Zhuge Lin said, "When this tree is completely restored, the first task will be completed. Hmm... until when should it be?" He pondered for a moment and then said, "It would be good to try by the day after tomorrow."
"Isn't that too tight a schedule?" Yoo Ho asked as Zhuge Lin returned to the medical pavilion.
Zhuge Lin replied, "It is tight."
"And it's too difficult. The first task is already three levels above. No one in the medical pavilion can do that with just one star."
"Yes, that's true."
"Then why on earth...?"
Zhuge Lin interrupted Yoo Ho's words.
"It seems you have grown quite fond of our Hui lately. Your words are getting longer."
Zhuge Lin looked at Yoo Ho with a voice devoid of laughter.
"No, it's just..."
Yoo Ho couldn't say anything further and trailed off.
He was Zhuge Lin's trusted aide.
Even if he was favored, his position as an aide remained unchanged.
Zhuge Lin said nothing more to Yoo Ho.
Yoo Ho, too, did not ask Zhuge Lin any further.
'When it comes to education, he becomes stricter than anyone else.'
Teaching was harsh, separate from affection.
'Well, even if he fails, that's all there is to it.'
It's nothing to be ashamed of.
No one in the medical pavilion could complete such a task within three days right after becoming one star.
Yoo Ho thought that not only successful experiences are good experiences.
Failure experiences are also valuable.
'Is he trying to teach him the mindset?'
If that's why he gave an impossible task, it might make sense.
"Water energy, healing with water energy..."
With the ability of the first star of the Five Elements Mind Technique, you can barely light a dry piece of paper.
You can do that with a matchstick.
A matchstick is more convenient.
You just strike it against the wood without needing to concentrate.
The water energy of one star is no different.
'How am I supposed to heal this giant tree...?'
He slowly focused the water energy on the surface of the tree.
A small amount of water energy, starting from the dantian, rose and seeped into the tree.
"..."
That was it.
"Can't even heal a piece of bark."
The scar lightly made by the master.
But it seemed the tree would never bloom again.
"How do I cut this thick thing in half with a fan?"
Jin Cheonhui leaned against the tree stump.
'The master must know that I can't do it with my internal energy.
He must have given it knowing it's impossible.
Just to teach me frustration?'
He thought that couldn't be it.
Even if he wanted to teach that, it wouldn't be in this way.
It was quite a majestic tree, but to Jin Cheonhui, it was just a tree he saw for the first time with no memories attached.
He didn't think he would be particularly sad if this tree withered and died.
After all, he wasn't an environmentalist, and this wasn't the only tree of its kind in this vast mountain.
"It seems you have no choice but to die. If it was just cut, it might be different, but since it was burned, the vascular tissues and cambium must have been completely destroyed."
In local terms, it would be expressed as being eroded by fire energy.
'Even if eroded by fire energy, if the roots are alive, there's a chance, but returning to its original form is impossible.'
No matter how many times he thought about it, there was no way to solve the master's task.
"Hahaha."
Jin Cheonhui hugged the tree and laughed like a madman.
At that moment, a drop of water fell on Jin Cheonhui's forehead.
Looking up at the sky, it was cloudy.
Light flashed in the distant sky.
And a few seconds later.
Rumble—the sound was always slower than the light.
"The weather isn't helping either."
Two drops of water brought four streams of rain.
The four streams became a wall of downpour.
Jin Cheonhui leaned against the tree.
"It's good for avoiding the rain."
He muttered as he looked at the muddy ground.
His gaze suddenly turned from the mud to the roots.
Even at this moment, the tree was absorbing water.
"Oh... that's right. Water nourishes the tree. The tree nourishes the fire, and fire is related to earth. Earth is related to metal, and metal... nourishes water again."
The master said that relationships of mutual generation enhance energy.
It's a method used for weakened patients.
"Then I can use it too, right? Since I need water energy, if I cultivate using the mutually generating metal, won't the water energy be enhanced?"
An application of the Five Elements Mind Technique.
'Is it possible?'
Five energies settled in the dantian.
Jin Cheonhui frowned.
'But what if I fail?'
He knew very well how dangerous it was to cultivate in a way he hadn't learned.
However, Jin Cheonhui's mind whispered that it was okay.
That it was possible.
No matter how many times he thought about it, it only gave him the answer that this was the solution...
Jin Cheonhui placed his hand on the split part of the tree.
"Hoo... If I die because of a tree, I'll be recorded as the greatest fool in the martial arts world."
With those words, Jin Cheonhui closed his eyes.
Ironically, the first thing Jin Cheonhui moved was the earth energy.
He judged it would be okay even if an accident occurred because it was the most gentle and solid energy.
Earth energy met metal.
Buzz—the dantian inside his body vibrated.
At the same time, he felt the metal energy merging with the earth energy and growing stronger.
'Compound interest?'
It wasn't addition.
It was multiplication.
