Dong - Episode 294: I'm Not Buying It. (1)
One of the Three Venerables of the World.
A man called Paejon, said to be the pinnacle of the martial faction.
Though born of the Bi Clan.
A man who sought to live as a martial artist rather than as a bloodline scion burdened by duty and pretense.
Paejon Biju.
If one were to describe his life.
It could only be called madness.
A martial artist driven mad by the pursuit of greater realms.
A man who, from birth, set his goal to become a martial artist and reach transcendence.
Because he forged the path he wished to walk into a single road.
The one who ran straight ahead without ever looking back was Paejon.
He had been different from others since birth.
By the age when he could clench his own fist.
He could already knock down the elders above him in the bloodline one after another.
His innate, outstanding talent.
Led the clan head and the elders.
To be firmly convinced that he would surely bring about the revival of the Bi Clan.
But.
'I won't do it. Things like that.'
One day, Biju left behind a single letter and vanished.
Around the time Biju turned fifteen.
He declared that he would turn his back on the clan, and set out on the road.
So to speak.
It was a runaway.
The reason Biju left behind the illustrious Bi Clan.
Was none other than this.
To experience and awaken to a wider world.
And to use that enlightenment to create a martial art of his own.
The Bi Clan's secret martial art.
There existed a bloodline martial art called Biaui Tugong, but.
'It's no fun.'
Biju did not like that martial art.
Though the Bi Clan's art could indeed be called a divine art.
'I will carve out my own path.'
Biju desired to forge his own path.
And so, young Biju's journey to the Central Plains began.
It began as a martial journey.
Biju went wherever his feet took him, sought out experts, and challenged them to duels.
Some refused him.
There were many times in this process when he nearly died.
For a long time, as if demonstrating his skills upon the line between life and death.
Biju gritted his teeth and continued his martial journey.
And amid countless defeats and victories over the years.
Before he knew it, he had become a peak martial artist.
Perhaps that was the turning point.
—Pointless.
I hate the clan's martial art.
Having left the clan and set out on a martial journey.
In the end, what he used was still the clan's martial art.
Having gained no small enlightenment, Biju sought a different path.
He decided to create a martial art with which he could be satisfied.
Thus, a young prodigy—a peak martial artist of such youth, unseen at the time—
Turned his back on the world's expectations.
And left for the farthest corner of a remote mountain village, spending ten years there.
Ten years.
Certainly a considerable span of time.
Yet far too short a period to create a new martial art.
Moreover.
This was Biju, who already harbored a different inner cultivation within his body.
Even if he created a martial art, if the inner cultivation did not match, his meridians would twist and he would be unable to use it.
Therefore.
Biju decided to first erase the inner cultivation contained within his body.
He had to empty everything he had built up to the level of a peak expert.
Yet for Biju, hesitation did not exist.
Within the bounds of not scorching his dantian and not damaging his meridians.
It took one year to erase what he knew.
Having succeeded in erasing it.
From then on, the true beginning commenced.
Pursuing more efficient movements.
And creating a martial art that could be added to them.
Though he had entered a desolate path.
Biju remained without the slightest obstruction.
The movements he dreamed of had existed since long ago.
And the framework for them—
He had already grasped it during the year spent erasing the clan's inner cultivation.
He need only move as he desired.
If others had seen it.
They would ask if it was truly as easy as it sounded.
Ridiculously enough.
Biju possessed the talent to achieve it.
When creating his martial art, he placed the framework, the imagery, and the goal upon destruction.
Because he believed that the fundamental purpose of martial arts lay in destruction.
Solely to break and tear apart.
Efficient movements and the manipulation of internal energy for that purpose.
To break through such a path, Biju stayed up night and day.
And so, ten years flowed by.
Crack—
Kwaaah!
As the giant boulder behind the mountain crumbled.
Watching it sweep the ground, Biju thought,
—It should be fine to descend now.
Only then did he truly feel that the time had come to return to the Central Plains.
