Chapter 45 : Thousand-Sights Instructor (2)

Chapter 45: Thousand-Sights Instructor (2)

“……What do you mean by that?”

Only belatedly did Daewoong deny Yeo Seon’s words.

However, Yeo Seon continued speaking without the slightest hesitation.

“The grip strength of your hands is in no way inferior even when compared to the inner city martial warriors of the Murim Alliance. The pulling power generated from the arm muscles is also extremely developed.”

“Moreover, your unusually broad shoulders and the shoulder blades that are so developed they almost appear bent. These are all—”

The ferocious lion-like gaze swept Daewoong up and down once again.

“—the characteristics seen in archers who draw strong bows.”

“To draw a bow requires arm and hand grip strength. To hold the drawn bowstring requires the strength of the back muscles.”

At that moment, Daewoong tightly shut his eyes.

He realized that all of his secrets had been exposed.

But only for a moment.

Soon after, his expression lightened.

Since it had come to this, he resolved to confess everything honestly.

“You attempted to conceal your true martial art, so you chose the whip techniques as a substitute. Am I correct?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

From his chest, Daewoong pulled out the coiled whip.

Yeo Seon frowned deeply between his brows as if displeased by the sight.

“Hmm, perhaps you thought that, since you have strong pulling power, you would produce a synergistic effect. But for Martial Warrior Daewoong’s innate frame and talent, whip techniques will instead only serve as poison.”

“The strengths that Martial Warrior Daewoong possesses are your unshakable composure and concentration. And……”

Yeo Seon suddenly paused and raised his index finger.

He then felt the wind flowing between his fingers before slowly speaking.

“……the unique sight that senses the flow of the wind, and your archery.”

Yeo Seon’s sharp gaze pierced toward Daewoong.

“I see now. Martial Warrior Daewoong’s strength must have originated from the Great Grasslands.”

Merely by ‘observing.’

With nothing more than sight, Yeo Seon deduced even his origins. Everyone in the hall except for Sewoon was struck with shock at Yeo Seon’s insane ability.

‘Far beyond what I expected.’

Sewoon truly marveled as he watched the performance of the talent he had brought out of the Murim Alliance.

Yeo Seon.

Before Sewoon’s regression, his alias had been the ‘Thousand-Sights Instructor.’

With one glance, he could perceive a thousand talents.

With two glances, he could perceive a thousand weaknesses.

Thus, he was called the greatest instructor under heaven, across both the orthodox and unorthodox factions.

The reason all of this was possible was none other than the power of Yeo Seon’s eyes.

But unlike the supernatural eyes of the Murim Alliance Leader or the Sword Empress, Yeo Seon’s were entirely different.

‘Yeo Seon was simply absurdly observant, that’s all.’

Indeed.

Surprisingly, Yeo Seon possessed no transcendent ability, nor even a trace of qi in his body.

All he had was an overwhelmingly superior power of observation, and knowledge so vast that he could discuss martial arts and theory as an equal with the Murim Alliance Leader himself.

If he had possessed only one of the two, he would have been considered merely a gifted talent.

But when the two merged together, they produced extraordinary harmony.

The ability to discern the weaknesses in an opponent’s martial arts also meant the ability to teach them the quickest path to overcoming those very weaknesses.

Thus, Yeo Seon proposed optimized training methods for each of his students.

As a result, during urgent times of war, he produced a number of new masters that could not be compared with before.

Furthermore, he analyzed the bizarre martial arts of the Blood Cult in an instant, teaching countless methods to counter and resist them.

‘No wonder the title of Greatest Instructor Under Heaven came to him so easily.’

Without doubt, had Yeo Seon survived longer and continued nurturing successors, the Blood Cult’s conquest of the Murim would have been delayed by at least several years.

‘But reality was not so kind.’

In Sewoon’s previous life, Yeo Seon’s end was tragic and miserable.

On the day the Murim Alliance split in half, Yeo Seon sided not with the Anti-Blood Alliance led by the Sword Empress Do Hayeong, but with the White Path Union.

It was not because he abandoned the warriors on the frontlines against the Blood Cult in order to attach himself to the rear.

Rather, the liege Yeo Seon chose was none other than the leader of the White Path Union.

He believed that in a world where the Sword Emperor had vanished, only that man could stand against the Blood Demon.

But Yeo Seon’s choice proved to be utterly wrong.

When the Anti-Blood Alliance collapsed and the war with the Blood Cult reached its final stages—

‘……Yeo Seon was slandered by traitors who had sided with the Blood Cult, bound in chains, and sold off to the cult.’

