《Aejam Sujeok Ojeok》 Myeolun Dokrok
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Volume 1: Seongudo, Wolgwansan
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Chapter 1: Time Slip
Seheon awoke in the darkness and felt only a splitting headache. He faintly remembered the immense pain of being struck by a ten-ton truck. Sunlight shone on his chest, warm and gentle. Slowly becoming aware of his body’s existence, he could not help but marvel—not only at that, but at how truly hardy his fortune was. Struck by a large truck and sent flying so far, and yet he still had not died. At that moment, countless fragments of memory surged into his mind, and for a while his head felt as though it would burst from the assault.
Originally, he had already died. But the antique pearl he had bought as a charm had suddenly emitted light, wrapped around his soul, torn a rift in space, and brought him to this world, where he possessed this unlucky wretch.
This body belonged to a minor Taoist, or rather, a body with a bit of magical power. The original owner was named Dubaek. Ten years ago, a great drought had struck Cheongju. His parents had taken him, then eight years old, south as refugees, only to collapse and die by the roadside. This Dubaek was not entirely of ill fortune. Before starving to death, he caught the eye of a passing Taoist, Seo, and became his disciple. Dubaek’s own aptitude was decent. In merely ten years of practice, he reached the realm of bolstering his energy and strengthening his soul, earning the favor of Old Taoist Seo.
In his memories, Old Taoist Seo always said that in the thirteen prefectures of Yanggyeong, there were barely ten people who truly possessed magical power. Among them, recluses hidden from the world could be counted on one hand. It was simply that he himself had sought the Immortal Dao his whole life, and so could not achieve fame under heaven.
Taoist Seo had obtained a wondrous encounter in his youth and gained the Truth. He never ceased cultivation. His heart in pursuit of the Dao ran so deep that he never married in his life, and by the age of thirty he had cultivated to the realm where the soul awakens. Yet for the next ten years, while his cultivation had to deepen, there was no longer any direction for breaking through boundaries. Therefore, he traveled to the famous mountains and scenic waters of the land, seeking places of strange legend in search of immortals, but all came to naught like bubbles in a dream. Even at one hundred years of age, there were still a few places he had not visited, but in the end he despaired and decided to return to his hometown.
On the road back, thinking that he was of advanced age at one hundred, had at best ten years left to live, and that his Dao lineage and all he had learned would be lost without an heir, he took in Dubaek as his disciple.
After returning to his hometown, although Taoist Seo still had family, the relatives who remembered him had long since passed away from old age. Finding that the few surviving elders no longer knew him, he simply bought a small courtyard west of the city and settled there, raising Dubaek in peace. On one hand, he taught Daoist methods; on the other, he recounted his lifetime of wandering, slaying ghosts and exterminating demons. Thus ten years passed, and the old Taoist’s time ran out—after sleeping through the night, he never woke again.
Because Dubaek and his master had relied on each other for ten years, his grief was naturally beyond measure. Thus, after burying his master, during a single session of meditative stillness while practicing visualization, he could not eliminate distracting thoughts. Inner demons flared, and he was on the verge of burning to death.
Seheon slowly rose and stood before the bed, moving his hands and feet. Calming his mind, he sat cross-legged. Following the dharma words from the fragments of memory, he breathed out. After breathing out for a week, he opened his eyes and considered himself somewhat fortunate. If this fellow had been set aflame not during visualization, but merely while sitting down, who knew how damaged his body’s meridians would have been? Even if his soul had attached to this body, he would not know how long he could survive. And whether he could time slip again then would remain to be seen. Currently, his body’s meridians had only slight damage; with medicine and rest, he could fully recover within half a month.
As soon as he recalled the pearl that had caused his time slip, he wanted to ascertain its final outcome, but he had just received these memories and his thoughts were chaotic. Moreover, his emotions were unstable right after the time slip. If he forcefully entered internal meditation at this time, he could not avoid the tragedy of that foolish inner demon assailing him.
Relying on his memories, Seheon found three sticks of sacred incense from the head of the bed. This was calming incense, something Old Taoist Seo had gathered the materials for and made himself—extremely precious. He placed them on a wooden table beside the incense burner, picked up a copper basin, opened the door, and drew water from the small well in the courtyard. This too was like recalling the experience of drawing water from a well when visiting the countryside in his previous life.
Carrying the brass basin back to the room, he set it down, bolted the door, washed his face with cold water, and wiped himself dry. Seheon suddenly felt refreshed throughout his body, then slowly changed into a new Taoist robe. Doing these things was merely a means. The purpose was to slowly calm his emotions and gradually unify his mind and body through these solemn actions. This was also one of the reasons why many religions always maintain so many rituals. One of those reasons is precisely this: calming the emotions and emptying the thoughts. Of course, a religion makes it easier to propagate its teachings when one is in such a state, influenced by the atmosphere of many people around doing the same thing.
Having learned the dharma words from his memories, Seheon moved the blood and qi in his body, then formed a mudra and recited incantations. He rested in this manner for over ten hours. A flame sprouted on his finger and lit the three sticks of sacred incense. Seheon felt wonder and disappointment simultaneously. As someone with an extraordinary love for the immortal chivalric tradition in his previous life, time slipping into a world where he could cultivate immortality and wield Daoist arts was naturally wondrous. Moreover, his parents had suffered hardship early in his previous life and passed away together before their sixtieth birthday. He had no lingering worries and could quickly accept the fact of the time slip, so he grew curious about this world. Disappointingly, such a weak ignition technique could only be manifested so slowly, and its power was still so small—truly disappointing.
