him.
The middle section spoke of light and the true mind.
The mind is fire; when will becomes one, it moves. Fire is flame—that is, light—and what moves is the true mind…
Today Dan Bul-wi had said the light was either in the heavens or in the mind. Come to think of it, mind, light, and will could all be seen as functions of the heart.
Is the mind itself light?
In that instant, an indescribable flash of realization streaked across his consciousness like lightning.
The mind is breath!
In a single breath, his respiration transformed.
Following what his body already knew, he began breathing according to the Heart Pill Technique formulas.
The tangled skein within his dantian unraveled thread by thread, flowing out through his nose and returning.
After contemplating the flow of those threads for some time, Dan Yeop suddenly wondered, Then could the light also reside within the breath?
As though it had been waiting, the skein began to glow.
With every cycle of inhalation and exhalation, the thread emerging from the tip of his nose and returning sparkled with dazzling brilliance.
The glowing skein made it seem as though a small flame had taken residence in his dantian.
Dan Yeop could not tell whether the phenomenon stemmed from the Heart Pill Technique or the Split Mind Technique.
The flame, once the size of an acorn, gradually swelled until it matched a chestnut.
He grew curious whether the flame was internal energy, a condensed core, or merely the luminous threads themselves.
Yet something more urgent remained than unraveling that mystery.
It was said that turning the light back to illuminate the heavenly eye between the eyebrows grants the dharma body and allows one to command the martial and true minds at will.
He had never understood what “turning the light back to illuminate the heavenly eye” meant, but realization now struck him like a thunderbolt.
Quite literally, he simply needed to shine the glowing thread upon the heavenly eye between his brows. No other method occurred to him.
Coincidentally, the final verse of the Heart Pill Technique was also “Advance toward the light.”
Whether correct or not, he decided to act.
He guided the glowing thread that had risen into his nasal cavity directly between his eyebrows.
The true mind of the Split Mind Technique signified “the advancing mind.”
The luminous thread entered the space between his brows without the slightest hesitation.
Srrrk—
It felt exactly like a blade sliding into its sheath.
In that moment, a flash erupted before his eyes as though something had exploded.
“Ugh!”
Dan Yeop reflexively clenched his half-open eyes shut.
A sharp ringing immediately echoed inside his ears.
Beeeeeeee—
The boy’s face, as he slowly opened his eyes, soon clouded with bewilderment.
“Where am I?”
No matter how many times he looked, nothing seemed familiar.
As the boy tilted his head, about to take a step, a torrent of unfamiliar knowledge suddenly flooded his mind all at once.
More precisely, memories resurfaced.
Haomun martial arts, various military strategy texts, mechanical formations and arrays, Buddhist and Daoist scriptures, the Five Classics, and countless miscellaneous volumes…
The boy swiftly organized the chaotic deluge of information.
Sorting the memories took roughly one ke—about fifteen minutes.
Nodding with a satisfied expression, he realized one vital piece was still missing.
“But who am I?”
He searched his clothes thoroughly, yet only dust emerged.
Still, one thing seemed clear.
“At the very least, it appears I belong to Haomun.”
The depth of his knowledge about the sect left no room for doubt.
“Turns out I’m the sect leader’s son or something?”
His muttered soliloquy suggested the boy possessed a rather optimistic nature.
When no further new information arose, he left the place where he had first opened his eyes without a trace of reluctance.
Walking down the stone-walled corridor, the boy spotted a short rope roughly one jang in length.
Bored, he picked it up and immediately unleashed the Mountain King Whip.
Swish! Slash!
Not a single movement felt awkward.
He tossed the rope aside and, on impulse, executed the Heaven Turning Hand.
Even the supposedly intricate Gold Snatching Technique flowed as naturally as water.
Nor did it end there.
He grabbed a half-burned branch and swung it, instantly performing the Hundred Flowing Blade Technique. A kick became the Lightning Flash Kick.
The exclusive martial arts of the Six Branches clung perfectly to his limbs as though they had always belonged there.
Seeing this, he had to be the son painstakingly raised by one of the Six Branch leaders.
“No doubt about it.”
Muttering to himself, the boy scanned his surroundings.
It was a fairly spacious cavern. Though light entered from somewhere, it was not completely dark.
As he wondered Where is this place? a tingling sensation struck his forehead, and a scene flashed through his mind.
It was a vast underground chamber filled with light, populated by earthen soldiers and horses.
“Byeongmachong? So it was an ancient royal tomb.”
Now that he knew his location, the lack of direction still left him at a loss.
From then on, the boy relied purely on instinct, advancing step by step.
The only problem was the direction he chose.
Rather than heading toward the main Byeongmachong, he moved deeper into the undeveloped region.
After walking for some time, the surroundings gradually darkened.
Any ordinary person would have sensed danger and turned back, but the boy simply continued forward.
Having lost his memories, he no longer possessed any baseline for recognizing abnormality.
Even so, his instincts eventually issued a warning; his once-steady pace began to slow.
“What is this? Why does it never end?”
By stride count, he had covered at least ten li—roughly four kilometers.
The Byeongmachong he recalled was nowhere near that vast.
At most, it spanned perhaps a hundred jang in both length and width.
Though countless stone chambers wove a maze around it, ten li was excessive.
“Aigo, this is driving me insane.”
Despite the complaint, the boy’s eyes sparkled with vitality.
If it truly became hopeless, he could simply retrace his steps.
He had already passed twenty-nine forks.
With his precise stride measurements, he could return blindfolded if necessary.
He had memorized the martial arts of all Six Branches as well as eighty-seven entire books; twenty-nine forks posed no obstacle.
Provided his stamina held, returning would be as easy as eating rice cakes while lying down.
Gurgle—
The thunderous rumble from his stomach quickened his steps once more.
After another ten li, the boy halted.
The passage had grown so dark he could no longer see, but the true obstacle was the massive wall blocking his path.
“Is this the end?”
From his awakening point, he had randomly passed forty-nine forks in total.
He had walked approximately twenty li—nearly eight kilometers.
To carve a twenty-li stone path underground… he was intensely curious who the tomb’s owner had been.
Feeling an inexplicable pang of regret, the boy ran his hand along the wall.
“Hm?”
His fingertips detected strange scratches carved into the marble-smooth surface.
Sensing something important, he carefully stroked the entire wall with his palms, attempting to decipher the engravings through touch alone.
A moment later, blinking within the pitch-black darkness, the boy muttered.
“Was this person insane?”
Behead the head of the Wind Lord
Shatter the skull of the Cloud Master
Following the decree that defies heaven
Rectify the energies of the celestial realm
A figure gripped a snake in each hand, and beneath the image were those exact words.
To ordinary people, the Wind Lord and Cloud Master were divine beings of the celestial realm.
Yet the inscription commanded to behead and crush their skulls. At first glance, it sounded like the ravings of a madman.
Still, the sheer scale of the underground tomb made it difficult to dismiss the author as merely insane.
“Excuse me, whoever you are—I understand you have regrets, but what exactly do you expect me to do about it?”
Naturally, the stone wall offered no reply.
After standing before it for a long time, the boy slowly turned away.
Not even knowing his own identity, the idea of “a decree that defies heaven” seemed absurd…
Yet the vigorous curiosity of youth refused to release its grip.
The boy spun back around, stroking his still-smooth chin as he muttered.
“For some reason, it feels like I took a shit but forgot to wipe.”