Another Trial
"Young Sect Leader, congratulations. You have passed the Assembly of Deities and Demons and received the recognition of Myeongjon."
Early this morning, Marquis of the White Heron, Woosa, of the Sun and Moon Sect, visited me and spoke with a solemn face.
Of course, those words weren't one hundred percent sincere.
If I failed to constantly prove my worth, the position of Young Sect Leader could be stripped away at any moment.
Trials similar to this one would continue to come.
"Tha—"
Anyway, receiving congratulations out of the blue from an elder almost made me blurt out "Thank you" as an automatic reflex.
That was a close call.
In this place, I always had to think twice before speaking.
How would the original Young Sect Leader, Baek Yeon, have responded?
"Did you come all this way so early in the morning just to say that? Do you have nothing better to do?"
"..."
I could see Woosa's pupils trembling.
No matter how much of a Young Sect Leader I was, realistically, a mere child like me speaking this way to Woosa—who, technically speaking, was also my great-uncle—was completely out of line.
But Woosa was also someone who understood the Sect Leader's view of what a Young Sect Leader should be.
"Haha. Lately, the dignity befitting the Young Sect Leader has truly become second nature to you. It is wonderful to see!"
I could sense Woosa's complicated emotions behind his forced laughter and bittersweet expression.
"Of course, that is not the only reason I have come. I am here to inform you that another trial will be bestowed upon you, Young Sect Leader."
"A trial?"
"Indeed. In some ways, it will be a trial even more difficult to endure than the Assembly of Deities and Demons."
Uh... it hasn't even been a single day since the Assembly of Deities and Demons ended, and already?
The books I had read didn't mention any other trials for the Young Sect Leader besides the Assembly, so this was completely new to me.
What kind of terrifying ordeal could it be for him to speak of it like that?
"In the name of Myeongjon, I shall deliver the Sect Leader's command to the Young Sect Leader."
I swallowed hard without realizing it. It was a tense moment.
"Starting from the hour of the Horse today, the Young Sect Leader shall face the wall in meditation at the Hall of No-Mind for one month."
Huh...?
"You must not leave the Hall of No-Mind for even a single moment, you shall meet no one, and you shall speak to no one."
This is...?!
"Young Sect Leader...?"
"Unbelievable."
Facing the wall in solitary confinement... locked away all alone where there's nobody else...
"It is a rite of passage that all successive successors to the Sect Leader have undergone. It will be difficult, but consider it an opportunity to make progress in your future cultivation..."
"So you are saying there will be absolutely no one else in the Hall of No-Mind but me? No one else can enter...?"
"Of course. Your meals will be delivered to a designated spot at designated times."
Holy crap!
I get to be completely alone with absolutely no one around? Is this heaven?
As an extreme introvert who was utterly exhausted from being constantly exposed to energy-draining social situations, just the thought of being alone for a whole month, staring at a wall with no one to bother me, made me feel instantly recharged.
"Once you become the Sect Leader, the nature of your martial arts will require frequent closed-door cultivation and wall-facing meditation. Think of this as getting used to it in advance..."
"Ah!"
"...Young Sect Leader?"
So that was it!
No wonder it had been so hard to see the Sect Leader's face ever since I started living here.
It was because once you became the Sect Leader, you spent vast amounts of time in solitary wall-facing meditation!
"Woosa... I will absolutely become the Sect Leader."
"Indeed. That is an excellent attitude."
Incredible martial arts and absolute power... whatever, who cares about that.
The Sect Leader of the Sun and Moon Sect was a position where you could lock yourself in a room all year round, doing only what you wanted to do, and meeting only the people you wanted to meet.
Wasn't that literally the dream job for an introvert?
"Hmph. At any rate, the Sect Leader has instructed that the scripture of the Hyeonma-gyeong be provided to you so that you may cultivate during your meditation."
"Very well."
"Please be warned: if the Young Sect Leader cannot endure the period of meditation and leaves the Hall of No-Mind, your status as the Young Sect Leader may be stripped away."
"I underst—"
Ah, wait. Wrong persona.
"If you are finished with your nagging, leave. Stop making it so obvious that you have nothing better to do."
Woosa gave a few more warnings before finally leaving my room.
His expression was a mix of bittersweet resignation and deep admiration.
So this is the Hall of No-Mind...
Although the Hall of No-Mind was completely cut off from the outside world, it wasn't as suffocating as I had expected.
The space, roughly three hundred square feet, was surrounded by towering rocky cliffs on all sides except for the entrance. The ceiling was wide open to the sky, allowing plenty of natural sunlight and fresh air to circulate.
