Chapter 5: Chapter 5
Flip… Flip…
He endlessly flipped through the martial arts manual.
The passages of the Jade Ring Wondrous Step passed by quickly.
To anyone else, it looked like a child playfully flipping through a martial arts manual, but the person in question, Cheon-hwi, was serious.
Eventually, he reached the end.
Tap.
He shook his head and closed the martial arts manual.
“It is different from what that old woman unfolded.”
He spoke with certainty. After that, he turned the martial arts manual upside down to see if it was wrong, and looked at the side corners just in case, for a moment.
Scratch, scratch.
He scratched the back of his head.
“What is this? Was the thing the old woman unfolded not the Jade Ring Wondrous Step? That shouldn’t be the case.”
He simply could not understand it.
The cover of the martial arts manual clearly had Jade Ring Wondrous Step written on it, and its contents perfectly matched the footwork that Hyeon-ryeo had unfolded.
Because of that, it was strange.
Was the Jade Ring Wondrous Step not a peerless footwork that even the Wudang Sect and Shaolin Temple coveted?
In the past, there was a time when he thought that as long as it was fast, why would footwork need logic and enlightenment.
However, what shattered that thought were the Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step included in the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the Kunlun Sect’s Cloud Dragon Great Nine Forms, and lastly, this Jade Ring Wondrous Step.
From the Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step, he learned that overwhelming power was possible even in footwork.
From the Cloud Dragon Great Nine Forms, he learned the importance of footwork in unfolding martial arts.
And from the Jade Ring Wondrous Step, he was able to realize that footwork was the very center of all martial arts, and thanks to that, he was able to research and refine his lacking footwork.
But this was that Jade Ring Wondrous Step?
He clicked his tongue.
The Jade Ring Wondrous Step still clearly engraved in his mind was a bizarre yet unique footwork originating from the Eight Trigrams.
Heaven, Swamp, Fire, Thunder, Wind, Water, Mountain, and Earth.
The Eight Trigrams, which respectively referred to heaven, swamp, water, fire, thunder, wind, mountain, and earth, were a blend of the two trigrams of Heaven and Earth that created all things, and the six trigrams that operated all things. And the Jade Ring Wondrous Step was a footwork unfolded using these very Eight Trigrams.
The arms and legs, these two meant Heaven and Earth, and it sought to express the logic of the remaining six trigrams as footwork.
‘Like this, that is.’
He slowly stepped forward with his left foot.
Swoosh…
Cheon-hwi’s soles stepped on the eight directions.
Deep as a swamp, gentle as water.
Vigorous as fire, fast as thunder.
Swaying like the wind or steadfast like a mountain.
In the blink of an eye, his footwork became colorful. In an instant, dozens of footprints were carved onto the floor where he stood.
Tap.
A moment later, his feet, which had moved stepping in all directions endlessly, stopped.
He furrowed his brow while looking at the martial arts manual.
Because his internal energy was lacking, he could not unfold it until the end, but upon reaching the end, the Eight Trigrams would blend into one.
Thus creating true Heaven and Earth and completing the Jade Ring.
This was exactly the Jade Ring Wondrous Step that he knew.
But the oral formulas written in the martial arts manual had their middle parts lost.
What remained were heaven and earth.
And only three trigrams, fire, thunder, and wind, remained.
So how would it be.
‘It became a half-baked footwork that purely pursues only speed.’
But even so, was it fast?
That was not the case either.
The original Jade Ring Wondrous Step was much faster.
But on top of that, since the changes that originally existed were gone, it was not free either.
‘How did that old woman unfold such a Jade Ring Wondrous Step after reading this?’
A question that left him with no choice but to tilt his head dug into his mind.
With only oral formulas whose middle parts were clearly lost, completing the Jade Ring Wondrous Step was a difficult task if it was not him.
But was that old woman a genius like him?
That was not it.
She had only reached the Limitless Realm through unceasing effort, and was someone closer to a mediocre talent than a genius.
Yet she created such a martial art?
It was nonsense.
