Book 1 Chapter 16

Water column, water beam

In the sun, floating on the surface of the water, a man wields a sword with a

His sword was swinging. Someone grabbed his body and let go.

His name was Hyun-woon, and he was slow and bored.

The future of the Hsinchu family of sword masters, known as the Hsinchu First Order.

It's been called the next big thing, and there's been a lot of hype,

In one fell swoop, you've entered the Hall of Heaven, a place that every Martial Artist longs to enter.

He even showed off his skills against Kang Ho.

At the Heavenly Martial Academy, the flying, long-limbed man defeated the talents of the Nine Sects, the First Chamber, the Five Great Houses, and other schools, and became the best of the best in Kowloon, the envy of all young people who dreamed of becoming powerful, and in recognition of his prowess, he was given an arcane taijiquan sword by a master martial artist, a sword that was not supposed to be passed down in the martial arts. It was said that the sword was like a cloud and that it could not be grasped, pressed, or rung, so it was given the name of the Yuyun Sword. However, his movements now seemed so sloppy and laborious. His face was flushed and his eyes were narrowed in frustration, and he looked like he was being tormented by something.

"This is no joke!

His bones were now bearing the brunt of the ale-like chill and the immense pressure of the water's weight. The resistance of the water, its resistance, was now holding the sword back, blocking its path. I could feel my limits now. No matter how hard he tried to use his inner qi to hold on, he was already at the end of his rope. I was already halfway through this cold valley, and I could no longer move the sword as if I were swimming through water. His lungs were choking, and his heart felt like it was about to burst. His whole body was screaming out in pain.

"Is this really the limit?

No matter how I moved the sword, it would not follow the path of the Taijiquan sword. I felt like I was holding and swinging a thousand swords in my hands. The master had said that the training would end when I could swing the sword without resistance and without hesitation, but that was easier said than done, and the end of the training still seemed far away. Still, when he told me that this was the last training, I felt a little comforted, and that's why I was working so hard. But no more…….

"Phew!"

"Boom, boom, boom."

A face broke through the surface of the water with a splash. In-young began to breathe raggedly. His breathing was ragged and irregular as if he was in great pain. He had only breathed the air for half an hour, but to Hyun-woon, it was as clear and fresh as if he had breathed it for the first time in a hundred years. Who said that you can only realize the value of air when you don't have it?

Taking a deep breath of air, thinking of words no one had ever said, Hyun-woon thanked the heavens that he was able to breathe now. But…….

"No, no, no. Uh, don't do this. Get off me. Don't do this. Ugh, no, no, no. Uh-oh."

Arms flailing, waist swaying, legs flailing, body tilting. No matter how desperately he struggled and tried to keep his balance, his efforts were futile, and he fell into the water, along with his chattering mouth.

"Feng Deng."

The water was splashing violently, causing the surface to churn and create high ripples.

"Uh-oh, no. No, no, no. Arghhhhhhhhhh!"

"Gosh, gosh, gosh, gosh!"

"Oh, my God, a balloon!"

"It's Daddy, Pung Dung!"

"Mother, Feng Deng!"

"Soft water soaker, Feng Deng!"

"……, pung dung!"

"Arbor, arbor. Pung!"

Different people threw themselves into the ravine with different screams, but it wasn't because they were pessimistic about the world, had lost the will to live, or were suicidal. Rather, their need to survive was higher and more intense than others.

If you put an object in a full bathtub, the water will overflow by its volume, or if you throw a stone into a pond, it will create ripples by its weight. As Jinryung threw herself into the water, the water surface began to churn in her wake, causing others who were barely standing on the surface with her to lose their balance and fall into the water one by one.

But standing on water? How could they stand on water? Did they suddenly have some kind of super strength? In fact, they were able to stand on the water because of two small pieces of wood, each about an inch longer and an inch wider than the average human foot. With these, they were able to barely stay afloat.

Of course, it was no ordinary feat to stand on water using such a small wooden plank. Not just anyone could do it. The first step is to stand on the water with one plank on each foot. The most important thing here is balance, followed by the skill of using qi to lighten the body. Since the planks are two pieces, they try to play separately, so supporting them is also a very important skill.

Since there are no strings attached, everything has to be resolved with the senses of qi and the body. Because of its flowing nature, water is always changing, and this fluidity is what causes people to be in trouble. If you let your guard down a little bit, you'll end up underwater.

Your training is not complete when you can stand on the water. If standing on the water is the first step, the next step is called treading water, or walking on water. This is when you literally walk or move on the water, using two planks to support yourself. You should be able to glide across the surface of the water like you would on ice. This step is simply walking forward in a straight line.

