Empty Hands Feel a Bit Empty (2)
When the torchlight illuminated the area, a spacious chamber came into view.
Han Bin entered, holding the torch aloft.
The inner room bore no traces of anything unusual.
Han Bin tilted his head in puzzlement.
It was a secret chamber hidden within the training room, which felt odd enough, but it didn't seem particularly different from any ordinary room.
He planted the torch near the entrance, closed his eyes quietly, and ran his hands over the surfaces.
What is this?
Han Bin furrowed his brow. Touching the walls directly revealed why the room had felt strange.
The walls he touched were impossibly smooth.
Yi Mu-myeong and Seol-hwa outside might scoff that smoothness was no big deal, but this was impossible.
There were no seams in the walls at all.
Even if someone had carved out the interior from stone to create the room, there should have been chisel marks from the process.
Yet this room was as smooth as if it had been sliced clean in one go.
Han Bin ran through every possibility in his mind. Based on his past life's experiences...
His eyes narrowed.
There was only one explanation.
The entire secret space had been formed by a single sword technique.
Opening his eyes, Han Bin scanned the chamber again.
"To create a space this size...?"
He did the calculations.
It would require a Hwagyeong master—at least the third realm—pouring every ounce of their inner power into it.
Why would someone expend all their power to leave such a trace?
Han Bin grinned.
Wasn't it to find someone who could recognize this trace and inherit the arrangement?
Of course, that someone could only be him.
Han Bin sat cross-legged in the center of the secret space.
The one who left such a trace wouldn't have vanished without any clues, leaving just the empty space like a blunt cut.
Heightening his qi sense in the cross-legged position, he felt sharp sword qi lingering around him.
"What in the world...?"
Han Bin opened his eyes again.
No matter how he looked, the only things around were the walls, presumed to have been formed by a technique.
He tilted his head and closed his eyes once more.
Faintly, but unmistakably, a qi pierced his skin again.
Han Bin formed a hypothesis.
What if qi had been sealed within a space created by a technique?
The energy that formed this technique was probably still circulating in the room.
If so?
This was undoubtedly a space that recreated the technique!
It was subtle, and the faint sword qi was too vague to identify any specific technique.
For an ordinary person, it would be impossible.
But Han Bin possessed a peculiar human-grade technique he had acquired before.
It was Salshin Seongin.
A technique that absorbed an opponent's attack to obtain its formula.
If not now, then when would he use it?
A smile crept across Han Bin's lips as he recalled the Yongrin Sword Art technique.
'Salshin Seongin.'
As the technique came to mind, the energy of Yongrin naturally enveloped his body.
Han Bin let out an involuntary groan.
"Mm."
Activating Salshin Seongin made the lingering sword qi in the space feel like it was slicing into his flesh—an illusion of pain so intense it fit the name perfectly.
It hurt like hell!
But this level of pain was nothing compared to the suffering he had endured living as a weakling.
The strong trampled the weak—that was the law of the jianghu.
It held true for the righteous, unorthodox, and demonic alike.
To protect himself and his people, he needed absolute power.
Han Bin heightened his qi sense even further, straining to feel the sword qi piercing his skin.
In that instant, a technique appeared in his vision.
You have accurately detected the traces of the Yongrin Sword Art. Acquired the true formula of the Fusion Chapter: Jin (Jin).
That was the beginning.
How much time passed? Finally, one technique took form.
Jinyong Pahon Geom (True Dragon Soul-Breaking Sword)
An advanced technique of the Yongrin Sword Art that uses mental force to shatter even the opponent's soul. However, if mental force is insufficient, it can be used in the form of Pahon Geom.
Requires 10 units of mental force to execute Jinyong Pahon Geom. However, executing Pahon Geom requires 3 years' worth of inner power.
The Fusion Chapter now had one more technique.
• Gugeol Ship-pal-bo
• Jinyong Pahon Geom
Confirming the new technique, Han Bin opened his eyes.
He pondered the conditions required to execute Jinyong Pahon Geom.
It demanded the consumption of something called mental force.
From his current enlightenment, mental force seemed akin to the human heart.
Emotions like love, hate, fear—the essence of humanity.
Yet, no such attribute existed in the Basic Chapter.
So?
Han Bin shrugged.
The divine art known as the Yongrin Sword Art had given him yet another homework assignment.
Quietly, he drew Wol-a.
He couldn't use Jinyong Pahon Geom yet, but Pahon Geom could be executed with inner power.
Han Bin wasn't one to just stare at a delicious meal in front of him.
Shing.
The flickering torchlight reflected off Wol-a's blade, creating an eerie atmosphere.
But Han Bin ignored it and unleashed Pahon Geom.
Pababak!
Pang! Shwoong!
The technique traced the form of a dragon through the space.
With a single stroke, Han Bin dominated all directions—left, right, up, down.
Rumble—boom!
A thunderous roar filled the chamber, as if lightning had struck.
Having executed the technique, Han Bin silently gazed at the traces he had left behind.
The secret space, formed by a technique, was now densely packed with his own traces.
They were the sword paths of Pahon Geom.
That was when it happened.
A crashing sound echoed from the training room entrance.
Bam!
At the noise, Han Bin exited the secret space and looked toward the entrance.
Seeing it, he laughed in disbelief.
"Ha, seriously...?"
It wasn't just something breaking—it was the actual door, shattered.
At the same time, two shadows flew in from the entrance.
Of course, they were Seol-hwa and Yi Mu-myeong.
Papapak!
With heavy footsteps, they skidded to a halt in front of Han Bin.
