Chapter 27

The Revived Northern Mystic Art

From the next day on, a completely different life unfolded for Gwang. All he knew was how to take care of horses. Despite this, Ok Yeongjin gave him many instructions, telling him to practice martial arts and do various other things. At first, Gwang seemed to listen, but soon he grew tired of it and ignored all the instructions, loafing around.

After a while, he seemed to get tired of loafing around and started seeking out people to learn writing from. Only then did Ok Yeongjin realize that Gwang had forgotten how to read and write. Throwing the martial arts manual at such a person was indeed frustrating. Ok Yeongjin assigned several excellent teachers to him, and Gwang's knowledge rapidly grew.

Once he set his mind to something, he would stay up all night to accomplish it, and he read books so intensely that if Ok Yeongjin hadn't known about his internal energy, he might have mistaken him for a scholar from the past.

He read various books and eventually started focusing on military strategy texts, followed by formation manuals. Living in the library for days on end, Ok Yeongjin hardly ever saw his face. After reading all the books in the library, Gwang finally came out. When Ok Yeongjin heard that Gwang had left the library, he asked his subordinate:

"Where is he now?"

"He came out of the library and is staring at the chrysanthemums in the back garden. Should I call him?"

"No, I'll go see him."

When Ok Yeongjin entered the garden, Gwang was still staring at the chrysanthemums. Feeling guilty about disturbing him, Ok Yeongjin quietly approached from behind. When he was about three steps away, Gwang suddenly moved, appearing right in front of Ok Yeongjin. Gwang extended his glowing blue right hand to grab Ok Yeongjin's neck, but upon realizing it was Ok Yeongjin, he quickly retracted his move and stepped back. Even after Gwang stepped back, Ok Yeongjin's pale face did not recover, and he started trembling. He still couldn't believe he was alive. Gwang, seeing this, said bluntly:

"Don't approach me so stealthily."

"Your martial arts are impressive. What technique was that?"

"I just acted on instinct. I don't even know what I did myself."

"So, it was an unconscious move? I can't understand how someone like you could be stabbed in the back."

"I don't know either. What brings you here?"

Gwang looked at him suspiciously, and Ok Yeongjin realized that approaching him stealthily was a fatal mistake. Gwang had started to doubt his actions, and it would take some time to ease his suspicions. Sighing, Ok Yeongjin said:

"I felt bad interrupting you while you were so engrossed in the chrysanthemums, so I approached quietly. Don't look at me like that. I came to ask if you're interested in visiting the Imperial Martial Arsenal..."

"What is the Imperial Martial Arsenal?"

"It's a place inside the palace where martial arts manuals from the martial world are stored. You can go and read them, and if you find any you like, you can take them to practice. However, you can't practice the three great martial arts of the palace."

"Reading them once shouldn't be a problem. Where is this Imperial Martial Arsenal?"

"I'll guide you there tomorrow."

The next day, Gwang entered the Imperial Martial Arsenal. General Ok Yeongjin sent a supervisor to monitor him continuously, observing which manuals he showed particular interest in. He thought that if Gwang recognized any manuals, he would naturally react to them. A few days later, the subordinate returned and reported:

"He is reading the manuals diligently."

"Does he show interest in any specific ones?"

"No, he just keeps reading from one corner. After finishing one, he reads the next, and so on. He reads all day except for meal times, sleep, and bathroom breaks."

"Does he try to mimic any techniques or forms?"

"No, he just sits there and reads. It seems he has no intention of practicing martial arts. What should we do?"

"Just let him be. He might change over time."

"Yes, sir."

However, Ok Yeongjin's prediction was wrong. Gwang continued reading the manuals, and after ten months, he had read about half of them. Two years later, he had read all 3,000 manuals in the arsenal. Even after reading them all, there was no noticeable change in him.

He returned to General Ok Yeongjin's residence, either locking himself in his room or spending time in the chrysanthemum garden, his favorite place. After nearly two years with no progress, Ok Yeongjin became anxious and finally went to see him. Gwang was sitting on a mat, calmly looking at the chrysanthemums that hadn't bloomed yet. Remembering a previous unpleasant experience, Ok Yeongjin cleared his throat to make his presence known before speaking.

"Are you well?"

"..."

"Did you gain any insights from the arsenal?"

"..."

With no response, Ok Yeongjin's temper flared, but since Gwang was not his subordinate and was just a child he was taking care of, he couldn't lose his temper. He asked again, a bit louder:

"Did you gain any insights from the arsenal?"

