I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 14

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 15
And so, Seonwu welcomed his eighth birthday.
As a gift, he received the fifth son, a genius of the General Dan Clan.
As usual, he also received various Spiritual Pills and treasures.
In addition, a Grand Ritual was finally prepared for him to surpass the First-Class and advance to the next realm, the High-Ascending Realm.
This time, Admiral Lee Dae-yong brought three Spiritual Pills.
“I recognize one as the Lesser Rejuvenating Pill, but what are the other two?”
They were not the Spiritual Pills offered for his birthday by the other Nine Great Sects or noble clans.
“These are Your Highness’s very own Spiritual Pills, crafted to be most suitable for you. Originally, they were based on the Golden Dragon Pill, which is bestowed upon those who achieve great deeds in the Golden Dragon Guard, but the medicinal herbs used were even more carefully selected, and several aspects were adjusted to fit Your Highness.”
“Oh?”
Seonwu’s eyes sparkled.
In short, it meant they were custom-made exclusive products just for him.
“In truth, even the Lesser Rejuvenating Pill is different from Shaolin’s ordinary Lesser Rejuvenating Pill.”
It was refined three times more than usual to ensure there was not a single speck of impurity.
What this meant was that if these Spiritual Pills prepared for Seonwu had been made normally, enough ingredients to make three times the amount would have been consumed.
And that was for a Spiritual Pill that was already fully considered a treasure and a reward.
Materials capable of creating three High-Ascending Realm masters had been used to create just a portion for one person.
Then, was the difference extreme?
Not at all.
If one had to put it into words, it was like using three times the materials just to turn a 99 into a 100.
Even if an ordinary Spiritual Pill had been used instead, the result would only be a small difference.
Even for a Wulin sect or a noble clan.
Even for the Imperial Court’s Military Command.
No one tried to raise that tiny difference by squandering such precious Spiritual Medicine ingredients in this manner.
They would rather just raise one more master.
Because it was to be consumed solely by the Prince, this kind of over-investment was taken for granted.
If it hadn’t been judged that anything more would rather break the efficacy of the medicine, they would have used five or ten times the amount.
Under the assistance of those three Spiritual Pills, Seonwu advanced toward the next realm.
The place to advance now was the High-Ascending Realm.
* * *
Then, leaving aside forms and other things, purely looking at Inner Energy, how much was considered the High-Ascending Realm?
Needless to say, one had to possess an amount of Inner Energy far more abundant than a First-Class martial artist.
One also had to be able to freely control Qi even outside of the body.
What did this mean?
The admiral demonstrated an example first.
A barrier made of Qi unfolded, blocking even a single raindrop from leaking through.
A flower made of sword Qi bloomed fully.
An illusion of hands filled the empty space, forming a thousand hands.
Only when one could do this was it acknowledged that they possessed High-Ascending Inner Energy and controlled it like a master of the High-Ascending Realm.
It was also the realm where one could finally use Secret Sound Transmission.
A Third-Class martial artist could not emit sword Qi.
The sword Qi of a Second-Class martial artist was merely like a haze.
If the sword Qi of a First-Class martial artist clearly took the shape of a sword.
In the High-Ascending Realm, the sword Qi now left the sword and maintained its shape even beyond it.
Therefore, an illusion of plum blossoms could be created while swinging a sword.
And one could deploy a thousand hands with a wave of their arm.
Once this happened, feats like Grass-Gliding Flight also became possible.
However, that freedom merely meant there was no strain in shaping it and creating directionality as intended; it did not mean one was absolutely perfect down to the finest details.
Thus, it was not enough to achieve Snow-Treading Without Traces.
Seonwu commented on the High-Ascending Realm.
“So when emitting Qi externally, even if you can control the direction of its movement, the lingering traces of the scattering Qi cannot be perfectly retracted, which is why some footprints are left in a snowfield.”
“That is correct.”
“Still, from this point on, one becomes able to use high-ascending sword arts like Mount Hua’s Twenty-Four Style Plum Blossom Sword.”
“Yes. To call it a high-ascending martial art means, in other words, it is a martial art that cannot even be learned unless one is in the High-Ascending Realm.”
When one reached this point, even in prestigious great sects, it became a level where they could go anywhere and say they were a disciple of the sect.
In small and medium sects, they would already be at an executive level, but even in prestigious great sects, these were the young masters sent out to active duty under names like Shaolin Arhat or Plum Blossom Sword Protector.
That was right.
Up to First-Class, they were not called masters.
They were called First-Class warriors.
But from the High-Ascending Realm onward, they were called High-Ascending masters, not high-ascending warriors.
Thus, Seonwu finally took a step toward the domain called ‘master’.
Though it was thanks to receiving plenty of Spiritual Pills and the Grand Ritual as a prince, rather than purely through effort.
* * *
Three Spiritual Pills.
