Wudang Sacred Scriptures-Chapter 64

Kwak Yeon saw a hazy figure appear amid pitch-black darkness in all directions.

Young-a?

He didn’t know why he thought of Young-a.

Perhaps because the faint image overlapped with the visage of Daoist Unseon.

That dim figure gently unraveled, then turned into mist—and began to seep into his entire body.

“Gah!”

Kwak Yeon startled awake and opened his eyes wide.

It was far too vivid to be just a dream.

“Have you come to your senses?”

Daoist Hyehae’s expression looked strangely stiff.

“Something strange happened.”

“You were dreaming.”

“It didn’t feel like a dream.”

“It was a dream.”

“...?”

He called it a dream without even asking what it was about.

Did I perhaps say something strange in my sleep during that trance?

“Come, rise quickly.”

Suddenly reminded of Young-a (?), Kwak Yeon asked without thinking.

“What about the Palace Lord, Master?”

Daoist Hyehae flinched momentarily, then replied.

“Why are you suddenly asking after your master, who is seated in meditation?”

At the scolding tone, Kwak Yeon exhaled in relief inwardly.

“You’re right. Maybe it’s because the dream path was so fierce.”

“How does your ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) body feel?”

“Refreshed. It feels like I’m overflowing with more energy than before.”

“That’s because you took the spiritual medicine, a secret of this palace. It nourishes True Origin Energy and was specially bestowed upon you by the Palace Lord. You must not treat even a single grain lightly.”

Something about the way Daoist Hyehae kept emphasizing that the Palace Lord had granted it weighed on Kwak Yeon’s mind. That and the displeasure in his gaze.

After Daoist Hyehae abruptly left, Daoist Cheongmu entered, carrying a dark medicinal bowl. Kwak Yeon asked:

“Cheongmu hyung, do you know if there’s spiritual medicine in the Three Spirits Palace?”

“Spiritual medicine? That stuff that makes your body all tingly inside, the one that’s said to revive even the dead?”

Since Daoist Cheongmu was simple-minded, Kwak Yeon had to keep it simple too, so he nodded.

“Yes, that kind of stuff.”

“Nope.”

Shaking his head, Daoist Cheongmu asked:

“Does Sosasuk know where it is?”

Kwak Yeon was taken aback as he saw Daoist Cheongmu’s eyes glint.

He was clearly planning to steal it right away if he knew where it was.

“No, I’m not saying I know where it is—I was asking if you’ve ever heard of it.”

“Never heard of it. And Sosasuk, don’t think such stupid thoughts.”

“...?”

“Why would the Sect Founder or the Palace Lord bother with such a bothersome thing that just makes your body tingle, when even taking Bigu Pills is too much trouble for them?”

At those words, Kwak Yeon suddenly recalled that the Three Spirits Palace followed the Dosun Lineage.

A spiritual medicine that nourished True Origin Energy wouldn’t be particularly useful to martial artists, nor would anyone covet it.

Since it’s not medicine that increases Internal Energy Pressure or enhances meridian quality, it wouldn’t become famous in the martial world.

In any case, his body felt revitalized.

He clearly sensed that his True Origin Energy had increased.

Due to the nature of True Origin Energy, it couldn’t be measured directly, but he could feel it through sensation and intuition.

Until now, he’d never thought the effects were due to an increase in True Origin Energy.

But once his Internal Energy Pressure grew enough for him to observe the True Origin Energy, he understood.

His furnace was too large, and all the energy he’d gathered through Tai Chi Internal Skill was getting burnt up at once.

All things required proper balance and moderation.

Since the balance had collapsed, he hadn’t been able to accumulate Internal Energy Pressure.

And so, a question arose in Kwak Yeon’s mind.

He’d diligently practiced Physical Conditioning and Health Cultivation, and had clearly increased his True Origin Energy through the Celestial Meridian Map and Danjeon Breathing.

But still, for his Internal Energy Pressure to lag so far behind—had he really accumulated that much True Origin Energy?

If not, could it be that I was born with a naturally high amount of True Origin Energy?

In any case, the problem had been resolved thanks to his connection with the Immortal’s Room.

The problem now was that the amount of natural qi flowing from the Immortal’s Room was too overwhelming for his True Origin Energy alone to handle.

