Ten Paths of the Master - Chapter 17

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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 17. Don’t die—flourish and prosper
Dan Yeop was just stepping out of his quarters with his backpack in hand.
This time, Baek Yuhwa blocked his path.
“Dan Yeop.”
“Baek… Yuhwa?”
The exceptional genius Dan Yeop regarded her with puzzled eyes.
‘Surely she’s not here to fight over Yu Jacho and Deung Pyeong?’
But Dan Yeop’s misunderstanding was quickly dispelled.
“I know it’s because of Hong Choyeon, but in any case, I’m sorry I couldn’t help with your advancement examination. I hope you’ll pass next year.”
“Hong Choyeon?”
“Yes, Hong Choyeon. You haven’t forgotten what happened with him already, have you?”
“Oh, Hong Choyeon. What happened?”
Baek Yuhwa was exasperated that Dan Yeop was playing dumb.
‘Is he sulking because he failed the advancement examination? Or did he get thoroughly chewed out by the martial master?’
His anger was understandable, but it wasn’t something to blame others for.
“Sigh, never mind. Seeing you carrying a backpack is confusing all over again. Did you intentionally fail the advancement examination?”
“You know I fell into Inner Demon Possession, right?”
“I’ve heard.”
“If I’m in control now, it was intentional. If I’m not, it was inevitable.”
“Are you in control? Or not?”
“I’m always in control.”
Baek Yuhwa shook her head at his answer.
“Right, I’m sure you are. I don’t know what you’re trying to gain at Byeongma Chong, but either way, achieve your wish.”
“Yeah, thanks. And you—try not to die, and keep flourishing.”
At his casual farewell, Baek Yuhwa’s eyes narrowed.
There was something strange in that phrase “try not to.”
What was it?
Dan Yeop seemed utterly indifferent to whether she lived or died.
She’d thought they’d grown close, but apparently that was just her delusion.
Baek Yuhwa left without looking back.
***
Half a shichen later.
After meeting with Dan Bulwi at the Amun Training Hall and gathering Bigyok Dan and a water bottle, Dan Yeop moved to his usual practice site, the Outer Stone Chamber.
He first warmed up lightly with the Six Gates Martial Arts, then began serious training starting with the Taeheo Shadowless Sword.
Even without using Tae-eul Ki, violent sword winds swept through the stone chamber like a tempest.
Once the Taeheo Shadowless Sword became second nature, he moved on to training the Muae Sword.
Sword Light Hundred Waves, Sword Intent Star Ring, Sword Spirit Extinguish Dust.
After executing the three forms in succession, Dan Yeop slowly sheathed his blade.
Only then did the fierce sword winds gradually subside.
Whiiiiish—
“Hah! Hah! Haaah!”
Once his ragged breathing settled, he deployed the Muae Sword again.
Shwick! Shwick—!
When practicing the Taeheo Shadowless Sword, his breathing had been steady.
But the Muae Sword was different.
After just one form his breath grew rough, and by the third his shoulders heaved.
This happened even without using Tae-eul Ki, relying only on the forms themselves.
As the three forms of the Muae Sword ended, Dan Yeop gasped for breath once more.
“Hah! Hah! Hah! Why is this so exhausting?”
Of course, he wasn’t asking out of ignorance.
The difficulty of sword intent had drained him completely as he poured his full concentration into it.
The Taeheo Shadowless Sword too was challenging, but it paled beside the Muae.
The Muae Sword contained the ten thousand things and the order of the universe itself—with each form, an unexplored realm revealed itself.
So it was only natural that a practitioner should go mad with wonder.
As his mind’s force poured into those uncharted territories, his breath would soon rise to his throat.
“This is maddening!”
A sigh escaped Dan Yeop’s lips.
They say you understand as you go, yet every step shows a new path.
This was supposedly a cultivation method practiced by disciples of the Taego Sect’s true mountain—no wonder it wasn’t easy.
“Even the same form yields different results depending on the depth of one’s understanding. It’s terrifying, truly terrifying.”
