Chapter 50 : That’s Enough

No matter how long I sat in meditation, the wall before me showed no sign of crumbling.

It was like a towering fortress wall of steel and ice, blocking my path.

I hurled myself against it again and again, yet not even a crack appeared. The confidence swelling in my chest deflated like a punctured balloon.

There was no way to climb it, no way to break it.

A sense of helplessness crept over me.

[Tsk, tsk.]

The Heavenly Demon clicked his tongue.

[You’re whining after hitting a single wall?]

“No, Master. This isn’t some garden fence. It’s a fortress wall. How am I supposed to climb over it?”

[And you thought martial arts were always going to be easy? Power gained too easily is worth nothing. Pathetic fool.]

He wasn’t wrong, but it still felt unfair.

I had raced forward so smoothly, like gliding over ice, that hitting such an abrupt halt now felt unbearable.

I thought about it, then asked, “Master. If I inherited your immense talent, shouldn’t I just breeze through? Why get stuck at some wall?”

The Heavenly Demon snorted.

[Talent and comprehension are different things, you dimwit.]

“Comprehension?”

[Comprehension is not talent. It belongs to the realm of insight. It cannot be inherited—it must be realized by yourself.]

Insight, huh…

“So how do I gain that?”

[There’s no royal road to enlightenment. You train, steadily and tirelessly. Then one day, like spring rain, it will come to you.]

“Hm.”

I tried a shortcut.

“Can’t you just tell me? You already know it all.”

[Pointless. If it could be explained in words, it wouldn’t be true enlightenment.]

“…That’s difficult.”

[It all depends on you. I cannot help you here. Nor do I want to. This is something only you can achieve alone.]

…It was obvious, really.

When have I ever been someone who couldn’t survive without others’ help?

I had always been a man who carved his way forward alone.

[Don’t grow impatient. Muscles grow stronger only by tearing and mending again and again. If you haven’t reached moonlight yet, it means you’re still lacking. You must collide with the wall, be torn apart countless times, then mend again. Don’t whine—train.]

“Mm.”

[Martial cultivation is not just about techniques but also about mind. Stop flailing like a fish on land and steady your heart. Train consistently. Then one day, the wall will fall, as if it had never been there.]

“So if I keep going without giving up, I’ll eventually break through?”

[Correct.]

I grinned.

“That’s enough.”

I am a man who does not know how to surrender.

I’ve come this far by sheer stubborn grit and obsession.

In my fixation on becoming stronger, no one could ever outmatch me.

Even when there was no path at all, I never gave up.

I wandered like a vagabond across barren wastes, swinging my sword at nothing.

So now, when there is a path but only a wall blocking it?

Then I’ll smash it down.

Even if it takes years, I don’t care.

Even if all I have is a shabby hammer, I’ll pound at the wall until it breaks.

And if I have nothing at all, I’ll use my bare fists. Let the blood flow, let bones shatter—it doesn’t matter.

The Heavenly Demon clicked his tongue again.

[Idiot. I didn’t mean for you to throw yourself at it like a madman.]

“Huh? Not that? Then what?”

[There’s wisdom in taking the long way around. Don’t obsess over the wall alone. Train other things. You’ve yet to master anything. You’re lacking in every direction.]

“Hm.”

Couldn’t argue with that.

There was plenty to work on.

I still had to refine my movement skills, steadily consume elixirs to build inner energy, learn to properly use acupoint strikes, and train in both staff and palm techniques.

I hadn’t yet discovered how to summon the Crimson World either.

[Sometimes progress comes when you least expect it, while training something else. So stay patient and steady.]

“Got it, Master.”

[That’s the nature of training. If you decide to wake at dawn to practice, you must wake without excuse, every single day. Not one missed. Do you understand?]

I nodded firmly.

“Of course. I’m good at that sort of thing. Nearly a professional.”

[…Sure you are.]

So that was it.

It wasn’t anything unfamiliar—more like what I’d always done before I fell from the cliff.

For me, it was a way of life.

Back then, I swung my sword day after day without fail, like a fool with no path and no guide.

Now I still had to swing, but it was no longer foolishness.

This time, I had both a path and a teacher.

That alone was a blessing.

“All honor and glory to my revered Master!”

[Shut up.]

“…”

I threw a few punches at the wall in my inner vision, then opened my eyes.

“Hoo…”

I exhaled, rising with a lighter heart.

“Time to go.”

Swoosh!

Sushruta dropped beside me, wind swirling at her descent.

I picked up the ginseng she’d gathered and handed it to her.

“Keep this safe. We’ll eat it for dinner.”

“Understood.”

She carefully wrapped it in cloth and tucked it into her pack.

Then she tilted her head, studying my face.

“Whatever it was, did you resolve it?”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

“Understood.”

I started forward.

Suddenly, she dashed past me, leapt lightly, and perched on my shoulders.

“Urk! Hey!”

“There’s something I wish to test. Hand me the dagger.”

“….”

Was this just an excuse to get a piggyback ride?

