CH 133

Yongno saw a variety of different posts. They were all related to Qi Gong Techniques, but the vast majority of posts centered around general thoughts or personal experiences rather than strategy.

“Let’s see… ‘If you’re a magic swordsman, please use Duality Cultivation Technique’… is that a required technique for magic swordsmen?”

Curious, Yongno clicked on the post.

/Ah, I’m really at my wits end. If you’re going to use magic power and internal energy together, then why are you not training in Duality Cultivation Technique? The user who joined my party earlier today trained separately in internal energy and magic power, so he was clunky with his skills. Also, these users only seem to use magic power to cast buff spells before a fight. Ugh./

The Duality Cultivation Technique was a spiritual subdivision of Qi Gong Technique that split a single will or intention into two, allowing two different actions to be conducted at the same time. In the mainstream, the Duality Cultivation Technique was widely known as a qi circulation technique that allowed one to accumulate qi. In DIO, however, the superfluous aspects of the technique were deleted; thus, what was left was a perfected Qi Gong Technique that split one’s consciousness into two. Duality Cultivation Technique became a de facto requirement for any user who wanted to do two things at once. The author of the post, Sahae Moonsuh, was angry at the fact that magic swordsman users weren’t training in this critical technique.

/Why! Dual sword wielding could be done without Duality Cultivation Technique, so I’m not blaming these users. However, for magic swordsmen, please learn it! Even if you are only Rank 3 in Duality Cultivation Technique, you can slowly chant a spell while fighting. At first, this delays the magic spell and takes longer than if you weren’t doing two things at once, but you can eventually cast a magic spell while fighting and raise your general combat strength. Please take the time to learn it! Please!/

“If they choose to learn then they will learn… why is this guy getting on other people’s cases?”

As an internal energy and magic power user, Yongno had never considered using the Duality Cultivation Technique. The author of the post, Sahae Moonsuh, was speaking about users like Yongno. Yongno continued mumbling as he looked through the post comments.

[You’re correct. If users are planning to use their internal energy and magic power separately, then they shouldn’t be magic swordsmen.]

[I’ve seen so many turds learn Enchantment and place enchantments on their own swords, but they can’t reach a certain aptitude in either class, so they should just ask mages to cast enchantments on their weapons instead of trying to do everything on their own. Man -_-… whenever I see a swordsman who can use Shapeless Qi Sword casting a lowly Class 1 spell on their sword… it makes me cry].

Most of the comments shared similar sentiments.

“Hmm. There’s another post about Duality Cultivation Technique.”

Looking through the posts again, Yongno found one written by someone named Milleion. The title was ‘The meeting point of martial arts and magic. Duality Cultivation Technique’.

/Most people find the act of doing two different things at the same time very difficult, and if they continue this habit of doing two things at once, their overall work efficiency will dramatically decrease. When people try to do two or more things at the same time, their consciousness and focus is split. Even if one is skilled in multitasking and can get away with doing multiple things without losing too much efficiency, it's inevitable that at least some efficiency will be lost. Ability users who possess talent can only truly maximize that talent by making it their sole focus./

“That’s probably right.”

It wasn’t impossible to do several things at once, but if a user focused on several things instead of just one, the user wouldn’t be able to concentrate properly. Even drawing a square with one’s left hand and drawing a triangle with one’s right hand was already a fairly difficult task for a person. Even if one could do it, their efficiency would be seriously reduced.

/However, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t a way to overcome this. Humans are living creatures that evolve and seek answers. The Duality Cultivation Technique is such an answer, born from this deeply human pursuit of problem-solving./

The post was quite long. Looking at the scroll bar, Yongno saw that he had only progressed through five percent of the post.

“I didn’t think such a general post would run this long… is there an attachment?”

Grumbling, Yongno continued to read.

