Hyuk Dojin let out a low groan, lifted the box, took out the cloth covering the medicine as it was, and spread it on his palm.

“It’s the Body Refining Pill.”

“The Body Refining Pill?”

“Yes. It’s the medicine I saved and kept when sending it as a gift to the Moyong clan this time.”

Hyuk Dojin looked down at the medicine and clicked his tongue as if regretting it.

“If I had known that the Body Refining Pill would be helpful to Sowol, I should have kept it all instead of sending it. What a waste. But since there’s still some left, it will be helpful if Sowol takes it.”

I quietly looked at the medicine he handed to me and raised my head. Countless masters offered gold and treasure to Shaolin Temple just to eat this one medicine, and even within Shaolin Temple, it was a spiritual medicine that they hesitated to give to even their most remarkable disciples.

How can I eat this… That’s what I would have thought before, but now I had no hesitation. I took the medicine he offered and immediately put it in my mouth.

The spicy aroma and bitter taste. However, it quickly disappeared, as if snow was melting, and it went down my throat immediately.

Strangely, I could feel the energy of the medicine flowing through my throat as it was, and when it reached my stomach, the energy contained in the medicine literally spread throughout my body.

“How is it?”

“…Hmm, I’m not sure. I can feel the energy circulating in my body, but I’m not sure if there’s anything…”

“Ordinary martial artists usually perform breathing techniques to convert that medicine into their own internal energy when they take it. Would you like to try it too, Sowol? I’ll guide your breathing.”

Hyuk Dojin climbed onto the bed. He went behind my back and placed his palm on my back. As he moved, I sat cross-legged and slowly circulated the energy of the Primordial Origin as I always did.

The internal energy of the Primordial Origin, which was circulating slowly at first, reacted to the foreign energy flowing into my body and started to circulate faster than I expected.

I could feel the heat rising in my body. While my concentration was distracted by focusing on the foreign energy, the energies that lost my control continued to increase their speed.

Just as I thought my body would be in danger if it continued like this, another foreign energy entered through my veins and cooled down the heat-emitting energy.

A pleasant coolness circulated inside my body. The energy that had been moving rapidly out of control subsided. The energy of the Body Refining Pill resonated with the internal energy flowing through my body and slowly acquired color. Finally, after circulating through my body one more time, it returned to my Dantian.

“Phew…”

I slowly opened my eyes. Only then did I feel the cold air touching my skin. As I turned my head, Hyuk Dojin, who had been supporting me from behind, met my gaze. The sweat flowing down my cheeks had cooled.

As I smiled faintly, Hyuk Dojin also smiled back at me. He lightly wiped the sweat flowing down my cheeks and smiled brightly.

“You’re sweating a lot. You just washed, but you’ll have to wash again.”

“I have to, but my energy…”

At my words, Hyuk Dojin made a strange expression and slightly raised his eyebrows. His mouth opened slowly.

“Shall I wash you?”

“…”

As I pondered for a moment about what I had just heard, Hyuk Dojin leisurely pulled my clothes down. As I barely caught my shoulders about to be exposed, Hyuk Dojin clicked his tongue in a very disappointed manner.

What is this man doing now? Surprised by his unexpected actions and words, I hurriedly shook my head, and Hyuk Dojin showed his palms as if he understood. I grabbed my clothes and got up from my seat. When I came out after lightly washing up and drying my wet hair, Hyuk Dojin, who had been sitting on a chair and thinking deeply, faced me.

“Are you alright?”

“Except for the lack of strength in my body, I feel rather refreshed.”

At my words, Hyuk Dojin slightly tilted his head and extended his arm towards me. I approached him and extended my arm to meet his.

Hyuk Dojin took my arm, lightly grasped my wrist, checked my pulse, and slowly opened his mouth.

“I felt it before, but it’s definitely awkward.”

“What is?”

