I Became the Hidden Chapter 73

While training Cheon Suhye, Baek Yoonjun checked his own martial arts.

'It's strangely unnatural.'

His internal energy was not filling up at all, and its operation was also unnatural.

It wasn't that he couldn't operate it at all, but.

'What happens to me if I use all of this?'

He couldn't help but feel anxious.

With an anxious heart, Baek Yoonjun was looking at Cheon Suhye, who was rolling around.

It wasn't a metaphor; she was really rolling on the ground.

"Hah, hah. Hah, hek. Hek."

Towards such a Cheon Suhye, Baek Yoonjun was swinging a tree branch.

"Now, are you going to dodge a sword by rolling like that? You just died three times from a sword strike."

"Heok, heok, th-can't I just stand and dodge?"

"If you can't dodge while standing, does the sword just avoid you on its own?"

Although Baek Yoonjun had never rolled on the ground, he was ready to roll at any time if necessary.

For that reason, he was annoyed with Cheon Suhye, who was complaining about rolling.

"Even a donkey would roll better than you, Sister Suhye. Roll more accurately and faster."

"Heok, hek, a-a donkey, that's too much. Heok."

"Now, get up and run again. Go."

"Go!"

At Baek Yoonjun's command, Cheon Suhye shot up.

And so, as she was about to run out.

"Ugh."

Cheon Suhye grabbed her heart and collapsed.

"Sister Suhye? Are you okay?"

Baek Yoonjun approached Cheon Suhye with a worried look.

"I-I'm fine."

"You're fine, but your face is pale."

"I can do more."

"Don't be stubborn and rest."

"But..."

"Ahem."

Seeing Cheon Suhye reluctantly return to her residence, Baek Yoonjun prepared for a medical examination and followed her.

Although Baek Yoonjun was still reluctant to touch Cheon Suhye's body, he thought it would be okay if he thought of her as a patient.

"I'll examine you just in case."

"I'm really fine..."

"Ahem, you never know when your health might suddenly worsen. Please hold out your arm."

Baek Yoonjun grabbed the wrist of the arm that Cheon Suhye reluctantly held out and sent his vital energy through it.

'It doesn't seem like there's anything wrong.'

Other than her heart beating a little fast, there seemed to be nothing wrong.

Her heart beating fast was also far from a heart-related illness.

Overall, it was difficult to see it as an illness.

No, rather.

'It seems her physical condition is getting better.'

Her body condition seemed to be getting better.

Although it was strange, it couldn't be called bad.

Although it was definitely not bad just by looking at the current situation, Baek Yoonjun felt an indescribable sense of unease.

'If it's not an illness, is it something magical? Then it's hard to confirm...'

Although ordinary martial arts could also be called a transcendent power like magic, in the case of martial arts, a trace of how one was affected was left.

A formation also leaves a trace due to the composition that forms the formation.

But magic was not.

In the first place, since most magic itself is formless, and even if it is a magic that requires an object like a formation, since it can be activated even when separated from the object, it is difficult to find a trace.

'No. I can't just conclude that it's magic just because I can't find a trace.'

While keeping the possibility of magic in mind, Baek Yoonjun avoided being bound only by it.

But that didn't particularly lead to an answer.

"Even if there's nothing seriously wrong with your body right now, since it's clearly an abnormal situation, let's rest and recuperate for the time being."

"Then what about training?"

Cheon Suhye's attitude of worrying about training in this situation was very dumbfounding.

"What training in this situation?"

"It's not like my body is in a bad condition..."

At Cheon Suhye's completely dejected appearance, Baek Yoonjun thought for a moment.

'For now, should I teach her an internal energy cultivation method that won't strain her body?'

In Baek Yoonjun's mind, there was a lot of training that could be done even while resting.

Among them, the most efficient was the internal energy cultivation method.

"How about trying an internal energy cultivation method while you rest?"

"An internal energy cultivation method...?"

When Baek Yoonjun brought up the internal energy cultivation method, Cheon Suhye showed a reluctant reaction.

"That... it's a bit hard to say this, but no matter how I think about it, it doesn't seem like breathing helps with martial arts."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Everyone breathes naturally, so I think it's a bit nonsensical to accumulate internal energy with that."

At Cheon Suhye's words, Baek Yoonjun felt as if he had been hit in the back of the head.

'I'm sure I also said before that it's right to perform the internal energy cultivation method naturally like breathing.

