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“This is going to be messy, isn’t it?”

After a bit of wrangling, the Sword Demon decided to lock up Namgung Hwan for a while, effectively erasing his tracks in the Jianghu, while taking Mo Yong-yeon under his wing. And off we went to Jinrang Valley to check on Mangnyang’s abode.

Gathered in one place, Mangnyang declared, “I believe we still have enough time for some more training sessions.”

“What do you mean?”

“I touched upon a general plan at the Shadowless Gate, but honestly, we don’t need to rush into action right now. In fact, it might be better to buy some time and delay our actions, because our power is simply too weak at the moment.”

I nodded, finally grasping his intent. “So you’re saying we should level up before jumping in?”

“Exactly. Up until now, Baek Woong, you’ve been involved in various things, but you haven’t directly stirred the hornet’s nest of the Imperial Palace. However, once you get close to Han Baek-ryeong, the Dharma Guardian of the White Lotus Sect, we will definitely get pulled into the center of a big event. Therefore, it’s better to postpone our encounter with Han Baek-ryeong.”

At this moment, Mangnyang looked very cautious. Then Jin So-cheong interjected firmly, “That’s not how I see it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Even at this very moment, poor women are being sexually abused within the confines of the Namgung Clan’s Thunder Pearl. We must negotiate with Han Baek-ryeong as quickly as possible to rescue them.”

Jin So-cheong’s assertion struck a chord. According to Namgung Hwan, he had tossed aside women he got tired of to his subordinates like trash. The longer we delayed, the more suffering those poor women would endure.

Mangnyang gave a wry smile. “That’s a valid point. However, I really don’t want to fail again.”

As Jin So-cheong stared at him, Mangnyang continued, “I’ve already faced many failures. Each time, I devised the best plan I could. Yet, despite all that, failure still came to pass. The fundamental reason for these failures has always been a lack of power. No matter how sound the plan, if we’re weak, it’ll inevitably turn into a bad strategy.”

“I understand what you’re saying.”

Both Jin So-cheong and I could deeply resonate with those words. Everyone here shared a collective memory of the excruciating failures up to the seventeenth round. Mangnyang was absolutely right; Jin So-cheong’s argument, despite being logical, couldn’t be outright denied.

Then an idea struck me. “How about I sneak into Namgung Clan’s Thunder Pearl and rescue the women myself?”

Mangnyang sighed. “If that were possible, that would be ideal. But it’s not feasible.”

“Why not?”

“The Namgung Clan is one of the most powerful martial families among the Five Great Families. All the elders are Peak Experts, and the clan leader, Namgung Myeong, is known as the Great Swordsman who has reached the Sword of Heaven… a truly formidable adversary. Sneaking past their watchful eyes to the Thunder Pearl is almost impossible.”

Jin So-cheong chimed in. “Exactly. My master stated that Namgung Myeong is the strongest among the five clan leaders. He is counted as one of the peak experts within the orthodox sect.”

“Is he that powerful?”

I let out a low hum.

The Sword of Heaven! I remembered the days when I trained under Myung Ryong-ja and the Sword Demon, when I first heard of it.

[Myung Ryong-ja is right. Don’t even think about the Peerless Technique before achieving the Sword of Heaven.]

[What is the Sword of Heaven?]

[I’ve explained before how to embed your will into a basic technique using the Mind Control Technique.]

[Yeah.]

[It means going beyond that step and manifesting abstract imagination into reality. It signifies reaching a level where one can be called a true master of secret techniques.]

Now, I could say I’ve reached the Sword of Heaven stage since I’ve fully mastered the Cave-Collapsing Sword and Heavenly Contraction Sword while integrating the Sword Family techniques. This meant I could freely use my secret techniques through sheer willpower. However, getting this far took nearly a hundred years of hard training and fortunate encounters; thus, achieving the Sword of Heaven is considered an incredible feat among martial artists.

And if Namgung Myeong has reached the Sword of Heaven, there’s no guarantee I could outmatch him easily.

‘He may not be stronger than Lee Kwang, but they could very well be on the same level.’

Considering he’s regarded as the strongest among the five clan leaders, that’s a fair assumption. Still, with my internal power and Thunderclap technique, I might just manage, but he’s definitely not someone I can defeat in a short skirmish. The difficulty of infiltrating the Namgung Clan’s Thunder Pearl is monumental.

‘Once I infiltrate, though, I should be able to extract them without making a fuss later.’

As I pondered, Jin So-cheong spoke up, “Baek Woong, I brought up this idea. So let me handle the situation myself.”

When Mangnyang and I looked at him, Jin So-cheong continued with a serious expression, “One month! During that time, I will increase my martial might. And I will break through the Namgung Clan’s Thunder Pearl to rescue them.”

Startled by his sudden proposal, I waved my hands. “Hold up, hold up. Isn’t that a bit too rushed? It’d be better for all of us to go together, maybe with Mangnyang’s help…”

“No. I believe I can do this. Just trust me this once.”

“Hmm.”

I glanced over at Mangnyang, who seemed to want me to make the call. After all, I was practically the leader of our group. With no other choice, I fell into deep thought, contemplating Jin So-cheong’s offer.

‘Why is Jin So-cheong so eager?’

This could be a ploy to gain favor, as the Sword Demon might not view him favorably. There had to be a reason behind this.

‘But that can’t be the whole story.’

Having known Jin So-cheong for a long time, I could tell he wasn’t that simplistic. He wasn’t one to act unless he was fully confident. That meant Jin So-cheong truly believed he could raise his martial arts sufficiently in just a month to break through the Namgung Clan’s Thunder Pearl.

But still, could he really pull it off?

‘If he could, we could achieve both objectives efficiently in a short time…’

I once took the time to share all my martial arts knowledge with Jin So-cheong over a month. Surely that’s where he draws his confidence from. Yet, I couldn’t begin to guess how much progress he would make in a month.

After much deliberation, I finally responded, “Alright! I’ll trust you this time, Jin So-cheong.”

“Thank you.”

Mangnyang burst into a hearty laugh. “Hahaha! Following you is quite the adventure; you always head in unpredictable directions.”

“I just want to wrap this up quickly…”

“It’s unavoidable. Then it seems we’ll be postponing our operation to approach Han Baek-ryeong for a month, huh…”

As Mangnyang revised the plan in his head, he muttered, “Hmm. In that case, I’ll take Cheon Woo-jin with me to meet Zhuge Sa. We’ll see each other in a month.”

“Got it.”

With a swift movement, Mangnyang bid us farewell and vanished using his teleportation technique. After acquiring the Three Sovereigns’ Inner Gate, it seemed his magical prowess had significantly increased.

‘Mangnyang will handle himself just fine.’

Now, all that remained was for me to train Jin So-cheong. I gazed at him intently and said, “Though I have abstained from it due to inefficiencies thus far, let’s mine some obsidian now.”

“Hmm! Understood.”

“For now, take this Black and White Lotus and Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng.”

When I casually produced the spiritual pills, Jin So-cheong looked flabbergasted. “I know you have them, but this is just incredible. There are many talented individuals in this world, but you’re the only one walking around with so many spiritual pills.”

“Is that so? I don’t really have many uses for them.”

“Well, I’ll enjoy them, thank you.”

“Do some training until I return.”

With the Thunderclap technique, I transported myself to Dongyoung’s obsidian mine. I sought out the largest obsidian I could find and pushed it into my wooden armor. Mining a chunk of obsidian the size of three or four human bodies was exhausting, and I felt completely covered in soot. Although the obsidian itself wasn’t dusty, nearby rocks created a pervasive griminess.

“Cough cough!”

The choking dust forced me to grimace.

‘This is why I hate this. Just because I can find something this large, I can’t stuff all my past life’s memories into it. The efficiency is atrocious.’

If I could embed all my memories and training experiences from my seventeen previous lives into the obsidian, it would be beyond convenient. But to do that, I would need a ridiculously colossal piece. Even sorting through my martial arts memories to stuff into the obsidian required at least a four or five-sized chunk, making the process exceedingly inefficient.

Due to finding no need to pass on my martial arts to others, I had refrained from such pursuits. Teaching directly always felt more satisfying.

However, this time, per Jin So-cheong’s request, I vowed to bolster his growth as rapidly as possible. Hence, I took on the arduous task of mining obsidian. Finally, I stumbled upon an enormous piece of obsidian that was so massive it might bring the whole mine down if I attempted to extract it all at once.

‘Hmm. I’ll need to carefully chip away at the surrounding area for support…’

While I could probably take it out in one go, that would risk collapsing the entire mine. I decided to chop trees nearby to fashion some temporary support beams. As I continued extracting the giant obsidian, securing it with the beams, I was sweating profusely and felt irked, but I determined to make it work.

“Huh?! Who are you…?”

Clearly, my ruckus had drawn the attention of some miners. I charged at the five miners who spotted me, swiftly overpowering them, and then handed them a chunk of gold, divided into five pieces. As their eyes widened in disbelief despite their kneeling positions, I whispered, “Keep our operation a secret, and bring me what I want from the mine. I promise you an extra piece.”

Once I released their bloodlines, the miners cheered with excitement. “Of course!”

With their help, I worked tirelessly for two days and nights to continue extracting the massive obsidian. After building more than ten support beams with the big trees, I finally managed to shove that giant obsidian piece into my wooden armor. Once I completed my task, I fretted over whether the mine would still stand, but the supports seemed secure enough.

“Hey, we can’t pull out the supports now, and this thing can’t hold forever. Got any brilliant ideas?”

“Ugh… I have no idea. What should we do…?”

“Hmm. First, evacuate all the miners from the mine. I’ll have a chat with the mine owner.”

“Yes!”

I followed the miners to the mansion of the mine owner, a certain Dongyoung individual. This guy was clad in a martial artist’s attire, suggesting he was a top-tier warrior.

“What… Intruder? A wanderer dares to set foot in our Tokugawa Clan? Kill him!”

Upon entering the owner’s quarters, I was instantly besieged by a horde of warriors brandishing their blades.

“Kyaaaa!”

To me, though, these skilled warriors seemed like children playing. In just three steps, I dispatched over seventy of them. Not one of them could even manage a decent sword strike.

Slashing through their ranks, blood painted the ground while the mine owner recoiled in fear.

“Yikes! Who are you? How can you… how dare you challenge the heir of the Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu…?”

I had no interest in his self-introduction. I replied brusquely, “Isn’t it a bit late to ask that? I was planning to just kill you off and figure it out later.”

“What?!”

Seeing him panic made me add, “I discovered a giant piece of obsidian in the mine. I’m here to inform you that it’s about to collapse.”

“What?!”

“I’ve evacuated your miners.”

I briefed the mine owner on the situation. His face paled as he gasped, “No, please! That’s my property.”

“I’ve said my piece. Now, goodbye.”

“Wait, wait!”

With a flick of my hand, I teleported back to the Central Plains. If he’d just calmly discussed things, maybe we could have figured something out together, but he sent his warriors to kill me on sight, so there was no room for negotiation. Sure, I was in the wrong, but that guy was absolute trash, so he got what was coming.

‘Tokugawa Iemitsu? Consider yourself lucky I didn’t kill you.’

Back at Central Plains, I washed off the soot and presented the immense obsidian chunk to Jin So-cheong. His expression morphed into one of disbelief as he gazed at the massive piece.

“Who in the world… do you really need something this big?”

“Absolutely. Memories are massive and not very efficient to store.”

“Is there no more efficient metal than obsidian?”

I put my hand on my chin. “There are, but they’re special metals only obtainable by the otherworldly races. I can’t get them with my abilities.”

In lands where the Prophet’s race existed, there were memory manifestation metals far more efficient than obsidian. However, those cannot be found in the Central Plains or the earthly realm. They’re somewhere in the starlight of the celestial bodies.

That’s why when humans use obsidian for spells, efficiency drops significantly. The spells are strongest when wielded by the otherworldly beings themselves.

“I understand.”

Jin So-cheong nodded, placing his hands on the obsidian.

Suddenly, light erupted, and the obsidian vanished entirely. A massive quantity was shifted in an instant, erasing its material form. For a moment, Jin So-cheong seemed to savor the vast memory and then remarked, “Indeed… I see now.”

At that, Jin So-cheong shook his head. “No. I aim to reconstruct those parts you overlooked in your past lives.”

What’s this now?

I stared blankly at Jin So-cheong. He clarified, “With your help, I have previously elevated my martial arts several times in your past lives. Though my martial arts soared, you never reaped the benefits.”

“That’s true.”

Indeed, when I dedicated myself to resurrecting the Thunder God Lineage by training under Jang Sam-bong’s martial arts, Jin So-cheong’s skills likely reached their peak. But all I saw was that every reincarnation only fueled my envy toward his talent.

“This time, I’m risking my life to pay that debt.”

Taking a deep breath, Jin So-cheong focused intently, gripping his spear tightly. “I now possess all the memories related to your martial arts. This means I can also recover the records of ‘Jin So-cheong’ based on past observations. With my abilities, I could reconstruct the levels achieved by either Jin So-cheong or Lee Kwang.”

“Oh… really?”

He affirmed seriously. “Within a month, I’ll do my best to restore the Celestial Island and Reverse Scale Island techniques.”

 

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