“You say it doesn’t look like a copy?” -That’s right.
At least, this one. To Mok Gyeong-un’s question, Blue Spirit spoke as if surprised. That made sense.
Even a copy would naturally grow old and worn over a long time. But this one was newly transcribed and not frequently used; there was no reason for a stain that looked like blood to be on it.
“I suppose so. Well, there could be many reasons. Maybe they put the original here by mistake. Or maybe the copy was cleaner, so they put it in the main headquarters…” -The original would never be swapped for such a reason.
Blue Spirit firmly denied Mok Gyeong-un’s guess.
“Pardon?” -Mortal, you may not know yet, but an original copy holds a special meaning.
“Meaning? What kind of meaning?” -Most original secret manuals are written by the creator of the martial art themselves.
“If that’s the case, I suppose it has value as the author’s original work.”
He thought he had heard this from his grandfather. His grandfather had said there was a difference in value between a transcribed poem of Confucius and a poem written by Confucius himself. It seemed to be in that same vein.
Then, Blue Spirit continued. -The author’s value can be a reason, but more important are the inscribed characters.
“The characters?” -A stroke is a trace.
When this master was teaching you martial arts, what did I say?
“A trace is…” -The martial art itself.
Could Mok Gyeong-un truly understand why she said this? The breadth of understanding varies with enlightenment. Even if one’s internal power reached the peak of the Peak Realm, a lack of enlightenment could mean they wouldn’t understand at all.
And yet, “There is nothing that contains as much as a stroke. Each and every trace within could hold the habits of the martial art’s creator. And within those habits, the essence of the moves would also be contained.”
‘!?’
At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Blue Spirit couldn’t hide her astonishment. She hadn’t expected much. But Mok Gyeong-un had given the exact answer she wanted to hear.
‘This boy…’
He didn’t just possess a superhuman memory. His comprehension was also exceptional. A boy who had only just begun learning martial arts was casually speaking of profound martial arts at a level one could barely grasp only after entering the Supreme Realm.
Of course, it wasn’t that he had truly attained enlightenment, but it was still quite surprising.
‘…It makes me wonder what he would have been like if he had started learning martial arts from a younger age.’
Perhaps he would have achieved the incredible feat of reaching the Supreme Realm before even coming of age. To that extent, Mok Gyeong-un’s talent, regardless of whether she liked him or not, felt frightening. As she was marveling, Mok Gyeong-un spoke.
“Was I wrong?”
“... Well, you understood it somewhat.”
Praising him blindly could fill him with arrogance, so she spoke without overdoing it. But at her reaction, Mok Gyeong-un let out a small laugh. She had answered his question after a long pause, so how could it be just a ‘somewhat’ understanding?
‘Looks like I was spot on.’
But he had no intention of gloating over it. To him, mastering martial arts was merely sharpening a blade for his revenge. To this Mok Gyeong-un, Blue Spirit said. -Ahem…
In any case, as you said, the original is a condensation of enlightenment because the true intention of the creator is contained in every single stroke. That is why even masters who have reached high realms try to view various original secret manuals to broaden their perspective.
“I see. I’ve learned something valuable.” -In any case, it seems this secret manual being here is not a mistake, at least.
Since a copy wouldn’t contain the creator’s true intention, she believed it wasn’t here by mistake or because the book was dirty. At that, Mok Gyeong-un nodded and said.
“I understand. There isn’t much time, so I’ll continue memorizing.” -Do that. -Rustle!
Rustle!
Mok Gyeong-un turned the pages. Just as before, he tried to imprint it with his eyes as if stamping a seal, but, ‘The stroke…’ A person’s consciousness sometimes moves against their own intentions.
Mok Gyeong-un, who had come to realize the meaning of a stroke thanks to Blue Spirit, began memorizing not just the characters, but consciously observing the shape of the strokes.
‘The line of the stroke…’
He could see how the wrist moved according to the thickness. Then, at some point in the process of imprinting this, a strange phenomenon occurred in Mok Gyeong-un’s mind. This was something that even Blue Spirit had not predicted.
‘Ah!’
In Mok Gyeong-un’s mind, he could see an old, faceless Daoist tracing the trajectory of a palm art as if dancing gracefully. Those were the moves of the Taiji Soft Palm. It was an astonishing thing.
