Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 009
Chapter Title: Vein and Marrow Cleansing
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Five months had already passed since Seok Du-myeong first met Dan Mun-hyeok.
Today, Dan Mun-hyeok had an important task planned.
Previously, when he'd examined Seok Du-myeong's blood vessels, he'd been inwardly pleased.
They were sturdier than expected, and the waste buildup in his meridians wasn't excessive.
Seok Du-myeong had never been one for gluttony, so he'd always eaten modestly.
Besides, with no money to spare, he couldn't afford greasy foods often anyway.
"Du-myeong, today I need to work on your meridians a bit."
Dan Mun-hyeok glanced sidelong at Seok Du-myeong with a meaningful smile.
Seok Du-myeong, barely paying attention to his master's words, gave a half-hearted response before finally voicing the question that had been nagging at him.
"By the way, Master, I've got something I've been wondering about."
Seok Du-myeong eyed Dan Mun-hyeok suspiciously.
Dan Mun-hyeok kept smiling as he looked at him.
"What's so curious?"
"Like, training in this dream—is it actually effective in the real world, where this isn't just a dream? If the stuff I practice here doesn't carry over to reality, isn't it just a pointless dream...?"
Thwack!
A sharp impact rang out.
Seok Du-myeong clutched his head and collapsed after taking a direct hit from the staff.
"You little punk, watch your mouth. Does it hurt? Wake up from the dream and check if there's a bump—that'll tell you."
A red bump protruded from the center of Seok Du-myeong's head like a chestnut burr.
He rubbed it with his hand, his face contorted in agony.
"Du-myeong, there are countless things in this world beyond your understanding. There was that one Taoist from Mount Mo Sect, remember? Total madman. Obsessed with spirits. What was his name again? Ah, Seo Do-jong. Yes, the Mad Spirit Ghost Seo Do-jong. He was talented enough, decent fellow... but."
Dan Mun-hyeok trailed off, lost in old memories for a moment.
"The fact that I can even appear in your dream like this as a spirit? That's all his doing. According to him, everything you experience here is being accepted by your real body. Meaning the pain you feel in this dream manifests in reality too, and all the training effects carry over just the same."
Seok Du-myeong felt relieved hearing his master's explanation.
It would be a colossal waste if all the sweat and effort he'd poured into training here vanished upon waking, amounting to nothing.
"Now, sit cross-legged and circulate the Clear Wind Heart Formula."
Following his master's instructions, Seok Du-myeong assumed the lotus position and began circulating the Clear Wind Heart Formula.
As his master had said, all the Heaven-Connecting Sect's martial arts followed a distinctly different path from ordinary techniques.
Even the Clear Wind Heart Formula's circulation differed from typical small and grand heavenly cycles.
As the term "heavenly cycle" implied, normal methods—whether small or grand—started qi from the dantian, circulated it through the body's major meridians, and returned it to build up internal energy.
But the Clear Wind Heart Formula had no such cycle.
It gathered the qi of the great nature into the dantian, then let it overflow naturally, spreading evenly through the blood and qi meridians across the body.
This resembled how the heart pumped blood throughout the body.
In a way, the dantian was merely the largest one; it treated all the body's three vessels as dantians.
As Seok Du-myeong slowly circulated the Clear Wind Heart Formula, sending qi from his dantian through his three vessels one by one,
he sensed a massive surge of qi right on his tail from behind.
Dan Mun-hyeok had placed his palm on Seok Du-myeong's back and was infusing his qi.
'Ugh.'
Seok Du-myeong groaned as pain like needles piercing his entire body shot through him.
'Du-myeong, from now on, your master will widen your three vessels and cleanse the waste from your blood vessels. It might be quite painful, but endure it well.'
'Wait, Master, why do this without any warning...'
'Ughhh...'
The pain overwhelmed him, scattering his thoughts.
Seok Du-myeong could no longer complain or think straight.
The agony had escalated to the excruciating level of massive nails being hammered through his three vessels.
His master's transmitted voice continued.
'Don't lose consciousness.'
Seok Du-myeong, already fading from the pain, snapped alert at the next words.
What his master said:
'If it doesn't work now, we'll keep going until it does. Over and over... until it sticks.'
That was why Seok Du-myeong had to endure the pain.
'Ugh... hngh.'
His groans turned into near-sobs.
The qi originating from Seok Du-myeong's dantian dispersed evenly through his three vessels.
Each time, Dan Mun-hyeok's qi followed, forcefully scouring away the accumulated waste in his qi and blood meridians.
Seok Du-myeong wasn't circulating on his own volition now.
He lacked the focus, barely holding onto consciousness amid the extreme pain.
Yet strangely, the circulation continued: qi entering the dantian and flowing out through the three vessels.
Stimulated by the powerful support from behind, the qi surging from Seok Du-myeong's dantian rampaged vigorously through his body.
From the lower dantian's perineum, lower abdomen, and vital gate; through the middle dantian's central vessel and chest meridian; it shot up to the crown's hundred meetings at the top of his head.
Then a problem arose.
The overexcited qi slammed straight into the upper dantian's hundred meetings.
Thud!
Seok Du-myeong felt as if a hammer had smashed his skull.
Dan Mun-hyeok hurriedly pulled the qi back down in a panic.
'That was close.'
Dan Mun-hyeok wiped imaginary sweat from his brow.
Fortunately, his inspection showed no major damage to the hundred meetings.
Just a slight crack.
