episode_0029

There was a sect called Cheonmasingyo.

The Cheonmasingyo was a very unique sect. They were a group of warrior races who held strong self-respect as if it were a precious thing, and who regarded the Central Plains as a land that must be conquered one day.

At some point, they changed into a group of warriors who were obsessed with martial arts and worshipped strength, but their roots are in a lineage of the Ming religion, and if you trace their origins back even further, they have their roots in the Baehwa religion, which was the state religion of the old Persian Empire.

Now, only traces of it remain, and the leader and strongest person is called the leader, and they call themselves a new religion.

However, its foundation is clearly based on a religious group, so its color would not have been completely erased even during the time of the first Cheonma.

That’s why.

“The only one in heaven and earth, the three realms of Gaegoggo Adang Anji.”

A soft voice echoed through the deep darkness.

Consciousness emerges belatedly above the surface.

Since it wasn’t her own voice, Yeonjin looked around to find the owner of the voice, but in the darkness where she couldn’t see even an inch ahead, there was no way she could see anything.

“Who are you?”

Yeonjin asked, taking a defensive stance.

A voice dripping with alertness.

From Yeonjin’s perspective, she was meditating intently to explore the true meaning of martial arts, but suddenly her consciousness was pulled into a space filled with pitch-black darkness.

It’s stranger not to have boundaries.

And just before being completely immersed in the pitch-black darkness, the owner of the softly echoing voice revealed himself.

Her long hair, like ebony, swayed, and her bright red eyes, like rubies, glowed softly even in the darkness as she stared at Yeonjin with a weary expression.

She was a beauty with delicate features and clear skin, so it could be said that she had great beauty. But the face that appeared was one that Yeonjin was familiar with.

“Huh? Why is my sister here?”

When Yeonjin asked with her head tilted, the boredom suddenly disappeared from Yuyehyang’s expression that suddenly appeared before her eyes. And instead, she giggled.

“The Heavenly Horse of the Tang Dynasty… … No, it’s not Tang Dynasty yet. Anyway, is this what it looked like? Although it looks like this, I am not the sister you know. What a pity.”

“… … Excuse me, who are you?”

Yeonjin could also intuitively tell after hearing the answer that came back.

The woman in front of him was not Yu Ye-hyang.

Although she herself denied it, compared to the usual Yu Ye-hyang, her speech, atmosphere, and facial expressions were completely different.

In that case, we cannot help but cautiously ask who the being that appeared wearing the shell of Yu Ye-hyang is.

Yu Ye-hyang answered as if it was no big deal.

“Soul.”

“What’s your soul?”

It was a completely unexpected answer, so Yeonjin thought she had misheard and asked back.

However, Yoo Ye-hyang, who claimed to be a spirit, only nodded instead of answering. And then, after staring blankly and silently at Yeon-jin for a while, the ‘spirit’ spoke.

“You are not of this world.”

“… … Yes? I’m not dead yet.”

“No, you know that’s not what I said.”

Yeonjin was speechless when she heard that answer.

What is the soul? And who on earth is it that can guess the biggest secret you’re hiding with just a glance?

Even as my thoughts continued to follow one another, my soul snickered at the sight of that complex expression.

“It’s not an important story, so if you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t bring it up anymore. It’s probably not what you want to talk about.”

“Well, I’m actually a bit confused, too. I was trying to learn the Heavenly Demonic Art, but I got stuck on the first sentence of the sentence, and when I came to my senses, I was already here. And when I opened my eyes, you were talking to me.”

“Correct me. The expression ‘that side’ is a bit rude to use towards your ancestors. It’s also strange to call them ‘souls’… … Yes, treat them like the shell I’m wearing right now. ”

Yeonjin shook her head slowly. Suddenly hearing that she was being called arrogant, she asked cautiously.

“I just call her sister normally.”

The expression ‘sect leader’. So, does that mean that the person who appears in front of you is a distant sect leader of a faraway demonic cult?

Even while thoughts like “Could it be the first Heavenly Horse?” crossed his mind, the soul muttered with a troubled expression in response to the question.

“That’s strange too. Well, it’s not an important story, so let’s skip it.”

The muttering soul stared intently at Yeonjin.

Then, after shaking his head, he blurted out the words with the same expression on his face as he had been looking at Yeonjin.

“Yes, anyway, the next Heavenly Horse will not be you, but this child who has borrowed the form of the throne, so I will just say what I wanted to say and end it.”

“What were you trying to say?”

“It’s not a difficult problem, but you’re just worrying about it for nothing. I can understand that you’re not a cult leader and you don’t have any knowledge of the art of ruling a kingdom.”

The soul wrote letters in the air with graceful hand movements.

In the pitch-black darkness, a single letter glowing white was engraved.

Hegemony.

“What is a failure?”

The soul asked.

And Yeonjin pondered that question with a serious expression.

I know the general meaning and feeling of it, but I don’t know the dictionary definition or the exact meaning that can define it perfectly.

“It’s the opposite of the royal road, so roughly, suppress it with force and go your own way. Isn’t that the feeling? ”

“Then how is that tyranny different from self-righteousness?”

The soul asked again at the barely squeezed answer.

