Chapter 205: Three Blue Flowers (2)
Chapter 204 – Three Blue Flowers (2)
The stage of the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.
The vital essence, the energy of the lower dantian, rose along with the qi, the energy of the middle dantian, to the Yintang acupoint near the upper dantian.
Then, blending with the energy of the spirit gathered in the upper dantian, it emanated through the Cheongung (Heavenly Palace) at the crown of the head.
When the exchange of energy became smooth like this, the space distorted as if haze were rising, and three flowers were formed; this was called the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.
Naturally, it was not a stage that just anyone could reach.
A stage reached only by those who could be called masters of internal martial arts.
However…
“Huh… What in the world is all this?”
Cha Mu-jin, who had followed Son U-gon inside, froze like a stone statue and muttered blankly.
Without even thinking of looking back, Son U-gon muttered in a daze.
“I… don’t know either.”
He had thought it was the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.
Because three flowers had clearly bloomed above the crown of the head.
However, even Son U-gon could not recognize the change that occurred immediately afterward.
Three azure flowers bloomed above the head of Namgung Cheon, who floated slightly in the air.
But just as it seemed the fully bloomed flowers were growing larger, did they not scatter into pieces at some point and flutter in the wind?
The blue-shining petals became such beautiful fragments and began to drift in the empty space of the room.
It was truly a spectacular sight.
Along with a floral scent that seemed to clear one’s mind naturally, the azure petals drifted in the air.
Sometimes they fluttered away like butterflies, and at other times they were swept up by the wind and swirled rapidly.
Son U-gon and Cha Mu-jin unconsciously reached out their hands, trying to catch the petals.
However, the petals were not physical entities.
They were wind; they were air.
The petals that touched their hands passed by as if permeating between their fingers.
Entranced by the mysterious sight, the two flailed their arms for a long time.
Namgung Cheon was in a state of complete self-lessness.
Even with just the flow of the air, the surrounding objects were completely distinguishable.
He could also tell that Son U-gon and Cha Mu-jin had entered the room.
However, their presence did not particularly disturb him.
Just like the chairs and the table, the two of them merely existed in this space.
Although his eyes were closed, the surrounding airflow was felt as it was.
He drew closer to a true state of oneness with nature.
‘So this is the Azure Emerald Art.’
Namgung Cheon thus became the blue air.
How long had he focused on circulating his qi?
Shuuuuu…
Namgung Cheon’s figure gradually descended onto the bed and finally sat down.
The countless petals floating in the air also slowly turned into fragments of light and scattered.
“Ah…”
“The petals…”
Son U-gon and Cha Mu-jin muttered while reaching out their hands in awkward postures.
The eyes of the two were fixed on Namgung Cheon.
It was the first time they had witnessed the stage of the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown before their eyes. No, they did not even know if this was truly the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown. For they had never heard of azure petals scattering like the wind in this manner.
Meanwhile, Namgung Cheon, who had finished circulating his qi, remained sitting cross-legged and silently lost in thought.
Because that appearance felt somewhat solemn, Son U-gon and Cha Mu-jin did not dare to call out to Namgung Cheon.
The two stood upright and waited.
In the meantime, Namgung Cheon checked the internal energy accumulated in his inner core.
‘My internal energy has increased considerably.’
As expected of Shaolin’s Great Returning Pill.
It was not just a medicine good for the body, but truly befitted a spiritual pill manufactured solely to enhance internal energy.
It felt as though consuming three or four more Great Returning Pills would make him undergo a complete rebirth. Of course, just because one blindly consumed a lot of spiritual pills did not mean they would entirely turn into internal energy.
At any rate, sensing his clearly increased internal energy, Namgung Cheon fell into thought for a moment and reflected on what had happened at the Yellow Crane Tower.
‘Those guys were definitely Ryu Nan’s lackeys.’
All three of them were guys who followed Ryu Nan.
He did not think that they had suddenly been incorporated into another organization.
For Ryu Nan was a charismatic person.
Although he was younger than himself at the time, he had a strange power to attract people. Many of the unorthodox figures who were branded as public enemies of the Martial World and fled also followed Ryu Nan.
