Shattered Heart Fragments (4)
What is Martial Arts to me?
When I reached the Woldoipcheon, I believed that Martial Arts meant freedom.
The struggle against the chains of fate, the burning desire to escape the curse of regression, had crystallized into the formless sword now before me.
Yet was I truly living only to break free from regression?
No.
My life had been built upon countless blessings and gratitude.
Therefore, living had not been solely for escaping regression, but for truly living life itself.
Every single moment.
The moments one feels in life can never return.
That realization came only because I was old enough to remember.
Time itself could never return.
So let us live a faithful life.
Then what exactly was a faithful life?
What was my faithful Martial Arts?
What was the faithful life within me, and what was true Martial Arts for me?
What was Martial Arts to me?
I realized it was a question no ordinary mind could answer in this lifetime.
There was no point in pondering it here.
From now on, I would have to continue thinking… and thinking.
I healed the body split in half and gradually closed my eyes.
Not yet fully restored to the Nascent Soul, even a wound that bisected my body could cause consciousness to drift into unconsciousness.
I must find my path soon.
With my consciousness, I entered sleep.
***
When I opened my eyes, familiar faces greeted me.
Yuhwa and Gyubaek.
You have awakened.
This place…
Is a cave.
She turned her head away indifferently, yet I noticed my clothes were neatly arranged and the sweat wiped clean.
It was Gyubaek who had cared for me while I slept.
Though a fragment of Gyuryeon, she had inherited her senior’s nature and walked a righteous path.
When I considered her character, she spoke.
She showed it openly to Venerable Jang Ik.
…
I saw your sparring as well. The realization you were given by Venerable Jang Ik, I could sense from afar as well. Even with little strength, one can overcome greater power. Inherit the way to face superiors as a weakling.
Was that not the overall meaning?
Yes, that is correct.
Venerable must have wished to convey the same to me as well.
She fell silent in the cave for a moment, then continued.
I received Venerable’s realization and awakened. I still thought of myself as the strong Gyuryeon.
Her words continued.
No. Since the time I was Gyuryeon, or rather since I met Seo Hyul, there was no longer strength.
Uwoong!
She stretched her hand into empty air.
A faint line connected to her pinky finger extended somewhere into the void.
I clung to Seo Hyul like that. Yes, from the moment I met Seo Hyul, I had been a weakling trapped in love. Sitting there, deceived into thinking I was strong despite my weakness, Venerable had refused to teach me. Yes…
Thud, thud, thud…
Gyubaek wept.
I am only a fragment of Gyuryeon’s shattered heart. Nothing more than her leftover. Yet at the same time, I have inherited the pain of her love for Seo Hyul. I have inherited her Gwanghanjiyak as well. Until now I have shouted of revenge against Seo Hyul with my mouth. But…
She covered her face with her hands and cried out.
Even as I inherited Gyuryeon’s heart, I love Seo Hyul! How terrifying I am to myself! Seo Hyul is hated, yet the fact that I love him is terrifying! What am I to do with this heart? If you know, tell me! If you know the answer, answer me!
Gyubaek grabbed my hand while screaming.
Yuhwa left the cave entrance, averting her gaze from us. I held her hand and asked as I listened to her cries.
There is something more important than whether Gyubaek-nim loves or hates Seo Hyul?
…
Seo Hyul—how does he think of senior Gyuryeon? Is that not more important?
Human relationships cannot be one-sided.
Whenever one person responds, the other must accept for a bond to form.
Gyubaek believes she can throw every kind of reaction at Seo Hyul, yet the more crucial matter was whether Seo Hyul would accept her reaction.
To think Seo Hyul would naturally accept Gyubaek-nim’s reaction is the thought of a strong one. But as senior Gyuryeon confirmed, Seo Hyul had no interest in senior Gyuryeon.
…
Gyubaek-nim must accept that you are the weaker party in the relationship with Seo Hyul. Seo Hyul has no interest in you. You should not be worrying about what reaction to throw at him, but whether he will look at Gyubaek-nim.
My words made Gyubaek’s pupils dilate.
You ask me to do what?
Gyubaek-nim, it seems you are screaming in front of me as if you have already found the answer and fear confirming it properly.
I looked into Gyubaek’s eyes and said.
Tell me the answer you have thought of, Gyubaek-nim. What answer are you thinking of?
…
What you said… is correct.
Gyubaek bit her lips tightly.
I see… Yes. It is not important whether I love or hate Seo Hyul now. I must worry about whether he will even respond to me. You are right.
Her words continued.
I have set a goal. As you said, I will master Simdongongbeop. By mastering Simdongongbeop, I will surely meet Seo Hyul again…! I will confirm his emotions properly!
…Magnificent.
I nodded, confirming Gyubaek’s resolve.
From that day, I began teaching her martial arts.
Extend your hand like this.
It was impossible to teach her Gongsimbeop—inner energy meditation.
Although she had a human form, she was a kind of byproduct born from the life force of a Sachukgi stage cultivator, Gyuryeon’s remnant.
Her energy meridians were completely different from those of humans.
She only resembled a human in appearance.
But resembling a human meant she could practice martial arts that required a human shape.
Following my guidance, Gyubaek moved her limbs and absorbed qi, mastering Gonggi, and learned the martial arts I taught.
The name of the martial art I taught Gyubaek was Yonghyeongbihogo.
A claw technique imitating the movements of dragons.
