Rebirth of the Heavenly Demon Chapter 5: Number One In San Dong City (2) (1/2)
Book 1 Chapter 5: Number One In San Dong City(2)
Translated by: Hwarang
Edited by: Ardastre
I got up early next morning to begin my training. The first thing I had to do was to train the body. After running about five li, I was out of breath, my legs were shaking, and my head was spinning. It seemed that this was the limit of my physical capability. I wanted to use my internal energy, but I did not do so. Only by overcoming this hurdle could I truly raise my physical abilities.
Sprinting, jogging, sprinting. After repeating this process for ten li I dropped dead to the ground, trying to catch my breath. The sweat and chill on my back told me the sad truth about this body. But I did not think too much about it, only thinking how I could transform this body and how it would look after training.
After catching my breath, I took off running again and repeated this process until I could not move anymore. Then I dragged myself home after training.
In front of my house there was someone who I was not expecting to see. It was Song Hwa Rin. Although she was quite far away I knew that it was her right away. With a mere set of martial arts clothes her aura had changed drastically from the previous day. Also, because of her good looks, any type of clothes suited her.
If she were wearing a dress that showed her delicate body rather than a martial artist robe, I was sure she would have made all the women green with envy.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I did not come here because I wanted to. My father sent me to apologize.”
It seems that she was waiting for me, after having apologized to my mother and father.
“Don’t worry, I won’t.”
She gave me a sour look. ‘What do you have that makes you this proud?’ was the look that she had.
“That day you were drunk, right? You said let’s see how long this look can last. How long my looks could last until I got old and wrinkly, right? So don’t be so proud you said that!”
‘Byuk Lee Dan, you are truly a little devil.’ It had happened on the day that I could not remember.
“Let me apologize for that day again.”
“No, you are right. Right now, everyone might compliment me on my looks. But when I get old no one will even look at me. It’s the obvious.”
She was calm and clearly understood on the situation that she was in.
“Every time I hear how beautiful I am reminded of my future. So, I want to be known not for my appearance, but for my ability. To do this I need to put in more work, right? Yeah, let me tell you the truth. The reason why I wanted to cancel our engagement was because I do not like a person like you. You come from a great clan and cause trouble every day. But even if you were a great person, it would have been the same. Right now, I do not have the thought of meeting any men.”
She was truly fierce. Her fierceness came from her heart. She really wanted to be successful through her abilities. I had thought she was just a little girl with a pretty face, but now I realized how deep and profound her thoughts were, actually.
“Alright, I understand your thoughts.”
As I was about to step away, it seemed that there was something in her mind.
“I heard the rumors about you.”
“What rumor?”
“How you have changed since that day.”
“Yeah. I think I have grown up after getting beaten up by you.”
“It is said a human being does not change that easily.”
I nodded in agreement with her. She was right. It was truly hard to change a person. It was something I had experienced many times in my previous life. But I had also experienced the opposite.
“However, humans are also the ones that change the fastest.”
“Is this all because of your pride?”
“You can think whatever you want.”
Ah, yes. These are the feelings people in their twenties experience. Because of pride, people met and broke up. Because of pride, they smiled and cried.
Now that I thought about it, when I was in my twenties I was truly lively. The times when I had gone to the Central Plains with a single sword to challenge the pract.i.tioner of the Demon Alliance... My springtime of youth, and the times when everything was exciting and lively.
“In the future, I will not be in your way.”
Saying that, she left.
Ten days had pa.s.sed since I had started training. During these ten days, there was still no news regarding my death. Thus, I decided not to pay attention to it. Even if I paid attention to it, there was nothing I could do. So I decided to put all my attention on my training.
After days of intense training I could tell that changes were occurring in my body. I went from being out of breath after 5 li to being able to run 10 li with ease. Not only my distance, but my speed had also increased.
