Chapter 214: Let's Hold a Spar

Upon returning to the Mucheon Pavilion, Qing immediately invested points to bring both Phantom Step and Lithe Grace Refinement to the first star, the introductory level.

Her Shadowless Divine Hand was already at the sixth star. As for internal energy cultivation techniques, she figured there was no point wasting precious Training Points when she was about to learn one properly.

Normally, my motto is 'more is better, bigger is better, grander is better!' I would have totally maxed out the internal cultivation technique first, then dumped all the remaining points into lightness skills.

But since she hadn’t managed to slay any villains lately, her Training Points had hit rock bottom.

Points earned through pure training were minuscule, mostly just boosting the proficiency of that specific skill; the freely assignable points were just a tiny bonus.

Therefore, Qing decided she had to be very careful distributing the few points she had left.

It was the principle of how people spend lavishly when their finances are abundant, but start agonizing over a single wen difference once their purse is empty.

'Why does this soup cost three whole wen more just for a few extra pieces of meat? Do I really need it that badly? Maybe I should just get another dumpling instead?'

That kind of thinking, wasn't it?

Anyway, just reaching the first star meant the technique's oral formulas would invade her head without permission and promptly squat there.

That was enough to show off to Cheon Yuhak, 'See what a brilliant disciple you have!'

By the time she was done, it was already late at night.

She’d spent a long time talking late into the night with Cheon Yuhak, though it was less about learning and more like two kindred spirits hitting it off and just shooting the breeze. All she'd really gotten were the manuals.

"For the time being, train with the Lecturer of the Hanlin Academy," Ximen Surin said.

"Then, won't you be lonely, Master?" Qing asked.

"Lonely? An old woman like me has lived long enough to know more than just one or two people. Do you think I have nothing better to do?" Ximen Surin replied. "That Cheon fellow might act vulgar, but originally, an academician from the Hanlin Academy is considered a giant among giants, said to have read at least a thousand cartloads of books. You should take this chance to build up some learning too, disciple."

"Learning? Isn't it enough for a martial artist to be good with a sword? Do I really need learning too? Hmm. But now I want to eat some learning." [^A pun: '학식' (haksik) means both 'learning/knowledge' and 'cafeteria food' in modern Korean slang.]

"...? That appetite of yours."

Ximen Surin chuckled softly and said, "That's enough evening greetings for today. You should retire now, disciple."

But Qing hesitated, looking like she had something more to say, just watching her master's face instead of leaving.

"Hm? What is it? Why aren't you going to sleep?" Ximen Surin asked.

"Master, you know..."

"Yes? What is it?"

"Um, maybe. If I slept with you tonight, Master, would that... would that be okay...?"

"Hm?" One of Ximen Surin's eyebrows arched.

For a disciple who was fully grown, it was truly an embarrassing and unseemly thing to say.

Watching Qing fidgeting nervously, she suddenly realized.

This foolish disciple has fallen into a spiritual affliction!

Her mind and body felt empty, loneliness coalescing within her, making her crave simple human warmth—a longing born of solitude.

It was a kind of inner demon often experienced by wanderers who had lost their roots and, in truth, had nowhere to return.

But how? Has the Divine Maiden Sect failed to be a warm home for my disciple?

Thinking back, Ximen Surin reflected on her own past actions.

Just last winter, how had she treated Qing?

The foolish girl was always grinning stupidly, so I thought she was fine.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't a critically dangerous type of spiritual affliction.

However, if not properly resolved, it could eventually lead her to an extreme crossroads between excessive affection and utter indifference.

She might become a foolishly good-natured person, wagging her tail like a dog at anyone, regardless of whether they were righteous or evil, good or bad.

Or she could become a cold-blooded person with an icy face, completely uninterested in others.

Ximen Surin put on a deliberately kind smile.

"Alright. This old woman was just feeling a bit empty beside her anyway. Come here. Let me hold my pretty disciple."

"Heehee...."

Qing giggled like a child and, as she always did, shimmied out of her nightgown, leaving it behind like shed skin as she crawled into the bed.

A vein throbbed on Ximen Surin's forehead again.

This wretched girl still hasn't broken the habit of shamelessly stripping naked and sleeping in such an indecent state!

But seeing the girl starved for affection and caught in a spiritual affliction, her heart softened despite herself.

Ximen Surin clenched and unclenched her fist, seriously debating whether to punish her or not.

In that moment of hesitation, the right time passed, and Ximen Surin ultimately let out a deep sigh, tightly embracing the disciple who burrowed into her arms.

She had breakfast with Ximen Surin in the morning.

Surprisingly, Surin didn't say much even after witnessing the rather crude spectacle of her brandishing blades over the meal, likely because she had already heard about the Sword Hand Training.