"…Yes, there were a lot of books."

Ok Yeongjin said with a slightly proud expression:

"It took a long time to collect them all."

"But the content... Why did they write so many books?"

"What do you mean? Each manual, though similar in some ways, has its own strengths and weaknesses, making them unique."

"If they are all different, then are the three great martial arts of the palace on that level?"

"No, the three great martial arts of the palace are unique compilations based on the collected manuals, creating very powerful and tyrannical manuals. They are so powerful that only a few people are allowed to practice them."

"Then, does mastering the three great martial arts of the palace make one invincible?"

"In my opinion, no one can claim to be invincible. Of course, someone like Goo Hui, who has reached the Xianjing realm, might be an exception... Each martial art has its strengths and weaknesses. For example, if A can defeat B, B can be defeated by C, and C can be defeated by A. The ultimate divine art has yet to be created in the martial world."

Hearing about the ultimate divine art, Gwang shivered. The word "ultimate" kept swirling in his mind.

"Ultimate divine art... ultimate divine art... ultimate... ultimate... ultimate... ultimate..."

Gwang was in a daze, and Ok Yeongjin tried to say a few more words, but got no response. Frustrated, Ok Yeongjin shouted:

"Are you listening to me?"

But Gwang mumbled in a dazed state:

"Ultimate divine art... ultimate... The word 'ultimate' resonates with me. I think I practiced a martial art with 'ultimate' in its name before. Ultimate divine art? Ultimate palm technique? Ultimate finger technique? Ultimate palm method? Since I have a sword, Ultimate sword technique? Ultimate sword method? Ultimate sword form? What else? Ultimate sword method seems the most familiar... Ultimate sword method... Ultimate sword method... Ultimate sword method... Ultimate sword method... Ultimate sword method... Ultimate sword method... Ultimate sword method... Ultimate sword method..."

Hearing Gwang repeat "Ultimate sword method," Ok Yeongjin couldn't hold back his frustration and shouted:

"Stop! Ultimate sword method? I've never heard of such a technique. What kind of ridiculous ultimate sword method? The only technique that can be called ultimate, based on my research, is the Northern Mystic Art created by Goo Hui."

Hearing "Northern Mystic Art," Gwang said in a dazed voice:

"Northern Mystic Art? Northern Mystic Art... Northern Mystic Art... As Zhuangzi said in the 'Free and Unfettered Wandering' chapter: 'There is a great sea in the North called the Heavenly Pool. In it lives a great fish, whose length is thousands of miles and whose lifespan is immeasurable. This fish is called Kun. One day, it transforms into a great bird called Peng, whose wings span 90,000 miles. Peng flies through the vast sky to the south. Just as water must be deep to float a large ship, the great sea is ultimately formed by the accumulation of small drops of water.

The Northern Mystic Art, like the metaphor in Zhuangzi, accumulates the true energy of nature within the body. Just as the sea can float a large ship, the accumulated true energy can exert great power. When the true energy is abundant, one can assimilate and apply all martial arts in the world, just as the Northern Mystic can float both large and small ships and embrace even a great fish like Kun. Therefore, it prioritizes true energy and considers striking and blocking as trivial. By absorbing the yang energy of the sun during the day and the yin energy of the moon at night, one learns the techniques to absorb the energy of nature..."

As Gwang mumbled in a dazed state, Ok Yeongjin was shocked and screamed:

"Ah! You, you... have seen the Northern Mystic Art!"

Startled by Ok Yeongjin's shout, Gwang snapped back to his senses. When he closed his mouth, Ok Yeongjin, curious about the rest, tried to coax him to continue, but Gwang was stubborn and refused to speak further.

'Incredible... There's someone who has mastered the Northern Mystic Art, thought to be lost. This might be a bigger catch than I imagined.'

Ok Yeongjin started to persuade Gwang:

"The Northern Mystic Art is the ultimate treasure of the martial world. It's a good thing you know it. I'll assign a scribe to transcribe it into a manual, which will further develop the palace's martial arts."

"I don't know if this art is the ultimate treasure, but my heart tells me not to reveal it to anyone. Please don't ask me about it anymore."

Gwang started looking at the chrysanthemums again. Seeing Gwang fixated on the unblooming chrysanthemums, Ok Yeongjin had no choice but to leave.

"What is he so engrossed in looking at unblooming chrysanthemums? Isn't he bored?"

The innocent chrysanthemums were the only ones to hear Ok Yeongjin's complaints.