…BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
Number 48 smoothly endured the thunder pounding through his head.
‘This much is nothing.’
He was different.
His beads could pass through the Hundred Convergences Acupoint.
That was why he had risen to the Iron Dragon Corps.
Then again, everyone here was a child capable of surviving the collision of beads at the Hundred Convergences Acupoint.
A strange phenomenon occurred within the colliding beads.
The impact caused the energy to increase tremendously.
Excessive vibrations.
The energy, surging as though caught in an earthquake, once again flowed downward along the paths of qi and blood.
The bead that had begun in the Governing Vessel entered the Conception Vessel.
The bead that had begun in the Conception Vessel entered the Governing Vessel.
And then.
THUD.
An immense pain shook his qi center.
The amplified, vibrating beads collided once more inside the qi center.
The previously tranquil qi center began to seethe.
Eight beads.
Four collisions.
“Ugh.”
A groan slipped through Number 48’s tightly clenched teeth.
***
“Hey. Stop, now. Get a hold of yourself, you bastard.”
By this point, even the Instructor showed no restraint.
This was truly dangerous.
The two energies colliding within the qi center placed an immense burden on the body.
Enough to make the collision at the Hundred Convergences Acupoint seem trivial.
“Stop the Red Heart Art. Hurry and switch to the Settling Heart Art. You’ll die at this rate.”
“Ughhhhhh….”
Despite the Instructor’s shouting, the child merely screamed and rolled across the ground.
Pain as though his stomach were being torn apart.
Agony as though his spine were snapping in two.
“Hey, you bastard. Listen to me. I said stop, now.”
THWACK.
The Instructor struck him.
That was not all.
The other Instructors nearby rushed over and began stomping on the child as well.
He would die at this rate.
Somehow, they had to stop the Red Heart Art and make him switch to the Settling Heart Art.
Only then could he survive.
But interfering with someone in the middle of circulating their inner arts could itself lead to death.
“We’ve got no choice. Hurry and stomp him. We have to break the Red Heart Art.”
“What if he dies?”
“He’s going to die anyway. We have to try something.”
That was how the Instructors felt.
But in the end, the child could not stop the Red Heart Art.
Almost none of them could.
Stopping it once it ran wild would have been a miracle among miracles.
And no such miracle had ever occurred.
“Ughhhhh… ughhh….”
The Instructors beat him so viciously, yet he seemed unable even to feel their blows.
The twisting of his limbs probably caused far greater pain.
“S-Save… me….”
That single phrase, barely forced out, became his last words.
The child stopped moving.
“Bring a straw mat quickly. Don’t let the others see him.”
There was no particular need for the other children to see a body with all four limbs twisted out of shape.
But Number 48 saw it.
The child had died directly in front of him.
It did not disturb him.
He had always seen things like this.
He had watched more children than he could count on his fingers twist into monsters before his eyes.
Even among those who safely survived the collision at the Hundred Convergences Acupoint, six out of ten failed to survive the collision in the qi center.
Nine out of ten died merely in the process of learning the Red Heart Art.
No.
More than that.
If a hundred children learned the cultivation method, only a handful succeeded.
Without the Instructors’ Transmission Art, perhaps none would have survived.
Only those who survived that process were qualified to enter the Iron Dragon Corps.
Number 48 lacked martial talent?
That was only when compared with the other members of the Iron Dragon Corps.
He too had been born with tremendous martial talent.
***
“Ugh.”
Number 48 gritted his teeth and endured the pain surging from his qi center.
His qi center churned as though lava were boiling inside it.
It felt as though flames would burst from his mouth if he opened it.
‘It’s still bearable. I’ve always trained like this.’
Compared with the wounds he had suffered in battle and the places the Sect Leader had beaten him, the pain in his qi center almost seemed insignificant.
The images of children twisting into monsters before his eyes had already faded far into the distance.
Number 48 circulated the beads a little longer.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
His head and abdomen were in chaos.
As the number of collisions at the Hundred Convergences Acupoint and qi center increased, the pain multiplied.
But as time passed, the pain gradually dulled.
His body was beginning to adapt.
This was precisely when he needed to stop the Red Heart Art and switch to the Settling Heart Art.
Around the time he became accustomed to the pain, the seething qi center would suddenly erupt like an active volcano.
***
“That’s it. You’re doing well. Now spread the energy. Use the Settling Heart Art.”
The Instructor gave those words to the children who were barely holding their battered qi centers together.
The Settling Heart Art.