The psychological shock aged him overnight into the appearance of an old man.

His countless students wept blood as they followed his chained procession.

But Yeo Seon left them with his last words, telling them not to follow.

-“……It is no one’s fault. It is simply my fault for having chosen the wrong master from the very beginning.”

And in the end, upon arriving at the Blood Cult, Yeo Seon met a brutal death at the hands of the waiting demonic practitioners.

Yet his dazzling talent remained vivid in Sewoon’s memory.

So when the time came that he could demand compensation from the Murim Alliance, the very first person who came to his mind was none other than Yeo Seon.

‘The first time Yeo Seon’s ability was discovered was purely by chance, when the Alliance Leader visited the Strategy Division and they ended up in a discourse on martial arts.’

But that event was still years away from now.

Sewoon had brought it forward by several years.

‘If Yeo Seon and I join forces, I can explosively elevate the might of the Sichuan Tang Clan.’

A strange light gleamed in Sewoon’s eyes.

Thud.

Suddenly, Daewoong fell to both knees before Sewoon.

With his head lowered, Daewoong spoke in a mournful voice.

“……Protector Yeo’s words are correct.”

“I apologize, Young Master. My homeland is not the Central Plains, but the Great Yuan.”

At Daewoong’s confession, the Jang brothers were shocked.

Even though they had spent a long time together with him in Sichuan, they had never known this.

To them, the Great Yuan—

In the Central Plains, the descendants of the Great Grasslands were often referred to as the Northern Yuan or Tatars.

“……It may sound like an excuse, but I feared I would not be chosen for the Dark Flower Unit if my origins were known. So I hid it.”

Daewoong spoke bitterly.

Among the people of the Central Plains, there still remained a custom of scorning those from the North as barbarians.

Even the very term “Tatar” carried nearly the same meaning as barbarian.

Silence lingered throughout the hall.

Feeling as if he had needlessly uncovered a secret the other had wanted hidden, even Yeo Seon did not know what to do.

At that moment, Sewoon, who had remained silent, suddenly moved toward his quarters.

Seeing this, Daewoong lowered his head helplessly.

But shortly after—

Thud.

Sewoon returned and tossed something before Daewoong.

When Daewoong checked what it was, his eyes widened in shock.

“Though it was only something I once made as a prototype in my childhood, its performance should be adequate.”

“……How did you come by these?”

“If you are to train, won’t you need a new bow and arrows?”

Indeed. What Sewoon had brought from his chamber was none other than the bows and arrows he had crafted long ago.

Daewoong’s body trembled as he finally understood Sewoon’s intentions.

“……Are you truly fine with this?”

“What are you referring to?”

“My origins……”

“And what of them?”

It was Sewoon who returned the question to the flustered Daewoong.

“Daewoong. Are you a member of the Tang Clan, or not?”

“Answer. Are you of the Tang Clan, or not?”

Overcome with emotion, Daewoong steadied his trembling chest and shouted with all his might.

“Yes! I am without a doubt a member of the Tang Clan!”

“Then cast aside such pointless words from now on.”

“Yes, Young Master—!”

Daewoong, holding the bow and arrows in his hands, stepped to the side.

Sewoon turned his body and gazed at Yeo Seon, who still seemed absentminded.

Their gazes clashed in midair.

“I know that among the descendants of the Great Grasslands, each tribe possesses its own unique archery.”

Yeo Seon was instantly overwhelmed by the Young Master’s presence.

At that moment, Sewoon called out to him.

“Instructor Yeo Seon.”

“Yes, sir!”

“You will dismantle every bit of Daewoong’s family archery and recreate it anew. First, establish its foundation. Can you do it?”

“Of course!”

Daewoong and the Jang brothers felt their hearts pounding as they watched the scene unfold.

They realized that choosing the Young Master amidst the previous chaos had been the greatest decision of their lives.

“Yeo Seon will handle the theory! As for the completion of the martial art and adding the power of poisons, I shall take charge!”

“Yes!”

“Remember, sleep is something you do after death!”

“Yes, Young Master—!!”

In the small training ground, the shouts of the four men reverberated loudly.

A short while later, in Sewoon’s quarters.

Yeo Seon was now alone with Sewoon.

Placing aside his bamboo case for a moment, Yeo Seon fixed Sewoon with his characteristic lion’s eyes.

But—

‘……As I thought, I see nothing at all.’

No matter how hard he tried, he could not discern even a single minor detail about Sewoon.

In one sense, he appeared no different from an ordinary man who had never learned martial arts.

Yet in another sense, he seemed like a master hiding transcendent martial prowess.

