Moonlight Divine Art
"Senior."
"What is it?"
"Could you tell me about Moonlight Divine Art?"
At my question, Geukseon looked at me with a slightly displeased expression and clicked her tongue.
"For a Murim practitioner to long for a supreme martial art is only natural. I do not fault you for that feeling. However, now is not the time to chase after such empty fantasies. Would it not be better to perfect what you are already learning?"
That surprised me. For Geukseon to call something a supreme martial art, it had to be on another level entirely.
Still, if you thought about it in simple terms, it was probably at least twice as good as the Ice Soul Divine Art. Maybe it really did deserve that kind of praise.
"I’m not saying I want to pursue Moonlight Divine Art. I’m just curious. There’s no harm in knowing, right?"
Even after I said it so gently, Geukseon still looked unconvinced.
But now I thought I understood that expression. There was nothing in my words she could really argue with.
Seeing that, Geukseon really was an easy woman to read.
Or maybe she was just the sort of person who said no right away.
Honestly, she was much easier to deal with than someone who acted one way on the outside and another on the inside.
"Since we’re in the library now, why don’t you look for another martial manual? We can talk about Moonlight Divine Art later."
"Yes. I’ll do that, Senior."
I agreed at once, and Geukseon turned back to the shelves and pulled out a martial arts manual.
She skimmed a few pages, then put it back with an expression that plainly said she regretted taking it out, and reached for another one.
So I continued scanning the library as well.
But even after looking again, I still couldn’t hide my sense of helplessness.
There were far too many manuals. And there wasn’t even a search system.
Was it really right to spend this much time on the second floor?
If I claimed I could find something worthwhile here, wouldn’t that basically be insulting the people who ran the Murim Alliance library?
"Senior, I think I should head back now. Rather than wasting time rummaging through this place, it would probably be better to earn merits quickly and see the upper floors."
"Yes. That would be for the best."
Geukseon agreed immediately and slid the manual she had been examining back onto the shelf.
Right. To Geukseon, this place probably was trivial.
The only reason she had stayed with me this long was because she’d been searching in case something here might help me.
With that, I left the archive with Baek Jin-ah and Dang Yeong-young.
We hadn’t stayed very long. Maybe one or two shichen?
Still, it was a relief that I hadn’t come away empty-handed.
Finding the Hancheon Skill. And learning that lower-grade martial arts could be mastered instantly.
Hmm. I’d have to find a good way to use that.
For now, though, nothing came to mind except ice arts.
Anyway, we went off to eat dinner.
Probably because this was the Murim Alliance in name as well as in reality, and because Geukseon had the Baekgeum Token, the treatment we received was truly excellent.
It wasn’t exactly luxurious or ostentatious, but it was neat and well kept.
Then again, it would be hard to indulge in extravagance and pleasure inside the Murim Alliance. Too many eyes were watching.
Even so, it was satisfying simply because cleanliness came standard.
And it was safe, too.
Yes. That safety was the real issue. There probably wasn’t a safer place anywhere in all of Central Plains. It was the Murim Alliance, after all.
If even this place became dangerous, that would mean the whole martial world had completely gone to hell.
Anyway, while eating dinner, I quietly sorted out my thoughts.
How could I ask Geukseon about it without drawing suspicion or misunderstanding?
"Senior."
After finishing dinner and leisurely drinking tea, I called out to Geukseon.
She looked at me with an indifferent expression.
Her gaze toward me was definitely different from the one she used on others.
It was obvious even without her saying anything.
"Is there a martial art that branched out into many lines from a single root and developed independently?"
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Hmm... I’m not even sure whether this is a good analogy, but people say all martial arts in Central Plains came from Shaolin, don’t they? Something like the martial arts of the world come from Shaolin?"
"That’s just something people say about Shaolin, is it not? For those who have never even held a sword, it’s a rather arrogant claim."
Huh? That wasn’t the reaction I’d expected. Weren’t people supposed to respect Shaolin in the martial world?
"Sorry. I think I used a bad example."
"I think I understand what you are trying to say. If you put it that way, then all sword techniques in the world would have come from the Three Talents Sword Technique."
"Ah…."
"No matter how a sword is swung, it is merely an extension of the Three Talents Sword Technique. In that case, would not all origins you speak of ultimately be the Three Talents Sword Technique?"
"But isn’t the Three Talents Sword Technique a little hard to call a martial art? When you build a house, you don’t look at soil, wood, and stone and call that a house."
"What you say is true. It is difficult to treat the Three Talents Sword Technique as a single martial art. Still, I cannot understand what it is you are really curious about. If there is something you wish to know, ask it plainly instead of circling around it."
Hmm. Right. It was hard to ask without revealing everything I knew.
But I couldn’t just lay all my cards on the table either. Even if I did, she probably wouldn’t believe me.
So this wasn’t something I could ask another person. I’d have to figure it out on my own.
While I stayed silent, Geukseon looked at me and slowly spoke.
