Chapter 45: The Greatest Reward (2)
“No one has solved it in the past seventy years. Come to think of it, weren't you called a martial arts genius yourself? Have you ever tried tackling it?”
“Yes, I have.”
“I figured as much. Any martial artist worth their salt has given it a shot at least once.”
Cheon Myeong-jin took Jang Cheon's attempt as a given—and failure as equally inevitable.
“Now it's time to approach it properly. I'll share some secrets about Sohyeon Ilgi-gong that the world doesn't know.”
Curiosity flickered across Jang Cheon's face.
“What might that be?”
“You know that successfully interpreting Sohyeon Ilgi-gong leads to the first cycle of energy gathering and fasting, resulting in bone transformation?”
“Yes, I'm aware.”
“Suppose luck smiles on you and you achieve that bone transformation. What comes next? Do you think you'd keep practicing Sohyeon Ilgi-gong?”
“I'm not sure.”
“Once you've undergone bone transformation, you stop practicing Sohyeon Ilgi-gong. The technique itself is terribly inefficient.
The internal energy you build through cultivation is meager, and recovery is glacially slow.
Still, people would be content, wouldn't they? Any warrior would kill for such a fateful encounter, even in their dreams.”
Cheon Myeong-jin spoke as if he'd personally unraveled the incantation and achieved bone transformation himself. Jang Cheon couldn't help but ask.
“Have you solved the incantation, Alliance Leader?”
Cheon Myeong-jin let out a hollow laugh.
“I've devoted my life to martial arts, but I'm no genius.”
He extended a hand wrinkled like crumpled paper.
“Does this look like the body of someone who's undergone bone transformation?”
“Then how do you know so much about what comes after interpreting Sohyeon Ilgi-gong?”
“You'll understand once you hear my story.”
And then came the shocking secret.
“Sohyeon Ilgi-gong hides one profound truth. Achieving its great completion allows for a second bone transformation.”
A second bone transformation.
It was unprecedented in martial history.
“No one knows what happens to a body that undergoes bone transformation twice. No one's ever done it.”
Silence fell for a moment.
Cheon Myeong-jin was mildly surprised that Jang Cheon wasn't more stunned. He chalked it up to a lack of interest in Sohyeon Ilgi-gong.
“But reaching great completion in Sohyeon Ilgi-gong is far harder than solving its riddle.
The real challenge begins after you've interpreted it.”
Cheon Myeong-jin pulled something from his bracelet—a tiny USB memory card the size of a pinky nail.
“In my youth, I was obsessed with martial arts. I traveled the world, seeking strength through extreme training.
I challenged masters everywhere. In the Mongolian desert, I stumbled upon a cave by chance.
Its entrance was in the most inaccessible spot. At the end lay an oasis.”
Now the secret of his knowledge was revealed.
“That's where Geum Sa-cheon spent his final days. Dozens of recording tapes were there.
This is his deathbed testament. I transferred them to this card and destroyed the originals. No other copies exist.”
“Can this help interpret Sohyeon Ilgi-gong?”
“Unfortunately not. It assumes you've already mastered it and imparts various martial insights.
Most of it was incomprehensible to me.
But if you solve Sohyeon Ilgi-gong, this testament will be invaluable for reaching great completion.”
He hadn't solved it himself, but this held immense historical value in the martial world—priceless beyond measure.
“You might etch your name in history as the first to undergo double bone transformation.”
Cheon Myeong-jin had never told a soul he possessed it. It was his most treasured secret.
Then a martial genius—the youngest to pass the BST—entered his life and saved his granddaughter.
He saw it as heaven's will. At least, this testament wasn't more precious than her life.
“Please unravel this martial secret.”
Jang Cheon accepted the card without hesitation.
“I gratefully accept.”
“I told you that day: after rewarding you, I'd step down as Alliance Leader and atone.”
“You did.”
“I've given you this priceless gift. Doesn't that let me stay? If you look the other way.”
His words were half-jest, half-serious. No one relinquishes the Murim Alliance leadership lightly.
Jang Cheon replied.
“Don't step down.”
“Hahaha.”
Thinking it a joke, Cheon Myeong-jin laughed. But Jang Cheon's earnest expression said otherwise.
“You mean that?”
“Yes, sincerely.”
“Because of the gift?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“They're watching Doctor Woo. In other words, they want to know how you'd seek the antidote—and through whom.
They'll likely use you to uncover my identity.”
