Chapter 4
Moyong Cheon’s heart pounded fiercely.
A wave of emotion washed over his heart like a gentle tide, then shattered into countless pieces.
‘My meeting So-ah was…’
His gaze, fixed on So-ah, shimmered with a deep, emotional light.
‘Destiny!’
Grip…!
Moyong Cheon clenched his fist.
The Ten-Second Invincible Arts!
It was a martial art that only he, in the entire martial world, had mastered.
The Ten-Second Invincible Arts first appeared in the martial world when Moyong Cheon turned thirty.
He had not originally been among the most promising rising stars of the martial world, and his family, the Moyong Family, was at the time considered the most declined of the Five Great Families.
Furthermore, the Ten-Second Invincible Arts was initially dismissed by the public as nothing more than a low-class fighting technique.
Most martial arts of the Orthodox Faction were passed down from Taoist or Buddhist traditions, boasting noble values, profound principles, and long histories, but the Ten-Second Invincible Arts was simple and crude to a fault.
However, the appearance of this aggressive and low-class brawling art was enough to overturn the landscape of the martial world.
This fighting technique, which used no weapons whatsoever, became a legend that never once suffered defeat after its debut.
Thus, Moyong Cheon earned the moniker of God of War.
He fought three hundred and forty-five duels in his lifetime, and won them all.
But Moyong Cheon never passed down the Ten-Second Invincible Arts to anyone.
This was because he could simply not find a talent worthy of learning it.
“So-ah…”
“Grandpa! Look at me. I can now naturally step in all eight directions while performing the thrust from the Six Harmonies Fist you taught me!”
“That’s amazing.”
“Hehe.”
“Did you train all night?”
“Huh? Oh, you’re right. It’s already morning…”
“You didn’t even realize the day was breaking?”
“No…”
“What were you thinking, training the Six Harmonies Fist all night?”
“Um… just because it was fun?”
“That is enough.”
“Huh?”
“First, get some sleep.”
***
So-ah slept for a full day and night before waking up.
“Ugh…”
A wave of immense muscle pain washed over him.
As if someone had beaten him with a club, there wasn’t a single spot on his arms, legs, neck, or shoulders that didn’t ache. His head felt heavy, perhaps from sleeping so much, and an extreme hunger gnawed at him from having fasted for a whole day.
Just then.
“Hmm…?”
A fragrant aroma of food tickled his nose, making So-ah’s mouth water.
“Are you awake?”
Moyong Cheon entered So-ah’s room carrying a delicious-looking breakfast tray.
“Wow… it smells delicious!”
“I roasted some venison and boiled a soup. Eating well is the best way to recover, so hurry and eat.”
“Thank you for the food!”
So-ah hastily picked up his spoon and chopsticks and devoured the food.
Though he occasionally winced from the muscle pain, Moyong Cheon’s cooking skills were improving day by day, and were more than enough to awaken So-ah’s inner gourmand.
“Whoa! Grandpa, this is totally amazing!”
“Eat a lot. We have things to do after you eat.”
“Oh! Martial arts training, right? Right?”
“No.”
“But I want to train…”
“Don’t worry. You’ll be able to train until you’re sick of it from now on. But first, there are things we must do before that.”
“Okay!”
In any case, So-ah was happy.
Whether it was martial arts training or something else, he wanted to do anything as long as it was with his grandpa.
The shadow of sadness that had coiled in a corner of So-ah’s heart slowly began to fade.
***
“Uwaaah…!”
“It hurts, doesn’t it?”
“Grandpa, it hurts so, so much. So-ah is going to die!”
“You must endure it. You overexerted yourself yesterday. Your muscles and tissues are sprained, and your internal energy is quite disordered due to oxygen deprivation. We must loosen your muscles and consolidate your qi and blood through massage.”
After finishing breakfast, Moyong Cheon immediately began to massage So-ah.
In truth, So-ah’s condition was terrible.
Training must be done according to a set progression to avoid straining the body.
But So-ah had started his training for the first time just yesterday.
To have spent the entire night on his very first training session—a normal child would have fainted and been bedridden for a week.
Fortunately, while So-ah was asleep the previous night, Moyong Cheon had infused his internal energy into the boy’s body and soothed his acupoints to regulate his blood circulation.
Thanks to that, So-ah was able to rest for a day and wake up perfectly fine.
“There. Now let’s soak your body in the medicinal water, So-ah.”
After about an hour of massage, Moyong Cheon took So-ah outside the estate.
In a corner of the yard sat a cauldron large enough for three or four grown men. It was half-filled with a certain liquid that held a brilliant blue light.
“What’s this?”
“This is medicinal water that heals inflammation, mends wounds, and restores vitality and bones. It was made with thirty-three kinds of medicinal herbs, the sap of the Ironwood Tree, and a tiger’s bones.”
“Gasp… a tiger’s bones?”
“Yes.”
Before the words were even finished, Moyong Cheon lifted So-ah’s body.
Then he placed So-ah into the cauldron filled with medicinal water.
Splash!
Since So-ah was still short, when he was submerged in the water that more than half-filled the large cauldron, it came up to his neck.
“Haha!”
So-ah thrashed about in the medicinal water.
It was then.
“Uh… huh?”
So-ah felt a sense of buoyancy.
“Grandpa…?”
Hadn’t Moyong Cheon lifted the entire cauldron?
He then placed the cauldron on a pre-prepared pile of firewood.
—Crackle!
Something even more surprising happened.
A blue radiance burst forth from Moyong Cheon’s palm, flickering on and off, until at some point, with a *tsss* sound, a flame ignited on his palm.
It was the technique of the Samadhi True Fire, known to be achievable only after reaching three sixty-year cycles of internal energy and attaining the Realm of Creation.
