Time passed.
Perhaps thanks to the bone-grinding training.
Jin Cheon-hee started inner power cultivation earlier than expected.
“I’m fine, but you absolutely must not speak or move. Understand?”
Master sat behind Jin Cheon-hee, who was in a cross-legged position.
He placed his hand on Jin Cheon-hee’s back and infused his own qi.
Grand Circulation.
It refers to the qi circulating once through the body’s meridians.
Jin Cheon-hee felt something enter his body and swirl around.
‘So this is Master’s energy.’Unlike last time, which was just examining the body, this was a full-fledged Daejucheon.
He could feel Master’s qi surging into his body more clearly.
Was it due to the influence of the Nine Yin Meridian Obstruction?
When properly felt, it was cold and heavy.
Starting from the back, it swirled through every corner of Jin Cheon-hee’s body.
‘This is Master’s inner power…’
It was on a completely different level from when he examined it for pulse diagnosis purposes in the past.
Eventually, Zhuge Rin’s inner power reached somewhere inside Jin Cheon-hee.
The danjeon.
There was something hardened inside the danjeon, and Jin Cheon-hee belatedly realized it was the inner power contained in the One-Hundred Years Pine Pill.
Flexibly, yet strongly.
Zhuge Rin’s inner power began to awaken and swirl the spirit pill’s inner power.
Master said:
“The absorption went well. All the inner power consumed from the spirit pill is now yours. At this level, with inner qi settling in your danjeon, it should be equivalent to at least five years of cultivation.”
The awakened inner power circulated following Master’s guidance. The One-Hundred Years Pine Pill completed one cycle and settled in Jin Cheon-hee’s danjeon.
It was no longer in a solidified form like before.
It felt sticky, like pine resin with strong vitality.
“Because you diligently practiced Sushingong, even the inherent nature of the spirit pill is well maintained. Let’s stop here with the One-Hundred Years Pine Pill, and consume the Thousand-Hundred Years Pine Pill later.”
It seems that eating a lot at once isn’t necessarily good. Then Master added:
“After laying the foundation first. I have a few spirit pills I made separately, so we’ll start with those.”
Scratch that previous statement. It seems there are beginner-friendly ones.
Master withdrew his energy and removed his hand.
“Now open your eyes. It’s time to learn the basic mind method.”
He began to talk about the Zhuge family’s basic mind method.
The Five-Elemental Cultivation Technique.
Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, Earth.
It refers to the five energies that make up the world.
Jin Cheon-hee started breathing as Master taught him.
Now it was time to move the inner power with his own strength, not Master’s.
‘This is unexpectedly… fun?’
Water prospers Wood, and Wood prospers Fire.
Fire creates Earth, Earth becomes Metal, and Metal purifies Water.
“The basis is mutual generation. The reason why the Zhuge family’s Five-Elemental Cultivation Technique is suitable for medical arts is that it can harmonize with all other inner powers without conflict. There’s no better inner power for treating internal injuries and boosting vitality.”
“What happens if you cultivate it in reverse?”
“We call it mutual restraint. Water clashes with Fire and extinguishes it, Fire clashes with Metal and melts it. Metal will cut Wood, and Wood will return to Earth.”
“Is that bad?”
At those words, Master shook his head.
“There are times when that’s needed too. It’s used to suppress the qi when inner power runs wild, like in qi deviation.”
Mutual generation and mutual restraint.
‘In a way, it’s like the boundary between medicine and poison.’
Modern medicine is the same.
All medicines have what’s called side effects.
Here, side effects refer to roles other than the specified efficacy.
Medicine was in the realm of biology and at the same time in the realm of chemistry.
You can’t extract only the desired effect.
Sildenafil citrate.
People know it as Viagra. This drug was originally created as a heart disease treatment.
The problem was that side effects were revealed during the clinical stage. That side effect was helping male erection.
So it ended up becoming an erectile dysfunction treatment.