A Grand Ritual spanning three days.
After completing that, Seonwu obtained High-Ascending Inner Energy.
To such a Seonwu, Admiral Lee chose his words carefully.
‘What the Fifth Prince has obtained is, in the end, merely the Inner Energy to display the High-Ascending Realm.’
Whether he could freely control that Inner Energy was another story entirely.
To be called the High-Ascending Realm, one naturally had to have that much Inner Energy, but now, the control to move it at will into the desired shape and trajectory even after emitting it outside the body was also required.
And based on that control, only when one actually mastered the subtleties of using various high-ascending techniques could they be a true High-Ascending master.
Even if one held a famous sword, if they couldn’t swing it properly, it was no different from a stick.
One had to know how to handle High-Ascending Inner Energy to be a true High-Ascending master.
Therefore, even if the Fifth Prince, who had just obtained the Inner Energy, became flustered because it wouldn’t be controlled at his will, he had to inform him well that it was originally like that.
‘To avoid displeasing him, I must direct my words appropriately and well… and let him know that difficulty at the very beginning is only natural.’
“Let’s try using it first!”
Seonwu drew out his Inner Energy in excitement and frantically created flowers.
First, thinking of Mount Hua, he made a plum blossom, and thinking of Shaolin, he tried making a lotus flower.
He also tried folding a Qi crane instead of a paper crane, and casually mimicked an umbrella with a Qi barrier.
“Hmm, the shape is quite clumsy. It doesn’t become pretty like how Admiral Lee did it.”
Seonwu smacked his lips, but Admiral Lee was momentarily at a loss for words.
‘How can he do this immediately?’
He wasn’t someone who had climbed step-by-step from the First-Class realm to the High-Ascending Realm over many years, but had risen all at once through the Grand Ritual, yet he could handle that Inner Energy like that right away?
How long had it taken himself, who prided himself as a genius?
‘As expected, the Fifth Prince is indeed of the Dragon Blood. He is not to be compared with a mere ordinary human like myself. I worried over nothing.’
“To be able to shape it to this extent already is incredibly fast.”
“Is that so?”
“Truly so, Your Highness.”
Admiral Lee bowed his head.
He himself had obtained High-Ascending Inner Energy at sixteen. But even then, he couldn’t handle it proficiently.
Yet the Fifth Prince was that proficient at eight years old.
‘Proficiency is a matter that time will solve, and his grasp over Qi is practically absolute. He is truly in the Realm of Perfect Compliance even with newly obtained Qi.’
As expected of the Dragon Blood.
Even if he was different from his four elder brothers.
He did not possess vast divine power from the very beginning.
However, in learning martial arts, to already handle High-Ascending Inner Energy so freely at a mere eight years old.
‘It’s only because he is compared to the elder princes, but this too is truly an outstanding talent.’
He was indeed looking forward to seeing how far he would go.
* * *
Seonwu first enjoyed the High-Ascending Realm he had obtained.
Training was good, but on the first day, he just enjoyed it.
‘Wow, this actually works.’
By emitting Qi from his feet, he tried leaping once more in mid-air.
Though it wasn’t Void Walking, where one could continuously stand in empty space.
It was enough to perform a double jump in mid-air.
High-ascending was truly high-ascending.
“Ahem, if the plum blossom shape is at this level…”
It was a mess at first, but as he kept tinkering with the Qi and refining its shape, it now looked quite similar to a plum blossom.
It paid off to have a plum blossom ornament brought over to refine the shape while contrasting them.
“It would be better if there were actual blooming plum blossoms, though.”
At Seonwu’s murmur, the Head Court Lady replied.
“I shall prepare it.”
“Huh? How can you prepare that in this season?”
Right now, on his birthday, it was mid-summer, July?
It was a time when plum blossoms had already withered long ago.
Of course, the Prince Palace was cool.
Because a formation enveloped it, it was comfortable even when stepping out of the house to stroll in the garden.
But plum blossoms were not in bloom.
“Tricking the season through a formation to make plum blossoms bloom is not a task that requires much effort. Among those who actually like plum blossoms, there must be some who have kept them blooming in their gardens even now, so I shall have them offer a few trees to Your Highness.”
‘Ah, formations.’
Even in the Korea of his past life, if one created the environment, they could probably make plum blossoms bloom even in mid-summer.
Because there were greenhouse fruits that came out regardless of the season.
But it was possible here too.
‘Hmm, it’s just that the political system is an absolute monarchy, but the level of technology is strangely impressive.’
It was far ahead of at least the Ming Dynasty of his past life’s Earth.
“I don’t need a few trees, just fetch a single fully bloomed branch and place it in a vase. I wish to see the real thing for a moment.”
“I shall do so.”
Sure enough, not long after, a vase containing a fresh plum blossom branch appeared before Seonwu.
‘Wow, this actually works.’
