The Second Son of the Dancheon Sword Clan Prepared for Regression

Chapter 3: I Began Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art

Most spiritual medicines, including Immaculate Pomegranate, grow in blessed, hidden places.

Heaven's grace.

Immaculate Pomegranate could only be created in a place where the extremely pure natural qi overlapped through the harmony of the five elements.

That was not all.

Literally, the grace of heaven, which could not be understood by the common sense of the human world, had to be added for Immaculate Pomegranate to form there.

Despite the relentless challenges of countless alchemists, humans had not been able to create anything similar to Immaculate Pomegranate with their own power.

And it was a ‘hidden place’.

Immaculate Pomegranate could only be created in a secret place where human hands could not easily reach.

According to legend, it took a hundred years for one drop, so it had to be left untouched for at least several hundred years, and humans were a species that lacked the patience to let a rare treasure like Immaculate Pomegranate sit for several hundred years.

Of the two, the more important information for me was ‘hidden place’ rather than ‘heaven’s grace’.

To be precise, it was the fact that a hidden place had a reason for becoming a hidden place.

Mount Tianzhong in Henan.

This mountain, which called itself the center of the world, was adorned with all sorts of strange rock formations and towering peaks.

It was a sight that was by no means inferior even when compared to the Five Great Mountains of the Central Plains.

Naturally, there were no paths here for humans to traverse.

Here, where access by wingless creatures was forbidden, I was experiencing the greatness of nature firsthand.

“Haa-”

Shaking my hands, which had turned red from the rush of blood, I sat on a small crevice in the middle of a cliff.

It felt like I had used my hands more than my feet to climb the mountain.

This was because it was a steep cliff that was impossible to climb using only my feet.

Whoosh.

“Ugh.”

Looking down, I couldn’t even see the ground properly.

I quickly averted my gaze due to the dizzying feeling.

It would be nice if I could use my movement arts, but my courage was not great enough to use the crude movement arts of a First-Rate Master on a precipice where a single misstep would lead to a thousand-foot cliff.

“No, why did that old geezer even come here?”

The Immaculate Pomegranate I was looking for now was accidentally discovered by a high-ranking monk from Shaolin who was training his movement arts here.

At this rate, even if that geezer had slipped and died, it should be called a natural death.

“That must be it, right?”

It was already the fifth peak.

If there was no Immaculate Pomegranate there, I would have to climb another peak.

“Please, be there this time!”

Three hours later.

After the sun, which had been in the middle of the sky, disappeared beyond the mountainside and the moon rose.

Thud.

“Kuaaah.”

I was finally able to reach the summit of the seventh peak.

And finally.

“There it is!”

The supreme spiritual medicine, Immaculate Pomegranate, revealed itself.

***

A sacred liquid with a noble fragrance had formed in the groove of a flat rock, reflecting the moonlight.

Its appearance itself was so brilliant and rare that I could tell at a glance that it was no ordinary thing.

That’s right.

It was Immaculate Pomegranate.

One drop.

Meaning one drop, it was the unit typically used to measure Immaculate Pomegranate.

It was generally known that even consuming just one drop would show the effects of Immaculate Pomegranate.

“There’s more than I thought?”

The amount of Immaculate Pomegranate I was facing seemed to be about the size of my thumb joint.

A rough estimate would be at least twenty drops.

“That old geezer, he really was a corrupt monk.”

The smug face of the high-ranking monk who had boasted about finding Immaculate Pomegranate came to mind.

I remembered his expression as if he were saying to give the enlightenment of Buddhism to the dogs.

Since the amount of Immaculate Pomegranate reported to the Murim Alliance at the time of discovery was ten drops, either that high-ranking monk had gobbled up half of it or Shaolin had smuggled it away.

“What a windfall.”

Anyway, I was in a good mood.

I had found a treasure, and the amount was twice what I had expected.

Just then, a small cave came into my view.

It seemed to have just enough space for one person to enter and sit in a cross-legged position.

“Should I try it right away?”

What was there to delay?

Since I had found Immaculate Pomegranate, now was the time to begin Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art.

At this very moment, my life was completely breaking away from my previous life.

***

The beginning of Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art started with a message in a powerful script.

It was personally left by Healing Sage for his successor.

-O one who has picked up Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art, you are the chosen one.

