“Zhuge Cheonwu?”

As I entered the secret manual library and revealed my identity, the guard looked at my face and then shuffled through some documents.

“So you were the top student. Congratulations.”

With that, the guard handed me a bronze plaque. I hadn’t expected it, but to think I had actually become the overall top student.

‘As expected, one real battle is better than a bunch of small things.’

As I was thinking that, the guard’s explanation continued.

“With the authority of the top student, you can access up to the intermediate library on the second floor. Not that you’d need it, since you’re from the Zhuge family.”

That’s not true. I absolutely needed it.

But contrary to my inner thoughts, I calmly accepted the bronze plaque.

‘What a relief.’

To think I had taken the top spot. I didn’t know what would happen since I had fainted at the last moment, but I was lucky.

After quickly finishing my conversation with the guard, I entered the first floor of the secret manual library.

“It’s bigger than I thought.”

Before my eyes, tens of thousands of books, elegantly arranged, filled the space in all directions. It seemed there was training this afternoon, as there was no one here.

I entered the interior, feeling as if I had rented the whole place.

Although there was a guard in the center of the secret manual library, he just glanced at me silently and then turned his gaze away.

It seemed he had lost interest, as students like me were overflowing every year.

I quietly walked to the bookshelf and examined the secret manuals one by one.

‘Oh.’

The moment I saw the covers, I couldn’t help but let out a cry of admiration inwardly.

Because even though it was the first floor of the secret manual library, quite a few outstanding martial arts were visible everywhere, such as the [Thirty-Six Swords of the South Sea] of the Hainan Sect, the [Whirlwind Kick] of the Shaolin Temple, and the [Five Elements Fist] of the Hwangbo family.

Of course, it was closer to a degraded version rather than the original that contained all the essence of that sect, but the fact that it was placed in the Martial Academy’s secret manual library meant that it was a genuine article that was faithful to the basics.

It couldn’t be compared to the martial arts books sold in the marketplace.

With not just one or two, but tens of thousands of such high-quality martial arts books spread out, the students were bound to have a hard time choosing.

But among these many martial arts books, what I was going to learn was already decided.

‘The Heaven-Shattering Demon’s secret manual.’

In fact, paradoxically, the only thing missing from the Martial Academy’s secret manual library, which was said to have collected all the secret manuals of the Central Plains, was the martial arts of the Heaven-Shattering Demon.

Of course, he had clearly used a method of exquisitely mixing multiple advanced martial arts when he fought.

Because of that, connoisseurs of the time, seeing him, even called his martial arts the martial art of nothingness, as he could perform all martial arts and therefore did not take any martial art as his main.

But a rumor circulated in the world that the Heaven-Shattering Demon had his own separate martial arts and that he had hidden his true martial studies somewhere in the Martial Academy.

A rumor that the unique martial art of the number one under heaven was hidden.

It is said that because of that, the entrance competition rate for the Martial Academy was enormous in its early days.

So much so that even the Five Great Families and the Nine Great Sects, who did not look favorably on the Martial Academy, secretly sent their rising stars.

But no matter where they searched in the secret manual library, there was no book with the Heaven-Shattering Demon’s name on it, and the rumor about the unknown secret manual also quietly died down.

And so, it has been nearly 100 years since the Martial Academy was established and students began to enter.

The martial arts of the Heaven-Shattering Demon have still not been revealed.

Some say it was just a rumor, and others criticized the Heaven-Shattering Demon as a petty person who hid his own martial arts.

But the Heaven-Shattering Demon’s secret manual definitely existed. Because I had seen it in the guide.

‘Although it was completely different from the predictions of the connoisseurs of the time.’

Each martial art has its own cultivation method and forms.

By controlling one’s qi and developing the energy veins through breathing exercises according to the cultivation method, one builds up internal energy.

Only when that internal energy is combined with the forms after countless practices does a proper martial art manifest.

At this time, when the insight of each martial art meets the will of the martial artist and influences the world, the martial art achieves an even greater effect.

Flames rising in the air, plum blossoms blooming, and so on.

‘Just like a formation.’

Extremely developed martial arts also resemble magic.

I had felt this from Namgung Dohyeok’s dagger before.

The dagger did not move simply with his martial arts and internal energy.

He was clearly interfering with the will of the world, twisting and amplifying its power.

Just as a formation draws out the energy inherent in each object to create a new space.

