Yin Culmination (2)
Through contemplation, Cheonhwa objectively assessed his own condition.
This state won’t last long.
He had temporarily realized Intent Qi Manifestation through the spirituality of the Ice Crystal, yet even that would reach its limit in another one or two exchanges.
I have to finish it with the next strike.
Cheonhwa adjusted his grip on Okgyeong, which had gained a new edge, and settled into a ready stance. As he poured every ounce of Stored Jin he had accumulated into his sword qi, his energy wave began to pulse with mounting force.
Seeing Cheonhwa prepare for a direct breakthrough, killing intent flashed in the eyes of the Blood Wolf Iron Claw.
“I don’t know what trick you’ve pulled, but abandon any thought of dying cleanly!”
What he unleashed, thick with rage, was the Blood Wolf Iron Claw’s ultimate technique.
An energy wave poured forth as if to devour the very space around it, slicing through the air as it hurtled toward him.
In answer, Cheonhwa brought Okgyeong—raised high overhead—straight down in a single cut. Sword qi laden with Stored Jin erupted along the arc of the swing, and a fierce cutting wind howled into being.
The two trajectories collided in midair and locked in a contest of strength. The clash of energy waves, internal force, and intent shook the atmosphere itself. At the point of contact, it was the cutting wind that seized the upper hand.
The keen blade-wind carved through the opposing energy and drove forward, finally striking the Blood Wolf Iron Claw. The internal-energy barrier he had just raised could not withstand the cutting wind and shattered, leaving a deep sword scar across his upper body.
“Cough!”
The Blood Wolf Iron Claw staggered, spitting blood. A chill energy was seeping into his flesh. There was no mistaking it—the yin-cold qi had invaded him through the Internal Injury Infusion Method.
He performed the Internal Injury Infusion Method with sword qi?
Twenty-second Form — Thunder of the World
A sword form that carries the image of thunder arriving late after lightning flashes from dark clouds. Originally it loaded the Internal Injury Infusion Method onto sword wind; by the miracle of spirituality, that force had been replaced with pure sword qi.
Blood began to flow not only from the Blood Wolf Iron Claw’s mouth but from his ears, nose, and eyes. When yin-cold qi suddenly flooded a body already steeped in the extreme poison of the King of Hell Temple, the poison qi rebelled and turned his flesh into a quagmire.
The external and internal wounds alone were grave; with the poison running wild on top of them, even a Peak Expert had no means to endure. In the end the Blood Wolf Iron Claw could no longer keep his footing and crumpled where he stood.
“This goddamn—! For me to fall to a mere brat…!”
He muttered, thick with resentment. He had been only a single step from his goal. He had never imagined he would be undone by a Zhongnan Sect disciple who had suddenly intervened.
Looking down at the fuming Blood Wolf Iron Claw, Cheonhwa spoke.
“Do you know something?”
Eyes blazing with fury fixed on him.
“There was Seolwolhwa here.”
“…What?”
“And it was blooming in abundance. It could have detoxified even the poison of the King of Hell Temple.”
“…Ha. Hahaha. Hahahahaha!”
At Cheonhwa’s words the Blood Wolf Iron Claw burst into hollow laughter.
“With death right before my eyes, my vision narrowed so far I couldn’t see what was around me.”
He lamented the fact that a means of detoxification had existed even without seizing the Ice Crystal. Did that not mean every secret scheme he had woven to obtain the crystal had been meaningless? In truth, those very schemes had brought him to this end.
“I… just what… for the sake of what…”
Unable to finish the sentence, the Blood Wolf Iron Claw breathed his last, his face stained with regret.
At once the cutting wind that had coiled around Cheonhwa’s body subsided. A sticky, delayed wave of exhaustion washed over him; he staggered and barely kept his balance.
Before I knew it, the external and internal injuries have healed. Is this also a miracle of the spirituality?
He checked the Ice Crystal in his hand and found the crystal had grown cloudy. The spirituality had been spent; it would take time before it regained its former light.
“Is everyone all right?”
Cheonhwa examined the others. Exposed to a Peak Expert’s Intent Qi Manifestation, all three were in poor shape. Energy-wave cuts marked their bodies, and they carried internal injuries as well. In this condition even descending for proper treatment would be difficult; they needed first aid on the spot.
I’m sure I still have golden wound medicine.
