The Talent the Sky Bestowed
Is this a dream?
Shwaaaaa—
Rain is falling.
The sky is dyed black, and beneath that sky, an old man in blue robes sits astride cloud-shaped magical instruments, gazing down at the ruins of the fallen Shinma Temple.
Surrounding him are dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators in blue robes, also watching the scene.
Even as rain pours down, no raindrops touch the cultivators; an invisible barrier repels them.
In the center of the Shinma Temple, Hyungnim and the Shinma Greats, along with the temple's elders, lie covered in blood as they struggle to stand.
Cough… cough!
Hyeongnim spits a mouthful of blood and supports himself on a broken blade staff to rise shakily.
“Monster… you. That Foundation Establishment… Core Formation trash….”
An old man on a cloud-shaped magical instrument floats in the air, looking down at him and speaking.
“You can be proud, mortal. I am no simple Foundation Establishment Core Formation; I am a Daoist of the Integration Grand Completion realm… or rather, the Daoist of the Core Formation peak. You have fought an impossible battle against a Core Formation cultivator and a Foundation Establishment cultivator who had reached forty-nine layers.”
“Fighting… is just ridiculous… Even facing you alone was hard. The others… they only laid out formations… still….”
“Hm. Judging by your cultivation, you seem to have reached Five Qi Consorting with the Origin among the martial artists. Correct?”
Cough! Cough!
Hyeongnim spits another mouthful of blood and drops to one knee once more.
Hyungnim…
I lie buried under the rubble of the collapsed building, staring at Hyeongnim.
One Foundation Establishment cultivator's gesture was all it took for the building to crumble in an instant, pinning me in place so I cannot move.
It is not a fatal wound.
In my past life, this was my own self-diagnosis as a first-rate physician.
With proper treatment, I could recover in two months.
But right now, I cannot even help Hyeongnim in the slightest.
No, even if I hadn't been pinned, I would still not have been able to help.
I bite my lip and feel my own helplessness.
The old man in blue robes, claiming to be of the Integration Grand Completion realm, strokes his beard and speaks to Hyeongnim.
“Although killing our sect's clan is despicable and deserves death… I see great talent in you. I will grant you the opportunity to become a disciple of my family and cultivate our sect's secret art.”
“Sect… secret art…? Those are things only special prodigies can learn… right?”
“When a mortal reaches Five Qi Consorting with the Origin, they awaken the same spiritual roots as us. Perhaps your Five Qi Consorting with the Origin corresponds to our Five Elements Origin? If you cultivate the sect's secret art, you will become an excellent talent of our family.”
At these words, the Daoists seemed surprised.
“Hah, old man. This guy is….”
One Foundation Establishment cultivator tries to protest when the old man mutters something.
He seems to be sending a transmission.
And hearing it, the surprised Foundation Establishment cultivators all break into smiles.
“Haha, yes, mortal. Since you have the talent to become a Daoist, I will grant you the chance.”
“I will also give you our family's highest secret art. You have left behind an enormous achievement.”
“Once you become a Daoist, you will obtain power and wisdom far beyond what you have now.”
Now, instead, the others are urging Hyeongnim to become a Daoist.
From their gazes, I realize they are mocking and laughing at Hyeongnim.
This… is a trap…
They clearly intended to accept Hyeongnim as a Daoist, but there was something they were not saying.
At that moment.
Cough! Cough!
Hyeongnim, still drenched in blood, stands from his position.
“Daoist, yes. That is good! I have seen your brutality well.”
Slash!
And he points the broken blade staff at the Daoists.
Despite looking as if he would collapse at any moment, he shouts.
“But listen. I obtained enlightenment while fighting you. Thanks to that, I have achieved the Great Completion of Wansuigungmurok!”
Kuung!
He stomps fiercely.
“I will show you the extreme despair of Wansuigungmurok!”
“…That broken blade staff? Even your companions are all dead…”
“…Even the dead companions of the Shinma Temple will take one hit from you.”
Hyeongnim grips his stance.
That appearance…
For a moment, I see the past Hyeongnim overlapping with his current form.
Suddenly, it seems I understand what the yi contained in Wansuigungmurok is.
In my past life, that despairing appearance of Hyeongnim spoke to me.
Flash!
Hyeongnim's figure vanishes. In the blink of an eye, he reaches the old man's chest, swings his blade.
