Chapter 12

So to speak, it was the same as a planet. The gravitational force of the earth pulled everything to the ground and made this planet a perfect place for life. Likewise, the existence of innate Genuine-Qi allowed the acquired Genuine-Qi to maintain its presence.

Mari said, “This is just an example. As you know, qi has no figure or smell, so its volume doesn’t increase or so, but extracting your maximum internal force from the cultivation method means…”

“It means to consume the innate Genuine-Qi. According to your explanation, it’s like weakening gravity,” responded Yongno.

“Yeah, so the process is very dangerous and tricky. If it goes wrong, your entire dantian can be damaged. Besides, those who receive that energy can’t exert as much power as they’ve got it since everyone’s internal martial arts is different in their characteristics or qualities. Do you get it?” Mari continued explaining kindly like a teacher.

Nodding, Yongno replied, “Well, not exactly but I do understand what you mean. Then, what about the Gold Core Immortal Technique?”

“Hmm… the idea of it is actually simple, but it seems difficult to articulate in words. I’d say it’s a matter of density. Like other cultivation methods, the Gold Core Immortal Technique attracts the acquired qi by having the innate Genuine-Qi as its core, but the way it works is a little different. If the regular cultivation methods are like liquid, the internal martial arts collected by the Gold Core Immortal Technique is solid, and… hmm…”

Seemingly hard to explain, Mari contemplated for a moment before she continued, “The method of Gold Core Immortal Technique is comparable to mystical creatures’ Marble of Energy or the Liebelle school’s Circle System. Being both martial power and Taoist magic, Gold Core Immortal Technique also works quite similarly to the way of chakra. It’s like opening up a microcosmos in every object.”

The basic principle of the Gold Core Immortal Technique was rotation-induced gravitation since it attracted the surrounding energies like Mercury, Venus, Earth, and other planets orbiting the sun. Thus, users should perform a constant rotation of their qi without any pause for fast-growing.

Yongno asked, “Then, developing internal martial arts with the Gold Core Immortal Technique is…”

“It’s like adding planets such as Mercury, Venus, Earth, etc. one after another. The Gold Core may look like a marble on the outside, but the core, the sun, exists in the center of it. Whenever you add a new core that revolves around its previous core, your power increases exponentially,” replied Mari, thinking how difficult it was to explain verbally.

Yongno closed his eyes and tried to feel qi within him, but all he sensed was a fist-sized lump near the pit of his stomach. Things like microcosmos or planets didn’t come to his mind.

––But that was why Yongno kept imagining those things.

Whoosh…!

“Oppa?” Mari stared at him in surprise.

With his eyes closed, Yongno continued thinking about those images. Right, as she said, qi has no weight, figure, or smell.

He felt only small energy within him. If the Gold Core was the sun, as Mari had exemplified, there were no planets currently revolving around it. At that moment, Yongno realized why there was only a half-year amount of internal martial arts left when he released five years’ worth of it.

Because I didn’t have a core!

Mari said that Yongno would have new cores orbiting around the previous cores if he reached a higher level of mastery in the Gold Core Immortal Technique. However, unfortunately, he reached only 20% mastery of this technique and 30 internal energy points, which was equivalent to fifteen years’ worth of internal martial arts.

Considering the short time of development and accumulation, the amount of Yongno’s internal martial arts wasn’t little. Still, it wasn’t enough to open the First World of the Gold Core Immortal Technique, which was created suitably for each user’s condition.

Currently, Yongno had only one core. If he tried to release his internal martial arts without any damages, then…

“Eh? Hold on. Are you…?” Mari was bewildered by the soft gold beam coming out of Yongno’s palm and turning into a gold marble. What was more surprising was that the Gold Core in his hand was filled with more energy than it did before.

/Maximum spiritual power has dropped by 30 points!/

Mari murmured, “Did he even eradicate the basic core?! Then it does extract the entire Gold Core though…”

Mari gazed at Yongno dumbfoundedly as she was aware that his attempt would result in a complete loss of his internal martial arts. Only a user who didn’t know its value could do such a thing. The outcome of his attempt was marvelous and innovative, but what was the point of doing it anyway?