What is the difference between arrogance and self-righteousness?

Patriarchy is suppressing all obstacles with force and going your own way, while self-righteousness is believing that everyone else is wrong and only you are right.

Similar yet different. But what exactly is the difference?

When Yeonjin hesitated and couldn’t answer the question, Naek added with a faint smile.

“As soon as Sakyamuni was born from the side, he walked seven steps in all directions, pointed to the heavens and the earth, and said, “In this world, only I am honorable, and the three realms are in pain, so I should bring peace.””

“… … That was the beginning of the Heavenly Demonic Art. I still don’t understand exactly what it meant. ”

“There is no need to think too hard. Isn’t this also self-righteousness? He believed that the only way to lead all living beings to nirvana was the right way, and he did so. However, the Buddha did not walk the path of the wheel-turning sage king, so he did not turn the wheel by force, but instead turned the wheel of the law and convinced them in their hearts.”

Yeonjin’s expression became subtle.

If you explain it in detail like this, I can fully understand what the soul is saying. But what is the difference between it and the path of defeat, and what is its connection to the Heavenly Demonic Sect?

It’s a subtlety that seems like it would make sense if I heard the explanation, but at other times it’s a bit strange and makes me wonder if it’s true or not.

The soul was leisurely looking at that expression, but the origin of the Demonic Cult suddenly came to mind in Yeonjin’s mind.

The foundation of the Demonic Cult and the Heavenly Demon Sect is a religious group.

However, since their teachings did not correspond to either Confucianism, Buddhism or Taoism, they were rejected as a religion of the devil.

It was the beginning of a branch of Myeonggyo, and if we go back to the time before Myeonggyo, it corresponds to Baehwagyo that flourished in Pasa.

What is Baehwagyo?

It was a religion based on the dualism of good and evil, which was divided into absolute good and absolute evil, and worshipped sacred fire. At least, that was what Yeonjin had learned as liberal arts in her previous life.

And the Demonic Cult has become a group whose roots as a religious group have faded over the years, leaving only traces. However, it must have been different during the time of the first Heavenly Demon.

Like Sakyamuni, who declared that this is the last reincarnation and that there will be no more reincarnations and that he will save all living beings.

The leader of the Demonic Cult, Cheonma, is a being who has the responsibility to lead his followers by enforcing their beliefs.

Just like the will of the great king who built a great empire that stretched from the Western Regions to India through Persia, the reason he chose only the strongest as his religious leader was because he needed to open the path for them, even by force.

“So, the loser is… … ?”

Defeat.

A countermeasure against the royal road. Open the way by force and suppress opposition.

That is probably the reason why the Cheonma Shingong has not been revised from the beginning even after so much time has passed since the first Cheonma.

Yeonjin, who was mumbling, grabbed the transparent string that was faintly visible to him but not yet within reach. Then, the soul smiled brightly.

“Still, Oh Seong isn’t bad. He’s quite a smart kid. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him because he’s a guy who shouldn’t have come. It’s worth it.”

But Yeonjin, who was already focused, couldn’t hear her words.

If the path that Cheonmasingong pursues is to open the way for him to advance with force as the leader of Cheonmasingyo and the strongest one for the great cause of conquering the Central Plains, then it means that.

If that is what the first Heavenly Demon had prepared, then the path of defeat that the Heavenly Demon Shingong speaks of is simple.

It is not about magical powers like Kwai, Hwan, or Byeon. Rather, it is something more fundamental than those.

The most primal and fundamental power that martial arts aim for. The overwhelming power that can overcome all obstacles and suppress opposition is the ultimate goal that Cheonma Shingong aims for.

Woof, woof.

Even in the midst of the darkness, where he couldn’t see an inch ahead, the sword on his waist still resonated.

The black sword, moved by the true meaning of the Heavenly Demon Sword, cried out with a clear voice and let out the sound of the sword.

“Then, let’s meet again next time. I don’t know when that will be.”

As her spirit began to fade, she said goodbye.

Just before he finished speaking, Yeonjin tried to say something in response to those words.

The first thing that happened was that he opened his eyes and half-opened them, and a clear light flowed from his pupils. The cool air filled his lungs along with his consciousness being pulled up from under the water.

“Now you’ve reached the peak.”

And so on until now.

While Yeonjin’s consciousness had subsided to the point of paralysis, Yu Yehyang, who had been breathing life into her while resting her head on her back, smiled with genuine joy.

Since she was destined to be a Heavenly Horse, she was unrivaled in her age group, almost like a monster, but reaching the peak at the age of seventeen was by no means an achievement to be belittle.

Even the disciples of the old school and the later members of the five great families, who received a shower from birth and drank good elixirs instead of water, rarely reached their peak before the age of 18.

Unless one is truly gifted in martial arts, it would be difficult to achieve such things at this age even with that much support.

“Finally… … .”

Yeonjin looked inside. The rough and violent energy that had been running wild calmed down as soon as she realized the true meaning of the Cheonma Shingong.

Yeonjin muttered as if she was a little overwhelmed by emotion, then got up in a dazed state.

Yeonjin, seventeen years old. It’s been a little over half a year since she started studying under Yu Yehyang.

Finally reached the peak.