The Martial Genius Who Remembers Everything Chapter 81

[ … words ]

***

At the point when the First Gate of the Moorim Academy regular admission ended, the ones who were most anxious were the disciples of the Yu-su sect.

The disciples belonging to the powerful sects of the 108 Peaks, including the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families, had failed to subjugate the mountain village not because their skills were lacking, but because they had missed the opportunity. Their anger and obsession were directed at those who had passed the First Gate.

“Sporadic battles are already occurring in various places. In this process, many disciples of the 108 Peaks have been eliminated, and in severe cases, there are places where entire units have been annihilated.”

The contradictory thing was that no one pointed their swords toward the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families.

“The most dangerous person right now is So-un-nim.”

Perhaps it was a natural occurrence.

The Ssang-mak-chae, one of the 72 Green Forest Strongholds.

The eight First Gate tokens obtained by subjugating the two places, which actually consisted of the Hwa-mak-chae and the Geum-mak-chae, would surely whet their appetites.

Adding the two gate tokens that Bang Du-chil personally possessed, that made a total of ten.

“I am prepared.”

Even in my past life, I had always been an easy target, but this was the first time I had become a target that made others drool like this.

“The 108 Peaks sects based in Zhejiang Province, including the Hwang-geom-mun and the Cheong-do-bang, are already moving toward Mount Cheon-mok.”

“Already?”

Without realizing it, my face hardened.

The Hwang-geom-mun and the Cheong-do-bang were the local stalwarts of Zhejiang Province, occupying the 23rd and 32nd peaks of the 108 Peaks, respectively.

In my past life, they were entities that had each enrolled three disciples into the Moorim Academy. They were coming to catch us to maintain the revival of their sects.

“The Beggar Sect (Gaebang) has already started focusing on So-un-nim.”

We were the most appetizing prey and would likely be the most expensive information.

If we were the weakest but possessed the most entrance tokens, there would be no shortage of people willing to pay a thousand gold for information about us.

“We are leaking other information as much as possible, but that is……”

Yang Gun-baek spoke with a face that looked like he was confessing a great crime.

There would be a disparity in the reliability of information between the Beggar Sect, which was one of the pillars of the Moorim Alliance and received real-time test results, and the Haomun, which worked directly on the ground.

Moreover, if the Haomun gave different information to blur my trail, they would lose their credibility.

I did not wish for innocent people to be harmed because of me.

Furthermore, releasing false information did not seem very good for me in the long run either.

I looked at Yang Gun-baek and shook my head slightly.

“No. I do not want any actions that would crack the credibility of the Haomun.”

“Yes?”

“If the credibility of the Haomun falls to the ground, would it not cause difficulties for me to utilize them in the future?”

“……But if that happens…… something truly terrible will happen to So-un-nim…….”

I looked at him and smiled slightly.

“I am a guest of the Haomun, not an enemy of the Haomun, am I not?”

Yang Gun-baek looked at me with a complex gaze.

“First of all, how long will it take to meet the Hwang-geom-mun and the Cheong-do-bang?”

“There is a distance difference of four days, but…… the moment So-un-nim delays, the distance will close in an instant.”

A darker shadow than ever before had settled on Yang Gun-baek’s face.

<><><>

Before the sun had even risen, during In-si (from 3:00 AM to 5:00 AM).

When I left the room to go pick up my junior disciples, Heo-chon-jang was standing in the hallway with his back turned, puffing on his smoking pipe.

“Elder.”

“……Are you awake?”

“Yes.”

“You are leaving early.”

“Yes. I think I need to move early.”

“You have a moment, right?”

I glanced at the room where the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers were sleeping, then nodded.

To refuse and leave would have been difficult, as Heo-chon-jang’s face was filled with longing.

Heo-chon-jang and the villagers had wanted to hold a feast even if it meant emptying out what they had, but since the Hwang-geom-mun and the Cheong-do-bang were chasing us with sweat on their heels, we could not stupidly hold a feast, so we had politely declined.

“I don’t think I can spare a long time.”

