Reincarnation Sword God

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803——————==

True Martial Home.

Peerless Technique, huh.

I looked down at my trembling hands. If it were just talk, I wouldn’t have believed it, but the deployment of Tai Chi I experienced moments ago had surpassed the limits of the martial arts I could perform. Neutralizing the Thunder Spirit Technique with a single movement was beyond any defensive techniques I knew.

I felt like I was about to burst into tears.

It wasn’t that I didn’t feel fatigue during that time when I almost forgot my own self. On the contrary, I experienced physical suffering while mentally pushing myself continuously. Just when I thought I had gained something after swimming through the pain, I felt my strength ebb away.

“Thank you, Grand Master Jang…”

I didn’t even consider questioning or raising objections. The situation had already surpassed that point. Grand Master Jang Sam-bong had acted on his word to help me achieve my desires, and all I could do was be grateful to such a master.

As I sat on the snowfield, trembling with emotion, Grand Master Jang spoke.

[Baek Woong. Stand up.]

As I slowly composed myself and got up, Grand Master Jang continued.

[You’ve struggled with your thoughts for a year, and you have immersed yourself in resolving your deep questions for three years… You have just barely reached the four years we originally anticipated. My plan was for you to experience more forgetfulness to shed your inner contradictions and settle into the Absolute Realm, but not everything goes according to my desires…]

“…I’ve attained the Peerless Technique, so that’s enough.”

I tried to brush it off casually, but he sighed.

[Ah… It cannot be said that you have achieved it yet.]

“Huh?”

[Now, again.]

Swish!

Without any warning, the merged technique of the Seven Great Techniques flew toward me just like before. I tried to unleash the Tai Chi stance again, but my complexion instantly turned pale.

‘No!!’

How could it be so different?

What I had just used was the Peerless Technique, but what I was attempting now was merely the Tai Chi stance. Naturally, it was an attack that couldn’t be blocked just with a Tai Chi stance. Having understood the overwhelming difference in an instant, I desperately used the Three Treasure Technique and the Soul Removal Technique simultaneously to dodge the Thunder Spirit Technique’s range.

Boom!

After rolling heavily on the ground, I finally stopped, feeling confused. I shouted with my eyes wide open.

“What… what is this? Didn’t I obtain the Peerless Technique?”

[If you had really attained it, you wouldn’t need to ask such questions.]

“I want to know why.”

[For the past four years, I’ve been guiding you toward forgetfulness.]

Grand Master Jang looked at me with discerning eyes.

[You are a type of person whose ego is far too strong… Your training of mind and body is deep, but because of that, you can’t lose yourself and seem to be struggling. Therefore, I chose to have you repeatedly practice Tai Chi as a training method to understand the foundation of the Peerless Technique, hoping to give you opportunities to question yourself. That, in essence, is also the Peerless Technique.]

“……”

[The ego is based on a strong will, but if it grows too large, it will block enlightenment.]

A strong ego, huh?

‘I can’t deny that…’

I could fully agree with Grand Master Jang’s words. Indeed, as the pain grew stronger, the ‘I’ that was not me echoed louder inside me. It wasn’t a split personality; it was the oppressive feeling of all sorts of thoughts and desires I had buried inside me surfacing like thorns! If that continued to intensify, it would transform into what is called a heart demon in the martial world.

[I approached it in a relatively systematic manner… From what you’ve shown, it looked like it would take over a hundred years, but thanks to the advice of your companions, you have been able to question the essence of consciousness within a year. When you stood face-to-face with your own ego and confronted the boundary of self (I) and non-self (non-I), I unfolded Tai Chi alongside you and shaped your martial heart with the powers of the Great Immortal.]

“……!!”

[In simpler terms, I etched the completed form of the Peerless Technique into your mind. To avoid falling into the heart demon, there needs to be a final representation that the consciousness can view before descending into the unconscious.]

