Forging the Ghost Soul Divine Art
Having finished our swim, we descended the mountain. It was time to head back. I didn't have a concrete next goal yet, but my mind was leaning in a certain direction.
From here on out, I'd keep hunting yokai and targeting their yodan. By taking down the ringleaders among the riffraff—the 108 Yokai Army Leaders—I'd eventually reach the truly vicious yokai killers of the Central Plains. Snagging their yodan would make me even stronger.
Anyway, as we chatted on the way down to the mountain's base, Serin spoke up.
"Geun-hyeop, how's your condition?"
"Feelin' great. Why?"
"Before we go, let me take a look at your martial arts."
"Oh yeah! Sweet!"
"What, you gonna show off some moves? Go for it. Lemme watch."
Ha-young spread out a spot to sit, while Serin stood ready like she was about to inspect me.
"I'll show you right now!"
I immediately assumed my stance and unleashed the Dae-ryu Geom-beop.
Shing!
My sword sliced through the empty air. Even I could feel how fiercely my sword force had grown. The links between the forms and their speed had improved too. I'd been practicing steadily since Namgung Serin first taught me, and stacking real combat experience on top had boosted my proficiency big time.
"Whoa, not bad."
Once I'd run through all the forms, Ha-young gave a little clap. I shot her a smug look and turned to Serin.
"Well done. You've definitely improved since before."
"Kuhaha! Told ya!"
Her gentle tone made my lips curl up involuntarily.
"But it's still lacking."
"What?"
"Your skill has grown, but it feels insufficient compared to your inner energy. In other words, you have far more inner energy than your realm would suggest."
I nodded instinctively. Spot on.
"Geun-hyeop, let's spar. Come at me."
"Alright. Here I go. I'm gettin' serious, so block it good."
"Of course."
No worries sparring against a peak expert like her.
Shing!
I unleashed the Dae-ryu Geom-beop again, charging at Serin. She didn't even blink, just stepped lightly with her footwork and swung her sword to effortlessly parry every single attack. You could really feel she was a peak expert. She deflected my blade no matter how I struck, giving me total confidence she'd block anything.
"The power in your sword is decent. Good. Keep going like this—until you're too winded to swing anymore."
"Hup!"
I pushed the Cheong-han Sim-gong and Un-ryu Sin-beop to their limits, swinging till the end. Eventually, my lungs burned, and I had to stop.
"Hah!"
No clean hits landed. Sheathing her sword, Serin said,
"Well done. Your combat endurance is impressive. Probably thanks to all that inner energy you have."
"Huff, huff... Yeah, I think so too."
Right now, I had way more inner energy than my realm called for. Burning it while running my movement and heart arts let me keep fighting longer.
"Oh yeah, we talked about sword force too, right?"
"Yes. You're in a unique situation all around, Geun-hyeop. Objectively, your martial arts proficiency is second-rate, but your sword force and endurance are first-rate entry-level. No exaggeration."
First-rate entry-level. Kinda embarrassing.
"Whoa, really?"
Serin nodded.
"And that's not all. You can infuse your sword force with gui qi to amp it up, or explode it all at once for a devastating strike. You're nothing like a typical Murim warrior."
"Damn right."
"I've never seen a style like this, so I'm not sure what to advise exactly. But what you need to do is clear."
What was it? I swallowed hard and focused as Serin continued.
"Raising your proficiency is obvious, so let's set that aside. You need to master handling that gui qi better."
"Gui qi, yeah. Makes sense. Gotta develop my strengths."
"Exactly. So it might help to properly define your martial art."
"Define it?"
"Explore what it is and how to use it."
That sparked something. Not just thinking about it—write it down, make my own personal manual. But yeah, like she said, I needed to reflect and define my style first.
"Yeah, gotta do that."
"First things first: name the damn thing. Gui-gyeok-cham is a technique name, but the overall art has none. We need to fix this ridiculous situation."
"Aigoo, true."
Alright, time to name my martial art.
"Whaaat? Naming it? Leave it to me! I'm the expert here!"
"No, Geophwa Buyong, you're a Taoist, not a warrior. How would you even name a martial art?"
"I coined 'gui qi' first, y'know?"
"Even so."
"Plus, this ain't like regular warrior arts. Sure, it uses inner energy, but once you release it, it's more like yokai power or sorcery."
Serin shut her mouth at Ha-young's words.
"My Tao arts are the same—manifesting inner energy as spells. So that gui qi handling feels more Taoist to me. Right?"