/In the past, I had the chance to see the sword art of a user named Arthur. In one hand, he operated Dispersing Light Sword Technique, and on the other hand, he operated Bright Tai Chi Sword. Though the operation of the two seemed a little unstable, the aura he projected was relatively firm. My example is a little weird, but Arthur’s sword art proves that Duality Cultivation Technique can be used effectively in a normal use case. The question now is, can Duality Cultivation Technique be used further? The answer is at the meeting point between magic power and martial arts. I am exactly this case./

After this explanation, Milleion wrote about various experiences, such as dividing his consciousness to chant and cast spells while fighting, how to use attack magic, how to use various buff magics, and how to release an electric current when one’s sword make’s contact with an opponent.

“It certainly looks like the things Milleion is saying would be useful, but…”

Yongno used hand skills instead of the sword, but if he could utilize magic while attacking with hand skills, his overall combat power would increase significantly.

/This is how Duality Cultivation Technique can be used. I wish I knew about this Qi Gong Technique when I trained in the past. When I came across it, it was a refreshing revelation.

I’ve made some revisions to the Duality Cultivation Technique so it’ll be more comfortable to use magic power and martial arts at the same time. I’ve also included footnotes on the more difficult sections, hope this helps./

The post ended there. Its main text was less than three or four pages; the rest was densely packed with a description of the author’s revisions. Here and there, they included parentheses to explain further.

“This guy… revised the technique? Wow, I didn’t know there were skilled users like this.”

Yongno skipped the author’s entire explanation and went straight to the comment section. Frankly, he wasn’t interested in someone else’s revision.

The comments were overwhelmingly negative.

/- Saying that Arthur’s sword arts were a normal use case… those cheat-like sword arts -_-;;; What about that do you consider normal? Stop being so pretentious./

/- What? “Little unstable but relatively firm”? How can someone be so pretentious lol. Do you operate an absolute sword art in your left hand and Meteora in your right hand?/

/- Your footnotes are a bit weird. Usually, footnotes make things easier to understand, but your footnotes are more complex and confusing than your main explanation./

Though not fully supportive, some commenters did seem to seriously consider the possibilities.

/- Overall, I think you’ve organized all of this well. I don’t think it’ll hurt to use this for reference./

/- Hmm. I’m using this explanation of Duality Cultivation Technique for reference, and it seems fine so far. It’s still not easy to cast a spell mid-fight, but it has definitely gotten easier than before./

The post was quite controversial. There were many comments and a lot of views. Some users discussed various aspects of the technique’s modified structure, and some who dismissed the post as useless.

“What kind of explanation did the author write to cause such a response?”

Yongno scrolled back up. As if his head was frozen in place, Yongno perused the author’s explanation. Important technique texts were usually sold in the library. Yongno wondered if it was okay to upload such important technique text like this on the Internet, but DIO’s customer support team replied that posting texts like this didn’t matter. Thus, if one searched through online bulletin boards, one could easily come across important technique texts like this one.

“…”

Yongno read the author’s explanation for about ten minutes. He relaxed his neck and sat up straight.

“This…”

The martial arts and magic system techniques in DIO were complete, perfected versions. They weren’t perfected over a long period of time while undergoing numerous revisions; they were the result of modifications and alterations that were applied abruptly, all at once. Each of the techniques contained the touch of a God of Martial Arts or a God of Magic. Mortals, with their extremely limited perspective and vision, were incapable of finding a single flaw in these divine being’s perfected works.

However, nothing in the world could be absolutely perfect. This was the cold truth of reality. The gods who refined the martial art and magic techniques were said to be the greatest among the gods, but it was ordinary people who had to inherit these techniques. To make it possible for mortals to learn, the gods reinterpreted their perfected martial art and magic system techniques by lowering their point of view to a human level. Even though the most ideal and perfect theory of the gods continued to exist, no one could fully understand them.

“Duality means two wills, or intentions. The other side of the firmly established ego, another self hidden within the self.”

As if possessed, Yongno read through the post and the footnotes attached to it. Just by reading it, he could feel the thoughts of the person who wrote the post. The important technique texts he’d seen so far in DIO were focused on conveying information; Yongno never felt any emotion behind them. However, this author’s text was different.

Yongno felt that something incredible resided in this text. A greatness that even he could not comprehend. It was a new interpretation of the law of consciousness, and the combination of magic and martial arts.

“Implementing these ideas won’t be possible unless one’s magic and martial arts reach the highest realm.”

Even after he closed the browser window, Yongno couldn’t help but fall deeper into thought. Though he had read just another important technique text, his thoughts were already splitting into two.

“Oh shoot! What time is it?”

Yongno checked his phone. Fortunately, he still had some time before the ‘Great Will’ NPC awakened.

“Hmm, I should try Duality Cultivation Technique right now.”

Without hesitation, Yongno put on his earphones and laid down on his bed. It was time to return to being Merlin.

“Phew…”

“You’re waking up now?”

As soon as Merlin opened his eyes, he saw Miho standing in front of him with a frustrated expression on her face. He raised himself up.

“Did something happen?”

“Nothing. It’s just a bit weird when a supposed expert doesn’t wake up no matter how much I call out… do you lose all sense of urgency when you’re asleep?”

Quiet Heaven laughed. “It’s not only Merlin; all the passengers sleep like that. They can wake up at a set time, but they’re not easily awakened by external stimuli.”

Quiet Heaven came to Merlin’s defense. It would be more accurate to say that it was impossible for a user in sleep-mode to wake up from an external stimulus. Of course, it was possible to observe one’s character through a video feed in the real world, but it was undoubtedly difficult to react in time if a crisis were to be seen through a video feed that ran at twelve times the speed. This was why users didn’t like to use sleep-mode.

“Anyway, is the time for the Great Will or whatever to give the prophecy? It seems like that fella is dragging things out.”

“Shh. You can’t speak negatively of the Great Will here. The Great Will created all of us.”

“Whatever. The Great Will isn’t a god I believe in anyway.”

Merlin became conscious of the other representatives’ gazes around him, so he had replied in a softer tone, but he still wore a dissatisfied expression.

‘If the Great Will created everyone, then that being is just another developer, no?’

Merlin turned his head to look at the representatives standing around him. They had started to gather around the center of the hall, waiting for the Great Will to appear.

“Quiet Heaven, is this head honcho an NPC or a developer?”

“Head honcho? Oh, if you’re talking about the Great Will, well… the developers don’t usually play directly, but seeing how it only happens occasionally, maybe one will make an appearance. The real question is whether the NPCs here know about DIO like the NPCs on Dynamic Island.”

“Right.”

Merlin nodded and looked toward the center of the hall. He was a bit on edge about the Great Will because he knew that this new continent was a space that user’s couldn’t access. If the Great Will was just another NPC, he wouldn’t face any issues, but if the Great Will was a developer or an NPC that knew about the world of DIO, wouldn’t the Great Will react after seeing him?

‘Well, whatever. It probably won’t send me off immediately after seeing me. It’s not like I’m a hacker or anything. Rather than worrying, I should practice the Duality Cultivation Technique during this break.’

Merlin sat down and started circulating his internal qi. Starting the Qi Gong technique wasn’t very difficult. Unlike cultivation techniques that required one to gather internal energy and develop control over natural qi through enlightenment and training, Qi Gong techniques were martial arts that trained one’s qi technique. Of course, just like Qi Heaven, the difficulty of any Qi Gong Technique varied depending on the type. Merlin, who already possessed a relatively excellent multitasking ability, was able to easily accept the principles of Duality Cultivation Technique.

‘Finding another self. I’m not trying to find another being, but another me within me.’

If the technique was just sharing one’s consciousness, it would be no different from the multitasking that Merlin did normally. It was obviously more efficient to focus on one thing than to do two things at the same time. For this reason, the Duality Cultivation Technique sought to create another consciousness through the collection of natural qi.

Woong.

Using the Golden Pill Immortal Technique, Merlin pulled his internal energy to the crown of his head and kept it there for a moment before placing the principal thoughts of the Duality Cultivation Technique into it. In this manner, Merlin was able to awaken the inner self that slept within him.