Chapter 3

Thunder Spirit Heart Method and Spirit Thread Heart Secret

A week had passed since I started chopping firewood and doing laundry.

During that week, I had to suffer through hellish muscle pain.

It was truly terrible agony. It felt as if tens of thousands of insects named "Pain" had built nests in every corner of my body.

It was an intense suffering that those who have never felt it, who have never experienced it, could never know. Then again, it was the first time in my life I had done such things, so it would have been more of a lie if my delicate body had been perfectly fine.

As I was stuck to the floor, writhing from the hellish muscle pain, my master approached me with a malicious smile and sneered, "Tough, isn't it?" Then, as if doing me a great favor, he said he would ease my burden and taught me the 'Thunder Spirit Heart Method' and the 'Spirit Thread Heart Secret'.

The Thunder Spirit Heart Method was the unique internal energy cultivation method of our school. It was said to be the greatest internal energy method in the world, one that not only used the body's respiration but also absorbed the energy of all things in the universe through communion with heaven and earth, using that energy to generate the Thunder Spirit the spirit or essence of thunder. He also didn't forget the kind explanation that this method included the principles of thunder's energy—Speed, Flash, Strength , and Instant—along with the principles of Concentration, Dispersion, and Softness.

The Spirit Thread Heart Secret, which I learned alongside the Thunder Spirit Heart Method, was not an internal energy method. The Thunder Spirit Heart Method alone was more than enough for that. The Spirit Thread Heart Secret, meaning "to twist the soul and make it thin like a thread," was a type of mental unification method for single-pointed concentration.

The essence of the Spirit Thread Heart Secret is to possess a naturally unshakable mind regardless of the surrounding circumstances. The thread of the soul must never be broken under any circumstances, and the mind must always be clear, quiet, and peaceful, like a calm and transparent lake. This was the main principle of the Spirit Thread Heart Secret.

By learning these two, I could finally say that I was learning a martial art worthy of the name. So, an ordinary person might have said,

"Oh, Master! Thank you. To think you would teach such a peerless divine art to this unworthy disciple. I will never forget this kindness, even in death. This humble disciple will shed blood and sweat day and night to devote myself to martial training, so as not to go against your ocean-like grace and expectations. Please watch over me."

And they might have shed chicken-dropping-sized tears of emotion. But that kind of reaction is for ordinary people who can't grasp the situation; I was not like that. Because I had already figured out my master's dark intentions. He should have taught me these two things a week ago. If he had, wouldn't I have been able to chop wood and do laundry more comfortably?

But my master, as if the misfortune of others was his own happiness, had just watched me suffer through the hellish muscle pain. And now, he was offering to teach me the Thunder Spirit Heart Method and the Spirit Thread Heart Secret as if doing me a great favor. I couldn't help but be inwardly dumbfounded.

However, I needed them and had to master them. To live a better, more comfortable life, to make laundry and gathering firewood easier, and above all, for my own survival, I needed to learn them.

I began to master the Thunder Spirit Heart Method at a rapid pace, a speed that was certainly unmatched by any other. Of course, all of this was possible thanks to my brilliant and outstanding brain. It is said that I had already mastered the Thousand Character Classic at the age of three and had memorized the Four Books and Three Classics by five. I was the type of person that people in the world call a so-called genius.

Starting my official activities at the age of six, I had to endure being called a 'precocious brat!' or a 'good-for-nothing punk!' by some commoners, but I thought of it as the jealousy of commoners towards a genius and paid it no mind. By the time I turned ten, four years after I began my official activities in the village, people finally recognized the true worth of a genius and did not hesitate to call me a heavenly disaster (天災, a pun on the word for genius, 天才).

Because I was this kind of person, I was able to grasp the esoteric secrets of our school's secret art, the Thunder Spirit Heart Method, with relative ease and build up my internal energy at a fairly rapid pace.

Along with the two great secret arts of the Flying Thunder Sect, the Thunder Spirit Heart Method and the Spirit Thread Heart Secret, I also learned the zither. Playing the zither, or tangeum, was a difficult task that required a high degree of finger technique and sensitivity. Also, playing music was a task that required something more than just technique, and that "something more" was a necessary element for wielding the Flying Thunder Dagger. Therefore, the purpose of learning the zither was to obtain that "something more."

