I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 7

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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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Episode 7
Seonwu recovered his spirits in no time.
‘Reaching the Realm of Creation right at the age of seven was never meant to be mine in the first place.’
It simply wasn’t something he could master in a single click.
Even so, it was an overwhelmingly advantageous head start.
Though he had to learn Martial Arts the ordinary way, the conditions given to him were already extraordinary.
He heard that the Imperial Vault alone contained exceptionally excellent Secret Manuals.
Not to mention the Spiritual Medicine, Grand Rituals, and mentors that would be provided in the future.
Even if someone were born into the most prestigious prominent family in the Wulin, they wouldn’t have conditions like these.
No matter what people said about mysterious forces, if they were truly the strongest, they would be ruling the world instead of huddling in some obscure corner.
Currently, the Imperial Court ruled the world, and everything was abundant.
‘Yeah, playing a game with cheat codes and starting at max level gets boring fast anyway.’
Mastering things stage by stage makes it feel more real and fun.
Since I’ve been born into this life, let’s savor it in proper order.
“I shall tell you something encouraging as well. Your Yeouiju is empty and can hold anything, so it can easily embrace any martial art in the human world.”
Seonwu perked up his ears.
How many Wuxia stories had he devoured in his past life?
He could deduce the meaning instantly from just those few words.
On the outside, he was a seven-year-old, but he possessed vast experience from seeing plenty of these tropes.
Furthermore, the brain of his newborn body was brilliant, far from that of an ordinary seven-year-old.
“Does that mean I possess a constitution that allows me to learn all kinds of Martial Arts freely?”
“Indeed. Just like changing clothes at will, you will be able to learn and utilize any martial art in the Vault. I told you to learn like ordinary people, but your pace and variety will be incomparably faster than any commoner.”
‘Well, that sounds great.’
Seonwu’s mood rebounded instantly.
Though he hadn’t received enough power to reach the Realm of Creation with a specific energy right away like his older brothers.
Instead, didn’t this mean he could master a wide variety of proper Martial Arts?
Come to think of it, he had heard that each of his brothers had their power fixed in a single direction.
‘Since I was born into a world with Martial Arts anyway, wouldn’t it be more entertaining to learn and use this and that?’
If he learned and combined a massive number of different techniques, he might truly become a Late Bloomer Type later on.
‘Oh, the Dragon’s Descendant properly granted my wish.’
Right.
He had asked for the talent to learn Martial Arts, not a transcendent authority to replace them.
This was perfect.
“Then what martial art should I begin with? Ah, it would be proper to start with the Cheonlyongjeseeshingong, the martial art of our Imperial Family, correct?”
Even when combining various techniques, the foundation had to be solid.
And since the strongest and ultimate divine art in the world today was his father’s Cheonlyongjeseeshingong.
Wouldn’t it be best to build a sturdy foundation with a divine art that vied for the best throughout history, and then enrich it with other diverse arts?
The Emperor smiled faintly.
“You are seven now, so it is time you knew. Let us go to the Imperial Vault together. I shall show you various Martial Arts there, including the Cheonlyongjeseeshingong.”
“Yes.”
Seonwu answered immediately without hesitation.
‘Secret Manuals, real ones!’
Anticipation surged within him over how many treasures would be inside the Imperial Vault.
* * *
Watching his youngest son following him, the Emperor reflected on the things he had left unsaid.
‘Emptiness.’
The remnants of the fallen Yuan Dynasty had violated a taboo, attempting to unleash ancient, genuine Demonic Monsters that should never exist in the human world.
To stop them, he himself had descended from the upper realm to save this land.
Thus, he donned a human vessel and even took the throne as Emperor.
Yet, the essence of a dragon could not easily be conceived within a human body.
Just when he thought he would have no more after obtaining four children, the fifth was conceived.
Since he had already secured the four pillars to sustain the world, he decided to let the fifth grow up freely while enjoying his cute antics.
‘To think he would be born with the attribute of emptiness.’
There was not a single lie in the words he had spoken to the youngest.
To begin with, unlike humans, a dragon never speaks falsehoods.
Truly, greatness takes time to mature.
Because the Dao is empty, it can actually contain anything.