There were many alternative heart medications, but at the time, there weren’t many alternatives for erectile dysfunction.
‘There are cases where diabetes medications become obesity treatments, and conversely, cases where something that’s originally a poison that shouldn’t be consumed acts as a medicine for specific patients.’
Jin Cheon-hee quickly absorbed the information while comparing it to modern examples.
‘Side effects aren’t necessarily bad. The same goes for mutual restraint. There’s no good or evil in medicine. It depends on how you use it. The same applies to the five elements that make up this world.’
After interpreting and realizing this in his own way, Jin Cheon-hee’s danjeon began to move vigorously.
‘Then the One-Hundred Years Pine Pill I received must contain inner power belonging to Wood. If I need to treat the internal injuries of the Gongsun family in the future, I’d use the characteristics of Water for mutual generation, or use Earth’s characteristics for mutual restraint?’
One realization began to lead to the next.
Zhuge Rin looked at the absorbed Jin Cheon-hee with surprised eyes.
‘I knew his intelligence was outstanding, but teach him one and he knows ten.’
Zhuge Rin stood guard over such a disciple.
‘Of course, whose disciple is he?’
Zhuge Rin thought.
A genius has been born in the Central Plains, so he must quickly inform all the doctors in the martial world about this fact. What could be more important than this?
Jin Cheon-hee’s meditation continued for quite a long time.
***
Jin Cheon-hee felt the energy of Wood in his danjeon.
It symbolized life. It changes yet remains unchanged, grows by adapting to Water, and gives everything to Fire.
Nevertheless, it never perishes.
Like sprouts that grow faster in a burned forest.
When Jin Cheon-hee opened his eyes in the Qi Cultivation Room after finishing his cultivation, it was dawn.
The amount of stored inner power seemed to have increased by at least 50% compared to when he had fully digested the One-Hundred Years Pine Pill.
‘At this rate, is it seven years of cultivation? I’ve already gained what others would need seven years of consistent training to achieve. I shouldn’t neglect basic training just because my inner power has increased.’
It was then that Jin Cheon-hee thought this. A voice was heard from behind.
“Your first cultivation session was quite boisterous. Indeed.”
It was Yoo Ho.
“Ah, where’s Master?”
“I offered to take over the guarding duty so he could retire to his chambers. To have an epiphany from your first cultivation session… Usually, even when taught the mind method for the first time, people ponder for a long time before realizing its meaning. As expected, he was overjoyed, saying our Hee is a genius.”
The Zhuge Rin that Yoo Ho saw had his mouth stretched to his ears in a wide grin.
Even as he entered his chambers, his continuous chuckling was almost frightening.
Some family members even got hiccups seeing the Pavilion Master’s face suddenly fully charged with happiness.
‘To be happier about his disciple’s success than his own…’
Yoo Ho was already dreading what would be written in next week’s medical report.
‘Even if you’ve got a disciple you love more than your own eyes,’
Yoo Ho said:
“I’ve brought the spirit pills for you to take next.”
Yoo Ho opened the box.
It was strange. Usually, when opening a box of spirit pills, a refreshing fragrance would waft out, but there was no scent at all.
There were five spirit pills.
“Fire-Generation Pill, Water-Sea Pill, Wood-Summer Pill, Earth-Flow Pill, Metal-Fragrance Pill. Five in total.”
“Do I take them all at once?”
“No, you can take whichever one you want among these.”
It meant to choose which one to take.
‘It’s a test. A test to see if I’ve truly understood.’
As expected of Zhuge Rin. Separate from his love for his disciple, there were no gaps in his teaching.
‘The first one I ate was the One-Hundred Years Pine Pill. It’s a spirit pill belonging to Wood. Normally, you’d eat a pill of the same attribute. That’s the basic principle of inner power mind methods.’
Making one stronger by focusing on it could be said to be the principle.
Jin Cheon-hee changed his thinking.
