Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 152

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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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Third-rate Martial Arts Family, Greatest Under Heaven – Episode 152
In truth, training Jegal Seol-ha had become quite routine for me.
Every year when I visited Gok-yeol Mountain for a few months to receive instruction from Eum Hu, Jegal Seol-ha would ask me all manner of questions.
‘Come to think of it, she’s the same age as me, yet I forced her to call me senior brother, and she followed along so willingly.’
Indeed, Jegal Seol-ha had followed me like a true older brother since childhood.
Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say she showed the affection one displays toward their only friend.
Hmm. I intended to show her hell itself, but my resolve is wavering somewhat.
‘No. That’s one thing, this is another.’
I’ll make her understand the meaning of the calamity she brought upon herself.
First, I need to recover my strength.
“Training will begin in a few days, so leave for now.”
Jegal Seol-ha, who had been waiting anxiously for my words, suddenly deflated like a punctured bladder.
“What? The way you were speaking made it sound like you’d charge straight to the Training Grounds.”
“Seol-ha, I used Primordial Qi. I’m only surviving because of my exceptional talent—I could die at any moment.”
It had already been nearly half a day since the battle ended.
An ordinary warrior without Spiritual Qi wouldn’t have survived without issue?
I could easily have been holding a funeral by now.
“Do you realize how selfish you’re being? Stealing time from someone gravely wounded.”
Most would have apologized, but Jegal Seol-ha snorted derisively.
She knew me far too well to feel genuine guilt.
“Aside from the bloodstained clothes, you look completely fine on the surface. And given your nature, if the injuries were truly severe, you would’ve sent everyone away and focused on treatment first.”
The Yang Hwi that Jegal Seol-ha knew was more rational than anyone, with crystal-clear priorities.
If I were truly suffering, I would have refused her request to talk without a moment’s hesitation.
‘Hmm. She’s not wrong, so it’s hard to refute.’
Without Spiritual Qi, these injuries would have been fatal.
But conversely, because I possess Spiritual Qi, they’re more bearable than expected.
My physical condition is surprisingly better than it should be, enough to perplex even myself.
To investigate this mystery, now is the time to focus on cultivation.
“In any case, go. Let me cultivate.”
“Can’t I stay here? I’m bored.”
“Here?”
I turned my head back and forth deliberately.
“In an unrelated man’s room? A refined lady of a prestigious family?”
“Tee-hee. If we’re senior and junior disciples, we’re practically siblings. I’ll be quiet. You don’t chase Adu away either.”
Well, that’s because Adu insists on staying close, so I gave up on that front.
Somehow I’ve acquired another barnacle.
“Go play with Heon-so or Yeon-yeon. Or you have Elder Dang and his sister too. Why insist on staying here?”
“Mm… they’re not exactly close, so why bother…?”
Without thinking, I pressed my forehead.
For the young lady of the Jegal Family, she’ll need to exercise social skills in the future, yet her personality is so solitary.
‘When I think about the past, it’s only natural.’
The truth was, it had been remarkable that Jegal Seol-ha opened her heart to Yang Hwi in the first place.
Though he had shown her kindness in childhood, even accounting for that, she followed him with unusual devotion.
Like a duckling waddling after its mother duck.
“How can you dislike getting along with others so much? What will you do?”
“What will I do? I can play with Elder Dang. We have our Monk too. Right, Monk?”
“Hm? Yes! Would you like some rice cakes, Seolha?”
“I’d love to. Let’s eat rice cakes together while we watch Elder Dang cultivate his inner strength.”
Displaying one’s cultivation technique was considered taboo among martial artists… or so it should have been, but I had cultivated in front of them many times.
During training at Gok-yeol Mountain, we would even sit cross-legged together and circulate the Grand Heavenly Circulation.
“Sigh. You two are making me age faster.”
I gave up and crossed my legs. Then I closed my eyes.
‘Spiritual Qi… the more I understand it, the more fascinating this energy becomes.’
So far, two functions of Spiritual Qi had been discovered.
