Ten Paths of the Master - Chapter 9

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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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Chapter 9. Do You Know Who I Am?
Once the boy had stored the Golden Jade Robe in his spatial pocket, Jeok Song-ja began teaching him the Taego Sect’s cultivation methods in earnest.
“The method I am about to teach you is the Hun-Won Sword, the very root of the Taego Sect. You cannot wield it until you grasp the mystery of All in One Sword and One Sword is All—so for now, simply commit it to memory. The sword soars into heaven; its light cleaves the Nine Skies beyond.”
The boy, having memorized the Hun-Won Sword incantation, asked carefully.
“Master, but what exactly are the Nine Skies?”
“The Nine Skies mean the heavens beyond even the Nine Heavens.”
“Such a place exists?”
“The universe is infinite—why would you say there is nothing beyond the Nine Heavens?”
“Ah, yes.”
The boy answered halfheartedly.
The names and incantations of martial arts were, after all, founded upon exaggeration and metaphor.
Right now, the library at Byeongma Chong even held something called the Eight Emperors Method, supposedly created by the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
Though the boy’s reaction was lukewarm, Jeok Song-ja said nothing more.
The Hun-Won Sword was indeed the Taego Sect’s root, yet because no great master had perfected it, its very substance had grown obscure.
“The Hun-Won Sword demands at least the stage of an Immortal to imitate—do not tire yourself trying to master it prematurely. The method you will use throughout your life is the Wu-Ai Sword.”
He then taught the boy three forms of the Wu-Ai Sword: the Sword-Light White Wave, the Sword-Intent Becomes Ring, and the Sword-Spirit Extinguishes Dust.
In truth, the Wu-Ai Sword was merely an introductory technique for inner disciples of the Taego Sect.
That Jeok Song-ja taught only the basics was because he understood that higher cultivation was impossible in the Mortal Realm.
Honestly, even the Tai-Xu Formless Sword would scarcely reach completion, and he had taught the Wu-Ai Sword only because of the Golden Jade Robe.
Yet no matter how much Hun-Yuan essence the robe contained, the span of a human life made anything more impossible.
Finally, Jeok Song-ja taught the boy the Water-Moon Divine Step movement technique.
As the boy practiced the Water-Moon Divine Step, Jeok Song-ja smiled and spoke.
“For now, it will seem like nothing more than a dancer’s dazzling movements. Yet when perfected, your motion will become as wondrous as the moon reflected in water—so wondrous that even the descendants of the sect could not easily harm you.”
“Thank you, Master.”
Jeok Song-ja, nodding with satisfaction, suddenly extended his palm forward.
A soft hiss filled the air.
Five-colored essence mist gathered above his palm, and presently a gleaming pill took shape.
Jeok Song-ja handed the boy the small pill and spoke.
“This is a Qi-Condensing Pill, made from my own Tai-Yi Essence. Taking it will aid your cultivation of the Tai-Yi Primal Cultivation Technique.”
“Oh my! Something so precious…. Thank you! Master!”
The boy, receiving the pill at once, popped it into his mouth.
The pill dissolved the instant it touched his tongue and slipped down his throat.
Hot and cold currents coursed down his throat and filled his stomach.
Seeing the boy standing dazed by the unfamiliar sensation, Jeok Song-ja spoke.
“Do not stand there vacant-minded. Use the Tai-Yi Primal Cultivation Technique to receive the pill’s essence.”
At his master’s urging, the boy hastily crossed his legs and sat, then silently chanted the incantation of the Tai-Yi Primal Cultivation Technique in his heart.
In an instant, a violent whirlwind of energy rose in his belly.
The whirlwind subsided after the boy cycled through the Tai-Yi Primal Cultivation Technique three times.
When the boy opened his eyes, Jeok Song-ja asked.
“How many Heavenly Cycles did you complete?”
“Three, sir.”
“Well done. The fact that you bypassed the Minor Medicine and advanced straight to the Major Medicine suggests you were untouched. Fortune favors you.”
“You mean I was a virgin, Master?”
“Almost certainly.”
“Must I remain one for the rest of my life?”
“Not at all. Your Golden Elixir is already complete—virginity matters no longer.”
“Ah, I see.”
As the boy exhaled in relief, Jeok Song-ja probed gently.
“Is there a woman who occupies your thoughts?”
“No, sir. I did not wish to become a monk or a Daoist.”
“Now that your Golden Elixir is established, cultivation should present no difficulty.”
“Master, if my Golden Elixir is complete, have I become a master of internal energy?”
