As Prophet - Chapter 50



Only Krnovel

Episode 50. Fire on the Instep

“Now, everyone turn around and look at the yard below the main building.”

“yes!”

Dalcheon, who had been walking slowly, kicked off the edge of the floor and flew up. He took a deep breath and crossed his legs in the air, and flew dozens of chapters in one breath. Dalcheon, who had passed the end of the nobility, returned in the opposite direction. Everyone in the academy who saw him flip over in the air and kick the air again and fly up opened their mouths. No, they couldn’t close their open mouths.

Dalcheon, who had lightly landed on the floor, smiled faintly. It was an unrealistic sight. People were flying in the sky. Fatty jumped up and clapped his hands. The youngest tightly held the arm of the neighboring village elder brother who was sitting next to him.

“I need to learn my qigong. Everyone, please sit down and cross your legs. Today, we will only learn the posture and method.”

He grabbed the youngest’s head, asking to see it one more time.

“Okay, okay, I have a nice house. I’ll study breathing here for the time being.”

Dalcheon taught them how to sit cross-legged, straighten their backs, and bring their hands together in the center of their bodies, and then how to breathe. The children who saw something interesting, or even great, began to work hard, but it wasn’t something that could be accomplished in a day or two.

Cheolmuwoong asked secretly.

“I know that my studies are not something that can be accomplished in a day or two. It takes a lot of time, and one year of internal energy is equivalent to one person’s entire life. I wonder how you did it, Master.”

“Hmm… … How much you concentrate is important. And how much good energy you receive is equally important, but it’s better if you meticulously prepare your study time, place, location, and direction. There’s a difference between finding a good place, praying to the mountains and rivers, and starting to study, and rolling around and doing it in the back room. And who you learn from is also important. The first hurdle is the Sojucheon. Most people can’t do it even after years, but if you do it with someone who has achieved the Sojucheon, you can achieve it in ten days or fifteen days. There are many other things, which I will explain later.”

Children can be nagged, but adults need long explanations. I explained quietly because it was good for other children to understand.

A wind blew through the main hall where a dozen or so students sat cross-legged. Dalcheon walked out silently and closed the door. The faint scent of wood tickled his nose. He closed his eyes and looked at each of the students studying.

“The first thing to do is to feel the energy. If you repeat the breathing, you will feel the warmth in your lower abdomen. Concentrate on that feeling. Imagine that there is a single round light there, and repeat the inhalation and exhalation with it.”

There are differences between people. Mukhyeong had already formed the Small Circulation Heaven, and Baek Yijeong was making an impression but was unable to find stability.

‘Is studying while moving more suitable for this type? … . . . ‘

The thought occurred to me, but I didn’t say it out loud. When swinging a sword, it all seemed the same, but when I started practicing breathing, the difference became clear. It was the difference between a beginner and someone who wasn’t. The white-clad man sitting cross-legged was breathing deeply and long, forming a small circulatory system, and then turning it again.

Not everyone can do it like me. Dalcheon asked Mukhyeong, who had finished the second Sojucheon, to take care of the rest of the time and left the room without a sound. There was no sound from the training ground. The spring sun was shining warmly in the garden of the military officer. At a time when afternoon drowsiness was slowly creeping in, a gentle sound of thumping came from far down the street.

After I finished studying and went out for a spin, my heart was full of excitement. I dreamed of the new things I could do as the building went up.

There was a break in the middle, and when the whole hour of sitting meditation was over, the children crawled out, squirming. It was never easy for the children to sit still and spend an hour. Some were squirming and rolling their eyes, looking at others, and some were talking among themselves without making a sound, but they managed to finish an hour. Dalcheon greeted the children one by one, as if he was bored, and gave them a favor.

“You have to do it a little bit every day, in a quiet place, during a quiet time.”

“yes.”

“You have to wake up at dawn and do it, and you have to do it in the middle of the night.”

“yes.”

“You have to think about it all day long, except when you are eating or sleeping.”

“yes.”

He smiled brightly as he watched the adult children following him. He was unusually kind to children.

“Don’t think that today is the end of your studies. You must continue.”

“yes.”

The answer is the same for both adults and children. Unlike Dalcheon, who was excited about practicing meditation for the first time, the children did not seem to have any particular feelings. This may be because there was no difference between before and after, and nothing had changed. Most of them just came out after breathing.

Jin Dong-hee approached him and asked secretly. Although he was saying it so that no one else could hear, everyone heard it.

“If it’s internal energy, shouldn’t you take something like an elixir?”

“Well, then only those who didn’t take the elixir can barely win.”

“Is there something like an elixir that increases internal energy?”

“doesn’t exist.”

“I heard that people who live in the mountains are good at it. There are a lot of things like that in the mountains.”

“It’s very difficult to distinguish between poisonous plants. They look the same. They can actually be poisonous.”

“Ah! Is that helpful?”

“You should do whatever you can, but it will help when your breathing practice is mature. Even if it doesn’t work out, do it every day.”

The content of the questions or the answers are not important. What is important is that they have already studied in the same place and are showing enthusiasm. Dalcheon tried to boost their motivation by answering each question one by one.

* * *

Five more children came to the school after hearing the news that Dalcheon had flown in the sky. The parents did not know much about the curriculum, but they thought there was something there.

