Martial Artist Lee Gwak

Light Novel: Volume 1 Chapter 12

Manhwa: Chapter 15-16

Episode 4. Growing in the Time Spend Alone (3)

On a dark night, Lee Gwak sat absentmindedly without turning on any lights.

He had thought that maybe this would happen.

Even if he had been seriously injured and unable to move for six months, his lover should have shown her face at least once. But Geum Yul-seon had not visited him even once during that time.

It was proof that her heart had already moved on. But even then, she was too cold-hearted.

No matter how dire his situation had become, there should still be courtesy between people. Even more so since the two of them were lovers.

Lee Gwak’s lips twisted.

“Is that it?”

Lee Gwak’s face distorted in pain.

He had thought he wouldn’t be heartbroken because he had already suspected it. But that wasn’t the case.

His chest ached as if he’d been stabbed in the heart with a giant dagger again and again. He lowered his head, clutching his chest tightly with his hands.

He didn’t know how much time had passed. But after a while, he finally raised his head. The look in his eyes deepened.

Without a word, Lee Gwak lay back down. The Yoga Secret Manual on the ceiling came into view.

The moment he opened the second gate and awakened the second snake, he regained feeling in his entire arm and upper body.

If he opened the third gate and awakened another snake, he would be able to walk. That’s what he thought.

He already knew how to open the gate. But opening the gate required a great deal of patience and time. Thankfully, he had plenty of time.

When he awakened the first snake, it moved with a heavy energy. When he awakened the second snake, it moved with an even heavier, violent energy.

The two snakes intertwined together like a cord and rushed toward the third gate. Lee Gwak kept trying to stimulate the third gate to wake the sleeping snake, but unlike the second snake, it refused to wake up no matter how much time passed.

Still, Lee Gwak was not disappointed. He already thought that this was bound to happen.

It was only natural that the higher the cultivation, the more difficult it would be.

It was the way of the martial arts, as was for all the ways of the world.

Therefore, it was only to be expected that opening the third gate would be harder than the second, and opening the fourth or fifth door would be many times more difficult.

The good news was that he had plenty of time on his hands, and the conditions were right for him to concentrate on the Yoga Secret Manual.

While this tiny room acted like a prison, it also served as the most comfortable training ground in the entire world.

Hoo! Hoo!

Only the quiet sound of Lee Gwak’s breathing filled the dark room.

One day, two days, three days… Time passed in a blur, and Lee Gwak was sinking into it.

During this time, no one visited Lee Gwak’s room.

He was completely alone, and in his solitude, he was growing.

* * *

As the bitterly cold winter came to pass and a warm breeze began to blow, the door of a small opened. And out stepped a gaunt, thin man.

His legs visible beneath his trousers seemed like they would snap at any moment given the lack of muscle, and at the backs of his skinny hands, veins popped out like worms.

The man leaned against the doorway for a moment, staring up at the sky, and just then a breeze blew in, sweeping his disheveled hair like a broomstick. It revealed his sunken cheeks and chapped lips.

His overall appearance looked unimpressive and shabby, but there was one feature of his that stood out. It was his eyes that were anything but lackluster. Clear and unclouded, his eyes brimmed with vitality.

“Has it been a year?”

The man muttering in a low voice was Lee Gwak.

He had finally come outside after a whole year.

For nearly a year, he had lain still and motionless, losing all muscle mass and strength in his body. Nonetheless, he was happy that he could now move of his own volition.

Lee Gwak inhaled the clean air deep into his lungs. He wasn’t sure if there was really any difference between the air inside and the outside, but the sensation was very different.

“Whoo!”

He could feel the gathered energy in his lungs move to his perineum. The snake nestled in his perineum began to move in response.

Soon the second snake awoke, followed by the third and fourth. The four awakened snakes pumped vitality throughout Lee Gwak’s body.

Last winter, Lee Gwak had succeeded in awakening the third and fourth snakes. The moment he awoke the fourth, sensation returned to his legs, enabling him to open the door and step outside.

Step by step, Lee Gwak cautiously walked.

Without the strength in his legs, he found it difficult to keep his balance. Eventually, after a few steps, he stumbled and fell.

“Hahaha!”

Still, Lee Gwak laughed.

He lay on the ground and laughed for a long time.

Had someone seen him, they might have called him crazy. Fortunately or unfortunately, nobody was there.

Those who have not experienced it would never know the tremendous blessing of being able to move one’s limbs freely.

After some time had passed, Lee Gwak picked himself up.

His face showed no sign of the turbulence of a moment ago. He regained his calm as if it never happened.

“This is just the beginning.”

Though he could move his limbs, Lee Gwak had no intention of stopping there.

He had already experienced the efficacy of the Yoga Secret Manual.

Opening just four gates had already filled his body with energy and sharpened his senses. He didn’t know what changes opening the fifth gate would bring, but opening it with his current training methods would be difficult.

He needed to add movement training.¹

In addition to the unique breathing techniques of the Yoga Secret Manual, he needed to complement it with movement training. Static training alone had clear limitations.

Now that he could move his limbs, Lee Gwak had to also train his muscles through movement training. Until then, Lee Gwak had no intention of leaving this isolated space.

Fortunately, there was still plenty of food left that Seok Yi-cheon had provided. There was enough for Lee Gwak to survive for several months on his own.

Lee Gwak began to stretch his stiff body. For a year, his body had been as stiff as dry firewood, and every movement brought excruciating pain. Still, he persevered.

The real hardship was not being able to move. The pain he felt while moving now actually gave him joy.

This pain was proof that he was free.