"A martial art that can be said to be the source of all others would be difficult to find. However, there is a martial art that gathered the essence of every martial art."
"There is?"
"Did you not say it yourself just now? Moonlight Sword Technique."
"...Moonlight Sword Technique?"
"It is a name few people still know these days. The Moonlight Sword Technique and the Sunlight Saber Technique. They are the peerless martial arts left behind by the Sun-Moon Divine Demon."
"The Sun-Moon Divine Demon? Was he a member of the Demonic Cult?"
"No. He belonged to neither the righteous nor the unorthodox factions."
"Just from the title alone, he sounds exactly like someone from the Demonic Cult."
"It would not be strange to think so. But no, he was a man of pure moderation."
"I see."
"In any case, those are the Sunlight Saber Technique and the Moonlight Sword Technique left behind by the Sun-Moon Divine Demon. The Sunlight Saber Technique gathered all saber arts and forged them into a single martial art. Likewise, the Moonlight Sword Technique was created by mastering every sword style. Those two martial arts may not be the source of all martial arts, but they could certainly be called the final culmination."
"...Was it really that impressive?"
"That is how the story has been passed down. But no one alive today has truly learned them, so there is no way to verify whether the tales are true."
"Then what do you think, Senior?"
"The Mount Zhongnan sect acknowledged the Moonlight Sword Technique. If the sect leader of that time recognized it, how could future disciples deny it?"
"So... does that mean the Moonlight Sword Technique has no true successor?"
"It has already been many years since the Sun-Moon Divine Demon vanished from sight. Since then, countless people have claimed to be his successor. Still, no one dares make such claims lightly these days."
"Ah... like Rippling Wave Sword Demon?"
"Exactly. Just because a single fine sword appeared, all manner of riffraff swarmed in after it, did they not? So what do you think became of them in the end?"
They probably died.
If any of them had really been true successors with actual ability, they’d have made a name for themselves and lived on to this day.
But since none of them did, death was probably the answer.
And thinking about that, it all started to feel absurd.
What exactly was Sintu doing?
Possessing the Ice Soul Divine Art? Sure, that was absurd too. But at least it wasn’t impossible.
The Ice Palace wasn’t exactly something that could run off and hide.
But where in the world had the manual for Moonlight Divine Art come from? Who had he stolen it from?
And when I thought about it that way, the black-red manual I’d seen back then started to bother me even more.
What on earth had that been? I couldn’t even read it, let alone learn it.
Maybe it was something incredibly important. No, of course it was incredibly important.
Had Little Sintu moved everything in that stash?
If he’d realized the manual for the Ice Soul Divine Art had disappeared, there was no way he’d have left it alone.
"So, would it be correct to say that Moonlight Divine Art is widely recognized as a peerless martial art?"
"At the very least, there is no one who would deny it. But who would go around claiming to have learned Moonlight Divine Art? And even if someone did, who would be able to recognize it and verify whether it was genuine?"
"Even you, Senior?"
"Even I have no special gift for recognizing what I do not know. Still, I could infer a few things."
"How would you infer them?"
"Long ago, there was a sect leader who personally witnessed Moonlight Divine Art and acknowledged it. He left behind his impressions."
"Could I hear them? Would that be disallowed because I’m not from the sect?"
"Why would I hide something like that out of fear? The only person who has seen Moonlight Divine Art is not in Mount Zhongnan alone. Everyone who saw the Moonlight Sword Technique and its blade said the same thing: the instant the sword path unfolded, darkness swallowed every direction, and only the moonlit gleam of the blade painted the world."
That wasn’t very easy to understand.
All directions turning dark? Just from swinging a sword?
Well. The formula had been hard to decipher, too, so maybe the sword itself was just like that.
Anyway, I’d have to keep my mouth shut about this for now.
There was nothing to gain by revealing that I had Moonlight Divine Art.
It wasn’t like I could even use it properly yet.
So staying quiet was the right choice. It was the right choice, but….
Ah. That black-red manual from back then. It kept sticking in my mind.
Moonlight Divine Art was already an incredible martial art. The Ice Soul Divine Art was no less impressive, and the Splitting Light Sword Technique was excellent as well.
So that black-red manual definitely wasn’t ordinary. It was suspicious the moment you looked at it, even just by the cover.
"Do you have more questions about Moonlight Divine Art?"
"No. For now, I think it would be better to focus on improving my strength first."
"Good. That is the right idea. Having grand ambitions is fine, but there is no need to chase after illusions. Then what of the library?"
"As I said earlier, I don’t think there’s anything I can gain there right away. So it would be better to raise my rank and go to the higher floors. Is there any way to raise my rank quickly?"
"You would simply need to earn enough merit. Then let us do that."
"By the way, Sister... what about Yeong-young? What are you going to do?"
"I’m going to follow Harin."
"Me too."
At this point, they didn’t even bother making excuses for why they wanted to follow me.
I had no idea what they were thinking. Honestly... they were impossible to understand.