Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: The Root and the Stem
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Hyeok-ryeon-eung had twice given the order: “Kill each other!”
He had taught that the only way to survive in the martial world was to rise by stepping over the corpses of others.
So why would he go so far as to accept a heavy punishment just to save someone he had never even met?
“Well…”
Baek Jeon-cheon let out a long sigh and shook his head lightly.
“I, too, have asked him why on several occasions, but the Head Instructor always replied, ‘You will understand the reason soon enough.’”
“‘You will understand the reason soon enough,’ you say?”
“Indeed.”
The martial world was heartless, but the hearts of the martial artists who roamed it were endlessly passionate.
But for Bu Eun-seol, who was training with all his might for the sake of revenge, there was no way he could possibly understand Hyeok-ryeon-eung’s heart right now.
After a moment of silence, Baek Jeon-cheon clapped his hands lightly.
“I would like to speak with you at length, Young Master Bu, but time is short, so let’s get straight to the point.”
He moved to the table, looked at Bu Eun-seol, and spoke.
“As a result of this incident, the Hwa-u Sword Sect and the Baek-ma Temple have granted you a special privilege.”
“A special privilege…”
“They have requested that the Demonic Sanctum grant you access to the Ten Thousand Demon Archive for a full day.”
He then took a glittering red token from his robes and placed it on the table.
“This is the Golden Ape Token, which will grant you entry into the Ten Thousand Demon Archive.”
“What is this Ten Thousand Demon Archive?”
“It is the Sanctum’s library of martial arts manuals. It has three floors in total, and the Golden Ape Token will grant you access to the first floor.”
“The first of three floors must be the lowest rank.”
“That is true, but in your current position, Young Master Bu, such ranks will be of little meaning.”
Baek Jeon-cheon said, looking at the Golden Ape Token on the table.
“The first floor alone houses over twenty-five thousand different volumes of outstanding lesser demonic arts.”
“Are you saying there are twenty-five thousand secret manuals?”
“That’s right. For that reason, only the Sanctum’s masters who have achieved great merit are allowed to enter.”
“I see.”
“In other words, it also means that your chances of passing this test are almost nonexistent.”
Baek Jeon-cheon said with a serious expression.
“That is why they are being so ‘generous.’ So that no one can complain later.”
Only then did Bu Eun-seol realize they had not yet discussed the most important matter.
“What exactly is the test they are demanding?”
“Ah, forgive me. I seem to have lost my wits. To think I keep forgetting the most important part…”
Baek Jeon-cheon sighed, his expression graver than ever before.
“You must block five moves.”
“Five moves… you say?”
“Correct.”
Baek Jeon-cheon’s eyes flashed.
“To receive five strikes from a master selected by the Baek-ma Temple. That is the test they have demanded.”
***
The Ten Thousand Demon Archive.
The Demonic Sanctum’s grand library, said to store every secret manual scattered throughout the demonic path.
At first, Bu Eun-seol had imagined the Ten Thousand Demon Archive to be a magnificent, sky-piercing tower.
“This is the Ten Thousand Demon Archive…”
But the place Baek Jeon-cheon led him to was a massive, artificially carved stone mountain.
“Since it is a vault where martial arts manuals are stored, it requires complex mechanisms and traps.”
Baek Jeon-cheon whispered, glancing at Bu Eun-seol’s expression.
“This is as far as I can go. If you present the token at the entrance, you should be able to get inside.”
“Thank you for your kindness.”
Bu Eun-seol bowed deeply again.
But as Baek Jeon-cheon watched him, he let out a deep sigh.
“Young Master Bu. May I offer you a word of advice?”
“Of course.”
“The martial world is a very harsh place. And good people are a rare sight.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“No one shows kindness without reason. If they do, it usually means they have some other ulterior motive.”
Baek Jeon-cheon said in a low voice, looking up at the Ten Thousand Demon Archive.
“In fact, the matter of granting you access to this place is no different.”
