Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 415 (Part 2)



415 (Part 2)

“…Yes.”

I wasn’t particularly worried about that.

I just didn’t like how it started so abruptly.

Moreover I couldn’t see where the Elder was who had been next to me.

I was sure he had been right there just a moment ago.

“You seem to be quite displeased. Would you like to do it next time? If you want I can arrange that.”

Hearing that I thought about learning slowly from the afternoon but as the saying goes “Strike while the iron is hot.”

I decided it would be better to save time.

“No. I will start now.”

“I like your answer.”

After hearing my response the Elder nodded repeatedly.

So now he would teach me the technique slowly?

But…

‘Why isn’t he moving away?’

Contrary to what the Elder had said about teaching me he remained right in front of me.

In fact he kept his fist pressed against my chest.

I looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked.

“Elder?”

“Learning the technique isn’t difficult. I’m quite confident about that. This is probably the easiest technique among those in the Central Plains.”

The Elder continued to explain without pause.

“…Is that so?”

It was a somewhat strange statement.

Anyone who has witnessed the Tua Pa Cheon Mu at least once would inevitably be captivated by its intricate and dazzling techniques.

Even I who had nearly been killed by the Elder in my previous life could clearly see that his martial arts contained something incomprehensible.

How could the Elder say that the first technique is simple?

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As I pondered this the Elder spoke to me.

“It’s simple. Once you experience it with your body you’ll learn it quickly.”

“Excuse me?”

“If you have good guts you’ll learn it well.”

…What did I just hear?

“What do you mean…?”

Just as I was about to ask again thinking I had misheard.

Whoosh-!

“…!”

I felt a familiar qi emanating from the fist directed at me.

It was the energy of the Tua Pa Cheon Mu possessed by the Elder.

I looked at him with a chill running down my spine.

“Oh just a heads up. Stay alert. This training is different from the bat’s training.”

Before the Elder finished speaking I instinctively twisted my body.

At the same time I began to layer my protective enhanced qi over myself.

“You could really die.”

With that final word the Elder’s fist was charged with power.

A heavy shockwave spread out in all directions.

I realized then.

As the nightmare ended.

Hell was waiting for me.

******************

As Gu Yang Cheon began to roll around somewhere in the forest.

Swish-! Swish!

A white-haired woman was swinging her sword alone in a silent clearing.

Having moved so vigorously a few strands of hair stuck to her sweaty cheeks but.

The woman continued to swing her sword as if she didn’t care.

Swish-!

The sword qi infused with her energy left traces in the air.

It looked somewhat beautiful in the dawn light but the movements and emotions contained in the blade were anything but.

Crash-!

The following footwork and rapid strikes would draw admiration from onlookers.

Yet in the eyes of the woman wielding the sword there was nothing but dissatisfaction.

‘…No.’

It was slow.

To her her sword felt that way.

Moreover.

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‘Weak.’

It felt infinitely weak.

The sword path was unbroken and the footwork was flawless yet.

The woman could not find satisfaction.

‘…With this….’

With just this she could not stand beside him.

Thinking of this Namgung Bia bit her lip.

Soon even the sword she had been extending came to a halt.

“Hah… Hah….”

Rough breaths escaped from her lovely lips.

How much had she moved from the beginning until now?

She had spent the night gripping her sword forgetting even her drowsiness.

Yet the suffocating feeling that had arisen within Namgung Bia remained unresolved.

The woman who loved to swing her sword was now trapped by unknown inner demons.

‘…’

Suddenly feeling pain Namgung Bia grimaced and checked her hand.

Had she been gripping too hard?

Her palm was slightly torn.

What should she do?

What on earth should she do?

‘…Can I… protect him…?’

Namgung Bia had to furrow her brows thinking of Gu Yang Cheon.

He was the very cause of the inner demons she was experiencing.

Gu Yang Cheon was endlessly pitiful and precarious.

Recently that was how Namgung Bia viewed Gu Yang Cheon.

The once confident and unhesitant Gu Yang Cheon was gradually being crushed and exhausted by something unknown.

Even though she could see it clearly there was nothing she could do.

That weighed heavily on Namgung Bia.

‘I can’t protect anything….’

When the Black Night Palace Head attacked the Shinryong Temple.

Namgung Bia felt her own weakness.

At that time she had been unable to do anything.

Only when Dang So Yeol made her sacrifice could she finally escape the crisis.

In the end she had to repeatedly rely on him to be saved.

In such a situation

‘I… am…’

What was she really?

The reason she had swung her sword so fervently was to escape the stench of the world.

Now by being beside him she could escape that stench.

So now what was Namgung Bia swinging her sword for?

‘…Because I want to be by his side….’

Namgung Bia realized the answer through self-questioning.

But something was lacking.

Even if she couldn’t fully convince herself that answer was enough for her.

‘I have to… protect him….’

