Book 1 Chapter 5: Number One In San Dong City(2)

Translated by: Hwarang

Edited by: Ardastre

I got up early next morning to begin my training. The first thing I had to do was to train the body. After running about five li, I was out of breath, my legs were shaking, and my head was spinning. It seemed that this was the limit of my physical capability. I wanted to use my internal energy, but I did not do so. Only by overcoming this hurdle could I truly raise my physical abilities.

Sprinting, jogging, sprinting. After repeating this process for ten li I dropped dead to the ground, trying to catch my breath. The sweat and chill on my back told me the sad truth about this body. But I did not think too much about it, only thinking how I could transform this body and how it would look after training.

After catching my breath, I took off running again and repeated this process until I could not move anymore. Then I dragged myself home after training.

In front of my house there was someone who I was not expecting to see. It was Song Hwa Rin. Although she was quite far away I knew that it was her right away. With a mere set of martial arts clothes her aura had changed drastically from the previous day. Also, because of her good looks, any type of clothes suited her.

If she were wearing a dress that showed her delicate body rather than a martial artist robe, I was sure she would have made all the women green with envy.

Dont get the wrong idea. I did not come here because I wanted to. My father sent me to apologize.

It seems that she was waiting for me, after having apologized to my mother and father.

Dont worry, I wont.

She gave me a sour look. What do you have that makes you this proud? was the look that she had.

That day you were drunk, right? You said lets see how long this look can last. How long my looks could last until I got old and wrinkly, right? So dont be so proud you said that!

Byuk Lee Dan, you are truly a little devil. It had happened on the day that I could not remember.

Let me apologize for that day again.

No, you are right. Right now, everyone might compliment me on my looks. But when I get old no one will even look at me. Its the obvious.

She was calm and clearly understood on the situation that she was in.

Every time I hear how beautiful I am reminded of my future. So, I want to be known not for my appearance, but for my ability. To do this I need to put in more work, right? Yeah, let me tell you the truth. The reason why I wanted to cancel our engagement was because I do not like a person like you. You come from a great clan and cause trouble every day. But even if you were a great person, it would have been the same. Right now, I do not have the thought of meeting any men.

She was truly fierce. Her fierceness came from her heart. She really wanted to be successful through her abilities. I had thought she was just a little girl with a pretty face, but now I realized how deep and profound her thoughts were, actually.

Alright, I understand your thoughts.

As I was about to step away, it seemed that there was something in her mind.

I heard the rumors about you.

What rumor?

How you have changed since that day.

Yeah. I think I have grown up after getting beaten up by you.

It is said a human being does not change that easily.

I nodded in agreement with her. She was right. It was truly hard to change a person. It was something I had experienced many times in my previous life. But I had also experienced the opposite.

However, humans are also the ones that change the fastest.

Is this all because of your pride?

You can think whatever you want.

Ah, yes. These are the feelings people in their twenties experience. Because of pride, people met and broke up. Because of pride, they smiled and cried.

Now that I thought about it, when I was in my twenties I was truly lively. The times when I had gone to the Central Plains with a single sword to challenge the practitioner of the Demon Alliance... My springtime of youth, and the times when everything was exciting and lively.

In the future, I will not be in your way.

Saying that, she left.

Ten days had passed since I had started training. During these ten days, there was still no news regarding my death. Thus, I decided not to pay attention to it. Even if I paid attention to it, there was nothing I could do. So I decided to put all my attention on my training.

After days of intense training I could tell that changes were occurring in my body. I went from being out of breath after 5 li to being able to run 10 li with ease. Not only my distance, but my speed had also increased.

I realized after a couple days worth of training that this youth was a natural talent. This was also the reason for his sturdy profound veins. Even though it might be very late to start walking the path of martial arts, it did not matter to me. All that mattered to me now was to train this body as fast as possible. While training the body, I started training in the sword arts.

Shinng!I quickly slashed the empty space.