It was a cultivation method that gradually drew away the swollen energy threatening to overflow from the qi center and circulated it throughout the body.
If the Red Heart Art demanded endurance and freedom from desire, the Settling Heart Art demanded intense concentration.
Once the energy flowing through the Conception and Governing Vessels began boiling within the qi center as though it might explode, one had to draw it out little by little and redirect it elsewhere.
An enormous amount of energy had accumulated within the Conception and Governing Vessels of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.
Now the remaining meridians had to be opened as well.
The Penetrating Vessel, called the sea of all meridians.
The most powerful channel, beginning at the navel and linking the solar plexus, chest, throat, and lips.
The Girdling Vessel, which wrapped around the waist.
The only meridian that flowed horizontally.
A passage connecting the upper and lower body and smoothing the flow of energy.
Then came the Yang Heel Vessel, which began at the outer ankle and ran along the side of the body to the eyes.
The Yin Heel Vessel began at the inner ankle and traveled along the inner thigh to the eyes.
The Yang Linking Vessel began on the top of the foot and wrapped densely around the outside of the body.
The Yin Linking Vessel began along the inside of the calf and connected the internal organs.
Beyond those,The energy also had to be spread through the Twelve Principal Meridians, twelve separate channels that could be considered side routes.
From the outer body to the inner body.
Down to the smallest blood vessels and the very ends of the skin.
The cultivation method that evenly distributed energy throughout the entire body.
That was the Settling Heart Art.
Because it involved gradually drawing off the overflowing energy in the qi center and distributing it to the proper places, it inevitably required a long time.
Four hours.
A precise yet tedious stretch of time.
By contrast, the Red Heart Art, which accumulated tremendous inner force by making beads of condensed energy collide, lasted only a quarter-hour.
Brief.
But the most dangerous period of all.
Once this entire process was completed, one accumulated inner arts on a level that could scarcely be compared with the advanced cultivation methods of other sects.
The greatest power sustaining the Ascending Dragon Sect despite everything else it lacked.
This was the Ascending Dragon Art.
***
The pain subsided.
As was characteristic of the Red Heart Art, the more his body adapted, the duller the pain became.
‘Finally, this is a little more bearable. I can keep going a bit longer.’
His qi center was still sloshing with energy, but it had not yet reached the point of overflowing.
Yet this was the most dangerous moment.
The time to end the Red Heart Art was rapidly approaching.
‘After surviving all those brushes with death, all I did was get beaten.’
The previous battle suddenly flashed through Number 48’s mind.
And he made the worst possible choice at precisely the worst possible time.
As the pain dulled, he became lost in thought.
Had he not trained in this cultivation method while repeatedly brushing against death ever since his days in the Non-Dragon Corps?
“Go meet people from other sects. They’ll look like children to you.”
“Of course. Our Ascending Dragon Sect’s inner arts are the strongest! Bwahahaha.”
Things the Instructors occasionally told them whenever they were in a good mood.
Number 48 had truly believed them.
Back when the Instructors’ words were the entirety of his world.
He had believed everything without the slightest doubt.
Yet despite possessing powerful inner arts and swinging enormous weapons, they had been ravaged by slender men wielding thin swords.
All the training he had endured until now had been denied in a single instant.
The sensation of metal biting into his flesh for the first time.
The razor-sharp edge that flashed before his eyes.
The fear and terror he had felt standing at the boundary between life and death.
And more than anything….
The death of his friend, Number 92.
He had thought he would be fine.
Even if everyone around him died.
Death had been familiar to him since childhood.
How many children had he watched twist grotesquely and cross the River of the Dead day after day?
‘No… no. Still, the Golden Dragon Corps fought pretty well. They weren’t pushed back that badly. And even then, the Sect Leader… that bastard.’
His entire body still throbbed from how badly he had been beaten.
He barely had enough strength to move a finger.
The pain was so severe that it even masked the agony of the Red Heart Art….
‘…?’
Number 48 suddenly snapped back to his senses.
His qi center was no longer merely boiling.
It was already overflowing.
‘This is bad. I kept the Red Heart Art going too long without realizing it. I passed the limit.’
The pain throughout his body whenever he moved even slightly.
He had mistaken that agony for the danger signals coming from his qi center.
‘Quickly… the Settling Heart Art.’
He hurriedly tried to recall the circulating beads.
At the same time, he began distributing the overflowing energy from his qi center into the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.
Or tried to.
‘They won’t stop. The beads won’t stop.’
The eight beads began thrashing wildly.
The beads that should have returned to his qi center and gone dormant ran rampant on their own.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
Thunder roared inside his head.
