전생검신 98권 08화

I had come to realize that there were specific issues with both 구궁파천뢰 and 사신지혼 from the get-go.

The problem with 구궁파천뢰 was nurturing the 뇌혼 in my 심령. Obviously, the rewards would be immense if I reached that level, but the prerequisites and effort required to cultivate the 뇌혼 were incredibly intense.

First off, while cultivating the 뇌혼 in my 심령 and circulating pure 뇌정 throughout my body, the积功 required was excruciating for an ordinary person, to the point that they might feel their blood vessels burning and face physical destruction. Even I, who had already reached a formidable level of 내공 and absolute realm before tackling 구궁파천뢰, couldn’t escape that pain; starting from absolute nothing would be unbelievably tough.

Moreover, there were additional secrets necessary to master 구궁파천뢰. 천랑뇌신결, 팔황경천신공, and 무환천랑백팔식 were essential. 천랑뇌신결 was the most critical technique that allowed for the dangerous and destructive accumulation of 뇌정 within the body, while 팔황경천신공 was a vital technique that sprang from it, significantly hastening the efficiency of my training. Lastly, 무환천랑백팔식 wasn’t strictly essential, but mastering this unpredictable martial technique would make it easier to deal with the terrifying changes encountered at profound levels of 구궁파천뢰 later on.

The snag was that each of these techniques was powerful enough to constitute world-class martial arts, and intensely challenging to master. Toss any one of these techniques to an average martial artist, and they’d likely struggle for fifty lifetimes without even reaching level seven, let alone level ten. Expecting someone to master all three was practically impossible without extraordinary talent.

‘Even I, starting with 구궁파천뢰 at the twenty-eighth round, took hundreds of years in the training world to solidify and make it my own…’

And honestly, did I fully comprehend 구궁파천뢰? Probably not. Though I had trained in it as part of mastering 사신지혼, I felt like if 구궁파천뢰 had a true potential of 100, I hadn’t even scratched the surface of 20. There was no doubt that 구궁파천뢰 was the most challenging divine skill in the Thunder God lineage.

Similarly, there were issues with imparting 사신지혼, too.

‘The 사신지혼 from the Great Ming Empire era is entirely different from the one in the ancient Pangu era over a thousand years ago. With Shim Su-ryeok’s help, I managed to establish the system of 사신지혼 while training, but…’

The absurd strength I gained while training the transformation techniques learned from Shim Su-ryeok was possible only under two premises: the overwhelming spiritual power of 세성’s blessing and the considerable accomplishments I had made in mastering 구궁파천뢰. The truth is that merely learning 사신지혼 without any foundation wouldn’t make it a particularly special martial art; it clearly needed 구궁파천뢰 as a backing to create a synergistic effect.

In that light, it seemed highly unlikely that I would see short-term achievements with 사신지혼.

After pondering the issues with 구궁파천뢰 and 사신지혼, I finally reached a conclusion.

“Eh, whatever! The ones who are gathered here are all geniuses or prodigies, so they’ll find a way to tackle the talent and difficulty issues! Plus, since geniuses are gathered around, sharing what they don’t know will make things much easier… Once their mastery of 구궁파천뢰 increases, only then will 사신지혼 start to show its true power; I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”

With that thought in mind, I began to impart martial arts techniques. The renowned master and the great dragon of Jianghu couldn’t help but gasp at hearing the theories behind 구궁파천뢰 and 사신지혼.

The master exclaimed in a shaky voice, “Truly… this is the martial art of the Beyond Heaven! I never even imagined such arts existed.”

I scratched my head. “Um… Master, isn’t that a bit of an overreaction? The Shaolin Temple’s arts are impressive too, and you’ve seen millions of books and martial arts manuals…”

“No, it’s not an overreaction at all. These two techniques fundamentally start at a superhuman level, seeking the power to violently achieve divine killings. I have never seen anything like this today.”

By that, the great dragon and the sword demon nodded in agreement.

