Reincarnation of the Cloud Dragon - Chapter 7

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This chapter is translated by Falnar Novels Team.
Support us by reading on our official site: https://falnarnovels.com
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Chapter 7.
“Then, each of you will select two secret manuals from the Library Archive.”
As Ga Cheon Ak, the instructor, issued his command.
The children rushed en masse toward the foundational Scripture Repository beyond the massive stone gate.
It was like a chaotic marketplace.
“The Soul-Stealing Sword Manual is mine first!”
“Move aside! The Primordial Demonic Art belongs to me!”
“Hand over the Seven Killing Blade Technique!”
Ga Cheon Ak observed the tumultuous scene from the platform with an emotionless gaze.
“Tsk.”
He opened his mouth softly.
“Cease this commotion.”
In an instant, the children’s movements froze.
“There is no need to rush. I have prepared sufficient copies of all the foundational martial arts you covet, so that all may access them.”
His voice, infused with inner power, pressed down upon their very souls like an invisible weight.
“Any who continue to cause disturbance will be dismissed from the grounds.”
Only then did order return to the students’ movements toward the Scripture Repository.
But Yun Cheon had never been swept up in the chaos to begin with.
‘The level of the Demonic Cult’s foundational martial arts is predictable at best. There is no need to swarm after them like moths to flame.’
In my past life.
I stood at the vanguard of Kunlun, the sharpest blade, cutting down hundreds and thousands of Demonic Cult disciples.
Therefore, the martial arts commonly employed by Demonic Cult members were already familiar to my eyes.
Learning their foundational techniques now would be nothing but a waste of time.
‘Rather… I am curious about the other martial arts within this Library Archive.’
Past battles flickered through my mind.
A single master who had mastered unique martial arts was far more difficult to face than a unit employing foundational techniques I had seen countless times.
Especially an opponent skilled in a different and rare footwork technique was exceptionally troublesome to contend with.
‘Yes. What I need now is precisely such a footwork technique. One that can serve as genuine strength while concealing Kunlun’s martial arts….’
My objective became clear.
I bypassed the central shelves where weapon techniques and inner cultivation methods were located, heading instead toward the most remote corner that no one visited.
There, alongside ‘Footwork Techniques,’ lay the secret manuals of ‘External Cultivation’—the very techniques the children most avoided—covered in dust.
‘Dust everywhere. Certainly… when told to select only two martial arts, few would choose footwork and external cultivation.’
Unlike weapon techniques, whose progress could be verified quickly, the advancement of footwork techniques did not manifest in a day or two.
Moreover, external cultivation was generally regarded as inferior to ascending inner cultivation methods.
The shelves had not been visited in so long that they were covered entirely in dust.
As I leisurely browsed through the shelves, my footsteps suddenly halted.
‘…What is this sensation?’
Among the demonic martial arts manuals saturated with blood, frenzy, and the aura of slaughter, there were books that emanated a distinctly different energy.
Not as intense as the demonic arts, yet clear and profound.
Like a pebble shining alone within murky water.
To him, who had once been a Daoist priest of Kunlun, it was far too familiar—
that mysterious and pristine energy.
It was none other than Mystical Qi.
As though entranced, I reached out and withdrew a dust-covered secret manual from the shelf.
[Heaven and Earth Dynamic Cultivation]
‘Heaven and Earth… Dynamic Cultivation?’
Heaven and earth.
A name that embodied the principles of all existence.
The name of a martial art always revealed the aspirations of those who pursued it.
From its aura and nomenclature alone, I could discern its general direction.
A secret manual far too incongruous to exist in the Demonic Cult’s Library Archive.
‘…It feels like a martial art rooted in Daoism.’
My eyes narrowed as I opened the manual, driven by curiosity.
The manual bore neither the creator’s name nor any grandiose preface.
Yet from the calligraphy alone, I could intuitively sense that this was no ordinary secret manual.
‘It is undoubtedly a Daoist martial art… Did those Demonic Cult dogs plunder it from somewhere?’
Each stroke contained profound mysteries.
‘…Had I not been intimately familiar with Daoist scriptures and cultivation, I would never have perceived this. There is no way those Demonic Cult fools could properly evaluate it.’
The initial incantations consisted of such elementary movements that one might mistake them for basic calisthenics.
Yet I understood.
Within these simple motions lay a profound principle—one that corrected the twisted, cleared the blocked, and restored order to the body as a microcosm of the universe.
‘This is not a martial art that accumulates inner force in the dantian. Could it be a martial art that remakes the entire body from its foundation, treating it as a vast vessel?’
For one afflicted with severed meridians as I was, no martial art could be more perfect.
While others sowed seeds in untilled fields, I was breaking ground in wasteland.
Yet if I invested sufficient time to transform it into fertile soil, I could look forward to a bountiful harvest thereafter.