While my body might be trash, I was still me, the one who held the title of Strongest Under the Heavens. After slashing the air a couple of times, my sword light appeared. Even though my sword light was dim due to my lack of energy, it was still full of my sword intent. My sword looked simple, but it was not. It was deeply profound, to the point where my opponent could not even react to it. Only I knew the swords final destination. This sword art was my personal self-created sword art.

If someone who knew this youth saw me practice, they would fall into shock, but on this desolate mountain there was not even a snow deer in sight. I needed to be careful and to practice in secret. Not because I was weak, but because of something I had learned in my past life. By hiding my abilities, I had the opportunity to use them against people who were stronger than me.

I could never forget that I was no longer the Strongest Under Heaven, but this youth now.

The sword art that I practiced was called Ashura Soul-Chasing Sword Art(). It was with this sword art that I had gained my status as the Strongest Under Heaven. With this sword art, I had pierced at the heart of the Thirteen Demon Alliance, and slashed at the throat of the Blood Heaven Sect.

One day, the Teacher of the Thousand Ways (),who was considered the greatest scholar of Kang Ho, commented that my sword art was the greatest technique in the past hundred years. There were many strict criteria when evaluating others techniques. So my sword art was something that I was proud of.

My Ashura Soul Chasing Sword Art was divided into Six Techniques - three sword Techniques and three oppressive techniques.

The First Technique was called Unwavering Sword Technique.

The Second Technique was called Life-Devoting Sword Technique .

The Third Technique was calledNothingnessSword Technique.

The Fourth Technique was called Soul-Escaping Imposing Technique.

The Fifth Technique was called Samsara Imposing Technique.

The Sixth technique was called The Nirvana Imposing Technique.

(Translator Note: A lot of these have reference to Buddhism. As you start practicing Buddhism you must have an Unwavering heart and Devote you whole life to it. Once you devote everything you have, you might reach the nothingness or the enlightenment stage, where your soul can escape from the cycle of samsara and reach nirvana, or promise land.)

Currently, I could use the first three techniques. Even though they were relatively weak compared to before, I could still use them. But the last three stances could only be used after achieving certain stages in the internal energy. The fourth stance could be gained after obtaining sixty years worth of energy. The fifth stance could be achieved after one hundred twenty years worth. And the Sixth stance after one hundred eighty years worth.

The final stance consumed considerable amount of energy and it was quite difficult to execute. Even the slightest mistake could bring heavy backlash upon the user. At worst, it could even kill the user.

Even I had only used this technique once. And that was to kill the Alliance Leader of the Thirteen Demon Alliance. Although I could use the first three stances, I still had to conceal it in public. Despite the fact that most people would not be able to recognize this sword art, there could be someone in the Kang Ho who would recognize it. So, I decided that until I became stronger, it was never a bad thing to be extra cautious.

After finishing my training, I looked down the mountain. Even though it was only five years worth of cultivation, it was the first time in awhile that I felt this lively and full of energy. It was power of youth, giving me all this energy.

Haaaa!

After yelling out loud I felt even more refreshed.

Hey, why have you lived like a trash when you had a body like this? I think it must have been the heavens will that allowed me to come into this body. It is not just a gift for me, but for this youth too. I will make this new life dazzling.

Miss, what are you thinking so hard about?

Hearing someone ask her a question, Song Hwa Rin came back to her senses.

It was her bodyguard, Soo Ran.

Oh, it is nothing.

Song Hwa Ring brought down the cup that she was about to drink from. But the tea had already become cold. In her mind, she was thinking about Byuk Lee Dan.

Humans are also the ones that change the fastest.

He seemed to be a completely different person than when he had caused the ruckus. She was nodding slowly.

He is someone who leeches off his parents.

Soo Ran had an inkling about who her master was thinking about.

Young master Byuk is said to be training martial arts in the mountain.

Training martial arts?

Yes, it was something that has never happened, so everyone in the Byuk clan isshocked.

How come he is practicing right now? Isnt it a bit late?

I think he just wants to look good in front of you, my lady.

Song Hwa Rin was thinking of Byuk Dan Lees most recent attitude.

It did not seem like he wanted to look good in front me.

Of course not. He is a male. All that he wants to do is look good in front of you.

