The Martial Genius Who Remembers Everything Chapter 38

[ … words ]

***

-I picked up a sword for the first time at fifteen and realized the Do (Way/Tao) at thirty.

-I established the Do as the root of all things, so I named that study the Tae-eul True Scripture (Tae-eul-jin-gyeong).

-To have my mastery confirmed, I stepped into the Gang-ho and received nine confirmations.

-By the time the nine duels ended, those who wanted to learn the Do were lined up endlessly, but there was no one to whom I could pass on the Do.

-In a mountain in An-hui, I met a child who had lost his parents and was able to pass on what I had learned.

-The famous sages of the Gang-ho visited and asked me to step forward for the sake of the chaotic world.

-I heard that the one who originally wanted to receive the tenth confirmation was carrying out his will in the Gang-ho.

-Learning is something one learns and achieves for oneself, and since I could not agree with his will, I stepped out with them.

-The depth of the mastery of the tenth person I faced was also not to be taken lightly. However, the moment I finally broke his learning and blocked his advancement, with a sound like heaven collapsing, I was trapped in an Immeasurable (Mu-ryang) maze.

-The tenth person I faced said that the famous sages of the Gang-ho had betrayed us.

-I originally had no intention of harming others with my teachings, but I wondered if my mastery had appeared too threatening to them.

-The Immeasurable maze was an unknown thing that could not be broken even if my strength and the tenth person I faced were combined. We were in a situation where we were waiting for death here.

-As we spent infinite time together in the Immeasurable maze, there were parts where our wills matched. I realized that this was the Return of Ten Thousand Flows to One Origin (Man-ryu-gwi-jong).

-In the place where our common wills met, we ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) created one martial art.

-Last night in my dream, I remembered the disciple left alone. It pained my heart that I had not left any teachings for that child.

-If someone sees this writing, I will consider you a fated person (Yeon-ja). You, learn my teachings and achieve what you intend, but if the Tae-eul Sect remains in your world, pass on my things. That is my last wish.

Reading the personal notes that the Tae-eul Sword Emperor had written on half of the floor of the cavity, I could not stop the flowing tears.

Even though anyone else might have resented someone or burned with a desire for revenge, his writing was incomparably calm, and that point made my heart ache even more.

The story of the disciple repeated several times, and the anxiety and worry about whether he was suffering difficulties because he had not given teachings occupied the largest part.

Looking at the martial arts the Taesajo had written down, as I expected, except for the Tae-eul Heart Method and the Small Heaven Sword Art, they were not the martial arts of the Tae-eul Sect.

The disciple left alone had continued the sect amidst all sorts of disgrace and persecution for five hundred years to wait for the missing master.

I was ashamed of myself, who had unreservedly resented the Tae-eul Sect in my previous life.

Why are you forcibly dragging such a powerless sect, wouldn’t it be better to just die than to live so cowardly?

It was a thought from my immature days, but I could not have hated myself more than at that moment.

“It was five hundred years ago. A whopping five hundred years.”

Taesajo had agonized and worried about the disciple he could not meet during his lifetime until just before he died, and that disciple had waited for his master for five hundred years.

“I will serve you.”

The floor was full of notes in the form of a diary, and the walls were detailed with the martial arts of the time.

It was a martial art that had been waiting to be passed on for five hundred years.

[Tae-eul Heart Method]

[Small Heaven Sword Art]

[Great Heaven Sword Art]

[Twin Heaven Sword Connection]

[Tae-eul True Scripture]

[Ten Thousand Seas Heaven Earth Sword Connection]

[Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist]

[Tae-eul Eighty Thousand Divine Steps]

The Tae-eul Heart Method and the Small Heaven Sword Art were teachings for beginners.

Here, the Great Heaven Sword Art included martial arts classics that were not originally in the Tae-eul Sect, and once you completed the entry, you would enter the path of a traveler who realizes the root of the Do (Tao) from then on.

The beginning of that was the [Tae-eul True Scripture].

