Martial Artist Lee Gwak

Light Novel: Volume 1 Chapter 10

Manhwa: Chapter 13-14

Episode 4. Growing in the Time Spent Alone (1)

Lee Gwak spent most of his time alone.

Occasionally, members of Squad 13 would stop by to keep him company, but aside from that, he was thoroughly alone.

Needless to say, the Jade Heaven Alliance paid him no mind. Perhaps they had even forgotten his existence. At the very least, Lee Gwak was grateful that they hadn’t kicked him out.

All Lee Gwak could do was lie down all day, staring endlessly and blankly at the ceiling.

Lee Gwak blinked.

His eyes were getting dry from staring at the Yoga Secret Manual attached to the ceiling for so long. It hurt, as if grains of sand had gotten into his eyes. Still, Lee Gwak couldn’t tear his eyes away from the Yoga Secret Manual.

Just the very act of lying down already brought him great pain, and right now, the only thing that could distract him from the pain was the Yoga Secret Manual affixed on the ceiling.

Lee Gwak strained his tired eyes to read the Yoga Secret Manual.

The beginning was the preface written by the creator of the Yoga Secret Manual.

[ I heard that there were mysterious cultivation methods at Tianzhu that were different from the martial arts and principles of the Central Plains, so I traveled for four months and ten days to reach it.

In that place where the sun blazes year-round, there flowed a large river, and practitioners could be found everywhere. Some trained their minds and bodies with movements close to acrobatics, while others practiced meditation methods similar to Buddhist rituals to strengthen their minds.

There were countless practitioners and just as many cultivation methods.

I was intrigued by their cultivation methods. Their methods ignited my curiosity.

I wanted to receive teachings from the practitioners. However, they were not willing to easily share their secrets.

It was natural. Teaching secret techniques to a stranger is never easy. But I, too, am not someone to give up easily either.

I sought instruction for as long as three years before I finally found a teacher.

My master was a sage who had practiced asceticism for a whopping forty years. He was someone who saw farther ahead, higher up, where I could not see.

He knew I would come. He told me he and I were destined to meet.

The master becomes the disciple, and the disciple becomes the master.

As I wondered what his words meant, my master told me that in time, as my practice deepened, I would naturally understand.

I began to practice under him.

I came prepared, but the Yoga techniques of Tianzhu were different from the martial arts of the Central Plains.

If the martial arts of the Central Plains are based on building up and utilizing qi based on the dantian, the Yoga techniques of Tianzu begin by opening the perineal acupoint located inside the anus.

This was, in fact, the most difficult part.

As a martial artist who had also cultivated qi in the dantian, I had to discard everything I had learned to make use of the perineal acupoint.

Discard everything I’ve learned over more than two decades? I thought and thought about it. My master then said to me,

It was fate that brought me here, and that the continuation of his secret manual was already predetermined from the distant past.

At that moment, my mind strangely felt at ease.

I cheerfully discarded my past studies and began my new study.

Those reading this should take note:

To master the Yoga techniques, not only will you have to change the foundations of your martial arts, but all of your habits as well. But one thing is certain. If you fully master the Yoga techniques, you’ll always be able to keep your muscles and bones in tip-top shape, no matter what else you do. ]

The most tattered and worn-out part of the Yoga Secret Manual was the preface, but everything else after that was relatively clean.

It was evidence that many people had read only up to the preface and not gone further.

Lee Gwak understood their feelings.

No matter how amazing the Yoga techniques were, they could only be mastered by abandoning one’s existing martial arts. It was too harsh a price to pay for learning something from Tianzhu in which efficacy was uncertain. That’s why most people turned away from learning the Yoga Secret Manual.

If not for the Yoga Secret Manual’s claim that it could maintain one’s muscles and bones in optimal condition, this book would not have even been brought to Lee Gwak.

Lee Gwak began to earnestly read the next part.

It was the passage where the real cultivation and training methods were introduced.

Lee Gwak frowned.

Even though he had prepared himself by reading the preface, it was too different from the martial arts of the Central Plains.

Yoga techniques considered there to be seven gates, or vortices, in the human body.

The first gate was the perineal acupoint.

It stated that a snake had to be coiled in the perineal acupoint, its tail wound around three and a half times for proper initiation.