Looking at it didn’t particularly increase his martial arts, but there was a certain romantic flavor to it.
* * *
Since he had obtained High-Ascending Inner Energy like that, it was now time to do other training suitable for it.
Admiral Lee announced.
“Now, you may finally look at the secret manuals of the Earth Pavilion and begin your full-scale training.”
“Ohh?”
Seonwu’s eyes shone.
It was time to learn those martial arts that could aim for the position of the strongest master in Wulin?
“Can I really start learning them?”
“Yes, Your Highness. From the High-Ascending Realm, you can capture their forms, so it is an appropriate time to begin.”
“Sounds good.”
Fulfilling the basics solidly all this time had been rewarding, but learning higher-level martial arts was naturally more exciting.
‘Heh, I can see my future self gradually becoming a master.’
* * *
The first thing Seonwu opened was the Soaring Phoenix Sword, said to be left behind by King Zhuang of Chu.
Even though Seonwu had read countless martial arts novels, the sword was what attracted him the most, after all.
‘Of course, I respect other preferences too, but I like swords! They’re cool.’
So first, it was a sword art.
What on earth was this sword art, which was lost in Wulin but existed in the Imperial Vault?
Before reading the secret manual in earnest, Seonwu asked for confirmation.
“There aren’t many sword arts that received a First-Class classification again from the Earth Pavilion, right?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Even if they are the representative sword arts of the Nine Great Sects or noble clans, many failed to receive a First-Class and were pushed down to Second-Class or Third-Class. Let’s see the sword arts that received a First-Class.”
Seonwu recalled what he had looked over.
[Shaolin’s Three Swords of Bodhidharma]
[Wudang’s Taiji Sword of Wisdom]
[Mount Hua’s Twenty-Four Style Plum Blossom Sword]
[Namgung’s Imperial Sword Form]
Surprisingly, counting all orthodox and unorthodox factions, there were only four sword arts that received the position of First-Class among the sword arts of the current Wulin.
Aside from those, a few sword arts mastered by the great generals serving the Imperial Court and a demonic sword art that existed only in name without a secret manual were uploaded to it, but Seonwu didn’t have much interest in that side.
Why?
Because they weren’t from Wulin.
‘Famous sword arts like Jongnam’s Thirty-Six Swords Under Heaven or Cheongseong’s Green Cloud Crimson Sunset Sword were pushed down to Second-Class instead of First-Class.’
One could tell how strict the criteria to pass the Earth Pavilion’s First-Class position were.
The elevated eyes of his father, the Emperor, were truly strict.
“So out of the current Wulin sword arts, only exactly four were recognized as First-Class, but King Zhuang of Chu’s sword is no less than them.”
In fact, if he was going to say he wasn’t interested unless it was from Wulin, he shouldn’t be interested in King Zhuang of Chu’s sword art either.
‘But I’m going to learn this and take it to Wulin, so it’s fine!’
The standard seemed a bit inconsistent, but Seonwu was confident.
In the end, wasn’t it up to his own mind?
“Yes, Your Highness. Only truly carefully selected martial arts could list their names in the Earth Pavilion’s First-Class.”
“Except for Shaolin and Wudang, there wasn’t even a single sect or clan that listed two.”
This wasn’t a story limited to sword arts.
Counting all the martial arts of that sect, only exactly one from each was recognized as an Earth Pavilion First-Class.
For instance, even the Namgung Clan, said to be the greatest among the noble clans in the present era, only listed the Imperial Sword Form, and failed to list any other sword art, let alone an Inner Energy cultivation method or a Lightness Technique, into the First-Class.
‘The Mount Hua Sect, which I personally like, also had only the Twenty-Four Style Plum Blossom Sword.’
He hadn’t expected that even the Dark Fragrance Float or the Purple Mist Divine Art wouldn’t be classified as First-Class in his father’s eyes.
He realized back then that it was truly strict.
Should he say that Shaolin and Wudang, which listed multiple items despite the criteria being that strict, were amazing?
‘Well, it’s true that they’re amazing.’
Though they played the role of a combat power meter in all sorts of novels, or took on the role of losers who made the protagonist’s sect shine.
‘To put it the other way around, isn’t that the reason why the US military is always broken in modern works? They don’t say they defeated the army of some African country.’
* * *
At any rate, Seonwu opened the Soaring Phoenix Sword, which was classified as First-Class despite such strict standards, with his expectations fully heightened.
“Let’s see. Uh…?”
What is this?
As his expectations had been high, he was quite confused.
It was clearly supposed to be a martial arts secret manual, but no talk of martial arts came out, and it only discussed the methods of governing a country.
‘Is this really a martial arts secret manual?’
Like how the people should be governed, or how the military should be raised.
‘Isn’t this a book about how to govern a country, written by a king to pass down to the crown prince?’
No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t seem like a secret manual.
Did they bring the wrong one?
Could it be?

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