Tempest in the Black Wind Sea
In my past life, I barely escaped Deungsunhyang and found Kim Young-hoon at the very end of my life. At that time, the Kim Young-hoon of that era was already chasing beyond the extreme of Deungbongjogeuk. So, then, how far had the current Kim Young-hoon come after about ten years?
“Hmm, it seems the Makri clan is still snatching the Hwangjo.”
It appeared they had not yet seized the Hwangjo from the Jin family and Kim Young-hoon. However, rumors said the Emperor and Crown Prince had been assassinated by some strange person. It must have been Kim Young-hoon.
“Still, it looks like Kim Young-hoon has not contacted the Jin family and is running around here and there…”
Then, he probably could not enter the Jin family by any normal means.
“Still, I have to see their faces.”
I headed to the Jin family’s territory and unleashed my Ganghwan. Kwaaaaang! Nothing but empty air. A wind hole had torn open in the formation that had been spread there. After erasing all trace of my existence with the Wansuigungmurok and Eonsiksul, I entered the hole. The moment an alarm sounded, the Jin family’s disciples shot out from every direction, standing guard, yet none spotted me. I left the disciples behind and made for the training ground where they trained.
“There is no one here.”
Not only the training ground but also the disciples’ quarters were untouched by anyone, only dust piled up. It was clear that with the Emperor and Crown Prince dead, the Jin family had abandoned the assassination squad.
“Then…”
I recalled my past life and went to the place where the disciples had lived inside the territory. Sure enough. The disciples were learning the ways of the perpetrators from every corner of the territory. Their faces were far younger than in my previous life. The fellows training everywhere looked like fresh youths. I watched their forms for a long while, then smiled faintly before unfolding my divine steps and exiting the hole I had entered. * * * After leaving the Jin family, I decided first to find Kim Young-hoon.
“Kim Young-hoon’s personality, the Makri clan’s pursuit, the geographical characteristics of Yeon Kingdom…”
I synthesized the information from my past life and narrowed the possible hiding places where Kim Young-hoon might be concealed. After some time, I set out for the candidate location I had identified. The mountain gully near the Baengju Castle of Yeon Kingdom. There was a high probability he was hiding in the mountain village there. Tap! Tat! I stepped on the Void Step toward the direction of the Gyo-ryong Island in the mountain gully. Grand mountain scenery unfolded, and people wriggling below came into view.
“Indeed, he was here.”
I raised my perception to study what the wriggling people were doing and chuckled. Everyone was training martial skills. All of them were familiar techniques. Not the Danak Sword Art or the Danmaekdo Art, but techniques that all carried Kim Young-hoon’s scent. It was then that I cast the Heavenly Venerable. Fwaaaat! Lightning streaks spread through the air and rushed toward me. Took! Yet when I snapped my fingers, the lightning streaks decomposed and vanished.
“This is…”
Strong Qi swirled around me in the Upper, Lower, Front, Rear, Left, and Right in the Heavenly Earthly Six Harmonies.
“Eon-gi.”
I raised Ganghwan in my hand. And transferred the consciousness of another me dwelling within it to the light swarm that was ramming me. I stole the control rights over the Gangqi. Uuuuuung! The Gangqi that had gathered in the air moved under my will and formed ranks. And in that instant, I clearly sensed it. A martial art that was secretly cutting through my consciousness area and piercing my awareness. I condensed my consciousness area even more tightly and launched the stolen Gangqi toward the one approaching secretly. Kwa-kwa-kwaang! A human figure shot out like a scarecrow from the air and repelled the Gangqi waves I had thrown.
“What, what is your true identity! How did the disciples manage to…”
“Haha, disciples, what a harsh word.”
I had not yet used any extraordinary technique of the Daoist school.
“Pure martial arts were what it was.”
Uuuuuung! When I gathered thousands of Gangqi waves on my hand to form Ganghwan, his eyes widened.
“Long time no see, Mr. Kim.”
“You, you…”
And only then did Kim Young-hoon’s eyes widen when he recognized my face.
“Seo, Senior Seo…?”
A title I had not heard in a long time. Yet I focused more on Kim Young-hoon’s gaze than on the title. Indeed, at this point, what realm had Kim Young-hoon reached? Indeed, what stage had he come to?
