Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 3

Nine Dragons Chronicle (3)

Hwa-Rin was amazed by the scale of the Imperial Storage. Carving artificial caves into Mount So-o was already a difficult task, but creating and operating mechanical devices to perfectly protect the interior was truly remarkable.

As Hwa-Rin explored the Imperial Storage, he realized it was divided into six sections:

The Martial Arts Repository, storing martial arts manuals; the Medicine Repository, filled with rare herbs and elixirs; the Armory, housing various weapons; the Library, containing all sorts of books; the Training Ground, for practicing martial arts; and the Residence, designed for living within the storage.

“Amazing.”

Hwa-Rin took a short break in the Residence, contemplating where to begin.

His mother had instructed him to learn martial arts here to defeat the Demonic Cult, the Martial Alliance, and the Evil Path Alliance, but that was too vague. Moreover, since he knew nothing about martial arts, blindly practicing them would be unproductive.

“To manage this place, shouldn’t there be records of the items stored here?”

With this thought, Hwa-Rin went to the Martial Arts Repository to look for any recorded lists.

“There is.”

As Hwa-Rin had expected, the Martial Arts Repository contained a catalog detailing the location of each martial art manual.

Hwa-Rin skimmed through the catalog and nodded.

“There are nine hundred and ninety-nine martial arts manuals, with nine hundred considered first-rate and ninety-nine that surpass even that.”

Hwa-Rin paused, then nodded as if he had decided which martial arts to learn.

“Since I don’t know much about martial arts, I should learn a few basic ones before moving on to advanced techniques.”

He had some knowledge of sorcery from his training, but martial arts were entirely new to him. He decided to understand the basics before attempting anything else.

Hwa-Rin went to the Medicine Repository. There, too, was a catalog listing the location of each elixir, allowing him to find what he needed.

The Armory and the Library were the same.

Hwa-Rin took a book from the Martial Arts Repository and returned to his residence. The book was quite thick, with the title ‘Compendium of Martial Arts’ written on its cover.

Hwa-Rin sat at a table in his residence and opened the Compendium of Martial Arts.

As the cover indicated, the compendium contained general knowledge about martial arts.

It detailed everything from the origins of martial arts, with most of the content being common knowledge among martial artists.

Since Hwa-Rin was a novice in martial arts, the compendium was very helpful.

Hwa-Rin was puzzled to see that the pages at the beginning were well-worn, while those towards the end were clean.

“Is it because martial arts masters teach these basics?”

With that thought, he continued reading the compendium, finding it quite interesting.

“It’s amazing that movements based on animals and plants can become martial arts.”

By reading the Compendium of Martial Arts, Hwa-Rin was able to understand the general principles of martial arts.

“External Skills Section?”

The Compendium of Martial Arts not only covered the basics but also divided martial arts into external and internal skills. Hwa-Rin became engrossed, losing track of time as he delved into it.

“Incredible.”

After reading intently for a while, Hwa-Rin involuntarily exclaimed. Perhaps because he was a novice, the content in the Compendium of Martial Arts felt extraordinary, and he found himself excitedly immersed in it.

[Ultimately, it is about using the body more effectively, making the distinction between external and internal skills meaningless. However, the author has described it this way to help the reader understand martial arts…]

“This person is right. When you learn martial arts, internal energy naturally accumulates in the body. In the end, even those who practice external skills use internal energy. This person is truly amazing.”

Hwa-Rin admired the author and, after finishing the external skills section, began reading the internal skills section.

The internal skills section detailed the effects of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, methods of circulating internal energy, and how to train internal energy effectively.

[Creating a dantian [energy center] and projecting the internal energy accumulated within it outside the body is, in a sense, a realm of imagination and belief. This is similar to the Taoist’s Taoist arts and the sorcerer’s sorcery, but internal energy is slightly more concrete.]

Hwa-Rin recalled the secret arts of the Beggars’ Sect that he had learned. Using those secret arts required a specific energy, a natural energy different from internal energy.

[However, people have overlooked something. Beginning from the primordial chaos, it divides into one, from one into two, and from two into four, and from four into eight…]

Hwa-Rin was not familiar with this theory, but he knew that the author was referring to the Taiji [the supreme ultimate state], Yin-Yang [complementary opposites], Four Symbols [major phenomena arising from Yin-Yang], and Eight Trigrams [eight combinations of Yin and Yang representing fundamental elements and concepts].

These Yin-Yang, Four Symbols, and Eight Trigrams were crucial for using the Beggars’ Sect’s secret arts.

[Returning to the origin, everything originates from one and branches into myriad things, but people do not realize that the origin is ultimately one. Internal energy, natural energy, artificial energy created by processing spiritual herbs and elixirs—their origins are all the same…]

In that instant, the Beggars’ Sect’s secret techniques imprinted in Hwa-Rin’s mind, and he instinctively rose from his chair and sat cross-legged on the floor.

‘Using external and internal skills is ultimately done by people, just as the energy that flows in the world is used by people. It is people who distinguish and divide them, and it is people who formalize and fix them. All of these things originate from people’s beliefs, so distinguishing and dividing them is meaningless.’

As Hwa-Rin’s thoughts reached this point, the incantation of the Beggars’ Sect’s secret technique flowed from his lips.

At that moment, a faint light emanated from Hwa-Rin’s body, soon filling the residence with a strong glow.

The lessons he had learned over the past five years of mastering the Beggars’ Sect’s secret techniques overlapped with the enlightenment he gained from reading the Compendium of Martial Arts, leading to a fortuitous encounter.

The light filling the residence gradually weakened, revealing Hwa-Rin’s figure.

