Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Gaining Abilities
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I took a deep breath of the chilly evening air.
I shook off the displeasure that had arisen from seeing Gu Jinhwa in just a few breaths.
Just as the disgust from spotting a bug fades in an instant and doesn't linger in the memory for long, it was cleanly erased from my mind.
From that, it was clear Gu Jinhwa was no more than a bug to me.
Upon arriving at Nangong Mubaek's residence, a commotion arose so loud that voices leaked out beyond the moon gate.
"Hey! Even if you're Scholar Cheon's cousin, that's going too far. You can't just speak so casually like that!"
"Why not? You can do it, but I can't? If you want respect from me, show me some first."
"Wow! This brat is really rotten. How could someone like Scholar Cheon have a little sister like you? Even with amnesia, your true nature should still be there."
"Pot calling the kettle black. You're the one who started calling me a kid and dropping the formalities first."
Watching Cheon Yeoseol bickering with Nangong Mubaek left me dumbfounded.
"Huh? Scholar Cheon. Is this brat really your blood? She's got no manners."
"How refined of you to stoop to her level. What's with that obsession to beat me at my own game?"
Yeoseol was a girl of barely ten, so her behavior made sense, but seeing Nangong Mubaek match her childishness made me realize he still had a long way to go.
"Young Master, Yeoseol used to be a sweet girl, but after losing her memory, she's become like a child. Please understand."
I looked at Yeoseol and spoke.
"Yeoseol, apologize to the Young Master. You can't speak rudely to your elders."
"Big brother, you said people who eat their age with their asses don't deserve respect. That guy's one of them."
"Where did you even hear that?"
The crude words coming from her cute face somehow didn't sound crude at all—that was the problem.
"I heard it from people on the street."
"Scholar Cheon, look at her talking like that. How could I not get mad?"
"Apologize anyway. The Young Master has been good to your big brother."
"How so?"
Nangong Mubaek bristled at that.
"How so? I've given your big brother money, huh? Taught him martial arts manuals, huh? Even took him sightseeing around Bukro Street when he first arrived, huh? That's the kind of guy I am."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Of course, all those things had started as Nangong Mubaek's attempts to mess with me, but the benefits I'd reaped in the end were real enough.
"Thank you."
Just as Nangong Mubaek opened his mouth to retort, Cheon Yeoseol bowed deeply and spoke politely.
"Huh?"
"I was too young to know better. I didn't realize you were such an outstanding person."
"Hahaha, well, kids don't understand adults' circumstances."
As Nangong Mubaek let out an awkward laugh, Cheon Yeoseol continued.
"You thought I'd say that? I already heard everything. All that stuff happened because you were trying to screw over my big brother. Who do you think you're fooling?"
I worried she was picking up too much from the streets.
Eunbi, who had been approaching with refreshments, froze and quietly slipped away.
Well, misunderstandings between people sort themselves out with time.
But looking at those two, I doubted time would fix anything.
They were like a big rascal and a little rascal.
Their squabble showed no signs of ending, so I separated them.
"Young Master, come talk with me a bit. Yeoseol, go inside and rest."
Today, if nothing else for Cheon Yeoseol's sake, I planned to absorb Nangong Mubaek's vital energy.
"What happened when you went to see Miss Jong?"
Nangong Mubaek hesitated at my question.
"Miss Jong was away, so the clinic was empty. No physicians, nothing. What a waste of time."
Nangong Mubaek sounded grumpy about the fruitless trip.
A thought flashed through my mind at his words.
"What about the patients?"
"If the clinic's closed, patients just left, right?"
Now that I thought about it, their actions seemed suspicious.
For even all those physician's aides to be gone was odd.
If they were out on house calls, the aides should still be at the clinic.
'A saintess who suddenly appeared in Hefei a year ago. And now, right when Cheon Yeoseol shows up, they suddenly close up shop. Is this really coincidence?'
Cheon Yeoseol's appearance, followed by the Blood Cult and Demonic Cult.