As Old Taoist Seo had said in his memories, in the first stage of refining the body and harboring the soul, the body was merely robust and could not perform techniques. Upon reaching the second stage, one could nourish the soul, but the power was small, the procedures many, and the time consumed long. In a frontal confrontation, it was not on the level of combat prowess compared to the famous experts of the martial world (Yanggi stage), so they often laid out talismans and altars in advance. One had to prepare rituals to wield arcane arts. Of course, if one had magical implements, one would prioritize using them.
Only upon reaching the third stage, when the soul awakened and transformed, could one slowly develop minor divine powers. Furthermore, aside from a few foundational ones, minor divine powers differed according to each person’s soul and cultivation method. In this stage, compared to the apex grandmasters of the martial world, each had their own profound depths, and when prepared, they were stronger than martial arts grandmasters. Speaking of Daoist techniques, although the power was strengthened, moving blood and qi, making decisions, and reciting incantations were equally numerous. For techniques of somewhat greater power, one needed divine visualization. Treading the Mia steps truly took time, so when fighting people, they usually used talismans, minor divine powers, magical implements, and even fists and feet.
Of course, Daoist techniques being wondrous did not mean one had to fight head-on to win. It was relatively easy for a Taoist who had settled his spirit and made preparations to kill an expert from the martial world. As for the later stages, even Seocheonsa did not know them well. He had merely lived alongside an old friend. Only upon reaching the Geumdan-baesin stage, moving with intent and performing dharma rituals, toppling castles and severing rivers, could one be called an immortal-like figure.
Calming his mind, Seheon took the three sticks of incense and bowed three times toward the sky. This was to comfort the soul of this body. Inserting the incense, he sat on the bed with his five centers facing the heavens. Fortunately, this body had always been steady. Currently, with the help of the incense, Seheon slowly settled into meditative stillness. As soon as he entered stillness, he discovered his soul being drawn toward the Misimjebu. That small pearl was floating quietly. Its light was dim, but a beam of light shot from within and brought a message to Seheon’s soul.
It turned out that this small pearl was an acquired spiritual object of this world. It was called the Shanhe Pearl, obtained by a greatly capable Qingyunzi in high antiquity. However, after Qingyunzi condensed two flowers at the Golden Immortal stage (Hapdo), he committed murder and perished alongside others. Before dying, he thought to leave alone. His teacher, the Wuyou Daoren, had already seen through the Great Dao and fled this world to pioneer a new one, causing him to be unable to pass on his Dao lineage in this world. He left within the Shanhe Pearl—an acquired spiritual object he had just obtained and not yet refined—the testament of his master’s enlightenment and the fundamental great method he cultivated, *The Daoji Dedao Baolu*, and with his last bit of magical power, he shattered the void and sent it away.
Who could have known that the Shanhe Pearl would encounter a spacetime vibration along the way and pass through to another world, namely Earth, where Seheon was? Later, over the course of a million years, it slowly gathered power. After Seheon had a traffic accident and shed blood, it triggered an explosive release of power through the stimulation of his soul. Using the spacetime chart Qingyunzi had left inside the Shanhe Pearl, it brought Seheon to the Wuyou Great World—Qingyunzi’s homeland.
After delivering this message, it transmitted one more mysterious, abstruse Dao book to Seheon’s soul. Seeing that its own light had dimmed, it seemed to be slowly recovering its strength.
From the opening commentary by Qingyunzi at the beginning of the Dao book, Seheon learned that the cultivation path of this world was divided into two major stages: Yeongi and Wonsin. Yeongi was divided into seven stages: Yanghon, Janghon, Chulgyu, Ingi, Shinhon, Geumdan, and Eumsin. The Wonsin stages were divided into Wonsin, Yangsin, Cheonin, Hapdo, Jo-hwa, and Yeongwon.
Of course, the stage names above were merely abbreviations. For example, the full names of the Yeongi stages were Danche-yanghon, Yanggi-janghon, Yeonghon-chulgyu, Ingi-sanghon, Shinhon-habil, Geumdan-baesin, and Eumsin-eungnyeon.
Among them, if one cultivated the first two stages—Danche-yanghon and Yanggi-janghon—well, one could reach the limit of one’s natural lifespan. Upon reaching Yeonghon-chulgyu, one could live another thirty years, roughly one hundred and twenty. Ingi-sanghon reached two hundred years, and Shinhon-habil lifespan increased to three hundred. Geumdan-stage grandmasters enjoyed lifespans reaching six hundred, and Eumsin venerables could live up to one thousand two hundred years.
After the Wonsin level, Qingyunzi only roughly mentioned the Wonsin True Person who had stepped upon and dug open the barrier of life and death, also called the Guishen True Person. They shared the same lifespan as heaven and earth. However, one had to endure various calamities. He exhorted Seheon not to let his physical body suffer destructive damage; otherwise, he could not achieve the Wonsin. And after achieving the Wonsin, the lower volume of the records, the Wonsin Volume, would appear.
Seheon awoke from stillness and roughly thought it over—he remembered the contents of the upper volume of *The Daoji Dedao Baolu*. The soul’s memory did indeed seem far more effective. But it was not yet time to practice. What was most important now was contemplating his path forward and how he ought to proceed.
As a transmigrator, lacking foundation in and of itself, if he had not the slightest plan for the future, his mind would find it difficult to settle. Having direction, procedure, and goal made the whole sturdy. He needed to add a frequently used saying of the present to feel a sense of stability. Namely, only after first settling the mind could one then settle the mind. Had one not seen modern society, one would not know how many people’s hearts were empty, anxious, and uneasy—either because they had no goals, or because despite having goals, they lacked planned procedures.
Of course, since he did not yet know much information, he could only establish a general plan. Later, after seeing more or if something happened, he would revise it.
This, too, was the logic that Seheon—a cautious and careful man of science and engineering—most habitually held.