“When I first met Sowol, Hwa Ui, who checked your pulse, said that your blood vessels had never been cleaned. But now, looking at the internal energy filling your body and the pure clean blood vessels… these are all signs of the Conception Vessel being opened.” (tl/n: it was in chapter 6)

Come to think of it, I had heard such words before. At that time, I brushed it off as insignificant, but is it an important issue? As I tilted my head, Hyuk Dojin continued his explanation.

“The Conception Vessel is one of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and is one of the meridians that flow towards the Baihui* acupoint. It regulates Yin energy and maintains the body’s balance. Opening the Conception Vessel means opening the path for blood to flow towards Baihui acupoint, and this means that the path to reaching the realm of ‘Three Flowers Converging on the Crown’ and ‘Five Elements Rotation’ has been opened.” (tl/n: Baihui is an acupoint of the Governing Vessel, located on the highest place of the head where all the yang meridians meet, I’ll put more info about its relation to the Conception Vessel at the end of the chapter.)

Hyuk Dojin let go of my hand, faced me, and spoke in a solemn voice.

“Countless masters fail to clear the Conception Vessel and eventually meet their death. No, there are even those who struggle in the pain of opening the Conception Vessel and end their own lives. However, Sowol’s Conception Vessel is already open.”

Hyuk Dojin’s explanation was difficult and abstruse. If it had been before, I wouldn’t have understood a single thing, but it was also something that was mentioned in the books Yoo Doha had given me recently, and I also vaguely remembered that it was the main interest of my older brother, Moyong Do.

“Then… Is it a good thing?”

“In ordinary cases, it’s not just good, but it means you already possess the path to becoming a master of the Flowering Realm, which is not even ten people in the Central Plains, so you have tremendous talent. However…”

Hyuk Dojin tilted his head diagonally, organized his thoughts for a moment, and slowly opened his mouth.

“Judging from the speed of movement when you took the Body Refining Pill just now, it doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“What do you mean?”

“Right now, Sowol’s Conception Vessel is open, so there’s nothing blocking it, and the internal energy moves very quickly. It’s very difficult to adapt to that from the beginning.”

He approached the bed, sat down in the middle, and gestured to me. I hesitantly approached and sat on the opposite side of the bed. Hyuk Dojin placed his hand on my back again and spoke quietly.

“How was it when you learned the Primordial Origin from Yoo Doha? Was the Microcosmic Orbit burdensome then too?”

“No. At that time, it was very slow…”

“That means the abundant internal energy currently in your body is not yours, Sowol.”

Hyuk Dojin slowly removed his palm. I twisted my waist to look at him. He looked at me with serious eyes and spoke softly.

“Your body is filled with internal energy that doesn’t belong to you, Sowol. If they react like when you took the Body Refining Pill earlier, they will deviate from their own speed again. So, you should always have a breathing method.”

Thinking it was a difficult thing to say, I nodded my head with a complex expression. Hyuk Dojin chuckled and looked at me for a moment, then slightly leaned his body forward and kissed my cheek. As I widened my eyes, Hyuk Dojin grinned.

“When you make that expression, I want to tease you.”

“…”

“You don’t have to worry too much. Anyway, soon you will absorb all those energies and possess internal energy that others can’t even compare to. I don’t know how you will absorb it or how long it will take… But I’m here, aren’t I?”

Hyuk Dojin extended his thick arm and hugged me from behind, lightly kissing my ear.

“Everything will be alright.”

I quietly nodded my head while holding his forearm with my hand.

* * *

Time flew like an arrow.

As if forgetting that it had been lingering at the end of autumn, snow began to fall as soon as it crossed the threshold of the beginning of winter. When I woke up in the morning and looked at the snow falling like flower petals, Hyuk Dojin, who had woken up beside me, spoke in a drowsy voice.

“It seems like it will be very cold this year. It’s rare for snow to fall from the beginning.”

“Is that so?”

“How is it in Liaoning? I heard the north is quite cold.”

“Hmm…”

I tilted my head.

“It’s definitely cold since it’s in the north… But I rarely went outside, so I’m not sure.”

