Heavenly Martial God - H.M.G Chapter 10 (Part 1):

Namgoong Hyuk slowly examined the lifted bluestone tablet and the densely inscribed incantations carved into the floor beneath it.

The incantations etched onto the stone tablet seemed worn and faded, as if bearing the full weight of time.

Yet within them, the profound mystery, strength, and will remained distinctly alive.

Namgoong Hyuk silently read and contemplated the incantations.

Judging solely by their completeness, the incantations he had discovered couldn’t necessarily be deemed superior to the other divine techniques of the Namgoong Family.

But Namgoong Hyuk could sense it.

That the martial artist who created these incantations was, at the very least, someone who had gazed towards Ascending to the heavens.

The incantations were crafted to facilitate a leap towards a wider world, a higher realm.

Although its conclusion was vague, ultimately preventing one from reaching the state of Ascending to the heavens, this person had at least looked towards a place farther and higher.

They hadn’t reached where he had once stood, but they were someone who had looked in the direction he had been.

A strange sense of kinship washed over him.

It felt novel to discover someone who had walked a similar path.

A glimmer of possibility for a new martial art, one he hadn’t fully grasped before, now revealed itself.

Namgoong Hyuk gazed at the characters inscribed at the very end of the text.

[Changcheon.] [T/N:苍天 (Cāngtiān) means Azure Heaven or Firmament. The text questions if it’s the technique’s name or the author’s name.]

Was it the name of the martial art? Or the author?

Namgoong Hyuk thought it didn’t matter.

“This is it.”

The framework was flawless—solid enough to build upon, with room to grow through his own insights, knowledge, and martial expertise.

The discovered incantations had much to fill in and much to discard, requiring significant reassembly and redefinition, but Namgoong Hyuk actually liked that.

The fact that he had found a martial art upon which he could properly build a foundation.

‘Perfect.’

Namgoong Hyuk grinned satisfyingly and committed the incantations to memory.

Then, he returned the stone tablet he had moved back to its original position.

*Thud!*

“Damn, this is heavy. Maybe I should’ve just left it there.”

Namgoong Hyuk grumbled, clenching and unclenching his tingling fingers.

He stared quietly at the spot where the inscriptions lay.

“Finders keepers, I guess.”

Since he had gone through hell to find it, the next person who came along could suffer a bit too.

‘Things gained through hardship are the ones you treasure.’

That was the wisdom of the elders.

Although, he doubted how many people would find this amidst the splendid secret manuals of the King’s Pavilion.

Even if they found it, there would be no reason to learn an incomplete martial art.

Namgoong Hyuk himself wouldn’t have chosen this art if he hadn’t intended to change the entire system of his martial arts.

Namgoong Hyuk rose to his feet. His head spun slightly, and he felt a touch of dizziness.

“Hooaaaah!”

Stretching widely, Namgoong Hyuk massaged his shoulders.

“How much time has passed?”

Since he couldn’t see outside, he didn’t know if it was day or night.

His entire body ached and felt numb, indicating that quite some time had elapsed.

‘Or maybe my body just hurts.’

Somehow, it felt more like the latter, but still, he had spent time reading.

Though his body was tired, his mind felt refreshed.

Namgoong Hyuk cheerfully walked out of the King’s Pavilion.

Humming cheerfully, Namgoong Hyuk strode out of the King’s Pavilion.

***

Back in his room, Namgoong Hyuk sat cross-legged.

In the quiet space, only his steady breathing echoed.

He sank into meditation.

Calming his mind and releasing the tension in his body.

Lightening his head and organizing his thoughts.

The incantations for the internal energy he found in the King’s Pavilion surfaced in Namgoong Hyuk’s mind.

‘I will build the foundation based on this.’

From now on, this internal energy would become his core.

He would set down deep, thick roots so it wouldn’t waver, and erect a sturdy pillar.

Excess branches would be boldly pruned.

To allow larger, more numerous branches to grow and bear fruit.

It was an extremely difficult task, but he could do it.

For him, who had stood at the pinnacle of the world and reached the realm of a Grandmaster, creating a martial art was no daunting feat.

