Chapter 9

‘What a strange person.’

The girl stared blankly at her master, and suddenly had this thought.

Youshin Yun, who seemed three times larger than her, was squatting in a corner, which was quite out of character for his size.

“This is a mine. Ah, this one is even an anti-tank level.”

Buried in a pile of books, he continued to mutter incomprehensible words.

It was already deep into the night, yet Youshin Yun had not left the library.

After showing her the place where the damaged books were stored, the girl had missed the natural time to leave and was now sitting there with him.

Although she had fallen into a state of panic due to the huge mistake of pushing her master with a cart, the fear in her eyes had disappeared.

This was because Youshin Yun had not paid any attention to her mistake.

It was really fortunate.

‘If it were a problematic young master, I would have been severely punished.’

Indeed, there were many who had recently received terrible punishments from the extremely nervous problematic young master.

The girl finally let out a small sigh of relief and gazed intently at Youshin Yun.

His round face, like a meat bun, had bright, intelligent eyes.

He didn't seem to be as terrifying as the goblins in the stories her sisters told. He was strange but also considerate.

Thinking this, her master's face seemed a bit cute to her.

“Next.”

Suddenly, Youshin Yun extended his hand to her.

“H-here, here it is.”

Startled, the girl hurriedly pulled out a book from the pile that she hadn't touched and handed it to him.

Without even looking, Youshin Yun took the book and fell back into deep thought.

‘Is it okay?’

Worry filled the girl's eyes as she watched him. It was due to the condition of the book she had handed him.

The book was so severely damaged that it was embarrassing to even try to excuse it as a result of time.

The pages were so yellowed that the characters were illegible.

The back part, which had become like a rag, had completely fallen off in a clump.

Although the girl was a novice in martial arts, she could easily conclude that learning from such a book would lead to a major disaster.

With this thought, she unconsciously spoke to Youshin Yun, who was absorbed in the book.

“... Sir.”

“Hmm?”

Youshin Yun looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“... Is, is it okay to learn from this?”

For a moment, he was dazed, but then he understood her concern and smiled.

This was the first time he felt kindness within the family, except for Wang San.

“Are you worried about me?”

“A, ah, that is...”

“It will be fine. Thank you.”

Despite Youshin Yun's words, the worry in the girl's eyes did not disappear.

“By the way, I'm sorry, but I can't remember your name.”

“Oh! It's Xiaolian, Dan Xiaolian.”

Youshin Yun repeated the girl's name softly.

She was probably around 13 years old.

Xiaolian, with her hair down to her shoulders, had a clear and distinct face despite her young age.

‘Hmm.’

At that moment, Youshin Yun's eyes were drawn to Xiaolian's limping leg.

He realized that she had a congenital disability in one of her legs.

A wave of pity washed over him.

In this era, being born with a disability meant walking a path filled with thorns, many times more difficult than in his previous life.

Youshin Yun gently extended his hand to Xiaolian.

Startled, Xiaolian flinched, but Youshin Yun softly stroked her head and said,

“Come on, if you pick a good one, I'll buy you some candy.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I promise.”

At the mention of candy, Xiaolian's eyes sparkled like jewels.

She was still a child, after all.

“Hmm, um, this one. No, this one!”

Xiaolian, rummaging through the pile of books Youshin Yun hadn't touched, picked one up.

“Alright, let's take a look.”

Youshin Yun took the book, and seeing Xiaolian's expectant face, he smiled warmly.

‘Alright, then.’

He carefully opened the damaged martial arts book.

As before, a system window appeared.

But at that moment.

‘...!’

Youshin Yun's eyes widened in surprise.

[Donghua Xianjue (Eastern Flower Immortal Technique)]

Level: ?

Attribute: Taoist/?

A martial art created by an unknown person emphasizing the harmony of all things. It has the ability to embrace and contain any kind of energy.

However, since it was not created with combat in mind, its destructive power is very weak.

Due to the loss of the latter part, the section on energy emission is not recorded.

-Damaged and incomplete martial arts book.

-There may be problems when practicing.

A question mark appeared next to the martial arts book's level.

This could mean two things.

One, it was so worthless that it couldn't be rated.

Or.

‘A hidden piece!’

It possessed value that transcended its level.

In his previous life, most of the strong individuals had benefited from hidden pieces.

To find such a valuable item among the damaged books was an unexpected windfall.

As Youshin Yun began to read the martial arts book, lost in thought, Xiaolian couldn't hide her surprised expression.

She hadn't expected him to like the book she chose so much.

However, Youshin Yun was completely oblivious to this.

He was rereading the description in the book, trying to organize his thoughts.

‘An unknown person... I can't tell who created it.’

Unfortunately, he couldn't determine who the founder was.

