전생검신 87권 11화

Lee Hwan-woong said.

“The match with the Overlord Ajidahaka is in two days.”

“In two days…”

“Until then, either warm up your body, or if there’s something you’re still unhappy about, wrap it up within a day…”

“……”

I pondered over Lee Hwan-woong’s advice. Was there anything I needed to deal with in just a day?

But I had almost forgotten about the duel with Ajidahaka until just a moment ago, so the past events of the Great Cycle didn’t hit me all at once. I was jumping around in the timeline, making me confused. Reluctantly, I had no choice but to seek Lee Hwan-woong’s counsel.

“Tell me if there’s something I need to do. Right now, I’m so confused I don’t know anything.”

“Really? To be honest, there are a few things…”

“What are they?”

“Don’t do it.”

“……?”

As I stood there dumbfounded by his unexpected comment, Lee Hwan-woong chuckled.

“According to you, the battle with Ajidahaka that’s happening the day after tomorrow is a crucial battle to raise your martial arts level, right? No matter how important other things are, they can’t outweigh that. Instead of forcing yourself to think of things that don’t even come to mind, it’d be better to forget everything else and spend the day getting your body in prime condition.”

“Hmm, that’s true.”

“And one more thing. This is a personal curiosity of mine, but can you answer it?”

“What is it?”

Tap

Lee Hwan-woong closed the small book he had in one hand and said, “What do you think would happen if a master of the Divine Realm faced the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique?”

“……!!”

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, I could only pause.

I racked my brain with all my martial arts experience over the years and, after a while, opened my mouth.

“I don’t know.”

“Why don’t you know? The Divine Realm is about the Sword of the Heart, and Formless Sword is a legendary state, so naturally, the Divine Realm should defeat the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique, right?”

“That’s…”

I replied seriously.

“I’ve probably seen and studied the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique more than anyone else in the Martial World during my reincarnations. And I sensed that this guy’s Heavenly Unrestrained Technique is different from other absolute realms. The limit itself is different from other absolute realms.”

“Still, shouldn’t it lose if you push through with the power of Heart of Heaven’s Abundance?”

“……To put it another way, if Ha Eun-cheon’s pure internal power reaches a level that can handle Heart of Heaven’s Abundance, then that kind of approach won’t work. Ha Eun-cheon’s internal power is incredible, but compared to the infinite internal power, it was petty.”

“Hmm.”

“Likewise, the Divine Skill can penetrate the ordinary Heavenly Unrestrained Technique because the unit of power is different. But if…”

I couldn’t continue. Lee Hwan-woong then nodded as if he understood.

“I see. If the capabilities of the leader of the Twelve Joules, Ha Eun-cheon, reach the divine level, then there still exists no martial art that can normally penetrate the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique?”

“……Yeah.”

“You really overvalue the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique. I feel like I understand why you do.”

“You do?”

When I asked back, Lee Hwan-woong nodded.

“I know because I heard from Black Obsidian what Yeodong-bin said to you during your training.”

“What?”

“With a heart devoid of emotion, can one follow the optimal movements purely with mechanical rationality, is it better than a natural body… or was it something like that?”

“……!!”

Gulp

When Lee Hwan-woong pinpointed the core so quickly, I flinched.

‘Indeed, a genius is a genius!’

It’s not something a normal person could do, to pick out the most crucial point from all the memories of Black Obsidian. Lee Hwan-woong continued nonchalantly.

“No matter how high a master of the Divine Realm operates the Sword of the Heart, if it’s within the domain of martial arts, there must be ‘movement.’ Even if it’s not a physical movement but just a resonance of the heart, it still can’t be called true tranquility, can it?”

“……”

“But if the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique truly evolves to the realm of the Divine Realm… then at that time, the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique would optimize the heart’s movement mechanically to block it. What Yeodong-bin worried about was likely that.”

“Don’t say such ridiculous things!”

I couldn’t help but shout out loud. When Lee Hwan-woong stared at me quietly, I couldn’t hold back my emotions, grinding my teeth.

“Countless martial artists throughout history have sacrificed their lives to reach the realm of the Spirit Sword! The culmination of that extreme pursuit is the Spirit Sword, yet you think it just makes sense that a simple optimized calculation from a strong AI could match it?!!”