She wanted to protect him who was somewhere precarious and anxious.

Even if others saw him as outstanding and strong that was not how Namgung Bia saw Gu Yang Cheon.

He looked like he wanted to collapse at any moment.

Yet he was forcing himself to endure because he had much to protect behind him.

Thinking of that Namgung Bia gripped her sword tightly again with her injured hand.

‘…What…’

What on earth should she do to protect him?

With her weak self it was impossible.

She couldn’t even brush against the Black Night Palace Head let alone the White Lotus Sword’s collar.

She had even lost to the sword master known as Jang-ryong.

In this state who could protect whom?

Drip.

Blood flowed from Namgung Bia’s bitten lip.

She couldn’t stand her own incompetence.

“…I can’t… stay like this….”

She had to find a way.

A way to become stronger.

And thus a way to stay by his side and protect him.

She wanted to find it.

Crack.

She swung her sword again.

Though her body was already exhausted Namgung Bia did not stop.

At the same time she recalled.

A conversation she had with her father in Henan just a few days before departing for Sichuan.

[Your great-grandfather wishes to see you.]

Before returning to Anhui Namgung Jin had said this to Namgung Bia.

The absolute being of the Namgung Clan one of the three lords of the Central Plains wanted to see Namgung Bia.

[Since your journey happens to be in Sichuan it is fortuitous.]

[…Why…?]

When she asked why the lord would think it fortunate that she was going to Sichuan.

Namgung Jin replied.

[It just so happens that he also has business in Sichuan. Go and meet him.]

[…]

Recalling that conversation Namgung Bia thought.

If it were her younger brother it would be different. But Namgung Bia had little acquaintance with the lord.

She felt like she had seen him from a distance a few times but she could count the times they had faced each other properly on one hand.

However Namgung Bia had already made up her mind to meet the lord.

‘I must become stronger.’

As the sky of the Namgung Clan and the one who reached the lord through this swordsmanship.

She thought that perhaps the lord might open another path for her.

She would become stronger.

She had to become much stronger.

To protect him she couldn’t remain at this level.

Thinking that way.

Namgung Bia continued to swing her sword.

The world was yellow. The sky the trees the grass and the river all spun in yellow.

For the past five days my world had been like that.

“Ptooey….”

As I spat on the ground it mixed with blood.

Crack! As I rose my joints screamed in pain.

My whole body hurt.

I had managed to endure losing consciousness from the corrupted officials but the price was considerable.

It felt like the flowing qi and the acupoints were tangled.

My current physical condition was a mess.

The qi that had left my control flowed chaotically and my swaying vision made it hard to see ahead.

In terms of sensation it wouldn’t be strange if I had reached qi deviation.

But I knew.

These broken sensations would return soon.

And not long after.

Crack-!!

“Ugh….”

As expected.

The qi that had been rampaging and the seemingly broken acupoints began to respond.

The qi which had been acting violently as if angry was being drawn back to the qi center as if caught by something.

The acupoints that had seemed tangled were feeling a forced release.

The pain that came from that was beyond imagination.

Right now the only thing I could do was grit my teeth and suppress my screams.

‘Damn…!’

Pulling the qi back like this. Restoring the acupoints to their original state.

It was the power of the Tua Pa Cheon Mu I learned from the Elder.

Before I learned the technique.

I could finally understand what the Elder meant when he said that the power of the Tua Pa Cheon Mu had to be ingrained in the body before one could learn it.

The foundation for using the technique.

Including artificial Body Reformation.

And forcibly entering a state of no-self.

The power to forcibly restore a chaotic body through pain.

That was the power of the Tua Pa Cheon Mu.

Of course.

It wasn’t possible in every case.

“Hah… Hah….”

Once the qi and acupoints calmed down and the pain lessened to some extent I was able to lift my head.

Then I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight before me.

‘…This is indeed insane power.’

It seemed something had swept through the place filled with trees and rocks leaving only a massive trace behind.

Comparatively it was similar to the time I had unleashed a massive flame jewel against the Black Dragon Sword.

I had created that with just one punch.

One punch.

That sight was what I had created with the first technique of the Tua Pa Cheon Mu.

It seemed like nonsensical martial arts.

Having used it myself I understood even better.

This martial arts was worthy of being called divine skill.

‘No wonder that old man… his punches were fierce.’

When I had fought the Elder in my previous life.

I could understand why each of the Elder’s strikes felt more like ‘breaking’ than ‘hitting.’

It was said to be martial arts aimed solely at destruction and transcendence.

That was precisely the meaning of this martial arts.

However there were certainly problems as much as there was destructive power.

The issue was my body right after using the technique.

The acupoints had become like this and the qi had been moving chaotically for that reason.

On the dawn when the Elder had directly unleashed the technique on me.

I finally understood why the Elder had said that learning through direct confrontation was faster.