944——————==

True Martial Home

To steal something that doesn’t exist, you first need to conceive it into existence in your mind.

The key is to manifest that existence within yourself before anything else.

That’s the ultimate thieving technique and the fundamental principle of overcoming the Absolute Realm, known as the Technique of All Things.

But—if you’re trying to steal something non-existent, there’s no straightforward method to steal something as massive as that without the guidance of the Divine Thief.

Until just a moment ago, everything seemed hopeless, but then an interesting thought popped into my mind.

‘If the key is manifesting in my heart…’

Couldn’t I simply perceive that ‘size’ as smaller, making it possible to steal?

If the reason I can’t steal is because of its [size], then isn’t there a way to diminish that [size]?

If I can shrink the size of that spirit, surely I can absorb it through the Apostle’s arms.

I’d never tried this kind of application before, so it felt like quite the gamble. However, inspired by the recent glimpse of the Divine Thief’s technique, I felt a spark of enlightenment.

The Technique of All Things ultimately removes the boundary between existence and non-existence—so the most crucial element here is imagination! If I set my mind on what to [steal], the possibilities are endless.

Hmm…

I recalled the teachings of the Divine Thief from the past.

[Martial Arts bring life and a mind of their own. As a top thief, I can hear their sounds and read their thoughts…]

[Stealing tangible items is easy because they exist. However, the will tied to those items makes theft challenging. Thus, I have to read that will and thought to find vulnerabilities. That’s what I consider the ultimate realm of thievery—the method to steal what does not exist.]

With the Soul Exchange Technique, I concentrated before trying to draw in the spirit of the Old Ruler. If I recklessly attempt to pull in such a huge entity, I could easily drain my stamina and mental strength just from that single attempt. But if I dwelled too long, this moment might pass, and the opportunity could vanish, causing impatience to rise.

‘Can you hear me?’

The Divine Thief said that to exert the full power of the Technique of All Things, one must ‘listen’ to the flow. And indeed, while using it, I had vaguely sensed that flow before. But the Divine Thief’s realm felt naturally attuned to listening, something I could not match. It felt like the gap was strongly tied to a difference in innate talent.

Normally, reaching his realm in this moment would be impossible. No matter how close my abilities got to his, as a true thief, I still fell short. Closing this gap would require immense training.

Still… I have to try.

‘Hmm… Maybe my premise is flawed?’

Suddenly, I had the thought that focusing might be my mistake.

Why do we focus?

It’s to gather scattered thoughts into one, to concentrate power. In a broader sense, it’s a matter of intention, and it’s a fundamental stage. Yet, since I already possessed intention through the tiles of all things, doing this artificially might backfire. Most importantly, the Divine Thief hadn’t focused at all when casting the Technique of All Things.

But contradictorily, achieving optimal efficiency in any action does come from focus. You can’t yield positive results without proper concentration. As I thought this, my mind became tangled with ideas.

Why had I thought focus would be detrimental?

In a fleeting moment, I realized what discomfort I had felt.

‘…Aha!! It’s because it creates limits!’

The Divine Thief claimed he could hear the sounds of [everything]. That meant his focus wasn’t directed on one thing! If you concentrate on one, it’s natural to neglect everything else, meaning his talent opposed concentration entirely.

To steal what’s non-existent, obviously, the caster’s mind must not remain on the tangible! The essence lies in continuously keeping one’s intention open to communicate with the world!

‘The Technique of Non-existence is the evolution of the Divine Thief’s innate talent into the Absolute Realm! Hence, the master of this technique… must steal that talent to make it their own!’

The start of mastering the Technique of Non-existence begins from stealing the Divine Thief’s ‘innate talent’!

A disciple must steal their master’s talents for true transmission to occur!

Hmm…

In that moment, I felt the vitality of Heaven, Earth, and People piercing straight through my dantian. As I crossed beyond focus, my intention began to radiate through my strengthened body, responding to my spirit.

Hmm!!

I resonated. My Upper Dantian trembled first, releasing the wisdom of Heaven, while my Middle Dantian unleashed the mighty aura, drawing the earthly essence into essence, and my Lower Dantian settled down, embracing the human blood. A brilliant light shone from my eyes, and the spirit that had materialized rose like the sun over the ocean.

This is the power of a reborn flesh.

The perfected harmony of my internal power created a body optimized for martial skills, regardless of the level of my internal force. If it were merely about output, my original body would be stronger, but in terms of operating my vital energy and meridians totally efficiently, this reborn form overwhelmingly surpassed it. If I piled up the same internal force with this body, the reborn form would unleash an incredibly powerful force.

With a sudden surge,

As the harmony of my body peaked, my intention merged with the powerful energy emanating from my body. At that moment, I slowly reached out my hand, feeling as if the energy of all was being pulled into my Upper Dantian.

‘I hear…’

Boom!

Imagining the talent of the Divine Thief while clasping my hands together,

The moment my palms met, I felt a powerful intention writhing, creating a colossal pillar of light connecting the heavens and me.

Whoooosh!!

A fresh wind blew, clearing the surroundings. I felt not just with my ears, but every pore and slight part of my body were picking up the sounds of the [world]. In this strange state I had never experienced before, I mumbled.

“So, this is it…”

The talent to hear the sounds of all realms.

‘The Divine Thief… was far more humble than I thought.’

This ability could be deemed the strongest in the martial realm.

