Episode 8: Gaining Twenty Years of Inner Power
Won Seung realized the gravity of the situation at that moment.
He immediately knelt and bowed deeply to the Poison Master. The Poison Master was pleased to have such a perceptive disciple.
“First, read and memorize the books. If there’s anything you don’t understand, ask me as you go. Practical training will begin once you’ve memorized everything.”
Reading was one of Won Seung’s strengths. From that day on, he read the Poison Master’s books every night.
The five books were divided into poison, poison techniques, and poison arts. Three of them detailed the creation and antidotes for mineral, plant, and animal poisons. The fourth book covered methods of using poison, and the last one was about mastering poison arts by incorporating poison into the body.
Even though Won Seung could usually memorize books after one reading, these five were different. They were vast and some parts were extremely complex. A single mistake in memorization could lead to disastrous results, so he had to be precise.
It took Won Seung a month to memorize all five books. The Poison Master was visibly surprised.
“You’ve memorized them all already?”
“Yes, it was quite challenging.”
“Are you sure you’ve memorized everything? If you’re lying, you’ll be punished.”
“Well… then test me.”
The Poison Master opened a book and asked questions, to which Won Seung answered immediately. The Poison Master was secretly astonished at how thoroughly Won Seung knew even the minutest details.
‘This kid is sharper than I thought. He was hiding his abilities from me.’
He felt a thrill inside. He had thought Won Seung was just teachable, but he exceeded expectations.
However, he didn’t show it. Excessive praise could lead to arrogance in a young disciple.
“You’ve confirmed it, right? I’ll return the books now.”
As Won Seung handed the five books back to the Poison Master, he thought to himself.
‘The Poison Master has reached the level of a Poison Master, so why is he so frail?’
The last part of the Poison Master’s book on poison arts described a Poison Master as someone who could poison others with just their breath.
A Poison Master is a monster who has ingested countless poisons, storing the toxins in their body for use when needed. They are essentially a walking poison.
While Won Seung had memorized the five books, he didn’t understand everything. Still, he could gauge the Poison Master’s level to some extent.
He could also guess the current state of the Poison Master’s body. He had reached the level of a Poison Master, but something had gone wrong, causing the poison energy to run rampant.
‘I will never become a Poison Master.’
The Poison Master packed the books back into his bundle and said, “Poison isn’t about theory; it’s about practice. Before you hone your skills in handling poison, let’s work on your body first.”
“My body is very healthy.”
After five years of rolling around in the mountains, Won Seung’s body had become strong and agile, with not an ounce of excess fat.
“It’s not just about the shell. You need inner power too.”
Then he grasped Won Seung’s pulse and checked his energy. After a moment, he nodded.
“You’ve laid a good foundation, but you’re lacking inner power.”
Won Seung had diligently practiced the Clear Mind Art for five years. It was the best way to prevent him from collapsing due to his pent-up anger.
No matter how tired he was, he consistently practiced energy circulation for over an hour before sleeping. Otherwise, his chest would feel tight and he would struggle to breathe due to resentment and anger.
“Handling poison can lead to self-poisoning. It’s fortunate if you have an antidote, but if not, you must rely on your inner power. To handle poison properly, you need at least thirty years of inner power.”
“What! Thirty years? Does that mean I have to wait thirty years?”
“Not necessarily.”
The Poison Master went to his chamber and brought back a small jade box. When he opened it, a fragrant scent wafted out. Inside were three pills coated in gold leaf.
“This is called Meridian Cleansing Pill. Taking one pill is equivalent to gaining ten years of inner power.”
“Oh! So if I take all three, I can gain thirty years of inner power?”
Won Seung was surprised and delighted. The Poison Master shook his head.
“No. Just like with poison, if you take too much, your body builds a tolerance, reducing the effect. Even if you take all three, you’ll only gain about fifteen years. If you’re exceptionally talented, you might gain more… Since you’ve been training your inner power for five years, taking all three should give you about twenty years.”
Won Seung was slightly disappointed that thirty years had been reduced to twenty. The Poison Master advised him gently.
“There’s a limit to gaining the effects of inner power through medicine. It’s important to supplement it with consistent effort.”
“I love practicing mind techniques.”
Won Seung said, eyeing the pills greedily, and the Poison Master chuckled.
The Poison Master, being someone who dealt with poison, liked disciples who had a bit of poison and greed in them. Such traits were necessary to handle poison properly.
“You say reading is your favorite, throwing daggers is your favorite, and now mind technique practice is your favorite too. Do you even know what ‘favorite’ means?”
“Of course, I do. What I mean is, whatever I’m doing at the moment is my favorite, so I focus on it completely.”
There was a peculiar wisdom in Won Seung’s words, which made the Poison Master pause and reflect.
‘Yes, let’s focus on the present moment.’
After being defeated by the Poison King, the Poison Master had been tormented by self-doubt. He had competed for the title of the greatest poison master and lost. But Won Seung’s words reminded him of the importance of focusing on the present.
‘They say you can learn from the young.’
The Poison Master looked at his disciple with a strange gaze. He was experiencing the joy of nurturing a genius, as Won Seung had memorized his extensive writings in just a month.