“I think I know, but…”
Still, confirmation was necessary. Boo-woong! The Ganghwan on my hand split into two arms. I absorbed one to accelerate my thinking and placed the other on the tip of my hand. Paang! I tore through the air and reached Kim Young-hoon, extending the hand holding the Ganghwan. And Kim Young-hoon only reacted hastily just before my fingertips nearly touched and barely evaded my attack. He could not accelerate his thinking. Bwoong, bwoong, bwoong! Strong Qi was layered on the air. Yet it was messy. Uuuuuung! A powerful control power arose around my Ganghwan and completely stole Kim Young-hoon’s control over his Gangqi. The thousands of arms of Strong Qi that had covered the air moved entirely under my will.
“What…!”
Thousands of Eon-gi techniques sealed Kim Young-hoon in the Upper, Lower, Front, Rear, Left, and Right of the Heavenly Earthly Six Harmonies in perfect unison under my will. Kim Young-hoon was panicked yet calm, constantly inputting will to recover the control rights over the Gangqi I had stolen. At the same time, realizing he could not approach me, he extended his distance and swung his Gangqi.
“His combat sense is excellent.”
It had not even been ten seconds since we met, yet he was already familiar with fighting a Deungbongjogeuk master and had grasped the timing. Moreover, he kept trying to recover the control rights over the Gangqi and gradually became proficient in the use of will. But. Fwaaaang! The air tore. The sonic boom resounded, and I had already reached Kim Young-hoon’s nose.
“The difference in realms cannot be helped.”
Fwaaaat! I swung the hand holding the Ganghwan. Yet this time, instead of evading hastily, Kim Young-hoon flowed like water, evading my attack and counterattacking me.
“That movement…”
The system was complete. Yet it was also unfamiliar movement. There was only one answer.
“He created this martial art specifically to face me just now.”
One might say it is insane talk, but. The man who created the Danak Sword Art and invented the Danmaekdo Art after only two or three months of training was Kim Young-hoon. During the sparring with Sanjunwolakbi, he created a martial art on the spot tailored to me. If it were Kim Young-hoon, he could have created the perfect martial art for the situation and faced me. A thrill ran through me. I smiled brightly and extended my hand again.
“This is how Kim Young-hoon should be…!”
Yet again, suddenly Kim Young-hoon’s movement accelerated instantaneously and reacted to mine, striking my wrist instead of my Ganghwan and repelling my attack.
“Hah!”
With my eyes that had reached Deungbongjogeuk, I roughly guessed how he had done it. He had accelerated the flow of internal energy in his body and optimized his movement to the flow, raising his reaction speed in that short instant. He had created this martial art in that instant and used it on me.
“On the first try he was too desperate to evade, on the second he evaded fluidly, on the third he struck my arm.”
With every exchange of one second, he grew. Ziiiit, ziiiit… An eerie sensation spread through my body. I had guessed Kim Young-hoon’s realm. At this point after ten years, it was the realm of Five Qi Consorting with the Origin. Even as my own Deungbongjogeuk, it was not enough for me in terms of experience or pure skill. Yet that insane talent was constantly creating new martial arts to confront me in response. It was just…
“I feel admiration rising.”
Kim Young-hoon mixed two or three martial arts I had never seen and rushed toward me. It was martial arts I had not seen before. I felt he had created them to target me at the same time. It must have been made just moments ago. Yet it was a martial art whose preparation was excellent to push me in faster than him. One. Kwaang! I did not accelerate my thinking with Ganghwan but raised two Ganghwan on either side and charged at Kim Young-hoon, shattering his martial art with pure technique. After that, I reached for his head, grabbed it, and pressed my knee down on it. Kim Young-hoon spread a protective Gangqi on his chin for a short instant and blocked the shock. Yet I used the gap where he lost balance to flip him over and throw him down, then pushed him from above with the Cheongun Chu. We began to fall together. Kim Young-hoon moved in the air with all his might to shake me off, yet I stubbornly pressed on his upper side. When Kim Young-hoon swung his saber, a saw-toothed Gangqi swung toward me. He accelerated instantaneously in the air and spun three times. Gangqi spurted out in the form of thin threads, secretly targeting me from the air. All unseen martial arts. And all martial arts created with the intention of facing me. Kim Young-hoon created new martial arts in real time and poured all his power into shaking me off. The ground was approaching. The mountain bandits who had been training martial arts at the village below looked panicked upon seeing us both falling.
“Haaaat!”
