Asura's Legacy
The varied forms of training continued without pause, day and night.
With every session that followed, Munwi offered more than mere instruction. He pointed out the flaws in my thinking and laid out the path I needed to walk from here on.
"The one stroke of luck in all this misfortune is that while you were left to rot, you were never exposed to any reckless internal arts."
I sat cross-legged on the bare ground. All I had learned so far was the most basic heart method Pahwanggun had taught me—the One Wheel Three Seals Heart Method.
Munwi ordered me to circulate it right there in front of him.
"Khuk."
Pain made me flinch before I could stop myself.
"Don't move."
His frost-sharp correction came without even a heartbeat's delay. The ache from Munwi's strike refused to fade with time. Even a body tempered to the extreme reeled from a blow like that. I didn't want to imagine what it would have done to an ordinary man.
"Starting today, absorb these one by one as well."
As the poison drained out of me in the icy water, I took out the eggs of the Snow-Faced Spider one at a time. Munwi infused them with qi and added a few medicinal herbs so they would be easier to take in. After every day's training, when I circulated my energy, I swallowed one and worked to absorb it completely.
A hot, violent force swirled through my entire body. It was bearable. After swallowing two roots of heavenly white ginseng, my threshold for pain had already been pushed sky-high. Compared to that, taking the Snow-Faced Spider eggs one by one was almost easy.
"Don't try to draw it into your dantian."
Munwi, who had been watching the whole time, corrected me at once. I flinched; without realizing it I had been pulling the energy toward my dantian, trying to increase my overall internal power.
"Right now the total amount of your internal energy isn't what matters. Your clumsy handling of qi has already wrecked your body—meridians damaged here and there, your whole frame a wreck. Recovery is the main goal. First you have to set the twisted axis of your center straight."
Toxins poured out of me as black sweat streamed down my skin.
Munwi tossed another log onto the bonfire burning in the courtyard. After studying me for about half a shichen, he finally spoke.
"That heart method—you said the one who first taught it to you was someone called Pahwanggun?"
"Yes."
The middle-aged man scratched his thick cheek and sank into thought for a while.
"Is there some problem?"
"Whether this is pure chance or whether he 'knew' and did it on purpose will change how I act from here… I was just thinking it over."
"What do you mean by that?"
Munwi came out of his reverie.
"Every heart method in this world moves qi along the meridians and through the dantian, yet each one carries its own unique character according to what it pursues and the nature of its creator—different paths, different operations, different flows, different sequences. In that process it takes what it needs and strengthens it, while discarding what it does not. Sometimes, in the middle of that, it ruthlessly crushes elements that other heart methods prize above all else. That is why someone who has already mastered one heart method usually cannot even dream of learning another."
I had stopped circulating the One Wheel Three Seals Heart Method; hot steam rose thickly from my body.
"Especially the heart method I am about to teach you—it is utterly incompatible with ordinary internal arts. Anyone who has even slightly refined another heart method would have every meridian burst the moment they tried this one, and they would die on the spot."
"…Meaning."
Munwi nodded.
"The One Wheel Three Seals Heart Method you learned is extremely basic and has no special traits. Most martial artists would dismiss it as worthless precisely because it has no distinctive flavor. But in your present situation, it is the only heart method that will not clash with the one you are about to learn."
"…!"
"To be honest, I had no intention of teaching you this. I was going to give you some other sect's heart method that might help temper your nature a little."
His voice trailed off.
"But whether by luck or something else, Heaven has prepared things this far."
Munwi looked at me and smiled.
"There's no reason to turn away from it now."
I had thought fate had forced me onto an endlessly long detour. But it had not been a detour at all—it was the shortest path.
Munwi made me swear.
"This heart method must only ever be practiced where no one can see you, and you must keep it hidden at all costs. Outwardly you will still use only the One Wheel Three Seals Heart Method, and from now on you must never learn any other. Can you swear to that?"
"…Of course. Only—"
"Only?"
He looked at me.
"Might I at least know the name of the heart method I am about to learn?"