Crack!

As he bent his waist, the sound of bones cracking echoed.

Lee Gwak didn’t rush. Slowly, and as much as he could currently manage, he moved his body, never forgetting to breathe as prescribed in the Yoga Secret Manual.

His breath and movements had to be in sync.

“Hoo! Hoo!”

Thick beads of sweat poured down on Lee Gwak’s face like rain. Still, he didn’t stop.

It wasn’t until long afterward that he finished his movement training.

Having completed all his scheduled tasks, Lee Gwak made his way to the small kitchen off to one side of the small room.

Inside the kitchen were grains, various vegetables, and meats piled up. These were all the things that Seok Yi-cheon had taken special care to stock up on before winter arrived.

Winter had been so cold that none of the food ingredients had gone bad. Lee Gwak took out some meat. There was nothing better than meat to restore the muscles that had withered away. With only a pinch of salt, he roasted the meat over the fire and munched on it.

Slurp!

Juices flowed down the corners of his mouth. His beard was soiled with juice, but he didn’t care.

The way Lee Gwak was voraciously eating the meat resembled a wolf. However, the person in question, Lee Gwak, didn’t know such a fact.

Chomp! Chomp!

The sound of Lee Gwak chewing meat eerily echoed within the cramped kitchen.

Lee Gwak ate enough meat every day to keep his body moving, his daily routine meticulously calculated.

Little by little, his skinny body which resembled firewood, began to gain weight, and his rough skin began to glow.

He began to look a little more human.

After about two more months, Lee Gwak was almost back to his old self. In fact, the quality of his muscles was incomparably better than before.

Every single muscle fiber was clearly defined, like hundreds of bundles of wire twisted together. And yet, they did not look overly developed, just the right amount.

This was the work of the Yoga Secret Manual.

The Yoga Secret Manual transformed the human body into the optimal state for learning martial arts. Although not as dramatic as changing one’s bone structure, given enough time, it could yield effects that were no less impactful.

After checking his body condition for a while, Lee Gwak went into the room. It had been a long time since he entered the room, as he had spent most of his time outside after recovering.

Lee Gwak lay on the floor and looked at the ceiling.

The Yoga Secret Manual was still plastered all over the ceiling. He had looked at it so much that all the words and even periods were clearly etched into his mind. Although there was no longer a need to look at it, Lee Gwak still couldn’t take his eyes off the Yoga Secret Manual.

He didn’t realize it at first, but the title of the book, Yoga Secret Manual, was written by someone else at a later date.

The typography inside the book and that of the cover were quite different. Perhaps someone who had acquired the Yoga Secret Manual skimmed through its contents and wrote it down.

Lee Gwak thought that the title Yoga Secret Manual didn’t match the content.

He knew this better than anyone because he had studied it himself. Among them, what caught his attention was the level represented by the word ‘snake.’

[When the seventh snake awakens, the eighth great snake will open its eyes. Only then will you see the world properly…]

The word ‘snake’ has long given people an uneasy feeling. Therefore, martial arts involving the word ‘snake’ felt like a martial art of a demonic sect. However, Lee Gwak really liked the word ‘snake.’

“Eight snakes… Yeah! This book should be called Eight Snakes Art.”

Lee Gwak decided to call the yoga techniques he had learned the Eight Snakes Art.

The secret to moving the eight snakes, hence the name.

Lee Gwak began to remove the papers that were stuck to the ceiling.

They had been precious material that had served him well over the past year. But those words have already been long engraved into his mind. He didn’t need them anymore.

Nor did he intend to compile them into a book again. Lee Gwak saw great potential in the Eight Snakes Art, and he didn’t want to share that potential with anyone else.

Lee Gwak lit a bonfire in the yard. As the bonfire blazed intensely, he threw the Eight Snakes Art into it.

Whooosh!

The flames burned even more fiercely as they consumed the Eight Snakes Art. The book that had given Lee Gwak strength for a year was reduced to ashes in an instant.

Lee Gwak stood still and watched the scene unfold.

Now that the book of the Eight Snakes Art had disappeared from the world, Lee Gwak remained the only one who had learned its contents.

Lee Gwak felt that he finally had a competitive edge, something different from the others, and it was up to him to develop it.

It was then.

“What’s this? I heard you were paralyzed, but you look just fine.”

Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice was heard.

Lee Gwak looked in the direction of the voice without getting flustered.

A man was entering through the door.

At first glance, he seemed to be in his early thirties, but there was a sense of years about him.

Lee Gwak had a feeling that the man was much older than he appeared.

At the man’s waist was a sword with an archaic design. It didn’t look out of the ordinary at first glance, but what was most striking was the man’s face. With a cold expression like glass and a somewhat twisted gaze, he felt quite menacing.

The man scanned Lee Gwak’s entire body with a cold gaze.

For a moment, Lee Gwak felt a creepy sensation as if worms were crawling all over his body.

“Who are you?”

“Me?”

“Yes!”

“I’m the new leader of Squad 13, you brat!”

SoundlessWind21’s Notes:

Thank you for reading!

1. Movement training. Raws: 행공(行功).
   • 行 xíng, háng, xìng, hàng, héng – go; walk; move, travel; circulate
   • 功 gōng – meritorious deed or service / achievement / result / service / accomplishment / work (physics)

2. Eight Snakes Art. Raws: 팔사결(八蛇決).
   • 八 bā – eight
   • 蛇 shé – serpent / snake
   • 決 jué – to decide / to determine / to execute (sb) / (of a dam etc) to breach or burst / definitely / certainly

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