The Mad Demon led Ha Jin to a small training yard tucked away in a corner of the Thousand Days Hall. Among the several training yards the Thousand Days Hall housed, this was the smallest and most secluded.
"It's best to pass down martial arts where as few eyes as possible are watching. Let's use this place."
Fortunately, the training yard was empty. The Mad Demon gave the vacant space a once-over and nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. From now on, yours truly will teach you her martial arts here."
She folded her arms and assumed the bearing of a proper master. Ha Jin watched in silence.
"We begin with the Boundless Heart Method. You haven't learned any inner arts heart method yet, have you? Let us rebuild you from the foundation up."
The Mad Demon jerked her chin toward the floor.
"Sit cross-legged there. We start by learning to feel the flow of energy."
She placed her hand gently on the back of Ha Jin, who had settled into a cross-legged position, and spoke in a low voice.
"Listen carefully. Most inner arts heart methods within the Divine Sect are rooted in aggressive demonic cultivation. That's why they yield fast results and powerful techniques."
A faint stream of energy from her palm began flowing down Ha Jin's spine.
"But yours truly's Boundless Heart Method walks a different path. It's closer to orthodox cultivation, in fact. Orthodox cultivation is slow to bear fruit at first and weak in power, but with continued practice, it grows stronger without limit."
There was a quiet pride woven through her words.
"A humble beginning. But in the end, it reaches depths that no demonic cultivation can ever hope to match."
Of course, Ha Jin's mind was filled with entirely different thoughts as he listened to this explanation.
'So basically, it's a late-bloomer build.'
Late-bloomer—the archetype of the king who returns. In other words, it starts weak but unleashes overwhelming potential the further you go. Wasn't that exactly what she was saying?
'Not bad at all.'
As he listened to the Mad Demon's explanation, Ha Jin realized how perfectly this martial art suited him.
'I was planning to take my time here and build my foundation from the ground up anyway.'
From the most critical perspective of mana recovery, the Boundless Heart Method—which absorbed the energy of nature—would be the most effective approach. Whether it could actually restore mana was another question, of course.
'I'll find a way somehow. I'll re-examine my mana circuits. Until the Boundless Heart Method matures, I'll have to survive on magic like I have been.'
He wasn't deluding himself into hoping for some innate martial arts talent that would make him an absolute master overnight.
What he needed right now were his Shield and various offensive spells. Means to compensate for the early weakness.
In other words, after learning the Boundless Heart Method, he had to find a way to connect it to his mana circuits.
His thoughts settled, Ha Jin hesitated no longer.
He immediately cleared all idle thoughts and focused every ounce of his attention on the energy flowing in through the Mad Demon's hand at his back.
"Feel the energy."
The Mad Demon's voice resonated low beside his ear.
"The natural energy spreading through your body will filter out the impurities within you."
Ha Jin directed all his awareness inward, just as the Mad Demon instructed. The energy channeled through her hand coursed along his blood vessels, spreading throughout his body.
As though sifting through a great sieve, the minute impurities that had accumulated inside him were washed away and filtered out by the pure energy.
After a considerable stretch of time, once all the impurities had been cleansed, a single tiny, pure strand of energy remained.
A luminous wisp no larger than a mote of dust quietly settled deep in Ha Jin's lower abdomen. Sensing it, the Mad Demon spoke with satisfaction.
"Did you feel that? What you just perceived is your qi center. You've just planted the very first seed. Initial Entry—the most fundamental level."
But the Mad Demon's explanation barely registered in Ha Jin's ears. His entire consciousness was captivated by the wondrous change occurring inside his body.
'This is impossible. My mana wellspring and my qi center merged?'
The mana wellspring—the one that had refused to recover after he had overspent his mana, sitting empty and inert. And the tiny qi center that had just been formed.
Two entirely different sources of power had fused as though they had been one from the very beginning.
It seemed that the mana circuits laced throughout his body as a Mage had merged with the Eight Extraordinary Meridians that the Mad Demon had stimulated. An unexpected stroke of fortune—though for now, he reacted calmly.
'That's strange. Does this mean I can use inner arts as mana?'
While he was lost in this question, the Mad Demon withdrew her hand from his back and spoke.
"Now, stand up. Since we've formed your qi center, I should at least teach you some basic martial arts."
Ha Jin forced his inner turmoil aside and tried to rise as the Mad Demon directed. He put strength into his legs and began to slowly push himself up.
"Huh......?"
Suddenly, all the strength drained from his body like an ebbing tide. His legs buckled and his body pitched forward.
THUD—!
His body slammed into the floor, and every muscle began to tremble uncontrollably, as though he'd been electrocuted. His muscles and joints screamed.
'Wh-what? What's happening......?'
Ha Jin was thoroughly alarmed at his body's refusal to obey him. He'd only formed a qi center—why was his body in this state?
'Did she do something weird to me?'
Suspicion flooded in.
***
Watching Ha Jin tremble on the floor, the Mad Demon paused to scratch her head. Then, as though something had clicked, she let out a short "Ah."
"Come to think of it, that was your very first energy circulation. And you didn't form the qi center yourself—yours truly forced it open. Tch, your body must have gone into shock from the strain."
She sighed as though it couldn't be helped and knelt down beside Ha Jin.
"At this point, you'd better rest for a bit. Rushing won't make the progress come any faster."
Ha Jin, too, gave up and sprawled out flat on his back. He looked at his still-trembling limbs and asked in an uneasy voice.
"But Master, how long is this going to last?"
The Mad Demon answered with utter nonchalance, as though the question were beneath her.
"No idea."