“Hmph, impossible… ng…!”
And as the old man tries to use some magic technique.
Hyeongnim's broken blade severs the space right beside the old man and passes by him.
He had only sliced the air.
Yet something invisible had been “cut.”
The old man is greatly startled and fails to catch Hyeongnim.
Hyeongnim dashes past the old man, breaks through the encirclement of the Foundation Establishment cultivators, and flees.
Yes.
It was the Wansuigungmurok created by the past Hyeongnim.
The martial art born from the despair of the greatest person in the world who, upon encountering a Daoist, created it in the midst of despair and sorrow.
The yi contained in that martial art is,
―Younger brother Seo Eun-hyun, please leave this martial art for the future generations, so that they may use it as a minimum lifeline to survive before the natural disaster of Daoists.
Before those who cannot be resisted, the Daoists.
A secret art to create a gap to flee.
This was the original goal that Wansuigungmurok pursued.
“Ugh…! Capture that arrogant mortal!”
Flash!
The old man mounts his cloud-shaped magical instrument and chases after Hyeongnim, while the other Foundation Establishment cultivators fly after him on their own flying instruments.
Some of the remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators look down at the fallen Shinma Temple.
“By the way, there seems to be a survivor down there.”
Uwoong—
I sense they are staring at me.
However, one cultivator clicks his tongue.
“Enough. Unless he is a Peak realm mortal, treat the first-rate, second-rate trash as they are and chase the guy. The rest can be handed over to the authorities of the mortals for a bounty.”
“Understood.”
The Foundation Establishment cultivators leave me behind and fly into the sky after Hyeongnim.
Yes.
I am the first-rate trash they have no interest in.
A mere insignificant creature, and so I survived.
Trash.
Creature.
Mortal…
“Kuh… kuuu…!”
I am weak.
Useless.
Powerless.
Gruk… gruk…!
I exert all my strength and push up the rubble covering me.
I draw in all my internal energy to push it aside.
“Kuu… aaaaaah!”
Gruguguguk!
I am weak.
Too weak to be of any help, and so I survived.
So, am I happy?
“Hwaaaaaah!”
I barely crawl out from the rubble and collapse onto the floor with flowing rainwater.
“Aaaah! Aaaah!”
I am endlessly weak.
Unable to help anyone at all.
Even though I have learned disguise arts, medical arts, infiltration arts, espionage, and all sorts of miscellaneous techniques to compensate for my weakness.
Against real monsters, I cannot lift a finger.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
I howl into the rain.
***
Clunk, clunk, clunk…
After howling for a while, once my energy recovers a little, I crawl to the place where Hyeongnim stomped his stance.
Surrounding it are corpses of elders and Peak experts of the Shinma Greats.
I move among the corpses, looking for any possible survivors.
Unfortunately, all members of the Shinma Greats have perished.
“Damn it.”
At that moment, something catches my eye.
The place where Hyeongnim stomped his stance.
There was something there.
“This is….”
A blade mark.
Yet it forms a shape.
This is a character.
I hurriedly approach the blade mark and read the characters.
“In half a month… the Suicide Sect….”
The Suicide Sect was an isolated cliff with no one in it.
The blade mark was indeed carved with great effort, and only someone familiar with his handwriting could read it.
“I must wait until half a month.”
After circulating my internal energy in the rain to recover my spirit, I save other survivors under the rubble, bury the elders and Shinma Greats members in appropriate places.
“Lord President, what should we do now?”
“If the Wolryeong Shinnma had been defeated by the Daoists and returned…”
“Our Shinma Temple is a martial art organization…”
“W-What will happen if the authorities hunt us?”
I wipe my face while looking at the remaining strength clinging to me in desperation.
These were all Peak realm not reached, only late first-rate experts.
All Peak experts belonged to the Shinma Greats, which had laid out the formation to resist the Daoists and then died out completely.
In such a situation, panic among superiors causes chaos.
Some among them may even riot to capture me and offer my head to the authorities.
“From today onward.”
Now, at least nominally, I am the superior.
Moreover, unlike my past life, I am now a mid first-rate warrior.
I am not at a level to be looked down upon among those who are only first-rate.
“The Shinma Temple will change its form.”
This is no longer just a chaotic situation.
The Wolryeong Shinnma, the center of the Shinma Temple, and Hyeongnim are gone.
If an organization sees no future, chaos grows rapidly.