Questions biting at each other’s tails.
He fell into thought about what had happened, and soon came up with two answers.
‘The oral formulas lost in the martial arts manual were passed down orally, or perhaps in case someone stole the Jade Ring Wondrous Step, they purposely only left behind half-baked oral formulas.’
He shrugged his shoulders.
Sects where martial arts were passed down orally still existed, and there were also places that hid the main oral formulas of martial arts manuals separately like this.
‘Since in the Heavenly Demon Library there are also eccentric martial arts manuals with oral formulas purposely written twisted so that no one but themselves can learn them.’
Furrowing his eyebrows, he stared at the library.
Countless martial arts manuals.
Looking at it, it was unknown how many among those many books had lost their oral formulas like the Jade Ring Wondrous Step.
‘Even so, it would be useless to me.’
He calmly placed the martial arts manual back in its original spot, and rolled his eyes.
“Then should I read the next one?”
Afterwards, he pulled out the book placed next to the Jade Ring Wondrous Step with an interested gaze.
“Hmm, this is…”
After placing the Jade Ring Wondrous Step held in his hand into its original spot, he grabbed the book next to it.
Like that, he opened the book again and fell into the contents inside it.
Like that, a long time passed.
Meanwhile, Hyeon-cheong, who was correcting the books placed on the desk, stood up.
“The sun is setting today as well.”
The sun was slowly hanging on the ridge of the mountain.
The sky that was gradually being dyed red.
The sunset was slowly wrapping around the Mount Hua Sect, emitting beautiful colors.
While looking at the scenery like that.
He jumped up from his seat.
Due to correcting, he had momentarily forgotten.
The fact that Cheon-hwi, who had entered early at dawn, had not come out.
He hurriedly climbed the stairs. Soon, he arrived at the third floor, and his footsteps stopped.
Cheon-hwi, who was sitting on the floor, was absorbed in the martial arts manual held in his hand.
“…He was starving for martial arts.”
A bitter smile hovered around his mouth.
Then, he reflected on his firm resolve.
‘Junior Brother. Although I could not be of help at that time, if Cheon-hwi wishes to learn martial arts, I will teach him everything I have learned throughout my entire life.’
Hyeon-cheong’s resolve was a surprising thing.
It was a fact known only to those of the Hyeon generation, but in terms of martial prowess, he was a master at the top even within the Mount Hua Sect. The reason such a person became the Guild Leader of the Ten Thousand Scenery Pavilion was due to the reason his youngest Junior Brother, Hyeon-gang, lost his life.
Hyeon-gang had perished together with the master of the White Ghost Castle, the Exterminating Broken Sword.
The Mount Hua Sect wanted to take revenge.
But they could not.
The Murim Alliance centered around the Nine Great Sects and One Gang.
The Flying Heaven Society, created by the gathering of the Eight Great Families and the sects caught between Orthodox and Demonic.
And the Four Black Alliances formed by the gathering of the Demonic Faction and the Black Way.
It was an era of the world divided into three, in other words, the Three Hegemons of the Nine Provinces.
And the White Ghost Castle was one of the Six Emperor Gates that supported the Four Black Alliances.
But if the two sects, which were the backbones of the Murim Alliance and the Four Black Alliances, clashed, war between the two giant factions would naturally spread, and it was certain that the balance that had maintained the Central Plains for a long time would be shattered due to it.
In a way, a choice for the greater good.
However, Hyeon-cheong was shocked.
How would it have been if it were Wudang or Shaolin.
They would have immediately risked war.
It was passed over because it was the Mount Hua Sect.
If the might of this sect was like the past, it was certain they would never have received such treatment.
Therefore, he cooped himself up in the Ten Thousand Scenery Pavilion.
Because everything was due to the fact that an absolute master did not emerge from this sect.
So he intended to dig into the martial arts in the Ten Thousand Scenery Pavilion and revive the martial arts of the Mount Hua Sect that were lost or scattered in the past.