He stared intently into Bu Eun-seol’s eyes.
“But from what I can see, there must be a way to turn this crisis into an opportunity inside that place.”
“Turn a crisis into an opportunity…”
“Yes. The stem, after all, grows from the root.”
His words were a riddle.
Although he didn't immediately grasp the meaning behind them, Bu Eun-seol could feel the sincere concern they held.
“Thank you for the advice.”
As Bu Eun-seol bowed deeply once more, Baek Jeon-cheon took out a transparent porcelain bottle from his robes.
“These are Fasting Pills made by the Su-hwa Hall. A single pill will keep you from feeling hungry for several days, so you should be able to read the manuals at your leisure.”
As Bu Eun-seol accepted the porcelain bottle, Baek Jeon-cheon smiled faintly.
“I sincerely hope for a good outcome.”
***
When it comes to preserving books, the most important conditions are humidity and light.
Moisture reduces the stability and strength of paper, so a dry place is ideal for proper storage.
Furthermore, prolonged exposure to light inevitably causes paper to discolor.
In that respect, the interior of the Ten Thousand Demon Archive possessed the most ideal conditions for storing books.
‘This is no ordinary library.’
Bu Eun-seol nodded as he looked around.
The inside of the archive was very dark, with only small oil lamps scattered about, faintly pushing back the gloom.
But the air was remarkably clean and pleasant, and large lumps of charcoal were piled up in various places.
‘Quite a few people in here.’
He could see the silhouettes of people reading manuals between the shelves packed tightly with books.
They ranged from young men to old men with graying beards, yet none of them gave Bu Eun-seol so much as a glance.
‘Even masters like them are striving to advance their martial arts by even a single inch.’
The aura of those inside the Ten Thousand Demon Archive was as formidable as that of any master in the martial world.
‘Let’s have a look.’
Steeling his resolve, Bu Eun-seol began to scan the shelves.
“...!”
How much time had passed?
As he surveyed the shelves, Bu Eun-seol finally understood the meaning behind Baek Jeon-cheon’s words.
“It really was a trap.”
A bitter laugh escaped his lips.
“To read a new secret manual right before a life-or-death duel is no different from scattering one’s focus.”
Each of the twenty-five thousand manuals was outstanding enough to allow one to make a name for themselves in the martial world.
But what if, out of greed to learn a new art, he spent a whole day reading them?
The afterimage of those manuals would linger in his mind, and in the end, he wouldn't even be able to properly execute the skills he had already mastered.
“The Hwa-u Sword Sect and the Baek-ma Temple used a very clever method to try and shatter my concentration.”
Shaking his head, Bu Eun-seol turned without hesitation and walked toward the exit.
Just as he was about to step through the door, Baek Jeon-cheon’s words suddenly came to mind.
—*The stem, after all, grows from the root.*
He froze.
Bu Eun-seol’s feet, which had been heading outside, came to a sudden halt.
‘Why did Elder Baek say that?’
If someone else had said it, he might not have paid it any mind.
But he had felt that Baek Jeon-cheon was genuinely trying to help him. And those words were surely not spoken in vain.
‘The stem from the root…’
As Bu Eun-seol mulled over the riddle-like words, his eyes gradually widened.
Suddenly realizing something, he spun around and began to scan the shelves.
There were over twenty-five thousand books here.
Simply taking each book off the shelf and examining it one by one could take an entire day.
‘It must be here.’
But Bu Eun-seol wasn't taking books out to look at them. Instead, he was rapidly scanning only the titles written on the spines of the manuals.
Then, when he reached the innermost part of a bookshelf,
*Flash.*
A light flared in Bu Eun-seol’s eyes.
There, he saw a title that read, *The First Turn of Nangya*.
‘So there were manuals from the main school here as well.’
Reading and memorizing a new martial arts manual required a considerable amount of mental energy.
But looking at a manual from the same lineage would only serve as a reference; it wouldn't scatter his concentration.
