Geomugeuk was standing in a field, reading a book.
Having mastered the Divine Eye Art, his eyes did not tire no matter how many books he read, but for someone who had spent his life flying, leaping, and roaming the martial world, sitting with his backside glued down was agony.
So the idea he came up with was to read while standing like this. Even that soon grew tedious.
Geomugeuk moved his feet. He was not walking forward, but upward. Using Void-Stepping, he slowly walked through the air as he read, then this time flung himself down as though lying on a bed.
Geomugeuk rolled about in the air. He read lying on his back and read lying on his stomach. It was as though an invisible cloud were supporting him.
Within the Time-Space Transposition Art, he was employing the Sicheon Secret Art, displaying such divine might, and even reading books. Of course, since he was not training in martial arts, it was a kind of play made possible by his overflowing internal energy.
Geomugeuk had read more than several hundred books so far. One-third were books unrelated to martial arts, and the remaining two-thirds were martial arts manuals.
No matter how good something was, it only lasted a day or two; crises had come several times. Reading books was harder than martial training. It was boring, difficult, and stifling. And whenever that happened, a powerful temptation came to him.
—Will reading a few books really help? You! Do you have the luxury for this?
But Geomugeuk did not give up.
In his life before regression, he had walked that distant road alone. He was a man who did not know how to give up.
If he kept reading books like this, perhaps it would turn out this way.
If his father said, Where was that book again? he would answer, It is on the eighth bookshelf, fourth compartment.
Of course, realistically, reading every book here was impossible. He could not spend all his time here doing nothing but reading books. That should be yielded to someone else.
“Elder Doma, when I become the cult leader, I will grant you permission to enter the Heavenly Demon Library whenever you wish. Read to your heart’s content then. Read them all!”
If not for the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, he would not have been interested in reading at all, nor would he have even thought of entering this place. This training was thanks to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
Moreover, all these books were already verified works of high quality.
Among the manuals Geomugeuk had read, several contained martial arts so supreme that if they were released into the current murim, a blood calamity could occur. Even the Severing Moon Sword Art (斷月劍法) he was reading right now was a sword art that had swept through murim three hundred years ago.
Geomugeuk, who had been reading the manual in midair, descended to the ground.
He seemed to stare quietly ahead, then struck out with the Black Demon Sword as fast as lightning.
In a flash, a streak of sword light split space vertically.
Swaaaaaaaaaa.
The grasses in the field all lay down in one direction at once.
Crraaaaaack.
At the same time, the ground split open in a straight line far into the distance.
After examining the cut surface, Geomugeuk shook his head as though dissatisfied, then thrust out his sword again.
Crraaaaaack!
This time, the ground split open anew beside the earlier fissure.
Comparing the second cut surface with the first, Geomugeuk sat between the two lines and pondered.
Through such a process, the third split was created.
After confirming the third cut surface, Geomugeuk finally wore a satisfied expression. It was the moment the Severing Moon Sword severed the moon.
Snap.
When he flicked his fingers, the split ground returned to its original state.
Geomugeuk placed the Severing Moon Sword Art on the desk and opened the next book.
This one was also a martial arts manual. Recently, he had become completely absorbed in the fun of reading martial arts manuals. If interest stirred while he read, he would actually try them out, as he had done a moment ago with the Severing Moon Sword Art.
One might think that, since it was a manual he was reading for the first time, he would only be able to perform the early forms. But that was not the case.
Rather, it was easier to perform profound and deep forms. Since Geomugeuk’s realm was so high, the more difficult they were, the easier they were for him to perform.
On the contrary, when he saw easy forms, many thoughts came to him. That, too, was because his realm was high. He did not merely perform them and be done with it; instead, thoughts followed one after another. If I changed it like this, it would be stronger. If I changed it like that, it would be faster.
This, too, was an experience he had for the first time. Most of what he had experienced after entering the library was new to him, and this learning had a great influence on Geomugeuk.
He compared them with one another, studied them, and discovered flaws as well.
As he continued reading martial arts manuals like that, Geomugeuk’s understanding of the origins of martial arts deepened.
How are martial arts created?
And beyond that.
How are martial arts inherited and developed?
