Chapter 282 : Martial Arts Training (2)
Chapter 282: Martial Arts Training (2)
‘Just what is this guy?’
The more Lü Dongbin taught Jang Woo-hyun, the more shocked he became.
At first, he thought Jang Woo-hyun was a martial artist with talent equal to his own, but that thought quickly changed. He was more outstanding than any martial artist Lü Dongbin had ever met.
At present, Jang Woo-hyun had failed to advance to the next realm, leaving his power compressed and densely packed inside him. He could not be viewed as an ordinary martial artist of the Infinite Realm.
To put it simply, it was like someone who did not know how to open a door and therefore could not move forward. Yet despite being unable to open the door, he possessed such overwhelming power that merely placing his hand on it punched a hole through it.
‘This guy is sticking his head through that hole and using abilities similar to the Realm of Wish.’
Lü Dongbin wondered if power could truly become this compressed. It even felt as though someone was forcibly suppressing Jang Woo-hyun to prevent him from ascending further.
‘If the lock here were to break free, I cannot even imagine what would happen.’
Even Lü Dongbin could not predict how much he would grow. That was how unusual Jang Woo-hyun was.
And despite possessing such talent, he was diligent. He never cut corners, worked steadily, and absorbed everything he was taught as his own.
‘And his martial arts were not patchwork either.’
At first, Lü Dongbin thought his martial arts were clumsily stitched together and stacked up haphazardly, but after observing him closely, he realized that was not the case.
Perhaps because his talent was overwhelming—or perhaps because his perspective itself was different—Jang Woo-hyun understood and completed martial arts in ways entirely different from expectations.
It was as though he had come from a world governed by completely different laws.
Though he hated to admit it, the more Lü Dongbin taught him, the more he realized it. Jang Woo-hyun’s talent far surpassed his own.
A talent like this would never appear again.
‘If only I had met him a little earlier.’
If they had met while he was still alive and breathing, he could have taught him much more and spent a long time with him. The little time remaining now felt regrettable.
Lü Dongbin looked toward Jang Woo-hyun standing before him.
One would think he would grow tired of the repetitive training, yet he merely smiled brightly with shining eyes. It was obvious he genuinely enjoyed training.
To answer those expectations, Lü Dongbin began training again today.
“When I was in the Lower Realm, the boundaries dividing realms were not so distinct. I only came to understand them after ascending to the Central Heavens Realm.”
Lü Dongbin explained the generally accepted realms.
First-rate.
One could release Internal Energy and coat weapons or the body with it.
Master Level.
One achieved projectile qi, releasing Internal Energy over long distances.
Supreme Peak.
One could use Qi Projection, capable of cutting through all things.
Absolute Realm.
One could create Will-Form Qi Projection imbued with will and shape, while also seeing and sensing invisible things such as the flow of natural qi.
Transcendence.
The body became reconstructed, allowing one to gain entirely new senses and step into a completely different domain.
Infinite Realm.
One could extend their will almost infinitely and even cut invisible souls or the laws themselves.
“Then what is the Realm of Wish?”
“It is a realm where one can interfere with providence and alter the laws of the world.”
“Then what does it mean to interfere with providence?”
“It means sensing the flow of the world and its will, then projecting one’s own will into it to interfere with the world.”
“You are only half correct.”
“…….”
“Twisting providence merely sounds impressive. In truth, it is not that difficult.”
Unable to understand, Jang Woo-hyun waited for the explanation to continue.
“You have been changing the laws of the world ever since you first stepped into martial arts long ago. Even if that power was tiny.”
Hearing the explanation, Jang Woo-hyun’s eyes widened. His flustered expression clearly claimed he had never done such a thing.
“Qi accumulation. The very act of gathering Internal Energy violates the laws of the world. Qi was originally meant to flow naturally without gathering in one place.”
“Ah…….”
Now that he heard it, he finally understood.
Lü Dongbin continued speaking.
“So there is no need to think of it as something overly difficult. It is merely the path you must walk forward upon. You simply continue as you always have.”
“To ascend to the Realm of Wish, you must establish yourself properly.”
“And establishing yourself means understanding yourself.”
“Have you ever seen a microcosm?”
Jang Woo-hyun nodded, answering that he had.
