Jin was barely conscious and having a hard time breathing. He could feel liquid dripping down his eyes. Not only that but the entire area around his eyes was burning. He could feel a particular pattern to the pain though, as if it was tracing a peculiar movement...It was Hae-Hyuk who explained him what happened:

"By triggering 250 particular visual techniques, you have achieved a balance. From there, you should be able to feel it, some kind of movement to the pain. Try to focus on it and throw your spiritual energy through the pattern. That pattern is the hidden technique. It creates a unique pathway for spiritual energy in the practitioner's eyes and enable them to grasp a visual technique beyond any other"

Jin tried to speak but only weird noises of rough breathing came out. He could feel the pattern but was far too spent to even try to do anything. And yet, he could feel it. This pain-inducing movement seemed as if it was calling out to him. Strangely, it kept moving in the same way, as if welcoming him... But it hurt like hell.

He remained in a half-conscious state for two more hours, laying down on the ground. He remained in his puddle of sweat, snot and tears breathing roughly. Min-Su had left to get water and wood, only Hae-Hyuk remained. He was overseeing Jin's progress. And it was underwhelming.

He managed to do the hardest yet was stuck on the last hurdle. One step away from groping the sweetest fruit of success. Hae-Hyuk wanted to help but he knew there was nothing he could do. Sometimes fate was to be grabbed by one's own hands. If Jin failed to activate the pattern... Then it was fate too.

And Jin failed to make it happen. The pain and the pattern disappeared after one more hour. In three hours, he had been unable to mentally will his own spiritual energy to move and reproduce the pattern. However, he had been smart. He understood that he was unable to and that he would likely be unable to. So, he moved something else that he could.

The spears in his soul sea.

He didn't make anything too elaborate as he was forcefully brought back to reality due to the pain. He could only spend a few seconds in his soul sea each time. It had been three hours of gruesome torture. Yet he succeeded in his own way. He had reproduced the pattern in his soul sea by creating a model of it with spears. He only passed out after he finished it.

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Of course, Hae-Hyuk was unaware of this. To him, Jin failed to grasp this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And without this technique, he was unlikely to be of help later on... Did he need to put all his chips on Min-Su from now on? That wasn't the greatest outcome. Sure, he believed in Min-Su's abilities. He wouldn't have groomed him otherwise. But the trial awaiting them... Yeah, he couldn't pin it all on one of them. Maybe he needed to get a third or fourth apprentice... No. It was too late for that. Hae-Hyuk looked at the sky and whispered softly: "Will the heavens deny me of this opportunity as well? Am I fated to remain as I am until the end?"

Hours later, deep into the night, Jin woke up. He looked around and saw that Hae-Hyuk and Min-Su were already eating. He joined them. No one spoke about his failure.

After diner, Jin left a few steps away from the camp as Hae-Hyuk sighed while looking at the back of his disciple. Whenever the student succeeded, it brought honor to the teacher. It worked the other way round too. If the student failed, tss tss.

But Jin didn't think that way. He bore through the torment and paved an alternative for himself. It was time to check whether it worked now. He entered his soul sea and began to memorize the pattern. After a dozen or so minutes, he was trying it physically.

And as he did, he felt something new. A feeling of pure bliss and perfect relaxation in his eyes. It felt 'true', as if this was the way it should have been done and no other ways were required. As the spiritual energy moved along the pattern, more and more of his visual capabilities became enhanced. By the end, when he had completely activated the technique, he could see everything. That's what it seemed like.

From the tiniest of ants to the smallest grain of sands. He could even see the spiritual energy...the wild one. He had learnt a few visual techniques that enabled him do so previously but this was vastly different. It was life-like, and vivid. He was 'seeing' a brand-new world.

And from the camp, Hae-Hyuk who had kept an eye on him, could see it too. Those peculiar spiritual energy waves. He could recognize them anywhere for they were his greatest treasure. It was his hidden technique. He got up in a hurry to grab and turn Jin. At the same time, he peered into his eyes and saw it. A faint shape made from spiritual energy. A cog. This was the proof of his hidden technique. And it seemed like Jin learnt it.

"A success! Congratulations, Jin! You managed to learn my secret technique! Good! Good! Good!"

Jin was overwhelmed by his sight to the point that he couldn't even follow the situation. There had been so much to see that he was unaware of... Truly a mysterious and wonderful technique. As he saw and noticed more and more things, he kept thinking of how many more surprises were still left in store for him. This technique was truly incomparable to any others he experienced in the past years. Everything seemed bland in front of it.

That's when he forgot all about being behind on his cultivation. This technique...It made everything worth it.