As the last superior, I must at least present a minimum secret art.
“Currently, the Shinma Temple is still a martial art organization, and the authorities have bounties on most of us. The center, the Wolryeong Shinnma, is also in an unknown state of life and death!”
At my words, the gazes of the remaining ones grow increasingly fierce.
“If the authorities or martial sect clans start pursuing us, we are finished! But! There is a way!”
“W-What is it?”
“Yeon Kingdom is vast! That means spreading news across the kingdom takes time and people and resources! We will dig into that gap and seize control of the information of the Yeon Kingdom martial world!”
“What does that mean….”
“Among those who have learned miscellaneous techniques from me—espionage, counter-espionage, infiltration, disguise—there will be some! Using the miscellaneous techniques I taught you, we will investigate the information of each sect and grasp the trends of the martial world, turning the direction of the Shinma Temple into an organization!”
“In the future, the information of the martial world will be passed through our hands and manipulated by us! Since we deal with information, we can manipulate the information that our entire body is the Shinma Temple!”
“We will be able to circulate and supply information, sell false information to the authorities and martial sect clans, and ensure our survival!”
It was no mere empty boast.
In my past life, as a strategist of the Murim League, the information and events of the entire Murim world were at my fingertips.
I could handle information endlessly,
And I even knew many things that would happen in the future.
Seeing that my words had some credibility, the fierce glint in the remaining eyes begins to fade.
“The faster the better. Organize a new system and search through the Shinma Temple buildings to find land documents and gold and silver! Before tonight passes, we will be reborn anew!”
I organize the remaining ones, quickly reorganize the group, and leave the Suicide Sect with the others that night.
***
A month has passed.
I head to the Suicide Sect that Hyeongnim wrote down.
What? No one there…
I wait for a while.
Until dawn the next day, waiting for Hyeongnim.
But then the sun sets again.
Night falls.
In this way, three days pass with day and night alternating.
Hyeongnim does not come.
And around that time, I search everywhere at the Suicide Sect and finally succeed in finding the trace Hyeongnim left.
“Hah, I was almost unable to find it.”
I discover a blade mark carved on the beam of the Suicide Sect.
―The Daoists pursued and could not meet you, so they left this letter here.
I jump toward the beam and cut it off, letting it fall.
The beam has dozens of small blade marks engraved on it, all forming characters. The handwriting was terrible, but I could still read it somehow.
I slowly read Hyeongnim's letter.
―That day, I realized the true meaning of Wansuigungmurok. I thought it was a martial art created to kill and capture Daoists. But I was completely wrong.
This martial art was made for the purpose of fleeing from Daoists.
“…”
―On that day, I felt the despair of the creator of this martial art deep in my bones. It was inevitable that the creator of this martial art had also met an overwhelming Daoist, despaired, and created not a martial art to confront Daoists, but merely a martial art to flee.
With this martial art, I could slaughter Daoists until now because their levels were simply too low. I had boasted this martial art as the greatest in the world, but I realized there is nothing to boast about this martial art.
“…Hyungnim.”
I let out a groan.
From the atmosphere of this letter, I am meeting the past Hyeongnim again.
―But I will continue to flee from the Daoists with my final Five Qi Consorting with the Origin. With my final Five Qi Consorting with the Origin… truly, can I not confront Daoists with martial arts? Is Wansuigungmurok truly a martial art that only ends in fleeing… or can I reach a little beyond that…?
I will continue to flee from the Daoists and flee again. I will continue to unfold Wansuigungmurok to the extreme and evolve the martial art as much as possible while I can. I will no longer be able to meet you in the future.
Now the Daoists are coming. If I survive, I will come to see you someday.
That was the last line of the letter.
“…I will also wait in the darkness, Hyungnim.”
I leave the Suicide Sect and return to Gwiyeonggak, the successor of the Shinma Temple reorganized into an information organization.
***
Ten years have passed again.
I infiltrate Gwiyeonggak into the darkness of the Yeon Kingdom, successfully seizing control of the information market that distributes information across the Yeon Kingdom.
The experience of handling information for decades as a water buffalo in the Murim League, along with knowing the knowledge of the future, has been an enormous help.
Other information organizations resist us a little, but in the end, we defeat them in the dark blood battle.
No matter how we look at it, we are the successors of the Shinma Temple.