Is it possible that Grand Master Jang casually performing Tai Chi alongside me had that meaning?

While lost in thought, I spoke.

“I was swimming in the boundary of the unconscious when I suddenly broke through. Was that your intention, Grand Master Jang?”

[Yes. I awakened you on purpose.]

“Why?”

[After observing you for three years, I deemed it too dangerous to continue… ]

Grand Master Jang sighed.

[Ah! No matter how good the state of forgetfulness is, if you stay in it for too long, you will lose control and ruin yourself. Moreover, deep within your heart, there was a stream of unidentified thoughts flowing endlessly like mud… If it continued like this, you would have become a monster, fused with the heart demon.]

“……!!”

[Originally, I planned to have you immerse yourself in forgetfulness for about ten years, hoping you’d attain complete enlightenment, but it seems you weren’t quite prepared to take that last step.]

I didn’t understand. I was just deeply concentrated on my own thoughts while hovering on the boundary of the unconscious, so how could there be any thoughts piling up in my unconscious? But since Grand Master Jang’s judgment couldn’t be wrong, I understood that I had been holding myself back.

“What are my thoughts?”

[Hmm… It was hard to describe. However… it was definitely not the level of thoughts a normal person would have. Rather, there was ‘something’ almost indistinguishable from an inanimate object, pure madness that existed within you. Thus, while martial artists generally worry about being consumed by the heart demon, I thought conversely that perhaps the heart demon itself might be the essence of your being.]

“……?”

[It’s strange that you are embracing chaos you aren’t even aware of… Anyway, I had to halt your training because it seemed like a matter of urgency.]

“I’m… frustrated.”

Tears streamed down my face.

“Ugh……”

I didn’t understand what Grand Master Jang was saying, and I had no clue what those thoughts were, but at least the sadness I felt now was real. I was just dazedly crying.

I was sincere.

At the beginning of my training, I couldn’t focus properly because I was caught up in idle thoughts, but that was also due to being irrationally anxious while standing at the threshold of [fate] and the law of cause and effect. With the destinies of all my companions resting on my shoulders, I had to concentrate with all my might. I had practiced Tai Chi a thousand times a day for four years, straddling the boundary of the unconscious, yet I still failed to attain the Absolute Realm.

It’s unjust…!!

When I bowed my head, unable to continue speaking, a long silence followed.

[Baek Woong. Lift your head.]

Swoosh…

Grand Master Jang assumed a Tai Chi stance and slowly transitioned from the initial technique to the next. After silently demonstrating all 24 forms of Tai Chi, he again clasped the Tai Chi symbol with both hands. Though it seemed simplistic, I couldn’t take my eyes off of it.

That was not merely movement.

It contained ‘flow’.

As I wiped my tears and gazed at Grand Master Jang’s Tai Chi, he spoke.

[As you can see… you now know what the Peerless Technique is and can use it as well. Your eyes weren’t just observing the technique moments ago; they were following the flow. However, you, Baek Woong, are unconsciously fearful of the power of the Peerless Technique. The real reason you cannot properly use it is that fear.]

“Fear…”

[Understanding the essence of the Peerless Technique leads your body to reject taking the next step.]

The essence, huh?

I pondered deeply, and then spoke.

“I felt the perfect harmony and the transformation without action in the Peerless Technique. That doesn’t scare me.”

[Do you really think that’s all there is to the Peerless Technique?]

“Hmm…”

[I originally intended to call this state Tai Chi Wisdom Technique, but thought it didn’t quite fit, hence I named it the Peerless Technique. Because I believed that it concealed the essence of being peerless in the world (無雙) while simultaneously being the dominating technique (覇).]

Dominating technique?

I felt puzzled. From my experience with that miraculous ability to nullify all power with the transformation without action, I viewed the Peerless Technique as pure fluidity. It was not overwhelmingly strong, aggressive, or ferocious; it couldn’t be seen as a dominating technique at all.

Chills!

