Luke's Razor-Sharp Sword Debate with the Old Ghost
Baekgyeong.
As soon as Luke heard the name, he tilted his head in mild confusion.
With the vague martial arts knowledge he had picked up from his past life, Luke knew that most self-proclaimed Cheonma usually wielded martial techniques such as Cheonma Shingeom or Cheonma Shinkwon.
But Baekgyeong? Luke had never heard of such a martial art.
Baekgyeong is a martial art I created after my memories became hazy. Although the details were foggy, the martial arts inside my mind remained intact. After being defeated by Musin, I decided the martial arts passed down from the Heavenly Demon Cult were insufficient to fight the colossal evil gods. So I forged this one. It is a martial art that surpasses my limits. I named it Baekgyeong after myself.
Cheon Baekgyeong had long since shed his casual demeanor and was now muttering the words with genuine seriousness.
Accept it. Baekgyeong is the martial art that dares to gaze at the heavens and dare to cut the heavens.
“…”
Luke nodded his head.
The unyielding resolve that emanated from Cheon Baekgyeong’s words had been conveyed straight to him.
If the old ghost was willing to say that much, if he had prepared to cut Musin to that extent, then Luke should accept it.
“Fine. You old bastard, Baekgyeong.”
Hmph. The speed of immediate acceptance is pleasing. However, before that, I must confirm one thing. Luke, the thing inside your body… the dantian. And the internal energy technique your family uses. From what I heard before, the qi manipulation on the Western Continent seems quite different from ours.
“…You mean the mana core and the heart-based technique, right? Understood.”
Luke immediately explained the heart-based technique to Cheon Baekgyeong.
Hmm?
Cheon Baekgyeong’s brows furrowed instantly.
How interesting.
Cheon Baekgyeong studied the heart-based technique Luke had taught him—the Cerberki family’s qi manipulation—and stroked his chin.
Strange. The internal energy technique of the martial world is blended in somehow. Yet it feels like slight modifications have been made. Could it be that the survivors of the Eastern Continent secretly entered the Western Continent…?
However, Cheon Baekgyeong no longer cared about those details.
Even he, who had once fought Musin, did not know exactly what had happened when the Eastern Continent was destroyed.
What mattered now was that Luke had become far easier to teach.
If that is the case, I see no need to learn another internal energy technique. Continue using the Cerberki family’s heart-based technique while learning my martial art, Baekgyeong.
“Fine. I’ll give it a try once.”
“Listen well, boy. Baekgyeong is not an easy martial art.”
With Nia, who was leaning against the wall with her head bowed, and Elise gently tending to her, the old ghost and the young man began debating with their swords.
The essence of Baekgyeong is like this.
Cheon Baekgyeong’s eyes gleamed with intense light.
A martial art for humans to challenge the gods. A martial art that goes beyond that to kill gods.
Cheon Baekgyeong.
He was a peerless martial artist even compared to the Heavenly Demon Cult’s strongest in his era, standing shoulder to shoulder with the righteous and demonic factions.
Even surpassing them, he was among the greatest of all time—the undisputed number one under the heavens.
People called him the Martial God (Musin), yet even that was not enough to match the true Musin.
The humans who failed to reach the true Musin fell into despair, but that despair soon turned into another direction.
Eventually, alongside his pride, Cheon Baekgyeong’s heart had become filled with a fierce desire to bring down those gods who stood arrogantly above the heavens.
Reversal of Heaven.
The human who had once been defeated by the heavens now carried within his soul the blade of reversal.
The blade that Cheon Baekgyeong had forged for hundreds of years through unyielding will was not something to be taken lightly.
Baekgyeong is the blade. It is the sword that mixes all the swords I have faced from the righteous and demonic factions until now.
“…”
Cheon Baekgyeong nodded.
The basic foundation is the highest martial art of the Heavenly Demon Cult, based on Cheonma Shingeom. It also incorporates the swordsmanship I observed from the righteous and demonic factions during my battles with them in the past. The reason is simple.
Cheon Baekgyeong smiled faintly.