“Gasp… Grandpa, your hand is on fire… on fire!”
So-ah was so shocked he could barely breathe.
And for good reason.
Even among the masters scattered throughout the world, those who could spontaneously perform the Samadhi True Fire technique could be counted on one hand.
It was a sight that would make even those well-versed in martial arts turn pale with shock, so to So-ah, who knew little about martial arts, it must have seemed as if his grandpa was performing magic.
But it was still too early to be surprised.
Moyong Cheon, a slight smile on his face at So-ah’s cry of alarm, touched the flame to the pile of firewood under the cauldron.
Tssss…!
The flames of the Samadhi True Fire spread to the firewood.
Of course, since So-ah was inside the cauldron, he couldn’t see the firewood placed underneath it, nor that Moyong Cheon had set it on fire. But he soon felt the water temperature gradually rising, and his expression changed drastically as he shouted in alarm.
“Grandpa! This is weird! The water is suddenly getting hot!”
At that, Moyong Cheon laughed lightly and spoke.
“Ho ho, So-ah. The Ironwood Tree sap added to that medicinal water is a rare thing. It will protect your entire body even in boiling water.”
“No way! Does that even make sense?”
“It does.”
“Grandpa…”
A hint of intimidation crept into So-ah’s voice.
Although he trusted his grandpa infinitely, the thought that the water was gradually boiling made him feel afraid.
“So-ah. Do you trust me?”
“Yes, I trust you, Grandpa.”
“Then endure it. Of course, it will be painful when the water boils. But you must endure that pain.”
“Why?”
“So-ah.”
Moyong Cheon’s expression and voice turned remarkably serious.
“You want to learn martial arts, don’t you?”
“Yes!”
“In my youth, this old grandpa created a martial art. And I have been honing that art ever since. But sadly, I have not been able to teach this art, to which I have dedicated my entire life, to anyone. Do you know why?”
“No.”
“It is because I could not find a talent worthy of learning this art. But yesterday, I became certain. So-ah, you can learn this art.”
At Moyong Cheon’s words, So-ah’s eyes widened as he asked.
“Really? Does that mean I’m some kind of martial arts genius?”
“No. In fact, it’s the opposite.”
“Aww. Then am I a dullard?”
“You could say that.”
“But then how can I learn your martial art, Grandpa?”
In that moment, Moyong Cheon’s eyes narrowed.
But the light that flowed from between those narrowed eyes burned more fiercely than ever before.
“Martial Bones. Those with bodies exceptionally suited for learning martial arts. Finding such Martial Bones is not so difficult.”
“…”
“Also, Martial Talents. Those born with senses and talents unimaginable to ordinary people. Although very rare, they occasionally appear in the world. The outstanding rising stars of the martial world are usually Martial Talents.”
“…”
So-ah just listened silently to his grandpa’s puzzling words.
Not only were the words difficult to understand, but the temperature of the medicinal water was slowly rising, and he was beginning to feel the heat as his body warmed up.
But Moyong Cheon continued, unconcerned.
“However, one who can enjoy the pain of training. One who can smile amidst the desperate agony, fatigue, and physical hardship—such a person is by no means common.”
“Grandpa…”
“I can say with certainty that yesterday, for the first time, I found such a person.”
“Don’t tell me…”
“That person is you.”
So-ah’s expression turned solemn.
The aftershock of a warning bell rang through his head, and a certain thrill washed over his entire body.
An indescribable emotion.
Those feelings intertwined and exploded within his heart.
So-ah’s soul, which had been submerged deep in the abyss, flickered greatly like a lamp in the wind.
At that moment, So-ah finally realized that his destiny had met with a great change.
The precarious lamp had become a torch.
“Grandpa…”
“It seems this will be the first and the last time.”
“…”
“I will make you the second God of War.”
***
Three years later.
CRASH!
CRACK, CRASH!
—CRACK!
As the dim eye of dawn began to rise.
As usual, the lively sound of an axe echoed through Moyong Cheon’s estate.
The figure finely chopping wood with a large axe was So-ah, who had grown taller by a handspan.
“You’ve gotten quite good at chopping wood now.”
Moyong Cheon came out of the estate and looked at So-ah with a satisfied expression.
So-ah grinned at his grandpa.
“Haha, I’m probably the best in the world at chopping wood now, right?”
“Hahaha! Goodness, you rascal. You’re still a hundred years too early to match this old grandpa’s wood chopping.”
“No way! Then shall we make a bet, Grandpa?”
“Alright. What will you wager?”
“If I lose, I’ll double my training.”
“Are you teasing your grandpa? You already spend all your time training except for when you eat and sleep. If you double that, are you planning to give up food and drink altogether?”
“Oops!”
“You are a frightening child. Of course, that obsession is a strength only you possess, but sometimes you must also know how to rest.”
“Yes, Grandpa.”
It was while Moyong Cheon and So-ah were chatting like this.
—Whoosh!
As the cold wind of late autumn brushed past Moyong Cheon’s cheek,
“An intruder.”
Moyong Cheon spoke softly.
“An intruder?”
“Yes. Didn’t a west wind just blow?”
“What about it?”
“An east wind blows in our estate all year round. That is because of the Nine Palaces Yin-Yang Formation I have set up. But the fact that a west wind blew means that someone has broken the formation.”
“Aha!”
So-ah let out a cry of admiration.
In that instant.
Just as Moyong Cheon had said, two figures were entering the entrance of the estate as if by magic.
“Kekeke, War Fiend! What kind of conspiracy have you been plotting while hiding in a place like this? You cunning old man. You must have been scheming to take my head, weren’t you?”
(End of Chapter)