Chapter 38
Hyeokryeon Eung had twice commanded, "Kill each other!"
He had taught that the only way to survive in the Martial World was, in the end, to rise by stepping over the corpses of others.
So why had such a man risked severe punishment to save him, someone he had never even met before?
"Well now..."
Baek Jeon-cheon let out a deep sigh and shook his head lightly.
"I too have asked him the reason several times, but each time the Chief Instructor said, 'You will come to know the reason before long.'"
"He said I would come to know the reason before long?"
"That is correct."
The Rivers and Lakes are heartless, but the hearts of martial artists who wander them are endlessly warm.
However, Bu Eun-seol was currently devoting his full strength to mastering martial arts for the sake of revenge. As he was now, he could never understand Hyeokryeon Eung's heart.
As a brief silence fell, Baek Jeon-cheon clapped his hands lightly.
"I would like to have a long conversation with you, Young Hero Bu, but time is pressing, so let us get straight to the main point."
Moving to the table, he looked at Bu Eun-seol and spoke.
"Through this incident, the Fire Rain Sword Sect and White Horse Monastery have granted you a single favor."
"A favor, you say..."
"They have requested the Demon Hall to allow you access to the Myriad Demonic Hidden Treasures Pavilion for twelve double-hours—that is, one full day."
And from within his robes, he placed a single gleaming red command plaque onto the table.
"This is the Golden Ape Token that will allow you to enter the Myriad Demonic Hidden Treasures Pavilion."
"What is this Myriad Demonic Hidden Treasures Pavilion?"
"It is a martial arts library installed in the Main Hall. It consists of three floors in total, and the Golden Ape Token grants access to the first floor."
"If it is the first of three floors, then it must be the lowest rank."
"That is true, but from your current position, Young Hero Bu, rank will hardly matter."
Baek Jeon-cheon, who had been gazing at the Golden Ape Token placed on the table, spoke.
"Even on the first floor alone, over twenty-five thousand superior Demonic Path Auxiliary Arts are stored."
"You mean there are twenty-five thousand martial arts manuals?"
"That is correct. For that reason, the Myriad Demonic Hidden Treasures Pavilion can only be entered by masters of the Main Hall who have achieved distinguished merit."
"I see."
"To put it another way, it also means that the probability of you passing this test safely is nearly nonexistent."
Baek Jeon-cheon said with a grave expression.
"That is why they are extending this generosity. So that no one can speak ill of them later."
Only then did Bu Eun-seol realize that the truly important matter had not yet been discussed.
"What exactly is this test they are demanding?"
"Ah, dear me. I have been so scatterbrained. To think I kept omitting the most important matter..."
Baek Jeon-cheon let out a sigh and spoke with an expression more serious than ever before.
"You need only block five martial forms."
"Five martial forms... you say?"
"That is correct."
Baek Jeon-cheon's eyes flashed as he spoke.
"To withstand five martial forms of attacks from a master selected by White Horse Monastery. That is the test they have demanded."
The Myriad Demonic Hidden Treasures Pavilion.
It was the Demon Hall's library, said to store every secret manual scattered throughout the Demonic Path.
At first, Bu Eun-seol had imagined that the Myriad Demonic Hidden Treasures Pavilion would boast the majesty of a skyscraper piercing the heavens.
"So this is the Myriad Demonic Hidden Treasures Pavilion..."
But the place he arrived at, following Baek Jeon-cheon's guidance, was an enormous artificially carved stone mountain.
"Naturally, since it is a secret vault storing martial arts manuals, it requires complex mechanism formations."
Baek Jeon-cheon, who had been glancing at Bu Eun-seol's expression, whispered.
"I can only come this far. If you present the token up ahead, you should be able to enter."
"Thank you for your kindness."
Bu Eun-seol bowed deeply once more.
But Baek Jeon-cheon, who had been staring blankly at that sight, let out a deep sigh.
"Young Hero Bu. May I offer you a word of advice?"
"Of course."
"The Rivers and Lakes are extremely treacherous. And good people are rare to come by."
"I do not understand what you mean."
