Reincarnated Sword Ghost

Chapter 7 : Internal Energy Breathing Methods

Internal Energy Breathing Methods

A cool night breeze slipped through the open window.

Jeong-un, who was holding his wooden sword, quietly straightened his posture.

As usual, he had finished a late dinner and returned to his room where he was swinging his sword.

Jeong-un, who had been repeating thrusts and slashes, stopped his training for the first time before midnight.

It was because of persistent thoughts swirling in his mind.

It wasn't because of the duel that had taken place today.

It only strengthened a suspicion he already held; it wasn't an event impressive enough to disrupt his training.

What truly disturbed Jeong-un's thoughts was not the duel itself, but what had happened immediately afterward.

'That sword.'

The real sword that Yu Dong-ryong drew.

To be precise, it wasn't the sword itself—it was what was contained within it.

'The sword contained internal power.'

Seeing with his own eyes the energy imbued in the blade made the sensation unmistakable.

Of course, even at a glance, it was exceedingly faint.

But it wasn't just the internal power in the sword that was feeble.

Yu Dong-ryong's body was the same.

Even Jeong-un, who had never accumulated a spot of internal energy, could see that.

To put it bluntly, it was hard to believe that his body had been tempered by internal energy at all.

'When you build up internal energy, it should empower the body as well.'

Yu Dong-ryong was certainly faster and stronger than himself, but he was by no means an opponent Jeong-un couldn't face.

Of course, it didn't seem like Yu Dong-ryong imbued every attack with internal energy.

He must have judged that he could beat Jeong-un without using internal energy.

And in reality, even without it, Yu Dong-ryong was still faster than him.

But that was all.

Yu Dong-ryong's sword and his body's movements were a mess.

They were imbalanced, monotonous, and awkward.

As expected, the Ascending Dragon Sword Technique was extremely crude.

What Jeong-un had envied in Yu Dong-ryong was not his sword technique or physique.

It was the time he had spent wielding the sword.

As he had stated in front of the family, even the same amount of time can make a difference depending on who uses it.

Now, Jeong-un was confident he could use his time more effectively than anyone.

'But... that was a little different.'

Even though he was that lacking, in the very last moment, there was a strange light from Yu Dong-ryong's sword.

It wasn't something he could distinctly see with his naked eye.

Like heat shimmering above the ground on a hot summer's day, a faint ripple spread out from Yu Dong-ryong's blade.

'Could I have blocked it?'

If Yu Dong-ryong had swung his sword as is, would Jeong-un have been able to block it?

Suddenly, the final moment from his dream surfaced in his mind.

"......"

Jeong-un slowly shook his head.

He didn't know.

Internal energy was still a realm unknown to him.

Yu Jungho had given him the One Peach Heart Breathing Technique, a secret manual, but Jeong-un hadn't looked at it yet.

That was intentional.

'If you want to fill a vessel with something good, you first need to prepare a good vessel.'

That's why he believed he was not yet ready to hold internal energy in his body.

It was already late for him to start, so he chose to proceed calmly and cautiously.

'... Should I just take a look?'

However, after witnessing internal energy today, that resolution felt somewhat shaken.

It was said that in other sects, disciples started cultivating internal energy from a very young age.

Even in the great sects known to everyone, it was said disciples endured piercings of their acupuncture points for cultivation.

"Start as young as possible"—that was the creed for the internal energy breathing methods.

"......"

Jeong-un's gaze returned to the table where the secret manual lay.

He quietly moved toward it.

'I'm just going to look.'

He told himself he would only observe.

Just see the structure, get a sense of how one cultivates internal energy.

He didn't expect much.

After all, his own family called the crude Ascending Dragon Sword Technique a family sword art.

It was odd to expect some great secret from this breathing method.

Jeong-un opened the One Peach Heart Breathing Technique and slowly read through it.

His wooden sword was already set aside at this point.

"......"

And before even half of 2 hours had passed, Jeong-un snapped the booklet shut.

"This is..."

Without realizing, he muttered to himself, his brows furrowing as he slowly sank down to his seat.

It wasn't because he gave up reading that he hurriedly closed the booklet.

