Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 010
Chapter Title: Aftereffects of the Crown Ritual
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After Master Dan Mun-hyeok performed the crown ritual on him, Seok Du-myeong was now suffering from severe aftereffects.
The Baihui acupoint, which had cracked open just a sliver by accident, was only faintly ajar, but through that tiny gap, the energies of nature were seeping in steadily.
The upper dantian, which had nearly opened, came with serious side effects.
Normally, opening the upper dantian was something every martial artist dreamed of.
Among the lower, middle, and upper dantian, the upper one was the last to open and could only be accessed by absolute masters who had reached the transcendent realm or beyond.
Opening the upper dantian meant one's martial arts had reached the pinnacle, allowing communion with heaven and earth.
But that was the story for such absolute masters...
The case where a minuscule crack formed in the Baihui acupoint, letting wisps of natural qi trickle in, was an absurd incident unprecedented in history.
This natural qi had ridiculously heightened Seok Du-myeong's qi sense.
To put it bluntly, it had dumped everything into his qi sense.
And the serious side effect?
It was the agony Seok Du-myeong was enduring right now.
"One ant, two ants. One mouse pup, two mouse pups. One mole..."
Seok Du-myeong hadn't slept properly for days already.
The natural energies that had entered through the slightly cracked Baihui during the crown ritual had made his qi sense hypersensitive.
He could clearly detect the qi of every moving living being within thirty zhang in all directions.
Even without focusing, they registered automatically.
Of course, for a martial artist, this could be an enormous advantage, but for everyday life, it was driving him insane.
It wasn't just his qi sense that had sharpened.
As his qi sense grew acute, his other senses sharpened too, almost to the same degree.
Vision, hearing, smell.
Scritch... scritch.
He could even vividly hear a mole digging outside the tent.
'Damn it, this is maddening. That old coot of a master had to go messing with my skull cap.'
Seok Du-myeong thought of the Baihui as the lid on top of his head.
'I've gotta confront Master quick and get him to fix it or seal it back up. Is this any way to live?!'
Seok Du-myeong hadn't slept for three straight days now.
He needed sleep to meet his master in his dreams and hash it out or get corrected, but his hypersensitive qi sense and senses made it impossible.
Seok Du-myeong was on the verge of losing his mind.
'Sleep... sleep, damn it. Somehow, just sleep. Master, you old coot, just wait till I see you... I'll give you hell...'
With thoughts like these swirling, Seok Du-myeong finally drifted off.
In his dream, he dashed into the pavilion where his master was.
Seeing Dan Mun-hyeok's back as he stood turned away, gazing at the distant sky, Seok Du-myeong felt more relief than the urge to smack him.
"Master... hic-hic-sob... I'm really about to go crazy here. Please, do something!"
In his urgency, Seok Du-myeong wailed at Dan Mun-hyeok's back before the man even turned around.
Only then did Dan Mun-hyeok turn to face him.
"Indeed, it's been a few days without sleep, and here you are at last."
"Master... hic-hic-sob."
Seeing his master Dan Mun-hyeok's face up close unleashed all the pent-up hardship and grievance Seok Du-myeong had endured.
"For a martial artist, a keen qi sense is a blessing. There's a way to control it, so don't worry too much, Du-myeong."
"Really? Thank you, Master."
His ordeals must have been severe, as Seok Du-myeong actually expressed gratitude.
"Yes, sit down and let's talk it through calmly."
Dan Mun-hyeok sat in the chair by the table, and Seok Du-myeong took the one opposite.
"So, Du-myeong, how sharp has your qi sense become?"
"Don't even ask. Master, I can feel baby ants crawling around. Why the hell do those damn ants scurry everywhere... I can't hold on to my sanity like this."
"I see, that's a serious issue. Heh heh."
Watching Dan Mun-hyeok speak so leisurely made the joy in Seok Du-myeong's mind falter, replaced by rising fury.
'This is all because of who...? If you're gonna do the crown ritual, do it right! Don't half-ass it! Then hurry up and do the repairs!'
Others harbored grudges for never receiving such a ritual, yet here was ungrateful disciple Seok Du-myeong, whom Dan Mun-hyeok had sweated over using his own inner energy, thinking about shoddy workmanship and fixes.
In normal cases, opening the Baihui was nearly impossible.
The Baihui governed the upper dantian and was tied mainly to the spirit—the ethereal aspect.
It didn't open just because one willed it, and if an ordinary person opened it without control, it meant death.
In truth, Dan Mun-hyeok hadn't shown it, but he'd been truly alarmed during the ritual.
He hadn't done anything unusual in the process.
It was natural for Seok Du-myeong's qi to spread through the three channels and reach the Baihui.
The problem was that Seok Du-myeong's Baihui was far from ordinary.
His upper dantian was unusually well-developed compared to most people.
To the point where his Baihui wasn't as sturdy...
If Seok Du-myeong had cultivated the Dao, he could have ascended bodily.
It was simply innate.
He had nearly opened the Baihui and unlocked his upper dantian.
