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Master Baek Wei asks me with a grim look,
“How do you know of the Crazy Troops?”
I laugh at his facial expression.
This guy is the benefactor who gave me the Strolling Turtle Martial Arts, I would have been dead if I didn’t learn it.
At the same time, this guy is also the one responsible for my insanity.
I say this because it was easy to learn the process and the martial arts in the early stages, but it got progressively more difficult in the later stages. So, this is the person who had tossed me the first coin to get into cultivation.
I survived because of this one and I lived horribly because of him.
“Master, do you know Kangho well?”
Master Baek Wei takes a deep breath and manages to suppress his anger.
“More than you might expect.”
“Is that so?”
“I know a lot more than you can imagine.”
I smile.
“Amazing. But what use is that? You don’t even know how I know of the Crazy Troops. You don’t know how I learned the Strolling Golden Turtle technique. You don’t know the story of the bugs.”
“Sect Leader, do you have a death wish?”
“Surely you cannot kill me. And I’m not talking about the fact that I’m holding hostage onto information I have yet to reveal to you. It’s too late. Rather, it’s because of the fact that I know the Shadow Moon Martial Arts. I have completed my own divine arts.”
“Divine arts?”
This is a bit of an exaggeration actually.
I do my best to look expressionless. It’s because I’m in a situation where I have to throw out these different variables. It was a bit of a stretch for me to mention a previous sect, and it isn’t true that I’ve completed the divine arts. But nothing else can be done.
Because I have no other choice but to fight.
After taking my eyes off him, who was deliberating on whether or not I was speaking the truth, I looked around.
“Could the new divine arts I created be recorded here? If there is nothing new under the sky, I might be someone who has created a pre-existing martial art, right?”
“Watch and confirm it.”
Based on my thoughts and what I learned about this man, I keep probing him to see if he has any weaknesses.
“Of course, you too made a martial arts right? You must have learned a countless number of them here.”
I point my finger at him.
“I think you created the most amazing arts of all time. Am I right? Wait, huh… I just realized the biggest problem in your study.”
To which he asks,
“What is that?”
I slowly look around the room and sigh.
“You aren’t so perfect either.”
“Point at what is lacking.”
“Three things.”
Master Baek Wei smiles.
“Three? It cannot be. It isn’t just any old martial arts that I practice here. I even collected the martial arts of extinct sects. Although meaningful martial arts exist in Kangho, as time goes on, I will eventually make them all my own.”
“Is that so?”
I feel goosebumps rise on my body. Was this just a thought?
I wondered if the reason why he devoted himself to the Murim Alliance in the previous life was because he was curious about the martial arts of Im So-baek.
It couldn’t have been anyone else but the Murim Alliance Leader’s martial arts. Furthermore, since Im So-baek never taught his martial arts to anyone, there was no way to find out no matter how good Baek Wei is. I’m not sure if this is just a coincidence, but perhaps the reason why Im So-baek was unscathed in both the past and the present is because he had the most stable form of martial arts. If he didn’t choose to bring on a disciple, his martial arts was fated to disappear.
But for now, out of my consideration for the Alliance Leader, I don’t speak of his sword.
“Look. No matter where you look, there is no Buddhist martial arts. That is the first.”
Master Baek Wei nods.
“I know that. What about the other two?”
In order to fight Master Baek Wei, lies aren’t enough, so I have no choice but to toss in a truth with the lies.
“There is no Tantra martial arts of Buddhism either.”
“Tantra is a branch of Buddhism; why are you speaking as if they’re standalone teachings?”
“Even though they hold the same origin, the martial arts part is different from Buddhism. When the great warrior of Tantra appears, he will have no choice but to decide whether he is superior or inferior to the top 10 warriors in the world including the Three Disasters. In terms of martial arts, that place is no different.”
Inwardly, I apologized. That’s because the great warrior of Buddhism is actually a monk.
Master baek Wei says,
“I heard that the Tantra Buddhism sect is completely isolated so learning it shouldn’t be an easy task. The third?”
I say looking at the bookshelves,
“You know that… Kunlun of course. I know Kunlun. It doesn’t exist, nowhere to be found. It must have been a study without Buddhism or Tantra Buddhism or Kunlun. Still, even without those three you can still be called great.”
I applaud him.
“One of the greatest talents in the world.”
I was praising him deliberately. Even during all of this flattery I was paying attention to his expression. When I praised him, he smiled.
‘Insane bastard, he finds this situation amusing.’
Master Baek Wei gets up from his place and comes closer to me.
“That is amazing. How can a guy who used to be a server in the county be this knowledgeable about Kangho? To be honest, it is amazing. I’m saying this because coming across people who can discuss martial arts with me are quite rare in Kangho.”
As he approaches me he looks around and nods.
“Right, those three books were left out. Do you know why?”
“Must have been difficult to obtain.”
“These are people who would rather die than lose their martial arts. And if Kunlun’s old man falls, Kunlun will be weak. That is the time to strike.”
“When is that?”
“We are used to waiting.”
Master baek Wei sighs as he continues to speak.
“Which is why it is hard to deal with these monks. It is because they are determined. They don’t have a family, no need for money, no greed. They hold no weaknesses and most importantly…”
“What?”
He smiles looking at me.
“Even we don’t know exactly what kind of warriors are in the sect. Do you think we haven’t tried? The most disastrous failure in life since the emperor. Eventually….”
He looks taken aback suddenly.
“Ah, I cannot believe I let that slip.”
