Not Even a Great Daoist Master Scares Me

Three days later, Yi Yeok made his way to So Cheong-ha's residence.

So Cheong-ha disliked crowded places, so he had built a small house on the mountainside beyond the inner and outer gates and lived there in quiet seclusion. That day, as usual, he stood beside the little pond in the yard, where a few goldfish and koi drifted lazily through the water.

Yi Yeok sat down cross-legged beside him. So Cheong-ha ignored him entirely and gave his attention only to the fish.

A long time passed. Scattering the last of the fish food, So Cheong-ha asked,

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"Feeding the fish."

"And?"

"Raising them so you can catch them and eat them."

So Cheong-ha's brow creased.

"What was that?"

"If you raise fish and never eat them, that's a waste of time. Are you keeping them to cultivate the spirit? Set your mind to it, and you could live like a sage even in a brothel."

So Cheong-ha smiled.

"You have a rather interesting way of looking at the world."

Yi Yeok grinned.

"I'm just talking. I haven't studied properly since I was six. Truth is, I don't even really know what I'm saying. I'm only running my mouth."

"Did that old man teach you nothing worthwhile?"

Yi Yeok thought for a moment.

"Hauling a drunk old man home on my back? Bailing him out after he ran up debts at the gambling den and fled? If it wasn't that sort of thing, then... hard to say."

So Cheong-ha's face hardened.

"From the sound of it, you have already set down a great many of your expectations of the world."

"The world bears me no kindness. It doesn't bear me any particular malice, either. It simply doesn't care. If I'm going to expect anything of anyone, it ought to be myself."

So Cheong-ha stared at him. A silence passed, and then he asked again.

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

So Cheong-ha nodded.

"Good. From today, you will train under me. This old man will pass the Blue Wave True Art on to you."

It was the first time Yi Yeok had ever used a teleportation formation. By the time he came to his senses, he had already left Nokhyeon Sect and was racing after So Cheong-ha in a blur.

Even after they passed through the formation, they traveled three days and three nights before the two of them reached a vast seashore. So Cheong-ha gazed at the sea without a word, and Yi Yeok, swept along with him, spent an entire week doing nothing but watching the water. Impatient as he was, he found himself rather taken with a seascape he had never seen in his life.

At last, on the eighth day, So Cheong-ha spoke.

"What do you feel?"

Yi Yeok dipped a finger into the foam breaking at his feet and put it to his mouth.

"Salty."

So Cheong-ha smiled and asked again.

"Nothing else?"

"The sea wind smells of fish."

"And nothing more?"

Yi Yeok was silent for a moment. Then he burst out.

"No—Elder! If you mean to teach me something, please just say it! Show me nothing but the sea, and how am I supposed to understand anything? I can't stand this!"

At the boy's brazenness, So Cheong-ha's smile only deepened. His mouth said Elder, yet he seemed to regard the man before him not as a superior, but simply as an equal. Had the Sect Master of Nokhyeon Sect or the other elders been there to see it, they would have been astonished by an expression So Cheong-ha had never worn in all his life.

When the smile faded, So Cheong-ha spoke again.

"How many forms of force do you think exist in those waves?"

"How would I know? Teach me, and I'll learn. Don't teach me, and there's nothing I can do."

So Cheong-ha clicked his tongue, as if chiding a mischievous grandson.

"Must I spoon-feed you? Think deeply. Your temper is too hasty. You dislike pondering anything at length."

Yi Yeok frowned, turned it over for a long while, and finally said,

"Well... when the wind blows, the waves seem to rise with it, so... isn't it just one? When the wind is strong, the waves get higher... Ah, but sometimes I think the waves rose even when there was no wind at all..."

He tilted his head. Why had he never thought carefully about that before?

So Cheong-ha smiled.