The martial arts classic, which pursued a deeper realization than the Heart Method, was pursuing a more profound state than any martial art I had ever seen.

-If you realize the Tae-eul True Scripture, you will be able to realize the harmony of heaven and earth.

It contained such high-level teachings that the story the Tae-eul Sword Emperor wrote confidently did not look like a lie.

The other martial arts also lacked nothing.

The [Ten Thousand Seas Heaven Earth Sword Connection] was the sword art book that created the legend of the Ten Thousand Swords, and the [Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist] was not inferior to it.

Especially since I had tasted the martial arts of the Nine Sects and One Clan (Gu-pa-il-bang) and the Five Great Families (O-dae-se-ga) once, I could be confident that the [Tae-eul Eighty Thousand Divine Steps] would never be inferior to the footwork of the Nine Sects and One Clan.

“It is a pity that there is no movement technique (Sin-beop).”

That regret was momentary; I thought about what I, who had inherited the succession of the Tae-eul Sword Emperor, could do.

I dared not imagine it.

Thinking of how the Blue Sky Divine Sword (Tae-cheong-sin-geom) dominated the Murim with one sword, and how the Black Lion Kwak Gung destroyed that Murim again with two fists, I could not even imagine how the future would change.

After examining it for a long time, the middle-aged man with black hair on the opposite side caught my eye.

Unlike the Tae-eul Sword Emperor, he maintained his black hair and skin.

I was so amazed by his bizarre appearance that I approached him.

Like the Tae-eul Sword Emperor, he had introduced himself with eight characters.

Dark Heaven Earth (Am-heuk-cheon-ji)

Hell Demon Emperor (Ji-ok-ma-je)

The person referred to as the Dark Heaven (Am-cheon) was the Third Heavenly Demon of the Demonic Cult who had disappeared five hundred years ago.

“Is it them?”

Blue Emperor Divine Sword (Chang-je-sin-geom), Nam-gung Tae-ha.

The current head of the Nam-gung Family and an expert whose name was listed among the Ten Great Swordsmen of the world.

It was a voice that did not contain internal energy, but Yang Gun-baek and the beggar kneeling before him trembled all over as if thunder and lightning were striking.

“I am Yang Gun-baek of the Hao-mun Akyang branch.”

“I am the branch leader of the Beggar Sect Akyang branch.”

The beggar who identified himself as the branch leader of the Beggar Sect tried his best not to lose his dignity while being afraid.

The Blue Emperor Divine Sword continued to speak, not caring whether they did or not.

“You guys sold the treasure map, right?”

Hao-mun and the Beggar Sect.

As both were information organizations, they should not have revealed their appearances, but they could not be stubborn in the face of what had happened now.

Five thousand.

A whopping number of five thousand people had entered to find the Mi-ta-seong-su and had not come out.

Below the valley of the Spirit Plateau (Ma-ryeong-go-won), dozens of sects had pitched tents and gathered.

Even though there were countless people, there was no noisy sound among them. Instead, a heavy tension that would not be strange if it exploded at any moment was pressing down on them.

Their families and friends were inside there.

And because no one knew their life or death, they were holding back that anger.

“From the beginning, we only sold the map to guide the way, and it was their choice to enter.”

The Akyang branch leader of the Beggar Sect was pretending to be bold.

Watching his hands trembling, Yang Gun-baek could not help but feel pity.

“So, you have no fault?”

“No matter how much it is the Nam-gung Family, you cannot treat the members of the Beggar Sect like this.”

“What did you say?”

“We only did our job as an information organization.”

“However, you did not properly inform them of what kind of danger was inside.”

“That is something no one…….”

“Then you did not perform your job properly.”

“What is that…… Keo-heuk.”

The moment the Beggar Sect member inhaled as if gasping, he poured out a whole basin of blood.

“Kkeo-eok, kkeo-eok.”

Before he knew it, a clear fist mark remained on the Danjeon area of the Beggar Sect member.