Both the phrase about the snake being coiled and the tail being wound were hard to understand.

Once the first door was opened, the second door could be opened. The second gate was located at the end of the spinal cord, the tailbone.

The third, fourth, and fifth gates existed along the spine. Each gate had different effects on the human body, and only by opening these gates could one truly understand and utilize their body.

Until this point, Lee Gwak had been able to understand. But when he reached the sixth gate, he couldn’t help but hesitate.

The sixth gate was said to be in the center of the brain.

Considered the center of awakening, opening this gate would give rise to the eye of intuition.

It did not specify what kind of efficacy the eye of intuition had, nor how it worked.

The last, seventh gate, was said to be a gateway to the spiritual world.

Opening the seventh gate would awaken a great snake, which would complete the practitioner. However, completion was just another starting line. There was a next level.

It seemed somewhat exaggerated, like pseudo-martial arts books. It seemed like those who had managed to read past the preface dropped out at this point.

Lee Gwak blinked his eyes. His eyes had gotten dry again.

Even if someone were to only read up to this point, they could already understand how different the Yoga Secret Manual was from the martial arts of the Central Plains. The martial arts of the Central Plains, handed down through numerous generations, were stable and efficient.

The same was true for the martial arts that Lee Gwak had learned.

Although it was basic, something that only the Outer Hall martial artists from Jade Heaven Alliance would learn, it was, on the other hand, stable and had no deficiencies.

Over the past five years, Lee Gwak has worked diligently to master the basics. Although he felt its limitations at some point, he still practiced it like a habit. While learning martial arts like that, he had to erase the prejudices that unknowingly arose, or the set ways of thinking, and start anew. So, it was true that he had some concerns to some extent.

After thinking about it for a while, Lee Gwak suddenly laughed out loud. It was because he found himself to be ridiculous.

‘What more do I have to lose?’

He had lost his lover, and the freedom to move his limbs. The fact that he was worried about losing something more in this state was ridiculous.

A resolute expression crossed Lee Gwak’s face. He had made up his mind.

‘The beginning is the snake…’

Lee Gwak didn’t know what the snake mentioned in the Yoga Secret Manual was. It could be the ‘qi’ spoken of in the martial arts of the Central Plains, or it could be something else. It could even be a lie that didn’t exist at all.

Nevertheless, it didn’t matter. What Lee Gwak needed now was not the truth, but a string of hope.

Lee Gwak grasped that string of hope tightly.

* * *

Inside the room, a man lay sprawled haphazardly on the floor.

His hair stuck out like a lion’s mane, and his nose and jaw were obscured by a beard so full that his features were indistinguishable.

His face was rugged, but his eyes were oddly deep and clear.

He was none other than Lee Gwak.

Lee Gwak’s gaze was fixed on the Yoga Secret Manual affixed to the ceiling.

From the moment he opened his eyes, all he could see was the Yoga Secret Manual. He had to look at it even if he didn’t want to. There was no way to avoid it.

It was an environment in which he could only be immersed, and indeed, Lee Gwak was deeply immersed in the Yoga Secret Manual.

Hsss! Hsss!

In the quiet room, only the sound of Lee Gwak’s deep breathing resonated.

Lee Gwak was engrossed in his breathing.

Since he couldn’t move his limbs anyway, he could focus even more deeply on his breathing.

In the quiet room, the only thing he could feel was his own breath. Nothing else had any effect on Lee Gwak.

Lee Gwak had lost track of time as he held onto the Yoga Secret Manual. Already, more than three months had passed since he had focused solely on the Yoga Secret Manual. Any normal person would have given up by now, but not Lee Gwak.

It was then.

He began to feel a tingling sensation from below his anus.

At first, he thought it was an illusion.

Because not only today but several times before had he felt such a sensation. But all those phenomena had been nothing more than illusions created by his desires. After a while, the feeling would fade away, as if it had never been there.

Lee Gwak thought it would be the same this time as well. But the tingling did not go away as time passed.

Only then did Lee Gwak realize that what he was feeling was not an illusion. Something was stirring in his perineal region.

Lee Gwak forgot about everything and focused on what was happening in his perineum.

