Chapter 399. At the Moment It Is Dyed Purple.

The reason one closes one’s eyes during qi circulation and breathing is because many masters recommend it.

Strictly speaking, whether one’s eyes are closed or open, qi circulation and breathing are the same.

The reason for closing them is simply concentration and emotion.

If your eyes are open, you end up seeing things, and that in turn summons emotions unrelated to qi circulation.

Emotions affect the mind, and during the process of qi circulation, where one must focus immediately and completely, they increase the chance of mistakes or disruption. One closes one’s eyes because there is always that slim possibility.

To put it a little more forcibly.

If a dying person were suddenly to appear before your eyes, or if you witnessed a scene that shattered your heart, you might let go of the handle while transporting a heavy cart loaded with internal energy. If that happened to be on a downhill slope, the cart might go hurtling off somewhere with terrifying speed. And the place it would crash into would be your own blood vessels and meridians.

If the cart burst apart like that, and my meridians burst along with it, that would be qi deviation.

Many people of the jianghu fell into qi deviation while circulating their qi and never opened their eyes again. As the trial and error of our predecessors was passed down by word of mouth, most people now seek out an enclosed place before practicing qi circulation, and even there, they close their eyes.

But whenever I climbed to the summit of Mount Hua to cultivate the Violet Mist Divine Art, I did not close my eyes.

Now, whether my eyes were closed or open, it was the same to me.

If anything, cultivating with my eyes open was far more enjoyable.

On days when I climbed Mount Hua early, I trained Baekjeon, Woryeong, and Geumgu in turn. On days when I climbed late, I cultivated only the Violet Mist Divine Art until daybreak.

It felt as though I were peeling away the purple layer seeping into heaven and earth, then stacking it sheet by sheet in my dantian.

Some days I felt good, and some days I felt calm.

But many negative emotions—dread, fear, anxiety, unease, worry, and the like—had already faded away. Because so many negative emotions had disappeared, the things that arose in my heart were less likely to turn into anger.

Did that mean I had grown stronger?

Or had I grown distant from the mindset a fighting cock ought to possess by instinct? Perhaps one’s state of mind also has rises and falls, for from a gamecock I had descended back into a wooden rooster. In other words, I had not only kept climbing upward; I had also come to confirm the mindset of letting go.

Looking back, the Mad Demon of my previous life had not accomplished much either.

He had merely survived.

Because I hated becoming weaker no matter what state of mind I was in, I focused even more intently on cultivating the Violet Mist Divine Art.

As I placed all my heart and will into the Violet Mist Divine Art.

Even when I was eating at the Plum Blossom Manor.

I often missed the voices of Eldest Brother and the Pervert. Even while my eyes were open, while I ate, and while I drank tea, I focused on watching what was happening inside me. Fortunately, the two of them seemed to understand my condition to some extent and did not pay it much mind.

I, too, had no room to concern myself with the state of their training.

Because it was obvious that fighting the Cult Leader would be the most difficult battle of both my previous life and this one.

Moreover, time was limited.

Had Sambok arrived at the Cult by now?

After receiving the report, would the Cult Leader take his time?

When exactly would the Cult Leader, having set out from the Cult, arrive? Because I could not estimate his arrival, I could not afford to spend even a single day carelessly.

Whether the Cult Leader arrived early or late, I did my utmost.

In truth, the moment I learned that the Cult Leader had protected Yoran, I let go of many things. The very fact that my unfortunate young disciple was alive had, in a way, saved me.

And so the Violet Mist Divine Art was also a gift for the Cult Leader.

Strangely enough…….

Though the Cult Leader and I were far apart, I felt as if we shared our thoughts to some degree.

If I was weaker, more pathetic, and more insignificant than the Cult Leader expected.

I had a feeling that everyone in the Plum Blossom Manor would probably die. Because, in truth, the Cult Leader had given me ample time until now.

For me to be pathetic was the same as failing to keep my promise.

So I honed and polished the Violet Mist Divine Art that I would gift to the Cult Leader like a treasured sword.

At times I thought I wanted to brutally kill the Cult Leader with the Violet Mist Divine Art, and at other times I prayed that through the Violet Mist Divine Art, I myself might become a finer martial artist.

Thus, even within me, night and day crossed paths.

Darkness settled, only to retreat before light. I would be filled with light, then dyed again in darkness.

The human heart cannot be known, just like this.

Because it keeps changing, like sunset or early dawn.

