Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 642

The Four Directional Martial Emperor.

A legendary master who performed great feats in the war against the Blood Cult, known as the worst enemy in the history of the Central Plains martial world three hundred years ago.

Some said that the Four Directional Martial Emperor’s martial prowess was exaggerated. They claimed that he only participated in battles where he could show off, and that he only cut off the heads of enemy commanders, so his actual martial prowess was not that great.

However, those people remained silent about the enemies the Four Directional Martial Emperor faced in those battles.

The enemies the Four Directional Martial Emperor fought were so powerful that any master in the Central Plains martial world at the time would have been reluctant to face them.

The Four Directional Martial Emperor defeated all of them. He didn’t just win close matches; he overwhelmed almost every enemy, breaking their morale.

In other words, the Four Directional Martial Emperor was the strongest vanguard the Central Plains martial world could offer, and an invincible martial god that the Blood Cult never wanted to face.

After the Blood Cult rebellion ended, the Four Directional Martial Emperor left the cheers of the martial artists behind and went to live a simple life in an unknown mountain.

After the war, some martial artists who went to find him for some reason said that they saw him reach the realm of a divine being and even control the divine beast, the Yellow Dragon.

So, in his later years, his title became the Yellow Dragon Emperor. Although, the title of Four Directional Martial Emperor was so famous that it was not well known.

Despite being such a famous person, there was no proper information about his character and martial arts. No one knew what he liked or how he viewed the world.

Even Yeon Ho-Jeong didn’t know about the existence of the Four Directional Martial Emperor.

Perhaps he had heard of him a few times in passing.

But he didn’t keep it in his memory.

He discarded all information that was not relevant to him. The space in his memory was filled with the tombstones of his fallen comrades and the empty graves of his future comrades.

It was thanks to Jeagal Ayeon that he became interested in the Four Directional Martial Emperor.

A master of the past who used harmonious martial arts with overwhelming abilities in offense, evasion, and counterattacks.

A peerless powerhouse who was later called the Yellow Dragon Emperor and became a living god, elevating the legend to the realm of myth.

And that memory was revived in Foshan, Guangdong, and was confirmed once again by the nameless old men who had thrown away the past and were digging into the secrets of immortality.

The Four Divine Martial Arts are the martial arts of the Four Directional Martial Emperor.

And Yeon Ho-Jeong inherited those martial arts.

In other words, Yeon Ho-Jeong was the successor to the essence of the peerless master of the past, the Four Directional Martial Emperor.

It was a fact that no one in the world knew yet, except for a few people.

Tang Hyeong was bringing up a story about him. It was no wonder Yeon Ho-Jeong was flustered.

‘Do you know the Four Directional Martial Emperor?’

Tang Hyeong chuckled.

‘Is there anyone who carries a sword who doesn’t know the Four Directional Martial Emperor? Even the kids in the streets know the myth of the Four Directional Martial Emperor.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong felt a little embarrassed.

‘I see.’

‘I said I’d ask just one thing, but I keep asking. Then, is the martial art you’ve mastered the Four Divine Martial Arts?’

Another look of surprise crossed Yeon Ho-Jeong’s face.

‘Do you know the Four Divine Martial Arts?’

He had no intention of hiding his martial arts.

It wasn’t like he could do anything about it even if rumors spread. It was a martial art without a fixed form.

A strange look appeared on Tang Hyeong’s face.

‘So it was true. The martial art you’ve mastered is the Four Divine Martial Arts, and you are indeed the successor of the Four Directional Martial Emperor.’

‘How did you know that…?’

Tang Hyeong shrugged his shoulders.

‘I saw it in an old document.’

‘An old document?’

‘Before I secluded myself, I read all the books in the main family.’

‘……Yes?’

‘I didn’t leave out a single one. If there were any new books, I read those too. Not most of them, but literally all of them.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes widened.

‘You read all those books? How many were there?’

‘Excluding martial arts books, there were 27,569 books.’

‘……?!’

‘Is this guy making fun of me?’

‘Don’t joke around.’

‘……’

‘……Is that true?’

‘Is there any reason for me to lie? It’s not something to brag about.’

‘It is something to brag about.’