However, at that moment, I felt a shiver run down my spine. It was because I understood Grand Master Jang’s words not with my head but through my body. I couldn’t explain it in concrete terms, but I knew the ‘domination’ of the Peerless Technique.

That was the result of four years of training.

‘Right… this is…’

Feeling the hairs all over my body stand on end, I finally understood in my mind. Then I spoke to Grand Master Jang.

“…Grand Master. The Peerless Technique is a technique that leads to self-destruction upon failing even once, isn’t it?”

[Yes. You’ve grasped its essence.]

I must be the first person after the creator, Grand Master Jang Sam-bong, to understand what the Peerless Technique truly was.

Softness can conquer strength (柔能制剛) and strength can break softness (剛能斷柔) are two sides of the same coin.

That is the driving force of the Peerless Technique!

No matter how excellent the defense may be with the transformation without action that visualizes the Tai Chi, there are limits to mere manifestation of basic techniques. The ‘softness’ pursued across all martial arts of the Wudang Sect has its boundaries when it comes to overpowering strength.

Thus, the practitioner of the Peerless Technique must master the Seven Great Techniques. Specifically, one needs to sequentially grasp the essence of the six great techniques excluding the Peerless Technique itself, learning the ultimate strength in surface projection. Furthermore, there’s a delicate balance that aligns with the five elements and the attainments of the six harmonies.

Once one becomes strong enough to feel unassailable in the world after extensively mastering the six great techniques, the true training begins when they regain humility. Engaging sincerely with Tai Chi to revisit the basics allows it to take the heart and core position at the center of the six great techniques.

The foundational basics of martial arts unseen by anyone until now only acquire significance after the beginning of the Peerless Technique training. Because the Seven Great Techniques are metaphorically sculpted in representation with the Tai Chi, that is specifically the foundational aspects left from the Peerless Technique. To perform it, just as Grand Master Jang Sam-bong implanted these representations into me, it serves as a guide for practitioners on efficient transformation without action.

In this sense, it would be impossible for any genius to decipher the forms of the Peerless Technique. It isn’t even based on the martial arts techniques but rather the representation of the Seven Great Techniques rooted in Tai Chi.

That’s right – the Peerless Technique is an absolute martial art reserved for those who seek to return to the roots of Tai Chi after mastering the six great techniques to their limit! Abandoning the advanced martial art of dominancy and humbly searching for the essence of martial arts as a Daoist Master is the entry condition for the Peerless Technique.

A practitioner who masters the six great techniques to the extreme and begins with Tai Chi will soon realize the existence of the Peerless Technique. After all, Grand Master Jang crafted it to ensure only those with such talent could challenge it, so it’s only natural. Without talent, it would have been impossible to grasp the profundities of the six great techniques.

‘If it stops here, that’s fine, but…’

This is where the real problem arises: the process of embracing all of the ‘strength’ from the six great techniques and tempering it into an overwhelming ‘power’ that is unmatched in the world.

The power, generated by gathering all the might of the six great techniques into one point, would likely rival the Thunder Spirit Technique. The practitioner then transforms this dominating power into Tai Chi, sublimating it through the transformation without action. Since this overwhelming power manifests alongside fluidity, theoretically, the Peerless Technique could digest any formidable strength into Tai Chi.

It truly embodies a contradiction in which one bets everything within themselves, practicing both softness conquering strength and strength breaking softness (矛盾) in Tai Chi!

By giving up the act of defeating the opponent with overwhelming power, an ‘absolute realm that never loses’ is born. This was the answer Grand Master Jang provided to the Martial God.

However, this only applies to the scenario when the transformation without action of the Peerless Technique and the implementation of Tai Chi succeed. The moment of achieving the transformation without action and Tai Chi is an impossibly fleeting instant and requires a speed that even the masters of world-class level would struggle to meet.

