Chapter 10 — Acquisition
Just moments ago, these martial arts manuals had looked like nothing more than items destined for disposal.
Now, they appeared completely different.
They were beacons that would light up my hopeful life after regression — seeds of heavenly fortune.
‘This is it! This is exactly what regression is all about.’
While I was still basking in joy, a familiar object caught the corner of my eye.
It was the [Kunlun Azure Soul Scripture] lying on the floor.
I bent down, picked it up, and casually flipped open the cover again.
‘…’
My mind went blank for a moment.
I had clearly seen with my own eyes as every character in the book flew out and was absorbed into my head.
But…
‘How is this possible?’
Amazingly, the characters inside the book remained completely intact.
Not a single stroke was out of place — it was exactly as I had first seen it.
‘They didn’t disappear… Then…’
I took a slow breath and flipped through the pages of the [Kunlun Azure Soul Scripture] one by one.
I read the densely written sentences on each page.
Strangely, I understood the contents with shocking ease.
The intended meridian operation and breathing principles of the Kunlun Azure Soul Scripture were vividly drawn in my mind.
I could even spot exactly where the errors were at a glance.
‘So this was the problem. The circulation of inner qi was designed to break off in the middle meridians. If you circulate energy like this, the meridians get tangled and true qi flows backward. That’s why practitioners fell into Qi Deviation.’
A chuckle escaped me without realizing it.
The flaw in the Kunlun Azure Soul Scripture that no one had discovered for hundreds of years — I had figured it out with just a single glance.
‘Even the defects make sense to me. I really have perfectly acquired the Kunlun Azure Soul Scripture.’
I closed the book with a smile on my lips.
‘The physical form of the manual remains the same. The only difference is that I am now the sole person in the world who understands its true meaning.’
Nothing outwardly had changed.
To everyone else, the Kunlun Azure Soul Scripture was still just another incomplete failure, like the rest of the manuals in the Abandoned Martial Hall.
Only one thing had changed.
There was now one person in this world who could perfectly understand the Kunlun Azure Soul Scripture.
And that person was me — Han Mujin.
I lifted my head and looked straight ahead.
Bookshelves packed full of manuals stretched out before me.
‘Shall I check out my treasures?’
I approached the bookshelf in front of me.
Reaching into the web-covered shelf, I pulled out several manuals at once.
[The Void Dao Scripture], [Reverse Blood Heart Fist], [Soul-Shattering Counter-Step]…
Just from the titles, none of them looked ordinary.
Reverse Blood, Soul-Shattering — names that didn’t suit Kunlun Sect, a sect that followed the path of the Dao.
But when I thought about it carefully, it wasn’t hard to understand.
In the long struggle against the Heavenly Demon Cult, survival and revival of the sect must have been the highest priority for Kunlun’s previous masters.
Their desperate craving for raw ‘power’ must have surpassed everything else.
The result of that desperate longing was the collection of manuals in the Abandoned Martial Hall.
However, excessive craving for power could only produce imperfection.
In the end, all that remained were failed legacies that drove their practitioners into Qi Deviation.
‘Of course, that has nothing to do with me.’
I possessed a very special and unique ‘martial arts comprehension ability’ in this world — the power to perfectly fix and understand even these defective manuals.
Just as I was about to open one of the manuals in my hand with an excited heart, I felt a presence behind me.
“What are you doing? You’re not cleaning like I told you to. Why are you holding martial arts manuals?”
I turned my head and saw a familiar face.
It was Jin Gwang-ung.
He stood with his arms crossed, staring intently at my face. I had no idea how long he had been standing there.
His eyes were unsettling — as if he was trying to see right through me.
I answered as casually as possible.
“I was checking the condition of the books before cleaning the interior. They’re very old texts, so I was worried they might get damaged during cleaning.”
“Hmm… Checking the condition of the books, you say…”
Jin Gwang-ung continued staring at me with a suspicious expression.
After a moment, he slowly spoke.
“…Well, being careful in advance isn’t a bad idea.”
Fortunately, he seemed to accept my excuse.
Jin Gwang-ung glanced roughly around the Abandoned Martial Hall before asking again.
“Did anything happen while this old man was away?”
“Anything? No, nothing at all.”
“Really? Hmm… I thought I heard someone screaming earlier…”
“Screaming? There are only these discarded manuals and me here. What could possibly happen?”
“That’s strange… I must have heard it while dozing off, but… it definitely sounded like your scream.”
It seemed he had heard the short cries I unconsciously let out while the [Kunlun Blue Soul Scripture] was being automatically acquired.
‘Damn old man and his sharp ears.’
I needed to change the subject before he dug any deeper.
“Master, didn’t you say earlier that you were going to do wall-facing meditation? Yet you heard screaming in your sleep? Don’t tell me you were actually just sleeping inste—”
“S-sleep?! Where did such disrespectful nonsense come from?! This old man was definitely in the middle of wall-facing meditation!”
“Of course. There’s no way a lofty person like Master would leave his disciple alone just to comfortably sleep in a corner like some petty scoundrel. Maybe the scream you heard was just the cry of a wild animal roaming nearby?”