Whoosh…

However, Yongno continued circulating his qi and contemplated his inner side. His internal martial arts were completely gone. It’s only now that I can do it.

After making the Gold Core utterly disappear, Yongno could thoroughly ‘understand’ the fundamentals of the Gold Core Immortal Technique. Mari had explained its principle correctly to him, but it was necessary for Yongno to physically grasp the law of the Gold Core Immortal Technique.

Finished. I see I get it. The final goal of the Gold Core Immortal Technique is to complete the absolute cultivation base.

Yongno’s internal martial arts disappeared, but it didn’t utterly destroy the Gold Core Immortal Technique since Yongno ‘remembered’ his fifteen years’ worth of internal martial arts. Its sensation and feelings were still very vivid in his mind.

Yongno had taken out his internal martial arts and core from the Gold Core, not the Gold Core itself. The remaining Gold Core was just an empty shell, so it would break and shatter into pieces after time, but it still maintained its shape.

I need to condense it.

According to Mari, Yongno had to make a new sun, or else, the Gold Core wouldn’t sustain without a core, a pivot. There was also another problem.

The qi absorption is slow!

Gold Core Immortal Technique was a cultivation method that slowly produced the Gold Core; its operation emphasized filtering qi in the air and accumulating it, then cultivating it more purely. That was why even a small amount of internal martial arts gathered by performing the Gold Core Immortal Technique was very safe, versatile, and explosive, but it slowed down the qi absorption.

It’s risky. If I don’t hurry to make the core, the Gold Core will be completely destroyed, and I must start everything all over again, but there must be, at least, a small amount of condensed internal martial arts to do something… Oh!

Yongno then came up with an idea to deal with the situation. He recited, “Zhuang Zhou writes in his book ‘Wandering at Ease,’ in the bald and barren north, there is a dark sea, the Lake of Heaven. Within it is a fish which is several thousand li across…”

Mari intervened, “Hold on, oppa. What are you…”

“… Thus, the martial power of the Dark Northsea Divine Technique accumulates the natural Genuine-Qi in the body and exerts great power like the ocean setting a huge ship afloat. If the Genuine-Qi is brought together and becomes abundant, the disciple is able to absorb every martial art in the world and apply them to practical use. This is the way of the world, setting small and big ships afloat and embracing large aquatic animals just like the Dark Northsea…”

“… Dark Northsea Divine Technique?” Mari lifted her brows with her eyes opened wide.

She wasn’t surprised by the Dark Northsea Divine Technique. It was indeed the most perfect, the highest level of martial power that existed in the pugilistic world, but every martial power in the world of D.I.O was all ‘perfected’ and ‘equal,’ and was only different in their characteristics.

Besides, she wasn’t surprised by Yongno being aware of the Dark Northsea Divine Technique since all the beginning parts of martial powers were opened to the public through the website. She could, therefore, teach the early part of the Gold Core Immortal Technique to Yongno without any difficulties before.

Right, no wonder. Everything’s understandable. However, when Mari saw Yongno absorbing all the qi around him as soon as he recited the enlightenment, Mari couldn’t help but be astonished.

“Unbelievable…” gaped Mari.

The website of D.I.O. had secret manuals opened to the public, but only the beginning parts and general information such as the ideology or characteristic of each martial power was viewable online. Thus, Yongno couldn’t do something like absorbing the innate Genuine-Qi, which belonged to the latter part of the Dark Northsea Divine Technique’s effectiveness. However, he was performing the ‘impossible thing’ right now.

Something then flashed through Mari’s head. She murmured, “… Hold on. The general information?” Then, she realized that a detailed manual was unnecessary for Yongno; the secret manual online was enough for him.

Whoosh!