'Can I dismiss this as coincidence too?'
Coincidences piling up multiple times become inevitability.
Cheon Yeoseol, born with the Heavenly Immortal Divine Meridian—her emergence clearly tied into all this.
For them to move so openly, despite avoiding clashes with the Murim Alliance.
I stared straight at Nangong Mubaek's face.
"Young Master, your complexion doesn't look good."
"Ah, it's just from getting worked up over your cousin."
I smiled back.
"That's part of it, but let me check your pulse. There might be something wrong with your body."
Since I'd occasionally checked his pulse under the guise of precaution before, Nangong Mubaek didn't suspect a thing.
After absorbing Nangong Mubaek's Wuqu vital energy, I felt it surge explosively within me.
Meanwhile, Nangong Mubaek tilted his head side to side and muttered.
"Ah, my head feels so clear. I feel refreshed. Why's that?"
It was the natural response.
The Wuqu energy had fueled madness his whole life. Removing that alone brought him mental peace.
"Training now, with your mind so clear, will yield great insights. I'm off to cultivate."
I'd wanted to send him away quickly anyway, and since he headed to the training grounds first, I sat in the room and focused on refining the vital energy.
I hadn't fully grasped it when I absorbed Pang Soun's Green Venerable energy.
That energy had simply lain dormant in my body.
I'd only used it as a pulse-like wave when needed, turning it into ranged strikes.
That let me handle third-rate warriors at best.
But I couldn't draw out more power, which left me wanting.
As time passed, my anticipation for the Seven Stars Seven Origins vital energy grew.
What abilities each new origin energy granted upon integration wasn't precisely known.
They manifested differently per person, but the initial rotation of the vital energies produced similar effects, or so it was said.
Even that alone was immensely practical for me.
Once I integrated Nangong Mubaek's Wuqu energy, the two energies reacted and began to move.
'This is...'
The two energies moved strangely.
'They're rotating.'
The Green Venerable energy, inert when alone, now slowly rotated along the meridians, following the blood vessels.
And the Wuqu energy rotated in the opposite direction.
I knew the principles of the Seven Stars Seven Origins, but feeling it happen in my body was surreal.
'Vital energy moving by the principles of the Seven Stars Seven Origins.'
Watching the two energies rotate and infuse my body with vigor, I realized the Seven Stars Seven Origins vital energy had truly become circular energy.
'Only those with the Heavenly Martial Sacred Body can activate the Seven Stars Seven Origins vital energy, so no one else in the martial world has it besides me.'
I had become the unique possessor of the Seven Stars Seven Origins vital energy.
'Shall I speed up the rotation? See if it really works as the esoteric texts say.'
I focused on the two energies and accelerated the circular energy's spin.
Vigor surged within me, and suddenly strength welled up fiercely.
I approached a decorative stone in the corner of the room, about the size of a child.
Its white stone streaked from top to bottom like a waterfall.
It was thick enough that three or four strong men would be needed to lift it.
'Can I lift this?'
When the Seven Stars Seven Origins circular energy began rotating, the first ability it typically granted was strength and agility.
From the second onward, the abilities varied wildly, with dozens already discovered.
Now I could verify what the esoteric texts claimed.
I hugged the stone and lifted.
"Hngh, huh?"
The moment I applied force, it lifted easily.
I set the stone back down.
Thud!
The pedestal shook as if it might crack.
"Wait. Instead of hugging, let's try with both hands."
Since hugging had worked too easily, I gripped it with both hands and lifted.
It felt no heavier than drawing a sword.
"This much?"
This time, I grabbed the center of gravity with one hand and lifted.
"Hup!"
It took about as much effort as pulling up a flower.
I focused on the circular energy's rotation and sped it up.
"Eup!"
I lifted the stone with the effort of yanking a handful of grass.
Raising and lowering it one-handed strained my muscles not at all.
'I'm lifting it with vital energy, not muscle, so no strain.'
Though I'd read it in the esoteric texts, experiencing this power firsthand made it hard to grasp easily.