She tapped my head impatiently.

“Hurry.”

“…Here.”

I sighed and handed it over.

If I wanted answers about the dagger’s secrets, I couldn’t refuse anyway.

“Heh.”

“….”

The path grew steeper, turning into a climb.

Before long, we were clearly on the mountain’s slope.

Judging by the lay of the land, we were only at the base of the massive peak towering ahead.

I frowned.

We were supposed to be heading for a village—so why were we mountain climbing?

“Are you sure this is the right way?”

From my shoulders, Sushruta replied, “It is. In fact, this proves we are close.”

“Huh? How so?”

“Because Riolegro is a village halfway up the mountain.”

“Oh, really?”

First I’d heard of it.

I had assumed it was at the foothills at most.

I raised a hand to shade my eyes and glanced up.

Clouds were draped over the peak.

Not a small mountain, by any means.

The sunlight stabbed my eyes, and I squinted.

“Is it… high up?”

“It is. They live in hiding, after all.”

Right. The second disciple of Ophosis—the descendant.

They must have fled here, into the heights, to escape those who sought the dagger.

We looked for clues, but the thought of going to harass someone left a sour taste in my mouth.

Still… there was no helping it.

This was the only lead we had.

I tilted my head, checking to see whether Sushruta, perched on my shoulders, was busy hunting for more signs.

“Any results?”

She’d been idly gazing at the scenery from up high, but at my question she snapped to attention, lifting the dagger before her eyes and staring at it intently.

“No. Not yet.”

“…”

“Hmm. Not this either.”

Watching her fidget needlessly with the dagger, I felt my suspicions harden into certainty.

“Hey. You’ve got nothing left to test on that dagger, do you.”

Sushruta flinched, then quickly put on a serious face.

“Of course I do. There are still many, many experiments left.”

“Like what.”

“Uh… holding it up to the sunlight?”

“….”

“….”

I stopped walking.

“Get down.”

“N–no.”

“If you don’t—”

“If I don’t, then what.”

“I’ll make you.”

I drew up my inner energy.

Whoooosh—

A ghostly wail brushed past my ears.

“Eh!”

Sushruta must have sensed the danger, because she clamped both hands on my head. But it was already too late.

She should have listened when I told her to get down.

Wind swirled violently around me.

Tap-tap-tap!

I sprinted a few steps, then bent my head back and hurled it forward with all my strength, coming to a sudden stop.

“Eyaaahhh!”

Sushruta shot off like a cannonball.

I shaded my eyes with one hand, watching her soar through the bright sunlight like a flying squirrel.

A whistle slipped out of me.

“Nice shot.”

A moment later, she landed gracefully, bouncing off tree trunks before touching down on the ground. She stomped over, muttering.

“How could you just throw me like that?”

“I warned you.”

“Tch.”

I caught the dagger she tossed back at me and tucked it inside my robe.

Then she pulled out a map, unfolded it before her, and began leading the way along the rugged mountain path.

I followed behind, reviewing the acupoint techniques the Heavenly Demon had taught me.

That study had not been going smoothly.

To learn acupoint strikes, I first had to memorize the positions of the points. But no matter how much I tried, the names and locations wouldn’t stick.

Too many terms, too complex.

Worse, I hadn’t even learned from books or diagrams—it had all been explained orally by the Heavenly Demon. That made it even harder.

Words vanish the moment you hear them, so writing them down was essential.

I had no choice but to borrow paper and a pen from Sushruta.

I’d expected her to hand me ink and a quill, but instead she casually produced a fountain pen. That surprised me—it counted as a magic tool and wasn’t cheap.

Armed with pen and paper, I scribbled furiously during breaks, recording the acupoints and their effects.

…I never thought I’d see the day I studied this diligently. Wonders never cease.

Now I had a neatly organized set of notes showing the locations of the body’s acupoints and their uses. Every time I looked at it, I felt oddly proud. Who knew I was such a meticulous man?

Not that I dared to walk while reading it.

The one time I tried imitating Sushruta—reading while walking—I tripped and stumbled several times.

Still, it wasn’t a problem to walk while thinking, so I kept the diagrams in my head as I went.

Acupoint strikes required gathering inner energy into the fingertips, then driving it into the chosen point.

Each point had its own effect.

The categories were: numbing points, sleeping points, mute points, and fainting points.

Touch the numbing points and the body goes rigid. The sleeping points put a person to sleep. The mute points rob speech. And the fainting points cause unconsciousness.

Each category had countless corresponding locations, all of which I had to memorize by name and position. The complexity was staggering, the difficulty immense.

And memorization was one thing—using them in practice was another.

I needed real experience with striking them.

If only I had a good practice dummy…

Sighing, I looked up just in time to see Sushruta’s back as she walked ahead, focused on the map.

Then a flash of inspiration struck me.

“Wait. How did I not think of that before?”

Right in front of me was the perfect training dummy.

A smile spread across my lips.

“Found you, my practice tool.”

(End of Chapter)

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