Chapter 167: What He Knows
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Ye Woon-rang wore a briefly puzzled look, then noticed the two booklets in one of Cheol Ryu-heun’s hands.
Following that.
‘Ah!’
He immediately realized.
The hidden meaning behind the words Cheol Ryu-heun had casually uttered.
‘It’s the ancestral master’s true transmission!’
Sure enough, Cheol Ryu-heun spoke with an expressionless face.
“The Azure Dragon Mental Cultivation Method and the Four Dragon Sword Forms.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Ye Woon-rang’s mouth split open to his ears.
“R-really! Finally…”
Immediately after receiving the two booklets, he briefly examined the contents inside and wore an expression swept by shivers.
‘This is the real deal!’
Yes, just roughly looking at the text on the first page gave him an idea.
The fact that the booklet’s contents were truly exquisite essence.
Currently, all Ye Woon-rang himself knew was only one thing – the Advance Style among the Four Dragon Sword Forms.
In the past, when Ba Hun founded the Dragon Martial Gate, he transmitted the essence of the Advance Style within the Four Dragon Sword Forms to the Sword Captains under him who had rendered distinguished service.
It was a kind of reward.
At that time, the only sect member who had mastered the complete essence of the Four Dragon Sword Forms was Ba Hun’s direct disciple.
Na Wi-jin.
Called Dragon-Riding Young Master because his swordwork was like riding on a dragon, he succeeded his secluded master Ba Hun and became Sect Master, but was attacked by Nine Demon Alliance about ten years later.
Thus, along with the Dragon Martial Gate’s destruction, the complete essence of the Four Dragon Sword Forms disappeared into the annals of history, and only the Advance Style was passed to Ye Woon-rang through Red Dragon Sword Captain Hong So, who had barely survived.
But today… The Four Dragon Sword Forms, with its complete essence perfectly restored, had appeared before his eyes.
In the booklet Cheol Ryu-heun had handed over, not only the Advance Style but also the Circling Style, Defense Style, and even the Final Style formulas were written without omission.
‘The essence written at the end is most likely the ultimate technique Brilliant Dragon Roaming Heaven!’
It was definitely the formulas of the ultimate technique that Gal Jung-heon had said he witnessed Cheol Ryu-heun executing with his own eyes when Black Forest Hall was annihilated.
Just looking at the contents brought it to mind.
The outstanding marvelous use of a long sword energy like a dragon moving sinuously as if it were a surging torrent.
For Ye Woon-rang, it was like a dream.
He had already keenly felt Cheol Ryu-heun’s outstanding abilities multiple times, but now that he actually held the true transmission of Dragon Martial Gate’s ancestral masters in his hands, it felt all the more real.
-I gave up searching due to my illness, but… You’re still young, so you will definitely be able to find that place someday.
It was the moment when not giving up for a long time in accordance with Master Hong So’s dying wish, constantly striving to find the ancestral master’s hermitage, finally returned to him as a reward like a fortuitous encounter.
At some point, when Cheol Ryu-heun had made the Guest Retainer proposal, that memory suddenly flashed through his mind.
-What did you d-do with our ancestral master’s precious secret manual?
-I burned the secret manual and destroyed it.
-Wh-what…!
-Books are cumbersome to keep. Someone might steal them. But don’t worry. I have excellent memorization skills.
His lips moved slightly.
A soundless laugh escaped with a smirk.
Human affairs are truly mysterious.
At that time, he had thought he was meeting some strange fellow and would suffer hardships not meant for him…
‘Master, are you watching from heaven? This disciple has finally opened the path to fulfill his long-cherished wish.’
A newfound longing arose.
He missed him.
The master who had taught him with all his heart until his last breath.
Suddenly, an indifferent voice shattered his reverie.
“You know what comes first, right?”
At Cheol Ryu-heun’s words, Ye Woon-rang straightened his expression and nodded.
“Yes, I know.”
He still clearly remembered the conversation they had exchanged after breaking out of the underground space and then being pushed back and colliding with a rock while exchanging moves with Cheol Ryu-heun.
-You still have a long way to go. Aside from internal energy improvement, your study of the Azure Dragon Mental Cultivation Method is insufficient.
-…!
-A superficially learned Four Dragon Sword Forms won’t work on me.
That meant unless he mastered the Azure Dragon Mental Cultivation Method at the perfected level, he couldn’t fully display the unique marvelous uses of the Four Dragon Sword Forms.
