novelraw Chapter 168 : Chapter 168
Chapter 168 : Chapter 168
Chapter 168. Isolated Training (2)
Inside the cave illuminated only by the faint light of the Luminous Pearls.
In the space where only silence seemed to flow, minute noises rang out in succession.
The small sound of sweat drops flowing from my body falling on the floor.
The sound of my inhaling and exhaling.
The wind-breaking sound created as I swung the sword and moved my body.
Finally, even the small sound ringing every time I took a step.
I devoted myself solely to training in the empty cave.
Then one day, anger surged.
Towards the existence called the Fighting Venerable who might have killed my comrades.
As the fire demon surged, I swung the sword and rolled my body wildly like a madman.
But nothing changed even if I swung the sword entrusting my body to anger.
The next day after sleeping from exhaustion, I swung the sword again.
I ruminated on the fights I experienced before being trapped in the cave.
Among them, I focused on recalling the methods of those superior to me.
The Dragon King Fortress Leader and the three Leaders.
Regrettably, I couldn't recall the Fighting Venerable’s methods.
Because I could barely even follow with my eyes, and they were methods of a realm I couldn't understand.
Then anger surged again.
While I was trapped here. The screams of those suffering from trash like the Dragon King Fortress Leader or the Leaders lingered in my mind.
I rolled my body like a madman until that anger subsided.
Then one day I was angry at the Fighting Venerable who locked me in here, and another day I was angry at my talent.
Because even though I was swinging only the sword in the cave like a madman like this, nothing changed.
Every day, I swung the sword with malice.
I realized belatedly. That all of it was a mental demon.
A cave with no one.
A place where I couldn't know if it was day or night.
I couldn't even know how many days had passed since I was trapped here.
I was slowly going crazy.
So I swung the sword again.
Swoosh!
The sound of the sword tearing the air.
Drip.
The sound of sweat falling on the floor.
Only these small noises were holding onto my sanity.
It was so.
From a certain moment, I had to focus on training like a madman to not go crazy.
Because if I didn't do so, I couldn't endure this anger boiling inside.
How long did I devote myself to training like that?
One day, when I couldn't know how much time had passed because I couldn't distinguish day and night.
Finally, I realized I became able to unfold the Fifth Form of Sun Moon Infinite Sword, Illusionary Sun Myriad Changes, properly.
Dozens of strands of sword qi stretching in all directions riding the Master’s Blade were all under my control.
Feeling like I just took one step forward now.
I opened the secret manual of Sun Moon Infinite Sword and examined the essential points of the last of the first forms, the Sixth Form Painting the Moon on Still Water.
The form called Painting the Moon on Still Water was a form modeled on the appearance of the moon reflected on water.
It wasn't a form that just drew the shape of the moon with sword qi.
- Only a calm water surface without shaking can perfectly contain the shape of the moon. ……Like this, only a calm mental image without shaking can perfectly embrace the moon.
Painting the Moon on Still Water was a method focused on gathering and condensing qi.
And for this, it was discussing an unwavering mind. Citing the moon reflected on the water surface as an example.
I didn't know whether to call this misfortune or consider it fortune.
When anger soars every day and I am fighting mental demons, to have to train an immovable mind.
Because of the soaring anger, controlling qi wasn't easy.
It was to the point where twisting qi and blood and coughing up blood was a daily occurrence while training Painting the Moon on Still Water.
So for a while, I put down the sword and focused only on meditation.
This was also difficult.
My body felt itchy wanting to swing the sword right away.
Silence descended on the world with nothing.
The only sound heard was the sound of one drop of water falling periodically from the cave ceiling into a puddle.
If I stayed like this, I felt like I would go crazy.
Then suddenly a thought brushed through my mind.
Master Sun Moon Divine Sword discussed.
That only a calm water surface without shaking can fully contain the shape of the moon.
It was a strange story.
Water is bound to flow.
Unless it is a small stagnant puddle.
Huge bodies of water like seas, lakes, or rivers were always flowing.
But even on such huge water surfaces, the moon was fully contained.
Perhaps only the surface revealed on the outside is immovable. Wouldn't water be flowing constantly inside?
Recalling that thought, I focused on my inner world.
Flames were always raging in my mental image.
The pent-up anger accumulated during the past life was burning.