"The name?"
"Yes."
My voice trembled ever so slightly.
"This is… the first heart method I have ever truly learned in my life."
I had been driven out because I possessed not even a scrap of internal energy.
"Truly, for the first time."
That chapter of my life was about to be closed here.
Munwi regarded me.
"It is the internal art meant for a talent who seeks to surpass even the Heavenly Blood Demon Cult Leader of the White Lotus Demon Sect—the mother sect that stands above the Heavenly Demon Cult itself. The answer is already clear, is it not?"
He opened his mouth.
"Patcheon-hyeol-ma-mu-geuk-gong."
A day passed.
With a bright twang, a throwing dagger buried itself in a log.
We were in the sparring ground behind the temple.
"Fifty-seven times. Your sense for qi has improved a little."
Munwi lowered the hand that had thrown the dagger. The empty dagger sheaths hung loose at his waist.
"Show me what you're holding."
I untied the black cloth covering my eyes. My bare upper body was covered in stab wounds and cuts from the daggers. In my hand, only two-thirds of the white dandelion seeds Munwi had broken off and given me remained; the rest had already drifted away.
Munwi shook his head.
"You've gotten used to dodging by sensing qi, but you're still clumsy at handling internal energy."
"That's… easier said than done."
I let the sentence trail off.
"Not long ago I was still the kind of man who could make even an iron sword explode."
Even as I spoke I felt my face burn with shame at how pitifully low my level had been.
"Dodging daggers while moving nimbly and at the same time letting a faint thread of internal energy flow through one hand so that not a single dandelion seed flies away—how is that even reasonable?"
Munwi walked over to one side of the courtyard. Even in winter, bright yellow dandelions bloomed thickly there. He plucked a cluster of seeds and brought it back, holding it before my eyes.
Black internal energy seemed to gather in his hand. The dandelion seeds that had been ready to float away at the slightest breath stood stiffly upright, frozen in place. He shook his hand hard downward, then held it out for me to see.
The seeds were still there.
"Anything to say?"
"No."
Munwi blew a soft breath. The seeds scattered across my face. He smiled faintly.
"Still, at least you've started to control your emotions properly."
He looked into my black eyes. Beyond them he met the red flame that never went out, never cooled, yet always burned soft and faint.
"Remember this. From now on, the rage you will unleash will be darker than the shadow of a new moon night, sharper than black iron as a weapon, and deeper and quieter than the black sea at midnight. And all of that will become terror that chokes your enemies."
I nodded.
Munwi clasped his hands behind his back and spoke slowly, putting weight into every word.
"The more your shame, your past, and your fury toward the enemies before you rise up, the harder you must clench your teeth, hide your claws, and rage more desperately in darkness and silence. That will make your fingertips sharper still, and it will help you break past every limit you set for yourself. And in the end, in this jianghu, there will be no one who does not fear you. No matter what kind of being they are."
He cut the words clean.
"As long as they are at least human."
Another day passed.
With a soft click he opened a small wooden box in front of me.
"I don't know who you will face from now on, or what level of person you will meet. But the fact that you met me already means an ordinary life is impossible. You know that yourself."
I nodded.
"You still have room to grow. Put another way, that means you are still immature. Until the day you have grown enough, you must use every method available to you. That is how you stay alive. You've never handled anything like these before, have you?"
Inside the box were green, gray, and black beads. I picked up a gray one and looked at Munwi. He gave a small nod. I threw it to the ground.
With a sharp bang, acrid smoke and fierce flames erupted, filling the air so thickly that I could barely see a foot in front of me. Neither Munwi nor I moved an inch; we simply stared at each other through the smoke.
"You'll have a higher chance of dying in a fight against many than in a one-on-one. I'll teach you how to deal with that as well. It will be a great help for your still-clumsy responses."
Munwi flicked his fingers. In the fog, countless masked shadows wavered into being, adjusting their various weapons as they closed in. In this world of mist I had already grown used to not being startled by much of anything.
Sparks flew by the hundreds inside the smoke. A club came down from a place my eyes could not reach; I dodged it cleanly and cut the attacker down with my sword. I blocked a blade flying from the side with the Chiljong-heukjusa-gap and stabbed.
"You must be able to occupy every distance. You've already mastered the Baekryeon-pal-ya-jong, so direction is no problem. What remains is the distance created by weapons. From short daggers to the long reach of a spear's sweeping strikes, you must at least master the basic grips so you can apply them freely."
I swung my sword like lightning, knocked an opponent down, and switched to the short dagger he had been holding.
"To become an asura on the battlefield, you must surpass your opponent's responses. Do not limit yourself to a single weapon. Do not be bound by a single distance or direction or the old paths of attack. Your rage and your fear will become your greatest strength and the worst nightmare that chokes your enemy's throat!"
I pressed in close, then leapt back to open distance, kicked a masked face beside me, seized the spear, and swept it wide to create more space.
Yet another day passed.
Munwi tossed another log onto the flickering, dying bonfire in the courtyard. I had absorbed all seven of the Snow-Faced Spider eggs. I was dressed once more in the clothes I had worn when I first arrived here.
"With this final verse I will leave. That makes one heart method and one martial art that I have directly passed on to you. How you use them is your freedom. Especially the martial art—do not forget why I am teaching it to you."
"…'Do not use the Heaven and Earth Great Shift any longer,' wasn't it?"
"That's right. And I guarantee you this."
Munwi spoke as if he could see straight through whatever I was thinking.
"The moment you learn it you will think of 'some method' to apply it, but I ask you—please do not do that one thing."
"…I'll try."
"Is that a proper answer? If you don't answer clearly I won't even tell you the name of this martial art. Imagine that—the only person in the jianghu who can use this art, and he doesn't even know its name. Might be amusing in its own way."
I let out a short sigh and agreed.
"Understood. So what is the name?"
Munwi rubbed his protruding belly and, for the first time, wore an awkward little smile.
"Truth is, it doesn't have a name."
"What?"
"I created it and used it only myself—why would I have given it a name? So I thought about it just now."
Seeing the blank look on my face, he smiled good-naturedly.
"I've decided to put my own name on it."
"Your name?"
"Yes. After all, the only one who will ever use this art in the jianghu will be you. At least remember me through its name."
"…Are you… leaving?"
The wind blew. The mist began to clear. The man who had been called Munwi grinned with easy shamelessness.
"You know it yourself. If you could have chosen, a fate where you never met me would have been far better. My seven friends had a lot to say about me intervening, but I, at least, am rooting for you. You resemble the me of my younger days far too much."
"…"
"I simply couldn't stand by and watch you be jerked around by those worthless bastards."
I slowly sank to my knees and pressed my forehead to the ground.
"I offer my deepest bow of gratitude to my benefactor."
"The name of the martial art is—"
The mist washed away as if rinsed by water. Crumbling walls came into view. The temple that had been falling apart appeared. The very temple where I had spent months was transforming into a ruined house.
"Sura-dae-myeol-geop-jin."
I finished the bow and raised my head. There stood a temple so ruined it looked as if not even a rat would live there. In the middle of a collapsing room, a single tattered painting fluttered. On it was drawn a demon with three faces and ten arms.
—Asura of the Eight Divisions of Divine Beings
In front of the painting, as if someone had just placed it there, a single stick of incense burned in a censer, sending smoke drifting.
"…"
I stared for a long time, then bowed my head once more. I turned away. There was nothing left for me here.
With a creak I climbed over the broken temple wall and stepped out into the world beyond. I had no idea how much time had passed.
"So you finally came out."
As if she had been waiting a long while, a figure leaned against the wall and then pushed herself upright. The dry, metallic sound of silver steel rang out on the wind.
I parted my parched lips and spoke to the one waiting for me.
"Guardian of the Mount Hua Sect, Eun Seollyeong."
She lifted her silver eyes and fixed them on me with piercing intensity.