Thus, Yeo Seon finally asked,

“How did you know?”

He had no choice but to be direct with Sewoon.

How had Sewoon known of his existence within the Murim Alliance, and gone so far as to request him as a protector?

How had he discovered abilities Yeo Seon had never revealed to anyone?

His question carried countless doubts.

“How do you think I knew?”

Yeo Seon bit down hard on his lower lip, then shouted as if in protest.

“There has been only a single occasion when I revealed my existence to the martial world!”

“Do you truly believe that?”

A cryptic exchange of words followed.

Yet with even that small question from Sewoon, fierce waves surged in Yeo Seon’s heart.

“……So you discovered my existence through the anonymous letters.”

“You know it well.”

A year ago, the martial world had been thrown into turmoil because of a series of letters.

To many of the great sects of the Central Plains, including the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Eight Great Clans—

there had been delivered unsigned letters that revealed the weaknesses of their foundational martial arts, along with methods to compensate for them.

They had raged furiously, declaring that they would find the culprit behind the letters and punish him severely.

Some had scoffed, saying that it was not worth the fuss over basic martial arts that weren’t even secret manuals.

‘But only someone ignorant of martial arts would say that.’

As the word “foundation” implied, the basic arts were the groundwork upon which all higher martial arts were built.

To not only penetrate but completely dismantle those arts meant one could reconstruct strategies to counter each sect.

It was not something that could be overlooked.

‘Well, truthfully, Yeo Seon had only done it in his youth to lightly test his own ability.’

No more, no less.

But when the aftereffects grew uncontrollably beyond his intentions, he became afraid and thoroughly hid his identity.

In the end, only after his death was it revealed that the author of the anonymous letters had been Yeo Seon.

Sewoon, who knew this fact through the intelligence networks of the Blood Cult, spoke quietly.

“Sending one to the Namgung Clan was a mistake.”

“Those hypocrites pretended as if they had never received one, but even now they grind their blades in pursuit of you.”

Yeo Seon’s eyes trembled as if struck by an earthquake.

‘So it was true—!’

Indeed, he had sent a letter to the Namgung Clan.

Yet they had kept complete silence, never leaking the slightest information to another faction.

But the man before him knew this secret.

Of course, Sewoon knew it from the memories of his past life.

For in that life, Yeo Seon’s master had been none other than that Namgung.

Using the pretext of the letters, “that man” had ensnared Yeo Seon with his cunning tongue, ultimately taking him as a subordinate.

‘But in this life, it will not happen.’

Sewoon decided to make it clear.

“Among men, Lü Bu. Among horses, the Red Hare.”

“The final descendant of Lü Bu. Yeo Seon.”

Shocked beyond measure, Yeo Seon could not restrain himself and opened his mouth wide.

The fact that information which should never have left his lips was coming from Sewoon was staggering.

“H-how?!”

Sewoon smirked and continued.

“Does that really matter?”

“Wh-who in the world are you?”

“What you’ve yearned for all your life.”

“I will show you the end of martial arts.”

In his past life, the reason Yeo Seon had joined the Murim Alliance as a strategist—

was so that he might gain access to the Celestial Martial Library, where every martial arts manual and secret text of the Central Plains was gathered, accessible only to the highest authority of the alliance.

With a trembling voice, Yeo Seon asked Sewoon,

“……How do you intend to show me that?”

Sewoon gave no reply in words.

Swaaah!

Kwoooom—!

Instead, he unleashed all his powers at once.

Golden Bridle Qi, Reverse Heaven Qi, Divine Poison Qi, and Innate True Qi.

All released at once, yet precisely contained within the boundaries of his chamber.

An awe-inspiring sight of four transcendent forces raging together unfolded.

‘Ah, ahhh.’

Though Yeo Seon had not even a shred of qi within his dantian, he collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by the sheer pressure.

Unable to tell whether this was dream or reality, Yeo Seon heard Sewoon’s words.

“When I unify all these energies into one—without question, you too will witness the end of martial arts that your ancestor once reached.”

Yeo Seon’s lifelong aspiration.

It was to once again systematize, through martial studies, the ultimate state of martial arts attained by his ancestor, the God of War Lü Bu.

“Follow me.”

Sewoon’s words carried a wild and arrogant meaning—not to follow the Murim Alliance, but to follow him.

And strangely enough,

Yeo Seon found a smile naturally spreading across his face.

The man before him was a hidden dragon who had concealed his true identity until now.

Thud!

Yeo Seon dropped to one knee and bowed his head.

“This subject, Yeo Seon, greets his Liege.”