Chapter 7
Time flows like water.
This is a law of nature that applies to everyone, but it was especially true for the two men living in the estate on Samryun Peak.
After his conversation with his grandfather, So-ah realized for the first time that learning martial arts was not an easy task.
As soon as So-ah woke up in the morning, he had to run down the mountain to the Sodamgol marketplace every day without a single break.
There, he would buy grain and cow's milk and run back to the estate without rest. After one such trip, he would be out of breath, and the muscles all over his body would scream.
But this was bearable.
More than anything, he was going to make gruel with the grain to feed the tiger cub he had taken in and give it cow's milk, so there were times when he even felt proud.
Furthermore,
[The first step of the Ten-Second Invincible Arts is to become a god of stamina. In a duel between masters of similar realms, the decisive factor that determines victory or defeat is stamina.]
Because of his grandfather's teaching, So-ah would warm up his body by training his stamina through this ridiculous running.
But the real training was truly hell.
Moyong Cheon would blindfold So-ah and make a switch from a green tree, thrashing So-ah for one shichen a day. Each time, So-ah would let out a terrible scream.
[Beating the body is to heighten the senses, and blindfolding is to light the lamp of the heart. It will be painful, but through this training, you will be able to protect yourself even in extreme crises in the future.]
So-ah was bewildered.
He had never once thought his grandfather was cruel.
But once the real training began, there was no mercy in his grandfather's hands.
Even as his skin broke and his bones fractured from the green tree switch, his grandfather strictly adhered to the daily one-*shichen* beating, tormenting So-ah.
This kind of brutish training method was probably only possible for one person in the world, Moyong Cheon.
Moyong Cheon was not only proficient in internal alchemy and refinement techniques but also in medicine, possessing the source technology for manufacturing medicinal water that nourished the body.
Furthermore, he had managed So-ah's body to withstand it through tendon-splitting and bone-dislocating arts, massage, and ki-gong, which was why he could carry out such crude training.
Of course, even considering all this, it would have been impossible without So-ah's indomitable will, perseverance, and absolute trust in his grandfather.
Therefore, Moyong Cheon pushed So-ah even harder.
The remaining time, six years.
Within that time, Moyong Cheon wanted to make So-ah a "complete" fighter.
***
"Keng keng!"
"Hmm... Tiger, what should I name you?"
"Keng...!"
The tiger cub he had brought back with Wi-ji Chan seemed to recognize So-ah as its mother.
So-ah felt pity for the cub.
Although it was an animal, the tiger cub provided a certain comfort in his lonely mountain life.
"So-ah, have you not named the tiger yet?"
"No, could you name it for me, Grandpa?"
"Ho ho, that's your job. You're the one who brought it."
So-ah thought hard.
He wanted to give it a name as cute as its appearance.
Then suddenly,
"Huin-dung-i! How about Huin-dung-i? Grandpa?"
"Huin-dung-i?" [Whitey]
"Yes. It's a white tiger, so it's all white. I think Huin-dung-i would be good, haha."
Moyong Cheon let out a chuckle.
"It seems childish, but it's your decision. Huin-dung-i... it is cute."
"Right? It's cute, isn't it?"
So-ah said as he petted the tiger cub all over.
"Huin-dung-i!"
At that,
"Woof!"
The tiger cub responded to its name.
So-ah's face brightened, and he made up his mind.
"Your name is Huin-dung-i now. You have to grow up as cute as your name, okay? Otherwise, Grandpa might use you as an ingredient for his medicinal water!"
So-ah said to Huin-dung-i, glancing at his grandfather.
Of course, hidden in those words was So-ah's strong warning not to even think about using Huin-dung-i as an ingredient for medicinal water, no matter what.
Knowing So-ah's intention, Moyong Cheon burst into a hearty laugh.
"Ho ho. Don't worry. No matter how indifferent an old man I am, would I use the tiger you're raising as an ingredient? Instead, Huin-dung-i will grow faster than you think. Discipline it well so that it doesn't attack people."
"Yes, Grandpa!"
As soon as the words were out, So-ah was about to leave the estate with Huin-dung-i.
Like doing gymnastics on a moonlit night, he suddenly felt the urge to run and play with Huin-dung-i.
"So-ah, don't be too late. Starting tomorrow, form training will be added, so you need to sleep early."
"Yes! Grandpa! You go to sleep first!"
Watching So-ah's receding back, Moyong Cheon gave a bitter smile.
The difficulty of the training would increase sharply from tomorrow, so he felt sorry for So-ah in his heart.
***
So-ah, who had returned from descending the mountain at dawn, was blindfolded and whipped with a green tree for one shichen as usual.
Then he soaked his body in medicinal water to focus on recovery. The scene of a twelve-year-old boy, covered in blood, putting his body into a heated cauldron was so bizarre that the word "strange" was not enough to describe it.
After receiving a massage from Moyong Cheon, the sun had already risen to the middle of the sky.
Moyong Cheon took So-ah's hand and headed to the largest rock in the estate, where the sun shone best.
"So-ah. From today, you will train the Great Whale Heart Law while looking at the sun without closing your eyes."
"While looking at the sun? Is that possible?"
"It's difficult. No, to be precise, it's impossible for a human to look directly at the blazing sun."
"Gasp... but how..."
"However, one who is to become a God of War must naturally be able to do it."
So-ah couldn't answer readily.