Of course, the delicate finger movements and refined senses gained from learning the zither were also indispensable reasons for learning it. While I always grumbled when learning other things, when my master said,

"Wielding the Flying Thunder Dagger is like playing a beautiful melody,"

and told me he would teach me the zither, I couldn't help but agree with genuine pleasure. To be brutally honest, just think about seducing women. Don't they say women are weak to atmosphere? And what's better for creating an atmosphere than music!

It is the natural order of the world that if you sit in a pavilion by a moonlit lake with a tender, beautiful woman, play a beautiful piece on the zither, and recite a poem, any decent woman will fall head over heels. Moreover, if the one playing the zither is a peerless, handsome young master of the highest skill, the story is already over. A peerless beauty as if carved from moonlight, eyes filled with melancholy like the Milky Way, neatly tied hair, a white robe embroidered with a red dragon, and at his waist, an ancient, divine sword. And on his back, a jet-black zither like the night sky!

Ka, what is this if not a scene straight out of a painting? If things go like this, the dream of all men—having three wives and four concubines—is no longer a dream. All seven of them composed of peerless beauties, ehehehe...

Peerless beauty was something I was born with, so I didn't need to worry about it, and I was currently learning the world's greatest martial art, so that was as good as solved. So now, if I just learned the zither, all three elements would be in place, and an 'Ultra Peerless Handsome Young Master' would be born. If I could also master a peerless sound-based attack using the zither, it would be the icing on the cake. That's why the zither, along with the jade flute, was bound to be called one of the two great performance items that have traditionally made protagonists stand out.

A fantastic sound-based attack using a zither was a common trope used in storybooks called martial arts novels. Until I was later chided by my master, who said, "Sound-based attack? Are you running a fever? Where would our Flying Thunder Sect have something like that!", I was puffed up with the dream of being taught a peerless sound-based attack. Though it ended up being just a daydream (my master called it a delusion).

Anyway, was there any reason for me to refuse something so good? My rosy life was as good as guaranteed, and having completed the design for my ecstatic, rosy life, I couldn't hide my proud feelings, and a pleased smile naturally emerged. And so, I came to learn the zither. But this too did not become a pleasant memory. As expected, my master was not a trustworthy human being.

In my master's room, which I swept, wiped, and organized every day, there were two different zithers. One was an ordinary zither that could be seen anywhere, but the other was the jet-black, glossy Ink Zither that had already appeared in my imagination. This zither, also known as the Thunder Zither, was a wondrous object and a secret treasure passed down through the generations in our Flying Thunder Sect. Uniquely, it used transparent silver threads for its strings, so at a glance, it was easy to mistake it for having no strings at all.

I naturally chose the Ink Zither. It was a hundred, no, a thousand times cooler than the ordinary, plain zither next to it, so it was obvious I would look much more stylish carrying it around. Looking closely at the Ink Zither, I found many strange things. Its peculiar material, which formed a body resembling the deep, jet-black night sky, and the invisible strings connected like non-existent illusions! I found the invisible strings so fascinating that I bent my index finger to try and pluck one. In that instant, I heard my master's urgent shout, "Don't!" Contrary to my will, which regarded my master's words as heaven's command, my finger was lightly plucked.

"Swish!"

The result was disastrous. The consequence of acting against my master's command was, in a word, 'I saw blood!' The twang sound that should have come from plucking the zither string didn't happen. Instead, along with a swish feeling and a searing pain, a cut appeared on my index finger as if from a sharp knife, and a large amount of sacred blood flowed out from it.

"Drip... drip..."

"Tsk, tsk, what did I tell you? Didn't I say not to touch it carelessly? Do my words mean nothing to you? After all the trouble you've caused by not listening to me, serves you right! These strings are made of the same material as the Thunder Spirit Thread connected to the Flying Thunder Dagger. It's a rare and wondrous object that cuts everything it touches. You can't even touch it, let alone play it, by ordinary means."

My master clicked his tongue and spoke as if I were pathetic, looking at me sucking on my index finger.

"Master! How on earth am I supposed to play with something like this? You didn't tell me it was such a dangerous object! If I try to play this thing, I'll become a fingerless man in no time. Are you trying to block the bright future of your one and only disciple, you jerk!"

