Tracing the Flow of Qi
"We have uncovered where the Imperial Sword may be residing."
Crash!
The words had barely left the subordinate's lips before a massive porcelain vase hurtled across the room, shattering into a thousand jagged pieces against the stone wall.
Harsh, ragged breaths echoed through the gloom.
"He… that bastard is truly… still breathing…?"
Blood rushed to Namgoong Mo-hyeon's face in a surge of boiling rage, staining his features crimson. Across his contorted visage, the hideous sword scar spanning his flesh twitched like a living serpent.
Namgoong Mo-hyeon.
The Great Elder who had orchestrated the treasonous assassination plot against Namgoong Woon-hyeon—and Woon-hyeon's own half-brother.
To the world, the grievous wound marring his face was a medal of honor received in brutal combat against the Demonic Cult. In truth, it was a parting gift carved by Namgoong Woon-hyeon's own blade on Mount Seolhon that fateful day. Though Mo-hyeon had lavished fortunes on rare medicinal herbs and summoned the most renowned physicians across the land, the strike had bitten too deep. The scar remained etched into his skin, an indelible brand of humiliation.
"Of course. It was unnatural from the start that his corpse could never be found…."
The final clash against Namgoong Woon-hyeon on Mount Seolhon still haunted his nightmares. Even after ingesting lethal poison, even after being hounded across mountains until his body was shattered and spent, Woon-hyeon had raged like an untamed god of war until the very end. His sword had cleaved the frozen peaks in twain, triggering an avalanche that buried every martial artist on Mount Seolhon beneath the snow—himself included.
Mo-hyeon had barely crawled out of that frozen hell alive. When he later returned with an army to unearth the corpse, there had been nothing to find.
"Alive…. You survived even that, did you…?"
A low, grating rasp escaped Mo-hyeon's throat. "Hehehe… Khahahahaha! What a disgustingly stubborn life you cling to!"
Stubborn! Tenacious to the point of being utterly pathetic!
"Even after enjoying everything this world has to offer, you still refuse to let go…!"
A venomous glint flared within Mo-hyeon's eyes. Turning toward his kneeling subordinate, he issued a chilling command.
"Send a letter to the Mad Blade."
"D-Do you mean… the Mad Blade of the Pado Sect, my lord…?"
"Yes."
Color drained from the attendant's face.
The Pado Sect. Originally an orthodox sect renowned for its saber arts, it had steadily fallen into disrepute due to its ruthless pursuit of supremacy and a string of violent scandals several years ago, earning it a reputation closer to the Unorthodox Faction. Recently, rumors circulated that they were desperate to regain the recognition of the Murim Alliance at any cost.
"Are you intending to seek their aid?"
"Not aid. I intend to use them."
"However, against the Imperial Sword, would the Pado Sect truly…?"
"They will suffice."
A sneer curled the corner of Mo-hyeon's lips.
"He may be drawing breath, but after being hollowed out by the Blood-Severing Intestine-Melting Poison, his body cannot truly be called alive. If the Sect Leader of Pado moves in person, it will hardly be an impossible task."
The martial prowess of the Pado Sect Leader was counted among the finest in the realm, whispered to rival even the Ten Great Masters. Against the crippled husk that Woon-hyeon had surely become, he was more than enough.
"Will the Pado Sect Leader truly act on our behalf?"
"He will, provided we offer a price he cannot refuse."
For instance… the position of a son-in-law marrying into the great Namgoong Clan. For a man starving for ties with the Murim Alliance, it would be a dangling bait impossible to resist.
How old was my dear grandniece this year again?
A sinister smirk spread across Mo-hyeon's face, dark and cold as the grave.
"Those lackeys you've been waiting for."
What had he meant by that?
Ever since the Dark Shadow Demon Lord took his leave, the lingering words refused to leave Woon-hyeon's mind. Anyone the Demon Lord would dismiss as mere "lackeys" were almost certainly search parties dispatched from the Central Plains. True loyalists, perhaps, risking life and limb to journey this far into barren lands just to recover his remains.
'No… that might not be all.'
Just because they came seeking his corpse did not make them trustworthy. Among them, wolves wearing the masks of searchers might very well be lurking, sent to ensure he stayed dead.
'How am I to distinguish friend from foe…?'
The more he dwelled upon it, the more his thoughts tangled into an impenetrable knot. Yet try as he might, he could not tear his mind away—
"Grandpa!"
Woon-hyeon blinked, snapping out of his daze.
A round, chubby face occupied his entire field of vision. Tired of calling without receiving an answer, Yeon-woo had marched straight up until her nose was practically touching his.
"…Yeon-woo."
"What are you daydreaming for? We have to go!"
Time to climb the mountain!
Yeon-woo pointed toward the towering peak looming before the cottage. The faint grey hues of dawn were already creeping over the horizon. Lost in his brooding after the Dark Shadow Demon Lord's departure, he had unknowingly sat awake through the entire night.
Yet for a man of his discipline, a single sleepless night was hardly a burden.
"Indeed. Let us go."
Woon-hyeon rose to his feet.
'For now…'
For now, his sole focus belonged to Yeon-woo's training. Whoever came from the Central Plains, whether they managed to track him down or wandered blind in the wilderness—all of that could wait.
A faint warmth touched Woon-hyeon's eyes as he watched the girl impatiently stamping her feet.
"Close your eyes, and feel the flow of energy coursing through your body."
At the mountain's summit, high atop an outcropping of weathered stone, the two sat in an arrangement quite different from their usual morning meditation. Yeon-woo sat with her legs crossed in the lotus posture, while Woon-hyeon settled directly behind her.
