Reincarnation of the Martial Emperor

Chapter 33: What is Ki?

“It’s two hundred silver coins.”

Cho Ryeo-un took the bundle of silver I handed him with an awkward gesture.

A complex face filled with difficult emotions.

An expression that seemed to feel gratitude but was unable to express it.

Well, since he had never received anyone's kindness in his life, that face was probably a natural reaction.

“Smile if you are happy. Just smile even if it’s awkward.”

But Cho Ryeo-un shed tears instead.

“Master, I……”

I understood him.

It was difficult for him to readily accept it.

He must be ashamed of himself from yesterday for misinterpreting and doubting my goodwill.

“You don’t want it? Then give it back.”

This kid probably couldn't even imagine the kind of squabble I had with the steward to get this.

“N-No, sir! Master!”

As Cho Ryeo-un quickly put the bundle of silver into his bosom, a satisfied smile finally appeared on my lips.

“From tomorrow, check on your mother’s illness frequently and report the depth of her symptoms to me.”

“Yes, I will do so.”

“Hmm, and……”

I then calmly looked at the two disciples kneeling before me.

I had grasped their personalities and had also thoroughly examined their skeletons and muscle meridians.

But when it came to actually imparting martial arts, I couldn't figure out what was appropriate for them.

Of course, this wasn't their problem, but mine.

I knew too many martial arts, so naturally, I had to be extremely cautious.

This choice now would decide my disciples’ lives.

In the end, it was only after a full half-day had passed that my mouth opened again.

“What you will learn is a saber art.”

Moyong Baek, who had been waiting patiently until now, let out a rough breath.

“A saber art?”

“It is a saber art consisting of a total of four sections and twenty-eight forms. However, this is just a classification; there is no meaning in dividing the techniques.”

“Why is there no meaning to the techniques?”

“Because it is a chain saber art where once you start a technique, you must unleash all twenty-eight forms.”

Moyong Baek immediately showed his doubt.

“Yes? What kind of brutish saber art is that……”

“If it is not the Chain Saber, you cannot draw out all of its hidden power. However, if you can just unfold these twenty-eight forms as if they were one, I guarantee it. From that day on, you will become one of the Eight Revered of Jianghu.”

At my tremendous declaration, Moyong Baek’s eyes widened.

My confident boast that he would gain the fame of a Revered Marquis made his heart pound

But the fervor in his eyes gradually cooled.

Like the extraordinary kid he was, he had realized the heavy meaning behind wielding twenty-eight forms as a single technique.

“Yes, it’s as you expect. In terms of academics, it’s as difficult as writing twenty-four books in a single stroke. It is a saber art that demands a perseverance that does not yield to any change in situation, infinite patience, an extreme resolve to succeed at all costs, and also a concentration that transcends human limits.”

“Can I learn something so difficult……”

“I have already seen it.”

“Yes……?”

A smirk.

“Your resolve to live. Your patience to endure for half a day with a stone the size of your body on your stomach. The perseverance to repeat your training for three years as if it were one day. The insight to have mastered the Turtle's Breathing on your own. You have done all of this yourself without ever having trained your body.”

To be acknowledged by someone at that age would be an unparalleled joy.

However, Moyong Baek did not dare to get excited and bowed before me with a calm face.

“I wish to know the name of the saber art I will learn.”

Hmm?

Come to think of it?

In my training over the past three years, I had compiled and reorganized the countless martial arts of the Martial Emperor.

This saber art was one of the martial arts I created then, but the problem was that I hadn’t named it yet.

I fell into deep thought.

Giving a name was what breathed life into a martial art.

Hoping that his saber art would be highly spoken of throughout the world, I said each character with emphasis.

“Pine Meridian Chain Saber Art.”

This saber art had a mix of many martial principles from various schools.

Mount Hua's Plum Blossom, Zhongnan's Heavenly Steel, Wudang's Seven Stars and Grand Ultimate…….

It was a compilation of all the Taoist martial arts that had given me impressive inspiration.

Since the Taoist Sect was sometimes compared to an unshakeable pine tree, I named their lineage the Pine Meridian.

My gaze then turned to Cho Ryeo-un.

“You will learn a fist technique composed of four unsegmented forms.”

Cho Ryeo-un simply bowed his head respectfully without saying anything.

It was Moyong Baek who expressed the doubt instead.

“Why doesn’t Senior Brother handle a weapon? It seems better to hold a weapon rather than fighting with bare hands……”

“It’s because of his disposition to not trust easily.”

“Yes?”

A young man who must have endured everything alone his entire life.

That boy, who holds all sorts of bitterness in his heart, does not easily trust something else.

To tell him to entrust his life to a cold piece of metal was like telling him to throw away his fate.

If a martial artist did not trust his weapon, the benefits of handling a weapon would disappear, and he would instead fall into danger.

That was why he would use his bare hands.

With only his trustworthy two fists, he had to advance with a will firmer than anyone else’s and seize accomplishment.

“Black Alliance Four Desolations Fist. Yes, let’s call those four fist techniques that.”

The Ghost King Heretic's lightning speed.

The Shadowless Sword's stealthy killing intent.

The Flame Ghost's burning desire.

The Crescent Moon's cold-blooded heart.