"If one speaks purely of the forms ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of force, one is overt force, and the other is covert force. In that vast sea, overt force and covert force coexist. Covert force begins in the depths, moves in the shape of a wave, and when it reaches the surface it raises an enormous swell. Overt force, as you said, is the power that stirs the surface when the wind blows. When the wind grows fierce, that power grows fierce with it, and it too gives birth to great waves."

Yi Yeok felt as if he understood—and as if he didn't.

"The coexistence of covert force and overt force. That is the foundation of the Blue Wave True Art this old man means to pass to you."

So Cheong-ha went on.

"Think of our internal energy as a sea as well. The surface may look calm, but within it covert force never ceases to move. Gather that force, then release it in a single instant, and its might will surpass imagination. Overt force, you may take as the qi of heaven and earth. Add the qi of heaven and earth to your own strength, and your striking power will erupt."

He raised an arm and pointed at the sea.

"Just like those waves. In the instant the wave in front surges in, a still greater wave comes crashing after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it."

So Cheong-ha continued to explain the basic principles of the Blue Wave True Art. In learning a martial art, nothing mattered more than grasping its fundamental meaning completely, and this art was no exception. Understand the principle properly, and cultivation would proceed far faster.

The Blue Wave True Art was a singular technique: it condensed blood qi the way the sea condenses covert force, then burst it forth all at once, like a wave. Nor did the force end with a single release. It drove on without cease, wave upon wave, a formidable art capable of dealing an opponent a lethal blow. Yi Yeok's blinding speed and the art's successive explosions were a perfect match. Master it truly, and his combat strength would only grow keener.

Soon So Cheong-ha realized something astonishing. Yi Yeok might be poorly learned, and he might find deep thought a bother, but his brilliance was extraordinary. A brief spell of consideration seemed to have been enough for him to grasp nearly everything that had been explained.

The Blue Wave True Art was divided into three stages.

Train all three to perfection and reach the realm of the Hundred-fold True Wave, and its destructive power would defy imagination. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Talent alone, however, could not carry a cultivator that far. Tremendous internal energy had to stand behind it. Even So Cheong-ha himself, when he employed the Hundred-fold True Wave, consumed more than half his internal energy.

"If your internal energy grows strong enough, then using the Thousand-fold True Wave, or even the Myriad-fold True Wave, will not be impossible."

He spoke with a grave face.

"So do not neglect widening and fortifying your blood meridians."

When the blood meridians grew strong, blood qi grew strong with them as a matter of course. Blood qi was the most fundamental power a human being possessed, and the most vital.

Yi Yeok nodded.

"I understand."

So Cheong-ha was silent for a moment. Then he spoke, carefully.

"There is something I wish to ask."

"Please, ask."

"You are still in the Proud Spirit Realm, are you not?"

"Yes. That's right."

For a moment, So Cheong-ha had no words.

The blood-spirit qi pouring from Yi Yeok's body was a power that only one who had reached the Creation Qi-Blood Realm ought to possess. A realm of cultivation was, in the end, nothing more than a stage—and Yi Yeok already carried blood qi that had outstripped his own.

"But whenever ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I wish, I can step into the Creation Qi-Blood Realm."

At that, Yi Yeok moved his right hand. True qi surged, and Yojiyu revealed itself.

So Cheong-ha gave a bitter smile. Through the immeasurable years he had spent in the Celestial Realm, he had seen countless geniuses, and at times raised them with his own hands. He himself was not unworthy of the title. Even so, a talent like Yi Yeok's was something he had not encountered in a very long time.

"The Blue Wave True Art... it really is an incredible art."

Yi Yeok spoke as if startled by his own power.

"Once you enter the Creation Qi-Blood Realm, the true qi in your body will change into spirit qi."

So Cheong-ha added, perfectly serious.

"Spirit qi is more than twice as powerful as true qi. Your abilities will leap by just as much."

Yi Yeok grinned. So Cheong-ha answered in a voice he made deliberately stern.

"Do not grow too arrogant. Your speed is remarkable, but if you meet an opponent who can match it, you will be struck down before you can even bring your skill to bear."