Prologue
The Greatest Master Under Heaven .
For anyone who lives within the martial world, it is a phrase that inspires admiration and stirs the ambition to become it at least once. The desire to grow stronger has long ruled the martial world, and comparing strength is an entirely natural expression of human curiosity.
Yet throughout the long history of the martial world, there is no one who can answer the question of who was truly the strongest. The standard of strength differs from person to person, and from era to era.
But what if one were to ask who the greatest eccentric in the history of the martial world was?
Surprisingly, there is an answer.
Cheongija .
From childhood, Cheongija was already recognized as a genius, possessing a Five Phases constitution so outstanding that no one could rival him. Moreover, he had mastered countless mechanical formations and arrays to a level whose depths could not even be guessed, and the martial arts he possessed were so formidable that no one could dare look down on him. True to his sobriquet, his insight was extraordinary as well—so keen that he could read the very flow of heavenly energy.
He was known for words and actions no one could ever predict, and once he decided to do something, he would accomplish it no matter the means. Because of this, the entire martial world had been thrown into chaos countless times, and everyone could only shake their heads at his bizarre conduct .
The reason people paid attention to Cheongija, however, was his martial arts.
Although he had cultivated extremely powerful martial arts, it would have been difficult to call him the greatest under heaven. Even so, he attracted attention because of his theories on martial arts.
Cheongija was the person who had encountered the greatest number of martial arts under heaven, and also the one who could understand them perfectly. Based on that foundation, he possessed the ability to create martial arts far greater than those that already existed.
In fact, even a single, simple martial art that Cheongija created in his later years was enough to shake the entire world, allowing one to infer his true capability.
The martial art that shook the world at the time was a blade technique called Flashing Shadow Blade , composed of five forms. The rogue who mastered it became strong enough to single-handedly destroy dozens of small and mid-sized sects.
What was even more astonishing was that the time the rogue spent receiving instruction in the Flashing Shadow Blade from Cheongija and mastering it amounted to no more than three years. Using a unique method that employed mechanical formations, Cheongija transformed a nameless third-rate rogue into an absolute master in a very short time. Of course, that third-rate martial artist later gained the epithet "Flashing Shadow Blade" and was eventually hunted down as a public enemy of the martial world, meeting a miserable death.
In any case, that incident was more than enough to focus the attention of countless people on Cheongija. Afterward, many martial organizations set out to search for him. However, after that event, Cheongija could no longer be found anywhere in the martial world.
Despite mobilizing an enormous number of people to track down his traces, he simply vanished—as if he had ascended into the heavens or sunk into the earth.
"So this is Cheongija's martial art?"
"More precisely, it is a treasure map to the place where the martial art lies, Alliance Leader."
Dokgo Un, known as the Breaking Mountain Sword and the current leader of the Martial Alliance , looked at the man seated before him with sharply gleaming eyes.
The man was Jo Ilhyeon, the head of the Jo Family Estate in Henan . The Jo Family was a martial household located in Xuchang , Henan. Even for the Martial Alliance, it was rare for the head of such a prestigious family—one counted among the foremost in Henan—to visit in person. Thus, Dokgo Un had been surprised when he heard Jo Ilhyeon was coming, but the news he brought was far more astonishing still.
"How did you confirm that this is Cheongija's treasure map?"
"I brought it with me, so please examine it yourself, Alliance Leader."
Jo Ilhyeon took a scrap of paper out from his robes. Seeing it, Dokgo Un swallowed dryly. Soon, the paper was spread out on the desk, and Dokgo Un stared at it intently, his eyes shining sharply as he examined it.
"To my eyes, it appears genuine. For now, it would be best to investigate this location. The drawings on this treasure map seem to be diagrams of mechanical formations, so we will need someone well-versed in arrays as well."
At Dokgo Un's words, Jo Ilhyeon nodded emphatically.
"I thought the same."
"Then have you been to this place yet?"
"Not yet. Greed invites disaster. This item is far too heavy a burden for me to bear alone. I thought that if it were the Martial Alliance, no matter how heavy the burden, you would be able to shoulder it with ease."
At Jo Ilhyeon's words, Dokgo Un nodded with a satisfied smile.
"Estate Head Jo, you are truly a wise man. I can already see the Jo Family flourishing greatly in the future. Hahahaha!"
Jo Ilhyeon watched Dokgo Un laugh heartily, a satisfied expression on his own face. He had obtained everything he wanted.
In any case, Jo Ilhyeon's judgment was correct. A treasure map containing Cheongija's martial arts was not something anyone could easily possess unless they were the Martial Alliance.
And so, a single treasure map appeared in the world.
Thanks to that treasure map—recording both the location of the martial art Cheongija created after attaining enlightenment just before his death, and even the method for dismantling the mechanisms guarding it—the martial world, which had been quiet for a long time, began to stir once more.
Chapter 1
My Name Is**
Mount Heng , the Southern Peak among the Five Sacred Mountains. And within Mount Heng, a place deep—so deep it seemed endless. Amidst a landscape filled entirely with dense trees and grass, there stood a cliff rising as if it might pierce the sky.
Rumble—rumble—rumble!
At some point, the cliff began to shake as if an earthquake were occurring. After trembling for a long while amid a low rumble of thunder, the cliff finally collapsed with a deafening roar.
Crash—booom!
Stone dust filled the air, and the lush trees were struck by falling rocks, left utterly shattered.
When the stone dust finally settled, the sight that emerged was truly astonishing. Only the front portion of the cliff had collapsed—the rear portion remained completely intact. It looked as if someone had cleanly sliced away part of the cliff. The cut surface was that smooth.
And in that cliff, a massive cave opening had been revealed.
Whoooosh!
A gust of wind flowed out from the cave. It swept once around the cliff before disappearing. And at the very moment the wind vanished, a single person appeared at the cave's entrance.
It was a man wearing what looked like clothing made of thin leather. At his waist hung a sword that also looked old and worn—a bare blade without even a scabbard. Yet the sharp aura emanating from the sword was anything but ordinary.
"So it finally came out…"
Muttering to himself, the man lifted his head and looked up at the sky. A deep blue sky, without a single cloud, filled his vision.
"How long has it been since I last saw this…?"
The man did not move, standing there for a long while, simply gazing at the sky. After staring upward for more than an hour, he finally lowered his head once more.
"This is confusing."
Muttering to himself, the man took a few steps forward. He needed time to sort out his thoughts—and to recall the things he had forgotten for so long.
After finding ground as flat as possible, the man came to a stop and gently closed his eyes. Standing still with his eyes closed—this was the most comfortable posture he had been able to assume all this time. And it was also where everything began.
With his eyes shut, the man sank deep into his memories.
The beginning would not come to him, no matter how hard he tried. He seemed to have been around ten years old. That was when he first came to this place.
"I am called Cheongija. From now on, you must listen carefully to what I say."
The old man who introduced himself as Cheongija looked over the hundred children trembling in fear before him, wearing a benevolent smile. The man, too, had become a child again, standing among them.
"You may not understand or believe it no matter how much I explain right now, but ten years from now, you will bear the mission of saving the world."
The man clearly remembered that he had not felt fear at the time. He did not know why. Since he could no longer recall anything from before that distant past, he thought perhaps it was because he had been an orphan.
"Now, get some good rest today."
With those words, Cheongija disappeared, and the children lay down, trembling with fear. The cave was quite spacious. A few children tried to escape, but it was futile. Cheongija sat at the cave entrance, wearing the same gentle expression.
Left with no choice, the children reluctantly went to sleep, waiting for another chance. But that day was the last day they would ever have a chance to escape. The next day, the cave entrance disappeared completely.
"I sealed the cave entrance with a rock cliff. Wouldn't it be terrible if someone broke in? Hahahaha."
Before Cheongija, who spoke of such an astonishing feat as if it were nothing, the children could only stand silently, as if struck dead.
And from that day on, an ordeal called martial arts training began.
From eating and sleeping onward, everything was strictly controlled. There was nothing the children were allowed to do of their own accord.
The martial arts Cheongija taught them consisted of how to breathe, how to wield a sword, and how to move their bodies. At first, he did not even tell them the names, but once they reached the level where they could roughly imitate the techniques, he told them on his own.
The breathing method was called the Three Talents Qigong , the sword technique was the Three Talents Sword Art , and the movement technique was the Three Talents Steps .