Bringing martial arts training into daily life... it might look a bit crude, but her enthusiasm is commendable, she thought.

As long as Qing didn't do it in front of outsiders, it would be fine. Ximen Surin, who always emphasized the aesthetics of a beauty's conduct, found herself admiring the audacity of an idea she herself could never have conceived.

Of course, after getting a nasty cut once, Qing had become considerably more careful and wasn't acting recklessly anymore.

Right after breakfast, Qing headed to the bathhouse, exactly as Cheon Yuhak had instructed the night before.

As soon as she entered, the air hit her—pungent and stuffy, the sour stench so overpowering it stung her nose, a terrible rotting odor that made her eyes water.

"Ugh, Master, what on earth did you do to the bathhouse?" Qing exclaimed.

"External Arts are inherently unpleasant like this," Cheon Yuhak replied with a nasal voice. "Do you think making the human body supple is an ordinary feat? It's all the power of medicine. There. That's the medicinal bath prepared for my disciple."

Indeed, he had stuffed cloth up his nostrils and even clipped a clothespin onto the bridge of his nose, so naturally, his voice sounded blocked.

Following Cheon Yuhak's finger, Qing turned her head to see a medicinal bath from which clouds of unsettling light green smoke billowed.

"Uh, you want me to get in there? That color... it looks like something that shouldn't exist in this world."

The smoke was green, but the water itself was a reddish color tinged with purple.

"This is practically paradise, you know," Cheon Yuhak said. "Ever heard of the Iron Sand Palm? It's the most famous external art in the world."

The Iron Sand Palm training was famous for practitioners repeatedly thrusting their hands into scorching hot iron sand.

It was said that upon reaching mastery, the hands achieved Vajra Invulnerability, turning black and coated with metallic poison.

"Did you think external arts training was like studying, just sitting down, breathing, and circulating True Qi?" Cheon Yuhak continued. "Most of the time, it involves shedding plenty of blood, sweat, and tears. Even external arts training is ultimately a combination of four methods."

First, there was abuse.

Partially destroying the body.

Then there was torture.

Hitting, beating, burning—no different from torture, except the desired outcome was for the recipient, not the inflictor.

And finally, poison and medicine. Those were the four.

"So, enduring a medicinal bath is basically paradise as far as external arts training goes."

"I feel like if I get in there, I'll really go to paradise," Qing retorted. "Besides, isn't that boiling right now? Are you planning to make boiled pork out of your disciple?"

"It's not boiling because it's hot; it's because of all the medicinal ingredients. The temperature is just right. Soak yourself in it, ahh," Cheon Yuhak explained. "I soaked in it a lot during my training days too. It's sticky and squishy, feels disgusting, like being shoved into a sewer."

Cheon Yuhak didn't even try to hide his smirk, openly chuckling.

"You'll know once you get in. Starting with that damn texture, and the smell, ugh, it makes me want to curse. There isn't a single part of it that isn't disgusting. If you feel wronged, you can just do the same to your own disciple later."

"That sounds like a perfect cycle of hatred," Qing observed.

"Yeah, that's the kind of affection thieves share," Cheon Yuhak agreed. "Anyway, have you memorized the oral formulas for the Awakening Divine Art? The Venerable Master said one night would be more than enough for you to learn it."

"You just need to perform Qi Guidance once for me," Qing said.

The Divine Thief frowned at that. "Do you think Qi Guidance is like asking a neighbor for a favor? Do you know how difficult that is? This girl has the mentality of a real thief bitch."

"I wouldn't know, I've never done it," Qing replied. "Hehe, but didn't you tell me to become the greatest thief bitch under heaven, Master? So isn't it okay?"

"Ugh. Doing that will exhaust me for three days."

"Aww, Master. Just once. Please, just once."

"Khhmm."

This kind of aegyo wouldn't work on Ximen Surin, but it was super effective on Cheon Yuhak.

Grumbling, Cheon Yuhak eventually sat cross-legged and placed his palms firmly on Qing's back.

Qi Guidance was no simple technique.

It required moving another person's internal energy along a path that didn't originally exist. Even Ximen Surin, an expert at the Profound Realm, had broken into a sweat after performing Qi Guidance for Qing when teaching her the Zhu Xiang Heart Cleanse Mirror.

For Cheon Yuhak, an expert at the Unrestrained Realm, it was truly an arduous task that would leave him drained for literally three days.

But honestly, what could he do when his pretty disciple was acting so cute?

Cheon Yuhak's disciples, the ones from the Hanlin Academy, were all grown-ass men, idiots who didn't even know the most basic meanings of the Hundred Schools of Thought and just spouted nonsense.

