Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 397

Whoosh!

While the marvel of Shaolin martial arts is known throughout the world, most martial artists are left gaping when they actually witness its techniques in action.

It wasn’t just about the sheer power.

Shaolin’s martial arts take the principle of stillness within movement and movement within stillness as a clear guideline, so much so that it’s visible to the naked eye.

This is especially true in their footwork. Even just observing Lee Cheol-gyeong’s footwork, one could feel this.

Whoong! Whoooong!

The surrounding scenery blurred backward at a terrifying speed.

Without any dynamic movements, he simply alternated his feet while keeping his hands behind his back. He wasn’t stepping forcefully, but rather with light and nimble footwork, as if crossing stepping stones.

Yet, the speed was terrifyingly fast. With his torso firmly fixed, he was achieving unimaginable speed with just the light movements of his legs.

This was the Golden Bell Unmoving Footwork, the footwork that Shaolin was so proud of. And when this footwork was mastered, the legendary Nine Grades of the Lotus Platform of Shaolin would finally reveal itself.

A mythical footwork that creates nine afterimages with a single light step.

At just over thirty years old, Lee Cheol-gyeong was glimpsing the ultimate of the Golden Bell Unmoving.

Whoooooooong.

After running for a while, Lee Cheol-gyeong suddenly looked back.

‘That’s strange.’

A look of bewilderment appeared on Lee Cheol-gyeong’s face as he looked at Beom-oh.

‘Why is my senior brother’s footwork…’

Lee Cheol-gyeong’s martial talent was exceptionally outstanding.

Shaolin does not pass down its secret arts to those who lack the talent and character. Not to mention those who are not part of the main temple.

It wasn’t because of his family ties, but because Lee Cheol-gyeong met the standards of talent and character that Shaolin required. That’s why he was able to use Shaolin’s secret techniques.

On the other hand, Beom-oh was different.

Beom-oh was a martial monk of the main temple who had formed a bond with the Great Master of Shaolin at the age of fifteen, a time when he was full of youthful vigor.

If he had trained in martial arts at that age and was now being mentioned as the next head of the Arhat Hall, it meant that Beom-oh’s talent was no less than Lee Cheol-gyeong’s. In particular, Beom-oh’s competitive spirit drove him to become obsessed with martial arts, which allowed him to reach his current level.

In other words, in terms of skill alone, he was even more outstanding than Lee Cheol-gyeong.

‘Why is his inner energy constantly fluctuating?’

The footwork of his senior brother, who was following behind him, was strange.

He couldn’t pinpoint it, but he felt that he wasn’t properly following the principles of the Golden Bell Unmoving. To be more precise, it felt like he had mastered the Golden Bell Unmoving Footwork to some extent, but was forcibly twisting his movements and inner energy.

Given his senior brother’s skills, he shouldn’t be lacking compared to himself, even if he had taken a break from training for a while. Yet, he kept using his footwork in a bizarre way.

Lee Cheol-gyeong didn’t bother to keep his questions to himself.

“Senior brother.”

Even while running at such a fast speed, Lee Cheol-gyeong’s voice was unwavering.

Beom-oh looked at Lee Cheol-gyeong with a puzzled expression.

Concern was evident on Lee Cheol-gyeong’s face.

“Your complexion isn’t good. Your footwork keeps faltering too. But I don’t see any signs of internal or external injuries. Are you perhaps doing it on purpose…?”

“I’m fine.”

Unlike Lee Cheol-gyeong’s, Beom-oh’s voice was slightly trembling.

“I won’t hold you back. So don’t worry and keep running.”

“Ah, yes.”

What could he do when he said it like that? Lee Cheol-gyeong buried his unresolved questions in his heart and ran on again.

In that moment, Beom-oh’s eyes flashed.

‘That’s it.’

Beom-oh’s eyes, as he watched Lee Cheol-gyeong’s splendid footwork, were surprisingly filled with caution, not admiration.