I continued the work of pushing those flames occupying most of the inner world to one side.
And I built a huge barrier in the inner world.
Like a person with two coexisting personalities, I divided the inner side of the existence called me into two spaces.
Naturally, it didn't work well at first.
The flames pushed to one corner often broke down the barrier and invaded the adjacent space.
But I didn't give up.
How long did I repeat meditation upon meditation every day splitting the existence called me in two?
“Sssip. Huu.”
From some day, anger didn't surge.
Huge flames were raging deep inside, but that fire demon didn't flow out to the surface.
As if reason and emotion were completely separated.
Perhaps I had gone crazy. An existence with a personality split in two.
But it couldn't be helped.
It wasn't just to learn Painting the Moon on Still Water.
I implicitly felt that if I didn't do this, I couldn't endure the time of five years here.
Anyway, from the time I split my personality in two, I could regain composure.
The darkness of the cave, and the terribly quiet silence were nothing now.
Whether I gained the immovable mind Master Sun Moon Divine Sword discussed, or whether I went crazy. I couldn't know that either.
Since it didn't really matter, from then on I started training Painting the Moon on Still Water again.
Bundles of sword qi that I was busy scattering in all directions or spewing out blindly. A method to condense sword silk together.
Eventually, it could be seen as a story about enhanced qi.
As always, the stories Master Sun Moon Divine Sword wrote in the secret manual were mostly grasping at floating clouds.
It was to the point where I couldn't distinguish if I was reading a secret manual or a poem.
But I had experience.
The experience of watching directly with my second eye the process of the Dragon King Fortress Leader forming enhanced qi.
Ruminating on the memory of that time, and melting what I realized while learning Sun Moon Infinite Sword, I swung the sword.
As always, there was no success from the beginning.
When trying to condense, the energy often scattered at some moment.
Every time that happened, flames raged in the inner world.
Fire demons named anxiety and anger soared.
But those flames never spewed out over the barrier.
Without minding, I focused only on training.
I pondered only on how I could unfold martial arts more perfectly.
Then one day.
Wiiiiing.
Finally, the sword silk swirling on the Master’s Blade condensed together and emitted intense light.
It was a half success.
Because although I formed enhanced qi, it was what I barely formed after concentrating for at least a quarter of an hour.
In actual combat, I couldn't ask the enemy to wait for a quarter of an hour.
I had to compress the time taken to unfold Painting the Moon on Still Water to the extreme.
My solution was repetitive mastery as always.
Adding to that, I prepared one thing.
I learned all the first forms of Sun Moon Infinite Sword. So I planned to read the latter part of Sun Moon Infinite Sword from now on.
“Is it the second time.”
Even when I first obtained Sun Moon Infinite Sword, I had read the latter part once.
But I couldn't understand it at all.
So I put it off until I learned all the first part.
- Oh Swallow. Nothing is eternal before time. Even if it is the sun and moon, would they truly be eternal?
In fact, this was the biggest reason I didn't understand when reading the latter part for the first time.
Because he was spitting out words completely denying the contents of the first part from the start.
It was to the point I wondered if it was a secret manual Master Sun Moon Divine Sword wrote while suffering from dementia.
If I hadn't met Master Sun Moon Divine Sword who became an immortal in my past life, I probably would have been convinced, not just suspicious.
- All things in the world are impermanent before time, but only circulation is eternal. Just as life and death continue, and that sun and moon continue to circulate.
But now I felt I roughly knew what story Master Sun Moon Divine Sword was trying to tell.
- If one can embrace circulation in the body, wouldn't that be the true Infinite?
The first forms of Sun Moon Infinite Sword were like that.
The Third Form One Sun, Ten Thousand Lights was a method of forming sword silk by dividing energy into several branches and spewing them through various acupoints in the palm.
And this method was also a method one couldn't learn without learning the Second Form Azure Heaven’s Hidden Smile first.
The teaching of each form often connected to the teaching of the next form.
Like that, when I became able to completely control dozens of strands of sword qi through the Fifth Form Illusionary Sun Myriad Changes. It became possible to unfold Painting the Moon on Still Water by gathering and condensing those dozens of strands of sword qi.
While ruminating on the first forms while reading the contents of the latter part. One question arose.
