The Storm (7)
“What kind of enlightenment are you talking about? Hmm. Thinking about it, reaching Deungbongjogeuk in martial arts was always something only you and I could achieve anyway. So there’s nothing I can really say about it.”
He looked a little flustered, then raised his palm and continued speaking.
On his palm, two Ganghwan circles were endlessly looping their tails around one another.
“First, you infused ‘yourself’ into the Ganghwan as well, right?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Of course. Because you injected a part of another version of my consciousness, the Ganghwan in the world of will feels like a clone to me, and absorbing it lets you accelerate your thoughts. You probably already knew that the moment you split the Ganghwan… Human beings are not made of only themselves.”
“…?”
‘What? Up to here, it’s exactly the same as me.’
However, the very next explanation from Kim Young-hoon began to reveal the difference between us.
“A person is completed through relationships with other existences. So in the end, the enlightenment of the Ganghwan must begin from relationships. What is the most precious and valuable relationship to a human being?”
Uuuuuung!
The Ganghwan on his palm began to vibrate.
Somehow, I felt like I could hear the sound of a heartbeat from the light halo.
“Parents.”
Somehow, when he said those words, an indescribable fragrance settled on his face.
“The most direct reason that allowed me to exist in this world… My father and mother gave me life. So only then did I truly come into being and receive life from them. I am not just made of myself, but also made of my parents.”
Uuuuuung―
He organized the enlightenment into words, whether he had gained something more or not, or whether he was simply observing the three Ganghwan circling on his hand.
Changes began to appear in the Ganghwan of the avatar of Cheonmu as well.
“My mother and father met, gave birth to me…”
Paaaat!
The two Ganghwan circles rotated, and within that rotation, a third Ganghwan began to take shape.
“I live life, meet my wife, and see my children. Perhaps I will even see my grandchildren. Countless connections and relationships I can meet in life… The most precious of them all make up who I am.”
‘Ah, I see.’
I interpreted the Ganghwan through the principle of the Three Talents.
Because I had performed sacrifices to heaven and studied the earth’s spiritual techniques, the presence of heaven and earth had been so clear to me.
But Kim Young-hoon’s principle seemed to be family.
Time and time again.
Every time Kim Young-hoon reached Deungbongjogeuk, he almost always handled nine Ganghwan.
Perhaps because he kept thinking of and grieving the people he loved…
Kwaak…
Three Ganghwan.
A shocking achievement and enlightenment, but Kim Young-hoon clenched his fist and crushed them, then pressed his fist against his chest.
“…This kind of martial arts is unnecessary. I just… want to see my family again.”
“….”
We both dispersed our Ganghwan and stood there in silence for a moment.
I also fell into thought for a while.
After a while.
Kim Young-hoon let out a wry smile and broke the heavy atmosphere.
“…It’s over. What’s the point of brooding about it here? Sorry. Let’s talk about martial arts instead.”
He smiled faintly and raised the Ganghwan again.
“In any case, I realized that I kept thinking about the most precious relationships and constantly interacting with those who held them. So I thought that the Ganghwan and will could also be divided through endless interaction and circulation. ‘Endless circulation.’ That was the principle I found.”
“Is that so…”
I also returned from my thoughts and listened intently to his words.
Endless circulation.
That meaning was what I saw in the Taiji world as well.
In any case, the yin and yang of the world were constantly circulating and interacting.
Our directions of enlightenment were different, but there was a point where they overlapped.
He was talking about the circulation of will.
I was talking about the Taiji of energy.
But even if there were overlapping parts, our enlightenments were clearly different.
Then perhaps by sharing our enlightenments, we could complement each other?
“Hyung Kim, now let me share my enlightenment with you. First… focus your mind, and imagine the Taiji moving inside your heart.”
“Hmm, done.”
“In that state, completely forget the flow of will and focus on the flow of the Heavenly Force that you feel.”
I slowly taught Kim Young-hoon the sensation of the earth and the sensation of the beast.
After a while, Kim Young-hoon’s eyes widened.
“…!!!”
He had entered the same field of vision as me.
Yin and yang and Taiji flowing everywhere between heaven and earth.
Endlessly circulating power.
And the Taiji that takes shape and even strangely transforms according to the reaction of matter.
Qian and Kun.
And people.
In the new landscape of all things containing the three principles, Kim Young-hoon stared blankly into empty space for a moment as if his mind had gone blank.
“Hyung Kim, are you alright?”
I asked when I saw him still staring blankly into empty space.
Normally, after awakening new senses, the head would ache as if it were about to split.
However, Kim Young-hoon simply nodded blankly.
‘Even after awakening new senses, there was no pain at all. So the potential itself is different from mine.’
He seemed to have had some talent for this sensation from the start.
As Kim Young-hoon stared into empty space for a while, three Ganghwan circles naturally floated around him.
Booowng!
The three Ganghwan circles rotated.
‘Completely stable now.’
Right after I created the third Ganghwan, it had been quite unstable.
But at this moment.
The unstable appearance had completely disappeared, and only the three Ganghwan in stable form were rotating around him.
Even the hint that the Ganghwan might be about to split more than that was felt.
Somehow, it seemed that in a moment, the Ganghwan would split into four, five, six…
However.
“Huk… huk…”
Kim Young-hoon seemed to have come to his senses and panted while dispersing the three Ganghwan circling around him.
His expression was one of great surprise.
“I see… So you didn’t feel the circulation of will, but the principle of Qiankun and humanity within those yin and yang and Taiji.”
