Chapter 18
The surgery was over, so his qi should now be circulating smoothly.
At least, that was how it should have gone….
I wiped the sweat beading on my forehead with my sleeve and asked.
“Would you like to try circulating your qi, just to test it?”
“Very well.”
The qi meridian, dormant for so long, showed no sign of true qi flowing through it.
I’d expected it to burst open with a satisfying rush, like those videos of mango worms or pimple-popping I’d seen in my previous life, but it failed spectacularly.
It was as if I’d dug all the mud out of a riverbed, only for the waterway to dry up. The qi remained curled up inside his dantian, completely still.
Though Yan Nan-cheon tried to comfort me, saying he must be getting senile, my modern knowledge gave me an idea of what was wrong.
A passage from a pop psychology book I’d read in my previous life came to mind.
Learned helplessness.
I clasped my hands behind my back and spoke with the gravitas of a sage descended from the Immortal Realm.
“Great Hero Yan, have you ever heard the story of an elephant told by a certain eccentric from the Western Regions?”
“An elephant?”
I’d had a feeling, and I was right.
Either he didn’t know what an elephant was, or elephants didn’t exist here.
“Ahem. It’s a story about a certain yaoshou.”
At the unexpected mention of a yaoshou, even the onlookers in the inn perked up their ears.
“One day, an eccentric from the west captured a young yaoshou that wasn’t very strong. He chained its hind leg to a stake so it couldn’t escape. No matter how hard the young beast struggled, it couldn’t pull the stake out.”
“Then the yaoshou must have been weak!”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. But here’s the thing.”
I continued in a solemn tone befitting a story for people who wanted to know what happened next.
“As it happened, after fifty years, that little yaoshou grew into a beast as large as a house. By then, it had enough strength to yank out that puny wooden stake with a snort of contempt.”
Gulp.
After someone swallowed nervously, the crowd erupted.
“Wouldn’t that be dangerous? They should capture it and make pills out of it!”
“No, they should refine it into a weapon...!”
“Let’s hunt the yaoshou!”
“Shh, this is only a story. Everyone, calm down. But here’s the amazing part!”
I stared straight into Yan Nan-cheon’s eyes.
“Would you believe it? That enormous beast, as big as a mountain, didn’t even try to pull out that measly wooden stake.”
“Come on, how could that be? Maybe it wasn’t a yaoshou.”
“It had been chained by the ankle for a hundred years. Because of what it experienced as a child, it had learned deep in its bones that it could never leave that place. That’s what they say.”
“Young master! This story you’ve made up is far-fetched nonsense! You must be young and inexperienced, but yaoshou aren’t like that!”
“Honestly, what kind of yaoshou would act like that? Not even a baby rabbit! Puhahaha!”
Even a story considered common knowledge by modern people was completely new to everyone here.
But Yan Nan-cheon’s expression grew more and more troubled.
“A limitation you impose on yourself. A stake in your heart that makes you give up before you even try. Scholars in the Western Regions call this learned helplessness.”
“Are you saying my illness was caused by learned helplessness?”
‘Correct!’
They say animals subjected to repeated, uncontrollable pain won’t try to escape later, even when a way out becomes available.
At first, they struggle.
They run this way and that, crashing into things, doing whatever they can to break free. But if every movement brings pain, and every act of resistance only deepens their despair, then eventually, they learn.
I can’t do it. Struggling only hurts.
It seemed Yan Nan-cheon had ended up in the same situation.
Even though the highway of his meridians was wide open, he’d drawn his own limits, leaving the engine that was his dantian stalled.
“Great Hero, cast off your fear.”
“Heh heh. Fear… I wonder if I had any left. What should this old man do?”
“The path is open now. I’ve pulled out the wooden stake.”
“Then….”
“Heh. I’m feeling generous. I’ll give you some after-sales service.”
“After-sales? What is that?”
“Ah, I mean… it’s a Western term for follow-up care.”