Before long, he came to consider the differences between those martial arts and the Guhwa Demonic Art.
What makes the Guhwa Demonic Art special?
It was a question he had never once asked while cultivating the Guhwa Demonic Art until now.
If he had not read other martial arts manuals, he would only have been able to answer like this.
Because it is originally a powerful martial art.
But now he was experiencing the process of coming to know the reason in concrete detail.
Thinking and researching. Reading and reading again. Thinking again.
Then, at a certain moment, he was able to make one conjecture. Even that conjecture was possible only because he had read countless manuals.
Is this why the Guhwa Demonic Art is strong?
It was not a conclusion, only a conjecture, and yet at that moment, Geomugeuk felt that the time had come.
From deep within his heart, a passion rose up, telling him to draw his sword at once.
Geomugeuk immediately set down the book and unfolded the Guhwa Demonic Art.
First Form, Annihilation Form.
The four evil spirits appeared.
The frightening one, the handsome one, the mysterious one, and the clever-looking one. They had now become so familiar that they felt like family.
‘It’s been a while, East, West, South, North!’
Slice! Slice! Slice! Slice!
After slashing the targeted point from all four directions, they vanished.
Whenever his martial realm was about to rise, there was always a change in these fellows.
And today was no different.
Just before they disappeared, the look they gave Geomugeuk was different from before.
A gaze that wanted something.
That tickled Geomugeuk’s heart.
Geomugeuk knew well what this ticklish sensation was. A signal that his martial realm was ready to rise! At last, that moment had come.
‘I cannot miss this opportunity.’
When one’s martial realm rose, it did not rise gradually like climbing a slope; it was like stepping up onto a stair in a single moment.
Geomugeuk fell into a state of selflessness and trained in the Guhwa Demonic Art. He unfolded it again and again. He met the evil spirits dozens, hundreds, thousands of times.
“Ah, I’m exhausted!”
Geomugeuk plopped down where he stood.
“It must be easy for you, watching like that.”
The one Geomugeuk was speaking to was the secret coffer placed on the desk. When training wore him out, he would speak to the secret coffer like this.
“What? You think I can attain achievement in the Guhwa Demonic Art just because I read some books? You say I should meet the Demon Venerable instead during this time? How long has it been since you came here? The Drunken Demon must be feeling so neglected that he has fallen into a wine jar?”
If that much was him speaking in place of the devil’s whispers borrowed through the mouth of the secret coffer,
then the will within Geomugeuk whispered.
“Think of Father? Think how blood-soaked his training must be, when he has even entered closed-door cultivation. And yet you are idling? When Father comes out, are you going to say, Young as I am, I rested because I was tired?”
No, absolutely not.
Geomugeuk sprang to his feet. From the day he first regressed until now, the strongest driving force that raised him up had been his father. All the more so now, when his father was also in closed-door cultivation.
‘Father, I will absolutely accomplish it too.’
Geomugeuk swung his sword again.
The four evil spirits cut space with one will, and the terrifying evil spirits charged in a line, sweeping through the world.
When the strongest wall in the world was raised, a single streak of sword light split the thick darkness, and lightning of sword energy fell like rain.
Even when it felt as though his arms would fall off, he swung his sword. When his internal energy ran out, he regulated his qi and breathing, then repeated it again.
If he gave up now, he felt as though the four evil spirits, East, West, South, and North, would never again look at him with expressions that wanted something. He did not want to see their disappointed faces.
He did not know how many days and nights passed after that.
It was not hard. He did not think it was hard.
Effort does not belong in the category of hardship. What is truly hard is a situation in which one does not even have the chance to make an effort.
Geomugeuk poured out all at once the training he had neglected while reading books. As if gathering qi and releasing it in a single burst.
Only the secret coffer watched over that blood-soaked effort.
And then came the fated moment!
Geomugeuk’s eyes trembled as he stared blankly at one place.
He had performed the same form as always, yet the Annihilation Form had changed.
The four evil spirits, East, West, South, and North, had grown larger.
Even when he closed and opened his eyes, wondering if he had seen wrong, it was the same. Moreover, they had become more handsome, more frightening, more mysterious, and more intelligent-looking.
Swaek! Swaek! Swaek! Swaek!