In a short instant, another martial art he had just created activated. Kim Young-hoon’s Gangqi gathered into one point and displayed an enormous explosive power in an instant. It was not Ganghwan, the principle was completely different, and it was only similar in form, a kind of imitation. Yet the explosion force made me fall back from Kim Young-hoon for a moment. In that time, Kim Young-hoon spun his body and accelerated quickly, melting into the air like a scarecrow with the Wansuigungmurok. And in the next instant, Kim Young-hoon was pressing on my upper side and grabbing my clothes. The ground was right in front! He meant to slam me straight to the ground. But for an instant. I read the flow of the Qi flowing inside Kim Young-hoon’s body and reversed the flow. And the form that had been about to slam me to the ground was flipped upside down, and now it was me who was about to slam him. At the same time. Kwaaaaang! Mud sprayed and the surroundings shook. Birds flew up in a flock in the quiet mountain valley, and the area became noisy. Ziiiit! I felt a prickling pain in the hand that had grabbed Kim Young-hoon. I knew it was because he was a Five Qi Consorting with the Origin master and had protected himself with Gangqi, so I had slammed him to the ground. Yet in that short instant, he had created a martial art that could deliver some of the downward impact shock to me, so even in that moment he gave me a prickling counterattack.
“With this insane talent, he probably ambushed and killed a Foundation Establishment disciple even when he was only at the Five Qi Consorting with the Origin realm.”
In every instant he created optimized martial arts to face the opponent. It went beyond calling him a monster, unbelievable, awe-inspiring, and was simply talent on another level.
“Previous thousand years, future thousand years of irreplaceable talent?”
Nonsense. Previous ten thousand years, future ten thousand years. No talent could exceed Kim Young-hoon’s no matter how much time passed. I descended from Kim Young-hoon’s upper side and dusted my hands.
“Rise, Mr. Kim. I imagine you learned much during the sparring.”
“…Sparring? Was that sparring? I did not attack you to kill you? I was trying my best because I did not want to die.”
“Haha, originally I was going to face you so that it felt like a proper spar. But because your talent is so absurd, I put some heart into it for a few moves.”
Kim Young-hoon beat his waist and laughed while rising.
“Put heart into it? At the end you did not even absorb that lump to accelerate, you pressed me with pure technique. Are you teasing me?”
When we were talking, the mountain bandit fellows who had run away started peeking their faces one by one. Kim Young-hoon frowned at the sight and shouted.
“You bandits! You have a guest, and you are still dawdling! Get ready to receive the guest!”
“Yes, yes! Two leaders!”
“Hmm, what are those?”
“Nothing much. I was hiding nearby when I came down to the village I was hiding in and tried to plunder. I beat them to death just before dying and made them my slaves.”
“Good work.”
We exchanged idle talk while loosening the feelings we had held since our last meeting after ten years. * * * Several days passed. For several days I gave Kim Young-hoon martial arts instruction and taught him the key to rising to Deungbongjogeuk.
“If I go at this speed, I will reach Deungbongjogeuk within half a year.”
No matter how I looked, it was an insane growth speed. Moreover, this was still the tenth loop. About forty years remained until I died. During that time, could I surpass the Woldowolmurok in this life?
“…Yes, I will help Kim Young-hoon.”
Seeing Kim Young-hoon’s talent, I grew even more determined to research the Yousu Gongbeop. If human martial arts were similar to those of the demons, Perhaps the realm we rose to could also be learned from the Yousu. Like how humans learned the first martial arts from beasts. Do you know that the realm ahead of us can also be learned from the Yousu. In any case, I had already passed on all the insights and clues of Deungbongjogeuk. If it were his talent, he would reach Deungbongjogeuk and create his Naedan within half a year even without my instruction.
“…Then I will take my leave.”
“Hmm, are you not going to see me reach Deungbongjogeuk?”
I had thought to take Kim Young-hoon with me, but Kim Young-hoon refused, saying he wanted to properly enter Deungbongjogeuk and harvest his enlightenment.
“…In any case, I know he will definitely reach it because of his talent. Still, I plan to go somewhere else to obtain information about the realm beyond Deungbongjogeuk. I will return later. When we meet next time…”
I bowed and smiled at Kim Young-hoon.
“I hope Mr. Kim will give me lessons.”
“…Yes. Next time I will definitely reach a higher realm than you.”