“Indeed. These are utterly ridiculous martial arts…”

“However, as Baek Woong mentioned, if we receive the benefits of being reincarnators and extend our lifespan by 500 years, while collaborating with all the talent and the divine beings from the celestial realm, then it might not be impossible…”

The sword demon crossed his arms in admiration. “I find the technique of 사신지혼 even more astonishing. If what you say is true, it’s a martial art crafted through countless trials, enduring virtual deaths based on ancient transformations! I’ve never heard of a martial art being created that way.”

“…”

Should I feel pleased or not at the sword demon’s awe? I was grateful that he acknowledged my efforts, but on the flip side, 사신지혼 symbolized the grim reality that a talentless fool might have to die hundreds of times to achieve… From my own experience of dying repeatedly, the emotions were undoubtedly complicated.

Thus, I waved it off and said, “Anyway, work hard to master this. Though I can’t help you much with 구궁파천뢰 since I still have unexplored areas, I’m confident in teaching you 사신지혼.”

The insights I gained from dying would surely surpass any innate talent.

Suddenly, Namgung Jo from the Namgung Clan, who had been quietly listening, piped up, “Baek Woong, if you’re saying that, I have a curious question.”

“What is it?”

“Where is that legendary being, Dongfang Sak, who supposedly lived through the Three Thousand Magnitudes? Where can I find him? I’m curious about this Three Thousand Magnitudes inner strength…”

“…!”

Oh?!

I hadn’t even thought about that, and it caught me completely by surprise. In fact, I had already shared my past life story with the people before me, so it was a perfectly acceptable question. Stammering, I replied, “Um… well… surely when I returned at the end of the thirtieth cycle, I was working as a disciple under the ancient god. Having acted in human civilization for thousands of years, it’s likely he’s still under the ancient god, and I intended to find him eventually.”

Namgung Jo tilted his head. “But isn’t it strange?”

“What’s strange?”

“Dongfang Sak met you under the premise that he waited for you for thousands of years. That means he should have already been aware of your appearance at this time when the thirty-first cycle started! When you opened your eyes in the barn, Dongfang Sak should have been all set to become your companion!”

“…!”

“If that wasn’t the case… it implies that the connection between your past encounter in the Great Cycle and Dongfang Sak has vanished, and now he’s operating as a completely separate entity. There’s no certainty whether it’s related to the ancient god or not…”

“Gah…!”

Huh, right?!

Namgung Jo’s argument was so logically sound that it shocked me. If I hadn’t even considered that, it seemed I really had no clue where Dongfang Sak currently was!

I was lost for words when the master spoke up.

“I’m not sure if this will help, but I once read about the legacy of Dongfang Sak from the Three Thousand Magnitudes in the literature.”

“Oh!”

Now that I mentioned it, the master had devoured countless books in the Buddhist scriptures! With everyone’s attention turning to him, he joined his palms and continued.

“Dongfang Sak was said to have been taken away to the Charcoal River by the Grim Reaper, who pretended to wash coal. It’s a short ancient legend, but all legends often stem from ancient truths, and this one was directly recorded by the neighboring constellation, so there may be truth to it. Baek Woong, it would be wise for you to search for Dongfang Sak’s traces at the Charcoal River.”

“Charcoal River…? Where might that be?”

“I’ve heard it’s a river located near the waist of Eastern Goryeo.”

“The Charcoal River of Goryeo…”

Though it’s the territory of the Master of the Twelve Joules, honestly, it’s not a place I’m eager to visit. However, considering it as the starting point for finding Dongfang Sak, it might be worth a visit.

After sharing the martial arts techniques with them, I stepped outside. Following this, I suddenly remembered what I needed to do next and my eyes lit up.

‘I’ve shared all I can. I used the utensils inside the ship to transcribe everything about 구궁파천뢰 and 사신지혼 in my memory onto paper to create secret techniques… They’ll probably take a month or two to lay a solid foundation on their own.’

Now, it was finally time to address what I had been putting off.