“It won’t take long.”

Heo-chon-jang led me to the space behind the inn that was used as a vegetable garden.

The withered vegetables that had not been cared for were unsightly, but Heo-chon-jang paid no mind and headed to a corner of the garden to start digging the ground.

“One gapja (60 years) ago. Back when I had just inherited the inn from my father and was running the business, there were days when flies just kept buzzing because the taste had changed.”

“…….”

Heo-chon-jang quietly unraveled his past story, the meaning of which I could not grasp.

“That day too, when I was about to throw away all the noodles I had made after failing to make a sale, why did a beggar-like middle-aged monk come in?”

Thinking he had dug enough, Heo-chon-jang picked up a hand hoe and carefully scraped the surroundings.

“When I said I couldn’t offer alms because business was bad, he laughed heartily and asked me to make him some noodles. It was obvious he had no money, but…… since business had already failed, I made the noodles as if I were offering alms.”

After digging the ground like that for a while, Heo-chon-jang made an expression as if he had grasped something deep in the ground and carefully pulled out a small bundle.

Since it had been buried in the ground for such a long time, part of the cotton cloth that wrapped the outside had rotted and fell off together with the soil.

“As expected, after he finished eating the noodles, he said he had no money. I had expected that, so I was just going to send him away. But he said he would leave his belongings with me. Even though I refused several times saying it was fine, I ended up taking them as if I had been forced.”

The bundle was wrapped in several layers of cloth, and as I peeled them off one by one, an oil-coated leather pouch appeared, and when I peeled off the leather pouch, the object that had been tightly wrapped inside popped out.

“But the middle-aged monk never came. Even after ten years, twenty years passed. I didn’t believe in Buddha, so I thought about throwing it away, but it exuded a strange energy.”

What came out of the last pouch were prayer beads made of various kinds of beads and a small wooden box.

“When I wore them, strangely enough, my distracting thoughts disappeared and my mind became peaceful. This artifact was so strange that I didn’t even think to open this wooden box.”

Saying that, Heo-chon-jang handed me the prayer beads.

“…….”

When I held the prayer beads in my hand without saying anything, strangely enough, my head, which had been full of complications due to the Hwang-geom-mun and other sects from the night before, felt like it was clearing up.

“Could it be…….”

I immediately started searching the library in my head. I opened the section on Jianghu artifacts from the confidential files of the Sim-hyeon-gak.

‘Tang-ma-ryeong-ju…?’

One of the seven great artifacts written in the artifact section.

The Tang-ma-ryeong-ju, which should be enshrined in the deepest part of the Shaolin Temple right now, was in my hands.

“How did this…….”

The Tang-ma-ryeong-ju was made into 108 prayer beads by collecting the single sarira (relic) that remained after the passing of monks who had possessed high Buddhist power throughout history, and it was created as a divine object by having it held by those entering the deepest part for wall-gazing training, filling it with full Buddhist devotion.

It was known to be an object that possessed Buddhist power equal to 108 stone pagodas, not only because the production period was long but also because 108 sariras were used.

“Is it valuable?”

Heo-chon-jang had an anxious expression, like a person having the antique he had possessed for a long time evaluated for whether it was genuine.

I barely managed to answer.

“……It is an object whose nobility cannot be discussed.”

It was the divine object that the Moorim Alliance members had most desperately wanted when they were facing the Demonic Cult on the front lines.

There were many in the Demonic Cult who had learned the evil arts of the Heavenly Demon Manual.

These evil arts made the mind turbid and caused one to lose their reason, more so than having external destructive power.

When we went to the battlefield, there were countless guys who went insane because the evil energy and demonic energy penetrated their brains, rather than dying from sword wounds, but the Moorim Alliance at the time did not bring out any divine objects to the battlefield.

There was only bullshit about reciting the Anti-Demonic Mantra (Hang-ma-jin-eon-ju) to set the upright heart straight.

Only now could I understand why the Moorim Alliance and the Shaolin Temple had not been able to bring out the Tang-ma-ryeong-ju, the supreme divine object for suppressing demons.

