Book 3 Chapter 9

Purpose of the Museum of Heaven and Earth

"I have a quick question."

"What is it?"

The person who raised her hand was Bi Ryuyeon.

Is there any chance the sun will rise in the west?

"Who the hell is the Heavenly Emperor?"

"Heh heh heh heh!"

Hyorong and Jang Hong, who were sitting next to him, covered their faces with one hand in desperation and extreme embarrassment. Inwardly, they hoped that they would be treated as unrelated to Bi Ryuyeon……….

"What's your name?"

"I'm Bi Ryuyeon."

He said proudly. Hearing Bi Ryuyeon's name, Ok Hyun-jin stiffened his face and said.

"I'm sincerely hoping that what you just asked was a lighthearted joke."

In a somber tone, Ok asked, "Why not?" His sentiment is understandable.

"May I ask why?"

"Of course, it's because I don't want to admit that one of my disciples has a severe common sense deficiency and doesn't even know the names of the three most famous absolute masters in the Jianghu, with the exception of the Taiji God Army's Mu Xin Yue Lin."

He had always been an infinitely gentle and generous man, but today he was finding it very difficult to maintain.

"If so, I apologize."

Bi Ryuyeon meekly apologized.

"What do you mean?"

"I really don't know."

It was fortunate that Bi Ryuyeon hadn't mentioned that he hadn't known about the God of Heaven and Earth, let alone the God of Heaven and Earth, or the God of Heaven and Earth, or the God of Heaven and Earth, or the God of Heaven and Earth, or even the God of Heaven and Earth, until he heard Ok Hyun Jin's story just now. If the truth had been known, even the kind-hearted Ok Hyun Jin would have fainted.

However, he was quicker than most to compose himself because of his exceptional personality. Soon, Ok Hyun Jin was able to return to his usual kind and gentle self.

"Of course, it would be easy for you to figure it out if I told you here. But my personal opinion is that you're woefully lacking in common sense for a powerhouse."

This was not just Ok's opinion, but the opinion of everyone in the class, including Hyo-ryong and Jang Hong.

"So you have decided it is necessary for you to acquire common knowledge of the Martial Realm. If you go elsewhere and something like this happens again, it could bring shame to the Tianjia Clan. That would not be a pretty sight."

I desperately wanted to prevent that from happening.

"Fair enough."

Inaudible to Bi Ryuyeon, Jang Hong and Hyo Rong muttered at the same time. They were all happy that Ok Hyun Jin had said what they had wanted to say but couldn't. Jang Hong decided to double his respect for her from now on.

"So, you have until next time to learn about the history of the powerhouses in the hundred years since the Tianmu Clan and the Heavenly Blood Tax. It's your homework."

In a majestic voice, Ok Hyun Jin declared. It was a homework assignment for Bi Ryuyeon.

"Do you understand?"

"Yes."

She answered reluctantly. If I don't know what I don't know, why should it be a sin and I be the only one punished? She thought homework was a punishment.

"I should find someone to do my homework for me. Who do you think would be good?

There was no sign of remorse. He was unmotivated, and he didn't seem to care at all why Ok Hyun-jin had assigned him this task.

'It's Uncle Jang Hong…….'

First on the list was Jang Hong, who, despite his claims to the contrary, looked well into his 30s. As an uncle-like man with a lot of knowledge, he was perfect for the job.

"What, huh?

Jang Hong suddenly felt a chill run through his body for no apparent reason. He looked around for a moment, trying to find something strange. Chills for no reason. However, he had no idea that the cause was Bi Ryuyeon.

"Then let's continue the story, so……."

After being interrupted by Bi Ryuyeon, Ok Hyun-jin's story resumed.

As mentioned earlier, Wu Xin Yue Lin and Pachendo Gal Zhonghyeok realized the need to cultivate talent and founded an institution as a result of one lesson they learned from their battles with him. The two institutions were born: the Magical Pavilion of the Black Sea and the Heavenly Martial Arts Academy of the White Sea.

These were specialized training institutions for absolute masters, established to advance research and cultivate talent in the more specialized and extensive fields of martial arts. What they needed were absolute masters, not peak masters. There were plenty of peak masters, but there was an absolute shortage of absolute masters. Only the most talented, skilled, and promising were allowed to enter these institutions, which aimed to create absolute masters.

Fifty years later, with the absolute support and patronage of the entire martial kingdom, the Heavenly Martial Academy and the Heavenly Pavilion had grown to the point where simply entering them was a sign of great power and recognition. Entering these two places has now become the ultimate goal of both Black and White Yang late-stage exponents and young people, fueling the competitive spirit of young talents.

Of course, the overheated rivalries and sense of privilege caused a number of nuisances, but they paled in comparison to the positive functions of the two centers. The effect of these two centers on the development of the martial arts in the devastated Wu Forest was enormous.

As a result of the Heavenly Spirit's lesson, the White Island and the Black Island agreed to a truce, putting an end to their long-standing confrontation and antagonism. The two were as different as water and oil, dogs and monkeys, and it was still impossible for them to completely blend into one. Even a tentative truce was a long way to go.

When the Heavenly Martial Academy and the Heavenly Pavilion were founded, they both agreed that they wanted to cultivate a second Martial God to counter the Blood God, and although they failed to defeat the Blood God, they agreed that he was a Martial Man and deserved to be worshipped. No one disagreed.

They agreed to hold a friendly tournament every five years to nurture and discover talent beyond the confines of black and white politics. They chose Huashan as the location and named the tournament the Huashan Covenant Tournament.

The competition is divided into several martial arts disciplines, and each person is eligible to compete in the discipline they specialize in. In other words, swords against swords, swords against swords, and sides against sides. Only the same weapons and the same martial arts are allowed to compete in each discipline. And finally, an all-out, unrestricted competition to determine the winner. However, the method of evaluation changes each time, and no one can figure out what it is until the day of the competition.

The winners get huge prizes, positions, and perks. It's like a wealthy movie all rolled into one. Most importantly, the winner will have the privilege of learning various martial arts from famous masters.

For example, it could be something like a joint exhibition of the old schools. Of course, it is forbidden to pass on the rituals learned at this time to others-even to parents and children-unless they are newly created martial artists themselves. Despite these restrictions, it was a temptation that would make a martial artist's eyes glaze over. The Hua Shan Covenant Society was the closest any martial artist could ever hope to get to the Supreme Being.

As time went on, more and more martial artists made winning this competition their greatest goal in life. It was a competition worthy of a lifetime of hard work and dedication.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform your life, to become a dragon and ascend from Imugi once and for all. Moreover, the winner of this tournament will be treated equally by both the black and white sides. Even if you're a member of the black side, you won't be able to argue or challenge them. You will be treated with respect and admiration by both sides to the point where you can't get enough of it. You've earned it.

So far, so good, but as the years passed from the defeat of the Blood God and the establishment of the two institutions, the bitter memories of the past began to dilute, and harms arose, the most serious of which was that the Heavenly Martial Academy and the Heavenly Pavilion became the reference points for the tug-of-war between courtiers.

In other words, since the White Heavenly Clan and the Black Heavenly Clan, the two great martial arts masters, could not fight openly in an all-out war, the Heavenly Palace and the Heavenly Martial Academy, which were under them and could officially and legally compete and collide, emerged as a means of competition for the lulled martial arts masters.

The ongoing meetings of the Hua Shan Covenant Branch, or Hua Shan, as it was known, had become increasingly a contest of pride and skill. Much to the chagrin of the well-meaning and thinking warriors, the rivalry grew more and more heated, to the point where both sides sent spies and moles into each other's camps under false pretenses.

Things had gotten to the point where they couldn't help but be nervous about the presence of a spy in their midst. However, the nature of the Murilim was such that there were more nameless cultivators tucked away in the mountains than there were honeybees, so it was very difficult to determine the identity of those who had managed to fake their way into the Ascension Festival. However, this did not mean that they could give up with both hands, so they kept an eye on each other. In other words, random surveillance was the order of the day. It's not a good thing, but it blinded both sides in a battle of egos and showed no signs of recovering.

Nevertheless, the martial arts of the Black Island School tended to emphasize the attributes of internal work and skill over martial arts, and their aura and nature often belonged to yin, so they were often caught if they were not careful. As such, it was not a complete waste, but an occasional bite, so I was unable to reel in the rod I had cast and finish the game. And that's where we are today. Forgetting who they are…….

The era when the terror and infamy of the Heavenly Blood God Wei Tianmu pushed the entire warring states into the crucible of terror and burned them in the inferno of despair was known and feared by the warriors as the Heavenly Blood Tax. His shadow, or apparition-though it was still unclear whether he was alive or dead, all the martial artists believed in the theory of his survival-but the Heavenly Martial Academy and the Heavenly Palace, built to counter the remnants of his power, were growing increasingly dilapidated after nearly a hundred years, and the prospect of a successor was becoming less and less likely.

On the other hand, there was one particular aspect of Blood God Wei Tianmu that was notable: his origin. No one knew where he came from; his martial arts were already so unstructured and unformed that it was almost impossible to determine his origins. Everyone assumed he was from the Black Continent, and that was the logical conclusion. Where else could one find the origins of a man who had bathed the martial world in blood, along with his cruel hands, if not in the martial arts?

But they were wrong. It turned out that although Star Lake was a blood god and his hands were brutal, his martial arts were never attributed to martial arts. At the time, most people didn't know this. Of course, there was no way to find out, as there was not a single survivor of those who had worked directly with him.

The wounds left on his already bloodied body were hard to predict, and the brutality and ferocity in his hands were enough to make him a martial artist. Except for the only survivor who had ever fought him one-on-one, the Martial God Xue Yue Lin.

With the return of the Martial God Xue Yue Lin, a vague outline of him was finally revealed. The revelation that his martial arts origins might not be with Sama Elder was enough to confuse the entire realm. But more than that, the facts had yet to be revealed.

His origins were, and still are, the subject of much debate among scholars, with many different theories. He was said to be a forgotten Shaolin disciple, a descendant of a magical cult, a descendant of a bloodline, an abandoned disciple of a shamanic sect, or even a descendant of the legendary ancient sect of Tianxuetian. But as of yet, his true identity remained a mystery, and the organization he founded, the Celestial Spirit, had only served to plunge the Martial Realm into absolute terror in his name, and with his survival all but assured, the fear and despair had yet to abate.

"He is quiet now. But we must not forget the possibility of his resurrection and reappearance, and devote ourselves to building up our forces against his resurrection or a second blood god."

Ok Hyun Jin-in looked at the audience and spoke firmly. His previously gentle face was now filled with determination.

"I know the Old Tao, I felt the full extent of the horrors he unleashed on me at the age of twenty-two and despaired at my own weakness, and I have seen many young people who felt their own insignificance and weakness at that time sink into a deep sense of despair and lose their sense of self. I believe the Old Tao is not finished yet, and it is my small hope that you will not forget the original purpose for which we were founded."

Ok Hyun-jin was also one of the few experienced people in the era of the Heavenly Blood Tax, and the story goes that his age is now arithmetically over 120 years old.

"The only thing I can say with certainty is that we must not allow such despair to come to us again… something like that must never happen again. That's what you and everyone else knows, and that's why the Heavenly Martial Arts Academy and the Martial Blind were born."

Bi Ryuyeon didn't hesitate to raise her hand.

"What is it?"

"I didn't realize that."

Ok's eyes widened.

"You really don't know?"

"Yes."

Bi Ryuyeon nodded without hesitation. Ok Hyun Jin felt as if a headache that hadn't come in twenty years was returning.

"Is it weird if you really don't know?"

Bi Ryuyeon said, sensing with her keen senses that the atmosphere was strange. Then she looked around and saw that she was the only one who had raised her hand. A normal person would have blushed with embarrassment and quickly lowered their hand. No one enjoys showing off their ignorance. But he wasn't an idiot who was stupidly suicidal because he was extremely marginalized, so he didn't do anything amazing like break his heart.

"You surprise me again."

It was a pretty modest exclamation for someone who had experienced a miracle. If anyone didn't know this story, I thought it was a miracle, but I was convinced that it was weird to know it when even Cheonmoo Samsung didn't know it.

Thus, the first lesson in the Introduction to Budo class ended with the mighty Dark Visage from a hundred years ago.

If you don't know this story, you'd think this powerhouse was a one-trick pony, but there are exceptions to every rule, and Bi Ryuyeon was one of them. The history of his school, Bi Ruomun, is not without its share of adversity, hardship, and dark times. For some reason, at a time when the martial world was plunged into darkness and plagued by freak weather events in the sky, Bi Ruomun had managed to continue his history without any obstacles or hardships. How this was possible is a mystery.

The first class ended without any questions. It was a bit heavy for a first class. The first class was more like a mental education class than a history class. It was actually a lecture on the basic principles of martial arts, but the content could be changed at will by the teacher.

In the end, the conclusion of the lesson was, "Let's train hard and become the best masters in the world, so when a really strong and bad guy comes along, let's kill him." That's pretty much it. That's how she summarized it.