There was also another surprising thing. Yongno used the Dark Northsea Divine Technique after learning the Gold Core Immortal Technique and hadn’t learned the former ahead of what he was doing now.

Performing two different cultivation methods was somehow possible, but as far as Mari knew, the Dark Northsea Divine Technique and the Gold Core Immortal Technique had very bad chemistry. These two techniques were difficult to perform at the same time since they had completely different properties and strategies for circulating the qi and qi absorption. That being said, using these two methods simultaneously didn’t make sense to Mari.

She wondered, “This is impossible, but in fact, he’s doing it right now. Does that mean he developed a better version of the Gold Core Immortal Technique?”

It also didn’t make sense at all since the Gold Core Immortal Technique was a perfect, flawless, and stable cultivation method. Making it stronger, faster, safer, more intensive, and greater in the amount of qi absorption was…

“Impossible.”

Correct. It was absolutely impossible. There was no improvement necessary in the Gold Core Immortal Technique since it was an absolute perfection like every martial power in D.I.O. If someone had to enhance a part of it, they had to sacrifice many other parts. Even a martial arts god couldn’t fix this situation.

Yongno opened his mouth again. “… The highest degree of the immortal cultivates patience, drinks qi, and trains the dragon and tiger to resist aging. The educator must not stand longer, sit, lie down, see, and hear. The point is to embrace one with three: the three are essence, qi, and spirit; the other is the way. Essence gives birth to qi, and qi to spirit. Essence is the profound energy, the mother of everything. Qi is a vitality, the leader of all the innate Genuine-Qi. Spirit is the beginning, which comes from the head at noon, stays in a boat at night, and operates in two eyes… Directing your mind to the state of serenity and quietude will lead to eternal life…”

“How could this happen…” murmured Mari, then she realized that Yongno wasn’t performing the Gold Core Immortal Technique and the Dark Northsea Divine Technique together.

She uttered, “I see. He completely removed the internal force of the Gold Core Immortal Technique, then put the internal martial arts of the Dark Northsea Divine Technique into the empty Gold Core. It’s theoretically possible, but how can he do Image-Making to transform the internal martial arts gathered by the Dark Northsea Divine Technique into the core of the Gold Core Immortal Technique?”

It was an ability close to the imagination, rather than one based on logic, good memories, or thinking power. In other words, it was a talent for creating a non-existing thing in a person’s mind. Thus, Yongno was born to be a Creator, rather than a genius of martial arts.

Is he an idiot? Why does he only move in the way I’m thinking? If Yongno knocked down his rival in a fight so easily, he would think this way. Likewise, if Yongno learned magic, he didn’t need to cast a spell to secure an image; if he was painting, he could finish a work in his mind and find some flaws to fix before he held up a brush.

“Hahaha! This is hilarious. Does he have an idea about how many people die before reaching that level?” said Mari.

Whoosh…

Yongno kept reciting, “… And create a red firepot in our body and use our organs as a cauldron to make the Gold Core, and in the end, we can become a Gold Buddha and achieve the way of immortality…”

Yongno absorbed the energy of nature, the qi, and struck them together in the Gold Core, the cultivation base, then condensed and rotated them. Meanwhile, he drew the consuming internal energy from outside, and at last…

Hurrah! Success!!

When he finally made the core inside his Gold Core and his internal force began to rotate, Yongno felt the urge to dance in joy, but he still had things left to do. The Gold Core was filled with unprocessed energy, which he couldn’t use; that was why he ‘imagined’ again about the internal martial arts he had before releasing the Gold Core.

This makes the start much easier.

In fact, Yongno had to go through this imagination process to proceed with his performance. Once he finished the pretask, things afterward were like solving a puzzle. He had to combine and refine the qi of nature to process it as the internal energy suitable to the Golding Pill Immortal Technique. And this entire procedure took quite some time.

Hmm, it’ll be fine; it also looks interesting too. Smiling aimlessly, Yongno began to circulate qi.

WHOOSH!

Shortly after, he fell into his world.