As I exploded, Lee Hwan-woong didn’t respond for a moment but just looked at me. When I calmed down, Lee Hwan-woong finally spoke.

“There’s no need to get angry, right? I merely wanted to discuss the limitations of the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique.”

“……”

“The reason you’re angry is simple. You probably even acknowledge that it’s plausible for the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique to have such potential. You can’t bear to think that martial arts could be caught up by science, yet at the same time, you have to accept that fact because you possess the capability of the Divine Realm, right?”

“Damn… What the…”

I breathed roughly, yet once my head cleared up, I started to think that Lee Hwan-woong was right.

Sighing, I said, “…Yeah. I’m afraid the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique could potentially match the Spirit Sword.”

In fact, back when I heard it from Yeodong-bin, I couldn’t understand why an absolute master like him, capable of executing the Spirit Sword, was concerned about the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique. However, after various adventures and gaining powers from the Divine Realm, I finally understood what Yeodong-bin was worried about.

Lee Hwan-woong said, “The Heavenly Unrestrained Technique is an absolute martial art but not an absolute realm. If we assume that there exists a creator god who made this universe, and that god coded this world, it’s inevitable to include null in that coding.”

“……”

“Therefore, even in peaceful states, there’s a probability of existence overlapping. Even though he’s a strong AI known as Mephisto, he can’t calculate that probability. It’s like a googol-level chance, yet it’s still not perfect.”

“Eh? Overlapping existence? How does that happen?”

“Hehe, let me show you what I mean.”

Whoosh

As soon as he finished speaking, a blue lightning-like energy erupted from Lee Hwan-woong’s body. His eyes turned completely blue, and when I saw that, something clicked.

‘Wait, he used that technique when he faced Yu Mang before!’

Quantum Technique

Spin Network

It looked like Lee Hwan-woong was suddenly making a big fist with both hands.

Schrödinger on the loop

Beeep!

“……!!”

In the next moment, Lee Hwan-woong’s body split into two, creating a blue clone of himself. That clone suddenly charged at me with an attack.

‘Thunder God Fist?’

When Lee Hwan-woong used the Thunder God Fist for a strike, I attempted to defend myself with a basic safeguard technique. However, as soon as I put my palm out to block Lee Hwan-woong’s fist, it completely pierced through my body!

‘What the heck?!’

Since I intended to block it with my intention, I never expected that Lee Hwan-woong’s clone attack would pass right through my defense. I was a bit flustered but then took a step back to dodge the follow-up strike and countered with a palm strike to hit the clone.

Boom!

The clone, struck by my Thunder Spirit Seal, bounced back. Yet, just as it seemed to bounce away, it began to dissipate energy and sprayed lightning into the air.

Flash!!

“Huh?!”

What in the world?! It may have shrunk in size, but it was definitely strong enough to take down a fully grown dragon with a single blow!

As I panicked, Lee Hwan-woong finally stopped his attack and grinned.

“How’s that? A fun little technique, right?”

“I think I remember you using that against Yu Mang, but what kind of clone technique is this? How can it penetrate my defense?”

“This isn’t a clone technique.”

“Not a clone technique?”

“Regular clone techniques either condense Qi or intention or use techniques to create illusions. But listen… this technique wasn’t created from Qi, intention, or any techniques.”

Lee Hwan-woong placed a hand on the shoulder of his blue clone.

“This is created by artificially overlapping my existence probability through quantum mechanics. In other words, this is another version of myself.”

“……?!”

“So, it’s not just a clone; it can also serve as another main body. Isn’t that interesting?”

“What?! A technique like that can exist?!”

That’s utterly insane! As I listened to the principle of the technique in shock, Lee Hwan-woong chuckled.

“It’s possible. Mephisto’s computational ability has reached the level to manipulate quantum overlaps. And entities existing in this state of overlap are called Unitary Bodies, which can disregard almost all external forces. They can ignore most dimensional barriers. However, they can’t handle the overwhelming power unleashed by cosmic beings like Yu Mang. But for mortals, it’s quite useful.”

“Hmm! Does that mean you absorbed my Thunder Spirit Seal just now…?”

“It can disregard that level of striking power. It would easily absorb the Thunder God energy.”

“……”

I looked at Lee Hwan-woong with new eyes.