Since they were asked to give what they didn’t have, it was inevitable that only bullshit would come out.

“My guess was right. My guess was right.”

Heo-chon-jang smiled slightly at the corners of his mouth for the first time, but I could not understand it at all.

One gapja ago was when Great Monk Su-heo of Shaolin Temple was serving as the Abbot.

Such a divine object could not be removed carelessly without the Abbot’s permission, and all removals must be recorded.

Moreover, there was no monk in that era who went around looking like a beggar claiming to have attained enlightenment.

“Did they not come out from the Shaolin Temple to look for the item?”

“Was this an item from the Shaolin Temple?”

It seemed Heo-chon-jang did not even know that fact.

“Yes.”

“Hehe, is that so?”

“Why did you not search for the owner?”

“How would a village elder like me know who the owner of such a precious item is and conduct a search? Do you know what kind of trouble I would have been in if I had done that?”

If the word had spread incorrectly, the entire family could have been annihilated. Moreover, in front of an artifact of this level, the distinction between the Righteous Path and the Evil Path was meaningless.

Was the essence of Jianghu not more ruthless than anything else in front of stronger martial power and authority?

There was a reason why the academy exam of the Righteous Path, which claimed to be righteous, was held so fiercely that people died.

I understood and nodded.

“Will you open this too?”

“……Is this not an object that has an owner?”

“I have thought about it. It is a huge object to receive in exchange for noodle money, but in the end, didn’t I receive it as payment for goods? Besides, if they haven’t come to look for it for one gapja, it is clearly mine, right?”

A smile naturally appeared at the corners of my mouth.

“You truly are the person who sold noodles for the most expensive price in the world.”

“Stop talking nonsense and open it.”

I nodded and opened the wooden box.

With a puff sound of air escaping, as the wooden box opened, a clear fragrance wafted out from inside.

It felt like I was in the middle of a lush forest, not a vegetable garden that was a mess and only smelled of dirt.

“How is it?”

Heo-chon-jang asked, swallowing his saliva, and I nodded.

“It is an object called So-hwan-dan. You have heard the story, right?”

Even among civilians who were not interested in Jianghu, it was rare for someone not to know about the So-hwan-dan.

“The miraculous medicine that can even bring a dead person back to life?”

“Well, it is not to that extent, but it is said that if an ordinary person eats it, they can live a long life without any minor illnesses for the rest of their lives.”

“Then what if a person who has learned martial arts eats it?”

“Need you ask? Since one can instantly obtain internal energy that would take others fifteen years of training to acquire, isn’t that why the So-hwan-dan and the Dae-hwan-dan are considered the miraculous medicines among miraculous medicines in Jianghu?”

“Hehe, is it to that extent?”

“If one digests it well, yes.”

Heo-chon-jang stroked his beard and nodded. Then, he soon praised himself for keeping such a precious object without revealing it to the outside, saying quietly, ‘Well done. Well done.’

“You must have been curious for a long time. You have endured well.”

“No, I wouldn’t have brought it out if there hadn’t been a catalyst. I am a person who has seen with my own two eyes countless people die over the years because of treasures that appeared in Jianghu.”

“I see.”

I handed the wooden box to Heo-chon-jang.

However, for some reason, Heo-chon-jang shook his head and pushed the wooden box away.

“Hmm?”

As I looked at him with questioning eyes, Heo-chon-jang grabbed my hand tightly and said.

“You eat that.”

Did I hear wrong?

I asked Heo-chon-jang again.

“Elder, did you not hear what I said? If an ordinary person eats it, there will be no minor illnesses, and if someone who has learned martial arts eats it……”

“I know that too. But just because you eat one, it doesn’t mean the heavens and earth will turn upside down.”

“…….”

“If my grandson says he wants to learn martial arts, I can just take him to a nearby martial arts hall. If the energy of the miraculous medicine remains in the body and draws suspicion for no reason, a bigger misfortune will befall him.”

Thinking of the years he had endured, I could not bring myself to receive the treasure.

“Elder, even so, this is too big an object.”