But that's an act that can only be done by someone who is at least a third-rate like me, and it's an act that requires the cultivation method itself as a foundation and understanding.'

Baek Yoonjun had pondered about the cultivation method based on his experience of being refuted about the method of accumulating internal energy like breathing before and had come to a conclusion.

But with Cheon Suhye's words this time, the theory he had established was refuted again.

Baek Yoonjun pondered again and came to a conclusion.

'Come to think of it, among the third-rate or lower, unless they are a martial artist with some degree of martial arts, it seems that there are no humans who perform the internal energy cultivation method itself...'

Although Baek Yoonjun had not wandered outside much, from what he had seen so far, it was so.

Although he hadn't felt that it was strange at that time, now that he heard it so openly, he felt it was a little strange.

"There are also internal energy cultivation methods that are sold openly in the market..."

Although he felt it was strange, since he hadn't gone out much, his words trailed off.

"Weren't most of those just empty talk?"

"No, then if it's not a cultivation method, how do you accumulate internal energy?"

"That's just... if you train... and the existence of internal energy itself is not certain..."

At Cheon Suhye's hesitant words, Baek Yoonjun had no choice but to grab his forehead.

'This is strange. I'm sure that guy in my past life said that the internal energy cultivation method is essential for martial arts.'

Baek Yoonjun felt as if his common sense so far was collapsing.

'Training? So internal energy is accumulated by training the body? No matter how I think about it, that doesn't seem right...'

Baek Yoonjun had been consistently performing the internal energy cultivation method since he started training and had seen its effects.

To such a Baek Yoonjun, Cheon Suhye's appearance, as if she were denying the internal energy cultivation method itself, felt as if the world were turning upside down.

'Does it really accumulate? When you think about it, the internal energy cultivation method can also be seen as breathing...'

Baek Yoonjun pondered about that principle.

'Could it be that it's not the effect of the training itself, but that internal energy is accumulated without one's knowledge due to the breathing that accompanies it? Looking at the martial artists I've met so far, the efficiency itself seems to be crazy bad.'

And he concluded.

Although it was not accurate, since from what he had seen so far, it seemed to fit to some extent, he decided to end his worries about this part.

'Although it's similar to my previous theory, Sister Suhye's method is too inefficient. It's better to just do the internal energy cultivation method.'

Having made up his mind, Baek Yoonjun decided to teach Cheon Suhye the internal energy cultivation method.

"It is difficult to reach the third-rate without an internal energy cultivation method. Since I am also consistently performing it, let's try it once."

"If older brother is consistently doing it, I will also follow."

"I understand. Then, for now, let's sit in a cross-legged position."

Following Baek Yoonjun's words, Cheon Suhye obediently sat in a cross-legged position.

Baek Yoonjun placed his hand on the back of Cheon Suhye, who was sitting in a cross-legged position.

"From now on, I will infuse and move my internal energy, so you just have to follow and move."

Baek Yoonjun infused his internal energy into Cheon Suhye's body and moved it.

"Hmm."

Cheon Suhye closed her eyes and concentrated.

She felt a lukewarm wind circulating inside.

At the somewhat familiar yet unfamiliar sensation, Cheon Suhye was inwardly amazed.

'So this is internal energy.'

But it was just admiration.

She couldn't get a feel for how to move the internal energy at all.

"You just have to move according to my guidance. Let's move."

At Baek Yoonjun's urging from behind, Cheon Suhye, who had been struggling for a long time, had no choice but to give up in the end.

"Older brother."

"What is it?"

"How should I move my internal energy?"

At those words, Baek Yoonjun's mind became dizzy.

"How can you not know how to move your internal energy when you're using it?"

"Me? My internal energy?"

Although Baek Yoonjun wondered if Cheon Suhye was teasing him, no matter how he looked at it, she seemed to be serious.

Baek Yoonjun pondered again.

'I'm sure she seemed to be using internal energy when she was using her sword or moving her body, but she doesn't know how to move it...'

Come to think of it, it seemed that most third-rate or lower martial artists were like that.

Although the people in the village below his residence had been taught the internal energy cultivation method by Baek Yoonjun, so most of them felt and used their internal energy, it seemed that other places were not like that.

But whether they felt it or not, most of those who were called martial artists could use internal energy.

'Then are they moving it unconsciously? Then the method is...'

Baek Yoonjun continued to ponder.

