Three years and eight months ago.
The very first teacher who imparted teachings to me was none other than a female Taoist holding a lotus flower.
Among all my teachers, two of them in particular were unusually blunt and difficult with me—one of them being Master Ha.
Despite her stern demeanor, Master Ha could not hide her astonishment while teaching me.
> "How do you know the Seonwon Breathing Technique?"
When she asked how I had managed to accumulate innate energy in my middle dantian, I told her that I had learned the Innate Heart Method left behind by the Southern Heavenly Swordsman.
But upon hearing a brief description of the breathing technique from the Innate Heart Method, she called it the Seonwon Breathing Technique.
And when I listened to the incantation she referred to, I was taken aback.
> "It seems the man who left you that incantation discovered the first half of Jeongyohwan's Ritual Text, something I left behind in the secular world."
> "The first half?"
According to her, Jeongyohwan's Ritual Text was the pinnacle of suggestion techniques.
She had left it behind to sever her lingering attachments to the mortal world, but fearing its dangerous potential, she divided the secret manual into two halves.
> "Hmph. Seems we're not entirely unconnected."
Though she spoke curtly, there was a glint of intrigue in her eyes.
In any case, since I already knew the Seonwon Breathing Technique and had sufficient innate energy in my middle dantian, she decided to officially teach me Jeongyohwan's Ritual Text.
However, I already knew the second half of the incantation.
Because it was the same as the one passed to me by the Blood-Water Witch, Han Baek-ha, in her own version of the Ritual Text.
> "You... just who are you?"
I still vividly remember the stunned look on Master Ha's face when she stared at me.
With that brief recollection fading, I returned to the present.
"Ho Jong-won?"
How could something like this happen?
It was truly uncanny.
Although rough around the edges, this boy named Ho Jong-won, who came from Yunnan Province, had mastered the basic sword forms of the Sungmyeong Sword Technique.
—Swish!
Just then, the Southern Heaven Iron Sword flew through the air and returned to my scabbard.
Seeing this, the boy—Ho Jong-won, who had been holding the sword—stared wide-eyed.
> "Th-the sword moved on its own?!"
Even among martial artists, witnessing Weapon Telekinesis is extremely rare.
Some may live their entire lives without ever seeing it.
Of course, while this is merely spiritual resonance in form, to him it would appear as true Weapon Telekinesis.
> —Unhui, who is this boy?
"...He said he's Ho Jong-won from Yunnan."
> —What!?
Even the Southern Heaven Iron Sword could not hide its surprise.
Apparently, the name was familiar to it too.
"Clumsy as he is, he knows even the basic forms of the Sungmyeong Sword Technique. You know this name?"
> —Ahhh!
In response to my question, the Southern Heaven Iron Sword exclaimed,
> —There is a spirit tablet with the name Ho Jong-won in the ancestral shrine of the previous owner's family. He's known as the founder of Sungmyeong Divine Art.
The founder of Sungmyeong Divine Art?
This boy, Ho Jong-won, was the origin of the Sungmyeong Divine Art?
I didn't show it outwardly, but inside I was shocked.
Who would have imagined that I'd meet the very person known as the great master who devised the method of channeling innate energy through the middle dantian?
> —Then he's practically your grandmaster.
Just as the Sodam Sword said, he could indeed be considered my grandmaster (師祖).
Fate truly is strange and fearsome.
Who would've thought the past and present would intersect like this?
> —At least pretend to recognize him.
"...That's not possible."
Unlike my swordmaster, who had transcended the mortal world, this ancestral master was just an ordinary boy for now.
I couldn't go around treating him like an elder or calling myself a disciple from the future.
Right then, Ho Jong-won suddenly released the sword and dropped to his knees like lightning.
> "What are you doing?"
> "Sir! Please show me the way!"
> "The way?"
> "Did you not say so yourself, sir? That there's still a way even without a dantian!"
'!?'
He was asking me to teach him how to cultivate using his middle dantian?
For a moment, I went blank.
Could it be that I was the one who taught the origin of the Seonwon Breathing Technique to the ancestor of the Southern Heavenly Swordsman?
Even Master Ha had said so—
That the Seonwon Breathing Technique was not something that could have been created by mortals.
At the time, I had only thought of the ancestor of the Southern Heavenly Swordsman as a great master.
'...Was it really me who taught him?'
Everything was lining up too perfectly.
From the coincidence of saving him from being taken as a prisoner to meeting him when he had lost his dantian—it all felt like fate.
