Meteor Iron: A type of metal ore that can only be found where a meteor has fallen. It is so uncommon in fact that it is said that one would need luck that is blessed by the heavens in order to find it. Not only was it used to make the weapons of many top murim experts, in the hands of a competent blacksmith, it could even be forged into a divine weapon.
In my past life, I had only seen a weapon made of meteor iron once.
The Blood Demonâs SwordâŠ
My heart skipped a beat. Even now, the freezing cold aura of the blade remained fresh in my memory.
That was a sword that carried within it the violent history of generations of Blood Demons; a blade that amplified the power of the Heaven Defying Divine Art.
Sometimes, after waking up in this body, Iâd randomly daydream about the past.
If back then, the sword that the Blood Demon used wasnât made of Meteor IronâŠ
No, if I had a similar swordâŠ
Well, all those âifsâ are meaningless now. aggAnnoy10
The Meteor Iron that the Blood Demon Sword was made from is now right in front of my eyes.
Although, this piece of Meteor Iron looks a little different from the one used to make the Blood Demon SwordâŠ
That slab of Meteor Iron had a subtle reddish glow, while this one glowed blue instead.
Still, even though the color was different, Meteor Iron was the only metal ore in the world that could emit such a powerful spiritual aura. There was no mistaking it.
âWhat is this rock? Why are you so mesmerized by it?â Dad suddenly asked, waving his hand in front of my face.
Dad might have been well-versed in herbs and medical techniques, but it seemed that he knew nothing about Meteor Iron.
âThis isâŠâ
I thought about it for a while, then decided to be honest to him. If he ended up talking about this rock because he didnât understand its value, then there was a chance that he would get us in deep trouble without knowing it. aggAnnoy17
ââŠMeteor Iron.â
âMeteorâŠWHAT!?â Dadâs eyes widened in shock.
He couldnât recognize the Meteor Iron, but as a murim warrior, it was impossible for him to not have heard of it before.
âWhat do you mean, itâs Meteor Iron? Donât go making random assumptions, you little punkâŠâ
âDo I sound like Iâm joking?â
When he saw my serious expression, Dad stiffened. However, he didnât ask me why I could recognize such a thing.
I guess I have the original Baek Su-Ryong to thank for that, as that guy had a habit of reading all sorts of books related to the murim and making notes on interesting topics.
After a long pause, Dad concluded, ââŠKeeping something that is beyond our means is basically the same as asking for trouble. We may have gotten lucky finding this, but that doesnât mean that we have the strength to protect or hide it.â
Dad was right. Precious treasures had a tendency to summon manmade disasters. Every time precious treasures such as the martial arts manuals of deceased masters, divine weapons and armor, and miracle elixirs appeared in the murim, it had always been accompanied by countless bloodshed.
Meteor Iron was undoubtedly such a treasure.
âIf news of this gets outâŠa lot of people will spill blood over it. Even us, the ones who discovered it, wonât be exempt.â
âCouldnât we sell it on the black market?â aggAnnoy11
Dad shook his head and replied, âIf it was a normal treasure of unknown origin, we could probably do that, but Meteor Iron is such a priceless treasure that the buyer would probably do everything they could to identify and eliminate us. They wonât take chances with the possibility of us talking to others about their purchase.â
ââŠI guess they would, huh.â I nodded in agreement.
I already knew that selling Meteor Iron to the black market would be risky, but to avoid Dadâs suspicions, I had to at least suggest it to him.
Relieved by my unquestioning acceptance of his reasoning, Dad continued, âThe person who built this place must have known that as well, so they ignored the Meteor Iron, left it here, and hid this place using illusion formations.â
âŠNo, thatâs not it. Master Maeng was just too stupid to have recognized Meteor Iron.
I couldnât reveal my true thoughts out loud, so I simply said, âI donât think thatâs quite rightâŠâ
âThen what? Do you really want to take this back with us and cause a storm of bloodshed in the murimâŠ!â
âIt should be fine if we just kept it hidden instead of selling it.â
âThatâs even more dangerous!â
Dad glared daggers at me as if he couldnât accept my decision, so I decided to try using cold, hard, logic on him instead.
