No one in this world liked martial artists, but physicians loathed them most of all. Even when treated well, they often skipped out on payment. If the treatment was unsatisfactory, they resorted to assault and extortion.
If you were truly unlucky, you could even be killed. That was why many physicians refused to treat martial artists, even if offered a fortune. Physicians, who saved lives for a living, and martial artists, who took them, were fundamentally at odds from the very beginning.
Of course, martial artists had their side of the story. More than half the physicians I had met were quacks. When you were dying from a sword wound or an illness, and they kept pushing some dubious concoction on you, you had no choice but to speak with your fists instead of your mouth.
An older physician tended to inspire confidence. Physician Sang, with his graying hair and the face of an old man, looked skilled enough. His build was average, but his sharply focused eyes gave him the look of a stubborn and single-minded man.
I wondered if this was what Hua Tuo, who had wanted to split open Cao Cao's head with an axe, looked like. When I took out the wooden box and showed him the contents, he recognized it instantly, proving he was no quack.
“Snow ginseng.”
“You know of snow ginseng?”
“I know it well. I spent ten years as a military physician in the northern army. The foreign tribes would often bring medicinal herbs to trade for rice or iron. When a wound got infected and caused a fever, boiling and administering snow ginseng worked wonders.”
“I need it processed. Is that possible?”
After a glance at the long blade tucked into my back, Physician Sang seemed to understand and didn't ask what it was for.
“I’ll need to use medicinal ingredients to neutralize the snow ginseng’s Yin energy.”
“Can you do it?”
“I can. The snow ginseng needs to be finely chopped, dried completely in the shade, then mixed with the right proportion of Yang-aspected herbs. I'll grind it into a powder, reduce it in licorice-infused water, and form it into pills.”
“How long will it take?”
“Come back in five days. Including the cost of the herbs, it will be two silver taels.”
I paid one silver tael as a deposit and returned home. Five days later, the Heavenly Mountain Snow Ginseng returned to my hands as ten pills. Do Gwang-il examined the processed pills with a satisfied expression.
“The physician’s skill isn’t bad.”
“Are we starting right away?”
“This will be the last direct transmission of true energy. There will not be another, so do your best to learn the pathways.”
“Will one time be enough? I think I need a few more times to completely learn the inner cultivation method…”
“Direct transmission consumes the user’s inner energy. In any sect, it’s only ever done once or twice, and only for direct disciples or blood relatives.”
“But can’t you just recover inner energy by circulating it?”
“Impossible.”
Do Gwang-il shook his head firmly.
“The amount of inner energy you can gather just by circulating it is minuscule. If you could gather enough energy that way, why would you need inner energy to circulate it in the first place?”
I didn’t understand.
“Then why do we circulate energy at all?”
“It’s to familiarize the body with the pathways for channeling inner energy into your forms. The reason each sect’s inner cultivation method is different is because they are optimized for their unique martial arts.”
“If you can’t accumulate energy through circulation, how are you supposed to replenish what you’ve used?”
“You have to find spiritual herbs, have them processed, and then consume them. If you’re in a pinch, you could buy and eat some dubious elixir.”
“You mean like this snow ginseng?”
“Exactly.”
My mind went blank. I paid a whopping one hundred silver taels for a single mid-grade Heavenly Mountain Snow Ginseng. And that was a bargain, struck by taking advantage of someone who desperately needed cash.
I'd hit him so hard his head was probably still ringing. Ban Ho-yang had been so enraged that he hired ten bandits to kill me and take it back. But to use inner energy, I would have to keep obtaining and consuming these expensive spiritual herbs.
“This inner energy thing… it’s a complete money pit.”
I finally understood why, among the countless martial artists scattered across the vast Central Plains, masters who could use inner energy were so incredibly rare. Finding the secret manual of a reclusive master in a cliffside cave or discovering a spiritual herb in some deep, secluded valley wasn't nearly enough.
First, the talent to even sense inner energy in your energy core was essential. You also needed an internal arts master to guide you through the circulation paths via direct transmission. And finally, immense wealth to continuously purchase expensive spiritual herbs to replenish your spent inner energy.
How many martial artists in the world could possibly meet all those conditions? Most small and medium-sized sects would go bankrupt trying to raise a single master of inner energy.
The penniless wanderer who scours famous mountains on foot searching for a lucky break, versus the prodigies born into wealthy families who receive periodic body purifications and direct energy transmissions from a young age. Even if they held the same blade, they were starting from completely different lines.
“Do you now understand why the Nine Sects and Five Great Families have so many masters?”
“…So, is learning inner energy worth the money?”
Instead of giving me the answer I wanted, Do Gwang-il offered a harsh string of words that was part warning, part curse.
“Once inner energy accumulates in your body, you must be wary of qi deviation until the day you die. If your qi and blood get slightly twisted, it ends with an internal injury. But if you’re unlucky, your meridians could burst and kill you, your inner energy could flow backward into your head and drive you mad, or you could become paralyzed.”
It sounded as terrifying as learning a demonic art.