‘Heaven and Earth Dynamic Cultivation… a martial art that accepts the qi of heaven and earth, reclaiming a barren body into fertile ground….’
It was a martial art before martial arts, carrying the scent of a lost classical text.
I immediately resolved to make Heaven and Earth Dynamic Cultivation my first martial art.
As I examined the shelves, I was naturally drawn to another tome that emanated a similar aura to Heaven and Earth Dynamic Cultivation.
As though possessed, I withdrew yet another secret manual.
[Boundless Step]
‘Boundless….’
Heaven and Earth paired with Boundless.
They harmonized perfectly, as though they had been a matched set from the beginning.
The moment I opened the manual, I could see at a glance that it was a footwork technique of considerable mastery.
‘Neither swift nor deceptive in its transformations….’
Yet it was a footwork of true boundlessness, with endless movements that continued perpetually.
‘A footwork that embraces the ocean itself.’
Just as one cannot discern where the ocean begins or ends,
every movement flowed like water, making it difficult to perceive the beginning or conclusion of the footwork.
Yet paradoxically, there was no sense of strain—a peculiar footwork technique of remarkable subtlety.
‘The harmony of yin and yang, aligned with the teachings of the Supreme Ultimate. To think such profound martial arts texts remained hidden in the Demonic Cult’s Library Archive….’
Techniques that rivaled even those of Kunlun.
There was no hesitation.
‘I’ve obtained a stroke of fortune… I must investigate the origins of these two secret texts later.’
I clutched the two dust-covered secret texts to my chest and made my way toward the exit of the Scripture Repository.
A strange silence fell among the Kyoto instructors as they confirmed the two texts I carried out.
“…The Heaven and Earth Circulation Manual? The Boundless Footwork? Were such techniques truly stored in our sect’s foundational archive?”
“I’ve never heard of them.”
Though the instructors had taught that it was standard practice for a master to personally select one internal cultivation method and one weapon technique, I had instead deliberately chosen secret texts from the least popular external technique and footwork sections.
The Kyoto instructors managing the Scripture Repository recorded the texts I presented while furrowing their brows in incomprehension.
“Well. The consequences of one’s choice fall upon oneself.”
In an archive brimming with foundational martial arts from countless renowned Demonic Cult sects and factions, I stood out precisely because I had selected techniques of seemingly no consequence.
“Kekeke, that fool. His eyes are blind—he’s picked up garbage from who knows where!”
“Not choosing an internal cultivation method? Truly, he’s as ignorant as they come.”
Muk Ha Jin’s faction, who had regarded me with displeasure from the start,
burst into open mockery.
Yalü Hee stared at me with an expression full of bewilderment, while Yu Ha, leaning against a pillar, watched with eyes alight with intrigue.
‘…It’s true that ascending-tier internal cultivation methods demonstrate high efficiency.’
And regardless of what anyone said to me now,
this choice was the right one.
‘But… with my current body, I cannot master ascending-tier internal cultivation methods anyway.’
Besides, if it came to ascending-tier internal cultivation methods, my mind already contained more than enough knowledge.
‘What matters is restoring my body and refining my vessel.’
I paid no attention to such crude provocations.
Ignoring the ridicule, I simply secured the secret texts within my robes.
“Those who have finished selecting their martial arts, proceed now to choose your weapons.”
Instructor Ga Cheon Ak led the children toward the Training Armory.
Within, all manner of wooden weapons necessary for training were arranged in neat order.
Most of the children selected their weapons without hesitation.
They simply chose weapons suited to their selected techniques.
Muk Ha Jin selected hand guards.
Yalü Hee chose a sleek wooden sword.
When my turn finally came, all eyes converged upon me.
They were curious to see what choice I would make, given that I had not even selected a weapon technique text.
‘I cannot reveal a Kunlun blade here. Then….’
Indifferent to their gazes, I selected a single wooden sword.
‘The Blade of Pursuing Fate—even these Demonic Cult dogs won’t easily recognize it.’
Though its power is formidable, the killing intent is far too dense.
It is a Kunlun technique designated by sect law to be wielded only in life-or-death circumstances.
‘Even though it was a Kunlun Sect technique, there were those who mistook it for a Demonic Cult technique often enough….’
There was no better martial art for disguising oneself in the heart of the Demonic Cult.
Ga Cheon Ak asked Yun Cheon, who had picked up the wooden staff.
“Will you choose the wooden staff?”
However, Yun Cheon defied everyone’s expectations and countered the instructor Ga Cheon Ak.
“May I select one more weapon?”
At those words, another round of snickers erupted among the children.
Ga Cheon Ak asked in an emotionless voice.
“Are you saying you’ll use dual swords?”
“I simply don’t yet know which weapon suits my hand, so I wish to compare two weapons.”
Yun Cheon gave a casual excuse.
Yet at that response, Ga Cheon Ak’s eyebrows twitched ever so slightly.
