I Became an Evolving Lizard in a Martial Arts Novel-Chapter 226

"Hmm... Well, just because you hear it doesn’t mean you can understand it," Cho-Do said.

Despite the foolish look on my face, she didn’t scold me.

She seemed to know that a one-year-old lizard wouldn’t be able to understand these things.

Cho-Do elegantly sipped her tea, while I flicked my tongue out like a fool of a lizard.

"To put it simply, think of the movement of a tree."

"Geck?"

"How does a tree grow? Doesn’t it start from the earth and constantly reach toward the sky?"

This much I could understand.

Even though I’m a young lizard, I can at least grasp how trees grow.

"An upward energy, a force that rises directly, meaning the neck represents expansion."

Hmm...

Saying it like that makes it seem a bit clearer.

"Do you understand?"

I nodded slightly.

"Just like the great warrior’s descendant, you are quite sharp."

It seemed like Cho-Do was acknowledging her ancestor, the great Gongbok, as a good lizard.

Honestly, I don’t think I’ve done anything great, but because I’m from the Yongsaengguja line, she’s flattering me with praise.

It’s not bad.

It would be even better if it weren’t for the Gonggal-ppang trick.

"...Hmmm."

Gongbok didn’t hide his discomfort.

Whoo.

"My... my bad..."

The fox bead shook violently, as if Gongbok was trying to torment the souls trapped inside the bead.

Is something bothering him?

I wouldn’t mind if he keeps doing that.

"I would like to teach you all of the five elements, but since there are things I myself haven’t realized, I will only teach you about the neck."

"Geck."

That’s a relief.

For now, learning just one thing is better.

Honestly, even just understanding the neck’s power makes me dizzy—how could I ever learn the entire five elements?

I could learn them, but my head would likely get tangled up with all the confusion.

"The palm trigram corresponds to Jin and Son."

Palm trigram?

Is she talking about something like Gon-Gon-Gan-Ri?

"The Palkwae, the eight trigrams created by Fu Xi, represent the meanings of the universe... In short, it represents Gan-Tae-Ri-Jin-Son-Gan."

Looking at my blank face, Cho-Do seemed to try explaining it in simpler terms, but even that was not easy.

"Heaven, pond, fire, thunder, wind, water, mountain, earth. These represent the phenomena and order of the universe."

Now I’m starting to get it.

When they say "the universe," they must mean this world, not the dark unknown.

I can understand this much at least.

But can we really explain the world with just these eight?

"The eight trigrams are divided into sixteen, then thirty-two, then sixty-four trigrams."

Okay, that seems more understandable.

Eight trigrams might be enough.

"To return to the original topic, the power of the neck that the great warrior uses comes from the fact that he understood the neck as it is."

This content is taken from freёnovelkiss.com.

He thought that controlling the neck’s energy was merely about handling plants.

I hadn’t had time to think differently.

What Yin-Yang means, or what the Five Elements are.

I had no reason to consider those things.

Cho-Do lightly flicked her hand.

Crackle.

A small static electricity popped.

Cho-Do continued to strike lightning.

She said that was also part of the neck’s power.

"Jin means thunder. A thunder that stretches out forcefully. That is the neck."

Cho-Do flicked her finger lightly with her other hand.

Whoo.

Her green hair fluttered slightly.

"Son, which means wind. It spreads softly, and thus it also corresponds to the neck."

The power of the neck wasn’t just limited to plants.

Thunder and wind also correspond to the neck.

"As the great warrior expands his universe, he will be able to expand the concept of the neck. But this is the limit of what I can teach you."

Just controlling thunder and wind is amazing, but it’s said that even more than that can be achieved.

Even the same tree contains all five elements—fire, water, metal, and earth—so it’s beginning to make sense.

But right now, there’s no way I could summon lightning or create a storm.

Before I was reborn as a lizard, I lived a life far from such powers, and even after being reborn, I’ve been struggling to survive.

If you can call it training, it’s been about eating others and gaining their power, or leveling up through the status window.

Of course, I’ve gained enlightenment and learned martial arts from my master, but those weren’t the main focus.

"The important thing is expanding the great warrior’s world. Expanding your world means gaining enlightenment."

Enlightenment.

It must mean advancing to the next stage.

"The peak is when you use sword qi, the super peak is when you use the sword master’s techniques, and Hwa-gyeong is when you use Sword Qi. The people of today tend to categorize stages like that."

That’s what my master told me as well.

To be precise, he didn’t think I’d understand such a complicated explanation, so he simplified it.

...I didn’t fully understand, but it’s true that my master’s explanation was somewhat odd.

Cho-Do’s explanation was difficult too, but my master made it harder.

"But that’s half right and half wrong. If that were true, how could someone at the peak like the great warrior have killed the girl’s brother?"

If the stages are categorized like that, then after using Sword Qi, I should be called Hwa-gyeong.

But it’s not like that.

I’m still stuck at the peak.

"Most humans reach the peak stage. When you stand at the top of the mountain, there’s nowhere else to go, right?"