The power of the swords they brought down had also become far stronger.
The moment he saw that, Geomugeuk let out an exclamation.
“…I’ve reached the ninth level.”
Sure enough, the gazes of the evil spirits that had wanted something from him had grown calm again.
And just before the four evil spirits disappeared, they smiled in satisfaction, as though telling him he had worked hard. Was he so exhausted that he was seeing things?
Thud.
With the tension released, Geomugeuk sank down where he stood. A severe fatigue rushed over him.
But soon, Geomugeuk sprang back up. He could not spend this precious moment asleep. He was too happy to sleep anyway.
Hoping it had not been a dream, he unfolded the Guhwa Demonic Art again.
Second Form, Great Annihilation Form.
The evil spirits that spread out before his eyes had likewise grown larger. And their number was a staggering twenty-six.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
With tremendous force, they completely swept through the front. In the place they passed, the ground was gouged out, and not a single blade of grass remained. Its power could not be compared to before.
“I really have reached the ninth level!”
Geomugeuk cheered. He was truly happy. He had shown what kind of result came when a Heavenly Martial Body bestowed by the heavens made blood-soaked effort.
The one who had watched that effort with him was the secret coffer, and the one smiling at him now was also the secret coffer.
Of course, this achievement had not been attained simply by reading books. Nor was it only because of his blood-soaked effort.
A lifetime of experience and learning gained in his life before regression.
Added to that were the human relationships he had shared in this life with his father and the many people around him, and the real combat experiences in which he had crossed life and death while dealing with the Twelve Zodiac Kings.
All of these combined to produce this astonishing achievement.
‘This is only the beginning.’
For attaining full mastery at the ninth level was far more difficult than what he had done so far.
Moreover, Geomugeuk’s goal was not full mastery at the tenth level. It was full mastery at the twelfth level. He could not know how arduous the road ahead would be.
At this point, there was one anticipation that made Geomugeuk’s heart tremble.
If he climbed just one more step now, he would meet the Heavenly Demon Soul.
What kind of Heavenly Demon Soul will mine be?
There were many people with whom he wanted to share this joy, but the first person who came to mind now was his father.
If his father asked how he had reached the ninth level?
It is thanks to reading diligently.
How would his father react?
And what wall was his father overcoming right now?
‘Father, I have crossed one great hurdle!’
Just then, from outside, the report of Jeokyeon, the head of the guards, was heard.
“They are urgently seeking you at Tongcheon Pavilion.”
* * *
When Geomugeuk arrived at Tongcheon Pavilion, a new flag had been planted on the strategic terrain map.
A new flag standing side by side beside his elder brother’s flag.
Annihilation (滅).
It was the flag of Jin Hagun, meaning the commander of the Demon-Extermination Unit.
“The two of them met!”
Geomugeuk had sincerely hoped his elder brother would meet Jin Hagun. In the land of Wuhan, where everyone was an enemy, Jin Hagun was at least someone who would show consideration for his brother.
“The two most boring, taciturn fellows in the world have met.”
At those words, Sama Myeong smiled. He, too, knew the personalities of the two men.
“How did they meet?”
Then an unexpected answer came.
“They say the Eldest Young Master contacted him first.”
“My brother did, first? That can’t be.”
Given his brother’s personality, there was no way he would have sought out Jin Hagun first. There must have been a reason he had to.
Just then, a new letter sent from Wuhan arrived.
After checking its contents, Sama Myeong’s expression stiffened. From that expression alone, it was clear something serious had happened.
“A new figure has appeared.”
A subordinate strategist walked toward the strategic terrain map of Wuhan.
The Murim Alliance headquarters.
There, more than ten flags were planted.
The experts of the Murim Alliance who were worthy of having their own flags.
At the central Alliance Lord Hall stood a splendid flag with a dragon drawn on it. At the center of the dragon was written the character Righteous (正).
It was the alliance lord’s flag of the Murim Alliance Lord, Jin Paecheon.
The subordinate strategist placed another flag beside the flag of the Murim Alliance Lord. It was a new flag that had not existed in the Murim Alliance until now.
And in the seat beside the alliance lord’s flag, at that.
Splendor (華).