“Heh heh… Now that I think of it, Senior must have come from the Western Regions. No wonder you don’t look like someone from the Central Plains.”
“Then, excuse me for a moment.”
I stepped closer and lightly placed my palm over his blocked dantian.
But then the men’s faces turned red.
‘What’s with them? We’re both men…’
I didn’t know why, but I decided not to think about it.
As the senior in the world of cultivation, I’d take on the role of mentor for a bit.
A mentor’s job, after all, is to clear a path the mentee can follow.
‘It won’t start? Then it needs engine oil.’
Since qi meridians were passages for true qi, I planned to send true qi refined through the Five-Element Return-Flow Method through them as engine oil.
‘This five-cylinder engine isn’t broken. It’s just rusted, and its flame has gone out. If you can’t start it yourself, I’ll be the spark that lights the fire.’
I put off boasting about how I was a genius among geniuses and focused on injecting true qi.
“I’m going to start the engine. Move when I give you the signal.”
‘But what do I do? True qi is precious….’
True qi was still a precious resource to me, too.
Like pouring a whole bowlful of sesame seeds into an oil mill only to get a single drop of oil, even one drop of true qi was too precious to waste.
‘Still, I can produce it endlessly. I should be generous when I can. Hmm… It’s a hack job, but… anyway! What’s the worst that could happen?’
I drew out the true qi gathered in my dantian through the Five-Element Return-Flow Method.
Perhaps because I’d gotten fairly good at handling spiritual qi, it came easily.
I sent 100% pure, liquefied true qi, free of any impurities, flowing into Yan Nan-cheon’s meridians.
“Ghh…!”
His blood vessels and muscles twitched as the old man grimaced in pain.
‘Just a little more. Just a little more.’
When the clear, pure Five-Element true qi flowed through my fingertips and entered Yan Nan-cheon’s dantian, something tremendous happened, like sodium dropped into water.
The true qi Yan Nan-cheon had possessed since time immemorial, curled up inside the combustion chamber, exploded in a burst of red flame.
Vroooom—!!
The old man’s true qi overflowed like a broken dam, setting the pistons of his motionless left atrium and right ventricle in motion.
His internal power began thundering along the path of the meridians opened by the Five-Element qi.
The power surged up from his dantian, raced along his spine to the crown of his head, then swept down his chest to his toes and returned to his dantian.
It was like a sports car speeding down an unrestricted autobahn.
‘It worked! Ah! This is the thrill of the autobahn! Heehee!’
That was when it happened.
Flash!
‘Huh?’
A blinding radiance shone from Yan Nan-cheon.
Its power was so immense it could have blinded us!
The sudden flash-bang attack threw the entire inn into chaos.
Fwoooosh—!
“Huh?”
###
What happened to Yan Nan-cheon was something far beyond the shallow expectations of Ryu So-ha, who had only just begun cultivating.
Twenty-seven years. A full twenty-seven years.
The internal power a peak expert who once commanded the jianghu had accumulated over nearly thirty years was like water trapped behind a dam.
It was an enormous reservoir of true qi, piled up uselessly because he couldn’t open his meridians, no matter how much he trained.
Then a mischievous beaver pretending to be a cultivator showed up and finally broke the dam he’d haphazardly built.
And the meridians of a mortal had been opened directly by true qi imbued with the Five Elements—a phenomenon unseen for hundreds of years in the lower realm, on the land of Zheng.
It was only natural that something miraculous would happen.
The power rose from his dantian, passed along the Governing Vessel, broke through to the Conception Vessel, and returned to his dantian.
The moment one circuit, one loop, was complete,
even Ryu So-ha realized the anomaly they had caused.
‘This is bad! That immense energy is… exploding? It’s going to explode!!’
“If you want to live, everyone get down!!!”
As if in response to my signal, a terrifying explosion erupted.
KWA-GWANG-GWANG—!!
“Kraaaaagh!!”