In an instant, without even knowing when, he had destroyed the Beggar Sect member’s Danjeon with a single move.

Gulp.

Yang Gun-baek swallowed his saliva. If he was the Akyang branch leader of the Beggar Sect, he was at least a first-class warrior. The fact that his Danjeon was destroyed without even a chance to react meant that the skill of the Blue Emperor Divine Sword, which the people of the Gang-ho evaluated, was no different from saying it was underestimated.

“Go and bring the deputy branch leader of the Beggar Sect Akyang branch.”

“Yes.”

As one of the Nam-gung Family warriors dragged the Beggar Sect member away, only Yang Gun-baek remained in the venue.

“I will ask. Did you sell the map?”

“Pl-please just spare my life.”

“Did you mark that a formation was deployed there?”

“Yes. I certainly marked it.”

“What about the identity of that formation?”

“That is…… even with our investigation, we could not know.”

“You mean you sold the map irresponsibly.”

Yang Gun-baek was on the verge of going crazy. Who in the world would even think of entering the formation while selling a map? If they could enter the formation in the first place, they would not make and sell a treasure map, but would take the spiritual medicine or treasure themselves.

“I, I am sorry. Our sect did not have the capital or personnel to study formation techniques…….”

“Is it certain that the Mi-ta-seong-su is inside?”

“…….”

In fact, that was not certain either. If it was there, it was good, and if it wasn’t, it couldn’t be helped.

But wasn’t it that we had no choice but to believe the person who testified to make the treasure map?

“Y, yes, the person who went inside clearly said there was Mi-ta-seong-su.”

“The youngest daughter, a direct descendant of the Nam-gung Family, went inside there.”

“…….”

“And it has already been over a month since we lost contact. But you say you don’t even know if there is something called Mi-ta-seong-su inside. Is there any reason for me to keep you alive?”

Gulp.

Yang Gun-baek thought that the word ‘you’ that the Blue Emperor Divine Sword was saying did not just refer to the Akyang branch.

Wasn’t he a person who could destroy the entire Hao-mun if only his anger could be vented?

Yang Gun-baek desperately racked his brains. And he said in a desperate mood.

“Th-there is someone who saw Yong So-ah!!”

“……What does that have to do with anything?”

“Yong So-ah, he clearly entered inside to secure the Mi-ta-seong-su. But three weeks later, he was witnessed by our sect members eating at an inn in Akyang.”

He said a sect member, but it was a waiter.

A man looking like a beggar came in, ate dumplings and vegetable porridge and drank Juyeopcheong (bamboo leaf liquor) like a glutton, left one gold coin, and left. The waiter felt something strange and reported it to the Hao-mun.

“Are you sure it was Yong So-ah?”

He said the Tae-geuk pattern, the symbol of the Wudang Sect, was also engraved on the sword hilt, so he speculated that it was Yong So-ah.

Because the Seon-pung-geom (Whirlwind Sword), the secret treasure of the Wudang Sect, could only be used by Yong So-ah.

It wasn’t certain, but he couldn’t dare to say it was just a guess. Yang Gun-baek did not have the confidence to withstand Nam-gung Tae-ha’s wrath. In that case, it was a situation where he had to make a gamble, not a gamble, as an information dealer.

“Yes, I think he probably came out of that formation as a representative to ask for help from the Murim Alliance.”

The Blue Emperor Divine Sword, who was thinking for a moment, issued a threat.

“From today, you bring all the information related to the inside from here.”

“A, all right.”

As the Blue Emperor Divine Sword issued an order to expel guests, Yang Gun-baek left the seat with a dizzy heart on how to request help from the main headquarters.

Nam-gung Jin-myeong approached with a dark complexion.

“It is all my fault. Father.”

“You good-for-nothing. If you were that unreliable, how could that young child even think of entering that death trap!”

“I am sorry.”

The face of Nam-gung Tae-ha, who was shouting, calmed down quickly.