‘If I go with that, there’s no point in learning the Five-Elemental Cultivation Technique. It’s about mutual generation.’
Jin Cheon-hee said:
“Please give me the Fire Generation Pill.”
Using the energy of Wood to prosper Fire.
Since the first one eaten was Wood, now it’s time to eat Fire.
Yoo Ho said:
“So you’ve chosen that.”
Yoo Ho handed the Fire Generation Pill to Jin Cheon-hee.
Jin Cheon-hee received it and realized.
‘There’s a tangy scent? Strange. Until just now, there was no fragrance at all…’
At that moment, Jin Cheon-hee had a sudden realization.
“…I’ll take the remaining four in order as well.”
“All of them?”
“Yes. They’re all necessary, aren’t they?”
The Five Elements Pills function as a single spirit pill when taken together.
The inner power each individual spirit pill can provide isn’t much.
When all five spirit pills are consumed in the correct order, they form a circle through mutual generation.
It doesn’t need to be a lot of inner power.
What’s important is establishing the foundation with the five purest elements.
Yoo Ho replied:
“As expected, you’re not easily fooled.”
“Who was it that spoke so cleverly as if only giving one?”
What started from Wood should end at Wood after going full circle.
Yoo Ho realized that Jin Cheon-hee’s understanding was much deeper than he had imagined.
“I apologize. There was no ill intent. It’s just that I was told to test you.”
Jin Cheon-hee had expected that too.
Yoo Ho said:
“Originally, Master would have considered it correct just for choosing the Fire Generation Pill alone. How on earth did you think that far?”
“The fragrance.”
The scent of the Fire Generation Pill.
When first seeing the spirit pills, Jin Cheon-hee thought it strange that there was no scent at all. But that wasn’t the case.
Each spirit pill had its own unique fragrance.
When the five fragrances harmoniously combine, it becomes infinitely close to scentless.
Jin Cheon-hee sensed something odd about this.
‘No matter how I look at it, it’s like a set of 5 sold in a large supermarket?’
Of course, this realization stemmed from the modern Earth where he had lived.
Once his thoughts jumped there, he reconsidered the basic principles of the five elements Master had mentioned, and finally reached one conclusion.
Yoo Ho sincerely admired:
“You’re truly intelligent, young master.”
And he added one more thing:
“Worthy of making the world-renowned Baek Rin Pavilion Master stand guard all night.”
“…I didn’t ask for that. But are you going to tell Master everything about this answer?”
Jin Cheon-hee was gradually realizing.
The disciple suffers from the Master’s doting.
“I have to. That’s why he sent me, isn’t it?”
“Ugh…”
Jin Cheon-hee swallowed a sigh and picked up the Fire Generation Pill, crunching it.
As expected of the Fire Generation Pill, the aftertaste is spicy. And he felt a sensation of flames rising inside.
It was literally a spirit pill containing fire energy.
Jin Cheon-hee hurriedly immersed himself inward.
‘I need to use Wood energy to generate Fire energy, and use Fire energy to generate Earth energy. After nurturing this energy, I need to eat the Earth Flow Pill right away.’
Energy swirls inside.
Jin Cheon-hee started eating the spirit pills one by one.
The five energies grow one by one.
Though his eyes were closed, Jin Cheon-hee was intoxicated by the sensations occurring inside his body.
‘The world…’
A world is born and grows inside him. A world named Five Elements is born and dances.
And then it starts to fiercely absorb the surrounding energy.
That energy was even more intense than the energy of the spirit pills themselves.
In that sensation, Jin Cheon-hee felt joy and pleasure even in his trance-like state.
Despite experiencing this sensation for the first time in his life, there was no confusion.
‘This is the world inside me.’
In the pleasant sensation, the Five Elements True Qi of the Five-Elemental Cultivation Technique began to properly settle.
In an instant, five years worth of cultivation power starts to increase.
Amidst this, Jin Cheon-hee focused his mind.
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