To think I’d be regretting a lack of True Origin Energy now...

There was no solution except to train diligently.

Even Daoist Cheongmu no longer tried to stop him when it was time to enter the Immortal’s Room.

Of course, that was only after he drank every last drop of the dark medicinal decoction.

I’ve been bedridden for days and haven’t been able to practice energy circulation.

Since the Palace Lord had even bestowed spiritual medicine to preserve his True Origin Energy, he had high expectations.

“Sosasuk, what are you doing? Drink it already.”

Kwak Yeon gulped down the decoction that Daoist Cheongmu handed him and headed for the Immortal’s Room.

He intended to begin energy circulation right away.

As he took his place at the entrance of the Immortal’s Room and began circulating his qi, Kwak Yeon was shocked.

He was able to calmly endure the storm of Yin-Yang Energy that surged during the first cycle.

Didn’t that mean his True Origin Energy had increased tremendously?

To think the effect of the spiritual medicine would be this great...

Kwak Yeon felt gratitude for the consideration of Daoist Unseon, who had granted him a secret spiritual medicine.

An increase in True Origin Energy meant longer durations of energy circulation, and thus more accumulation of qi.

Kwak Yeon’s chest swelled with joy.

Just how much had his True Origin Energy grown?

Judging by how long he could endure now, it seemed to have increased five or six times over.

Perhaps even tenfold.

That would also mean the speed at which he accumulated qi had increased tenfold.

Moreover, with the furnace now larger, it burned more energy—resulting in even purer Internal Energy Pressure.

Kwak Yeon realized that he had encountered a rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Am I really the “chosen one”?

Someone as ordinary as me?

Maybe if it were Seok Jangsan, sure...

When he thought of Seok Jangsan, the lines that had appeared and vanished on the wall of the Immortal’s Room came to mind.

Why were they depicted with lines instead of secret verses? Was it for someone like Jangsan who has dyslexia, or someone illiterate but still destined?

It was impossible to know.

In any case, it was clear the martial technique’s flow had been illustrated with diagrammatic lines.

Kwak Yeon looked deeper into the cave.

He flinched unconsciously, recalling the horrific mental torment that had confined him to bed for days.

But he soon cast off that fear.

Now that he had obtained enough True Origin Energy to endure for over half a sijin, there was no reason to fear.

Kwak Yeon stepped boldly toward the inner cave.

Nothing could stop him now.

His heavy footsteps seemed to cry out into the darkness of the cave.

The stone chamber inside the cave remained unchanged.

Kwak Yeon’s gaze focused on the fluorescent stones embedded in the rock face directly ahead.

When simply standing and looking, they seemed disorderly.

But it was only because he had been seated cross-legged at the time, gazing upward with half-lidded eyes, half-lifted from pain, that he was able to notice it.

Had he not been forewarned by Daoist Hyehae, and had he not been constantly visualizing the Celestial Meridian Map until it became familiar to him, he would have overlooked it even after seeing it with his own eyes.

All of it had linked together like fate and reached him.

Was this left behind by the Patriarch of Three Spirits Palace? Or perhaps by Patriarch Jang Sam-bong?

There was no writing, no markings whatsoever—he couldn’t even begin to guess. Nor could he grasp what martial technique it was meant to convey.

Naturally, there was no martial form, nor any secret verse to identify it.

Had it not been Kwak Yeon, someone might have recognized it and still given up on it.

Kwak Yeon, for the past five years, had been overlaying the human skeletal and muscular system onto the Celestial Meridian Map, tracing the paths of energy as if playing a game.

Even with his eyes closed, if he moved his body in a certain way, he knew exactly how his meridians would respond. At some point, he had come to realize that martial forms were, in essence, a natural method of opening the energy channels.

The diagrammatic lines perfectly illustrated the flow of Internal Energy Pressure along the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, the Twelve Standard Meridians, and the 360 acupoints.

They also indicated, through varying intensities, how long Internal Energy Pressure should be held at certain points.

This is a method to create an internal meridian system!

Since he had already realized that any martial form must harmonize with a corresponding internal energy route to achieve True Gong, Kwak Yeon’s chest swelled with emotion.

This was an even more direct form of instruction than being told the secret verses.