It was one of the gifts the villagers of Nonghyeon had forced into his hands. Pitying his battle-ravaged appearance, they had scraped together every coin they owned to buy medicines from the pharmacy. The quality was not exceptional, yet it was far better than nothing.
Cheonhwa took the medicine from his robes and distributed it among the three.
“Apply the golden wound medicine to your wounds and recover with qi circulation and breathing. I’ll stand guard in the meantime.”
Having given his advice, he dragged the Blood Wolf Iron Claw’s corpse outside and turned back near the entrance. Meanwhile Yeonhwa, Jeokhwa, and Seol Yerin smeared the medicine over their wounds and began circulating their qi.
While the three devoted themselves to recovery, Cheonhwa sharpened every sense and kept watch on the surroundings. Before long they finished their circulation and opened their eyes. Their internal injuries were not fully healed, yet they had reached a level at which they could move without difficulty.
“I only wanted to take one spiritual herb, and the matter has ballooned this far.”
“I know. How did it come to this?”
Jeokhwa, her color improved, heaved a deep sigh. Yeonhwa nodded with a weary face in agreement.
It should have been a simple errand—finding and consuming a spiritual herb on the road home after completing their mission. Before they knew it the North Sea Ice Palace had become entangled, and on top of that a master of the unorthodox path had attacked. Truly, the cause and effect of the martial world was complex and bizarre beyond measure.
“Besides, after all that chaos the Seolwolhwa can’t possibly be intact.”
“About that—when I checked, it was still perfectly fine.”
“What did you say?”
At Cheonhwa’s words Jeokhwa searched the surroundings in surprise and found the Seolwolhwa standing unharmed even though the cave interior had been reduced to chaos.
“How is that still perfectly fine?”
Faced with a situation that defied common sense, Jeokhwa blinked repeatedly, yet no matter how hard she looked the Seolwolhwa remained proudly in place.
“Just accept it as it is.”
Yeonhwa offered the flustered Jeokhwa that counsel. In the martial world, miracles that defied belief sometimes occurred. Overcoming this crisis itself had been possible only because of the miracle Cheonhwa had wrought.
Sensing a familiar energy from that miracle, Seol Yerin turned to Cheonhwa.
“That Intent Qi Manifestation—I felt the presence of the Ice Crystal. Did you receive its aid?”
“Yes. By resonating with the spirituality dwelling in the Ice Crystal, I temporarily reached Intent Qi Manifestation.”
“The owner of the Ice Crystal is this lady, yet I do not understand why the crystal chose you. Was I so untrustworthy, or was I simply lacking in qualifications…”
Seol Yerin seemed to be turning over the reason the Ice Crystal had not chosen her in the moment of crisis. Until now she had communed with it by borrowing the power of the North Sea Ice Palace’s martial arts, unaware that fully drawing out its spirituality required the awakening of Intent Consciousness. Cheonhwa, however, kept silent on the matter. It was something she would naturally come to know once she awakened intent herself.
“Please take it. And be careful not to lose it again.”
“Thank you.”
Seol Yerin carefully accepted the dimmed Ice Crystal, then drew from her robes a cloth that radiated cold. It was Snow-White Cloth, specially woven for storing the Ice Crystal; with it, the crystal could be kept safe even in hot weather. Having secured the Ice Crystal, she expressed her gratitude to Cheonhwa and the others.
“Thanks to you I kept the Ice Crystal and preserved my life. I will never forget this life-saving grace.”
“We only stepped forward to survive ourselves.”
“Even so, the fact remains that I received help. To let this pass would damage my dignity as Young Palace Master of the North Sea Ice Palace.”
With those words she produced an antique pure-white token from her robes.
“This is the North Sea Ice Palace’s Token of Gratitude. Show it to any of our people and they will treat you as benefactors. Do not let it be stolen as this lady did—keep it well.”
Faced with Seol Yerin’s firm insistence, Cheonhwa had no choice but to accept the token.
“The Seolwolhwa seems unharmed, so consume it here. This time this lady will stand guard for you.”
The Seolwolhwa possessed the nature of snow—once touched by human hands it melted with startling speed—so it had to be taken the moment it was harvested if its full efficacy was to be gained.
“Thank you for your kindness.”