It was not for nothing that Taishang Laojun transmitted that truth to humanity through the Tao Te Ching.
Though the number of humans who fully understood the true meaning of those words was only one or two, even among the Daoist priests of Wudang and Mount Hua.
His youngest might look at his brothers with envy now, but in the future, he would realize what his own treasure was.
‘Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.’
Tathagata had also revealed this in the Heart Sutra.
The youngest might understand those words with his head now, but how could he truly realize them yet?
Brilliant as he was, he was still only seven.
That was a matter for the future.
For now, he just needed to be cute.
As long as he was cute…
* * *
The Imperial Vault was naturally a place where no ordinary person could set foot.
However, when the Emperor, its master, brought his own child, nothing dared block their path.
Both the guards and the automatic mechanisms shifted open on their own to match the stride of the pair.
Walking with measured steps ahead of the trotting boy, the Emperor explained calmly.
“I personally intervened to categorize the Secret Manuals within the Vault according to their worth.”
“Oh.”
“Thus, it is divided into three pavilions: Heaven, Earth, and Human. Within them, grades are further established, and the vast majority of Martial Arts have been placed in the Human Pavilion. The techniques there actually exist as identical manuals in the martial arts hall accessed by warriors who serve the Imperial Family upon earning merit, so there is no need for you to trouble yourself looking at them.”
“Ah, so they are low-grade items.”
Seonwu marveled, thinking, ‘That’s incredibly convenient.’
Just how many Martial Arts existed under heaven?
The mere information on how to distinguish the high from the low among them held immense value.
Go ask any other martial artist.
Every single one of them would boast about their own sect’s techniques.
The information regarding the quality of those arts would be a chaotic mess, and a novice like himself would have no way of telling truth from falsehood.
Yet here was a definitive ranking directly classified by the absolute strongest master of the current era using his subordinates.
“If there is a comprehensive compendium showing which martial art received which grade, that in itself would be quite a treasure, wouldn’t it?”
“How perceptive,” the Emperor praised. “That is why the right to read the Martial Arts Compendium is a privilege granted only to a select few who have achieved great merits. Of course, since you are my son, you may view it freely from beginning to end.”
“Thank you, Papa!”
“Haha, that fits you much better than acting all mature.”
“Oops.”
Unable to suppress his excitement, Seonwu’s expectations swelled without limit.
‘I’ll have to examine that Martial Arts Compendium later. An official martial arts ranking compiled directly by the Imperial Court—how can I resist looking at that?’
* * *
The Human Pavilion contained a staggering number of Secret Manuals.
It was impossible to guess how many thousands of volumes there were.
Sometimes in places like this, a fortuitous encounter occurred where a peerless martial art lay hidden in disguise, but Seonwu felt he had no reason to go looking for one.
After all, didn’t he already have access to the proven Number One Under Heaven martial art?
“Let us bypass this area. The next section, the Earth Pavilion, gathers techniques that can reasonably be called divine arts. Do you know the difference between a technique called a divine art in the Wulin and all other martial arts?”
“Hmm…”
Seonwu pondered for a moment.
If he was being asked this way, there had to be a specific standard.
The Ten Great Heavenly Emperor Martial Arts?
No.
For that to be the case, the number of techniques called divine arts was far greater than ten.
Though the numbers in the Earth Pavilion were vastly reduced compared to the Human Pavilion, there were still quite a lot of books.
There was no way all of these belonged to the Ten Great Heavenly Emperor Martial Arts.
Besides, from what he had learned so far, the Ten Great Heavenly Emperor Martial Arts was a title of an even higher class than mere divine arts.
“Could it be the Realm of Creation?”
“Correct. Only a martial art capable of achieving the Realm of Creation can be dubbed a divine art. If a technique unable to do so takes the title of a divine art, it will only invite ridicule. While this is not a law of the land, it is practically an unwritten rule of the Wulin.”
“Then the Martial Arts in the Earth Pavilion are those that have produced a master of the Realm of Creation at least once in history.”
“Clever boy.”
“Hehe.”
They truly deserved to be called proven divine arts.
