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chapter 17
Dan-yeop had just stepped out of his quarters with his pack in hand when someone blocked his path.
This time, it was Baek Yu-hwa.
“Senior Dan-yeop.”
“Baek… Yu-hwa?”
The prodigy, Dan-yeop, looked at her with a puzzled expression.
She’s not here to pick a fight over Yu Ja-cho and Deung-pyeong, is she?
But his misunderstanding was quickly cleared up.
“They say it was because of Senior Sister Hong, but still, I’m sorry I couldn’t help you pass the Entry Examination. I hope you’ll definitely succeed next year.”
“Senior Sister Hong?”
“Hong Cho-yeon. Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten what happened with her?”
“Ah, Hong Cho-yeon. But what happened again?”
When Dan-yeop pretended ignorance, Baek Yu-hwa was dumbfounded.
Is he still upset because he failed the entry exam? Or because the head of the Horse Division scolded him so harshly?
His anger was understandable, but it wasn’t something to take out on others.
“Haah, never mind. Still, seeing you with your pack, I can’t help but wonder… Did you fail the exam on purpose?”
“You know I fell into qi deviation, right?”
“I heard.”
“If I’m the master, then yes, it was on purpose. But if I’m the pawn, then it was inevitable.”
“Then are you the master or the pawn?”
“I’m always the master.”
At his answer, Baek Yu-hwa shook her head.
“Ah, yes, of course. Whatever you’re trying to gain from the Tomb of Soldiers and Horses, I hope you achieve it.”
“Thanks. And you too—try not to die, and just keep thriving.”
His casual farewell made Baek Yu-hwa frown.
That phrase, ‘try not to die’, created a strange distance.
It was as if Dan-yeop didn’t care at all whether she lived or died.
She had thought they’d grown closer, but maybe that was only her illusion.
After a slight hesitation, Baek Yu-hwa turned and left without looking back.
Half an hour later.
At the martial hall, Dan-yeop met the squad leader of Danbulwi, collected some survival pills and a water flask, and then headed to his secluded stone chamber at the outskirts.
He warmed up with basic techniques of the Six Gates, then began his serious training, starting with the Great Void Shadowless Sword.
Even without channeling his inner energy, sword winds raged through the chamber like a storm.
When the Great Void Shadowless Sword became more familiar in his hands, he moved on to the Unaffected Sword.
Sword Light Shattering Waves. Sword Sound Breaking Illusions. Sword Spirit Annihilation.
After chaining the three forms together, Dan-yeop slowly sheathed his sword.
Only then did the fierce winds settle.
Huff, huff, haaah!
When his ragged breathing calmed, he once again unleashed the Unaffected Sword.
Whoosh! Whoosh—!
Training the Great Void Shadowless Sword left his breathing steady.
But the Unaffected Sword was different.
Just one form made him breathless, and by the third form, his shoulders were heaving.
And that was without even using inner energy—just the sword forms alone.
When he finished the three forms, he gasped for air.
“Haaah! Why is this so hard?”
Of course, it wasn’t that he didn’t know the answer.
The difficulty lay in the intent of the sword. He was exhausting himself by pouring all his focus into comprehending it.
The Great Void Shadowless Sword was already difficult, but it was nothing compared to the Unaffected Sword.
The Unaffected Sword carried within it the principles of all things and the order of the cosmos. Each form revealed glimpses of the unknown.
From a practitioner’s standpoint, it was maddening.
Pouring his mind into those unknown realms left him gasping for breath.
“Damn it.”
Dan-yeop sighed.
They said, ‘You’ll understand as you go.’ But no matter how far he went, there was always a new path ahead.
No wonder the Unaffected Sword was known as the technique of the Taego Sect’s true disciples—it was not easy.
“Even with the same form, the outcome changes depending on how deep your understanding is… Frightening, really frightening.”
He had been proud of memorizing the Unaffected Sword so quickly, but now he felt he had deceived himself.
He thought back to how boastful he had been in front of his master, Elder Jeoksong, and felt embarrassed.
Once his breath calmed, Dan-yeop practiced the Primordial Unity Sword.
His master had said its secret lay in:
One sword is all things. All things are one sword.
Unlike the Unaffected Sword’s three forms, the Primordial Unity Sword had only one.
When the sword soars into the sky, its light cuts through the nine heavens.
A dazzling flash swept across the chamber.
Clang—!
The stone walls were scored with deep cuts, stone dust scattering.
But Dan-yeop’s expression was dark.
“This isn’t right.”
He instinctively knew something was off.
But he couldn’t even guess what the problem was.
He tried again, focusing harder, but the result was the same.
If anything, the second attempt felt even worse.
“This is the exact opposite of the Unaffected Sword…”
The more he practiced the Unaffected Sword, the greater his insights.
But the more he repeated the Primordial Unity Sword, the more mistakes he sensed.
It was like sinking deeper into a swamp with every step.
No wonder they say no cultivator has ever mastered the Primordial Unity Sword.
“At my current level, it’s impossible.”