“Y-yes, you’re probably right. I must have misheard. Ahem. Very well. Then I shall return to my cultivation.”
Jin Gwang-ung turned around while clearing his throat awkwardly, but suddenly stopped.
He turned his head again as if something had occurred to him.
“Just in case — don’t do anything foolish.”
“Foolish?”
“I mean don’t even dream of that vain delusion of trying to learn the manuals in the Abandoned Martial Hall.”
“Yes, Master. Do not worry. That will never happen.”
“Of course, with your level, even imitating a single technique from these manuals would be too much for you. However, if you foolishly try to learn them anyway… you will become a cripple for the rest of your life, groaning in endless pain. Keep that in mind.”
“I will engrave it in my heart, Master.”
After giving his final warning, Jin Gwang-ung turned and left.
Once he completely disappeared from sight, I quietly muttered to myself.
“Too much? I already swallowed one whole.”
The [Kunlun Azure Soul Scripture] had already settled perfectly inside me.
Far from causing Qi Deviation, it was extremely stable.
I slowly looked down at the manuals still in my hands.
It was time to resume what I had postponed.
The task of resurrecting the long-dead martial arts manuals in the Abandoned Martial Hall.
More precisely, the task of reborn them as ‘Han Mujin’s exclusive secret techniques.’
‘Alright. Let’s get started properly.’
The discarded waste that had been abandoned for so long would now breathe again in my hands.
***
Early dawn, when the shadows of night had not yet fully receded.
A faint twilight softly enveloped the interior of the Abandoned Martial Hall.
I brushed off the thin blanket on the floor and stood up.
Taking a deep breath of the chilly morning air, I stretched grandly.
“Huuuam… Another day already.”
It had already been a full week since Jin Gwang-ung had half-forcibly dragged me here.
At first, I had been quite anxious.
When he declared he would make me his representative for the Great Assembly of Elders, I worried the crazy old man might force me into some bizarre training.
But life in the Abandoned Martial Hall had been surprisingly peaceful and free.
“That old monster must have left early again.”
I muttered as I walked toward a nearby bookshelf.
I didn’t know what he was so busy with, but Jin Gwang-ung left at the crack of dawn every day and didn’t return until late at night.
He was practically leaving me to my own devices.
Since the day I arrived, he hadn’t spoken a single word to me.
In fact, it felt like he had completely forgotten I even existed here.
Thanks to that, I was able to enjoy total freedom inside the Abandoned Martial Hall and devote all my time to training.
I pulled out a book from the nearest shelf.
“[Origin Soul-Annihilating Fist]. Not a bad name. Maybe this one will be useful.”
I casually flipped through the cover and began checking the contents.
[New martial arts information has been transmitted to the Awakened.]
[Martial Art: Origin Soul-Annihilating Fist]
[Analyzing contents…]
[…]
[Final analysis complete. Classified as ‘Trash-tier martial art’ with uncorrectable errors.]
[Forcible acquisition may cause severe damage to the Awakened’s body.]
“Damn it. Another dud.”
I sighed and closed the book.
Out of the hundreds of manuals stored in the Abandoned Martial Hall, only a very small number were true treasures.
Most were irredeemable trash.
I had already gone through more than half of them.
The ones I had successfully revived could be counted on one hand.
Including the [Kunlun Azure Soul Scripture], I had only truly acquired three martial arts so far.
‘It’s a bit disappointing… but still, this is good enough.’
Although the number was lower than I had initially expected, I wasn’t disappointed at all.
In fact, I was extremely satisfied.
‘Looks like no one’s around. Shall I test it?’
I returned the failed [Origin Soul-Annihilating Fist] to the shelf and looked around the Abandoned Martial Hall.
The shadows cast by the old pillars and bookshelves overlapped, creating layers of darkness.
I quietly stepped into one of those shadows.
At the same time, my body slowly melted into the darkness and completely disappeared within the shadow.
Phantom Night Void-Step (虛夜幽æ¥).
It was the second treasure I had discovered in the Abandoned Martial Hall.
A movement technique that allowed perfect assimilation with shadows, concealing the body.
It wasn’t just simple hiding — it was an astonishing stealth and covert movement art specialized in traveling through shadows.
I looked at the mirror hanging on the nearby wall.
Even though I stood directly in front of it, my reflection did not appear at all.
The corners of my mouth naturally rose.
“The more I use it, the more amazing it feels.”
My body was clearly here, yet it was completely invisible.
In my previous life, I had witnessed various movement techniques used by the top assassins raised by the Shadow Corps.
But I had never seen any stealth or covert technique that produced results similar to the [Phantom Night Void-Step].
It was truly a wondrous and unparalleled secret movement art.
‘…To be precise, it’s my ability that’s truly astonishing.’
The flawed movement technique Phantom Night Void-Step, which countless previous masters of Kunlun had failed to complete and ultimately abandoned.
Yet I had corrected its imperfections, reconstructed it into a perfect form, and made it mine.