If the execution of the Peerless Technique fails even once, the practitioner dies. Even if one fails to read the attributes of the Six Harmonies in time and fails to match the flow with an opponent’s attack, they die.

It’s not from someone else’s attack; they die from their inability to withstand their own Peerless Technique. It can be considered the price of absolute defense. This price undoubtedly applies even to Grand Master Jang, the current Great Immortal, and original creator of the technique.

Even for an expert, there is no guarantee that one can successfully execute the Peerless Technique ten times in a row.

“……”

This is in no way a martial art one can use with a clear mind. I understood Grand Master Jang’s words and spoke in a trembling voice.

“I am unable to use it consciously because I have engraved in my body that using the Peerless Technique wrongly means death after practicing for four years?”

[It’s not as complicated as that. If you try to use it consciously, you might be able to… However, as you know, the Peerless Technique requires the perfect harmony of the six great techniques, the coordination of the transformation without action, the shifting of power, and the realization of Tai Chi—all taking place simultaneously. If there is even the slightest hesitation or disturbance in intent and spirit, failure is inevitable.]

“……”

[A strong and unwavering spirit and refined training are prerequisites.]

“This is… insane.”

I fell into a panic, shouting.

“How can you use something like this with such ease, Grand Master Jang?!”

If I were a normal person, I would have thought the Peerless Technique was dangerous and just moved on. Nonetheless, I had witnessed Grand Master Jang fight countless times as a reborn person, so I could only be astonished. Grand Master Jang had fought extraordinary beings like divine entities, apostles, demon kings, and the creators while using the Peerless Technique without showing a hint of strain. Therefore, I never thought for a moment that the Peerless Technique was dangerous, but in reality, if you fail even once, you die!

Then, Grand Master Jang replied.

[That’s how one qualifies to open the door with the Martial God.]

“What…?!”

[If you fail, it’s simply a result of my shortcomings… Dedicating oneself to the martial path represents that sentiment, I believe.]

I couldn’t comprehend at all.

“What happens if one opens the door alongside the Martial God?”

[……]

Grand Master Jang didn’t respond to my question. Evidently, he wouldn’t disclose secrets to someone who doesn’t qualify to open the “door” either. While I stood there in a daze, Grand Master Jang spoke.

[However, Baek Woong… If you relax the conditions of the Peerless Technique, you could use it as a technique capable of countering the current Master of the White Lotus Sect. While you may not fully embody the Peerless Technique yet, you understand it completely, which makes this feasible.]

“Relax the conditions?”

[Yes. Theoretically, the Peerless Technique can deflect even the attacks of an Old Ruler in absolute defense, but only when all capabilities reach their peak can that possibility arise. Thus, if we reduce the dominance of the Peerless Technique, the difficulty of the transformation without action would decrease significantly.]

“Uhmm…!!”

So, that method exists!

As I marveled, Grand Master Jang continued.

[Baek Woong. Teaching you how to lower the difficulty of the Peerless Technique won’t take long. Once the training is finished, will you challenge the Master of the White Lotus Sect immediately?]

At his question, I shook my head.

“No, I will train more.”

[Very well.]

Through the years of relentless training in Tai Chi, I realized something. Despite how much I had practiced, I still felt insufficient, insufficient, and yet again insufficient. I also painfully understood that challenging a formidable opponent in my lacking state would yield no gain.

What I needed now was effort.

Thus, I dedicated another two years to training the Peerless Technique. I had grasped the technique’s threads, but since there were so many deficiencies that I could not use it properly, I could only refine it endlessly. I was feeling like I was just training without end when…

“Are you Baek Woong?”

A visitor I never expected after over a decade of closed-room training arrived. I stared at the enigmatic figure who had appeared at my shabby manor with a look of astonishment.

What brings you here?

As I blankly stared at him, he slowly walked inside.

“Hand me the Obsidian. That was our promise.”

The current Grand Astronomer and the Treasure of the Central Plains, Zhuge Bu, had come looking for me!

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