'This kid's got a weird constitution and talent.'
Dan Mun-hyeok hadn't anticipated this.
He himself had opened the hundred meetings to unlock his upper dantian—but only in his later years, upon reaching the transcendent realm.
For Seok Du-myeong to open it now was impossible.
Wasn't opening the upper dantian a good thing?
It was.
It was the ultimate goal of every martial artist.
But without the cultivation and discipline to withstand it, it was extremely dangerous.
For an ordinary martial artist opening the hundred meetings?
p>Best case: idiocy.
Usually: death.
The hundred meetings was both vital and robust for that reason.
Yet Seok Du-myeong's was neither particularly sturdy.
Which meant high potential for upper dantian development.
That was why Dan Mun-hyeok called it a peculiar constitution and talent.
Protecting Seok Du-myeong's hundred meetings, Dan Mun-hyeok continued the vein and marrow cleansing.
The night deepened as Seok Du-myeong writhed in agony.
*
'Aaaah.'
Seok Du-myeong awoke from the dream.
It was still before dawn, so no squad members were up.
"Whoa. I really thought I was gonna die."
His body still trembled from the horrific pain in the dream.
"Master said he was expanding my meridians, sure—but did he have to dig into them like that? I legit thought I was done for. Whew."
Seok Du-myeong couldn't yet grasp the immense favor his master had bestowed upon him as a martial artist.
'Sniff sniff.'
'What the hell is this smell?'
Seok Du-myeong caught a whiff of the foul odor from his own body.
Even he, accustomed to rough conditions, nearly retched.
"Urk, blegh."
After dry-heaving repeatedly, he bolted from the barracks without a second thought, sprinting to the nearest stream.
He grabbed a nearby bucket, scooped water, and dumped it over his head and body.
Still, the stench lingered.
Ignoring the cold, Seok Du-myeong plunged straight into the stream.
The icy water chilled him to the bone, his whole body prickling.
Submerging his head too, he had a strange experience.
At first, the cold was unbearable torture, but now it felt refreshingly cool and invigorating.
On a whim, he circulated the Clear Wind Heart Formula underwater.
He sensed five—no, now seven years' worth of internal energy in his dantian. Two more years added.
Previously, qi had flowed through cramped, winding mountain paths in his meridians.
Now, it raced down a wide, open highway.
Qi from the dantian surged through key lower points like perineum, vital gate, central pillar, and great pillar; via groin and sea of qi to the middle dantian; and in an instant, up to the upper crown.
His dantian was awakening even the finest minor vessels, amplifying their power.
Clean, sturdy meridians now stored and built qi in perfect unison under the dantian's command.
No wonder prestigious clans invested astronomical sums and effort into vein and marrow cleansing for their heirs.
It transformed the body into the optimal vessel for martial arts.
By sheer luck, Seok Du-myeong—nearly thirty—had undergone it thanks to his master.
This was possible only because Dan Mun-hyeok was an unofficial supreme expert in the transcendent realm.
His unparalleled qi mastery allowed him to perform it even at Seok's late age.
In any case, Seok Du-myeong now possessed the foundation to become a true master.
*
'Pha!'
Seok Du-myeong emerged from the water.
Despite spring's arrival, pre-dawn winds bit fiercely.
Yet he barely felt the cold.
Qi still swirled through his three vessels, radiating warmth throughout.
Seok Du-myeong now truly understood what people meant by "the world looks different."
His vision sharpened; senses heightened acutely.
The world gleamed in vivid clarity.
He could even make out the eyes of two pheasants far off.
'Damn, so this is why they obsess over becoming masters! No wonder everyone's going crazy for it.'
His gaze lingered on the pheasants perched on a distant branch.
He picked up two stones from the ground.
He'd been decent at slinging rocks since childhood, but hitting flying birds at that range? Impossible.
Yet today... he felt strongly that he could.
Seok Du-myeong hurled the first stone at the pheasants with all his might.
Whish!
Thud!
It hit.
One pheasant took the stone to the head and tumbled from the branch.
The other flapped away in fright.
Seok Du-myeong eyed its flight path and flung the second stone.
Whiiish!
Thud!
Another hit.
This trajectory was even longer, but the bird dropped mid-flight.
As both pheasants fell from his throws, Seok Du-myeong's eyes widened in shock.
It worked.
'Hell yeah, being a master rocks. No more going hungry!'
Simple as ever, Seok Du-myeong.
*
Seok Du-myeong returned to the barracks.
The squad members were all up, preparing for morning roll call.
Yeom-pal spotted him entering and approached.
"Bro, where've you been since the crack of dawn?"
As Yeom-pal drew near, the grimy stench hit even clearer.
"Hey, stay back—you stink!"
Being a master had downsides too.
Seok Du-myeong blocked Yeom-pal and tossed the two pheasants toward Seo-chil.
"Seo-chil, let's have pheasant stew for breakfast for once."
Roll call was nothing special.
They gathered in the training yard to report squad numbers and gear.
Its main purpose: check for overnight deserters.
Strict rules made skipping impossible, so Seok Du-myeong wrapped it up casually.
Seo-chil had already cleaned the pheasants in front of the barracks.
The squad beamed at the rare meat stew.
Provisions were just evening rations.
Other units got breakfast too, rumor had it—but not the Demon-Exterminating Corps.
Squad 2 wolfed down the stew, unknowingly celebrating Seok Du-myeong's late-life vein and marrow cleansing.