Chapter 48: Foundation Building and Tempering
Splash!
“Guuuuugh...!”
The moment I fell into the Dragon Well Water, a groan of agony tore from my throat.
It wasn't simply because of the heat.
A scorching pressure pressed down on my entire body from every direction.
The force of the Dragon Well Water constricted my chest and stole my breath.
It felt like every joint in my body was about to be crushed into powder.
I instinctively drew in a breath.
And immediately realized something.
Even breathing itself was painful.
A blazing heat seeped into my lungs.
The agony was intense enough to make me lose consciousness.
Jin Gwangung's voice came from above.
“How is it? Bearable?”
For some reason, he sounded like he was enjoying himself.
Normally I would've thrown a sarcastic remark back at him.
But the pain was so severe that even speaking was difficult.
“Dragon Well Water contains concentrated yang energy from the earth veins of the Kunlun Mountains.”
Jin Gwangung explained in a calm voice as though none of this were a big deal.
“That yang energy forces open the blood and qi pathways that normally remain closed.”
“The pain you're feeling in your muscles and bones means those pathways are opening.”
Easy for him to say.
The pain I was actually experiencing was unbearable.
It felt as though my flesh and bones were being ripped apart.
“Kekeke.”
Jin Gwangung chuckled.
“Hurts, does it?”
“Then again, a weakling like you probably won't last more than three or four breaths before passing out.”
He wasn't exaggerating.
The pain was so intense that my consciousness felt ready to snap.
But...
Ghk... I can't collapse from something like this.
I survived the insane experiments of the Shadow Corps.
I clenched my teeth and desperately held onto consciousness.
Jin Gwangung's eyebrows twitched slightly.
“...Hm.”
“You're lasting longer than I expected.”
His voice became more serious.
“But this is only the beginning.”
“The pain will grow worse as time passes.”
He looked down at me.
“And it will continue until your body becomes a Golden Body Constitution capable of accepting Great Void Golden Body Tempering.”
Just as he said...
the crushing pressure and blazing energy penetrated between my muscles and bones.
Then deeper.
Into my organs.
The pain became even worse than what I had suffered from the Thousand Poisons Old Demon's Purple Blood Destruction Palm.
I wanted to give up immediately.
I almost wanted to bite my tongue and knock myself unconscious just to escape it.
Then...
through my fading consciousness, Jin Gwangung's voice reached me again.
“Control your breathing.”
“When you inhale, sink the energy into your dantian.”
“Sink.”
“When you exhale, scatter that sunken energy outward again.”
“Scatter.”
His voice sharpened.
“If you stupidly keep piling up that yang energy inside your body, your organs will twist apart before anything else happens.”
I barely held onto consciousness through the pain.
Then I drew my breath down toward my dantian.
As soon as the energy gathered there...
I exhaled and scattered it outward.
...!
The crushing force burning through my organs weakened slightly.
Calling it weaker almost felt like an exaggeration...
but the change was definitely there.
I continued repeating the breathing pattern while enduring the Dragon Well Water.
Jin Gwangung watched me with growing interest.
“Well, look at you.”
“I thought you'd pass out immediately.”
He grinned.
“You can at least imitate the Sinking-Scattering Energy Circulation Method.”
“Maybe you're not completely stupid after all.”
“Kekeke.”
Then he added,
“Still, I wonder how long you can last.”
“You might as well give up now.”
“At your level, enduring a few extra breaths won't change anything.”
He was the one who had kicked me in here...
and now he was telling me to give up?
Every insult I could possibly imagine surfaced in my head.
But unfortunately...
he wasn't entirely wrong.
I was enduring the Dragon Well Water as best I could with the Sinking-Scattering Energy Circulation Method.
But I was gradually reaching my limit.
The extreme yang energy was accumulating faster and faster inside my body.
And the violent pressure was becoming impossible to resist.
“Ghh... ugh....”
My vision narrowed.
My consciousness faded.
No matter what I wanted...
my body was approaching its limit.
Then...
a familiar voice suddenly echoed through my entire mind.
Blue text appeared before my eyes.
[The amount of extreme yang energy the Awakened One's body can contain has reached its current limit.]
[Analyzing the Awakened One's current condition and available support methods.]
Don't tell me...!?
My mind cleared instantly.
Could my awakened ability even help with something like this?
Was it capable of more than simply analyzing martial arts?
I forced myself to focus.
A moment later...
[Analysis complete.]
[The blood and qi pathways throughout the body are partially opened.]
[The Sinking-Scattering Energy Circulation Method is currently being used to harmonize the energy.]
[The Sinking-Scattering Energy Circulation Method alone has limitations in achieving complete harmonization.]
Disappointment immediately rose inside me.
So this was the limit after all?
Then...
[Additional response method discovered.]
[The Kunlun Blue Soul Scripture learned by the Awakened One can neutralize extreme yang energy.]
What?
[The current operation of the Sinking-Scattering Energy Circulation Method is compatible with the circulation of clear qi from the Kunlun Blue Soul Scripture.]
[Sink the yang energy through the inhalation of Sink, then combine the Kunlun Blue Soul Scripture's internal energy circulation during the exhalation of Scatter to strengthen harmonization.]
[Apply under current conditions?]
I answered immediately.
Allow it.
Then...
“Huuup!”
The moment I inhaled...
the extreme yang energy that had sunk into my dantian met the clear energy created by the Kunlun Blue Soul Scripture.
The two energies blended naturally.
As if they had always belonged together.
It was true harmonization.
The harmonized energy wrapped around my organs.
Then it circulated through my entire body along my meridians.
When I exhaled...
that same energy flowed smoothly outward and dispersed.
This is incredible!
Even I couldn't believe the result.
Only moments ago...
the overwhelming extreme yang energy released by the Dragon Well Water had nearly made me lose consciousness.
But now...
I was accepting it naturally.
Little by little...
I was turning it into my own strength.
Of course...
that didn't mean the pain had disappeared.
The pressure created by the Dragon Well Water remained.
The agony of having my entire body crushed still felt like death.
But at least...
I was no longer on the verge of losing consciousness immediately.
I inhaled again.
Sink.
The yang energy and clear qi harmonized beneath my dantian.
Then I exhaled.
Scatter.
The harmonized energy flowed throughout my body.
“Huu... haa....”
As I continued repeating the breathing cycle...
I began noticing changes inside myself.
Thump. Thump.
Something pulsed within my body.
The vibrations seemed to push against the blood and qi pathways throughout me...
forcing tiny gaps open.
...They're opening.
Little by little.
Very, very slowly.
“Huu....”
I steadied my breathing and looked upward.
Jin Gwangung was staring at me.
His expression was one of pure disbelief.
His mouth slowly opened.
“...You... how...?”
He looked stunned.
“You're actually enduring it....”
It was the most shocked expression I had ever seen on Jin Gwangung's face.
But soon...
