I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 122

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 122
For Ha Goepal, who had been resting comfortably, these unexpected words forced him to spring to his feet.
“Go and stick with them.”
“Master, what do you mean by that? I still have so much left to learn. I need to watch and learn by your side.”
Thwack.
“Ouch! You hit me way too hard!”
Although Ha Goepal had reached the Peak Realm at a young age and even earned the alias of Fist Dragon, he could only take a beating before the Dog Beating Staff of the Chief of Beggar Sect.
‘Ugh, this damn old man. It feels like his strength has increased even more.’
“If you stick close to those two and find out their true identities and who is backing them, you may return. Until then, stay glued to them. You at least know the Earth Dragon fellow, don’t you?”
“We merely know each other, we aren’t particularly close.”
“As fellow Rising Stars of the Orthodox Factions, tell him you want to get along and use your capabilities to latch onto him. You should at least manage that much on your own.”
“No, what does it matter whether those two have someone backing them or not?”
Thwack.
“Is that any way for the man who will succeed me to speak? Use your wits, stick to them, and dig up the information yourself.”
“Seriously, if I go to them, do you really think they’ll just willingly open their mouths and say, ‘Actually, I have this secret’?”
“You have to find that out on your own.”
How exactly was he supposed to figure that out on his own?
To Ha Goepal, this felt like an absolute disaster, but what choice did he have to resist the command of his master and Chief?
Thwack.
“If I tell you to go, you go. Why do you have so many complaints!”
Ultimately, after taking one more hit, he had no choice but to stand up from his spot.
‘Seriously, who on earth are those two that they had to appear and disrupt my peaceful life?’
He should be lazing around by his master’s side and inheriting some martial arts, yet here he was, forced to work.
Though he lamented his fate, he began to move, pursuing Seonwu’s group.
‘Sigh, did they say they are currently staying at the Yige?’
What should he even say to them when he arrived to justify hanging around?
When he ran into Zhuge Jun, they would exchange greetings, but they weren’t close enough to be ecstatic to see each other.
‘Hearing of your great deeds made my blood boil as well? No. That doesn’t suit my personality at all.’
Zhuge Jun was no fool; he would know that the Fist Dragon wasn’t the type to say such things.
He would probably ask what kind of ridiculous stunt he was trying to pull.
‘I came to build connections and network with the Chivalrous Dragon and Sword Dragon, who recently gained great fame by defeating none other than Mandok Mazon? Right, this sounds a bit better.’
It was a purely practical reason, but networking was important.
As an influential figure within the Beggars’ Sect, he could offer them assistance, and they had proven their worth and strength through their achievements, making them worth associating with.
‘It won’t sound awkward if I say I came so that we, who will lead the future generation of the Wulin, can get closer to one another.’
The reasoning was plausible enough.
Whether he could discover their true identities after that was a completely separate matter.
For now, he needed to arrive at the Yige before the two of them moved elsewhere.
‘At least it’s a relief that the Earth Dragon fellow is staying at the Yige to oversee the formation construction.’
It didn’t seem like he would have to suffer traveling around just to chase them down.
‘Ah, I hate working.’
That was his only grievance.
Therefore, while he did go, he moved at a sluggish, dawdling pace.
After all, he hadn’t been given a strict deadline for when he had to arrive.
* * *
When the Fist Dragon set off, Seonwu was still practicing the Vatality Restoring Poison Medical Art.
No matter what, it was an internal cultivation method sufficient to enter the Earth Pavilion, which was regarded as a divine art.
While it was somewhat weak in actual combat, it was one of the foremost internal energies within the Earth Pavilion when it came to suppressing poison or healing others through methods like stimulating acupoints.
Even for Seonwu, it wasn’t as if he could master it completely just by looking at the secret manual once and circulating his energy for a day or two.
‘Even now, the progress is plenty fast.’
Furthermore, taking a break like this offered its own advantages.
‘I needed a cooling-off period from all the attention anyway.’
Capturing Mandok Mazon was far too massive an incident.
No matter how much he tried to obscure his and Dan Suyeong’s presence from public view, the interest in them could not possibly be small.
Besides, that wasn’t the only incident; there had already been two major events prior to it.
‘At the very least, the incidents at both the Zhuge Clan and the Huangbo Clan were significant.’
Even if his own role had been largely hidden during the affair with the Namgung Clan.
He decided to use this opportunity to learn martial arts and let the attention die down.
Since his martial arts progress was leaping forward, learning it proved quite enjoyable.
‘I’ve already mastered about eighty percent of it.’
Honestly, the power of the Yeouiju he possessed was incredibly staggering.
While it didn’t grant him the ability to wield the authority of the Realm of Creation at such a young age like his older brothers, what other prodigy in the Wulin could achieve this much?
His brothers had simply departed from the realm of humanity, whereas he was surely the greatest genius within human boundaries.
