I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 18

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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 18
Seonwu thus practiced the two kinds of Internal Energy in turns.
Through this, he came to understand the differences in their respective characteristics.
Just because he practiced two types of Internal Energy did not mean he could enjoy both effects simultaneously.
‘If that were possible, it would mean they had unified.’
In reality, it meant he could switch back and forth depending on which side he chose to operate his Internal Energy through at any given moment.
‘If I were to compare it to a game, it feels like the character has gained two different stances.’
When taking the stance of the Vajra, defensive power increased significantly.
This applied not only to defense against physical attacks, but also to things like poison, fire, and cold.
If it could only block swords and spears but couldn’t withstand poison or Ice Magic, how could it ever be called the Vajra Indestructible Divine Art?
That would barely amount to being invulnerable to blades.
Conversely, the Peerless Prajna Divine Art was truly fitting of the phrase profound wisdom.
The recovery speed of Internal Energy was faster, and furthermore, extremely precise and subtle control was possible.
Originally, it was said that at the High-Ascending Realm, one could create plum blossoms or sword shadows with the Qi emitted outside the body.
‘The Prajna Divine Art seems to be unrivaled in that level, even among all other divine arts.’
Admiral Lee also confirmed that those words were correct.
“In terms of profound subtlety, the Peerless Prajna Divine Art can indeed be considered the foremost among the various divine arts of the Earth Pavilion.”
Anything higher than that belonged only to the Ten Emperors of All Time, who had conquered the Zhongyuan and ruled as absolute monarchs.
“Since there were only three types of Internal Cultivation Methods among the Internal Energy of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Noble Families that received a First-Class rating from the Earth Pavilion.”
Shaolin’s Vajra and Prajna.
In addition, Wudang’s Taegeuk Yangui Shingong.
Only those three stood at First-Class.
There were a few more besides those, but they were not the Internal Energy of the current Wulin.
“Since they even placed the Geumryong Hoguk Singong of the Golden Dragon Guard at Second-Class. Don’t you find it a pity, Admiral Lee? Since you were going to practice anyway, isn’t there an Internal Energy that received a First-Class rating within the Military Command?”
“Great General Gwak did master it. However, has not this subject fully mastered the Bokma Geumryong Sword? It is simply that my choice was different.”
“Is that so.”
Great General Gwak had fully mastered the First-Class Pyeongcheon Wumu Shingong, but Admiral Lee had instead fully mastered the Bokma Geumryong Sword, which received a First-Class rating as a sword technique.
Though they were called the Ten Great Masters of the Court, they each possessed only one martial art classified as First-Class.
“Does Imperial Father permit only one?”
“It is not that, Your Highness. However, as you mentioned, chasing two rabbits might result in losing both.”
The martial arts of the Earth Pavilion are, in fact, ultimate techniques where even a Fifth-Class is not lacking for a master of the Realm of Creation.
Divine arts whose status is on a different level from the martial arts of the Human Pavilion.
In the ordinary Wulin, people wouldn’t even dare to casually discuss their high or low status.
Because he was the Current Emperor, he had casually classified them.
However, even within that, those classified as First-Class were on a different level in both their profundity and power.
If one were greedy for two, it would have been difficult to fully master either instead.
Admiral Lee also thought it was an appropriate choice that he had practiced ultimate techniques classified as Second-Class or Third-Class for skills other than his sword technique.
If he had been greedier, it would have caused trouble.
In that regard, the Fifth Prince was already touching upon five of them, so the phrase ‘too much is as bad as too little’ would fit perfectly, but…
‘Since His Majesty foresaw that the Fifth Prince would be fully capable of containing them all.’
How could the Dragon Blood be applied to the same standards as ordinary people like themselves?
The four princes above him handled the Internal Power of the Realm of Creation as soon as they awakened their Yeouiju.
The Dragon Blood is special.
Although the Fifth Prince possessed a Cintamani with different characteristics from his four older brothers, he would be able to embrace all five of these supreme martial arts.
His own task was merely to guide him up to the Peak Realm first.
* * *
Study.
Train.
Train and study.
The training for the Vajra Indestructible Divine Art was especially difficult, as it felt like forging the entire body anew.
