Learning Martial Arts (1)
He had resolved to become the present-day Seok Geum-ryong, no longer the Woo Do-min of the past.
Having made that decision, Seok Geum-ryong calmly examined his own body.
He was worried that some of the things that had changed from his previous life might also have altered Seok Geum-ryong's natural bones and marrow.
For a long while, like a madman checking every last detail, he inspected himself from head to toe.
“……!!”
So shocked was he that he nearly toppled over.
Unbelievably, Seok Geum-ryong's talent and frame were...
“The Heaven-Defying Body?”
It was the Heaven-Defying Body, a constitution that was in no way inferior even when compared to the perfect Heavenly Martial Body.
The only problem was that the vital energy used to discern his physique had been turned upside down, making it impossible to recognize unless one was a master on par with the Super Peak realm.
Why was I unable to recognize Young Master’s talent in my previous life?
If he had known earlier, he would have taught him martial arts even if the boy had to limp through life. Even if he had learned late, he would at least have had the ability to protect himself.
But that was not Woo Do-min's fault.
For several reasons, Seok Geum-ryong's talent had been damaged and hidden to the point that it could hardly be recognized.
Incredible. Truly incredible.
He had preserved the body of the Heaven-Defying Body well, and even its balance was perfect.
In other words, no physique better suited to the study of martial arts existed.
“This is no different from a gift from the heavens!”
He shuddered again and again in awe.
The superior bones and sinews possessed by ten-year-old Seok Geum-ryong surpassed even the Woo Do-min of his previous life.
Excluding the legendary constitutions and rare natural gifts of the world, it was undoubtedly talent worthy of ranking among the top five in all of Murim.
Even in my past life, reaching proper entry into martial arts wasn’t easy.
He fell into thought as he recalled his previous life.
Woo Do-min before he became the Gold-Selling Swordsman, the Northern Dipper Swordsman Woo Do-min, had not lived a particularly smooth life either.
Despite possessing outstanding talent, he had been late to enter martial arts and was rejected by numerous famous orthodox sects. It was only after wandering in frustration that he met his benefactor: his master, Chilseonggun, the one who taught him the sole-inheritance martial arts of the Northern Dipper.
His master had said:
- My martial arts were created by taking inspiration from the seven stars of the Northern Dipper.
At first, Woo Do-min had thought him nothing more than a common swindler or some third-rate fighter wandering the jianghu. But Chilseonggun, known in name only, was in truth an extraordinary eccentric sage.
The first art Chilseonggun taught him was...
the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique!
It was a breathing method modeled after the Big Dipper, and because its nature was gentle while its accumulation of qi was rapid, it was no exaggeration to call it a universal internal energy method.
In particular, for those who had entered martial arts late and allowed turbid energy to build up in their bodies, it possessed excellent efficacy by gradually removing that impure qi.
It could also be practiced alongside other martial arts or other internal energy methods without conflict or mutual rejection.
First, I’ll learn the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique.
Seok Geum-ryong sat in a cross-legged meditation posture and called forth the memories of his previous life.
Pine needles eat pine needles, and martial artists train every single day.
How could he possibly forget the incantations of his past life's martial arts?
Even with his eyes closed, even without taking a breath, the formulas of the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique spilled forth in a steady stream.
“Huuuu.”
Recalling the formulas of the Northern Dipper, Seok Geum-ryong calmly refined his breathing.
The verses were fairly difficult and even maddeningly hard to memorize, but the present Seok Geum-ryong was, in essence, the Northern Dipper Swordsman who had fully mastered Northern Dipper martial arts.
More than anything, the reversed bones and sinews that could defy the heavens made the impossible possible.
As such, reproducing the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique was not all that difficult.
The Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique!
He exhaled slowly according to the verses and his understanding, and sure enough—
Whoooooooooosh!
His mind cleared as a pure, bright energy seemed to circulate over his head, and he felt the distinct sensation of firm, powerful qi accumulating deep in his dantian.
This can't be!
Seok Geum-ryong let out a cry of triumph when he succeeded in condensing qi through the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique on almost his very first attempt.
He had expected it would not be difficult, since he had learned it properly in his previous life and Seok Geum-ryong's talent was also excellent, but the speed at which he mastered it was absurdly fast.
Even in my previous life, when my talent was praised by my master as being decent, it took me two full months just to enter the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique and get a proper feel for it.
And yet, this body of Seok Geum-ryong, even with Woo Do-min within it, was performing it the moment it was unleashed, in a way that was nothing short of extraordinary.