Like that, he stayed in the Ten Thousand Scenery Pavilion for eight years, dedicating himself while correcting the martial arts manuals.
Yet he was taking an interest.
In Cheon-hwi, who was incredibly frail.
‘Because it is a difficult task to become a master with that body, teaching him martial arts enough to protect his body will be sufficient.’
Of course, his interest was not expectation but pity.
Thud.
Just in time, Cheon-hwi closed his book.
“Hwi-ya, it is time to close now.”
“I under… stand.”
He smiled while looking at Cheon-hwi, who was looking at the library as if it were a shame. Soon, Cheon-hwi turned his body and went down the stairs.
A moment later, Hyeon-cheong, who saw Cheon-hwi exiting the Ten Thousand Scenery Pavilion over the railing, organized the bookcase labeled lightweight movement arts.
Tap.
In the midst of that, his gaze fixed on the floor.
Footprints were overlapping haphazardly.
“Hoho, he was restless after reading a martial arts manual for the first time.”
The image of Cheon-hwi, who would have been excited by the joy of reading a martial arts manual, flickered in his mind.
Hyeon-cheong, who smiled with gratification for a while like that, passed by the spot.
Without realizing that within it lay the mysterious true essence of the Jade Ring Wondrous Step, the forgotten peerless martial art he had desired so much.
* * *
Tap…
Cheon-hwi closed the book again once more.
‘Next.’
Four days had already passed.
In the meantime, Cheon-hwi had been continuously rummaging through and reading the third floor of the Ten Thousand Scenery Pavilion, but he still had not read most of it.
If it were his former self, it would have been an unbelievable thing.
Because he possessed outstanding comprehension that acquired all of the true essence, not to mention the contents of the martial arts manual, upon reading it once.
However, there was a reason he could not do so.
After skillfully heading back to the bookshelf, he pulled out a martial arts manual and opened it.
Tsk tsk, this one is a mess too.
Jade Maiden Pure Heart Sword Art.
A completely different interpretation was written for a sword art that was unfolded centering on yin energy.
‘What? The Jade Maiden Pure Heart Sword Art is an advanced sword art of the Lady’s Sword?’
He shook his head from side to side.
The properties of the two were distinctively different.
Rather than a sword art, the Lady’s Sword was a sword art with no practicality learned to temper the physical body, differing in trajectory from the Jade Maiden Pure Heart Sword Art, which was unfolded by transforming yin energy.
Whoever wrote it, it was absurd.
‘Again?’
“Phew.”
He closed the martial arts manual with a sigh.
There were many martial arts manuals written incorrectly like this.
Because of that, it took time to trace back the martial arts one by one and grasp the problems.
Thud.
He put the Jade Maiden Pure Heart Sword Art back.
At least he could lightly pass over new martial arts he did not know at all while reading them with interest.
However, like this, he already knew or had experienced a few martial arts.
Therefore, he found himself unknowingly comparing and examining them strictly.
“It is completely wrong.”
Shaking his head with a dissatisfied expression, he picked up the martial arts manual placed slanted right next to the Jade Maiden Pure Heart Sword Art.
“Falling Blossom Sword Art?”
Finding the martial arts manual of a sword art he had only heard of through rumors in the past, he opened the book with interested eyes.
While continuously reading the martial arts manual with concentration, he naturally raised his right hand and clenched his fist as if he were gripping a sword.
“This part is a bit regrettable, isn’t it? For this form, wouldn’t withdrawing rather than extending straight out be better in terms of power?”
He extended his right hand straight out.
Whoosh…
His small, fern-like hand shot out like lightning, and a sound erupted as the air tore.
Bang…
“When unfolded like this, it is powerful and sharp, yet they interpreted this like this? Is this the Mount Hua Sect that I knew?”
The more he read the martial arts manuals placed in the Ten Thousand Scenery Pavilion, the more questions sprang up.
The Mount Hua Sect he knew was a place counted among the top even within the Nine Great Sects and One Gang.
One that did not fall behind even when compared to Wudang and Shaolin.
But what was this?
