Killing a Person's Soul
Watching Beom Undae scramble backward in a panicked retreat, Yeop Pung had already seen through the intent behind it all. In the fight just now he had executed Thunder Shadow Steps to perfection, and that final blow, in particular, had been thoroughly satisfying.
Maeng Chang-haeng's appearance, moreover, had been timed far too perfectly for coincidence. Yeop Pung was hardly going to miss his martial grand-uncle's meaning. Maeng Chang-haeng had used Beom Undae as a vehicle to pass techniques on to him.
Yeop Pung recalled the mysterious spiritual liquor Maeng Chang-haeng had given him before. He was beginning to dimly understand that his assignment to Nagun Peak had been part of some special design. But since Maeng Chang-haeng had not seen fit to explain himself, Yeop Pung saw no reason to press.
The resentment he had harbored toward Cheonun Sect had eased considerably. Not only had the sect declined to punish him over the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture, it had taken genuine, painstaking care in arranging for his cultivation. That kindness weighed on him like a mountain. Stubborn as he was, Yeop Pung was never a man who forgot a debt.
"Old Man Maeng... thank you."
"What did you just call me?"
Maeng Chang-haeng narrowed his eyes at him.
"You little brat. Looking to mess around again, are you?"
"It's not even the first time. You'll get used to it eventually."
Yeop Pung's naturally mischievous streak was beginning to surface again on Nagun Peak.
"Is that so? Then I suppose you'll get used to having your ass beaten raw, too. What's this? Trying to run?"
"N-no, Martial Grand-Uncle, please go easy on me! Aigoo, you're actually going to do it? Thunder Shadow Steps!"
Lightning-swift footwork — a desperate bid to flee.
"Thunder Shadow Steps, my foot. Go ahead, flaunt your movement arts in front of me — you'll be tasting my palm soon enough!"
"Aaagh!"
Yeop Pung's scream rang out across the whole of Nagun Peak.
Maeng Chang-haeng put Yeop Pung through "special training" until the sun went down. This, too, had been planned well in advance. The fight with Beom Undae had served as live combat practice; the session with Maeng Chang-haeng, by contrast, drilled a far greater range of martial techniques into Yeop Pung until they sank down into instinct.
Ordinarily the process would have demanded long months of instruction and repetition. That he was receiving it directly from Maeng Chang-haeng was a privilege the other disciples of Cheonun Sect could not even imagine. In a single afternoon, Yeop Pung's grasp of palm arts advanced by leaps and bounds. The price, however, was not small.
At dinner, his hands were swollen like pig's trotters; he couldn't even hold chopsticks, and had to painfully scoop up food with both palms. Fortunately, a single sip of Maeng Chang-haeng's spiritual liquor eased the ache throughout his body considerably. Bone, watching from the side, could not stop snickering.
Useless brat....
Damn it!
Yeop Pung ignored Bone's contemptuous stare and turned to Maeng Chang-haeng.
"Um... Martial Grand-Uncle, I have a favor to ask."
"Here. Drink another cup first, then talk."
Yeop Pung drained the cup of spiritual liquor in a single gulp and felt warmth bloom from deep inside his body.
"Martial Grand-Uncle, I'd like to borrow a few books from the archives."
"What for?"
Maeng Chang-haeng glanced at him.
"You can't leave the mountain right now, and the palm arts you're training in are already excellent. Get greedy and you won't be able to digest it. When the time comes, I'll teach you more. Wait for that."
"No — I'm not trying to borrow Profound Arts manuals. I just want to look at Cheonun Sect's historical chronicles."
"Historical chronicles?"
Maeng Chang-haeng asked, surprised.
"Why would you want to look at those?"
"I just want to understand Cheonun Sect's history a little better. Build some pride in the sect."
Yeop Pung widened his eyes innocently as he lied.
"Wouldn't that time be better spent taking more beatings from me?"
"..."
Flustered, Yeop Pung knocked back three cups of spiritual liquor in a row.
That night Yeop Pung threw himself back into cultivation. Thanks to the mysterious effects of Maeng Chang-haeng's spiritual liquor, his external injuries had nearly healed overnight.
Starlight motes poured in at a torrential pace. The third profound meridian expanded considerably under the surge.
The next morning, before the sun had risen, a thick volume came flying in through the window. Yeop Pung looked at it and smiled. Maeng Chang-haeng might act prickly on the surface, but he always took care of what needed doing.
What lay on the floor was none other than the historical chronicle of Cheonun Sect — critical material for preparing the time journey four days from now.
On his previous two journeys, Yeop Pung had suffered badly from insufficient knowledge and inadequate preparation. He had known nothing about Cheonun Sect a hundred years ago, and so he hadn't been able to tell a proper lie. That had been the first problem.
The second was more important. If he could pinpoint the critical junctures in Cheonun Sect's history, he could travel through time selectively — intervene in key events if he wished, or avoid the people he wanted to avoid. This chronicle would serve as a navigational chart for his journeys through time. Used properly, it would prove immensely powerful.
Without hesitation, Yeop Pung picked up the thick volume. The moment it was in his hands, a small question arose.
"This book's fairly new. Looks like it was compiled recently... but Cheonun Sect's history already spans a thousand years, so why..."
The instant he opened it, he froze. His expression darkened. It was because of the sentence written on the first page.