Jin Cheonhui hesitated at the exponentially growing energy.
Fortunately.
Even if it was multiplication, a bean is a bean.
Even if two beans are multiplied, they don't become a watermelon.
This much was manageable.
And Jin Cheonhui added the increased metal energy to the water energy.
Buzz—cubed.
He felt the water energy grow eight times, 2x2x2.
'It's getting tough.'
Jin Cheonhui infused the water energy into the tree.
He felt the life energy seep inside.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a bit of the tree bark had healed.
'Wow, I succeeded, but there's still a long way to go.'
Then how about starting with wood energy? If he started with wood, then went through fire, earth, metal, and water?
2 to the power of 5. 32 times.
'This is why purity was more important than quantity.'
No matter how much mixed energy grows, it's just impurities.
It becomes increasingly difficult to handle and is perfect for falling into inner demons.
It's okay to have less.
The purer it is, the easier it is to handle.
'That's why they told me to take the Heavenly Pine Pill later.'
The core of the Five Elements Mind Technique is mutual restriction and mutual generation.
Even if one energy becomes excessively strong, it's perfect for falling into inner demons.
Everything fits together like a puzzle.
"Alright, let's do it. Even if you fail, you won't have restless dreams..."
Understanding was complete.
What remained was concentration and courage.
Jin Cheonhui repeatedly clenched and unclenched his hands.
This isn't a person but a tree.
Where could there be a more suitable practice material?
There was no reason to hesitate.
Jin Cheonhui took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
The next day.
Zhuge Lin got up early in the morning and went outside.
The rain that had been pouring all night had stopped at some point.
"Yes. He's sleeping in his quarters?"
"Yes. Shall I wake him?"
"No. Let him be. He must have been troubled all night."
Is it okay to give such a big test to a child?
Wouldn't it be better to lower the difficulty to the level that other medical pavilion members could handle, even now?
Zhuge Lin sighed.
'If a master's greed is excessive, it ruins the disciple's talent.'
He walked slowly.
Toward the tree that had been cut.
How far did he walk? His steps stopped.
"Is that... the tree?"
Zhuge Lin's eyes widened.
There stood the tree that should have been cut, looking just as it did at the beginning.
'Looking closely, the grain of the wood is misaligned.
It's definitely a cut mark.'
It remained only as a scar.
That wasn't all.
Green moss in the shape of a handprint had grown at the base of the tree.
Zhuge Lin placed his hand on the mossy handprint.
The hand was much smaller than his own.
'It's true.
It's Jin Cheonhui's.
He did it alone without anyone's help.'
It was a mark left by the water energy.
The moss had grown over the water energy remaining after healing the tree.
"He did this in just one day... no, in just half a day."
Yoo Ho, who was watching from the side, was speechless in disbelief.
'He completed a task three levels above the first test... so easily?'
Learning the basics is the minimum qualification to take the test.
One must gain insight and apply it.
It doesn't end with just having a breakthrough idea.
One must be able to merge and amplify different internal energies and still push them in the desired direction.
Internal energy is like water.
When small, it's calm like a spring or pond, but as it gathers, it becomes a raging valley.
Humans cannot defeat nature.
Blocking it head-on is madness.
It must be guided, like building a dam.
It can't be rushed, but it can't be delayed either.
The balance was far beyond what a child could achieve.
"You did it. You did it! Ahem... well, it's only natural for the child who will become the next successor of Baekrin Medical Pavilion to do this much."
Despite that, the master's lips were infinitely ascending toward the sky.
"Master."
"Haha, having such a talent is not just my good fortune but the good fortune of all the doctors in the martial world. I must inform the medical journal of this fact."
'It's over.'
Yoo Ho thought.
Recently, he heard that the heads of each medical branch had started grumbling to their disciples, asking why they couldn't do as well.
The medical branches are connected like a spider web centered around the medical pavilion.
And Baekrin Medical Pavilion is committing a great act in the medical journal issued to those branches.
'Do you know about Ondol? The direct disciple of Baekrin Medical Pavilion...'
'Don't compare it to a brazier.
The proud disciple of Baekrin Pavilion Master who developed the stove...'
And so on.
The titles vary slightly, but they all refer to one person.
In Korean terms, Jin Cheonhui became the 'son of dad's friend.'
In local terms, he became the 'disciple of a known master.'
"Haha, hahaha!"
The master's steps back to the medical pavilion were as light as clouds.
"First, I must inform everyone in the medical pavilion of this fact. I look forward to the assembly time. Yoo Ho."
The first power of the medical pavilion stepped forward to commend the efforts of the second power.
After pouring out his internal energy all night, there wasn't a place that didn't hurt.
The amazing thing about internal energy is that the more you use it, the more your body adapts to it.
Moreover, the pathways through which the internal energy flows, the meridians, become wider and stronger, just as they were initially painful.
'It's similar to the phenomenon of supercompensation.'