He had not properly seen Cheonheo Jin-in’s microcosm, but he had seen the microcosms of Zhang Sanfeng, Yong Cheonmyeong, and Seon Woo-baekrin.
“The ones belonging to Zhang and Yong may be difficult, but that child’s should work.”
As Lü Dongbin smiled, immense power spread outward.
The space where the two stood transformed.
Suddenly the world shook, and a gigantic giant of indescribable size filled all directions. Though there was clearly only one giant, it felt as though it existed everywhere at once.
“This is…….”
Jang Woo-hyun immediately recognized it as Seon Woo-baekrin’s microcosm.
However, while similar, it was somehow different. First of all, the giant held a sword instead of a blade, and it did not emit such overwhelming power.
【Eight Horizons Heavenly Sword Divine General. I merely imitated the microcosm of that child called the Heavenly Blade Lord. Since this one carries a sword, I suppose it would be the Eight Horizons Heavenly Sword Divine General instead.】
“…….”
Jang Woo-hyun examined the colossal giant that could not fully fit within his vision.
【That child’s microcosm is—】
“The essence of blade arts. It likely encompasses every blade technique.”
【…….】
At Jang Woo-hyun’s answer, the giant vanished, and the surroundings transformed into a place resembling a paradise.
“You saw that?”
“Huh? Rather than seeing something… it just felt that way naturally.”
Once again astonished by Jang Woo-hyun’s talent, Lü Dongbin nodded to himself.
“You possess such remarkable eyes, and yet I cannot understand why you are still like this.”
Muttering that he needed to change directions slightly, Lü Dongbin fell deep into thought. After pondering for quite some time, he suddenly asked,
“What do you believe martial arts are?”
“……Swinging a sword, moving the body, and accumulating Internal Energy within through breathing. It is also a method of fighting well.”
Lü Dongbin’s face twisted severely at the answer.
“That’s all?”
“Huh? Yes.”
“How pathetic. That is only a quarter correct.”
“…….”
His expression was so fierce that Jang Woo-hyun could not even argue back.
“Martial arts are not merely techniques for fighting. They are martial cultivation, not martial technique. There is a reason it is called cultivation rather than skill. If the spells of sorcerers and the arts of cultivators are closer to techniques, then martial arts are different. Of course, they too possess methods such as spell arts and cultivation arts to manipulate laws, but martial arts follow a completely different path.”
“I do not fully understand what the Sword Immortal is saying. I simply fought and moved my body to come this far.”
“That is why I said you were only a quarter correct. I am not saying that is wrong. There is a reason ascended martial artists are called Warrior Ascendants. Our roots lie in conflict. But one must grow stronger through battle—not become stronger solely because of battle.”
These were words Jang Woo-hyun himself had realized after meeting Zhang Sanfeng.
Jang Woo-hyun furrowed his brow while thinking deeply to himself. Watching him, Lü Dongbin shook his head.
“You tend to overcomplicate things. Your thinking swings between extremes. Simple things you see simply, but when matters become complicated, you become endlessly tangled. Cultivation is not merely sitting at a desk reading and writing. If there is something to learn even from a child you happen to meet on the road, then that too is no different from cultivation. That itself becomes enlightenment.”
It aligned perfectly with what Pyo Deuk-won had once said.
Enlightenment differed from person to person.
Some attained it through wall-facing cultivation. Others through battle. Others through conversation or books.
“You possess incredibly condensed power. Because of that overflowing power, you can use Ground Compression even without reaching the next realm. But that is merely a shortcut, not the proper method. Who knows what sort of problems it may cause. In some ways, perhaps you are merely imitating it.”
“Then what should I do?”
“You must properly understand yourself. You must understand your martial arts.”
“……That’s too difficult.”
“The foundational training is finished. This is the task you must solve from now on.”
---
For a long while, Jang Woo-hyun groaned while contemplating martial arts and himself. He even thought about his inner world.
His microcosm was the Sword Forest of Dosan. He believed it suited him perfectly, having grown through battle and mastered many martial arts.
Yet after hearing Lü Dongbin’s words, he began wondering whether it was truly right.
‘I don’t know. I really don’t know. This is too difficult.’
While he sat agonizing alone for quite some time, Lü Dongbin quietly approached. To offer new advice to the lost Jang Woo-hyun, he opened his mouth.
“If you travel all the way west beyond the Central Plains and pass into the Outer Regions, you will arrive at the Western Continent.”