Would his own sorrow of losing a granddaughter reach the sorrow of a father who lost his child?

“If Yong So-ah went to the Murim Alliance, the Murim Alliance would not be unaware of this matter. Visit the Akyang branch and find out what happened.”

“Yes. I will be guarding here. So, wouldn’t it be better for Father to return to the family?”

At the sudden words, Nam-gung Tae-ha frowned.

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“They say the movements of the Blue Sky Merchant Group (Chang-gung-sang-dan) are unusual. It seems they are thinking of moving to the Elder Council.”

“Damn it! Damn them!”

As the Blue Emperor Divine Sword raised his energy, the warriors and servants working in the area sat down with a thud as if their calves were trembling all at once.

“This guy Sang-won cannot distinguish between poop and pee.”

In the first place, what was the reason Nam-gung Seon-hwa set out to find the Mi-ta-seong-su?

As the pressure from the collateral branches weakened the power of the direct lineage and it became difficult to receive help from the family for the Murim Academy exam, she set out to solve it herself, and that was how this mess happened, wasn’t it?

He himself had been preparing the Crushing Formula for the Blue Sky Great Connection Sword Art (Chang-gung-dae-yeon-geom-beop), which was the main sword art of the collateral branches, as a way to suppress the collateral branches, but he was far short of time.

Moreover, if he did it wrong, there was room for it to be interpreted as denying the legitimacy of the family, so he could not even dare to receive help from others.

The Blue Emperor Divine Sword looked at his grandson, Nam-gung San.

“What happened to the child you mentioned?”

One day, Nam-gung San, who went out saying he would get back the entry plaque that Je-gal So-myeong had given to another child, had returned empty-handed, but he was quite in a good mood.

Because a child with such great pride came in with a happy face even though he did not achieve what he wanted, he could not suppress his curiosity and asked, and he had just heard the story that the child used a sword art similar to the sword art he was researching.

“I sent someone to find out, but they said he had gone out for work and had not returned yet.”

“Why did you send someone for such a thing, you should have gone yourself.”

“I am sorry. Because of Seon-hwa, I could not dare to go.”

“Keu-heum…….”

While things were turning urgently, with even Seon-hwa missing, no one among the direct family was keeping their senses properly.

As if to mock such a situation, the collateral branches were moving at the moment when the direct family was most desperate.

The Blue Emperor Divine Sword said, looking at Nam-gung Jin-myeong.

“I will go alone. You stay here with them.”

“Father, you cannot go alone.”

“Do you not trust this father?”

Far from it.

Rather, he was worried that if he did not go with the warriors and the collateral branches made their final provocation, the Blue Emperor Divine Sword would draw his sword.

“You, watch the situation here, and if Seon-hwa does not come out in the end, …do not leave those responsible in the world.”

“……Father.”

“If those we thought of as one family are using the family’s misfortune as leverage to carry out their work, they are no longer family. I will clean up those who are not family.”

At Nam-gung Tae-ha’s words, Nam-gung Jin-myeong thought that a blood wind might blow within the Nam-gung Family.

-This master is the Third Heavenly Demon of the Great Heavenly Demon Cult (Dae-cheon-ma-sin-gyo). There is no other way to express myself other than this.

-From the beginning of my memory, I was a believer of the Cult, and I finally rose to the position of Heavenly Demon.

And under the teachings of the Demon God (Ma-sin), I stepped into the Gang-ho to unify the world.

-I was trapped in a strange formation with a damn frustrating guy. At first, I laughed at the guy who was betrayed after standing in front of hypocrites, but knowing that I was also trapped, I despaired.

I rubbed my eyes for a moment while reading the diary. It was definitely ‘damn’ that I saw correctly.

He said he had risen to the Heavenly Demon in the Demonic Cult, and even in the last diary he left in his life, he did not stop swearing, and at the same time, unlike the Tae-eul Sword Emperor, there were many parts that were cut off in the middle, perhaps because he repeated writing and stopping.