An organization composed of the remaining miscellaneous members of the officially designated martial art group, and the martial prowess of those miscellaneous members are all first-rate experts.
Many are at the level of great sect elders and small sect leaders.
In a dark blood battle, the military level of the other side is overwhelmingly higher, so we can completely sweep away other information organizations.
Still, those who can confront us as Peak experts have no reason to participate in such a dark blood battle in the first place; they would rather found their own sect or join a great sect or become elders, so they have no reason to enter the dark blood battle.
In the end, Gwiyeonggak completely takes over the information market of the Yeon Kingdom martial world within five years, and we completely control and delete the information that the Shinma Temple is our entire body.
I stabilize Gwiyeonggak for another five years and slowly wait for Hyeongnim.
***
Ten years have passed since the fall of the Shinma Temple.
Gwiyeonggak has firmly taken its place as the representative information organization of the Yeon Kingdom.
At the same time, we succeed in completely erasing the remnants of the Shinma Temple and deceiving even the Daoists into believing distorted information, fully separating ourselves from the Shinma Temple.
As a result, we become part of the privileged class in the Yeon Kingdom that receives support from the Daoists.
In ten years, a few first-rate late experts have crossed the Peak realm boundary to become Peak experts, so there is no shortage of external power.
Everything is sufficient.
What is lacking is…
My own skill.
According to my memory.
My lifespan now has only about ten years left.
Shwiing! Shwiing!
The sword form of the Danak Sword Art slashes through the air.
For ten years, I have been too busy with work to properly train the martial arts, so my cultivation level is only at the boundary between mid and late first-rate.
If only one step more, I could reach late first-rate…
That one step does not pass.
Within ten years, as fast as possible, I must reach late first-rate and at least grasp the clue of Peak realm.
Until when… until when must I remain weak!
My body is now approaching seventy years old.
But I still feel that I am far too weak.
Five Qi Consorting with the Origin is the minimum goal… but I have not even reached late first-rate…
Why is my talent so humble?
While pondering this, I swing the sword for a long time.
“The end of the sword still has many worries, Eun-hyun.”
“…!”
A familiar voice rings out.
Whoosh!
I immediately turn my head.
There, Hyeongnim is sitting.
“…It has been a long time, Hyungnim.”
“Greetings are done; take up the sword and swing it again.”
Following his words, I grip the stance of the Danak Sword Art once more.
“That sword technique suits your body like clothing. If used properly, you can reach the Peak realm. Swing it once.”
Following his words, I unfold the form of the Danak Sword Art again.
Upon seeing it, Hyeongnim points out the points for improvement, and I diligently follow his instructions and correct the sword form.
His advice continues until night falls, and when night comes, Hyeongnim suddenly vanishes.
I rub my eyes as if I have been bewitched by a ghost, but Hyeongnim is nowhere to be seen.
And the next day.
Hyeongnim reappears and teaches me martial arts again, and I receive his teachings without a word.
After about seven days and nights.
Whaaak!
The sword melts with me.
The sword art called Danak Sword Art itself mixes into my soul and becomes part of me.
For a moment, I feel that I can now unfold this sword art with sticks or even with bare hands.
At the same time, the sword qi naturally covers the sword as soon as my will arises, and the stability of the sword qi is greatly increased.
I seem to be able to maintain the sword qi much longer than before.
“This is… Sword Body Unity!”
The realm of Sword Body Unity.
The symbol of late first-rate.
“You have crossed the wall. Congratulations.”
“…Hyungnim is truly amazing.”
I honestly express my admiration to him.
The realm I could not cross no matter how hard I tried for years.
It was granted through the instruction of seven days and nights.
But he clicks his tongue.
“I did not grant it to you. Because you had almost stepped to the boundary, I pushed you from behind.”
“Still, crossing that wall was not easy.”
“What I can do ends here. After this, since you have almost crossed the wall, you must organize it yourself.”
“Of course.”
“And… the Peak realm will not be easy. Beyond that, it is an entirely different world. After the Peak realm, you must not think of the martial art system of the first-rate realm.”
“I have lived a lifetime.”
“Even living a lifetime would be insufficient. I crossed the Peak realm wall like a joke, but you, who have no talent, would need thousands, tens of thousands of efforts just to reach the wall.”
“I will remember it.”
“…Yes.”
Hyeongnim takes a book from his bosom.
The title of the book is Chosu Wolmurok.
