Chapter 122: Moonlit Phantom Sword Dance
Chapter 122: Moonlit Phantom Sword Dance
After a brief moment, as Dang Yeo-eun's heart calmed down, they were finally able to hear the full detailed account of everything from Gwanggeom.
Seonwoo Jin, with a stunned expression, asked him.
"What?! Then you are saying that the appearances of Mak Woo-jeon and Ga Yoo-ak were also fake?"
At that, Gwanggeom smiled and answered.
"Yes, they were fake. The real ones are still wandering inside the Mad Soul Gate. In the first place, how could those who have lost their reason in the Mad Soul Gate take the test of the next gate? They were merely a means to make you all impatient."
"Ha...."
"Good heavens."
It was utterly deflating.
By now, even Seonwoo Jin had reached a point where he could not distinguish what was real and what was fake anymore.
He suddenly became suspicious, wondering if even this current situation was not fake as well.
Then Gwanggeom burst into a hearty laugh and said.
"Hahahaha! My apologies. But the fact that you have passed all the gates and this current situation are certainly real. I swear it on my name."
Seonwoo Jin, slightly reassured by his affirmation, suddenly asked Gwanggeom cautiously.
"Why exactly did you go to such lengths? In my opinion, gates of this kind seem more likely to cause the deaths of countless innocent people rather than transmit your legacy relic, senior."
At that, Gwanggeom nodded with deep eyes and answered.
"Yes, it is entirely reasonable for you to think so. From your perspective, it might seem as though this was meant only to torment people rather than to gain a worthy successor."
At Gwanggeom's words, which seemed to have read his inner thoughts exactly, Seonwoo Jin coughed dryly.
Then Gwanggeom continued speaking.
"But I had no choice. It is because the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance that I intend to pass on is an exceedingly dangerous martial art."
"Dangerous... did you say?"
"Yes, dangerous. It is a martial art far too dangerous."
Gwanggeom's continued explanation was as follows.
Gwanggeom said that the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance was a martial art that led a person into a hallucinatory state to draw out the unconscious mind.
Thus, his explanation was that upon learning the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance, one could draw out latent abilities, up to a maximum of ten full parts.
"People rarely know this, but originally, we die without ever being able to use even one part of the latent abilities we possess. The fact that a person can display abilities far more remarkable than usual when a crisis strikes or when they become desperate is also thanks to those latent abilities."
According to Gwanggeom's words, once the realm of the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance heightened, one would become capable of exerting the supreme physical strength the body could produce, the supreme comprehension the brain could exhibit, and the highest concentration a human could muster.
And for Seonwoo Jin, who had until now cultivated martial arts within his mental imagery using his exceptionally superior memory, he could understand how tremendous a story this was the very moment he heard it.
He exclaimed in admiration.
"That... is a tremendous thing. Being able to exert your maximum ability instantly is tremendous in itself, but I think the speed of improvement would be even more fearsome?"
At those words, Gwanggeom smiled faintly and nodded.
"You possess insight. You are correct. Being able to always have the experience of pouring out all of your latent potential is an immense thing."
For any person, there existed times when their physical condition was good and times when it was not, times when their concentration was good and times when it was not.
And occasionally, the moment those two peaks overlapped became the maximum of the ability they could produce.
Therefore, it could be said that the usual training of martial artists was the effort to produce that maximum ability at all times.
When they became able to use that ability freely, that was what was called improvement.
But what if one could always, at any time, produce that maximum ability?
Just imagining it gave Seonwoo Jin a feeling of goosebumps. He could not even imagine at what speed he might be able to improve.
At that moment, Gwanggeom opened his mouth with a bitter smile.
"But as with all things, where there is light, shadow inevitably follows. Can you guess what the shadow of the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance is?"
At those words, Seonwoo Jin thought for a moment before answering.
"The body might not be able to endure it. Since it would surpass the safety line."
In a way, the fact that a person cannot exert all of their own ability could be called a form of self-defense.
For if one maintained a state of exerting all abilities, the body would be unable to bear it.
It was a principle similar to a bowstring snapping or the bow breaking if the bow was always kept drawn, just because there existed a bow capable of shooting arrows up to a hundred jang.
There was clearly a significant gap between the maximum output one could produce and the safe output.
It was the same for people.
When a person uses their head for a long time, they come to feel the sensation of a headache.
But what if they continuously maintained peak concentration and brain rotation?
Suppose a three-year-old child could produce the strength to lift a large boulder.
And so, what if they actually lifted that boulder?
The human body would undoubtedly break down, unable to last long.
At Seonwoo Jin's words, Gwanggeom nodded. Then soon shook his head again.
"Your words are also correct. But that is not the true shadow of the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance."
"The true shadow...."
Seonwoo Jin sank back into thought at those words.