For Seok Du-myeong, who hadn't trained it or attained enlightenment, it was a life-threatening moment.
Fortunately, it had ended with just a hairline crack, but it was a close call.
Afterward, Dan Mun-hyeok had anxiously wanted to check on Seok Du-myeong's condition but hadn't seen him.
Because Seok Du-myeong couldn't sleep.
Dan Mun-hyeok looked carefully at Seok Du-myeong and asked.
"So, aside from the qi sense, is everything else alright?"
"Seems so."
"Here, extend your hand."
Seok Du-myeong held out his hand, and Dan Mun-hyeok checked his pulse.
The pulse beat steadily.
"Du-myeong, turn around and circulate your qi."
Following his master's words, Seok Du-myeong circulated using the Clear Wind Heart Formula.
Dan Mun-hyeok placed a hand on his mid-back, infused qi, and examined the interior.
Qi originating from the dantian spread like a burst throughout the body's channels.
Among it, the strand extending toward the upper dantian met the natural qi again at the Baihui.
It was a purer, more primal energy than the qi formed in the dantian—nature's own qi seeping through the Baihui.
Dan Mun-hyeok spread his qi to gently probe the Baihui area.
Fortunately, it hadn't opened further and seemed stable, maintaining the slight gap.
Dan Mun-hyeok could feel it too.
The natural qi trickling through Seok Du-myeong's Baihui was minuscule in amount but pure and clear.
'What a stroke of fortune. This guy stumbles into what others strive a lifetime for without trying.'
Dan Mun-hyeok had opened his upper dantian late in life.
Only when spirit, qi, and body united could a martial artist reach true completion.
Typically, up to the peak realm, lower dantian cultivation sufficed.
Of course, most martial artists died without reaching even that.
But to attain the super-peak beyond, one needed the middle dantian.
From there, it entered a realm beyond mere training.
One confronted enlightenment. Countless warriors faltered at this wall.
Opening the middle dantian was that difficult.
Only then did one truly enter the ranks of great masters.
Opening the upper dantian to unite spirit, qi, and body transcended human limits.
Across history, throughout martial arts lore, only a handful had achieved it.
Dan Mun-hyeok hadn't fully, but just before death, he'd touched it briefly.
After losing an arm and his dantian to the Heavenly Demon, he'd despaired as a warrior.
But over time, that event let him release all greed and attachments that bound him.
In that moment, enlightenment came, opening his upper dantian.
At the end, instead of ascension, he'd bound his soul to the sword manual out of lingering regret for his sect.
While opening the upper dantian, Dan Mun-hyeok had woven his enlightenment into the Heaven-Penetrating Formula, a method to control it.
He decided to pass this formula to Seok Du-myeong.
Though Seok hadn't fully opened his upper dantian, the Heaven-Penetrating Formula would give him a clue to control the natural qi seeping through his Baihui.
'This must be heaven's design.'
Dan Mun-hyeok wasn't certain how it would work for Seok Du-myeong.
The formula itself was incomplete.
But it should help with controlling the qi sense that was tormenting him now.
"Du-myeong, how far can you sense things with your qi sense right now?"
"Hmm, about thirty zhang, I think."
Seok Du-myeong answered half-heartedly, but Dan Mun-hyeok was slightly surprised. It had developed more sharply than expected.
"Master, can't we just seal it back up?"
A very Seok Du-myeong-like solution.
"Once the Baihui has cracked open, even slightly, there's no way to seal it."
Seok Du-myeong's face fell at Dan Mun-hyeok's words.
"Master, then what do I do? I really can't live like this..."
"The only way is to control your qi sense."
Seok Du-myeong looked at him with eyes asking what that meant, awaiting explanation.
"Exactly as it sounds—control your qi sense. Expand the range you're hypersensitive to, diluting the sensitivity. If you spread it thinly to a hundred or two hundred zhang, you won't notice trivial lifeforms. Or focus only on human qi and widen the range."
Relief dawned on Seok Du-myeong's face at the explanation.
"Master, I didn't know there was a way like that. But couldn't we just turn off the qi sense entirely?"
"Well, I've never thought of that, so I wouldn't know, but is there anything between heaven and earth that's impossible? It all depends on you."
"Master, think of it as saving your disciple's life and teach me quick. I'll master it with everything I've got."
For once, desperation dripped from Seok Du-myeong's words.
He must have truly suffered this time.
"Very well, let's start learning the formula right now. This is the Heaven-Penetrating Formula, a method for cultivating the upper dantian. Originally a vast tome over ten thousand characters with profound contents, but you only need the first three thousand for now, so begin there."
Seok Du-myeong widened his eyes, listening intently as Dan Mun-hyeok recited. It was probably the most focused he'd ever been in his life.
Dan Mun-hyeok recited it once, but Seok Du-myeong memorized all three thousand characters on the spot.
'What a freak.'
Even Dan Mun-hyeok, confident his genius and martial talent were unmatched anywhere, had to acknowledge him.
And during the explanation of the formula, Seok Du-myeong listened with burning eyes.