“From now on, I’ll complete the cultivation method as quickly as possible. Of course, it won’t be as easy as I think…”
“Two days will do.”
“Pardon?”
“You’ve achieved Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown. In other words, you’ve already obtained the high achievement in internal energy cultivation necessary for the final stage of the Azure Dragon Mental Cultivation Method – you just need to learn the operation method according to the formulas.”
“Ah…!”
“Just read it. Then you’ll naturally understand.”
“I see. Two days… Yes, Sect Master! I will definitely do it.”
“Yeah, you’d better. If you want to keep earning your keep going forward. Honestly, moving some stones isn’t enough. By now it’s worth about three or four chopsticks.”
Here it comes.
The damn earning-your-keep talk.
Well, then maybe I should sweep away three or four of those bad factions somewhere to earn a bowl’s worth.
Soon Cheol Ryu-heun turned and said while walking away.
“When you learn the Four Dragon Sword Forms in the future, I plan to assign you a sparring partner for realistic practice.”
Ye Woon-rang wore a surprised look, then quickly called out to Cheol Ryu-heun’s back as he walked toward the garden’s middle gate.
“Um, you said a sparring partner…?”
“Who do you think? A powerhouse that Ba Hun acknowledged in his lifetime.”
Only then did Ye Woon-rang realize.
Gal Jung-heon.
According to the story he had heard earlier, after Ba Hun exchanged moves with him, he had said this.
-This fight was enjoyable. Just speaking as one martial artist. You were stronger than any master I’ve ever faced.
Wasn’t Gal Jung-heon, who had even achieved Rejuvenation after the long passage of years, second only to Cheol Ryu-heun in martial prowess?
He had a premonition that given who his opponent was, the process of learning the Four Dragon Sword Forms would be quite arduous – but in return, a dramatic increase in skill would be possible.
THUMP THUMP.
His heart raced.
Where else could he cross swords with such a tremendous opponent?
Moreover, Gal Jung-heon was already someone who had experienced the complete Four Dragon Sword Forms’s ultimate technique, so he would be of great help to his enlightenment.
At that moment.
Cheol Ryu-heun, who had paused before the middle gate, quietly turned his head back.
“Ah, if you’re not careful, your flesh might rot away too.”
Ye Woon-rang flinched at the nonchalant voice.
Oops, he momentarily forgot about the Demon-Devouring Sword, the terrifying divine weapon of the Hungry Ghost Path!
“Well, it’s fine. Just apply the red medicine.”
When Cheol Ryu-heun quickly disappeared, Ye Woon-rang’s face crumpled.
R-red medicine? No, what kind of name is that! It sounds like it wouldn’t work for crap!
* * *
A circular garden in the southwest of White Peak Sword Sect.
Under the late autumn sunlight, as petals fell one by one, Gal Jung-heon leaned against the pavilion railing and gazed vacantly at the small pond beside him.
Suddenly, the faces of his precious family imprinted in his memory were projected onto that water’s surface like phantoms.
‘Everything is entirely my sin… If I’m to see my wife and daughter again after I die later, I must use this life’s time for even more worthwhile things.’
That’s why he had come here.
Drawn by the words spoken by Cheol Ryu-heun, who had unexpectedly appeared…
-If you become a Guest Retainer of our Sect, even if the fact that you’re the Nine Demon Alliance Master becomes known, you can still openly act as a distinguished martial world master without problems.
Now he would prove it.
That regardless of affiliation or faction, the demonic power of a demon could be used sufficiently in pursuit of a righteous chivalric path.
‘How regrettable. If only you had been like this too.’
His past disciple, Gwi Ya.
He had thought the boy had taken to heart his advice that severing the chain of enmity and opposition to seek peaceful coexistence with the martial world would help the Alliance’s development more – but in the end, the fellow chose the ambition of conquest.
When he had imprisoned himself in the sealed barrier out of grief for losing his family, the boy had boasted that after annihilating Dragon Martial Gate, he would plant the demonic banner in this central land…
It was a vain dream.
The ambition that swore to make the demonic faction’s majesty shake the world forever had concluded in destruction that only created mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
At that time, Gal Jung-heon had thought.
Yes, he could do that.
He understood.
However, it wouldn’t be an easy victory.
The vast martial world was not a stage where one could compete with only spirit without careful planning.
He wouldn’t resent him.
Just come back alive.
Then he would generously embrace him and give him new teachings, and also make him walk a new path.
But.
