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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Bobt
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Time passed. About a month had gone by.
The winter plum blossoms had not yet withered.
Outside, the snow was still dazzlingly white, and a cold wind was blowing. The fourth-generation disciples were busy brushing the snow.
“Phew…”
Joo Seo-cheon slowly opened his closed eyes.
“Finally, I’ve made it all my own.”
A month ago, Joo Seo-cheon had consumed the Water Spirit Divine Fruit.
However, the energy of the spiritual medicine was more substantial than expected. With the body of a child and his current realm, he couldn’t absorb it all at once.
So he invested a month to slowly absorb it without causing any harm to his body. That internal energy was half a cycle.
Half a cycle, that is, thirty years!
To think he had accumulated thirty years’ worth of internal energy in just a month!
Adding the original one and a half years of internal energy, plus the half a year he had accumulated during the month using the Plum Blossom Vitality Technique, it totaled an astonishing thirty-three years.
“What a shame.”
Joo Seo-cheon clicked his tongue.
The energy contained within the Water Spirit Divine Fruit was considerable.
Perhaps he might have accumulated not half a cycle, but a full cycle of internal energy.
However, unfortunately, his body couldn’t keep up.
When you keep pouring water into a vessel, it’s bound to overflow.
The dantian was the same.
The capacity was too small to absorb all the energy of the Water Spirit Divine Fruit, so he couldn’t make all sixty years of internal energy his own.
“Still, it wasn’t wasted, so let’s be content with this.”
Instead, he invested the remaining half in his blood vessels and Qi meridians. He widened the channels and strengthened them so they wouldn’t collapse.
However, it was accompanied by some pain. Originally, he should have expanded it gradually in the proper order, but he had widened it all at once.
Thanks to using the wood-water energy, which was excellent for recovery and regeneration, he didn’t suffer internal injuries. It was just painful.
“Finally, I’ve mastered the Plum Blossom Qi Technique.”
The reason he had been stuck at the tenth level was due to a lack of internal energy.
As the deficiency was filled, his realm naturally rose as well.
“You’ve finally made the energy of the spiritual medicine your own. It must have been a daily struggle, but you’ve done really well.”
Yu Jeong-mok, who had been guarding the breathing technique, praised him.
For nearly a month, he had been concerned about his master’s health.
Fortunately, after consuming the spiritual medicine, he no longer showed signs of coughing or being in pain.
However, since it had only been a month, he couldn’t completely dismiss his doubts. He was still keeping an eye on him.
“Hmm, thirty-three years…”
Yu Jeong-mok exclaimed in admiration after checking his disciple’s pulse.
“The spiritual medicine is indeed amazing.”
Having this level of internal energy at the age of nine was by no means normal. Even for a major sect like the Mount Hua Sect, it was the same.
In the case of prestigious families, if there was only one person to inherit the lineage, they could lavish spiritual medicines regardless of age.
However, apart from such special cases, spiritual medicines couldn’t be easily given out.
Even if they were given out, they would carefully examine the person’s talent in martial arts and their personality after reaching adulthood.
Since they were so difficult to obtain, it was rare to see cases where internal energy overflowed like this at a young age.
“Alright, with this much, it should be fine to start the Body Enhancement Exercises. From today onwards, let’s do it together with this master.”
“Body Enhancement Exercises…?”
Joo Seo-cheon tilted his head at the unfamiliar term.
He wasn’t sure if he couldn’t remember or if he was hearing it for the first time, but it wasn’t in his memories from his previous life.
Yu Jeong-mok smiled gently and explained.
“It’s an exercise method I devised to somehow fix this sickly constitution. The name is just something I came up with randomly, but you can think of it as a type of physical training method.”
In the past, Yu Jeong-mok had made various efforts to somehow fix his body, which was less healthy than others. Those efforts continued even after he was dropped from being a candidate for the Plum Blossom Swordsman.
As a result, a wide variety of methods were pursued, and one of them was the independently developed Body Enhancement Exercises.
“But in my previous life, I didn’t receive such teachings…?”
Joo Seo-cheon’s question was soon resolved by Yu Jeong-mok.
“Right now, your body holds an astonishing thirty-three years’ worth of internal energy. It’s a tremendous amount.”