> "Please open the path for me, sir!"
—Thud!
Ho Jong-won slammed his forehead onto the ground.
I could hear the desperation in his voice.
I, too, had once lost my dantian and despaired at my inability to train in martial arts.
Perhaps that's why I couldn't help but be moved by Ho Jong-won's plight.
'...Is this truly fate?'
It was a strange feeling.
To think I'd be teaching the ancestor of the Southern Heavenly Swordsman—the very origin of my martial path.
Then again, maybe it was meant to be.
Had I not saved him, he might've died as a prisoner.
Maybe this too was part of the natural order.
Letting out a long sigh, I said to Ho Jong-won,
> "Fine. I'll open the path for you."
> "Truly?!"
His face lit up as he lifted his head, blood flowing from the cut on his forehead.
Just how desperate was he to go that far?
I looked toward the northwest and told him,
> "However, I don't have much time. I'll teach you how to gather energy without a dantian."
With the imperial army still advancing and the unconscious men needing to be awakened to plan an infiltration, I couldn't teach him too much.
But if this boy was truly the founder of the Sungmyeong Divine Art, he should be able to navigate his way with just the Seonwon Breathing Technique's incantation.
> "Thank you! I will serve you as my—"
I frowned at his words.
Strange.
I couldn't quite hear the last part of what he said.
Still, I had a good guess at what he meant.
> "I'll recite the incantation three times, so stand up and memorize it properly."
> "Understood, ...sir."
'!?'
What's this?
I couldn't hear the last word again.
And even the shape of his mouth was hard to interpret.
Despite looking directly at him.
> —What's wrong?
No, never mind.
I didn't have time. I had to teach him the incantation first.
> "I'll recite it three times. Memorize it well. Self-Severing Internal Energy (自斃內攻), activate the Gyewon Meridian…"
The Innate Heart Method requires one to sever their internal energy before learning.
Because it's not meant to build inner power but rather vital energy.
But then, his expression suddenly changed.
"Why is that?"
"Uh... Sir, I'm terribly sorry, but I can't hear what you're saying at all. Could you please repeat it?"
"What?"
I raised one eyebrow and asked him.
"You didn't hear me?"
"Yes, that's correct."
I stared at Hojongwon, then began reciting the mnemonic formula of the Seoncheon Internal Arts again.
"Jape-naegong-gyeong-won-maek-hyeon-mujung-jiyeok..."
But Hojongwon frowned, looking at me with a confused expression.
I continued reciting, but he couldn't take it any longer and interrupted me.
"Sir... you're just moving your lips. I have no idea what you're saying."
"Just moving my lips?"
For a moment, I was speechless at what he said.
Come to think of it, I also couldn't hear the title he used when calling me.
It seems like the same kind of phenomenon.
'No way…'
Just in case, I summoned the fallen Imperial soldier's sword using Hu-gong-seop-mul (a technique to attract things through the air).
Holding the sword, I tried to write letters on the ground with its tip.
If I couldn't speak, I had to let him see it with his own eyes.
Scratch!
I started writing the character for "ja" and was about to write the next character—
Pop!
Suddenly, my hand sprang upward involuntarily.
'!?'
I had no idea what was going on.
Something with a powerful repelling force had lifted my hand, but it was a completely different sensation from inner force or martial energy.
"Sir? What's the matter?"
"Wait."
I tried again to write the character for "pye".
But again, before I could even begin, my hand bounced upward.
"Ha!"
I was dumbfounded.
It was as if some unknown force was forcibly preventing me from teaching Hojongwon the mnemonic formula of the Seoncheon Internal Arts.
I couldn't be heard, couldn't write the words—and even now, using the strength of a 10-star cultivator, my hand trembled and couldn't touch the ground.
Grit!
I clenched my teeth and forced it, but my hand bounced up again.
This wasn't gravity. It felt as if the act itself wasn't allowed to exist.
I had no way of passing it on.
'What the hell is this…'
Why couldn't I transmit anything to him?
At that moment, the voice of the Namcheon Iron Sword echoed in my head.
—It was an impossible act from the beginning, Unhwi.
What do you mean?
—I was going to say earlier, but don't you think it's strange that you, who learned martial arts from the previous master, are now trying to teach that martial art to that master's ancestor?
That's…
—It's like the chicken or the egg. Or worse. Where exactly did the Seoncheon Internal Arts you're trying to teach—or the one you learned—even originate?
'Ah…'
In that moment, I understood what the sword meant.
