Talent Abandoned by Heaven (3)
The rain poured down in sheets.
I sheltered inside the cave, listening to the sound of the falling water.
Fifteen years.
Fifteen years had passed before I knew it.
Kim Young-hoon had founded the Gwanghan Martial Alliance and become its first leader fifteen years ago.
In just three years, he had seized control of the entire Yeon Kingdom’s martial world under the title of the greatest under heaven. The chaotic orthodox and unorthodox sects found stability, and countless martial artists sang his praises.
Yet after that, for several years, he seemed to shut himself away, occupied with something other than the alliance’s affairs.
‘The cultivators must have come for him.’
Shocked by their power, he had likely thrown himself into mastering the Records of the Moon-Worshipping Dance to confront them.
Then, in the fifth year of his leadership, he abruptly retired and vanished, declaring he would seclude himself in some remote mountain valley.
I could roughly guess the situation.
He had probably gone to deal with the cultivators hiding in those valleys and the ones secretly operating throughout the martial world.
By the tenth year, no news of the first alliance leader, Young-hoon, reached anywhere.
‘He’s probably dead.’
Or perhaps, like in previous lives, he was still alive, desperately hunted by the cultivators.
Strangely, I felt no great sorrow even if he had died.
‘Why is that?’
After fifteen years of frenzied sparring.
Just as scars had formed across my face.
Perhaps scars had also formed in my heart.
Within those scars, he might have become a faint presence in my life.
Over those fifteen years, as both body and mind changed, my epithet changed once more.
From Infinite Light to Infinite Monster.
Yet nothing else had changed.
I remained a late-stage first-class martial artist. The wall of the Peak realm was still invisible.
Still!!!
“How long!”
I shouted at the murky sky pouring rain, my chest suddenly tight.
“How long must I swing a sword! When will it end! Is it still not enough! Still!? Why does one person gain enlightenment from swinging a sword while another only gains scars!?”
The sky gave no answer.
“For twenty years since regressing! Twenty years of nonstop fighting, killing, and training! I have never once let go of my sword! So when will you finally acknowledge me! Why won’t you grant me even a single enlightenment!?”
“Aaaaaaaah!!!”
I screamed madly at the sky.
Yet the sky only continued to pour rain.
After a while, my shout echoed back to me.
“…I know. It’s my fault.”
Yes. Everything began on the first day of regression.
Because I failed to overcome my fear when facing the fox and dropped my sword.
If I had seized the sudden enlightenment that came that day, I might have reached the Peak realm immediately.
Because I failed to grasp that day’s realization, I remained like the sword that once chased after leaves.
Still stuck at this level.
To attain enlightenment in the morning and die content in the evening.
I had failed to keep that mindset.
Grind…
I clenched my teeth, drew my sword inside the cave, and resumed practicing the Danak Sword Art.
Again and again.
The sword paths I had performed countless times flowed from my hands.
From the first form to the twenty-fourth, the techniques and secret arts unfolded in sequence.
For fifteen years I had corrected the flaws that appeared whenever I used them.
I had strived to execute ever more perfect sword forms.
Yet nothing changed.
Nothing would change in the future either.
What more was I supposed to do!
“Ah, aah… aaah!”
Unable to endure the agony, I collapsed after demonstrating the forms.
Now, the sword forms had no weaknesses left.
There was no room left for improvement.
Yet the wall of the Peak realm remained invisible.
“Kuaaaaaaaah!”
Why must I remain at this level?
Clutching that question and rage, I sat there and cried out in pain.
* * *
The rain stopped.
I left the cave and headed for the Bangrip Sect in Soryeol County, my original destination, to finish my sparring tour.
The sect leader and elders of the Bangrip Sect fought me three times in succession.
I defeated them all within five forms.
They were all late-stage first-class experts like me, yet none could match me, who possessed overwhelming real combat experience even among late-stage first-class martial artists.
Now, no one of equal rank could block or interrupt my sword paths.
Over the past several years my fame had spread throughout the Yeon Kingdom’s martial world, and research into my sword art had been conducted everywhere.
As a result, methods to counter my sword art had become known in various places.
I sought out countless martial artists who had found counters to my art and sparred with them.
Then I created counters to those counters.
Thus the flaws in my sword art gradually disappeared, until today.
The Danak Sword Art had become endlessly close to flawless.
‘Even the Peak experts of the great sects praised that my sword art had evolved another level.’
Yet I still could not last three exchanges against Peak experts.