-The damn formation was something I had never seen in my life, and even this master, who had received the protection of the Demon God, could not break it.

-Following the heart-image training that the guy does, I gained one realization. Thinking about it, I felt like I had also been hit by the traitors of the Cult.

Thanks to the damn Taoist guy, I learned things I didn’t need to know.

-Seeing the guy who missed his disciple, I thought it was funny. Why did he come crawling out here instead of raising the disciple he should have raised?

This master raised a whopping 9 disciples. But I was betrayed by all 9 of them. It makes me angry just thinking about it again.

-I had nothing to do, and the only person I could meet was the Taoist guy, so we talked about this and that.

The guy also knew about the laws of the world that the Demon God had created. I decided to evangelize him. It didn’t go well.

-When I created a martial art with him, I thought I wanted to leave something of my own too.

Because the Heavenly Demon Scripture (Cheon-ma-gyeong) started from the root of the Cult, so it was not mine.

-I created a martial art to punish the disciples who betrayed me. It is a thing that I like very much, even in the eyes of me who has already reached the state of the Heavenly Demon.

I named this thing the Reverse Demon Scripture (Yeok-ma-gyeong). I hope the guy who discovers this thing will block the path of my disciples.

-Whoever you are, think of yourself as having received the Demon God’s blessing when you see this writing and dedicate yourself to the Heavenly Demon Cult.

[Reverse Demon Scripture]

[Heaven-Under-Alone-Walking Divine Movement]

The Reverse Demon Scripture was a study to suppress demonic arts (Ma-gong).

A martial art that suppresses demonic arts by attacking the parts that will be the reverse scales (Yeok-rin) among the characteristics of demonic arts that are based on the Heavenly Demon Scripture.

It was a study that could not be believed to have been created by the Third Heavenly Demon of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

What caught my eye more than that was the Heaven-Under-Alone-Walking Divine Movement (Cheon-ha-dok-haeng-sin), which seemed to have been created by the Tae-eul Sword Emperor and the Hell Demon Emperor joining hands.

A divine movement with an arrogant name that says there is no one in the world to follow once you run.

The martial art hidden inside was that the divine movement itself was a martial art with one tyrannical destructive power.

If you step forward, there is nothing that can block you, and when you step back, there is nothing that can catch you.

After putting all the martial arts into my head like that, I approached the Hell Demon Emperor.

It was because I felt amazed that he maintained his form even though five hundred years had passed.

Tuk.

The moment I touched him.

His body slowly turned into powder and disappeared, and a red ring was placed in its place.

The characters embossed inside the red bracelet with a phoenix engraved on it told me what the identity of this bracelet was.

[Heavenly Demon Supreme Ring]

While I was doubting whether this bracelet had a similar appearance to the Blue Dragon Ring I was wearing on my left arm.

From behind, the figure of the Tae-eul Sword Emperor disappeared with a pa-seuseu sound.

After I performed the Nine Bows ceremony to the Tae-eul Sword Emperor and a nod to the Hell Demon Emperor, I pulled out the Black Dragon Sword and stood in the middle of the cavity.

“Great Heaven Sword Art.”

The Great Heaven Sword Art is a sword art of phantom sword (Hwan-geom) and transformation sword (Byeon-geom).

I could finally realize why the Small Heaven Sword Art had a fast speed while having the trajectory of a fast sword.

Originally, the Small Heaven Sword Art and the Great Heaven Sword Art were merely bridgeheads for learning the Ten Thousand Seas Heaven Earth Sword Connection.

Hoo-wung.

Hoo-wung.

Phantom swords and transformation swords scatter in all directions.

As the Small Heaven Sword Art combines in between them, it becomes impossible to know which is the real sword and which is the phantom sword.

I, who initially thought I would just learn the Great Heaven Sword Art and leave, poured days into the Tae-eul True Scripture and the Ten Thousand Seas Heaven Earth Sword Connection.

I had completely forgotten the very thought of having to go outside.