In these four fist techniques, I contained the best of the Black Way I had seen.

I was quite pleased with the names of the two martial arts.

‘Hehe…….’

The scene of my two disciples’ Pine Meridian Chain Saber and Black Alliance Four Desolations Fist clashing came to mind. Check latest chapters at NovєlFіre.net

A quite enjoyable and interesting imagination.

It was this Martial Emperor's small Orthodox-Heretical Great War.

“Then let’s begin the training.”

Moyong Baek jumped up spiritedly, as if he would swing his saber right away.

I looked at him suspiciously.

“Who told you to stop meditating?”

“……Are we not practicing the saber techniques?”

“You’re messing around.”

I looked at my disciples and spoke more sternly.

“From now on, what you must learn is Ki Art. The control of your internal ki must become as free as moving your own body. Until your internal Ki Art reaches a certain level, you will not be able to practice the techniques.”

“But…… you told me to learn the saber art……”

“You got a problem with that?”

“……”

Those who encounter martial arts for the first time mistakenly think there will be something very flashy.

However, martial arts are by no means flashy.

It is to endure extreme pain as if it were a light cold, and to mindlessly endure today the training you did yesterday.

There is no special royal road to it.

The human body and martial arts are such that achievements accumulate only as much as one endures.

“Of course, there are sects in Jianghu that train the body first. Shaolin is a prime example of such a sect. But what can you do? I follow the principle of ‘Ki first, then form’, and since you are my disciples, you have no choice but to follow.”

“Are there respective advantages and disadvantages?”

I smiled.

Whether to fill the inside first or train the outside first was a thousand-year debate in Murim history.

To ask me for a conclusion that no master in history had dared to make.

Should I call this cute, or spirited?

“Shut up, why are you talking so much? Are you saying you don’t want to do it now?”

“O-Of course not! I was just curious.”

“Good. Then sit down again.”

As Moyong Baek sat down, I asked my disciples directly again.

“What is Ki?”

As expected of someone who had read a few books, Moyong Baek began to speak without hesitation.

“It is the formless essence that circulates through the nature of heaven and earth, and the energy of Yin and Yang. I have heard that martial artists accumulate such natural ki in their bodies through breathing to generate great energy.”

As my brow furrowed, he narrowed his eyes and slightly backed away.

“Did I say something wrong?”

Of course, it wasn’t wrong.

The problem was that it wasn’t the answer I wanted.

I then gestured with my eyes towards the inkstone on the desk.

“What method would you use to move this inkstone over to the floor over there?”

Without a moment’s thought, Moyong Baek grabbed the inkstone with his hand and moved it to a corner of the floor.

I stared quietly at the boy who had sat down again, then placed the inkstone on the floor back on the table.

Of course, with the technique of moving objects from a distance.

They watched, mesmerized, as the inkstone glided through the air and calmly landed on the table.

“This is Ki, and this is Ki Art. Do not keep trying to attach something flashy to this simple skill. Yin and Yang, Grand Ultimate, Mixed Origin, you do not need to think about such things yet.”

“I-I will keep that in mind.”

I calmly picked up a brush and simply drew two human bodies.

Then, on one, I engraved the path of the Pine Meridian, and on the other, the path of the Black Alliance.

They stared blankly at the complex ki circulation diagrams that looked like spiderwebs, then raised their heads at the same time.

“What is this?”

I opened my mouth as I looked at Moyong Baek.

“Just as the mechanisms in a device pass through various axes to amplify power, Ki Art is the same. There are countless ki points in the human body, and depending on their characteristics, they make ki flow quickly or swirl.”

“A major circulation!”

“Yes, that’s right. This is the way a single strand of ki makes one circulation. Depending on its efficiency and characteristics, it can produce inexhaustible power.”

I spread out the ki circulation diagram of the Black Alliance in front of Cho Ryeo-un again.

“That is the Ink Spirit Hegemon Ascension Art. Your Black Alliance Four Desolations Fist will exhibit unparalleled power.”

“Thank you.”

And the ki circulation diagram of the Pine Meridian in front of Moyong Baek.

“This is the Pine Harmony Connection Ki Art. The tenacious energy of this Ki Art will allow your saber techniques to continue endlessly.”

“Disciple! I will definitely master it!”

The moment the Martial Emperor's True Body Martial Art was passed down to them for the first time.

I roared at them without a single gap.

“Memorize it all immediately and burn the paper.”

In any case, this was a trace of the Martial Emperor.

If the teachings of the Seven Revered of Jianghu were to leak to the outside, a bloodbath would surely follow.

I did not want such meaningless sacrifices.

When a moment passed, surprisingly, both of them stood up at the same time, brought a candle, and burned all the paper.

They were truly kids with exceptional insight.

“Half-close your eyes, open your palms, and place them lightly on your knees. The first breath should be as long and slow as possible. For now, do not think of the ki circulation path in your head, just think of endlessly repeating the breathing. Feeling the ki comes after that.”

One breath, two breaths.

The disciples’ chests slowly rise and fall.

Now that I, who was lonely in the world, have passed on my True Body Martial Art to my disciples.

My own new Black Way was sprouting.

I do not know what results this decision will bring in the future.

However.

I will believe in those kids, and I will not regret it.