Chapter 165 – Interruption

There are four types of training grounds in Pungga.

The first is the outer courtyard training ground, which is open to Pungga’s warriors and guests.

The second is the inner courtyard training ground, which is available to Pungga’s guards and VIPs.

The third is the exclusive training ground, which only direct descendants of Pungga can enter.

Finally, there is the training ground for the lord of the castle, which no one except the lord can enter.

I always practice in the second training ground. Sama Mang and Sama Yeoryeong have rented an entire unused outer courtyard training ground.

So I thought that Pung Ojin would suggest a duel in the inner courtyard training ground this time. Until we go deeper into the castle.

I turned around and asked my girls who were following me.

“Can we come here?”

“This is Pungga, and I am the lord of the castle, Do Wang Pung Ojin. If I allow it, what’s the problem? The reason we separated the training grounds is to prevent the leakage of Pungga’s martial arts. As long as I teach you, the distinction between training grounds is meaningless.”

“There are other people besides me.”

“Aren’t they irrelevant people? I’m just teaching them a little about martial arts from my perspective, not martial arts itself.”

“But still…”

“Think about it. Cheonma is higher than me, and Soso is just listening to what I will teach them someday. And Sama and So are walking a completely different path from what Pungga is pursuing, so even if they get a deep understanding beyond my martial arts, they won’t be able to use it. Then they have to give up the martial arts they have learned so far. …There are also political reasons.”

“Political reasons?”

Pung Ojin smirked and pointed his chin towards Sama’s sisters.

“They seem to have noticed it, but I don’t think you have, so I’ll explain it. When a war breaks out, I and the elders, and Cheonma will fight at the forefront. You and Soso will fight in the middle.”

“Well, that’s right.”

There were a few things that I had heard from Hong Yeon-hwa in advance about this. Perhaps because she had caused a political upheaval in her own world, the story was quite vivid.

First of all, as the level of cultivation increases, the gap becomes wider. Especially after reaching the level of using Ganggi, one can only fight against masters of the same level.

As a result, in a large-scale battle, similar levels naturally face each other. In the blink of an eye, your disciples or family members may be killed.

What does this mean? It means that Hong Yeon-hwa and I have to fight elsewhere.

Of course, if it’s Hong Yeon-hwa, she can detect our danger even if she’s far away.

But what if we don’t have the energy to do so while we’re fighting? At that time, someone among us may be seriously injured or even killed.

So the point was not to boast about being in the early stages of cultivation, but to fight carefully and unitedly… I don’t know what that has to do with showing training scenes to Sama Mang and Sama Yeoryeong.

As I blinked blankly, Pung Ojin sent me a message as if to say that it was a bit awkward to call it cultivation.

-To be honest, many people still don’t fully trust Sama Segas. Isn’t it a family that has been a loyalist to Sama Yeonja for a long time? There are rumors that they are in cahoots with Sama Yeonja.

-What? Didn’t we receive information from Sama Segas? But they say it’s a spy.

-There was hardly any really important information in the information we received.

-Oh.

Come to think of it, I heard from Sama Yeoryeong before that she was afraid of Tosagupang and didn’t reveal all the information.

Perhaps that was the cause of suspicion.

-Of course, I understand Sama Gaju’s position. Since we’ve seen it so far, Pungga doesn’t seem to suspect Sama Gaju much either. The problem is the Murim Alliance. By marrying you and your husband, they can naturally infiltrate and steal information, or they may wait for the main force to fight in front and strike from behind. There are many voices of concern.

-…That’s impossible.

What kind of nonsense is it to suspect Sama Mang? If they catch the situation where information is leaking, they will first deal with Sama’s sisters.

The thought of the Blue Dragon Lord, who blindly opposed Hong Yeon-hwa just because she used magic in the Yongbongjihoe, came to mind.

What if someone in the Murim Alliance, oreven within Pungga, was plotting against us?

Pung Ojin seemed to read my mind and continued.

