I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 15

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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 16
Seonwu looked at the title of the secret manual again.
He had definitely brought the right one.
Unless someone had swapped out the contents, that is.
‘Well, there’s no way they wouldn’t have thoroughly inspected a special item kept in the Imperial Vault… Does this mean the way of governing a country is also a part of martial arts? Let’s not overthink it for now and just read to the end.’
He had plenty of time anyway.
As Seonwu patiently read on, he finally encountered an actual sword technique in the latter half, after passing the two-thirds mark.
‘Are other secret manuals like this too? Or is it because this is a martial art left behind by a king? I have no idea.’
The introduction was so long, while the actual content was just a brief section at the end.
What kind of format was this?
‘I do think I’ve read an anecdote somewhere about how eighty percent of a memorial submitted to an emperor would praise his virtue, while the actual content only made up the remaining twenty percent.’
Did secret manuals follow that same pattern?
Or was the first two-thirds he had passed over—the way of governing a country—also necessary to achieve mastery in the sword technique?
‘I shouldn’t jump to conclusions; I’ll ask about it later.’
At any rate, the long-awaited discussion of the sword technique had finally begun.
[First Form. Neither Flying Nor Crying]
Neither flying nor crying.
To think that the four-character idiom associated with King Zhuang of Chu would actually appear as the name of the first form.
A bird that neither flies nor cries.
Originally, the phrase was used by a minister to offer a sarcastic remonstrance to King Zhuang of Chu, who had done nothing but play around since ascending the throne.
In response, King Zhuang of Chu claimed he had played around on purpose just to see who was a loyal minister and who was a traitor; he then suddenly awakened, walked the path of an overlord, and greatly expanded the state.
Strangely enough, this anecdote existed in both his past life and his current life.
‘Good grief, to take a phrase meant to mock him and use it as the name of his first form. The King Zhuang of Chu of this world had quite a dry sense of humor, didn’t he?’
Though people of this world wouldn’t understand the word ‘humor’.
Perhaps because of the memories from his past life, Seonwu would occasionally blurt out words meant only for himself.
Smiling as he read, Seonwu’s expression soon turned serious.
‘Wow, this is no ordinary sword technique.’
Then again, it would be stranger if a martial art belonging to a king who had secured a spot among the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period were ordinary.
He was one of the five who had established the greatest powers throughout the lengthy Spring and Autumn period.
The sword of an overlord who had built an entire nation, not just a single sect.
It would make even less sense if it weren’t extraordinary.
The first form of that sword technique was—.
A method of concealing and gathering an immense amount of sword Qi while keeping the sword inside its sheath, without showing any sign of channeling Qi at all.
And the moment the sword was drawn, the gathered sword Qi would erupt like a storm, sweeping across the surroundings.
It was truly Neither Flying Nor Crying.
[Second Form. Banquet of Broken Hat-Strings]
[Third Form. Inquiring the Weight of the Nine Cauldrons]
[Fourth Form. Stopping Warfare is True Martial Arts]
The sword technique had a total of four forms.
‘Since the Three Swords of Bodhidharma has three forms, does having four forms mean this has one more? But each one is named after a historical anecdote related to King Zhuang of Chu himself. This fellow is quite interesting.’
He was an overlord, yet he possessed a human charm.
The second form, Banquet of Broken Hat-Strings, was a sword that attacked by scattering invisible, formless, and yet extremely sharp sword Qi in all directions.
‘It’s a formless sword, not a formless poison.’
An onslaught of sword Qi that could instantly slice someone apart while remaining invisible and difficult to sense.
It was a terrifying sword technique that would hack everyone to pieces before the opponent could even realize how they were being hit.
Imagining himself on the receiving end, it seemed incredibly difficult to dodge or block.
‘But the Banquet of Broken Hat-Strings was originally a story showcasing a magnanimous character.’
When the lights went out, a general took liberties with King Zhuang’s favorite concubine, so the concubine reached out and snapped his hat-string.
Because of this, the general without a hat-string faced the crisis of severe punishment, but King Zhuang said that mistakes made during a drinking party should be overlooked, ordered everyone to break their hat-strings, and only then turned the lights back on.
Thus, the culprit passed by without being identified.
Later, that general laid down his life for King Zhuang; that was how the story went.
‘Yet why does the sword technique seem completely unforgiving?’
He felt that the Banquet of Severed Heads would be a more fitting name.
However, as expected, it was not a sword technique that relied purely on brute strength.
The tactical advantage of a formless sword was truly immense.
And the third form, Inquiring the Weight of the Nine Cauldrons, was a tremendous heavy sword.
A single thrust delivered with immense power was a sword that literally seemed to flaunt that he possessed the strength to lift the weight of the Nine Tripod Cauldrons, the sacred treasures symbolizing the world.