However, Ryu Nan was a person who had no particular greed.
A guy who always lived leisurely, like a cloud or the wind, going with the flow of life.
For such a guy to suddenly attack the Martial Alliance?
‘I cannot imagine it, but one can never know what is inside a person’s heart.’
The fact etched into his bones while living as a fugitive was that ‘there is not a single person to trust.’
Therefore, Namgung Cheon did not jump to conclusions about anyone.
He did not know if Ryu Nan was a great figure capable of turning the Jianghu upside down, but could he not have lost his mind one day and made such a decision?
Wait.
‘Come to think of it…’
Suddenly, a certain figure crossed his mind.
The guy who had exchanged blows with Bi Ryang in Guilin!
‘I thought I had seen him somewhere before…’
Was that guy not also one of Ryu Nan’s lackeys?
The guy who always carried a crow around in a shady corner!
Because of his gloomy atmosphere and lack of words, they had rarely conversed. In fact, he had not been interested either.
But recalling it now, he was definitely one of the guys who followed Ryu Nan.
‘So his name was Yeo Sin-woo.’
At the time, he was so quiet that he had thought he was mute.
To think he only remembered it now.
Having spent his entire life running away, he had tried not to forget a face once he saw it.
It seemed his life had become quite comfortable.
At any rate, he did not feel that Yeo Sin-woo and this Yellow Crane Tower incident were separate matters. For the atmosphere they exuded was strangely similar.
Of course, it could be because they were both unorthodox figures.
However, when viewed with the First Sight Skill-Breaking Eyes, the way they circulated their qi showed a similar pattern.
People who lived together came to have similar flows of qi circulation because their lifestyle habits and the food they ate were similar.
Yeo Sin-woo and the three unorthodox figures from the Yellow Crane Tower were exactly like that.
They showed a flow that was strangely similar, as if looking at a single family.
Besides, had the Heavenly Brain Hall not said so?
That movements were being felt in Hebei and Yunnan at the same time.
Yunnan was right next to Guangxi Province, where Guilin was located.
‘Since I saw Yeo Sin-woo there, he was probably the one in charge of Yunnan.’
Then that meant Ryu Nan would be in charge of Hebei…
‘As far as I know, that guy never leaves important matters to others.’
If either of the two was true, Hebei was in danger. And if Ryu Nan had really decided to step to the forefront of the Jianghu, he could never be taken lightly.
Even the Heavenly Brain Hall could be deceived by his meticulousness.
‘Should I go to Hebei?’
To raise the Namgung Clan to the number one family under heaven and stand at the peak of the Martial World, it was advantageous to make as many allies as possible.
For that would soon become influence and strength.
‘From that perspective, the Hebei Paeng Clan is a decent partner.’
Having organized his thoughts, Namgung Cheon slowly opened his eyes.
Then, Son U-gon and Cha Mu-jin, who had been standing upright without moving in front of him, called out with wide eyes.
“M-Master?”
“What is it?”
“You are alright, right?”
“I feel great.”
“What was that just now? It was the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, right?”
“Huh?”
“Azure petals were just floating around, passing right through our fingers… disappearing and reappearing, the wind was whistling… it was so bizarre?”
“It seems to be the influence of the Azure Emerald Art.”
“The Azure Emerald Art?”
Namgung Cheon nodded and rose from his seat.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes? Where to?”
“For you guys to consume the Superior Clarity Elixirs.”
“Ah! That’s right! Are you really giving one of those to each of us?”
“Why? You don’t want it?”
“No way! Thank you so much!”
“Tell everyone to gather in the training room.”
“We shall obey your command!”
Son U-gon and Cha Mu-jin cupped their fists simultaneously and shouted at the top of their lungs.
* * *
Guooooo.
Warmth filled the training room.
With thirty members of the Azure Eagle Squad gathering and circulating their qi at the same time, a truly spectacular sight unfolded.
Since the Namgung Clan’s mind art was fundamentally closely related to the flow of air, a warm breeze blew throughout the room during the entire cultivation process.
