It Wasn't Stolen, It Was Invested
“It might help me find a solution if I knew.”
“I see. I’ll coax that dunce Dan Yeop and figure out who was behind it.”
Dan Bul-wi regarded Dan Yeop with a peculiar gaze.
The dunce Dan Yeop’s internal energy training had stopped because of his split personality, and now the genius Dan Yeop’s internal energy training was likewise blocked by the dunce’s traumatic past.
Absurdly, each personality was holding the other back. Whether this was because they shared one body or because fate itself was playing a cruel joke, he could not tell.
After leaving the Amun training hall and returning to his quarters, Dan Yeop stretched out on his bed.
Thinking back over the past three days left him with complicated feelings.
Everything had been perfect while he refined the martial arts of the Six Gates and trained in the Great Void Shadowless Sword and Boundless Sword.
It should have been a flawless finish if he had simply cultivated the Tae-eul-bon-won-yeon-seong-gyeol like last time, but at the most delicate moment a demon had interfered.
As long as he could not overcome the ‘hand of terror’ that had sprung out of nowhere, training in the Tae-eul-bon-won-yeon-seong-gyeol remained impossible.
“Haa… Dan Yeop, just what happened to you?”
It was frustrating beyond words that he knew nothing of the dunce Dan Yeop’s past.
That night Dan Yeop dreamed endlessly of a dry, pale hand tightening around his throat.
“Ugh…”
Moans slipped from his lips as the nightmare gripped him. The stone chamber filled with the sound.
“Urgh—stop!”
His own scream woke him. Dan Yeop’s eyes flew open.
“Haa!”
He had not suffered the nightmare for some time, but it seemed the recent strain on both body and mind had brought it back.
He rose, threw on whatever clothes were at hand, and stepped outside.
The trainees gathered around Byeongmachong suggested it was not yet training time.
Catching the sour smell rising from his sweat-soaked body, he hurried toward the Spirit Spring.
After washing in the underground stream, a broken length of bamboo caught his eye.
Dan Yeop picked up the three-ja staff—roughly three feet long.
In that instant, a surge of confidence flooded him, as though nothing were beyond his reach. His heart pounded.
Without thinking, he unfolded the Heaven and Earth Blade Technique.
First form—Heavenly Thunder Falling Slash. Second form—Horizontal Sweep Cutting Mountains. Third form—Wind and Cloud Rising Fire. All three poured out in a single breath.
Retrieving the bamboo, Dan Yeop steadied his breathing.
“Hoo—!”
Just like last time, he had unconsciously completed all three forms.
He had only managed the fifth movement of the third form before; after the personality split, the remaining four movements had completed themselves.
What should have required forty days of bitter training had finished in the blink of an eye.
It was something he had secretly longed for, yet part of him still wondered if this was truly acceptable.
Still, at least I wasn’t overtaken by the fourteenth-generation trainees. That’s something, right?
Thinking of them, Dan Yeop gave a bitter smile.
If he were surpassed by newcomers who had only just entered the compound, he would never be able to show his face again.
He swung the bamboo through the air with a sharp whoosh, then set off back toward Byeongmachong.
After the Heaven and Earth Blade Technique comes the Hundred Flows Blade Technique!
If his mind had truly grown sharper, he ought to be able to grasp that art as well.
Morning training session.
Seonmun training hall.
When Dan Yeop appeared, the trainees glanced at him with puzzled looks.
The first-generation trainee Dan Yeop was notorious as a blockhead who had yet to master even the Heaven and Earth Blade Technique.
Rumors claimed that despite his handsome face he was actually an idiot.
The lower the generation, the more firmly they believed it—mainly because they had never interacted with him directly.
Instructor So Yu-gang, who regarded the ever-changing Hundred Flows Blade Technique as Haomun’s supreme art, beckoned to him.
At the summons Dan Yeop hurried over and bowed.
“Yes, Instructor.”
“Did someone send you on an errand?”
“No, sir.”
“No? Then why are you here?”
“I came to learn the Hundred Flows Blade Technique.”
“You?”
Instructor So Yu-gang looked Dan Yeop up and down with open disbelief.