‘My junior brother’s footwork is truly exemplary. He’s properly implementing the principles of the Golden Bell Unmoving. If he continues to maintain his current rate of progress, he might even reach the Nine Grades of the Lotus Platform within ten years.’

Beom-oh could see that Lee Cheol-gyeong’s footwork was close to perfection.

But a question arose.

‘Why does it look so stifling?’

Lee Cheol-gyeong’s footwork was the same as his own. They had learned the same techniques, the same formulas.

Even though there was a difference in physique, Lee Cheol-gyeong and Beom-oh were surprisingly similar in height and limb length. Beom-oh, who was larger, gave a more solid impression, but when it came to using footwork, it was no exaggeration to say that they used the same posture and inner energy.

‘But why does it feel like I’m wrong?’

Beom-oh could also use the Golden Bell Unmoving Footwork like Lee Cheol-gyeong. No, in terms of proficiency, he was even better than Lee Cheol-gyeong.

But why? As he headed south with Lee Cheol-gyeong, he suddenly felt that Lee Cheol-gyeong’s posture looked awkward.

‘No, my junior brother’s footwork isn’t awkward.’

Beom-oh’s eyes deepened.

‘It’s just that when I apply myself to my junior brother’s movements, it looks awkward.’

That’s right.

Lee Cheol-gyeong was learning a form of footwork that suited him. The exemplary form of the Golden Bell Unmoving Footwork perfectly matched the footwork that Lee Cheol-gyeong was pursuing.

But that wasn’t the case for him.

‘My martial arts, no, my personality is different from my junior brother’s.’

Although he often seemed inscrutable, Lee Cheol-gyeong was a person of such excellent character that he received passing marks from all the elders of the main temple.

On the other hand, Beom-oh was different. From the moment he entered Shaolin, he had grown up as one of the many talents who could become the head of the Arhat Hall, a true martial monk among martial monks.

Before talent, his character was not like that of a monk. He followed the teachings of Buddha, but more than that, he grew up to become the embodiment of Shaolin martial arts.

Since their personalities were different, the way they interpreted the same martial arts was bound to be different. If Lee Cheol-gyeong used the grand and powerful martial arts of a great hero, unique to Shaolin, while also showing a hint of concession, Beom-oh used martial arts with a more aggressive and destructive tendency.

‘This can’t be.’

Beom-oh’s eyes, which had been deeply sunken, gradually began to shine brightly.

‘How could I have only realized such an obvious truth now?’

Even the words of the sages are interpreted differently by each person. How could martial arts be any different?

‘I’ve only been imitating Shaolin’s martial arts until now, and I haven’t made them my own.’

In that moment, what came to his mind was the stern rebuke of his uncle, the abbot.

‘The competitive spirit is something that anyone who has learned martial arts can possess. But arrogance is different. Perhaps your five years of wall-gazing were not a success, but a failure.’

The competitive spirit is the driving force behind the growth of martial arts. But arrogance and conceit are the main causes of stagnation in martial arts.

Beom-oh was conceited. He thought he was the best because of his talent and his achievements, which were faster than anyone else in the temple.

But his arrogance was shattered in the face of the embodiment of real combat, which was beyond imagination.

‘Yeon Ho-jeong!’

That’s right.

Yeon Ho-jeong was, even if you only looked at his martial arts level, above him.

Beom-oh couldn’t accept it. The fact that a young man almost fifteen years younger than him had reached a higher level than him.

But it was a clear truth, and even in his duel with him, he hadn’t shown even half of his true strength.

And yet, he overwhelmed him. From the start, it wasn’t even a fight.

Once again, the words of his uncle, the abbot, came to mind.

‘Defeat is defeat. If it had been a life-or-death battle, you wouldn’t even be able to complain to me like this. You would have been dead.’

‘Does locking yourself in a room and punching the air improve your skills? You may be able to master the principles of martial arts, but martial arts that cannot express those principles with the body are only half-baked. Your martial arts are like that now.’

