Dropped into Murim with an Instant-Kill Skill - Chapter 36

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Chapter 36: In April, All the Flowers of the World Have Faded (7)

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When Yeon Sowol woke up, fresh, pale skin had grown over his hand.

"That's amazing..."

The Golden Wound Medicine he had applied was made from medicinal herbs infused with the mysterious power known as qi. Activated through his inner cultivation method training, his innate true qi and postnatal qi had added monstrous regenerative power to it.

"My hand was in that state, and it's completely fine after just one day."

Yeon Sowol slowly clenched and unclenched his hand.

There was no sense of discomfort whatsoever.

Yet the heavy, tingling presence of the Finger Flicking Art he had deflected yesterday still seemed to linger, as if he could touch it.

Clench!

Yeon Sowol tightly balled his fist.

"That's right. I can't leave Seo Muryang alone."

Why had Seo Muryang suddenly appeared there yesterday?

No matter how he thought about it, he had no choice but to consider a connection to Heavenly Road Mountain. Especially after what Choran had told him.

"No matter what kind of bullshit Uncle Hang Inwoo says, I need to get to the bottom of this."

Thinking of yesterday's events, he could not bring himself to speak kindly of Hang Inwoo either.

What? There was some misunderstanding?

I almost died.

The more he thought about it, the more his insides boiled.

Still, Yeon Sowol somehow calmed himself.

"Phew. Don't get worked up. Let's explain things properly to Father."

Seo Muryang, Hang Inwoo, Yi Yubaek, and even the balance of power in Shinheung County.

Everything was tangled together too intricately. Even Yi Yubaek would find it difficult to move carelessly.

Yeon Sowol understood that, so he did his best to settle his heart.

The more complicated the matter, the more calmly and clearly he needed to follow the logic instead of getting excited.

* * *

Yeon Sowol said,

"Father. We need to kill Seo Muryang."

"...You must think carefully. Seo Muryang is practically the face of the Black Path in Shinheung County. If we kill him, every Black Path faction in Shinheung County will rise up."

"Even so, that man is too dangerous."

"You're right. But you must think it over again and again. If every Black Path faction came at us head-on, that would be fine. But they won't. If they bear a grudge, they'll run, hide, and torment us. Fighting an enemy who refuses to face you directly is miserable. It leaves trouble behind for a long time."

"..."

Yeon Sowol spoke again, swallowing a sigh.

"Father, you need to be careful around Uncle Hang Inwoo."

"Are you worried Inwoo might betray me?"

"No. Even if Uncle Hang Inwoo bears you no ill will, he could still be dangerous if Seo Muryang deceives him in an attempt to harm you. Even with no malice of his own, he could be used, couldn't he? So please be careful around him, at least for a while."

"...You're right. Yes. I'll stay vigilant and won't let my guard down."

"Thank you."

"I'm also working out a plan for Seo Muryang, so don't worry too much."

"Yes. That's a relief."

Yeon Sowol felt a little reassured, but he could not help feeling frustrated.

In the Jianghu, one cannot control one's fate, but...

It hurt that he could not immediately deal with an enemy whose hostility was so obvious.

What if this came back to stab him in the back later?

Father must have his own thoughts.

As someone with extensive experience in the Jianghu, Yi Yubaek would not be complacent. Yeon Sowol believed that.

Still, he could not stop worrying because the Windflow School and Yi Yubaek had become so deeply rooted in his life and heart.

It was morning, just as dawn was breaking.

Since it was April, even the mornings were no longer particularly chilly.

The training ground where they practiced swordsmanship was covered in soft earth. It was so they could learn to move nimbly even with their footing sinking beneath them, and so they would be less likely to get hurt if they struck the ground hard or were slammed into it.

Yi Yubaek silently looked down at his adopted son.

Everything Yeon Sowol had worried about was something Yi Yubaek had already considered.

Yi Yubaek had thought about Seo Muryang for far longer and more deeply than Yeon Sowol realized. Seeing yesterday's provocation had also made him reach a decision in his heart.

But for this moment, at least, he pushed every one of those thoughts from his mind.

He thought only of Yeon Sowol and the swordsmanship he had to teach him.

Hear One, Understand Ten.

Yeon Sowol had learned one thing and grasped ten, achieving martial arts at a pace that shattered common sense.

But.

Perhaps this training would become the first wall the boy ever faced.

That was what Yi Yubaek worried about.

Would he endure the first wall in his path?

