Flip, flip—
He flipped through the martial arts manual without a moment's rest.
The verses of the Yuhuan Miaobu passed by quickly.
To an onlooker, it might seem like a child playing with a martial arts manual, but Tianhui himself was dead serious.
Eventually, he reached the end.
Thud.
He shook his head and closed the manual.
"This is different from what that old woman displayed."
He said with conviction. After that, he flipped the manual upside down in case it was wrong, then checked the corners just in case, and for a moment...
Scratch, scratch.
He scratched the back of his head.
"What is this? Was what the old woman used not the Yuhuan Miaobu? No, that can't be right."
He simply couldn't understand.
The cover of the martial arts manual clearly read Yuhuan Miaobu, and its contents perfectly matched the footwork Xuanlü had displayed.
That was precisely why it was strange.
Wasn't the Yuhuan Miaobu a peerless footwork that even Wudang and Shaolin coveted?
There was a time when he used to think that being fast was enough, wondering what need there was for principles and enlightenment in footwork.
But what shattered that notion were the Tianma Junlin Bu recorded in the Tianma Shengong, the Kunlun Sect's Yunlong Da Jiu Shi, and finally, this Yuhuan Miaobu.
From the Tianma Junlin Bu, he learned that overwhelming power was possible even in footwork.
From the Yunlong Da Jiu Shi, he realized the importance of footwork in executing martial arts.
And from the Yuhuan Miaobu, he could comprehend that footwork was the very center of all martial arts. Thanks to this, he was able to research and refine his lacking footwork.
And yet, this is that Yuhuan Miaobu?
He clicked his tongue.
The Yuhuan Miaobu, still vividly imprinted in his mind, was a bizarre yet unique footwork derived from the Bagua.
Qian, Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen, Kun.
The Bagua, which referred to heaven, swamp, water, fire, thunder, wind, mountain, and earth respectively, was a harmonization of the two trigrams of Qian and Kun that create all things, and the six trigrams that manipulate all things. And the Yuhuan Miaobu was a footwork executed utilizing this very Bagua.
The arms and legs, these two represented Qian and Kun, and the intent was to express the principles of the remaining six trigrams through footwork.
'Like this.'
He slowly stepped forward with his left foot.
Swish—
Tianhui's soles stepped in all eight directions.
Deep as a swamp, soft as water.
Fierce as fire, fast as thunder.
Swaying like the wind, or firm as a mountain.
In the blink of an eye, his footwork became versatile. Instantly, dozens of footprints were carved into the floor where he stood.
Thud.
A moment later, his feet, which had been constantly stepping in all directions, came to a halt.
He frowned as he looked at the martial arts manual. Although he couldn't execute it to the very end due to a lack of inner qi, upon reaching the final stage, the eight trigrams were supposed to merge into one.
Through that, true Qian and Kun would be created, completing the Yuhuan (Jade Ring).
This was the Yuhuan Miaobu he knew.
However, the mnemonic verses written in the martial arts manual had its middle section missing.
What remained were heaven and earth.
And only three trigrams—fire, thunder, and wind—remained.
So what was the result?
'It became a half-baked footwork solely pursuing speed.'
But was it fast because of that?
That wasn't the case either.
The original Yuhuan Miaobu was much faster.
And on top of that, the original variations were missing, so it wasn't free-flowing either.
'That old woman read this, so how did she execute such a Yuhuan Miaobu?'
A question that made him tilt his head dug into his mind.
With only the mnemonic verses that had the middle part clearly missing, completing the Yuhuan Miaobu would be difficult for anyone other than himself.
Then again, was that old woman a genius like him?
She was not.
She had merely reached the Wuji Zhijing through relentless effort; she was closer to an ordinary person than a genius.
And she created such a martial art? That was nonsense.
Questions bred more questions.
He fell into thought for a moment, then came up with two answers.
'Either the missing mnemonic verses in the manual were passed down orally, or someone deliberately left only half the verses in case the Yuhuan Miaobu was stolen.'
He shrugged.
Sects that passed down martial arts orally still existed, and there were also places that deliberately hid the key mnemonic verses of their manuals like this.
'In the Tianma Library, there were even eccentric martial arts manuals where the mnemonic verses were deliberately twisted so that no one but the creator could learn them.'
Frowning, he looked at the bookshelves.
Countless martial arts manuals.
Who knew how many of those many books had missing mnemonic verses like the Yuhuan Miaobu.
'Not that it matters to me, though.'
He casually slid the manual back into its original spot and rolled his eyes.
"Shall I read the next one, then?"
Afterward, with an interested gaze, he pulled out the book placed next to the Yuhuan Miaobu.
"Hmm, this is..."
He placed the Yuhuan Miaobu in his hand back in its original spot and grasped the book next to it.
Like that, he opened the book again and immersed himself in its contents.
A long time passed like that.
Meanwhile, Xuanqing, who had been revising a manual on the desk, stood up.