A boy who had failed to learn the Heaven and Earth Blade Technique in fourteen years had now come asking for the notoriously difficult Hundred Flows Blade Technique. It was almost comical.
Chapter 21. It Wasn’t Stolen, It Was Invested
People are always competing.
If the martial artists of the world knew, they would laugh until their sides split, but even inside Haomun there was fierce internal rivalry over who was superior.
The most obvious example was the long-standing contest between Seonmun and Amun.
One might wonder what boatmen and human traffickers had to compete over, yet compete they did.
Haomun’s renowned experts all used either the Hundred Flows Blade Technique or the Seven Forms Blade Technique.
Naturally, Seonmun and Amun constantly argued over which was stronger.
It was like the relationship between light and shadow.
If Seonmun’s Hundred Flows Blade Technique—closer to the orthodox path—was light, then Amun’s Seven Forms Blade Technique—closer to the unorthodox path—was shadow.
That rivalry continued even within Byeongmachong.
—The Hundred Flows Blade Technique is supreme.
—No, the Seven Forms Blade Technique is supreme.
Leading the debate were Instructor So Yu-gang and Instructor Dan Bul-wi.
And now the adopted son of the so-called blockhead Dan Bul-wi had come to So Yu-gang asking to learn the Hundred Flows Blade Technique.
“You?”
“Yes…”
Dan Yeop subtly avoided the instructor’s burning gaze.
“Aren’t you training in the Heaven and Earth Blade Technique? The Hundred Flows Blade Technique is modeled on the flow of water. Its ever-changing nature makes it extremely difficult to master.”
“I have already mastered the Heaven and Earth Blade Technique. That’s why…”
“You want to learn the Hundred Flows Blade Technique?”
“Yes.”
“Have you discussed this with Instructor Dan?”
“No.”
So Yu-gang stared at him with an ambiguous expression, then spoke as if he had no choice.
“Since you ask, I will teach you. But I am not like Instructor Go Muk. I do not waste time on those who cannot keep up. Nor will I give you special treatment simply because you are Instructor Dan’s adopted son. Do you understand?”
“…Yes.”
It was, of course, a needless jab.
Even the direct descendants of the Six Gates leaders kept quiet here; such words were hardly appropriate for the adopted son of a mere martial instructor.
“Go to the back row and watch your seniors—or rather, your juniors—and follow their movements.”
“Yes.”
Dan Yeop bowed politely and took his place behind the other trainees.
So Yu-gang, who had been pondering something, picked up a straight blade and stepped forward.
Since Dan Yeop was new, he would personally demonstrate the essence of the Hundred Flows Blade Technique.
“I will perform the Hundred Flows Blade Technique from start to finish. Watch closely and try to comprehend it. Let me repeat: Seonmun’s Hundred Flows Blade Technique is built upon the realization that the highest good is like water.”
Then, as though reciting poetry, So Yu-gang called out the forms while moving.
“First form—Water Heaven Fall! The water rises to the sky and becomes rain.”
“Second form—Water Thunder Camp! Thunder dwells within the water.”
“Third form—Water Wind Vast! Water and wind meet and become boundless.”
“Fourth form—Water Cloud Whirl! Water and clouds intertwine and spin.”
The forms and secret mnemonics of the Hundred Flows Blade Technique truly resembled Daoist martial arts.
Yet despite the natural, effortless names, the movements themselves felt chaotic and unpredictable.
Because of those ceaseless changes, Dan Yeop’s head began to spin.
Having finished his demonstration, So Yu-gang lifted his chin proudly and returned to his original position.
The most outstanding trainee among them, fourth-generation Go Wol, shouted as though leading a chorus.
“Water Heaven Fall!”
Fifty trainees swung their blades in perfect unison.
Following Go Wol’s lead, they performed all four forms in succession up to Water Cloud Whirl.
From the back, Dan Yeop frantically tried to imitate them.
In the heated atmosphere, one full round of Hundred Flows training came to an end.
As the trainees caught their breath, So Yu-gang beckoned Go Wol over.
“Yes, Master.”
Go Wol, a Seonmun native, addressed So Yu-gang as his master.
“Teach Dan Yeop the Hundred Flows Blade Technique. Don’t push him too hard—just until he can follow.”
“Yes.”