'No wonder they say completing the Seven Stars Seven Origins circular energy makes one no different from an immortal. I get it now. Even with just two origins, it's this powerful.'
The faster the circular energy spun, the greater the power it unleashed.
Then a sudden thought struck me.
'What if I apply this power to swordsmanship? It would become heavy sword, and emphasizing agility would make it fast sword. Sword arts say you can't master both heavy and fast sword at once, but I can use both simultaneously—heavy sword as fast sword.'
Even as a mere scholar, that idea alone set my heart racing.
I might be a scholar, but the ability to wield a martial art unprecedented in martial history—how could I not be thrilled?
'Who could block a heavy sword swung like a fast sword?'
Just imagining it sent shivers through my body.
'The Vault of Heaven Unfettered Sword Technique—if we classify it, the early parts are fast sword, midsection heavy sword, and late stages illusion sword. Containing the essences of all three, it's the ultimate culmination of sword arts.'
My thoughts expanded further.
'Yet no Nangong Family warrior has ever become the world's greatest swordsman with it. Because none could properly wield all three essences at once.'
Only now did I understand the disconnect I'd always felt watching Nangong Family warriors train.
'They created arts like the Emperor Sword Form because, despite inventing this great Vault of Heaven Unfettered Sword Technique, no one could wield its three essences together.'
Nangong Family practitioners each specialized in one— heavy, fast, or illusion sword—based on their inclinations.
Thus, it devolved into an incomplete art.
I fetched a wooden sword from the room and assumed a stance.
Then I rotated the circular energy, activating strength and agility together, and executed the Vault of Heaven Unfettered Sword Technique forms.
I marveled at my own execution.
Infused with power and speed, the Vault of Heaven Unfettered Sword Technique radiated its inherent beauty.
In my wake, a hazy azure dragon formed of vital energy.
The manual said completing the forms would manifest the dragon's image. I'd always dismissed it as exaggeration.
"No exaggeration. The manual was true."
I'd understood and executed the Vault of Heaven Unfettered Sword Technique forms before, but always felt something lacking—turns out it was power and speed.
Another thought occurred.
"If I add power and speed to the Plum Blossom Sword Technique, will plum blossoms appear?"
I'd seen similar descriptions in the 24 Plum Blossom Sword Techniques manual from the Murim Alliance's secret library.
The Plum Blossom Sword Technique focused on illusion sword, but the 24 Plum Blossom added fast sword essence.
Now I understood why warriors obsessed over martial arts.
Each step of progress and realization mirrored scholarly enlightenment.
I gripped the wooden sword and took the starting stance for the 24 Plum Blossom Sword Techniques.
As I rotated the circular energy to execute the first form, a whoosh came from behind.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whing!
"Hm?"
I turned around.
There stood Cheon Yeoseol, wielding a stick and mimicking my Vault of Heaven Unfettered Sword Technique.
She perfectly executed the first form, One Sword Myriad Shadows, and the second, Myriad Changes One Forge.
Natural energies around her swirled in a circle, drawn toward her center.
So close to vital energy, I could see it.
"Insane! Even with the Heavenly Immortal Divine Meridian, for a child to replicate such complex forms after seeing them once? And with power and speed added!"
Cheon Yeoseol tilted her head, then spoke to me.
"Big brother, here to here."
She swung the stick— the mid-stroke of the second form, Myriad Changes One Forge.
"Should I shift the power to the left here? Moving it right makes something poke out from my arm."
She swung the stick at a nearby flower.
It didn't even touch, yet the flower's stem snapped off cleanly.
"Wait! Hold on! Put the stick down, Yeoseol."
I approached and examined the fallen flower head.
The cut was pristine, like a sharp blade's work.
'Is this... sword qi?'
I'd glimpsed transparent energy bursting from the stick, but couldn't believe it was sword qi.
A ten-year-old girl ignorant of martial arts emitting sword qi with a stick? That bordered on delusion.