The Martial Genius Who Remembers Everything Chapter 68

[ … words ]

***

The Murim Alliance was formed with the emergence and formation of the Demonic Cult 500 years ago.

The Murim Alliance members of that time who remained after defeating the Demonic Cult left the Murim Alliance as evidence of their resolution.

Interests began to gather around the Murim Alliance in the Jianghu, which had no master, and the Murim Alliance achieved rapid growth.

However, the influx of talent that had to accompany rapid growth was tied to blood, geography, and connections, which created a downward leveling. Accordingly, 300 years ago, they established the Murim Academy and implemented the training of talents to protect the order of the Murim Alliance and the Jianghu.

That was how the Murim Academy became a symbol of success for martial artists.

Those who entered the Murim Alliance through the Murim Academy were treated as executives, and those who entered the Murim Alliance as low-level warriors found it impossible to be promoted higher than an Assistant Guild Leader.

Entering the Murim Alliance as a low-level warrior with limited promotion was an unbearable humiliation for prestigious sects.

The entrance exam competition that started that way began to endlessly raise the level of the test, and from some point on, people began calling the Murim Academy’s regular exam the “Hell Regular Exam.”

“Do you understand? What kind of exam were you about to take?”

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

I said to the guys.

“Go back. I won’t stop you.”

If I wanted to protect all the children of the Tae-eul-mun, I needed more people from the Murim Academy.

But now, they had inherited the true teachings of the Tae-eul Sword Emperor, and various conditions had been added.

There was no need for everyone to risk their lives to take the Murim Academy’s regular exam.

However, despite my persuasion, the Gold, Silver, and Bronze brothers did not back down.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t say such absurd things.”

“What kind of resolve do you think we endured that training with?”

Unlike my worries, their fighting spirit was still burning brightly.

“Even if it’s just out of spite, we’ll follow you.”

“If you leave us behind, we’ll chase you to death.”

“Me too!”

Well, if I left them behind after they worked so hard, I didn’t know what those three brothers might do to me later.

“You’re confident you won’t regret it?”

“The disciples of the Tae-eul-mun said not to regret.”

“Who did?”

“The Great Senior.”

“…….”

Why were they saying words that I, who had absolute memory, couldn’t remember?

“Great Senior, but why is it a mountain bandit stronghold?”

I answered Dong-ryong’s question.

“That’s related to the number of applicants.”

“Applicants?”

The number of people the Murim Academy selected in one session was only 892. Including the 108 people selected from the 108 Peaks, it was a total of 1,000.

The number of people applying to the Murim Academy was approximately 200,000 to 300,000. Including the number of warriors they brought with them, it reached 1 million.

The Murim Alliance created the first gate with the idea of reducing the number of applicants while dealing with civil complaints coming into the Murim Alliance through this opportunity.

“The number of mountain bandit strongholds designated by the Murim Alliance is 4,000 nationwide. These are all strongholds that have the potential to grow into large scales, excluding the 72 strongholds of the Green Forest represented by the Green Forest Alliance.”

The strongholds belonging to the Green Forest Alliance were mostly bandits from the dark faction who had learned martial arts. They were closer to a gang than a stronghold.

“Then, are you saying that only 4,000 people pass the first gate?”

“Yeah.”

It was truly an exquisite move.

Those without decent martial arts, those without influence, and those without strength would fall at the first test.

At the same time, when the test was completed, the strongholds that had been troubling the Murim Alliance would disappear at once.

The Murim Alliance was sitting still, holding exams, and solving problems.

“Then, isn’t it the time to be like this?”

Eun-ho was quick-witted as expected.

I asked with a smile.

“Why?”

“Aren’t we supposed to quickly preempt the weakest stronghold among the 4,000? We have few people as it is.”

“Yeah, let’s go for now.”

I took the guys to Hwaun Mountain.

“Isn’t this Hwaun Mountain? Are there bandit strongholds here?”

“No.”

“Then?”

“There is something you must do before sweeping the bandit stronghold.”

“?”

“Stand in front.”

The three Gold, Silver, and Bronze brothers stood side by side.

“Have you ever learned Haeng-gong (Internal Energy Circulation)?”

Geum-pyo tilted his head.