I realized after a couple days’ worth of training that this youth was a natural talent. This was also the reason for his st.u.r.dy profound veins. Even though it might be very late to start walking the path of martial arts, it did not matter to me. All that mattered to me now was to train this body as fast as possible. While training the body, I started training in the sword arts.
s.h.i.+nng! I quickly slashed the empty s.p.a.ce.
While my body might be trash, I was still me, the one who held the t.i.tle of ‘Strongest Under the Heavens’. After slas.h.i.+ng the air a couple of times, my sword light appeared. Even though my sword light was dim due to my lack of energy, it was still full of my sword intent. My sword looked simple, but it was not. It was deeply profound, to the point where my opponent could not even react to it. Only I knew the sword’s final destination. This sword art was my personal self-created sword art.
If someone who knew this youth saw me practice, they would fall into shock, but on this desolate mountain there was not even a snow deer in sight. I needed to be careful and to practice in secret. Not because I was weak, but because of something I had learned in my past life. By hiding my abilities, I had the opportunity to use them against people who were stronger than me.
I could never forget that I was no longer the Strongest Under Heaven, but this youth now.
The sword art that I practiced was called Ashura Soul-Chasing Sword Art(追魂修羅劍法). It was with this sword art that I had gained my status as the Strongest Under Heaven. With this sword art, I had pierced at the heart of the Thirteen Demon Alliance, and slashed at the throat of the Blood Heaven Sect.
One day, the Teacher of the Thousand Ways (萬通先生), who was considered the greatest scholar of Kang Ho, commented that my sword art was the greatest technique in the past hundred years. There were many strict criteria when evaluating others’ techniques. So my sword art was something that I was proud of.
My Ashura Soul Chasing Sword Art was divided into Six Techniques - three sword Techniques and three oppressive techniques.
The First Technique was called Unwavering Sword Technique.
The Second Technique was called Life-Devoting Sword Technique .
The Third Technique was called Nothingness Sword Technique.
The Fourth Technique was called Soul-Escaping Imposing Technique.
The Fifth Technique was called Samsara Imposing Technique.
The Sixth technique was called The Nirvana Imposing Technique.
(Translator Note: A lot of these have reference to Buddhism. As you start practicing Buddhism you must have an Unwavering heart and Devote you whole life to it. Once you devote everything you have, you might reach the nothingness or the enlightenment stage, where your soul can escape from the cycle of samsara and reach nirvana, or promise land.)
Currently, I could use the first three techniques. Even though they were relatively weak compared to before, I could still use them. But the last three stances could only be used after achieving certain stages in the internal energy. The fourth stance could be gained after obtaining sixty years’ worth of energy. The fifth stance could be achieved after one hundred twenty years’ worth. And the Sixth stance after one hundred eighty years’ worth.
The final stance consumed considerable amount of energy and it was quite difficult to execute. Even the slightest mistake could bring heavy backlash upon the user. At worst, it could even kill the user.
Even I had only used this technique once. And that was to kill the Alliance Leader of the Thirteen Demon Alliance. Although I could use the first three stances, I still had to conceal it in public. Despite the fact that most people would not be able to recognize this sword art, there could be someone in the Kang Ho who would recognize it. So, I decided that until I became stronger, it was never a bad thing to be extra cautious.
After finis.h.i.+ng my training, I looked down the mountain. Even though it was only five years’ worth of cultivation, it was the first time in awhile that I felt this lively and full of energy. It was power of youth, giving me all this energy.
“Haaaa!”
After yelling out loud I felt even more refreshed.
“Hey, why have you lived like a trash when you had a body like this? I think it must have been the heavens’ will that allowed me to come into this body. It is not just a gift for me, but for this youth too. ‘I will make this new life dazzling.’
“Miss, what are you thinking so hard about?”
Hearing someone ask her a question, Song Hwa Rin came back to her senses.
It was her bodyguard, Soo Ran.
“Oh, it is nothing.”
Song Hwa Ring brought down the cup that she was about to drink from. But the tea had already become cold. In her mind, she was thinking about Byuk Lee Dan.