Guiding the physical body in beneficial directions, and possessing the power of karma-breaking.
‘Perhaps today I’ll discover a third function.’
I had drawn upon Primordial Qi itself and detonated it.
Thanks to that, I could fight on equal footing with Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol, who stood at a higher realm, but this was nearly tantamount to suicide.
Primordial Qi is literally the fundamental life force that all living things possess.
‘From the peak realm onward, one can replenish Primordial Qi through positive cultivation…’
Even Primordial Qi is ultimately just energy.
A form of natural qi that breathes in harmony with heaven and earth.
Moreover, martial arts means accepting the qi of heaven and earth to transcend human limitations and display martial prowess.
A warrior who has acquired control sufficient to materialize qi advances to a new stage.
They become capable of wielding energies beyond inner qi alone.
What makes this possible is the opening of two dantians other than the lower dantian.
‘Inner Qi from the lower dantian. Original Qi from the middle dantian. Spiritual Qi from the upper dantian.’
Inner Qi is natural qi accepted into the body and made one’s own.
Original Qi is the innate fundamental energy one is born with—Primordial Qi.
And Spiritual Qi is the power to open the Baihui point and commune with heaven.
It is the foundational energy of Thought Qi and Willpower Qi, the powers of the transcendent realm.
“Inhale. Exhale…”
I closed my eyes. Though they were already closed, I closed them once more.
Darkness means descent, so my consciousness sinks deeper into the abyss.
And in that place I reach, what appears is light.
‘Original Qi.’
It is remarkable. Despite drawing upon it considerably, the light shines brightly.
If compared to a well, the water was brimming, and the surface level kept rising.
‘Normally… it should be dozens, no, hundreds of times slower than this.’
I knew well, for in my past life too I had drawn upon Primordial Qi.
Primordial Qi is the purest essence throughout all heaven and earth.
Even if a master at the pinnacle could replenish Primordial Qi, it should naturally require countless years.
It should certainly be that way, but…
‘Ah, so it’s because of Spiritual Qi.’
When I first obtained Spiritual Qi, I had entertained such a thought.
This essence must be the clearest and most pure in all the world.
This was also the characteristic of Primordial Qi itself.
‘But that’s not all. The functions of Spiritual Qi are…’
The functions of Spiritual Qi had increased to three.
However, these three functions could ultimately be reduced to one.
It guides the body in beneficial directions.
It corrects what is false and wrong into what is right and true.
And it aids in the recovery of Primordial Qi.
‘The commonality of these three functions is…’
The moment I reached a certain conclusion.
My gaze descended to the lower dantian.
The Qi Sea. Literally, a sea of essence.
From a clear, vast, and deep sea, a dragon ascends to heaven.
The dragon’s name was Hwa-cheon Seon-gi, my inner power.
‘My inner power moves of its own accord…?’
I could have reined it in and subdued it again, but I let it be.
For anything that moves carries intention within it.
Here, intention is thought, and thought is the path toward the transcendent pinnacle.
Therefore, one of the enlightenments a pinnacle master must pursue is the vitality of essence itself.
‘I obtained the enlightenment of heart-born-essence-follows, where the mind leads and essence obeys, and reached the pinnacle. So next comes…’
Essence-born-vitality-intent. It is time to breathe life into the essence itself.
“Shhhhh, ahhhhh.”
Hwa-cheon Seon-gi writhes like a dragon, breaking free from the Qi Sea.
It then advances along the straightest and widest path toward the middle dantian.
That is, the Conception and Governing Vessels.
Hwa-cheon Seon-gi surged upward along the Conception Vessel.
This was because I had forcibly drawn out Primordial Qi, leaving portions of the meridian partially opened.
In truth, “opened” was less accurate than “torn,” creating holes through which essence leaked.
‘Now that I think of it, that was reckless. I was too excited because my opponent was Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol.’
To my mind’s eye, the wounds in the meridians resembled shattered pottery.
Just as spilled water cannot be gathered again, shattered pottery cannot be mended.