The reason why plum blossoms bloomed from the sword of the Mount Hua Sect, how lightning struck down from the sword of the Namgung family, and why the dagger of the Sichuan Tang family became a single stream of rain that covered the sky, all originated from there.

‘In other words, when you understand the essence of a martial art and can interfere with the world with your will, you can manifest its ultimate form.’

Now that I had established the principle, it was time to apply it to the theory.

I passed between the secret manuals and picked out a worn-out book. They were all writings left by the Heaven-Shattering Demon.

[Heaven, Earth, and Man], [Basic Internal Energy Cultivation Method], [Encyclopedia of All Martial Arts]. Martial arts books that could be seen even in the marketplace, perhaps the easiest to obtain.

I slowly read through them.

In [Heaven, Earth, and Man], about the relationship between myself and the world.

In [Basic Internal Energy Cultivation Method], the principles and roots that are the basis of all internal energy in the Central Plains.

In [Encyclopedia of All Martial Arts], the way that internal energy interacts with forms was written.

It was nothing more than a description of basic knowledge that anyone would know, as if grasping at clouds.

But it came to me differently. As I read the books, a certain conviction grew.

That this cloud-grasping talk was in fact the core and foundation of all martial arts.

After reading the books while standing for several hours, I finally took out one shabby book.

Its title was [Martial].

The content of the simple and arrogant book, consisting of just one word, was just like a novel.

A story of a person who changes the world with gestures.

It was a text with the content that movement is like a dance, combining both etiquette and martial arts, and that movement ultimately expresses and summons the world.

It was a feast of absurd stories, to the point where I didn’t even know why it was in the secret manual library, but I could tell. How many proverbs and omissions were hidden within it.

It was thanks to [Absolute Magic], [Limitless Martial Body], and the books left by the Heaven-Shattering Demon.

What lurked within the basic knowledge I had examined earlier were countless possibilities.

‘Don’t tell me all of this is just a way to maximize talent?’

The insight that commonly appeared in the Heaven-Shattering Demon’s writings was, in the end, not to match the talent to the martial arts, but to match the martial arts to the talent.

‘This is insane.’

Just by looking at this idea, I can tell. The Heaven-Shattering Demon was truly a peerless genius.

And an overwhelming monster, the likes of which had never been seen in history.

He didn’t need a separate secret manual.

Because he, who had completely dominated his dantian and energy veins, could manifest any advanced martial art or anything else on the spot.

To him, the body or the form of martial arts was just a superficiality to realize the martial art of nothingness.

‘This is the Heaven-Shattering Demon’s insight.’

To him, cultivation methods such as the Three Talents Cultivation Method, the Six Harmonies Art, the Heavenly Thunder Qi Art, and the Tai Chi Cultivation Method, as well as martial arts, were just teaching materials to dominate all dantians and energy veins.

Like a black hole that devours everything and makes it its own.

The arrogant belief that he could manifest all the martial arts in this world was spread throughout this secret manual.

‘This is why no one has discovered it until now.’

If I didn’t have the talent of [Absolute Magic], I wouldn’t have been able to understand the context that expressed the relationship between dance and the world in such a vague way.

Also, if it weren’t for [Limitless Martial Body], I wouldn’t have even dared to try to follow these subtle body reactions and movements.

Magic created by the body. If a body-deaf person who had focused all their talent only on magic had seen this, they would have understood but would not have been able to act.

‘I think I know why the guide warned not to cling to this secret manual.’

This is a type of secret manual that you have to experience and fill in on your own.

A one-sided writing that is of no use unless you have an overwhelming talent like the characters in a novel.

In other words, it was a secret manual that you couldn’t even attempt without the magical talent to interfere with the world and the martial arts talent to perfectly control the body.

Since it was written by a three-eyed person about the world they see, it was inevitable that two-eyed people couldn’t recognize it.

‘To be able to manifest all kinds of cultivation methods in any situation if you can completely control your internal energy, dantian, and energy veins. This is insane.’

He was calmly saying things that would make martial artists grab the back of their necks and collapse. Content like a demonic manual that was perfect for falling into qi deviation.

But for me, who knew that the author of this book was the Heaven-Shattering Demon, I didn’t look at a single thing carelessly. On the contrary, I looked at it with interest.

Who would believe it? That a new world was spread out in this ridiculous novel.

Just by seeing and understanding it, the internal energy throughout my body churned.

I soon fell into a state of self-forgetfulness.