“I can hardly believe it.”
To be honest, he had initially planned only to learn the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique and establish a proper foundation, but the speed at which he was learning was no ordinary thing.
Behind his shock, there was also a touch of grievance.
Is this what the difference in talent looks like, and the difference between entering martial arts at a young age?
It was absurd, experiencing a genius's talent that his former self had never tasted at all.
After being amazed for a while, Seok Geum-ryong was not content.
Having achieved entry into the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique with ease, he now set his sights on something else as well.
The Northern Dipper martial arts can be represented by two core martial arts.
The first was the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique he had just performed, and the other was...
the Heaven-Shattering Seven Stars Sword Technique!
This Heaven-Shattering Seven Stars Sword Technique, whose name meant sword forms that would shatter the heavens and were modeled after the seven star positions, consisted of a total of seven forms. When unleashed together with the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique, it produced power so overwhelming that no other art in the world could rival it.
When I was active in the martial world as the Northern Dipper Swordsman, I only managed to learn four of the seven forms of the Heaven-Shattering Seven Stars Sword Technique, and even then I rose into the ranks of the Ten Great Experts of the world.
But if that extraordinary physique were now combined with the brain of Woo Do-min, who carried the memories and experience of a past life, perhaps learning all seven forms instead of only four would not be impossible, and he might even reach the pinnacle of martial mastery.
As his thoughts reached that point, Seok Geum-ryong redoubled his training, aiming to master the first form of the Heaven-Shattering Seven Stars Sword Technique immediately after the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique.
What made the Heaven-Shattering Seven Stars Sword Technique so interesting was that each of its seven forms was named after one of the seven star spirits.
First, I'll fully master the first form of the Seven Stars of the Heaven-Shattering Seven Stars Sword Technique, the Greedy Wolf.
With just those two things properly mastered, he would be more than enough to stand as a first-class expert in the present martial world.
People deeply enamored with heroic novels tended to look down on the first-class realm, but that was a grave mistake.
If there were ten people who entered martial arts, not even one of them would easily reach this realm.
And yet Seok Geum-ryong was determined to master those two things as quickly as possible and reach first-class.
His urgency was not driven by martial ambition alone.
Before long, an assassin will infiltrate the manor and injure Young Master.
One of the main reasons Seok Geum-ryong, despite being born with excellent martial talent, had never been able to shine was that he had been crippled in one leg.
The incident that left him lame would occur sometime after his tenth birthday, which meant there was only about a month left.
Because of the first assassin’s ambush, he would nearly die from the aftereffects and end up limping for the rest of his life, and from that point on Seok Geum-ryong would spiral downhill so badly that he would not even be able to learn the martial arts needed to defend himself.
I have to stop that fate from repeating itself.
He also believed there was a proper reason he had possessed Seok Geum-ryong at this very point, when the boy was about to turn ten.
Was it not to begin at this moment and prevent the first misstep, the first botched turn in Seok Geum-ryong's life?
“For that, I need to become strong within the span of a single month.”
No matter how excellent Seok Geum-ryong’s bones and sinews were, and no matter that he had inherited everything from the Northern Dipper Swordsman, it was impossible to become a first-class expert capable of protecting himself in merely one month.
But for Seok Geum-ryong, who knew the information of the future, there was always a way.
* * *
“At last, our fifth son, Geum-ryong, has turned ten as well.”
Seokga Manor was a vast and wealthy merchant clan that boasted immense financial power and wielded influence across the Central Plains.
Its head, and Seok Geum-ryong's father, the great magnate Seok Ji-sung, stepped forward with his famously cold expression.
When bargaining as a merchant, he wore the smile of a Buddha, but with his sons and daughters in daily life, he was an utterly cold man.
He, too, had reached the position of manor lord only after many hardships and fierce competition, and as such he longed for only one person, forged through endless rivalry, to become both heir and flesh and blood.
“Ohhh!”
The household staff preparing Seok Geum-ryong’s birthday celebration were taken aback when none other than the Seokga Manor lord himself arrived.
One might think there was nothing special about a father visiting his son, but Seok Ji-sung had five sons and three daughters.
More importantly, among those eight heirs, Seok Geum-ryong’s faction was the weakest and most insignificant by far, so the very fact that the manor lord had shown his face was nothing short of a miracle.
“L-Lord Manor Head, what brings you here?”
Even the Scholar in Blue, Gong Sang-pil, who was rarely ever flustered, was startled and confused.
