Master of Sloth
Seomun Hwan could only frown at the sudden name. He had no response.
“…The Heavenly Demon?”
“That’s right. The Heavenly Demon. The one the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult worships as a god and believes will one day return.”
The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was, quite literally, a religion that believed in and served an entity known as the Heavenly Demon.
They studied the martial arts he had supposedly left behind, took his words as doctrine, and waited for the day he would resurrect and return.
“There are certainly records about the Heavenly Demon, but most of them are complete nonsense.”
The Heavenly Demon had undeniably existed. He appeared clearly in countless historical documents.
Yet the records that remained were so absurd and ridiculous they defied belief.
Tales of him splitting mountain ranges simply by drawing his blade, of sword energy tearing through the sky and boiling the seas when he swung it through empty air.
He had even supposedly sliced the moon in half.
They were closer to legends and myths than actual records.
Only the fanatics of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult would believe such things.
In his past life, he had dismissed them as fabricated stories.
“But if they’re real…”
When Seomun Hwan frowned, Mok Sa-cheon spoke with a hint of schadenfreude.
“I’m merely speaking based on the records. What could possibly be so significant about it now? The Heavenly Demon died hundreds of years ago, after all.”
As he said, the Heavenly Demon was a figure from centuries past.
Even if the records were true, whatever abilities he had possessed had nothing to do with the present.
However…
‘What exactly did I confirm in my past life? Why would I have orchestrated something like this?’
The hollow death of the Phantom Demon, who had once claimed to be the greatest under heaven.
The reincarnations split into several fragments.
And even that mysterious scroll containing hidden power…
All of it was clearly connected.
‘How ridiculous. A riddle left behind by my past self.’
For a moment, he could almost see the Phantom Demon’s mocking smile.
[Hahaha!]
Even though it belonged to his past self, that laughter somehow felt incredibly irritating.
* * *
A few days later.
Jegal So-dam rose early once again and immersed himself in training.
It was a routine that repeated almost every single day.
He would wake at the crack of dawn, circulate his qi, and repeat basic stances hundreds of times.
Spending every waking moment tempering his body and sweating profusely—that was his daily life.
In contrast, Seomun Hwan, who lived in the same house, followed an entirely different schedule.
The sun would be high in the sky before he finally rubbed his eyes and emerged from his room.
Even then, he would laze around for a long time before reluctantly getting up.
As a result, Jegal So-dam’s lessons always began in the late afternoon.
Today was no different.
Jegal So-dam stood alone in one corner of the training ground, swinging his sword as he waited.
He had already been at it for over two hours.
“Is Brother going to be late again today?”
The moment those words left his lips, he sensed someone approaching from the distance.
“Ah, he’s finally here. But… why is he like that?”
It was unmistakably Seomun Hwan, yet something about his appearance seemed off.
He was walking with his eyes tightly shut.
The sight was so casual that at first Jegal So-dam thought it must be a prank.
His arms, shoulders, and entire body hung completely limp.
His gait was loose and swaying, like a waterlogged cotton doll.
Yet his footsteps never faltered.
The path leading to the training ground was paved with uneven gravel.
There were occasional cracks in the ground and stepping stones that tilted slightly.
Even so, Seomun Hwan’s feet avoided every gap with perfect precision.
All while his eyes remained closed.
One step. Then another.
He didn’t stumble, nor did he hurry.
But he arrived exactly in the center of the training ground.
Jegal So-dam stared at the sight in utter bewilderment before finally shouting out.
“Brother!!”
Only then did Seomun Hwan’s eyes snap open.
“…Oh.”
He rubbed his sleepy eyes like someone who had just woken up.
Stretching as if loosening his body, he let out a long, silent yawn.
“Yawn! Is it already this late?”
Jegal So-dam asked with a dumbfounded expression.
“Did you… just walk all the way here with your eyes closed? Wait, were you actually sleeping?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I was asleep until just now.”
“What do you even…”
“Hehe! It’s my new martial art. I’ve strengthened and expanded the existing Walyong-singong into what I call the Jamlyong-singong!”
Seomun Hwan wore a smug smile as if he had just created the greatest divine art under heaven, but Jegal So-dam only frowned with a stiff face.
“…What kind of bizarre martial art have you made this time?”
It was still hard to believe, but he already knew that Seomun Hwan had reached the level of a grandmaster.
Even if it was a third-rate technique circulating in the back alleys, once it passed through Seomun Hwan’s hands, it could rise to the level of a divine art.
He had already improved the Seomun Clan’s techniques, as well as the Jegal Clan’s martial arts and formations that he knew.
But he didn’t only create grand and impressive techniques.
Sometimes he produced strange ones like this, whose purpose was impossible to guess.
Yet Seomun Hwan remained confident.
“Tsk tsk! You don’t understand the true value of this art at all. This technique is so incredible it will leave a mark on the entire Murim world.”
