Chapter 573
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 573
Chapter Title: In Just Eight Days?
"Excellent."
Gyu Hwi approached Wi Su-yeon and spoke.
"I apologize for my shortcomings."
Wi Su-yeon bowed her head at her master's praise.
Gyu Hwi smiled faintly at the sight.
His gaze then shifted to Yu Gwi-gwang.
"We're truly grateful for showing us your clan's secret manual, Pavilion Lord."
Yu Gwi-gwang returned Gyu Hwi's cupped-fist salute with one of his own.
"I'm the one who should thank you for the enlightening spar that broadened my horizons."
"Cloud Drifting Sword Method. As I said before, Master was right. It's a superb sword art. I sincerely hope you'll preserve and refine it well."
"Thank you for your advice."
With that exchange of farewells, Gyu Hwi and Wi Su-yeon departed from the Cloud Drifting Martial Hall.
They headed to the Small Traveler's Inn.
"What do you think?"
Gyu Hwi suddenly asked.
"What do you mean?"
Wi Su-yeon, her face now veiled with a cloth mask, cautiously replied.
"Ha Corps Leader's words."
"……."
Wi Su-yeon fell silent for a moment.
It was only after a few more steps that she spoke.
"Honestly, with my lowly level of attainment, I still can't say. I'm barely grasping what I gained today."
"Your skill level is far from low."
He had long known of her talent, but watching her spar with Ha Mu-baek left him impressed once more.
Wi Su-yeon lowered her head slightly.
"So keep pondering Ha Corps Leader's words, over and over."
"Yes."
Wi Su-yeon gave a short reply to Gyu Hwi's instruction.
"I will as well."
The two returned to the Small Traveler's Inn, finished a late dinner, and retired to their rooms.
Neither could sleep.
The secret manual they had read today, the spar with Ha Mu-baek.
And his final words.
There was so much to unravel that they sat in meditation until late into the night.
Eight days passed.
Gyu Hwi and Wi Su-yeon stayed at the inn the entire time.
They had accomplished their goals, so they could have returned to Huashan, but they remained to consolidate their gains.
Their daily routine was simple.
Meditate, eat, head outside Sangnam to swing their swords, return for another meal, meditate again.
A repetition of such days.
Was Neung Tan lucky? Or unlucky?
Even with one lung shattered and bone fragments embedded, he had survived.
Reduced to a cripple unable to use his limbs or breathe easily.
They said he'd need a few more days of rest before he could move, but that would amount to little more than crawling.
The clinic was caring for him now, but once treatment ended and he paid the bills, stepping out onto the streets...
That was when true hell would unfold before Neung Tan's eyes.
Gwan Po was enduring his final ordeal right now.
Burning away the residual poison of the aphrodisiac still lingering in his body.
Today marked the last day.
Perhaps because it was the finale,
The pain was far more intense and agonizing than anything before.
"Grrraaah... Kraaah."
Gwan Po's eyes bulged with bloodshot veins as he clenched his teeth and writhed in torment.
Ha Mu-baek sat cross-legged nearby, watching leisurely.
This had been their routine for the past eight days.
Gwan Po thrashing in agony.
Ha Mu-baek immersed in calm meditation.
About half a shichen passed like that.
Exhausted, Gwan Po collapsed, gasping raggedly.
"Hah... hah... hah......"
"Well done. The aphrodisiac's toxins are completely purged now."
Ha Mu-baek opened his eyes and spoke calmly.
Gwan Po stared blankly at the sky.
He lacked the strength to reply, but he could feel the aphrodisiac's energy had fully vanished from his body.
It wasn't just imagination.
The faint pain emanating from his dantian.
Though it felt more like his dantian was being crushed than merely faint—perhaps due to the agonies of the past ten days?
It seemed bearable by comparison.
"Now, the only thing left is treating your dantian."
Gwan Po's body twitched.
Light returned to his previously unfocused, dazed eyes.
"In your current state, you couldn't endure it, so we'll do it in two days."
"N-No... right now, even—"
Gwan Po forced himself upright as he pleaded.
Ha Mu-baek gave him a pitying look.
"You'd die if we tried."
"......?"
Gwan Po flinched in shock.
"You'll understand when the time comes. The pain you've endured so far? It won't even compare."
"I-Is that... so?"
"Yes. Think of these days as mere practice for then. You won't even be able to move or scream."
With that, Ha Mu-baek glanced aside.
Far off.
Where Gyu Hwi and Wi Su-yeon were training.
"Hmm."
After watching briefly, Ha Mu-baek shook his head.
Any more would be pointless meddling.
Especially since it involved another sect's affairs.
Ha Mu-baek returned to the Small Traveler's Inn.
Right on time for lunch.
Since the Neung Tan incident, rogue warriors no longer frequented the inn.
Not just because Gwan Po was guarding it, but rumors of Neung Tan's gruesome fate had spread.
Started by the clinic workers.
His wretched, horrific state.
Even so, whenever Ha Mu-baek left Gwan Po and vacated the inn, he extended his senses to cover it.
Just in case.
As Ha Mu-baek pushed open the inn's door, two children approached.
As if they'd been waiting.
This was the first time since handing over the manual.
They had bowed politely whenever crossing paths with him, but never approached.
"In just eight days?"
Ha Mu-baek's eyes widened slightly.
He now understood why the children were coming to him.
A faint but unmistakable energy had taken root in their dantians.
Tiny, smaller than a grain of millet—but achieved in just eight days solely from reading the Three Talents Heart Method manual, without guidance.
Until moments ago, nothing had registered in Ha Mu-baek's senses.
It must have just succeeded.
Through his Infinite Bright Wheel Eye, Ha Mu-baek clearly saw the millet-sized glow in their dantians.
"You've sensed the energy?"
The children startled at Ha Mu-baek's question just as they opened their mouths, then nodded vigorously.
Ha Mu-baek sat at an empty table.
A few patrons were eating.
"We'll talk after lunch. There are customers."
Around lunchtime, the inn was at its busiest.
Once the lunch crowd left and the place was tidied,
Gong Yeop-myeong hung a "Closed for Preparation" sign outside, and the inn staff gathered before Ha Mu-baek.
"Honestly, this exceeds my expectations."
Ha Mu-baek had no choice but to admit it.
The siblings possessed extraordinary talent for martial arts.
He'd thought he already knew their potential, but they surpassed even his estimates.
"Is that so?"
Gong Yeop-myeong asked calmly.
His hands trembled faintly.
"Yes. I figured a month at best, but in just eight days, you've formed the seed of inner energy in your dantians. Just from reading the manual, without instruction."
"H-How impressive is that...?"
Eun Cheong-seon asked timidly.
Explaining martial realms wouldn't resonate with them.
After a brief thought for the most relatable comparison, Ha Mu-baek settled on one.
"Talent enough to surpass the Plum Fragrance Sect's leader."
In truth, far greater—they could reach much higher.
But in Sangnam, no better benchmark came to mind.
"Plum Fragrance Sect... the strongest faction in Sangnam?"
Eun Cheong-seon asked, her voice quivering slightly.
The family hadn't been settled in Sangnam long enough to know the details.
Ha Mu-baek nodded.
"Then at least in Sangnam...?"
"No one who could harm you."
Ha Mu-baek gave a curt reply to Gong Yeop-myeong's murmur.
"Ahh......"
"Ah!"
Eun Cheong-seon and Gong Yeop-myeong let out low exclamations, their faces flushing with excitement—as did the two children.
"Of course, without the sweat and effort to back it up, talent is worthless."
Ha Mu-baek moistened his throat with tea and set down the cup.
"W-We’ll work hard!"
"We'll give it everything!"
The children cried out in unison.
"Then follow me."
Ha Mu-baek rose from his seat.
"Yes! Master!"
Gong Hae-jun shouted loudly and jumped up.
Ha Mu-baek paused briefly at the word.
Then he said softly,
"I haven't formally accepted you as disciples yet."
"Huh? Oh..."
Gong Hae-jun deflated instantly at Ha Mu-baek's words.
Ha Mu-baek headed toward the inn's entrance.
"But I can still teach you. Hurry up."
Gong Hae-jun and Gong Hae-bin snapped their heads up and rushed after him.
Ha Mu-baek led them back to Sangnam's outskirts.
To find a secluded spot for teaching martial arts away from prying eyes.
The place where he was treating Gwan Po—the same spot where he'd crushed Neung Tan—was unsuitable for bringing children.
He chose a spot near where Gyu Hwi and Wi Su-yeon trained.
They had just finished and were heading back to the inn.
So they crossed paths on the road.
"Hm?"
Gyu Hwi's eyes lit up at the sight of Ha Mu-baek with two children trailing him.
"Greetings, Ha Corps Leader."
Wi Su-yeon offered a polite bow.
"Taking them in? Pity. If you'd refused to the end, I was thinking of bringing them to Huashan. Tsk."
Gyu Hwi grinned and clicked his tongue.
"Mind your own business."
Ha Mu-baek replied curtly and kept walking.
The children bowed to Gyu Hwi and Wi Su-yeon before hurrying after Ha Mu-baek.
They arrived at a dense forest.
Ha Mu-baek had them sit cross-legged in a suitable clearing.
"Show me what you've practiced so far."
At his words, the children closed their eyes and focused intently on their breathing.
They drew air in through their noses, sensed the energy within it as it filled their lungs, and guided it into their meridians.
They moved it along the meridians to the dantian, settling the energy there.
This followed the exact sequence and paths outlined in the Three Talents Heart Method.
A very faint energy began layering steadily into their dantians.
Ha Mu-baek watched the process closely and nodded.
He extended his palms, placing one on each child's Gate of Life acupoint.
[Don't move. Don't speak. Focus on the energy I'm sending.]
A tiny surge rose from Ha Mu-baek's dantian and gently seeped into the children's meridians.
His energy moved slowly and warmly through their meridians.
It followed the exact movements described in the Three Talents Heart Method formula he had taught them.
Gong Hae-bin and Gong Hae-jun both startled.
This was utterly different from the faint energy they'd painstakingly layered through breathing.
A soft, warm, dense energy now clearly and slowly guided them along the meridians where their faint energy had wandered.
The path etched itself vividly into their minds.
The energy completed a full circuit through their meridians and settled slowly into their dantians.
The children became completely immersed in the movement.
Ha Mu-baek had guided them through the Lesser Heavenly Circuit of the Three Talents Heart Method.
After leading them through three full circuits, he withdrew his hands and stepped back.
Yet the children remained with eyes closed, concentrating on the internal energy.
The energy from their breathing now felt clearer and denser.
Gong Hae-bin and Gong Hae-jun repeated the Lesser Heavenly Circuit countless times, absorbing energy through their breaths.
"Not bad."
They were undoubtedly talented children.
Watching them filled him with satisfaction.
"Master......"
The title slipped from Gong Hae-jun's lips amid his joy.
Ha Mu-baek repeated it to himself once more.
"I wonder if Master felt this way......"
He suddenly recalled the first time he had called his own master "Master."
Whether his master had felt this same subtle emotion back then.
He wondered.
But for now, there was no way to know.