NOVEL WEB Chapter 25
25th Chapter: Renewing Daily (苟日新 日日新 又日新)
Hyeon-gyeong’s level is to complete a microcosm through insight.
And the level mentioned only in legends, the Boundary of Life and Death, is to project the completed microcosm onto the macrocosm, changing the principles of the universe.
From the level of the Boundary of Life and Death, if you just look at the records, it reaches the realm of natural disasters, breaking mountains and tearing the sky, rather than martial arts.
Honestly, I thought the records might be exaggerated. But seeing the Primordial Sword Technique truly flip the world as recorded, it seems all those absurd claims about splitting the heavens and shaking the earth were true.
“If I reach the extremes of the Joining and Parting Divine Skill I created, I can comprehend the Honwon Mugukdo.”
The Primordial Sword Technique spoke while looking at me.
“O, bearer of the opposing souls and the unlearned Dao, the darkness of the world has not yet vanished. The ominous star of the opposing ghosts will surely rise again. I want to tell you more, but I cannot, as it goes against the heavenly secrets. Until that day, focus on training the Joining and Parting Divine Skill.”
Just then, as the Primordial Sword Technique spoke to me in a significant tone—
grrgrrgrrgrr
With a thunderous roar, the world collapsed, and I opened my eyes.
“Hah!”
I unintentionally sucked in a breath.
As my hazy vision cleared, the first thing that caught my eye was the Night Pearl embedded in the ceiling.
And a small stone box resting on a stone altar illuminated by the small pupils and the light of the Night Pearl.
‘The Joining and Parting Divine Skill must be inside there.’
The Joining and Parting Divine Skill.
It was his unique martial art created by the Primordial Sword Technique 300 years ago.
After the death of the Primordial Sword Technique, the new skill was passed down only to the Gongdong Sect Leader and the Sect’s disciples for generations, but 50 years ago, like other techniques, it was banned by the Demon Sect at the Gongdong Blood Temple.
The effectiveness of the Joining and Parting Divine Skill could be described in modern terms as a counter.
Utilizing the principles of Yin-Yang Reversal to change the direction of power freely, this divine skill was said to shock even Einstein, Newton, and Heisenberg, even blaspheming the physical laws that are the essence of modern science.
Of course, only the creator, the Primordial Sword Technique, became the greatest genius who could blaspheme real physical laws, and the achievements of the subsequent Gongdong Sect leaders and disciples were not on that level.
Anyway, since the Joining and Parting Divine Skill is the Supreme Absorption Technique, it was necessary for me to accomplish the foundational techniques before I could access it.
‘That’s right, I need to master the Current Solar Energy Technique, Primordial Yin Energy Technique, and Primordial Unity Energy Technique before I can enter.’
The Current Solar Energy Technique is an upward Yang energy technique; the Primordial Yin Energy Technique is an upward Yin energy technique, and the Primordial Unity Energy Technique is a counter-blood technique that achieves Yin-Yang Reversal.
All three were obtained or restored by my senior in a past life, but the Joining and Parting Divine Skill was something even my senior, who was a Heavenly Body, could not ultimately restore.
That’s right.
The unique martial art conceptualized by the master of the Boundary of Life and Death, which even the greatest genius, my senior, could not restore.
The path to absolute vital energy that flips the universe is contained in that small stone box.
I felt more excited than when I received a game console as a Christmas gift in my childhood.
heeheehee, if I just acquire this…
The corners of my mouth involuntarily rose.
After enjoying Cloud and Rain Pleasure with the Three Storey Tea House for seven nights, my vital energy would be as steel-like as I never even bowed to a column of flames!
My desire to possess such vitality was right there.
Thump thump.
Just as I reached out my trembling hand to open the stone box—
“Saje? Where are you? Saje!”
From behind, the sound of my senior’s voice echoed.
A trembling voice.
Wait, could it be?
No way?
No more physical contact with my senior…
Just as my thoughts reached that point—
“Saje!!”
grrip!
My senior attacked me from behind and hugged me tight.
As I sensed the surprise attack and instinctively tried to dodge, I couldn’t escape in time.
It was because my senior’s sneak attack was faster.
Damn this Heavenly Body.
The senior who ambushed me from behind wrapped their arms around my waist and clasped them, pulling me into a hug.
It was a textbook back hug.
As if a frontal hug wasn’t enough, now I’ve been robbed of a back hug by my senior.
My hands trembled.
My vision blurred slightly. A tear fell.
I hadn’t even been able to hold the hands of a breathtaking beauty, let alone enjoy Cloud and Rain Pleasure! Why on earth was I forced to engage in such sticky skinship with a male senior?