"Wait, is that how it is?"
"Got a counterargument?"
"...Nope."
I mulled over Ha-young's point. Wasn't she right? She was a Taoist, burning inner energy to summon flames and such. Me too, sorta. Different in converting to gui qi, but still using it to unleash greater power. Yeah.
Modern guy like me—think in game terms. Regular Murim arts are like passive skills. Sword arts buff basic attacks, movement arts buff the body, heart arts regen mana, whatever.
But my gui qi? Active skills. Burn mana for a big whoosh technique. Not a perfect analogy—Murim has actives like sword aura—but my gui qi feels like that. Burst inner energy for a huge move over slowly feeding it into forms.
That was my gui qi.
"So the name should be—"
“Ghost Soul Divine Art (Guihon Singong).”
Before Ha-young could finish, I named it: Guihon Singong.
This was the name of the yokai martial art I'd wield and push to the limit. A divine art handling ghost souls—what could be better?
"Whaaat? Guihon Singong? Callin' it divine art already? And you're barely second-rate!"
"Doesn't matter if I'm second-rate."
Not at all.
"'Cause with this divine art, I'm gonna become a monster of an expert."
"Whoa!"
Ha-young gaped at my bold claim. I savored her stare and glanced at Serin.
"Guihon Singong... A cool name."
"Right?"
"But hide the name and how you use it."
"Hide it?"
"Two reasons. First, it's your secret technique—secrets stay secret. Second... your Guihon Singong feels ominous, unlike normal arts."
"Ah, yeah—could get mistaken for sorcery."
"Exactly."
Serin nodded gravely. Fair point. Even I found the gui qi bursts creepy and sinister. What would others think? Straight-up sorcery. Especially since it's so unorthodox.
"Got it. I'll keep it under wraps. But man, sucks I can't show off my progress 'cause it looks evil."
A twinge of regret slipped out. Then—
Swish.
Serin stepped close and took my hand.
"Geun-hyeop."
"Huh?"
"You didn't gain this power through evil deeds. You earned it through righteous acts, didn't you?"
Her face was utterly sincere.
"Uh, yeah."
"Power gained that way, honed through your own training and insight—that's proper martial arts. Not being able to show it doesn't diminish your effort. No need to feel down."
"Ah."
So gentle. She'd misunderstood my regret as doubt about the art's nature and comforted me. What a sweetheart. Anyone who didn't claim this Serin was missing out big time...
Soon. If she tempts me, I'll push things forward.
"Thanks for saying that. Yeah, it's not some weird crap—proof of my hard work."
"Precisely, Geun-hyeop."
Serin smiled, satisfied. Looking at her face, I said,
"So, strictly speaking, my Guihon Singong is jeongjong mugong—proper martial arts, right?"
"Pardon?"
"Jeongjong mugong. Proper martial arts."
Jeongjong mugong meant orthodox, righteous arts.
"Hm. Hm."
Serin chewed her lip, humming.
"Yes, it fits as jeongjong mugong."
"See?!"
"From my view, it looks more like unorthodox or demonic arts?"
Ha-young dumped cold water on me!
"You're a Taoist—you wouldn't get it! And it's my constitution—how's that evil?!"
"Pfft. Anyway, don't show it to others, like Okhwa Geom said."
"Yeah, wasn't planning to."
Conclusion reached.
"Good. So we've defined the art. Next: application. Geun-hyeop, Guihon Singong is your unique style. But it doesn't seem to have specific forms."
"Yeah, it's more like sudden bursts of gui qi."
"Then blending it with existing arts should create synergy, no?"
"Huh?"
"Huh! Yeah!"
"Yes. Like flowing a Dae-ryu Geom-beop form, then suddenly switching to gui qi for a Gui-gyeok-cham."
"Exactly! That'd work!"
Melt Guihon Singong naturally into the sword arts I knew! Game-changer!
"Hehe, feels like I've grasped how to wield Guihon Singong. Learn more varied sword forms going forward."
"Ooh...!"
I imagined Guihon Singong fused with all sorts of forms.
"Hold up! I can use Gui-gyeok-cham for slashing forms now, right?"
"Yes."
"If I use it for thrusts, we'd call that something else?"
"That works."
"Sweet!"
New goal set. I kinda knew the slash skill Gui-gyeok-cham. Next: craft a thrust skill.
"Serin! Teach me some moves—focus on thrusts!"
"Hehehe, such enthusiasm. A joy to see."
Auntie. I didn't make peak expert, but I became a ghost swordsman!