A zither that casually snips off the fingers of the person trying to play it... It was a wondrous object that seemed to come straight out of a legend. Having never seen or heard of such a monstrous zither, I shouted at my master, my voice filled with anger. Isn't there a legend passed down from old times that the one with the loudest voice wins? Anyway, I was in a foul mood. But my master just smiled as if I were ridiculous, then sat cross-legged and placed the Thunder Zither on his lap. Then he said,

"You blockhead. This great master will personally demonstrate for his foolish disciple. Be sure to appreciate this master's great skill with a reverent heart."

Calling me foolish... That was completely different from the truth. Still, I endured it.

'Go on, try it if you can!'

I just couldn't respect my master, nor did I want to.

'Just you wait until you're older.'

My master struck a pose and began to play the Thunder Zither. But what was this? I had imagined a scene of my master's fingers being chopped off and blood flying everywhere, but contrary to my imagination, a beautiful melody filled the room. I could only sit there dumbfounded, my mouth agape. In a word, it was amazing. That damn Thunder Zither, which had almost severed my finger—thankfully it didn't go to the worst-case scenario of amputation, but still made my finger bleed its sacred blood—was being played proficiently in my master's hands. Moreover, wasn't my master's playing skill quite remarkable? Smirk. With a victor's smile, my master spoke in a tone full of conceit.

"Ohoho, look at your surprised face. What do you think of this great master's zither skills? This is the power of the Command Thunder Hand. Mwahahaha. Surprised you, didn't I, you brat!"

'Why a martial art for playing the zither?'

The question flashed through my mind. But according to my master's damn explanation, one had to master that 'Command Thunder Hand' to play the Thunder Zither. The martial art called Command Thunder Hand did not mean 'a hand that moves as fast as scattering lightning,' but 'a hand that gives commands to thunder, telling it what to do.' To give a command means to order a subordinate. In short, it meant a hand that wields and controls the energy of thunder.

This Command Thunder Hand had no forms like 'strike this way, hit that way.' Command Thunder Hand was more of a type of Energy practice than a martial art. By training it, one's hands would become like steel, not only impervious to the sharpness of the Thunder Spirit Thread but also to other treasured swords. Furthermore, this Command Thunder Hand had the benefit of hardening not just the hands, but the entire arms. Therefore, my master's explanation was that one could absolutely not play the Thunder Zither before mastering this Command Thunder Hand to the 6th level or higher. Of course, wielding the Flying Thunder Dagger was also impossible.

This was because what was connected to the Flying Thunder Dagger was the Thunder Spirit Thread, and the martial art that used the dagger and the Thunder Spirit Thread was the Flying Thunder Dagger itself. According to my master's explanation, since the Command Thunder Hand was heavily aspected towards Energy practice, its level of achievement was proportional to the achievement in internal energy. Therefore, it meant that without progress in the Thunder Spirit Heart Method, one could not master the Command Thunder Hand.

However, my master's explanation was that it would take over 10 years to accumulate enough internal energy to master the Command Thunder Hand to the 6th level or higher. This meant that it was still a long, long way off before I could play the Thunder Zither. So, wasn't he telling me to just shut up and play the ordinary zither until then? It also meant that I had to train the Thunder Spirit Heart Method to death.

"It's a hundred years too early for you to play this Thunder Zither. Just train the Thunder Spirit Heart Method day and night like your life depends on it. Then who knows? Maybe you'll be about ten years faster."

Given the structure of the human body, where the ear canals are always open, I had no choice but to hear those words, and I resented my lack of an ability to open and close my ear canals. But what could I do? From that day on, I really had to train the Thunder Spirit Heart Method as if my life depended on it. Because only if I did that could I even try to do anything else.

However, there is a limit to the speed at which internal energy can increase, and I had to face frustration time and again because of the incredibly slow progress. Occasionally, my master would express his surprise, saying my progress was incredibly fast, but I wasn't one to be fooled by such bluffs. What on earth was so fast that it was a speed that might appear once in a hundred years?

If it weren't for that day one year ago, I would still be stuck practicing the Command Thunder Hand, and I wouldn't have been able to even touch the Thunder Zither, let alone the Flying Thunder Dagger I'm training with now. Let's talk about what happened on that day one year ago later.