Namgung Cheon walked among the members of the Azure Eagle Squad and observed the process of their qi circulation in detail using the First Sight Skill-Breaking Eyes.
Because the process of the internal energy rising from the dantian and moving along the blood vessels was fully visible, he could grasp at once who was blocked where.
“Focus on the Juque acupoint. The qi is congested.”
“……!”
“Because you have too many thoughts, the qi keeps hesitating at the Yintang acupoint.”
“……!”
“Do you need to take a crap? Why is the qi not thinking of leaving the Huiyin acupoint?”
“……!”
Every time Namgung Cheon casually tossed out a word, the members of the Azure Eagle Squad flinched and pulled themselves together.
They were simply bewildered because he noticed everything like a ghost.
Even so, if words did not work, he would personally use his hands.
Thump!
“Ugh!”
Sensing a heavy impact on his shoulder, Park Chang-su clenched his molars tightly and groaned.
“Your Jianqing acupoint is stiff. I suppose that could happen when swinging a sword, but right now you are only cultivating. If it really bothers you, think of it as if you have no arms.”
Park Chang-su nodded faintly and circulated his internal energy again.
The qi moved much more smoothly than a moment ago.
It had to be so, because when Namgung Cheon struck his shoulder with the wooden sword, he had already opened the Jianqing acupoint to some extent through the technique of opening acupoints and clearing blood vessels.
After helping thirty people circulate their qi one by one like that, about one shichen passed.
When the circulation was finally over, the members of the Azure Eagle Squad were newly surprised by their increased internal energy.
Above all, the feeling of fully absorbing the efficacy of the Superior Clarity Elixir was strange.
Should they say their dantians felt reassured all at once?
“I feel strength surging.”
“When the Young Patriarch poked my back, I felt like my body suddenly became lighter.”
“After enduring the pain for a moment, even my head cleared up.”
Each of them newly clicked their tongues at Namgung Cheon’s ability.
In fact, carelessly touching a martial artist who was circulating qi was an extremely dangerous act.
Yet, Namgung Cheon casually tapped them without any issue.
As if he were someone who knew exactly at which location the energy was flowing in what form.
Thanks to that, they were able to absorb the efficacy of the spiritual pill entirely without wasting any of it.
Son U-gon quietly watched Namgung Cheon.
‘He did not even take a pulse, but helped with the meditation of circulating qi just by watching. As if he were someone who saw it all with his own eyes.’
Was there anyone who could do this by intuition?
No matter how great a master was, there would be no one who could grasp the flow of internal energy without taking a pulse.
Especially when they were only quietly meditating.
‘That means…’
Son U-gon’s eyes narrowed.
Namgung Cheon’s biological father was the Heavenly Great Killing Star, but another story also secretly followed.
Namely, that he possessed the talent of the First Sight Skill-Breaking Eyes.
Although they said that the talent of the First Sight Skill-Breaking Eyes was not inherited…
‘What if this inherited talent was fully awakened when he woke up from death?’
At that moment, Son U-gon felt goosebumps rising down his spine.
He might even be able to rule the world!
If so, the Namgung Clan would be reborn once again as the family of sovereigns.
Son U-gon felt a thrill and looked at Namgung Cheon again.
If Namgung Cheon really possessed the First Sight Skill-Breaking Eyes, there was no need to go around announcing that fact.
Since envy and jealousy would follow like a single body if one’s talent was outstanding.
Was it not even rumored secretly recently that the Heavenly Great Killing Star had also been unfairly sacrificed because of that?
Namgung Cheon, who happened to make eye contact, narrowed his brow.
“What are you looking at like that?”
“It is nothing, Master. Thank you!”
Son U-gon grinned and cupped his fists.
The others also cupped their fists and offered their thanks in unison.
“Thank you, Master!”
* * *
“You are going to Hebei?”
Bi Ryang tilted his head and looked at Namgung Cheon. His gaze turned toward Yu Hyeon, Yun Jong-seung, and Jin So-hong, who stood behind Namgung Cheon.
Namgung Cheon nodded.
“Yes. Please send me to Hebei.”
“The reason?”
Namgung Cheon grinned.
“Because I have something to give to that guy.”