As Yan Nan-cheon let out a roar, a five-colored radiance burst through the roof of the inn and shot into the sky.
Tables and chairs around us were smashed to pieces and hurled in every direction as if caught in a typhoon.
Rumble! Crack!
A series of horrifying sounds erupted from Yan Nan-cheon, as if his bones were breaking and resetting.
‘What is this?! A side effect?! Did the surgery fail?! Anaphylactic shock?!’
“G-Grandpa! What’s wrong?! Call 119… no, a physician! A physician!!”
Ryu So-ha, unlicensed Doctor K, staggered back in terror.
Ryu So-ha knew next to nothing about worldly martial arts, so there was no way to understand what they had done.
Ryu So-ha had gone pale, but Yan Nan-cheon’s body was undergoing an astonishing transformation right before their eyes.
A fragrant, lotus-scented mist began to seep from his pores along with faint traces of impurities.
The pleasant floral fragrance came from Ryu So-ha’s Fire Qi burning away all the turbid qi.
In the space left behind, the Five-Element qi—which Ryu So-ha herself insisted was only a trace—had already filled his body to the brim.
Where there is action, there is reaction.
As a reaction to the Five Elements entering his body, Yan Nan-cheon’s wrinkled skin peeled away like a snake shedding its skin, and fresh skin quickly appeared beneath it.
His hair and beard, which had turned completely white, became a vivid, sun-bright red from the roots outward.
His bones and muscles were reassembled, and his body regained its youth—a miracle.
A legendary realm that worldly martial artists could hardly reach even after devoting their entire lives to it!
Someone in the inn spoke in a trembling voice.
“A Rebirth of the Flesh?”
Another martial artist swallowed nervously.
“Impossible. He’s opened the Conception and Governing Vessels (任督兩脈)…?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. He’s opened the Gate of Life and Death!”
“The Peak of Transcendence (超絶頂)….”
“No,
a Hwa-gyeong (化境)
realm master!”
Conception and Governing Vessels? The Gate of Life and Death? The Peak of Transcendence? Hwa-gyeong?
Damn it, unfamiliar wuxia terms were flying around everywhere. But judging by everyone’s crazed reactions, something incredible had clearly happened.
What Ryu So-ha had done was…
A miracle that occurred when a lifetime’s accumulation of innate true qi broke through the Conception Vessel (任脈) and Governing Vessel (督脈), opening the ‘Gate of Life and Death (生死玄關),’ the final barrier said to separate life from death.
A legendary realm that worldly martial artists could hardly reach even after devoting their entire lives to it: the Reversal of Aging (返老還童)!
A realm said to exist only in legends, where an old person returned to a youthful body, had now been brought about by Ryu So-ha’s own hands.
Fwoooosh—!
As the energy settled, Yan Nan-cheon slowly opened his eyes.
His pupils shone with a clear, profound brilliance.
There stood a man worthy of the title Sword Demon.
‘What? What on earth did I touch? I just opened up his qi and blood. Why did he get younger? What is this, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button?!’
Yan Nan-cheon, restored to his prime, bowed deeply to me.
“Not only have you severed the chains binding this foolish old man’s heart with the Dao of philosophy, you have personally opened a new path of life for me! This is truly the divine mastery of one who commands the principles of Heaven and Earth!”
‘Huh? Excuse me? I only gave him a hack-job treatment. I think there’s been some misunderstanding.’
“I, Yan Nan-cheon, could never repay the boundless kindness of such a great senior, even if I died a thousand or ten thousand times and my bones turned to dust!”
He pressed his forehead to the floor and began to sob.
The people remaining in the inn had witnessed the miracle of his transformation with their own eyes. Their knees gave way, and they all collapsed to the floor, prostrating themselves before me.
They trembled with emotion like fanatics who had witnessed the Second Coming of Jesus.
‘I only told a little psychology story and gave him a hack-job treatment because I wanted to get some information… How did things get this out of hand?’