'It's short and simple.'

There wasn't really any content to speak of.

The One Peach Heart Breathing Technique only set out a basic absorption method through regulated breathing.

There was a peculiar point, though.

'Why doesn't it feel like the incantation is complete?'

Though the method was crude, it clearly aimed for the Taoist purity typical of such arts.

However, even after reading to the end, it felt incomplete.

It started with grand ambitions yet ended weakly.

'Almost as if it's something... imitated by someone lacking or missing something else.'

Could something like this really be called an internal energy breathing method?

Had Yu Dong-ryong been training this crude method since childhood?

Was it truly by using this art that he was able to gather internal energy in his dantian and imbue it in his sword?

'Hold on, the only one learning the One Peach Heart Breathing Technique can't be just the third big brother.'

Did that mean everyone in the Yu household was cultivating this?

Even at a glance, the flow of energy through the acupuncture points was so clumsy—how could no one have noticed?

"......"

Jeong-un's face was blank with astonishment.

Then his gaze returned to the One Peach Heart Breathing Technique.

The One Peach Heart Breathing Technique simply explained that the energy absorbed through regulated breathing should be sent to the lower dantian with the mind's focus.

It also instructed to eliminate wandering thoughts with mental concentration.

That was really all there was to it.

After that, it noted the acupuncture points the gathered energy should flow through, but even at a passing glance, the method was clumsy and, at places, so vague parts seemed to be missing.

The most ridiculous part was that the manual was filled with the author's ramblings.

He boasted that it took him months just to sense the energy, yet claimed he did it in only three.

'Is it really that hard?'

Jeong-un sat in a lotus position.

He recalled the first incantation of the One Peach Heart Breathing Technique.

It was a very casual attempt.

And with a single breath, he sensed the energy.

"...?"

Before he could even fully feel surprised, Jeong-un carefully observed the energy he'd drawn in with his breath.

Though guided inside by his own intent, impurities had slipped in as well.

According to the One Peach Heart Breathing Technique, he should send this energy to the dantian as is.

'Why?'

Didn't the incantation set purity as its goal?

Yet, they wanted him to send this energy—all mixed with impurities—straight to the dantian...?

Unconsciously, Jeong-un began filtering out the impurities.

According to his intent, the energy split apart, the impurities being sifted away.

'......'

Soon, sweat dotted Jeong-un's forehead.

It was like untangling a knotted thread, unraveling each strand one by one.

Suddenly, the phrase about concentrating the mind and eliminating distractions came to him.

Now he saw what it truly meant.

'Whoever wrote this surely didn't understand it themselves.'

Surely, they bumbled into it after copying another manual.

It was hard to believe whoever composed such a crude breathing method would embed such meaning.

Like unraveling a complex tangle, Jeong-un filtered the energy for quite some time.

"......"

At last, with his intent, the purified energy slowly moved toward his lower dantian.

It was much smaller in size than at first, but it felt far more powerful.

Soon, the energy settled into the dantian.

But this wasn't finished.

Jeong-un naturally began to direct the energy towards the perineum.

He guided it through various acupuncture points along his back: the sacrum, mingmen, and Great Hammer.

'It's not over yet.'

By now, he had forgotten everything described in the One Peach Heart Breathing Technique.

He simply let the energy move where it would.

He instinctively knew that, if done wrong, it could lead to energy deviation, but he couldn't stop.

The energy passed the Jade Pillow and the Brain Gate.

Eventually, he hit a wall.

'I must break through here.'

The energy was blocked from moving on to the Baihui point.

But it didn't feel bad.

It simply felt like the way ahead was blocked, as if warning him he couldn't return if he passed.

As if to protect both itself and Jeong-un.

'... I can't stop.'

This wasn't out of greed, but out of conviction.

Jeong-un realized he couldn't squander the energy he'd moved like this.

It wasn't just that the energy would scatter and dissipate.

If he stopped now, he might never be able to move energy like this again.

He'd already pierced acupuncture points he'd never used his whole life.

The energy had even climbed as far as the Brain Gate.

Turning it back at this stage was nearly impossible.

'I'll break through!'