How could he see every single movement so clearly just by reading the text? He could even see where power was applied and released. It was truly a bizarre event.
Thanks to this, the most primal moves intended by the martial art’s creator were being imprinted directly into Mok Gyeong-un’s mind. In that moment, the incantations flashed through his mind. -Rustle!
Rustle!
When he turned the last page, Mok Gyeong-un’s expression was somewhat excited.
‘What is this?’
It was a feeling he had never experienced before. It was as if, for a brief moment, he had become one with the creator of this martial art and tasted the true flow of the Taiji Soft Palm’s moves. It was a completely different feeling from when he thought he was just imprinting it to follow with his body.
‘Not bad.’
He wanted to taste this feeling again. But unfortunately, aside from this Taiji Soft Palm manual, most of the other martial arts secret manuals would be copies. If so, he might not be able to taste this feeling again.
With a disappointed expression, Mok Gyeong-un asked.
“…What should I learn next?” -There are none here.
Look at the sixth one from the bottom on the next bookshelf.
“The sixth one…”
This time, it was a Sword Art secret manual called the Immeasurable Fifteen Swords. Opening the secret manual, Mok Gyeong-un naturally assumed it was a copy, but due to the habit he had just formed, he couldn’t help but meticulously imprint the strokes of the characters. And yet, ‘Huh?’
Once again, a middle-aged master appeared in Mok Gyeong-un’s mind, performing a Sword Art. The middle-aged master’s sword moves were performed with a heavy sword, and with each swing, the power carried at the tip of the sword surged dramatically in an instant, just as the word ‘immeasurable’ suggested.
For Mok Gyeong-un, who had never practiced with a weighty heavy sword, this Sword Art was a new experience. -Twitch!
‘…This boy?’
Watching Mok Gyeong-un turn the pages, Blue Spirit couldn’t hide her confusion. It was understandable, as the speed at which Mok Gyeong-un was turning the pages had slowed down a little compared to before. Now, his speed had slowed to the point where it would take a count of twenty-five to thirty to get through one secret manual.
Of course, even this slower pace was incomparably fast compared to an ordinary person.
“Ah…” -What is it?
“It took a little while, didn’t it?” -…Though it was slower than before, do you think it took as long as counting to twenty-five or thirty?
“It was only that long?” -Yes.
At Blue Spirit’s words, Mok Gyeong-un was inwardly surprised. With both the Taiji Soft Palm and this Immeasurable Fifteen Swords, he had felt as if he had become one with the person who wrote the manuscript and was performing the moves together, so time seemed to pass very slowly. But it had only been that short.
“How strange. To think that only that much time has passed.” -…Wait, did you feel as if time was passing slowly?
“Yes.” -Hah.
She let out an exclamation as if exasperated. Mok Gyeong-un asked, puzzled.
“What is it?” -It’s a state of selflessness.
A state of selflessness. It literally means a state of no-self, a stage where one’s mind is so absorbed in one thing that they forget themselves. But for Mok Gyeong-un, who still lacked enlightenment, to fall into such a state while reading incantations.
Such cases were extremely rare.
‘Should I be happy about this?’
She had no idea what to say. Whether one was mediocre or a martial genius, when learning martial arts, the order of learning and the direction of enlightenment tended to flow in a somewhat similar way. But with Mok Gyeong-un, the order was completely jumbled.
Falling into a state of selflessness not during meditation, but in the process of memorizing a martial arts secret manual? Had such a case ever existed?
‘But what on earth was he absorbed in?’
It was a process of memorizing a secret manual much faster than speed-reading, so what could he have been absorbed in during that brief instant? She was curious, but since there wasn’t much time, -Don’t be conscious of falling into that state. It just means you’re gaining that much from it.
“Is that so?” -Rather than that, let’s hurry and memorize the other secret manuals.
We need to finish the second floor quickly and go to the third. The second floor was a taste of profound martial arts. On the third floor, there were even some transcendent profound martial arts that she herself acknowledged.
If he memorized all of them, Mok Gyeong-un’s perspective on martial arts would become incomparable to what it was before he entered this place.
‘A pity.’
Blue Spirit suddenly couldn’t help but feel a sense of regret. If this were the treasure vault of the main headquarters, she knew of several hidden secret manuals. But this was a place where copies were collected, so there was no way those hidden ones would have been transcribed.