Jang Cheon knew the mastermind behind it all was no ordinary foe. They'd seen the drone footage and realized he wasn't a Black Heaven assassin.
“You staying as Alliance Leader keeps me safer.”
“Stay for your sake?”
“Yes.”
His bold response left Cheon Myeong-jin flustered.
Jang Cheon added a second reason.
“Your position is dangerous enough as is. To atone properly, you must eradicate them all.
A new leader would be devoured before gaining real power.”
It was true. Consolidating authority took time.
And he couldn't just dump a throne riddled with enemies on a successor.
Cheon Myeong-jin stared at Jang Cheon.
“You're truly remarkable.”
Jang Cheon told him.
“Your side's no picnic either. Stay sharp.”
Cheon Myeong-jin pondered. Two desires warred within him.
He wanted to step down honorably, confess, and atone lightly—for his granddaughter's sake.
Yet he yearned to remain and punish the culprits. The latter burned stronger.
“Understood. Let's crush them together.”
“Good.”
Cheon Myeong-jin extended his hand; Jang Cheon gripped it firmly.
Back at his lodging, Jang Cheon called Bishop first.
—The child's safe.
Bishop fell silent. Silence spoke volumes—shock, fear, rage... and now, joy.
He was genuinely thrilled for a child he'd never met across the continent. No long speeches.
—Well done, Boss.
—You too.
Hanging up, Jang Cheon inserted the memory card into his MP3 player, donned headphones, and hit play.
As Cheon Myeong-jin said, it was a testament.
But not regrets from his deathbed. It chronicled a lifetime, recorded over months before his end—not in one burst.
Short ones ran one or two minutes; longer ones stretched over thirty.
He spoke casually, as if to a disciple.
“Eighty years since I entered the martial world. Heaven granted me longevity—what regrets could I have? Yet in martial arts, many linger.
In my later years, I perfected Sohyeon Ilgi-gong.
It was my unique heart method, refined through great enlightenment and sent to the World Murim Alliance Leader.”
Some parts were straightforward recordings; others...
“...Damn it all! What did I fight my friend over—something so trivial? Shameful, utterly shameful.”
Recalling a petty quarrel with a friend.
He recorded personal regrets raw, unfiltered. Even at a century old, humans kick blankets in frustration.
Some days offered insights on Sohyeon Ilgi-gong.
“The hurdle in Sohyeon Ilgi-gong is the 3rd Stage. Most will quit here, I predict—too hard compared to other methods, with meager gains.
Unlike arts with quick early progress, reaching 3rd Stage demands prolonged effort.”
Not intentional, but a brutal early trap.
“...At 4th Stage, wield energy like a wild horse charging. By 5th, let it flow like water.
6th heightens senses to extremes. At 7th, energy flows like wind.”
Vague to most experts, but crystal clear to Jang Cheon.
Each word was essential for great completion.
“Great completion in Sohyeon Ilgi-gong triggers a second bone transformation.
Confession: I failed the second. My body, spent by longevity, couldn't accept more.
Forgive my inability to describe it.”
Not just martial topics.
Some days, tales of relationships or lord-vassal bonds.
“Leaders exist to guide. Be their compass in darkness, their milestone when lost.
True leaders never falter, even in pitch black.”
As a leader with subordinates, Jang Cheon found much value.
As they say, you see as much as you know.
To ordinary folk or even experts, it might seem useless. Even Cheon Myeong-jin likely gained little.
But to Jang Cheon, it outshone any manual.
He'd already interpreted the incantation and achieved first bone transformation.
Battle scars had vanished with his reborn body.
He persisted with Sohyeon Ilgi-gong post-transformation despite slow gains—nearly quitting, as Cheon Myeong-jin noted.
Instinct kept him going. A genius's intuition proved right.
This testament was tailor-made for him.
Geum Sa-cheon's lifetime insights hid in every casual phrase—and Jang Cheon grasped them.
Specific advice for great completion too.
His expressions shifted as he listened: calm, joyful, puzzled.
Circulating energy, pacing in thought.
Over five hours from start to finish.
Jang Cheon stopped the MP3. Night had fallen. No instant breakthrough, but he was changed.
He'd replay it in spare moments.
Pouring whiskey, he stood by the window.
His reflection smiled back.
Sometimes the heart feels empty, lonely. But it was fine. Joy in growing stronger filled the void.
Jang Cheon downed the whiskey with relish.