Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Childhood (2)
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The next morning was hectic.
It was because Mok Ri-won, who could hardly sleep from excitement, woke up before dawn and started making a fuss.
“Little rascal, I’m not going anywhere, so no need to fuss like that.”
“Hehe… Still!”
“Being too hasty isn’t good for learning martial arts. You should get into the habit of taking it easy.”
“Yes!”
He answered well.
Mok Seon-o chuckled, thinking just that.
After finishing a slightly early breakfast, he led Mok Ri-won to the courtyard.
“Now, from today, we’ll begin proper training. Are you prepared?”
“Yes!”
“Really?”
Mok Seon-o narrowed his eyes as he asked.
Mok Ri-won flinched at that gaze and pondered again for a moment.
After a short while, realizing he had no further preparations needed, he answered.
“Yes! Really!”
Mok Ri-won’s eyes sparkled.
Today was the day he would learn to pour out stars at midday, so his heart was filled with anticipation for what mysterious teachings the old man would impart.
Thump, thump.
As Mok Ri-won’s young heart raced busily, Mok Seon-o spoke.
“Then let’s start by learning the horse stance.”
Mok Ri-won’s expression went blank.
*
The horse stance.
A posture made by spreading the legs shoulder-width apart and bending the knees to a right angle.
This was one of the trainings every martial artist went through and continued for life, but Mok Ri-won had no way of knowing that.
With his limited common sense, Mok Ri-won was simply puzzled.
He was told to do the horse stance first, but he couldn’t fathom how this exhausting posture related to pouring out stars.
Mok Seon-o noticed Mok Ri-won’s bewilderment.
So he added an explanation.
“Ri-won, what supports a tree?”
“The, the roots…!”
“Yes, do deep-rooted trees sway in a light breeze?”
“Ah… No!”
“Martial arts are the same. Martial arts embody the principles of nature within the human body and express them, so before proper training, you need to strengthen your lower body, which serves as the root of the flesh.”
Mok Seon-o’s tone was stern.
As if he would never yield on this, he left no room for Mok Ri-won to argue.
“When classifying martial artists, we gauge their level by the depth of their internal energy. However, that’s merely a general standard. Ultimately, martial arts are executed through the body. No matter how profound the internal energy, if the body wielding it is frail, it’s right that the martial art’s power won’t even reach a tenth, isn’t it?”
A long explanation.
But Mok Ri-won couldn’t focus.
Of course.
He was still a seven-year-old boy.
No matter how talented, his muscles were soft and his stamina couldn’t keep up.
He tried to concentrate somehow, but even that was difficult.
Mok Ri-won just groaned and maintained the horse stance.
“If you truly want to become a master, you should focus more on building a solid foundation than advancing your realm through internal energy.”
‘Roots…! Foundation…!’
The weather was annoyingly clear.
Sweating profusely under the shining sun, Mok Ri-won barely grasped a few words from the lecture and repeated them.
Sturdy lower body.
Like anyone else, Mok Ri-won’s long training journey began by building that.
*
Three months passed.
Mok Ri-won’s training progress during that time could be summed up in one word.
Slow.
It was slow enough to make one doubt if teaching someone born under the Heavenly Slaughter Star was right.
However, this wasn’t due to Mok Ri-won’s talent.
It was entirely due to Mok Seon-o’s policy.
‘Feeling qi will happen in an instant.’
Mok Seon-o dared to predict.
The moment qi flowed into this child’s body, he would complete the Small Heavenly Circuit, reaching the second-rate realm.
That overflowing talent would accomplish the impossible in one go.
Thus, Mok Seon-o refrained from teaching him how to handle qi prematurely.
‘Internal energy beyond what the body can handle would harm Ri-won.’
True martial arts mean the balanced growth of mind, qi, and body.
But what if one ignores that and teaches qi first recklessly?
The body can’t contain the overflowing qi, damaging the meridians.
‘Slowly, build the vessel first.’
So that the moment he feels qi, he reaches perfect second-rate, and his body can handle the incoming qi.
The past three months were all for that.
He had Mok Ri-won do the horse stance.
He also had him run through the mountains, and practice basic straight punches and front kicks.
Today, his body was finally on track.
“Enough.”
At Mok Seon-o’s word, Mok Ri-won, who had been in horse stance, collapsed to the ground.
His whole body was soaked in sweat, and his breaths came in heavy gasps.
Mok Seon-o looked at him with a pleased face, then spoke.
“Now the time has come.”
Flash-!
Mok Ri-won’s eyes widened.
His gaze turned to Mok Seon-o, filled with shock.
“Internal energy?!”
Such an excited shout was entirely natural.
Why not?
Hadn’t Mok Ri-won endured all the hardship so far for this?
Mok Seon-o chuckled and nodded.
“Yes, now it’s time for you to learn how to sense qi.”
Mok Ri-won struggled to get up.
He then sat properly and looked up at Mok Seon-o.
“I’m ready!”
“You think so? How can you focus on circulating qi while drenched in sweat? Go wash up at the stream first.”
Mok Ri-won dashed to the stream.
Was he that eager to learn?
Mok Seon-o could only laugh heartily at the sight of Mok Ri-won running with his whole body bouncing.
*
The front yard was quiet.
The child’s tension, full of excitement, created that silence.
“Ri-won, assume the lotus position. You remember how I taught you?”
“Yes!”
Mok Ri-won sat in lotus position.
