Heavy Water
When Heosang collapsed, silence settled over the training grounds.
The final outrage he had shown went far beyond mere discourtesy. This was no unintended accident; he had deliberately unleashed killing techniques. Had Cheonhwa not subdued him on the spot, the incident could easily have escalated into open conflict between the two sects.
Amid the uneasy stillness, Heogong was the first to move. He checked the fallen Heosang’s condition, confirmed that breath still remained in him, and gestured for his martial brothers to carry the junior disciple down. Then, before every watching eye, he bowed deeply.
“As the leader guiding the Wudang Sect’s Righteous Path Journey, I offer our sincere apologies to the disciples of the Zhongnan Sect for the disgraceful incident caused by our youngest junior brother.”
Heogong raised his head and surveyed the faces gathered around the grounds before continuing.
“Of course, I have no intention of ending this with empty words of apology alone. We will send word to Mount Wudang so that official punishment may be handed down, and I intend to provide separate compensation to Daoist Cheonhwa.”
He bowed deeply once more.
“As the senior disciple of the Heo generation of the Wudang Sect, I apologize again for spoiling the friendly sparring meant to foster closeness among the Nine Great Sects during the Righteous Path Journey.”
At Heogong’s apology, a stir ran through the training grounds. Had he denied wrongdoing it would have been one thing, but he had lowered his head first and sought forgiveness. To reject such an apology coldly would have been improper. At the very least, Cheonhwa, the party most directly involved, was prepared to accept it.
“We can discuss the details later.”
Muwol, who had been overseeing the spars, decided to adjourn the gathering for now. As Cheonhwa descended from the sparring platform he crossed paths with Heogong and exchanged greetings.
“I am truly sorry, Daoist Cheonhwa. Our junior brother has caused you trouble.”
“It is all right, Daoist Heogong. Is your junior brother unharmed?”
“Thanks to the mercy you showed in your hands, he is intact. For the time being we have requested Zhongnan’s understanding and confined him in the Medicine Hall.”
“Confined?”
“Yes. As a precaution we sealed his acupoints so he cannot move his body. He has long had the bad habit of looking down on others, relying solely on his natural talent… but I never expected it would come to this.”
Heogong offered a bitter smile and apologized again, blaming his own lack of supervision.
“Your sword was impressive, Daoist Cheonhwa. I cannot help but wonder how many times you must have repeated your training to forge such a blade… it draws admiration of its own accord.”
“You praise me too highly.”
“However, it seemed to me that your essence, qi, and spirit are out of balance.”
“Essence, qi, and spirit?”
“Yes. In the martial arts, essence, qi, and spirit are indispensable elements.”
A flash of profound insight gleamed in Heogong’s eyes. The martial arts of the Wudang Sect belonged to the true orthodox Taoist lineage; a Daoist who had cultivated them deeply enough to reach a high realm gained uncommon insight. In Heogong’s view, among Cheonhwa’s essence, qi, and spirit, it was spirit that currently stood out most prominently.
“Your essence—your physical body—has not yet fully matured, and your qi is still lacking because your accumulation of internal energy is insufficient. Naturally you are being drawn along by your will and intent.”
“Is it serious?”
“Rather than serious, ‘unusual’ would be the more accurate word.”
Ordinarily a martial artist developed body, internal energy, and will in sequence. One entered the martial path, accumulated internal energy in the dantian commonly called the qi sea, and thereby strengthened the flesh. By repeating qi accumulation and the small heavenly circulation one opened the meridians throughout the body and increased internal power. Once body and internal energy rose high enough, will naturally expanded in their wake. Cheonhwa’s order, however, had become scrambled.
“Looked at another way, it also means that if you simply restore the balance of essence, qi, and spirit, your martial attainment will rise of its own accord.”
Of the three, spirit was by far the hardest to cultivate. Merely raising the body and internal energy through martial training would already bring him close to the level of a true master.
“In perhaps ten years you will be a far greater master than you are now, Daoist. So do not doubt your path—simply keep walking it.”