Unlike usual, Hyuk Dojin pulled the blanket up again, wriggling. His appearance was unfamiliar, so I approached him with a chuckle.

“Are you sick?”

Hyuk Dojin shook his head and looked up at the ceiling with a drowsy expression.

“I just want to be a bit lazy today.”

He narrowed his eyes, glanced at me, extended his arm to wrap around my waist, and pulled me closer.

Before I could even say ‘Huh?’, I was already sucked into the blanket. Hyuk Dojin pushed his lips under my chin and kissed me there once.

With a smacking sound, a strange sensation rushed in.

“Wait…! Dojin!”

“Let’s sleep a little more.”

The breath under my chin felt very hot. Unlike his usual self, his somewhat proactive behavior made my mood feel stimulating from the morning.

“Ugh… Stop it!”

“Can’t we just roll around here together today? How about calling a musician and having them play music? Or should we call a storyteller and listen to some interesting stories?”

Honestly, it would be a lie if I said I wasn’t tempted by his words. The situation where Hyuk Dojin was kissing me as if tickling my body from below, holding my waist and not letting go, wasn’t bad.

Come to think of it, we hadn’t even had our first night together despite consummating our marriage. It’s something a married couple should naturally do, but I didn’t think much of it.

I thought Hyuk Dojin would have similar thoughts to me, but was I wrong?

Just as I felt like I would collapse under his touch that mysteriously made me feel heated,

“There’s no time for that!”

I forcefully pushed Hyuk Dojin’s thick arm aside and got up from the bed.

Phew… If I had been a little late, I would have been sucked into the swamp called Hyuk Dojin.

His gaze slowly rose, scanning my empty spot as if regretting it.

“Do you have a schedule today?”

Facing him, I exhaled deeply, tidied my disheveled hair, and spoke calmly.

“I have to train.”

“It’s okay to rest for a day.”

I turned around with a dumbfounded expression, wondering if this was the Hyuk Dojin I knew. Normally, when I showed a lazy attitude, Hyuk Dojin was the one who would push my back instead.

But now, just because it snowed a little, he was being lazy. It was amazing to see a new side of him.

But that’s one thing, and this is another.

“No. You said I shouldn’t miss even a day.”

“Who said that?”

“Who else?”

I clicked my tongue and pointed at Hyuk Dojin. He frowned, rolled his eyes, and sighed deeply. He couldn’t deny it since it was his own words.

Smiling brightly, I got off the bed, washed up in the bathroom, and when I came out, Hyuk Dojin, who had been lying on the bed, was sitting on the edge.

As I dried my hair and quietly watched to see how long he would stay like that, Hyuk Dojin, who had been sitting, got up, quickly washed up, and changed his clothes.

Is he going to work? However, the clothes he was wearing weren’t his the lightweight Dopo or traditional Hanbok* he usually wore, but a comfortable Dobok training uniform. (tl/n: first two are formal traditional clothes, while the last one ‘Dobok’ is the uniform worn by practitioners of Korean martial arts, such as taekwondo.)

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to follow you.”

Where?

As I stared at him, Hyuk Dojin grinned and raised his chin.

“Today, I’m going to follow Sowol around all day.”

* * *

I slowly moved the wooden sword, which now felt familiar in weight, in the direction Yoo Doha taught me. At first, it felt awkward since it had been a while since I used it, and my muscles had small spasms, but as I continued, it stabilized.

Whenever I felt even slightly tired or my breath became rough, with Yoo Doha’s help, I stopped and took sufficient rest. Thanks to his consideration, I was able to continue training steadily without straining my body.

Feeling the flow of the sword drawing the variations of Plum Blossom Path, the first technique of the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Techniques, I recalled the path my body was taking. I tried my best to demonstrate the Plum Blossom Sword Technique, which should not be interrupted or stopped, and whose life was flexibility and softness, as similarly as possible.

However, the variations of Plum Blossom Path, which usually went well, were often interrupted in the middle today.