“I would not have brought it out if it weren’t for you.”

“Yes?”

“I have seen countless people for a long time, but not a single Moorim Alliance member, not a single righteous warrior, drew their sword for us. The righteousness and justice they protect were all for themselves.”

I could not assert that everyone was like that, but the reality was that most were.

No, there were even sects that reprimanded people for building grudges with the Evil Path because of commoners who had no power at all.

Heo-chon-jang’s wrinkled eyes curved into an arc.

“You are the first. So I intend to feed it to you.”

“……Elder.”

“If it is such a precious object, think of it as you owing me a debt. I, too, have thought that I would like to have a backing I could trust and rely on, just like others.”

I knew that Heo-chon-jang’s words were intended to reduce the burden.

Just as I had done for Heo-chon-jang.

“Then to my junior disciples……”

“No, you eat it.”

“Yes?”

“Isn’t it safer if there are no people who even know about the evidence?”

“…….”

In the end, Heo-chon-jang persistently watched the So-hwan-dan go into my mouth.

The moment the So-hwan-dan touched my tongue.

It disintegrated and went down my throat in an instant, to the point where I couldn’t believe it was a pill that had been aged for one gapja.

“Good. Good. Finally, I found the owner.”

Heo-chon-jang could not erase the smile from his face, as if he were so happy.

“Oh right, you take this too. Whether your junior disciple uses it or you return it to the owner, do as you please. I will consider it an object I know nothing about.”

He must have made the decision to take this object out after seeing Dong-ryong’s obsession with killing intent a few days ago.

He must have had a lot of worries because if the rumors spread wrongly due to me, he and his family could be in danger.

Nevertheless, I was deeply moved by his heart, which had mustered the courage for me and my junior disciples, so I respectfully performed a fist-and-palm salute.

“Thank you, Elder.”

“……That is enough. From now on, I will go around telling people that my backing is you.”

Perhaps because of the rising sun, Heo-chon-jang’s face looked flushed.

Heo-chon-jang went into the inn quickly, fearing that would be discovered.

<><><>

Jin So-un’s party, having left Mount Cheon-mok, headed straight north.

After crossing Zhejiang Province, they intended to change their direction straight to the northwest.

It was a movement that considered the optimal route for the Second Gate, which would begin soon, and the Third Gate, which had not yet been announced.

Clang!Clang!Clang!

“Dong-ryong! Don’t rush out!”

“O-okay, I got it!”

“Hold on a little longer! Senior brother is coming soon!”

As Geum-pyo shouted in desperation, as if that voice had reached the sky, screams began to be heard from the rear.

“Kuaaack!”

“Am, ambush!”

The eight attackers who had been surrounding the three Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers fell into internal strife due to Jin So-un’s surprise attack, and in the meantime, the three brothers, who had activated their sword formation even more viciously, attacked the attackers from the front and back, ending the fight in an instant.

“Master…… I am sorry……. Sob.”

“Senior brother! It is not senior brother’s fault! It is all my fault! If only I hadn’t made a mistake…….”

The examinee who had become unable to fight was frustrated and burst into tears as if he had lost his parents.

Even though they had won the battle, I did not feel refreshed.

“Haa, haa. Damn it.”

“Damn it.”

From the mouths of the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers, who had never even cursed when they left the Tae-eul-mun, curses burst out on their own.

It was already the second ambush.

It hadn’t even been two days since they left Mount Cheon-mok.

They were disciples and martial artists of the Hong-seon-mun, who were based in Mount Antang in Zhejiang Province.

It was a question of how the Hong-seon-mun, located at the edge of Zhejiang Province, had already come all the way to the vicinity of Mount Cheon-mok, which was practically the opposite side, but I didn’t have time to think deeply.

“Get a grip! They are coming again!”

“Damn it.”

They had already experienced two fierce battles, but fortunately, about half of their internal energy remained.

It was thanks to having desperately operated their internal energy circulation (Haeng-gong).

Now, I no longer had questions like why I had to learn such cumbersome martial arts like I did at the beginning.

