Thus, in a heavenly cave unknown to anyone, Man Yuhyeon began his cultivation.
Though he was still young and living alone might prove difficult, whenever such challenges arose, he drew fully upon the memories and knowledge of his master, Cheon Baeksang.
—The foundation is what matters most in anything. If you're unsure where to start, begin with an internal energy heart method.
The Demon Sword Ghost Elder Cheon Baeksang had truly foreseen the future.
Right up to the moment of his death, he had implanted several pieces of advice in his own mind for his late-blooming disciple.
"Right, internal energy heart method first it is."
Man Yuhyeon sat cross-legged and calmly recalled his master's knowledge.
He devoted himself first to the strongest internal energy heart method passed down in the Demon Sword Sect—one that only the sect leader could learn: the Formless Myriad Things Heart Method.
In truth, it was as good as the perfect choice.
Had there been not even a speck of internal energy in Man Yuhyeon's dantian, it might have been different, but he now possessed all the internal energy of Cheon Baeksang, the supreme warrior under heaven.
It was like having countless arrows but no bow; cultivating the heart method was akin to crafting that bow from start to finish.
'Formless Myriad Things Heart Method. The qi born from a martial artist's breathing is formless, nonexistent as a tangible thing in this world. Yet this formless qi can shape any existent thing in the world!'
Man Yuhyeon's eyes gleamed brilliantly in the darkness.
Already an exceptionally bright child, he now carried his master's enlightenments and knowledge as well.
In other words, while others crawled, Yuhyeon set off in a three-horse chariot.
"Haaap!"
Executing it was thus no great challenge.
He simply followed the incantation and insights with natural breathing.
⚔ Formless Myriad Things Heart Method ⚔
Circulation initiated flawlessly.
Astoundingly, Man Yuhyeon mastered the heart method perfectly from the very start.
Even among the Demon Sword Sect, where all the unorthodox world's talents gathered, this Formless Myriad Things Heart Method was notoriously difficult and arcane—many were taught it but could never grasp it.
Yet this boy, ignorant of martial arts, had circulated qi from his nose to his dantian and perineum in an instant.
Fwaaah!
As the heart method flowed, a dazzling light poured from the sturdy, robust body of Man Yuhyeon, who was already more solid than his peers.
'This is... the supreme internal energy heart method!'
He had learned Taoist breathing for health back in the Mangeum Clan, but it paled in comparison.
Man Yuhyeon felt as if he were sinking into a warm bath, enveloped in comfort and warmth.
Qi brimmed throughout his body, filling him with the confidence that he could shape miracles with his own hands.
"I have now entered the world of martial arts."
Man Yuhyeon murmured unconsciously, reveling in the vivid glow of internal energy shining from his body.
He was right.
Before, he had merely reassembled Cheon Baeksang's knowledge and memories; he had not truly been a martial artist.
But now, having properly imprinted the heart method into his dantian, it was no exaggeration to call him an initiated warrior.
'Fun... so much fun.'
There was another reason for Man Yuhyeon's joy.
Cultivating the Formless Myriad Things Heart Method was simply too enjoyable.
The young master of the Mangeum Clan had always been a prodigy of many talents.
Had he studied the geomungo, he would have become a master; had he taken up woodworking, a craftsman.
Giving such a genius the internal energy and knowledge of the world's greatest warrior was like strapping wings to a tiger.
"Father, Mother... forgive me, but perhaps my true aptitude lies not in commerce, but in martial arts."
Man Yuhyeon briefly pictured his parents' faces and smiled brightly for the first time in ages.
For this ill-fated boy—who had lost his parents and even his master—this was his first worry-free smile.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Man Yuhyeon's cultivation of the heart method proceeded without hindrance.
He achieved initiation— the first stage—immediately upon starting, and by the end of the first month, he had reached the fourth stage.
Even more astonishing was that, despite this phenomenal pace, Man Yuhyeon had no frame of reference and thus remained blissfully unaware.
"I must not tarnish Master's reputation."
Always feeling he was too slow, Man Yuhyeon never slacked or lazed.
Even on days of foul weather or when thoughts of friends, parents, or his master made him loath to train, he clung to the heart method.
It was one such day.
Whoosh!
As always, he sat cross-legged, cultivating the Formless Myriad Things Heart Method and joyfully expanding his dantian.
But what was this?
Suddenly, a massive boulder seemed lodged in his throat, rage boiling in his chest.
'Hm? What's happening?'
Man Yuhyeon couldn't help but panic at the abrupt crisis.
It was the first such incident since entering the cave and devoting himself to cultivation.
The real shock came next.
"Urgh..."
It began as mild throbbing in his meridians, like muscle soreness, but soon they twisted, blood points snarled, and hellish agony engulfed his entire body.