When he achieved Rejuvenation and came out of the forbidden zone, the news he encountered was the total annihilation of both the Dragon Martial Gate and the Nine Demon Alliance.
That was the end of his memories of his disciple Gwi Ya.
SWISH.
Gal Jung-heon tilted his head back and the sky filled his eyes.
‘If you go there and have the chance to cleanse your karma and be reborn… I hope you meet a master greater than me and live as an honorable martial artist.’
But then.
CREAAAK-
The garden gate opened to both sides and the workers appeared with various tools in hand.
Then Tae Sa-ja spotted Gal Jung-heon leaning against the pavilion railing and asked.
“Oh, you were here. I apologize if we disturbed you. Actually, we need to maintain the pond area… Should we come back later?”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll move aside.”
Gal Jung-heon shook his head slightly and stepped down the stairs to the ground.
In an instant.
As he was passing by Tae Sa-ja, he suddenly stopped and spoke with a peculiar look in his eyes.
“You, did you say you’ve never formally learned martial arts?”
“Ah, yes. That’s right.”
“Hmm, is that so? Would it be alright if I briefly took your pulse?”
“Yes, well…”
When Tae Sa-ja held out one hand with a puzzled face, Gal Jung-heon quickly pressed on the pulse point and sent out a small amount of energy.
Immediately after.
Twitch.
Gal Jung-heon’s eyebrows moved almost imperceptibly.
‘Ha, how can this be! Remarkable. I thought something was strangely stimulating my energy sense…’
Currently, Tae Sa-ja’s body was in absolutely perfect condition – it wouldn’t be strange at all even if he started training to accumulate internal energy right now.
Moreover, the size of his sea of energy point was reminiscent of a master who had surpassed a certain level.
It was incomprehensible.
This was absolutely not a body that someone from a low-class bandit background with no martial training should have.
When Gal Jung-heon removed his hand and tilted his head, Tae Sa-ja glanced at his expression and asked quietly.
“Why… Is something wrong?”
“It’s just, your body’s condition is…”
Right at that moment, an indifferent voice was heard.
“Stop.”
It was Cheol Ryu-heun.
Having appeared beside them at some point, he spoke in a nonchalant tone.
“It’s not time yet.”
At that, Gal Jung-heon replied.
“Did you know?”
“Of course.”
Cheol Ryu-heun answered briefly, then looked toward the workers.
“You all hurry up and get to work.”
Tae Sa-ja and his group, who had no way of knowing what was going on, tilted their heads but soon began the maintenance work.
SCRAPE, SCRAPE, SCRAPE-
Amid the noisy tool sounds, Cheol Ryu-heun suddenly handed over a small booklet.
“Take it.”
“What is this book?”
“The essence of the Soul Devouring Eye.”
Simultaneously, Gal Jung-heon was flabbergasted.
‘GASP! The Soul Devouring Eye!’
He couldn’t help but be surprised.
Because the Soul Devouring Eye was a terrifying demonic art devised by the Three-Eye Demon King, the extremely powerful demon called the right arm of the Heavenly Demon a thousand years ago and the first owner of the Demon-Devouring Sword.
It was an exquisite technique manifested through the physical eyes – more simply put, it was a power that controlled the demonic divine energy possessed by the Demon-Devouring Sword and exploded it like a gaze.
The opponent who directly received the Soul Devouring Eye would rot away not from the outside but from the inside of their body, and furthermore, even their mind would be gnawed away until they became a cripple.
However.
Soul Devouring Eye wasn’t actually an original marvelous use of the Demon-Devouring Sword – it was a demonic art that the Three-Eye Demon King had created by harmonizing a series of essences, so after him its lineage had been severed…
Meaning the being who used that power was the first and last in all of history.
“My goodness, how does Sect Master Cheol have this…”
“That’s none of your business – just learn it going forward. It’ll be helpful.”
Cheol Ryu-heun spoke curtly, then posed one question.
“The Sun Moon Demon Cult – has the Sect Master been replaced by any chance? Do you know anything?”
At the unexpected question, Gal Jung-heon’s eyes went round.
“Pardon?”
“Just answer.”
“Ah, well… I believe the Sun Moon Demon Cult Master position is still held by the person I knew in the past. Though he’s older than me… In truth, he has a body that doesn’t easily die.”
“What do you mean?”
“Because I suspect the Sun Moon Demon Cult Master has achieved Rejuvenation not once but twice. When I last saw him over twenty years ago, his appearance was that of a boy in his late teens.”