NOVEL WEB Chapter 18
Chapter 18: Waste Recycling
Before separating the Mita Sacred Water for my disciple.
First, I pulled out a book from the table, its title beautifully inscribed in antique font: Three Yin True Formula.
The basics of Gongdong Sect Martial Arts are divided into Minor Yang Heart Method, a Yang martial art, and Three Yin True Formula, a Yin one.
The fundamental principle of Gongdong Sect martial arts is Yin-Yang Reversal.
Thus, to attain the pinnacle of Gongdong Sect martial arts, one must learn both Yang and Yin martial arts to reverse the Yin and Yang energies and achieve the merging of the two.
However, up until now, the only technique left in the Gongdong sect was the Yang martial art, Minor Yang Heart Method. Today, however, the Yin martial art, Three Yin True Formula, was discovered.
Anyway, once the Minor Yang Heart Method and Three Yin True Formula reach their peak, you can finally enter the realm of Primordial Unity Energy Technique, which contains the mysteries of Yin-Yang Reversal.
‘But the Primordial Unity Energy Technique isn’t here.’
Unfortunately, it wasn’t here.
But hey, that wasn’t really a concern for me.
I already knew where the Primordial Unity Energy Technique was located.
Regardless, in order to safely handle the Mita Sacred Water, my disciple needed to memorize the mantra for Three Yin True Formula.
Originally, when learning the basics of martial arts for the first time, you were supposed to guide the disciple through the mantra while performing the energy-drawing technique, just like Jeonyeong did.
‘Me? Touching a guy’s body to perform energy-drawing?!’
Never mind the reputation, energy-drawing absolutely required physical contact!
You had to place your hand on the acupuncture point near the waist, and here I was, not a stunning beauty but a guy voluntarily making physical contact with that damn disciple’s body?
‘No way.’
Not to mention I had already sullied a multitude of firsts with that disciple, including the first hug and the first kiss mark, all tainted by the odor of a man’s body.
Just thinking about ‘that kiss mark incident’ from earlier in the field made my mind feel contaminated and my legs go wobbly.
I couldn’t afford to lose any more of my innocence to that disciple.
Moreover, these days, when that disciple looked at me, sometimes I wondered if they were genuinely attracted to men.
Instinctively, it felt like I had to protect my behind.
So I had to avoid physical contact as much as possible.
After all, my relationship with that disciple was strictly business, and I wasn’t stepping beyond that.
I had met some eunuchs in my previous life who preferred beautiful men over women, utterly losing their sanity and becoming the most depraved losers.
Not to mention there were plenty of mad male-to-male lovers who had male favorites instead of female concubines.
‘Those perverted eunuchs…’
But I wasn’t that kind of pervert. Even during my eunuch days, I maintained a normal desire and taste amidst the countless temptations around me.
Now that I had regained my masculine essence, I didn’t need to delve into that side.
So no energy-drawing was happening.
After all, my disciple was a genius in martial arts, a possessor of the Heavenly Body, so they would likely memorize the basic techniques after just one glance anyway.
“Disciple. Before consuming the Mita Sacred Water, first examine this secret text and remember the mantra. It’s our sect’s basic Yin martial art, Three Yin True Formula.”
I handed the secret text to my disciple.
At my words, they nodded with a serious expression and took the Three Yin True Formula volume.
While it was a foundational technique, it still had the properties of Yin martial arts. When consuming the Mita Sacred Water, the Three Yin True Formula, not the Minor Yang Heart Method, had to be operated.
Flap flap.
The book, left unattended for over 300 years, was in surprisingly good condition for its age.
About two minutes passed.
After a quick glance at the text, my disciple closed the book with a thud.
“I’ve memorized all the verses of Three Yin True Formula, Master.”
My disciple said to me.
Did they really memorize all of that just by skimming through it?
Truly, the Heavenly Body was remarkable.
“Great. Now, please take it.”
“Okay.”
My disciple nodded seriously as they accepted the cup filled with shimmering Mita Sacred Water.
Chug.
My disciple downed the Mita Sacred Water in one go.
Yes. This is how you recycle waste.
I watched and smiled as my disciple entered a meditative posture and began their energy circulation.
Humm…
As soon as Yujinhwi drank the Mita Sacred Water, she felt her entire body’s energy and blood freeze solid.
The Yin cold energy, concentrated over a thousand years within the Mita Sacred Water, violently disrupted her meridians.