By the way, Yu Jeong-mok was unaware of the Plum Blossom Vitality Technique.
He thought that all thirty-two years of internal energy, excluding one year, were obtained by consuming the spiritual medicine.
“However, that can’t be seen as unconditionally good.”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
Joo Seo-cheon was puzzled by Yu Jeong-mok’s point.
He had put in a lot of effort to properly absorb the energy of the spiritual medicine and use it efficiently.
He had utilized all the memories from his previous life, so he was honestly taken aback when it was pointed out that it wasn’t good.
Although he felt terribly sorry to his master, who was like the sky to him, when it came to martial arts, Joo Seo-cheon was far superior.
“In the martial arts world, there is a saying: healthy Qi resides in a healthy body.”
It meant the harmony between internal energy and the physical body.
“Balance is important. The human body is more delicate than you think, and if that balance is even slightly disrupted, it’s bound to break down. Your body is like that right now.”
“Aha!”
Joo Seo-cheon finally nodded his head in understanding.
It wasn’t that he had realized something he didn’t know from the recent teaching.
It was obviously a fact he was aware of.
“Oh my, I can’t say I know everything.”
There was no way Joo Seo-cheon wouldn’t know such an important thing.
He had planned to slowly build his body in the future.
“Hmm, it seems it wasn’t that I couldn’t remember, but rather something that hadn’t happened.”
In his previous life, he was busy just keeping up with the teachings.
In such a situation, there was no way he could teach physical training that he had independently created.
“Then from today onwards, I will receive your teachings.”
Joo Seo-cheon pretended to understand and was genuinely happy.
It was a memory with his master that he didn’t have in his previous life.
“But will just exercises be enough? I think I’ll have to sneak out later and train separately…”
In the first place, it was an exercise method for someone who had been sickly.
He wondered how much help it would actually be.
“What could there be?”
Joo Seo-cheon smiled foolishly while looking at Yu Jeong-mok.
* * *
Third day of Body Enhancement Exercises.
People have regrets.
That applies regardless of age or gender.
Joo Seo-cheon was no exception.
Three days ago, he had cursed himself for smiling foolishly. He cursed himself several times for looking down on it.
“Aaaargh!”
A terrifying level of pain was felt throughout his body.
This level of pain was one of the most memorable even in his previous life. No, perhaps it was the first time in his entire life.
“Something went wrong.”
Joo Seo-cheon thought amidst the pain felt in his arms, no, his entire body. His bones were creaking, and his muscles felt like they were being torn apart.
His fingernails had already broken off a few, and his hands were full of blisters. The pain that accompanied it was no joke.
Three days ago, he had started the Body Enhancement Exercises.
At first, he did ordinary exercises.
He stretched his body as Yu Jeong-mok taught him.
It was literally just exercises.
Next, it was about going back and forth using lightness skills for a distance of one zhang.
Doing as instructed, he quickly exhausted his internal energy.
Afterward, he received praise from Yu Jeong-mok and was led somewhere by his hand.
It was the bottom of a cliff.
“Now, you just need to climb up here.”
“…?”
For a moment, Joo Seo-cheon doubted his ears.
Mount Hwa was called the Western Mountain among the Five Great Mountains of the Central Plains and was praised as a sacred mountain by many.
Its appearance was also truly remarkable, so anyone who saw Mount Hwa up close would lose their soul to its beauty.
However, as the saying goes, a beautiful rose has thorns.
Mount Hwa, which was both a sacred mountain and a famous mountain, was also known for its ruggedness, so no one visited it unless they were a martial artist.
The Lotus Peak, where the Mount Hua Sect was located, was relatively easy to climb as a path had been made.
But other areas were not like that. It was difficult to endure unless one was at least second-rate.
And Joo Seo-cheon was climbing a cliff where he couldn’t even gauge the terrain or height properly.
“Just a little more effort. It may be your first time, but it’s not a big deal!”
His master’s voice came from above his head.
“Not a big deal?”
Joo Seo-cheon swallowed hard while clinging to the cliff.
Tremble, tremble.
All ten fingers were cut by the edges of the rocks. There were bloodstains here and there, and the wounds only increased every time he moved his hands.
