The First Request
After coming to his senses, Baekri Hyeong headed straight for his father's study. His father was the martial artist once hailed as the Sword Sovereign before him—a master so formidable that no swordsman in the world could match his strength. In his childhood, Baekri Hyeong had not truly understood his father. Now he did. He knew how great the man had been, and why the Baekri Clan had been driven to the brink of annihilation.
“First, I need to root out the spies.”
Baekri Hyeong had not stood idle when the clan burned. He had fought the invaders, though he had been negligent in his duties. Still, he had been a proper martial artist. Yet it was his father who had stopped him. To preserve the Baekri bloodline, the man had chosen to sacrifice himself. He had charged alone into a net of hundreds of experts, slain them all, and died when his strength finally gave out. Baekri Hyeong remembered the crushing despair of seeing his family's corpses.
“At least I know who isn't a spy.”
He knew the Heavenly Demon Cult had caused the chaos, and he knew there were no traitors among his family. If any of them had sold the clan out, they would have fled and lived in comfort. Instead, their bodies bore clear wounds from fighting to the death. Whoever possessed the power to destroy the Baekri Clan overnight was almost certainly someone in a high position within the household.
“This time, I won't repeat the same mistakes.”
He had discovered his Heavenly Martial Body around the age of eight. Now that he had returned to the body of a six-year-old, Baekri Hyeong was certain that grasping a sword even a little earlier and training harder would change the future. With that resolve, he arrived at the study of his father, Baekri Hyeok.
“Father. May I enter?”
“Come in.”
Fortunately, his young age allowed him to skip the usual formalities. After all, he was the heir who would one day lead the clan, and his father had always been lenient with his own blood.
“What is it? I heard you were crying quite hard.”
“I had a nightmare. A disaster I could not stop, and everyone dying except for me… It was a terrible dream.”
“A nightmare…”
Baekri Hyeok's eyes gleamed at the word. Most six-year-olds who suffered nightmares did not react with such composure. Moreover, there was something different about Baekri Hyeong today compared to yesterday. The innocent face had been replaced by the unreadable expression of a veteran who had endured countless hardships. Had the nightmare triggered this change?
Interesting. I had planned to let him start sword training in a year.
One look was enough to tell. The boy stood respectfully, waiting for his father's words. He clearly had a request, and Baekri Hyeok already suspected what it was.
“You want to learn swordsmanship?”
“Yes.”
“It will be difficult. There are parts too harsh for a child.”
“It's all right. I don't want to face what I saw in the nightmare in reality.”
“…Very well. Come to the training ground starting tomorrow.”
“Thank you!”
Baekri Hyeok, who had been pondering the boy's bold words, nodded. The child's face was far too calm to dismiss as mere childish impulse. Moreover, his expression carried the weight of someone who had already made up his mind. If that look had been a lie, Baekri Hyeok would have been deeply disappointed.
Meanwhile, Baekri Hyeong was cheering inwardly at his father's approval.
Once I begin sword training, my Heavenly Martial Body will be revealed… That will give me a legitimate reason to learn anything without suspicion.
Even the absurd excuse that a technique from his nightmare had left a deep impression would become plausible for someone with the Heavenly Martial Body. After all, it was a physique capable of roughly imitating anything it had seen once.
Sword training was merely a pretext. Though he was a member of the clan, Baekri Hyeong had no intention of following the Baekri martial arts exactly. Orthodox techniques were solid but took too long. Unorthodox methods were dangerous but faster. Demonic arts were not to be approached at all. No saying in the Central Plains was more accurate. Relying solely on the clan's arts would never give him enough time to stand against the Heavenly Demon. Even now, the Heavenly Demon Cult was steadily preparing to bring the Central Plains to ruin. To stop them, the risks of orthodox cultivation were too great.
But that doesn't mean I can ignore the clan's techniques entirely. I'll learn them just enough to avoid suspicion.
