One Change Thousand Changes, one change, and 10,000 flowers bloom.
âI like it.â
Yoon-seok moved on to the next part of finding a suitable shape to match the name.
ââŠBut Iâm stuck again.â
For some reason, he felt like he was wasting his time, but Yoon-seok received help from the Heavenly Sword technique again this time. Just as Heavenly Reign pursued perfect harmony between strongness and gentleness, what should this tactic pursue?
âOne change. And the endless possibility that it emanates.â
He tried summarizing it, but it was still vague.
âLetâs fix this first.â
One change. It wasnât appropriate to call this illusion, but that was the first step forward. The courage to open the closed door. Rather, the core of One Change Thousand Changes was closer to strength. To break the hard shell and face the change, a sturdy heart was required.
âIllusion backed by strongness.â
The difference from the Heavenly Sword was distinct. Strongness and gentleness. Dominance and bluntness. Illusion and speediness. Heaviness and lightness. While most of the Heavenly Sword emphasized the principle of harmony, One Change Thousand Changes was slightly different. The two principles coexisted but wouldnât become one.
âThe chain effect that occurs because they exist as separate concepts.â
Yoon-seok opened his eyes and stood, then slowly took out his sword. He felt like he had a hunch on how he was supposed to move now. However, Yoon-seok wasnât impatient and embodied it in his head step by step first.
âThe start should be wind.â
Of course, it shouldnât be just wind, but to the point where everything was blown away around him. A storm. And like the saying that a butterfliesâ wings can cause a storm, the beginning must be him.
Whoosh-!
Slicing through the air, Yoon-seokâs blade kicked up air across the arena. But Yoon-seok looked a little dissatisfied.
ââŠI donât like it for some reason.â
Although it was an accurate result⊠rather than feeling like âthis is it,â it felt something was wrong. Why?
âLetâs try it again.â
Whoosh-!
Yoon-seok swung again. And again.
In just three days, he reached the answer.
ââŠIt doesnât have to be too strong.â
What he wanted from the beginning was one change. However, it didnât have to be a big change. Even a slight one would do. Just to that extent was enough to find new possibilities and change everything.
âA little gentlerâŠâ
Yoon-seok relaxed his grip on the sword; that was all. But he clearly felt it.
Whoosh!
A cool wind brushed past his cheek, wrapping around the sword blade, then gently swirled and hovered across it.
âNow.â
Yoon-seok wielded the air by moving his blade. And at that moment, the soft wind grew and surged forward.
âI know what to do now.â
He collected the pieces in his head, but they werenât properly organized. Now, Yoon-seok knew what to do to bring theory to reality.
Whooooosh-!
Yoon-seok instilled magic into the swordâs movement. At that moment, the wind split into tens of thousands of branches of sharp blades, as Yoon-seok imagined. It didnât look like a sword, and in fact, it would be closer to a dagger in terms of classificationâŠ
But it was a sword in Yoon-seokâs eyes.
Swaaaaaaaaaa-!
Just as the wind had the nature to go through tens of thousands of changes, the swords carried by the wind differed. Some were bent, some were short, and some were divided into several branches. But, Yoon-seok liked it.
ââŠâ
It didnât have to be fast. It could be heavy or light. Even if it didnât seem to be flexible, or as if it would break at any moment or look too soft and weak. In the end, that was only how it looked right now.
Swaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-!
If it was looked at from an angle, slight differences could be noticed. Some slowed or grew faster. Or strayed off the path and flew freely. Albeit slight at times, everything went through changes.
ââŠâ
Yoon-seok continued to watch. Thousands of petals, sent dancing by the wind, hit the arenaâs outer wall and disappeared.
Shaaaaaaaaaa.
There was no loud noise, and the wall hit was fine. But after a few minutes-
Booooooooooooom-!
Yoon-seok smiled.
âThis isnât bad for a first try.â
Although narcissism isnât good, Yoon-seok was satisfied with the power of his newly created technique. Of course, it was still incomplete, but he was looking forward to polishing it.
Whoosh-!
Following that, Yoon-seok devoted himself to One Change Thousand Changes. He swung his sword like crazy, filled in the missing parts, and sometimes tried different methods. The Natural Energy of Middle Qigong, Skywrath Energy of Lower Qigong, and b Transcendental Muscles}. HoweverâŠ
âThe ever-changing nature of One Change Thousand Changes suits Skywrath Energy best.â
Skywrath Energy turned out to be the best of the three.
âBut that doesnât mean other techniques have to stick to Skywrath Energy.â
Yoon-seok decided not to set the form in advance when he made his next technique. Well, if it continued like this, it would be a sword technique that no one else but him could use.
âIt doesnât matter. Iâm not from Moorim anyway.â
No, that was even better. He didnât have the ambition to be a martial arts founder anyway. Yoon-seok needed a new style to achieve one purpose.