A sword that would smash through and strike down regardless of how the opponent defended.
‘My god. You have to be able to use sword Gang as a baseline, and you have to stack that sword Gang nine times to cut through anything? If someone uses this in the High-Ascending Realm by stacking sword Qi instead of sword Gang… uhm…. It would literally be nothing more than a superficial imitation.’
The prerequisites were dizzying.
The only saving grace was that while the subtle principles of the sword were profound due to the heavy metaphors, the technique itself was explained in a straightforward manner that was easy to understand.
Perhaps because it belonged to an ancient era, they hadn’t twisted those parts into convoluted metaphors.
And finally, the fourth form.
Stopping Warfare is True Martial Arts.
To think that the last insight left behind by a man who had walked the path of an overlord was ‘stopping warfare is true martial arts’.
‘How profound.’
Did it mean that if you kill all your enemies, there will be no more battles, so just kill them all?
Was it that kind of irony?
However, upon reading further, it wasn’t irony at all.
[As you dominate the domain with the heart sword, life and death depend on your volition. Thus, you cause the enemy to kneel of their own accord without taking their lives. Even if the phoenix gently closes its eyes and perches on a tree, all the other birds will behave with utmost caution and respect…]
Setting aside the actual insights regarding the martial art for a moment, he could tell it was a type of heart sword.
‘So it means that once you dominate the domain, the opponent’s life can vanish at any moment you wish, so they won’t dare to attack, causing the fight to stop?’
And if they still attacked, then you would stop them by truly killing them.
‘It really is an peerless martial art.’
It was truly fitting for the martial art of a master who had once reigned over an entire era as a hegemon during the Spring and Autumn period.
Setting aside the question of how to learn it, if one could master it, it was a stupendous martial art.
‘The amazing thing is that even though it’s a martial art that discusses such a realm, it belongs to the Realm of Creation, not the Tianzi Realm.’
Just how strong was his father, who had sent this down to the Earth Pavilion instead of the Heaven Pavilion?
‘Phew, I’ll find out eventually. At any rate, with this alone, I can certainly make a name for myself when I go out into the Wulin.’
It was just a matter of whether he could master it properly; as long as he learned it, he would face no obstacles traveling through the Wulin.
If he could truly achieve great success on his own, he could easily become the number one expert under heaven within the Wulin.
* * *
Since he had already started reading the secret manuals, Seonwu now turned his gaze toward the fist technique.
He was also curious about the Wuwangs_henquan, which was said to have been left behind by Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou.
There was no way his imperial father would have classified this as a first-class manual of the Earth Pavilion without a good reason.
‘Among the martial arts of the prestigious sects in the Wulin, there were only three fist and palm techniques placed in the first-class category of the Earth Pavilion.’
The Great Vajra Palm of Shaolin.
And the Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm, also of Shaolin.
The Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms of the Beggars’ Sect.
He had wondered if perhaps something like the Tai Chi Chuan of Wudang would be included, but it was classified as second-class.
It hadn’t been placed on equal footing with the Tai Chi Sword.
Even under such strict standards, the Wuwangs_henquan was ranked as first-class.
‘Of course, the power of Later Zhou itself…’
Honestly, no matter how much people in the Wulin argued over whether Shaolin was stronger or Wudang was stronger, how could they compare to the scale of Later Zhou, which had been a massive empire encompassing the entire Mainland?
The important thing, however, was that not only was its influence vast, but its martial arts were also incredible.
‘Let’s see. The Wuwangs_henquan feels a bit more unadorned compared to the Soaring Phoenix Sword.’
The first and second forms of the Soaring Phoenix Sword possessed a stealthy and sharp tactical nature.
The third form was a heavy sword that crushed with absolute power, and the fourth form was a heart sword that dominated a domain.
In comparison, the Wuwangs_henquan was unadorned overall.
‘A single fist thrust forward strikes a hundred steps away… Isn’t this the Hundred-Step Divine Fist?’
Shaolin instantly came to mind, but there would surely be subtle differences.
‘Creating numerous fist shadows to occupy all directions and press down on the opponent… Is this the Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm?’
Though it used fists, so it wasn’t a palm technique.
It would definitely differ from Shaolin, but even so, the thought crossed Seonwu’s mind that if he analyzed it through a sort of numerical value, they might be quite similar.
‘However, while the Soaring Phoenix Sword possessed a flashy and transcendent flavor that could only be properly unleashed at the Realm of Creation, the Wuwangs_henquan is truly unadorned.’
To put it drastically, it looked as though each technique could be used as it was even in the High-Ascending Realm if one mastered it well.
Of course, the difference in power would be immense depending on the realm, but instead of a distinctiveness available only at high realms, it seemed to aim for basics that had reached the ultimate peak.
Perhaps because of that, even the final form was unadorned.