It hurt.
A horrific sensation swept over her as if a blizzard was raging inside her body.
Ugh!
Yujinhwi bit her lips, which were turning blue, until they bled, swallowing back a cry.
‘This is a tonic my master gave up for me… I must… traverse through the Ren and Du meridians and convert everything into inner strength…!’
In the agony that felt like her whole body was freezing, Yujinhwi maintained her consciousness with superhuman willpower.
After all, it was a tonic personally yielded by her Master.
Thus, failure to absorb the tonic was unacceptable.
Her Master’s face appeared in Yujinhwi’s mind.
With a solemn resolve, her Master’s voice echoed in her ears, saying that the Gongdong Sect needed only one master with exceptional skill rather than several mediocre martial artists.
The Mita Sacred Water.
A unique item that massively increases martial power just by consuming it and allows for the attaining of the Ultimate Transformation.
Every martial artist in the realm would covet such a treasure.
Indeed, battles occur over a single potion meant for only one user, even among disciples and masters.
Not just the Demon Sect or non-mainstream sects, even prominent orthodox figures often wrestle with their temper when potions are at stake.
I mean, if you put a legendary potion like Mita Sacred Water in front of anyone, it’s only natural that their desires will cloud their judgment.
Yet, her Master willingly yielded this coveted tonic to her.
‘Since I’ve brought this opportunity for my Master… I must wholly absorb the essence of the Mita Sacred Water.’
Yujinhwi vividly recalled the tears of joy her Master shed upon discovering the Mita Sacred Water.
And she remembered the trembling hands filled with regret as her Master offered her the absolute elixir.
There were many times she had yielded to her Master, but he shook his head, insisting that she should be the one taking the tonic for the revival of the sect.
For the sect’s revival and her own safety, her Master told her that his safety was irrelevant.
Yujinhwi knew that her Master, who pretended to be mature, actually had a delicate heart hidden beneath.
She was well aware that until he offered her the Mita Sacred Water, he must have been tormented and troubled.
Yet her Master restrained his own desires with superhuman patience and gave the elixir to her.
Even when he offered to share, he insisted on giving her the tonic time and again.
Resisting desire is far more challenging than letting go of it.
But her Master had practiced restraint.
All for her sake.
‘I had said I would accept only your heart…’
Only the heart.
That phrase weighed heavily on Yujinhwi’s heart.
In this moment, Yujinhwi felt emotions beyond gratitude toward her Master.
Thump.
Amidst the frozen core of her body, Yujinhwi’s heart raced.
Reflecting upon her Master’s kind heart and his words, she began to channel the extreme Yin energy through the Three Yin True Formula’s mantra.
Woom…
A faint vibration rose from her dantian, colliding with the essence of the Mita Sacred Water running through her chilled blood.
Yujinhwi struggled to control the extreme Yin energy according to the principles of Three Yin True Formula.
But.
Ugh?!
No matter how talented and gifted Yujinhwi was, her overall energy was not enough compared to the potent essence of the Mita Sacred Water.
As the control of the extreme Yin energy faltered, it rampaged wildly within her blood.
Amidst the extreme cold that threatened to freeze her entire body, Yujinhwi panicked at that moment.
“Disciple.”
Her Master’s voice whispered in her ear.
“While reciting the Three Yin True Formula, guide the Yin cold energy through the points I mention.”
The specific points her Master referred to echoed in her ears.
In this life-and-death moment, where the potion’s side effects could leave her incapacitated, the sudden advice from her Master was trust-worthy.
“Philtrum Point, Chest Center Point, Yin Corner Point, Perineum Point…”
Even in front of the absolute elixir, she believed in her Master’s goodwill, which he had shown by restraining his desires and yielding her the tonic.
She believed in her Master’s genuine heart, which wished for the revival of the sect and her well-being.
But there was just one thing that bothered her.
‘I wish my Master would also wish for his own happiness a little…’
Her Master was always selfless.
He devoted himself tirelessly, not hesitating to offer even the absolute elixir for her and the sect.
Even though he lacked more potential and talent than her, her Master bore no jealousy, no hostility, nor judgments toward her shortcomings.
All he had taken was the Hongyang Platform, a lesser elixir than the Mita Sacred Water.
Her Master, who disguised his frail heart with a mature facade, was all the more pitiable in Yujinhwi’s eyes.
So, if she succeeded in attaining the Ultimate Transformation through her Master’s guidance…
Then she would take care of her Master.