‘Even though I read so many books, I fought with my son and have been estranged for twenty years. Reading a lot of books isn’t important. What’s important is what you do with the knowledge you’ve gained.’

That was true, but that didn’t make the surprise go away.

There must have been thin books among those many books. But on the other hand, there must have been many thick and difficult books.

Even if you read ten books a day, it would take more than 2,700 days. That’s eight years.

You would have to read ten books every day for eight years without missing a single day to read all those books.

Could a person who has to train in martial arts and take care of household chores do that?

‘That’s it.’

As if he had guessed what Yeon Ho-Jeong was thinking, Tang Hyeong pointed to his head with his index finger.

‘Even before reaching the Supreme Limit [a high level of martial arts mastery], my upper dantian [an energy center in the body] was much larger and more active than others. After opening the Supreme Limit, it goes without saying.’

‘Ah…!’

‘There are many ways to use the upper dantian. I used it to drastically increase my reading comprehension. It didn’t even take half a quarter to read a thick book.’

‘Do you remember all of that?’

‘I can’t remember everything. But I remember more than half of it.’

Remembering more than half of the contents of nearly 30,000 books seemed more amazing than reaching the Supreme Limit.

‘The story has gone a bit off track. Anyway, among the old documents of the main family, there were a few that described what happened three hundred years ago. Among them, there was also one about the Four Directional Martial Emperor and his martial art, the Four Divine Martial Arts.’

‘H-How…?’

‘Why don’t other people know? They have no choice but not to know. Because it’s written in a foreign language. It’s a kind of Sanskrit, but it’s even more ancient than the Sanskrit that the monks know. The letters are different.’

Tang Hyeong smacked his lips.

‘I had a hard time translating that. I have a personality that I can’t move on unless I solve a problem, so I spent more than two years inviting scholars to translate it somehow.’

‘Huh.’

‘Anyway, I learned a lot by deciphering the old documents. However, it wasn’t something to spread rumors about, so I just kept it in my memory.’

‘I see.’

‘But one question came to my mind.’

‘Yes?’

‘The content written in the old documents was quite detailed and vivid.’

‘……?’

‘I don’t know why it was written in ancient Sanskrit, but in my opinion, the author was definitely a person from that era, and someone who directly participated in the fight against the Blood Cult.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong tilted his head.

‘There isn’t much known about the Four Directional Martial Emperor, except for his terrifying skills.’

‘That’s right.’

‘But how did the author know that the Four Directional Martial Emperor had mastered the Four Divine Martial Arts?’

‘Well, there’s no way to know. It’s not like the Four Directional Martial Emperor was alone and aloof. He might have had someone he was close to.’

‘Hmm, I see.’

‘However, the author of that historical record knew too much about the Blood Cult and the Four Directional Martial Emperor. There were many letters I didn’t know, so I couldn’t translate everything… but there were also many parts where he mentioned the Four Directional Martial Emperor as if he were someone else, but wrote as if he saw the world through the eyes of the Four Directional Martial Emperor.’

‘……?!’

‘Perhaps, it might be a historical record written by the Four Directional Martial Emperor himself.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes wavered.

It was questionable why it was written in ancient Sanskrit, but those old documents were definitely great treasures. Moreover, if the Four Directional Martial Emperor had written them himself, they would be treasures among treasures, beyond any value.

‘This is a bit off track again. That’s not the important thing.’

‘……’

‘I told Yoon that the contents of that literature were absurd. I said that it was a book that didn’t need to be read out of mere curiosity, but there were some really absurd contents in it.’

‘……?’

‘It said that the one who mastered the Four Divine Martial Arts could control the Yellow Dragon, the guardian god of heaven and earth.’

‘……!!’

‘Also, it said that he used four martial arts and four energies to demonstrate perfect combat ability, but that perfection was the epitome of naturalness, so it was a martial art that no one could master.’

Tang Hyeong’s eyes shone.

‘Furthermore, it said that the most dangerous time was when you thought you had truly completed that perfect martial art.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I don’t know either. It was just written like that. It was absurd that he could control the Yellow Dragon.’

‘The most dangerous time is when you think you’ve completed it…?’

