Ten Paths of the Master - Chapter 18

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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 18. A sickness of the heart must be cured by the study of the heart
Dan Yeop slowly pushed himself upright and scanned his hands and the space around the bed.
There was no letter left behind.
‘Which means…….’
To judge by the fact that he’d woken, at least a day must have passed.
‘Failed again.’
He didn’t need to press a trainee for details—he could piece it together well enough.
He’d believed that the talents of that arrogant ‘other self’ would be enough to achieve Graduation, but it seemed it wasn’t.
Descending from the bed, Dan Yeop opened his Travel Pack on impulse.
Empty, just as he suspected.
Seeing that there were no preparations for departure, he pushed aside his lingering attachment.
“Well, of course.”
What blessing could possibly follow a wretch like him?
He’d actually believed that Demon Invasion of Mind would help his life.
He felt ashamed of himself for harboring even a moment’s hope in desperation.
Stepping outside, Dan Yeop headed first toward the Jeommun Practice Hall.
Not for training, really—he wanted news of the third cohort.
***
Morning training time.
Jeommun Practice Hall.
As Dan Yeop entered, he stopped short at the sudden change in atmosphere.
Unfamiliar children were glistening with sweat.
‘Ah…….’
Graduation and Initiation happened at roughly the same time.
If his guess was right, these children were all of the fourteenth cohort.
The Cheonji Saber Technique was the easiest martial art in Yukmun to learn.
So naturally, when children were Initiated, they trained in the Cheonji Saber Technique first.
It was what the Samjae Sword Technique was in ordinary martial halls—the foundation art here.
Yet the training period never exceeded a year.
Because there were superior arts: the mercurial Baekyu Saber Technique and the lethal Chilsang Saber Technique.
The children devoted themselves to mastering the Baekyu Saber Technique, with its ever-shifting forms, and the Chilsang Saber Technique, with its formidable killing power, right up until Graduation.
In truth, most of those known as masters in Yukmun were adepts of either the Baekyu or Chilsang techniques.
Go Muk’s expression upon spotting Dan Yeop was grim.
Four days earlier, Dan Yeop had caused him to take a kick to the shins from Ma Sang, and his resentment had not yet faded.
“What brings you here?”
At Go Muk’s cold words, Dan Yeop quickly lowered his eyes.
“Oh, well, I came to train in the Cheonji Saber Technique…….”
Of course, that’s what he said.
The truth was, he’d come hoping to hear news of Baek Yu Hwa.
Suddenly, Go Muk shouted at the trainees.
“Everyone stop! This man is a senior of the first cohort, a great elder to you all. He will demonstrate the Cheonji Saber Technique now—watch carefully and learn from him.”
His gaze soon turned toward Dan Yeop.
“You heard me? Show our newly Initiated juniors what you can do.”
“…….”
Dan Yeop reluctantly stepped forward at the Instructor’s word.
He thought he had nothing left to feel ashamed of, yet standing before these children, the feeling was strange.
But having come this far, he had no choice now but to see it through.
With resolute expression, he unfolded the first stance of the Cheonji Saber Technique—Cheonroe Nak Cham.
When executing the ninth and final movement, his mind wavered slightly.
He could only remember three movements of this stance.
Yet as he was about to begin this next stance, Hoengso Sanjeol——
His mind felt unexpectedly clear?
Before, once he finished the first stance, his head would go white, but he felt none of that now.
Baek Yu Hwa’s voice seemed to ring clearly in his ears.
―Turn to the left, strike toward the sky once, toward the earth once, face forward and slice left and right, slash! Slash!
Dan Yeop’s body moved naturally along the form, and his Straight Saber cut through the air with a sharp, piercing sound.
His saber technique was already advancing through the middle of the stance.
―Advance to the right, slice left, slice right, draw the blade across your chest and…….
Dan Yeop’s expression was dazed, as if he had entered a State of No-Self.
His Straight Saber, held rigid before his chest, parried upward once, then swept horizontally in a long, fluid arc.
Hiss—!
A mysterious Air-Rending Sound erupted from the empty air, resonating through the practice hall.
Dan Yeop flowed through the final ninth movement of this form like water before coming to a stop.
The third form simply wouldn’t come to mind from the first movement onward.
Yet even that was enough to captivate the eyes of the young fourth-generation students.
The fourth-generation students who had been staring blankly burst into wild applause.
“Wow!”
“That was amazing….”
Go Muk, the instructor, was rendered speechless by the unexpected display.
Dan Yeop’s saber technique struck even him—someone who had spent a lifetime cultivating the Cheonji Saber Technique—as quite impressive.
What had begun as an impulse to humiliate had somehow concluded strangely.
‘What? He improved that much in just a few days?’
Until four days ago, Dan Yeop’s Cheonji Saber Technique had been poor, but he couldn’t fathom what had changed.
Dan Yeop bowed slightly to the bewildered Go Muk and spoke.
“…I apologize. I simply cannot recall the third form.”
“Ahem, very well. Good effort. That must have been quite helpful to your younger juniors.”
Dan Yeop retreated with a dazed expression, as though he couldn’t believe what he’d just done.
‘What in the world just happened?’
He’d only mastered the first three movements of this form, yet he’d unfolded all the way through without a single stumble!
Go Muk stepped forward once more.
“Alright! From the beginning again. Cheonroe Nak Cham!”
At his command, the children wielded their sabers in perfect unison.
Dan Yeop also worked diligently from the back row.
It was no fluke.
Whether he performed it twice or three times, the form flowed smoothly through that stage.
A smile graced Dan Yeop’s lips for the first time as he wielded his Straight Saber.
***
It was while Dan Yeop was resting in his quarters after lunch that it happened.
Gwan Gu Jong, a fourth-generation student, came rushing in, breathless.
“Huff! Huff! Senior Dan Yeop, Instructor Dan is looking for you.”
The fourth-generation students of Amun descent did not treat Dan Yeop casually.
Part of it was the significant age difference, but more recently it was because Instructor Dan Bul Wi favored Dan Yeop.
To the Amun disciples, Dan Yeop was the instructor’s adopted son.
“Me?”
“Yes, sir. To the Amun Practice Hall.”
“Ah, understood.”
Dan Yeop’s voice, having now grasped the Cheonji Saber Technique up to this form, sounded notably clearer than before.
***
Amun Practice Hall.
Dan Yeop approached Instructor Dan Bul Wi carefully.
“…Instructor.”
A bitter smile crossed Dan Bul Wi’s face in that instant.
It was because the unremarkable Dan Yeop insisted on addressing him as “Instructor” despite being aware of the relationship with his fractured personality—the genius Dan Yeop.
“Welcome. I hear you trained at the Jeommun Practice Hall this morning?”
“Yes….”
Go Muk spoke highly of you. He said your Cheonji Saber Technique has improved remarkably.”
“….”
Dan Yeop scratched his head with an embarrassed expression.
While pleased, part of him couldn’t help thinking, ‘How incompetent must I be that mastering merely the third form of the Cheonji Saber Technique earns such praise?’
“Did you have any particular insight?”
“No, sir. It was simply that what I couldn’t remember before, I could suddenly recall.”
“You have no inkling of what caused it?”
“No, sir.”
“I see.”
Dan Bul Wi studied Dan Yeop with ambiguous eyes.
The Cheonji Saber Technique was constructed upon the foundation of the Samjae Sword Technique.
This meant it possessed its own Secret Principle beyond mere simplicity and ease.
Go Muk had said that “Dan Yeop’s Cheonji Saber Technique had become remarkably profound.”
It was hardly a fitting description for someone who, over thirteen years, had failed to master even three forms—an unremarkable talent.
Another person might have laughed it off.
Yet Dan Bul Wi, an instructor who had witnessed Dan Yeop’s saber technique through countless trials, could not allow it.
‘Was there perhaps some unspoken resonance between the two personalities?’
Though they were spoken of as two, they were originally one body—and that left ample room for such a thing.
“Do you know it has been four days since your Graduation examination?”
“Yes…….”
“It seems you cultivated Internal Power that day.”
Dan Yeop hung his head in shame.
“I apologize. I wanted to graduate, so I resorted to shortcuts.”
“It’s your body regardless—you can hardly call it a shortcut. Hmph, that aside, I looked into it myself……, your Demon Invasion of Mind. That’s not something medicine can cure.”
“Then how…….”
“It’s an affliction born from practicing Bunsim Gong incorrectly, isn’t it? A sickness of the mind must be healed through the cultivation of the mind.”
“Cultivation of the mind?”
“Master a profound Simbeop and the mind fractured by Bunsim Gong will be restored.”
“Ah!”
Dan Yeop, who had been nodding anxiously, looked up with worry.
“But if I cultivate Simbeop, won’t another personality emerge? Wouldn’t that be bad?”
“Would you refuse to make kimchi for fear of maggots? Yes, another personality will likely surface—but in the end, you will be healed. If you continue to shun Internal Power cultivation here at Dosan Geomrim in the midst of the Haomun conflict, you may face far greater calamity.”
“…….”
It was a fair point, so Dan Yeop offered no rebuttal.
One need only look at the fight with Yu Ja Cho to understand the importance of Internal Power.
And to distance himself from Internal Power cultivation in the midst of war between the Eight Gates? That was as good as asking to be cut down by a blade.
“If you’re willing, I’ll procure a suitable Simbeop for you. Are you resolved to treat your Demon Invasion of Mind?”
After deliberation, Dan Yeop’s lips parted.
“……Yes, I will try.”
“Good thinking. Avoiding a problem out of reluctance won’t solve it.”
“Yes.”
“And know this—the situation of Haomun in Gwannaesudo is not favorable now. Graduation may even be accelerated.”
“Is it that dire?”
“Tsk! The sect leaders of Yukmun were far too optimistic about Haomun’s unification. They believed the other sect leaders of the Nine Paths would yield once they recognized weakness—but so far, not a single one has bent. In other words, the hand Gwannaesudo Haomun was holding proved no real threat.”
Gwannaesudo Haomun had deployed Byeongma Chong graduates to the front lines, yet failed to produce the results they hoped for.
Like the saying goes—beating grass to startle the snake—it backfired instead.
The other sects of the Nine Paths, startled, now swelled their ranks through Horizontal and Vertical Alliances, and Gwannaesudo Haomun found itself on the defensive.
“What hand does Gwannaesudo Haomun hold?”
“Byeongma Chong trainees.”
“Ah…….”
Dan Bul Wi murmured to himself.
Just as he’d thought—you cannot uproot a weed and plant it on a mountain and expect it to become ginseng.
Soon Dan Bul Wi ventured to ask, “When you graduate, is there a sect you wish to join?”
“I’ve heard that the first-year disciples’ placements are decided by the sect leaders of Yukmun.”
“If no sect leader desires you, your own wishes might be heard. Hmph, of course, if the Yukmun leaders know of you, they’ll scramble to claim you…….”
“If no sect wants me, could I go where I wish?”
“I don’t know. There’s no precedent for such a thing.”
“Instructor, where do you think would suit me best?”
“Naturally, I’d like to bring you to Amun, but Amun would be difficult for you to adapt to.”
Amun’s primary work was human trafficking.
In Dan Bul Wi’s eyes, it didn’t suit Dan Yeop’s gentle nature.
“Chamun deals in stable hands, Seonmun in boatmen, Gakmun in porters—all rather unsuitable……, Gimun with courtesans or Jeommun with servants would be better.”
Dan Yeop’s eyes suddenly gleamed.
Baek Yu Hwa was from Jeommun.
“Then I choose Jeommun.”
“Hmm, Jeommun, is it? Very well. I’ll inform Ma Sang of your wish to join Jeommun.”
“Will there be no problem?”
Dan Yeop stole a glance at Dan Bul Wi’s expression.
Because Dan Bul Wi openly called him an adopted son, people had come to view Dan Yeop as one of Amun’s own.
“Hehe! Ma Sang will be pleased, if anything, so worry not. It should take about two weeks to secure an Internal Power technique. Once I have it, I’ll summon you again.”
“Thank you, Instructor.”
“Now go and rest.”
“Yes.”
Dan Yeop bowed respectfully and departed the Amun Practice Hall.

Dan Bul Wi, the Instructor left alone, muttered with a wistful expression.
“A pity, but there’s nothing to be done about it…….”
To be honest, he coveted Dan Yeop, but no matter how many times he turned it over in his mind, Dan Yeop was not suited to Amun. If that prodigy took up arms against Amun, he had no confidence in what would come after.
Still, it was somewhat unexpected that the young man in his prime had chosen Jeommun over Gimun.
“Tch, if I had that face, I would have said I’d go to Gimun…….”

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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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