Leaving those sincere words of encouragement, Heogong departed. Cheonhwa’s eyes followed the back of the young Daoist who already carried the weight of a senior disciple’s responsibilities.
Thus the friendly spars against the seven Daoists of the Wudang Sect came to a close amid an unfortunate incident.
The seven Daoists of the Wudang Sect left the Zhongnan Sect the very next day. They had cancelled the remainder of their Righteous Path Journey schedule in order to return to Mount Wudang. Heosang, the one who had caused the trouble, was led away by his martial brothers like a criminal. The disgraceful episode had nearly tarnished the Wudang Sect’s reputation, yet Heogong’s proper conduct allowed the matter to pass without lasting damage.
Still, the brief exchange with the Wudang Sect had given the newly initiated disciples a powerful stimulus. The sight of Cheonhwa casually subduing a Wudang disciple who had swung killing techniques left a deep impression. A fresh wave of training fever swept through the ranks, and disciples requesting to learn external body-tempering methods poured forth in droves.
The martial instructors taught the external training methods Inwol had passed on to the new disciples, and additional training equipment was hastily produced to meet the demand. That result, however, became an unexpected setback for Cheonhwa.
“The tenth-level training apparatus is broken?”
During the morning individual training period, Inwol delivered the bad news to Cheonhwa, who had come as usual to use the equipment.
“Yes. The rope that connects the central log to the boulders has given out.”
It was natural wear from long use. Under ordinary circumstances they would simply bring fresh materials and repair it. Unfortunately, those materials had already run out.
“With so many people suddenly taking up external training methods, we had to produce extra apparatus in a hurry. That used up the remaining stock.”
“When will new materials arrive?”
“I’ve already placed the order, but it will take time. At the earliest five days, at the latest half a month.”
“That can’t be…”
Being unable to use the training apparatus while his efficiency was being boosted by special Chukgi-dan pills was a painful blow.
“Can I use a lower-level apparatus instead?”
“There are ten ninth-level sets, but every one of them is in use.”
It was not only the ninth-level equipment. Every apparatus of lower rank was likewise occupied. Disciples whose mastery of the Gyunchon Chukgi-gong had surpassed the fifth stage of the second stage were learning external methods for further training, and that had created the shortage.
“If it were any other new disciple I would tell them to practice other martial arts until the apparatus is repaired.”
“I would rather concentrate on my foundational training.”
Learning a new martial art would force him to devote himself to it for a time, and he wished to avoid anything that might interfere with his foundational work.
And it’s not as though I can simply train the other introductory four martial arts of the sect either.
His footwork and fist arts had already reached a level where further growth of a martial artist’s overall capacity mattered more than polishing the forms. As for sword arts, he had refined the early forms of the first half to perfection. Anything beyond that would no longer be ordinary training but an exploration of uncharted territory.
I want to attempt something new, but my body and internal energy simply can’t keep up.
Internal energy could be solved later once he learned a higher heart method. Building the body, however, required completing the foundational arts. The conclusion he always returned to was the need to continue training the Gyunchon Chukgi-gong.
“If you refuse to learn a new martial art, there is nothing more I can teach you at the moment.”
Inwol let out a long sigh, looking ashamed as an instructor. The introductory four martial arts of the sect had already surpassed the level he could guide from the side. Even if he wished to teach a technique such as Chukgyeong, Cheonhwa’s internal energy was still insufficient; it would be premature.
In the end only one choice remained open to him as an instructor.
“Until the apparatus is repaired, I grant you free training.”
It sounded generous, yet in reality it was simple neglect. For an enthusiastic instructor like Inwol, the present inability to assist Cheonhwa’s training was torment. He would have preferred to stay at Cheonhwa’s side and search for a solution together, but unlike before—when he had only needed to teach Cheonhwa—he now had other new disciples to instruct. He had no choice but to hope that Cheonhwa would find a way on his own.
“Understood.”
Granted free training, Cheonhwa sank into thought about what he should do.