The change in the children who went to the academy was the trigger. They stopped whining when eating, and after waking up, they started to open their own blankets. Things like, “Huh, look at this kid?” appeared in their daily lives. When they were sent to the seodang, they would often whine and say they didn’t want to go, but at the Yangju Martial Arts Academy, they couldn’t go right away, so there was chaos. Some swept the yard early in the morning, and others cleaned the floor and sat like monks. Isn’t it true that the things you see and learn at the academy are forgotten when you leave?

Parents know that they are strong and healthy. I heard about what they are learning, but the results are far in the future. The positive changes in the children that occurred immediately were very strange, but I was proud and satisfied. There were more than one or two families who felt that they had sent their children to a good place.

The thing I was most worried about was studying writing, and that wasn’t lacking either. I spent a lot of time teaching that if you don’t read the martial arts, you won’t pass the military service exam. When they found out that we were doing physical studies, writing, and even meditation to cultivate the mind, parents rushed to visit the school to greet us and introduce their children to their relatives nearby. There was even a grandfather who would go back and forth around the school for no reason.

“Hehe, hehehe.”

When the number of students reached about twenty, another building was built. It was a long wing with a kitchen and storage facilities for living purposes. It was a simple structure with a gable roof, so it went up quite quickly.

The reason I sat down with the adults at dinner time was because of the sudden bad news. I was preparing for the next year’s Siknyeonsi, and there was a rumor that this year’s special exam would be held. It was definitely the information that was passed down through Baekgajang.

“Really? This year?”

“The elder told me to deliver it in person. It’s urgent.”

“So when is the date?”

“It is said to be the first day of June.”

“this.”

The faces of those preparing for the next year’s civil service exam were completely burnt. Since there were only a few adult students, they were somewhat in check with each other. That’s how it is with exam dates. If it’s early, people will curse, and if it’s late, people will curse.

“Why all of a sudden.”

“It is said that the Crown Prince has become pregnant with a baby boy. This is a special ceremony to celebrate that.”

Dalcheon thought of the narrow-minded man he had briefly seen in Hanyang. There is no reason to be broad-minded because you are above, and usually the opposite is true, but what good does it do to pretend not to be? It is said that the law of the earth is to build relationships gently according to the way others see you, but he thought of one person who was not like that. A poor man who barely recovered his appearance through the gentle persuasion of his younger brother, the Grand Prince…

Dalcheon sighed as he recalled the unprepared knights and the training grounds for the Gichang. But the real problem lay elsewhere.

Baek Ui-hyeong, who was the leader of the group, opened his mouth.

“Honestly, what we are concerned about is not the six tests but the recitation of the sutras and scriptures.”

This is the first time I’ve heard of it. Dalcheon blinked.

“Didn’t you say that you’re good at that, that you can do everything well?”

“I pretended not to know because if I said one wrong word, I would be treated as an ignorant person. With just a little practice, you can get everything right in things that involve the body, such as the knight, the spear, and the keoku. The reason I couldn’t do it right when I saw the master the other day was because I hadn’t done it once in years. When it comes to things that involve the body, it’s the Mujin who are confident.”

Dalcheon shot back quietly.

“It doesn’t make sense to say that someone who is unmanned doesn’t know the text.”

Dalcheon got up and put the books on the bookshelf on the floor. These unmanned people hate reading. The moment he put the books down in front of him, he was startled as if he had met an enemy and twisted his body. Someone made a hissing sound with his mouth.

“There are three months left.”

“Yes.”

“What should I do? I guess I should say, ‘Plow during the day and read at night’, or rather, ‘War during the day and study at night’.”

“yes?”

Jin Dong-hee opened her mouth wide. It was bothering me that I didn’t return to the Yangju government office this afternoon, but studying all night… … .

“I’m sure everyone has their own circumstances, but let’s do this. I’ll join you, so from today, after dinner, we’ll focus on the scriptures and the scriptures.”

“What are you going to do?”

“They all seem similar. They are good at using their bodies, but they seem to lack confidence in the scriptures. From now on, I will start reading the scriptures from the end of the year.”

Dalcheon asked Baek Ui-hyeong.

“capital punishment!”

“Go ahead.”

“Please give me the books in numerical order. Since there are three of us, we will need three books.”

“When I go back to my parents’ house, I have one copy of mine.”

Dalcheon saw Jin Dong-hee.

“no?”

“I don’t have any.”

“Hmm… … Here are two copies, one for the death penalty, and one for me to look at. Let’s get one more. If that doesn’t work, the two of you can look at it together.”

Baek I-jeong, who was sitting one step back, intervened.

“It might be at the bookstore.”

Baek Ui-hyung shook his head.

“There are novels, but how about Mu-gyeong? I’d rather ask my uncle at the Ministry of War!”

“I’ll send someone to ask for it immediately. There are only two copies right now, so let’s look at them together.”

A fire fell on his feet. Without a second thought, Dalcheon began to read Mu-gyeong’s scriptures on the spot.

“I don’t have time, so I’ll just start.”

There was no difficulty in reading it in a paused manner, saying the meaning of the word, and then explaining the sentence. I had them say and read each sentence, and then recite it.

I appreciate the help, but when will I ever finish reading all of the Mu-gyeong-chil-seo* like this? It’s just not physically possible. No, even if I do finish it, if I can’t write the answers properly, it’s over.

* Wu Jing Chilseo: It is said that during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, these seven books were selected based on the existing Seven Books on Military Strategy and designated as Wu Xing (武學), and the name “Chilseo” originated from this. During the Joseon Dynasty, it was also used as a subject for the military service examination.

Studying the first night felt like sitting on a bed of thorns.