“What brings me here? Geum-ryong is still my bloodline, an official heir. Even if his support base is weak and meager, I should at least stop by once.”
Seok Ji-sung was a heartless and ruthless father to Seok Geum-ryong and his household, but he pursued his own form of fairness.
Unlike the half-brothers and sisters, Seok Geum-ryong had no respectable maternal family to stand behind him.
While the other siblings all had formidable maternal lineages, with mothers born of famous sects, great clans, or enormous escort bureaus and merchant houses, Seok Geum-ryong's mother had been nothing more than a respectable young lady from an ordinary family of salt and fish merchants.
Yet Seok Ji-sung had truly loved her, and though she gave birth to Seok Geum-ryong, she died in the process.
And... my health has worsened. There are already more people following the eldest and second sons, and it feels as though I am gradually being pushed back.
Seok Ji-sung, the Seokga Manor lord, was steadily losing influence and power within Seokga Manor.
He had always been described as the sort of man from whom not even blood would come if you pricked him, yet now that his body had become one that could die at any time, he found himself missing Seok Geum-ryong's mother.
That was why he had come under the pretext of Seok Geum-ryong’s tenth birthday: to see the boy, who resembled her so strongly, with his own eyes.
At the very least, before he died, he wanted to look at that face a little longer and offer some recognition in his own way.
If it were any of the other children, there would be lavish speeches and grand gifts from every direction, but this is pitiful beyond words.
Seok Ji-sung clicked his tongue inwardly as he looked at the garden where Seok Geum-ryong’s birthday banquet was being held.
A direct heir of Seokga Manor celebrating a birthday was effectively the same as checking the map of power by seeing who had gathered in support. Yet the people assembled today were nothing more than a handful of retainers, including the tenth butler, the Scholar in Blue, Gong Sang-pil.
“Young Master! Congratulations!”
The only thing that managed to break the bleakness and silence was the enthusiastic congratulations of Deung Chon, the servant who had raised Seok Geum-ryong from childhood and, one could say, had been more of a nursemaid than a servant.
Aside from Deung Chon, only Gong Sang-pil wore a bright smile.
“Even if the number of supporting household members is small, it is lively and intimate. It’s pleasing to the eye. My own beginning was much the same. Geum-ryong, come here.”
“Yes, Manor Lord.”
“You rascal. Manor Lord? How stiff. On a birthday like today, call me more comfortably.”
Was it because the body grew weaker, and therefore the heart as well?
Seok Ji-sung showed the warmest expression he had worn since Seok Geum-ryong was born.
“Yes... Father.”
Seok Geum-ryong looked at Seok Ji-sung and, with some difficulty, called him Father.
Even in his previous life, he had had his own deep connection with Seok Ji-sung.
When he had been stricken with financial hardship because of his son Woo Ja-an's incurable illness, the one who came to him first and extended a helping hand was none other than Seok Ji-sung.
Was that why?
It’s a familiar face.
The present Seok Geum-ryong bore no ill feelings toward Seok Ji-sung.
On the contrary, Seok Ji-sung had held a certain affection for him ever since the years had passed after Woo Do-min entered Seokga Manor and then suddenly died of illness.
That was a story from several years later, however, and it was not the sort of thing he could warn him about now, so he could only remain silent.
More importantly, that was not what mattered right now.
“Yes. I have been careless all this time. This father’s life is steadily drawing toward its end... Before I lose all the strength I have left, I suppose I should grant you a gift.”
“Ohhh!”
When the Seokga Manor lord, standing above all others, said that he would personally buy anything his child wanted, the garden where Seok Geum-ryong’s birthday was being held erupted into chaos.
Amid everyone else’s astonishment,
Seok Geum-ryong only smiled faintly, without the slightest surprise.
Because he already knew this was coming.
Back then, Young Master said that when he remembered this day later, he regretted not asking for something better.
In that life, Seok Geum-ryong had been nervous because his father, whom he did not often see, was difficult and frightening. In the end, wanting to make a good impression on Seok Ji-sung, he had accepted a few books on commerce.
Those business books were of no use whatsoever, and later Seok Geum-ryong had reportedly banged his head against the ground in regret.
“As it happens, there is something I would very much like to have.”
But the present Seok Geum-ryong wore a victorious smile.
Through the experience of his past life, he knew exactly what Seokga Manor lord Seok Ji-sung possessed, what had not seemed valuable at the time, and what would later become priceless.
From this moment on, he would begin rewriting that bleak past.
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