Chapter 186: The Emperor's Heavenly Thunder (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 186: The Emperor's Heavenly Thunder (5)
The Peak Realm is the stage of shaping a vessel for martial arts within one's mindscape.
The Three Flowers Gather at the Crown is the stage of filling that completed vessel.
This vessel represents one's potential, their possibilities, the very ideal they pursue.
Eventually, the vessel becomes so full that it can no longer hold new martial insights and principles. This is the limit a martial artist defines for themselves.
No matter how vast a vessel one shapes, it will one day be filled to the brim. What, then, is the next step?
The realization of Emptiness.
One must go beyond merely emptying the vessel of martial arts—one must shatter it.
For only by shattering it can one receive all things.
This is the state of an Empty Mind, or No-Mind.
Crack!
A tremendous roar, audible only to Namgung Jun, erupted within his mindscape. With it, his inner world expanded to infinity.
An azure sky, harboring lightning, rain, clouds, and wind, filled his mindscape.
When a martial artist shatters their filled vessel and transcends their self-imposed limits, the boundary between them and all creation gradually blurs.
This is the realm of accepting all of creation, built upon the foundation of the martial arts one has cultivated. It is none other than the Five Qis Converging at the Origin.
Upon achieving the Five Qis Converging at the Origin, one becomes able to commune with Natural Qi.
As Natural Qi weaves the Unity of Essence, Qi, and Spirit ever tighter, abilities like the Butterfly Metamorphosis of Mystic Time and Heart Spirit Qi Transformation deepen, and entirely new ones are born.
The first is Star-Congealing Astral Transformation: the ability to unite internal energy, Natural Qi, and intent to forge Astral Qi.
The second is Heaven-Piercing Spiritual Wisdom: where one's martial intuition, honed through years of practice, encounters Natural Qi and ascends to the realm of foresight.
And that was not all.
The internal energy of a Peerless Expert, who absorbs Natural Qi through their entire body, rarely runs dry, and their physical body exhibits terrifying vitality.
Just as nature, left to its own devices, eventually restores itself, the principles of all creation now dwell within a Peerless Expert.
Thus, the Jianghu refers to a martial artist who has achieved the Five Qis Converging at the Origin as this:
A Peerless Expert.
Crack! Snap!
Another change descended upon Namgung Jun, who had achieved the Five Qis Converging at the Origin while creating the Emperor Heavenly Thunder Divine Art.
Shedding the Mortal Body and Exchanging Bones.
Seated cross-legged, Namgung Jun's body began to writhe and convulse violently. The sickening sounds of bones snapping and flesh tearing leaked from beneath his martial uniform, growing steadily louder.
The first visible change appeared on his skin.
Namgung Jun's entire body had been suffering from frostbite due to the terrible Yin Cold Qi. The milder areas were purple, while the severely frostbitten or necrotic parts had turned gray and black.
The skin, marked by those ominous colors, began to peel away and regenerate repeatedly until, finally, pure white flesh like that of a newborn was revealed.
Starting with his new skin, his entire physical frame was restructured.
His arms grew longer, his wrists becoming more flexible and elastic, perfectly suited to effortlessly execute the infinitely free swordplay of the Vast Sky Boundless Sword Technique. Furthermore, the bones and muscles of his forearms grew far stronger, allowing him to powerfully unleash the Sword Force of the Heavy Sword, which was his specialty.
His lengthened legs also transformed into a shape ideal for the Infinite Steps and the Thousand-Li Lake Journey, and his entire muscular structure was reorganized under the influence of the Sword-Root Foundation Art and the Heaven-Pillar Resolute Advance Movement Art.
The inside of his body was no different.
As if to withstand the exceptionally powerful and vigorous energy of the Emperor Heavenly Thunder Divine Art, the meridians throughout his body repeatedly tore and healed, rapidly widening and strengthening.
Thus, Namgung Jun was reborn—an existence perfectly sculpted for the path of upright righteousness and steadfast martial arts.
