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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: The Namgung Sega Granddaughter's Return
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Rumble!
“…!”
Namgung Mucheon's internal energy, incomparable to before, poured into her body.
It felt like a massive storm was surging in.
Her consciousness slowly submerged in the surging energy. She even felt a desire to be swept away, surrendering to the flow of energy.
“Breathe!”
“…!”
At Namgung Mucheon's shout, Seolhwa belatedly realized she wasn't breathing.
Very slowly, she exhaled, trying to feel Namgung Mucheon's energy.
Whoosh!
She knew Namgung Mucheon's internal energy, having reached the Hwagyeong realm, was immense, but the surging energy was an immeasurable amount, endless.
Instantly, a full `gapja` of internal energy surged into Seolhwa's dantian.
Namgung Mucheon's internal energy, filling her dantian, churned as if shaking it.
The blood qi that had been clouding Seolhwa's dantian had long since melted away like snow.
The profound energy of the Daehwandan, which Seolhwa hadn't been able to fully absorb, also quickly assimilated with Namgung Mucheon's energy.
The energy, having quickly settled in her dantian, soon began to circulate through her meridians, coursing through her entire body.
Rumble!
‘Azure Dragon!’
What churned within her body was truly a dragon. The very Azure Dragon she had seen in her dreams.
The Azure Dragon moved unhindered through the Ren and Du meridians, and with every meridian it passed through, impurities vanished and the path widened.
“…!”
Seolhwa was accustomed to pain, but even she couldn't escape the sensation of her meridians being forcibly widened.
Each time the Azure Dragon struck and pierced through a major meridian, intense pain enveloped her entire body.
Seolhwa clenched her fists, enduring the pain.
‘Huh…!’
Namgung Mucheon's expression, as he used his qi to clear Seolhwa's meridians, was filled with shock and admiration.
‘Is this even possible!’
Originally, he had intended to use half a `gapja` of internal energy for Beolmo-sesu. Yet, even as he poured it in, the energy seemed endless.
It was as if the child's body was eagerly absorbing and craving the energy, drawing his own energy in.
And so, the internal energy he had poured in was one `gapja`. No, what was one `gapja`? It was more like he was about to pour in one and a half `gapja` of internal energy.
And that wasn't all.
Her meridians opened up as if they had been waiting, widening as he directed the energy.
The circulation through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, which he had expected to take at least half a day, was about to be completed in less than half a *shijin*.
‘If this continues….’
It might even be possible to circulate qi through the Twelve Main Meridians, enabling a Grand Cycle!
If he used just half a `gapja` more of internal energy than now.
Then this child, who was merely at the Second-Rate realm, would instantly reach the Jeoljeong realm.
‘No, I shouldn't. Too much is as bad as not enough, they say. I shouldn't push too hard and spoil things.’
Namgung Mucheon swallowed dryly.
His mind told him no, but his martial artist's instincts couldn't abandon the desire.
He had cultivated martial arts and accumulated internal energy his entire life, meeting countless martial talents, but this was the first time he had encountered a body that harmonized so perfectly with qi.
The fact that this body belonged to his granddaughter fueled Namgung Mucheon's ambition.
‘Alright. Let's try it.’
Ultimately, Namgung Mucheon drew forth even more internal energy.
A deeper blue light emanated around his hands, which were in contact with the child.
“…!”
Seolhwa felt something unusual.
Namgung Mucheon's energy, which had circulated through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians in an instant, didn't stop but began to enter her minor meridians.
‘Could it be he's trying to open the Twelve Main Meridians?’
To open the path for the Grand Cycle, beyond the Lesser Cycle?
Before expelling the blood qi, Seolhwa's realm had been Jeoljeong.
However, that was only in terms of the amount of internal energy forcibly stuffed in; circulating internal energy through the body's minor meridians was still difficult.
In terms of realm, it was Jeoljeong, but since she couldn't freely circulate qi, it was effectively a half-baked Jeoljeong.
Namgung Mucheon was trying to open up those minor meridians. With his immense power.
Rumble….
The energy that had been surging wildly began to gradually lessen its momentum at some point.
Then, at the entrance to the minor meridians, it slowly began to swirl.
As if asking for her will.
‘If the minor meridians can be opened with this opportunity, it will be a great help for future endeavors.’
She would be able to raise her realm faster, and thus confront Hyeolma one step sooner.
She wouldn't need to anxiously rush to raise her realm, and could instead use that time more productively.
But.
‘Is it possible?’