‘In the first place, containing this many types of divine arts inside one’s body is already a foul.’
Furthermore, there were Dan Suyeong and Lee Jun.
His two companions were also spending busy days finalizing their respective martial arts.
Since he wasn’t the only one being productive, there was no reason to rush.
Amidst this, rumors reached Seonwu’s group that Ha Goepal, the Rising Star of the Beggars’ Sect also known as the Fist Dragon, was coming to find them.
“Huh? Fist Dragon? I know he’s from the Beggars’ Sect, but I don’t really know him well.”
The Demon-Subduing Divine Dragon Sword was equally unhelpful during times like this.
[Ahem, I might know about the past, but I know less about the latest Rising Stars than you do.]
Seonwu called for Lee Jun.
“Do you know any details about who he is? I’ve heard the name before.”
As someone deeply interested in the Wulin, Seonwu wasn’t entirely ignorant of the Seven Dragons who ranked among the top Rising Stars before his own emergence.
It was just that he had been too preoccupied with his own Imperial Court studies and martial arts training to thoroughly investigate every detail.
‘And to some extent, I wanted to enjoy the pleasure of learning about things one by one while remaining ignorant.’
If he investigated everything about the Wulin using the information network of the Imperial Family, it would be no different from reading the entire plot of a movie he anticipated before watching it.
Naturally, a young chivalrous xia originating from a mysterious sect ought to possess limited knowledge about the Wulin, shouldn’t he?
Knowing too much would actually be stranger.
To fully immerse himself in that role, he deliberately gathered only a moderate amount of information.
‘He was a fellow rumored to be the next Chief of Beggar Sect.’
Because of that, his alias was the Fist Dragon.
Even though the current era was one where the Beggars’ Sect wasn’t just a gathering of actual beggars, his attire was perfectly fine.
Lee Jun retrieved the knowledge from his mind.
“Hmm, to explain a bit deeper than what you already know, from what I understand, he’s a bit of a lazy genius type.”
“A lazy genius?”
“Yeah. If he had dedicated himself to training, he would have reached a realm on par with the Power Dragon or Jian Long, and perhaps even surpassed them. But how should I put it? He only does just enough. It’s only because the Chief of Beggar Sect thrashed him around that he managed to secure a spot among the Seven Dragons. If he had been left to his own devices, he would have ended up quite pathetic.”
Why would such a Fist Dragon bother to come all this way?
Seonwu felt his intuition tingle.
There was something to this.
This wasn’t a purely innocent visit.
“He must have a reason for seeking us out.”
“There must be something.”
“Well, we can just meet him and hear it out.”
Seonwu offered a bright smile.
Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter.
A new incident was always welcome.
“It doesn’t seem like he’s traveling very fast, so by the time the Fist Dragon arrives, we should have finished the primary stage of the martial arts we’re practicing.”
Though finishing the basic completion and wielding it with mastery and perfection were entirely different matters.
The latter could be considered a lifelong endeavor to build up.
Once the basic completion was achieved, instead of staying in one place just to practice, he intended to roam the land once more.
And finally, that day arrived.
It wasn’t that the Fist Dragon had arrived, but rather the day Zhuge Jun achieved the Peak Realm by completing his family’s secret tradition.
Lee Jun began to perform the Xinfeng Baibaxian alone on the training ground.
‘It really is different.’
It wasn’t a mere difference in the level of destructive power.
There was something called a threshold.
Once a certain line was crossed, movements that were previously impossible became achievable.
He could now employ techniques that could not be used in the High-Ascending Realm.
Not only did his power increase, but his options had expanded significantly.
‘Shall I try executing it?’
An ultimate form of the Zhuge Clan’s martial arts that he could never use in the past.
Unleashing the Heavenly Secret Rippling Step to its absolute limit while executing all the way to the final hundred and eighth form of the Xinfeng Baibaxian.
His past self could never have accomplished this.
There were times when his internal force fell short mid-way, causing his body to tremble violently from the sheer strain.
Of course, it would be possible if he merely mimicked the forms of the Xinfeng Baibaxian without properly utilizing his actual internal force, but doing so would strip the mid-to-late forms of their true significance.
The true meaning of the Xinfeng Baibaxian lay in pouring out and reclaiming the proper internal force to construct a formation with one’s inner energy; simply copying the physical movements didn’t even retain a tenth of the training’s value.
Now, the fan gradually multiplied, occupying the space.
At times like a dragon’s tail.
At other times like a fiercely swirling tornado.
Extending, folding, and unfolding.
The wind generated by his inner energy raged wildly, connecting with each other rather than scattering, growing increasingly fierce.
‘If I can link all one hundred and eight forms continuously without interruption, the final ultimate move, Pacifying the Heavens, is truly an invincible technique within the same realm.’
