Drip. Drip.
Eugene took off his blood-stained clothes and fetched new clothes from the wardrobe. Although the new clothes were also ragged, they were better than the blood-soaked ones.
“Have you decided?”
“…Sigh… I’ll help you.”
The white tiger finally sighed and decided to help Eugene. After all, there was no immediate way for him to return. Despite being called a divine beast and one of the Four Guardian Beasts, he didn’t have the ability to traverse between worlds. Although Eugene lacked such abilities as well, there was the possibility of new powers like magic.
“If I regain my strength, it’ll be good for me, and you can return to Mount Kunlun. It’s mutually beneficial.”
“Then what do I need to help with?”
“For now, nothing. It’ll take years anyway, so don’t rush.”
Sigh.
The white tiger groaned and flopped onto his stomach in his place. As Eugene said, rushing wouldn’t achieve anything.
“By the way, do you not have a name? Are you just called the White Tiger?”
“…Taeje (太帝).”
“Taeje (太帝)? Great Emperor… That’s a good name.”
Eugene nodded at the white tiger’s response. Considering the tiger’s immense original form, the name suited him well.
“Try not to revert to your original form unless necessary.”
“Do you mean that form from earlier?”
“Yes, there are tigers here too, but none as gigantic as you.”
“Even that form was reduced in size to escape the magic circle.”
“Hmm?”
Eugene was surprised by Taeje’s words. The hut they were in was large enough to have a two-story storage area, making it quite sizable. Yet, the size of Taeje who had broken out was supposedly reduced?
“Are divine beasts originally this large…?”
He couldn’t imagine how massive Taeje’s true form must be.
“I don’t plan to show my true form either.”
“Got it.”
“So, what’s your plan now?”
Eugene shrugged at Taeje’s question.
“Regain my strength quickly.”
In this world, power equated to authority and honor. Thus, regaining his martial arts and strength was crucial.
“Are you going to practice your internal techniques?”
Taeje watched with curiosity at Eugene’s actions. Even as a divine beast, Taeje had never seen the Heaven’s Killing God Technique. There had always been many divine techniques in the martial world:
The Purple Haze Divine Technique of the Sword Emperor.
The Shadow Fighting Technique of the Martial Emperor.
The Iron Palm Divine Technique of the Evil Martial Saint.
However, these were merely divine techniques in name. While they were powerful and surpassed human limits, they weren’t as formidable as a true divine technique. Yet, the Heaven’s Killing God Technique was known to live up to its name, splitting mountains, parting seas, and filling rivers.
Even the immortals and the Four Guardian Beasts at Mount Kunlun were intrigued and impressed by the Heaven’s Killing God Technique, despite their dislike for its wielder, the Heavenly Demon.
A martial art that could kill the heavens—such a grandiose name! Thus, it was only natural for Taeje to be curious. When the Heaven’s Killing God Technique resurfaced in the world due to the Heavenly Demon, some immortals even wanted to intervene and stop it. Hence, Taeje couldn’t help but want to witness it.
“Do you want me to guard you while you practice?”
Guarding, in this context, meant protecting a martial artist from any disturbances while they meditated and circulated their energy.
“Don’t worry about it. No one comes here except when delivering supplies, so just stay put.”
Eugene waved off Taeje’s offer. Being practically exiled by his family, no one visited him. While it was true that someone disturbing his energy circulation could lead to a deviation or worse, this place only had Taeje and himself. Besides, Taeje was eager to return home and wouldn’t disturb him.
“Let’s begin.”
It was the moment when Eugene Bedia began a new life.
Sigh.
Eugene closed his eyes, sitting cross-legged, and took a deep breath through his nose. From a quick observation, the world of Seifran seemed to have as much qi in the atmosphere as his former martial world.
Humm.
Eugene’s body, seated cross-legged, began to vibrate very slightly.
“First, start with the lower dantian.”
The dantian in the body is located in three places: the lower, middle, and upper dantian. Martial artists first use the lower dantian, located below the navel at the Shimen point. The middle dantian at the Yutang point opens at the pinnacle stage. Finally, the upper dantian at the Yintang point opens only at the transformation stage.
Humm.
In an instant, Eugene established his lower dantian and began to perform his internal technique, the Heaven and Earth Foundation Technique (天地氣拔功). His lower abdomen started to vibrate slightly. While it takes years for others to establish their dantian, Eugene did it in less than an hour. The Heaven and Earth Foundation Technique played a significant role in why the Heaven’s Killing God Technique was called a divine technique. This technique spreads the internal energy around, attracting the qi in the air to the dantian.
In simple terms, it scattered a particle of qi from the dantian to attract floating qi particles in the air back into the dantian. Instead of slowly absorbing surrounding qi, it multiplied the internal energy exponentially.
“Now that the total amount in the dantian has increased, let’s move the internal energy along the meridians.”