Yi Yubaek did not doubt Yeon Sowol's character.

But those who had always learned and achieved things quickly often found it especially hard to endure the long tunnel where no progress could be seen at all.

They could be defeated by what they were used to.

They assumed things would keep working out the way they always had, then found themselves shaken when faced with something entirely different.

They might grow impatient and make an irreversible mistake.

Of course, there were always exceptions...

Yi Yubaek believed Yeon Sowol would be one of them. Yet worrying was unavoidable as long as one was human.

If he barely survived a fight where not only his own life, but someone else's life was at stake... If he had an experience that intense, perhaps he might achieve it a little faster.

Yi Yubaek shook his head.

That was not something one could make happen by wishing for it, nor something one should wish for.

After steadying himself one last time, he spoke in a solemn voice.

"Sowol."

"Yes, Father."

"Welcome to the world of martial force."

"The world of martial force..."

Martial force was the power created through internal and external cultivation.

More specifically, it was power meticulously aligned according to one's intent.

Yi Yubaek said,

"Martial force can be called a fragment of transcendence, born when a person's training reaches its extreme and finally surpasses a certain limit."

That was why one needed to devote one's whole body and spirit whether releasing it or blocking it.

The first character meant the body, and the second meant the soul.

To wield martial force, one had to draw upon not just physical strength, but mental and spiritual strength as well.

At those words, Yeon Sowol suddenly recalled the moment he had landed on the Governor-General's ship.

Was that martial force?

The spear thrown by the military officer had been unlike anything Yeon Sowol had seen until then.

He had destroyed it with the power of the Heaven-Killing Star, but even now, remembering the tremendous force contained in that spear made his hair stand on end. It had been power he could not have endured by any means with his own strength.

Naturally, Seo Muryang's Finger Flicking Art came to mind as well. It had been far weaker than that thrown spear, but still powerful enough to overwhelm Yeon Sowol.

Had it struck him properly, even muscles and bones strengthened through martial arts would have ruptured and shattered in an instant.

"Father. Was Seo Muryang's Finger Flicking Art also martial force?"

"It was. Its power was low for martial force, since it struck through empty space, but it was unmistakably martial force."

Just as he thought.

Yeon Sowol considered the thrown spear and the Finger Flicking Art for a moment.

They were both martial force, but I could destroy that officer's spear with the Heaven-Killing Star's power. I couldn't even think of doing that to the Finger Flicking Art.

Even though the spear had been far more powerful.

Why?

The Finger Flicking Art was much smaller. It was fired from closer up. It had no form.

The power of the Heaven-Killing Star was possible because Yeon Sowol had crossed dimensions, experienced the foundation of the world, and carried its fracture within his body.

He now roughly understood the conditions needed to activate that power.

He had narrowed them down to three.

First, there had to be contact.

The Heaven-Killing Star's power was engraved upon Yeon Sowol's body or soul. Either way, it needed to make contact before it could be activated. Things might change if he learned a qi technique, but for now, that was how it worked.

Second, he had to exercise his will precisely.

The Heaven-Killing Star's power did not activate simply because he made contact. If it did, Yeon Sowol would already be a murderer of the ages, hunted across the land. While in contact, he had to recognize the target and desire it intensely. There had to be a clear will to create a fracture.

Third, he had to recognize the target clearly.

It was that sensation of the world feeling flat and threads becoming visible.

It was not ordinary recognition, but a sensation that let him feel every detail down to a target's deepest essence, like paper he could pierce through and tear. Only when he sensed the target like that could he sever the threads.

The Finger Flicking Art made the third condition difficult.

Yeon Sowol's qi sense was remarkable, but it was not yet quick enough.

His recognition was slow against a formless qi technique.

The Finger Flicking Art had also been smaller than the thrown spear and fired from much closer range, which made it far harder to recognize.

...Still, I could have erased it.

Blocking it with his palm had been possible. Once it made contact, he could recognize and erase it for certain. He had destroyed a ghost in the same manner on his first day in the Jianghu.

But what if my recognition was slow, and I was even a little late in severing it?

What if he could not immediately dissipate the martial force and had to take it on bare flesh before erasing it?

Then every bone in my fingers would have been shattered.

He would have been mercilessly toyed with and killed.

That was why he had not dared to use the Heaven-Killing Star's power carelessly.

It's hard. So hard.

Eun-yeong had approached him stealthily.

Seo Muryang had used only the Finger Flicking Art.

Moments where the Heaven-Killing Star's power was difficult to use kept coming.

