The Heavenly Demon Still Wears Martial Robes
The next morning.
Having hit it off in a single day, Wiji Yeon and Lee Da-yeon wasted no time borrowing the guild’s training room and settling themselves right in the center.
The space was about the size of an ordinary dojo meant for exercise, though the outer walls had been reinforced—as befitting even a fledgling hunter guild. The guild that Na-yeon and Do-yoon had only just registered occupied an entire building, old though it was. It stood on the outskirts of Seoul, yet still inside the city barrier; real estate like that did not come cheap. Only a hunter with serious income could afford to buy it outright. It was the fruit of A-class hunter Kim Do-yoon’s long years of hard work on his own two feet.
Do-yoon let out a soft chuckle.
“Da-yeon used to be terrified of people, yet she dropped her guard this fast.”
“Kids make friends quick.”
Na-yeon smiled fondly as she watched the two girls. Their long, pretty locks—one black, one white—swayed and bobbed. Looking down at the pair sitting close together in comfortable tracksuits, she thought they looked exactly like a pair of adorable baduk stones.
A quiet sigh escaped her.
“Haa… Now that Yeon’s here too, the guild feels so much more alive.”
“By the way, what are they doing first thing in the morning?”
“They said they were training.”
“Training…? That?”
The two girls sat side by side in the lotus position, eyes closed. Wiji Yeon muttered something under her breath while Lee Da-yeon tilted her head in confusion. Whatever Yeon was trying to teach Da-yeon, it seemed like the sort of thing only children understood among themselves.
Still, Do-yoon could not help the worry that gnawed at him. Wiji Yeon—the girl they had rescued from the underground laboratory. She had no mana inside her body, so she was not an Awakened. Yet she used a bizarre ability.
“She said she manipulates the mana in the air, right? That’s ridiculous.”
“What is?”
“Think about it. Hunters use the mana inside their own bodies. The size of the vessel is fixed; there’s a hard limit to how much you can use at once. My mana as an A-class is about the size of a deep well.”
“A well? If a hunter at your level calls himself a well, how big is an S-class?”
“Hmm… a reservoir?”
“That big a gap…? Hard to even imagine.”
“That’s why the S-class of Jeokpung Guild, Lee Myeong-won, is such a terrifying existence.”
Do-yoon hugged himself with a theatrical shiver. Then he turned a skeptical gaze back on the black-haired girl, Wiji Yeon.
“But manipulating the mana in the air…? Can that power even be seized and held artificially in the first place? Even keeping the massive city barriers running requires the power of top-grade magic stones.”
“Is it that incredible?”
“It’s like drawing seawater from the ocean without limit.”
“But… from what I’ve seen these past few days, she only uses it for things like moving objects. Ah, she did nearly smash the medical center bathroom once.”
“Or maybe there’s a limit to how much she can handle right now. …Training, she said? Does she instinctively know how to grow the ability? Is that even possible?”
“If the power is that dangerous, should we make her stop training?”
“No. You said she’s a good kid, didn’t you?”
Do-yoon shot Na-yeon a meaningful look. She met his eyes steadily, then gave a firm nod.
“Yeah. …I don’t know everything yet, but I’m certain she’s the kind of child who won’t misuse power even if she has it.”
“If you say so, that’s good enough for me.”
Do-yoon grinned.
I could not teach Da-yeon the mind method of the Heavenly Demon Cult—it carried far too great a risk of qi deviation. Even the Heavenly Demon Wiji Yeon of my past life had suffered early on because of the Reverse Blood Art he first learned. Had he failed to purge the demonic energy that sank into his marrow, he would have become a true demonic fiend who brought blood-soaked calamity upon the murim.
The mind method I chose was the Taeching True Scripture Mind Method—the martial art of that old man, Taeguk Geomseon. Passing on the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, most of whose formulas were combat techniques, could wait. First came laying a pure foundation with an orthodox method.
“The energy of Taeching is originally free of all defilement and impurity.”
“The energy of Taeching is…”
“Still the mind and gather the qi; circulate the qi like a dragon.”
“U-uuuh…”
Da-yeon’s teary voice reached me. She was clearly struggling to grasp the formulas. I sighed, rose, and sat down right in front of her.
“If you don’t understand the formulas, you can’t train.”
“But it’s too hard.”
“Urgh.”
This was an unexpected hurdle. I had to break the formulas down and explain them? And in a way a child of this era could understand? Yet after accepting her full nine bows of discipleship, I could hardly throw up my hands and declare I could not teach her.
“Fine. Let’s start with ‘still the mind and gather the qi.’ First, quiet your heart…”
Where else would you find a master this gentle? The so-called masters of the Heavenly Demon Cult taught their disciples the way one tossed a rice bowl at a village school dog—here’s your share, figure out how to eat it yourself. But the new Wiji Yeon was different. She would pick up the spoon and feed the child herself.