"The sun is setting again today."
The sun was slowly dipping below the mountain ridge.
The sky was gradually dyed red.
The sunset slowly enveloped the Huashan Sect, radiating beautiful colors.
While looking at the scenery like that.
He abruptly stood up from his seat.
He had forgotten for a moment while revising. He had forgotten that Tianhui, who had entered early in the morning, had not come out.
He hurriedly climbed the stairs. He soon reached the third floor, and his footsteps stopped.
Tianhui, sitting on the floor, was immersed in the martial arts manual in his hand.
"...You were starving for martial arts."
A bitter smile lingered around his mouth.
Then, he recalled his firm resolution.
'Junior brother. Although I couldn't help you back then, if Tianhui wishes to learn martial arts, I will teach him everything I've learned in my entire life.'
Xuanqing's resolution was astonishing.
It was a fact known only to the Elders of the Huashan Sect, but in terms of martial prowess, he was a top-tier master even within the sect. The reason such a man became the Master of the Manjing Pavilion was because his youngest junior brother, Xuanjiang, had lost his life.
Xuanjiang had perished together with the expert of Baigui Cheng, MieJue Po Jian.
The Huashan Sect wanted revenge.
But they couldn't.
The Wulin Meng, centered around the Nine Sects and One Clan.
The Feitian Hui, formed by the Eight Great Noble Families and neutral sects between the righteous and evil paths.
And the Xiehei Lian, composed of the Evil Path and the Black Path.
It was the era of the Three-Way Division of the World, namely the Jiuzhou Sanba Shi.
And Baigui Cheng was one of the Liuhuang Men that supported the Xiehei Lian.
But if the Wulin Meng and the Xiehei Lian, the central pillars of the two factions, clashed, a war between the two massive forces would naturally break out, and as a result, the long-standing balance that maintained the Central Plains would surely shatter.
In a way, it was a choice for the greater good.
However, Xuanqing was devastated.
What if it had been Wudang or Shaolin?
They would have gone to war without hesitation.
But it was passed over because it was the Huashan Sect.
If the sect's prestige had been the same as before, they would definitely not have received such treatment.
So he holed himself up in the Manjing Pavilion.
All because an absolute master had not emerged from their sect.
Therefore, he sought to delve into the martial arts within the Manjing Pavilion and revive the lost or scattered martial arts of the Huashan Sect.
Like that, he stayed in the Manjing Pavilion for eight years, dedicating himself to revising the martial arts manuals.
But there was someone he had taken an interest in.
Tianhui, who was as frail as could be.
'With that body, it would be difficult for him to become a master, so it would be enough to teach him just enough martial arts to protect himself.'
Of course, his interest was born of pity, not expectation.
Clack.
Just then, Tianhui closed the book.
"Hui, it's time to close now."
"I under... stand."
He smiled as he watched Tianhui look at the bookshelves with a regretful expression. Soon, Tianhui turned around and went down the stairs.
A moment later, after watching Tianhui leave the Manjing Pavilion over the railing, Xuanqing organized the bookshelf labeled 'Qinggong Techniques'.
Thud.
While doing so, his gaze fixed on the floor.
Footprints were overlapping in a disorderly mess.
"Haha, he must have been so restless after reading a martial arts manual for the first time."
The image of Tianhui, excited by the joy of reading a martial arts manual, flickered in his mind.
Smiling with satisfaction for a moment, Xuanqing walked past the spot.
Unaware that the wondrous true essence of the Yuhuan Miaobu, the forgotten peerless martial art he had so desperately desired, lay within those very footprints.
* * *
Thud—
Tianhui closed the book once again.
'Next.'
Four days had already passed.
During that time, Tianhui had been continuously rummaging through and reading the books on the third floor of the Manjing Pavilion, but he still hadn't read most of them.
If it had been his former self, it would have been unbelievable.
This was because he possessed such outstanding intellect that with a single read, he could grasp not only the contents of the martial arts manual but even the true forms.
However, there was a reason he couldn't do so.
Skillfully heading back to the bookshelf, he pulled out a martial arts manual and opened it.
Tsk tsk, this one is a mess too.
Yunu Suxin Jianfa.
A completely different interpretation was written for a sword art executed based on yin qi.
'What? The Yunu Suxin Jianfa is the advanced sword art of the Shunu Jian?'
He shook his head.
The natures of the two were completely different.
The Shunu Jian was less of a sword art and more of a non-combatual sword art learned to train the body, putting it on a completely different track from the Yunu Suxin Jianfa, which utilized yin qi.
He was dumbfounded at whoever wrote this.
'Again?'
"Sigh."
He closed the martial arts manual with a sigh.
There were many martial arts manuals written incorrectly like this.
Because of that, it took time to trace back each martial art one by one and identify their problems.
Clack.
He slid the Yunu Suxin Jianfa back.
At least with completely new martial arts he didn't know, he could read them with interest and skim through them lightly.