‘This guy looks weak in this Takrok Era, but if he were back in the Great Ming Empire era, would he be in the top tier?’

As I was lost in thought, Lee Hwan-woong continued, “As you can see, artificially overlapping quanta is possible. However, the problem is, I can’t control this at will. There are times in the vast data where quantum overlap occurs randomly with googol probabilities. Mephisto can’t interpret that, leading to occasional errors.”

“What? So, does that mean even the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique isn’t completely flawless?”

“Finally understanding. That’s it.”

“Hmm… then how could we possibly create that null error in the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique?”

Lee Hwan-woong shrugged.

“I don’t know that either. The presence of errors is just a fact; however, during combat, the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique has never developed to the point that it leads to an ‘error.’ The errors are so negligible that soon, strong AI’s computation clears them away.”

“……”

“In real combat, it’s practically a zero. Even if you unleash techniques billions of times over countless battles. A probability of one in a googol means that.”

So, do you mean, it’s meaningless?

I made a disappointed face, and Lee Hwan-woong smiled.

“But… right now, I’m at a level I can’t even imagine. But if a once-in-a-lifetime absolute master reached a state where they can pinpoint that minute error… they might have a chance.”

“Hmm…”

“Well, anyway, that’s it. It’ll be a great help later.”

With that, Lee Hwan-woong stretched out the Cosmic Fragment and said, “Speaking of which, let’s have a spar. Since you are not in the state of your future mechanical body, you’ll need to get accustomed to your current body again.”

“…Sounds good.”

After that, I went with Lee Hwan-woong to the training ground and started sparring. While we were engulfed in sparring, I realized Lee Hwan-woong made a valid point.

‘This mechanical body and my current body are vastly different. If I had been wandering around while doing something else, I would never have been able to show my true capabilities.’

However, I felt a little strange.

When it came to physical condition, it was obvious my mechanical body was far superior, but I felt this bizarre sense of being trapped in freedom. This body should be thousands of times more suited to martial arts, so why do I feel this way?

After about three moments of sparring with Lee Hwan-woong, I began to feel somewhat familiar with my current body. So, I said to Lee Hwan-woong.

“From now on, I want to review my fight with Ananda in my head.”

“Okay, then don’t forget to meet me by noon tomorrow.”

“Sure.”

I sat cross-legged in the center of the training ground and began to reflect. I started meditating in silence for a few moments.

‘Right now, I’m not in a mechanical body; I’m in a human body and at the peak state with tremendous divine power and energy. If I were to fight Ananda then, how would the match have resulted?’

I seriously visualized Ananda’s form in my head and began to engage in a theoretical duel with myself. This training method, used before battling Musashi, while not as effective as real combat, was certainly enough to reveal the outlines of victory and defeat in a fight. However, as I duelingly fought Ananda in my mind for an extended time, I let out a sigh of disappointment.

“…No, I can’t gauge it.”

As I murmured, the Ananda in my mind faded from the dueling scene. The reason was that this kind of mental sparring only had value when I had grasped over 90% of my opponent’s capabilities. However, I realized that Ananda hadn’t even revealed half his true power when he fought me, making any virtual duel against him pointless.

Above all, was it really true that my state was more favorable against Ananda?

Could I be missing something?

After contemplating for a while, I finally decided to call for support.

“Heuk Woong.”

Swish!

In the next moment, a pitch-black shadow appeared before my eyes. Heuk Woong took on the form of a tiny version of Jeon Wook, crossing his arms.

[Did you call, Master?]

“I was trying to estimate my match with Ananda in my head, but I just can’t come up with an answer. Is there perhaps a way?”

[…….]

Heuk Woong thought for a moment after hearing my request and then replied.

[Ananda may be an opponent even stronger than the Cosmic Sword Master Ajidahaka. Measuring such a foe is not something ordinary methods can achieve.]

“How should I do it?”

[If the aim is to gauge the strength of an absolute master, there’s one method I can currently assist you with.]

Swish

Suddenly moving to the opposite side of me, Heuk Woong manifested. No longer in a tiny spirit form, he transformed into a shape quite similar to that of a human, summoning a hidden weapon on his hand.

[Get ready.]

“What?”

As Heuk Woong’s words sank in, I suddenly felt a rush of nervousness.

[Master. Let’s remove our ranks and fight for real.]

“`

 

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