"No one extends kindness without reason, and if they do, it generally means they have some other hidden motive."
Baek Jeon-cheon, who had been looking up at the Myriad Demonic Hidden Treasures Pavilion, said in a low voice.
"In truth, the permission to enter the Myriad Demonic Hidden Treasures Pavilion is also such a case."
He stared intently into Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
"But from what I can see, there will certainly be a way inside there to turn crisis into opportunity."
"Crisis into opportunity..."
"That is right. After all, a stem ultimately grows from a root."
It was a riddle-like statement.
He could not immediately grasp the meaning contained in those words, but he could feel that they carried sincere concern.
"Thank you for your advice."
As Bu Eun-seol bowed deeply once more, Baek Jeon-cheon extended a transparent porcelain vial from within his robes.
"These are Fasting Pills made by the Water and Fire Hall. A single pill will keep you from feeling hunger for several days, so you will be able to read the secret manuals in comfort."
As Bu Eun-seol accepted the porcelain vial, Baek Jeon-cheon smiled gently.
"I sincerely hope you achieve a good outcome."
The most important conditions for storing books are humidity and light.
Since moisture reduces the stability and strength of paper, a dry place is best for proper book storage.
Not only that, but paper inevitably discolors when exposed to light for long periods.
From that perspective, the interior of the Myriad Demonic Hidden Treasures Pavilion possessed highly ideal conditions for storing books.
'This is no ordinary library.'
Bu Eun-seol, who had been looking around, nodded his head.
The interior of the Myriad Demonic Hidden Treasures Pavilion was very dark, with only small oil lamps here and there faintly driving back the darkness.
But the air was very clear and pleasant, and large lumps of charcoal were piled up in various places.
'There are quite a lot of people here.'
Between the bookshelves densely packed with books, shadows reading secret manuals could be seen.
There were young people as well as old men with graying beards, and not one of them so much as glanced at Bu Eun-seol.
'Even masters like these are striving to improve their martial arts by even the slightest measure.'
The qi of those within the Myriad Demonic Hidden Treasures Pavilion was exceptional enough to rival any Murim Master.
'Let's see, then.'
Bu Eun-seol likewise steadied his mind and scanned the bookshelves.
"...!"
How much time had passed?
As he looked around the shelves, Bu Eun-seol came to understand the meaning behind Baek Jeon-cheon's parting words.
"It truly was a trap."
A bitter laugh escaped him unbidden.
"Reading a new martial arts manual before a life-and-death duel is no different from scattering one's mental power."
Any one of these twenty-five thousand manuals was so outstanding that mastering just one would make a name for oneself in the martial world.
But what if one spent the day reading manuals out of greed to learn new martial arts?
Only the afterimages of those manuals would remain in Bu Eun-seol's mind, and in the end, he would not even be able to properly execute the martial arts he had already learned.
"The Fire Rain Sword Sect and White Horse Monastery tried to disrupt my concentration through a very cunning method."
Shaking his head, Bu Eun-seol turned away without lingering regret and walked toward the exit.
And just as he was about to step through the door, Baek Jeon-cheon's words suddenly surfaced in his mind.
—A stem, after all, comes from a root.
He halted.
Bu Eun-seol's footsteps, which had been about to step outside, stopped dead.
'Why did Hall Leader Baek say such a thing?'
Had anyone else said it, he might not have paid it any mind.
But he had felt that Baek Jeon-cheon was sincerely trying to help him. And those words would never have been spoken carelessly.
'A stem comes from a root...'
As Bu Eun-seol chewed over the riddle-like words, his eyes slowly began to widen.
The moment he realized something, he spun around quickly and began scanning the shelves.
The books in this place numbered over twenty-five thousand.
Simply taking books off the shelves and examining them one by one could take an entire day.
'It must be here.'
But rather than taking books out to examine them, Bu Eun-seol was quickly scanning only the titles written on the covers of the manuals.
Then, when he reached the innermost part of the shelves,
Flash.
Bu Eun-seol's eyes lit up.
There, the title Wilderness Single Turn was written.
'As expected, the martial arts of the Main Pavilion were here too.'