Damn it.
Just as I tried to escape my senior’s back hug—
“Saje, I was scared. Suddenly, both you and Master… disappeared… and the Main Base burned… I had that nightmare again, being left all alone like in the past…”
My senior hugged me tighter, trembling.
“Sniff, sniff…”
My back became damp.
My senior was crying.
Drip.
A single tear rolled down my cheek.
Tears of disgrace.
How can my back be tainted by a man’s tears! The hand that had been trembling intensified its shake.
My first back hug should have been from a breathtaking beauty.
As I tried to leave, she would regretfully shout, “Gaga, please don’t go! I can’t live without you!” while clinging to me from behind, her jade-like tears staining my back—that was the ideal scenario I had dreamed of.
But reality was cruel.
Not only did a man take my back hug, but I also had to accept a man’s tears on my back.
Where on earth is this brutal reality?
“Saje… Are you okay…?”
My senior asked, sobbing.
I firmly untangled their arms, which were tightly grasping my waist, applying the technique I had learned from my master’s teachings.
Finally freed from the back hug, I slightly pulled away to maintain a safe distance and said,
“I’m fine.”
“…Did you pass through the Realm of Spirits?”
With a bright red face like a snowball, my senior looked at me.
Normally, no matter how handsome someone is, crying usually ruins a bit of that beauty. But that damn senior, even with a crying face, looked unnecessarily good.
It felt like watching the legendary handsome actor Alain Delon performing a tearful scene.
Alain Delon’s looks were said to surpass the combination of Song Yu and Pan An, so much so that just walking down the street would earn you free meals in restaurants and clothing in stores.
Right now, my senior possessed a beauty that surpassed even that Alain Delon.
He could easily sweep through a clothing store or an inn, taking everything just with his looks.
What kind of face allows someone to look like a scene from a movie even while crying?
Surely, he was the embodiment of a heart-devouring spirit.
I noticed that, perhaps due to the Sacred Water of Mita, my senior’s body had transformed to resemble my own from my past life when my success in Regulation Preservation was deepened, making it all the more bizarre.
I nodded to my senior’s words and said,
“Yes, I passed.”
After I had a serious discussion about the remnants of the Primordial Sword Technique and the Color Spectrum, it seemed my senior had been wandering in the Realm of Spirits.
That must be why they brought up the nightmare.
“…Saje, you’re stronger than me… amazing. Saje… I… I’m the senior but… I should protect you…”
My senior began to cry again midway through their speech.
“Sniff… But… I couldn’t protect… the Realm of Spirits…”
My senior’s words trailed off, but I could guess what was coming next.
Being my senior, they felt this unnecessary obsessive compulsion to protect me since I was their disciple.
I had passed through the Realm of Spirits, while they felt unworthy of protecting me for not being able to pass through themselves, which was why they were crying.
It’s painfully obvious.
It’s not like my senior lacked the mental fortitude to pass through the Realm of Spirits.
They’re the future strongest in the world! There’s no way they couldn’t handle something like this.
I was simply too fast.
‘Sigh, I smashed the Realm of Spirits with Martial Arts of The Mind…*’
Just like a cliché from martial arts novels, the established way to pass through the Realm of Spirits is to penetrate the illusions it presents and overcome them.
But I didn’t follow the established route; I broke through with strength using Martial Arts of The Mind.
That’s why the Primordial Sword Technique spoke of me being unique.
If I hadn’t used Martial Arts of The Mind and had tried to follow the conventional route to pass through the Realm of Spirits, my senior would probably have passed through faster than I did.
“…Saje… I…”
“There’s no need to cry over this, senior.”
While looking at my sniffling senior, I said.
If those tears were the beautiful jade-like tears of a stunning woman, I wouldn’t mind, but I don’t want to see a man’s tears anymore.
So, I needed to make my senior stop crying quickly.
I sighed and took out a cloth I was planning to throw away and handed it to my senior.
It’s not a towel I use; a rag wouldn’t matter.
“Saje…?”
My senior looked at me and the rag alternately with red, puffy eyes.
What’s with that look?
That damn gaze.
When my senior’s gaze swept over my whole body, I felt a shiver down my spine.
My hands trembled.
Why were they looking at me with such a sticky gaze like that?
Is it right to say what I had prepared?
My senior’s eyes sparkled.
They looked expectantly at me, wanting to know what I was going to say. With that look, I couldn’t back out now.
This feels like it’s going wrong.
‘No.’
Thinking that, I shook my head inwardly.
No, maybe saying this much is okay. Yeah, to truly be a man, I shouldn’t tremble over every word.