It had taken me less than two hours.
Even I was impressed by the power of the ‘martial arts interpretation ability’ I had awakened after regression.
Acquiring Phantom Night Void-Step was a tremendous boon.
It would undoubtedly prove extremely useful on the path of revenge that lay ahead.
However, the real jackpot I obtained from the Abandoned Martial Hall was something else.
I picked up the old broom standing in the corner of the hall.
Of course, I wasn’t planning to sweep.
“Then, shall we begin again today?”
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
In the early morning silence that enveloped the Abandoned Martial Hall, I focused my mind and concentrated.
As my breathing quietly settled, the qi within me began to stir faintly.
I slowly corrected my posture.
What I held in my right hand was nothing more than an old broom, but in my mind, it had become a sword.
I entrusted my body entirely to the flow of my consciousness.
“Kunlun’s Flowing Flower Sword, First Form: Clear Stream, Flowing Water.”
I lightly raised the ‘sword’ in my hand.
It became one with my consciousness, forming a single current.
Movement flowed along that current, and a graceful curve bloomed from the tip of my arm.
Whiiiing—
The sword’s trajectory sliced through the air with a faint whoosh.
Gray dust in the surroundings danced along the path created by the sword line.
In harmony with the quiet dawn, my body and sword became a single flowing stream, gently drifting through the Abandoned Martial Hall.
There wasn’t a single wasted motion.
Within a perfect balance that was neither heavy nor light, my sword drew multiple lines.
Countless sword trajectories of straight and curved lines densely filled the hall, yet they slipped through the narrow gaps between bookshelves and pillars like gentle waves.
I rode atop that endless wave of swords for a long time.
Forgetting even the passage of time, I was ruled solely by the sensation of becoming one with the sword.
Only after fully savoring the fulfillment brought by the wave of swords did I slowly withdraw the flow.
It was only after I realized that the sword’s flow within my mind had completely stopped that I finally opened my eyes.
“…”
The sharp sword in my hand had returned to being an old broom,
And the interior of the Abandoned Martial Hall before me was now dyed in a completely different color than when I had closed my eyes.
The red light of dawn had vanished, replaced by bright morning sunlight streaming through the gaps in the windows.
I hadn’t even noticed when dawn had ended and morning arrived.
That was how deeply my consciousness had been immersed in the flow of the sword.
The traces of wind left by the swordplay disappeared, and once again, only peaceful silence settled inside the Abandoned Martial Hall.
I put down the broom with a satisfied smile.
“Now I can finally feel the flow of the sword.”
Thanks to my martial arts interpretation ability, I could understand the principles of any technique.
However, understanding a martial art did not mean I had perfectly made it my own.
The [Kunlun’s Flowing Flower Sword]. I had just displayed was the perfect example.
Kunlun’s Flowing Flower Sword.
The third martial art I had obtained from the Abandoned Martial Hall.
As its name suggested, the sword flow was gentle and elegant like a flower blooming in darkness, yet the sword force it contained was fierce and stern like Kunlun’s spirit itself — a highly complete sword art consisting of five forms.
When the principles and flow of the Kunlun’s Flowing Flower Sword were first imprinted in my mind, I had been filled with ecstasy.
I had finally obtained a proper high-level martial art — the kind I had longed for.
But I soon realized something.
My own shortcomings were still far too great to properly display the true [Kunlun’s Flowing Flower Sword].
Simply understanding it with my head was not enough.
To make the Kunlun’s Flowing Flower Sword completely mine, one more step was necessary.
‘Only through training.’
In the end, I had to learn it with my body and internalize it with my senses.
That was the true path of martial arts.
The ultimate realm that the Kunlun’s Flowing Flower Sword pursued was still far beyond my current level.
Out of the five forms, I could only properly execute the first three.
To realize the true pinnacle of the Kunlun’s Flowing Flower Sword, I would need much more rigorous training and time.
Even so, I was not disappointed. Rather, I was extremely satisfied.
The process of making a profound martial art — one with such depth that it could not be mastered instantly — my own.
I felt a thrilling pleasure from the process itself.
‘Yes. I’ve finally stepped onto the path I’ve always wanted.’
Thanks to the Kunlun Azure Soul Scripture, my body had begun to hold refined and clear inner energy.
Through Void Night Ghost Step, I had awakened new senses and agility by melting into shadows.
And the Kunlun’s Flowing Flower Sword was awakening me to the essence and flow of the sword — something I had never felt before.
The three arts each had different natures, yet they achieved perfect harmony inside me and constantly changed who I was.
The name of that change was ‘growth.’
Today’s me was completely different from yesterday’s me.
I was growing stronger at a speed that surprised even myself — so fast it was almost unbelievable.
This was something I could never have imagined during my previous life as a mere test subject with a predetermined end.
Now, I stood in the middle of a life where I could dream of growth and tomorrow — the life of a truly living human.
While I was fully savoring that overwhelming emotion—
“…You’re saying that guy is really here?”
An unfamiliar voice came from outside the Abandoned Martial Hall.