Qi was moving. The slender thread of energy was undeniably moving like a snake. Although it was closer to a worm than a snake at this point, its form was similar.

‘I need to fatten it up and make it coil its tail.’

The Yoga Secret Manual said that the snake coils its tail three and a half times.

But, the snake that had just been stirred from Lee Gwak’s perineal acupoint was neither big nor strong enough to coil its tail. He had to increase its size first.

Lee Gwak forgot everything and completely immersed himself in the Yoga Secret Manual. A faint madness could be seen in his eyes.

Time passed in a blur.

Seok Yi-cheon came to visit Lee Gwak.

He looked at the emaciated Lee Gwak with a pitying gaze.

By now, Lee Gwak was so skinny that he could be mistaken for a skeleton. His arms and legs were thin like dry twigs, and his complexion was pale. It was a miracle that he was still breathing.

Lee Gwak had been talkative the last time he came, but now his mouth was tightly shut as if he didn’t have the energy to speak.

“This guy!”

Seok Yi-cheon eventually turned his head away. He felt like he would burst into tears if he continued to look at Lee Gwak.

“Those bastards!”

Seok Yi-cheon cursed the Jade Heaven Alliance.

Despite Lee Gwak being in this state, the Jade Heaven Alliance did not do anything. The doctors had stopped coming, and everyone was treating Lee Gwak as if he didn’t exist. The only people who remembered and took care of Lee Gwak were the members of Squad 13.

He felt sorry for Lee Gwak, who was stuck in this small room, lying down all day.

Seok Yi-cheon wiped the corners of his eyes and lifted Lee Gwak’s blanket, in case he had soiled himself and needed cleaning.

“Oh, it’s clean.”

Seok Yi-cheon wore a puzzled expression.

By this time, it would have been normal for Lee Gwak to have soiled his bedding, but it was exceptionally clean.

“After all, you have to eat something to excrete it. Hoo!”

Seok Yi-cheon sighed deeply.

For the past few days, Lee Gwak had completely stopped eating. He wouldn’t even drink water. Even when they tried to force-feed him, Lee Gwak resisted by keeping his mouth tightly shut.

“Kid, if you feel like eating, just call for it, okay? You must never give up.”

Seok Yi-cheon took one last look at Lee Gwak before going out.

As soon as his presence disappeared, Lee Gwak opened his eyes that he had been keeping close. The look in his eyes was not that of someone who had lost hope or given up on life.

The reason he had stopped eating was because he was in the middle of a crucial moment.

The energy that had swelled in size over the past few days was writhing uncontrollably on its own accord.

Lee Gwak called it the first snake.

The first snake was violent.

It was small in size, but willful. It often got out of his control. Still, Lee Gwak did not give up.

He held onto his focus, making every effort to control the first snake. As a result, he was able to move the first snake somewhat according to his will.

Whirr!

The first snake was slowly coiling around his perineum. It looked as though its head was trying to bite its tail.

‘Faster!’

The moment he thought that, the speed at which the first snake was spinning increased. Still, the head couldn’t bite the tail.

‘It needs to be longer.’

Lee Gwak imagined the first snake stretching out. The moment he did, the coiling snake actually became longer.

One turn, two turns, the snake began to twist its tail.

Thick beads of sweat began to trickle down Lee Gwak’s face. The pain that had originated from the perineum began to climb up his spine.

It felt as if a bolt of lightning had pierced through his spine.

Lee Gwak’s face twisted in pain, but he didn’t open his mouth. Instinctively, he knew he shouldn’t open his mouth right now.

If he opened his mouth now, all the hard work of the past three months would be wasted. He should not open his mouth, even if it killed him.

Zing! Zing!

The pain intensified, but in exchange, the length of the first snake grew longer.

Whirr!

The first snake twisted its tail.

Two and a half turns, three turns, and then it made three and a half turns.

Finally, the moment the snake’s head bit its tail, Lee Gwak’s waist snapped up.

“Ah!”

Lee Gwak’s lips parted, and a moan escaped.

It felt as though his whole body had been struck by lightning. His whole body twitched as an indescribable feeling of exaltation and strange pleasure dominated his entire body.

It was the first change that had occurred in the six months since Lee Gwak had been confined to this small room alone.

SoundlessWind21’s Notes:

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