He’d memorized the Muae Sword in one breath, and his heart swelled with pride—yet something felt hollow.
He was embarrassed by how smug he’d been in front of Jeok Songja.
Once his breathing settled, Dan Yeop unfurled the Honwon Sword.
His master had said the secret lay in “One Sword All” and “All Is One Sword.”
That meant, quite simply, “one blade encompasses everything,” and “everything flows through one blade.”
Where the Muae Sword had three forms, the Honwon Sword held only one.
When the blade soars skyward like a celestial arrow, its light severs all nine heavens.
The glimmering blade-light swept through the stone chamber once, then faded.
Crack-crack-crack!
Scars carved themselves into the stone wall, dust scattering like spray—yet Dan Yeop’s face, gripping the Straight Sword, had darkened.
“That’s not it.”
He could feel instinctively that something had gone awry.
But what the problem was, he couldn’t fathom.
He gathered his focus and unfolded the Honwon Sword once more, but the result was identical.
Worse—the second attempt felt even more discordant.
“It’s the complete opposite of the Muae Sword…….”
With each repetition of the Muae Sword, insight had bloomed.
But the Honwon Sword? Each cycle only multiplied the errors.
Like sinking deeper into quicksand with every movement.
No wonder it was said that no master had ever perfected the Honwon Sword.
“At my current level, the Honwon Sword is beyond me.”
Dan Yeop resolved to focus on the Muae Sword for now.
Strike by strike, with each realization, the day would come when he reached its pinnacle.
He would return to the Honwon Sword later, once his understanding had deepened.
With a clear direction for his sword work, his heart felt lighter.
Finally, he deployed the Suwol Divine Movement footwork technique.
Compared to the murky Honwon Sword, the Suwol Divine Movement came almost easily.
He couldn’t say exactly why, but the technique seemed naturally aligned with his nature.
If the Suwol Divine Movement began with Stillness Within Motion, it ended with Motion Within Stillness.
Dan Yeop grasped that subtle principle without great difficulty.
As if performing a body-splitting illusion, his form multiplied in the stone chamber, one, then two.
Three shadow-selves bloomed before they collapsed inward and merged into one.
Unified once more, Dan Yeop exhaled a long breath.
“Ahhhh—like moonlight on water, flawless as the Eight Sages themselves.”
Yet reaching the heights of the Eoi Divine Movement—where the body moves the moment intention flickers—would demand years of cultivation.
Just then, his stomach growled loudly.
He quieted his hunger with a Bigyok Dan and water from his bottle, then began serious training in the Muae Sword.
After repeating cycles of practice and rest, he exhausted his water first.
Dan Yeop grabbed his empty bottle and dashed toward the Yeongcheon spring to the west of Byeongma Chong.
Yeongcheon was the name of an underground waterway that flowed beneath Byeongma Chong.
In this naturally formed subterranean stream stood a single stele erected in ancient times, and carved upon it was the name Yeongcheon.
The people of Byeongma Chong drew water from Yeongcheon to drink, and sometimes washed themselves there as well.
He filled his bottle, stripped off his clothes, and dove into the spring.
After a brief soak, Dan Yeop climbed out, dressed himself, and sat by the water’s edge.
“This is good…….”
Yet his expression betrayed no such satisfaction.
It was good, true enough—but his insides felt hollow.
He couldn’t tell if he was hungry from the swim, or simply empty in some other way.
“How long has it been?”
He’d poured himself entirely into training the Taego Sect’s methods until his water ran dry.
In the main training hall of Byeongma Chong, sunlight marked the hours—but in this remote stone chamber, night and day blurred together.
He might be able to judge by how many Bigyok Dan remained.
With that thought, Dan Yeop grabbed his bottle and raced back to the chamber like wind.
Once there, he set the bottle on a stone table in the corner and counted the Bigyok Dan he had left.
His pouch had been full; now only five pills remained.
“Did I really stay that long? Or did I eat that much?”
Dan Yeop scratched his head, bewildered.
He’d popped them in one by one whenever hunger struck, so he couldn’t be sure.