In any case, it seemed they spent roughly three years learning martial arts like that. Martial arts were more difficult than expected, and despite training to the point of near death for such a long time, there was little noticeable progress. Most of the children were the same. Even so, Cheongija looked at them with satisfaction.
On the day marking the third year, Cheongija gathered all one hundred children in one place and handed each of them a small pill.
"Here. This medicine will help your martial arts. Go on and take it."
The children swallowed the pills without suspicion. The man did the same. After confirming that everyone had taken the medicine, Cheongija smiled faintly and began to speak.
"Today marks exactly three years. And your martial arts are now more or less complete. All that remains is for you to make them fully your own. The martial arts I taught you are truly outstanding. If mastered properly, they are the kind that could make you a true Martial God ."
Cheongija slowly swept his gaze over the children. They had lived for so long within a tightly controlled framework that they possessed no sense of freedom at all. In a way, they looked like dolls.
"For the remaining seven years, each of you must complete your martial arts. And after that, you must go out into the world and resolve the calamities that threaten all under heaven."
After saying that, Cheongija led the children somewhere. It was deeper within the cave, where there stood a strangely shaped door.
"From now on, all of you are to open that door and go inside. Train your martial arts there. Freely."
At Cheongija's words, the children entered without protest. Inside was completely filled with fog. Even though they could not see an inch ahead, the children continued moving forward.
Once all the children were inside, Cheongija closed the door.
Thud.
As the door shut, Cheongija quietly sat down on the ground and let out a sigh.
"Phew… all the arrangements are complete. Now all that remains is how I will make use of those children later. Blood Demon , what were you thinking, trying to carry out something like that? Ten years from now, those children will emerge into the world and shatter your ambitions to pieces."
After steadying his breath, Cheongija quietly stood up. There was not much time left. At the right moment, he would have to unleash into the world the power capable of using them.
The problem was that he himself did not have much time remaining.
"Are there about ten days left now? I do feel a little sorry for those children, but if it's to save the world, isn't it unavoidable? To think that I, who stand above all under heaven, would resort to using gu ."
The pill Cheongija had given the children was, in fact, gu. And it was an extremely special kind at that. It was something Cheongija himself had developed, known as the Yin–Yang Gu .
The gu fed to the children possessed Yin properties. If someone were to absorb the counterpart imbued with Yang properties, then the children would have no choice but to obey that person's commands.
Cheongija took out a small wooden box. Inside it was the Yin–Yang Gu bearing Yang properties.
"Now all that remains is to decide how to deal with this."
In an instant, Cheongija's figure vanished from within the cave. There was even a secret passage inside—one known only to him. Of course, ten years later, people would have to enter this place through that very passage.
After even Cheongija disappeared, only a bizarrely shaped door remained inside the cave, emitting an eerie light.
The man opened his eyes.
"So that's it. Cheongija… Now I remember. Why we had to enter that hell."
A killing aura clung to the man's body. He closed his eyes once more, sinking back into his memories.
There was little the children could do within the fog. All they could do was train in martial arts. At first, they thought it was merely fog, but they eventually realized it was actually crystallized high-level qi. Thanks to this, their martial arts improved at an astonishing pace, day by day.
Then one day, as they devoted themselves to training, an anomaly occurred—something even Cheongija had failed to predict.
The place where Cheongija had gathered the children was one where various formations concentrated the surrounding energies. The energy of Mount Heng, along with the qi spread throughout the world, had all been drawn into a single location. Naturally, the interior was filled with an extremely dense concentration of qi, and training there could only result in exceptional progress.
The Flashing Shadow Blade had likewise been able to create a master in a short time through a similar method, so it was only natural that the children training here would develop extraordinary abilities.
But it was precisely that excess which became the problem.
The qi inside the cavern where the children were grew overwhelmingly abundant. Even before the children were gathered, the world's energies had already been drawn in—how vast must that amount have been? The qi had crystallized to the point of appearing like fog, so it would have been stranger if nothing had gone wrong.
Cheongija believed it would last at least ten years. But the children's talent was the issue. Qi accumulated even within their bodies, and as they forcefully expelled it every day, the qi inside the cavern surpassed saturation, becoming so dense that it began to distort the surrounding space.
Then, a pitch-black hole formed in the ground.
That hole cleanly devoured all the energy inside the cavern—and along with it, the children who were there.
From that moment on, hell began.