Thus, during the time it took for two incenses to burn, Mok Gyeong-un memorized 45 martial arts secret manuals on the second floor of the treasure vault. Normally, he would have read much more, but the time he spent in the state of selflessness grew longer with each book, taking up two incenses worth of time.
It wasn’t a very long time, but to Mok Gyeong-un, it had felt long. -Alright. Let’s go to the third floor now.
“Yes.”
Having memorized everything useful on the second floor, they went up. Going up, they saw that unlike the bookshelves on the lower floor, there were some empty spots here and there.
Unlike the secret manuals on the lower floor, most of the ones on the third floor were profound martial arts, with some transcendent profound martial arts mixed in, so naturally, there was a limit to their quantity.
‘…They’ve really recreated it almost identically.’
Looking at the bookshelves on the third floor, Blue Spirit clicked her tongue inwardly. It was understandable. Although some things had changed and the number of manuals had increased, the layout was remarkably similar to what she remembered.
Even if they were copies, they were organized so well that it truly reminded her of the past. If her memory was correct, in the library of originals, the secret manual she had hidden would be on the far right of the top shelf of the third bookshelf to the right…
‘!?’
For a moment, Blue Spirit doubted her own eyes. In that exact spot was the secret manual called Twin White Sword Art, which she herself had placed on the shelf.
‘They made a copy of that one too?’
Impossible.
Excluding the two damaged and torn pages she had hidden inside, it was a Sword Art secret manual with a composition that would only be helpful to second-rate or first-rate martial artists. There was absolutely no way they would have transcribed that one.
If they had, even if they transcribed it leaving out the damaged parts, it would have been moved to the first floor, not the third.
“…ryeong.” -…
“Blue Spirit.” -Ah!
“Which secret manual should I look at next?”
To that question, Blue Spirit spoke, hoping against hope. -Take out the one on the far right of the top shelf of the third bookshelf to the right.
“Twin White Sword Art?” -Yes.
As she said, Mok Gyeong-un went to the third bookshelf and pulled out the secret manual called Twin White Sword Art from the far right of the top shelf. But the ink on the cover of the book was smudged, and the front page was slightly curled up. -Ha!
Seeing this, she let out a dry cough as if in disbelief. Mok Gyeong-un asked, puzzled.
“What is it?” -…Why did it take me so long to realize?
This master is truly foolish.
“What do you mean?” -They moved it here.
“What do you mean, they moved it—” -I’m saying the secret manuals in this place are the originals.
“What? These are the originals?” -Yes.
I thought something was strange. Seeing that secret manual in your hand, I’m now certain.
Haa.
At her words, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed. In truth, he hadn’t told her, but while memorizing the secret manuals she had chosen for him, he had fallen into a state of selflessness every single time. So he had inwardly wondered if the manuals here were really copies.
But hearing her say this, it seemed certain that the secret manuals here were indeed the originals. However, Mok Gyeong-un didn’t let it show and opened the secret manual. And then, “Hm?”
A piece of paper, folded several times, was tucked inside the secret manual. -Ahh. It’s still there.
“Do you know what this is?” -How could I not?
This master put it there myself. To think it’s remained here all this time.
“You seem quite happy.” -Keum.
“I suppose so. But what is this?”
Mok Gyeong-un said, taking out the folded paper. Then, she spoke in a rather meaningful voice. -It is no exaggeration to say that the sword forms of the Moon that this master perfected began from that.
“Oh.”
His curiosity piqued, Mok Gyeong-un unfolded the paper. As he opened it, he saw the incantations of sword moves written on the front and back of a single sheet of paper. On the front, the name of this Sword Art and its first move were written.
“Moonless Void Sword, Moon-Facing Defeat Sword…” -Consider yourself lucky.
Those are the only remaining sword moves of the Moonless Void Sword, one of the five great sword arts that once symbolized the old martial world. At her words, Mok Gyeong-un imprinted the sword moves into his eyes.
Then, in his mind, he saw someone with a pale face, looking like a scholar, holding a sword and performing the moves. -Shudder! In that moment, goosebumps covered Mok Gyeong-un’s entire body. It was a thrilling sword move on a completely different level from any he had seen before.