“Hmm…”

Yoo Doha, who had been watching me from afar, let out a small groan and approached closer. As the interrupted sword lost its way and eventually fell to the ground, Yoo Doha’s explanation continued.

“It seems like you’re distracted today. Your concentration keeps being disturbed at the points where you need to focus.”

“Hah. It can’t be helped.”

As I brushed back my disheveled hair, I looked at Hyuk Dojin, who was leaning against the wall.

Yoo Doha turned his head, following my gaze, and made an awkward expression. Yoo Doha carefully opened his mouth at Hyuk Dojin’s expression, which seemed to have considerable dissatisfaction.

“…Did something happen?”

If there is, there is, and if there isn’t, there isn’t. What kind of wind blew that made Hyuk Dojin follow me here? What should I do with him?

As I quietly looked at him, Hyuk Dojin moved away from the wall and approached closer. He received the wooden sword I was holding and fumbled with the handle.

Yoo Doha, who had been quietly observing Hyuk Dojin’s appearance, slightly raised his eyebrows. He took a step back and carefully spoke to Hyuk Dojin.

“Young Cult Leader.”

“Yeah.”

A blunt answer. Sensing that his answer was unusual, Yoo Doha quickly assessed the situation and opened his mouth again.

“Do you have any complaints…?”

“No.”

It’s not that there isn’t. Yoo Doha and I glanced at each other. Why is this man acting like this all of a sudden? Is he really acting like this because we didn’t rest together? If that’s the case, I might feel a little disappointed.

I stared intently at Hyuk Dojin. He fumbled with the handle of my wooden sword for a while, keeping silent, then slowly opened his mouth.

“Doha.”

“Yes.”

“Recite the verse from the Primordial Origin and the first technique of the sword art you’re teaching now.”

It was a sudden request, but Yoo Doha quickly opened his mouth without any signs of surprise. Hyuk Dojin quietly listened to the quite long content, and after hearing it to the end, he nodded his head, handed the wooden sword to me, received Yoo Doha’s wooden sword, and moved about five steps away from me.

“Sowol. By any chance, when swinging the sword or demonstrating the techniques, are there moments when you suddenly exert a lot of strength or your breathing becomes rough?”

I thought for a moment at Hyuk Dojin’s words and lightly nodded. As if he had expected it, Hyuk Dojin briefly nodded his head, clasped one hand behind his back, held the wooden sword diagonally forward with the other hand, and took a stance.

“Demonstrate the first technique to me.”

“Pardon?”

I pondered for a moment on how to interpret his words, but thinking that there must be a meaning behind what he was doing, I immediately took a stance and moved my feet.

Six swings in total, including the variations of the first technique. Hyuk Dojin softly received them and finally caught the wooden sword with his own hand, smiling gracefully.

“You did well.”

“Is your hand okay?”

He shrugged his shoulders as if there was no problem and turned to Yoo Doha.

“Did you know about this too?”

“…I just saw it for the first time. This is also a first for me.”

“Is that so?”

Hyuk Dojin grinned and turned to me again. As I tilted my head, wondering what he meant, Hyuk Dojin stepped back as if telling me to watch closely and demonstrated the same technique I had just shown.

Even though it was a sword technique he had heard from Yoo Doha for the first time, he demonstrated the technique perfectly at a higher level than me. And he did it quickly and destructively.

Hyuk Dojin turned to me and spoke again.

“Sowol. Do you see the difference between the first technique I just demonstrated and the one you demonstrated?”

“You mean you did it much better than me… Is that it?”

“No. What I want to say is not about the proficiency in handling the sword, but the difference in the verse used when demonstrating the technique. I used a very minimal amount of internal energy to demonstrate the technique. Aside from being fast and destructive, if you only use the amount of internal energy required in the verse, the technique can be demonstrated very smoothly. However, watching from the side, Sowol’s movements were somewhat stiff and interrupted.”

“Isn’t it because I’m not used to handling a sword yet?”

Hyuk Dojin shook his head.