Beom-oh sighed.

‘I’m ashamed.’

Thinking back to that time, he was truly ashamed to the point of shuddering. No matter how great the shock of defeat was, he had made unreasonable demands of his uncle with ridiculous words.

His desire not to admit defeat, his arrogance, had reached its peak, and he couldn’t see what he should have seen. He had disappointed the elders of the sect by not doing the simple act of looking back at himself, and he had also put a brake on his own development.

‘Shaolin’s martial arts are invincible. But what made Shaolin’s martial arts invincible was not the marvel of the martial arts themselves, but the hard work and skill of the masters who proved them to the world.’

It was at that moment.

Flash!

A faint golden glow appeared in Beom-oh’s eyes.

‘Defeat is not shameful. What is shameful is not admitting defeat and clinging to it.’

Clinging brings disaster, and desire breeds narrow-mindedness.

Woo woong!

At that moment, Beom-oh heard the sound of a Buddhist bell resonating fiercely within his body.

The sound of the bell echoing from Mount Song, Shaoshi Peak in Henan.

That majestic yet comforting sound was uprooting Beom-oh’s stubbornness from its very foundation.

Whoaaaaa!

Lee Cheol-gyeong, who was running ahead, was startled by the sudden volcanic aura and looked back.

“H-Huh! Senior brother?!”

Beom-oh’s entire body was covered in a faint golden light.

Not only that, but Beom-oh, who was unconsciously clasping his hands together and half-closing his eyes while using the Golden Bell Unmoving Footwork, made even those who saw him feel solemn.

Woo woong! Woo woo woong!

The subtle sound of the Buddhist bell shook Lee Cheol-gyeong’s inner energy.

Lee Cheol-gyeong’s eyes, which had been filled with surprise, now held awe.

‘Divine skill manifestation! What kind of enlightenment did he gain in that short time?’

Shaolin’s martial arts are uncompromising in the harmony of mind and body.

Beom-oh’s spirit, which had been stained with arrogance and weighed down by defeat, blossomed clearly with a moment of enlightenment. Then, his body, which had withered from a long break in training, began to change from the roots.

Flash! Flash!

The faint golden glow suddenly became explosively intense.

This was the true breakthrough of the wall of martial arts. The wall that his body had crossed but his mind had not yet escaped was being broken down with absurd ease.

The true blossoming of Shaolin’s absolute martial art, the Great Vehicle Brahma Divine Art.

Whoosh!

The golden inner energy was instantly condensed into his body.

Beom-oh opened his eyes.

In that moment, Lee Cheol-gyeong, who made eye contact with him, felt himself subtly shrinking. Beom-oh’s changed, lion-like gaze was like that of the legendary Myo-o [a wrathful deity], who crushes and purifies evil.

“Junior brother.”

“Yes, senior brother.”

“I’m sorry for making you worry because of my incompetence.”

Flap flap flap!

The hem of Beom-oh’s robe fluttered like the wings of a hawk.

“Let’s go quickly. An ominous wind is blowing from the south.”

Lee Cheol-gyeong grinned.

“Shall we start running in earnest?”

Whoooosh!

The two men ran forward at an even more terrifying speed.

They were the footsteps of true new stars who would firmly support the inside and outside of Shaolin.

* * *

“The Commander of the Annihilation Army came in person?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Sama Hyeon nodded.

“Bring him in.”

“Yes.”

A moment later.

Squeak!

The door of the dilapidated building, which was falling apart, opened, and a young man with a huge axe appeared.

Sama Hyeon, who had been sitting in the darkness, rose to his feet.

“Are you the Commander of the Annihilation Army, Great Hero Yeon Ho-jeong?”

“……”

“……?”

“……Well, this is a pleasant surprise.”

Yeon Ho-jeong grinned.

“That’s right. I am Yeon Ho-jeong, you Yin fellow.”