I had sought out Peak experts for sparring before.
But even with swordsmanship close to flawless, I could not defeat them.
Even when using poisons, hidden weapons, and every other trick.
Although I had prepared counters to the counters, the Peak experts dismantled every one of my forms the moment I used them.
Before I could even employ my own counters, they suppressed me, and I could only continue losing to them.
‘What exactly is the wall that separates first-class from Peak!?’
Despite losing to them countless times, I could not even discover the conditions for reaching Peak.
I tried clearing the body’s minute acupoints with internal energy as I had read in old wuxia novels.
I trained external arts.
I fought beasts instead of humans.
Yet I remained first-class.
I still did not know what Peak even was.
My internal energy had deepened, my tricks had increased, my swordsmanship had grown slightly fiercer, and my fame had grown slightly.
Still, nothing had truly changed.
“…Huu.”
Feeling endlessly depressed, I went to an inn and ordered wine.
That was when it happened.
A man wearing a bamboo hat suddenly sat at my table.
“You look like you’re in a bad mood, friend.”
“…I’m merely frustrated because I cannot see the path forward.”
“I know that feeling well. The frustration of having done everything that needs doing, yet finding no path ahead. It really does feel like you’re suffocating, like some massive pressure is choking you.”
“…”
“But if you just sit there, the path still won’t appear. No matter how much I rant and rave, a path that doesn’t exist won’t suddenly appear. So there’s nothing for it. I have to try every possible thing to see if there’s another way.”
I soon realized who he was.
“How about it? Does that match how you feel right now?”
“…It does, Great Hero. I do not know why the first alliance leader would sympathize with this monster, but…”
It was Kim Young-hoon, whom I had not seen in fifteen years.
He removed his bamboo hat and offered a faint smile.
His face looked strangely worn with fatigue.
“It’s been a while, Eun-hyun.”
“It has.”
We smiled at each other and ordered wine.
“What have you been doing these past years?”
“There are beings in this world called cultivators. The same kind of monsters we saw flying through the sky when we first fell into this world…”
He told me about his battles against the cultivators.
“I could somehow handle Foundation Establishment cultivators with my martial arts. But… from the Core Formation stage onward, they were literally natural disasters. When I faced a Core Formation cultivator, I could only cut off his hand and barely escape.”
“Hmm…?”
I noticed something different from previous lives.
‘He escaped from a Core Formation cultivator?’
In previous lives, he had simply been defeated by Core Formation cultivators.
But in this life, the outcome had changed.
He had actually succeeded in escaping from a Core Formation cultivator!
‘Through the Records of the Moon-Worshipping Dance, he surpassed his level from previous lives!’
And twenty years faster, at that.
Thump, thump…
My heart began to pound for some reason.
‘Perhaps…’
In this life, a martial artist might actually be able to defeat a cultivator!
Feeling a faint excitement, I encouraged him.
“Great Hero Young-hoon… you will eventually be able to defeat even Core Formation cultivators!”
“Haha, you’re flattering me.”
He seemed slightly negative, but from my perspective it seemed entirely possible.
His talent for martial arts was, quite literally, a gift from heaven.
‘Unlike mine.’
A talent granted by heaven.
A talent abandoned by heaven.
That was the difference between him and me.
I did not know if I would reach Peak in this life.
But he would surely discover even higher realms in this life!
“You can only flatter me like this because you haven’t witnessed the power of a Core Formation cultivator… Well, that aside, the reason I came to find you today is different.”
“A reason?”
“Yes. To leave you my will.”
“…! What do you mean?”
Yet his expression was serious.
“From now on, I will seek out Core Formation cultivators and challenge them. I will push my talent to its limit through those challenges, discover how a martial artist can face cultivators, and prove that a martial artist’s arts can reach even higher. In exchange, my life will become extremely unstable from now on. If I am still alive, I will come find you once every five years. And each time I survive challenging them, I will entrust you with the insights I gained.”
Thud!
He handed me a booklet.
The booklet had no title.
“This contains the insights I gained while escaping from a Core Formation cultivator this time. I added a few things to the Records of the Moon-Worshipping Dance based on those insights. Please keep this book safe and pass it on to future generations.”
“…”
“So that someday, future generations can stand against cultivators who play in the heavens with human bodies. Pave that path for them. That is the will I am entrusting to you.”
“…I will keep it.”
“Thank you.”
He smiled brightly, drained his cup, and stood up.
