Book 1 Chapter 3 Rebirth(3)

Translator: Hwarang

Editor: ardastre

The youth whom I had reincarnated into was named Byuk Lee Dan. And the place where I had reincarnated was called Kok Bu. It was part of the San Dong City, which was one of the border city of the Central Plains. Our clan was called the Great Saber Byuk Clan, and it was one of the great clans of San Dong City.

This youths father was Byuk Do Jun, and his mother was Im Ae Hwa. In contrast to the violent mother, the father was a calm, quiet and collected person. The reason why this youth was so spoiled was because he was their only child.

For the first few days I was hoping that everything would go back to normal after waking up. However, that did not happen, so I finally decided to accept the situation that I was in. Being reborn as this youth was not all that bad. By the time of my death, I was already seventy years old. I had lived my life to its fullest before dying. So, giving up my title as the Mengju for youth was a pretty good trade. Youth was something that one could not buy with money or power. But... it really would have been better if this youth had been raised properly.

This youth had a terrible personality, but his martial arts were even worse. Despite being a descendent of a martial arts family, the energy that he had accumulated into his dantian for over twenty years was no more than five years worth of energy. His body was so weak that it could even snap after being hit a few times. Thats how much of a trash this youth was.

But at least he had a somewhat reliable servant who listened to his every command.

Young master, have you heard the rumors?

What rumors?

The rumors about the previous grandmasters making an appearance, the appearance of mystical creatures and the death of the Murim Mengju.

It has been a few days since my death so I expected the announcement of my death, but it was awfully quiet. But of course, this place was near the border, so it would take time for news to reach here. Or maybe the alliance was withholding the announcement of mydeath. The passing of the alliance master would cause a great ruckus everywhere. Even so, they really could not hide my death for too long. I guess Chancellor Kal would do something about it.

And there is a rumor about you, young master.

What kind of rumor?

The rumor that you got beaten up by Lady Song so bad that you became a little weird in thehead.

I burst into laughter. I guess it had been a while since I last laughed. In my previous life, I was someone who rarely laughed. Or maybe the position that I was in had forced me to stop laughing, because laughing could have been seen as a sign of weakness.

Is Lady Song really that beautiful?

Yes, she was very beautiful even when she was little. But when she returned from her training she received the title number one beauty of San Dong. Because of this, people were lining up catch just a glimpse of her. Well, you got excited because of the rumors and went to see her. And when we saw her that day, she was breathtakingly beautiful.

Female, and a real beauty at that.

In my previous life, I had met and interacted with many females. I was pretty famous, so I had many women chasing after me. Among them were the Strongest Woman Under the Heaven and the Number One Beauty of Kang Ho. But I knew I had never felt true love from any of them. I had become too famous too early. They did not only think of me as a man, but as a martial god. They were all putting on fake smiles, but in the end they were afraid of me. If there were ones who were not afraid of me, then they or their parents would try to use me for their power struggles. I got rid of not just them, but three entire generations of their family. I had not had time to court anyone because of my long fights against the practitioners of the Demon Alliance and the traitors of the Alliance. I truly did not have time; all I did was eat and fight.

Even after getting beaten up by Lady Song, you still want to meet her, right? I understand your feelings young master, hehe.

Its alright.

Whats alright, young master?

She is all right.

Oh, my! Are you complimenting Lady Song right now? Shes not just any women, its Lady Song. The number one beauty of San Dong. The beauty who tried to kill you just because you went to see her...

Yeah, yeah, alright, alright. Go get me a sword.

What? A Sword? Why so sudden, young master?

The sword is my true lover.

Why do you ask? As a martial artist, must there be a reason for me to ask for a sword?

Sword? Martial Artist? These are words that dont describe who you are, young master!

For disobedience, the young master accidently killed his servant. How is that? How do these words describe me?

Ill bring the sword right away, young master. Kwang Du took off running,touching his neck.

After some time, Kwang Du brought back a sword.

I was looking for it for a while, young master. It was buried deep somewhere in the storage.

After holding the sword my heart calmed down. I was someone who had once been called a martial god, a master of many arts and techniques, but if someone were to ask me to pick my best art, it would be my sword arts. In my later years, my sword stood at the apex of the sword arts. My sword moved at the speed of light, striking at the heart of my enemies. But what I wanted to achieve was even beyond that.

The State of the Heart-Sword. ().

At this point the martial artist did not even need a physical sword. It is said that the ones who reached this state could freely use an invisible sword created from the heart. There was nothing in the world that the Heart-Sword could not cut. The more one strengthened the heart, the stronger the Heart-Sword would become. I wanted to achieve this state in my previous life. However, in the end I did not manage to and was eventually reborn into this life. Thus, this lifes goal would be to reach new heights and to go on paths which I had never been able to tread in my previous life.

However, there was a big hurdle in front of me. With a body like this, how could I possibly reach a state that I could not previously achieve, even as a martial god?

Shiiiing~

Slowly,Idrew my sword.

It seemslike a pretty good sword.

The blade seemedtobe rustydue toit having beenlocked in a storage for a long time.

Of course,young master, the Gaju-nim gifted this to you on your fifteenthbirthday.

I must have been a real fool, letting this sword rust to this degree.

Its good that you know.

I pointed the sword at him.

Its just a phrase, its just a phrase,young master.