Such injuries weren’t that important. His whole body ached with muscle pain.
Tension and force were applied to his lower abdomen and throughout his body.
He couldn’t relax even if it was difficult. If he relaxed here, he would fall and injure himself.
If he had internal energy, he might have endured it somehow, but since he didn’t, it was a maddening situation.
It was difficult, tiring, and his whole body ached. There was no part of him that was unharmed. That’s how grueling the training was.
No, in the first place, it was strange to push a nine-year-old child to this extent.
No matter how much more internal energy he had compared to others, making him climb a cliff… It was wrong, very wrong.
“I was wrong!”
Joo Seo-cheon deeply regretted looking down on the Body Enhancement Exercises because they were created by a sickly person for health.
He had thought it would be just stretching exercises.
But the way of thinking itself was wrong.
Smiling Gentle Swordsman, Yu Jeong-mok.
He should have properly recognized what kind of person he was.
Despite having a constitution that was several times more disadvantageous than others, Yu Jeong-mok was a man who had become a candidate for the Plum Blossom Swordsman.
He didn’t rise to that position just by relying on talent.
He needed several times more effort than others.
Although he couldn’t completely fix his constitution, he still worked harder than others behind the scenes to compensate for it.
In the end, he had to give up being the Plum Blossom Swordsman because of that constitution, but his efforts and skills didn’t disappear.
In fact, even within the Mount Hua Sect, the evaluation of Yu Jeong-mok was quite high, and they were equally regretful about it.
Anyway, would such a person have easily compensated for his constitutional flaws? Of course not.
“Ugh!”
He mustered his strength and started climbing again.
His body and mind were screaming at him to stop right away.
“To think it would be this absurd…”
He had a newfound respect for his master.
Climbing a cliff without internal energy.
It was indeed effective.
Martial artists unconsciously used internal energy to reduce pain and the burden on their bodies. When using internal energy, it protected the body’s functions. However, then the training itself wouldn’t progress well.
As the saying goes, the body becomes stronger by breaking, tearing, and getting injured.
Like iron, the more you hammer it, the more its durability evolves.
In other words, theoretically, this cliff climbing was the optimal environment for physical training.
Internal energy was completely exhausted, and if he relaxed his tension and strength even a little, he might die, so he had no choice but to constantly exert force.
As the muscles were strained, they naturally became trained, and since he had to continuously use force, it was perfect for training.
However, there were three drawbacks.
“Master, I’m really going to die at this rate.”
The first was the only life he had.
“I’m only nine years old. I’m at an age where I should be growing, but honestly, this seems a bit too much.”
The second was that he still had the body of a child. If he overdid it, it might cause problems with his growth.
“Oh, you’ve asked a really good question. It’s alright. Your body has hidden internal energy beyond your imagination, so that part will take care of itself when you practice Qi circulation. Internal energy is life itself, after all.”
“He found out…”
Joo Seo-cheon knew that much too. There was no way he wouldn’t know.
No, on the contrary, it was more than what Yu Jeong-mok thought.
The growth-promoting and regenerative effects of the vitality absorbed from the plum blossoms were perfect.
And the third.
“Master, please help me just once. It’s really too difficult. I feel like I’m going to cry.”
It was truly, terribly difficult.
Pain that made even those who had experienced all sorts of hardships give up. The second point could be overlooked, but the first was just as important.
If he let go of his strength and gave up here, he would die. The mental pressure alone was immense, not to mention the physical pain. It was a grueling training that completely exhausted both body and mind.
Doing this without complaint was definitely not normal.
“Damn it.”
Tears were about to fall.
Originally, Joo Seo-cheon was not a hardworking and desperate person.
He had survived by luck and somehow, and by chance, he had risen to the position of Fifth Elder of Mount Hua.
That personality remained the same even after regressing.
In the first place, the plans he had made after the regression were a collection of flukes. The Plum Blossom Vitality Technique was the same.
It was because he could achieve great results with less effort and mental exertion compared to others.
In the case of the Water Spirit Divine Fruit, he had desperately struggled because it was the only way to save his master.
He had admired heroes but was far from being one himself.
“Yes, it must be very difficult…”
Yu Jeong-mok looked down at his disciple with a sad expression.