Bang, buwoong, bungal!
Under my guidance, Gyubaek learned Yonghyeongbihogo at an astonishing speed.
Mm, it is easy to master. Is Simdongongbeop not just that?
It is thanks to Gyubaek-nim’s talent.
Well, that is correct as well.
Under the determination to meet Seo Hyul, she trained Yonghyeongbihogo madly.
Of course, the reason she learned it quickly was natural.
It was because the martial art I created was based on actual movements I had observed from Gyuryeon, a member of the Yellow Dragon Clan.
Not metaphor, but the martial art created from real movements of Gyuryeon.
For that reason, among all martial arts, none suited the fragment Gyubaek better than this one.
It was not about teaching new martial arts, but about reproducing her original movements through them.
Of course, besides training her with a martial art suited to her own talent.
She trained Yonghyeongbihogo day and night without rest or sleep.
Only with the determination to meet Seo Hyul again!
Thus, ten years passed in the lower realm.
***
Kuguguung!
Kiiirureuk!
Kkeeeek!
Kkieeeek!
In a secluded forest.
A loud explosion echoed, a tree fell, and wild animals nearby scattered in all directions with screams.
At the base of that tree.
A woman was wiping her hands.
Congratulations. You have already reached the grand completion of Yonghyeongbihogo and can use claw qi.
It was Gyubaek.
Gyubaek sneered at my praise and curled her fingers.
Buwoong!
Golden qi sharpened over her fingertips, revealing claw qi.
Yet she showed no joy.
The pure qi that once flowed like blood has only now been re-realized through regeneration training. Even that, since it is necessary to realize pure qi, is still far away.
Pure qi is not important, Gyubaek-nim.
I exclaimed while looking at the dozens of thoughts she emitted.
It is important that you have already reached the Samhwa Chujeong stage.
Gyubaek’s determination was astonishing.
Even with the highest-talent Yonghyeongbihogo that I taught her, reaching Samhwa Chujeong in a time that defies reason.
She, too, was a fragment of Gyuryeon who had almost reached the Integration stage.
Talent varies from person to person, yet there is a way all things can succeed.
Moreover, Gyuryeon was a Yellow Dragon who had only condensed the Sachukgi stage and was a warrior who had slain four lower-realm experts to reach the Sachukgi stage.
The combat experience she had accumulated was immense, and Gyubaek, inheriting that experience, was adapting to martial arts at a significant speed.
If this momentum continues, you will reach not only Ogijowon but also Deungbongjogeuk in several dozen years.
Hmph, no need to flatter. There is nothing more absurd than failing to succeed in regeneration training after decades.
Of course, she seemed to think of martial arts merely as regeneration training.
Anyway, at this speed, perhaps she could surpass the time I had originally planned even without success.
Although dropped to the lower realm by Seo Hyul.
My goals in this life were still valid.
Before the True Immortal descends upon the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, I would surpass them and steal the Heavenly Thunder Banner.
Among them, the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect had a time limit, so the goal was to steal the Heavenly Thunder Banner as quickly as possible.
Even now, I can surpass.
Won Yu still wore the same clothes as before, and I had recovered my Nascent Soul cultivation.
Through the power of the Taum contained in Black Dragon’s blood, I was also cultivating the Umshin. Soon, I would finish the early Nascent Soul stage and challenge the middle stage.
With my current physical strength, the realm would be at most Cheonin, yet I could withstand spatial pressure.
I already knew the orthodox method of bisung.
Ride a spatial crack in the Star Realm and fly toward the coordinates of the Gwanghan Realm.
Since I already knew the coordinates of the Gwanghan Realm, there was no problem.
However…
I could not simply waste the precious opportunity to receive guidance from Venerable Jang Ik.
Recently, receiving guidance from Jang Ik had allowed me to learn about the shortcomings of martial arts I had not known before.
Yuhwa had reached the third stage of implementation from before.
According to her, she was maturing the realization of the final stage of the Hahyeon, and I was gradually grasping the feel of the realms beyond the Habcheon as I raced toward its limit.
It seemed I could reach the realms beyond the Habcheon if I simply cultivated leisurely for about six hundred years.
But in this life, there were things I had to do, so I could not waste time that way.
I was already in the twentieth year of regression.
The True Immortal of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect appears in the seventh or eighth year of regression.
I still had fifty years left in which I could cultivate without worry.
In fifty years, I would ascend with Yuhwa and Gyubaek.
This time, I would throw a proper blow at Seo Hyul’s face.
Wait for it, Seo Hyul…
And so time flowed like water, and finally seventy years of regression had passed.
***
Kki kki kki kkiik!
I, Gyubaek, and Yuhwa arrived at the swamp where monkeys were gathering.
This planet had no civilized sapient life.
There were a few monsters, but the planet itself was too thin in spiritual energy for many to exist.
The fact that they were few did not mean they were absent.
The monster we found today was of that sort.
Who is making noise in Venerable’s domain!
The echo of the loud voice of the beast tribe rang out, and a giant monkey of Sachukgi stage erupted from within the swamp.
I signaled Gyubaek to look at the monkey.
Gyubaek nodded and took a deep breath.
Huuu—
Nine orbs rose behind her back.
Wiing—
At the same time, the nine orbs spun behind her and instantly merged into her consciousness domain.
Paaaat!
Then Gyubaek’s consciousness domain began to change.