Hadn’t he already learned various internal meridian methods from Daoist Cheongmu through the same process?

There’s nothing I can’t do.

By reversing the flow of energy and the paths of meridians in his mind, he could reconstruct the movements. There was no reason he couldn’t replicate the postures and techniques.

A sequence of such postures and movements was a martial form!

Instead of giving the secret verse, the diagram directly indicated how to operate the internal energy. Was that not the blueprint of a complete martial art?

First, I have to memorize the diagrammatic lines.

The lines etched themselves into Kwak Yeon’s mind like seals being stamped one after another.

The amount of time Kwak Yeon spent in the stone chamber continued to increase.

Since Daoist Hyehae had not entered seated meditation and was managing Three Spirits Palace instead, Kwak Yeon was able to remain in the Immortal’s Room even longer.

Now he could easily endure one cycle of the Yin-Yang Qi Storm, and even endure up to three cycles to some extent.

During the storm’s raging periods, he practiced Tai Chi Internal Skill to circulate his energy. During the rest of the time, he immersed himself in reconstructing martial forms from the diagrammatic lines.

In the process, Kwak Yeon clearly reached the level where he could sense and manipulate his Internal Energy Pressure.

Thirty years’ worth of internal cultivation.

When he practiced the Tai Chi Sword Forms, a faint heat shimmer began to rise from his wooden sword.

The realm of Manifest Qi.

It meant he had stepped into the ranks of first-rate masters.

To reach the Manifest Qi stage only one year after beginning Internal Energy Accumulation—using only the foundational Tai Chi Internal Skill—if the world came to know, it would be a world-shaking event.

But to Kwak Yeon, it held little meaning.

He wasn’t pursuing strength for its own sake; his goal was in the study of martial arts itself, so stages and ranks meant little to him.

So, with only straight intent, he continued practicing energy circulation.

Then one day, while in the Immortal’s Room, Kwak Yeon suddenly realized that one cycle of the Yin-Yang Qi equated to a full day.

Yin-Cold Qi could be equated with the energy of night, and Fiery-Yang Qi with the energy of day.

So, one day of training in the Immortal’s Room equaled twenty-four days of cultivation.

Training twenty-four days in a single day meant that in one year, he would complete the equivalent of twenty-four years of cultivation.

So that’s why Internal Energy Pressure has been accumulating so rapidly.

Realizing the value of time spent within the Immortal’s Room, Kwak Yeon sought out Daoist Hyehae.

“I’ll be staying in the Immortal’s Room for the time being.”

In just a few days, Daoist Hyehae looked to have aged rapidly. Kwak Yeon dared not ask why.

It seemed he had postponed his seated meditation to manage Three Spirits Palace in Kwak Yeon’s stead.

“So be it.”

Daoist Hyehae nodded calmly.

“Cheongmu, give the Bigu Pill to Hyeonmu Sasuk.”

“Hehe, luckily we still have a Bigu Pill that the Palace Lord and Founder left behind.”

Kwak Yeon flinched.

“You mean the Bigu Pill the Palace Lord Master left?”

Daoist Hyehae spoke.

“The Master has entered seated meditation for Yang Spirit Transformation and has ceased physical nourishment.”

“Ah...!”

“In any case, remain inside as long as you can endure. But on the night of the Full Moon, when the Yin-Yang Qi reaches its peak intensity, you must come out.”

Entering a closed-door cultivation, Kwak Yeon devoted himself entirely to energy circulation, and during the calm periods between the surges of Yin-Yang Qi, he pushed even harder to reconstruct the martial forms from the diagrammatic lines.

As a result, he realized that the diagrams did not represent a single martial art.

From the breaks and changes in momentum, it must be three distinct martial arts.

Though similar in appearance, each of the three diagrammatic lines clearly had different properties.

Especially the first set—none of the postures or movements within it held even a hint of offensive intent.

The internal meridian methods revealed by that diagram were composed solely of defensive energy routes, designed to deflect the opponent’s force, with no offensive energy paths at all.

A delayed-strike strategy grounded in Daoist compassion—“One who acts last strikes true.”

Thinking this must indeed be Wudang’s proper orthodox martial art, Kwak Yeon began to unfold the reconstructed martial forms.

But as he attempted the first martial form, his body suddenly froze.