It wasn’t as if he was eating all kinds of Spiritual Medicine during training; rather, it was used to make a Medicinal Bath to soak his body, so the cost of medicine drained away immensely.
However, since Seonwu didn’t have to worry about the cost of medicine, he simply learned diligently.
‘Because I can feel myself getting stronger, even the painful training is bearable.’
Though unearned gains and easy clicks were the trend, Seonwu naturally endured this much hardship.
‘Honestly, in my past life, no matter how hard I tried and tried, it was difficult to escape the treadmill.’
Compared to that, how excellent was his current environment?
And what about the talent he was given?
His conscience pricked at the thought of crying out for an easy click just because he didn’t want to put in this much effort.
“Other martial artists must suffer much more than I do.”
“Each has their own hardships, so how could Your Highness’s deep concerns for the world be called light?”
‘Those words themselves mean I don’t suffer as much as others to learn martial arts.’
Seonwu was not so dense that he couldn’t understand the admiral’s roundabout answer.
On the outside, he was an eight-year-old, but inside, the ego of a middle-aged man over several decades old was mixed in.
Yet, it wasn’t as if he completely retained the ego of his past life as it was, so the childish side was much larger.
A child who vaguely remembered decades of experience.
That was roughly the mental state of the current Seonwu.
‘Come to think of it, I can use Spiritual Medicine as I please, look at lost legendary Secret Manuals as I please, the one taking care of me is my father the Emperor, and my exclusive master is one of the Ten Great Masters….’
He doubted there could be a more comfortable flower path than this.
“How is that fellow from the General Dan Clan training? It must be hard for him.”
Seonwu recalled Dan Suyeong, who had entered a special training course after swearing his loyalty.
He must be training harder than himself, right?
Admiral Lee replied with a smile.
“His father is currently serving in the army in white clothes, and that fellow is diligently participating in the special training course.”
“Is that so?”
The guy I thought about making my guard in the future doesn’t just have good bones, but he has grit too, huh?
“Does that mean his skills are improving well?”
“Yes, Your Highness. He is being tempered into a proper martial artist so that he will be easy for Your Highness to employ in the future.”
“That’s good.”
“However, there is one problem.”
“What is it?”
A problem?
“An innate disposition is not easily changed, and no matter how I look at it, his inclination lies in offense, not defense.”
“In other words, he’s more of a hound than a guard dog?”
“That is correct. If Your Highness intends to use him as a hound, he is an appropriate fellow, but if you intend to use him as a guard dog, it would be better to raise another talent.”
Seonwu pondered for a moment.
‘Simply put, he has a disposition that’s better at killing my enemies than protecting me, right?’
“If we force him to learn a martial art that doesn’t suit him, he won’t be able to achieve great mastery, so this subject thinks it would be better to use another talent…”
“Hmm, if he kills the enemy, wouldn’t that eliminate the threat toward me at its root and thus protect me?”
Of course, it wasn’t that he didn’t understand the admiral’s words at all.
However, he was the first person to follow him because he felt grateful to him, not because his father ordered him to follow.
It wasn’t that he lacked ability, and if the direction was just a bit different, he wanted to keep him by his side and use him.
And a fierce, wild dog to his enemies sounded rather plausible.
“Besides, if I need another guard, I can just recruit more; there’s no need to exclude that fellow.”
“If that is your will, I shall do as you wish.”
Admiral Lee swallowed his regret and bowed his head.
In truth, he had intended to separately recommend the talents he was pushing rather than Dan Suyeong.
This youngest prince would also open a Prince Mansion in the future and possess great power.
Wouldn’t it be better if his own connections were positioned among those close aides?
The admiral was loyal to the Great Long Empire, but within it, he also wished for the prosperity of his family and faction.
However, since the prince’s will was firm, it was better to obey for now rather than say it twice and sour his mood.
Just as the prince said, there might be another opportunity to recommend other guards in the future.
“By the way, he is learning a martial art that others won’t recognize, right? If it’s discovered that he’s from the Golden Dragon Guard, I won’t be able to take him along when I travel the Jianghu.”
“Do not worry, Your Highness. I am secretly teaching him a separate martial art, not the usual martial arts learned in the Golden Dragon Guard.”