“…You guessed it right away. I still don’t feel the slightest hint of what the circulation of will is…”
Kim Young-hoon, who had been organizing his thoughts for a moment, spoke while looking at me.
“No, you don’t have to worry about that.”
“Pardon?”
“On the day I first felt the circulation of will, I vaguely felt the limit of the Ganghwan. Not exactly, but I think the number of Ganghwan a human can handle is around eight to ten at most.
And because I felt I could reach the very end by deeply exploring only the circulation of will, you too can keep digging into the Taiji sensation you awakened and reach the end.”
He stretched his hand toward the Taiji circling in empty space while activating the sensation of the earth.
Of course, it wasn’t a tangible object, so he couldn’t catch anything.
“Eight to ten is the human limit. Even if we share our enlightenments, it won’t multiply to eighty-one. With more enlightenment, you’ll reach the place even faster, but it won’t make the Ganghwan stronger in any way…”
“…How do you know such a thing? Hyung Kim hasn’t reached that stage yet.”
That kind of fact wasn’t recorded in Wolsuwolmurok either.
“It’s the intuition of a genius.”
“….”
There was nothing left to say.
But Kim Young-hoon’s words had been wrong on martial arts only once in my entire life, so he was probably right.
‘Every life, Hyung Kim’s number of Ganghwan ended at nine. Was that because that was the limit of a human?’
The limit of a human.
The moment I heard those words, I felt a bit sad for some reason.
That meant the end of a martial artist was Foundation Establishment.
As a martial artist, I felt a little sad.
“In any case, thank you for the wonderful enlightenment. Based on this enlightenment, let me grow even faster. What you taught me will bring tremendous inspiration.”
Inspiration.
Sadness as a martial artist.
Kim Young-hoon’s remark.
And a little bit of grudge.
I felt something rising in my chest.
“Hyung Kim, if there is inspiration, can you transcend Woldowolmurok?”
“Hmm?”
He frowned.
The story about Woldowolmurok had come up when we first met and talked for several days.
When Kim Young-hoon said someone had inserted such a martial technique into his head, I had also experienced something similar, and we had discussed Woldowolmurok.
And that was what I was asking him now.
“I have lived a life and experienced many things. While thinking about Woldowolmurok, I have worried whether I can cross that blueprint or go beyond Deungbongjogeuk.
I wandered around, met the yao races, and learned the Taiji sensation you showed me from them.
And the result is that I came to think the human martial arts originated from the yao races. If Hyung Kim wants, I will tell you the yao techniques I learned and let you research them.”
My words continued.
“If, by doing this, I share the enlightenment and information I gained while wandering, can you transcend Woldowolmurok?”
Woldowolmurok.
That martial arts manual had been Wolsuwolmurok in its original form, with only the experiences of trial and error added.
So.
In this life, could Kim Young-hoon transcend that Woldowolmurok?
Wolsuwolmurok becoming Sujuwolmurok.
Sujuwolmurok becoming Wolsuwolmurok.
After three great evolutions, could the Woldowolmurok that had only added trial and error to Wolsuwolmurok be evolved again?
To my question, Kim Young-hoon seemed to think for a long time.
“…I can’t promise. But!”
His eyes shone brightly.
“If, as you said, human martial arts originated from the yao races, researching the original yao techniques will be a great help and will greatly reduce the enormous amount of trial and error.”
“…I see.”
It would reduce trial and error.
Perhaps that would be enough…
“Then I will teach you the blueprint of Hofung Eungryongbyeon and the overall characteristics of the yao techniques.”
From that day on, for the remaining time, I taught Kim Young-hoon the characteristics of Hofung Eungryongbyeon and the yao techniques.
***
It was time.
It was time to keep the promise with Seo Ran.
“Hyung Kim, is there still something you don’t understand?”
“None. I understood the blueprint completely, and I will research it as much as I can.”
“Understood. I will trust only Hyung Kim.”
Kim Young-hoon, after looking at the yao techniques and awakening the yao senses, increased the number of Ganghwan at a much steeper speed.
Currently, his Ganghwan totaled seven.
He was getting very close to the almost limit from the previous life.
‘Following Hyung Kim’s martial arts, I will raise the martial realm to the ultimate limit of Deungbongjogeuk. Through more than ten times the acceleration of thoughts… I will challenge Foundation Establishment.’
That was why I wanted Kim Young-hoon to fly even faster.
Even higher.
We wished each other good fortune and parted ways.
***
Whoosh!
I flew toward the room of Seo Ran.
Seo Ran was waiting for me, so he immediately raised his head and greeted me.
“Come quickly. I was waiting.”
“Where is the barrier Hyung Seo mentioned?”
“First, let’s go toward the barrier and explain. Ah, right. Climb on my neck. The sea area we’re about to enter is very stormy, so you should hold on tight.”
“Yes.”
I climbed onto Seo Ran’s neck, sat, and grabbed it.
“The barrier I am talking about is something King also secretly asked me to enter. There is something important to our sea dragon clan inside the barrier.”
“What exactly is the barrier surrounding?”
Whoosh!
He cut through the waves and swam quickly toward a certain spot in the sea.
Far away, a place where the currents suddenly changed began to appear.
Somehow, a gloomy ghost qi could be felt.
Far away, dark clouds were rumbling, covering the sea.
“Among the capital gates of the human race, the abandoned divine object of Black Ghost Valley.”
Kugugugu!
Far away, huge waves were crashing.
“The ferry that can cross the underworld, the Seopmyeong Ship.”
We entered the sea area where the storm was blowing hard.