“I infused this pill with a hundred years of my own Tai-Yi Essence, yet your Golden Elixir has not yet fully absorbed it. Thus you possess only half a master’s internal energy. If you cultivate the Tai-Yi Primal Cultivation Technique to completely absorb the Tai-Yi Essence and learn to wield your Golden Elixir freely, then you may truly become a master of internal energy.”
“So there is still Tai-Yi Essence remaining in my body, and cultivation is necessary?”
“Yes. Until the Tai-Yi Essence is fully absorbed into your Golden Elixir, maintain your untouched state as much as possible. If you lie with a woman, the remaining essence will scatter and dissipate.”
“Understood, Master. I will keep my distance from women.”
“The sect’s descendants are merciless—exercise caution, and do not reveal yourself until you have at least mastered the Tai-Xu Formless Sword. I ask this because I wish to reclaim the Golden Jade Robe after your life has run its course.”
To Jeok Song-ja, who had lived as long as the stars themselves, the boy’s lifespan was but a fleeting instant.
That is why he had given up the robe.
Yet separate from that calculation, his desire for this young disciple, gained in the Mortal Realm after tens of thousands of years, to live long was genuine.
The boy listening with a startled expression nodded vigorously.
“I will remember, Master.”
Jeok Song-ja, who had been studying the boy for a moment, spoke in passing.
“On the off chance—though it shouldn’t happen—but truly on the off chance you gain a fortuitous encounter and achieve Shell-Shedding…. No, what nonsense am I spouting.”
When Jeok Song-ja stopped speaking, the boy asked with apparent innocence.
“What happens if I achieve Shell-Shedding?”
“Do you even know what Shell-Shedding is?”
“Aren’t you referring to the Daoists’ Golden Cicada Sheds Shell?”
“That’s the Mortal Realm’s Shell-Shedding.”
“Ah.”
“When you cultivate the Golden Elixir and merge it with your Original Spirit, you become a Primordial Infant. After cultivating that Primordial Infant for roughly three hundred years, your physical body finally transforms into a Primordial Infant Body—that is what we call Shell-Shedding. Three hundred years in the Heavenly Realm means roughly three thousand years in the Mortal Realm. Once you achieve a Primordial Infant Body, you can traverse between the adjacent Heavenly Realm and Asura Realm through the Mind Realm.”
“Ah, yes.”
The boy shook his ears as if to say, “Not that again.”
Jeok Song-ja was exasperated by his disciple’s attitude, yet he continued his explanation.
“Listen well: should you gain the fortune of a Heavenly Opportunity and achieve a Primordial Infant Body, go to the Heavenly Realm and return the Golden Jade Robe to the Taego Sect.”
“Return my Golden Jade Robe?”
“Tsk! Why do you speak of the Taego Sect’s treasure as if it were yours? Would I need to reclaim it through some great technique?”
The boy was startled at what he understood to mean, “I could kill you and take it back.”
“Oh dear! I was merely jesting, Master. Of course, should such a day come, I would naturally return it to you.”
“Well reasoned. Do you have any other questions?”
“No, Master.”
“Then, it is unlikely that we shall meet again in the Mortal Realm. In any case, live out this one life without regret.”
When Jeok Song-ja spoke as though they would not see each other again, the boy asked with a puzzled expression.
“Master, where are you going?”
“Why, I must find Seok Je-ga and Yuk Yak-bin and return to the Heavenly Realm. When I depart, you must retrace the path by which you came.”
“Right now?”
“This very moment.”
“But don’t we need to escape from this place first?”
“I already told you—I’m going through the Mind Realm.”
“So, you mean directly from inside this underground tomb?”
Jeok Song-ja chuckled softly at his young disciple’s words.
Perhaps it was a natural response to have spun such an unreal tale to a boy whose mind wasn’t fully developed.
If he watched his master leave for the Heavenly Realm with his own eyes, things might be different….
“Watch carefully how I depart.”
With those words, he raised his right hand in a Sword Formula before his face.
Not long after, a brilliant radiance poured forth from Jeok Song-ja’s entire body.
Soon the light began to dim, and in an instant it vanished.
“Master!”
The boy cried out in astonishment at this turn of events he had never imagined.
Yet nowhere in the Tiered Tomb below could Jeok Song-ja be seen.
“What…?”
The boy circled around the stone coffin.
Seeing the bundle lying on the floor and the open coffin, this was no dream.
But the sight of his master transforming into light and vanishing made no sense whatsoever.
