Training – Jimin 5
The lines of the oral formula began to flow in rhythm with her breathing.
When the words broke, the posture faltered.
When the posture wavered, the sentence twisted.
The stick lightly tapped her knee again.
Tok.
This time it was not correction, but confirmation.
Jimin's legs were already trembling faintly.
Yet she did not sink.
Soun's instruction carried no excuses, no long explanations.
There was no admiration, no praise.
Only repetition—until it worked.
Jimin began to understand.
This was not a demonstration meant to impress.
It was not a performance of teaching.
He was truly instructing her.
"Recite louder.
Your voice is too small."
His words fell short and firm.
Jimin clenched her teeth and opened her throat.
"Open your chest toward the heavens, draw in the breath as if receiving the qi that descends…"
The phrases of the formula spread across the mountain air.
"Louder."
Her voice rose another degree.
The chamjeong stance remained unchanged.
Her knees bent, spine straight.
Her arms slightly extended to maintain balance.
From the beginning Soun had driven a nail into the ground.
"Do not use inner force."
The moment one endured with qi, he had said, the meaning of training vanished.
Stand only with the body.
Before long, Jimin's legs and arms began to tremble visibly.
It was a method she had practiced briefly as a child to awaken her sensitivity to qi.
After that, she had never returned to it.
Once she learned to rely on inner energy, she had left these basics behind.
"Do not break your breath."
"Open your chest toward the heavens…"
The line faltered.
To exert strength while reciting clearly was far harder than she had imagined.
When the breath disrupted, the formula twisted.
When the formula twisted, the posture collapsed.
Tok.
The stick struck her knee lightly.
"Do not endure.
Stand."
Her thighs burned.
Her calves felt as though they were sinking into the earth.
Her toes stiffened with numbness.
Not even the time for a single cup of tea had passed.
Yet beads of sweat welled at her temples.
They trailed down her neck, soaking the collar of her robe.
"Your voice is weakening again."
"Open your chest toward the heavens!"
Her throat rasped.
Her breathing grew ragged.
Her vision narrowed.
The trembling in her legs spread into her arms.
From her arms into her shoulders.
If she used inner force, she could endure.
If she gathered qi, she could surpass this easily.
But it was forbidden.
Only the bare body.
No qi.
No deceit.
Jimin clenched her teeth.
She began to understand why the White Dragon Unit had become so unyielding.
She began to understand why they followed Soun.
This was not a method to elevate martial skill.
It was a lesson in not deceiving oneself.
Sweat from her temples slid into the corners of her eyes.
But she did not stop reciting.
"Young Master… how long must I do this… ngh."
Her breath spilled out roughly.
Her thighs were already dull with fading sensation.
Her arms trembled faintly.
Her voice cracked mid-recitation.
"Until it works."
Soun's reply was brief.
"Until what works?"
She ground out the words through her teeth.
"Until what you desire and what your sect desires become the same."
The words felt difficult.
Her body was tired.
Tok.
The stick touched her knee again.
"With such a crude method, is that possible?"
Irritation crept into her voice.
Her breath was shallow.
Her legs burned.
"It is not crude."
Soun spoke calmly.
"You are thinking first of the name your sect wants.
Your body endures.
Your mind calculates."
Her eyes flickered.
"When the two differ, qi does not gather.
That is why your posture wavers."
Tok.
The stick brushed her thigh.
"Do not endure.
Stand."
"I am standing."
"You are enduring."
A short silence passed.
Her breathing grew harsher.
Sweat fell from her chin to the ground.
"Abandon the thought of gaining what your sect wants through this posture.
If you do not, you will endure to the end—and nothing more."
"Then what should I think about?"
"Think about nothing."
His voice remained steady.
"Until you yourself understand what it is you truly want."
The wind swept across the mountain once more.
Her legs shook violently.
But this time she did not force more strength into them.
She drew one long breath.
The formula continued.
Clearer than before.
The moment she reset her stance, a strained groan escaped her lips.
Her legs quivered uncontrollably.
The fingertips of her rounded arms trembled up and down.
Her breath cut short.
"I trained this way."
Soun's voice was calm.
"To survive, I had nothing else I could try."
Jimin clenched her teeth.
"Does this truly work… ngh."
Her thighs burned.
Her knees drifted inward, then outward again.
Tok.
The stick touched her once more.
"Do not collapse."
Her eyes flashed upward for an instant.
"Cultivation is not entirely a matter of belief."
Soun continued.
"But neither do I think belief is unnecessary."
He tilted his head slightly.
"Someone is coming."
Her gaze nearly shifted.
"Even if the situation changes or someone arrives, remain as you are.
The moment you begin is what matters."
The wind brushed across Namsan again.
Inwardly, Jimin had expected something else.
A supreme technique that overturned everything at once.
A secret method that erased suffering in a single stroke.
She had believed that was how this boy became a master of Hua-gyeong at such an age.
But this was only the basic stance of childhood.
The method she once used briefly to sense qi.
The practice she had neglected once she learned to wield inner force.
That old method had returned.
Now harsher than before.
Her legs trembled.
Her breath was ragged.
But the formula did not stop.