I wanted to show that human martial arts have a limit. That the martial arts accumulated by humans can never truly challenge the gods who dwell in the lofty world.
Cheon Baekgyeong had cast aside the tears and sighs from earlier and now stared at Luke with clear, sharp eyes.
Learn it. Baekgyeong. Well, this continent is different in detail from the one I once lived on. I will adjust it accordingly.
Luke nodded, satisfied with the promise of after-sales service.
“Got it. Old man. Then how exactly do I learn Baekgyeong?”
It is simple. To understand the essence of Baekgyeong…
The next words that followed immediately furrowed Luke’s brow.
You must understand the birth and death of humans, and life itself.
“…”
“Neeeng…”
Nia, who had been dozing off against the wall with a bit of drool, finally woke up with a tired groan.
Elise, gently wiping the drool from her chin with a handkerchief, asked the drowsy girl.
“Elise-nim. What about Master…?”
“Ah. As for Master…”
Elise glanced at Luke, who was sitting in perfect lotus position and meditating.
“He said he wanted to discuss humans.”
“Listen well, boy. Baekgyeong’s sword is divided into three parts: the birth and life of humans, and their death.”
Cheon Baekgyeong’s concept of Baekgyeong was as follows.
I have decided to kill gods by containing the will of the human race. I believed this would strike a blow at those evil gods. It is also the true revenge for the believers of the Heavenly Demon Cult. Under the rule of strength, our Heavenly Demon Cult has constantly clashed with humans and overcome their limits. Therefore, as a human and to avenge through human will, I have chosen this path.
Cheon Baekgyeong walked in the air around the meditating Luke and continued speaking.
Think carefully. What you must consider is “how.” How is a human born? How does a human live? How does a human die? Baekgyeong’s swordsmanship unfolds from these thoughts. Think about it. First, how is a human born?
Cheon Baekgyeong’s floating movements suddenly stopped.
It is simple. Humans are born through the environment. More precisely, through nature. They are born in nature.
So what is nature? According to the interpretation of our Zhongyuan classics, it can be understood as “self so” or “naturally so.” This means the existence that simply exists in this world, to put it another way, existence that is natural.
Wait. I must clarify one thing. The reason this martial art is called Baekgyeong is because, like a massive white whale, it is meant to swallow everything.
Well, the rest is simple. Boy, understand what is given in front of you. Swallow it. Explore it. The natural world that originally existed here. The natural world that has always existed in its place. Understand it. Utilize it.
Baekgyeong. The first mystery of this swordsmanship is “nature.”
“Nature.”
Luke mulled this over as Cheon Baekgyeong continued.
The nature I thought of consists of four types: water, fire, lightning, and wind. You must think deeply about these four natures. First, let us learn these four basic sword forms. The remaining sword forms come next.
Luke’s head nodded.
His twin swords—precisely the greatsword bound with Cheon Baekgyeong’s soul—moved with powerful force.
Hmm. You are absorbing the forms I taught quite well. However, forms are shape. The essence lies in intention. Keep this well in mind.
“What a vague explanation. I get the idea, but—”
“Haaang. You don’t realize how precious this teaching is.”
Back then, I asked every single one in the Heavenly Demon Cult for my teachings!
“I see. Understood.”
“What? You still look unconvinced!”
Luke completely ignored the old ghost muttering to himself and sank into thought.
“My current tier is 3rd Tier. It is impossible to fight and kill the evil gods who cause chaos like this in this world like they eat rice.”
Go Jungwoo’s life as the top player of Sacred Souls in his past life.
In his past life, Go Jungwoo had enjoyed Sacred Souls every time, but the vast majority of the levels he had reached were no higher than 8th Tier.
In other words, Luke had reached the same level as his nanny, Elise Bystana, but that was where he had ultimately stopped.
An 8th-Tier expert was on the level of the final bosses in this world, the Eight Talents, but even they had been plundered or eaten by evil gods.
Even at 8th Tier, one could not feel safe in this world.
But.
