Manhak Seogo (6)
Then one day, news arrived.
One of the Five Peaks had died.
The five Jeong-realm masters who represented the Central Plains martial world. It was an absurd claim, but the Central Plains dismissed it as something that could happen.
Soon after, another piece of news spread.
One of the Five Super Peaks had died.
Even looking through the entire history of the martial world, it wasn't common for a Chojeoljeong master to perish. But even this, the Central Plains accepted as possible.
And when word came that one of the Five Venerables above the Five Super Peaks had fallen...
No one could stop the Heavenly Demon.
After that, the Central Plains' masters fell one by one to the Heavenly Demon.
All turned to bloody sludge by the Demonic Cult.
Their sword auras were the same, yet strangely, the Central Plains' sword auras couldn't shatter the Demonic Cult's. They were both in the Hwagyeong realm, but the Central Plains' couldn't surpass the Demonic Cult's.
By this point, the Central Plains began to doubt if the Demonic Cult were even human.
In the end, they were called not humans, but demons.
Beings born superior to humans, like tigers or bears. Born in human bodies, yet transcending human limits.
Even Shaolin, which resisted to the last, crumbled, and when Janggyeonggak fell to the Demonic Cult, it seemed the Central Plains would fall into their grasp.
Until the Namgung family stepped forward in earnest.
The Namgung family taught all the martial artists of the Central Plains that the Heavenly Demon was just another human.
With the sword of the previous Namgung family head, Namgung Bigwang, the Heavenly Demon's head was severed, bringing the righteous-demonic great war—which had plunged the Central Plains into terror—to a close.
And now.
No one feared the Heavenly Demon, who had once been on the verge of devouring the Central Plains.
"My father, who faced the Heavenly Demon, said he had talent. But apparently, no genius to bloom it."
So, to cut to the chase, Yi Han still didn't understand Namgung Hancheol's words.
About the Namgung family's current situation.
Why an absolute being had emerged.
Why the Heavenly Demon had appeared.
Of course, in the past, Yi Han would have cowered at the mere name of the Heavenly Demon.
But perhaps because he'd seen the monster before him for so long.
Or because he'd grown accustomed to this monstrous Namgung family.
"Let's have a drink!"
Instead, hearing Namgung Hancheol's nonsense eased his worries even more.
Yeah. If this guy's fine, then it must be fine.
A guy who knew nothing of martial arts... A self-proclaimed Chojeoljeong, but an ignorant fool—how could he fathom the Martial God's actions?
"Anyway."
Namgung Hancheol paused mid-sip, his good mood halted by Yi Han's question.
"I'm wondering what that kid Daeso is up to now. Aren't you?"
Namgung Hancheol looked at Yi Han with pitiful eyes.
"Why? Can't I be curious?"
They'd talked about that kid all this time, yet...
Namgung Hancheol clicked his tongue involuntarily.
"Tsk tsk. Calling an ignorant brute like you Sinui. The world's doomed."
* * *
As yang and yin merged, his body went even more haywire.
The yin qi, which had lingered in his lower body, rose to his upper body.
Then, frost seemed to settle over his entire body, as if winter had come.
Sizzle.
Suddenly, the frost melted, and hot steam rose from his body.
A massive amount of sweat poured out.
That sweat froze again.
Melted once more.
This cycle repeated.
It was utter madness.
What are you doing, you lot?
Sensation had vanished long ago.
At first, his whole body felt like it was burning, then freezing solid...
The unprecedented agony nearly made him black out.
Thankfully, after a few cycles, his body adapted, and the sensations faded.
Thus came peace.
Not that the energies had stabilized.
The energies inside him were still clumping together, scattering, rampaging wildly.
Even more amusingly, when these energies grew too large, they split into four on their own.
From what he could vaguely sense: hot, less hot, cold, less cold.
Normally, one had to fully comprehend yin and yang, achieve their overlap, before reaching the Four Images.
Taiyang (Greater Yang) for the sun.
Shaoyin (Lesser Yin) for the night.
Taiyin (Greater Yin) for the moon.
Shaoyang (Lesser Yang) for the stars.
When the sun rises, warmth permeates all things.
When it sets, night falls, revealing the hidden moon and stars.
And the sun rises again.
Energy circulates through the world.
Energy clumps and scatters, birthing new energy.
The Five Elements (Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, Earth).
Five energies take root in the body.
This was the process unfolding in Namgung Daeso right now.
Creating a single world.
New life taking root in that world.
The gap between those who possess it and those who don't is like heaven and earth.
Those who merely gaze at the sky can only look up forever.
For them, the sky is an eternal, unreachable ideal.
Those who embrace the sky are different.
For them, the sky isn't a destination to reach someday—it's just a place to pass through briefly.
Not something to merely behold, but where true dragons and phoenixes soar.
Of course, Namgung Daeso wasn't aware of any of this; he wasn't doing it consciously.
He was simply letting it be, allowing order to emerge naturally.
That was a method too.
Look at these guys? Heading to the liver now?
If he'd half-understood this process and tried to manipulate the energies, Namgung Daeso would have become a cripple.
His role was already done.
Rectifying chaos.
Forming Taiji from Wuji, splitting it into yang, amplifying the faint energies that existed but could do nothing.
That was all.
Oh?
Fire energy settled in the heart.
Whoa?
Earth energy in the stomach.
They're really settling in.