“…I heard that knowing how to use inner energy opens the path to becoming an absolute master. Was I wrong?”
“See for yourself.”
Do Gwang-il pushed the wooden box of pills toward me.
“Eat them all at once.”
“All ten of them?”
“All of them. The energy core is most crucial when it’s first filled. You must absorb as much natural energy as possible to expand its size, so it can hold that much in the future.”
I put a pill in my mouth and bit down. The characteristic bitterness of herbs mixed with the sweetness of licorice, making it surprisingly palatable. I chewed it thoroughly with my molars, swallowed, and picked up another.
After consuming all ten without leaving any behind, I drank some tea, sat cross-legged, and closed my eyes. After about a quarter of an hour, a sensation I had never felt before stirred in my stomach.
“I feel the energy rising.”
“I will begin the direct transmission. Focus on your inner energy and draw as much of the spiritual herb’s natural energy into your energy core as you can.”
Do Gwang-il’s inner energy flowed into me through my back. The rice-grain-sized bit of inner energy I had felt before reappeared in my energy core. Using his inner energy, Do Gwang-il corralled the natural energy of the Heavenly Mountain Snow Ginseng, which was trying to scatter throughout my body, and herded it toward my energy core.
A thick, mist-like energy enveloped my energy core. The processing must have been done well, as I could barely feel any coldness despite it being a spiritual herb of extreme Yin. I wanted to absorb it right away, but the natural energy only swirled around the area, unable to permeate it.
As my inner energy circulated along its pathways, the natural energy slowly seeped into my meridians. It felt like snow that had piled up all winter was melting into a spring river. After circling my entire body through the meridians, the natural energy finally flowed into my energy core, forming a single drop.
The rice-grain-sized inner energy instantly doubled in size. Just as bland rice wine is boiled to distill high-proof clear soju, the natural energy of the snow ginseng transformed and filled my energy core, drop by drop. My entire body flushed with an overwhelming euphoria, as if I had become a flask filled with the exquisite liquor of inner energy.
Confirming that the inner energy was accumulating, Do Gwang-il slowly withdrew his own. From that point on, I was immersed in circulating my energy through my own strength and will. A sense of fullness in my energy core woke me from my trance.
I gathered as much of the remaining natural energy, which had nowhere else to go and was scattering to my limbs, as I could and opened my eyes. I could clearly feel a subtle but full presence of inner energy in my energy core below my navel. I brought my clothes to my nose and sniffed.
They smelled the same as before. There was no trace of any expelled impurities. I tilted my head back and looked up, but there was nothing there.
“By any chance, did three brilliant flowers bloom above my head, or did an aura of five colors resembling the five elements appear and then vanish?”
“Hmph. It seems you were hallucinating. When you see the physician later, ask him if he laced the pills with opium.”
Do Gwang-il replied nonchalantly and rose from his spot.
“Come outside and take up your blade.”
I stood in the yard with my long blade in hand.
“Circulate your inner energy as faintly as possible along its paths and execute the first eighteen forms. Do not raise your inner energy too strongly. The meridians were made for blood to flow through. If you push unfamiliar inner energy into them, you’ll suffer an internal injury immediately.”
I drew a thin thread of inner energy from my energy core, circulated it along the pathways, and performed the forms with my long blade. My movements were definitely different from before.
Sharpened senses. Lighter movements.
A slightly faster and more powerful flow… I felt in peak condition, like after a good meal and a long night's sleep. But that was all.
After completing the forms, my posture became awkward with a slight sense of disillusionment and confusion. Seeming to read my disappointment, Do Gwang-il clicked his tongue and took a step forward.
Ssshhh.
Do Gwang-il’s form blurred before my eyes. It seemed to stretch out, leaving an afterimage, and then vanished from my sight. Startled, I turned to find him standing calmly with his hands behind his back.
My jaw dropped in shock.
“Body-flickering.”
Do Gwang-il shook his head dismissively.
“Did you think that just because you have inner energy, you’d be able to fly through the sky like an immortal?”
“How did you…”
“Not all inner energy is the same. As you train, it deepens and becomes denser, allowing you to channel more of it efficiently at once. Then you can pull off little tricks like this. I wasted a good five percent of my inner energy just showing you this one trick. Tsk, I’m losing so much because of you.”
“You used five percent of your inner energy for one body-flicker?”
“If I had been holding a sword and executing a form, it probably would have melted away seven percent like snow. As you are now, you wouldn't even be able to perform it, but it would have likely cost you more than twenty percent.”
It didn’t matter if I lost ten percent or fifty percent of my inner energy. If I could use a technique like that when cornered and facing certain death, it would truly be a life-saving secret art. Even if it cost all my inner energy, it would be a small price to pay to save my life.
Seeing the fervor blazing in my eyes, Do Gwang-il let out a dry laugh.
“This isn’t something I can teach. It’s a state you might one day reach, just as you climb Mount Tai one step at a time.”
I swallowed hard and carefully spoke.
“By any chance… can you use things like sword qi or sword aura?”
Do Gwang-il’s eyes narrowed.