At this time, Biju's age had already passed thirty.
Ten years buried in the mountains, cutting off all news.
When he descended upon the Central Plains once more.
The world had changed greatly.
As the Blue Dragon of the Namgung Clan inherited the seat of clan head.
He was making a name as one of the Five Great Swordsmen of the World.
Around the time a middle-aged martial artist called Gale Sword began to rise to fame.
Biju began his martial journey anew.
At a point when he had not yet properly decided on a name for his martial art.
Once again, Biju ceaselessly sought out experts and fought duels.
He met three of the Five Great Swordsmen of the World.
And even encountered the one called the foremost of the era, the Ironblood Floating Fan.
He sought out duels regardless of whether they were orthodox or unorthodox.
Though he had created a martial art.
Defeats continued.
Because those stronger than him were innumerable.
But his advance did not stop.
If he lost, he need only stand back up.
Even when he won, he was not satisfied.
The Blue Dragon of the Namgung Clan was sharp.
The itinerant Gale Sword was strong.
The rising Plum Blossom Swordsman of Mount Hua was swift.
The foremost disciple of Kunlun pursued a heavy sword.
Though Biju could defeat no one with his newly created martial art.
As more time passed.
—Not bad.
Biju, lying on the ground vomiting blood, nodded in satisfaction.
He did not hesitate.
Because he had conviction.
That the martial art he had created would one day become a divine art that would not lose to anyone.
Thus, he was not disappointed.
His limbs were intact.
Both eyes were sound.
He was lucky.
He had thought that if he kept this up, he would lose something somewhere.
—Really, not bad.
He advanced without stopping.
He could find what was lacking through the experience of defeat.
A martial artist must endlessly pursue the martial way.
That is the essence of a martial artist.
—Just a little more.
The path was still visible.
The road ahead was rough.
Since it was a path that no one had paved, it was incredibly rugged, but.
—It is enjoyable.
Walking a path of his own making.
Held just that much joy.
Biju wiped the blood and rose.
Before him, three martial artists lay dead, their blood scattered.
Who were they?
He had been told they were some famous unorthodox sect members from somewhere.
Biju had not even heard their names.
Examining those who had died by his hands one by one, Biju.
Suddenly recalled.
'Your fist... breaks... the heavens.'
The one who had uttered those words must have been a figure with 'Heaven' in his nickname.
Was it the Sacheon Gwoecheol?
It had been something along those lines.
—Breaks the heavens.
He had not been a martial artist outstanding enough to be called 'the heavens.'
Seeing that Biju could not even remember his face.
He must have been an insignificant fellow.
Speaking of the heavens.
When he had dueled the Gale Sword.
The sword that bore the moon, which he had unleashed, was far more suited to that name.
At least he.
Had truly cut through the heavens.
Recalling that moment, Biju smiled.
Because it was a duel worth remembering.
Though he had nearly died.
—Heaven. Not bad.
Breaks the heavens.
A decent cadence.
—In that sense, from now on, this martial art's name shall be Pacheon. Breaking Heaven.
Tuapacheonmu.
It was the moment the martial art created by Biju gained a name.
Furthermore, it was the moment Biju ascended to the ranks of absolute experts by slaying three of the Sama Palje alone.
Biju did not listen to such trivial gossip.
Rather than rising and falling on someone's tongue.
Completing his own martial art was what mattered.
Time flowed on.
The Gale Sword had seized the seat of Alliance Leader without Biju's knowledge.
The Ironblood Floating Fan, the foremost of the era, died of a chronic illness.
The rising martial artist of Mount Hua became the sect leader.
Around the time the disciple of Kunlun took a similar position.
Biju was still Biju.
Being called a martial artist was enough.
That is what Biju thought.
Biju learned that he was called one of the Three Venerables or whatnot at a much later point than this.
Let me say it again.
For Biju, the completion of his martial art was the most important thing.
Because that was the goal of his life.
Then one day.
—Ah.
While training as usual, Biju gained an enlightenment.