Metal energy in the lungs.
Do whatever you want~
The remaining energy surged upward.
Hey! Not there!
The energy was smaller than before.
But the place it headed wasn't one he could just watch idly anymore.
I don't wanna be a vegetable!
For the first time, he thought he might control it.
Come down, energy. Come down, good energy.
Heave-ho! Pull!
Right. No way it'd listen.
Defiantly ignoring his will, it climbed to the crown of his head, pounding the Baihui acupoint.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
An unprecedented shock reverberated.
Sensations he'd thought numb assaulted his body.
Urk!
A groan escaped as blood sprayed from his mouth.
Thud.
And he passed out.
* * *
Sinui still didn't get it.
"So what the hell's happening?!"
Something was definitely going down in the Namgung estate, but he couldn't just smack the guy.
"It'll change if that kid brings something back from Manhak Seogo."
"That kid? The only one you'd care about is Namgung Daeso, right?"
Not something a martial-obsessed guy picked up for fun, but his son.
"So all this is because of that punk? Why?"
Sinui asked in shock.
He acknowledged Namgung Daeso was special.
With Cheonmu Jiche, plus Namgung Hancheol's prank, he'd become the incarnation of a massive foundation.
But... it was just a foundation.
No matter how huge, it couldn't beat the real deal—as proven in the recent spar.
Plus, even if he got something from Manhak Seogo.
It's only three days.
Martial arts are built over a lifetime.
Yi Han was a Chojeoljeong himself, despite the mockery.
At best, he'd learn a few days' worth of martial arts.
Even if it was a supreme art from antiquity, martial arts' foundation is time invested.
Three days was too short to build anything.
At least three years to nod in approval.
"You think that makes sense? An absolute being?"
Only then did Yi Han realize who Namgung Hancheol meant.
"The Heaaaavenly Deeeemon~?"
"Then I'm the Heavenly Demon too, you fool!"
Namgung Hancheol's indifferent gaze fixed on Yi Han.
"Everyone reacts like that at first."
He had back then too. Until he cut off that monk's arm.
"Those who haven't seen it can never believe."
Dragons are mere illusions, phoenixes fabricated myths.
"Let's drink."
People think they're rational.
But humans have a fatal flaw.
"In about two days, we'll see if this is illusion or reality."
The easiest way to convince the blind is to show them.
Sinui downed his cup in resignation.
"Fine, let's drink! It's your problem, not mine! Let's drink till we drop! And in two days, we'll see what happens!"
* * *
He opened his eyes.
"Am I alive?"
His body moved, so probably.
First, arms.
"Two, check."
Legs next.
"Two, check."
Fingers, toes.
"Ten each, check."
Eyes, ears.
"Two each, check. Phew~"
Only then did a sigh of relief escape.
He hadn't checked the most important yet, but it felt intact—his manly future secure.
That guy... proud.
Seemed even angrier than before passing out.
"Ahem."
How many days had passed?
He checked the hourglass nearby.
The sand from the flipped clock had almost run out.
"Huh? Again? Already three days?"
Last time he woke to a month gone; this time, three days.
Time flew every blackout.
"Not the time. Gotta learn Yang-ui Simgong quick..."
Then, below the navel.
A wriggling unlike anything before.
Exact spot.
"This is the dantian?"
No way three days' sleep bloated him? Pressure felt normal.
So this heaviness...
Not constipation.
"It's internal energy."
He had a guess.
"You guys?"
His words came out polite involuntarily.
They'd split into four, then five, absorbed as they pleased, surged up.
Last memory before blackout: them pounding Baihui.
He closed his eyes, focusing on Baihui.
Still blocked solid.
Failed after all.
Failed energy dissipates into the air. Basic knowledge.
So what was this heaviness?
Ungi-josik would reveal it, but scary.
If they rampaged again, he might not endure.
That time was ignorance; now, knowingly...
Crazy. Or just stupid.
Hourglass nearly empty.
In about an hour, the guards would enter Manhak Seogo.
Leaving like this? No excuse.
Just check. Need results to face that lunatic.
Pride over face.
Imagining Namgung Je-cheon scolding him—better bash his head and die.
Examining the dantian.
"Huh? And who's this?"
A newcomer had taken root.
Shape like...
A small seed.
* * *
"Hey, Namgung. Gotta ask—what's this thing you, your grandpa, and your eldest bro all have? The Heavenly Demon too."
Yi Han's eyes were bloodshot after three days of drinking.
Namgung Hancheol looked unchanged.
Both could dispel drunkenness with internal energy, but didn't.
Thud!
Yi Han finally collapsed.
Namgung Hancheol emptied his last cup and spoke.
"A small seed taking root on a vast land."
Martial arts are built up.
"It could become a weed, or a tree twice man's height."
He paused, speaking to the air.
"Escort Sinui."
"Yes, sir!"
A black-clad man appeared from nowhere, hoisted Yi Han, and left the family head's quarters.
Namgung Hancheol was alone.
He rose, gazing out the window.
A mountain encompassing all of Anhwi Province entered view.
One of the Five Greats.
Huangshan.
Only then did he finish.
"Or a mountain so grand all must look up to it."
Huangshan's peak was beyond the clouds.
* * *
Time up, he left Manhak Seogo.
Before him.
"This is the first time we've spoken face-to-face like this."
Waited someone he never imagined.