“I’m not saying that you’re a spy or anything. But you have to understand that there are people who doubt you. That’s why I’m showing you this training scene. To show that we’re not hiding anything.”

“I understand.”

I nodded, feeling a little uneasy.

Pung Ojin then turned to Sama Mang and Sama Yeoryeong.

“Are you two okay with it?”

Sama Mang nodded without hesitation, but Sama Yeoryeong hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“Okay. Then let’s go to the inner courtyard training ground.”

As we walked, Pung Ojin continued to explain.

“The inner courtyard training ground is where the guards and VIPs practice. It’s not as spacious as the outer courtyard training ground, but it’s more private. It’s also where I practice most of the time.”

We arrived at the inner courtyard training ground, which was surrounded by high walls.

Pung Ojin took off his outer robe and revealed his muscular body.

“Let’s start.”

He gestured for us to come forward.

Sama Mang and Sama Yeoryeong stood next to me, watching intently.

Pung Ojin demonstrated various martial arts techniques, explaining each move in detail.

As he moved, his muscles rippled, and sweat dripped down his body.

I couldn’t help but feel a little aroused.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the training ground.

Pung Ojin stopped in mid-move and turned to look.

“What’s going on?”

I heard the sound of footsteps approaching, and then the door to the training ground burst open.

A group of men rushed in, led by a tall, muscular man with a scar on his face.

“Who are you?” Pung Ojin demanded.

The man sneered.

“I’m here to take what’s mine.”

He pointed at me.

“I’m here for the virgin.”

“It’s meaningless to worry about it. Didn’t I tell you earlier? It’s not you, but others who are suspicious,” said Jang, the owner of Pangga.

“This incident will spread widely, unlike your morning incident. As I trust Samasega so much, it’s like a guarantee that you shouldn’t speak recklessly about it,” he continued.

“Oh…thank you, sir,” I replied.

“It’s nothing. Although we are not family by blood, we are now a family. Above all, I’m not doing this for free,” Jang said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“They probably already noticed it. They might organize all the information they have collected so far to dispel any suspicions. It might be useful in the future, and we might receive something in return,” he explained.

“I see…but it’s not fair for one side to receive all the benefits,” I said.

“If we aim for Samasega’s revival, not just Pangga’s prosperity, it’s even more important to do so,” Jang replied.

“And as much as you are grateful to me, you should treat Soso better. It’s not a loss just to do that,” he added.

“Thank you, sir!” I exclaimed.

“Oh, and I can pat you on the back,” Jang said.

“Sir?” I asked.

***

I arrived at Yeonmujang with a complicated feeling of gratitude that I couldn’t express easily. My women and Samayeoryeong were gathered together in a group a little further away, and Pangojin and I stood in the center, keeping a reasonable distance.

Pangojin’s huge size and the giant sword he was holding were already intimidating enough.

“First, let me ask you. What do you think Jungdanjeon is?” Pangojin asked.

“Um…isn’t it like the second stage of Danjeon?” I replied.

“Then, what do you think Danjeon is?” he asked.

“A container that holds my inner energy…?” I answered.

“Can’t you put your inner energy anywhere? In fact, I heard that some spirits make their own Danjeon in their bodies, and the location of Danjeon varies from person to person. Why do you have to create a lower Danjeon and store your inner energy there?” he asked.

“Uh…” I had never thought about it before. I just assumed that was how it worked. But it wasn’t a difficult question.

I had already sensed it instinctively, even though I hadn’t put it into words.

Whatever. It’s a top secret, so I have to do it.

Once I started to question it, I began to think about many things again. For example, inner energy.

Naturalists inhale it through breathing and process it in their bodies according to the Simbeop. That’s what they call inner energy.

Then what is Ki? It can’t be defined exactly. However, it exists everywhere and has the power to enhance the essence of things.

Like making the body strong and the sword sharp.

However, Ki has several unique properties.