In other words, without Spiritual Qi, irreversible scars would have remained.
I exhaled a sigh of relief and focused once more on the movements of Hwa-cheon Seon-gi.
Then I realized one crucial fact.
It caresses the wounded meridians and acupoints, moving in and out of the middle dantian, revitalizing Original Qi.
That series of movements could be summarized in four characters.
All things return to their proper place.
‘Ah!’
What is righteousness to a living being?
The answer is simple. Life itself.
Spiritual Qi is the force that guides all things correctly.
That’s why the recovery of Primordial Qi is so swift.
Like gentle rain falling upon parched fields cracked by drought.
‘So that’s what it was.’
It was a moment of profound joy. But the surge of emotion shattered the state of no-self I had slipped into.
My consciousness snapped back. I surfaced, scattering outward.
“Ah….”
Opening my eyes, I exhaled a single word laden with deep regret.
Regret. Such bitter regret.
If only I had observed a moment longer, I could have embodied the Living Motion Qi, one of the enlightenments needed to reach the pinnacle realm.
‘Well… enlightenment comes like lightning and scatters like mist, after all.’
Though the loss cuts deep, if I repeat this daily, I should be able to grasp even a thread of it.
In any case, from a single cultivation session, I’ve gained quite a lot….
“Seolha, why are you looking at me like that?”
Jegal Seol-ha was staring at me as though she’d witnessed the dead return to life.
“Elder brother.”
“Yes?”
“You just levitated into the air.”
“What?”
“Your body… it rose up on its own!”
“Really?”
“Would I lie to you?”
“Yang Hwi! I saw it too. You looked just like our great Monk.”
‘I thought I’d only grasped a thread of Living Motion Qi, but Ethereal Object Manipulation as well?’
This was very positive news.
Levitation during cultivation means the Qi I possess has begun to exert physical force.
In other words, it’s the mystery of Ethereal Object Manipulation, one of the enlightenments for the pinnacle realm.
‘The problem is… I have no intuitive grasp of it whatsoever.’
I extended my hand toward Jegal Seol-ha, using the exact understanding of Ethereal Object Manipulation I’d gained in my past life.
Yet not a single strand of her hair moved.
My mind understood it, but my body had not embodied it.
The enlightenment of Ethereal Object Manipulation only holds meaning when accompanied by a transformation of Qi.
‘Well, I’ve grasped the thread of it, so through continued refinement, I should reach it.’
So from a single cultivation session, I’ve achieved three accomplishments.
I’ve gained a deeper understanding of the true nature of Spiritual Qi, and grasped the threads of both Living Motion Qi and Ethereal Object Manipulation.
Considering that it could take decades—or even a lifetime—to bridge the gap from the Peak realm to the Transcendent Peak realm.
‘With this, I have undoubtedly surpassed my former self.’
It was as I wore that satisfied smile that something caught my eye.
Jegal Seol-ha’s face suddenly came into view.
How to describe it—her expression seemed increasingly despondent, tinged with a sense of deprivation.
No, that wasn’t quite it.
It was the look a younger sister would wear, watching her older brother leap far away after releasing her hand.
“Elder brother.”
“Seolha.”
“Don’t go so far away alone. For me….”
Someone I had walked alongside for far longer than any blood relative.
To Jegal Seol-ha, I was such a person.
That was the moment.
A firm yet warm palm gently stroked her head.
“Sa-mae. No true elder brother leaves his younger sister behind. That doesn’t change, even between sworn siblings.”
“Elder brother….”
“Hmm. I had planned to rest today, but let’s begin training right away instead.”
If she disliked the distance growing between us, I would simply force her to run faster to keep up.
And Jegal Seol-ha was precisely the kind of person who could run faster than anyone else.
“Within seven days, let’s awaken the Willpower Qi.”
“What? Is that even possible?”
“Yes. If it’s you, it’s possible.”
I smiled as I always did.
Strangely, that expression seemed more dependable than usual.
“Let’s go. Let’s draw out the true essence of the Peony Physique.”

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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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