CHAPTER: Chapter 36
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Chapter 36.
In a corner of the Demon Physician Hall, there was a sealed chamber cut off from the outside.
Uncheon, who had entered closed-door cultivation, sat alone in the pitch-black darkness.
Unlike the quiet silence, cold sweat was flowing down Uncheon’s forehead like rain.
Wooooong—.
Deep inside his lower abdomen, a rough vibration rang without pause.
It was too precarious to call a qi center, and too small to call a typhoon.
‘…It is crude. I need to stabilize the formula and the flow further.’
Uncheon coldly diagnosed his own condition.
Last night, in order to handle Seolyeong’s Yin-Cold Qi, he had hastily created a ‘rotating qi center.’
It was merely a desperate measure he had chosen as a last resort in order to control the rampaging Yin-Cold Qi.
‘It is no different from hastily building an embankment to block a wave.’
He had forcibly rotated the Yin-Cold Qi and bound it in place, but the flow was so rough that it was on the verge of scattering on its own at any moment.
‘At this rate, the moment I use inner arts, the energy will rampage, and my blood vessels will burst.’
That was why he had set everything else aside and entered closed-door cultivation.
He needed to harden the embankment that would surely collapse if left alone into a firm fortress wall.
However, that was not as easy as it sounded.
What was an inner arts heart method in the first place?
At the very least, it was a path carved out over decades, or even centuries, by countless predecessors who had vomited blood and fallen into Qi Deviation.
It was the crystallization of accumulated trial and error and enlightenment over long years.
Just as in the old tale of the Foolish Old Man Moving the Mountains, it took an immeasurable span of time for a sect’s inner arts heart method to be established.
‘And yet, I have to establish that alone, right now.’
It was madness.
But Uncheon had no time.
He drew out the countless fragments of martial learning scattered throughout his mind.
‘Gonryun’s Taecheong Divine Art is clear and long-flowing. It would be difficult to contain the fierce Yin-Cold Qi I possess now….’
It was the clothing most familiar to him, but it did not fit his current body.
At the same time, learning Seolyeong’s Ice Soul Divine Art exactly as it was would worsen his Severed Meridian Affliction, just as it had once done to Seolyeong.
‘In that case… I have to mix them.’
Fortunately, for Uncheon, there were several roads that countless predecessors had already walked and paved.
The inner arts training of Gonryun, polished over more than a thousand years, stood at Uncheon’s center.
Added to that were the Life-Prolonging Breathing Method he had created while struggling to survive,
the Heaven-and-Earth Dynamic Art he had obtained as a Fortunate Encounter in the martial arts library,
and even the Ice Soul Divine Art whose formula Seolyeong had transmitted to him.
‘Each one is truly worthy of being called a peerless divine art.’
However, even a heap of beads has value only once it is threaded together.
‘As the old saying goes, beads become treasure only when strung together.’
Uncheon set Gonryun’s Daoist heart method as the framework.
He governed the fierce Yin-Cold Qi with the principle of the Ice Soul Divine Art, and drew inspiration from the Heaven-and-Earth Dynamic Art for the unceasing flow.
Lastly, he used the Life-Prolonging Breathing Method he had created himself as the vessel that would embrace this unprecedented qi center.
The principle of stillness within movement.
‘There is stillness within movement.’
It was not a stagnant lake, but an endlessly swirling rapid confined inside his body.
Bone-shaving pain and soul-clearing exhilaration burst forth at the same time, and the fragments of martial learning that had been moving separately began to fuse into one.
Crack, crack. Crunch.
Strange screams erupted from every joint in Uncheon’s body.
It was the pain of twisting existing common sense and opening a new path. Hundreds of times, the energy tangled, and thousands of times, his acupoints nearly became blocked.
Each time, Uncheon narrowly crossed the line of death with the experience of his previous life and his genius-like intuition.
How much time had passed?
At that moment, a flashlike shudder shot up his spine.
The typhoon within him, which had been raging violently, calmed as if it had been a lie.
It had not disappeared.
‘At last, I have settled the Yin-Cold Qi into a fixed orbit.’