“Just now, Sowol said that there are moments when it becomes strenuous and the breath suddenly rises. That’s not a problem with Sowol’s physical strength. Actually, it’s my first time seeing a case like this, so I’m at a loss… But to cut to the conclusion… It’s too excessive.”

What does it mean to be excessive? Does it mean I’m putting too much strength? Or is my action excessive? Or does it mean I’m injecting too much internal energy?

As I tilted my head, Hyuk Dojin’s explanation continued. In essence, many martial artists fail to properly allocate the internal energy used when demonstrating techniques when learning martial arts.

As a result, it was common for the destructive power of the technique to be lacking due to insufficient internal energy, or for the flow to not follow the verse.

However, in my case, it was the opposite. There was no problem following the verse of the technique, and moreover, because I used excessive internal energy, the Plum Blossom Sword Technique, which symbolized softness, felt stiff as if I was demonstrating a violent swordsmanship.

“Sowol started learning Primordial Origin about a month ago. It’s impossible to use internal energy in such quantity and with such smoothness with that level of training. It’s my guess, but I think the reason is Sowol’s blood vessels and the abundant internal energy within them. That’s why you quickly become out of breath and feel strained with just a little movement.”

Then what should I do? I quietly looked at him as if asking for an answer. Hyuk Dojin handed the sword to Yoo Doha, pondered for a moment, and spoke leisurely.

“I’ve been thinking, and it’s impossible for Sowol to accept the abundant internal energy in your body and make it your own all at once. Then, what if we draw it out little by little instead? It’s my guess, but it will probably gather in your Dantian little by little. Then, the pure energies will slowly gather through the Primordial Origin cultivation method.”

There was a possibility. However, the question here was how to draw out that energy. How can I draw out the internal energy that I didn’t even know existed? The answer to that question came from Yoo Doha’s mouth.

“To receive clean water in an overflowing lake, you need to remove that water.”

As I turned my head to him, Yoo Doha continued speaking while facing me.

“Every day, you need to remove all the internal energy of the Primordial Origin accumulated in your Dantian and accept it again.”

“That’s right. And that means you have to use more internal energy than now.”

“What does that mean?”

What does it mean? At my words, Hyuk Dojin made a pitiful expression as if it was obvious.

“From now on, I will personally train you.”

“…?”

* * *

It was an unprecedented event.

Those who knew about it couldn’t help but express their astonishment in unison.

When people heard that the Young Cult Leader and the leader of the Blood Flow Thousand Wolves Corps were personally teaching the Young Madam, they all started by saying it was unbelievable.

What kind of place is the Demon Cult?

It was a place where strength was everything and strength was the law. There were numerous people there who yearned to gain strong power by learning superior martial arts from a slightly better teacher.

However, it was already shocking that the leader of the Blood Flow Thousand Wolves Corps was personally training the daughter of the Moyong clan from the outside, but the Young Cult Leader of the world was personally taking on the role of his wife’s teacher.

The Hyuk family had ruled the Demon Cult for generations, both in name and reality.

They didn’t take any disciples and only had one child per generation to avoid division.

In a situation where people were willing to bring the head of the Murim Alliance Leader if they could receive teachings from the Cult Leader, Moyong Sowol, who had become the disciple of the two people at the highest position, was regarded as someone who had seized an opportunity given by the heavens.

However, that was only the judgment of others, and in fact, I was spending quite a tough time.

The Hyuk Dojin I knew was always kind, gentle, and a man who seemed to do everything for me.

But he changed. The man who seemed to do everything for me turned into a demon and started injecting the martial arts he knew.

Martial arts that weren’t destructive, didn’t overuse the body, and at the same time could perfectly protect one’s own body.

To put it simply, he taught me self-defense techniques.

Self-defense techniques were a kind of protective barrier to protect the body, and it was customary for martial artists to learn them after a certain level of training. The reason was simple.

‘Because the consumption of internal energy is extreme.’

Simply operating it alone consumed internal energy far more than ordinary martial arts, to the point where those with poor internal energy would soon become exhausted.