The previous disciple he had taken on, with the intention of making him his successor, took three months just to read one book. Even that was considered a great achievement. But that disciple, in his arrogance, recklessly ingested poison and died before anything could be done.
Not wanting a repeat, the Poison Master had spent considerable money and time to create three Meridian Cleansing Pill pills. He had to hand over the secret formulas for Poison Refinement Powder, Rapid Recovery Pill, and Supreme Profound Pill to the main sect to acquire the ingredients. It would be very disappointing if Won Seung didn’t benefit from them.
Unaware of these circumstances, Won Seung felt deeply grateful to the Poison Master. He prostrated himself and offered a deep bow.
“Master, your grace is immense. Please accept your disciple’s bow.”
It was a bow from the heart. The Poison Master chuckled and tapped Won Seung’s head with the bamboo staff he held.
“If you consider it a grace… No, as my disciple, it’s only natural for you to resolve your master’s grievances.”
The Poison Master muttered to himself, and Won Seung asked, “Do you have a grievance, Master?”
“We’ll talk about that later. If you don’t properly train in poison arts, it’s a pointless conversation. First, take this pill and refine your inner power.”
That night, Won Seung took one Meridian Cleansing Pill pill. As the pill settled in his stomach, a warm energy spread from his lower abdomen throughout his body.
“Practice energy circulation.”
With the Poison Master guarding the entrance to his chamber, Won Seung felt at ease. He quickly entered a meditative state, faster than usual.
As the energy from the Meridian Cleansing Pill spread, it gathered in his dantian and circulated through the twelve meridians and eight extraordinary vessels. True to its name, the pill made his blood feel purified and his meridians robust.
Even after practicing energy circulation all night, Won Seung didn’t wake up. When he didn’t come down for training, the instructor came looking for him.
“He’ll be missing training for a few days because I have something for him to do.”
The Poison Master sent the instructor away.
Won Seung completed his energy circulation only by the evening of that day.
When he opened his eyes, his body felt as light as a feather. Energy overflowed from his dantian and flowed through his meridians.
‘So this is inner power.’
He realized that the energy he had gained from five years of training was insignificant compared to true inner power.
The Poison Master grasped Won Seung’s pulse and checked his energy, then said, “You’ve done very well. You’ve fully absorbed the effects of the Meridian Cleansing Pill.”
“How much inner power do I have now?”
“You’ve gained about ten years from the pill. Add that to the five years you already had, and how much is that?”
“Fifteen years.”
Thanks to his diligent practice of the Clear Mind Art over the past five years, Won Seung had maximized the effects of the Meridian Cleansing Pill.
“Let’s take the next pill in a month. In the meantime, manage the inner power you’ve gained well.”
The Poison Master’s voice was much softer than before. He was pleased with his disciple, who exceeded his expectations.
Won Seung focused on energy circulation for two more days, and three days later, he resumed training. He trained all day and learned to distinguish between poisonous plants, animals, and minerals from the Poison Master in the evenings, creating relatively mild poisons. Since he hadn’t yet achieved thirty years of inner power, he couldn’t handle or create extremely potent poisons.
At night, he practiced the Clear Mind Art, so he was always short on sleep. Without the fifteen years of inner power, he would have collapsed.
After gaining inner power, his body felt much lighter, making it easy to keep up with training. However, Won Seung still had reservations about becoming a Ten Kill Assassin, so he only trained to an adequate level.
He found the intellectual challenge of poison techniques more enjoyable than physical training.
A month later, Won Seung took the second Meridian Cleansing Pill. This time, he completed energy circulation in one night. His eyes grew deeper, his skin smoother, and the Taeyang acupoints near his temples bulged, his muscles and bones becoming firmer. Energy flowed naturally through his meridians without conscious effort.
The Poison Master checked Won Seung’s condition and, slightly surprised, said, “You’ve done very well again. It seems the Meridian Cleansing Pill suits your body. This time, you’ve gained six or seven years? In any case, you’ve definitely surpassed twenty years of inner power.”
Won Seung was disappointed to have gained only six or seven years, but the Poison Master was thrilled with the unexpected success.
With twenty years of inner power, he could perform energy projection. While he couldn’t yet form a sword aura, he could infuse energy into his sword, allowing it to withstand clashes with first-rate masters’ swords without breaking.
While relieved that the Poison Master was pleased, Won Seung was also worried.
‘At this rate, I might really become a Ten Kill Assassin.’
With inner power far superior to others, it was almost certain he would excel in swordsmanship or martial arts. No matter how much he tried to hide his skills, he couldn’t completely deceive the instructors who watched him like hawks.
As if sensing Won Seung’s concerns, the Poison Master said, “In the martial world, they say to hide thirty percent of your skills. The more your enemy underestimates you, the greater your chances of winning. Once you achieve sixty years of inner power, you’ll gain the ability to conceal your energy. Until then, be extra careful not to reveal your true strength.”
Won Seung took a mirror and looked at his bulging Taeyang acupoints, then cut his hair with scissors. Over the years, it had grown long enough for a ponytail, but he boldly cut it off.
Then he scattered the hair. Naturally, his Taeyang acupoints were covered.
“Does this work?”
“Ha ha…”
The Poison Master laughed at his disciple’s actions.