There was food, a cozy blanket to cover myself with when sleeping, and a soft, fluffy pillow.
Right in the center of the Hall of No-Mind sat a wide, flat boulder.
"Yessssss!!!"
I let out a loud shout to celebrate my newfound freedom.
Then, without having to worry about anyone watching, I sprawled out on the wide boulder.
How long had it been since I could lie down with such peace of mind?
Knowing that no one would disturb me for the next month made me feel lighter than ever.
I rolled around, took long, lazy naps, and ate the lunchboxes left at the designated spot when I woke up.
Eating alone! Yes, this is true healing!
I really couldn't understand extroverts who hated eating alone.
The special lunchboxes prepared by the Sun and Moon Sect's professional chefs were top-tier in both taste and nutrition, but the absolute best part was being able to savor them slowly, all by myself.
At this moment, I didn't even miss Netflix or YouTube.
I lost track of time, fully immersing myself in the freedom of not having to care about anyone's gaze or meet a single soul.
By the time my social battery was fully recharged...
The massive, natural rock wall overlooking the Hall of No-Mind suddenly caught my eye.
Come to think of it, this Hall of No-Mind...
In front of the rock wall, which bore the weight of countless eons, stood a solemn and ornate altar similar to the one I had seen at the Altar of the Holy Fire.
This was also one of the sacred sites of the Ming Sect, wasn't it?
The Myeongjon I met at the Altar of the Holy Fire had said so.
That I could communicate with him at any of the Ming Sect's sacred sites.
Recalling those words, I walked over to the altar, sat cross-legged, and focused my mind.
Myeongjon?
It wasn't as easy as I thought, but after clearing my mind a few times and calling out to him, a response finally came.
Myeongjon! You're here!
Ah. You were watching?
Well... this is, you see, a characteristic trait of an introvert...
Yes, thank you for understanding.
The Hyeonma-gyeong? Oh, yes.
Snapping out of it, I pulled out the book I had received at the start of my meditation.
A thick book with the words Hyeonma-gyeong written on the cover.
It was one of the few martial arts manuals referred to as scriptures within the Demonic Cult.
Yes, I understand.
The Hyeonma-gyeong was a secret martial art passed down through the Sect Leader's lineage, containing the foundational mental cultivation and internal energy training methods of demonic arts.
It was the first internal energy method learned by the Sect Leader's children, serving as a preparatory stage to build a solid foundation before advancing to higher-level martial arts.
Most of all, it was exactly what I needed right now.
Just as the Sect Leader had said, cultivating the Hyeonma-gyeong would allow me to gradually suppress and control the Heavenly Killer Star.
I don't know if I can pull this off properly.
Despite my internal anxiety, I opened the book and began reading it slowly, page by page.
This is actually more interesting than I thought.
The core of the Hyeonma-gyeong lay in sprouting the seed of demonic energy through the circulation of internal qi.
It began by drawing in the external energy of all creation through breathing, circulating it from the Hoeum acupoint at the very bottom of the body's center, up through the Junggeuk, Gwanwon, and Seokmun acupoints, all the way to the Dangi acupoint in the mouth.
This was the exact part Myeongjon had warned me to read with utmost care.
The fundamental difference between the Sun and Moon Sect's demonic arts and the internal cultivation methods of the orthodox factions lay here.
While orthodox internal energy focused on accumulating pure, gentle qi in harmony with the laws of nature...
The Sun and Moon Sect's internal energy artificially altered the flow of qi during circulation to amplify its power, refining a volatile, violent, and ever-changing internal energy.
Anyone could do it up to this point.
However, controlling this violently fluctuating, erratic energy carried immense risk.
A single misstep could twist the qi pathways and cause backward flow, leading to the highly dangerous state known as Qi Deviation.
But since Myeongjon was watching over me, there shouldn't be any major issues.
Like this?
Sitting cross-legged on the boulder, I tried to sense the energy as written in the Hyeonma-gyeong, following Myeongjon's instructions.
But as expected, it didn't go as smoothly as I hoped.
Sigh... it's not working.
Ah, wait. Is it this?
I think if I do it like this...
Ah, seriously. I'm trying to concentrate, so please be quiet for a second.
Is it this?
After wrestling with it for a long time, I finally felt something.
At first, it felt like a soft feather tickling me, but soon, a squishy, tangible sensation brushed against me.
Myeongjon. Is this it?
Why aren't you answering? Am I doing this right?
Sensing the existence of qi was hard enough, but making it flow according to the scripture was an even greater challenge.
A bit more... instead of trying to control the waves of qi, is it more like letting them run wild?
The seed of demonic energy sprouts within the dantian, circulating through the core meridian pathways.