Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Defective Scriptures
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Flip— flip—
He flipped through the martial arts manual without pause.
The passages of the Jade Ring Wondrous Step flew by rapidly.
To anyone watching, it might look like a child playfully rifling through a book, but Cheonhwi, the one doing it, was deadly serious.
Finally, he reached the end.
Thud.
He shook his head and closed the manual.
"It's different from what that old woman used."
He stated it with full conviction. Then, just in case, he flipped it upside down, checked the corners, and such for a moment.
Scratch, scratch.
He scratched the back of his head.
"What is this? Wasn't what the old woman used the Jade Ring Wondrous Step? But that can't be."
He simply couldn't understand it.
The cover clearly read Jade Ring Wondrous Step, and the contents matched exactly the footwork Hyeonryeo had demonstrated.
That was why it was strange.
Wasn't the Jade Ring Wondrous Step a supreme footwork coveted even by Wudang and Shaolin?
There had been a time when he thought footwork just needed to be fast—what principles or enlightenment did it require?
But those notions were shattered by the Heavenly Demon Dominion Step recorded in the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, Kunlun Sect's Cloud Dragon Great Nine Forms, and finally, this Jade Ring Wondrous Step.
The Heavenly Demon Dominion Step taught that overwhelming power was possible even in footwork.
The Cloud Dragon Great Nine Forms showed the importance of footwork in executing martial arts.
And the Jade Ring Wondrous Step revealed that footwork was the core of all martial arts. Thanks to that, he had researched and refined his own lacking footwork.
But this was that Jade Ring Wondrous Step?
He clicked his tongue.
The Jade Ring Wondrous Step etched vividly in his mind was a bizarre yet unique footwork derived from the Eight Trigrams.
Qian (乾), Dui (兌), Li (離), Zhen (震), Xun (巽), Kan (坎), Gen (艮), Kun (坤).
The Eight Trigrams—representing heaven, marsh, water, fire, thunder, wind, mountain, earth—were the union of the two creative trigrams, Qian and Kun, with the six that govern all things. And the Jade Ring Wondrous Step was a footwork utilizing these Eight Trigrams.
Arms and legs represented Qian and Kun, expressing the principles of the remaining six through footwork.
'Like this.'
He slowly stepped forward with his left foot.
Swoosh—
Cheonhwi's sole tread the eight directions.
Deep like a marsh, soft like water.
Vigorous like fire, swift like thunder.
Shifting like wind or steadfast like a mountain.
In the blink of an eye, his footwork became varied. In an instant, dozens of footprints were imprinted on the floor where he stood.
Thud.
A moment later, his feet, which had ceaselessly tread all directions, stopped.
He frowned at the manual.
Due to insufficient internal energy, he couldn't execute to the end, but at the finale, the Eight Trigrams would harmonize into one.
From that, true Qiankun would form, completing the jade ring.
This was the Jade Ring Wondrous Step he knew.
Yet the incantations in the manual were missing the middle section.
What remained were heaven and earth.
And three trigrams: fire, thunder, and wind.
So what would that make it?
'A half-baked footwork chasing only speed.'
But was it even fast?
No, it wasn't.
The original Jade Ring Wondrous Step was far faster.
And without its original variations, it lacked freedom too.
'How did that old woman read this and execute such a Jade Ring Wondrous Step?'
A question he couldn't help tilting his head at wormed into his mind.
With the incantations so blatantly missing the middle, completing the Jade Ring Wondrous Step would be difficult even for him, let alone others.
Was that old woman a genius like him?
No.
She had merely reached the pinnacle through relentless effort—a near-mortal, not a genius.
Yet she created such a martial art?
Absurd.
One question led to another.
Lost in thought on what it could mean, he came up with two answers.
'Either the missing incantations were passed down orally, or they intentionally left only half to prevent theft of the Jade Ring Wondrous Step.'
He shrugged.
Sects that transmitted martial arts orally still existed, and places that hid key incantations separately did too.
'In the Heavenly Demon library, there were quirky manuals with deliberately twisted incantations so no one but me could learn them.'
He furrowed his brows and glanced at the pavilion.
Innumerable martial arts manuals.
Who knew how many among those countless books had missing incantations like the Jade Ring Wondrous Step.
'Not that it matters to me.'
Indifferently, he slotted the manual back and rolled his eyes.
"Shall I read the next one, then?"
Afterward, with intrigued eyes, he pulled out the book next to the Jade Ring Wondrous Step.
"Hmm, this is..."