‘At the time, I was creating the Emperor’s Poison Scripture. I wanted to make this martial art the best in the world. I wasn’t interested in the Yellow Dragon or anything like that, but that phrase strangely felt like it was talking to me.’

Tang Hyeong smiled bitterly.

‘It was a mistake. The Emperor’s Poison Scripture is not the Four Divine Martial Arts. Even though it was already complete, that phrase kept lingering in my mind, so I pursued beyond it without knowing satisfaction.’

‘……’

‘That’s why I got this terrible illness.’

No.

Yeon Ho-Jeong could tell.

The reason Tang Hyeong got sick was not because there was no further path for the Emperor’s Poison Scripture.

It wasn’t just because of Tang Hyeong’s simple greed.

‘The Four Divine Martial Arts has a foundation.’

To break away from completion and move forward?

Completion is called completion because it is perfect. Once you reach it, there is nothing beyond it. That’s why it’s completion.

If there is something beyond completion, it should be considered a completely different realm.

And the vast technical system and power to support that different realm exist in the Four Divine Martial Arts.

‘Yellow Dragon Divine King Art!’

That’s right.

To make the body perfect with not one, but four energies.

To complete the present moment in order to move to a higher level.

The Four Divine Martial Arts is a martial art of completion and a martial art of freedom. That’s why it can aspire to the Yellow Dragon, which is beyond it.

On the other hand, Tang Hyeong’s Emperor’s Poison Scripture is definitely the best poison art in the world, but it is only complete as a martial art, and it cannot aspire to anything beyond that.

From the beginning, it was not a martial art created to aspire to anything beyond that.

That’s why Tang Hyeong failed. That’s why he got sick.

Because he couldn’t create a body that could withstand the power of another dimension.

Flash!

A strong energy emanated from Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes.

As if by revelation, the reason for Tang Hyeong’s failure naturally came to mind. And Yeon Ho-Jeong was sure that it was the truth.

‘Why?’

I don’t even know much about the realm of the Dark King [a high level of martial arts mastery]?

‘But how can I be so sure about why this person got sick?’

Whoosh!

In an instant, surprise appeared on Yeon Ho-Jeong’s face.

‘Ah!’

The reason why Tang Hyeong got sick, and the fact that I was sure of it.

The moment he questioned how he was so sure, a ray of enlightenment that had come like a flash of light began to scatter at a terrifying speed.

Just like when you wake up from a dream and try to remember the contents of the dream, but gradually forget it.

‘Hey, you.’

‘……Yes?’

‘Are you okay? You don’t look good.’

‘Ah…’

Yeon Ho-Jeong closed his eyes.

‘I’m fine. Something suddenly came to mind.’

‘I see.’

Tang Hyeong smiled and continued.

‘Whatever it is, what I want to say is this. Look back at the roots of your martial arts.’

‘……?’

‘You said that the Four Divine Martial Arts uses four energies. Each one of them demonstrates outstanding capabilities, but in other words, since there are four energies that you have to pay attention to, you can’t be sure if you’ve properly mastered any one of them.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong was sure. He had clearly mastered each of the four divine energies.

But he was also shocked by Tang Hyeong’s words.

When did I start thinking that I knew clearly and surely?

Do I really know the Four Divine Energies properly?

‘Those who have seen the extreme must make contemplation and meditation a part of their lives in order to go beyond it. But if you can’t find an answer no matter how hard you try, then the place you have to return to is the root.’

‘……’

‘Don’t forget that. That’s what I wanted to tell you.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had been staring at Tang Hyeong, asked as if throwing a question.

‘Aren’t you surprised?’

‘About what?’

‘There is someone who has inherited the martial arts of the Four Directional Martial Emperor, which no one knows about, and you’re not that surprised?’

‘I am surprised. But why is that?’

‘If it were me, I would be curious about the martial arts of three hundred years ago and want to dig into it.’

‘With your personality? That’s nonsense.’

Tang Hyeong got up from his seat.

‘It’s the martial art of the peerless master of the past, but it’s not like he became the peerless master of the past by mastering that martial art. The best martial arts are everywhere. What’s important is how outstanding the person who mastered it is.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong smiled.

‘Senior, your words are indeed correct.’

Tang Hyeong turned his body.

‘Come by once before you leave. Let’s have a meal together.’