His eyes were wet and trembling.
“Master…!”
Joo Seo-cheon saw Yu Jeong-mok’s face and smiled brightly.
“But that’s just a momentary pain, and that pain will also pass.”
“Pardon?”
Joo Seo-cheon doubted his ears.
“I, too, had doubts several times when climbing that area when I was young. And somehow, I gritted my teeth and climbed, and it worked out. You will also be able to succeed safely.”
Yu Jeong-mok showed his clenched fist and smiled softly as usual, as if encouraging him.
“Ah…”
Joo Seo-cheon despaired upon seeing that smile.
“Master, truly… Were you really such a person…?”
There is a saying in the martial arts world.
Don’t say that others can do it just because you can do it.
Whether they are martial artists or not, people have their own limits.
I did it, so you can do it too.
It can be considered one of the bad things in the category of teaching.
Of course, Joo Seo-cheon’s case was better than Yu Jeong-mok’s.
At that time, Yu Jeong-mok didn’t have internal energy that surpassed his peers of the same age, nor did he have a suitable body and a mature mind that had already lived a lifetime.
However, his will was exceptional.
Climbing a cliff alone without anyone’s help, not even at the behest of his master.
The very idea of it and putting it into action was not something anyone could do. Even now, it was an extraordinary feat.
Even Joo Seo-cheon couldn’t do this, not in his current life,and not in his previous life.
In terms of effort, he was outstanding even within the Mount Hua Sect!
He was the complete opposite of Joo Seo-cheon.
“I can’t do it.”
“It’s okay! Even if it takes until night, even until dawn, I will stay with you! If you’re hungry, let’s eat Birch Valley Pills together!”
Yu Jeong-mok shouted as if encouraging him.
Crumble, crumble.
Eat together… Together… Ther…
“Huh!”
Joo Seo-cheon was startled.
His master’s resonating voice turned into an echo and caused the gravel above his head to fall.
“I really don’t want to think like this, but…”
Joo Seo-cheon made a crying face.
“Now that I think about it, Master, you’re terribly bad at teaching!”
Yu Jeong-mok’s personality was upright. He was truly honest.
But to put it differently, he lacked resourcefulness and was stubborn.
In other words, he was a person tightly bound by the mindset of “somehow with effort, passion, and will!”
“Ah, how humane you are, Master!”
He was given talent and will, but a sickly constitution.
He was given an excellent character and personality, but also stubbornness.
“I’m really sorry. I didn’t want to inflict such pain on you either. But if I leave you as you are, you will definitely become lazy due to the abundant internal energy…”
Yu Jeong-mok was sincerely pained as he watched his one and only disciple climb the cliff from below.
Originally, he had a particularly strong affection for his disciple and was not cold-hearted, so from his perspective, he wanted to help his disciple right away.
“It’s alright. Now that I think about it, I think it’s okay to be a little lazy. I’m already ahead, aren’t I, Master?”
Joo Seo-cheon spoke with an anxious tone.
“No, even for the sake of your future, I can’t do that. Please forgive this master. No, rather hate me.”
“No, Master. I’m really fine. I misspoke. I will not live lazily, so please find another way together with me. Master, please help me just once.”
His hands were gradually losing strength. He had rested for too long. He had to climb again, but he hated it like crazy.
“This is the punishment for not knowing this side of Master in my previous life!”
He really couldn’t have imagined this side of him.
No, honestly, it was understandable that he didn’t know.
In his previous life, Joo Seo-cheon had been struggling just to keep up with the normal training, and Yu Jeong-mok had been in poor health.
As a result, there naturally hadn’t been many occasions for Yu Jeong-mok to properly(?) teach Joo Seo-cheon like this.
“It’s really, really too difficult. I’m going to die at this rate.”
Joo Seo-cheon’s voice became urgent.
“You can resent me for not being able to help. So, let’s try to work hard together. I believe in you.”
Yu Jeong-mok smiled with teary eyes.
That smile was reminiscent of a primitive innocence.
The surrounding fog suddenly disappeared, the clouds cleared, and it was as dazzling as a single ray of light in the darkness.
Looking at that smile, Joo Seo-cheon thought while drawing a smile on his lips.
“Damn… I’m screwed…”
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