“If it is circulation, shouldn't everything eventually be connected to each other?”
Closing the secret manual, I raised my body and drew the Master’s Blade.
Ruminating from the First Form Crimson Lotus Ascends to Heaven in order, I pulled up internal energy.
Energy that wasn't spewed out externally runs through internal acupoints and continues to increase in size.
Following the teachings of Azure Heaven’s Hidden Smile and One Sun, Ten Thousand Lights, I separated that energy strand by strand and flowed them dividing into various acupoints.
Following the teachings of Moonlight Coiling Sword and Illusionary Sun Myriad Changes, energies running through different acupoints show various movements and continue circulation.
In that process, the divided energies increased in size again according to the principle of Crimson Lotus Ascends to Heaven, and I divided the increased energy into several branches again.
The moment that flow reached the extreme. I tried to condense the energy spewing it out all at once.
As immense energy gathered towards the acupoints of the arm and palm, faint pain was felt.
Trying to condense that immense energy all at once, stiff pain rose up the back of my head.
But even in that pain, a minute smile flowed on the corners of my mouth.
Before I knew it, a moon formed of Qi was condensed on the Master’s Blade.
But there was something else happier than that.
It seemed I found the direction to move forward.
“Circulation.”
I had to make the internal energy circulate through the whole body's acupoints continuously.
Instead of pulling up internal energy matching the martial art form I intend to unfold at that moment.
For this, there was one more thing I had to do.
I sat cross-legged just like that and entered into breathing exercises.
“Sssip. Huu.”
It wasn't work just to increase the size of the dantian.
More important than that were acupoints. Among them, there were still blocked acupoints.
Not the major meridians where I already removed all turbid energy and opened the path, but small fine meridians spread throughout the whole body.
Make energy circulate through the whole body continuously. And for this, open all fine meridians in the whole body.
After finishing this, unfolding Painting the Moon on Still Water would also become much easier. Furthermore, it seemed I could lay the foundation necessary to learn the latter forms.
***
How long did I immerse myself only in training with the endlessly soaring anger pushed to one corner of the mental world?
In a space where I couldn't even properly perceive the flow of time, the only thing I could perceive was one single thing.
How much I developed. Only that one thing.
I focus my mind holding the drawn Master’s Blade.
Before I knew it, a blurred figure was revealing itself in the air.
An adversary whom I struggled just to endure in the past. The Dragon King Fortress Leader swings twin axes here and there.
After briefly dodging that offensive simply by unfolding Eight Trigrams Flying Stream Steps melting all the principles of Life and Death Blood Steps.
The sight of the Dragon King Fortress Leader trying to form enhanced qi was visible to my eyes.
Matching this, I also flowed some of the energy running through the whole body's acupoints towards the arm.
At the end of painstaking effort, most fine meridians were opened.
Energies obtained through breathing exercises in the meantime. Energies gathered by consuming various spiritual elixirs.
Immense energies were flowing ceaselessly riding the whole body's major meridians and fine meridians.
Flowing some of that energy to both arms at once, a full moon was formed instantly riding the Master’s Blade.
Slice!
A refreshing cutting sound rings out, and the Dragon King Fortress Leader’s neck reflected in the air is cut off.
Soon, the Dragon King Fortress Leader’s form scattered like haze.
“Phew.”
The Dragon King Fortress Leader, called the edge of the peak, was no longer my match.
I could know intuitively.
Now just one wall remained.
The realm departing from the category of human and advancing towards an immortal. Up to the Heavenly Ladder Realm.
If I pass this wall and ascend to the Heavenly Ladder Realm, can I kill the Fighting Venerable?
It was unknown.
Because the old monster called Fighting Venerable was a monster for whom quite some time had passed even after ascending to that realm.
But at least a possibility was created.
“One step forward.”
The moment I muttered so as if ruminating to myself. An unpleasant noise dug into my ears.
Creeeeak.
At the same time, intense light began to invade the cave where only the light of Luminous Pearls shone faintly.
My brow furrowed automatically due to the unfamiliar light.
I turned my head in the direction the sound came from.
The cave entrance that was always closed like an iron wall was opening.
An old man with his back to the pouring sunlight stood there before I knew it.
“Where, let’s see how much you developed in the meantime. Hehehe.”