Ten Paths of the Master - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 12. I fell into Jwahwa-ipma
Someone blocked Dan Yeop’s path as he walked along, lost in thought.
The moment Dan Yeop saw the man’s face, he thought, ‘Oh no.’
It was Yu Ja-cho, the one Geum Seo-jin had warned him to avoid.
‘Damn it. I got distracted and forgot all about Yu Ja-cho.’
His heart sank belatedly, but it was already too late.
Dan Yeop couldn’t meet Yu Ja-cho’s eyes straight on and looked away slightly.
A smug smile spread across Yu Ja-cho’s face at the sight.
He took it to mean that though Dan Yeop had beaten Deung Pyeong, he was backing down before him.
“Follow me.”
Yu Ja-cho, a third-generation member, spoke to Dan Yeop, a first-generation member, without a shred of deference.
In the Byeongma-chong, where generation ranking was absolute, such a thing should have been impossible, yet Dan Yeop complied without resistance.
Martial power superseded both age and order of entry.
Yu Ja-cho turned sharply as if issuing an order and walked toward a desolate place.
Dan Yeop followed like a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse, unable to utter a sound.
A moment later, Yu Ja-cho arrived at a suitable spot and glared down at him.
“Stand still.”
As Dan Yeop stopped, Yu Ja-cho suddenly lashed out and struck his face with an open palm.
When the strong strike, the weak simply endure.
This was not a law unique to Haowen.
The sects of the Murim followed the same rule.
When the strong strike, the weak receive the blows—because that way they suffer less.
But——.
Dan Yeop stepped back half a pace, and Yu Ja-cho’s palm sliced through empty air.
“What the hell? You’re resisting? You want to die?”
Enraged, Yu Ja-cho hurled himself forward like a tiger.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud——.
A series of dull impacts echoed through the empty space.
Yu Ja-cho struck aggressively with fists and feet, but most of his attacks were blocked.
Even when a blow did land, it lacked force.
Breathing heavily, Yu Ja-cho suddenly stepped back.
‘What? They said the kid was completely hopeless…….’
Now that they’d exchanged blows directly, he was crude, but not nearly as incompetent as he’d heard.
“You damn monkey! You really want to go at it?”
Surprised by Dan Yeop’s resilience, a vicious glint appeared in Yu Ja-cho’s eyes.
Unable to overwhelm his opponent with preliminary strikes, he drew a deep breath.
He was pulling up the Naegoong accumulated through the Il-wol-to-nap-bi-gyeol.
‘Huuuuh…….’
The Yusu-simbeop of the First School and the Uma-gong of each school both stemmed from the Samjae-simbeop.
But the Il-wol-to-nap-bi-gyeol of the Fourth School originated from the Kunlun School, a Daoist sect, and its Naegoong accumulation was superior to all others.
Yu Ja-cho, from the Fourth School, had been cultivating Naegoong for a full decade—even before his formal initiation.
That alone was remarkable.
His father, the magistrate, had even fed him Ginseng, so his Naegoong stood out among his peers.
“Die!”
Yu Ja-cho charged again, driving a fist infused with Naegoong.
Whoosh! Thud——!
Dan Yeop reflexively blocked Yu Ja-cho’s fist, but the shockwave sent him staggering back two steps.
Now fully enraged, Yu Ja-cho unleashed the Cheonbung-gwon as if intent on beating him to death.
Swish! Swish! Whoosh——!
Thud! Thud! Thud——!
Under Yu Ja-cho’s fierce assault, Dan Yeop was forced backward helplessly.
“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!”
Groans escaped Dan Yeop’s lips as he blocked Yu Ja-cho’s fists.
If Yu Ja-cho’s fists had been stone moments before, they now felt like iron.
Dan Yeop could no longer hold his ground and curled his body inward.
Onto his hunched frame, Yu Ja-cho’s fists rained down like a deluge.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud——!
“You damn monkey! If you’d been like this from the start, you wouldn’t have taken so many hits! Why invite more punishment, you bastard!”
Under Yu Ja-cho’s Naegoong-infused fists, Dan Yeop thought, ‘I’m going to die like this.’
His mind growing hazy, he found himself unconsciously reciting an incantation from the Simjeong-dangong.
In an instant, cold and scalding energy surged from his lower dantian, racing vertically up the conception vessel meridian.
The dual currents shot into his Heavenly Gate regardless of Dan Yeop’s will.