It had begun rotating along such a perfect orbit that it had instead grown still, as if stopped.
Like the eye of a typhoon.
‘…Now it is done.’
Uncheon slowly opened his eyes.
A cool azure light rippled in the depths of his pupils, then disappeared.
‘…The principle of Limitless and the harmony of Iceheart.’
Once the joy of enlightenment subsided, Uncheon slowly opened the door and walked out.
Outside the door, the Life-and-Death Exalted One and Seolyeong were waiting for him with worried expressions.
The moment they saw Uncheon come out to the Demon Physician Hall after finishing his closed-door cultivation, both of them flinched in surprise.
“…Benefactor?”
Seolyeong’s eyes widened.
Until only a few days ago, Uncheon’s aura had looked precarious, but now it had changed completely.
The sharply spreading coldness had vanished, and a quiet yet cool energy wrapped around him like a deep lake.
“Before, you had merely suppressed the Yin-Cold Qi in haste… but now, your energy has been completely gathered and contained.”
Even the Life-and-Death Exalted One could not help but marvel. Uncheon lightly nodded, then reached toward the teacup on the table.
“I gained some enlightenment. For now… it seems I succeeded.”
Srrrrk.
A haze-like energy rose from his fingertips.
The water began to rotate fiercely around the center of the teacup.
Whoooosh—!
A small vortex rose inside the teacup, then instantly froze in that exact shape.
A whirling pillar of ice.
It was a strange form that had stopped not in stillness, but in a state of movement.
“……!”
The Life-and-Death Exalted One lifted the teacup and stared in shock.
“This is not simple ice arts. It contains both rotational force and cohesion at the same time… To think a fellow who has not even handled Yin-Cold Qi for more than a few days has achieved this level of mastery!”
Seolyeong, who had been watching beside him, had fine tremors in her eyes.
It was the thrill of witnessing something on a higher level than her family’s secret art, the Ice Soul Divine Art.
“I cannot believe it. It is the same Yin-Cold Qi as my Ice Soul Divine Art, yet its flow is entirely different.”
Seolyeong stared at the vortex inside the teacup with trembling eyes.
This could no longer be called the Ice Soul Divine Art.
“It is an energy whose formula I cannot even begin to guess… What is the name of that heart method?”
At Seolyeong’s question, Uncheon answered calmly.
“I was also inspired by the Ice Soul Divine Art you taught me, Lady Seolyeong. I named it the Limitless Iceheart Formula.”
Even the Life-and-Death Exalted One nodded in acknowledgment.
“…Indeed. That is quite a fitting name. You have contained Yin-Cold Qi through endless rotation.”
He acted calm on the outside, but inwardly, he could not hide his shock.
‘At an age when he has not even reached twenty, has he established an independent heart method?’
The Life-and-Death Exalted One’s eyes sank deeply.
‘Even if he received inspiration, giving it concrete form is a problem of an entirely different level. This is not simple talent. He is the vessel of a grandmaster who will one day establish his own school!’
Seolyeong’s eyes grew heated.
It was not simple admiration.
“Benefactor… could you spar with me?”
Her competitive spirit as a martial artist, wanting to clash with him at least once, had awakened.
At her request, Uncheon smiled.
There could not be a better opponent for testing his new power.
“Of course. I was just thinking that I needed to operate the Limitless Iceheart Formula in actual combat and refine the formula further.”
The Life-and-Death Exalted One stroked his beard as if intrigued.
“Wait a moment. Both of your Severed Meridian Afflictions have stabilized for now, so as long as you don’t overdo it, sparring will help both of you. However, before that….”
The Life-and-Death Exalted One’s expression became serious.
“There is one thing I must tell the two of you.”
***
At the same time, at the main gate of the Demonic Martial Hall.
The gatekeepers guarding the heavy iron gate crossed their spears and blocked a man who was breathing roughly.
“Stop! Outsiders are forbidden from entering this place!”
The muscular man held an enormous Black Iron Hammer in one hand, and on his back, he carried a bundle as large as his own torso.
His appearance was rough and crude, but the heat pouring from him made even the surrounding air shimmer like a haze.