He returned the Jade Ring Wondrous Step to its place and took the adjacent book.
Thus, he opened another book and immersed himself in its contents.
Time passed like that.
Meanwhile, Hyeoncheong, who had been revising a manual on the desk, stood up.
"The sun is setting again today."
The sun hung low over the mountain ridge.
The sky was gradually turning red.
The sunset slowly enveloped Mount Hua Sect, casting beautiful hues.
While gazing at the scenery.
He abruptly stood from his seat.
He had forgotten while revising.
That Cheonhwi, who entered early at dawn, hadn't come out.
He hurriedly climbed the stairs. Soon reaching the third floor, his steps halted.
Cheonhwi, sitting on the floor, was engrossed in the manual in his hands.
"...You've been starved for martial arts."
A bitter smile played on his lips.
Then he reaffirmed his firm resolve.
'Junior brother. Though I couldn't help back then, if Cheonhwi wants to learn martial arts, I'll teach him everything I've learned in my lifetime.'
Hyeoncheong's resolve was remarkable.
A fact known only to the Wise Generation disciples: he was one of Mount Hua Sect's top experts in martial prowess. The reason he became Pavilion Lord of the Ten Thousand Scriptures Pavilion was the death of his youngest junior brother, Hyeon-gang.
Hyeon-gang had mutually destroyed with a White Ghost Castle expert using the Extermination Severing Sword Wave.
Mount Hua Sect wanted revenge.
But they couldn't.
The Murim Alliance centered on the Nine Great Sects.
The Flying Heaven Society formed by the Eight Great Families and neutral sects.
And the Evil-Black Alliance of unorthodox and black path groups.
It was the era of the Three Divisions of the World, the Nine Provinces Three Hegemons.
White Ghost Castle was one of the Six Sovereign Sects upholding the Evil-Black Alliance.
If the central sects of Murim Alliance and Evil-Black Alliance clashed, it would inevitably spark war between the two giant factions, surely shattering the balance that had long maintained the Central Plains.
In a way, a choice for the greater good.
Yet Hyeoncheong was shocked.
What would Wudang or Shaolin have done?
They would have waged war without hesitation.
It was because it was Mount Hua Sect.
Had the sect's prestige been as before, they never would have suffered such treatment.
So he holed up in the Ten Thousand Scriptures Pavilion.
All because no absolute expert had emerged from the sect.
Thus, he delved into the pavilion's martial arts, trying to revive Mount Hua's lost or scattered techniques from the past.
For eight years, he remained in the Ten Thousand Scriptures Pavilion, revising manuals obsessively.
Yet he paid attention to her.
To the exceedingly frail Cheonhwi.
'With that body, becoming an expert is hard, so teaching enough martial arts for self-defense should suffice.'
Of course, his attention was pity, not expectation.
Thud.
Just then, Cheonhwi closed the book.
"Hwi-ya, it's time to close now."
"Understo... yes."
He smiled at Cheonhwi, who looked back at the pavilion wistfully. Soon, Cheonhwi turned and descended the stairs.
A moment later, watching Cheonhwi exit the Ten Thousand Scriptures Pavilion beyond the railing, Hyeoncheong tidied the lightfoot manuals shelf.
Thud.
Then his gaze fixed on the floor.
Footprints overlapped chaotically.
"Hehe, thrilled to read his first manual, couldn't sit still."
The image of Cheonhwi excited over the manuals flickered in his mind.
Smiling warmly for a moment, Hyeoncheong passed by that spot.
Unaware that within it lay the profound truth of the lost supreme martial art he so desired, the Jade Ring Wondrous Step.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Thud—
Cheonhwi closed the book again.
'Next.'
Four days had already passed.
During that time, Cheonhwi had continuously scoured and read the third floor of the Ten Thousand Scriptures Pavilion, yet he still hadn't covered most of it.
His past self wouldn't have believed it.
With his exceptional aptitude to fully grasp not just the contents but the essence upon one read.
But there was a reason he couldn't.
Skillfully heading to the shelves, he pulled out another manual and opened it.
Tsk tsk, this one's a mess too.
Jade Maiden Pure Heart Sword Art.
A sword art centered on yin energy was described with an entirely different interpretation.
'What? The Jade Maiden Pure Heart Sword Art is an advanced form of the Lady Sword?'
He shook his head.
Their natures were distinctly different.
The Lady Sword was less a sword art and more a training method for the body, lacking practicality, utterly unlike the Jade Maiden Pure Heart Sword Art, which converted yin energy.
