Rebirth of the Heavenly Demon

The old man of the Black Market was surprised that his prediction had come true.

“Your parents must be blessed with a filial child in their later years.”

Remembering that I had answered that I wanted to buy the elixir for filial piety when asked why, the old man laughed heartily.

“Hahaha, that’s a good thing. Yes, a very good thing indeed.”

“Here’s the money.”

I handed him forty-four thousand nyang.

Though I still had a few thousand nyang left, forty-four thousand was an astronomical amount.

It was enough money for an ordinary person to live luxuriously for a lifetime. No, it was enough for even their children to live that way.

If one weren’t a martial artist, they wouldn’t understand using that money to gain fifteen years of internal energy.

But for a martial artist, gaining fifteen years of internal energy is like buying fifteen years of time and effort.

For some, fifteen years of effort might be worth four thousand nyang, but for others, it could be worth four hundred million. This is where the saying that the value of elixir can’t be measured in money comes from.

The old man took the money.

Without paying first, you can never see the goods. It’s useless to take the old man hostage or kill him.

Only after the money is delivered internally does the item pass through a gauntlet of deadly traps and mechanisms. This is why Black Market transactions have become safer than before.

After about a quarter of an hour, the old man brought a small box.

Opening it, I found the Thousand-Year Broken Yang Herb inside. It was in excellent condition.

The old man smiled and said,

“Didn’t I tell you? You have very good luck.”

I closed the box again, tucked it into my clothes, and stood up.

“It’s thanks to your consideration. I’m truly grateful.”

As I walked out, I heard the old man’s soft voice behind me.

“Spiritual medicines always have their rightful owners.”

Immediately after, there was a contented humming, as if his life philosophy had been proven correct.

***

An hour later, I was sitting in a cave in the nearby mountains.

Before me was the Thousand-Year Broken Yang Herb I had just bought from the Black Market.

The Thousand-Year Broken Yang Herb.

It’s known as a spiritual herb that grants longevity without illness to ordinary people, and increases internal energy by a minimum of ten years to a maximum of fifteen years for martial artists.

While most high-level martial artists could gain ten years of internal energy from the Thousand-Year Broken Yang Herb, I would be able to gain fifteen years. This is because the exceptional ability of the Heavenly Martial Heart-Guarding Technique allows me to absorb the maximum potential of elixirs.

This is the first elixir I’m taking with Byeok Ri-dan’s body.

As internal energy increases, the effectiveness of elixirs decreases. This means that no matter how many elixirs you take, your internal energy won’t increase infinitely.

For example, if you gained fifteen years of internal energy from the first elixir, taking the same medicine again might give you ten years, and the third time only three years… The effect drops off sharply like this. The exact numbers vary depending on what mental cultivation method the user has learned and to what extent.

What’s clear is that as the internal energy in the danjeon increases, the effect diminishes, and the same applies to taking large amounts of the same type of elixir.

This is why you can’t infinitely increase your internal energy just by having a lot of money. It means that later on, you might have to spend hundreds of thousands of nyang just to increase your internal energy by a few months.

Anyway, the reason I went through the trouble of buying this Thousand-Year Broken Yang Herb is not just to increase my internal energy, but primarily to break through the Ren and Du meridians.

When the Ren and Du meridians are broken through, the true qi in the body can circulate perfectly through all the meridians, allowing internal energy to exert its maximum effect.

Not only does the size of the danjeon increase, but it also becomes much easier to use difficult and complex techniques like the last three forms of the Autumn Soul Asura Sword Technique more smoothly and naturally. In simple terms, the same five years of internal energy becomes five years of much more powerful internal energy.

The potency of the Thousand-Year Broken Yang Herb was sufficient to attempt breaking through the Ren and Du meridians.

The only worry was whether Byeok Ri-dan’s body could handle it, but fortunately, this body was born sturdy.

Of course, even attempting this is only possible because it’s me.

It’s easy to say “breaking through the Ren and Du meridians,” but normally it’s only possible with the help of family elders or old masters standing by, and even then, countless martial artists have died or become crippled in the process.

“Well then, I’m counting on you.”

I carefully took the Thousand-Year Broken Yang Herb.

I chewed it as finely as possible and swallowed. The herb that passed down my throat began to quickly dissolve and be absorbed throughout my body.

Sssssss.

Without missing the moment, I began to absorb that energy into my meridians using the Heavenly Martial Heart-Guarding Technique.

Swish swish swish!