“So that’s where that little brat at the inn got such absurd ideas. From you? Such things don’t exist." "They’re just stories from cheap novels. If one could shatter Mount Tai with a single slash or part the sea with a single palm strike, why did the Shaolin Temple burn and the Wudang Sect seal its gates when the barbarians invaded the Central Plains?”
The mention of burning reminded me of something.
“Have you heard of the Explosive Flame Demon?”
“You mean that fist-fighting Great Demon from the Heavenly Mountains?”
“With a single punch, a man’s head would explode, and the heat would set everything nearby on fire. Is that also the power of inner energy?”
“It’s plausible for a demonic art. They burn through their life’s potential. When did you see this Explosive Flame Demon?”
“About nine years ago.”
“Then you won’t be seeing him again. He’s probably a pile of bones by now.”
Do Gwang-il was certain of the Explosive Flame Demon’s death.
“When you use an ability that surpasses human limits, you pay a commensurate price. Even if he’s clinging to life like a beast by sucking on blood and marrow, he would have succumbed to qi deviation and be human no longer.”
“Are you saying such attainments are possible with demonic arts?”
“Do you wish to devote yourself to the Heavenly Mountains?”
Do Gwang-il sneered sharply.
“Do you know how many demonic warriors are ground to dust to create a single Great Demon? At least hundreds, sometimes thousands. And even then, most don’t last ten years. If demonic arts were so easy and powerful, the Demonic Sect would have conquered the martial world long ago.”
Do Gwang-il was not just a master of great martial prowess. His inner energy was deep, and his knowledge was broad, making his words worth listening to with rapt attention. With a stern face, Do Gwang-il offered his advice.
“Keep the fact that you have inner energy a complete secret. No one must know. Never use it in front of others. When you circulate your energy, do it in a safe and secluded place.”
“Is it really necessary to go that far…?”
As if frustrated by my inability to grasp his meaning, Do Gwang-il’s expression and voice turned cold.
“Other than me, have you ever seen another martial artist use inner energy?”
“No. Not once.”
“Do you really think that’s a coincidence? That even though masters of inner energy are rare, you’ve never even seen one? Think back to the trap set up in the black inn and who it was meant for.”
The trap in the black inn, where pulling a lever would cause the floorboards to split open, dropping someone into a pit over fifty feet deep. It was powerful enough to have dealt with ten bandits in an instant. They wouldn’t have gone to such trouble to kidnap ordinary people who knew no martial arts.
It was a trap to capture a martial master, a beast in human form, to sell as a living secret manual. What would a master of inner energy be worth on the black market? The price would be whatever they asked.
After all, hadn’t I myself been so tempted by the words “inner cultivation method” that I accepted the insane condition of a life-and-death duel in five years? If word got out that I could use inner energy, there would be no shortage of people and factions after me.
Those who came to beg on their knees or offer treasures and vast fortunes in trade would be a nuisance, but not a danger. But if a place like the black inn started drooling… They could use drugs, poison, beautiful women, or traps to capture me.
Then they might cut off my legs to make me a cripple and force me to live the rest of my life as a slave, eating spiritual herbs and performing direct energy transmissions. The mere thought sent a shiver down my spine and chilled me to the bone.
“Even the disciples of the Nine Sects and the children of the Five Great Families, who are exceptionally skilled and have powerful backing, sometimes disappear without a trace in the martial world. For a wandering swordsman like you, it goes without saying. If you carelessly reveal your inner energy, you will invite endless disaster.”
I understood well enough, but Do Gwang-il, still not reassured, continued his stern warning.
“If you show your claws too often, they will become dull and won’t be sharp when you truly need them. Do not rely on your inner energy; diligently practice your saber techniques. Remember this. Inner energy must be your hidden trump card, a life-saving technique. The moment you become intoxicated with its power and show it off, that spot will become your grave.”
Hearing this, I thought it was similar to how the members of the Tang Clan used poison. The Tang Clan’s methods were infamous for their cruelty because once they poisoned someone, they would kill all the witnesses to protect their secret.
If someone found out that I could use inner energy, perhaps I too would have to kill them to silence them.
“Starting tomorrow, I will be gone from this village for a while. A month at the earliest. At the latest, I’ll be back before the end of the year.”
“Is something wrong?”
“I need to find some spiritual herbs. Having spent my inner energy on a non-disciple, I feel like I’ve lost half my remaining lifespan.”
I felt a slight pang of guilt, but at the same time, it felt strangely as though the life-and-death duel five years from now had moved a little further away. Without showing any of this, I asked about what was to come.
“Then when can I learn the latter eighteen forms?”
“First, practice channeling inner energy into the first eighteen forms. I will return, assess your progress, and then decide.”
After seeing Do Gwang-il off, I closed and barred the door. I stood vacantly in the empty yard, looking up at the fading sky. The body-flickering technique from moments before was seared into my mind, vivid and powerful.
Do Gwang-il had compared it to climbing Mount Tai, but it might be even farther and higher than that. For that reason, it was a worthy goal to strive for in life. I drew my long blade and slowly drew up my inner energy.