Galaxy Martial Temple - Reincarnation (4)

The antique logo appeared on the display.

Since I had watched episodes one and two yesterday, I started the third. I had chosen to study science because I loved tinkering with machines, but if machines hadn’t fascinated me, I might have seriously considered majoring in history instead. I had always loved the subject. And the history of another world? How could that not be utterly captivating?

The first episode had covered the history of ancient martial arts beginning in Egypt, how those arts were transmitted to India and refined there, and how they eventually flowed into East Asia. The second episode compared the development of martial arts centered in ancient China during the late Zhou dynasty and their spread across East Asia against the independent systems that evolved in Europe. There, ancient martial traditions from Egypt had traveled directly to Rome and the Germanic tribes without passing through India.

This third episode was scheduled to explore the history of Murim from the late ancient period—in my original timeline, the mid-Qing dynasty through the early modern era—up to the twenty-first century, the dawn of space exploration.

A professor with a dignified presence walked onto the documentary set. Most of the program consisted of footage and narration, but the professor appeared periodically to provide necessary explanations.

“It is good to see you again. As promised, today we will cover the period from the late sixteenth century, which belongs to the ancient era, through the early twenty-first century, which corresponds to the early medieval period.”

Images of ancient Chinese cultural relics flashed across the screen before it transitioned to a historical drama filming set.

“Let us briefly review the previous era. Martial arts have always experienced rapid development during times of war. In ancient China, shortly after the arts first spread, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods gave birth to a distinct East Asian character different from that of Egypt or India. That character became the foundation of modern martial arts.”

The screen changed again, showing simulated footage of battles from the era before gunpowder weapons. Stunt actors trained in martial arts performed spectacular combat sequences. Then a timeline appeared, highlighting the late Ming and the Ming-Qing transition period.

“Martial arts advanced once more through the wars of the Ming-Qing transition. However, after the conflict, the ruling Jurchen class of the Qing dynasty implemented policies to suppress martial artists.”

The screen shifted to a scene of Qing-dynasty emperors and generals oppressing martial artists.

“For Murim history, this became a darker age than even the Mongol Yuan period. Yet compared to the darkness that fell in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠West, calling the East’s suppression a ‘dark age’ almost feels too generous.”

The screen now displayed a map of Europe. At the time, the development of gunpowder weapons had caused the martial traditions refined by Rome and the Germanic tribes to naturally decline. While the East saw martial arts suppressed by the state, in the West, warriors began abandoning their arts of their own accord. This trend accelerated dramatically with the invention of the cartridge and the appearance of breech-loading rifles. The incident in which two riflemen annihilated fifty cavalrymen armed with sabers proved fatal to the old ways.

Skepticism toward martial arts spread across Europe. As modern weaponry became widespread, Western martial traditions were all but severed. In their place, unique arts such as gun-kata emerged for handling firearms. The Industrial Revolution soon followed, ushering in the age of imperialism and colonial expansion.

While the West began its conquest of the world, the East—particularly the Qing—retreated behind isolationist policies while corruption among officials worsened. The Qing imperial family and government were paralyzed by the Western powers, and numerous nations suffered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠extensive plunder.

Ironically, in Murim history, the Qing’s stagnation and collapse marked the end of the dark age. Once the Qing government, which had suppressed martial artists, lost its ability to function, the oppression of martial arts vanished. In the chaos of Western invasion and states failing to act as states, ordinary people began learning martial arts to protect themselves.

Though firearms were easier to learn than martial arts, the Western powers restricted personal firearms in colonies out of fear of arming the colonized. Even if one managed to obtain a gun, acquiring gunpowder was far more difficult. Therefore, martial arts—which did not require consumables—became the only viable means of self-defense for colonial subjects.

Western nations mocked the East’s outdated warriors, and history marched on.

The nineteenth century, Murim’s most brutal dark age, finally ended. After the early-to-mid twentieth century—the era of world war that engulfed the entire globe—the late twentieth century at last brought an age of peace. Though the Cold War between superpowers still created a tense international atmosphere and sporadic conflicts continued, it was difficult to deny that this was one of the most peaceful periods in Earth’s entire history.

Martial arts develop rapidly through war. This truth held even during the twentieth-century world wars, when gunpowder weapons and aerial combat dominated. Before the Industrial Revolution, martial arts had evolved around how efficiently one could kill enemies and defend against their attacks. But in the world war era, they evolved around how well one could dodge bullets and survive poison gas and bombing raids. It was a cruel age in which survival itself was victory.

The world wars were horrific, yet they granted martial artists overwhelming survival capabilities. Those abilities would later become the fundamental foundation that allowed martial artists to advance into space.

After the wars ended, Murim in the twenty-first century entered another period of stagnation. The peaceful world viewed individuals possessing personal power with suspicion. Martial arts could be defined as the art of fighting, so it was natural for societies and nations that desired peace to regard trained martial artists with concern.