* * *
Having finished his Qi Circulation, Namgung Jun opened his eyes.
‘I have achieved the Five Qis Converging at the Origin, and Shedding the Mortal Body and Exchanging Bones.’
He had reached a new realm and obtained a new body. Naturally, his martial prowess would now be on a completely different level. An urge to grasp his sword welled up within him.
It was a monumental achievement, but there was no time to celebrate. The villagers had gathered in a circle around him.
The commoners had been waiting with bated breath, and the moment he opened his eyes, they reacted.
"Ah! He's awake!"
"Greetings, benefactor."
"Children, quickly, bow to him."
The villagers expressed their gratitude to Namgung Jun all at once. Most bowed their heads and waists respectfully, while some prostrated themselves on the ground. Even the clueless children, guided by their parents, bowed blindly.
Flustered by the sudden display, Namgung Jun quickly moved to stop them.
"Everyone, please calm down. Why are you all doing this?"
An old man, who appeared to be the village chief, spoke on their behalf.
"We may be ignorant folk, but we know that the Great Hero saved us all."
"No, that is not true. In fact, it is because of me that you were exposed to the danger of the Demonic Cult."
"If not for the Great Hero, we would have died the moment those Demonic Cult bastards raided us. That’s what happened to several neighboring villages."
Starting with the old man's words, the other villagers vied to express their gratitude. No matter how much he tried to stop them, they wouldn't cease, so Namgung Jun eventually returned their courtesy with a polite bow.
"The village has been ruined. I apologize."
The aftermath of unleashing Southern Heaven had left massive sword scars across the earth. The scars ran so deep they resembled a small canyon, cutting right through the village. It would surely cause great inconvenience to the villagers' daily lives.
"As long as we are alive, that is enough. We can repair this much among ourselves. Almost no one was hurt, and no houses were destroyed, so we were very lucky."
"I will send people to help you later."
"Oh my. To think you would help us again, when you must be so busy with important matters."
The villagers wanted to treat Namgung Jun with the utmost hospitality, but they were in no position to do so. Although martial artists had occasionally visited in the past, this was the first time the entire village had become a battlefield of the Jianghu.
Though they had survived thanks to Namgung Jun, many still feared the Demonic Practitioners might return. With news arriving that the Mount Hua Sect was barely holding off the Sun-Moon Demonic Cult further north, their anxiety only grew.
Though their minds were a chaotic mix of relief and anxiety, the villagers tried their best to appear calm before their benefactor.
'This situation must be truly difficult for them.'
Namgung Jun did not miss the trembling, anxious eyes of the commoners.
"The neighboring villages are all moving toward Mount Hua. It would be best for you to move as well."
Namgung Jun advised them to evacuate, and the villagers did not refuse. Packing light, they began to leave the village in the direction he had indicated.
"Big brother, thank you."
A young boy, held in his mother's arms, stared intently at Namgung Jun, who remained alone in the village. He waved.
At the sight of the tiny, wiggling hand, a faint smile touched Namgung Jun's lips, and he waved back. Watching the boy's innocent smile, he was certain once again.
His martial path—and the path his disciples walked—was absolutely not wrong.
That smile would become another source of his strength.
"Whew."
Only when the evacuating villagers had almost vanished from sight did Namgung Jun finally catch his breath.
'Now I can head to the northern battlefield.'
He had finished evacuating the commoners on behalf of the Mount Hua Sect. All that remained was to head north and aid them.
Step.
Namgung Jun took a slow step forward, checking his altered physical condition. With every minor breath and movement, the surrounding Natural Qi bounced and reacted. Having achieved the Five Qis Converging at the Origin, he had naturally begun to commune with it.
It was no exaggeration to say that the moment one connected with Natural Qi, all of their abilities as a martial artist leaped forward. Among them, the greatest change was the ability to manifest Astral Qi.
In his past life, he had not been able to manifest Astral Qi immediately upon reaching the Five Qis Converging at the Origin. Even after obtaining the Star-Congealing Astral Transformation, manifesting Astral Qi was so difficult that it required separate, dedicated training.