“Do you mean Haeng-gong?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes.”

“What did you learn?”

“The Kwae-hwa-dang Faction Leader said, ‘Geum-pyo, you must never use Haeng-gong in any situation.'”

“Anything else?”

“Hmm…… Ah! He also said this. ‘If you really have to use it, if it’s really, really unavoidable. If it’s a situation where your life is really, really in danger…… even then, don’t use it.'”

“You learned well.”

“……Hey, no way?”

Haeng-gong was one of the circulation techniques represented along with Ip-gong, Jwa-gong, and Wa-gong.

“You will learn that Haeng-gong anew.”

“……Sa-hyeong (Senior).”

“Why are you acting like that?”

“To tell you one thing, when the Sect Leader sent us, we also had a mission to monitor Sa-hyeong. To definitely stop you if you did something crazy.”

Because the circulation technique represented in the Jianghu Murim was Jwa-gong due to its efficiency and stability, and Haeng-gong was looked down upon because, unlike Jwa-gong, efficiency and stability were not guaranteed.

“Didn’t I tell you? That you would learn it anew.”

“…….”

“Memorize well what I call out.”

I had always reached my limits due to my meager internal energy during my time in the Small Squad.

Enemies pushed in endlessly, and since we had no time to rest, I didn’t even have the leeway to circulate energy.

Without even that weak internal energy, I couldn’t deal with the demonic practitioners who had learned demonic arts.

Most of the Small Squad members were the same.

I created a new Haeng-gong while experiencing the threat of Ju-hwa-ip-ma (Qi deviation) hundreds of times.

‘Thinking about it now, it was truly a crazy thing to do. It was possible because I was prepared to die.’

As the sight of me getting tired in battle gradually disappeared, the Small Squad members started to take interest, and I shared it with them.

The Small Squad members attached the name of my disappeared sect to the Haeng-gong that had no name. It was Tae-eul Haeng-gong.

“Did you memorize it?”

“…….”

Still eyes full of distrust.

I should punish the guys who don’t have trust in their Great Senior, right?

I radiated killing intent toward the three.

“Keuheok!”

“Heup!”

“Keueok!”

The guys’ faces turned pale as if they had seen a ghost, and they bounced off in all directions.

Because the killing intent had become thicker after raising the Tae-eul-jin-gyeong to the extreme using Seon-cheon-ji-gi in the sparring match with Hwa Jeong-san, the guys had faces that looked like their souls were about to leave them.

“Huck, huck, huck. Wh, what is this? Sa-hyeong.”

“Why, why are you doing this.”

“Stand there again.”

In my words, the three brothers started to walk over hesitantly even with footsteps that wouldn’t leave the ground.

“From now on, I will slowly spray killing intent and gradually raise its intensity. Circulate your Haeng-gong.”

The guys started to circulate Haeng-gong with a desperate heart to live.

“How is it?”

“……Huh? It’s getting better?”

I doubled the killing intent.

“How about now?”

“It’s…… okay.”

And I gradually raised the intensity of the killing intent, raising it to half of what it was before.

“How is it now?”

“It’s hard, but…… it’s okay.”

“This is one of the advantages of Haeng-gong.”

One of the effects I gained while creating Tae-eul Haeng-gong was that I could maintain rationality amidst killing intent and demonic energy.

At the same time, Tae-eul Haeng-gong could sensitively feel the threat of Ju-hwa-ip-ma, so it could make one stop circulating energy before falling into Ju-hwa-ip-ma oneself.

“Aha! You mean if I feel like killing intent, I should use this Haeng-gong?”

“What are you talking about? If you’re going to do that, why learn Haeng-gong?”

“Uh…… then…….”

“From now on, circulate Haeng-gong as long as you are awake. When walking, when running, when fighting.”

“Sa-hyeong! Sa-hyeong!”

Dong-ryong raises his hand.

“Why are you doing that?”

“It feels like my whole body is going to twist if I try to move like this?”

“That’s a safety device. If you go beyond that, you enter Ju-hwa-ip-ma. So you must practice carefully and then move slowly.”

“…….”

The three brothers were looking at me like I was a crazy person.

“Why do we have to do this much?”