Seeing what appeared before my eyes at this moment, I contemplated the Divine Thief’s talent possibly overshadowed Jin So-cheong at her peak.

And from everything in the world, I could sense the swirling connections and intersections forming Yin and Yang. Aware that mimicking the Divine Thief’s talent wouldn’t last long, I quickly invoked the Technique of All Things.

I will steal the spirit of the God.

However, that was impossible unless I reached the Divine Realm.

So what I could do with the Technique of All Things was—steal that [size] and make it smaller!

Boom!

“Darn it… was that not enough?”

The size halved, but it was still enormous. I couldn’t afford to delay any further, so I had to move on to the next step.

I invoked the Soul Exchange Technique with one hand, drawing in the White of the god’s spirit. As spirits can’t be pulled directly, the essence surrounding it required a connection through mutual resonance to move the White and then draw in the soul, which is the core principle of the Soul Exchange Technique. I could feel the Apostle’s arm groaning as I successfully pulled the White from the god’s spirit.

Snap!

Click!!

“Gahhh!”

It hurt!

This magical hand, too, belonged to the Apostle’s Power, and physically, it wouldn’t disappear, but it was being twisted and tortured like a pretzel under the pressure of the spirit. Even though I hadn’t drawn it correctly, merely creating the thread of White and attaching it here and there had led to this extent of agony.

“Get smaller!!”

I cast the Technique of All Things again with my other hand before using up all my energy.

Boom!

Once more, as I stole the [size], this time it shrank to less than 30% of the previous size. Once I reduced its size, the next try became much easier. I noticed that the twisting arm was gradually returning to normal, but I still recognized it was too large to pull away completely. Even now, it felt like the size of several mountain ranges stacked together.

“Hah… Hah…”

Sweat poured down me like rain, and I felt as if my bones were crumbling. Even after withstanding the god’s mass for just a moment, the overwhelming pressure was immense. But I couldn’t give up, so I grit my teeth and invoked the Technique of All Things once more.

“This is the last time!”

The final intention!!

In stamina and spirit, this is my limit!

At that moment, a pillar of light erupted from the top of my head, and with my final invocation of the Technique of All Things, I sucked in the spirit of the god with my magical arm.

Wrrrr!

Hmmm!!

I sensed the spirit being drawn rapidly through my arm. And in my ears, the voice of Dharma echoed.

[Oh… is this possible… really… I can’t believe it…!!]

“……”

[Now, leave it to me…]

Swish!

Swish!!

As Dharma began to actively use his power, my magical arm swelled enormously. It grew over twenty times the size of my body, continuing to inflate, and I was shocked.

“W-What’s happening?!”

[It’s not like I’m doing anything specific… It’s probably something you’re doing…]

In that moment, I realized the implication of having ‘stolen’ the [size].

‘…I see.’

Is the proportionate decrease of the spirit’s size sticking directly to me? Since I hadn’t designated it specifically, it appears the size of my magical arm—drawn on the soul—now amplified. The magical arm wasn’t exactly my body, so its growth didn’t pose any issues, but I felt a slight chill.

“Ugh… If I steal the [size] with an ordinary arm, I’ll become a giant.”

I couldn’t begin to imagine what kind of side effects might occur if my physical form ballooned like that. This particular case proved not a practical application of the Technique of Non-existence. I was just luckier than usual.

Whew…

Just then, the last fragment of the spirit was pulled in. Something shot out from the god’s spirit, shining brightly in the void.

Ding!

[I am the forcibly fused counterpart of the Sun God, his Yang Spirit Quetzalcoatl! Are you the one who has set me free?]

“…Huh?”

[Thankful for your kindness, I shall repay this grace in due time.]

The radiant bird of light, emitting five-colored brilliance, fluttered its wings before burrowing itself into my chest.

“Gah!”

I staggered slightly, feeling a twinge of pain, but I could hardly comprehend what was happening. There were no wounds, and it seemed some spiritual entity had possessed me, which probably meant I’d have to ask Dharma about it.

“……”

I silently surveyed my surroundings.

The battle was over. The arena where divine beings were clashing moments ago now seemed to calm like a raging tsunami that had faded away, and far on the distant horizon, the sunset was painting the sky. Observing the red sun sinking beneath the water, I suddenly summoned the Immortal Sword to reflect the sun’s rays.

Clang!

When the black blade of the sword caught the light of the sun, a jolt coursed through me. At that moment, my arms also began to ache.

“Looks like it’s not just my imagination…”

Earlier, every time I activated my Peerless Technique while fighting, my arms had felt the same pain, which I sources to a kind of rejection. The blackened sword was something other than the Immortal Sword I originally wielded and began reacting negatively each time it came into contact with the Yang powers. While it wasn’t unbearable during combat, I could tell the risk would escalate moving forward.

What the heck has happened to me?

With my arms crossed, I gazed at the sunset, muttering.

“Who cares?”

Right now, there’s no reason to obsess over that.

It’s not like I’m dying or anything, so why worry?

Having just surpassed a great hurdle, I would move forward without looking back.

If anything stands in my way, I’ll slice through it!

Sunset Island!

Slash!

At that moment, my intention surged and created a colossal beam of light that connected Heaven and Earth. The light beam thinned down to a single thread and, in the next moment, my will transformed into a sword, cleaving the red sun beyond the horizon in half.

The split sun momentarily drifted apart before falling.

My intention had cleaved through reality.

With this single stroke, I was emboldened with a strong conviction.

I am now in the Absolute Realm.