The Fire Beast's Final Struggle
The Fire Beast’s final desperate thrash.
The explosion of countless spheres of fire qi produced a roar that seemed to shake heaven and earth, accompanied by flashing light and surging flames. Those flames whirled upward, stretching toward the sky. Scorching heat rose in shimmering waves, distorting the entire area into a hazy blur.
Before long the flames subsided. Where they had raged, not a single ember remained—only ash. True to the fire of a spiritual beast, the lingering heat refused to fade and clung like a burn.
Yet one place alone amid the ashes remained intact. The vicinity wrapped in clouds of true qi had not been reduced to cinders. It was the Sword Circle of the Flowing Sword that Cheonhwa had unfurled.
“Hoo…”
Cheonhwa drew a deep, steadying breath and released the Sword Circle. His face was pale, cold sweat beading on his skin, while a dull headache churned through his skull. His overheated meridians could have knotted the flow of internal energy at any moment without surprise. Every muscle in his body felt as though it were melting into mush, and his joints and bones ached as if stabbed. It was the aftermath of wringing essence, energy, and spirit—body, internal energy, and intent alike—down to the very dregs.
That was close. If my response had been even a fraction slower…
He had gone beyond merely interfering with the flow; he had generated an entirely new current to divert the explosion’s path. As a result he had protected not only himself but Neungpung and Hyeonmyeong as well.
Neungpung and Hyeonmyeong’s faces were equally pale. Had Cheonhwa’s reaction lagged even slightly, they might have become ash together with the forest, just like the scene before their eyes. That fear soon gave way to astonishment at the skill of the man who had saved them.
His reaction is so sharp it wouldn’t lose even to a wild animal. Something like that isn’t possible through talent alone. You only reach that realm by honing innate gifts with endless effort.
To expand the Sword Circle in that single instant and wield it with such precision that he diverted the blast’s damage… Even if he overexerted himself, it’s astonishing that someone of his years possesses such skill.
Yet the astonishment did not last. Cheonhwa’s condition could not be called good even by the most generous standard.
“Are you all right, Daoist Cheonhwa?”
“I’m sorry. I pushed myself quite hard.”
“What’s there to apologize for? You saved our lives.”
They would have preferred to let him rest on the spot, but residual heat still blanketed the area, making it no place for recovery. Neungpung and Hyeonmyeong therefore supported Cheonhwa and began walking beyond the blast radius.
“Hm? What’s that?”
Along the way Neungpung spotted something glittering among the ashes. He picked it up and examined it: a sphere that shone with red light. Faint heat radiated from it, and condensed energy could be felt within. Among that energy lurked the sinister taint unique to demonic qi. After turning the object over in his hands, Neungpung realized its nature.
“Looks like the Fire Beast’s Inner Core.”
An Inner Core—the crystal in which a spiritual beast’s spirituality and energy are condensed. The final explosion had reduced its flesh to nothing, yet the Inner Core, endowed with special properties, had somehow survived.
“This should go to Daoist Cheonhwa.”
“I agree.”
Neungpung studied the core a moment longer, then offered it without hesitation. Hyeonmyeong nodded and accepted the proposal at once. Suddenly presented with the Fire Beast’s Inner Core, Cheonhwa could only feel bewildered.
“Is that really all right?”
“Of course it is. We owe you our lives—what’s a trifle like this? If anything, it’s not nearly enough.”
Neungpung clicked his tongue. An ordinary spiritual beast’s Inner Core could be used to increase internal energy, but this one was contaminated with demonic qi. Even if refined, it was doubtful the demonic taint would ever fully leave.
“Still, investigating that core might teach us something.”
“Exactly as Daoist Hyeonmyeong says. If we claim it as the Zhongnan Sect’s achievement, it will help firm up our standing with the Martial Alliance and the like.”
Yet even that was insufficient repayment. Neungpung drew a token from his robes and pressed it into Cheonhwa’s hand.
“This is…?”
“A Grace Token. I’m only a Peak Expert, but if you call, I’ll come whenever you need me.”
“Then I can hardly stand idle either.”
Hyeonmyeong likewise produced a Grace Token and handed it over. Such tokens were sometimes issued by a sect to a benefactor; at other times, as now, an individual expert offered one as personal proof of received grace. With these tokens in hand, both men would stake their lives to answer any request Cheonhwa made. An individual martial artist’s Grace Token carried that heavy a weight. To refuse them would have been discourteous.
“…I gratefully accept.”
Cheonhwa spoke the words and tucked the tokens into his robes. The Fire Beast’s Inner Core, plus Grace Tokens from a master archer and a Plum Blossom Sword Master—today his pockets felt unusually heavy.
With Neungpung and Hyeonmyeong’s help, Cheonhwa returned at once to the Zhongnan Sect. Upon reporting the Fire Beast’s Inner Core, he was summoned by the sect leader.
Okwon Jinin examined the core closely, then nodded.
“There is indeed demonic qi permeating the Inner Core. Contaminated by demonic energy… I never imagined even the core itself could be tainted so thoroughly.”
“I was told the contamination makes refinement difficult. Can it still be of use?”
“Of course. If we entrust it to the Martial Hall and the Medicine Hall at once, it can serve in research on demonic qi.”
Much about demonic qi and demonic arts remained unknown. Though the sect had studied demonic manuals and practitioners, progress on techniques had been modest while internal methods and demonic energy itself had yielded almost nothing and continued to stall. In such circumstances an Inner Core steeped in demonic qi could only prove helpful.
“We may even discover how a spiritual beast became contaminated, and perhaps a way to reverse that contamination.”
“Is that truly possible?”
