Stealing the Fortuitous Encounter (1)
After Jang Sam, the bully who tormented me, ended up with a twisted ankle instead, my life as the protagonist Cheon Myeong changed from that day forward.
Training in the strongest protective hardening technique and external art had bulked up my frame, refined my muscles and bones, and left me waking each morning feeling utterly refreshed.
And that was just the beginning.
“You’re here, sir?”
Once Jang Sam fell from power, the servants began treating me as their leader.
You might wonder what’s so great about being the boss of a bunch of lowly servants, but think again.
“We’ll handle the chores, so just rest easy, boss.”
Perks like that existed.
Thanks to them, I escaped the drudgery and could devote myself entirely to the Great Power Iron Hardening Skill.
Especially since Cheonmu Academy was on break, with no duties or supervising instructors around, it was all possible.
Smooth days rolled on like that.
How many days passed?
“They say His Majesty the Emperor is gravely ill.”
“In plain terms, he’s not expected to last the day.”
“I wonder who the next emperor will be?”
Whether the emperor changed or not, life for us commoners stayed the same, so I just shrugged it off—until it hit me.
That’s right!
A thought flashed through my mind.
I suddenly remembered the greatest fortuitous encounter in Seven Falls, Eight Rises: The Invincible Fist King.
The reason I recalled it was simple.
After the emperor changed, the world’s top fortuitous encounter would unfold.
And it wasn’t just any encounter—it was the emergence of the strongest internal energy heart method. How could I forget?
It definitely happens in the first year of Emperor Jincheon’s reign!
The previous emperor lingered on his deathbed until just before winter’s end, then his eldest son, Emperor Jincheon, ascended and took the throne.
I remembered the conversation I’d had with my Maternal Uncle while setting up this world’s lore.
—This Emperor Jincheon is a fictional emperor who never existed in the Central Plains, a sage ruler and exceptional leader. But he’s not the key point. In the first year of Emperor Jincheon’s reign, a cave sealed with the world’s strongest internal energy heart method, the Divine Transformation Heart Method, appears—and the protagonist’s rival, the Heavenly Dragon Sovereign Sword Baek Muhon, claims it!
Every novel needs a rival or antagonist to challenge the protagonist.
Against our hardworking, street-smart hero Cheon Myeong, who rolled in the dirt and suffered endlessly, stood his perfect foil: the Heavenly Dragon Sovereign Sword Baek Muhon.
A total cheater and golden boy.
I remembered it vividly.
Baek Muhon was so flawless he could’ve been the protagonist in any other martial arts tale.
The only son of the previous world’s greatest martial artist—and his father—the Invincible Wind Cloud Sword Baek Taeryeong, Baek Muhon was born with a silver spoon, no, a martial arts spoon in his mouth.
Thanks to that, he monopolized the major fortuitous encounters and spirit elixirs of the Seven Falls, Eight Rises: The Invincible Fist King world, growing into an unbeatable rival.
Without the late-game protagonist buff, Cheon Myeong never would’ve caught up and would’ve lost pathetically.
“Not this time.”
I muttered fiercely, clenching my fist as determination burned within me.
In the original story, while the protagonist Cheon Myeong limped on a broken leg, Baek Muhon acquired the peerless heart method Divine Transformation Heart Method, bringing him closer to godhood.
All Cheon Myeong could do was hear the tale and envy him from afar.
Moreover, the Divine Transformation Heart Method far surpassed Shaolin’s Yi Jin Jing or Wudang’s Tai Chi Five Elements Heart Method. It was a legendary heart method from the early days of the Central Plains martial world.
Not only that, it paired perfectly with any martial art or weapon, and even synergized with other sects’ internal methods without side effects.
In short, the ultimate, flawless heart method.
This time, I’ll monopolize that encounter.
Sorry, Baek Muhon, but I planned to steal your fortuitous encounter.
The reason I’d transmigrated into my Maternal Uncle’s legacy was to remake the story with the protagonist hogging all the opportunities from the start and growing explosively.
So I won’t let it slip away this time.
About a month remained until Emperor Jincheon ascended as the new emperor.
Before Baek Muhon could act, I’d head to the cave hiding the world’s strongest heart method, the Divine Transformation Heart Method, and claim it first.
But it wouldn’t be easy.
The cave where the Divine Transformation Heart Method sleeps is riddled with mechanisms and traps.
For me now, with no internal energy or martial arts beyond the Great Power Iron Hardening Skill, it was a huge challenge.
In the original, Baek Muhon broke through the traps and seized the heart method thanks to martial prowess far beyond my current level.
“When Baek Muhon got the Divine Transformation Heart Method, was he around peak expert level?”
I didn’t remember exactly, but it was around then.
Meaning even a peak expert had to go all-out to obtain it.
Reaching peak expert in a month? Impossible, even if I died and came back.