Eugene moved a small amount of internal energy accumulated in the lower dantian along his meridians. Then he sensed something strange. The internal energy kept getting blocked and returning from certain points.
‘Where is it?’
Eugene moved the internal energy along the meridians again and found three blockages.
‘This body… has the Three Yin Severed Meridians (三陰絶脈).’
Eugene unconsciously clenched his fist. The Three Yin Severed Meridians is a legendary condition in the martial world. It blocks the flow of qi, leading to poor circulation and typically causing death before the age of 20. However, if the condition is cured, it can yield near-infinite internal energy. The body that the Heavenly Demon Yoo-jin had entered indeed had the Three Yin Severed Meridians. Eugene’s original body was a muscle-bound physique, but it paled compared to the Three Yin Severed Meridians.
‘This body’s unusual weakness since birth is due to the Three Yin Severed Meridians.’
If one more meridian was blocked, walking would have been difficult, and the condition would have been noticeable. With only three blockages, the main issue was slightly reduced stamina. Furthermore, magicians typically used their minds rather than their bodies, so they wouldn’t have noticed the physical weakness.
“As expected…”
Eugene sighed inwardly after identifying the blocked meridians. Now he understood why his body couldn’t form a magic circle. Circles are usually formed below the heart. First, a ring called the circling is created, similar to the dantian for martial artists. Once formed below the heart, it fills with mana, creating a circle. As more circles are formed, they interlock. But in Eugene’s body, the path to the heart was blocked at the Tanzhong point.
‘That’s why the mana couldn’t reach the heart and was diverted elsewhere.’
Had the soul of this body known this, it would have felt deeply aggrieved. Unable to form circles due to blocked qi flow, it eventually relied on forbidden summoning magic and died. The sense of injustice must have been overwhelming.
‘The Zhongfu point near the solar plexus and the Tianzhu point between the collarbones are also blocked.’
This naturally explained the lack of stamina. Even a short run would have left him breathless, and his weakened breathing would have further reduced his stamina.
‘Only the paths for qi flow are blocked.’
It was fascinating to be born with such a condition. Eugene felt a strange frustration knowing his body had the Three Yin Severed Meridians, a condition he encountered for the first time.
Sigh.
Eugene took a deep breath, slowly opened his eyes, and stood up.
“Is it finished?” Taeje, who had been lying down, stood up at Eugene’s movement.
“The urgent part is done.”
Swoosh.
Eugene raised his right hand, gathering energy in his palm. After only three hours of cultivation, he had already accumulated enough internal energy to reach the first star. For others, it would take a year or two to reach this stage, but Eugene did it in just a few hours.
Humm.
Thud!
“Hmm?!” Taeje frowned as he noticed a sudden change in the flow of the surrounding air and energy.
“Four Directions Formation (四方陳法)?”
Eugene nodded at Taeje’s words. The Four Directions Formation, a technique of the Zhuge family that could only be deployed upon reaching the first star, caused anyone entering its range to either return to their original spot or end up somewhere else, unable to find the hut.
“The Heavenly Demon even learned the Zhuge family’s secret techniques… Are you a thief?”
“Learned? I didn’t steal anything. I watched the Zhuge family perform it and mimicked it.”
Eugene retorted at Taeje’s accusation. He had never stolen the Zhuge family’s formation techniques. From a young age, he could quickly observe and replicate others’ movements, thanks to his muscle-bound physique. Even without this physique, Eugene, with his vast knowledge, could have performed the technique immediately.
“Anyway, it’s impressive. You’ve reached the first star already.”
Taeje was amazed by the internal energy emanating from Eugene’s body. From a body with no energy to reaching the first star in just a few hours? If this became known in the martial world, it would cause a massive stir.
Of course, the first star was insignificant—not something to boast about, not even reaching the level of a third-rate warrior. Taeje was astonished because Eugene had created a dantian and filled it with the first star of energy in such a short time.
“Is changing form your only ability?”
“What nonsense!” Taeje snapped at Eugene’s words. How dare he speak so dismissively to a divine beast.
“If I move, I could erase you in an instant.”
“Hmm… I’d love to see you fight a dragon.”
“A dragon??”
Eugene stroked his chin, intrigued by the idea of a battle between the white tiger Taeje and a dragon, the strongest creature in the world of Seifran. He was curious about who would be stronger—the divine beast white tiger or the dragon. Although the body’s memories suggested that dragons were only known through books, not firsthand experience, he still wanted to meet one.
“What is a dragon?” Taeje asked, but Eugene was lost in his thoughts.
‘Hmm, I’m getting hungry. I need to eat soon…’
“What is a dragon?!” Taeje repeated, raising his tail and growling as Eugene ignored his question and continued thinking.
‘I need to accumulate a bit more internal energy, then eat.’
Cliche Novel 