“You seem frustrated because you still can’t cross the wall from late first-class to Peak. Guided sparring would be meaningless at your level, so there’s no need for that. If I have to give you an assignment… try to maintain Sword Qi all day long. That should help a little.”
“…Thank you.”
I clasped my hands in salute.
Before long, Kim Young-hoon completely vanished from my sight.
He had not used any movement technique or lightness skill. He had simply disappeared like an illusion.
‘Just like the last time I saw him in my previous life.’
He had already reached the level he possessed in his previous life!
Perhaps in this life, he really could surpass the limits of a martial artist.
I looked up at the sky.
Because it had rained, the clouds were still somewhat gloomy.
Yet compared to before, the clouds had thinned, and patches of blue sky peeked through.
“…Yes. I will keep striving as well.”
* * *
Six months passed after parting with Kim Young-hoon once more.
“Ugh…!”
I was attempting the assignment he had given me—maintaining Sword Qi all day—when my concentration finally ran out and I had to release it.
‘Insane. How am I supposed to maintain Sword Qi all day?’
It was not simply a matter of internal energy depletion.
Sword Qi was the minimum requirement for entering the realm of sword and body as one.
In other words, maintaining Sword Qi all day meant maintaining sword-body unity all day.
‘Even when fighting unorthodox bastards all day, maintaining sword-body unity the entire time is impossible.’
Of course, it was possible in theory.
Sword-body unity meant one had completely internalized the sword art one was learning.
If one could embody the principles contained in that art in every action throughout the day, it was possible.
In theory.
‘Even while eating, defecating, and talking, I would have to maintain sword-body unity the whole time.’
How could an ordinary person’s mental strength accomplish that?
‘I’ve never heard of even Peak experts doing something like this…’
Honestly, maintaining sword-body unity all day was madness.
The kind of madness that would make even Peak experts recoil in horror and tell me to stop immediately.
But.
‘If I don’t go mad, I can’t reach it!’
Yes.
It was something even Peak experts would not do. They probably had not done such things to become Peak experts either.
However.
I had to do it.
Because I had no talent.
‘If a dullard wants to catch up to a genius…’
They had to go mad beyond the genius.
Whoosh—
I steadied my breathing once more and infused Sword Qi into my sword.
‘I have to go far, far madder than any genius!’
It felt like my brain was drying up and shriveling.
It felt like my qi and blood were twisting.
Perhaps I would die even earlier than Kim Young-hoon from qi deviation while continuing this insane training.
But so what.
‘If only I can attain enlightenment in the morning.’
The longer I maintained Sword Qi, the more my breathing grew ragged and my qi and blood surged.
My head grew empty and thinking became difficult.
I had been maintaining the Sword Qi I infused at noon until evening.
‘I can die content in the evening!’
Thus, without stopping the maintenance of Sword Qi, I stopped by a small unorthodox sect and requested a spar.
* * *
“It’s been a while.”
“Likewise.”
Another five years passed.
Kim Young-hoon came to find me again.
“Your complexion is pale. Aren’t you overdoing it? It looks like your vitality is about to be damaged…”
“If I can reach the Peak realm even by doing this.”
That was right.
Even after repeating the training of maintaining Sword Qi all day for five years.
Even while endlessly sparring and experiencing real combat during that time.
I was still a late-stage first-class martial artist.
The wall to the next realm showed no sign of appearing.
I still could not grasp it.
At my words, Kim Young-hoon looked somewhat incredulous.
A small wrinkle formed on his brow, which had become firm and youthful through rejuvenation.
“You still couldn’t advance even after doing that training without rest?”
“No. Well, thanks to it, my understanding of Sword Qi has become much higher than martial artists of the same level.”
Now I could infuse Sword Qi into chopsticks, tree branches, paper, or cloth and use them like swords.
Against martial artists of equal level, I could guarantee at least a thirty percent win rate with nothing but real combat experience and understanding of Sword Qi, regardless of their martial arts.
Yet I still could not last three exchanges against Peak experts.
“Hmm…”
His gaze turned to the hand holding my sword.
“Strange. You’ve become far more one with your sword than before, yet you still haven’t reached Peak. I gave you that assignment thinking that someone with your level of real combat experience would surely reach Peak through it…”
“…”
I gave a bitter smile.
Yes. This was my talent.
The talent heaven had cast aside.
“…Huu. Still, don’t be too disheartened. With your level of dedication, you will surely… reach the Peak realm someday. Honestly, even though it was an assignment I gave you, I didn’t think you would actually carry out such madness.”