Flash!
Startled awake by the blinding light, Dan Yeop couldn’t make sense of what was happening.
He’d been asleep in bed—so why was he being pummeled?
Tracking the swift trajectory of fists raining down on his upper body, he recognized the Cheonbung-gwon technique.
Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack!
Dan Yeop deflected his opponent’s punches with little effort and shouted.
“Wait!”
When his assault suddenly met resistance, Yu Ja-cho instinctively retreated a step.
“What? Now you’re going to beg forgiveness?”
Dan Yeop regarded him with a bemused expression and spoke.
“I don’t understand what’s happening. Tell me—who are you, and why are we fighting?”
“Damn it! You’re spouting nonsense now, you fool? You don’t even know who I am?”
“No, I don’t. Who?”
Yu Ja-cho studied Dan Yeop’s genuine expression and reconsidered—it was possible, after all.
Dan Yeop was the sole first-generation student and notorious for his stupidity, so it was conceivable he wouldn’t recognize Yu Ja-cho.
“I’m Yu Ja-cho, third generation. Why are you getting hit? Because you struck Deung Pyeong yesterday. Now do you understand why you’re taking a beating from me?”
“Deung Pyeong? That small-eyed, scheming little wretch?”
“Yes. Now that you know, let’s continue.”
“Damn it! Haowen is truly a mess. No one here shows proper respect.”
At Dan Yeop’s exasperation, Yu Ja-cho replied mockingly.
“Respect exists. You’re just at the bottom of the heap. Did you really think entering first would earn you deference? That’s shameless. A man like you is only fit to be a house-husband. No matter how esteemed Haowen is, we can’t treat house-husbands like seniors. Right?”
“A house-husband?”
“Your face looks pretty enough for a courtesan’s brother, but you can’t wipe your own backside alone. So you’d have to cling to a courtesan just to eat. Hehe.”
“That won’t do. You need some discipline. Come at me.”
“Crazy bastard! All this time you’ve been taking hits, and now your mouth comes alive. Fine, here I come!”
Yu Ja-cho launched himself forward like a flying tiger.
This time, he’d drawn on his naegoong from the start—his momentum was far from ordinary.
Whoosh! Crack! Crack!
Yet his fists never reached their target.
“Damn loach! If I catch you, you’re dead!”
Yu Ja-cho’s Cheonbung-gwon shifted into the Beoncheon-su, a Keumnasu-beop technique.
He reached with hooked fingers, but the outcome remained unchanged.
“Oh, Cheonbung-gwon followed by Beoncheon-su? Impressive. Don’t you have anything else?”
At Dan Yeop’s provocation, Yu Ja-cho’s face flushed crimson with anger.
Furious beyond measure, he released a guttural cry and unleashed a barrage of punches.
The Hohak-ssangsu-gwon is simple but devastating in power.
He hoped against hope that Dan Yeop might slip up and catch even a single blow.
Yet each punch merely skimmed past him without ever making contact.
“Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff!”
Exhausted by the endless flailing, Yu Ja-cho’s shoulders heaved as he gasped for breath.
Dan Yeop, slipping away like a loach, suddenly darted close and drove his index finger directly into Yu Ja-cho’s right Gyeongjjeong-hyeol.
“Ugh!”
With a sharp cry, Yu Ja-cho’s right arm went limp and dropped.
“Gasp! The Jemhyeol-beop?”
Yu Ja-cho’s mouth fell open in shock.
Striking vital points to disable an opponent was a technique only masters of distinguished sects could master.
The fact that Dan Yeop had just performed it left him reeling.
Dan Yeop spoke flatly.
“No, I just pressed it. Your body’s just too weak.”
“What nonsense—cough!”
As Dan Yeop’s finger found the left Gyeongjjeong-hyeol, Yu Ja-cho’s left arm too went slack.
“Watch your tongue with your senior. Show some respect.”
With those words, Dan Yeop drove his heel into Yu Ja-cho’s calf muscle strike point.
“Aah!”
Yu Ja-cho crumpled with a strangled cry.
The moment Dan Yeop’s foot connected, his calf felt as though it had shattered.
‘What—why does this hurt so much?’
Both shoulder points felt pierced by spears; his calf, as if struck by an iron hammer.
Dan Yeop wasn’t like this just moments ago—it’s as if he’s possessed by a ghost.