Dan-yeop decided to focus on the Unaffected Sword for now.
If he kept swinging and comprehending little by little, one day he would reach the end.
As for the Primordial Unity Sword, he would return to it once his understanding deepened.
With his direction set, his heart felt lighter.
Lastly, he practiced the movement technique Water-Moon Divine Steps.
Compared to the Primordial Unity Sword, it felt easy.
Perhaps it was simply a matter of compatibility—it suited him well.
If the technique began with stillness within motion, it ended with motion within stillness.
Dan-yeop grasped its subtleties without much difficulty.
Like a cloning technique, his figures multiplied inside the chamber.
They increased to three before merging back into one.
The unified Dan-yeop exhaled deeply.
“Phew—! Just like the moon reflected in water… no wonder it’s called a peerless step technique.”
Still, to reach the level of moving with intent alone, he knew it would take long training.
Just then, his stomach growled loudly.
He quieted his hunger with the survival pills and water, then resumed his sword practice.
Training and resting in cycles, he eventually ran out of water first.
He grabbed the empty flask and ran toward Yeongcheon, the spiritual spring west of the tomb.
It was a naturally formed underground waterway, marked by an ancient stone stele with the engraved name “Yeongcheon.”
People of the Tomb of Soldiers and Horses drank from it and sometimes bathed there.
After filling his flask, Dan-yeop stripped off his clothes and plunged into the spring.
A while later, he emerged, dressed, and sat by the water.
“This is nice…”
But despite the words, his expression was blank.
It was nice, but the hollow hunger inside him lingered.
He wasn’t sure if he was hungry from playing in the water or simply empty inside.
“How long has it been?”
He had trained so intently on the Taego Sect’s techniques that he’d only left when his water ran out.
Unlike the main training grounds where sunlight marked time, in the remote stone chamber, day and night blurred.
Maybe he could guess from the pills left.
He dashed back to the stone chamber with the flask.
There, he set it on a stone table and counted the survival pills.
He had started with a full pouch, but only five were left.
“Have I really been in there that long? Or did I just eat too many?”
Scratching his head, he frowned.
He had been eating one whenever he felt hungry, so it was hard to tell.
Then he remembered what the squad leader had said when handing him the pouch.
They’ll last you at least fifteen days.
“No way, right?”
It was absurd to think he hadn’t slept for half a month.
And it didn’t feel that long either.
“Maybe about a week. Guess I just ate too many.”
He settled on that thought, then pulled out his golden robe and put it on.
Now, he would train his inner energy with the Taeul Foundation Cultivation Method.
Wearing the robe, he lay down and circulated energy, occasionally getting up to eat a pill whenever hunger struck.
After repeating this many times, even the last five pills were gone.
He packed away the robe and headed to the martial hall.
At the martial hall.
When Dan-yeop asked, “How many days has it been?”, the squad leader answered,
“Three days.”
“What?! Only three days?”
“Why so shocked? I was actually thinking it was about time you came.”
The squad leader looked at him curiously.
“The pills—those were for hunger, right?”
“They can be eaten when hungry, but it’s better to take them morning and evening. Hunger fluctuates with your state of mind.”
“Fluctuates?”
“When you’re focused, you forget hunger. But when distracted, the emptiness hits harder. So it’s better to eat on a schedule. Why do you ask?”
“Ah… I finished them all. I thought at least two weeks had passed, but it was only three days, so I was a bit shocked.”
“What?! You ate fifteen days’ worth in just three days?”
The pills varied in quality, from cheap to priceless.
But even the weakest ones weren’t something you just snacked on.
Dan-yeop had gone through an entire pouch, worth a silver tael, in only three days.
This brat ate those precious pills like roasted beans!
The squad leader was speechless.
“I just ate one whenever I felt hungry. I thought I’d been training for half a month and was thrilled… but it was only three days.”
Dan-yeop looked genuinely disappointed that his closed-door training had ended so quickly.
“Well… it can happen the first time.”
Though heartbroken over the wasted pills, the squad leader forced a kind smile.
No amount of silver was worth souring relations with such a prodigy.
“I’ll try to eat on schedule next time, Father.”
Even for him, being called “Father” wasn’t particularly welcome today.
Still, he didn’t show his frustration.
“Yes, yes. Next time, pace yourself. So, is your training complete?”
“It seems so. I was fine in the chamber, but here my vision’s blurry. I think I’d better go back to the quarters and sleep.”
“Good idea.”
“Please explain to the Dense Fool Dan-yeop so he doesn’t get mad at me. I even left a letter, but once he hears I didn’t take the exam, he’ll grind his teeth.”
“Don’t worry. With his shallow knowledge, he’ll believe whatever I say.”
“Thank you. Then I’ll be off.”
“Go, go. Rest well.”
After bowing, Dan-yeop returned to his quarters.
When he woke from sleep, Dan-yeop blinked at the familiar ceiling, feeling strangely unsettled.
“The Entry Examination must be over by now… Wait, don’t they depart the very same day?”
As his mind cleared, an ominous thought began to creep in.