Because if it weren’t for the internal energy circulation, I would have already given up several times.

Just when their internal energy hit rock bottom despite such desperately operated circulation.

The sun set, and the day’s ambush ended.

“……Do you think it will get worse?”

Jin So-un’s party, who had entered the deep forest of the mountain to avoid the eyes of the pursuers, was chewing on dried meat without even lighting a fire.

“It would be better for your peace of mind to think that now is the most comfortable time.”

“……Why is everyone so desperate?”

Eun-ho brought up a question he had never held before.

As if he truly could not understand, he looked at the empty air for a moment, then looked at So-un.

“Why on earth are they going this far?”

The desperate frustration that had appeared on the face of the Hong-seon-mun disciple who had attacked them during the day came to mind.

Jin So-un, who had been quietly chewing on the dried meat, stopped moving.

Then, he stared into Eun-ho’s eyes.

“Because that is the essence of Jianghu.”

“…….”

“If you don’t go up, you fall. Staying still does not mean you stop in place. You have to keep going up to barely hold your place.”

Within the power structure of the Jianghu spread around the Moorim Alliance, the power within the Alliance soon becomes the profit of the sect.

One can tell by looking at the fact that the Tae-eul-mun has not enjoyed prosperity even once in the past 500 years, and conversely, by looking at sects that were not destroyed in Hefei like the Yong-dam-ho-hyeol.

“No martial sect in Jianghu can live outside the influence of the Moorim Alliance. What was the reason Gye Cheol-yeong wanted to go to the Moorim Alliance so badly?”

Gye Cheol-yeong and Gye Yeon-seok planned to grow the Gye-ryong Trading Company into the best trading company in Jiangxi through the Moorim Alliance.

They intended to achieve through the Moorim Alliance what was impossible with their own abilities in their generation.

“Examinees do not apply for the academy exam solely for their own success.”

Even if it is the Moorim Alliance that aims to set justice straight, even if it is a Jianghu that has gathered its will with righteousness and cooperation.

“On their shoulders, the revival of their sects is also being carried together.”

In the end, ‘surviving,’ and ‘creating an environment where one’s precious people can survive’ were the most important goals.

“…….”

At Jin So-un’s words, Eun-ho felt his mind go faint.

He had thought everyone was taking the exam just to enjoy wealth and glory and make a name for themselves.

However, everyone was carrying a heavier weight than he had thought.

“Because of that fierceness and ruthlessness, even though it is an exam hosted by the Moorim Alliance, it has the name ‘Hell Regular Admission’.”

Eun-ho, who had been listening silently, clenched his fists and asked.

“……Why does the Moorim Alliance tolerate such an exam?”

As expected, it was a question worthy of someone who was not yet tainted.

A pure belief that if it were a group established for justice, they would not stand idly by while unjust things happened.

“There are many people with great greed, and resources are limited. So, there is no choice but to engage in fierce competition. Moreover, that must be advantageous from the position of the vested interest sects that currently occupy the Moorim Alliance leadership.”

At that time, Geum-pyo tilted his head.

“Can’t they just share it fairly?”

“……Well, if you were told to reduce what you eat twice a day to once, could you tolerate it?”

“……Th, that is.”

“And that too for the Cheol-geom-mun, not the Tae-eul-mun.”

“That is absolutely impossible!!”

Jin So-un patted Geum-pyo’s head.

“Yes, that is how it is.”

“…….”

Jin So-un had only compared it to a rice bowl, but in the upcoming War of Righteousness and Evil, they would have to fight for power while risking their lives.

A sect without power would cause more disciples to die, and a sect with power would at least experience less sorrow.

Jin So-un was the one who had realized the ruthlessness of power more than anyone else in his past life.

That was why he could understand those who risked their lives for ‘merely’ an entrance exam better than anyone.

Eun-ho suddenly felt that he had forgotten something.

“The Second (II) Gate! The Second Gate exam hasn’t started yet, right?”

“How could that be?”

Jin So-un had an expression of disbelief.