When he first learned this posture, his groin ached and he groaned, but now he did it flawlessly without blinking.
“Now, what is the mind technique we’re learning today?”
“Star-Link Divine Art!”
“What kind of martial art is the Star-Link Divine Art?”
“It’s the martial art that engraves constellations in your mind!”
“Well memorized. Very good.”
Mok Ri-won grinned.
Mok Seon-o placed his hand on Mok Ri-won’s back and continued.
“Our founder, who created the Star-Link Divine Art, said: Even in the darkest night, leave a shining star, and with it, dispel the dark clouds over the jianghu.”
“Yes!”
“Thus, the Star-Link Divine Art is the martial art of heroes. And of humans. As you train, Ri-won, you must never forget this.”
“Yes!”
Mok Ri-won answered vigorously, recalling the theory he had learned.
‘Goal is ten.’
The Star-Link Divine Art had ten stages, from 1st Star to 10th Star.
Each stage engraved a star in the mind’s eye, and completing all ten allowed one to aim for ascension—a profound martial art.
‘I’m becoming second-rate now.’
Today, he would engrave one star.
Thus, finally reaching the second-rate realm of a true martial artist.
His smile wouldn’t fade at the thought.
Mok Seon-o smiled helplessly, looked at Mok Ri-won, and began.
“Then let’s start. You remember what to do?”
“Yes! I’ll recite the incantation and follow Master’s guidance to lead the qi and complete the Small Heavenly Circuit!”
“Good, I’m glad you remember well.”
Mok Seon-o said no more and began releasing internal energy from his dantian.
Shaaa-.
Chilly starlight emanated from Mok Seon-o’s body.
It enveloped Mok Ri-won.
Mok Ri-won felt a strange sensation.
A new world overlaying the one he knew.
An intangible substance touching his skin, feeling so natural it was odd he hadn’t noticed it before.
The qi, called the root of all things, Mok Ri-won was finally sensing it.
‘Amazing….’
How could it be so warm?
How so cozy?
Though encountering it for the first time, it felt more familiar than anything, and Mok Ri-won’s thoughts began to settle.
Qi touches the skin.
It seeps in, flowing through the body.
The boundary between world and self blurs, as a vast flow imprints even in the young body.
The state of no-self.
A realization where one forgets even their own existence, something ordinary martial artists rarely experience in a lifetime.
Mok Ri-won’s fate as the Killing Star granted him such enlightenment from the moment he first sensed qi.
A single star rises in his mind.
A star of possibility, its color not yet fully defined.
It began to take its place slowly.
Forming a star right upon sensing qi was a miraculous achievement, but Mok Ri-won wasn’t satisfied.
Not just one star, but a higher realm.
To the spot with the faintly visible second star.
The moment Mok Ri-won, immersed in enlightenment, reached for it.
“Stop-!”
Mok Seon-o shouted.
Startle-.
Mok Ri-won jolted and opened his eyes.
Turning his head sharply, he saw Mok Seon-o staring at him, drenched in cold sweat.
“Master…?”
Mok Ri-won tilted his head.
But Mok Seon-o couldn’t answer.
It was due to some unexpected trait of Mok Ri-won.
It wasn’t a matter of internal energy depth.
Mok Seon-o had anticipated this from the moment he decided to teach him.
Nor was the enlightenment too early.
Brilliant martial prodigies writhe in waves of sudden insights, and he had gone through it himself.
The bewilderment on Mok Seon-o’s face stemmed from one thing.
‘His meridians….’
Mok Ri-won’s meridians were vastly different from a normal human’s.
No, a better word than “different” existed.
‘…They flow in reverse.’
The meridians were inverted.
The paths of blood, essence, and life flowed opposite to the norm.
Mok Seon-o realized.
What this body meant.
The human body imitates nature.
Meridians represent the proper path to follow.
Flowing in reverse meant Mok Ri-won’s meridians defied the natural order.
…In other words, his body was made for demonic arts.
*
Internal energy training was canceled.
Mok Ri-won pouted and kicked a stone in the yard.
A whole week already.
Since Mok Seon-o said it was too early and stopped all training, frustration led to this action.
‘Did I do something wrong?’
Maybe he did something forbidden while sensing internal energy.
Or perhaps his trained body hadn’t met Mok Seon-o’s standards yet.
Mok Ri-won’s face fell.
He concluded he had disappointed his master.
Tap.
Tap.
The sound of his toe hitting the stone echoed in the yard.
Meanwhile, Mok Ri-won’s eyes welled up more and more.
Just as tears welled from surging sadness.
Step-.
Footsteps echoed in the space.
Mok Ri-won snapped his head up.
His master was in the thatched house, but the footsteps came from the opposite direction.
‘A stranger…?’
The only person he’d ever seen was Mok Seon-o.
So at the thought of a “stranger,” Mok Ri-won tensed first.
Step.
Step.
The footsteps grew louder and closer.
Mok Ri-won gulped and stared at the source.
Rustle-.
A grubby middle-aged man emerged from the bushes.
Clearly unwashed appearance.
Ragged clothes fit for a beggar.
Knowing the word “beggar” for such a person, Mok Ri-won said.
“B, Beggar?”
The beggar blinked.
Then strode toward Mok Ri-won.
Right then.
Smack-!
“I am the Beggar King, you brat!”
The beggar, Beggar King Ma Il-seok, flicked Mok Ri-won on the forehead.