However, thanks to the experience of his past life, he could now manifest it right away. Of course, he couldn't actually use it until he could weave Manifested Astral Qi. A Peerless Expert who had reached the level of Reach the Peak and Attain the Ultimate would be free from such restrictions, but that was still a distant prospect. His priority now was to steadily manifest Astral Qi so his body could adapt.
'And Shedding the Mortal Body and Exchanging Bones.'
The most immediate change he could feel was his altered field of vision. His line of sight was much higher; he estimated his height had increased by about a head.
Not only that, but his entire body had changed.
Even when undergoing Shedding the Mortal Body and Exchanging Bones, the pattern of change differed for every martial artist, as each practiced different arts. The process restructured the body into the optimal form for the martial arts one had learned.
Naturally, Namgung Jun's body had changed according to the arts he had mastered.
Gently clenching and unclenching his fists, Namgung Jun nodded. Just by walking slowly and observing his internal state, he had mostly adapted to his new body.
"I can adjust the rest in actual combat."
Having made up his mind, Namgung Jun's figure vanished like mist. A long, faint blur marked his passage, a movement that far surpassed the Thousand-Li Lake Journey he had used at his peak before the breakthrough.
And this was merely a light execution of the technique, not a full-powered one.
* * *
Rumble!
Myeong Hui-yeon landed with enough force to tear up the ground. She dragged an old man and a middle-aged woman by the scruffs of their necks.
The two, clearly subdued by her, had been reduced to shriveled, dried-up mummies—a pitiful, wretched state for supreme experts known in the Jianghu as Bright Mirror Masters.
Having devoured the Second Mirror Master and the Fourth Mirror Master, Myeong Hui-yeon's eyes gleamed more sinisterly than ever.
"Still, you didn't just stand there and take it. The trap you prepared wasn't bad."
Myeong Hui-yeon had not only shattered the All-Pervading Pure Yang Enchantment Formation but had also dismantled the joint attack prepared by the Eldest Young Master.
The Eldest Young Master was slumped powerlessly before her, breathing heavily. The flesh around his solar plexus had been completely torn away. His upper body was drenched in blood, and his face was utterly pale.
At the gruesome sight of the Second Mirror Master and the Fourth Mirror Master, the last ray of hope vanished from the Eldest Young Master's eyes.
"To think you would decipher the flow of the formation and turn it against us…"
They had succeeded in luring Myeong Hui-yeon into the All-Pervading Pure Yang Enchantment Formation. At first, she had seemed to be in danger as her Nine Yang Severed Meridian rampaged, but she somehow endured and eventually began to alter the flow of the formation itself.
She converted the Scorching Yang Qi generated by the formation into Yin Cold Qi, calming her Nine Yang Severed Meridian. As if that weren't enough, she had entered a Selfless State and attempted to open new meridians on the spot.
The result was the deaths of the Second Mirror Master and the Fourth Mirror Master, and the failure of their joint attack.
'To pierce through a formation with sheer innate instinct without even knowing anything about formations… She is nothing short of a monster.'
Reading the shock on the Eldest Young Master's face, Myeong Hui-yeon smiled.
"You should have done this sooner. If you had tried this a year, or even half a year ago, your chances of killing me would have been ten percent higher."
"I regarded you as my most threatening rival. That is why I prepared as thoroughly as possible. It is just that your growth far exceeded my expectations."
Myeong Hui-yeon placed her hand on the crown of the Eldest Young Master's head.
"Thanks to you, I have achieved the Five Qis Converging at the Origin. Thank you."
"Aaaargh!"
Myeong Hui-yeon then used the Star-Absorbing Great Art to devour the Eldest Young Master as well.
Even after achieving the Five Qis Converging at the Origin, her greed showed no signs of abating.
"I wonder what Namgung Jun is doing right about now?"
Having consumed the Eldest Young Master, the Seventh Young Lady burst into laughter.