Reading and memorizing a new martial arts manual consumes a considerable amount of mental power.
But looking at a manual from the same lineage would only serve as a reference, and would not scatter his concentration.
He had discerned that Baek Jeon-cheon's advice meant to seek out a Langya Pavilion manual, not a new martial arts manual.
"Wilderness Single Turn, is it."
Bu Eun-seol picked up the book without hesitation.
And as he sat down in front of the shelf and read the manual diligently, his eyes grew wider and wider.
'What in the world is this...'
Despite having a personality that did not startle at ordinary matters, Bu Eun-seol could not hide his surprise.
And with good reason—from the very first page, this manual was filled with curses and insults directed at Langya Pavilion.
—These fools of Langya Pavilion, under the guise of practical combat martial arts, make people stake their lives from the very beginning.
This is no different from telling someone who crawls to run. First preserve your life above all else... abridged.
'Who wrote this, to attach the name of Langya Pavilion to such a manual?'
Unable to hide his bewilderment, Bu Eun-seol continued reading the manual.
—The fools of Langya Pavilion teach martial arts without regard for life and death from the basics, as if they had ten lives each. The so-called basic martial art, the Wild Beast Way, is especially so.
The secret method of this dogshit Wild Beast Way originally began as the ascetic practice of Vajra Gate, called Western Shaolin, and...
Astonishingly, after the insults came detailed descriptions of the origins of the Wild Beast Way martial art, which could be called a secret technique of Langya Pavilion.
'How strange. Judging by the content, it was clearly written by a disciple of Langya Pavilion.'
The contents written in the manual were full of information that no one but a Langya Pavilion disciple could ever know.
'There must be a reason.'
Simply because a senior of Langya Pavilion had written it, Bu Eun-seol patiently read through the manual.
—Even if one is lucky enough to master the Wild Beast Way, this bizarre and grotesque martial art uselessly amplifies the human senses, so it drains stamina and mental power even when one is still.
Not only that, it blocks the path to advanced martial arts. For the senses, in general...
As he read on, the look in Bu Eun-seol's eyes grew increasingly strange.
Astonishingly, the contents of the manual were pinpointing the flaws of the Wild Beast Way that Bu Eun-seol had not known, with increasing precision.
—It is not right to maintain these beastly senses forever. As if cultivating an internal energy method, turn the mind's gaze inward through Inner Observation, and perceive external things through the senses. Upon reaching such a realm, one arrives at the realm of Arriving Without Trace, where the traces of coming and going disappear...
Bu Eun-seol's face as he read the manual was filled with wonder, like a country boy who had just arrived in Chengdu for the first time.
For this Wilderness Single Turn contained a method that used internal energy techniques to regulate the senses of the Wild Beast Way more finely and more powerfully.
'If I master this method deeply, I will be able to grasp the enemy's movements even without deeply understanding the principles of martial arts.'
Only then did Bu Eun-seol realize why this manual was filled with all manner of insults.
'He must have wanted only Langya Pavilion disciples to read it.'
Because it described the strengths and weaknesses of the Wild Beast Way, he must have hoped that only Langya Pavilion disciples would see it.
Saaaak.
Bu Eun-seol leaned against the bookshelf as if he had become a plaster statue and continued reading.
How much time had passed?
"Haa."
By the time Bu Eun-seol, having finished reading the entire manual, let out a long sigh, a dull gong seemed to ring in his ears.
It was the bell signaling that a day had passed.
Kurrrrrng.
As he stood before the exit, the heavy metal door of the Myriad Demonic Hidden Treasures Pavilion began to open slowly.
"Mm."
As the intense sunlight shone in, Bu Eun-seol lightly shielded his eyes.
Step, step.
At that moment, a young man was slowly approaching Bu Eun-seol.
It was Sim Wol, the one who had guided Bu Eun-seol to Myriad Talents Hall.
"Young Hero Bu."
Sim Wol approached with an expression of utmost gravity.
"The time has come."
Bu Eun-seol, realizing the meaning of those words, nodded his head.
At last, the test of the five forms proposed by White Horse Monastery and Fire Rain Sword Sect had begun.