Eun-ho frowned heavily as if he had chewed on sand while chewing on the dried meat.

“The exam has already started?”

“It was received together while receiving the First Gate token.”

Jin So-un showed the announcement for the Second Gate that he had received from the Hangzhou branch manager.

●Moorim Academy Regular Admission Second Gate

Self-Development

Exam- Internal Core (Nae-dan) Acquisition.

Content- A student of the Moorim Academy must know how to strive for their own development. The most basic development for a martial artist is an increase in internal energy. To increase internal energy, one must be able to acquire an Internal Core.

Conditions-

Exchange one Internal Core of a ten-year standard for one Second Gate token.

A gate token can be exchanged for up to three per Internal Core.

However, there is no distinction between the Internal Cores of spirit creatures and demonic creatures.

Eun-ho’s eyes, seeing the announcement, widened like a rabbit’s.

“Senior brother, since when did Internal Cores become neighborhood wild bear gallbladders?”

Jin So-un smiled bitterly instead of answering.

“No, I’m really not joking. What kind of bullshit is this.”

At Eun-ho’s words, Geum-pyo and Dong-ryong frowned heavily while looking at the announcement.

“These crazy bastards.”

Spirit creatures/Demonic creatures.

Beings that live beyond their originally limited lifespans by receiving miraculous energy in the deep nature untouched by the hands of the world.

A tiger with a body larger than a normal tiger is a spirit creature, and if that tiger has a tendency to attack humans, it is a demonic creature.

However, spirit/demonic creatures that have lived for a long time enough for an Internal Core to form are rare.

Because it is common for them to die after harming the human world before an Internal Core forms, or conversely, to be spotted by human eyes and hunted.

Moreover, a spirit/demonic creature with an Internal Core of a ten-year standard could be considered a martial artist who has learned thirty years of external energy.

Those who have passed the First Gate must hunt while simultaneously countering the checks or ambushes of other competitors.

“This is not an exam made to be passed at all.”

Jin So-un pointed to the announcement and said.

“Look at that carefully. What do you think the intention of setting that exam is?”

Geum-pyo and Dong-ryong looked like they were tilting their heads as if they had no idea.

On the other hand, Eun-ho looked at the announcement reflected in the moonlight in more detail.

‘The intention of setting the exam?’

Eun-ho, who had fallen into deeper thought at Jin So-un’s words, finally discovered something strange about the announcement.

“It’s Internal Core acquisition, but there is no mention that one must ‘directly’ hunt and obtain the Internal Core.”

At Eun-ho’s words, Geum-pyo raised one eyebrow.

“What are you talking about? Saying, “bring an Internal Core means hunt.”

“Brother, think carefully. It’s only us who don’t have money, but if you have money to buy Internal Cores on the market, couldn’t you buy as many as you want?”

Geum-pyo opened his mouth wide as if he had been hit in the back of the head unexpectedly.

“Huh…….”

“Should I consider the intention of the exam to be the same as the first one?”

At Eun-ho’s words, Jin So-un nodded.

“In the end, the fact that one can obtain a spiritual core while protecting the First Gate token means. It is a statement that they will select those who have martial power and at the same time have the financial power to obtain a spiritual core, or overwhelming enough martial power to hunt a spirit creature.”

“That’s right.”

“Hot…….”

He had heard the correct answer, but none of his doubts were resolved.

In the end, wasn’t this exam not about picking talented and hardworking people, but about picking the people among them who even had money and power?

As if reading Eun-ho’s inner thoughts, Jin So-un said.

“The Moorim Alliance wishes for only the Moorim Alliance to be the absolute power of Jianghu. To maintain that system, they want people with power, money, and authority to continue competing within the Moorim Alliance.”

“Those who don’t have [N O V E L I G H T] that…… how are they supposed to go to a high place?”

Even though he knew the obvious answer.

Eun-ho asked again because he did not want to acknowledge that cruel reality.

But the answer that came back was still cruel.

“Need you to ask. You have to take that absurd exam.”

Eun-ho realized for the first time that facing reality was such a fucked-up thing.