"Excuse me?"
Ha Jin was at a loss for words at her painfully concise reply. Though the follow-up did provide some context.
"Yours truly has never experienced anything like it, so I wouldn't know."
"Ah......?"
Sadly, her answer offered Ha Jin no comfort whatsoever. Sitting in awkward silence alongside the Mad Demon, Ha Jin sank into thought as he stared at his trembling body.
'But what does it actually mean that the mana wellspring and qi center merged?'
Two distinctly different sources of power had fused into one. They were now operating as though they were a single entity. Almost like a Mana Heart.
'A Mana Heart is originally the hallmark of archmages rivaling dragons. An endlessly growing wellspring of mana. Are you telling me the Boundless Heart Method turned my wellspring into one that can grow?'
Normally, a mana wellspring's capacity was fixed at birth. Forcibly expanding it was next to impossible, which was why mages typically laid additional mana circuits and carried every consumable recovery item they could find.
Yet now, the possibility of growth had appeared.
It was far more likely to be false hope, but the urge to verify it as quickly as possible was overwhelming.
'Can I freely use inner arts as mana now? If so......'
The curiosity was unbearable. He wanted to test it immediately.
'What spell is simple enough and won't draw too much attention?'
The existence of his magic was something that even the Mad Demon—self-proclaimed master though she was—should not learn about. A secret trump card was best kept from everyone.
He ran through several spells in his head. Anything flashy or destructive risked alerting the Mad Demon beside him. That left only one option.
'Enhance Body.'
A physical reinforcement spell. It was virtually invisible from the outside while being the best spell for feeling changes in his body. Ha Jin silently chanted the incantation in his mind.
'Enhance Body.'
In the same instant, he felt a sensation like his qi center surging to a boil, and a sliver of inner arts drained from the qi center in his lower abdomen. That power was immediately converted into magic and spread through his entire body.
FLASH—!
A faint aura of mana enveloped him. At the same time, strength poured into the body that had been trembling just moments ago, as though by some miracle. A hot vitality surged through every fiber.
"No way! What is this?!"
Ha Jin shot to his feet, an exclamation tearing from his lips before he could stop it. It was truly possible to cast magic using inner arts. A genuinely wondrous development—he was bouncing around in solo excitement when—
The Mad Demon, seated beside him, watched the display and smiled with satisfaction.
"Oh ho, your body has recovered already?"
"Huh?"
"You've rested long enough, so let's move on to the next phase of training."
"What?"
At that single remark, the joy vanished from Ha Jin's face. The moment of happiness had been far too brief.
'I'm screwed.'
Even if the Boundless Heart Method now let him substitute inner arts for mana, that was only at the most rudimentary level. The amount of inner arts stored in his qi center was pathetically small. In Mage terms, he was at the Initial Entry level.
'In raw ability, even with a qi center, I might actually be weaker now than I was in the modern world, where mana recovery was easy.'
If he entered the next training session in this state, he'd end up face-down on the floor again.
'I need to change the subject, fast!'
Ha Jin racked his brain desperately. Then, as naturally as he could, he put on an expression suggesting a sudden thought and tossed out a topic.
"Oh, Master! Now that I think of it, I have a question about the Demon Path Eight Extremes Formation."
Ha Jin's abrupt question. The instant the Mad Demon heard it, her violet eyes sparkled.
Just moments ago, this disciple had been whining about spiritual medicines and faking injuries. And now he was finally asking a genuine question about formations—about the martial path itself.
A satisfied smile naturally settled on the Mad Demon's lips. She nodded, arms folded, wearing an expression of fond approval.
"Oh ho, at last—a question worthy of a martial artist leaves your mouth. Very well. What do you wish to know? Yours truly shall personally explain that trifling little formation."
The Mad Demon had no inkling that Ha Jin had changed the subject solely to dodge training. She began her explanation with enthusiasm.
"Yes, the name alone doesn't give much of a picture, does it? It was truly on my mind."
"Indeed, that's understandable. True to the name 'Eight Extremes,' eight practitioners take positions in eight different cardinal directions and use the flow of inner arts to completely encircle, bind, and subdue a target at the formation's center."
The Mad Demon described it so vividly it was as though the formation were unfolding before their eyes.
"Simple, but that's exactly why each person's role and coordination are crucial. If even one person falters, the formation crumbles like a sandcastle."
Ha Jin was inwardly impressed as he listened. Simple yet effective—a practical formation.
"I see. So the second-stage trial involves using the Demon Path Eight Extremes Formation to subdue a hypothetical enemy or some other target?"
He pressed a step further to the trial's core.
"Ultimately, the most important criterion would be how perfectly and seamlessly the formation is executed. Am I right?"
But Ha Jin quickly caught himself and put on a sheepish expression.
"Ah, but this is specific trial content, so you probably can't just tell me. It might cause trouble between you and the instructors."
He scratched his head awkwardly and glanced at the Mad Demon's reaction.
"Even if you are my master, I may have asked something I shouldn't have. My apologies."
His words were perfectly reasonable and cautious. But his counterpart was the Mad Demon—a woman to whom common sense simply did not apply.
This remark struck the Mad Demon's pride—her reverse scale—squarely.
"......What?"
The smile vanished from the Mad Demon's face. Her violet eyes flashed with madness as they bored into Ha Jin. The air around them froze in an instant.
"Are you suggesting that yours truly would hold her tongue because of some Demon Path Hall instructors?"
CRACK—!
The floor beneath the Mad Demon's foot split into a web of cracks. Ha Jin's eyes went wide.
I'm sorry, when did I say that......?