Chang'an's Falling Moon Manor and the Color Arts
If you suddenly woke up in the murim world with nothing but a single secret manual and a massive stash of spiritual elixirs, how many people could actually become supreme experts from that alone?
I did it, for one.
To be honest, it wasn’t easy. It nearly drove me insane. I came dangerously close to a complete mental breakdown.
Actually, I did break down, but you could say the bone reconstruction fixed most of it.
I experienced something close to qi deviation multiple times. Internal injuries? Too many to count.
After all, being locked up like that isn’t exactly the kind of situation that preserves a person’s sanity.
But here’s the real question. Could just anyone have done what I did?
The Obliterating Origin Divine Art is undeniably a supreme martial art.
An incredibly profound technique. You could even call it a philosophical treatise in the form of a martial art.
That’s why it took me fifty-two years.
Of course, it’s possible my head just isn’t that sharp.
If someone other than me had come to this world, would they have received the Obliterating Origin Divine Art as well?
In that case, would we be from the same school? If we learned the same martial art, could we call each other senior or junior brothers?
How many such people could there even be?
Then again, thinking about it logically, none of this makes sense.
Anyone who mastered the Obliterating Origin Divine Art and left the Black Wall Cavern would be at minimum in the Transformation Realm. Manifesting sword gang would be the absolute baseline.
They would have had plenty of elixirs left over, too. With resources like that, they could have done anything they wanted.
I’m practically scattering them around everywhere myself, aren’t I?
Of course, I only use them generously on the people I care about.
So they should have already made a name for themselves across the Central Plains to some degree.
Would every single one of them choose to live in seclusion like me? That seems impossible.
They said the night-brightening pearl appeared twenty years ago.
Which means whoever left the Black Wall Cavern did so before then.
Were they swept up in the Righteous-Demonic Great War? Did all the people like me who came to this world die in that cataclysm?
I considered that a real possibility.
Or perhaps the Righteous-Demonic Great War itself had broken out because too many people like me had appeared.
That theory didn’t seem half bad.
The righteous factions, the demonic paths, and the Heavenly Demon Cult had always kept each other in check, maintaining an uneasy balance despite their conflicts.
Then suddenly these unknown experts appeared, manipulating events until those groups collided violently.
Once a thought takes root, it stretches out endlessly.
Delusion runs wild, disguised in the protective coloring of speculation.
The entity that sent me here. What they desired. What exactly had they wanted? What had they hoped to see?
Maybe they just wanted to watch everyone fight each other in a glorious bloodbath?
Or to observe how far an ordinary person from the twenty-first century could go after being dropped into a martial arts world?
If that was the case, then what about the current me? Wouldn’t I count as a rather spectacular failure?
If you lock someone in the Black Wall Cavern, basic human rebellion would make them rush out the moment an exit appeared.
They probably counted on that. No one welcomes imprisonment, after all.
But I stayed another fifteen years. Even though I could have left, I chose to remain of my own free will.
Thanks to that decision, I ended up having no connection whatsoever to the Righteous-Demonic Great War.
I stepped into a murim that had decayed to its very limits. All that remained were the dying embers of past glory on life support and some embarrassingly crude new powers.
Would the current world even be interesting to whoever brought me here?
Nothing left to burn. Just fading sparks.
I slowly brought these deep thoughts to a close.
This was nothing more than a simple cleanup. Pure speculation with nothing confirmed.
There was no need to take it too seriously.
But what if someone like me really had come from my old world? And what if that person was still alive somewhere?
If he was a good man, we could share drinks together, reminisce about the old days, and talk about memories like old friends.
If he was an evil man, we could cross swords and I could demand his sins before cutting him down.
Nothing had changed. Nothing needed to change.
I was living in this place now, and I had gained things precious to me.
People I cherished. People I had opened my heart to.
So for now, I would focus only on the things I wanted to achieve.
That was my reason for living here.
Still, there had been one change. Through this recent matter with the night-brightening pearl, I had gained a clear objective.
An ultimate goal.
To resist the one who sent me here.
Can a program written by a programmer rebel against its creator?
Can a character inside a game defeat the player?
Obviously impossible. Such a thing could never be achieved.
But I am not a program. I am not a game character.
I am a living person. A thinking being.
I exist here, and my will exists clearly as well.
Proof of existence. My own freedom that no one can arbitrarily claim.
It was true that coming here had been someone’s intention.
But from now on, that would no longer be the case.
I would create my own fate. I would no longer be swept along by anyone.
That was why my life remained the same. I simply spent a little more time in meditation than before.
Meditation. Contemplation. The search for enlightenment. Worry. Zen.
It didn’t matter what you called it. The way I grew stronger now had moved beyond the simple realm of martial techniques.
I simply had to become stronger. At least that much was clear.
There was no particular need to separate mind and body. I would simply grow stronger.
Absolute strength. That was what I pursued.
The unknown person who gave me the Obliterating Origin Divine Art and the elixirs was one thing, but the one who had learned and awakened them was me.
The one who had created my own unique martial studies over the following fifteen years was also me. Therefore, I could become even stronger.
So I would do exactly that. I would train with even greater diligence. I would constantly push past the limits I had drawn for myself.
And so the full moon of April arrived, and I headed once more for Falling Moon Manor.