It wasn’t because of some debt of gratitude.
After all, the only one who could care for her self-neglecting Master was her, his disciple.
Yujinhwi followed her Master’s instructions, guiding the Yin cold energy according to the Three Yin True Formula.
The Yin cold energy began by swirling from the Philtrum, then to the Chest Center, the Yin Corner, and finally down to the Perineum.
Miraculously, the rampaging Yin cold energy began to come under the control of the Three Yin True Formula.
Follow my lead!
Failures were unacceptable.
Bearing the excruciating pain resembling frozen death, Yujinhwi persisted in controlling the Yin cold energy.
As the Yin cold energy clawed through her body in a storm comparable to a blizzard in the North Sea, Yujinhwi endured the agony.
Gradually, the pain and coldness began to dissipate, and she began to rein in the Yin cold energy.
Yujinhwi found herself smiling inwardly.
Her Master was indeed correct.
Thanks to her Master, she escaped the brink of incapacitation.
This gratitude could not be repaid even if it took her entire life.
As Yujinhwi thought this, suddenly, Bang!
A tremendous current collided against a block wall.
It was the Ren Meridian, obstructed by sludge accumulated through years of her life.
“Now, pierce through the Ren Meridian.”
Following her Master’s advice, Yujinhwi continued to slam the Yin cold energy against the blockage.
Bang! Kuwung!*
As numerous cracks formed in the sludge wall, the pain overwhelmed Yujinhwi again. Yet she gritted her teeth through it. When she persistently battered the Yin cold energy against the Ren Meridian, suddenly.
Kuwung!
With a thunderous sound, something inside her broke free, and her seated form jolted.
As the ruptured sludge wall shattered completely, the Yin cold energy began to flow through the now-open Ren Meridian with a fierce surge.
Finally, she traversed through the Ren Meridian.
“Send the Yin cold energy from the Ren Meridian to the Baihui Point. Now it’s time for the Du Meridian.”
Yujinhwi followed her Master’s words once more.
Now, she pushed the Yin cold energy, which was completely under the control of the Three Yin True Formula, to knock against the barrier of sludge blocking the Du Meridian.
Bang! Kuwung!*
The resistance from the Du Meridian was fierce.
Blood trickled from Yujinhwi’s lips.
Silently enduring the pain of her body freezing and the agony of her channels being shredded, she stubbornly continued to hammer at the door of the Du Meridian.
And finally.
Kuwung!
The sludge blocking the Du Meridian crumbled as her body lurched yet again.
Her consciousness blanked, and there was a sensation of weightlessness. Was it her body that trembled, or the world itself?
As her awareness began to fade, Yujinhwi closed her eyes.
Yet even then, the Yin cold energy, now unleashed, roamed freely within her body.
Her life-and-death barrier had been broken.
This was the moment that solidified her foundation as the future Geomseong Yujinhwi.
*
After two rounds of her body lurching, my disciple’s breathing gradually steadied.
I didn’t even need to check her pulse to know.
She had successfully traversed through the Ren and Du Meridians.
The chilling aura rising from her body created frost around us.
Moments ago, Yujinhwi had a grimace of pain; now her expression had relaxed.
She was lost in the void, performing her energy circulation.
Along with that, a thick, black, tar-like substance began to ooze from her body.
That was the sludge expelled as she traversed through the Ren and Du Meridians, purging the accumulated impurities within her.
This was the start of the Ultimate Transformation.
Once her energy circulation was complete, she would absorb more essence than in her previous life.
Perhaps she had even gathered energy equivalent to an entire cycle’s worth after traversing the Ren and Du Meridians.
All thanks to me, the expert in the Yin Cold Energy Circulation Method who guided her in meditation.
Damn it.
Being a man sure makes things complicated.
Ugh, that smell.
My sensitive nose recoiled at the vile odor emanating from the expelled sludge.
Ultimate Transformation is all well and good, but that awful stench is a problem.
It smells like a septic tank.
Now that my part was complete.
I frowned at the stench, closed my eyes, pinched my nose shut, and slipped past my disciple, lost in her meditation, towards the cave wall.
There, I found the dark red moss, the restorative elixir known as the Hongyang Platform.
With trembling hands, I carefully picked the warm elixir imbued with pure Yang energy and popped it into my mouth before settling into a meditative posture right there.
Now it was my turn to enhance my own vitality.