“…What exactly is so amazing about it?”
“The original Walyong-singong had the advantage of being operable while lying down.”
“That’s true. That ridiculous technique.”
Having found Seomun Hwan’s habit of circulating his internal energy while lying down fascinating, Jegal So-dam had once tried learning Walyong-singong himself.
It allowed him to circulate his energy without needing to sit in a lotus position, but that was all.
What kind of divine art was that?
“It’s just a slacker’s technique. I tried lying down for too long and my back started hurting, so I couldn’t keep it up.”
“Tsk tsk! How pitiful that you cannot appreciate such a comfortable training method.”
Seomun Hwan gave him a genuinely sympathetic look before continuing.
“The Jamlyong-singong is the complete evolution of Walyong-singong. It allows you to gather internal energy while sleeping.”
“Gather internal energy while sleeping? Isn’t that… completely insane?”
Jegal So-dam stared at Seomun Hwan for a long time, unable to continue.
This went far beyond simply strange or bizarre. It was an act that completely defied common sense in the Murim.
“Do you know why martial artists always sit in the lotus position when circulating their qi?”
Seomun Hwan spoke in a relaxed tone.
His voice was gentle, as if explaining basics to a child.
“Well… to stabilize the flow of energy through the meridians.”
“Exactly. Handling internal energy means forcibly drawing qi and forcing it through the pathways. It’s like carefully connecting an extremely thin thread from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. An incredibly precise and delicate process.”
Seomun Hwan closed his eyes again and let out another long yawn.
“So if someone were to suddenly bump into you while you’re in that state…”
“Your energy flow could become twisted, and you might fall into qi deviation.”
Jegal So-dam nodded as he finished the sentence.
Qi deviation.
It was the single most feared and guarded-against danger for any martial artist.
A state in which the flow of energy becomes tangled due to external stimuli or internal turmoil while practicing a mental technique.
In the worst cases, the internal energy could flow backward and rupture the meridians, or the mind could become deranged, leading to madness.
Some ended up living as cripples for the rest of their lives, while others simply stopped breathing altogether.
Jegal So-dam frowned as if the mere thought was horrifying.
“That’s why people usually sit in the lotus position while being extremely mindful of even the sound of their own breathing. They sit on solid ground and control even the slightest tremor in their toes.”
As he spoke, Jegal So-dam unconsciously clenched his fists.
He remembered the time early in his training when his energy had become tangled and he had suffered for days.
Even that minor mistake had nearly driven him out of his mind…
“And you’re saying you operate it while sleeping, Brother?”
“It’s not just sleeping. It’s a state of deep sleep where both body and mind are completely relaxed—the optimal condition for accepting the natural qi of heaven and earth.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It’s possible because I just walked here with my eyes closed. That’s the first stage of Jamlyong-singong.”
Seomun Hwan stretched and shook out his limbs.
His eyes were still hazy and his speech was as lazy as ever, yet his steps had been flawless and his presence had completely merged with nature.
“Hehe! Isn’t this an astonishing martial art?”
“…Isn’t that just sleepwalking?”
“Insolent fool! This is a divine art among divine arts!”
Despite his words, even for Seomun Hwan, Jamlyong-singong had been closer to a gamble.
To circulate internal energy while moving required not merely mental stability, but a realm where body and soul were completely separated.
It wasn’t limited to simply walking.
Seomun Hwan had woken up, washed, changed clothes, and even eaten breakfast—all while remaining in a sleeping state.
He had spent several days pondering over the technique and had attempted it for the first time today. The results were more than satisfactory.
“Very good.”
He had created Jamlyong-singong because he felt the need to become stronger more quickly.
Seomun Hwan understood his own problem very well.
It was laziness.
The solution was equally simple. He simply needed to be diligent, move, and train.
Just like Jegal So-dam, who woke at dawn and devoted himself to training until bedtime.
He knew this in his head, but…
‘It was impossible.’
No matter how much he tried to change his mindset,
No matter how much he told himself his family might be in danger,
No matter how many tricks he tried—dunking his head in cold water and everything else—becoming diligent was impossible.
At best, he became slightly less lazy.
It couldn’t simply be explained as weak willpower.
It felt as if he had become the very incarnation of sloth.
That was probably because…
‘My past self must have done something to me.’
The same was true for So Ji-myeong.
No matter how much Mok Sa-cheon beat him, coaxed him, or cajoled him, the boy’s arrogant personality refused to change.
It was as if his soul had been bound by shackles.
‘If the Phantom Demon truly used sorcery, overcoming it at my current level is impossible.’
So Ji-myeong, who had mastered the Hwanma-gwilyun beyond its normal limits, was strong.
If they fought ten times, he would have lost nine.
The only reason he had won was purely due to the boy’s arrogance.