The chosen one.

A word that stimulates the ambitions of all martial artists.

-This humble one is confident that if you master Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art, you will be able to reach the pinnacle of the world even with the Three Talents Sword Art.

‘The World’s Best?’

Healing Sage was a figure mentioned as one of the World’s Best, but he was not the undisputed World’s Best.

The thought that he was an old man with excessive bravado was dispelled by the following content.

-Although this humble one did not reach mastery and thus could not reach the pinnacle of the world, this is due to this humble one's shortcomings, not the deficiency of Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art.

Interpreted differently, it meant that Healing Sage had competed with the World’s Best of his time without even reaching mastery of the mind cultivation art.

-I pass on my dream to the chosen one who will encounter this Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art in the future.

O chosen one, I hope you achieve mastery of Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art and reach the pinnacle of the world.

I hope you will surely achieve the pinnacle of the world and firmly establish this martial art created by this humble one at the summit of the Jianghu Murim.

Following the message were the core principles and explanations of Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art.

The very content that the Divine Strategist had personally interpreted and proclaimed to be true in the past.

I was now carrying out the first step.

First Stage: Body Reformation.

It was the stage of using Immaculate Pomegranate to strengthen the eight extraordinary meridians, open the Ren and Du meridians, and completely burn away the impurities accumulated in the blood vessels and body.

In essence, it was the same mechanism as Body Reformation.

The reason it required Immaculate Pomegranate was understandable, as it was completing the Body Reformation, which only martial artists who had reached the state of harmony could experience, at the introductory stage.

-The more Immaculate Pomegranate you can hold, the better. Although this humble one could only take three drops of Immaculate Pomegranate…….

It was like laying the foundation when building a house.

The wider and more solid the foundation, the more magnificent a house you could build.

Gulp.

Since I had set my sights on becoming the World’s Best, I boldly swallowed half of the Immaculate Pomegranate in one gulp.

The amount was about ten drops, more than three times that of Healing Sage.

Even so, since there were still about ten drops of Immaculate Pomegranate left, my regret was less than I thought.

The Immaculate Pomegranate that entered my mouth melted more smoothly than candy and went down my esophagus.

It was surprisingly tasty.

“Shall I give it a try.”

I sat cross-legged and circulated the Dancheon Mind Art that had led me to the First-Rate realm.

Circulating a mind art was the same as observing the inside of my body, so I could feel a huge energy coiled in my stomach.

It was the power dissolved in the Immaculate Pomegranate.

It was an unprecedented energy, so immense that my inner energy, which had been accumulated for over ten years and had reached the First-Rate, looked like a grain of millet.

‘Now.’

I added the oral formulas of Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art to the Dancheon Mind Art.

It wasn't that I was good at insight and had combined the two martial arts; the principle of Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art was originally like that.

Healing Sage had explained that the reason it was named a mind cultivation art was because it was created based on compatibility with all mind arts in the first place.

-Groooooowl.

A sound I had never heard before echoed in my ears.

In response to Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art, the energy of Immaculate Pomegranate, which had been absolutely immovable with my own strength, began to move.

The slowly moving energy gradually gained momentum and began to circulate through my blood vessels.

When the energy of Immaculate Pomegranate followed the mind art, completed a great circulation through my blood vessels, and reached the Ren and Du meridians.

-Crack.

A somewhat hollow sound was heard.

It was said that when the Ren and Du meridians were opened, a sound louder than thunder could be heard.

Gossips often described that sound as ‘BOOM!’, and those who had actually experienced opening their Ren and Du meridians testified that it was similar.

But in the face of the power of ten drops of Immaculate Pomegranate, my Ren and Du meridians offered no resistance.

The result of that was that ‘crack’.

‘Ooh.’

As soon as the Ren and Du meridians were opened, I felt a circulation of inner qi that I had never felt in my entire life.

Finally, the great circulation of the mind art had found its perfect path.

But.

‘Not yet.’

Perhaps because I had taken ten drops, the energy of Immaculate Pomegranate still circulated powerfully through my blood vessels.

I did not lose my concentration and continuously circulated Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art.

Fwoosh.

I heard an auditory hallucination of the sound of the impurities accumulated in my body and blood vessels over the years being burned away.

Unlike when there was a rapid increase in martial arts, there was no foul odor as the impurities were expelled from the body.

