abcnovels
Chapter 35
Chapter 35
Chapter 35
‘A martial artist indeed.’
Jin Cheon-hee asked.
“Isn’t it regrettable that you won’t be able to see that by her side?”
“That’s the one thing that weighs on my mind. But anything more would be greed. If there’s one thing I wish for, it’s to leave this world without passing on any grudges to my daughter.”
“…”
There’s no such thing as a clean farewell to the world.
The possibility of him dying a natural death after losing his power is almost non-existent.
Now, only death at the hands of others remains for him. The grudges of the martial world will find him.
‘Has it become similar to that time in the novel?’
When he was defeated by Heavenly Demon Yeo Ha-ryoon in the novel and lost even his innate true qi.Surprisingly, he didn’t get angry. He just put things in order around him.
An overwhelming resignation moved him to the next stage.
Now that his daughter is alive, and he’s confident that she will become his successor and be better than him, it seemed he had entered the stage of resignation more easily.
For him whose life has changed, this was the only opportunity.
Jin Cheon-hee said.
“Will you grant me one request?”
“What is it?”
“I’d like to witness Phantom Archer’s internal cultivation practice one last time.”
The martial art that Phantom Archer has mastered is the Demon-Destroying Divine Bow.
In terms of sects, it’s a bow faction that originated from Buddhism, not Taoism.
Unlike Taoism, which considers becoming an immortal as the highest goal, Buddhism aims to reach enlightenment through the realization that comes from non-attachment.
Jin Cheon-hee said.
“Would it be rude?”
Phantom Archer said.
“Not at all. However, the main text uses the method of dynamic internal cultivation, which involves repeated movements. But now, the problem is that I don’t have a bow.”
Usually, Taoist-style internal cultivation is done through seated meditation. However, the Buddhist-style Demon-Destroying Divine Bow reaches a state of non-self and performs internal cultivation while repeating the same movements.
As befitting a bow technique, here internal cultivation is practiced while shooting a bow.
Jin Cheon-hee said.
“I don’t wish to witness anything extraordinary. Just pretend you have a bow.”
“I’ve never done it that way before, but…”
He trailed off, then nodded.
“…I’ll do it. Because I don’t know when I’ll see Young Hero again after leaving this place. Just don’t ridicule my sect if the internal cultivation practice looks clumsy. It’s just this rustic man who’s inadequate.”
Internal cultivation practice starting with nothing.
He took a deep breath.
The internal energy in his danjeon was barely perceptible.
Perhaps because he had let go of everything, his mind was exceptionally calm.
The money and internal energy he had been so attached to were all spent on treatment. It was as if he had lost everything he had built up at the risk of his life all at once.
And because his daughter was alive, there was no anger.
‘This might be my last internal cultivation practice.’
The one witnessing it is a small hero only half his height.
He might end up showing an unsightly appearance, but he didn’t care about that either.
He thought that even if it was unsightly, it wouldn’t be so bad.
After all, wasn’t that also the result of what he had built up?
Swoosh-
The bamboo leaves rustled like waves passing by. It was the sound of the wind.
He pulled his left heel back. Just like sword techniques, bow techniques also start and end with the lower body.
He assumes his stance as he has done hundreds of thousands of times before. And out of habit, he reaches out to grab an arrow from the quiver.
Originally, this action wasn’t necessary as he had reached the level where he could shoot qi.
But today too, he diligently moved his hand as if in prayer.
Thud-
Is it an illusion?
He feels the touch of an arrow.
The texture of the wood and the feel of the feathers.
He didn’t think deeply about it.
He just sank his inner self into non-self, into non-self.
In the streaming wind’s rain-like sound, only the boy’s gaze remained in his heart, seeming to guide him.
In that state, he breathes, and stops.
Eventually, he forgot even that act.
Humans rejoice, grieve, get angry, and feel joy.
It wasn’t about not feeling these things. He had to feel all of them. Otherwise, he couldn’t reach true emptiness.
Even the small fear that sometimes wells up in the solar plexus had to be accepted.
If you don’t know, you can’t move on to the next stage.
Buddha is like water.
Water doesn’t reject. Water swallows impurities and cleanses the world.
Buddha is gentle like a river and deep like the sea.
If you can’t feel emotions, it’s not water.
It’s because you’re happy that you suffer, and because you suffer that you get angry.
Anger brings sadness, and conversely, because humans know sadness, they also know joy.
He aimed the bow and drew the string.
Only then did he realize.
He assumes his stance and breathes. He steadies his breath and brings his hands together.
He brings his hands together and pulls them back again.
With the bow and arrow gone, only the movements remain. And what lies at the end of those movements?
He feels that his internal cultivation practice resembles the act of pressing palms together in Buddhism.
Tang-!
Something flew from his hands, which had neither arrow, bow, nor bowstring.
It wasn’t inner force. His empty danjeon was quieter than usual.
He realized what it was.
‘It’s affliction.’
It was intention.
He realized what the action he had done hundreds of thousands of times meant.
It was a single act of pressing palms together.
It was hundreds of thousands of prayers.
It was pressing palms together offered not to ancestors or immortals, but to the Buddha within himself.
–Affliction[1] is like the wind, like lightning and thunder, and finally must reach the state of turning over affliction[2].