A thousand years have passed since the founding of Cheonun Sect. His Imperial Majesty the Great Emperor Shinmu, causing Cheonun to gleam like a grain of sand drawn from the dust, drove out the ignorant in Year 35 of the Great Jin Shinmu Calendar and opened a new chapter for Cheonun. All that came before has vanished like dust, and Cheonun's radiant future begins from this very point.
Cheonun Sect's historical chronicle began from Year 35 of the Shinmu Calendar. Everything before that had been erased.
Yeop Pung already knew that after the great upheaval a hundred years ago, Cheonun Sect's power had plummeted, reducing it to a minor sect in Fengsang Commandery. But he had never dreamed the Great Jin Empire would go so far as to thoroughly wipe Cheonun's history away.
This was a method more cruel than murder. It was killing a person's soul — an attempt to sever Cheonun Sect's roots for all eternity.
Yeop Pung had never held any deep affection for Cheonun Sect. But learning that the sect where he had spent eight years of his life had been driven to such a state left a hollow ache in a corner of his heart. He thought of Maeng Chang-haeng, drunk every night, that sorrow lingering in his eyes. Yeop Pung now understood that the old man carried a wound and a grief that even liquor could not numb.
A single thin sheet of paper felt as heavy as a thousand catties. The Yeop Pung of before would never even have considered what Cheonun Sect's present circumstances had to do with him. But now the thought came that he might well be the only person who could go back into Cheonun Sect's history, bear witness to it, and trace it. In the end, it seemed he would have to do something for Cheonun Sect.
But what on earth can I even do?
He did not yet know. As he was now, he was far too weak. Yet even he had not expected that Cheonun Sect's shameful historical chronicle would move him so deeply. He already thought of himself as a man of Cheonun Sect.
Steadying himself, Yeop Pung returned to the matter at hand. Even if he wanted to do something for Cheonun Sect, he first had to become strong enough. Right now, the most important thing was making full use of his third time journey, four days from now.
He rapidly scanned the contents of the chronicle and soon found useful information.
"Lucky. This chronicle is recorded from the beginning of Shinmu Year 35, and the farthest limit of my time travel is the first of January. According to what's written here, Emperor Shinmu suppressed Cheonun Sect on the tenth of October — which leaves ten months in between. That poor Peak Master of Nagun Peak has no idea that after October, the peak he's been guarding will be reduced to ruins..."
The sensation of looking back through history was deeply strange. He knew with certainty that these cold characters recorded in the chronicle were, to him, an entire world. He could travel to any one of those moments whenever he wished, and bear witness to history itself.
"That's right — I've met him several times and I still don't know the Peak Master's name. That's odd."
Yeop Pung began tracing the characters with his finger, searching.
"Found it!"
Shinmu Year 35, the Eighth of February
Yeo Sogong, Peak Master of Nagun Peak, attains the Spirit Lake Realm and shakes Cheonun Sect. The Sect Master personally holds a banquet to announce it to the world — a great joy for Cheonun Sect.
Yeo Sogong, the Spirit Lake Realm.... Yeop Pung marveled inwardly.
He had known the Spirit Realm above the Profound Realm as the Spirit Sea Realm. But Spirit Sea was merely a general term; in truth, the Spirit Realm was divided into Spirit Spring, Spirit Lake, and the completed Great Spirit Sea Realm. A master of the Spirit Lake Realm was, even in the present Great Jin Empire, a hegemon-class existence who could dominate an entire region. Neither Maeng Chang-haeng nor Sect Master Lee Su-jol would have reached such a stage yet.
"Cheonun Sect a hundred years ago was far stronger than it is now...."
Yeop Pung said, continuing to turn the pages.
"It wasn't just Peak Master Yeo. At the time, Cheonun Sect had five masters who had reached the Spirit Lake Realm, and the Sect Master and Supreme Elders had attained the Great Spirit Sea Realm. That a Cheonun Sect this prosperous was suppressed by Emperor Shinmu alone... I can't even imagine how formidable Emperor Shinmu must have been."
In the present Great Jin, Emperor Shinmu was a mythic figure — an absolute powerhouse beyond anything Yeop Pung could imagine. Marveling, he continued searching for information that would be of use to him.
"Here it is!"
An hour later, Yeop Pung finally found the crucial passage.
Shinmu Year 35, the First of June
The Sect Master of Cheonun Sect, together with the six great Peak Masters, discusses the martial path with Emperor Shinmu at Mount Yongnyeong of Great Jin. The Sect Master, astonished by the Emperor's wondrous martial learning, is deeply convinced in his heart.
It was only a short sentence, but Yeop Pung could read in it a colossal martial confrontation between Great Jin and Cheonun Sect. The storms hidden behind those words were beyond anything he could imagine — but they had already been buried in history along with Cheonun Sect's defeat.
But for Yeop Pung, this was an enormous opportunity.
On the first of June, Yeo Sogong would not be at Nagun Peak. That date was already half a year after Yeop Pung's last time journey. As long as all his preparations were in place, he was confident he could last three days in the past.
This time, he would not stop at merely recording more of the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture. He was determined to accomplish far more in those three days.
In the small, quiet room, Yeop Pung began preparing for time travel. He rapidly memorized everything concerning Cheonun Sect a hundred years ago, and slowly assembled a clear, complete plan.
Over the four days that followed, he consumed his last blue spirit pill and expanded his third meridian by nearly a third.
On the final night, as golden light burst forth from his dantian, Yeop Pung smiled with confidence.
"Let's go, Golden Disc Bro!"