We bowed to each other and parted for our respective paths. I left the short but intense meeting with Kim Young-hoon behind and headed to the Black Wind Sea that Seo Hyul had mentioned. * * * Black Wind Sea, Geukran Island. The Black Wind Sea was the sea located south of Seongje, Yeon, and Byeokra Kingdoms, a truly dangerous sea where storms blew in at any time and countless Yousu herds lived in its depths. It was also called the settlement of countless Yozu, and the base of the Black Ghost Valley was said to be near the Black Wind Sea. There were many islands in the Black Wind Sea, yet it was not particularly difficult to find Geukran Island. It was one of the islands ruled by the Sea Dragon. Geukran Island was famous as one of the islands ruled by the Sea Dragon. I boarded a ship to Geukran Island and asked the local residents there about the Sea Dragon Seo Ran. Seo Ran was said to be revered as a guardian deity that protected the island. Each year he received appropriate offerings and protected the ship from storms or the island from Yozu herds.
“He seems like a benevolent Sea Dragon.”
In the first place, even if it was an offering, it was only a few dishes of food offered on Geukran Island. It was not an evil Yozu that demanded virgin sacrifices, and it felt like the island’s guardian deity itself.
“At first, Geukran Island was just a bushy area with bad luck for humans. The original name was not Geukran but Gukyodo. Then the guardian deity pitied our ancestors who came to this land and helped us clear the land. Since then we call it Geukran Island after the guardian deity’s name. Honestly, where did the ‘Ran’ come from on this island?”
One of the villagers of Geukran explained the origin of the name and told me about the guardian deity Seo Ran. Seo Ran was a gigantic Sea Dragon ten zhang in size. He was a wise dragon who loved human culture and was well-versed in the language. At the same time, to see him, one went to the west of Geukran and waited several days at the Seoje Altar where offerings were made each year, and sometimes one could see him swimming beyond the sea.
“Is there anything I should be careful about when I meet the guardian deity?”
“Hmm, the thing to be careful about is… the guardian deity does not like knives, so do not wear a sword in front of him.”
“Thank you.”
I listened to the villager and headed toward the Seoje Altar on the west of Geukran Island. The Seoje Altar was a modest altar built on a three-zhang cliff on the west of Geukran Island.
“If I wait here, I should be able to see Seo Ran.”
What should I say to him. Did Seo Hyul send me? Yet before I finished my thoughts. Chwaaaang! A massive shadow fell over my head. Fwaaaat! At the same time, the Yousu Gongbeop book Seo Hyul had given me vibrated, releasing blue water-attribute spiritual energy. At the same time, through consciousness, Seo Ran’s voice echoed.
“Who are you? What kind of person are you, holding the leather of the Haili Beast who only reacts when in the arms of the Yozu and who has taken the form of a human?”
He had a long body with blue scales, silver-green horns, and a sea-foam-like white beard, a dragon. I smiled and took out the Gongbeop book, introducing myself.
“I am Seo Eun-hyun, and His Majesty the Sea Dragon told me I am the offspring of In-yo and ordered me to go to Master Seo Ran, learn Yozu language, and train the Yousu Gongbeop.”
It was time to study the Yousu Gongbeop.
“May the offspring of the great Sea Dragon King bestow upon me guidance.”
And Seo Ran asked me curiously.
“The King said you are the offspring of In-yo…?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Strange. Why does it look to me as if you are a Yozu who has disguised himself as a human?”
And following Seo Ran’s words, I had no choice but to be bewildered.
“It is not simply that your Yozu blood is thick. Are you not just the Yozu itself?” ---
His body was long, covered in blue scales, with silver-green horns and a beard like sea foam, a dragon.
I smiled and took out the Gongbeop book to introduce myself.
“I am Seo Eun-hyun, and the Sea Dragon King told me I am the offspring of In-yo and ordered me to go to Master Seo Ran, learn Yozu language, and train the Yousu Gongbeop.”
It was time to study the Yousu Gongbeop.
“May the offspring of the great Sea Dragon King bestow upon me guidance.”
And Seo Ran asked me curiously.
“The King said you are the offspring of In-yo…?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Strange. Why does it look to me as if you are a Yozu who has disguised himself as a human?”
And following Seo Ran’s words, I had no choice but to be bewildered.
“It is not simply that your Yozu blood is thick. Are you not just the Yozu itself?”