Even just thinking about it, it was impossible for a person to look at the sun without closing their eyes.
"If you possess the righteous light and vision to stare directly at the sun, you can absorb internal energy at a speed ten to twenty times faster than normal through the Great Whale Heart Law."
"But I don't know if that's possible, Grandpa."
"It's difficult at first. But the incantation of the Great Whale Heart Law will make it possible."
"I understand! I'll try."
"Train the Great Whale Heart Law for two shichen, and then perform the remaining nine forms of the Ten-Second Invincible Arts ten times each. Then it will get dark. After the sun sets, perform the Iron Head Art (headbutt), Heaven-Shattering Consecutive Cannon (chain punches), Iron Armor Great Rotation (brawling defense), Swift Whale Step (lightness skill, footwork), Human Sword Strike (elbow attack), Mount Tai Inversion (grappling), Heavenly Bird Thunderclap (knee attack), Eight Walls of the High Mountain (body slam), and Tsunami Kick (kicking techniques) ten times each in reverse order."
For a moment, So-ah's eyes widened.
"Gasp! Grandpa. Then it'll be dawn, won't it? When do I eat, and when do I sleep?"
"You can eat when you feel hungry in between, and reduce your sleep as much as possible. Of course, your body will be worn out, but for the time being, you should be able to endure it with the spiritual energy of the Minor Restoration Pill. Later, when your body adapts, you will be able to do it."
So-ah shook his head with a fed-up expression.
Moyong Cheon almost burst out laughing at the sight but managed to hold it in.
He had to be strict when it came to training.
"Grandpa, but when you say I'll endure it with the spiritual energy of the Minor Restoration Pill... does that mean I should eat the Minor Restoration Pill that Grandpa Wi-ji gave me?"
"Yes."
At that, So-ah immediately brought the Minor Restoration Pill that had been stored in a corner of the main hall.
He had been curious about this thing called a Minor Restoration Pill and had wanted to take it as soon as possible.
Gulp!
So-ah swallowed the Minor Restoration Pill.
"Sit cross-legged and circulate your ki."
After giving the instruction, Moyong Cheon touched So-ah's fine meridians and over three hundred acupoints, then gently infused his own internal energy.
"Uh...?"
So-ah had a mystical experience.
As the bitterness of the Minor Restoration Pill he had taken faded, his dantian and head repeatedly heated up and cooled down, and then an explosive, formless energy began to well up.
"Grandpa, my body feels like it's about to fly."
"Although the spiritual energy you can obtain from a Minor Restoration Pill is less than that of a Major Restoration Pill, it is absorbed faster and dissipates more easily from the body, making it a more beneficial spiritual medicine for you right now. You should be grateful to old man Wi-ji."
"Yes, Grandpa."
"Now! Open your eyes and look at the sun."
At Moyong Cheon's words, So-ah lifted his eyelids.
The sun, boiling hotly and spewing out light, entered So-ah's vision.
But he only looked for a moment before his eyes closed again.
As expected, clearly witnessing the sun with the naked eye was close to impossible.
But So-ah did not stop.
Today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that.
So-ah sat on the rock, looked at the sun, and recited the Great Whale Heart Law.
Thus, the atmosphere of autumn passed…
Winter soon arrived at the estate, and white snow began to pile up.
It wasn't just the season that had changed.
During that time, Huin-dung-i had grown plump and large, and its baby teeth had grown in, now having the appearance of a young beast of prey.
Around that time.
So-ah became able to train the heart law while looking perfectly at the sun.
"Hoo..."
So-ah's Iron Head Art contained a powerful momentum.
Swish, swish!
The twin fists of So-ah's Heaven-Shattering Consecutive Cannon came to split the air, and,
Kwagagang...!
There were times when the area around the estate was a mess due to So-ah's Iron Armor Great Rotation.
Eventually, when So-ah's Swift Whale Step was performed, tens, hundreds of afterimages would scatter across Samryun Peak, looking incredibly ethereal, and,
Pakang-!
By the time So-ah's Human Sword Strike, an elbow attack, could turn a large rock into powder, a year had passed.
But even as the year changed, So-ah's training never slackened; it remained as harsh as ever.
The grappling of Mount Tai Inversion was a truly difficult technique to learn, but as a result of clashing and clashing again, he reached a level where he could uproot a giant tree on Mount Daeak. By the time the knee attack of Heavenly Bird Thunderclap became as sharp as a peerless sword, another year had passed.
And when the body slam of Eight Walls of the High Mountain, which could be called the true face of the Ten-Second Invincible Arts, could demolish the wall of a mountain cave, and a single strike of the Tsunami Kick could split the earth, the year changed again.
When three years had passed like that.
As So-ah was training the Great Whale Heart Law while looking at the blazing sun as usual, five rings of golden energy and three flowers of five colors rose above his head like a mirage.
In his fifteenth year.
So-ah had achieved the Five Qi Courting the Origin and the Three Flowers Gathering at the Peak, the marks of the Realm of Creation.
"So-ah."
"Yes, Grandpa."
"I can finally keep my promise to you."
"What promise are you talking about?"
"The day I brought you here, I vowed that I would make it so that no one in the world could torment you. Do you remember that?"
"Yes. I remember! Grandpa."
"I have kept that promise."
"..."
"From now on, never again will anyone! Dare to torment you."
(End of Chapter)