As Yu Ja-cho clenched his teeth to endure the pain, Dan Yeop’s voice reached his ears.
“Your name is Yu Ja-cho, right?”
“What about it?”
In an instant, Dan Yeop’s palm struck Yu Ja-cho across the face.
“Ugh!”
Yu Ja-cho, who had been holding his head up stiffly, cried out and tumbled backward.
As Yu Ja-cho scrambled to his feet, Dan Yeop questioned him.
“Do you know up from down?”
…….
“Answer me.”
……I do.”
“Then speak.”
“About what……sir?”
“About what happened between you and me.”
“What do you mean……sir?”
“The fight. You were hounding me like I was some dog to be caught.”
“Sir, why are you asking me to explain something you already know……?”
“If you don’t speak properly, I’ll kick the other calf muscle strike point too.”
At Dan Yeop’s threat, Yu Ja-cho asked with a pained expression.
“What exactly do you want me to say?”
“Explain in detail how we fought, from the beginning.”
Dan Yeop wanted to confirm that his personality had shifted during the fight.
“I came here and exchanged blows with you, senior. You kept standing even as you took hits, so I used my Naegoong. From that point on, I was overwhelming you, but then suddenly your eyes rolled back and things became like this.”
“I was taking hits and holding my ground in bare-handed combat?”
…….
Yu Ja-cho found it so absurd that Dan Yeop was speaking of himself in the third person that he didn’t answer.
“Answer.”
“Yes.”
“Now I understand.”
When he first awakened in the Stone Chamber in that remote northern place, he couldn’t make sense of it.
But if his personality had fractured during the fight with Yu Ja-cho, there was no room for doubt.
‘When I use Naegoong, my personality splits and I awaken; when I sleep, I return to my original self. Is that it?’
Once he grasped the cycling pattern of personality dissociation, it was infuriating.
As Dan Yeop fell silent, Yu Ja-cho, sensing his mood, spoke carefully.
“Um, senior, if you have nothing more to say, I should be going…….”
“Ja-cho.”
“Yes?”
Yu Ja-cho was startled when Dan Yeop suddenly addressed him in a familiar tone.
He himself had spoken to juniors in exactly that way when tormenting them.
“From now on, listen carefully to what I say, and spread the word to those around you.”
“Spread the word?”
“Yes, make it widely known.”
“Ah, yes…….”
Yu Ja-cho focused, wondering what nonsense Dan Yeop was about to spout.
“The Doctrine of the Mean says, ‘Sincerity is the way of Heaven; to become sincere is the way of man.’ Mencius also said that integrity is the best policy. So that’s what I want to tell you—I’ve fallen into Jwahwa-ipma.”
“What?”
Yu Ja-cho stared at Dan Yeop with utter bewilderment.
This monkey who hadn’t gotten past the Thousand Character Classic in thirteen years was now talking about the Doctrine of the Mean and Mencius, claiming he’d fallen into Jwahwa-ipma.
“You might not know, but I’ve been training in Bunsim-gong. Bunsim-gong is…….”
“Isn’t it a meditation technique that divides the mind in two?”
“You know well. After mastering Bunsim-gong, I became divided into two.”
“Um, senior, I understand that the ‘bunsim’ in Bunsim-gong doesn’t quite work that way.”
“That’s exactly why I said Jwahwa-ipma.”
“Ah, yes…….”
Yu Ja-cho simply accepted it since Dan Yeop said so. There was no point in disagreeing here.
“The two of us don’t remember what the other one did. Do you understand?”
“Yes?”
“So……, ah, never mind—just don’t ask questions and don’t demand explanations. Don’t pick fights. What did I just say?”
“Don’t ask questions, don’t demand explanations, and don’t pick fights.”
“Before that.”
“Jwahwa-ipma?”
“Right. Go tell Dan Yeop he’s in a Jwahwa-ipma state, so don’t touch him. Wait—or should I say do touch him? Yeah, that’s right.”
Dan Yeop realized he’d nearly made a mistake.
For this personality to awaken, it would need to be forced to expend Naegoong.
“Yu Ja-cho.”
“Yes?”
“Tell the trainees to pick a fight with Dan Yeop. He needs to take a beating.”
“Yes—what?”
Yu Ja-cho stared at Dan Yeop with an odd expression.
Speaking of himself in the third person, and clearly not in his right mind anymore.
‘What the hell—this guy’s actually lost it.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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