—This is troubling.
The realization that he would be unable to complete his martial art himself.
Thanks to his lofty realm, he maintained a certain degree of youth despite his age.
But his decrepit flesh and meridians were the problem.
Though he possessed robust power and his martial art was not regressing.
The important thing was that he could no longer advance.
Only one step remained until completion.
—Damn it.
He laughed emptily.
The countless martial journeys.
And the realms he had dragged his body through as if abusing it.
Had instead become poison that came back to claim him.
—Haha.
Only on the verge of his twilight years.
Did he realize the greatest problem.
His martial art.
Was impossible to bring to its pinnacle with decrepit flesh.
Even with flesh that had assimilated inner energy and maintained its youth.
He could not reach the ultimate realm of Tuapacheonmu.
Because it was flesh that had already aged.
Even if he sought miraculous encounters.
And consumed miraculous elixirs, it could not be reversed.
The heavens wept.
On a winter day when snow fell.
As always, Biju did not hesitate for long.
If the problem was insufficient time.
And decrepit, weakened flesh.
He would reverse it.
Reversion of Youth.
Biju attempted the Reversion of Youth.
He already knew the side effects.
If his meridians were to weaken and his vessel shrink.
He merely thought he could build them back up.
At least if it was merely a weakened state, it would not be impossible.
With rejuvenated flesh.
Adding the enlightenment he possessed now, and the energy he would accumulate bit by bit.
He would be able to see the ultimate realm of his martial art.
For Biju, rather than the fame and martial power built up in the name of Paejon.
The completion of the martial art he had created was more important.
Biju returned to the Bi Clan and prepared for the Reversion of Youth.
...
Though he had left the clan and walked his own path.
Knowing grace, Biju had sent all the money he had earned until then to the clan.
And the fame of the Bi Clan's Paejon was of great help to the clan.
There was no way the clan head would dislike Paejon returning to the Bi Clan.
When he returned to the clan.
The clan head he faced had shifted from his father, to his older brother.
And from his older brother to that brother's child.
Biju could viscerally feel that a tremendous amount of time had passed.
When he told the clan head he would undergo the Reversion of Youth.
The Bi Clan head expressed worry.
But Biju had already steeled his heart.
That night.
Biju threw away everything he had accomplished.
And reversed the time of his flesh.
"...Fucking hell..."
Feeling his completely ruined vessel and meridians, he spat curses.
Because it was far worse than expected.
It was at a level where learning martial arts was impossible.
After undergoing the Reversion of Youth.
Over ten years flowed by.
Biju discarded his name.
And was living as a bloodline member of the Bi Clan called Biuijin.
A body at a level where learning martial arts was nearly impossible.
He had at least raised it to an ordinary level.
This was only possible because in his days as Biju.
He had been a martial artist called one of the Three Venerables.
And because there were elixirs hidden away in Paejon's secret chamber.
'What should I do?'
Biuijin, lying on the floor receiving the faint sunlight.
Thought ceaselessly.
How could he bring his martial art to completion?
Tuapacheonmu.
It was a martial art of such difficulty that even its creator felt it.
He only realized this after undergoing the Reversion of Youth.
How to use the joints.
How to exert muscular strength.
The direction and flow of internal energy at that time.
A divine art that could only be unleashed when everything came together in a single breath.
Because it was created with destruction as its basis.
If even one of these was off, it was at a level where it could not be executed properly.
And among them, the flesh was the most important.
'I was a fool.'
Biuijin's body, ruined by the Reversion of Youth.
Was at a level where he could not properly use Tuapacheonmu, which he himself had created.
His body could not follow his head.
'...Was it excessive greed?'
How many miraculous encounters must he feed his current flesh.
To approach the body he had as Biju?
No.
'It must be even more than that.'
Only after his flesh had degenerated could he know.
His martial art required a body close to perfection.
As for what level it needed to be.
Before even passing the age of twenty.