‘One’s primary weapon is a kindred spirit to walk with for a lifetime. Of course, it should be chosen with care. I wonder if those mocking this boy truly selected their own kindred spirits properly?’
While the other children dismissed Yun Cheon’s words as foolish excuses, Ga Cheon Ak’s thoughts were entirely different.
‘Impossible.’
Countless martial artists spent their entire lives mastering the first weapon they ever held.
Most merely mistook familiarity for their own ‘talent,’ and died without ever blooming their true potential.
‘I too have wielded many weapons. In the end, I abandoned the blade and chose the fist. Such a process is necessary to live without regret or hesitation.’
Ga Cheon Ak’s assessment was entirely different from Yun Cheon’s true intention.
Yet it was far more favorable.
‘…Could it be that he deliberately chose footwork and eye cultivation first—techniques independent of any weapon? This boy has considerable depth.’
Ga Cheon Ak nodded readily.
“Very well. I permit it.”
With permission granted, Yun Cheon additionally took a wooden sword.
Seeing this, Muk Ha Jin’s group clicked their tongues openly.
“Tsk tsk, an idiot who doesn’t even know which weapon suits his hand yet.”
“A sword and a staff, each one? What an eyesore. He’ll just waste time and accomplish nothing.”
Yun Cheon ignored the ridicule pouring down his back and quietly made his way to his assigned Stone Chamber, the wooden sword and wooden staff each fastened at his waist.
As the cold stone door closed, all sound from outside was shut out.
“Phew….”
Only then did Yun Cheon exhale a short breath in his own space.
“At last, I can properly cultivate martial arts.”
In truth, Yun Cheon was so eager to immediately test the two secret manuals that made his head spin that he had paid no attention to the reactions of the other disciples.
Especially the eye cultivation technique, which required moving the body to practice—it was something that could not be shown before others.
Yun Cheon immediately sat in lotus position and quietly gazed upon the two secret manuals he had obtained today.
‘The Qian Kun Dynamic Cultivation and the Wu Ji Step… I obtained unexpected treasures from the Demonic Cult’s basic Scripture Repository.’
Yun Cheon recalled the first incantation of the Qian Kun Dynamic Cultivation without even opening the manual.
From reading it just once in the Library Archive.
The contents of the secret manual were already perfectly memorized in his mind.
‘These two martial arts are by no means techniques that should be rolling around in a basic Library Archive.’
While it was possible to memorize secret techniques from the Library Archive and leave with them, none of them—save for the two martial arts—had captured Yun Cheon’s interest.
‘I’m uncertain how effective the Heaven and Earth Circulation Technique will be against congenital meridian blockage… but I cannot simply sit idle.’
A deep hum resonated through the air.
‘It is not cultivation through seated meditation. Through movement, I draw the heavens and earth’s vital essence into my body!’
Within the cramped Stone Chamber, my body began to move with deliberate slowness, yet with exquisite precision and harmony.
A simple yet majestic motion—as though supporting the heavens above while treading upon the earth below.
With each movement, the minute meridian channels dispersed throughout my entire body trembled faintly, as though awakening from slumber.
From the vital pathways that had been sealed and lifeless due to the meridian blockage.
A very slight.
Yet unmistakable change was felt.
Like fissures opening in parched earth, new channels of water breaking through.
‘It works…! With this, I can certainly revitalize my body!’
Yun Cheon suppressed his elation and immersed himself in the Heaven and Earth Circulation Technique.
So completely that even the passage of time slipped from awareness.
︙
How much time had elapsed since I had shut myself away in the Stone Chamber?
Bang, bang—!
A loud clamor pierced through Yun Cheon’s ears, shattering his complete concentration.
From beyond the firmly sealed Stone Chamber door, a coarse voice rang out.
“You there, you wretched vagrant! Open this door at once!”
Yun Cheon’s brow furrowed.
It was displeasing that the flow of cultivation had been severed, but the voice carried undisguised malice.
He rose slowly from his position and opened the stone door.
Before the entrance stood four or five boys from Muk Ha Jin’s faction, arms crossed.
“When exactly were you planning to come out!”
“Were you locked away in that cell cultivating the Way?”
Yun Cheon replied with evident indifference.
From their words, it seemed they had been waiting for quite some time for me to emerge of my own accord.
“What is it you want?”
“A mudskipper like you has been muddying the waters, so shouldn’t we teach you a lesson?”
“Because of you, our senior Muk Ha Jin’s mood has become most disagreeable.”
“The rules of Qian Mo Cave. And above them, the Snake and Scorpion Ink Family. We shall carve this into your very bones. Kekeke.”
Yun Cheon swept his gaze over them from top to bottom with the indifferent look one reserves for insects.
“Hah… merely at your level?”

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This chapter is translated by Falnar Novels Team.
Support us by reading on our official site: https://falnarnovels.com
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