The efficiency of even the tenth-level apparatus had already begun to drop, but I never expected to be forced to look for another method like this.
The problem was that no method offered a greater load than the tenth-level apparatus.
First I’ll try climbing a cliff with the maximum weight I can manage.
Cheonhwa left the training grounds with a pouch full of iron sand hanging from his belt. Free training made such an outing possible.
I’ll start with the cliff I used for training before.
As a test he climbed the cliff that hid the secret cave. With the iron-sand pouch increasing his weight, the climb offered more training than before, yet even though he reached the top in a single stretch the efficiency still fell short of the tenth-level apparatus.
I should look for a different cliff.
From the summit Cheonhwa surveyed the surroundings. A majestic mountain range stretched across the land like a colossal barrier. Even the vast terrain of Mount Zhongnan was only a fraction of the Qinling Mountains. If he set his mind to searching, there would be no shortage of climbable cliffs.
“Hmm?”
While scanning the area he felt a strange sense of dissonance. He could not put it into clear words, yet a certain spot gave off an alien impression.
Why do I feel this way?
It could not be simple imagination. He had wandered these mountains during morning training hikes, had once roamed them searching for training sites, and had looked out over this very scenery countless times while climbing cliffs. Even after he began using the training apparatus he had occasionally climbed up here for a stroll. The fact that he now felt such dissonance meant something was definitely there.
I’ll go take a look.
Cheonhwa descended the cliff and headed straight for the place that felt wrong. Moving through the mountains was never easy, yet for him it was familiar work. Before entering the Zhongnan Sect he had treated the mountains as his own backyard. That experience allowed him to reach his destination without getting lost.
The moment he thought he had arrived at the source of the dissonance—
“Huh?”
He realized, belatedly, that he had already walked past the place that felt wrong.
When did I pass it?
He had not even registered it. That fact sharpened the sense of dissonance and, at the same time, gave him certainty that something was there.
Once more.
This time he slowed his pace and moved carefully, even employing his spiritual awareness to track every movement of his body with precision.
I passed it again.
Yet he had narrowed the range compared with before.
I’ll keep at it like this.
Cheonhwa repeated the challenge again and again. Each time he walked past the place that radiated dissonance, yet he could feel himself drawing gradually closer.
Here!
The instant he took the final step, a strange sensation like passing through a curtain washed over him and the scenery before his eyes transformed.
He stood before a cliff whose face was violently uneven. It was a towering precipice so large and high that he found it strange he had never discovered it until now. At the center of the cliff face yawned the mouth of a cave; that, it seemed, was the source of the strange phenomenon.
If I leave and try to come back in the same way, it will probably be difficult.
He had reached this place only after many attempts. He had no confidence he could find it again by the same method.
It doesn’t seem as though a wild beast is living here.
No animal stench wafted from the cave. Not only that—no scent of any kind came from within.
There is no poisonous qi either.
His qi sense detected no invasion of toxic energy. More importantly, the keen senses he had honed while roaming every sort of place remained quiet. For the moment, at least, there should be no problem.
I’ll go as far as I can.
Cheonhwa carefully entered the cave. The interior was not particularly dark; stones that gave off a soft glow from the ceiling illuminated the space. The passage continued in a single straight line without side branches, sloping gently downward as it went.
This place… it looks as though human hands have touched it.
As he descended along the path, Cheonhwa examined the tunnel and reached that conclusion. Even the glowing stones in the ceiling showed traces of artificial workmanship, and here and there the floor and walls had been smoothed so that a person could walk more easily. Great care seemed to have been taken to damage the cave as little as possible.
Before long he reached the end of the passage, and a wide chamber opened before him. At its center a deep pool of water had gathered. Light from the ceiling stones poured down, reflecting off the surface and illuminating the entire space in a scene that bordered on dreamlike.
That water is no ordinary water.
Even from a distance his qi sense told him so. It was special water permeated with some kind of energy. The moment he approached the pool for a closer look—
“I never imagined you would find this place.”
A voice sounded from behind him.