Jeong-un started moving the energy, tapping the wall as if wielding a hammer.

Doom—! Doom—!

The vibration rang throughout his body like the beating of a drum.

Gradually, Jeong-un intensified the pressure, pounding harder and harder.

He felt as if he could break through at any moment.

'...?'

But strangely, no matter how hard he struck, the wall wouldn't break.

The harder Jeong-un struck, the harder and sturdier it became.

If he softened his attacks, the wall seemed to thin ever so slightly.

Like a living thing, it refused to yield to the flow of energy.

'Why?'

Even the word "permission" seemed ridiculous here.

This was, after all, inside his own body.

How could it refuse its own master?

'How absurd.'

Frustration swelled.

Jeong-un's brows drew tight.

At the same time, he was sure there had to be a reason.

'Why is the energy flowing through the acupuncture point being blocked?'

And why did it grow stronger the harder he forced it?

As Jeong-un mulled over it for a while, a strange thought suddenly struck.

'... But is this really a wall?'

Just because it blocked the path to Baihui, he'd unconsciously assumed it was a wall.

But having a wall in an internal energy pathway was odd.

It didn't make sense to block its master's will, either.

"......"

Using his intent, Jeong-un carefully examined the barrier.

Literal formlessness—something undefined was blocking the energy path to Baihui.

If that was the case, it must have a purpose.

After all, every part of the body had a use.

'It couldn't be otherwise.'

In that case, there had to be a reason for this block as well.

With that thought, a flash of insight ran through Jeong-un's mind.

If what was blocking the energy path wasn't a wall...

Then...

'... It's a door.'

A door preventing energy from carelessly surging to Baihui.

A safeguard allowing passage only when one is ready...

Gently, as if stroking a wall, Jeong-un moved his energy to lightly touch it.

He began to push, as if grasping an invisible handle.

'... It opened!'

Once he stopped thinking of it as a wall, the door opened absurdly easily.

Almost as if it had been waiting for him.

Jeong-un's pure energy passed through the now-open door, flowing smoothly along the pathway.

With each passage, he could feel the pathway coming alive, like an unused road being cleared anew.

"......"

At last the energy reached Baihui.

The pure energy paused there for a moment as if lingering, then suddenly started to spin.

It looked as if it was trying to grow accustomed to a new place.

'... Wait.'

But the spin soon accelerated.

Like something heating up, the baihui began to burn hot.

"...!"

Jeong-un found himself gasping for breath.

The spinning energy was now almost uncontrollable.

He truly thought the crown of his head might burst.

Yet at the same time, he realized something.

'The Baihui is expanding.'

More precisely, the Baihui acupuncture point was stretching, as if it had waited for this moment, welcoming the incoming energy like a breath.

Jeong-un bit down on his teeth.

Sweat poured over his body.

He instinctively knew that he must not lose consciousness at this moment.

Who knew what could happen otherwise.

'... No more!'

His whole head felt dipped in molten lava.

He felt like he couldn't withstand it any longer.

His mind grew more and more faint.

'...!'

Then, as if nothing had happened, the spinning suddenly ceased.

"Haah, haah..."

Jeong-un's breathing slowly leveled out.

At some point, he realized he could circulate energy comfortably, as if breathing.

He unconsciously set the energy in motion again.

It passed through his Baihui, down to the crown of his head, and then followed the Conception Vessel down his abdomen.

It felt so natural as if the prior crisis had never happened.

And now he understood—this was one way to circulate energy through the body's pathways.

He could move his energy at will, any time, with ease.

The pure energy that had circled his whole body thus settled again in his dantian.

Jeong-un snapped his eyes open.

"......"

His gaze was deep and radiant.

Slowly, Jeong-un stood up from where he sat.

At the same time, he realized that while sitting in lotus position, he'd been ever-so-slightly levitating above the floor.

He couldn't claim to have reached the realm of Floating Empty Samadhi, but it was undoubtedly odd.

He didn't quite understand what had happened.

He only knew that his body felt as light as a feather, and the flow of his true ki felt exquisitely natural and sensitive.

Looking down at his palm for a moment, he spoke softly.

"... I've created it—my own internal energy breathing method."