One of them is uncertainty, which means it exists and doesn’t exist at the same time.

Ki definitely exists. Not only me, but many martial artists feel its existence and use it.

Although it’s a low probability, there are also special minerals or spirits that naturally contain and transform Ki, and when it’s condensed to the level of a sword, it can be seen with the naked eye.

But Ki doesn’t always have a physical form.

For example, my body is filled with enough inner energy to fill Yeonmujang and then some.

So why is my body still intact? Even though there’s more inner energy in my body than my body can contain?

The answer is simple. The inner energy that’s dormant in my body doesn’t have a physical form.

This unique property allows Ki to be used in the body without being restricted by its original form.

That’s why to spread inner energy throughout the body, it moves through the imaginary pathway of Ki blood, not through blood vessels.

It’s more efficient and can have various additional effects.

Now let’s go back to the original question. Why do we need to create a lower Danjeon, especially in the virtual organ of the lower abdomen?

After circulating my inner energy for a while, I opened my mouth.

“The lower Danjeon is the center of Ki blood.”

“That’s right. The human body is a complex place in terms of Ki. But there’s a place where Ki frequently passes through like a crossroad, and that’s the Danjeon.”

It’s not impossible to distribute inner energy throughout the body without using Danjeon and using it only when necessary. But it’s much less efficient than using Danjeon.

After I had a rough understanding, Pangojin patted his chest and spoke.

“The location of the middle Danjeon is here. Do you understand why now?”

“Because the heart is the center of the body…is that right?”

“Correct! You’re getting it!”

As I watched Pangojin laugh, I remembered what Hong Yeon-hwa said before coming to Yeonmujang.

The lower Danjeon is for inner energy, the middle Danjeon is for the body, and the upper Danjeon is for the mind.

If the lower Danjeon increases the convenience of using inner energy, does the middle Danjeon make the body move better?

When I asked him, Pangojin nodded.

“If you’ve reached the pinnacle, you must have felt it. Your body’s control has increased, and you can move freely to the end without any inner energy. You can naturally exhibit supernatural physical abilities without surrounding yourself with inner energy, right?”

“Yes. Samamang-nim called it Shin-geom-hap-il.”

“That’s because the lower Danjeon is half-open. The inner energy spreads evenly from the center of the body to the extremities. If the lower Danjeon is fully opened, not only will more inner energy permeate the body, but the nature of the inner energy will also change.”

“Um…does the inner energy become pure?”

“It’s a little different. The impurities decrease, but the density of the inner energy increases. Well, the result is similar, so you can think of it that way.”

Pangojin shrugged his shoulders and asked with a smile, “That’s the theory. Now, I’ll tell you how to open the lower Danjeon.”

“It’s not like the Ho-wang-gong, is it?”

“Did you risk your life when you created the Danjeon for the first time?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“There’s nothing special about the lower Danjeon. You can also open it through meditation.”

“…That doesn’t sound like what you said before.”

Pangojin nodded his head and aimed his big sword towards me.

“Each person’s enlightenment is different, but according to the records of our ancestors who have been connected to the Pung-ga, the abilities that are manifested vary slightly depending on how the lower Danjeon is opened.”

Regardless of the method, opening the lower Danjeon can give you supernatural physical abilities and a qualitative increase in inner energy.

However, those who open the lower Danjeon through meditation generally develop their senses, such as the five senses or intuition.

On the other hand, those who open the lower Danjeon while moving and training their body tend to develop their physical abilities, such as muscles, bones, and reflex nerves.

“Now, you need to attempt to open the lower Danjeon while sparring. As you approach your limits, the speed of opening will increase, so don’t spare your stamina and inner energy.”

I sighed half-heartedly.

Come to think of it, this isn’t just about training. This is the first time I’ve sparred with Pangojin since our relationship was revealed.

Since I’m doing it, I’ll show him what I’ve got and drew my sword.

Srrung.

“Let’s go!”