“Hoo.”

Time passed, and I, who had finally finished reading all the books left by the Heaven-Shattering Demon, closed the book with a sense of satisfied emptiness.

The official name of the cultivation method left by the Heaven-Shattering Demon was [Heaven-Defying Cultivation Method].

A martial art that only the blessed could enjoy, which devoured everything from the lower-level cultivation methods such as the Three Talents Cultivation Method, the Six Harmonies Art, and the Tai Chi Cultivation Method to the highest-level cultivation methods and increased the limits of the talent itself.

It was a cultivation method that truly defied the heavens, completely shattering existing common sense and principles.

Although it was a very difficult and vast amount of oral formula, I was able to memorize it easily thanks to the intelligence value correction of [Absolute Magic].

‘Of course, acquiring and utilizing it is a separate matter.’

I stood up from my seat, feeling a certain sense of competitiveness.

On the contrary, it was what I wanted. Because I would face endless enemies in the future, and I was planning to get stronger each time.

“It seems you’ve gained something?”

Just before leaving, the guard spoke to me slyly.

I hadn’t even felt his presence until he spoke, so he must be a considerable master.

“Yes.”

“That’s unique. Usually, those who come here are eaten by greed and wander in the books, or they just confirm the superiority of the martial arts they have learned and try to go up quickly. To have such a satisfied expression in this place.”

At his words, I gave a slight smile.

“Because all opportunities are precious.”

Then, the guard’s gaze sank a little deeper.

“This is a place where the will and sacrifice of countless martial artists reside. Nowadays, everyone is in a hurry to get it easily and go quickly, so they overlook it… Only those who do not forget this can inherit its true legacy. Please cherish that heart for a long time.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

After cupping my fists, I left the secret manual library. He was right. Martial arts were always waiting for those who were qualified.

The insight of the peerless number one under heaven, the Heaven-Shattering Demon, which all the people of the Central Plains so desired, had been on the first floor from the beginning.

* * *

As soon as I returned to the medical office, I immediately sat cross-legged.

And then I began to operate my internal energy according to the [Basic Internal Energy Cultivation Method]. I felt a different sensation from accumulating mana in the circle along the mana circuit.

Unlike the path of magic, which pursues growth centered on the circle, the cultivation method emphasized the harmony of the body and internal energy by circulating throughout the body.

‘He said to accumulate internal energy in the lower dantian like this.’

First, I accumulated internal energy in my dantian as described in the Heaven-Defying Cultivation Method. The innate true qi that had assimilated with my body was similar to, yet different from, my unique mana.

If mana was a pure power with the attribute of the mind, internal energy was a complex power with the attribute of the body.

‘If I continue to accumulate this, I will be able to handle internal energy like other martial artists.’

But that was, in the end, walking the same path as other martial artists.

The path I wanted to reach was the path to a free martial art that had shed its form, just as the Heaven-Shattering Demon had.

‘Slowly but surely.’

I soon changed the flow of the created dantian and tried another basic cultivation method, the Three Talents Cultivation Method.

From now on, I was thinking of devouring other cultivation methods with the Heaven-Defying Cultivation Method in the order described in [Martial].

From the lowest-level cultivation methods such as the Three Talents Cultivation Method and the Six Harmonies Art to the highest-level cultivation methods such as the Purple Mist Cultivation Method and the Tai Chi Cultivation Method, there was a long way to go, but the beginning was from the lowest-level cultivation method.

I operated the Heaven-Defying Cultivation Method and the Three Talents Cultivation Method at the same time.

“Tch!”

I narrowed my brow at the sudden, intense pain.

To apply another cultivation method to a dantian that had just finished adapting. It was a crazy act that was perfect for falling into qi deviation.

But I didn’t stop.

‘Control it.’

I barely grabbed the rampaging internal energy inside and gathered it in my lower dantian. I absorbed the subtleties of the Three Talents Cultivation Method while controlling the blood vessels that felt like they would burst at any moment.

How much time had passed like that?

Sometimes, my life was in danger from unexpected places, and at other times, I was able to break down walls too easily.

After struggling for a long time, feeling both painful cold sweat and the elation of achievement, finally.

The essence of the Three Talents Cultivation Method was ingrained in me.

“I’ve gained a good opportunity.”

I, who had slowly opened my eyes while sitting cross-legged, looked at the window that had become dawn and raised the corner of my mouth.

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep