Ten Paths of the Master - Chapter 21

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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 21. Not Stolen—An Investment
People are always competing.
If the martial artists of Cheonha knew, they’d laugh until their sides hurt, but Hao Moon competed internally over who was superior.
The prime example was Seonmun and Amun.
One might think there was nothing for a boatman and a human trafficker to compete over, but there was.
Hao Moon’s celebrated masters wielded either the Baeklyu Dobeop or the Chilsang Dobeop.
Naturally, Seonmun and Amun quarreled constantly over which was stronger—the Baeklyu Dobeop or the Chilsang Dobeop.
It was like the relationship between light and shadow.
For instance, if Seonmun’s Baeklyu Dobeop, inclined toward righteousness, was light, then Amun’s Chilsang Dobeop, inclined toward darkness, was shadow.
The rivalry between Seonmun and Amun continued even at Byeongma Chong.
—The Baeklyu Dobeop is supreme.
—No, the Chilsang Dobeop is supreme.
At the forefront of this dispute stood instructors So Yugang and Dan Bulwi.
But then Dan Yeop, the adopted son of Dan Bulwi—renowned for his stubborn skull—had come to So Yugang asking to learn the Baeklyu Dobeop.
“You?”
“Yes…….”
Dan Yeop quietly dodged So Yugang’s burning gaze.
“Are you not already cultivating the Cheonji Dobeop? The Baeklyu Dobeop is modeled after the flow of water—its changes are unpredictable, and it is not easy to master.”
“I have grasped the Cheonji Dobeop. So…….”
“You wish to learn the Baeklyu Dobeop?”
“Yes.”
“Did you consult with Instructor Dan about this?”
“No.”
So Yugang, regarding Dan Yeop with an ambiguous expression, reluctantly spoke.
“I will teach you since you ask, but I am not like Instructor Go. I do not hold back those who cannot keep up and teach them. I do not treat you with special favor merely because you are Instructor Dan’s adopted son. Do you understand?”
“……Yes.”
Of course, it was needless provocation.
Even the direct descendants of the Yuk Moon’s sect leader kept to themselves, so this was hardly a remark to make to a mere martial instructor’s adopted son.
“Go to the back and watch what the senior and junior disciples do, then imitate them.”
“Yes.”
Dan Yeop bowed respectfully and then took his place behind the trainees.
So Yugang, lost in thought, stepped forward holding a Jikdo.
Since Dan Yeop was new, he intended to demonstrate the essence of the Baeklyu Dobeop himself.
“I will show you the Baeklyu Dobeop from beginning to end. Watch carefully and understand. I say again—Seonmun’s Baeklyu Dobeop is founded on the enlightenment that water is the highest good.”
Then So Yugang began moving, calling out the postures as if reciting verse.
“First posture, Sucheon Choo! Water rises to the sky and becomes rain.”
“Second posture, Surye Dun! Thunder dwells within the water.”
“Third posture, Supung Mang! Water and wind meet in vast obscurity.”
“Fourth posture, Suwun Hoe! Water and clouds merge and swirl.”
The postures and secrets of the Baeklyu Dobeop resembled watching Daoist martial arts.
Yet despite names that evoked effortless naturalness, the movements felt chaotic.
Still, because they were so unpredictably varied, Dan Yeop’s head spun.
After finishing his demonstration of the Baeklyu Dobeop, So Yugang straightened his chin and returned to his place.
Go Weol, the most accomplished of the fourth-generation trainees, called out as if leading a chant.
“Sucheon Choo!”
Then some fifty trainees swung their Jikdo in perfect unison.
Under Go Weol’s lead, the trainees flowed continuously through the fourth posture, Suwun Hoe.
Dan Yeop, at the back, struggled simply to imitate them.
As the fervent momentum crested, one session of Baeklyu Dobeop training ended.
While the trainees caught their breath, So Yugang beckoned Go Weol with a gesture.
“Yes, Master.”
Go Weol, who came from Seonmun, called So Yugang his master.
“Teach Dan Yeop the Baeklyu Dobeop. Do not strain yourself—teach only as far as he can follow.”
“Yes.”
Go Weol immediately rushed to Dan Yeop and taught him the Baeklyu Dobeop from the beginning.
Contrary to his reputation as a stone ape, he kept up so well that Go Weol asked him.
“Senior, have you learned the Baeklyu Dobeop before?”
Go Weol’s manner of speech was quite respectful.
The relationship between the fourth-generation trainees and Dan Yeop was ambiguous.
The fourth-generation trainees looked down on Dan Yeop, but did not openly despise him.
It was because he hadn’t spent enough time with Dan Yeop to fully understand him.
His current nickname around Byeongma Chong was the “Stone Monkey.”
The old epithet—”a monkey that loses in a fight”—had long since vanished.
Ever since Dan Bulwi had taken him on as an adopted son, no one dared to provoke him.
“No, it’s my first time.”
“Is that so?”
Go Weol regarded Dan Yeop with fresh curiosity.
He’d taught him the first form of Baeklyu Dobeop, and the boy followed along well enough.
It wasn’t brilliance by any measure, but he was far from deserving the labels “Stone Monkey” or “fool.”
Go Weol broke down the form once more, then suggested casually, “This time, try it on your own.”
“Oh? Um…….”
Dan Yeop answered with uncertainty written across his face and began to swing the Jikdo.
Go Weol let slip a wry smile at the clumsy movements.
If one categorized students into superior, middle, and inferior grades, Dan Yeop would undoubtedly fall into the lowest tier.
‘Then why does everyone call him an idiot?’
Go Weol tilted his head at the puzzle, offered a word of encouragement, and turned to leave.
***
After supper, Dan Yeop was summoned to Dan Bulwi’s quarters.
“You came. Sit for a moment.”
As Dan Yeop settled into the chair across the table, Dan Bulwi spoke with a slight smile.
“So you’ve decided to learn Baeklyu Dobeop?”
“Yes…….”
“Good thinking. Baeklyu Dobeop suits you better than Chilsang Dobeop. The latter is too brutal—it’s bound to be mistaken for a Sapa technique.”
In truth, Amun walked a line between Sapa and the righteous path, but it wasn’t purely Sapa.
For that reason, Amun’s members themselves were wary of being labeled as Sapa practitioners.
“Then I don’t need to learn Chilsang Dobeop?”
Dan Yeop ventured a careful glance at Dan Bulwi.
Truthfully, he disliked the vicious nature of Chilsang Dobeop.
But he was cautious, unsure whether his adoptive father might disapprove.
“If you’re not going to become a disciple of Amun, then no, you don’t need to learn it.”
“I’m from Jeom Moon…….”
“Then all the more reason to avoid Chilsang Dobeop. If you use it by accident and get mistaken for Sapa, you could be cast out of Jeom Moon.”
“……Yes.”
Dan Bulwi regarded him carefully for a moment, then asked offhandedly, “Are you having any difficulties learning Baeklyu Dobeop?”
“No.”
“So Yugang has been giving you unnecessary lectures, I hear? Don’t take them to heart—it’s just old grievances between Seonmun and Amun.”
“Yes…….”
Dan Yeop bowed his head, unaccustomed to such consideration.
At the same time, he was struck by how much Dan Bulwi seemed to know about what happened in Seonmun’s training hall.
“By the way, have you completed the Cheonji Dobeop?”
“Yes.”
“Really? I heard it would take at least forty days, but you’ve progressed quite quickly.”
“Well, whenever I train my naegong, my mind becomes strangely sharp.”
Dan Yeop scratched his forehead with an uncomfortable expression.
Because of his Dual Personality Disorder, he hadn’t actually been training naegong himself, yet his martial skills had advanced by leaps and bounds—an absurdity he couldn’t quite explain.
“Is there anything else that comes to mind?”
“Anything else?”
“You know your other personality possesses extraordinary talent, don’t you?”
“Yes, you mentioned it before.”
“He’s already mastered the martial arts of Yuk Moon. It seems you’re benefiting from his influence. So I wondered if there might be something new besides martial skill.”
“There isn’t. With martial arts, I can only barely keep up with what I’m learning. Everything else is beyond me.”
“So you only know Cheonji Dobeop and Baeklyu Dobeop?”
“Yes, to be precise, I can only barely follow what I’ve been taught.”
“I understand. Devote yourself more fully to naegong training. My intuition tells me that the closer the two of you become, the more you benefit.”
“But…….”
As Dan Yeop trailed off, Dan Bulwi asked with a measured tone, “What is it? Is something troubling you?”

“It feels as though the other personality is stealing my life away from me.”
“Stealing it?”
“Every time I lose consciousness, four days vanish. If I were to train my Naegong more frequently, I would lose even more time. I wondered whether it’s right to live that way.”
“I understand your heart, but haven’t I told you already? It seems you’re the one gaining.”
“Gaining? But I’m losing the days I have to live.”
Dan Bulwi smiled knowingly at Dan Yeop’s rebuttal.
“You know only half the story. Think back on the last fourteen years you spent in the training halls of Amun and Jeom Moon. Despite living in the hall for five thousand days, all you managed was to master a single Chosik of the Cheonji Dobeop. But now? You achieved mastery of the Cheonji Dobeop with merely six days of investment.”
Dan Bulwi spoke with honeyed eloquence, coaxing Dan Yeop along.
“What do you think of the Baeklyu Dobeop? Don’t think of it as theft—think of it as an investment. Ask yourself: who benefits? If you can invest four days and gain the effect of a thousand days of training, I would gladly give not four, but thirty days.”
……
The logic seemed sound, and Dan Yeop found himself swayed.
Give thirty days to the other personality and gain the effect of ten years of training?
That actually seemed like a decent bargain.
As Dan Yeop’s expression softened, Dan Bulwi felt a secret thrill of victory.
‘There we go! He’s taken the bait!’
In truth, Dan Bulwi harbored no dislike for either the dull Dan Yeop or the genius Dan Yeop.
While he felt pity for the dull one, the genius was a dependable adopted son in whom he could place his trust.
“What do you think?”
“Your words seem right. Now that I think of all the time I poured uselessly into training, it feels hollow.”
“There’s no need to blame yourself for wasted effort. You’ve awakened to it now; simply live wisely from this point forward.”
“Yes……”
“Since you’ve come to see it that way, train the Banya Shimbeop even more frequently going forward.”
“I will do so.”
As Dan Yeop accepted readily, Dan Bulwi shifted the conversation.
“At any rate, it’s time you began thinking of venturing out into the world. It feels like only yesterday we met, yet fourteen years have passed. How swift time is.”
……
“I remember when we first met—you were so lost, a child with all those scars on your neck. Fourteen years later, and the marks are still there.”
Without thinking, Dan Yeop brushed his fingertips across his neck.
He felt the roughness of scarred skin, though it no longer frightened him as it once had.
“I’ve always been curious. Who did that to you?”
……
As Dan Yeop’s silence stretched, Dan Bulwi ventured carefully forward.
“Your parents, surely. Tsk! What terrible people. If they didn’t want to raise you, they should have simply abandoned you—why torture an innocent child?”
“Excuse me, but if you have nothing more to say, might I take my leave?”
“Ah, yes. Go and rest.”
Dan Yeop rose, offered a polite bow, and left the room.
Alone now, Dan Bulwi fell into a puzzled reverie.
‘How strange. The genius Dan Yeop seems to be learning about the dull Dan Yeop’s past, yet the dull one retains no memory of what the genius does. Why is that?’
Try as he might to puzzle it out, he found no answer, and soon let the idle thought slip away.
***
Back in his quarters, Dan Yeop turned Dan Bulwi’s words over in his mind for a long time.
—Don’t think of it as theft—think of it as an investment. Ask yourself: who benefits? If you can invest four days and gain the effect of a thousand days of training, I would gladly give not four, but thirty days.
Until now, he had seen his life as being stolen by the Simma.
That was why he had kept Naegong training at a distance.
But hearing Dan Bulwi’s words, that seemed no longer quite right.
To master the Cheonji Dobeop overnight, something he’d grappled with for fourteen years—that was nothing short of a miracle.
Could he truly summon such miracles of his own will?
To know of such a miracle and yet reject it would be foolish.
‘That’s the truth of it.’
When Baek Yuhwa saw his changed self in days to come……
His heart quickened at the mere thought.

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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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