I'm only this strong.

The conclusion was simple.

To wield the Heaven-Killing Star's power properly, he first needed to become a strong martial artist himself.

Even the finest sword in the world was still the sword of an inferior fighter when held in an inferior hand.

"Phew."

Yeon Sowol steadied his breathing and hardened his resolve.

Swordsmanship.

It would certainly be difficult training.

He did not know about inner cultivation methods, but it would surely be harder than lightness skills.

There had to be a reason Yi Yubaek had set the mood by saying, "Welcome to the world of martial force."

Even so. I'll do it. If I don't want to suffer the bitterness of the weak, I have to do it now.

Yeon Sowol reinforced his resolve once more.

"Your eyes are good."

Yi Yubaek smiled.

"From now on, you will generate martial force with your sword, and receive it as well. Until you can wield it as you wish. That is the essence of swordsmanship training."

He swung his sheathed sword and wrote in the dirt.

"The following are the precautions for training swordsmanship."

One. Know the limits of your body.

You must know exactly when your body will break.

Only by knowing your limits precisely can you prepare yourself not to receive power beyond them.

Two. Read the power of martial force.

The power of martial force can go far beyond common sense.

Understanding the magnitude of the martial force you generate is basic. You must also read your opponent's martial force wave, accurately and sensitively estimate its power at all times, and respond accordingly.

Always be careful. For your own sake, and for everyone's sake. Cleaning up a mangled body leaves wounds.

Three. Maintain a perfect state of tempering.

Understand the exact limits of tempering, and regulate your stage of maturity so that you never exceed them.

When you focus on wielding martial force, you may neglect to examine your own body.

A body that has been over-tempered can never return to normal.

Four. Examine your entire body.

You must sense every part of your body accurately, without leaving out a single place. This is to prevent localized over-tempering and localized crushing.

Depending on which body part you lose, it can be fatal.

Five. Do not become intoxicated.

There may come a time when you feel as if you can become lighter and freer. That is when you must be most careful. It is not the sensation of freedom, but the sensation of heading toward annihilation.

"..."

Even though he had steeled himself, Yeon Sowol felt his back grow damp.

A question suddenly came to him.

What kind of lunatic created martial arts in the first place?

Surely they were the type of person who put on some flying squirrel outfit and jumped off a cloud.

Yi Yubaek added another warning.

"Handling martial force is entirely different from the Movement Art you have learned so far. If Movement Art is the study of spreading your qi sense wide, sensing the whole world sharply, and responding to it freely, martial force is more like narrowing and narrowing your qi sense, then throwing your entire body toward a single point."

It was the difference between widening one's view to respond flexibly and narrowing it to charge forward.

"That is why studying martial force carries the danger of a heart demon. The more you narrow your focus, the more intoxicated you become with it."

Yeon Sowol's shoulders twitched.

A heart demon?

Had he not experienced one during closed-door seclusion?

He had seen a Mo Cheong who did not exist, and a Yi Yubaek who did not exist.

That was truly terrifying...

"The precaution against intoxication is connected to the heart demon. So devote your whole body and spirit, but always keep one part of your mind awake to watch over yourself."

"How can I do that?"

"Keep one part of your mind awake at all times."

"...Yes."

For the first time in a while, Yeon Sowol cursed his adoptive father inwardly.

These insane martial artists!

"In this swordsmanship training, the state of complete absorption is dangerous instead. My master's senior brother fell into a state of complete absorption and swung his sword for three days and nights until his whole body became over-tempered and scattered into the air. When my master went to look for him, he found only the sword and scraps of clothing scattered over the flattened grass. People who don't know any better call that ascending to immortality or whatever. It isn't. He simply died all at once."

"..."

"I have lost a direct disciple exactly once. That child became utterly absorbed in wielding martial force and grew overconfident. He forgot how strong his own sword force had become and overestimated the limits his body could endure."

"Then...?"

"He could not withstand his own martial force wave, and his whole body was crushed. He was in such agony that I put him to rest myself."

Yeon Sowol saw Yi Yubaek grit his teeth.

...What a crazy world.

In this world, people learned martial arts because they hated their circumstances and wanted to escape them.

Learning was often thwarted by one's social status, and it demanded even more talent than martial arts.

When they did not want to live like this.

When they wanted another life badly enough to risk their lives for it.

Martial arts were their only choice.

But some ultimately failed to fly and broke apart.

They evaporated into the air.

Their entire bodies were crushed.