By the time I had grown somewhat accustomed to cultivating the Violet Mist Divine Art with my eyes open, I could no longer tell whether twenty or thirty days had passed, or forty or fifty. There were times when I slept all at once, and times when I spent three or four days with my eyes wide open.

I went back and forth between Mount Hua and the Plum Blossom Manor, forgetting time and day and night, death and life.

One day, I thought the air was so cool that both my body and mind felt pleasantly restless.

The flowers blooming by the roadside caught my eye, and I exchanged waves with the children I often saw along the path. Then, with my hands clasped behind my back, I busily wandered about Mount Hua.

I tried hard to see if I could cultivate the Violet Mist Divine Art while walking, but it was hopeless.

It was so difficult that I could not predict when it would be possible, but there was no particular reason to give up either.

Ultimately, I intended to attempt accumulating qi for the Violet Mist Divine Art even while asleep, though of course, my current level was too low for that.

I roamed all over Mount Hua like a wanderer.

Since neglecting one’s appearance too much was also discourteous, I occasionally washed in a stream and used the Muk Clan dagger to trim my hair and the shaggy beard that had grown out.

Mount Hua had so much to see that I was busy simply wandering around.

After repeating this roaming for ten or so days, I realized that the place I had often been observing was Lotus Peak of Mount Hua. In other words, the place where I frequently cultivated the Violet Mist Divine Art was called the Southern Peak, and Lotus Peak was the Western Peak, lower than it.

Only then did I use lightness skill to cross the pale white rocks and arrive at Lotus Peak.

When I looked down again from Lotus Peak, I saw halls and houses gathered here and there in clusters.

As I looked carefully…….

To my surprise, I spotted Lady Cheolseom among the people. She was quite far away, but I spoke to her with internal energy in my voice.

“Lady Cheolseom, have you been well?”

Lady Cheolseom, hearing my voice, started in surprise and looked around, but she could not find me easily. It was because there was a little mist that day. I waved my hand to scatter the mist, then stared downward.

“My lady, over here.”

Lady Cheolseom, who had been frantically looking all around, cried out, and her voice struck my ears along with the echo.

“……Sect Leader? Sect Leader! Where are you?”

Soon after, Valley Master Yuhwa and the White-Faced Young Master came running from somewhere and looked around with her, and only then did they finally discover me far away.

I was so glad simply to see people I knew after so long that a smile came to me on its own.

When I waved, the three of them also waved repeatedly, saying something or other.

We were far enough apart that we must have looked like ants to each other.

Perhaps because he had recovered his internal energy to some degree, the White-Faced Young Master’s voice was quite clear.

“Sect Leader, please come down!”

I greeted the acquaintances I had not seen in a long time.

“No. I’m in the middle of training, so let’s meet next time.”

“Sect Leader!”

The shouts telling me to come down kept repeating, but I ignored them and hurled myself off the far side of the cliff. After climbing up and down so many times, walking down sometimes felt like a nuisance.

Whenever that happened, I jumped.

I had climbed to places so high I pierced the clouds, but descending below them still felt unfamiliar.

There was no way to descend Mount Hua in one go, so I passed through the pale clouds, set foot on the ground, and jumped again, repeating the process. For a long while, I engraved into myself the sensation of controlling my body while it was suspended in midair.

Every time I descended the mountain like this and entered Plum Blossom Manor.

Yesterday felt like today, and today felt like yesterday.

Since I had changed my method of training, I gradually reduced the number of times I climbed Mount Hua. Instead, I began training my lightness skill while taking walks.

In the past, running recklessly had suited my temperament, but these days I pondered how to cover greater distances with fewer movements. Naturally, the method lay in a combination of external arts and internal energy, explosive force, and the use of the ankles, feet, legs, waist, and entire body. So with my hands clasped behind my back, I would sometimes shoot forward as if traversing a distance in an instant.

To ordinary people, it would look as though I were using the Ground-Shrinking Art (縮地法).

But this was not the Ground-Shrinking Art.

It was merely a type of lightness skill and footwork I had learned through all manner of miserable hardship. At times, I had only taken a single step (一步), yet that one step contained all the martial arts I had learned thus far.

Because it was true that my heart had softened compared to when I had been the Mad Demon in my previous life.

I drove myself forward with even more merciless training.

When I was the Mad Demon, I had been harsh to others; now, I treated myself harshly. I had no choice. Otherwise, I felt the essence of the Mad Demon would disappear.

I am neither a daoist nor a priest.

I had no intention of gaining enlightenment and turning my back on the world. Nor did I have any desire to ascend as an immortal (登仙) like the masters of old.