“Mm, mm, that’s good. Ah, right. Since he’s my first guard, take some Spiritual Pills on your way and feed them to him. If there are appropriate ones among the Spiritual Pills brought to me, deliver them.”
“I shall do so.”
It was the first time Seonwu had someone who was truly his subordinate, not just a lower rank at a company, so he readily bestowed a gift.
* * *
A separate, secret location that most members of the Golden Dragon Guard did not even know about.
There, Dan Suyeong practiced his martial arts today as well and learned other things a guard needed to know.
The admiral himself, rather than the instructor who usually taught him, paid a visit to him.
“Have you arrived, sir?”
Dan Suyeong bowed his head.
He was someone with considerable pride in his own talent, but that also depended on the opponent.
Before an absolute master who had reached the Realm of Creation, a realm that only a minority among the talented eventually achieve, he could only become humble.
“Are you practicing the new martial art well?”
“Yes, on the day I came here, I forgot my family’s martial arts.”
If the family’s martial arts hindered his service to the Prince, he would simply discard them.
Discarding the martial arts he had practiced up until this day and starting anew was not a light resolution for a martial artist, but…
His body had been dedicated to the Prince who had saved his family.
Dan Suyeong possessed that much resolve.
“I believe I taught you two types. Display them.”
“Yes.”
Dan Suyeong unleashed two swords in sequence.
The first was the sword of defense.
It held its ground grandly like a great mountain, yet at times it was as fleeting as the wind.
It could swiftly enter the space between the enemy and the target of protection.
And at the same time, it could stand firmly like a mountain against any attack.
It was an excellent sword technique, and its well-established form, unbefitting of his age, completely and properly unleashed the forms, but…
Admiral Lee clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, as expected, you can only handle the shell of that sword. There is only form, but no intent.”
“I am deeply sorry.”
“What isn’t right isn’t right, so display the second one.”
Dan Suyeong’s momentum changed in an instant.
A sharp killing intent surged, like a wild beast chasing its prey.
However, it was not the killing intent of a beast.
A killing intent better forged and better organized than that.
Truly a hunter.
The sword, unleashing a fierce assault, consecutively pierced and slashed the empty air.
Exchanging offenses and defenses with an imaginary enemy in his mind, Dan Suyeong unleashed the sword.
According to the movements of the enemy within his mind, he altered the forms, deployed vicious strikes, and devised treacherous schemes.
Giving up flesh to take the bone.
Even if he sustained injuries, he would kill the enemy.
If it was for the sake of killing the enemy, he couldn’t just look after himself.
If he had to decide life and death to kill, he would advance even if it meant standing on a hundred-foot pole.
Against the imaginary enemy lunging in return, he thrust his sword without a shred of hesitation.
If the opponent was equally without hesitation, it would be mutual destruction.
If the opponent wavered even slightly, he would simply tear them apart.
“It suits you better than your family’s martial arts. Is it not so?”
“I am deeply sorry.”
Dan Suyeong bowed his head again.
As he actually practiced it, he felt the same way.
This sword, newly learned here, suited him much better than the family’s martial arts he had practiced for far longer.
“I reported that you were a fellow to be used as a hound rather than a guard dog, but His Highness said that was also fine and instead bestowed imperial grace.”
Admiral Lee presented the Spiritual Pill before Dan Suyeong.
“May he live for a thousand years, ten thousand years. I accept the imperial grace of the Prince.”
Dan Suyeong was deeply moved as he looked at the handed-over Spiritual Pill.
‘He has already saved my family, and he bestowed a martial art perfectly suited to me to make me his guard.’
Even though the admiral evaluated him as unsuited for a guard, the Prince instead bestowed a Spiritual Pill like this to encourage him.
How could His Highness bestow such grace upon him to this extent?
‘I will dedicate my full loyalty, Your Highness.’
Seonwu had the light mindset that investing a few of the leftover Spiritual Pills into his own guard was a profitable gain anyway, but from the perspective of the one receiving it, it was truly an immense grace.
Although his life had been saved, these were things Dan Suyeong had no way of obtaining now that his family’s assets were confiscated.
In that manner, Seonwu gained the loyalty of his guard without even realizing it, steadily preparing to enter the Wulin later on.

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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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