After the bitter winter passed, warm sunlight poured into the yard where Gangchan was practicing the Ma-bo stance, beads of sweat rolling down his face.
The Eight Immortals’ Secret Record requires training both the mind and the body simultaneously.
If one side is neglected, the end is either death or, at best, defeat.
It is only when the physical energy and mental energy are harmonized that the power of the Eight Immortals’ Secret Record can be unleashed.
If the physical energy is strong but the mental energy weakens, the mind becomes dazed.
Eventually, one fails to recognize even their own self and descends into madness.
Conversely, if the physical energy is weak, the body cannot keep up with the spirit, and the physical limits cannot be overcome, causing the body to break down in the end.
In other words, if the body’s capacity is ten but the will is ten thousand, external energy flows in and out by the amount of the will.
Therefore, both the body and the spirit must grow together, and as they grow, the volume of energy one can harness increases accordingly.
Unlike the martial arts of the Middle Plains, the Eight Immortals’ Secret Record does not recognize the concept of internal power.
Thus, there is no concept of the Dantian either.
When the will manifests, external energy enters the body, instantly filling the entire body and being utilized.
Hence, under normal circumstances, there is no internal force, making one no different from an ordinary person.
Gangchan’s day begins at dawn, at the start of the Myo hour (5 a.m.), rising to train the Ma-bo stance for one si-jin (about two hours) while practicing Seungcheonmugukgiseong.
Afterward, he eats a simple bowl of porridge with vegetables to ease his hunger, then runs to the forest where his elder brother went missing, completing his morning routine.
Around noon, Gangchan briefly fills his stomach and uses the Samhonbu to practice the opening moves of Hyeolbu Cheollyeong.
He then immerses himself in training Cheonryeongmu based on the Gwihoonbo.
As dusk falls, Gangchan eats a simple meal of dried meat to soothe his hunger.
He then opens the main gate of Cheongangmun and paces back and forth about eighty steps from the Inner Training Hall to the front gate, practicing Sayecheonryeong.
At the end of the day, he calms his energy with Seungcheonmugukgiseong and falls into a deep sleep.
For an eleven-year-old boy to organize and adhere to such a strict daily routine was no ordinary matter.
But it was the best way for him to overcome the loneliness of having no one around.
Except for occasional trips to the village to procure necessary supplies, Gangchan was extremely cautious to avoid meeting the villagers.
Furthermore, since he did not speak with anyone other than the Village Headman Jang, after a few months, the villagers gradually began to forget about him.
Unlike the frozen passage of time within Cheongangmun, the village was rapidly changing.
A gold mine was discovered in the southern forest of Guihon Village, and three new Cheonho units were established around it, improving security.
Along with mining, numerous workers arrived, and new villages sprang up like mushrooms in the southern part of Guihon Village.
With more miners and soldiers arriving, commercial facilities and merchants gathered to serve them.
As a result, the southern forest of Guihon Village gradually vanished, replaced by broad paved roads, and the area took on the shape of a city day by day.
***
Meanwhile, Guihon Village near the grasslands became increasingly desolate as residents left one by one.
However, for Gangchan, who deeply avoided meeting people, these changes had little impact.
Everyone had left, and only a few villagers remained.
None of them remembered Gangchan anymore.
When Village Headman Jang, who occasionally brought Gangchan food, passed away from old age, Gangchan’s existence faded completely from everyone’s memory.
Today, to make up for his lacking strength, Gangchan chose Ma-bo stance and trained Inuigiseong.
Inuigiseong, which Gangchan had been practicing since he was three years old, is part of the Eight Immortals’ Secret Record and begins with imagining and sensing every corner inside one’s body.
Looking inward is a very difficult and painful process.
First, by calming one’s breath and mind to reach a state of no-thought, a tiny flicker of light appears in the head.
Repeating this, the speck of light grows from a grain of millet to the size of a bean, allowing one to gradually see one’s body.
When the bean-sized light is expanded to the size of a nightshade berry and guided to shine into every nook and cranny, the illuminated body hardens and toughens.
This process is akin to the expansion and strengthening of a warrior’s blood channels.
At this stage, illuminating the entire body takes about one si-jin, marking the third stage of Inuigiseong.
Upon reaching Inuigiseong stage 3, one can receive external energy through Jieugiseong, which is the energy of the surroundings.
The key lies in absorbing the external energy momentarily and slowly releasing it.
The shock to the body from absorbing external energy is not small.
If one with a low level of Inuigiseong tries to absorb Jieugiseong, the body cannot endure it and becomes debilitated.
Cheonuigiseong occurs when Inuigiseong surpasses stage 3 and the whole body becomes like fertile soil soaked with water, absorbing the sun’s energy through the Baihui point and dispersing it throughout the body, nurturing the energy in harmony with the earth.
Now at age fourteen, Gangchan’s Seungcheonmugukgiseong had just reached stage 3.
In fact, having Seungcheonmugukgiseong at stage 3 at Gangchan’s age was something that even Cheonmyeongseon, the creator of the Eight Immortals’ Secret Record, would be surprised by.
But for Gangchan, who trained alone, stage 3 was just the beginning.
***
After satisfying his hunger as usual, Gangchan took up the Samhonbu and practiced the opening moves of Hyeolbu Cheollyeong.
As he executed the Thunder Spike, the second opening move of Hyeolbu Cheollyeong, concentrating his stage 3 Seungcheonmugukgiseong into his arm, the Samhonbu vibrated faintly and emitted a low hum.
The Thunder Spike was a piercing axe technique that always puzzled young Gangchan during training.
Startled, Gangchan unconsciously gripped the Samhonbu’s handle tightly with both hands.