But with some martial arts like this, he already knew them or had experienced them before.
Because of that, he unknowingly examined them while making strict comparisons.
"It's completely messed up."
Shaking his head with a displeased expression, he picked up the martial arts manual slanted right next to the Yunu Suxin Jianfa.
"Luoying Jianfa?"
Upon discovering the martial arts manual of a sword art he had only heard rumors of in the past, he opened the book with interested eyes.
As he continued to read the martial arts manual with intense focus, he naturally raised his right hand and clenched his fist as if gripping a sword.
"This part is a bit lacking? For this stance, wouldn't pulling back be better in terms of power rather than thrusting straight out?"
He thrust his right hand out straight.
Swish—
His small, delicate hand shot out like lightning, and a sound erupted as the air was torn apart.
Paang—
"If you execute it like this, it's powerful and sharp, but they interpreted it like that? Is this really the Huashan Sect I knew?"
The more he read the martial arts manuals placed in the Manjing Pavilion, the more questions sprang up.
The Huashan Sect he knew was a place ranked at the top even among the Nine Sects and One Clan.
It didn't fall short even when compared to Wudang and Shaolin.
But what was this?
They were such shoddy martial arts that it was hard to believe they belonged to that Huashan Sect.
At the very least, the martial arts representing the Huashan Sect, such as the Ershisi Shou Meihua Jianfa and the Anxiang Piao, were peerless techniques without any flaws.
They were on par with the top demonic arts of the Tianma Shengjiao.
However, those were only a few.
Most of them were in this state.
Sigh, no wonder the Sect Leader was only at that level.
He understood the level of the Sect Leader's martial prowess.
No matter how excellent the advanced martial arts are, what's the use if the foundational martial arts, the pillars that support them, don't back them up?
Only when the soil where seeds are sown is good can the fruits grow beautifully.
But since they had created such barren soil, no matter how good the seeds sown, there wouldn't be much to gain.
I might as well change them. If they learn most of the martial arts here exactly as written in the manuals, they won't even be of any proper use.
As he was clicking his tongue and shaking his head.
Hmm?
His eyes caught an old book placed on the highest shelf.
Miemo Jianfa.
His hand moved on its own at the domineering name of the martial art, which didn't suit a Daoist sect.
He immediately opened the martial arts manual.
Oho? It reverses demonic qi?
He chuckled.
Demonic qi was an absolute energy.
It could never be defied.
But they reverse demonic qi? That's nonsen...? Hmm? What? This seems possible? Don't tell me...
Shwak—
As if bewitched, he fell deeply into the contents.
Thud.
Looking at the empty air, he closed the martial arts manual.
A profound lingering sensation remained.
Especially from the final sword stance.
"Is this guy crazy? Devoting his Xiantian Zhenqi to aim for a single strike?"
It was a move of mutual destruction that sacrificed one's life.
It was truly a spectacular sword stance.
Admiration naturally poured out for the demon-subjugating sword art written before it, but at the final stance, his teeth chattered at its sheer viciousness.
But as he read on, he nodded.
It was an outstanding stance, even if it could only be used once.
It was to the point where even his past self might suffer a hit if he let his guard down.
"I probably wouldn't die, but I could get injured... But who created this martial art? One wouldn't even think of creating such a crazy sword art unless they hated the Demonic Path with a passion."
To find the creator of the Miemo Jianfa, he scanned the martial arts manual in detail.
Then he found it.
"Xiang... yun?!"
He widened his eyes in dismay.
Xiangyun? That was that Horse-Nosed Daoist bastard!
Tianhui recalled the Horse-Nosed Daoist who had tormented him so miserably and hastily scanned the martial arts manual once again.
The book was quite old.
As if a long time had passed.
...W-What is going on here?
His hands trembled.
His panic was momentary; to resolve this situation, he quickly looked for Xuanqing.
He soon found him writing a martial arts manual in the corner of the Manjing Pavilion as usual.
"Fourth Uncle."
At Tianhui calling him, Xuanqing put down the brush in his hand with a look of expectation.
"What is the matter?"
Xuanqing calmly organized his thoughts.
How he should teach him martial arts.
But his thoughts fell into a labyrinth at Tianhui's following words.
"Do you know... someone named Zhenren Xiang... yun?"
Tianhui's face contorted.
'To think I have to call that eccentric and nasty Horse-Nosed Daoist a Zhenren.'
At that time, Xuanqing tilted his head.
"Zhenren Xiangyun?"
Frowning for a moment and falling deep into thought, his face brightened when he saw the martial arts manual in Tianhui's hand.
"Ah! You're talking about Patriarch Zhenren Xiangyun, the 23rd Generation Sect Leader of our sect. The Patriarch was from three hundred years ago when our sect enjoyed its greatest reputation..."
Xuanqing's explanation continued.
But Tianhui couldn't hear him.
Because one word from his explanation had pierced into his mind and torn it apart.
"T-Three hundred years ago?!"