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 youth’s 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 t.i.tle 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 acc.u.mulated 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. That’s 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 my death. The pa.s.sing 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 the head.”
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 t.i.tle 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 G.o.d. 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 pract.i.tioners 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.”
“It’s alright.”
“What’s alright, young master?”
“She is all right.”
“Oh, my! Are you complimenting Lady Song right now? She’s not just any women, it’s 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 don’t describe who you are, young master!”
“For disobedience, the young master accidently killed his servant. How is that? How do these words describe me?”
“I’ll bring the sword right away, young master.” Kw.a.n.g Du took off running, touching his neck.
After some time, Kw.a.n.g 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 G.o.d, 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. (心劍之境).
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 life’s 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 G.o.d?
Shiiiing~
Slowly, I drew my sword.
“It seems like a pretty good sword.”
The blade seemed to be rusty due to it having been locked in a storage for a long time.
“Of course, young master, the Gaju-nim gifted this to you on your fifteenth birthday.”
“I must have been a real fool, letting this sword rust to this degree.”
“It’s good that you know.”
I pointed the sword at him.
“It’s just a phrase, it’s just a phrase, young master.”
“Haha!”
Don’t worry, you fool, this is the first time after being reborn that I feel so clear-headed. It’s 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, and after taking care of all the traitors from the alliance, I only drew my sword to train. But after realizing the sad truth, that I couldn’t 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’.
There were many things needed in order to 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 G.o.d.
However, I needed something else to reach the Heart-Sword state. And that was Luck. It was only when the heaven allowed it that one would get a sudden insight to reach that state. In this life, I would challenge the heavens once more, and reach the state of the Heart-Sword. Unless I tried, I would never know whether I had the luck to achieve it.
“Go get the whetstone.”
“The whetstone? Do you want to break my head with it?”
“I’m going to sharpen my sword.”
“Who are you trying to kill?”
I gave him a stare and started to move, saying, “Don’t play around with me.”
“Why do you think I’m playing around? Don’t 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 so many cases where the lunatics killed their families before doing something crazy.
“Did you just say that I was the closest one to you?”
“Did I say that?”
Kw.a.n.g Du looked at me with a weird expression.
“Let’s just say that you are the person nearest to me.”
Kw.a.n.g Du scratched his head and replied, “That’s even more weird.”
After some time, Kw.a.n.g Du brought back a whetstone, and I started grinding the sword.
Grind... Grind... Grind...
He was staring at me with a tilted head. “You’re really good 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 is a time for everything.”
“Are you really alright young master? You seem to be a different person…”
I stopped sharpening my sword and looked at him. He had a worried expression. This was the same face that Baek Hyo had on the night that I died. This was the true expression of being worried about others.
“I’m all right.” And I started sharpening my sword again.
Grind... Grind... Grind...
In my previous life, it did not matter what type of sword I used. Be it a stick from the ground or a blade from a master artisan, the result would have been the same. No, I did not even need a sword. I could use my fist, or even take the enemy’s blade. But this was a crucial time for me. I needed a very good blade to protect myself because currently, I was so weak that I could easily be killed for no reason.
Kw.a.n.g Du cautiously looked at me.
“You are not thinking of taking revenge on Lady Song, are you? You can’t do that!”
At that moment, someone from behind Kw.a.n.g Du said, “Really, is that the reason behind your recent actions?”
I looked back and saw my mother standing behind me.
Kw.a.n.g Du quickly greeted my mother and moved to the side, “Welcome, Mistress.”
And my mother approached me.
“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 Kw.a.n.g Du.
“Starting now, I am going to truly practice martial arts.”
My mother and Kw.a.n.g Du had their mouths open, surprised looks on their faces.
“Kw.a.n.g 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 mother’s 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 I had never reared a child, so I would never understand her feelings. In my seventy years of life all I cultivated was my martial arts and my wrinkles. Half of it was because I could not find my true love, while the other was because I was too busy fighting for the Alliance.
I could feel the true feelings that she had for her child. How she would sacrifice her life for her child.
“Can you take a look at this blade for me?”
I gave her the sharpened sword for her to see. When she turned her sight toward the sword she was surprised to see it sharpened so well.
“I don’t 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 fiancé. I will never use this blade to harm those who are weaker than me. I swear this to you as your son.”
She was moved, as this was the first time she heard something like this from her son.
Truth be told, I felt sorry for her because I was not her son. But I could not tell her that I was not her son, because sometimes ignorance was a bliss. If I told her the truth, the result would not be very good, since her son was gone, and now only existed in the flesh. So I decided to never tell her and take it to the grave with me. I would be her son until the day I died.
She returned the blade to me.
“Don’t worry, mother.”
Afterwards, I excused myself. I could sense that she was staring at me while I was leaving, pondering on how to accept the change in her son’s att.i.tude.