However, since it didn’t use the body roughly, there was no martial art more perfect than self-defense techniques for me, who needed to remove the internal energy of the Primordial Origin.

In the morning, I trained in breathing techniques and swordsmanship with Yoo Doha, and in the afternoon, I learned self-defense techniques with Hyuk Dojin.

When evening came, all the internal energy in my body would be depleted, and I wanted to collapse immediately, but cruelly, Hyuk Dojin forcibly made me sit up and forcefully made me perform breathing exercises.

At first, I thought, why is he doing this to me, is he treating me harshly now that we’re married? But after about two weeks, all of this gradually became familiar, and the internal energy consumption due to self-defense techniques increased to a bearable level.

“My guess was correct. The speed at which internal energy accumulates in the Dantian is indeed fast.”

Hyuk Dojin, who had been guiding my breathing while I was sitting cross-legged on the bed, showed a satisfied expression.

However, I still couldn’t feel any significant difference, so I tilted my head.

Hyuk Dojin smiled at my reaction and calmly spoke after removing his palm.

“Sowol has too much internal energy, so you can’t feel the difference. Roughly, based on the current level, if you continue training at this pace, you will probably be able to absorb all the internal energy in about a year.”

“Then how much internal energy will I accumulate?”

“Although we’ll have to wait and see for the exact amount… Let’s see. I think you will easily surpass the first-grade.”

“…First-grade?”

I gauged the unit of grade and remembered that it meant sixty years, widening my eyes.

Sixty years’ worth of internal energy will be accumulated in my body? Is that possible?

Moyong Do, who boasted about his internal energy increasing, was barely able to accumulate half a grade at a young age.

Even that alone made people around him praise him as excellent, but for me to have twice that…

As I looked at Hyuk Dojin with a dazed expression, he smiled brightly.

“It’s not certain until we see, but for now, that’s how it is. If you make everything your own, Sowol, I think it will be sufficient.”

“For what?”

“What else could it be?”

Hyuk Dojin faced me and opened his mouth.

“Transformation.”

“…”

“Of course, not everyone who has open meridians and internal energy goes through transformation. In Sowol’s case, it’s a bit unique. Instead of building your body through training, accumulating internal energy, and then opening the Conception Vessel through numerous training and enlightenment, it’s like opening all the paths first and then finding the place of transformation again.”

Hyuk Dojin got up from his seat, took off the outer garment he was wearing, hung it up, and continued speaking.

“It might be even more difficult that way. To move forward, you just need to break through the wall, but going back is not an easy task. There will be many cases where you don’t know which way is the path. You’ll have to think and ponder a lot. And for that, you’ll need time…”

He took out a box from the outer garment he had taken off and handed it to me.

Inside, there was still a round the Body Refining Pill that looked like poop.

“You need to become healthy.”

I slowly picked up the Body Refining Pill placed on his palm and brought it to my mouth. It was the second Body Refining Pill.

Am I really getting better? No, is it correct to say that I’m buying time?

“Hwa Ui said he’s coming in the morning tomorrow. He said he got medicine to check on Sowol’s condition, so let’s skip the morning training tomorrow. You can sleep in for a change.”

I nodded my head as I faced his smiling face. I pushed the Body Refining Pill into my mouth.

Tl/note: 

*So Baihui (literally translates to “hundred meetings”) is an acupoint on the Governing Vessel, not the Conception Vessel. However, in the context of energy (qi/ki) circulation in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts, these two vessels are closely interconnected.

A key concept in martial arts training and internal alchemy involves circulating energy through a circuit called the Microcosmic Orbit (Sojucheon – mentioned in Chapter 11). This orbit primarily follows the path of the Governing Vessel and Conception Vessel. Energy flows up the back along the Governing Vessel, reaches Baihui, then descends along the front of the body through the Conception Vessel, forming a continuous loop.

For Sowol it means that opening the Conception Vessel facilitates the upward flow of energy towards Baihui, which is essential for advanced energy cultivation practices