Was there a side effect beyond that to exerting all of one's latent abilities?
Nothing came to mind at all.
So, just as he was about to answer that he did not quite know, the fact that the first gate of Gwanggeom's test had been the Mad Soul Gate suddenly surfaced in his mind.
'The Mad Soul Gate. He said he had no choice but to test in that manner because of the danger of the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance. Then!'
Having recalled something, Seonwoo Jin muttered as if letting out a groan.
"It's the hallucinatory state. That is why the Mad Soul Gate and the Two Person Gate were necessary."
At those words, Gwanggeom let out a sigh and nodded heavily.
"Impressive. You are correct. The greatest danger of the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance is the point that one enters a hallucinatory state to draw out latent potential."
Then Dang Yeo-eun asked, as if not understanding.
"A hallucinatory... state? Why is that dangerous?"
Gwanggeom began to slowly unravel and explain for her, who still did not comprehend.
About why the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance was dangerous, and why he had no choice but to seek a worthy successor in this manner.
"When one unleashes the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance, one falls into a hallucinatory state. It becomes a hazy state, as if intoxicated by a drug. Do you understand what that means? It means that in that state, all matters are decided according to one's own emotions. You could kill a passerby simply because you disliked their clothes, or annihilate an entire village because the sky seemed gloomy. Think I am speaking in extreme terms? Startlingly, both are things I have personally done."
The expression of Gwanggeom as he spoke looked utterly miserable.
Seonwoo Jin and Dang Yeo-eun could not say anything to him.
In a self-deprecating tone, Gwanggeom continued speaking.
"Do you know why the characters 'Mad Hero' were attached to my epithet? It was because, every time I fell into a hallucinatory state, I committed insane acts, and every time I came to my right mind, I regretted it and tried to make amends. So that was not 'Heroism'; it was simply a desperate struggle, merely wanting to wash away my sins."
Having spoken up to that point, Gwanggeom fell silent for a moment.
He seemed to be reflecting on his past self.
Seonwoo Jin felt a deep sense of melancholy for him.
For though he had been one of the absolute beings of the martial world, he felt he could guess just how weary and full of regret his life must have been.
If the past he had shown them earlier was true, he must have cursed the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance, yet could never give it up.
Because he would have had to hold onto it by any means necessary to avenge his wife, children, and acquaintances.
'What a life it must have been, having to learn the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance for revenge, but inevitably losing yourself once you learned it. How could such a life have been happy?'
Had Gwanggeom even read Seonwoo Jin's heart in that moment?
Gwanggeom smiled faintly and spoke to Seonwoo Jin.
"Thank you."
It was a short statement, yet his gaze as he said it held so much.
Gwanggeom resumed his story.
"At any rate, that was why such a test was necessary for a successor. A test to prove that even if they fell into an illusory state learning the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance, they could still hold onto themselves — that no matter how dire the situation, they would never act outside the bounds of what is right. I believed that if a person was not like that, it was better not to pass it on at all."
At his words, Dang Yeoeun finally nodded.
It seemed she could now understand why such a gate had been necessary.
Seonwoo Jin scratched his head sheepishly and spoke to Gwanggeom.
"Ah, senior. Forgive me, but we may not be the successors you were looking for. The reason we passed through the Mad Soul Gate was because we had learned a secret art that wards off inner demons. It is called the Great Calm Mind Technique. So we are not, as you put it, people of such stalwart will..."
At that, Gwanggeom burst into loud laughter.
"Ha ha ha ha! Seeing you confess this, on the contrary, I now feel you are exactly the successor I have been waiting for."
He looked at Seonwoo Jin with a pleased smile and said,
"I too learned the Great Calm Mind Technique. So that is no problem at all. Rather, having already learned it beforehand can be an even greater advantage. And furthermore, did you not prove through the second and third gates that you are not merely people who do not succumb to madness?"
At those words, Seonwoo Jin and Dang Yeoeun were caught utterly off guard.
"What?! You learned the Great Calm Mind Technique as well, senior?!"
Seonwoo Jin felt somewhat bewildered.
If that statement was true, did it not mean that even though Gwanggeom had learned the Great Calm Mind Technique, he could not prevent the side effects of the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance?
Which meant...
As he was having that thought, Gwanggeom offered an additional explanation.
"Yes, I also learned the Great Calm Mind Technique. The fact that I remained in my right mind for at least half of my life was entirely thanks to it. However, I had begun learning it far too late. My mastery of the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance had already grown too deep, so it was difficult for my attainment in the Great Calm Mind Technique to keep pace. That is why it was not until my final years that I could return fully to my senses."
"Ahhh!"
Seonwoo Jin finally felt relief.
This was nothing but a reassuring statement.
If the problem was that his mastery of the Great Calm Mind Technique was lower than his mastery of the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance, then as long as one could balance the two, it meant the art could be learned far more safely.