Namgoong Hyuk began refining ‘Changcheon,’ which he had discovered in the King’s Pavilion.

‘‘First, I must break free from the conflicting energies.’’

He needed to escape the mutual opposition with the immortals.

A framework took shape in his mind.

The martial arts of the Orthodox Sect are slow.

But they are stable and deep.

Because they don’t waver easily, they are solid and upright.

‘It needs to be faster.’

Namgoong Hyuk took only what was necessary.

He discarded the weaknesses and kept only the strengths.

‘It’s been a while.’

Namgoong Hyuk brought out the core technique he had practiced his entire life.

[Dark King’s Mixed Heavenly Energy.]

The martial art that had made him The Supreme One, the sum of his being.

It was a martial art containing his complete enlightenment, which had allowed him to surpass the pinnacle of the world and reach the realm of Ascending to the heavens.

The thousands of characters forming the incantations of the Dark King’s Mixed Heavenly Energy came to mind.

The incantations of the Dark King’s Mixed Heavenly Energy were fitted onto the incantations of Changcheon.

He began to fill the bones with flesh and muscle.

The Dark King’s Mixed Heavenly Energy is greedy.

It devours all energies to nurture its own power.

Fast and ferocious. (T/N: XD)

Namgoong Hyuk filtered out the weaknesses.

He focused on the speed and absorption inherent in the Dark King’s Mixed Heavenly Energy.

The incantations gradually took shape.

Changcheon and the Dark King’s Mixed Heavenly Energy complemented and stimulated each other.

Namgoong Hyuk’s breathing changed.

The newly conceived incantations surfaced in his mind.

*Woooong!*

He rapidly absorbed external energy.

But despite the rapid absorption, it was stable.

The external energy flowed through his meridians and Blood.

It was incomparably faster than when he circulated the Clear Mind Profound Heart Technique.

Yet, it was stable and flexible.

Namgoong Hyuk filtered out the turbidity from the absorbed energy.

He drew the pure energy towards his lower abdomen.

‘Refine it thinly.’

The purest energy passed through his meridians and blood and gathered in his lower abdomen.

Then, passing through one of the widened channels within the Nine Yin Flow Blockage, it began to circulate throughout his entire body.

Once, twice, three times… twelve times.

When the energy had circulated exactly twelve times, Namgoong Hyuk exhaled a long breath.

“Fuuuuu!”

When he opened his eyes, a clear, pure light flickered briefly before vanishing.

It was late at night.

Seeing the faint moonlight seeping into the room, the corners of Namgoong Hyuk’s mouth lifted.

“Roughly done.”

Feeling the stably gathered energy, he lightly brushed his lower abdomen.

A tiny wisp of energy, incomparable to his time as The Supreme One, was coalesced in his Dantian.

A pitiful quantity, yet incomparably pure.

Now, this energy would continue to grow and become the weapon that would smash the heads of the immortals.

*Twitch.*

His mood brightened at the exhilarating thought.

Namgoong Hyuk released his cross-legged position and stretched widely.

“Hmm, but what should I name it?”

Then again, does a name really matter?

The deliberation didn’t last long.

“Let’s just call it Changcheon Dark King Technique.” [T/N: Lit. Azure-Heaven Dark-King Technique.]

He roughly mixed Changcheon, the foundation of the martial art, with the Dark King’s Mixed Heavenly Energy.

Once named, it carried a chilling yet Orthodox Sect-like ring to it.

Namgoong Hyuk wore a satisfied expression.

“The most urgent fire’s been put out!”

He had created the most crucial internal energy cultivation method.

Now, all that remained was to overcome the Nine Yin Flow Blockage, called a heavenly punishment, using the Azure-Heaven Dark-King Technique, Ascend to the heavens, and beat the crap out of those immortal bastards.

Of course, beating up immortals couldn’t be done with internal energy alone.

“Then the next step is clear.”

To handle the painstakingly gathered internal energy well, the body needs to be strong.

“Let’s get started!”

* * *

Otaku_Tensei

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