The last three steps are the most important ones, and they are very tricky and difficult. Ryu-yeon was asked to demonstrate the difficult technique. She stood on the wooden plank so naturally and easily. There was no wobble or disorientation, as if she was standing on bare ground.

"Watch this."

As her right foot slid across the water, it made a half-circle in front of her and was pulled toward her left foot. At the same time, her left foot was pulled backward in a half circle toward her right foot. Her body then spontaneously turned half a circle. She repeated this process over and over again. As her body danced on the water, it began to spin faster and faster, until it finally began to spin like a top. At that moment, something amazing happened. The water in the valley began to coil around her body like a snake and curl upward.

Of course, the water wasn't actually magically wrapped around Bi Ryuyeon's body. It just looks that way from the outside. In reality, the water was curling up on an intangible pillar created by the kinetic energy around her, and to those watching from the side, it looked like the water was climbing up her body. The karma generated by the rotation attracted the water on the surface.

Soon a column of water appeared on the surface of the water. Everyone watched in fascination. No one was surprised to see the master, who always seemed so strange, perform such a trick.

"Sum."

A cheer erupted from within the water column.

"Poof."

Suddenly, the water column exploded, scattering in all directions. Naturally, all of the people who stood by and watched the demonstration froze in place, unable to escape the unexpected baptism of water.

"There you go. Do it!"

To everyone's surprise, there was not a drop of water on her body. Everyone was stunned and speechless. The phenomenon of the water pillar, or water curling upward, was caused by the polarization of the phoenix dance. The higher the phoenix flower, the greater the size of the water column, which is how we can measure the area of the phoenix flower. These Water Stands and Water Steps were exactly the basic training techniques that Bi Ryuyeon had received from his master when he was learning and mastering the phoenix martial art of the Non-Divine Gate. He was now giving them back to his students. To be more precise, he was returning the pain he had suffered when he learned it.

Next came the practice of wielding a sword in water. This didn't necessarily apply to swords, but those who used swords had to use swords, those who used spears had to use spears, and those who used memorization had to use memorization to swing, stab, and throw. These two drills were the final stages of their training. This would be the last training that Bi Ryuyeon would give them.

"Hyun-woon, you're too fast. Too much!"

A shout erupted. It was Master's voice. A brief moment of joy as I breathed in the air after returning from the Otherworld. It was time for misery again.

"Dude, how long has it been and you're already saying it's over, you should at least hold out for at least an hour. Do you want to fight for an hour and then let go of the sword, or do you want to just get stabbed to death after an hour, that's how I want to die!"

"No."

Hyun-woon replied with a deadpan face.

"Then go in cold."

"Yes."

With a weak reply, Hyun-woon plunged his head back down into the water and didn't surface for a while.

"Next, you, Tang San."

Bi Ryuyeon's finger pointed to Tang Cheol-young, the third son of the Tang clan, who was said to be quick and poisonous. Originally, his name was not Dangsam, of course, but there was no way that Dangmun, a powerful family and a member of the fifth generation, would name his children in the same way that poor commoners and thugs would name their children in the order in which they were born, one by one, two by two, three by three, four by four. Bi Ryuyeon couldn't be bothered to call Tang Chul-young by his own name, so she started calling him Dang-sam, the third of the Tang family. Of course, it was unpleasant for the third Tang, or Chul-young, to be called that, but he had to endure it, remembering the plight of the powerless.

"Yes? Me?"

The third son of the Tang family, who put his finger to his face as if to say, "Am I the one you're referring to?" responded in a confirming tone.

"Yes, you. Is there someone else here besides you? Stop pretending and get in there."

"Yay!"

With a grimace like a cow being led to the slaughter, he answered weakly, and then the ginseng was lowered into the water. And so it went on, one by one, in and out of the cold valley water, over and over again. There was no exception for women. Everyone, male and female, was put in. It was his philosophy that he should return to his students what had been done to him in the past. Since I had been subjected to such treatment by my master, I felt that my students should suffer what this master had to go through.

In other words, he was taking out his anger on the person he loved, like a guy who got slapped on the face in a volcano taking out his anger on a soaring mountain. As he watched his students disappear into the water one by one, Master Bi Ryuyeon smiled wryly. Behind him, Namgungsang lay dead. His whole body sagged like a soaked quilt, and it was hard to tell if he was dead or alive. He had been in and out of the room so much as a master teacher earlier that he had fallen into a daze and collapsed.

The sun was still high in the sky, and there was plenty of time. They would continue to dip in and out of the water until the sun was high in the sky and had no intention of peeking over the western mountains. If they fell out while practicing standing on top of the water, they would have to practice swinging under the water. They'd work their lower body on top of the water and their upper body under the water. They had to keep coming back and forth. In the cold and on top of precarious water…….