“Outsider? I told you, I’m a guest. Can’t you tell just by looking?”
The man, looking annoyed, took out a palm-sized red plaque from his waist and thrust it before the gatekeeper’s nose.
It was the Blazing Flame Plaque, engraved with a blazing flame pattern.
The gatekeepers’ eyes widened.
“T-The Blazing Flame Plaque! Are you a disciple of the Exalted One?”
It was on a completely different level from the Chief Instructor’s Black Iron Plaque that Uncheon had once presented.
Within the cult, the status of the Five Exalted Ones was higher than that of Gal Muheun, the Demonic Martial Hall Master.
“Hurry up and move. It is hot.”
The man tossed the words out indifferently.
Inside the Demonic Martial Hall, Gal Muheun’s policy might be to encourage competition, but there was no one bold enough to dare raise a spear at the disciple of an Exalted One.
One of the gatekeepers, a squad-leader-level warrior, mustered his courage and asked,
“We failed to recognize you! B-But may I ask your destination?”
The man burst into a snort of laughter at the sight of them floundering.
“Tsk, the metal is soft. Too soft. Look at you lowering your tails. My destination? Where is Senior Life-and-Death Exalted One?”
“T-That place is difficult for us to guide you to. First, we must receive permission from the Demonic Martial Hall Master….”
“Ah, how annoying. Fine. Where is the Hall Master’s office?”
The man’s steps were unhesitating.
Gongya Pae.
As the disciple of the Blazing Flame Exalted One and a blacksmith who handled fire and iron, he immediately headed to the Demonic Martial Hall Master’s office.
No matter how much he was the disciple of an Exalted One, unless he were the Exalted One himself, ignoring Gal Muheun, the master of the Demonic Martial Hall, would have been improper.
A short while later.
A hearty voice rang loudly through Gal Muheun’s office.
“It has been a long time, Hall Master!”
Gongya Pae offered a clasped hands greeting with an attitude that was swaggering but did not cross the line.
“…Did the Blazing Flame Exalted One send you?”
“Yes, I came to meet Senior Life-and-Death Exalted One.”
Gal Muheun, the master of the office, set down his brush and asked.
His gaze settled on the enormous hammer hanging behind Gongya Pae’s back.
It was too crude to be a weapon and too grotesque to be a tool.
“Is that the end of your business?”
“While I am here, I heard there is a useful fellow the senior has taken in, so I came to see his face as well. If he is decent, I thought I might share a drink with him.”
Gal Muheun gave a faint laugh.
The Blazing Flame Exalted One had a fiery temperament.
If his disciple had come in person to check whether someone was decent, what would happen was obvious.
‘Did he hear the rumor that Senior Life-and-Death Exalted One became Uncheon’s guardian? His disciple truly resembles the Blazing Flame Exalted One’s temperament….’
Gal Muheun did not bother stopping him.
Uncheon was also one of the Book Ghosts he had selected.
“The Demonic Martial Hall welcomes the strong. As long as there is mutual consent, you may spar freely with anyone.”
“As expected, Hall Master, you understand. Thank you.”
For Gal Muheun as well, it was an intriguing spectacle.
‘I am curious. Can that fellow Uncheon handle Gongya Pae?’
Once permission was granted, Gongya Pae left the office without hesitation.
Having received official permission, Gongya Pae whistled as he strolled through the corridors of the Demonic Martial Hall.
As he crossed the training ground, he swept a bored gaze over the students training there.
“Hmm….”
His gaze passed over the students training in the training ground.
“Weak.”
All that entered his eyes was disappointment.
“Everyone here is frail. Forget hammering iron, they could not even lift my hammer.”
As he passed, the students began murmuring.
“That clothing… is he from the Blazing Flame Exalted One’s school?”
“What is that on his back? A hammer?”
Paying no attention to the students’ murmurs, Gongya Pae headed toward the deepest part of the Demonic Martial Hall, the Demon Physician Hall.
His eyes blazed with anticipation.
‘The fellow old man Life-and-Death chose. I hope he is useful. Useful enough to withstand my flames….’
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