Chapter 121
Chapter 121
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: The Jianghu Martial Arts Ranking
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"The Jianghu Martial Arts Ranking?"
A disbelieving laugh escaped him.
There were countless martial arts in the world, too many to count.
And they were ranking them?
It was utterly absurd.
"Bima left behind something ridiculous."
Cheonhwi clicked his tongue.
But contrary to his words, his eyes never left the book.
On one hand, he was curious.
Just how had they ranked them?
'Well, might as well take a look. No way Bima would have left it here for no reason.'
He reached out and opened the book.
And in that moment.
"Hm?"
Cheonhwi's brow furrowed.
The first page bore the author's name.
But it wasn't Bima or the Shadowless Divine Thrower—it was a name he'd never heard before.
"Bima didn't write this?"
Cheonhwi squinted and read the name aloud.
"Kong Mang?"
A hollow laugh burst out.
'Empty... and Delusion.'
The untrustworthy name made Cheonhwi consider closing the book, but he shook his head.
'Still, if Bima left it, there must be something to it.'
He picked up the book and turned to the next page.
And in that moment.
"......"
The smirk on Cheonhwi's lips vanished completely.
Instead, he focused intently and read the book carefully.
The contents were exactly as the title promised: the Jianghu Martial Arts Ranking itself.
The Black Path's Two Great Hand Techniques.
The Buddhist school's Three Supreme Arts Beyond Heaven.
The Orthodox Eight Great Sword Arts.
The Evil Path's Two Ultimate Skills.
And more besides, from Confucian, Daoist, and others.
Regardless of orthodox, evil, or demonic, they were ranked and categorized by their nature.
At that moment.
"Hm?"
Cheonhwi's hand paused as he turned the page.
A very familiar martial art had appeared in the book.
"Purple Haze Divine Art?"
The Purple Haze Divine Art was listed fourth among the White Path's Five Great Divine Arts.
'That makes sense.'
He recalled his spar with the Sect Leader.
The Sect Leader's cultivation was still low, so its power was weak, but the Purple Haze Divine Art had shown astonishing prowess.
'If this is fourth...'
With anticipation for what ranked higher, he read on.
And upon seeing it, he nodded in understanding.
'Right, these exist.'
First place: the Yi Jin Jing, which legend said only Grandmaster Damo had fully mastered.
Second: the Taiji Divine Art, created by Zhang Sanfeng and mastered only by him.
Third: the Heavenly Central Scripture of the legendary monk Heavenly Dragon Dharma Master.
Each one was a divine art that left him in awe.
Then, upon checking the fifth place, Cheonhwi tilted his head.
'Surplus Intent Heavenly Mechanism Divine Art?'
He prided himself on knowing countless martial arts, but he'd never even heard of this one.
'What kind of art is this, to be mentioned alongside those divine arts?'
Curiosity piqued, Cheonhwi carefully read the explanation for the Surplus Intent Heavenly Mechanism Divine Art.
It was a unique heart method that involved cultivating two opposing arts—Surplus Intent Divine Art and Heavenly Mechanism Divine Art—before finally merging them into an Incarnation.
Intrigued by the method, Cheonhwi savored the text calmly.
After reading about three pages' worth of explanation, Cheonhwi nodded.
If the description was accurate, it was a divine art that wouldn't bow to the other White Path Five Great Divine Arts.
'To think there's a divine art whose name I don't even know.'
Interest gleamed in Cheonhwi's eyes.
At the same time, his gaze pierced through the fully open Jianghu Martial Arts Ranking.
'Then there might be more in here that I don't know...'
He quickly turned to the next page.
How long did he read?
"Hm. Thunderclap Hand definitely deserves to be in the Black Path's Two Great Hand Techniques. But over Five Elements Killing Method, Black Shadow Seven Point Hand is..."
Before he knew it, Cheonhwi was immersed in the book's contents, comparing them to his own thoughts as he read.
Thud.
Cheonhwi closed the fully read book.
'Learned some unknown arts. Not bad.'
Smiling in satisfaction, Cheonhwi's gaze landed on the five wooden boxes.
"Those wooden boxes probably have things on par with this, right?"
Cheonhwi's eyes sparkled.
Soon, he opened the leftmost of the neatly arranged five wooden boxes.
Click—
The moment he saw what was inside.
A hollow laugh escaped.
"Knew it."
Why one wooden box was placed in front.
And why that bizarre tome, the Jianghu Martial Arts Ranking, was inside it.
"Not bad, Bima."
Inside were three books.
And their titles were all familiar.
All three were manuals for the Buddhist school's Three Supreme Arts Beyond Heaven, mentioned in the Jianghu Martial Arts Ranking.
Click—
He opened the one right next to it.
This time, four martial arts manuals were placed inside.
Click, click.
The adjacent boxes were the same.
"Buddhist, Confucian, Immortal, Mundane."
Cheonhwi recited the natures of the manuals in each box in order, his eyes sparkling.
"And Evil."
The corner of his mouth lifted.
Here was the collection of martial arts Bima had gathered from every corner of the world. Just thinking about perusing them made his heart race with excitement.
"Then, first up, the Buddhist supreme arts."
* * *
The day after Cheonhwi entered the Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Cave, the secret chamber entrance was in an uproar.
"S-Sect Leader. What do we do about this?"
The Shadowless Sect Leader shouted at the trembling disciple beside him.
"Stay put! This isn't our place to interfere."
His voice trembled.
'Damn it!'
He'd rushed to Mount Hua upon hearing rumors that the secret chamber of the Shadowless Divine Thrower—which had been stirring up the western region—had been found.
But he'd come up empty time after time.
Today, he'd finally discovered the entrance and entered, only to find...
The situation was hopeless.
Not only had many people already arrived.
At the center, two massive sects—one representing the orthodox factions and the other the evil—were in confrontation.
'Why the hell are Shaolin and Sun-Moon Gate here!'
The Shadowless Sect Leader bit his lip.
'Damn it! The Shadowless Divine Thrower's secret chamber belongs to our Shadowless Sect!'
The Shadowless Sect had been founded by Thousand-Face Thief, who had briefly studied under the Shadowless Divine Thrower, and prided itself on inheriting his legacy.
They had ample claim, but he couldn't voice it.
He lacked the guts to shout it in the face of Shaolin, the leader of the Nine Great Sects, and the Sun-Moon Gate, one of the Five Evil Gates.
"......We'll fall back for now."
He wanted to scream at everyone to get lost, but only humiliating words came out.
As the Shadowless Sect disciples huddled at the edge.
"Make way."
A middle-aged man with a massive sword on his back parted the Sun-Moon Gate disciples and stepped forward.
"Greetings."
The man at the front smirked slyly at the Shaolin Arhats ahead.
"I am Song Yeong of the Sun-Moon Gate."
The air in the secret chamber grew heavy.
"Bright Moon Blade!"
"A Sun-Moon Gate elder came all this way."
"Ugh... Of all people, him..."
The martial artists paled in fear.
Bright Moon Blade was an elder and master of the Sun-Moon Gate, but he was infamous in the jianghu for his ruthless, merciless hands.
'They won't budge.'
Bright Moon Blade's eyebrow twitched.
Unlike the terrified other martial artists, the Arhats showed no hint of wavering.
As they gazed at him with coldly chilled eyes.
"Amitabha."
A chant echoed from among the Arhats.
Then, an elderly monk slowly walked out from between them.
Bright Moon Blade's expression hardened upon seeing him.
"Shaolin's drawn their sword in earnest. For the Tathagata Divine Fist—you—to come."
Tathagata Divine Fist Won-eum!
One of Shaolin's top ten masters today, a grandmaster of fist arts.
"T-The Tathagata Divine Fist?"
"Why has he come all this way?"
The secret chamber erupted in shock.
The appearance of Bright Moon Blade had been surprising enough, but now the Tathagata Divine Fist.
The unaffiliated martial artists ground their teeth at the arrival of masters one could rarely glimpse in a lifetime.
"......This isn't the day."
"Damn it!"
They'd endured the presence of Shaolin and Sun-Moon Gate, but now it was pointless.
Meanwhile, the Tathagata Divine Fist scanned the surroundings.
His swiftly moving gaze captured those plastered flat against the walls.
'In this state, they're in danger.'
He proposed to Bright Moon Blade.
"How about a temporary truce?"
"A truce?"
"Rather than spilling blood needlessly at the entrance, wouldn't it be better for all to enter the Shadowless Divine Thrower's secret chamber together?"
Bright Moon Blade's eyes widened.
In truth, he had been thinking the same.
Even with the Yellow Sun Squad members—one of the martial squads—he'd brought, the opponents were the Tathagata Divine Fist and Arhats.
It was equally tough.
'Clashing now would be mutual destruction.'
His goal was singular anyway.
The one item his sect leader had ordered him to retrieve.
A strangely shaped wheel whose name he didn't know. Securing that was all.
'Curious.'
Bright Moon Blade looked at the Tathagata Divine Fist.
'For Shaolin—famous for battling evil sects—to propose first.'
It was shocking that Shaolin, renowned for fighting evil and demonic paths, had requested a truce from them first.
'Or maybe they have some ulterior motive.'
Narrowing his eyes at the Tathagata Divine Fist, Bright Moon Blade accepted the proposal.
"Fine. I was thinking the same. Fighting among ourselves here..."
His gaze pierced the surroundings.
"...would only benefit others."
At his words, some swallowed hard.
And among them, the Shadowless Sect Leader gulped.
'Damn! I planned to sneak in while they fought and steal it...'
He'd intended to exploit the clash between Shaolin and Sun-Moon Gate to nab the item. He bit his lip.
Watching him, Bright Moon Blade sneered and said,
"Do you all agree?"
Everyone nodded.
No, they had no choice but to nod.
With Shaolin and Sun-Moon Gate cooperating, they had to follow.
As the situation calmed.
"Then it's settled as a truce."
The Tathagata Divine Fist clasped his hands and withdrew.
Bright Moon Blade smiled pleasantly, then addressed the martial artists magnanimously.
"Anyone wish to go first?"
One ronin stepped forward at the question.
"May I go first?"
"Do as you please."
The ronin eyed Bright Moon Blade suspiciously, then turned away.
Glancing at the Arhats lined up right beside him, he swallowed hard.
'Even for Sun-Moon Gate, with those Arhats here...'
His eyes gleamed as he spoke.
"Then I'll go first."
"Go ahead."
Bright Moon Blade generously cleared the path.
The ronin glanced at him slyly, then seized the moment and unfolded his Three Talents Steps to dash forward.
After two steps.
'I'll find it first...'
His thought cut off.
More precisely, it had to be cut off.
Splat!
Iron bars suddenly erupted from the floor, completely piercing his head.
"Gasp!"
"What the—!"
The martial artists covered their mouths.
The ronin dangled from the iron bars like a skewered morsel, splattering brains and blood everywhere.
'As expected, there was a trap.'
Bright Moon Blade twisted his lips.
He had arrived first and discovered bones of those caught in traps, clearing them away on purpose.
To learn the traps' nature, he'd baited someone to go first.
And as expected, a greedy ronin had taken the bait.
'Activates the instant a foot touches.'
He recalled the moment.
The iron bars had reacted the instant the running man's foot hit the ground.
"A trap!"
"As expected of a secret chamber!"
As everyone recoiled in shock.
"......Greed has brought fire upon you."
The Tathagata Divine Fist retrieved the corpse.
After moving it to safety, he clenched his fist toward the trap.
"Amitabha."
With a quiet chant, the Tathagata Divine Fist unleashed his fist.
In that instant, a massive fist wind surged forth.
Boom!
The floor with the iron bars exploded.
And belatedly.
Ting, ting.
The wrecked floor spat out the shattered iron bars.
"Th-That was...!"
The Shadowless Sect Leader gaped in astonishment.
Shaolin fist arts that could destroy such sturdy traps from afar—there was only one.
"H-Hundred Steps Divine Fist?!"
"Gah! That's the Hundred Steps Divine Fist?"
As the martial artists stared in horror, the Tathagata Divine Fist himself stepped toward the destroyed trap, murmuring,
"Everyone, follow carefully."