The standard was a body such that if only internal energy were sufficient, one would have risen to the peak long ago.
'...Ha.'
Upon recalling this, Biuijin let out an involuntary sigh.
Though he had not known because he himself had been like that.
Such a physique would be impossibly difficult to find even if one searched the entire Central Plains.
'What should I do?'
With his current flesh, he could never achieve the pinnacle even if he died.
The problem was that he had thought far too lightly of the Reversion of Youth.
Had he known it would be to this extent, he ought to have gathered every elixir in the world before starting.
'Am I to fail to reach the pinnacle like this?'
At least when he first underwent the Reversion of Youth.
He had thought he could somehow build it all back up.
Because Biuijin's life had always been that way.
He had thought it would be possible this time as well.
But the situation was far more dire.
Because it was at a level where rising to a realm he had already reached was no easy feat.
'I must find a way.'
He could not let it end like this.
As always, he had to find a way.
Since the crude method of clashing with his body was no longer usable.
Something else... He had to find something different.
"Brother!"
'Damn.'
Because he had been lost in useless thoughts for so long.
Biuijin had momentarily forgotten that he was hiding.
He tried to hide his body belatedly.
But the situation was already too late.
Someone appeared beside Biuijin.
"Again! What are you doing hiding here!"
It was Bibbi, a bloodline member of the clan.
Except for the clan head, she was known as Biuijin's younger sister.
But to him, she was merely a bloodline descendant around his granddaughter's age.
Furthermore, she was.
Also the reason why Biju, who had been obsessed with martial arts to the point of madness.
Did not take his own life even after realizing he could not achieve his martial art.
"Really... Why do you keep hiding?"
"Because you bother me so much, I have no choice but to hide."
"How much have I even bothered you...!"
"So... what is it?"
Biuijin let out a deep sigh and asked Bibbi.
In any case, probably asking to eat together again.
Or asking to train together, some bothersome talk.
Because that's how it usually was.
Biuijin's expectation was as such.
Contrary to that, Bibbi brought up another story.
"Brother, have you heard the news about this year's Dragon-Phoenix Gathering?"
"...No?"
Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
It was a name that became annoying the moment he heard it.
Biuijin's current nickname was Turong.
At least until he had recovered some of his strength, he did not want to draw the world's attention.
—Please! If you go with me this time! I won't bother you for half a year!
Because Bibbi had clung to him and begged for days, he had no choice but to go.
Even when he went, he had intended to do things roughly and perfunctorily.
'The problem was that kids these days are too weak.'
The level of the rising talents had been lacking.
They were called the greatest talents in history, the generation of shooting stars or whatnot.
They were far worse than when he himself had been a rising talent.
Of course, among them there had been true rough gems.
But they had still been unripe.
"So what of it?"
Biuijin asked sullenly.
Could it be that, because he had not attended this year's Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
She was thinking of clinging to him and bothering him again?
"They say a Dragon appeared at this martial arts tournament."
Fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.
"A Dragon?"
A Dragon—were they talking about one of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes?
Playing around with nicknames was the same back then as it is now.
"Yes... They say he's called the True Dragon."
True Dragon.
Among countless dragons, it meant the true dragon.
Truly a grandiose expression.
"What is the problem with that?"
Dragons could keep appearing.
Since it was a name given by the Alliance anyway, it was up to them.
For Biuijin, he had no remaining expectations for the Alliance that the old Sword Venerable had left.
At Biuijin's curtness.
Bibbi spoke up as if flaring up.
"Because there are rumors that this True Dragon is that person's disciple...!"
"That person? Who?"
"Our great-granduncle..."
"...?"
Biuijin had to frown at Bibbi's words.
Bibbi's great-granduncle.
If speaking of someone above the current Bi Clan head.
'Me?'
It was none other than Paejon Biju, himself.
"It's a baseless rumor."
Biuijin answered Bibbi firmly.
Because he had never taken a disciple.
At a time when completing his own martial art was more important than such things...
'Wait.'