The day I had promised to meet Na-rin. The appointment we made one month ago.
As I drew near, I sensed several presences inside Falling Moon Manor.
One was a familiar aura. That had to be Na-rin.
Beside her were seven other energies. Weaker than hers, but still quite respectable.
Who were they? And why had she brought them?
When I revealed myself, Na-rin saw me and broke into a radiant smile, while the other seven showed faint signs of wariness.
“You’ve come, Great Hero.”
When Na-rin greeted me, the remaining seven also bowed deeply.
They were women dressed in gorgeous palace attire, just like when I first met Na-rin.
None of them seemed very old.
At most around Na-rin’s age? Ah. Not all of them. That one woman looked older.
“You said you had something to take care of. Did you go to gather them?”
“Yes, that’s correct. These are people who have been with me for a very long time. They will also provide great help in my future plans.”
The seven women Na-rin had brought were all strikingly beautiful. Almost bewitching, even.
Moreover, when I examined them closely, the nature of their internal energy was quite peculiar.
Demonic arts already carried strong yin energy, but these women’s yin was even denser.
To the point where almost nothing but yin energy existed.
That made it easy to guess. They were probably practitioners of color arts. The kind of demonic technique that focused on absorbing yang to replenish yin.
“They’ve learned color arts?”
“You recognized it immediately? Yes, that’s right. These children practice the Yoyo Absorption Demonic Art.”
No wonder their achievements were so impressive for their age.
Color arts like that allowed rapid progress, but the side effects were equally severe.
Besides, such techniques were easily branded as heretical and rejected by the righteous path. Only in the Heavenly Demon Cult would arts like these still exist.
“They must be trustworthy, then? I can see you place considerable faith in them.”
“Of course. Doesn’t the fact that I brought them myself make that obvious?”
Watching Na-rin, I could only sigh inwardly.
To be part of the demonic cult and still trust people so easily… really now.
Well, she had been the same with me. Seeing that, it seemed she still didn’t fully understand the ways of the world.
I released the energy I had always kept suppressed.
If I spread it too far, people from a distance might sense it, so I limited the range to just Falling Moon Manor and flooded the area with my aura.
Na-rin’s eyes widened. The women began trembling violently.
“G-Great Hero!? What exactly are you….”
Na-rin stuttered in confusion, but I didn’t stop.
The women broke out in cold sweat as if standing in pouring rain. Eventually they couldn’t even stand properly and began collapsing to the ground one by one.
“If any among you—excluding Wi Na-rin—are following another’s orders, speak now. Confess immediately and I will spare your lives. I will cause you no harm and grant you forgiveness. However, if you are discovered later, I will ensure you cannot die even if you beg for death. This is your only chance.”
I deliberately lowered my voice and intensified the pressure even further.
To the point where these women would find it difficult to even breathe.
“G-Great Hero! I told you these children are ones I trust…!”
Despite Na-rin’s desperate cry, one woman began gasping and sobbing, barely managing to raise her hand.
“I-I’m sorry…. Ugh…. Please forgive me. Cough.”
“Su-ryeon!?”
Na-rin’s face filled with shock. But it wasn’t just one.
“I have committed a crime deserving death….”
“Ga-bin!?”
I withdrew my energy. Only then did the women begin gasping for air.
Na-rin stared at the woman called Su-ryeon and the one called Ga-bin with a still-dazed expression.
“Whose orders have you been following?”
“Cough…. This girl… belongs to the Secret Affairs Bureau….”
“The Elder Council….”
I gave a small chuckle and turned to Na-rin.
“Since I brought this up, don’t be disappointed in them or treat them poorly. Instead, send false information to the Secret Affairs Bureau and the Elder Council. Use them as double agents. You understand what I mean, don’t you?”
“No…. Su-ryeon? Ga-bin? How could you two….”
“Na-rin. Stop showing such clumsy sides of yourself.”
When I spoke coldly, Na-rin looked at me with a slightly stiff expression.
“The leaders of the Secret Affairs Bureau and the Elder Council didn’t hesitate to poison your own father. Do you really think people like that couldn’t recruit even one of these girls?”
At my blunt words, Na-rin simply stared at me, eyes hardening. There was a hint of resentment in her gaze.
“Everyone makes mistakes. Those girls must have had their reasons. Their families might have been taken hostage, or there may have been circumstances that left them no choice. In any case, they have now admitted their mistakes. How you choose to accept that is up to you. Do you understand what I’m saying? Or do I need to explain further?”
“...No. I was foolish. I understand, Great Hero.”
“Good. To rise to the seat of the supreme, you’ll need that much magnanimity. I don’t know how your divine cult views tolerance, but since you trusted these girls, give them the chance to make up for their mistakes. Use this opportunity wisely.”
“I will.”
Na-rin then turned to the two women with a cold expression.
“Su-ryeon. Ga-bin. The rest of you listen as well. I find this situation truly regrettable. Therefore, from now on, devote yourselves completely so you never disappoint me again. Understood?”
The women all answered that they understood. Na-rin let out a quiet sigh where they couldn’t see it, her heart clearly complicated.
Tsk. As expected. She still needs a lot of guidance.
Still, this had actually turned out well.
Now that we had a way to manipulate information however we wanted, Na-rin’s future movements would become much easier.