“Thank you.”
I smiled faintly while infusing Sword Qi into my sword.
I could now maintain Sword Qi in my sword for half a day without rest.
Beyond half a day my head would begin to ache and my qi and blood would surge, but I could still endure another half day.
If I endured that long, my qi and blood would begin to twist and nosebleeds would start roughly once every two hours.
Yet even that much I could still endure with willpower.
But unfortunately, I knew that going beyond that would truly kill me, so I did not force myself further.
‘Unless enlightenment comes, forcing it when I have no sense of it at all would just be a pointless death.’
Therefore, rather than pushing myself to death, I stopped maintaining Sword Qi from that point and rested.
“If I can truly maintain Sword Qi all day without strain, perhaps then I’ll see the path a little.”
“…Yes. I hope you succeed. And here.”
After chatting with me, Kim Young-hoon handed me another untitled booklet.
“This contains the insights I gained from fighting a Core Formation cultivator this time. This time I accurately gauged my own ability, bought as much time as possible, endured the cultivator’s spells to the limit, and succeeded in escaping.”
“The insights from merely succeeding in escaping… are this much?”
I looked at the thickness of the booklet he offered, slightly dumbfounded.
It was similar in thickness to the complete Records of the Moon-Worshipping Dance.
“A Core Formation cultivator is a natural disaster. Since I succeeded in escaping from a natural disaster, this much insight is only natural.”
“Heh…”
I clicked my tongue and accepted the insights he offered.
“…I will keep them safe and pass them on to future generations.”
“Thank you, Eun-hyun.”
He laughed heartily, drained a cup of wine, and stood up.
“Then I’ll go look for another Core Formation cultivator. I hope we can meet alive next time as well. And… if I have to give you another training assignment this time, try to always keep every surrounding landscape and space in your mind as you move.”
“Every surrounding landscape?”
“Yes. During combat or sparring, you always keep the surrounding terrain in mind to utilize it, don’t you? I’m telling you to make that work you do only during combat possible at all times.”
“What kind of…”
Just like the previous Sword Qi training assignment, the one he gave this time was also at an insane level.
Keeping the landscape in mind essentially meant becoming a human CCTV.
‘He wants me to keep spatial awareness active at all times.’
My head already felt like it was splitting from constantly maintaining Sword Qi, and now he wanted me to constantly maintain spatial awareness on top of that.
‘…My head won’t actually explode, will it?’
I had an ominous thought, then shook my head.
‘Huu. Fine. Kim Young-hoon is the greatest martial artist under heaven, the first to reach a realm no martial artist has ever reached. There must be a reason he gives such assignments.’
From that day on, I began to memorize every space that entered my vision, remembering what was located where.
* * *
Thirty years had passed since regression.
And five years had passed since I began keeping spatial awareness active at all times.
Now, I could confidently say my understanding of Sword Qi was higher than anyone else’s.
This insane act of constantly maintaining Sword Qi had become so ingrained that, except when sleeping, I could maintain it without strain at all times.
Spatial awareness still gave me headaches, but through consistent practice.
I had eventually made it a complete habit to constantly calculate the surrounding scenery, the positions of objects, and the size of spaces like a human surveillance camera.
At first it felt like my head would split, but once I grew used to it, it became manageable.
After training constant Sword Qi maintenance and constant spatial awareness.
Now, against first-class martial artists of equal level, I could guarantee a forty percent win rate with nothing but spatial awareness, understanding of Sword Qi, and real combat experience.
And the most encouraging thing was.
‘Against a Peak expert, I succeeded in lasting four exchanges instead of three!’
It was an encouraging development.
It meant I could now exchange even one more move with a Peak expert.
Yes.
I was definitely slow.
But little by little, I was growing.
Someday, I would definitely reach Peak!
* * *
I met Kim Young-hoon again.
When I met him after a long time.
One or two scars had appeared on his face.
“Those scars…”
“I got them fighting a Core Formation cultivator.”
It was astonishing.
Until now, no matter how many lives he lived, he had never received scars on his body.
Because he had never been injured while learning martial arts.
Even when fighting cultivators, he had never once received a wound that could have left a scar.
Seeing him with scars was a truly rare sight.
“This time…”
Yet unlike the scars, his face was full of color.
“I managed to cut off a Core Formation cultivator’s hand twice in a row! And still escaped! Haha! Hahahaha!”
“…!”