"No, listen...! That rising talent called True Dragon, they say he came with a recommendation letter from great-granduncle..."
'A disciple?'
Whatever Bibbi was saying.
It didn't properly enter Biuijin's ears.
Disciple.
'Yes, a disciple.'
Biuijin's life goal was.
The completion of his martial art.
And if he could not complete his martial art with his current flesh.
'Wouldn't it work to have someone else complete it in his stead?'
Find one with the talent and flesh capable of seeing the pinnacle of Tuapacheonmu.
Was it not a matter of making them see the end of the martial art in his place?
"Besides, he hasn't even reached the age of twenty... They say he might have touched the realm of the peak. How is that possible?"
"The peak? Who said that?"
"The one called True Dragon."
At Bibbi's words, Biuijin's eyes widened greatly.
"Do you know that fellow's name?"
"Who? True Dragon?"
"Yes."
"Gu... Gu something... I don't know exactly. But I heard he is the younger brother of the Sword Peak heir."
"...The younger brother of Sword Peak."
Sword Peak.
The Sword Peak Clan was a place Biuijin knew as well.
A place where monsters hiding their fangs lived.
And the home of one of his few close friends.
'If he remains there.'
He was a child he had heard of several times.
That his temperament was changing strangely.
Because he remembered the fellow from Kunlun asking if he couldn't come visit sometime.
"...The peak. A body not yet of the age of twenty."
"Brother?"
"I see... So that's how it is."
"Brother? Hey? Where are you going... Hey!"
Though Bibbi called out earnestly from behind.
Biuijin ignored her and moved his body.
In his mind.
It was the moment the existence called Ouyang Tian was recognized.
And so, leading to the present.
The Ouyang Tian he met directly was a level far superior to what he had expected.
'An incredible level.'
When the Beggar Sect's Dirt Badger had come here at Ouyang Tian's request.
Perhaps because their intentions overlapped.
How he had laughed upon hearing that.
He had thought it was a fortunate coincidence.
"How about it.
A body and talent that has surpassed the peak at a young age.
Moreover, a body close to the perfection he pursued and desired.
Since I heard he hails from the martial faction.
His joints and such parts are also highly likely to have been trained exactly as he wished.
This is literally.
'A level born to learn Tuapacheonmu.'
Everything fits perfectly.
He matched every condition perfectly for completing his martial art.
So much so that he had momentarily misunderstood him as a martial artist who had undergone the same Reversion of Youth as himself.
That was how outstanding his condition was.
In fact.
Until just moments before, he had still harbored a slight doubt.
But the moment he grasped Ouyang Tian's neck.
Biuijin knew.
Absolutely, no matter what method was used.
Flesh that had undergone the Reversion of Youth could never possess such clean and strong meridians and vessel.
Recalling that, Biuijin spoke.
"As it happens, my master is recruiting a disciple."
Honestly.
Peddling himself like this was quite shameful, but.
Ouyang Tian wouldn't know about this anyway, so it was fine.
Never once had he used the nickname and position of Paejon.
Conversely, because he knew well how enormous the standing of Paejon was.
For this once alone, he had to use it.
If it was the teaching of one of the Three Venerables, he would never refuse.
Biuijin looked at Ouyang Tian and dreamed.
'The talent of that body. If combined with my teaching.'
The pinnacle of Tuapacheonmu that he desired.
He would be able to see it.
'Now, hurry...'
If he only said yes.
A new history would begin from that moment.
As a new successor of Tuapacheonmu, he would be able to rise even higher.
"I won't buy it."
"Good, I shall right away... What?"
At Ouyang Tian's answer.
Biuijin made a blank expression.
"What did you say?"
"No, not that I won't buy it. I won't do it."
"You seem to misunderstand. As I said before, my master..."
"Yes, I know. I'm telling you I won't do it."
At Ouyang Tian's answer.
Biuijin, apart from the period immediately following his Reversion of Youth.
Was forced to wear an expression of the most profound shock.