-Demon-Destroying Divine Bow[3] means to simply discard, discard, and discard.
Why must one discard while accumulating internal energy,
He had pondered this countless times. At the time, he thought the meaning of discarding referred to being able to shoot the bow with inner force alone, and that was the highest state.
That wasn’t it.
‘Was it the self (?) that needed to be discarded?’
At that moment, qi began to surge around him.
The state of the mind sword. No, the state of the mind bow began to arrive for him.
It was a magnificent realization.
The bamboo grove sways with his enlightenment. The pouring windstorm resounds like applause.
Jin Cheon-hee feels the powerful wave of qi.
‘Is it a success! This is even greater than what was described in the novel!’
Kugugugu-
The way the wind swept by was like the hand of Buddha.
If the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara truly exists, its hands would look like this.
Though clearly resembling affliction and thus violent, it nevertheless harmed nothing.
Bamboo leaves sway in the wind. But not a single leaf vein was torn off.
The wind sows seeds from affliction, sprouts them, and disperses. It saves all sentient beings.
From the mud of affliction, intention blossomed.
The wind that started from him only lifts up dead bamboo leaves and shoots upward. That sight was like a lotus flower blooming from the mud.
Enlightenment became a lotus flower.
Phantom Archer’s body stood still upright. And slowly, as he began to float in the air, energy started to swirl around him.
‘Whoa! He’s floating in the air!? Is this that thing called the Samadhi of Sky Walking or whatever? No, but in the novel, Phantom Archer never achieved the Samadhi of Sky Walking when he awakened!?’
The wind brushed past Jin Cheon-hee’s earlobes.
It’s refreshing.
‘By the way, I… I actually did it? I thought it might work, but.’
Jin Cheon-hee watched blankly for a moment, then clenched his fist tightly.
‘Yes! Oh, yes! Ugh…! Master, look! I’ve renewed Phantom Archer, who will become our future subordinate!’
As he was celebrating alone like this.
Not long after, he sensed a presence.
“Indeed… Young Master, you’re truly unpredictable.”
Jin Cheon-hee turned his head to the side.
It was Yoo Ho.
***
He hadn’t even sensed his presence despite coming so close.
Yoo Ho, with both hands in his sleeves, looked at Phantom Archer, Wang Chaebaek.
“I thought he would become a cripple after losing his internal energy, but he gained enlightenment and recovered his injuries… Judging by the Samadhi of Sky Walking, it seems he’ll reach a level several stages higher. It’s amazing. Young Master, first Gongsun Yeong and now Phantom Archer, Wang Chaebaek.”
Though his words were clearly praise with respect, for some reason, his expression was only chilling.
Jin Cheon-hee said.
“Somehow, it doesn’t seem like you’ve come to purely congratulate this situation?”
“Yes. I was thinking while watching.”
“Thinking…?”
“Whether to kill you or not.”
A faint smile appeared on Yoo Ho’s lips. However, seeing Yoo Ho like this, Jin Cheon-hee felt cold sweat running down his spine.
A fear that couldn’t be described merely as chilling swept over him.
Like a frog in front of a snake. In that sensation, Jin Cheon-hee asked.
“Why?”
“Because the master almost lost his life. And as long as you’re around, the master will continue to push himself too hard. Eventually, this will keep happening. Until he loses his life.”
“…”
Jin Cheon-hee didn’t answer.
He knew from the start that the act of a terminally ill patient taking on a disciple was itself consuming his life. And sure enough, he almost died trying to save a patient.
It was a patient he wouldn’t have accepted if it weren’t for Jin Cheon-hee.
“If you kill me, Master won’t sit idly by.”
“Yes. He would kill me in the most horrific way imaginable to humans.”
“No, surely not to that extent. I thought he would just swiftly behead you and be done with it.”
“You see our master too kindly, Young Master. A gentle death? That’s not the kind of person our master is. He would kill me so painfully that even the Demonic Sect would be shocked~ Making pickled fish with my flesh would be just the beginning.”
It’s actually a bit hard to believe.
Isn’t he always the one who smiles gently in front of Jin Cheon-hee and says, “Hee-ya, our Hee-ya. Do you want to eat candy? Or dried persimmons? What do you want to eat?”
It’s hard to imagine such a gentle master doing such things.
‘Yoo Ho is seeing our master too negatively. That guy’s loyalty is questionable.’
Jin Cheon-hee thought Yoo Ho’s words were exaggerated.
“So, what’s the conclusion?”
“Judging by how you’re asking, it seems you’ve already guessed what conclusion I’ll reach?”
“Hahaha, for words directed at someone you’re going to kill, your tongue is too long.”
“You’ve got guts, Young Master.”
“It’s all I have.”
“Your humility is impressive too.”
Yoo Ho smiled coldly and then said this.
“Before meeting you, Young Master, how many meals a day do you think the master had?”
“…Two meals a day?”
He just guessed.
Yoo Ho answered.
“Once every three days, he takes one fasting pill made by the medical pavilion. And that’s tasteless like a brick. The master was, how should I put it, like a blade. He was someone who didn’t have emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, or pleasure.”
“…”
It’s hard to imagine.
Doesn’t he now eat three proper meals a day, even having lunch?
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