“It will certainly not be easy. Above all, without deep knowledge of spiritual beasts such secrets are hard to uncover. Yet there is a sect that knows spiritual beasts intimately, is there not?”
Cheonhwa instantly understood which sect Okwon Jinin meant.
“The Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.”
“Precisely. Martial Alliance forces are currently stationed there, including experts from our own mountain.”
The expedition had never been intended to last so long, yet if the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace collapsed completely the consequences would be grave; long-term garrisoning had become unavoidable for the sake of stability. With Zhongnan’s elite absent for half a year, even third-generation disciples had been pressed into service to handle problems at home. Conversely, the presence of Zhongnan disciples among the Beast Palace forces now opened a channel through which investigation could receive aid.
“I shall send a letter to the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace. They themselves nearly fell to the mysterious power, so they will surely cooperate willingly.”
“I hope the results prove fruitful.”
“Yes. You have worked hard as well. From the look of you, the mission has left your body in poor shape. Go to the Medicine Hall at once.”
“Understood, Sect Leader.”
Heeding Okwon Jinin’s counsel, Cheonhwa went straight to the Medicine Hall and submitted to examination. Moments later the elderly woman’s scolding voice shook the building.
“What in heaven’s name did you do to come back looking like a rag from head to toe?!”
“I merely completed a mission…”
At Cheonhwa’s reply the old woman—Danwon, head of the Medicine Hall—scowled as deeply as she could and moved her hands. After only a few light touches Cheonhwa’s body went rigid. Looking down at the youth immobilized by her pressure-point strikes, Danwon clicked her tongue.
“Tsk. If you can’t even react to a slowly applied point-seal, there’s no need to check how wrecked you are.”
Outwardly Cheonhwa appeared unharmed, yet the pulse diagnosis Danwon took was grave. He had been holding body and meridians past their limits together solely by the power of recovery. Without that restorative ability he would long since have lost consciousness and needed more than a month of convalescence.
He’s in a state where even moving should make him writhe in agony. How did he manage to crawl all the way back to the mountain looking intact?
Danwon regarded Cheonhwa as though he were some strange creature. Then a possibility struck her and she could not suppress her inner shock.
Don’t tell me he temporarily blocked the pain with point-seals and calculated the optimal movement while examining every part of his own body…?
If the guess was correct, it meant he had never once relaxed his concentration or his internal observation during the entire return journey—while already at the absolute limit of mind and body. How such a thing was possible she could not imagine, yet no other explanation fit the present situation. Given the sheer stubbornness Cheonhwa had displayed until now, it was possible.
“What kind of monstrous willpower is this…”
“Pardon?”
At the innocent question Danwon heaved a long sigh.
“Just lie quietly, circulate your energy, and run your Hyeoncheon-jingi while you rest.”
With that she transferred him to a bed. Thus Cheonhwa found himself forcibly confined to recovery until his condition improved. Lying on the cot, he devoted himself wholly to recuperation—more accurately, he had no other choice, for the sealed points left him unable to move. He therefore concentrated calmly on energy circulation.
Normally one sat cross-legged to circulate energy, yet Cheonhwa could now do so whether standing or lying down so long as his posture was stable.
Reaching the realm of the pupil and becoming a Peak Expert has deepened my intent, but the greatest factor is that Changcheon-gigong has attained minor completion.
Middle-dantian methods each possessed unique properties. Changcheon-gigong granted detoxification and enhanced durability of energy circulation. Greater durability meant the flow of internal energy would not easily be disturbed under any circumstance; that was why the current had not tangled even while his meridians overheated.
“Hoo…”
With each breath the energy of Hyeoncheon-jingi coursed along every meridian of his body. Vitality returned to his weakened flesh and channels. What the restorative property had barely managed to maintain now began to heal in earnest.
But mere recovery isn’t enough.
Returning only to his pre-injury state would simply invite the same crisis again. Body and meridians had to become stronger than before if he hoped to endure another ordeal like this.
I’ve already had a similar experience.
It had been after the fight with the master of the Yihwa Sect, when he had suffered deep internal injuries and lost consciousness. In the course of healing those wounds his body had grown stronger than it had been.
It won’t be exactly the same, but something analogous should be possible.
Cheonhwa layered four kinds of energy with Hyeoncheon-jingi at the center. Amplified according to the principles of the Five Elements, the Hyeoncheon energy accelerated recovery far beyond its former rate. At the same time the permeating Hocheon and Changcheon energies infused their respective properties into his flesh: his body grew sturdier so that it could release greater Balgyeong, and his meridians toughened so that they could withstand the operation of vast internal energy without strain.
Thus, losing all sense of time, Cheonhwa observed his interior and devoted himself to both recovery and growth. When Danwon came to check his pulse and saw the scene, she could only stick out her tongue in disbelief.
I told him to lie down and recover, and instead he’s training. Has some ghost that died for lack of practice possessed him?
Injuries of this severity left one hard-pressed merely to focus on recovery through energy circulation. Yet he was going beyond healing and imprinting the properties of several mental methods into his physical body. One misstep and the wounds would worsen rather than mend—yet Cheonhwa showed no deterioration. His body was recovering steadily while growing stronger than before.
Without the ability to sense every physical change the instant it occurs and adjust with exquisite care, that would be impossible. Of course, that same ability is what let him walk all the way back to the mountain.
Knowledge gained from medical texts. A body completely mastered through pupil training. Detection of internal change through the power of observation. Delicate control of internal energy by mind, intent, and consciousness. Only the efforts Cheonhwa had accumulated until now made such a result possible.
Interfering from outside would only be more dangerous.
Leaving the focused youth alone, Danwon left the sickroom, already planning the lecture she would deliver once he was fully recovered.