"Is this five-senses training too?"
Like feeling the wind and listening to the air?
"Do you recall the qi sensation I spoke of before?"
"Yup."
"We are going to train that perception."
Woon-hyeon gently rested his palm against Yeon-woo's small back.
"From this moment, I shall channel internal energy into your body and circulate it through your meridians. Put simply, think of it as my energy taking a tour around the inside of your body."
"Uuuum……"
Yeon-woo's brow furrowed into tiny ripples. She did not understand a single word.
"Seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times. For a while, I shall guide your circulation myself, so focus on feeling and understanding it directly."
A soft, azure mist of pure internal energy began to waft from Woon-hyeon's frame. Gathering the inner force within his dantian, he guided it along his arm, through his palm, and slowly seeped it into Yeon-woo's back.
The girl's shoulders gave a startled twitch.
"Well done. Do not speak, do not shift, but breathe slowly and center your focus on the current."
In the mastery of internal energy, the most difficult hurdle was perceiving the qi itself. Only by sensing the formless energy scattered throughout heaven and earth, and recognizing its presence, could one ever hope to grasp it. In that regard, Yeon-woo had already bypassed the steepest barrier thanks to her extraordinary innate sensory awareness. She did not merely perceive qi—she could already track and react to its subtle shifts, which would make learning internal cultivation techniques remarkably smooth.
Woon-hyeon's inner energy drifted down toward her abdomen like a calm, tranquil stream. Reaching her dantian, it lingered a moment, swirling gently through the vessel where the Dark Shadow Demon Lord had laid the foundational groundwork.
"This is your Lower Dantian. Once you learn to store energy on your own, consider this chamber the home where your power resides."
Even as he spoke, Woon-hyeon's qi gathered gradually within her core, establishing a steady reservoir so the current would not break when the circulation commenced.
"Now, this energy will ascend through your Governor Vessel and return back here along your Conception Vessel. I shall name the path as we go, so memorize it as best you can."
With a calm breath, Woon-hyeon initiated the circulation. Before rising, the energy dipped toward the lowest point of the torso.
"This is the Huiyin acupoint."
Slowly, the azure current began its climb. Though gentle, it filled her meridians to the brim as it moved—a deliberate touch of care from Woon-hyeon so the child could trace every inch of the path with ease.
"Changqiang at the tailbone."
Mingmen at the lower back. Lingtai between the shoulder blades. Dazhui at the base of the neck. Fengfu behind the skull….
Flowing steadily along the Governor Vessel, the warm stream finally reached the crown of her head.
"This is Baihui, the crest of the head. From here, we turn downward, so follow closely."
From the crest, the energy began its descent through the Conception Vessel along the front of her body. Past Yintang between her brows, down through Renzhong beneath her nose, it crossed Lianquan at the throat, Danzhong at the center of the chest, Zhongwan at the solar plexus, and Qihai across the lower belly.
Finally, the gentle river gathered once more within Yeon-woo's dantian.
Having traversed more than fifty acupoints across the Conception and Governor Vessels, the cycle was complete.
Releasing a long, quiet breath, Woon-hyeon withdrew his qi. Only after calling back every trace of energy did he open his eyes and lift his hand from her back.
A moment later, Yeon-woo fluttered her eyes open as well.
Woon-hyeon turned her around to face him. "Do you understand what took place just now?"
Yeon-woo's eyes shone like polished black marbles.
"Yeah!"
"Describe it to me."
"Something gathered right here—"
Yeon-woo pressed a small hand against her belly button.
"—and then it went up this way, and rolled down right here!"
Her little finger traced an imaginary line up her spine, tapped the crown of her head, and slid smoothly down the bridge of her nose to her chest.
A proud smile touched Woon-hyeon's lips. "Precisely. You read the current perfectly."
"It felt kinda like what Am-yeong used to do."
"Hmm. I suppose it would."
Dredging and opening meridians also relied on stimulating those very same channels, after all.
"What we just performed is called the Small Heavenly Circulation. It is the art of cycling energy through your Conception and Governor Vessels."
"Uh-huh."
"For a time, I shall assist you in guiding the circuit, but eventually, you must perform this entirely on your own."
"How? Yeon-woo doesn't have any of that whoosh-whoosh stuff inside."
"The energy of heaven and earth already surrounds you in abundance. From now on, whenever you draw breath, imagine you are drawing that scattered essence into your lungs."
Yeon-woo took a massive, exaggerated gasp—Huuuup!
Her cheeks puffed out like two steamed buns, her head tilting with an utterly puzzled expression.
Chuckle escaping him, Woon-hyeon demonstrated, drawing in a long, measured breath of mountain air.
"Take in the energy as you inhale."
Then, he exhaled slowly, letting the air slip out in a steady wisp.
"And as you exhale, guide that gathered energy downward, settling it into your core."
"Phew—"
Touching his fingertips together, Woon-hyeon laid his hands gently over his lower dantian and softly closed his eyes.
Yeon-woo mirrored him immediately. She pressed her little fingers together, laid them across her tummy, and cracked one eye open to inspect whether her posture matched his before squinching it shut again.
"Then, you slowly circulate that essence within your body."
"Uuuum…."
"Harmonizing the breath and directing the flow of qi."
Woon-hyeon opened his eyes and looked at the girl. Watching her pretend to be deeply immersed while blatantly peeking at him through narrowed eyelashes, a fond smile softened his face.
"This is called Circulating Qi and Regulating Breath."