“First, your internal energy is too meager. If you move through Tae-eul Haeng-gong, although it is weak compared to Jwa-gong, you can steadily collect internal energy little by little. Second, because you have to take parallel exams and training. If the guys I brought with such effort can’t even inherit the true teachings of the Tae-eul Sword Emperor, what would they be used for? Third.”

This was the reason I was passing on Tae-eul Haeng-gong to the guys.

“We only have four of us. And our competitors are close to one million. Do you think we will have time to rest?”

“…….”

“It’s not just the exam. For the Tae-eul-mun, which has weak power, to soar, we will have to fight countless times with countless people. Those who try to trample us will basically number over thousands, and we won’t even have time to rest.”

If the War of Righteous and Demonic Factions breaks out, terrible days without any leeway will continue for several years.

You have to use internal energy while collecting internal energy, and at the same time, maintain mental strength.

The Gold, Silver, and Bronze brothers gulped.

“If we do this…… can we win against the people blocking our path?”

“How do you think I have been winning until now?”

The three brothers’ eyes started to shine brightly.

“Start.”

Then they slowly started to take their feet off. But whether they kept feeling like they were flinching, their movements were slower than a snail, and their brows were furrowed tightly.

“If you don’t want to stay in Anhui Province throughout the Murim Academy exam, you will have to be diligent.”

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t want to sleep on Hwaun Mountain. If you don’t want to do that either, come down quickly. I will be waiting under the mountain.”

I left the guys and headed under the mountain.

I, who had come down under Hwaun Mountain, took out a small note from my sleeve.

-Sohwaru. Gap-room.

When I was checking the rooms at the Hefei branch of the Murim Alliance, someone secretly played a hand trick.

Naturally thinking they were aiming for the money pouch inside my clothes, I grabbed their wrist and twisted it, but the opponent didn’t even scream and opened their palm, and this note was inside.

“To think the contact would come only now. They are measuring quite a bit.”

After robbing Wol-hyang’s tomb in Honam and disposing of the wealth, I requested the ‘Guest’ qualification of the Haomun to Yang Gun-baek.

It was a few months ago that I passed the information of the Beggar’s Sect with that word. Only now has that answer come.

“They must have been waiting for when their ransom was most expensive.”

With the Murim Academy exam, the ransom of the Beggar’s Sect and Haomun rises to the sky.

The Haomun must have known this and postponed the answer to me.

There are three representative taverns in the entertainment district of Hefei.

Manwolru, Johyangru, and Sohwaru.

Among them, the place Gye Cheol-yeong frequented was Johyangru, and the place that was the most expensive of the three and only high-ranking officials visited was Sohwaru.

When I entered Sohwaru, decorated with colorful lanterns and fabrics from the entrance, a woman wearing clothes that revealed her bare skin because the fabric was lacking approached me.

Even seeing my attire, which looked like ordinary martial arts clothes and looked like I had no money no matter how I looked at it, she acted as if it was nothing.

“Are you looking for a Gisaeng (courtesan)?”

“I have an appointment. They told me to come to the Gap-room.”

The basic guest room of Sohwaru is the Jeong-room.

The most basic guest room where one female servant and one male servant are attached to one courtesan per customer.

If it is a Gap-room, four female servants and four male servants are attached, and four courtesans are attached per customer with musicians.

It is a place where only people who can truly waste money can come.

Originally, it is a space that a person like me cannot go to.

But perhaps the woman also knew I was coming, she guided me to the place without delay.

The inside of the room was more pleasant than I thought.

There were no windows, but candles were lit here and there, and there was no miscellaneous furniture.

On one side, an elderly maid and servants were waiting. Although their attire was simple, its texture looked like silk, not ordinary cotton.

The servants and maids of Hongru use many elderly people in preparation for drunken customers touching them. This also had the effect of making the young and pretty appearance of the courtesans stand out more.

“If you wait a moment, they will come.”

There was no courtesan in the room.

The servants and maids were standing with their heads bowed without a word. Even that appearance made me feel luxurious.

‘Is this why people come and spend money?’

A while later, a woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties entered the room with four warriors with tremendous momentum.

The beauty of the young woman who had just guided me was also at an extraordinary level, but the beauty of the beauty entering now is even more so.