Those shackles had become a noose around his own neck.
There was no guarantee the same wouldn’t happen to him.
‘So I changed my approach entirely.’
A thought had suddenly occurred to him.
If he truly couldn’t overcome it, why not make use of it instead?
Seomun Hwan spent most of his day eating, sleeping, and lying down like a wild beast.
Was there no way to convert that time into training time?
Others would have called it impossible, but Seomun Hwan refused to give up and began refining his techniques.
“And in the end, I succeeded. Hehe!”
Perhaps it was thanks to drawing pure internal energy from the realm of the unconscious. The efficiency was even better than when sitting in the lotus position.
And since he could gather energy even while sleeping, the efficiency was at least five times greater than Walyong-singong.
With this, he could become stronger at an astonishing speed.
Perhaps even faster than in his previous life.
“As expected, I really am the greatest genius of all time.”
Seomun Hwan praised himself while Jegal So-dam simply shook his head.
But the suspicion that had filled his eyes gradually began to fade.
‘…Is it really possible?’
Jamlyong-singong.
Just hearing the name sounded incredibly childish.
A sleeping dragon? It sounded more like something from a folk tale than a martial art.
But when you looked at its true nature…
‘It really is the dream of every martial artist in the Murim.’
Internal energy cultivation.
The foundation and core of raising a martial artist’s inner power, refining the body’s meridians, and creating powerful energy.
Yet the process was incredibly tedious, grueling, and time-consuming.
Spending one or two hours circulating qi each day was the bare minimum.
The higher one’s level, the more training was required. The time spent in meditation grew longer, and a significant portion of a martial artist’s life was spent sitting in the lotus position.
But to be able to perform that tedious and difficult internal cultivation while sleeping?
This wasn’t simply a matter of efficiency.
It would completely transform a martial artist’s entire life.
The ultimate training method that simultaneously refined technique, internal energy, meridians, and the physical body.
This was a more astonishing discovery than any secret technique or divine art.
“That’s amazing, Brother. Truly.”
Jegal So-dam spoke with admiration.
“Can I learn it too?”
Seomun Hwan gazed at him quietly.
His eyes contained both satisfaction and a hint of pride.
But he soon shook his head.
“It’s still too much for you.”
“Huh? Why?”
Jegal So-dam’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“The Jamlyong-singong fundamentally requires complete control over both body and mind.”
Seomun Hwan spoke in a relaxed tone.
“It’s not enough to simply know how to manipulate qi. The body must be completely relaxed while the mind remains awake. You must be able to remain free of dreams while sleeping, maintain focus without drifting while thinking, and control every sense and meridian as naturally as instinct.”
“…So basically, you need to be in a half-Daoist immortal state.”
Jegal So-dam let out a hollow laugh.
“Exactly. Right now, the number of people capable of that can be counted on one hand.”
“Ugh!”
In the end, Jegal So-dam pouted and let out a short sigh.
“Does that mean I have to spend my whole life just sweating like this?”
“Not your whole life. With your talent, you’ll probably…”
Seomun Hwan looked Jegal So-dam up and down.
The owner of the fraudulent ability known as the Heavenly Eye.
But that wasn’t all. He had inherited the blood of the Jegal Clan—famous for their intellect—in an exceptionally pure form.
If his family had still been intact, he would have easily earned a spot among the top ranks at the Dragon Phoenix Assembly.
‘It would be more accurate to say that his outstanding talent allowed him to be born with the Heavenly Eye, rather than the other way around.’
Throughout history, those born with the Heavenly Eye had possessed abilities that surpassed ordinary innate talents.
Sometimes the eye itself felt like nothing more than an added bonus.
Jegal So-mun’s talent was equally exceptional.
If he continued growing at this rate, it wouldn’t be long before he could learn Jamlyong-singong.
‘A talent like this… maybe on the level of my first disciple?’
In his past life, he had carefully selected only the most outstanding children to take as disciples.
Jegal So-dam’s talent far surpassed even those chosen ones.
Perhaps it was comparable to his own biological son, Cho Muryang?
‘That’s right. That bastard was not only a martial genius but also possessed exceptional intelligence.’
It seemed blood truly ran thick.
From a young age he had shown remarkable promise and grown at a terrifying pace.
Given enough time, the position of the next strongest under heaven would have been all but guaranteed for Cho Muryang.
His meticulous and cold personality had been eerily similar to his own.
‘There’s no way a guy like that is still sleeping somewhere.’
He knew there were other Phantom Demon reincarnations out there, and the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was stirring, but the one who worried him most was still his first disciple.
If that bastard began to move, the world would be thrown into chaos.
And just because the martial world was currently quiet didn’t mean he was staying still.
That was what made it even more unsettling.
‘What are you plotting right now?’
Gazing up at the sky, he thought of the only blood relative who would now be far older than himself.