I was at a loss as to how I could possibly deal with this unstoppable misunderstanding, but I couldn’t help feeling an insane rush of pleasure and dopamine welling up from deep inside.
Exhilarating!
Praise feels good.
Take all the head pats you can get.
I clasped my hands behind my back in a haughty pose and raised my chin.
“This much is nothing… nothing at all! Wahahaha! Never draw limits around yourself!”
“As you command!!”
‘Agh, but I need to pee so bad!!!’
……
“I could never repay this kindness even with my life. Please, take this worthless old man into your service.”
“……Pardon? Take you into my service? That’s far too much…”
“I, Yan Nan-cheon, have been reborn today through the grace of the Immortal. I wish to spend the rest of my life serving you as the sword that protects my lord.”
“No way, that’s the Sword Demon Yan Nan-cheon! I can’t believe it.”
“That red hair… Yes, I remember getting hit by him before. It’s the Sword Demon!”
“The great Yan Nan-cheon volunteered to serve someone as his lord?”
“Who in the world is that eminent figure?”
My mind went blank.
No, wait, wait!
How did this happen?
“My lord, please tell me your esteemed name.”
‘Ah! My lord, my foot! There’s such a huge age gap—it’s too much pressure!! But what am I supposed to say now?’
I’d only wanted to get a little information at the inn, bluffed a bit to avoid sparring, then cleared a small blockage in his qi and blood.
But then I’d opened his innate realm and his Conception and Governing Vessels, and the Sword Demon had gotten younger?
“If the Immortal will not grant me permission, I shall remain on my knees here for the rest of my life.”
‘No, don’t do that. Please get up and move aside.’
I needed to use the bathroom, and I was a fourteen-year-old child who had to be home before the Hour of the Pig.
Unable to say such trivial truths, I only moved my lips soundlessly.
“For now… I’ve more or less got it, so clear the way! Quickly!”
“As you command!”
“Don’t follow me!”
……
“I told you not to follow me, but to wait here!”
###
The aftermath of that day was so tremendous that it was more than enough to change my life completely.
The rumors spread far and wide.
“Extra! Extra!”
“The Sword Demon Yan Nan-cheon has returned to the jianghu!”
“Have you heard? An Immortal not only treated the Sword Demon, but even made him young again!”
Word had no feet, yet it raced down the autobahn for a thousand li.
The fame spread far and wide, and our town became known for having an Immortal who could open martial artists’ qi meridians.
Thanks to the trickle-down effect, the townspeople also enjoyed an unexpected tourist season. Visitors flooded in, and they were said to have grown their wealth by leaps and bounds.
In recognition of this great achievement(?), my parents gave me permission to go out freely as my alt identity, Kim Muyeol.
Time passed, and the incident took place on a mountain I’d climbed to conduct a physics experiment.
A sudden fog rolled in, and before I knew it, I’d lost my way in the mountains.
And that day, I met a cultivator for the second time in my life.
“Fellow Daoist! A pleasure to meet you!”
Fellow Daoist? What’s a Daoist?
Pizza dough? Ryu-hahaha!
But seriously, what is it?
But the man’s actions were even stranger than his words.
After looking me up and down from head to toe, the man suddenly went pale and threw himself flat on the ground.
“Eek!
Foundation Establishment
?! Ah, this humble junior failed to recognize a great senior and committed a grave offense.”
He went on and on, groveling and begging profusely.
Excuse me, I don’t eat people.
So what the hell is this guy?
“My
divine sense (神識)
was too feeble, which led to this. Please forgive my rudeness with your magnanimous heart, Senior, and I shall devote myself even more diligently to my cultivation.”
Ah, so cultivators are all half-finished people, every last one of them?
They treat mortals like bugs, look down on anyone with a lower cultivation level, and tuck their tails between their legs the moment they meet someone stronger?
What is this, the law of the jungle?
‘You called yourself a Daoist. Weren’t you supposed to be something like a mountain spirit? Why is everyone so vicious?’
