Chapter 5: Martial Arts Are Too Easy?
Blue letters floated in the air.
They displayed exactly what the unfamiliar voice had just said inside my head.
Startled, I quickly looked around.
But no one else seemed capable of seeing the letters.
Everyone remained focused on the Taoist explaining the breathing method.
"Focus your mind beneath your dantian!"
At that moment...
[Input Information: "Dantian Breathing" of the Initial Heaven Breathing Method]
"Close your eyes and feel the energy of nature."
[Input Information: "Natural Energy Perception" of the Initial Heaven Breathing Method]
"Once you sense the energy, circulate it throughout your body!"
[Input Information: "Internal Qi Control" of the Initial Heaven Breathing Method]
Every time the Taoist spoke, the unfamiliar voice echoed inside my mind.
Its words then became blue letters floating before my eyes.
As the two voices and the sentences in the air overlapped and tangled inside my head...
[Analysis of the "Initial Heaven Breathing Method" has been completed.]
[Grade Evaluation: Lowest]
[Danger Level: None]
[Determined to be a basic internal cultivation method beneficial to the Awakened One's body.]
[Difficulty is low enough for immediate acquisition.]
[Would you like to acquire the "Initial Heaven Breathing Method"?]
I stared blankly at the blue letters filling my vision.
Don't tell me...
I was stunned for a moment.
Then everything suddenly clicked.
As someone who had spent twenty years reading web novels...
I knew exactly what kind of situation this was.
Looking at the floating letters, I spoke with a trembling voice.
"Acquire the Initial Heaven Breathing Method."
The unfamiliar voice immediately answered.
[The Awakened One's decision has been confirmed.]
[The Initial Heaven Breathing Method will be optimized for the Awakened One and acquired.]
Something began moving violently inside my head.
No...
more precisely, the brain cells inside my head began working at an incredible rate.
Everything about the Initial Heaven Breathing Method was engraved into hundreds of billions of brain cells.
Then those individual pieces of information rearranged themselves into perfect knowledge.
And this wasn't merely intellectual understanding.
I can feel everything.
The depth and rhythm of breathing.
The circulation of internal qi.
The flow required to draw natural energy into my body and circulate it.
My body itself was responding.
I was already operating the Initial Heaven Breathing Method as naturally as breathing.
It was as if I were a Taoist who had practiced it for decades.
And...
that wasn't the end.
[The Awakened One's martial-art knowledge and experience from before regression are being reflected in the Initial Heaven Breathing Method.]
[The Initial Heaven Breathing Method is entering the Transcendent Acquisition Stage.]
...
[Due to the Awakened One's influence, the Initial Heaven Breathing Method has risen from "Lowest Grade" to "Low Grade."]
["Initial Heaven Breathing Method" has evolved into "Middle Heaven Breathing Method."]
[You have acquired the "Middle Heaven Breathing Method."]
"Huu..."
I slowly inhaled.
The breath I drew in became energy.
That energy transformed into a flowing current that spread throughout my entire body.
A powerful current moved through every corner of my body like waves.
From the deepest parts...
all the way to the outermost edges.
It circulated freely through me.
Eventually, the seemingly endless flow began settling.
Then it gathered in one place.
Below my navel.
My dantian.
I knew exactly what this meant.
I had experienced the sensation before regression.
Something small but solid now rested deep inside my dantian.
...I accumulated internal energy.
It wasn't even as much as a single grain of rice.
But the emotion I felt was impossible to describe.
I never imagined the day would come when I accumulated normal internal energy.
In my previous life, my body had been cursed with an inability to properly learn martial arts.
After the Shadow Corps kidnapped me, I eventually obtained internal energy.
But that had come from a shortcut.
The Death-Stealing Pill.
A medicine that increased internal energy by cutting away the user's lifespan.
Internal energy obtained from the Death-Stealing Pill had always been unstable and dangerous.
There were countless cases where the internal energy suddenly went berserk and crippled the person who consumed it.
But the internal energy I felt now was completely different.
It was stable.
Solid.
"It's real!"
"This is real internal energy!"
Unable to control my excitement, I shouted without realizing it.
Every head inside the Martial Training Hall immediately turned toward me.
Was I louder than I thought?
Countless people stared at me.
They didn't look impressed.
Their expressions were closer to...
What's wrong with that guy?
"Ahem."
Just as I tried to cover the awkward moment with a cough...
"You there."
"Say that again."
A mocking voice reached me.
I turned.
The same Kunlun Taoist stood there.
His face was filled with irritation.
I intended to pretend I hadn't heard him.
But...
"Yes, you."
"The Event Hall servant."
The Taoist suddenly used a movement technique.
In an instant, he appeared directly in front of me.
He leaned his face toward mine.
"You clearly said 'internal energy' just now."
"Correct?"
There was no reason to lie.
"Yes. That's correct."
"I said internal energy."
The Taoist suddenly snorted.
"Internal energy?"
"An ignorant fool who knows nothing dares speak about internal energy already?"
"Do you think martial arts are so easy that someone like you can casually speak of them?"
He openly looked down on me.
His tone implied that an ignorant servant like me was showing off by mentioning internal energy.
His contemptuous lecture continued.
"You listened to one lesson about the Initial Heaven Breathing Method and now you dare speak about internal energy?"
"You don't even know a basic palm art!"
Then he turned toward the crowd and raised his voice.
"Everyone, listen carefully!"
"Anyone who runs their mouth without understanding their place like this fool will never receive my teachings again!"
His eyes were filled with contempt and ridicule.
And how did I feel?
Surprisingly...
I felt nothing.
Rather...
I suddenly wanted to hit this arrogant bastard where it hurt.
I looked directly into his eyes.
"Taoist, when you mentioned a basic palm art..."
"Were you referring to the Three Severing Palms?"
"Oh?"
The Taoist looked surprised.
"For an ignorant fool, your memory is decent."
"Yes. It is a supreme art I have graciously taught several times in the past."
I nearly laughed.
Supreme art, my ass.
It was a basic palm method as common as the Six Harmonies Palm.
I remembered the Taoist demonstrating the Three Severing Palms fairly often before regression.
It was one of the most basic palm arts.
Its movements were simple and easy to demonstrate.
That was probably why he liked showing it.
I deliberately spoke politely.
"Then could you please teach this ignorant man the Three Severing Palms one more time?"
"What?"
"I would like to witness your supreme art with my own eyes and reflect upon my inadequacy."
"Hmm...."
The Taoist tilted his head.
His expression clearly said...
Why is this bastard suddenly acting like this?
But he didn't think about it for long.
After all, in his eyes, I was merely an ignorant servant.
"Very well."
"Seeing a superior martial art with your own eyes and understanding your limitations can also be valuable."
"I shall personally show you what it means to know that there is always another heaven beyond the heavens."
Superior martial art.
Heaven beyond heaven.
I was amazed he could say such ridiculous things with a straight face.
Still, I simply nodded.
The Taoist looked around and shouted.
"Everyone, watch carefully!"
"This is what a true martial art infused with internal energy looks like!"
He lowered his stance and began the demonstration.
"The Three Severing Palms begins here!"
"The fist becomes wind and binds the clouds!"
Boom!
The Taoist stamped his left foot against the ground and thrust his right fist forward.
At the same time, he explained the form.
"You do not merely extend your arm."
"You carry the qi from your dantian into your arm."
I nearly cheered inside while watching his demonstration.
Why?
Because everything was happening exactly as I expected.