Baekri Hyeong had a reason for not wanting to rely on the clan's arts. During his previous life, after the clan's destruction, he had wandered the Central Plains and met a mysterious master who used an enigmatic sword art. That technique was called the Four Guardian Deities Sword. It drew inspiration from the Azure Dragon of the East, the White Tiger of the West, the Black Tortoise of the North, and the Vermilion Bird of the South. At the time, Baekri Hyeong had been on the verge of falling into demonic deviation, consumed by hatred for the mysterious group that had destroyed his family. Then he met his master. Watching the old man demonstrate the Four Guardian Deities Sword, Baekri Hyeong had been overwhelmed. It was the greatest sword art he had ever seen.
In truth, the old man had not truly been his master. Baekri Hyeong had simply memorized the technique shown to him and devoted himself to the Four Guardian Deities Sword. They had spent about a year together before the old man vanished without a trace. Yet through that art, Baekri Hyeong had eventually broken through the Hyeongyeong realm and earned the title of Sword Sovereign. Only then had he realized his mistake. Without effort, without a superior technique, and without time, the clan would never have fallen so easily. Of course, by then the Heavenly Demon Cult had already begun its war across the Central Plains, so the realization had come too late.
If only I could meet him again.
There were so many questions he wanted to ask. Why had the old man never appeared during the war against the cult? Why had he shown Baekri Hyeong the Four Guardian Deities Sword? But now was not the time to dwell on that. He needed to create inner energy within his body as quickly as possible and master the Four Guardian Deities Sword. Nothing else occupied Baekri Hyeong's mind.
**********
“Young Master Hyeong said he wants to learn swordsmanship?”
“He did. He claimed he had a nightmare and wanted to wield a sword so that the scene he saw would never become reality.”
“But he's still so young. The clan's arts are too harsh for him…”
“I believe in my son. Why don't you believe in him as well, my wife?”
“I do believe in him, but…”
“He didn't look like he was playing around. His eyes were far too sharp. I think he's made up his mind in earnest.”
Baekri Hyeok sipped his tea as he spoke with his wife, Han Seol-eun. She had brought up the matter of Baekri Hyeong crying after his nightmare that morning, only to hear something far more shocking. Her son had asked his father to begin sword training. Knowing how difficult the Baekri Clan's martial arts were, she could not help but worry about her young child taking up a sword. Yet Baekri Hyeok trusted his son.
“He carries both our blood. If he grasps the sword now, he could one day become a swordsman who rules the world.”
“Still…”
“Starting tomorrow, Hyeong will train. Since this is his first time, we should ask Hyang to look after him.”
Baekri Hyang, the eldest daughter of the Baekri Clan, had begun sword training before her younger brother and was already practicing the clan's arts. Eight years older than Baekri Hyeong, she would serve as a model for him to observe and reaffirm his resolve.
“I'll watch him tomorrow, so don't worry. If it becomes dangerous, I'll step in.”
“…All right.”
Han Seol-eun nodded, persuaded by her husband's words. Her son had already hardened his resolve. She was not foolish enough to try to shake such a person's determination.
Meanwhile, Baekri Hyeong sat alone in his room.
“Huuu…”
He extinguished all the lights and sat in a lotus position. To create inner energy, one had to commune with nature. He felt the flow of air throughout his body and focused all his mind on his lower dantian.
Whooooom.
The Heavenly Martial Body was not foolish. Responding to Baekri Hyeong's will, something began gathering toward his lower dantian. It gradually thickened, wrapping around the dantian like an egg. Baekri Hyeong concentrated all his senses on that small membrane. Then—
“Cough!”
The impurities accumulated in his body since birth surged up his throat in the form of blood. He spat it out without hesitation. Swallowing the filth again would undo all his efforts to purify his body. Baekri Hyeong continued meditating as if nothing had happened. Before long, he felt a blunt, solid energy settle in his lower dantian. Inner energy had been created.
“Haha… Success…”
Yet contrary to his elation, his child's body could not withstand the shock of vomiting blood. With a dull thud, Baekri Hyeong collapsed on the spot, unconscious like a dead man.