“Naturally, there are disparities even among them, so the Earth Pavilion is split into five ranks, from First-Class to fifth grade. The techniques in the First-Class section of the Earth Pavilion will be worth your future inspection. As for those below Second Grade, just glance through them whenever you are bored. Even mastering just the First-Class ones possesses immense depth.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
Then all that remained was the Heaven Pavilion.
“Could it be that the Heaven Pavilion holds…”
“Yes, it contains the secrets of the Cheonlyongjeseeshingong and information on the other Ten Great Heavenly Emperor Martial Arts. See it for yourself first.”
Heaven, Earth, Human.
Every time they crossed past a pavilion, formidable mechanisms and formations guarded the thresholds, but the Emperor opened them without even lifting a finger.
Seonwu could only surmise that he was opening them using something like a Hegong Seobmul method.
The Heaven Pavilion.
The innermost sanctuary of the Imperial Vault.
Information regarding the Ten Great Heavenly Emperor Martial Arts of all time, including the Cheonlyongjeseeshingong?
With a pounding heart, Seonwu followed his father inside.
‘The Cheonlyongjeseeshingong must be here.’
Grand Scholar Jin had only described it as the supreme divine art that conquered the current world, refusing to provide details.
His attitude indicated that he did not dare presume to discuss it.
But today, his father would reveal it properly.
Because the Emperor himself was the only one who could provide objective and accurate information without fearing anyone else’s gaze.
* * *
There were no books inside the Heaven Pavilion.
Seonwu had anticipated as much.
Usually, ultimate martial arts like these were carved into walls or written on statues.
Instead, ten statues stood tall.
‘A classic method.’
And on the stone tablets in front of each statue, characters were engraved.
‘These must be the Ten Great Heavenly Emperor Martial Arts!’
He had finally made it here.
Though his dream of a single-click free pass to the Realm of Creation via his Cintamani had vanished, he had entered a place where no minister dared step.
‘Ah, yes. Just being able to view these Secret Manuals freely means I am in the ultimate environment for martial arts education.’
Let’s check them out quickly.
Each statue exuded an overwhelming majesty.
Whether they represented good or evil.
Some statues were incredibly sinister, while others, conversely, radiated an aura that championed righteousness and crushed evil.
The first statue was inscribed as the Honseoseophonmagong of King Zhou of the Xia Dynasty.
The second statue was inscribed as the Honwontaegukshingong of King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty.
“These are figures debated as the greatest even among the rulers who dominated Zhongyuan.”
“That is so.”
Seonwu quickly scanned the remaining statues.
The Cheongwanbojeonshingong of Qin Shi Huang.
The Cheoneuigunlimshingong of Emperor Gaozu of Han.
The Geukloebaeteonshingong of Overlord Xiang Yu.
The Cheonmaheolseomagong of Emperor Yang of Sui.
‘They really are famous emperors who could be said to have conquered the world.’
King Zhou of the Xia Dynasty and King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty hadn’t used the title of Emperor, and strictly speaking, the Overlord Xiang Yu never became an Emperor either, but…
It still made sense.
Without that level of qualification and might, the passage of time would never have recognized them as the ten great rulers.
The Geumgangbanyashingong of Emperor Taizong of Tang.
The Hoyeonineuishingong of Emperor Taizu of Song.
The Cheonlangmyeolsemagong of Emperor Taizu of Yuan.
That made nine so far.
And finally, the tenth one depicted a dragon.
Instead of his father’s human likeness, a magnificent dragon held a Cintamani, sculpted so vividly it looked ready to soar into the heavens.
“Does this symbolize the Cheonlyongjeseeshingong, the martial art of our Imperial Family?”
“It does.”
“But while there is a statue, the stone tablet has no writing on it. It’s completely blank?”
Seonwu guessed that a hidden mechanism had to be activated for the characters to appear.
‘Does someone carrying the blood of Imperial Royalty have to place their palm on it? Or do I need to manipulate some mechanisms in a specific way?’
Only then would the true manual reveal itself.
Given the sheer number of mechanisms and formations they passed to get in, this seemed like the final security measure.
It was clearly a safeguard designed to ensure that even if an intruder made it inside, they would learn nothing.
The Emperor’s words shattered that theory.
“Wielding the Dragon God Force is a matter of innate knowledge and cannot be transmitted through written words. There was nothing to write down.”
“Pardon?”

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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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