Then, unbidden, Dan Bulwi’s words came back to him—the words from when he’d given him the Bigyok Dan.
You can survive a half-month, at least, on these.
“No, surely that can’t be right.”
Above all, it made no sense that he hadn’t slept for two weeks.
Besides, it hadn’t felt like such a long stretch of time.
“It’s probably been about a week. I’ve eaten quite a lot, though.”
Having reached this conclusion, he pulled the Gold Silk Jade Robe from his backpack and put it on.
Now he intended to cultivate the Tae-eul Ki.
He would lie down wearing the Gold Silk Jade Robe and practice the Tae-eul Original Harmony Cultivation Method, and whenever hunger struck, he’d rise to eat a Bigyok Dan—this cycle repeated several times over.
When the final five pellets of Bigyok Dan were finally depleted, Dan Yeop packed the Gold Silk Jade Robe back into his backpack and headed to the Amun Training Hall.
***
Amun Training Hall.
When Dan Yeop asked how many days had passed, Instructor Dan Bulwi answered.
“Four days.”
“Four days? Only four days have passed?”
“Why are you so startled? I was already beginning to think it was about time you showed up.”
Instructor Dan Bulwi regarded him with a puzzled expression.
“The Bigyok Dan—you eat it when you’re hungry, right?”
“You can eat it when you feel hunger, but it’s better to take them at fixed times—morning and evening. Hunger is mercurial, shifting with one’s state of mind.”
“Mercurial?”
“When you’re absorbed in something, you forget hunger entirely. But when your mind is scattered with idle thoughts, emptiness gnaws at you all the more. That’s why it’s better to eat on a schedule. Why do you ask?”
“Ah, I’ve finished all the Bigyok Dan. That’s why I thought about two weeks had passed, but I’m surprised it’s only been four days.”
“What? You consumed two weeks’ worth of Bigyok Dan in four days?”
The value of Bigyok Dan varied enormously depending on its quality.
If made with fine ingredients, it was expensive; if ground from common grain, it was cheap.
Even among the common sects, those of the family master’s rank did not carry inferior Bigyok Dan.
From the family master, Dan Yeop had obtained a pouch of Bigyok Dan for a single silver tael.
Spending a silver tael in four days was an obscene waste.
‘This fool went through those precious pellets like he was munching roasted beans!’
Instructor Dan Bulwi was so flabbergasted that words failed him.
“Every time I felt hungry, I’d eat one, and before I knew it, they were all gone. I thought I’d been training for two weeks and was thrilled about it, but…”
Dan Yeop was disappointed that he’d finished his closed seclusion training in mere days.
“Well, it’s understandable when you’re using Bigyok Dan for the first time.”
Instructor Dan Bulwi forced himself to smile despite his heartache over the lost pellets.
A single silver tael was too trivial a loss to sour his relationship with a rare genius of exceptional talent.
“Next time, I’ll try to eat them on a fixed schedule, Father.”
Even Instructor Dan Bulwi found the word “father” less than welcome today.
Yet he revealed none of this frustration.
“Yes, next time… do try to manage better. But then, have you finished your training?”
“I think I should have. I was fine during the seclusion, but now that I’m here, my vision feels hazy. I think it would be better to rest and sleep at the quarters.”
“Good thinking.”
“Please tell your other disciple Dan Yeop that he should cultivate his Inner Power. I even left him a note, but when he realizes I haven’t taken the Advancement Examination, he’ll be furious with me.”
“Don’t worry about that. The other Dan Yeop is shallow in his learning—he’ll trust and follow my word without question.”
“Thank you very much for your help. I’ll take my leave now.”
“Yes, yes, go rest yourself.”
Dan Yeop bowed to Instructor Dan Bulwi and returned to the quarters.
***
When Dan Yeop awoke, he blinked blankly at the ceiling.
Seeing the familiar expanse above him, he felt an odd twinge.
‘The Advancement Examination should be over by now. Wait—isn’t the Advancement usually taken right after the examination?’
As his mind cleared, an ominous chain of thoughts followed.

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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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