Go Wol immediately went to Dan Yeop and began teaching from the very first form.
Contrary to the stone-monkey rumors, Dan Yeop followed along surprisingly well. Go Wol asked,
“Senior Dan, have you learned the Hundred Flows Blade Technique before?”
His tone was quite respectful.
The relationship between the fourth-generation trainees and Dan Yeop was ambiguous.
They looked down on him, but never openly insulted him—mainly because they had spent so little time with him and still could not fully read him.
His current nickname in Byeongmachong was ‘Stone Monkey.’ The old label ‘Fighting Defeated Ape’ had long since vanished.
Ever since Dan Bul-wi took him as an adopted son, no one dared pick fights with him.
“No. This is my first time.”
“Is that so?”
Go Wol looked at him with fresh eyes.
He had taught only the first form, yet Dan Yeop had followed along decently.
He was not particularly brilliant, but neither did he deserve to be called a stone monkey or an idiot.
Go Wol broke the first form down once more, then said casually,
“This time, try it alone.”
“Uh… all right.”
With an uncertain expression, Dan Yeop swung the blade.
At the clumsy movement, Go Wol smiled bitterly.
If trainees were ranked upper, middle, and lower, Dan Yeop was unquestionably at the bottom.
Why did someone like this get called an idiot?
Tilting his head, Go Wol offered a few words of encouragement and turned away.
After the evening meal, Dan Yeop was summoned by Dan Bul-wi and went to his quarters.
“Instructor…”
“Ah, you’re here. Sit down for a moment.”
As Dan Yeop took the chair across the table, Dan Bul-wi smiled.
“So you decided to learn the Hundred Flows Blade Technique?”
“Yes…”
“Wise choice. The Hundred Flows Blade Technique will suit you far better than the Seven Forms. The latter is so cruel it practically begs to be mistaken for unorthodox methods.”
In truth Amun had one foot in the unorthodox world but was not truly part of it, so its members inwardly disliked being labeled as such.
“Then is it all right if I don’t learn the Seven Forms Blade Technique?”
Dan Yeop carefully watched Dan Bul-wi’s expression.
Honestly, he disliked the bloodthirsty Seven Forms Blade Technique.
But since the man before him claimed to be his adoptive father, he was cautious.
“If you are not going to become a disciple of Amun, there is no need to learn it.”
“I will be joining the Jeommun branch…”
“Then you should avoid the Seven Forms even more. If you are mistaken for an unorthodox practitioner simply because you used it, you could be expelled from Jeommun.”
“…Understood.”
Dan Bul-wi studied him for a moment, then asked as though in passing,
“Did you have any trouble learning the Hundred Flows Blade Technique?”
“No.”
“I heard Instructor So Yu-gang made some unnecessary remarks. It’s only because of the old grudge between Seonmun and Amun. Pay it no mind.”
“Yes…”
Unaccustomed to such consideration, Dan Yeop lowered his head.
At the same time, he found it remarkable that Dan Bul-wi already knew everything that had happened in the Seonmun training hall.
“On another note, have you completed the Heaven and Earth Blade Technique?”
“Yes.”
“Truly? I was told it would take forty days, yet you finished much faster.”
“Well… after training my internal energy, my mind becomes strangely clear.”
Dan Yeop scratched his forehead with an awkward expression.
Because of the personality split he had not even been able to cultivate internal energy, yet his martial arts had advanced by leaps and bounds. It was absurd.
“Nothing else comes to mind?”
“Comes to mind?”
“You know your other personality possesses extraordinary talent, yes?”
“Yes, you told me last time.”
“He has already mastered the martial arts of the Six Gates. It seems you have been influenced by him. I wondered if anything new had appeared besides martial arts.”
“There is nothing. I can only barely follow the martial arts I am taught; I know nothing else.”
“You only know the Heaven and Earth and Hundred Flows Blade Techniques?”
“Yes. To be exact, I am only at the level where I can barely imitate what I have learned.”
“I understand. Then devote yourself even more to internal energy training. The more active the exchange between the two personalities, the greater the benefit you seem to receive.”
“But…”
When Dan Yeop trailed off, Dan Bul-wi asked gently,
“Why? Is something weighing on your mind?”
“For some reason, the other personality…”