But I had the edge: full knowledge of this world.
I know every trap in that Divine Transformation Heart Method cave and how to disarm them. Why? Because I designed them with my Maternal Uncle.
“One month left.”
I couldn’t miss the Divine Transformation Heart Method, not like any other encounter.
Combine the world’s top external art with the top internal art? That screamed next-generation world’s greatest martial artist.
“I’ll prepare everything to smash those cave traps in that time.”
Baek Muhon, a peak expert, struggled because he had zero info on the cave.
Me? Even with just one external art, I had overwhelming intel.
Honestly, it wasn’t even a natural cave—it was an artificial dungeon my Maternal Uncle cooked up, borrowing ideas from all sorts of games.
Impossible to clear without prior knowledge.
The Divine Transformation Heart Method is mine.
I was absolutely confident.
I’d transmigrated into this world to monopolize the early encounters, after all.
* * *
With time running short, my top priority was training the Great Power Iron Hardening Skill.
An obvious choice, really.
This was the driving force letting a third-rate like me challenge that cave.
Its near-perfect defense made up for my low offense, enabling the attempt.
But I need at least the second stage.
Forgetting pain was the first stage; completely ignoring extreme heat and cold was the second.
To break those cave traps, I needed at least second-stage mastery.
I pushed myself sleeplessly for that short span—and finally!
“Yes! I did it!”
Just shy of a month, I barely achieved second-stage Great Power Iron Hardening Skill.
Testing it, I felt neither heat nor cold.
But one thing remained.
I need a way to strike from afar…
Not for killing or serious combat—just something to trigger from a distance.
Ideally, hidden weapons or archery, but time was too tight to learn now.
Even with protagonist buffs, no way.
“Ah, right!”
After endless pondering, I recalled a tiny detail.
Beyond Cheonmu Academy, in Hebei’s back alleys, sat a rundown smithy.
Its wares were all second-rate junk, barely third-rate—but one item would be rediscovered later.
That’s what I’ll buy.
Convinced, I hurried to the back-alley smithy.
It had been failing for ages, unsold, and per the original, no one had claimed that item yet—it’d surface years later.
“Can I buy this?”
Among the sharp third-rate odds and ends, I picked one up and asked the owner.
It looked nothing like a weapon from a smithy—more like a crude butterfly trinket.
Too rough even for decoration, it’d been ignored.
“Huh? Did we even have this in our shop?”
As expected, the owner panicked, clearly shocked.
Truth was, he hadn’t made it—it came bundled in some back-alley black-market deal, so he didn’t know.
This place doubled as a hideout for smugglers.
“Heh, I came for a sword, but this caught my eye—pretty enough for a gift.”
No girlfriend in my old life or now, sadly, but I pretended it was for one. Plenty of practice made it natural.
“Hmm, four taels.”
Seeing no other chance to unload it, he priced it low.
To anyone unaware, four taels was steep—even one tael or free, they’d pass.
But I knew its true value.
Hard to buy even for fifty gold pieces.
Snagging this treasure for four taels? Beyond a windfall—life-changing.
“How about four coins?”
I haggled anyway, to avoid suspicion.
“You little… ”
“Come on, you wouldn’t have asked four from an elder.”
Was I wrong?
After some bickering, I scored it—the Butterfly Flying Swift—for four coins.
Could there be a better deal in the world?
“Thanks!”
Grinning wide, I headed back, unable to hold back my laughter.
This Butterfly Flying Swift was from the Thousand Hands Sect, rivals to Sichuan’s Tang Clan in hidden weapons—now fallen.
Looks like cheap butterfly junk, but it’s a top-tier hidden weapon.
Even without internal energy, hurl it with full force, and it spins like a butterfly, piercing hearts with acceleration.
Power rivaling a first-rate hidden weapon expert. Mainly used by Thousand Hands Sect women for self-defense.
They’d always been famed for clever hidden weapons and gadgets.
Perfect. No need for attack martial arts now.
To conquer the Divine Transformation Heart Method cave, I needed just one strike—and this sufficed.
“While I’m here, grab some golden sore salve and other prep items?”
Clearing that cave wouldn’t be easy, so I prepared thoroughly.
Back at Cheonmu Academy, I bribed the servant overseer with candied fruit and a few silvers for leave.
“Academy break ends soon—be back before then.”
He pocketed ten silvers yet lectured sternly.
“Got it.”
For a servant to get leave like this? Lucky enough.
Great Power Iron Hardening Skill at second stage. Attack issue solved with the Butterfly Flying Swift.
This thing was like a loyal bodyguard for now.
Used right, I could take down first-rate experts in a flash.
Even unlucky geniuses shy of peak, or super first-rates.
Divine Transformation Heart Method, wait for me.
Your master’s coming!
With the strongest external and internal arts combined, I’d become the true world’s greatest—no, the greatest across ages.