The moment the final ultimate move was unleashed, all the setups laid out before it were reclaimed, constructing an immense whirlwind formation.
Now, whether the opponent caught inside it was Dan Suyeong or anyone else, he could crush them.
‘Should I actually challenge Dan Suyeong to a match?’
Should I make this an opportunity to firmly establish that I am no longer beneath him?
In any case, a clash between the two of them would just be a martial sparring.
With Seonwu watching over them, neither of them would engage in a sparring match that would produce a truly horrific outcome.
‘Even if I happen to lose by some slim chance, I will definitely learn something in the process.’
If he managed to win by relying on the Xinfeng Baibaxian and the Heavenly Secret Rippling Step, he wouldn’t have to feel intimidated by Dan Suyeong ever again.
‘Alright. It’s a match!’
* * *
While Lee Jun was ambitiously dreaming of a sparring match to reverse their hierarchy, Dan Suyeong had also completed the martial arts Seonwu had bestowed upon him.
The moment the Invisible Glass Sword in his hand absorbed the Invisible Heaven-Sinking Sword Art, it became completely transparent.
Dan Suyeong marveled anew as he looked at it.
‘Even though I’m looking at it while knowing it’s there, it’s completely transparent.’
Needless to say, it would be even worse for those who either didn’t know or had only heard rumors but were seeing it for the first time.
Adding a transparent sword to his original sword technique, the Shadowless Soul-Slaying Sword, made its lethality even more fatal.
‘While it isn’t true formlessness, it is close enough.’
He held his hand as if gripping a sword, yet absolutely nothing could be seen.
Sword Qi materialized along the blade, but that too remained entirely transparent.
‘Masters with excellent Qi sense will perceive it to some extent, so it won’t leave them entirely helpless, but…’
A duel between masters was decided by the narrowest of margins.
With a discrepancy of this magnitude, Dan Suyeong was confident he could turn it into a fatal trump card.
‘I should report the completion of my martial arts to my lord and express my deep gratitude for his grace once again.’
* * *
It had been half a year since they stayed at the Yige and dedicated themselves to training.
With Seonwu’s birthday only a few days away, Lee Jun and Dan Suyeong sought out Seonwu almost simultaneously.
“Oh, did you both come out to take a quick break?”
Since constantly practicing the Vatality Restoring Poison Medical Art wasn’t the only answer, Seonwu had also been leisurely admiring the garden while reflecting on his results.
Lee Jun and Dan Suyeong glanced at each other briefly.
The fact that their opponent happened to come out at the exact same time felt a bit subtle.
Lee Jun cleared his throat before replying.
“Ahem, no, I actually came to share that through my hard work, I have finally managed to reach the Peak Realm.”
“Ohh, finally? Congratulations! So your internal force is secure now, and you’ve achieved the initial completion of the Xinfeng Baibaxian and the Heavenly Secret Rippling Step?”
“Yeah. Though advancing past the Peak Realm to the Transcendence Realm is a completely different matter, and how much better I can utilize those two within the Peak Realm is a separate story.”
Knowing how to fully utilize individual forms was entirely different from knowing how and when to deploy them in any given situation.
The current Lee Jun was at the Peak Realm in the sense that he had just learned how to utilize every individual technique.
This stage was usually referred to as merely the entrance to the Peak Realm.
‘Still, it is the entrance to the Peak Realm. I have become incomparably stronger than when I was at the peak of the High-Ascending Realm.’
So he was wondering if he should have a sparring match with Dan Suyeong.
While Lee Jun was debating whether to utter those words, Seonwu rejoiced as if it were his own achievement.
“That’s wonderful news! Actually, I’m also right on the verge of achieving the grand accomplishment of the Vatality Restoring Poison Medical Art. I think it will happen within the next week.”
“Oh…?”
Initially, they were about to congratulate each other, but the tone of Lee Jun’s voice shifted slightly at the end.
‘Wait a minute, what did he just say?’
They were both achieving grand accomplishment, so what was the problem?
‘Except for when I was very young, I ground away fifteen years of my life for the Eight Formations Clear Enlightenment Divine Art.’
And it wasn’t just a matter of time.
To begin with, it was the divine art best suited for the lineage of the Zhuge Clan, and even before practicing it directly, his body had been tailored to it during his infancy through basic Marrow Cleansing.
‘More than anything, because I practiced diligently, my Eight Formations Clear Enlightenment Divine Art had already reached the very peak of the High-Ascending Realm before entering this period of training.’
In other words, it took him half a year to take that final step by borrowing the power of the Tianji Pill, the greatest spiritual medicine of his clan.
Yet this fellow Seonwu had started learning the Vatality Restoring Poison Medical Art from absolute scratch inside his body, and he was finishing it at almost the exact same time?
‘Ugh, is this guy really a dragon?’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————