As it said, this was something that should not be possible.
There was no source for the martial art—how could someone from the future teach it in the past?
This is a paradox…!?
At that moment, something flashed through my mind.
I had once asked my Sword Sage Master this question:
[I once saw your white-robed form in my vision—why did you send me back to my childhood? But you gave me no answer. Master, do you know the reason?]
[Sent you back to your childhood?]
[Yes.]
My master gave a soft sigh and then said:
[Hoo... it is a paradox of existence.]
[What do you mean by that?]
[Even for a high Daoist master, it is impossible to send someone back to their childhood.]
[What? Then how did I… regress?]
[It wasn't regression. It was a paradox of existence.]
Back then, I didn't understand.
My master only said this to me:
[How can a single being exist simultaneously in two points of time? It is a fragment born of contradiction.]
Now I understand.
I can't be certain, but the Namcheon Iron Sword's artifact sent me to the past.
—What are you saying?
It didn't regress me to my childhood.
The very act of my past and future self existing at the same time is a paradox.
To allow something that cannot exist, only my consciousness came to the past.
—So it wasn't regression?
That's right.
To prevent a temporal contradiction, only my mind came to the past—because at that time, my body had to still be young.
"Hah..."
The more I understand, the more mysterious it becomes.
Even if one could traverse past, present, and future, the world somehow corrects things to avoid contradiction.
This world seems to be governed by a flow and truth that humans with limited knowledge can never fully grasp.
It feels like I understand, and yet I don't.
"Sir? What's the matter?"
I silently gazed at Hojongwon.
Like the question of the chicken or the egg, I cannot teach him the Seoncheon Internal Arts—something without origin.
What cannot logically exist becomes a paradox of existence.
'I have to let him come into contact with what already exists.'
I took a deep breath and said to him:
"Don't call me that."
"Sir?"
I cannot be his master.
That's why he can't even hear himself calling me that.
"...Then, does that mean you..."
Hojongwon looked disappointed.
He must think I've given up on teaching him.
So I turned to the southwest and said:
"Somewhere deep in the southwestern mountains of Yunnan, a venerable sage has left behind a realization. If you obtain it, you might be able to reclaim your path as a warrior."
"Ah!"
His previously dark expression brightened.
"Is that true?"
"Yes."
That's the best I can offer.
No—it may even be fate.
Because Hojongwon cannot create the Seoncheon Internal Arts out of nothing.
"Go. If your path as a martial artist is not cut off, you will find what that sage left behind."
"Sir..."
"I said, don't call me that."
"Then I will call you Eungong (Benefactor). Even beasts repay kindness."
"That's enough."
Just being alive is enough.
Because that's how I will later learn the Seongmyeong Divine Art, Seongmyeong Sword Art, and the Seoncheon Internal Arts.
"If you wish to live, run. The imperial army will arrive soon."
At my words, Hojongwon replied:
"You're telling me to flee, but you're staying here… does that mean you plan to fight the imperial army?"
"That's none of your concern—"
"Even if you're strong, how could you possibly fight four of the Twelve Masters of the World?"
"Twelve Masters of the World?"
That's quite the title.
Is that the name used for top martial artists of this era, like the Eight Great Masters or Five Great Evils?
I was confused, and Hojongwon said angrily:
"You haven't heard the rumors?"
Of course not. I barely know anything about this time period.
All I really know is that we're in the Yan Dynasty.
Hojongwon continued:
"Recently, the Ghost of the Broken Palace, Chosa; Snow White of the Northern Ice Palace, Seolbaek; Brilliant Moon, Yang Myeongshin; and the Scholar of Mount Bok, Noejang—all entered the palace. The news spread everywhere."
Those names mean nothing to me.
Unless they're martial artists from within fifty years of my own time, I wouldn't know them.
Given that, this really must be early in the Yan era.
Then Hojongwon shouted in frustration:
"Dammit! Who would have thought those people would serve that damn Emperor? To think the so-called Twelve Masters of the World are leading the suppression of the martial world…"
"What? Did you just say martial suppression?"
I was stunned.
The martial world and government have always been at odds throughout history.
But there was one time they clashed harder than ever before.
When the government tried to eradicate the martial world—that was the era of the Great Martial Suppression.
"Eungong, why are you so surprised?"
"...What is the Emperor called right now?"
"Why would you ask that...?"
"Just answer."
He looked puzzled but eventually replied.
"He's called Geumsangje."
'Geumsangje!'