Whoever wrote this—it was ridiculous.
'Another one?'
"Sigh."
With a sigh, he closed the manual.
There were many such incorrectly written manuals.
Thus, reviewing each one and pinpointing issues took time.
Thud.
He slotted the Jade Maiden Pure Heart Sword Art back.
At least entirely new, unknown martial arts he could read with interest and skim lightly.
But some like this he already knew or had experience with.
So he inevitably scrutinized and compared them critically.
"Completely wrong."
Shaking his head in dissatisfaction, he picked up the manual slanted right next to the Jade Maiden Pure Heart Sword Art.
"Falling Petals Sword Art?"
Finding the manual of a sword art he'd only heard rumors of in the past, he opened it with intrigued eyes.
Concentrating as he read on, he naturally raised his right hand, clenching his fist as if gripping a sword.
"This part's a bit lacking? Wouldn't pulling back this stance be more powerful than thrusting straight?"
He thrust out his right hand.
Whoosh—
His childlike hand shot like lightning, tearing the air with a burst.
Bang—
"Executing it like this is powerful and sharp, yet they interpreted it that way? Is this the Mount Hua Sect I knew?"
The more he read the manuals in the Ten Thousand Scriptures Pavilion, the more questions arose.
The Mount Hua Sect he knew was top-tier among the Nine Great Sects.
Not inferior even to Wudang or Shaolin.
But what was this?
Hard to believe as Mount Hua's martial arts—so crude.
At least representative ones like the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art or Dark Fragrance Flutter were flawless supreme arts.
Not falling short even compared to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's top demonic techniques.
But those were the minority.
Most were in this state.
Sigh, no wonder the Sect Leader's at that level.
He understood the Sect Leader's prowess now.
No matter how excellent the advanced martial arts, without foundational pillars to support them, what use?
Only good soil yields ripe fruit from seeds.
Yet they'd made such barren ground—no matter the seeds, the harvest would be meager.
Might as well fix them myself. Practicing most of these as written would be useless.
Clicking his tongue and shaking his head.
Hm?
His eyes caught an old book on the highest shelf.
Demon Extermination Sword Art.
A domineering name unfit for the Dao—his hand moved instinctively.
He opened the manual right away.
Oh? Reversing demonic qi?
He snickered.
Demonic qi was absolute power.
Impossible to defy.
Twisting demonic qi? Absurd... Hm? What's this? Seems possible? No way...
Flip flip—
Enchanted, he dove deep into the contents.
Thud.
Staring into space, he closed the manual.
A thick aftertaste lingered.
Especially the final stance.
"This guy's insane? Sacrificing his innate true qi for one strike?"
A mutual destruction technique wagering one's life.
A truly spectacular stance.
The preceding anti-demon sword arts drew admiration, but the final one's ferocity made his teeth chatter.
Yet reading on, he nodded.
A stance usable only once, but extraordinary.
One he might suffer from if careless in the past.
"I probably wouldn't die, but could get injured... Who created this martial art? You'd have to hate demonic paths viciously to even think of such a mad sword art."
To find the creator of the Demon Extermination Sword Art, he scanned the manual closely.
Then he found it.
"Sang... un?!"
In shock, his eyes widened.
Sangun—that horse-faced Daoist!
Recalling the horse-faced Daoist who tormented him endlessly, Cheonhwi frantically scanned the manual again.
The book was quite worn.
As if ages had passed.
...W-what is this?
His hands trembled.
Shock aside, to resolve this, he quickly sought Hyeoncheong.
Soon finding him in a corner of the Ten Thousand Scriptures Pavilion, writing manuals as usual.
"Martial Uncle."
Hyeoncheong set down his brush with anticipation at Cheonhwi's call.
"What is it?"
Hyeoncheong calmly organized his thoughts.
On how to teach martial arts.
But his thoughts plunged into a maze at Cheonhwi's following words.
"Do you... know someone named... Sangun Immortal...?"
Cheonhwi's face twisted.
'Having to call that grumpy, nasty horse-faced Daoist an Immortal.'
Then Hyeoncheong tilted his head.
"Sangun Immortal?"
Frowning briefly in deep thought, he spotted the manual in Cheonhwi's hand and brightened.
"Ah! You mean our sect's twenty-third Sect Leader, Ancestor Sangun Immortal. He was when our sect shone brightest three hundred years ago..."
Hyeoncheong's explanation continued.
But Cheonhwi wasn't listening.
One word from it burrowed into his head, turning everything upside down.
"Th-three hundred years ago?!"