The ecstasy of absorbing the energy of a elixir into the meridians is as exciting and thrilling as making love to a woman.

Squeezing and squeezing again. I completely absorbed all the energy of the elixir without missing even a single bit.

Now, if I were to send the energy that has circulated through my entire body into my danjeon, it would become fifteen years of internal energy.

But I didn’t send that energy directly to my danjeon.

I began to increase the speed of the energy flowing through my meridians. I plan to break through the Ren and Du meridians consecutively without dragging it out.

First, the Ren meridian.

Sssssssss.

The energy of the Thousand-Year Broken Yang Herb began to rush towards meridians it had never flowed through before.

Pop!

The Huiyin point was broken through first.

Pain rushed in, but I could easily endure this level.

Pop! Pop!

The Qugu and Zhongji points were broken through in succession.

Fortunately, Byeok Ri-dan’s body was able to withstand this process sufficiently.

I’ve been cultivating qi with the Heavenly Martial Heart-Guarding Technique for seventy years. At least when it comes to meridians, I’m confident I’m better than even divine doctors.

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

Xiawan, Zhongwan, Yutang were broken through in succession, and finally, the Chengjiang point was cleared smoothly.

The Ren meridian had been completely broken through without any major crisis.

Yes, I am a martial artist who can use the expression “This much is nothing” when it comes to breaking through the Ren and Du meridians.

Riding the momentum of breaking through the Ren meridian, I started to break through the Du meridian.

Pop!

First, the Changqiang point was broken through, followed by Zhongshu, Shenzhu, and then the Baihui point was broken through.

Pain followed each breakthrough. I could endure the pain. Compared to the pain that weak martial artists have to endure, this pain is a pleasant one.

Qianding, Shangxing, and Suliao points were broken through in succession.

At the moment the final Yinjiao point was broken through.

Bang!

A loud noise echoed in my head, as if announcing the birth of new meridians.

I didn’t collapse or scream at the last moment like ordinary people. Only a small smile of self-congratulation formed on my lips.

It was a perfect breakthrough of the Ren and Du meridians. I’m certain that no one else in the martial world could have achieved such a fast and clean breakthrough.

I slowly got up and examined the inside of my body.

After breaking through the Ren and Du meridians, my body’s condition had completely changed.

The movement of inner force flowing through the meridians became incomparably faster. This feeling of inner force freely racing through my body is so good. Now my body has been unleashed from its restraints.

I can’t confirm it without a mirror, but my eyes have probably become much calmer.

I checked my danjeon’s internal energy first.

With fifteen years of internal energy added to my original internal energy, my internal energy has now reached twenty years.

I now have as many years of internal energy as Byeok Ri-dan’s age.

But how can this twenty years be compared to anyone else’s twenty years of internal energy? It was an incredibly profound internal energy created by the Heavenly Martial Heart-Guarding Technique.

With this level of internal energy, I should be able to kill most opponents.

“Phew. I can relax a bit now.”

Although I still can’t use the Fourth Form, now that I’ve broken through the Ren and Du meridians, I should reach one Gapja (60-years) of internal energy within four or five years.

“Hahaha.”

I left the cave with a pleased laugh.

As soon as I left the cave, I kicked off the ground and soared into the air. Originally, I could have shot up as if piercing the sky, but now my limit was the top of the tree standing at the cave entrance.

Swish!

The sword energy emitted from my sword tore through the air. It was incomparably more powerful than when I killed the blood hound earlier.

Whoosh!

True Qi was emitted in the opposite direction. Again, it was incomparably more powerful than when I killed Yang Gi-cheol. If someone were hit by this attack now, both their corpses would have exploded into pieces.

After using these two techniques in succession, I stood on a tree branch.

The branch bent greatly but didn’t break. When my internal energy exceeds one Gapja, the branch won’t even move.

Even though it was only a fifteen-year increase in internal energy, this improvement is so exciting and fun.

When was the last time I felt this kind of enjoyment?

I hope I can continue to feel this enjoyment in the future. I hope this path of learning martial arts will be different from my previous life.

And I hope that at the end of that path, I’ll find what I’ve been looking for.

I want to see the sword of my heart.

I could see a squirrel crawling between trees far away. With the breakthrough of the Ren and Du meridians and the increase in internal energy, all my bodily senses, including eyesight, had improved. At my peak, I could see even ants at this distance if I concentrated.

“Someday.”

I leapt down swiftly. It was a light-footed technique as light as a feather and as soft as down.