[Mandate of the Emperor]
The final form, named as such, was not a heart fist that established a domain.
It was simply a single punch that fully and perfectly delivered one’s entire mind and strength.
‘Isn’t this completely identical to Shaolin’s Great Vajra Palm too?’
Compared to Stopping Warfare is True Martial Arts, the Mandate of the Emperor looked quite plain.
When striking with a single punch at close range, it simply unleashed maximum internal power and maximum force.
That was all.
However, if this plain-looking punch were truly just ordinary, his imperial father wouldn’t have left it in the first-class category of the Earth Pavilion.
This single punch was one that could truly shatter mountains and move rivers.
‘Usually, plain martial arts like this turn out to be incredibly powerful once you get to know them.’
Though he couldn’t know exactly how accurate his assessment was until he actually practiced it, he trusted both his imperial father’s selection and the tropes of martial arts fiction.
Setting everything else aside, if anyone claimed that Shaolin’s Great Vajra Palm was just a hand technique that existed simply to be defeated here and there, they were completely ignorant of martial arts.
To flip it around, it was so famous that it was constantly used for the purpose of being defeated.
‘Because it’s strong! Because it’s famous! That’s why overcoming it is used as a point of comparison.’
Seonwu asked Admiral Lee, who was silently reading the secret manual beside him.
“What is your opinion, Admiral Lee? Is the Mandate of the Emperor truly comparable to Stopping Warfare is True Martial Arts?”
“How could there be even the slightest error in a matter decided by His Majesty?”
“Uh, I don’t mean flattery… Is it actually true?”
“Yes, Your Highness. The might of Stopping Warfare is True Martial Arts is a transcendent martial art that is easy to recognize, while the Mandate of the Emperor appears simple, which may obscure its true value. However, this official guarantees it. The two have each reached different ultimates, and if a person who has mastered the Soaring Phoenix Sword were to fight someone who has mastered the Wuwangs_henquan, the one who has mastered it more deeply and prepared more thoroughly would win. The relative superiority of the martial arts themselves will certainly not be the deciding factor in the match.”
Seonwu nodded.
‘I suppose so.’
It was just that, personally, he preferred the sword.
‘For now, I should consider this my ranking.’
Even so, there must be a deep meaning behind his imperial father’s advice to learn this as well, so it wasn’t something to neglect.
It was merely a difference of which one appealed to him a bit more.
Then, it was now time to look at the final secret manual.
He could bring and read as many more as he wanted, but too much of a good thing could be bad.
It was the Zhuyu Tianxia Bu, which had been recommended to him as a lightness technique.
‘Jin Wengong, that fellow certainly wandered around a lot.’
In fact, the Jin Wengong of this world’s history had wandered around for even longer.
Though he did live longer because he practiced martial arts.
Some might think that being a mere duke rather than a king lacked presence, but that required an understanding of that era.
‘Back then, the king was the supreme ruler, not an emperor.’
It was an era when only the Zhou Dynasty claimed the title of king.
Therefore, even if he was called the duke of the Jin State, the title had to be substituted and read in accordance with the current era, where inflated titles were rampant.
In the later eras where everyone and their brother claimed to be an emperor, the duke would have been a powerhouse worthy of being called an emperor.
In that light, couldn’t it be read as something akin to the ‘Overlord’s Monarch Footwork’?
‘Let’s read it first before judging.’
About two-thirds of this secret manual also consisted of the way of governing a country.
Whether leaving the whole text intact instead of just keeping the latter part was out of respect for the original book or because it formed the foundation of the martial art was something Seonwu couldn’t know.
However, Seonwu did not doubt for a moment that this would be an incredible lightness technique.
Why?
There were only two footworks in the current Wulin to which the Emperor had granted a first-class rating.
The Vajra Immovable Movement Art of Shaolin.
The Cloud Dragon Eight Forms of Kunlun.
‘Leaving aside the Unorthodox Factions, even Wudang’s Cloud Ladder Step or the Zhuge Clan’s Heavenly Secret Rippling Step failed to receive a first-class rating.’
Yet this shared the same first-class rank?
It had to be amazing.
‘Oh, wait, this…’
Strolling through space freely, and moving in three dimensions even in mid-air completely at will…
“Admiral Lee, this looks similar to the rumors I’ve heard about the Cloud Dragon Eight Forms. Is it just my imagination?”
Admiral Lee replied with a smile.
“As expected, you are sharp. Indeed, the goals pursued by the two martial arts clearly share common ground. However, once Your Highness actually learns it and later summons a Daoist from Kunlun to compare, you will realize that while they are similar, they are not the same.”
Come to think of it, if they were truly identical, they wouldn’t have been classified as separate martial arts.
Seonwu was convinced.
Now, all that was left was to master them properly and become an expert just as he desired.

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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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