Go Jungwoo, the top player of his past life, had once reached the 9th-Tier level of Demigodhood.
“Demigodhood… According to one of the ancient texts that recorded the wisdom of the evil gods, the Baal Commentarius, the cases of humans reaching Demigodhood are divided into three main categories.”
Baal Commentarius.
Simply put, it was the Necronomicon position from the Cthulhu myths in Sacred Souls.
The word “Baal Commentarius” translates to “Devil’s Diary.” Thanks to rumors, there was a low probability that someone would come to recover it, but it remained nothing more than a rumor.
According to the Baal Commentarius, the three ways for a human to become a Demigod were:
Raising the numerical value of Karma to its extreme. Lowering the numerical value of Karma to its extreme. Or distorting the order of Karma itself.
Karma.
This word, commonly understood in India as karma, is interpreted in Sacred Souls as good and evil.
When the numerical value of Karma is positive—meaning many deeds of good—it becomes evidence of reaching Demigodhood.
Conversely, even if the numerical value of Karma is negative—meaning many deeds of evil—one can still reach Demigodhood.
Even distorting the rule itself can become evidence of Demigodhood.
At the time, the top player Go Jungwoo had chosen the worst method out of the known ones: to accumulate evil karma.
-[damage] HP
Challenge Complete!
The Demigod steeped in evil karma without dreams or hopes.
The one who had caused the community to erupt in excitement by clearing this challenge was none other than the past-life Go Jungwoo.
But Luke had no intention of choosing the method Go Jungwoo had picked.
He knew firsthand just how terrifying it was, on top of how difficult it was to reach Demigodhood.
“Gathering all sorts of souls. Even obtaining the souls of the final bosses, the Eight Talents, was not enough. I had to offer the soul of “that” which was called the final boss as a sacrifice… No matter how I thought about it, that was too dangerous…”
Luke glanced at Elise and Nia, who were silently watching him from one side.
“They are my people now. I cannot sacrifice them like that.”
Luke smiled faintly at the two women, then swung his twin swords again and returned to thinking.
“To accumulate evil karma, the most effective method is sacrifice. And using a pure soul from a high-ranking lineage would be perfect.”
“To accumulate good karma, I would have to serve until I die and praise Goddess Ramiria, which is impossible. So, then…”
Luke looked at the twin sword he was holding.
“If this Baekgyeong, the sword given to me by Cheon Baekgyeong, becomes the key that distorts the order of Karma itself…”
According to the knowledge overflowing from Luke’s past-life gaming experience and the Baal Commentarius he had seen in the original game, there was a high probability that Baekgyeong was the solution.
Because players had cleared the challenge by stacking the martial path and reaching Demigodhood.
Moreover, Luke speculated that the fact Cheon Baekgyeong had cut Musin meant…
“Perhaps Cheon Baekgyeong had also reached Demigodhood.”
Although he was now a crying old man who had lost his memories, he was once a martial artist who had reached Demigodhood.
It would be foolish to abandon the martial art he had created.
“The safest way is to reach Demigodhood through martial arts and magic. With the least side effects.”
And if he went beyond Demigodhood to become a divine existence…
He might be able to cut down the countless evil gods who seek to rule this world and achieve a perfect happy ending.
As Luke moved his twin swords forward, planning his next steps…
“Master! Master!!”
Luke instantly stopped his sword, thinking someone was calling him, and looked toward the sound.
But the person approaching was none other than…
“Hah. Luke. That sword I have never seen before, eh?”
“…”
“Hyung-nim.”
Shaking off the servants trying to stop him, Amian Cerberki— the notorious eldest son of the Duchy—walked over with a swagger.
“Shall we duel lightly? This hyung will teach my little brother a special sword technique.”
It was a rascal-like attitude, considering it was done toward his younger brother who was eight years his junior.
According to Luke’s mental age of thirteen, he should have been terrified at the sight of a sword pointed at him, but…
“…”
“Really? Hyung-nim?”
Luke smiled confidently.
The question mark that had appeared above Amian’s head was replaced by pure shock.