But the fact that it was Taoist and emphasized the harmony of all things indicated that Donghua Xianjue was a pure technique.

‘It can embrace and contain anything.’

This phrase in the description caught Youshin Yun's attention.

Stability and compatibility.

These were the most important characteristics he needed in a martial art.

‘Then the disadvantages are...’

Next, he checked the drawbacks.

The lack of destructive power and the missing section on energy emission.

The reason no one at Baiyun Escort Agency had recognized the value of this martial art was likely due to these two issues.

After all, who would want to learn and practice a martial art that lacked combat power and couldn't even emit energy, especially when they needed it to overcome numerous crises during escort missions?

‘But my situation is different.’

Youshin Yun could easily solve both issues.

The first problem was to mix the powerful, destructive mana with the dark mana.

The second issue, regarding energy emission, could be resolved through the mana circuit already completed in his body.

What was trash to others was a treasure to Youshin Yun.

A light seemed to flash in his mind.

‘This is it!’

He clenched his fist slightly.

Thud.

Finally, Youshin Yun put the book down.

Xiaolian, who had been watching him with bated breath, cautiously asked,

“... Can I have candy now?”

Her eyes were filled with the innocent curiosity of a child.

“Sure, as much as you want.”

“Yay!”

Xiaolian beamed at his words.

Part 2

Leaving the library behind, Youshin Yun had moved to his room.

Even though it was late, he woke up Wang San, who had been dozing off but waiting for him, and sent him back to his room.

Swoosh.

Youshin Yun took out an item from his robe.

It was the Donghua Xianjue he had brought from the library.

Originally, taking books out of the library was strictly prohibited.

-But since the damaged books are completely ignored by the guards, you can take them.

As Xiaolian had said, the damaged books were treated like trash, so he could easily bring them out.

‘Now, shall we begin?’

He was looking at the system message floating in the air.

[Do you want to learn the deep cultivation technique, ‘Donghua Xianjue’?]

[This is a damaged and incomplete martial arts book.]

[(Yes) or (No).]

The system kindly reminded him that it was an incomplete martial art.

A final worry flashed through his mind, but.

‘I can't refuse now that I've come this far.’

He immediately chose the left option with his finger.

[You have learned the deep cultivation technique, ‘Donghua Xianjue’.]

[The new energy, ‘Donghua Xianqi (Eastern Flower Immortal Energy)’, will be stored in the ‘Second Mana Library’.]

He could feel the new energy tickling his body.

He sat cross-legged.

‘Do pure techniques have different natures too?’

It felt completely different from the warm energy of the Youxin Cultivation Technique.

‘This is like a cool spring breeze.’

It was a refreshing and comfortable energy, like something you could only feel in nature.

He loaded the Donghua Xianqi into his mana circuit and sent it straight to the dantian in his abdomen, where the Second Mana Library was located.

‘So far, so good.’

Indeed, it seemed to have a strong point in compatibility.

The dark mana remained calm and did not act up.

However, the peace did not last long.

The moment he tried to store the Donghua Xianqi in the Second Mana Library.

Rumble!

‘Ugh!’

The dark mana began to stir again.

The creature, which had been expressing mild dissatisfaction, now began to rage like a storm inside his body.

Rumble! Rumble!

But unlike the Youxin Cultivation Technique, the Donghua Xianqi did not resist the dark mana. Instead, it approached the dark mana cautiously, as if trying to make peace, and attempted to embrace it.

Grumble!

But the dark mana, like a wild beast, fiercely rejected the Donghua Xianqi, refusing to be displaced.

It raised its claws and attacked, determined not to give up its position.

The Donghua Xianqi stepped back and desperately protected Youshin Yun's body.

The pain was slightly reduced.

Youshin Yun gritted his teeth.

‘This isn't going to be easy.’

He had underestimated the situation.

The resistance was much more intense than when he had practiced the Youxin Cultivation Technique.

Was there a difference between temporarily allowing it to stay and giving it a permanent home?

Watching the struggle between the two energies, he felt fortunate to have brought the Donghua Xianjue.

If it were this difficult with the Donghua Xianjue, learning another martial art would have likely resulted in his qi meridians bursting and his death.

‘Should I take a step back for now?’

He swallowed his thoughts.

It was a pity, but there was no other choice.

To reduce the resistance, he needed at least a 3rd Circle level of dark mana.

‘It will take some time, but there's no other way.’

Holding on to something that wouldn't work was a waste of time.

It would be better to achieve the 3rd Circle through spirit extraction and then try again.

He slowly tried to disperse the Donghua Xianqi.

But then.

An unexpected situation unfolded.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Youshin Yun couldn't hide his surprise.

‘What is this?’

Suddenly, a mysterious energy flowed into his body.

Martial World, Reincarnated Top Ranker