However, just as gun control proved impossible in America, suppressing martial arts that had already spread widely during the war years was nearly impossible. During this period, martial arts evolved to become more secretive, focusing on concealing one’s prowess.

The professor on the documentary set walked slowly toward the camera and spoke.

“This development in the secrecy of martial arts would play a major role in the Great Proxy War era that surpassed even the old Cold War, spanning from the mid-to-late twenty-first century to the mid-twenty-second century.”

The professor delivering the documentary closed with his final remarks while looking directly at the camera.

“That will be all for today. Next time, we will explore how twenty-second-century martial arts were used in espionage and continue our examination of Murim history up to the twenty-fourth century, the period of full-scale space expansion. I look forward to seeing you then.”

The screen faded to black as majestic music played and the production staff credits rolled.

The third episode, which had interested me the most, had ended. This world was one where the martial arts civilization had expanded into space thousands of years ago. It was now the fiftieth century—a distant future in which my original twenty-first century was considered the medieval period.

It was amusing to think that even after three thousand years, most cars still rolled on tires. Then again, umbrellas had maintained essentially the same form for thousands of years, so some designs simply refused to change once they reached peak efficiency. There were rare hovering vehicles, of course, and the internal structure of tire-equipped cars might be completely different from what I knew.

In truth, just looking at Siwoo gave me a sense of this world’s technological level. The existence of androids indistinguishable from humans was impressive enough on its own.

“Yeah!”

I munched on the baby snack—a rice puff—that Siwoo placed in my hand and started the next episode. After finishing the History of the Galaxy Martial God Temple documentary series, I planned to watch one about scientific progress and space exploration, then move on to the history of the major sects.

At Siwoo’s gentle guidance, I rose from my spot. She laid out a mat with footprints marked on it.

It was a bit tedious, but I stepped exactly on the footprints and copied Siwoo’s movements as I stretched. Wait… isn’t this the exact foot positioning for Cheongmokbo?

I’m still learning to walk, and she’s already teaching me proper footwork? Well, if I can learn it, all the better for me.

My daily life was monotonous. That was only natural. No matter how colorful an infant’s life might be, how colorful could it truly get? Eating, sleeping, and growing were an infant’s primary duties.

However, it was so monotonous that outside of practicing internal energy techniques, footwork training, and watching documentaries, I accelerated time using my three-dimensional avatar. Personally, I found documentaries incredibly entertaining. Unlike the world I had come from, this was one where martial arts had become commonplace. While the broad strokes of history remained similar, the finer details differed greatly.

The fourth episode of the History of the Galaxy Martial God Temple primarily covered the growth and rivalry between the Beggar Sect and the Hao Sect. Both were information-specialist organizations composed of beggars and those from the bottom of society, yet while their areas of activity overlapped, their personalities were polar opposites.

The Beggar Sect operated as a righteous faction with justice as its reason for existence, while the Hao Sect existed to protect the socially weak without regard for law or morality. As explained in the third episode, the dark age of Murim history ended with the fall of the Qing dynasty. After passing through the world war period with only a slight stagnation, Murim experienced a revival.

Yet the Beggar Sect faced its own dark age. Before the Industrial Revolution, people had accepted beggars as a natural part of any environment and paid them little mind. But as cities developed, governments and society began driving beggars to the outskirts in the name of urban beautification. The practice grew even more severe during major international events. Since gathering information required proximity, the Beggar Sect’s intelligence network deteriorated severely.

In contrast, the Hao Sect entered its golden age. Its main forces consisted of inn workers, gisaeng from entertainment houses, peddlers, and other socially vulnerable groups. After the Industrial Revolution, inns became hotels, entertainment houses transformed into high-class salons, and merchants evolved into global trading companies, making information gathering far easier. Cleaning workers, in particular, could infiltrate anywhere, allowing them to collect rumors across political and financial circles alike.

Thus, the twentieth century could fairly be called the greatest golden age in the Hao Sect’s history.

The Beggar Sect, now in absolute decline, decided to shed the label of “beggar” to solve its fundamental problems. In the twentieth century, during its worst period of stagnation, the sect leader placed all of the organization’s fate on the newly emerging internet. The prediction proved entirely correct.

All kinds of information began pouring onto the internet. By the twenty-first century, the Beggar Sect—which had seized the early advantage—overwhelmed the Hao Sect in intelligence capabilities. Using that information network, they began devouring the Hao Sect’s offline territory. Having abandoned the essence of being beggars, the sect had no reason to hesitate at claiming the Hao Sect’s domains.

Having lost the internet to their rivals and now facing an offensive in the physical world as well, the Hao Sect found itself surrounded on all sides.

(To be continued in the next episode)