Seol-hwa asked with trembling eyes.
"Young master, what happened? We heard the training room collapsing...?"
She trailed off.
She had spotted the gaping hole in the wall behind Han Bin.
Seol-hwa continued.
"Th-that... Did you make that, young master?"
"Yeah, but why the shock?"
Han Bin tilted his head, prompting Seol-hwa to widen her eyes.
"Y-you caused another mess. Don't we have to fix it?"
"Nah, why fuss over something so trivial?"
"Still..."
As Seol-hwa fretted over the chaos Han Bin had wrought, Yi Mu-myeong interjected.
"Master, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Han Bin grinned.
At first, being called "master" had felt awkward.
But now, it didn't seem so strange. Considering his age from his past life, it even felt fitting.
Yi Mu-myeong, eyeing the space behind Han Bin, asked in a quavering voice.
"Master, th-that's millennial rock, isn't it?"
"Millennial rock?"
Han Bin turned to look.
It was indeed millennial rock.
The term referred to the root stone among stones—the toughest kind.
Millennial rock was ore mined from beneath massive stone mountains.
How sturdy must the roots be to support a mountain's weight for a millennium?
That was millennial rock.
The problem was its price.
Ask for the most expensive metal, and anyone would name millennial cold iron. Ask for the priciest stone, and it was millennial rock.
And he'd left marks on it?
He had undeniably damaged this secret space.
Grinning, Han Bin said to Yi Mu-myeong,
"Cover it up!"
"Pardon?"
"Just patch it roughly."
"Ah, understood."
Yi Mu-myeong gave a light fist salute and eyed the hole and traces within as Han Bin quietly slipped out of the training room.
While Han Bin rested outside, Yi Mu-myeong began stacking stones to seal the wall.
Seeing this, Seol-hwa fetched a bundle of branches and set them before the hole.
Perplexed by her actions, Yi Mu-myeong asked,
"Seol-hwa, what's all this?"
"Young master said to cover it roughly earlier. Don't bother so meticulously—just throw some branches over it."
"Will that do?"
"He won't care. Save your energy."
"Hm, thanks, Seol-hwa."
With that, Yi Mu-myeong used the branches Seol-hwa had gathered to roughly cover the wall.
Thanks to her, he finished the job in the time it took to sip a cup of tea.
* * *
Meanwhile, outside, Han Bin's eyes widened at the text that suddenly appeared before him.
You have comprehended the true meaning of Salshin Seongin. The technique evolves.
This message appeared right after he resolved to teach Pahon Geom to Seol-hwa and Yi Mu-myeong.
Jinyong Pahon Geom was something only he could execute, but the enlightenment of Pahon Geom could be passed on to others.
In Han Bin's eyes, both Seol-hwa and Yi Mu-myeong were more than qualified.
Seol-hwa had stayed by his side to help him in both his past and present lives—whether by choice or force.
Yi Mu-myeong had risked his life to impersonate him.
They shared the commonality of staking their lives for Han Bin.
It seemed his act of passing on the Yongrin Sword Art traces—not just for himself, but for future generations—had triggered the technique's evolution.
As Han Bin stared intently at the text, the characters scattered and reformed into new words.
Salshin Seongin – If you connect with someone's heart through the Yongrin Sword Art, you can acquire the necessary formulas.
The heart?
Han Bin turned his gaze from the Salshin Seongin text.
The phrase about acquiring necessary formulas seemed like it would resolve once he taught Seol-hwa and Yi Mu-myeong.
As Han Bin nodded in satisfaction, Seol-hwa and Yi Mu-myeong emerged, having finished their work.
Yi Mu-myeong approached and gave a deep fist salute.
"Master, the task you assigned is complete."
Glancing at the entrance, Han Bin replied,
"What about that?"
He pointed to the two broken door panels scattered on the ground.
Eying them, Yi Mu-myeong smiled faintly.
"I didn't break those doors. Seol-hwa did."
Yi Mu-myeong straightened proudly, glancing at Seol-hwa.
Her eyes bulged as she shouted,
"You're mean, old man! That's tattling!"
"I'm just stating facts, aren't I?"
"The master promised candy as payback—ten pieces!"
As the two bickered, Han Bin casually propped up the fallen door as if it were no big deal.
Thud! Thud!
With the two doors roughly in place, Han Bin said,
"Good enough. Let's go."
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
"No one's coming here anyway. You think the Henan Jeong Family's gonna check this far out? Just leave it like this. Whoever knocks it down next can deal with it—they'll be the unlucky one."
"Gasp!"
Yi Mu-myeong let out a cry, shooting Han Bin a reproachful look.
It screamed, Why treat Seol-hwa and me differently?
But Han Bin's next words flipped that gaze instantly.
"I have a martial art to pass on to you, Mu-myeong and Seol-hwa!"
* * *
The secluded training ground used by the Henan Jeong Family's guests.
Like the previous training room, it was far from the main halls, but surrounded by ponds, it exuded a refreshing aura fit for immortals playing go.
In the training ground, Han Bin spoke quietly.
"The technique I'm passing to you is Pahon Geom. 'Pahon' means it shatters not just the body, but the soul too. It's that powerful. Of course, whether you comprehend it is entirely up to your effort—keep that in mind."
"......"
Yi Mu-myeong's eyes gleamed silently.
But Seol-hwa tilted her head.
"Why teach me too, young master? I'm not your disciple."
As Seol-hwa's eyes sparkled with curiosity, Han Bin gazed at the sky, seemingly pondering his answer.