As Immaculate Pomegranate and Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art combined to burn away all impurities, my body became infinitely pure.

And finally.

Swoosh.

The energy of Immaculate Pomegranate, which had finished its work and been swirling through my blood vessels, seeped into all the meridians of my body.

I felt my body, which had been circulating Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art in a state of selflessness, floating in the air while in the cross-legged position.

I didn't know if my body was actually floating in the air, or if the extreme sense of elation had created such an illusion.

However, with my eyes closed, I clearly witnessed the sight of a blue flame burning fiercely.

It was the sign that indicated the completion of the first stage of body reformation, Furnace Fire Pure Blue.

When I opened my eyes, a bright light flashed.

The body reformation was complete.

***

I carefully poured the remaining Immaculate Pomegranate into the glass bottle I had brought.

It was an object made to prevent the decay and oxidation of spiritual medicines, so there was nothing better for storing Immaculate Pomegranate.

In fact, most of the money I received from my father was invested in buying this expensive glass bottle.

What did it matter if I spent a lot of money?

Thinking of the ten drops of Immaculate Pomegranate in my bosom, my heart felt rich.

“Body reformation.”

It was literally that.

It was my body, but it was not my body.

There had been a truly earth-shattering change in my body.

There was no need to sit cross-legged and observe my body, or to move around to feel the change.

Not only were my Ren and Du meridians opened, making the flow of inner qi smooth, but I could also feel the residual Immaculate Pomegranate that had seeped into all the meridians of my body providing me with constant vitality.

Having never reached the heights of martial arts, I couldn't be sure, but I had a feeling that I was stronger now than I was as Myeong-gae at the Peak.

I looked down from the top of the cliff, which could be called a sheer precipice.

The Dancheon Myeong who worried about misstepping on the way up, or the rock he was holding crumbling and falling, was no more.

“So this is the first stage of body reformation?”

With a satisfied smile, I threw myself off the cliff.

Tap!

With light body movements, my toes kicked off the cliff cheerfully as I descended.

Thinking about it now, the corrupt monk who trained his movement arts here didn't seem like such a crazy person.

‘I can do it.’

The conclusion after experiencing the change of the first stage of body reformation was the confidence that I could reach the pinnacle of the world.

***

Three days from Anhui, where the Dancheon Sword Clan was located, to Mount Tianzhong in Henan.

One day to find Immaculate Pomegranate on Mount Tianzhong.

And another three days to return to the Dancheon Sword Clan.

My excursion, which I had planned for a total of seven days and nights, ended in six days.

The reason was that the body that had completed the first stage of body reformation had far surpassed my plans.

‘I don’t get tired?’

Whether it was the effect of opening the Ren and Du meridians, or thanks to the Immaculate Pomegranate that had seeped into all my meridians, or both.

The speed at which I ran using my movement arts was not much different from before, but the circulation of my inner qi had improved dramatically.

If I hadn't been hungry after running for a long time without rest, I would have arrived at the Dancheon Clan within a day.

The consumed inner energy was also quickly recovered while I ate and rested for a while.

Even though I didn't separately practice qi circulation.

Anyway, I safely arrived at the Dancheon Sword Clan.

“Are you Young Master Myeong?”

“You’ve worked hard.”

The guard at the main gate recognized me, so I was able to enter the Dancheon Clan without any trouble.

It was just that he made a strange expression at my greeting.

When I arrived at my quarters, fatigue washed over me.

‘I should rest comfortably today.’

Although it was a more peaceful journey than my life as a beggar, I felt the need to relieve the mental fatigue from the six-day journey.

But then.

“Where have you been, coming back only now!”

A sharp woman's voice struck my ears.

“Mother. What brings you here?”

The woman, Baek Yeo-hae, was waiting for me in my quarters.

Her face was full of displeasure.

I had expected her to seek me out again, but I was grateful that she had moved so quickly.

The reason she sought me out again was reflected in my gaze.

“You refused to get engaged to me?”

A beautiful woman with a rather sharp expression stood next to Baek Yeo-hae.

“That is so.”

I knew who she was.

She was the person I was engaged to in my previous life.

She who had hurt me in my previous life was standing before me again.

With an expression that showed no intention of taming that temper of hers.

Yes.

I expected you to react this way.