Chapter 100

Chapter 25. The One-Horned Tribe (10)

Following the sudden quest to obtain the Seed of the Moon, a new quest appeared.

‘Pakgeukkwon? Eumgeum?’

Although he didn’t know exactly what the two martial arts listed as rewards were, the quest was sufficiently appealing just because it promised direct guidance from the Martial King.

However.

The difficulty was so mind-boggling that it was almost absurd.

‘Invent a new martial art? And in just four days? What a ridiculous...’

The invention of a martial art, as mentioned here, probably meant mastering a new method of manipulating mana, but it was by no means an easy task.

During the given four days, he not only had to grasp the basic concepts of martial arts but also advance to the level of applied knowledge.

If martial arts were not allowed, he had planned to try it on his own, but the time was too tight.

‘Still, I have to do it.’

Yeonwoo clenched his fist.

In fact, if he could do this, he should have been the one to take the initiative.

Moreover, he could now understand the Martial King’s intentions to some extent.

For some reason, the Martial King was not just treating him as a friend of his children but was showing more interest in him.

He didn’t know what had caught the Martial King’s attention.

Still, a test had been given, and if it had value, he had to try his best.

If such consideration was shown, he had to meet the expectations and show that he was worth it.

Yeonwoo nodded and accepted the quest.

Edora looked at him with a slightly worried expression, but his eyes were burning more than ever.

“Where should I go?”

* * *

“Here.”

The place Edora led him to was a large building on the outskirts of the village.

It was the largest building in the village.

It was divided into four large sections, and the warriors stationed throughout exuded a sharp aura.

Even with Edora, who was of royal blood, they had to undergo thorough inspections before being allowed to pass.

“This is the Iron-grade Mushago, and the place behind it is the Bronze-grade Mushago. Beyond that, the guards will be watching very closely, so you must not cross out of curiosity or by mistake.”

Edora repeatedly warned him to use only the two buildings.

She said that even royalty would be hunted down if they entered unauthorized Mushago, as it was a rule of the tribe.

After listening to several precautions, the moment he entered the building marked ‘Iron’—

“Ah!”

Yeonwoo couldn’t help but exclaim.

The bookshelves stretched endlessly, and the building was at least five stories high. To reach the upper levels, one had to climb spiral staircases placed throughout.

The sheer volume of books was overwhelming.

This place revealed how long the One-Horned Tribe had existed.

“This place has been here since the founder, Soho Geumcheon, first led the tribe to the tower. It contains not only the martial arts invented or improved by the tribe but also rare ancient documents, skill books, alchemy books, and more, all of various types.”

While explaining the Mushago, Edora’s voice was filled with pride for her tribe.

Yeonwoo nodded, understanding why, but he also felt a bit disheartened.

‘How many books are there?’

Even a rough estimate suggested there were hundreds of thousands.

Among them, there would be many excellent ones, but the number of miscellaneous books would be even greater.

Moreover, even if he could find the good ones, it would take more than four days to select the ones he needed.

The problem was that this was just the lowest of the four sections.

When would he be able to move to the Bronze-grade?

Edora, sensing his disheartened mood, looked at him with a sympathetic gaze.

“Brother, I...”

“I understand. You can’t help. Don’t feel bad. I’m already grateful for what you’ve done.”

He couldn’t violate the restrictions set by the Martial King.

Yeonwoo rolled up his sleeves.

Time was passing even now.

He had to start as soon as possible.

‘First, I’ll...’

Before diving into the books, Yeonwoo activated two skills simultaneously.

[Battle Will]

[Dragon Horse Eye]

Instantly, his thinking speed increased, and all the time flowing around him slowed down.

With the Dragon Horse Eye fully open, countless threads appeared in the slowed-down world.

‘It’s impossible to go through all the books here in four days. Even if I had more time, it would take a lifetime to go through everything here.’

So, he had to use a shortcut.

‘A significant portion of these are miscellaneous books, and the valuable ones... have likely been handled by many people over a long time.’

The more a book was handled, the more thoughts and emotions it would have absorbed.

Sure enough, as he had guessed, there were many places where threads were densely clustered.

Yeonwoo quickly moved, picking out the books with dense threads.

Among them were new books that had just arrived and very old, worn-out ancient books.

‘Even after just a brief search, I’ve picked out about 3,000 books.’