“I have supplemented the parts lacking in Wansuigungmurok, developed a few techniques, and added a few more.”
He says “a few,” but the book is noticeably thicker than the one I received in my past life.
It seems it will be almost three times as thick.
“But, even though I looked up to Daoists so much (Chosu)… it is nothing more than surpassing ordinary martial arts (Wolmu)… I still could not surpass the Daoists.”
“…”
“Foundation Establishment cultivators were somehow evaded, and finally the Core Formation one was sliced, but the Core Formation cultivator… was literally a natural disaster. From the Core Formation realm, it is closer to natural phenomena with human form….”
“…”
“I succeeded in slicing off the wrist of one Core Formation cultivator. But that was it; after the Core Formation cultivator chanted a few spells, the wrist regrew, and I died and revived several times.”
He looks at the sky with a bitter face.
I cannot hide my bitter feelings either.
I reached the position of the greatest in the world faster than in my past life.
Even having mastered Wansuigungmurok, the legacy of my past life.
The result is the same as what I heard in my past life.
“Perhaps the one who created Wansuigungmurok also felt the same emotions as me. Here is where it ends. It means martial artists cannot go any further… I felt that way…”
He wipes his face with a tragic expression.
“I… the Core Formation cultivator who suppressed me praised me highly. I entered the Daoist sect of that cultivator. In the martial world, I was the greatest, but in the Daoist sect, I would be the youngest. Haha… they say once you enter the Daoist sect, you must cut off worldly ties, so I finally came to see you.”
“…If this is all the [end], why did you give it to me.”
I ask while looking at Chosu Wolmurok with a gloomy expression.
“No matter how much I learn this, I cannot reach the Daoists, can I?”
“Haha, that is correct. But.”
He speaks with a sad expression.
“For the future generations to secure at least the minimum rights in front of the Daoists. This martial art is left only for that purpose. It is not thought of as a life-saving scripture. It is merely the minimum ‘power’ for us mortals to be recognized as human beings by the Daoists.”
He smiles with a sad expression.
“In this world, there are more brutal and cruel Daoists than one might think. In front of such people, even if it is only a very short gap… that is what such martial arts are.”
Swish…
At some point, he has completely disappeared from my eyes.
Since it is a phenomenon like being bewitched by a ghost, I am startled and shout.
“T-This is….”
“One of the miscellaneous techniques created by the creator of Chosu Wolmurok. Chosu Wolmurok, like Wansuigungmurok, requires the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown to enter; it will show its true value to a Peak expert who has reached Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown. Also, I have left you another gift; strive hard from now on and reach the Peak realm.”
Uwoong…
The Hyeongnim who left behind Six Harmonies Unity never appears before me again.
***
What Hyeongnim left behind was one more thing.
On the wall of my training ground.
There, blade marks were engraved, forming the martial art formula.
“This is….”
The Danak Sword Art.
But… it is a refined Danak Sword Art tailored to me, who has now reached late first-rate.
The original Danak Sword Art consisted of twelve stances, but after refinement, twelve more stances were added, totaling twenty-four stances in the Danak Sword Art.
Fortunately, the additional stances were linked to the original Danak Sword Art, so it was not difficult to learn.
Moreover, reaching the realm of Sword Body Unity, the mastery of the sword art felt to rise very quickly.
“Thank you, Hyungnim.”
I learn the refined Danak Sword Art and express my final thanks to Hyeongnim.
***
My lifespan gradually wears away.
Yet even with my aging body, I swing the sword until it breaks.
From late first-rate to crossing into the Peak realm.
Chosu Wolmurok is first memorized in my mind, then desperately transmitted secretly to the great sects of the Yeon Kingdom.
Because the experts of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown obtained Chosu Wolmurok and hoped to gain a little strength to confront the Daoists with a higher cultivation.
My body gradually loses vitality.
My flesh also no longer obeys as before.
But I grind my teeth and swing the sword.
I can no longer be weak.
I must not be weak.
Even if lives are repeated, it does not mean the repeated lives have no meaning.
That is why I have lived this life to the best of my ability.
Also for the lives I will live again in the future.
To not feel powerless in this lifetime.
I can never be weak!
Years pass quickly.
Even on the day I die, I do not put down the sword and swing it.
Thus, on the day my lifespan ends.
I unfold the sword art and conclude this persistent life.
This was my third regression.