Above all, if I don’t say a word now, then in the future, whenever a similar situation arises, my senior will act like this, which I certainly can’t endure.
As the saying goes, it’s better to take the first punch; enduring this humiliation once is better than facing it repeatedly.
Resolving myself, I looked at my senior and spoke.
“There’s no need for only you to protect me. Sometimes, I think I should protect you too. Mutual reliance is the true bond of brotherhood… don’t you think…?”
I trembled as I spoke, barely managing to maintain a smiling face.
Yes.
It’s better to evoke the brotherly bond and make my senior stop that damn crying than to keep letting them cry.
“Saje… ”
Upon hearing my words, my senior’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.
“So please stop crying now. What on earth is a man doing with so many tears?”
I said sincerely.
I don’t understand why a man is such a crybaby. Please stop crying. I don’t want to see it anymore.
Upon hearing what I said, my senior smiled faintly.
They carefully accepted the cloth I presented and wiped their tears, saying,
“You’re right, Saje. Mutually relying on each other is the true bond of brotherhood… I had forgotten. I’m sorry… Saje. And thank you… for waking me up. Yes, one-sided relationships are not good. Sometimes… I should rely on you too.”
My senior smiled brightly.
Seeing my senior’s bright smile was unnecessarily beautiful, almost like a parasite in appearance.
Damn, I grumbled inwardly as I turned my back to maintain a safe distance.
My senior’s gaze felt suspicious now. I should definitely widen the safe distance even more.
Stepping back another step, I said,
“That’s enough. Now, let’s leave through the Secret Cave according to the arrangements of the Primordial Sword Technique. Master will be worried.”
“Okay!”
My senior’s voice came back.
It seemed like the situation had been somewhat resolved. I probably wouldn’t have to deal with them sobbing like that in front of me anymore.
It should be that way.
Well, it didn’t feel bad, though.
‘My senior crying is rather girly.’
Of course, my senior is cool, and even crying makes them look like a scene from a film.
Like a male lead in a 21st-century Saturday 8 PM drama, they cry beautifully like a pretty flower boy.
However, unfortunately, this isn’t the 21st-century modern Korea but the 18th-century otherworldly Ming Dynasty.
‘In this age, women generally gravitate towards grown men, alpha males.’
My senior stands somewhat apart from the ideal beauty in this medieval orthodox world of Confucians.
However, given how absurdly good-looking my senior is, it’s not much of a flaw. Anyway, having discovered another weakness of my senior in addition to their sobbing tendency, I felt pretty good.
Now, shall we uncover the secret of absolute vitality?
As I hummed inwardly, I opened the lid of the stone box.
Inside was a book inscribed with the Joining and Parting Divine Skill (離合神功) in an antique style.
I carefully picked up the secret text on the Joining and Parting Divine Skill.
It was an old book.
If it got damaged from rough handling, that would be disastrous.
This was a crucial technique in the path towards the grand culmination of the Color Spectrum, so I had to handle it with care.
Just as I was thinking that and placing the secret text into my bag—
grrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrr
The whole Secret Cave shook.
“S-Saje?! The Secret Cave…!”
My senior shouted in surprise.
At that moment, the stone wall behind the altar opened.
With cracks running across the ceiling, debris began to rain down.
This is obvious.
They must have set up a mechanism to crumble the cave after securing the sacred text.
In the collapsing secret cave, I infused my legs with vital energy and leaped up to pull out the Night Pearl from the ceiling.
Even if we were to leave, I had to get the Night Pearl.
That thing is worth money, money!
“Stay calm and follow me, senior.”
“Okay…”
Having secured the Night Pearl, I led my senior through the opened passage behind the altar.
crash!
The passage soon became blocked by the falling rubble, shaking as if an earthquake had struck.
Leaving the completely collapsing Secret Cave behind, I held the precious bag containing the Night Pearl and the Joining and Parting Divine Skill tightly and stepped forward.
Flinch.
Yet even in the chaos, I kept moving my pelvic floor muscles, continuing my Kegel exercises.
As the saying goes, “If you wish to renew each day, strive to do it daily, and constantly rise anew.”
This quote encourages not to be complacent with today and to train diligently every day for further improvement, and it applies to vitality as well.
One should not become complacent with today’s vitality. Daily Kegel exercises, jerk exercises, taking vitality pills, lower body training through horse stance, and external training should be repeated without fail.
Then, I could truly become an ultimate alpha male, achieving success late in life.
With that resolution in mind, I and my senior escaped the Secret Cave.
Now it was time to return to the Gongdong Sect Main Base.