He had discerned that Baek Jeon-cheon’s advice was not to look for a new martial art, but to find a manual from Nang-ya-gak.
“The First Turn of Nangya.”
Without hesitation, Bu Eun-seol picked up the book.
As he sat down in front of the archive and began to read it intently, his eyes grew wider and wider.
‘What in the world is this…’
Despite having a personality not easily surprised by much, Bu Eun-seol couldn't hide his astonishment.
And for good reason—from the very first page, this manual was filled with curses and insults directed at Nang-ya-gak.
—*These fools from Nang-ya-gak, under the guise of practical combat arts, make you risk your life from the very beginning.*
*This is no different from telling a crawling infant to run. Whatever the case, one must first preserve one's life...*
‘Who wrote this and dared to attach the name of Nang-ya-gak to such a manual?’
Unable to hide his bewilderment, Bu Eun-seol continued to read.
—*These Nang-ya-gak idiots, as if they have ten lives to spare, teach their arts without any regard for life and death, even from the basics. This is especially true for the Art of the Beast, which they insist on calling a basic art.*
*The secret of this piece of crap, the Art of the Beast, originally began as a form of asceticism from the Vajra Sect, known as the Western Shaolin…*
Surprisingly, following the string of profanities was a detailed account of the origins of the Art of the Beast, a secret technique of Nang-ya-gak.
‘Strange. Judging by the contents, it was clearly written by a disciple of Nang-ya-gak.’
The information written in the manual was filled with details that no one but a disciple of Nang-ya-gak could possibly know.
‘There must be a reason.’
Solely because it was written by a senior from Nang-ya-gak, Bu Eun-seol read on with patience.
—*Let’s say you’re lucky enough to master the Art of the Beast. This bizarre art needlessly amplifies human senses, draining your stamina and mental energy even when you’re just standing still.*
*Not only that, but it blocks the path to higher-level arts. As a rule, the senses are meant to…*
As he read on, Bu Eun-seol’s expression grew increasingly strange.
Amazingly, the contents of the manual delved deeper, accurately pointing out the weaknesses of the Art of the Beast that he had never known.
—*It is not right to maintain these beast-like senses continuously. Like cultivating an internal energy technique, you must turn your mind’s eye inward to observe the self, using your senses to perceive the outside world. When you reach this state, you will attain the realm of Coming Without a Trace, where the marks of your coming and going disappear…*
As he read through the manual, Bu Eun-seol’s face was filled with the same astonishment as a country boy who had just arrived in the capital.
This manual, *The First Turn of Nangya*, contained a method for using internal energy to control the senses of the Art of the Beast with greater precision and power.
‘If I master this method, I can perceive an enemy’s movements even without a deep understanding of martial principles.’
Only then did Bu Eun-seol realize why the manual had been filled with so much profanity.
‘He probably wanted only the disciples of Nang-ya-gak to read it.’
Because it detailed the strengths and weaknesses of the Art of the Beast, the author must have hoped that only Nang-ya-gak disciples would read it.
*Rustle.*
Like a stone statue, Bu Eun-seol leaned against the bookshelf and continued to read.
How much time had passed?
“Hoo.”
Just as Bu Eun-seol finished the manual and let out a long sigh, the sound of a resonant bell reached his ears.
It was the bell signaling that a full day had passed.
*Rumble.*
As he stood before the exit, the heavy metal door of the Ten Thousand Demon Archive began to slowly open.
“Ugh.”
As the intense sunlight streamed in, Bu Eun-seol shielded his eyes slightly.
*Step, step.*
At that moment, a young man was slowly approaching him.
It was Sim-wol, the one who had guided Bu Eun-seol to the Man-bak Hall.
“Young Master Bu.”
Sim-wol approached with an exceptionally grim expression.
“The time has come.”
Understanding the meaning of his words, Bu Eun-seol nodded.
At last, the five-move test proposed by the Baek-ma Temple and the Hwa-u Sword Sect had begun.