Hwa-Rin seemed unaware of what was happening to him, but his expression was serene.

* * *

A month had passed since Hwa-Rin entered the Imperial Storage. Currently, Hwa-Rin was living in the Library, spending his time reading the vast collection of books.

“What remains within me for you…”

Hwa-Rin read aloud, doing so because he had been silent for so long and feared that he might have difficulty communicating with people when he eventually returned to the martial world. He also spoke his thoughts aloud, and as he continued to speak, his once clumsy speech became quite fluent.

Having never heard about the world until now, Hwa-Rin tried to learn about it through the books here. Moreover, he believed that martial arts, also called martial studies, could be understood more quickly by understanding the underlying principles. He spent his time reading books in the Library, finding it incredibly enjoyable.

He enjoyed learning new things and gaining insights through that learning. He also appreciated discussing right and wrong, debating scholarship and learning, and learning about the many stories of the world through books.

Hwa-Rin playfully waved one hand in the air, simultaneously reading books and practicing martial arts using the Dual-Mind Method.

After finishing all the books he was reading, Hwa-Rin smiled faintly.

“Interesting.”

Hwa-Rin’s figure gradually blurred and disappeared from that spot, reappearing where the original book had been. Hwa-Rin placed the book back in its place and picked up the book next to it.

“This book will be interesting too.”

Hwa-Rin’s figure vanished like smoke, reappearing in his original spot to open and begin reading another book.

Hwa-Rin was not displaying these movements through martial arts but through the Beggars’ Sect’s secret techniques.

Merchants feared these secret techniques of the Beggars’ Sect, calling them demonic magic, while martial artists both feared and coveted their mysterious powers.

Hwa-Rin’s hands moved this way and that, drawing as if on a canvas in the air, while his eyes remained fixed on the book.

Time passed, and a year had passed since Hwa-Rin entered the Imperial Armory. Yet, he still lived with books, playfully waving his hands in the air as if drawing.

Over the course of a year, Hwa-Rin had gained a deep understanding of martial arts, as well as extensive knowledge of spiritual herbs and elixirs.

Having had his celestial gate [a key energy point in the body] opened by his mother in his youth, his wisdom seemed to reach the heavens, allowing him to learn without hindrance.

The greatest influence on Hwa-Rin was none other than the Compendium of Martial Arts. If Hwa-Rin had not read the Compendium of Martial Arts, it might have taken him much longer to learn martial arts and other disciplines.

Hwa-Rin did not rush, investing a great deal of time in reading all the books in the Library as he had planned. After a year and six months, he was finally able to read the vast collection of books in the Library.

He felt a sense of regret at having finished reading all the books in the Library, but he also felt proud of himself for having read so many books.

“Now that I have learned the basics of martial arts by reading books, I should learn advanced martial arts in earnest.”

Hwa-Rin planned to master the ninety-nine advanced martial arts techniques.

“Before that, I need to use the mind cultivation technique I learned from the Compendium of Martial Arts and consume elixirs to increase my internal energy enough to learn martial arts.”

After reading the entire Compendium of Martial Arts, Hwa-Rin was able to acquire the remaining martial arts of the author who wrote it.

Effortless Peach Garden Art!

Named as the mind cultivation technique that forms the foundation of martial arts, Effortless Peach Garden Art might seem like a third-rate technique at first glance, but once one understands the principles within, it is a superior art to any other.

Many members of the Imperial family had visited the Imperial Storage to learn martial arts and had seen the Compendium of Martial Arts, but none had ever imagined that Effortless Peach Garden Art was hidden within it.

The obvious reason was that none of the Imperial family members who had seen the Compendium of Martial Arts had ever read it to the end.

Hwa-Rin had not only read the entire Compendium of Martial Arts but also understood the principles contained within Effortless Peach Garden Art with his exceptional intellect, reaping its full benefits.

Hwa-Rin went to the Medicine Repository and chose two elixirs. Of course, he did not intend to stop with just these two, but the only elixirs he needed for his current state were the two he had chosen.

Excess is as bad as deficiency!

The energy of the elixirs that Hwa-Rin’s body could currently handle was sufficient with just these two.

Hwa-Rin returned to his residence, sat cross-legged, and took a deep breath.

“The toxicity of the Human-Faced Spider’s Inner Core can be neutralized by the fire poison of the Fire Dragon Horned Lizard’s Inner Core.”

Both the Human-Faced Spider and the Fire Dragon Horned Lizard were powerful elixirs with potent toxins. If one could neutralize the toxins while absorbing their energy, one could develop a body resistant to not just a hundred poisons but even a thousand.

In his current state, Hwa-Rin would achieve the best possible physique by absorbing the energy of these elixirs.

Later, through martial arts training, consuming several elixirs, poisons, spiritual herbs, and inner cores from the Medicine Repository, he could develop a body resistant to not just a thousand poisons but ten thousand, achieving a Poison Sovereign Physique.

Hwa-Rin took a deep breath and took out a small bead from his pocket.

“It’s better to get help from the Blood Detoxification Pearl, just in case.”

If what was written in the Compendium of Martial Arts was true, he would be able to fully absorb the energy of the elixirs. Even if there were errors, the Blood Detoxification Pearl would ensure that there were no problems in absorbing the energy of the elixirs. The only difference would be whether he became immune to a hundred poisons or a thousand.

Hwa-Rin tossed the inner cores of the Human-Faced Spider and the Fire Dragon Horned Lizard into his mouth. Then, he quickly put the Blood Detoxification Pearl in his mouth and circulated the Effortless Peach Garden Art.

[The beginning of all things starts in chaos, but the center is…]