He sighs and I ponder on what he wanted to say. I didn’t know when, but it meant that in the past there was a time when the Buddhist sect got touched. So, I guessed that he stopped while trying to say that he prepared an alternative.
Looking at me, he says,
“In the end, you must have created a countermeasure against them, in order to constantly harass them.”
“…”
“Did you pick out the people and turn them towards the Demonic Cult? If you want to weaken a particular religion-based sect, you have no choice but to attack them with another sect. If it is instigation, there will be a fight. Opposing teachings.”
The guy looks at me stunned.
“You truly are a man to talk with. It is that.”
I nod.
“Buddhism speaks of mercy and Demon Cult speaks of mercilessness? But nothing manmade ever goes as planned. Now that can be a little pretentious.”
“What do you mean?”
I smile and look at him.
“You wanted to puppet them around, but the Demonic Cult got too big. So, you supported the third young lord. There is nothing more effective than an internal fight. It wouldn’t have been the first time either. It is said that the succession battle was bigger in the past. You did all kinds of shit in Kangho.”
Master Baek Wei smiles.
“… that is our job.”
I say looking at him as he turns.
“Even if Chun Ack is a warrior on your side. He cannot kill the Cult Leader now. No one knows how far the Cult Leader has grown, and the works of Kangho are a lot simpler than your theories. No matter how much you study and experiment with the books around, only the strongest will win.”
I couldn’t tell if he was skilled. However, what was certain was that the Cult Leader and Im So-baek were figures that deviated too far from being controllable variables.
He goes back to his place and sits down.
“… I don’t know what to do with you. You know too much. Certainly, in that respect you are different from my students. Of course, there is no guarantee you will win over my students just because you are different.”
He touches a spot on the table nervously, the wall in the room flips over, and two men appear.
“… you called?”
And Master Baek Wei points to me.
“It is Lee Zaha, the Low-Down Sect Leader. Be polite.”
The men bow.
“Sect Leader, I am Oh Geom.”
“Sect Leader, I am Euk Do. I often heard about you.”
I glance at them and nod.
“Right. Nice to meet you. You must be the sahyung to Chil Geom. I heard a lot.”
“Is that so?”
“I don’t think he ended up making fun of us with that mouth of his, right?”
I just speak as much nonsense as I can.
“He mentioned your skills are fine but both of you seem to be stupid, so I guess he doesn’t want to really treat you as sahyungs? Aren’t you two? Oh Geom and Euk Do, right. You resemble squids. Nice to meet you, strange to look at.”
The both of them look at each other and laugh, not expressing their true intent. They were surely strong warriors among the disciples of Baek Wei.
And Baek Wei says,
“Sect Leader, I will give you a chance. If you can answer one of the three questions I ask, I will treat you as a guest. I also made a lot of concessions because I judged that you wouldn’t exist again. But if you cannot provide an acceptable answer, you will be treated as a slave. Where is the concept of saving…”
Oh Geom and Euk Do block the entrance. And I ask him,
“Isn’t slavery a bit much?’
Baek Wei raises his brush and says,
“First, the story of learning the Strolling Golden Turtle. Second, how you know about the troops. Third, find out if there is a new divine arts. It isn’t like I want you to show me the annihilation of Demonic Cult troops. Just explain a new type of martial arts verbally. Both of you.”
“Yes master.”
“If he doesn’t answer, place your lives on the line. Make sure to win somehow. He is strong so do not let your guard down.”
“Yes.”
I reached out.
“Stop.”
Honestly the two weren’t the problem but the possibility of Baek Wei ambushing me is the biggest cause for concern. It is too much for me to do a three-on-one fight in this narrow space.
I ask him,
“What will you do once you confirm the divine arts?”
To which he nods and says,
“If I deem it worthy enough to be recorded down in our books, then you do not get killed. That is our role. So, prove your worth now.”
I point to him and say,
“Okay.”
He confesses what I guessed with his own mouth.
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“It should be at least one the level of Im So-baek’s martial arts.”
“Ah, right.”
I laugh, making my shoulders tremble. Honestly, I could’ve just died but this guy isn’t that crazy, so he was giving me a way out. The problem was that the path he was giving me was narrow.
‘Divine arts…’
I have just one technique that could qualify. And it is a new one which I only just started, so it’s not completed. Taking a deep breath, I stare at him with my hands behind my back.
“…”
Master Baek Wei asks me.
“What is it?”
“Shut up. I am concentrating now. I am a very emotional man. It is a martial arts which is based on the flow of my emotions.”
He writes down what I said.
“Is there anything such as emotional martial arts? You aren’t normal.”
I answer his words with sincerity.
“There is. Master, do you know why I am not normal? I know the reason why I lived like this, half mad while listening to the words of another mad man.”
Master Baek Wei smiles.
“How would I know that? I guess you were normally insane?”
Feeling a mix of complicated emotions, I answer,
“It is because of you.”
Because of this guy, the past life which I couldn’t normally have, passed through my eyes. I remember the words of Sam Bok who was surprised to see my condition in the guesthouse.
‘Sect Leader, aren’t you a bit strange?’
It feels similar to then, but a little different. I could feel my insanity slowly consuming me with this calm mind. In an instant, the color of the world changed like it was covered in a blanket of snow.
I look at Baek Wei with a calm expression and he gets up asking me,
“…what martial arts is that?”
I can’t say it. It was because there was this overwhelming feeling. It felt as if I was drawing up qi from the Heavens. The expressions of the two men mirrored their master’s.
It seems like my eyes aren’t normal and I say,
“Zaha Divine Arts.”