Standing lost in thought, the boy grasped the tilted stone coffin lid with both hands.
“Hup!”
With a shout, he exerted his strength, and the stone coffin lid—nearly a foot thick—began to move slowly.
Grind, grind, grind, grind, crack—Boom!
A heavy sound echoed through the Tiered Tomb.
The boy gazed at the coffin with profound emotion.
Compared to when he first arrived and the lid hadn’t budged at all, this change was almost unbelievable.
“Right, he told me to retrace the path I came by.”
The boy leaped up from the lower level of the Tiered Tomb in one bound.
After three more leaps, he reached the upper level and proceeded back through the corridor.
A short while later, arriving at the spot where the platform had collapsed beneath him, the boy’s eyes widened in shock.
The opening above that had gaped so vastly was now sealed, and on the front wall was carved a figure of a person holding a serpent and some characters?
“What…? Where am I?”
Startled and flustered, he spun around, but what was this?
The corridor he had just walked through was nowhere to be seen.
He stood before a dead-end wall with figures and characters carved upon it.
It felt as though he’d been possessed by a ghost.
The only difference now was that even in darkness, he could see the pictures and characters clearly.
‘It’s because of the Golden Elixir!’
After staring at the man in the picture for some time, the boy slowly turned around.
Retracing his steps was easy enough.
In a single breath, he found the place where he’d first awakened.
And this time, he set off in the opposite direction.
He was heading for Byeongma Chong.
***
When the boy spotted Byeongma Chong in the distance, his face brightened.
But only for a moment.
As he strode forward without hesitation, he swallowed a low sound in his throat.
‘Hmm!’
Something felt wrong.
Just a moment ago he’d been floating on air, but now that he was approaching Byeongma Chong, his mood had sunk.
It was where he’d lived, and where he’d go on living—yet for some reason, that fact troubled him.
As he trudged forward, two stocky boys appeared before him.
The boy approached them eagerly, pleased to see someone.
“Hold on, brothers—I’ve got a question for you.”
At Dan Yeop’s call, Deung Pyeong and Jeon Jung, who’d been walking, stopped dead.
A strange light flickered in the eyes of the two 3rd generation disciples.
Dan Yeop was the one initiating conversation?
That had never happened in the seven years since they’d all arrived.
Dan Yeop was a 1st generation disciple, yet even the 2nd generation disciples looked down on him.
Just a few months ago, he’d been beaten by Ma Geol, one of his fellow 3rd generation disciples.
Was he now trying to act like a senior?
Deung Pyeong, calculating quickly, asked coldly.
“What is it?”
“Do you know who I am?”
Deung Pyeong’s face twisted in an instant.
“What, are you saying a 3rd generation disciple didn’t greet a 1st generation disciple properly?”
“No, I’m asking because I don’t know who I am myself. Who am I?”
In that moment, the atmosphere grew tense.
At Dan Yeop’s words, Deung Pyeong and Jeon Jung exchanged glances rapidly.
This kind of nonsense couldn’t be serious—it was clearly a challenge.
A thin smile appeared on Deung Pyeong’s face.
After Ma Geol had beaten Dan Yeop, he’d held the center of the 3rd generation disciples for some time.
That had been unbearable to watch, but now it seemed an opportunity had come for him too.
He dropped his formal speech immediately.
“Why? Didn’t your teacher, Chief Dan Bul-wi, tell you who you are today?”
It was clear mockery, but the boy was more curious about who this Chief Dan Bul-wi was.
“Who is Chief Dan Bul-wi……exactly?”
He’d been about to drop his formal speech too, but not knowing the full story, he held back once.
In that instant, Deung Pyeong, thinking Dan Yeop had caved, spoke with swelling confidence.
“Chief Dan Bul-wi—your adoptive father, of course.”
“Ah, my adoptive father. Then what’s my name?”
Jeon Jung, watching from the sidelines, quickly jumped in to get his share of the fun.
“Dan Yeop! You’ve been called Stone Monkey so much that you’ve forgotten your own name now? Shit, that’s pathetic.”
Only then did the boy learn who he was.
“Ah! So I’m Dan Yeop. From the way you’re talking, I’m a 1st generation disciple and you’re 3rd generation. The numbers are probably the order we entered Byeongma Chong, aren’t they?”
His demeanor shifted slightly, though Jeon Jung didn’t catch that subtle change.
“Yeah, you’re not thinking of acting like a senior to us without understanding your place, are you? Save that senior treatment for the 4th generation disciples. Though there’s no guarantee they’ll show you any, heh heh heh!”

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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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