After expressing his gratitude, Cheonhwa plucked the flowers of the Seolwolhwa together with Yeonhwa and Jeokhwa and held them in his mouth. Like melting snow the petals dissolved, and the sweetness of the nectar hidden within filled his mouth. When he swallowed, a gentle yet cold energy welled up from within.
Cheonhwa refined the Seolwolhwa’s energy through Dark Heaven True Qi and absorbed it; the process proved remarkably easy. In an instant the energy was digested and transformed into Dark Heaven True Qi. Overflowing cold qi began the Great Heavenly Circulation from his heart. As the energy gradually became one with his body, his achievement in the mind method rose steeply. The moment the cold fully melted into him, he achieved Great Completion of the Dark Heaven True Qi.
Just as when I achieved Great Completion of the Vast Heaven Qi Art, a new ability has opened.
Through contemplation Cheonhwa immediately discerned the nature of the ability. The recovery power dwelling in Dark Heaven True Qi had fused with his flesh; as a result, wounds mended themselves even when the art was not deliberately operated.
The instant Dark Heaven True Qi reached completion, the Vast Heaven Qi Art seated in his middle dantian responded. At the same time Cheonhwa’s consciousness began to sink deeper still.
The place his consciousness reached was the mindscape he had once entered by chance.
“You came faster than I thought.”
The founding patriarch, wearing Jinhyun’s form, welcomed Cheonhwa’s visit.
“I thought Great Completion of the Dark Heaven True Qi would take years, yet here you are setting foot in the mindscape again after a mere few months. You always exceed expectations.”
The founding patriarch stroked his beard with evident pleasure.
“I would like to walk with you, but this is a path that holds meaning only when traveled alone. Do you know the road you must take?”
“…Yes. I think I know.”
Cheonhwa answered while gazing at the mountain range. He could feel the mountain that held the seasons of autumn and winter calling to him. Following that pull, he began to advance along the mountain path.
The first place he reached was the range imbued with autumn that sprang from the Protective Qi Art. At the entrance every tree hung heavy with fruit, and in the fields the grains of the crops were ripening, giving a sense of a bountiful year.
Autumn is the season of fruition. This means the foundations laid without cease are bearing fruit one by one. You will reap as much as the blood and sweat of your efforts.
What rose in his mind was the formula of the Vast Heaven Qi Art.
Metal qi descends and contracts—the energy that bears fruit. Just as metal settles deep in the earth and condenses into hardness, if the foundation that is the flesh is not solid, true fruition cannot appear. Put another way, for one who has properly laid that foundation, welcoming a bountiful year is the natural order. One who has striven without cease will lack nothing in obtaining the fruition known as First-class.
But fruition does not last forever.
As he pressed deeper along the mountain path the scenery changed. Leaves turned to fallen foliage and drifted down. Fruit dropped from the branches. The harvested fields lay empty. The cool wind gradually carried a bite of cold. It was the end of autumn—or the beginning of winter. The crossing from the Vast Heaven Qi Art into the range imbued with Dark Heaven True Qi.
Winter is the season of trials. The cold puts all things to sleep and is the trial itself that drives countless lives toward death. Only by overcoming this trial is a new beginning permitted.
This time the formula of the Dark Heaven True Qi brushed through his mind.
Water qi is the energy that condenses and binds. Water flows and flows, gathering into rivers, then advancing again to the sea. At times it hardens into ice; at times it falls as rain from the sky. Thus water may change freely, yet in the end it achieves the Great Dao. The training of the Zhongnan Sect is the same. The path that begins from the Middle Way seeks its own course, departs from the Middle Way, and shatters the existing balance. Yet if one finds a new center of one’s own amid that shattered balance, is that not also the Middle Way—and the Dao itself?
And for that, one must first leave the existing path.
As he entered deeper into the winter mountain path the cold grew fiercer. A blizzard sprang up without warning, blotting out even an inch ahead; in the end the path he had been following vanished from sight. Still Cheonhwa did not stop. He could not know whether this was the right road, yet he could not halt his steps either. The moment he stopped, stagnation and regression waited. While strength remained, he had to press forward without cease.
Thus he moved his feet without pause. At some point the blizzard ceased. Before him stood a massive wall—invisible, yet so clearly present that its existence could not be denied.
The instant he saw it, Cheonhwa knew what the wall was.
The Wall of Peak.
It was the embodiment of the limit that must be overcome to advance to the next realm.