Song Hwa Rins face started to turn red.

Soo Ran apologized quickly, I am sorry my lady, I was speaking without thinking.

Knowing that Soo Ran had an easygoing personality, Song Hwa Rin did not punish her.

People have different tastes in this sort of thing.

But that doesnt include you, my lady.

She knew that this conversation was going to go nowhere, so she just smiled.

My lady, you know that there is a meeting with all the future heads?

Must I participate?

Yes, you must. Young master Yang of the Yang clan asked many times for your participation. You know the Yang Clan

All right, all right. I will go, okay?

I am sorry. I will start preparing.

As Soo Ran was about to leave the room Song Hwa Rin asked her, Do people change that easily?

Not easily, but I do believe that people change.

Why do you think so?

Because, my lady, you have changed a lot as well.

Yes she was right. Song Hwa Rin was a different person now, after five years of training.

I guess Ill have to agree with him on this to a certain degree.

Song Hwa Rin made a small smile.

All right. Lets get ready.

A long time ago she would not do anything that she did not want to do. But now she could do such things with a forced smile. She had changed, and she was not afraid of changes.

I will not become a complacent person.

It had been quite a while since I had last walked the streets. I wanted to hear some news about my death, but nothing had been made known to the public yet. Why were they so late in announcing this?

I really wanted to go to the Alliance Headquarters and ask Kal Sa Ryang about it. Why are you so late in taking care of business? But then, I was also worried that something might have happened.

While sitting down in one restaurant, contemplating, a group of youths made their way in. Among those youths was Song Hwa Rin. I could tell without even looking that it was her.

Huh?

After seeing me, she stopped. Her company naturally came to a stop as well. Those people were wearing ugly expressions after seeing me. I could tell right away that their eyes were green with envy. After seeing her for a few seconds I turned my head toward the window. Even though it was a short contact, I could tell her mood.

One of the male youths came toward me. He was wearing fancy clothing and had a fancy sword, watching me with a belittling stare. From this attitude, one could tell how arrogant he was.

You rascal, they say that you came back from the dead? You look perfectly fine though.

He was acting very friendly, but I had no idea who he was. Since I did not reply, his face scrunched up in a little grin.

I heard that you were practicing martial arts? Why? Is it so that you could beat me up?

Because I knew where he was going with this, I tossed out some words as well.

Do you practice martial arts so that you can beat up people or do you practice it so that you can kill them?

He was surprised, because he sensed that something was different, seeing my eyes.

Having accidentally shown that he was surprised, he now wanted to get back at me. I heard that you were crying after getting beat up by Song Hwa Rin.

When he said that, Song Hwa Rin, who was a few steps in front of us, frowned slightly and said, I dont recall saying that.

Why are you trying to defend him? Do you have feelings for him?

Never!

From her face, I could read her feelings. She was annoyed with both of us.

Whether he could read her expression or not, the other youth kept on annoying me.

You debtor, your look is ruining my mood.

Debtor? Had I ever borrowed money from this bastard? I ought to ask Kwang Du later. I did not want to have a confrontation with this bastard, so I got off my chair and was starting to leave.

Next time make sure to change that look in your eyes!

Song Hwa Rin did not do anything about this provocation. I was not in the mood to waste time with such petty things. I do not know why I had become Byuk Lee Dan, but I would not waste my time doing lame things.

From the looks of it, all the youths who were standing next to Song Hwa Rin seemed to be the next generation of martial arts leaders.

Look, you fools. The one who you have to be most afraid of in Kang Ho is standing right in front of you. She is scarier than any practitioners of the Demon Alliance.

This was something that I used to say to the younger generations at banquets, when I was still the Alliance Master. The scariest thing about this world were women.

Even if she was not a demon, her beauty could kill you.

Though I might have said it jokingly, it was not really a joke. Of all the murders that happened in Kang Ho, the majority of them happened because of money, women, or both. A woman got more dangerous the more beautiful she was.

And if a woman was as beautiful as her, she would be the most dangerous of them all.

As I walked past her, neither she nor I spared a glance for the other.