And when I had just finished the entry to the Tae-eul True Scripture and the Ten Thousand Seas Heaven Earth Sword Connection.

Chwa-rereu-reu.

Cha-cha-cha-cha.

Three swords occupy all directions and turn the intangible opponent into powder.

As I increased the influence of the sword further, the swords spread in all directions, erasing the martial arts classics on the floor and walls one by one.

There is no phantom sword among the three swords.

Every sword is real and moving on its own.

I added a phantom sword to that.

The three swords increase to six.

The dizzyingly moving swords sweep the walls and floors once again, erasing the diary and martial arts classics of the Hell Demon Emperor.

Since the real sword increases threefold, it is not a real sword.

The Tae-eul Sword Emperor attached the title ‘Ten Thousand Swords’ to this unique sword art.

A sword that is a phantom but not a phantom, and a sword that is real but not real.

I looked around and examined the scene I had created.

The letters that were densely written on the walls and floors disappeared at the tip of the sword without a single one remaining.

Just understanding the beginning of the Tae-eul True Scripture and the Ten Thousand Seas Heaven Earth Sword Connection had this much ability.

If the opponent were to face this sword, they would not be able to distinguish which is the real one and which is the illusion.

“It is truly a martial art worthy of being called Ten Thousand Swords Under Heaven.”

“…….”

Nam-gung Seon-hwa turned her head and looked at Seong Mo-ran.

Two hollow cheeks, sunken eye sockets, and eyelids blinking without strength.

She squeezed out her last strength to speak.

“Sorry…… unnie…….”

The slowly moving pupils of Seong Mo-ran, her dry lips that had parted several times, speak.

“No……. It’s okay…….”

They were talking, squeezing out their last strength while dying now.

About a month after being trapped in the cavity. There were no more people coming in.

And since there were no more people coming in, all the food ran out.

They had managed drinking water with the water flowing from the cracks in the cavity, but the moss growing in the cavity was far from enough for four thousand people’s meals.

Fights broke out over food, and when even that food ran out, one by one, they stopped fighting.

Those with weak internal energy were dying one by one, and even those who remained predicted that their lives would not last long.

“Really…… I’m sorry…….”

Nam-gung Seon-hwa felt more sorry for Seong Mo-ran, who was trapped here because of her, than for her own death.

A person who approached her first when she had no older sister, and who readily stepped forward for her difficulties.

She dragged such a person into this death trap.

“Let’s not…… give up…….”

Seong Mo-ran had not lost hope until the end.

Is she trusting Yong So-ah and the Murim Alliance who left first?

Or does she think someone else will break through that formation and come in?

But strangely, Seong Mo-ran’s gaze was directed to the opposite side of the exit.

Although she did not speak, she was waiting for that man who had been dragged into the Soul-Extinguishing Formation due to the fight with Yong So-ah.

The person Seong Mo-ran yearned for.

What was she expecting from him, who didn’t even look special other than looking intelligent?

Suddenly, Nam-gung Seon-hwa also thought of him and looked toward the Soul-Extinguishing Formation where he had been sucked in.

Kkumul-kkumul.

Was it because she had been starving for too long?

From some time ago, illusions began to appear.

Sometimes it appeared as meat, and sometimes it appeared as the entrance to the Nam-gung Family.

The illusion now appeared as a figure cutting through the Soul-Extinguishing Formation.

‘It’s cruel.’

She thought the illusion might be driving her into despair with what she wanted most right now.

In that illusion, a man appeared.

A man who looked devastated like them, but with eyes flashing with brilliant light, and whose steps were dignified, albeit slow.

It was the man Seong Mo-ran had missed the most.

Nam-gung Seon-hwa turned her head, thinking she would tease Seong Mo-ran.

Seong Mo-ran’s two eyes widened.

‘Is unnie also seeing it?’

When she turned her head toward the illusion again, the illusion approached this side.

Then, he spoke to them.

“Are you okay?”

Jin So-woon had returned.