ââŠEven if we just left like this, someone will eventually find this place. What then? When people hear that Meteor Iron was found here, they will swarm our village, which is closest to the White Cloud Mountain Range. Do you think weâll remain safe if they do that? Knowing those people, theyâll force their way into our homes and use them as bases of operations while they search the mountains for more Meteor Iron!â
âWhatâŠ?â The color drained from Dadâs face. aggAnnoy07
âThe people from the orthodox sects may retain an outward sense of decency, but what about those from the unorthodox sects? Theyâll rape the village women and kill anyone they donât like. Do you think youâd be able to protect them all, Dad?â
ââŠâŠâ
I smiled bitterly and continued my drivel, saying, âDo you get it now? Even if we pretend that we never found this place, when someone else does, weâre going to regret not doing anything.â
âHah. Thatâs quite the convincing excuse youâre fabricating.â
âYou wouldnât be making that face if you thought that I was just making excuses.â
Dad sighed. Although he was now a mere village martial arts instructor, he was once a student in one of the Five Great Academies and a member of the orthodox sects. He could not so easily abandon the ideas of chivalry that he had learned at the academy.
Sure enough, with much difficulty, Dad mumbled, ââŠSo what do you propose we do?â
âWeâll take the Meteor Iron and hide it. Without this mystical atmosphere, I doubt anyone in the village would be able to recognize this rock for what it truly is. Besides, even you didnât recognize it until I pointed it out to you, right?â
I might have exaggerated a little, but technically, there was nothing wrong with my reasoning. I delivered the final blow to Dad, saying, âAs long as the two of us keep our mouths shut, no one will question the existence of a pretty-looking rock in your bedroom. Theyâll think that you bought a shiny new decoration, and nothing more. SoâŠâ
âOkay, okay, I get it.â Dad nodded resignedly, then suddenly broke into a grin and taunted, âKnowing you, if I insisted on refusing, youâd probably get down on your knees and beg me, right?â aggAnnoy10
âŠDamn! If I had known that would work, I wouldâve already done it!
What a waste of my time and efforts.
Dad smiled helplessly and continued, âFine, Iâll take this and hide it, just like you suggested.â
âHELL YEAH!â
I took the Meteor Iron out of the water, put it in a bag, and tightly closed the drawstrings.
As for whether I really wanted to hide the Meteor Iron at home?
Iâm not crazy, Iâm definitely taking it with me to the Azure Dragon Academy.
This piece of Meteor Iron was far too small to be melted and made into a sword, so one of the ways I could use it was to create an alloy by mixing it with another metal, and then forge a weapon out of that alloy.
In fact, the Blood Demon Sword that I saw back then wasnât made of pure Meteor Iron, but an alloy of Meteor Iron and Frost Iron (ćŻé”).
Alternatively, I can opt for a small weaponâŠÂ aggAnnoy11
As I sifted through the many possibilities in my mind, I couldnât help but smile in anticipation.
âShall we head back?â I asked, shoving the tigerâs inner pearl and the Meteor Iron into my backpack. In my arms, I gently carried the cloth package containing the three tuber fleeceflower roots.
Since I went and took the three most precious treasures, Dad was now empty-handed.
After all, as a filial child, helping our parents carry things is the right thing to do, no?
Well, there was one more valuable treasure, but my arms were already full. I had no choice but to leave that one thing to Dad.
âSorry, Dad, but it seems like youâll have to carry that one yourself.â
I pointed toward the tiger carcass that was as large as a house. aggAnnoy15
Dadâs face twitched.
âAm I supposed to carry that thing alone?â
âI could help you, butâŠâ I paused for a moment and looked down at my weak, unhealthy, and sickly body, then continued, âIf I faint while helping you, youâll have to carry me as wellâŠâ
âUgh!â
Eventually, Dad gave up and slung the giant tiger over his shoulder. Even then, the tigerâs hind legs were still dragging on the ground.
âYou know, if you werenât my sonâŠor if you were a normal, healthy boyâŠIâd definitelyâŠGuh!â
GRUMBLE GRUMBLE MUMBLE MUMBLE.
As we hiked down the mountain, Dad never stopped complaining, even for a moment.
On the other hand, my steps were light as a feather.
Not only did I get the elixirs I wanted, I even got a spirit tiger and Meteor Iron as a bonus⊠Wait, the bonuses are actually worth more than the elixirs I was gunning for! Lucky!
âYou just wait, you little punkâŠAHH! S-Slow down a little, I almost trippedâŠ!â
âŠBoys and girls, this is the exact reason why you have to train your lower body strength. aggAnnoy19
As soon as I returned home, I washed the dirt off the three tuber fleeceflower roots and dried them in the sun. When they were completely dry, I then carefully removed the skins from the tuber roots and ground them into powder.
âFinallyâŠâ
I prepared a big bowl of warm water, poured the tuber fleeceflower powder into the bowl, and stirred it until it formed a uniform suspension.
âHooâŠâ
Before taking the medicine, I took a few deep breaths. Right now, Dad was busy selling the tiger parts in a faraway market and would not return for a while.
In other words, I was alone in the Baek Academy.