Once I saw that Da-yeon had more or less understood the formulas and nodded, I moved behind her and pressed my palm against her back. I felt her body flinch.
“I’m going to send internal energy into the Mingmen point—umm, the area around your back. Feel the energy circulating through your body, and carefully remember the path it takes for one full circuit.”
“Y-yes!”
Da-yeon nodded while keeping her back to me.
A low hum. Qi drawn by the profundities of the Natural Realm passed through my body and flowed into hers.
“……!”
“Don’t open your mouth. The energy will leak out.”
“Hap.”
She would be feeling an unfamiliar energy inside her. A child’s body was ideal for learning martial arts; the meridians were still clean. The later one started, the worse it became—accumulated impurities made opening the pathways far harder. Even so, it must have tickled enough that Da-yeon kept twitching. Yet she gritted her teeth and endured after hearing my words.
Completing one full circulation of qi did not take long. I lifted my hand from her back and let out a light breath.
“Whew. …How is it?”
“What was that just now…? A strange energy passed through my body.”
“That is the power Awakened use. If you breathe while recalling the formulas I taught you, this power will gradually accumulate inside you. Then circulate it along the path I just guided, and that will be your training.”
Da-yeon closed her eyes and began to breathe. Before long she frowned and opened them again.
“I can’t feel it anymore.”
“…Did you think it would happen right away?”
Yet it would come surprisingly soon. Forcibly putting someone through a full circulation so they could sense internal energy had that much utility. Still…
I clicked my tongue.
“Where am I supposed to get a spirit pill around here?”
One for me, and one for Da-yeon.
After confirming she had entered meditation, I crossed my legs, closed my eyes, and began. From this moment I would draw qi through the profundities of the Natural Realm and make it mine via the formulas of the Taeching True Scripture Mind Method.
The waves within grew still. With not a single stray thought, only a spirit like a perfect pearl rested at the center.
It flowed.
A warm current rising from the lower dantian. Along the collarbones, down the spine, threading through meridians and vessels, it circled.
How long had I been lost in that state of no-self?
Growl.
“…Whew.”
It really was not easy. In the past, when the Heavenly Demon Wiji Yeon entered closed-door cultivation, a single fasting pill had sustained him through an entire day of training. This tiny body, however, was already complaining of hunger after only half a day.
I glanced sideways.
“….”
Lee Da-yeon was an impressive child. At her age, sitting still must have made her body itch to move, yet she still trusted my words that she could sense the qi and continued her meditation without pause. Perseverance mattered most. Talent I could supply.
This Seat has chosen well in taking a disciple.
I was quietly basking in that pride when—
“…Is it over now?”
Na-yeon sat crouched by the training-room door, looking strangely hollow-eyed and wearing a tearful expression.
“We’ll eat first and then keep going.”
“What are you even doing, just sitting there… so un-kid-like. Hic.”
“We’ll be doing this all day from now on.”
As if determined to honor my request not to interrupt the meditation, Na-yeon had apparently been watching us train the entire time.
“Really…? You’re not going to play with your big sister?”
“Just bring us food.”
“I ordered it ahead of time thinking you’d finish soon. Hic.”
Come to think of it, there was a paper bag beside Na-yeon. A savory aroma drifted over.
“Oh.”
My eyes widened. Having learned about the world through YouTube, I knew what that food was. Chicken—chicken fried in a special way, or so I recalled. I had once seen people on YouTube doing “mukbang,” content where they ate that dish with great relish.
At that exact moment Da-yeon beside me cracked her eyes open as well.
“…Food?”
“Did you feel the energy?”
“I’m still not sure.”
“It won’t take long. I’ll personally put you through one full circulation every day.”
“Okay.”
“You’re hungry, aren’t you? Let’s eat first.”
I went straight to Na-yeon and reached for the chicken bag.
But then—
Whoosh!
Na-yeon hid the bag behind her back.
“…What do you think you’re doing?”
“Yeon is so cold. Am I just a meal ticket? Just the person who brings you food?”
Good heavens, she was thoroughly sulking. She must not have expected the training to take this long either. Even so, for an adult to hold food hostage against children…
Then again, her reaction was not entirely incomprehensible. Na-yeon herself did not look long past coming of age, and I was partly at fault for failing to give any warning about how long training would last. At a moment like this, I needed to borrow a little of my past life’s worldly cunning.
Softly, as if coaxing her, I stepped closer and met her eyes.
“Sister Na-yeon, the time you spent standing guard has been far too long. This Seat apologizes for her thoughtlessness.”
“Sniff. …Really?”
“Indeed. What must This Seat do to soothe Sister’s heart?”
As I spoke I cast a sidelong glance at the chicken bag. A food I had never tasted in my life—my interest was thoroughly piqued.
“…Then will you eat chicken with me and grant one request from your big sister?”
“…? Well, fine.”
“Heh heh heh.”
Na-yeon smiled slyly. A faint chill seemed to ride that smile, but before the power of chicken I deliberately ignored it.