Many people see the peak as just a stage, and in this world, there are many martial artists who have reached it.

But the peak originally means there’s nowhere else to go.

"But not all humans are satisfied when they stand at the peak. They look up at the sky. Some ask why they should do that, others simply reach out their hands."

They have surpassed the peak.

"That’s called Super Peak."

The peak is the limit of humanity.

And surpassing it is called Super Peak.

"Reaching out your hand is one thing, but truly touching the sky in your own way—that’s Hwa-gyeong. In other words, creating your own world. The state where you can manifest your own thoughts."

It’s easy to reach out your hand from the top of the mountain.

But truly touching the sky is impossible.

"Once your hand touches the sky, you can naturally contain the starlight in your sword. That’s Sword Qi."

That’s why the difference between Super Peak and Hwa-gyeong is so vast.

"And Hyeon-gyeong is when you walk above the sky. It means expanding your world."

You stand at the peak, then look up and reach out your hand to surpass it—that’s Super Peak.

When you touch the sky, you can call it Hwa-gyeong, and when you can freely walk through it, that’s Hyeon-gyeong.

I felt something that had been blocked open inside me.

"Oaek is in the Lower Dantian, Ogi is in the Middle Dantian, and Sangwon is in the Upper Dantian. When you gather them, they fill the Three Thousand Worlds, and the dragon dances in the distance. When you refine them, your bones turn golden, your body emanates golden light, and golden coins appear in the air, as Ogi and Sangwon finish their work. It’s when you transcend a normal body and make a grand breakthrough."

I felt blocked again.

This was the hardest thing I’d heard today.

But for some reason, I could understand it a little.

Hawan means Lower Dantian.

Jungwon means Middle Dantian.

Sangwon means Upper Dantian.

"Oaek originates from the Five Organs, which are liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys."

The fluids secreted by the Five Organs harmonize in the Lower Dantian.

"Ogi refers to the Five Elements. Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water."

The Five Elements harmonize in the Middle Dantian.

"Sangwon means the Yin of Yin, the Yang of Yang, and the Yang of Yin. It can be considered Qi."

Sangwon is achieved in the Upper Dantian.

"That is Samhwa Cheojeong, and Ogi Jo Won."

Samhwa Cheojeong and Ogi Jo Won.

They said they would explain it later, but now they’re cramming it all into my head.

Thanks to that, my head is aching, but oddly, I don’t mind it.

It feels like my unused brain is shouting that it can take all this in.

"Spiritual beings are stronger than humans. Most humans are blocked by the peak."

I nodded, and Cho-Do smiled slightly.

"Spiritual beings are different. Even at the same stage, they’re far superior, and they find enlightenment much easier."

That’s true.

Baekyun hasn’t reached the peak for years, but I reached it in just three months.

"But as one’s stage advances, spiritual beings find it harder. Especially when they reach Ogi Jo Won, the gap widens."

Ogi Jo Won.

Even without the Yin and Ogi elements, the Five Elements must harmonize in the Middle Dantian.

And I realized just how impossible it is.

"Once you reach the peak and reach out to the sky, Ogi naturally accumulates. The Five Elements are embedded in human life, so it might be natural."

Humans simply live with the Five Elements.

But spiritual beings are different.

"The girl, who has lived for hundreds of years, is still only handling the neck’s power. She can’t even dream of achieving Ogi Jo Won."

I too obtained the neck’s power by taking control of the Dragon Gate.

I now possess three Dragon Gates, which gave me the power of Water and Metal, but I still can’t call them fully mine.

Even though I have three Dragon Gates, I can’t handle Ogi.

So how could an ordinary spiritual being reach Ogi Jo Won?

"...My father feared this, that’s why."

My head hurt like it was going to explode.

But something important was said.

"After a lifetime of effort, he reached Ogi Jo Won and attained Hyeon-gyeong, but one human who had lived less than a hundred years surpassed him."

From a spiritual being's perspective, that might be unfair.

A human, who was clearly much weaker than him, somehow grew quickly and surpassed him one day.

"That’s why he tried to kill all humans before they formed factions, and it was Gomodo who stopped him."

Yes, he wouldn’t just kill humans for no reason.

If after hundreds of years of training, everything he worked for could be undone by one human in an instant, I’d be scared too.

If suddenly, Tang Soyeong started firing Gae Gak Death Beams, I’d...

...Actually, I don’t think I’d be scared, would I?

But what kind of human could stand on the same level as the True Dragon?

No, maybe someone who surpassed that level?

"His name... was unknown."

Unknown?

Does that mean he had no name?

"I know, however, how he was referred to."

So, that story did get passed down.

I thought it would be forgotten, since True Dragon was revered as a divine beast and Gomodo was labeled a vicious one.

"He was called ‘The One Who Stood Above the Sky.’"

Wait, since Gomodo was slandered as a vicious beast, this human must have been accused of something similarly severe by the True Dragon.

"He was called Cheonma (Heavenly Demon)."

Cheonma? Why is the Heavenly Demon showing up here?