That was what he had meant by having learned the Great Calm Mind Technique beforehand being an advantage.
At that moment, Gwanggeom gave a faint smile and added one more remark.
"And... it was I who spread the Great Calm Mind Technique far and wide. To me, it was the ultimate secret manual, yet because it produced no readily visible effect, people refused to learn it. So I bundled it together with several other martial arts and propagated it that way."
Startled by this, Seonwoo Jin exclaimed.
"Wh-what?! D-do you mean the one that was placed together with the Arhat Fist and the Iron Arhat Mind Technique...?!"
"Oh, you learned that one? That is correct. I was the one who spread it. Since the Great Calm Mind Technique was a secret manual created at Shaolin, I had tried bundling it with Shaolin martial arts."
"Huh!"
Seonwoo Jin let out a hollow laugh.
It was a feeling both deflated and wondrous.
The Great Calm Mind Technique that had been sitting in the Martial Archive of the Seonwoo family had actually been disseminated by Gwanggeom, and he himself, having learned it, had passed Gwanggeom's gates and arrived here.
It somehow felt as if an invisible thread of fate connected them.
When he suddenly looked at Gwanggeom, the man was also looking back at Seonwoo Jin with a warm gaze.
Seonwoo Jin had the sudden thought that perhaps, rather than merely waiting for a righteous gentleman, Gwanggeom had been waiting for someone to whom the threads of fate would lead.
At that moment, Gwanggeom cleared the air and spoke.
"Now, I believe I have said everything I needed to say. Let me now ask your intentions."
With a solemn gaze, he asked the two of them.
"As I have just explained, the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance is a martial art that holds tremendous merits, yet at the same time possesses a terrifying flaw. It might utterly ruin your lives. What do you say? Even knowing its dangers, do you still wish to learn this unstable martial art?"
At his question, Seonwoo Jin and Dang Yeoeun suddenly looked into each other's eyes.
And after exchanging a faint smile, Seonwoo Jin answered on behalf of them both.
"We will do our very best so that you never regret passing it on to us."
At that reply, Gwanggeom finally smiled brightly.
"Thank you. After more than forty years, I have at last found my successors."
His voice held the weight of deep years, regret, and a sense of relief all at once.
As Dang Yeoeun gazed at Gwanggeom, she suddenly turned her head toward Seonwoo Jin.
And at that moment, the sight of him laughing brightly contrasted with the vision of Seonwoo Jin she had seen earlier.
Earlier, she had truly believed everything was over...
She had thought only that it was right for him to survive rather than herself, and now the fact that both of them had survived and could gaze at one another smiling felt like a dream.
A truly happy dream, that is.
***
"Lady Dang, draw your sword! I do not wish to kill you while you are defenseless!"
Dang Yeoeun could scarcely believe this situation.
Before her very eyes, Seonwoo Jin was glaring with crimson eyes and aiming his sword at her.
He, who ever since she had come to know him, had always supported her heart like a pillar and led her forward.
Dang Yeoeun could never accept this reality.
Shedding tears and shaking her head, she pleaded.
"No, Young Master Seonwoo! Please, come to your senses! You are in the grip of madness right now!"
But upon hearing this, Seonwoo Jin's face only twisted like that of a demon.
"Do not talk nonsense! This is not because of some madness! Do you not understand?! One of us must die to stop them! If those bastards get their hands on Gwanggeom's legacy, a monster no less than the Blood Demon will appear in this world!"
Dang Yeoeun despaired.
Though she knew that was not the reason Seonwoo Jin was acting this way, she could not help but admit that his words were right.
Dang Yeoeun wiped her tears with a sorrowful gaze and nodded.
"You are right, Young Master Seonwoo. One of us must die, after all."
And then she smiled at Seonwoo Jin.
At the sight of her brightly smiling with a tear-streaked face, even Seonwoo Jin, lost in madness, wore a flustered expression.
"And if one of us is to die, it is only right that I am the one. Because Young Master Seonwoo is a far superior person to me, and also... because I could never kill you."
Dang Yeoeun tried her best to fashion the brightest smile she could muster.
It was because she wished for the final image of her that he would remember to be one where she was smiling.
"I believe you will overcome this madness in the end. Because you are that kind of person. So... when that time comes, please remember me."
Having spoken, Dang Yeoeun immediately turned and threw herself forward.
Toward the lava lake that blazed with crimson light.
She felt the heat scorching her body and saw the molten lava lake surging at her toes, and thought to herself.
Still, the ending was not so bad.
Though she did feel regret that her life ended just when she thought she might finally become happy, had he not been there, she would not have had the chance to become happy at all.
So perhaps she was dying at her happiest moment, Dang Yeoeun thought, closing her eyes with a smile.
And in the very next instant, she realized she had not died.