Haha!

Dont worry,you fool,this is the first time after being reborn that I feel so clear-headed. Its probably because I am holding a sword.

Now that I think about it,when was the last time I drew a sword?

After destroying the Thirteen Demon Alliance and the Blood Heaven Sect,andaftertaking care of all the traitorsfrom the alliance,I only drew my sword to train. But after realizing the sad truth,that I couldnt achieve the Heart-Sword State,I never touched a sword again.

After seeing the blade, I regained my composure.In this life,I will achieve it.

Therewere many things neededin orderto reach the peak. Natural talent, sudden insight, tireless effort, and ample experience. In my previous life I had everything. I had natural talent, gave all of my effort, had sudden insights, and had plenty of battle experiences. As a result of that,I was able to become the martial god.

However, I needed something else to reach the Heart-Sword state. And thatwasLuck. Itwas only when the heaven allowedit that onewouldget a sudden insight to reach that state. In this life, Iwouldchallenge the heavensonce more, andreach the state of the Heart-Sword. Unless I tried, Iwouldnever know whether I hadthe luck toachieve it.

Go get the whetstone.

The whetstone?Do you wantto break my head with it?

Im going to sharpen my sword.

Who are you trying to kill?

I gave him a stare and started to move,saying, Dont play around with me.

Why do you think Im playing around?Dont they usually say lunatics kill the ones who are closest to them first?

How do you know that?

How do you think I know? These were the most frequent cases in my previous life. I saw somanycases where the lunaticskilled their familiesbefore doing something crazy.

Did you just say that I was the closest one to you?

Did I say that?

Kwang Du looked at me with a weird expression.

Lets just say that you are the person nearest to me.

Kwang Duscratchedhis head and replied, Thats even more weird.

After some time,Kwang Du brought back a whetstone,and I started grinding the sword.

Grind... Grind... Grind...

He was staring at me with a tilted head. Yourereallygood at this. Where did you learn it from,young master?

The blade was practically my life, so of course I would be good. No. Not just good. You could practically say that I was even better at sharpening the blade than most blacksmiths.

If you are so good at sharpening the sword,why have you never done it before?

Because there isatime for everything.

Are you reallyalrightyoung master? You seem to be a different person

I stopped sharpening my sword and looked at him. He had a worriedexpression. This was the same face that Baek Hyo had on the night that I died. This was the trueexpressionof being worried about others.

Im all right. And I started sharpening my sword again.

Grind... Grind... Grind...

In my previous life,it didnotmatter what type of sword I used.Beit a stick from the ground or a blade from a master artisan, the result would have been the same. No, I didnoteven need a sword. I could use my fist,or even take the enemys blade. But this was a crucial time for me. I neededa very good blade to protect myself becausecurrently,I was so weak that Icould easilybe killed for no reason.

Kwang Du cautiously looked at me.

You are not thinking of taking revenge on Lady Song,are you? You cant do that!

At that moment, someone from behind Kwang Du said, Really, is that the reason behind your recent actions?

I looked back and saw my mother standing behind me.

Kwang Du quickly greeted my mother and moved to the side, Welcome, Mistress.

And my motherapproachedme.

I.asked.you.Are you sharpening your blade to hurt Hwa Rin-ee?

No,that is not my reason.

Then why are you sharpening your blade?

This was probably the first time that my mother saw me sharpening my blade,so she was just as surprised as Kwang Du.

Starting now,I am going to truly practice martial arts.

My mother and Kwang Du had their mouthsopen,surprised looks on their faces.

Kwang Du-ya, what did he just say?

He said he was going to practice martial arts,mistress.

He must be crazy,right?

Yes,I think so,mistress. I think we need to call an exorcist to chase away this evil spirit.

How much did this youth hate martial arts,that they give this sort of reaction when I said I wanted to practice martial arts?

Mother said with a sigh, You really want to take revenge on Hwa Ryun...

Hidden within the fierceness of my mothers eyes were the true nature of her feelings. The feeling that all mothers have. The feeling of caring for their child.

In my previous life Ihadnever reared a child,so Iwould never understand her feelings. Inmyseventy years of life all Icultivated was my martial arts and mywrinkles. Half of it was because I couldnotfind my true love,while the other was because I was too busy fighting for the Alliance.

I could feel the true feelingsthat she had for her child. How shewould sacrifice her life for her child.

Can youtake a look atthis blade for me?

I gave her the sharpened sword for her to see. When she turned her sight toward the sword she was surprisedto see itsharpened so well.

I dont know what I will do with this blade.

She quickly turned her attention towards me.

But I will never use this blade to hurt my fianc. I will never use this blade to harm those who are weaker than me. I swearthistoyou asyour son.

She was moved,asthis was the firsttimeshe heardsomething like this from her son.

Truth be told,I felt sorry for her because I was not her son. But I couldnottell her that Iwasnot her son,because sometimesignorancewas a bliss. If I told her the truth,the result would notbe verygood, sinceher son was gone,andnowonly existed in the flesh. So I decided to never tell her and take it to the grave with me. Iwouldbe her son until the day I died.

She returned the blade to me.

Dont worry,mother.

Afterwards,I excused myself. I could sense that she was staring at me while I was leaving, ponderingonhow toacceptthe change in her sons attitude.