A beauty that could truly shake the world if it weren’t for the traces of time visible faintly around her eyes and mouth.

Perhaps the middle-aged woman had no regret about the traces of time, she didn’t even hide her aging other than natural makeup.

“I am greeting you only now. I express my gratitude on behalf of the Haomun. My name is Yeo Mi-mi, the Haomun Leader.”

I also slowly stood up and clasped my hands.

“My name is Jin So-un of the Tae-eul-mun.”

“I have heard the rumors of the Black Flame Dragon Gongja well.”

“…….”

“I heard the story through Gun-baek. You said you wanted to become a ‘Guest’, right?”

“Yes.”

“I apologize for not answering quickly because I was checking internal affairs.”

“I understand.”

Unlike the Beggar’s Sect, many of the Haomun disciples are engaged in livelihoods. In taverns, in taverns, in shops, the Haomun is everywhere where people are.

But unlike the Beggar’s Sect, martial arts were not passed down, and since there were more civilians than warriors, they tried harder to hide their identity.

“We had a lot of trouble thinking about how to accept Jin So-un Gongja.”

“Is it settled now?”

The Haomun is generally close to an organization that sells information, but actually, the ones who use their information the most are themselves.

For the Haomun, protecting the Haomun and maximizing the profits of its disciples is the highest goal.

‘Guest’ refers to a position as an existence that transcends such goals of the Haomun.

That is why, in the history so far, there were not many people who obtained this qualification of ‘Guest’.

And what people don’t know is that to receive this ‘Guest’ qualification of Haomun, one must take several tests. The first test is whether you have information that Haomun does not have.

The fact that I passed the Beggar’s Sect information to Yang Gun-baek was according to that.

“Yes. I also checked the information Jin Gongja gave.”

“Was it helpful?”

“Very. Honestly, it was really hard to find the source for where Jin Gongja obtained that information.”

“It’s fortunate if it was helpful.”

“But at the same time, there is concern. It is the heart of whether we can accept a person outside our view as a Guest.”

“Therefore, shouldn’t you do it? Putting a target I don’t know within my view is the best way to observe.”

Yeo Mi-mi was lost in deep thought at my words.

The unique thing was that even while thinking, I felt like she was staring at my eyes, observing what was inside.

“I know why the closedness of Haomun is needed. But if you are too buried only in that, wouldn’t you eventually just stagnate and rot?”

Yeo Mi-mi’s pupils wavered for the first time.

“The situation at the Maryeong Highlands. If there had been just one skilled sorcerer, wouldn’t the Haomun have avoided being in crisis? If I hadn’t been in that seat, what do you think would have happened?”

Yeo Mi-mi bowed her head for the first time and fell into thought.

Then soon, she nodded.

“As expected, it was true that the heart-scheme of the Black Flame Dragon Gongja is deeper than the Muryang-bulgoe-myeolhon-jin.”

For the first time, a faint smile appears on Yeo Mi-mi’s face.

How many men would have burned their hearts at that smile in the past?

“I understand. Let’s do that. I prepared it just in case, but in the end, I’m using it.”

With her words, Yeo Mi-mi presents a pouch made of silk.

Inside it, information regarding the test-takers who should be noted among those participating in the 1st gate of the Murim Academy regular exam was written densely.

Yeo Mi-mi stood up from her seat.

I was looking at the data and asked Yeo Mi-mi.

“Then is it over now?”

“Yes. Whenever you need Haomun’s help, please call me.”

As Yeo Mi-mi stood up from her seat, the warriors surrounded her simultaneously.

I asked while still fixing my eyes on the data.

“Is that so?”

The verification of Haomun had not ended yet.

“Then…… When can I see the Leader?”

“…….”

Yeo Mi-mi’s face, turning her head sharply, was a little hardened.

“I am quite busy because you contacted me late. I hope the seat to verify the ‘Guest’ qualification ends quickly.”

The second test.

Do you have eyes to distinguish the truth?

I looked at the person standing at the very end of the old maids and asked.

“If the Leader thinks I am not needed, I will go back. Because I cannot let my junior disciples sleep in the mountains.”

“!”

Yeo Mi-mi’s pupils looking at me were wavering intensely.