"...!!"
Even Man Yuhyeon, renowned for his endurance, couldn't hold firm—his back arched involuntarily.
'No! I can't waver.'
Though flustered, he slowly recalled his master's imprinted knowledge.
His own experience was scant, but his master's was not.
Drip... drip!
Meanwhile, his body changed like a summer monsoon—thick, foul-smelling sweat poured from every pore, stinging his nose.
'Could this be... the qi deviation I've only heard of?'
Sifting through his master's experiences and knowledge, Man Yuhyeon reached that conclusion.
Sudden overexertion in qi circulation leading to crippling injury or disability was the hallmark of qi deviation.
It matched perfectly, so even the unflappable Man Yuhyeon broke into cold sweat beading on his brow.
Shed!
As if troubles piled on troubles, his lush hair and body hair fell like autumn leaves in a gale, while his slightly obese frame—fattened from a childhood of fine foods—shrank inward.
'No doubt. This is qi deviation.'
As time dragged, it worsened: hair loss, flesh sloughing, black filth oozing from pores. Man Yuhyeon plunged into despair.
'Forgive me, Master. And Mother, Father.'
More than fear of his crumbling body and death, he first felt sorry toward his master and parents.
This body was no longer just his.
His parents had birthed him and sacrificed their lives to save him.
His master had given him the foundations to survive this harsh world.
Yet here he was, failing to wield them properly, dying stupidly from qi deviation—the misery was beyond words.
Drip, plop!
It was then.
The true hellish torment had yet to end.
In fact, it was only beginning now.
His belt loosened with an echo in his ears, followed by popping sounds from his dantian, below it, through the perineum, and even lower.
At the same time, agony like fire consuming oil-rubbed flesh made him thrash—
—Unlikely as it is, rare as it may be, should fortune visit you...
In the midst of hell, Man Yuhyeon recalled his master's words once more.
So improbable that neither he nor the master who implanted it had valued it highly, it had sunk into his subconscious depths.
'Let's try!'
His mind made up, Man Yuhyeon refused to yield.
After surviving this far, receiving the world's greatest warrior's full insights— to die here would be too unjust, barring even ascension.
What clenched his teeth tightest was:
'I must destroy the martial world.'
He had to shatter the Central Plains martial world that crushed his beloved Mangeum Clan and doomed his master's Demon Sword Sect.
Mountains of tasks remained.
⚔ Formless Myriad Things Heart Method ⚔
Steadfast circulation resumed.
Man Yuhyeon no longer wavered.
Calmly, he circulated the Formless Myriad Things Heart Method again and again.
How much time passed?
'Finally... it's moving as I will it!'
Man Yuhyeon experienced something miraculous.
Until now, his body and dantian had tossed like a stranger's plaything in a storm; now, it felt as if he gripped a raging typhoon in his fist—grand and masterful.
His intuition was spot on.
Shhh!
His skin reacted first.
His plump, obese body had contracted and withered, but now fresh flesh budded, reshaping into the ideal form for martial cultivation and movement—not chubby, but perfectly honed.
And that was not all.
His hair and scalp sprouted lush and glossy.
'I see. This isn't qi deviation.'
After roughly two days, Man Yuhyeon finally realized.
What had come upon him during cultivation was neither qi deviation nor heart demon, but a once-in-a-lifetime fortune: the Hwanggol Taltae, restructuring his entire body for optimal martial arts.
Swish!
Much time passed, and with Hwanggol Taltae complete, Man Yuhyeon slowly rose.
Flash!
He opened his eyes.
The childish, murky gaze was gone, replaced by fierce, bulging intensity brimming in his irises.
Man Yuhyeon calmly surveyed his surroundings.
"Are these truly from my body?"
Seeing the scattered flesh chunks, hair, body hair, and waste around him, his pupils dilated in shock.
Yes.
The initial ooze from his pores had been impurities and stagnant qi; the shedding flesh was the refining of his bulky frame into sleek perfection.
"Oh, ohhh!"
He clenched his fist and moved—unbelievable!
It was as if reborn with wings on his back: movements feather-light, blindingly swift.
Man Yuhyeon had truly been reborn.
Not hyperbole—his plump, obese form had utterly transformed through Hwanggol Taltae into a new person.
"Is this... really my face?"
He went to a stream near the cave and gasped at his reflection.
He had resembled his father, Man Jungho—sturdy but rougher than his mother, Hubei's top beauty Gi Sehui, and a bit chubby.
But now, slimmed and grown from child to youth in an instant, Man Yuhyeon had his father's robust frame, his mother's delicate features and long limbs—perfectly inherited.
"Heavens!"
His face rivaled the world's fairest young noble; even in his wild beast-skin garb, his noble bearing shone through.