Whoosh-!
Yoon-seok retraced his memory while refining his first technique, and at the same time, started on the basic form of the martial arts that would be completed later. He didnât have a name for it nor any ideas of where he would take it. He just thought about it.
âIf I could kill the Queen, I think I could prove it that you can achieve anything without magic.
Like Lavan, he was saved by the sword. What did he want to prove with it, and what else did he achieve?
âThis is fun.â
The process was hard, but it wasnât boring at all.
Whoosh-! Whoosh-!
One day, two, three, four. Time whirled past.
Finally, the first technique was completed.
Boooooooooooom-!
Of course, it was still too early to talk about perfection. However, he couldnât find more parts to fix in their current form.
ââŠLetâs finish up here. Letâs move on to the next technique.â
He abandoned his lingering feelings and moved on to the second. Since he worked on a name while completing the first, it proceeded smoothly.
âItâll take about half a year like the first.â
Yoon-seok estimated that was how long he took to finish the first. And the moment he tried to close his eyes again.
ăVictory.ă
The duel was over.
ââŠâ
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He would need a little more time to complete the second technique.
Six months? Seven? That felt like the time Yoon-seok spent in the duel, so he tried hard to abandon his disappointment.
âWhat a shame, but it canât be helped.â
Rankers could survive without a drop of water. But if the mind collapsed, the body would follow. The exact reason was unknown, but Yoon-seok guessed it was related to the power the Tower granted.
In that sense, Carpbenny held out much better than expected. The longest record before him was four months.
âIâll try making the remaining techniques with b Predation} however I can.â
Yoon-seok thought. Perhaps the biggest advantage of {Predation}âs ability was not to acquire skills or loot equipment⊠he would be able to enter this arena once a month to train.
âHow many times can I use it?â
Returning to the waiting room, Yoon-seok checked the timer.
ăUntil the next duel: 2,159 hoursă
Exactly ninety days later.
âI can only use it twice.â
b Predation}âs cooldown for applying for a duel was thirty days. Therefore, even if he could catch someone right now and drag them to the arena, it was impossible to do it three times before the next duel.
âThey couldâve given me one more day.â
Yoon-seok clicked his tongue and swiped the tablet. It would be nice to check the trophies he got in the duel, but first of all, there was something he had to check.
He had to check everyone finished their duels safely.
*1st Place, Cheonmazl Zone (SSS+) â Moorim
Cheon-ma was safe. Well, he couldnât imagine her losingâŠ
ââŠHuh?â
Yoon-seok suddenly froze.
*12th place, Steel Warrior (SSS) â Seheranbad.
*12th place, Heartsword (SSS) â Seheranbad.
Both King of Steel and Lavan reached the 24th floor. However, the ranking had changed.
âWhy is it not 14th but 12thâŠ?â
He already knew the only answer. Yoon-seokâs expression changed as he scrolled up the ranking board. The number of first-place players decreased by two from thirteen to eleven.
âDid the first place rankers match with each otherâŠ?â
Rare but not impossible. Yoon-seok tried hard to shake off that iffy feeling and scrolled down the ranking board.
Yoon-seok let out the breath he was holding.
*212th place, Grape Jam (SS+) â Earth.
Lee Su-yeon, whom he was most worried about, was also safe. There was still one obstacle ahead, but all his fellow candidates survived.
âIs it because of the increased strength? Her ratings went up.â
Yoon-seok scanned through the ranking board and froze again.
*12th place, Predator (SSS) â Earth.
He couldnât find it for a long time, so he wondered why. Suddenly, his nickname was recorded at 12th place.
âNo message from achievements?â
Yoon-seok checked his performance status.
ăList of Achievementsă
Exploiter (Achieved overall evaluation of SSS grade) + 1,500 LP.
Although he didnât receive the message, he did complete a new achievement and was rewarded with LP. It looked like he didnât see the message because he was focused on training.
âAs expected, training is the answer.â
There was only one step left before he reached first place, but Yoon-seok tried to come down from his high horse.
He shouldnât be satisfied here. There was a way to go before he could celebrate.
âNothing changed. Letâs do our best.â
Leaving his excitement behind, Yoon-seok calmly organized what needed to be done.
ââŠIâll be very busy again this time.â
First of all, he needed to check the loot he got from this duel. He also needed to use his WP, plus the 18 million AP he kept from last time added to the 35 million he received from this duel. There was also recruiting more colleagues and training his swordsmanshipâŠ
âShould I make a clone or something?â
Even ten bodies couldnât achieve that schedule. However, there was one thing he wanted to check before starting in earnest. It might be personal curiosity, butâŠ
ăCheonmazl Zone invites you to the waiting room.ă