While looking for Dongfang Sak in the Charcoal River would be great, I had something to take care of first.

Whoosh!

I headed straight to the ruins of Yusevik, in the center of the Tar Desert located in the northwestern region of the Tianzhu Continent. Once I stepped into the ruins and stood still for a while, sensing an intruder, a humanoid monster soon emerged from the darkness.

“Who are you?”

A very familiar voice. I smiled, thinking it had been a long time since we met.

“It’s been a while, Asura.”

The reason I hadn’t come to recruit Asura until now was that I thought bringing him in would create major friction with the Eight Parts of the Divine, but with Jin So-cheong now positioned as an emperor, I had begun adequately preparing, so there was no reason to hesitate anymore.

“What…?”

“No need for complicated words. Let’s settle this with our swords.”

As I drew my sword, Asura wore a bewildered expression, then replied with an amused look.

“You’re an interesting one!”

Kakagak!

A moment later, Asura and I were in a furious exchange of strikes, unleashing a whirlwind of swordplay at breakneck speed. In an instant, I applied the 굴공검 and 천축검 to gauge the distance between us, and while Asura was momentarily staggered by the clever use of the 굴공검, he quickly regained his footing and seized control of the sword circle. Observing his immediate response to my first five techniques, I silently mused.

‘As expected, he’s a monster. Not even any master from the Central Plains could hold their ground against the 굴공검 for at least a hundred moves…’

Given the premise that no outside interference is allowed, it’s only natural to consider that the Asura before me is one of the strongest masters in the world.

Ka-gak!

As our duel dragged on, Asura’s sword light glowered brilliantly. I could feel his curiosity intensifying beyond the sword itself.

Pabat!

After exchanging about a hundred techniques, Asura suddenly pulled back. With a competitive glint in his eye, he said, “You! You know a lot of martial arts, don’t you? How many different techniques did you use in that brief matchup?”

“…Around 13.”

In the just concluded hundred-move battle, the techniques I’d utilized were 만승검결, 굴공천축검, 진무칠절경, 삼보절기, 오행강기, 여의조령 as the basics, employing 공손검법 and 화신류 오의인 용아, while disrupting Asura’s terrifying assault using 무영검법. I also created a virtual hand in the air using 무토도리 to intercept and counterattack his assault, alongside firing out the 절룡 from 천화뇌룡신공 to exploit his blind spots. Lastly, utilizing the unpredictable shifts of 무환천랑백팔식, I would strike back as he employed techniques based on 변환.

Asura laughed derisively. “You must be the best in the Central Plains, huh? Then take this as well!”

In an instant, a thought popped into my head and I shouted urgently, “Don’t use it!”

“…?”

My tone turned impatient. “I don’t mind, but once you gain that memory, it’ll just mean more blankets to deal with!”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about, but I’m going in!”

In an instant, as Asura unleashed the attack of 적멸무극, I rapidly split the “Flow” with a single strike, crushing it, and moved ahead to sever one of his arms. As Asura stood there in shock, I sighed.

“I told you not to.”

Thinking back on it, the most embarrassing thing for Asura during the 28th cycle was his rampant use of 적멸무극, and if the same incident continued to happen in each cycle, he’d be horrified every time.

Thus, this time, I aimed to overwhelm him with techniques of swordplay to let him accept the gap in skill naturally, yet before I could, Asura had already unleashed the 적멸무극, meaning I had no choice but to persuade him again through it.

‘Should I have used the 뇌신검명 instead?’

However, knowing Asura’s extreme hatred for the divine realm, doing so would have had an opposite effect. With so many conflicting thoughts swirling around, I revealed my true identity to Asura and shared the events that had unfolded over the time.

Asura seemed to contemplate for quite a while.

“Now that you broke the 적멸무극 that way… I believe everything you say is true. But…”

He then made an unexpected statement.

“Is it true that Pangu could just let the Martial God Council squabble like that? Does a martial god truly exist?”