“Hahaha, you should have seen it. That arrogant cultivator, enraged after being hit by a mere mortal!”
I was genuinely impressed.
He was gradually surpassing the limits of a martial artist.
‘Little by little, it is being passed on.’
The one benefiting from my regression was not only myself.
Even a genius of the century could, little by little.
Little by little.
Surpass his own limits and pioneer the path beyond.
Thud—
I accepted the insights he handed me, gained from cutting off a Core Formation cultivator’s hand twice in a row this time.
‘If I give these insights to Kim Young-hoon in the next life…’
Perhaps he could break through his limits again?
With his talent for heavenly martial arts.
If he continued pioneering the path, someday…
‘With a martial artist’s body, it might even be possible to conquer the cultivation world…’
My goal was basically to reach Five Qi Consorting with the Origin, become a cultivator, raise my realm, and return to my previous world to live a life without the regression ability.
Therefore, defeating cultivators as a martial artist was not my life’s purpose.
Yet somehow, watching his actions.
Martial arts.
Not immortal techniques, but the martial arts that could be learned with a human body—how far could such martial arts reach?
Such questions and expectations welled up within me.
“…This time as well, I will keep them.”
I accepted his insights, and Kim Young-hoon smiled and raised his cup.
“By the way, you…”
Suddenly, his gaze toward me held a trace of pity.
“…You still haven’t reached Peak.”
“Can you tell just by looking…?”
“Of course. I can tell just from your gaze. You’ll understand once you reach Peak as well. In truth, things like constantly maintaining Sword Qi or constantly activating spatial awareness are merely attempts to imitate with your physical senses the [vision] obtainable at Peak.
Yet even after making you imitate the Peak realm to that extent, why your vision refuses to advance beyond mere imitation…”
“…”
He sighed softly and spoke.
“I knew you were a dullard, but this is practically… perhaps you’re simply a constitution unsuited for martial arts altogether.”
“…”
Seeing my gloomy expression, Kim Young-hoon drained his cup again. I silently drained mine as well.
“Fine. Then I have no choice but to make you imitate the Peak realm until you succeed. From now on, just like you’ve been doing.
Memorize space. Memorize sounds, memorize the temperature and sensations touching your skin, even memorize taste.
Constantly activate all five senses to their limits, endlessly accept information. And while in that state, continue maintaining Sword Qi without rest while experiencing real combat and sparring. This is the only way for you, who has no talent, to enter the world of Peak!”
The [vision] of Peak experts, huh.
“…The reason you’re telling me these things is.”
Until now, martial artists of Peak and above never spoke of the Peak realm to those below first-class.
Because even if they spoke, the listener would not understand and might become trapped in vain delusions.
The only case in which they gave even fragmentary information about the Peak realm to first-class experts was one.
“Because I can reach the Peak realm?”
Those who had reached the pinnacle of first-class.
Those who glimpsed the domain of Peak.
Only to those who were beyond first-class.
“…Honestly, looking at your hands, I can’t understand why you’re still late-stage first-class.”
Kim Young-hoon spoke while looking at my hand gripping the sword.
“You wouldn’t know, but martial artists of Peak and above possess completely different eyes from those below. The same goes for Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown and Five Qi Consorting with the Origin. And… from my perspective, having reached the extreme of Five Qi Consorting with the Origin.
Right now, your sword and hand are half-melted together. Normally, a first-class martial artist at that stage would cross over to Peak, but I don’t understand why your [vision] still hasn’t opened. That’s why I’m giving you this fragmentary information.”
Sword and hand half-melted together…
I looked at my hand.
It was simply resting on the scabbard.
In reality, it was not like that.
Yet what he described was a feeling I had occasionally sensed recently.
As if my sword and hand had melted and become one…
‘So a Five Qi Consorting with the Origin expert can even read my mental state.’
Far.
How far must I go to reach that realm…
No.
Let’s not think about that.
“…Thank you. I will train endlessly based on your precious advice.”
Kim Young-hoon nodded with a gentle smile, then once again vanished like an illusion before my eyes.
After finishing the food I had ordered at the inn, I stood up.
‘Memorize space, and next…’
Yes, let’s try memorizing sounds.
I began stuffing every miscellaneous sound I heard into my mind.
It felt like my brain would burst, but this too would become familiar.
Once sounds became familiar, next would be temperature, humidity, and tactile information.
Then taste information.
Accepting and accepting countless pieces of information while continuing to experience real combat.
‘I will definitely reach Peak expert!’