And so, as he was pondering, an answer came to him to some extent.

'Unconscious... then is it by mental image?'

Having come to a conclusion to some extent, Baek Yoonjun decided to try it right away.

"If you don't know how to move your internal energy, try to think of something strongly. Something you want to become, a place you want to go, something that remains strongly in your memory."

"A strong memory... hmm."

At Baek Yoonjun's words, Cheon Suhye pondered for a long time.

At that time, her hometown came to mind.

The large mountain behind her hometown.

The mountain called Mount Hua was a mountain made of stone.

For some reason, plum blossoms were in full bloom on that mountain where not a handful of soil could be seen.

Cheon Suhye liked the plum blossoms of Mount Hua.

Although it would have been very desolate if there were only stones, since the plum blossoms were in full bloom, it felt somewhat warm.

On top of that, when they bore fruit, it was good because it brought in extra income for the village.

'Plum blossoms.'

And so, as Cheon Suhye strongly thought of the plum blossoms, Cheon Suhye's internal energy, which had not budged, began to move.

"You're doing well."

Baek Yoonjun quickly noticed the movement of Cheon Suhye's internal energy and guided it to move correctly along the blood vessels.

In that process, he could clearly feel the feeling of Cheon Suhye's internal energy.

It was a very bright and warm feeling.

'It suits her.'

He instantly knew what she had thought of.

For some reason, it seemed as if a fragrance was being felt from the internal energy itself.

At the same time, he felt unconsciously.

'Since this is not something I made, I shouldn't do it as usual. The flow that suits this is.'

Baek Yoonjun guided the internal energy according to the feeling of Cheon Suhye's internal energy and broke through the blood vessels.

"Keok."

In that process, as pain was accompanied, Cheon Suhye let out a groan.

"Concentrate. This is the first time I'm doing this, so I don't know what will happen."

Confirming that Cheon Suhye was concentrating, Baek Yoonjun continued to guide her internal energy and create a path.

And so, he created a path and safely guided Cheon Suhye's internal energy back to her dantian.

'By the way, is a dantian formed even without a cultivation method? And why is it that all the martial artists I've seen have a dantian larger than mine, but their internal energy is small in amount and weak?'

Although a useless question came to his mind, for now, he decided to congratulate Cheon Suhye for safely circulating her internal energy.

"Now, one circulation is over. How is it?"

"Phew..."

At Baek Yoonjun's words, Cheon Suhye let out a breath and slowly opened her eyes.

Unlike her usual appearance, she looked very serious and calm.

"It feels like I've opened my eyes to a new world."

At Cheon Suhye's very satisfied appearance, Baek Yoonjun let out a chuckle.

Although she certainly seemed to have improved more than before, she seemed far from reaching the third-rate.

"You're still a long way from reaching the third-rate."

"Th-that seems to be the case."

Although Cheon Suhye flinched for a moment at the word 'third-rate', she soon nodded her head.

'Older brother's expression of 'third-rate' has a different feeling from the martial artists' 'third-rate'.'

Since she thought that the 'third-rate' that Baek Yoonjun was talking about was different from the 'third-rate' of the realm, she could accept it.

Although Baek Yoonjun had sincerely mentioned the martial artists' 'third-rate', it seemed to have been adapted in her mind due to the huge difference in their realms.

'The sensation I feel and the energy imbued in my body are on a different level from before.'

While Cheon Suhye was checking her condition, Baek Yoonjun brought up his advice.

"I call anything that is done by moving the body itself external arts, and anything that is done by moving the internal energy internal arts. I think that doing both comprehensively is a martial arts."

"Thank you for your teachings. I will take them to heart."

"From now on, let's consistently perform the internal energy cultivation method and research a martial art that suits you, Sister Suhye, together."

"Thank you for your kindness, older brother."

Cheon Suhye was moved by Baek Yoonjun's words.

Just by teaching her the internal energy cultivation method and letting her open her eyes to a new world, she had received a kindness that she could not know the end of, and on top of that, he would even ponder a martial art that suited her together, so she felt as if she had received a kindness that she could not repay even if she dedicated her whole life.

Although Cheon Suhye was feeling an endless kindness, as for Baek Yoonjun.

'It seems I've taught her in earnest this time too, so isn't this also acting as a master? No. This time, since I didn't make the internal energy cultivation method entirely myself, it doesn't seem like I've acted as a master.'

He had no particular thoughts.

(End of Chapter)