NOTICE: Many of the novels have been removed because they might cause violations, which we were not aware of earlier.
Episode 274. In Shaanxi (3)
“… … What do you mean, priest? Retreat?”
Are you going to abandon your hometown? – Jangmun Okyeon, the eldest of the Tang volcanoes, spoke in a low voice. Her unwillingness was evident. The fact that the hem of her dress was fluttering in the still room was proof of this. It was the generation of a qi wave.
Okyeon, a swordsman of mature harmony, is a master who can move as soon as his true energy responds when his mind is moved. As a result, he is always in a state of mind similar to Myeonggyeong Jisoo, but he seemed to have been shaken to some extent after hearing the unexpected story a little while ago. It was impressive that his composure, which had been maintained even when he was talking with his disciple Cheongmyeong about the possibility of Shaolin’s destruction, collapsed.
Anyway, what was unusual was that the wave that occurred so suddenly was purple.
What is true energy?
Through the art of the True Qi Master, called the mind method or breathing method, the energy scattered throughout the universe – the natural energy – is internalized into one’s own body. According to the natural order, the energy that is inhaled is bound to go out again through the exhalation.
If you feel the presence of the energy mixed in your breath and let it flow along a certain flow inside the human body, also called a microcosm, it will take on a certain property and stay in your dantian. This is the true energy that the martial artists call their inner strength or internal energy.
Of course, the true energy varies greatly in its nature depending on the essence of the mind method used to refine it and the path it circulates through. If true energy of different natures is accumulated in the body, its efficiency inevitably decreases. It can be seen that the natural energy is not refined enough, and the promised functions of the mind method may not be properly displayed, or the time for the generation of sword energy may be greatly reduced compared to the accumulated internal energy.
In particular, if you accumulate the energy that is inherently difficult to mix – the true energy of forward motion and the true energy of backward motion at the same time, there is a high possibility that you will inevitably fall into the evil of running fire. You will suffer an irreversible internal injury.
That’s why the disciples of the famous school who slowly but surely built up their pure energy tended to overwhelm the martial artists of the Sasang school who built up their internal energy relatively quickly, but whose true energy had a messy nature. This is because the effectiveness of the true energy was vastly different.
In this way, the mind method is important enough to be called the foundation of martial arts, and once you start accumulating true energy through breathing methods, it is common to accumulate only true energy of the same nature throughout your life. And the long-standing Daebangpa and martial artists have created and modified martial arts suitable for unfolding such true energy for a long time. There have been cases where those who learned other martial arts breathing methods stole Daebangpa’s martial arts and learned them, but most of them only displayed incomplete power, which is why.
Then the question arises. Was there no leakage of the mind’s law?
Also, what kind of breathing technique do you teach to newly initiated disciples?
From the perspective of the Great Wave faction, it was understandable that they did not teach proper martial arts to their disciples until a certain level of verification had been done. How many people in the world were jealous, envious, and covetous of their martial arts?
We couldn’t let our guard down just because they had young, uneducated children as disciples. Couldn’t it be that they were planted by other sects or forces? If the purpose was not simply to leak the information, but to make it public and the destruction method was made known to the world, the relevant lineage would be completely finished.
However, it would not be possible to continue to verify them forever. Imagine the young disciples growing up and becoming the pillars of the school. In order for their achievements to deepen even a little, it would be right to pass on proper methods and martial arts as soon as possible.
If you teach properly right from the beginning, you are afraid of leakage and destruction, but if you postpone teaching, you will regret the achievements in the future. – In this paradox, Daebangpa found its own answer.
The method is to teach breathing techniques that omit several key elements of the energy path at first. The speed of accumulating true energy is slow, but the stability is extremely excellent and the refinement is certain to be achieved. Since it takes a simple energy path, it also has the advantage of being easy to practice with an immature mind. It cannot be said to have simply deteriorated. In any case, it allows the school’s martial arts to be properly displayed with power based on pure true energy.
Likewise, the essence of the mind method does not teach the core part. Is it because the breathing method has become simpler? Even without imparting the profound essence, there was no problem in refining and building up internal energy.
In this way, they are trained first, and after some time has passed and the verification process is completed, they are taught more detailed paths of energy and secrets. Since the foundation is solid and the nature of the accumulated true energy has not changed, even if they learn new methods, they can continue their previous achievements without difficulty. Among them, those with outstanding qualities have been studying the secrets ceaselessly, so there are cases where their skills improve by leaps and bounds as soon as they receive proper instruction.
Moreover, even if these basic techniques are leaked, there is no great damage. Since it is a method that focuses only on stability and natural refining, the attack speed is extremely slow. Who would want to learn it? It is a martial art that you can never become a master of unless you formally enter the relevant school and receive the martial art of ascension. It is more like a chain.
The gist is that it is only superficial, so there is little chance of it being destroyed.
In the end, the martial arts of the Daebangpa were generally structured in such a way that they were gradually passed down as martial arts of ascending ranks. Shaolin, which had a long history of a thousand years, had many types of martial arts of ascending ranks, so they did not make any distinctions, but other Daebangpas had martial arts that only those with the qualifications for the long course could learn.
This was for the symbolism and authority of the long text of the sect, and the most famous of these was the Purple Haze God Gong, the deep art of the volcano.
When you learn Jahashin Gong, you will experience a phenomenon in which the nature of your true energy, which you have accumulated through the basic Gong, Hwasan Yukhap Doinbeop (華山六合導引法), Nine Palaces Plum Blossom Heart Method (九宮梅花心法), and Cheonyeonsimgong (天淵心功), changes completely, and as a result, the color of your true energy turns purple.