For reference, Cheon Yuhak was a giant of the Hanlin Academy, basically a top university professor by modern standards, and his view of his disciples perfectly matched how professors often see theirs.

Thus, Cheon Yuhak guided Qing's True Qi along with the oral formulas of the Awakening Divine Art, barely managing to complete a single circulation.

"Wow, I can't do that twice. I'd rather die," he groaned, collapsing onto the bathhouse floor. Indeed, in just two ke, about thirty minutes, his clothes were completely soaked.

Meanwhile, Qing's dantian welcomed a new member to the family.

The qi of the world, drawn in through breath, coalesced into a single, faint handful of True Qi, forming the Body Awakening True Qi of the Awakening Divine Art.

After sweeping through the body once to check its territory, it returned, only to find that what it thought was a single-family home was actually already occupied by several tenants.

It wasn't even a multi-unit dwelling, but more like an open barracks with no walls or partitions, everyone just crammed together.

Can I just leave now? But it had already become True Qi. If it scattered and underwent Qi Dissipation, wouldn't that mean the annihilation of its existence?

I'd rather die than live together! But disappearing wasn't an option, so it cautiously entered the dantian and hovered near the entrance, warily observing the situation.

The Daoist and Buddhist True Qis, having seen no action recently and living peacefully, were lounging around contentedly, perhaps scratching their bellies.

Conversely, the Demonic Qis, sulking from the lack of blood, were huddled in a corner, looking rather pathetic and tense.

And way over in the far corner, a mold-like, black, and filthy Demonic Qi was tightly bound, its hideous eyes gleaming menacingly.

Being a faint Yin-Cold type qi, more effective for refining the body than accumulating energy, the Body Awakening True Qi felt awkward, unsure whether to align with the righteous or demonic arts.

In times like these, it knew it had to defer. Slowly, cautiously, the Body Awakening Qi sidled towards the stronger group.

The Daoist and Buddhist Divine Arts glanced over the newcomer, gave a single nod, and gestured with their chins towards one side.

The unspoken message was, 'We don't particularly like it, but we'll accept you.'

As the Body Awakening Qi settled uncomfortably in the lowest seat, the Bliss Qi from the Blissful Maiden Arts, having just returned from chasing the wicked Demonic Qi to some extremity of the body, nudged the newcomer, testing the waters.

Is this one Demonic Arts? Or not?

Should I purify it, or not?

Then, the eyes of the two True Qis met.

"Hm?" Qing tilted her head.

Something? What was that? Some kind of strange... what was it?

There was an indescribable sensation, but no matter how hard she tried to focus, she couldn't grasp it.

This feeling, somehow, long ago...

"Aigo, I'm dying," Cheon Yuhak groaned. "Did you reach the first star? Then go soak yourself in there. Aigo, I feel like I've aged a hundred years."

Exaggeratedly expressing his exhaustion, Cheon Yuhak crawled towards the bathhouse exit.

"Oing? Where are you going?" Qing asked.

"I may be a thief, but I'm not shameless," Cheon Yuhak replied. "Am I supposed to stay here and ogle my disciple's naked body?"

"Considering you shoved that erotic art book at me, I think you were plenty shameless already."

"Kekek. True, I am shameless," he chuckled. "A man needs a bit of shamelessness; if he's too uptight, isn't he just a castrated bastard eunuch? But still, would I peek at my own disciple's body? Violating heavenly bonds makes one an animal, not human."

"Can't you just turn around?" Qing asked. "If you leave, how am I supposed to train alone? Do I just soak in the water?"

"What kind of girl has no sense of caution?" Cheon Yuhak countered. "You shouldn't trust men like that. Men are full of beastly bastards."

"Aww, but you're my Master."

Cheon Yuhak chuckled at that.

How did she manage to say things so prettily?

"Anyway, I'll be just beyond that ventilation window, so just talk to me," he said. "Shit, it stinks and feels stuffy, I can't stay here any longer."

The ventilation window, referred to the small opening near the floor for air circulation.

After Cheon Yuhak left, Qing stood before the medicinal bath.

It looked horrifying from afar, but up close, it was even worse.

It bubbled like lava, and due to its high viscosity, even the bubbles popped slowly. It looked like soaking in it would dissolve even her bones.

This must be what hell's bath looks like, she thought.

Qing shouted, "Is it really okay to get in here!? It looks like I'll die if I go in!"

A reply came from beyond the ventilation window.

"—That tub contains medicinal ingredients worth three gwan of gold sycee alone! If I wanted to kill you, would I use precious gold ingots when there are cheaper ways? Just soak yourself! You won't die."