So focused that he had not noticed Lü Dongbin approaching, Jang Woo-hyun flinched and turned his head.
“That place is a world entirely different from the Central Plains. There are no martial artists or sorcerers there. Instead, there exist people called mages.”
“Are you speaking of the Magic Realm?”
“You know of it?”
Jang Woo-hyun summarized his meeting with Lee Ahn and his experiences within the Blood Corpse Realm.
“Then this will be easier. The mages use an ability called magic, similar to yet different from spell arts. Once, I spoke with them, and they said this.”
Lü Dongbin paused briefly and met Jang Woo-hyun’s eyes.
“They said magic is a miracle.”
“A miracle…….”
“So I thought about it as well. Then what are martial arts to me?”
As he spoke, Lü Dongbin’s aura changed. Enormous power spread from him like a tidal wave.
“To me, martial arts are will. The will to engrave my existence upon the world. The will to reveal myself. And the will that anything is possible.”
Kuuung!
The energy that had spread outward gathered back toward Lü Dongbin. His body became wrapped in light. For an instant, it felt as though the sun itself had risen.
“If I could alter the laws of the world, then I decided I would deceive the world itself.”
In the place where the light slowly faded.
A mass of light rested in Lü Dongbin’s hand. The light suddenly transformed into a bird and soared through the sky, then transformed again into a tiger and ran across the earth.
“To hide from the heavens (Heavenly Escape) means to deceive the heavens. I step beyond the world’s definitions, beyond the laws of the world, and define myself through my own will. Even if the world calls me human, if I do not believe so—”
In the blink of an eye, a gigantic fire dragon wrapped in flames appeared where Lü Dongbin had stood.
【I transcend humanity.】
The fire dragon writhed before soaring into the heavens. Massive flames burned the clear sky.
Within the burning heavens, a gigantic face suddenly appeared. It was Lü Dongbin’s face—the same face that had stood before Jang Woo-hyun until now.
【I can become anything. If laws exist within this world, then I shall change all of them according to my will.】
The flames, capable of burning the entire world, merged into one and descended toward the earth. Between gigantic pillars of fire that seemed to support the heavens themselves, Lü Dongbin walked forward.
“This is the Realm of Wish. No… perhaps it could even be called the Immortal Realm. A stage where one manipulates the will of the world as they please and can even create entirely new worlds. A realm unrestricted by the laws of the world.”
Each word carried overwhelming power.
“When I held a sword, I could become anything. No one could stop me. That is why I am the Sword Immortal.”
Every time Lü Dongbin spoke, the entire inner world trembled. His overwhelming presence crushed everything in all directions. Jang Woo-hyun endured by drawing forth every ounce of his energy.
When Lü Dongbin finally stopped speaking, the pressure slowly diminished. The massive pillars of fire transformed into flaming birds and flew away.
Caught within a situation he could not comprehend, Jang Woo-hyun merely stood there blankly.
He raised his head toward the sky before looking again at Lü Dongbin, whose face overflowed with confidence. With an expression that clearly said he understood nothing, Jang Woo-hyun carefully opened his mouth.
“Um…….”
Lü Dongbin nodded proudly, as though telling him to ask anything he wished.
“What exactly did what you just showed have to do with being a Sword Immortal? And this isn’t martial arts at all—it’s just outright fraud by deceiving the world—”
Smack!
“Ugh!”
“You brat! What do you mean fraud?!”
Clutching his head and stumbling backward, Jang Woo-hyun wore a wronged expression. No matter how he looked at it, this did not resemble martial arts at all, so what exactly was he supposed to do?
---
A city within the territory of the Beast King Sect.
The physicians’ clinic there was filled with injured martial artists from the Beast King Sect.
As physicians busily moved about treating the wounded, Maeng Ye-ju stood quietly in one corner of the clinic.
She held the hand of the tiger beastkin lying before her.
“Senior Brother…….”
The strongest among the disciples, and the one who resembled their master more than anyone else—her Eldest Senior Brother, Wi Maeng-rip. He now lay there with both arms and legs severed. Part of his face was gone, and a massive hole pierced through his side.
When Maeng Ye-ju returned to the sect—
The Beast King Sect, whose morale had risen with the appearance of the former Sect Leader Hae Ryang, was continuing to lose the war.