âDO NOT eat the medicine until I come back. YOU HEAR ME? Taking medicine without proper guidance or supervision is extremely dangerousâŠâ
âDonât worry, Iâm not that stupid. Go sell that tiger, and make sure you donât get cheated!â
Sorry, Dad, for lying to you.
I briefly paid a silent tribute to Dad, who was cheated by me.
Although, it really couldnât be helped. The qi meditation technique I was going to use now was so different from every other technique, I couldnât show it to anyone, not even Dad. aggAnnoy12
Besides, he would flip out if he found out that I was practicing a demonic art, and the Heaven Defying Divine Art at that.
âI just have to bear with getting scolded later.â
GLUG GLUG GLUG!
I gulped down the entire bowl of tuber fleeceflower water in one go.
âGah!â
My stomach immediately started heating up. I sat down cross-legged, closed my eyes, and concentrated on the flow of qi around my belly.
Move.
The herbal energy (è„ć) in my stomach started to move according to my will. Normally, a martial artist would have to meditate for months just to be able to sense energy, but thanks to my previous lifeâs experience, I didnât need to do that.
I slowly circulated my qi just as the Heaven Defying Divine Art instructed.
Iâve gone through this exact same process before, butâŠin my past life, I did not suffer from the Heavenly Yin Blocked MeridiansâŠ
As expected, my qi quickly ran into a blocked meridian.
âKhhâŠ!â
Cold sweat dripped down my forehead.
This is worse than I expectedâŠÂ aggAnnoy16
Not only were most of my major arteries and veins blocked, a large amount of contaminated qi had accumulated near the blockages over time.
This was a body cursed by the heavens.
Even if I did nothing but live normally, the contaminated qi would keep building up until my blood stopped being able to circulate throughout my body. As long as I didnât do anything about it, I would most certainly be fated to die before reaching the age of thirty.
Iâll take the risk!
Like the first generation cult leader of the Blood Demon Cult, the creator of the Heaven Defying Divine Art and fellow sufferer of the Heavenly Yin Blocked Meridians, I had no intention of quietly resigning myself to fate.
As stated in the martial arts manual, the method to heal the Heavenly Yin Blocked Meridians is toâŠgather and concentrate all of the contaminated qi in my dantian! 1
If I had to describe such an idea in one word, Iâd definitely choose the word âinsaneâ.
SSSSSSSHHHHHâŠ
I shaped the herbal energy into a thin needle and forced it into one of my blocked meridians.
The pain that resulted was indescribable.
âKUWAAâŠ!â
I clenched my teeth, endured the pain, wrapped the contaminated qi up with herbal energy, and slowly guided it toward my dantian.
And then I did it again. aggAnnoy19
And again.
I concentrated my qi like I was building a power source in my dantian.
SHIVERâŠ
My body trembled uncontrollably with pain, but I did my best to ignore it and focus on my task.
Blood flowed from between my clenched teeth.
If I relax now, itâll be game over for me.
Finally, I was left with the last and most important process of setting my foundations: the creation of a protective layer made of the Heaven Defying Divine Artâs qi around the contaminated qi sphere, thereby forming an Inner Pill!
âKEUAAAAAAAKâŠ!â
The whole process hadnât taken a long time, but it felt like a million years to me. Even so, I succeeded. aggAnnoy20
By creating an Inner Pill, I had reached the First Stage of the Heaven Defying Divine Art.
âWhewâŠâ
I opened my eyes and sluggishly got to my feet. Initially, I stumbled a little from dizziness, but my head soon cleared up enough for me to stand up straight.
My entire body dripped with sweat and the smell coming from it was enough to make anyone puke.
However, I still smiled proudly.
âI did it.â
My body was so light, I felt like I could fly. The contaminated qi that was clogging my circulatory system was now concentrated within my dantian, freeing my body from its burden and improving my five senses.
I clenched my fist, feeling the changes.
This is just the beginning.
In order to reach the Second Stage of the Heaven Defying Divine Art, Iâd need a lot more herbs, elixirs, and treasures. However, now that I had set my foundations, my lifespan had increased by three years, giving me more time to earn money and collect the things I needed.
In addition, I now had some qi, so I could formally begin my training in martial techniques. 2
I shouldnât start with the martial techniques of the Heaven Defying Divine Art, though. They consume far too much qi. Even if I learned them now, I wouldnât be able to use them at all.
Forcefully using martial techniques that oneâs body could not handle would only result in irreparable damage. aggAnnoy11
That was why, my first goal was to strengthen my body.
And it just so happened that I knew the perfect martial art for physical conditioning.
âThe Eighteen Strikes of the Outlaw.â
The external martial art3Â that Maeng Ho-Ak, the Bandit King, had passed down to me. A martial art equal to the Unbreakable Vajra Body of Shaolin Temple.