At that moment, a beautiful red glow emitted from the demon-shaped pommel at the end of the handle, enveloping Gangchan’s arms and seeming to caress them as if exploring.
The energy swirling around his arms gradually faded and gathered into his palms, causing his hands to burn with searing pain.
Gangchan tried to pull away, but the Samhonbu would not release him.
Trembling in pain, he endured until the red glow fully withdrew into his hands, and the pain disappeared along with it.
Quietly, Gangchan looked down at his hands and the Samhonbu.
Letters that had never appeared before were now visible on the axe blade.
The Samhonbu was forged long ago from a rare metal that fell from the heavens, hammered hundreds of thousands of times by a hundred master blacksmiths over ten years.
It was made of one large axe, the Demon Axe, and two smaller axes, the Soul Axes.
When performing Thunder Spike with stage 3 Seungcheonmugukgiseong, the two smaller axes awakened and entered the practitioner’s palms, where they slumbered.
The Soul Axes residing within the practitioner’s body would appear and vanish according to their will, wielding power capable of cutting through anything.
The extent of their power depends on the mastery of Hyeolbu Cheollyeong, and the palms containing the Soul Axes cannot be pierced by anything.
Moreover, at the top end of the Samhonbu, a one-character-sized Thunder Spike would flash briefly, appearing and disappearing.
Gangchan tried Thunder Spike once more.
At the opposite end of the handle, a weapon sharp as a spear suddenly shot out like a blade, then retracted.
“That is the Thunder Spike.”
“The Samhonbu isn’t just any axe — it’s a truly fearsome Divine Weapon.”
In fact, the Samhonbu weighs less than seven geun (about 2.6 kilograms).
This was due to its unique design.
At first glance, it looked like a broad but short blade rather than an axe.
Unlike other axes, the blade wasn’t thick.
It appeared as if a broad, short blade was attached to a round handle, but the entire weapon was forged from a single piece of metal.
If the metal’s strength wasn’t extraordinary, the shape would have been easily broken.
Thus, the crushing moves of Hyeolbu Cheollyeong performed with the Samhonbu had no limits as a heavy weapon.
From that day forward, Gangchan cut his sleeping time to two si-jin and devoted every moment outside of meals to mastering the Eight Immortals’ Secret Record.
The winters in the northern provinces were exceedingly long.
Now fifteen, Gangchan stood in the wide training ground, steam rising from his body as he performed Cheonryeongmu with fierce wind whipping around him.
He looked more like a young man than a boy.
His face was closer to that of an adult, his body well-toned with fine muscles, and his slightly long limbs left a strong impression.
“Is it really right for me to train alone here?”
His muttering was filled with impatience.
At fifteen, Gangchan had trained frantically all this time.
He barely noticed time passing as he felt his skills gradually improve.
But recently, no matter how hard he trained, it felt like his progress had plateaued.
He was walking this path alone without anyone’s advice.
His worries deepened.
But the more he worried, the less clear the path became, and the more his anguish grew.
“I can’t stay like this.”
Suddenly, a thought struck Gangchan: hunting.
Recently, he started going into the northeastern forest where his brother had disappeared to hunt.
Even if they were mere beasts, taking a living creature’s life was not as easy on his heart as he had imagined.
Looking at the animals he had hunted was not pleasant, and watching them die was even more painful.
But humans are creatures of adaptation.
As hunting time lengthened and experience accumulated, his aversion to hunting gradually diminished.
At first, he hunted with a bow.
He used the Gakgung, a bow passed down through his family for generations.
The Gakgung was made by binding together materials of completely different natures—wood, sinew, and horn—with a natural adhesive.
A typical Gakgung measured about four ja two chi (approximately 124 cm), which was quite large.
However, the bow Gangchan used was only two ja ban (about 76 cm) in length and weighed just over one geun (approximately 600 g), making it small.
Though smaller than a typical bow, its elasticity was superior to any bow, with a long effective range and strong power, and its size made it easy to carry.
As Gangchan hunted with the bow, his archery skill, Sayecheonryeong, improved dramatically.
Sayecheonryeong’s Iljeomsi technique allowed him to accurately hit even small targets within 300 steps.
Among all martial arts, archery is the one where observation is most crucial.
Gangchan’s peripheral vision had developed to the point that, with his stage 3
Seungcheonmugukgiseong, he could not only see distant objects but also track fast-moving targets withprecision.
Next was the unshakable body.
And lastly, the unwavering heart, the Unshakable Heart.
These three conditions had to be met to shoot an arrow.
The slightest body movement caused by breathing was not tolerated.
Therefore, when drawing the bowstring and aiming, one had to hold their breath.
To master this, one must have balanced mastery of Inuigiseong, Jieugiseong, and Cheonuigiseong to properly perform Sayecheonryeong.
***
While traversing the mountains, Gangchan suddenly stopped moving.
He quietly lifted his bow and shot swiftly to the right.
“Shuuuuung. Thwack!”
The arrow struck a rabbit moving a hundred steps away precisely.
Moments later, Gangchan lifted the rabbit with a dissatisfied expression.
He had aimed for its heart, but the rabbit had been pierced through the head.
A slight tremble in his mind at the moment of release had caused this difference.
Still, it was a remarkable improvement compared to a month ago.
When Gangchan first tried to shoot at moving targets, countless arrows had pierced only empty air.
His fingertips had been stripped of skin many times, but he had never given up.
At some point, Gangchan grew to deeply hate the weakness he felt within himself.
On days when the hardship almost made him give up, the images of his deceased father and brother appeared in his dreams.
Slowly, Gangchan grew stronger, and with that strength, his desire for revenge against his father’s and brother’s killers only grew.