In order not to forget the essence of the Mad Demon, the Hao Sect Leader, the waiter, and Lee Jaha, I remained wary of my heart, which kept changing peacefully.

The Cult Leader is not my only enemy.

If I wanted to live until I grew old while slapping the cheeks of madmen, I had to be the Mad Demon. One day, I realized that the scenery of the walk I took every day had even changed color, and only then did I barely come to my senses.

Had the season changed?

I still had not learned how to accumulate qi while walking, but as soon as I returned to Plum Blossom Manor, I stopped training. When a person does nothing but train, they are bound to become an idiot, and I had become a man just shy of that point.

As I walked with my hands clasped behind my back, I spotted Eldest Brother sitting at a table for the first time in a long while.

“Eldest Brother.”

Eldest Brother looked me up and down, then nodded.

“Welcome back.”

I sat down beside Eldest Brother and looked around Plum Blossom Manor.

“Has the season changed?”

“It has. What about your training?”

“I’m thinking of resting a bit now.”

“You were wandering around like a madman. That is enough.”

“Did I look unstable?”

Eldest Brother nodded.

“I thought you would overcome it well, so I did not interfere, but at times you did seem precarious.”

It seemed I had not been in a normal state, considering it had been a long time since I had even spoken with Eldest Brother, who was staying in the same place.

As I sat at the table talking with Eldest Brother, I spoke to the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor, who was looking this way.

“Manor Lord, the Demon-Subduing Sword……”

The Lord of Plum Blossom Manor went inside, brought out the Demon-Subduing Sword, and held it out to me. I accepted the Demon-Subduing Sword, then said,

“Manor Lord.”

“Yes.”

“Let me see the results of your training. Show me.”

Without another word, the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor walked to an open area and, as soon as he drew his sword, displayed the sword art he had shown before.

Eldest Brother and I watched quietly. Here and there, mixed into it, were movements different from before, as though Eldest Brother had guided him.

After completing his demonstration, the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor lightly bowed his head toward us.

At some point, the Lust Demon had also come out from inside and was watching the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor’s demonstration.

I traded places with the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor, then walked forward, drew the Demon-Subduing Sword, and held it upright.

Looking at Eldest Brother, the Lust Demon, and the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor, I said,

“……Quite some time ago, at the Black Rabbit Gang, I was thrusting my sword at falling flower petals, and in order not to forget that moment, I gave it the name Plum Blossom Sword Art. After coming to Mount Hua, and then entering a place with the same name, Plum Blossom Manor, I ended up displaying that sword art here. Life sometimes piles up coincidences that make you laugh. If you keep tracing back the causes of those things called coincidences, you will eventually find one’s state of mind. So in the end, none of this is coincidence. This is the Thirteen Plum Blossom Forms. If anything seems awkward, the three of you should point it out.”

The basic form was the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor’s thirteen forms.

To this, I added the freedom I had contemplated since the Black Rabbit Gang. I swung the sword while hoping that the rules would pursue freedom, and that this freedom would not stray too far from them.

I returned to the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor the thirteen forms as I had interpreted them.

I also displayed and passed on my sword art to Eldest Brother and the Lust Demon.

They were people who had greatly influenced my life, so they were more than qualified. Since it was an unfamiliar sword art, I performed it repeatedly. Even as I repeated it, I refined the movements. In truth, sword arts were merely variations of simple movements, so thirteen forms were not few.

If trained and mastered, it was a sword art that could be used sufficiently when facing the masters of the world.

I varied the thirteen forms as much as possible and showed them to the three. Since the three seemed to be watching too intently, I stopped and asked,

“How is it?”

When the Lust Demon looked at Eldest Brother, Eldest Brother gave a firm nod.

“It is good, lacking nothing.”

The Lust Demon also said briefly,

“It’s good.”

The Lord of Plum Blossom Manor kept nodding, then said to me,

“Sect Leader, I am doing everything I can to remember it. Could you show me more?”

Had the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor ever spoken to me so respectfully? Whether he did or not was not important. I nodded, then said,

“I can show you as much as you want. Then this time, pay close attention to the trajectory. Rather than the rules or the details of the movements, you must continue to take in the sword intent (劍意).”

“What is sword intent?”

“It means you should take in what I am trying to say through this sword art.”

In order to show the three of them the trajectory of the Plum Blossom Sword Art more clearly, I dyed the blade purple.

From the beginning, the life I envision has no such thing as all those rites and formalities. The moment large and small petals dyed purple scattered from the blade……

I took the Sword Demon, the Lust Demon, and Mount Hua’s First Sword as my disciples.