In the volcano, this purple energy was called Jaha Ganggi (紫霞罡氣). Ganggi (罡氣) was originally the exclusive property of peerless masters, and was a skill that could only be used by those who had reached a state where they could manifest their thoughts into reality through high concentration.
However, if you learn Jahashin Gong, even if you haven’t reached the state of Harmony, you can easily realize strong energy because some kind of thought will always be present in your true energy. Of course, it is nothing compared to the strong energy that the peerless masters resolve to display, but it is a great advantage that all the martial arts that utilize energy can instantly transform into strong energy. For example, it means that you can enjoy some of the benefits of self-defense and strong energy with the energy film that the masters display on a daily basis.
It goes without saying that the power of all the sword attacks of the Volcano Sect is doubled.
anyway.
In front of Okyeon, there was a middle-aged Taoist priest who had his eyes filled with purple shards of energy scattering like falling flowers. This was Okyang, the plum blossom gentleman.
“… … .”
On one side, the volcanic dragon Cheongmyeong had retreated and was silent. Although he seemed unable to join in on the conversation between the adults of the temple, he also seemed to be resentful of the words of the monk who seemed to be urging him to retreat.
Ok-yang said.
“Zhuge Liang’s thoughts are firm. He said that Ma Guangcheonju advanced to Songshan right after the imperial declaration of non-aggression, and that the Hua family would not have sent out troops without thinking, so there is a high possibility that clashing with them would be detrimental. He said that there is no reason to fight in a situation that the enemy intended.”
“Intention? Isn’t that a bit too much of a leap? The reason why the painters are holding a grand ceremony and advancing slowly is obvious. It must be to prevent the main faction from sending reinforcements to Shaolin. I guess it’s just a tactic to buy time, but do you think this is bait? It’s good to be cautious when operating a large force, but isn’t this excessive?”
“That is certainly true, my lord. As I said, the leader is away, so there must be a reason to preserve troops until he returns. After talking to him several times, it seems that the moment troops are sent to Shaanxi, the Guizhou Guo family is on guard against any movement.”
“… … Go to Guizhou.”
Okyeon muttered and thought for a moment. After hearing this, it was definitely possible. Among the three families of the Madou clan, which had been expanding their territory without any all-out war, the Hwa clan of Shaanxi had openly raised an army. There was no guarantee that the Gwak clan of Guizhou, which borders Sichuan, would not do the same.
Ok-yang said.
“Jang Moon-sa-jeo. Think carefully about the movements of the Magwangcheon clan. Without any warning, he moved like lightning and destroyed the Namgung clan with only the Magwangcheon clan’s forces, then retreated to Hubei and didn’t move at all. That’s why everyone guessed that he had suffered an internal injury and was in hiding, but as soon as the imperial family declared that they would step away from martial arts, he immediately attacked Shaolin as if he had been waiting. The Hwa clan went on an expedition accordingly, preventing the main clan from sending reinforcements… … All of these things happened smoothly. As the military said, the moment Meng sends troops to Shaanxi, the Guizhou Guo clan might make a move.”
“Yes. Muryangjeonju… … I understand why the Zhuge Army is wary of such things. However, it is not a reason for the main faction to retreat. Why should we abandon the stronghold of Shaanxi, where two of the six factions have deeply entrenched themselves? I hate to admit it, but Jongnam is also a renowned swordsman who stands shoulder to shoulder with the main faction. No matter how much the Hwa clan’s power grows, there is no reason for us to retreat in fear. It is also a matter of the Six Factions’ reputation.”
“What the teacher said is right. Private study.”
Cheongmyeong, who had been just listening, began to speak.
“Face and honor can be temporarily put aside for the greater good. However, retreating without knowing what will happen to Shaolin seems like a hasty decision. If we retreat and Shaanxi falls into the hands of the Demonic Beasts, what will happen to Shaolin? Even if we defeat the Magwang Heavenly Lord and overcome this crisis, Shaolin will be isolated. It may be Jongnam’s fault for not sending reinforcements despite knowing Shaolin’s immediate danger, but it is our Hwasan’s responsibility if Shaolin becomes isolated in the future due to our main faction’s retreat. Therefore, it would be right to at least wait and see what happens to Shaolin before taking action.”
“Cheongmyeong’s words are extremely correct.”
Okyeon nodded with a glad expression.
“… … .”
Okyang was silent for a moment. He had thought it would be difficult to persuade Sajeo, but he didn’t think it would be this much. There was no room for compromise. Moreover, he lacked a reason to persuade her. The things that the military commander of Jeongcheonmaeng, Jegal Changsin, was worried about were nothing more than hypothetical events that had not actually happened, and if Shaolin could overcome the crisis as Cheongmyeong said, then Hwasan’s retreat would be an unwise decision.
That was why Ok-Yang couldn’t just keep insisting on retreating. Deep down, he didn’t want Hwa-San to retreat either.
“… … As expected, there is only one answer.”
“hmm?”
Ok-yeon expressed her doubts about Ok-yang’s words. Was there any other plan besides retreat?
“Actually, I knew you would come here, so I stopped by Jongnam first on my way back.”
“To Jongnam?”
“Yes. I know about the relationship between the two of you, but isn’t this the situation? I had no choice but to bow my head and ask for Geomjong’s help. He said he would think about it. I guess I will receive a reply soon.”