Was it truly possible to instantly raise a Second-Rate realm to Jeoljeong?
However, Seolhwa's hesitation didn't last long.
‘This is what Cheonryonggeomhwang chose. I shouldn't doubt it.’
Namgung Mucheon chose to proceed.
Seolhwa decided to trust his choice.
Seolhwa relaxed her body.
Then, Namgung Mucheon's energy, which had been circling at the threshold of her minor meridians, very slowly and gradually began to flow into them.
The Azure Dragon's energy would now spread to her fingertips, her toes, and throughout Seolhwa's entire body.
Seolhwa completely surrendered herself to that energy, which flowed slowly but surely.
***
She opened her eyes to a refreshing breeze and clear air.
A sky filled only with blue stretched before her eyes.
She lowered her gaze and looked down.
*Shimmering*, the place where she stepped rippled.
‘The sea?’
She was standing in a place like a calm sea.
A transparent, clear sea without a single ripple.
No, it wasn't the sea.
‘The sky.’
Whether she looked up or down, only the sky filled her vision.
White clouds floated gently above her head and beneath her feet.
Without any sound or noisy commotion.
Just quietly.
‘The sky is already full above the ground we stand on, so the very act of breathing and feeling the wind can also be said to be entirely the sky.’
Namgung Cheongun's words came to mind.
Feeling the quietly calling wind, Seolhwa thought.
‘Everything is the sky. It is the sky.’
Those who stand on the ground have all touched the sky, so we are essentially already living in the sky.
Since we breathe the sky and feel the sky as we live, the sky's energy is already abundant within our bodies.
Even if one doesn't strive to reach out and grasp it, the sky's energy is abundant, and this truly must be the energy granted equally to all.
***
Seolhwa opened her eyes.
Soon after, she felt her body *thump*, as if sinking.
She had fallen after regaining her senses, having been floating weightlessly, surrendering her body to the energy in a state of Mu-a.
Looking up, she found herself once again in Namgung Mucheon's embrace.
“You have achieved Daeseong.”
He looked a little tired. But his expression was brighter than ever.
‘Truly a child of Heaven.’
He had only intended to open her minor meridians.
Yet, at some point, she began to move the energy herself, and then internal energy started to gather at a frightening speed.
Then the child's body suddenly floated up. It was as if she was moving her own body through Heogong-seopmul.
After that, he didn't need to intervene.
For the child was finding the answers herself.
“Did you gain an enlightenment?”
“I don't really know.”
She didn't quite know what she had enlightened upon.
It had just been all sky.
“I think I understand where the Namgung family's spirit of honesty and integrity comes from.”
“Hahahaha!”
Namgung Mucheon burst into hearty laughter, louder than ever before.
“You've realized something that even those who have lived in the Namgung for decades haven't. This is truly a Daeseong!”
And then he burst into laughter once more.
Witnessing his granddaughter gain enlightenment right before his eyes, his emotions were, needless to say, overwhelming.
Seolhwa was equally surprised.
‘…Jeoljeong. Already.’
It hadn't been long since she expelled the Jeoljeong-level blood qi and reverted to Second-Rate.
The realm she had expected to reach, First-Rate, after undergoing Beolmo-sesu, had instead reached Jeoljeong.
And it wasn't a realm forcibly raised, but one gained through enlightenment.
Seolhwa placed her hand on her dantian.
One `gapja` of energy filled her dantian.
It wasn't someone else's energy, nor was it forcibly drawn in; it was solely her own internal energy.
“I didn't expect to use three times more internal energy than I anticipated.”
“Three times?”
“I poured in a staggering three `gapja` of internal energy.”
“It was almost dangerous, as I nearly ran out.”
Namgung Mucheon possessed four `gapja` of internal energy. Since he had used three-quarters of it, his expenditure was considerable.
“Are you alright?”
“I'll need to recuperate for a while, but this much can be recovered quickly, so don't worry. Increasing it is difficult, but replenishing it is not.”
His dantian wasn't damaged or shrunk, after all.
“You've achieved remarkable results. I reached the Jeoljeong realm at the age of twenty. Since you are thirteen, you are seven years faster than me.”
An achievement seven years faster than Cheonryonggeomhwang, one of the ten greatest masters in the world.
Though he spoke lightly, it was truly an astonishing accomplishment.
Among the ten greatest masters, excluding him, no one had reached Jeoljeong at the age of thirteen.
Seolhwa's achievement was such that it surpassed genius and could be called monstrous.
How was that possible?
Namgung Mucheon came to one conclusion.