Their circulation had accelerated so much that even the impacts sounded twice as loud.
“Ughhhhh….”
The pain surging from his qi center began to pass beyond anything he had ever experienced.
“N-No….”
His body, which had been lying neatly on its back, slowly curled inward like a caterpillar.
He had not wanted to be beaten.
That was why he had always circulated his cultivation method exactly as the Instructors ordered.
Even during the nights when he secretly trained alone, he had obeyed that one rule.
And yet….
Once the Red Heart Art began running wild, was it impossible to control?
Was this why those children had never returned no matter how badly the Instructors beat them?
The pain in his qi center was unlike anything he had ever felt.
It was undoubtedly a backlash from the Red Heart Art.
‘The beads won’t stop. Then… at least the Settling Heart Art.’
He had to send the energy elsewhere quickly.
He was different from the children who had died back then.
He could use the Settling Heart Art with far greater proficiency than they ever had.
Number 48 forcibly seized hold of his chaotic mind and focused every nerve on his qi center.
He scooped out a great ladleful of energy from his qi center.
‘This… goes into the Penetrating Vessel.’
The energy surged smoothly into the broad channel.
‘This… into the Girdling Vessel.’
His waist grew scorching hot.
The energy seemed to be circulating properly.
‘This too….’
He continued scooping out energy as though with a ladle and pouring it into each meridian.
‘It worked. I did it.’
At least the Settling Heart Art worked.
The beads did not stop.
The Red Heart Art was meant to be circulated for only a quarter-hour.
The Settling Heart Art required four hours.
In other words, energy accumulated far faster than he could draw it away.
No matter how much he sent through the other meridians, the amount of inner force accumulating inside him was beyond imagination.
The beads continued spinning madly without stopping.
What use was successfully performing the Settling Heart Art?
The Red Heart Art was raging even more violently.
CRACK.
His right foot, into which he had been forcing inner arts, twisted out of place.
“Ughhhhh….”
A scream?
Even a groan would have laughed at that.
It was nothing more than sleep-talking in the middle of the night.
His mouth merely opened and closed like a crucian carp, yet no sound emerged.
If he could only scream, perhaps the pain would ease even slightly.
Why would his damned throat not even let him cry out?
His twisted mouth refused to make a sound.
‘N-No….’
His body tipped sideways.
The instant he desperately tried to hold himself steady and regain his balance.
CRACK.
His left leg twisted limply.
CRACK, CRACK.
This time, his right arm.
His mind went completely blank.
There was no longer any way to control the rampaging Red Heart Art.
His only choice was to send even more energy elsewhere, even faster.
Number 48 scattered the energy wherever he could.
Anywhere would do, as long as it emptied his qi center.
But starting from the places flooded with excessive inner arts, his body began bending into increasingly grotesque shapes.
His skin turned bright red.
His mouth had already twisted so badly that he could make no sound, while his tongue curled backward and blocked his airway, making it difficult even to breathe.
Number 48 stretched out his one remaining functional arm with all his strength.
His left arm.
His hand reached toward one place.
Number 87 was sleeping there, snoring.
Would waking him solve anything?
Probably not.
Even so, Number 48 had to call him.
No.
He had to.
But….
Was this really his hand?
His moving left hand was absurdly slow.
He barely managed to extend the twisting limb.
His eyes remained fixed on his companion.
Tears pooled so heavily that his entire vision rippled.
They said if you wished desperately enough, your wish would come true.
At last, the tip of his finger touched Number 87’s shoulder.
At that exact moment.
CRRRRKK….
Number 48 saw his fingertips.
They trembled violently.
Then one finger suddenly bent sideways, twisting in a grotesque direction.
Enormous pain surged from his distorted arm.
Beginning from his finger.
Then his wrist.
His elbow.
Now even his shoulder….
No.
More than that.
If only someone would cut out his stomach….
Please.
It was so hot he thought he would go mad.
Finally.
Even his eyes rolled completely backward until only the whites remained.
Pitch-black darkness.
Even the faint moonlight that had seeped into the corners of his vision disappeared.
“Get a hold of yourself. Do I have to beat some sense into you?”
From beyond his fading consciousness came an Instructor’s voice.
Of all things….
Why did he have to hear that damned voice at a time like this?
“You think qi deviation is some pet dog’s name? Are you really that desperate to die?”
Ah.
That was right.
That was what the Instructor had said back then.
Qi deviation….
And of all the things that could come to mind at the very end, it had to be those damned words.
Fuck….