There were only martial arts so shoddy it was hard to believe they were martial arts of such a Mount Hua Sect.
At least the martial arts representing the Mount Hua Sect, such as the Twenty-Four Movements Plum Blossom Sword Art or the Floating Dark Fragrance, were flawless and outstanding peerless arts.
To the point where they would not be pushed back even when compared to the top-tier demonic peerless arts in the Heavenly Demon Cult.
But those were only a minority.
The majority were in this state.
Phew, this is why the Sect Leader is only at that level.
The level of the Sect Leader’s martial prowess was understandable.
No matter how outstanding advanced martial arts were, what use was it if the foundational martial arts, which were the supporting pillars, did not back them up.
Only when the garden to sow seeds in was good, would the fruits bear abundantly.
But since they had made such a barren garden, no matter how good the seeds they tried sowing, there would not be much to gain.
I would rather change it myself. If I learn most of the martial arts here as written in the martial arts manuals, there will not even be a proper place to use them.
While clicking his tongue and shaking his head.
Hm?
His eyes went to an old book placed at the very highest spot of the bookshelf.
Demon Extermination Sword Art.
His hand moved on its own at the domineering martial art name that did not suit the Daoist faction.
He immediately opened the martial arts manual.
Oho? It reverses demonic energy?
He chuckled.
Demonic energy was an absolute energy.
It could never be defied.
Yet it twists demonic energy? Nonsense…? Hm? What is this? This seems possible? Could it be…
Swish…
As if bewitched, he became thoroughly absorbed in the contents.
Tap.
While looking at the empty air, he closed the martial arts manual.
A deep lingering impression remained.
Especially the final sword form.
“Is this guy crazy? Offering one’s true origin qi to aim for a single strike?”
A move of mutual destruction offering one’s life.
It was a truly spectacular sword form.
Admiration naturally arose for the sword art of destroying evil written before it, but he shuddered at the viciousness in the final move.
However, as he read, he nodded.
It could only be unfolded once, but it was an incredible form.
To the point where he might accidentally suffer from it once in the past if he were careless.
“I probably wouldn’t die, but I could get injured… By the way, who is the person who created this martial art? Unless they abhorred the Demonic Path terribly, they would not even be able to think of creating such a crazy sword art.”
To find the person who created the Demon Extermination Sword Art, he closely scanned the martial arts manual.
Then, he discovered it.
“Sang… un?!”
He glared his two eyes in bewilderment.
If it was Sang-un, wasn’t that old Daoist bastard!
Recalling the old Daoist who had tormented him endlessly, Cheon-hwi urgently scanned the martial arts manual once again.
The book was quite worn out.
As if a long time had passed.
…W-what is going on here?
His hands began to tremble.
The panic was only brief, he quickly sought out Hyeon-cheong to resolve this situation.
Soon, he found him writing a martial arts manual as usual in the corner of the Ten Thousand Scenery Pavilion.
“Martial Uncle.”
At Cheon-hwi calling him, Hyeon-cheong let go of the brush held in his hand with anticipation.
“What is the matter?”
Hyeon-cheong calmly organized his thoughts.
How he should teach him martial arts.
However, his thoughts fell into a labyrinth at Cheon-hwi’s following words.
“Do you know… a person… called Immortal Sang-un…?”
Cheon-hwi’s face distorted.
‘To think I have to call that eccentric and foul old Daoist a Immortal.’
At that time, Hyeon-cheong tilted his head.
“Immortal Sang-un?”
After furrowing his face for a moment and sinking into deep thought, he showed a joyful expression upon seeing the martial arts manual held in Cheon-hwi’s hand.
“Ah! You must be talking about Ancestor Immortal Sang-un, who was the twenty-third Sect Leader of this sect. As for the Ancestor, three hundred years ago when this sect was shaking with its greatest fame…”
Hyeon-cheong’s explanation continuously went on.
However, Cheon-hwi could not hear it.
Because one phrase among his words had dug into his head and was rummaging through it.
“T-three hundred years ago?!”
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