Then, Yeonwoo started to quickly categorize the books he had selected by their titles.

‘What I need right now is a cultivation method. I’ll exclude all weapon techniques and movement techniques.’

There were various types of martial arts.

Weapon techniques, movement techniques, and cultivation methods that controlled mana through breathing.

Yeonwoo selected only the cultivation methods and piled them up on one side. Occasionally, there were mixed books, but he excluded them all.

As a result, the 3,000 books were reduced to about 100. Yeonwoo immediately sat down and started reading the books seriously.

The first book he picked was the one with the most dense threads.

He opened the book and started reading.

‘Internal energy? Acupoints? What are meridians? What are the dantian and the small heavenly circulation?’

There were too many difficult terms, making it hard to read.

The One-Horned Tribe used many different terms, as they were as closed as the tower.

It seemed to be a problem caused by that.

‘If I can’t understand, I’ll just memorize it.’

If he couldn’t understand, the best thing to do was to memorize it completely.

Even if he couldn’t understand the terms and concepts immediately, reading many books of the same type would naturally lead to understanding.

Fortunately, he was good at memorization.

During the activation of Battle Will, his thinking speed and memory capacity increased significantly, making it the most suitable method for him, even if it was brute force.

“...”

Yeonwoo quickly fell into a deep reading trance, so quiet that he might not even notice if someone carried him away.

Edora watched him, then quietly moved to check the books he had selected, careful not to break his concentration.

She was slightly surprised.

‘How did he pick out these books?’

The list included books that Edora knew very well.

The Three Calamities Cultivation Method, the Six Harmonies Technique, the Five Elements Scripture, the Purple Down Technique, the Great Clear Cultivation Method, the Heaven and Earth Technique, the Golden Essence Technique, the Heavenly Dragon Technique...

Each was recommended to young children who were just starting to learn martial arts to build a foundation.

Moreover, they were the best among the basic techniques.

He had picked out books that had no waste.

Furthermore, the book he was reading first was even more surprising.

<Yeggeumgyeong>

‘Was Yeggeumgyeong originally here? No, how did he know to pick it? Did he already know something about martial arts?’

Yeggeumgyeong was the most basic of the basic techniques, the foundation of all cultivation methods and martial arts.

Yeggeumgyeong simultaneously strengthens the body and the dantian.

It expels toxins, enhances strength, and strengthens the joints to complete the constitution. After that, it naturally opens the channels for mana to flow, leading to a harmonious balance of mind and body.

Therefore, if mastered properly, it could build a solid foundation.

However, many tribe members were reluctant to learn it because it required a lot of time to complete.

It was much faster to learn other cultivation methods and basic techniques in the same amount of time.

Since most martial arts originated from Yeggeumgyeong, the basic principles were all contained within, and over time, they were improved for greater efficiency.

Yeggeumgyeong was now considered almost a relic of the past.

But Edora knew.

The foundation built by Yeggeumgyeong was very solid.

Like a building on a solid foundation that lasts a thousand years, a body and dantian built by Yeggeumgyeong could naturally accept and build upon all martial arts.

So, if she had enough time, Edora would have recommended Yeggeumgyeong to Yeonwoo.

‘But... right now, it might only be a hindrance to him.’

The problem was that the time given to Yeonwoo was very limited. It might just hold him back.

‘Still, it might be good for a simple cultivation method... I’m not sure.’

Edora could only watch Yeonwoo with a mix of hope and worry.

* * *

After thoroughly reading Yeggeumgyeong, Yeonwoo reached for the secret manual of Jaha Gong.

In the meantime, his mind was quickly summarizing the content of Yeggeumgyeong.

Although many terms were still incomprehensible, he could grasp the overall content.

‘It’s not good to just fill a container with as much content as possible. What’s more important is to first create a solid and wide container.’

For Yeonwoo, who had only considered the efficient movement of mana, this was a completely new perspective.

The content can be compared to mana, and the container to the mana circuit.

In other words, instead of focusing on the movement of mana, he needed to focus on expanding and strengthening the mana circuit.

‘It makes sense. I’ve been focusing on accumulating more mana, but I haven’t thought about expanding the circuit to accommodate it. I’ve been relying on the dragon body, which I believed would soon be complete.’

Yeonwoo’s hand, holding the Jaha Gong manual, tightened.

‘But now, I don’t know when the dragon body will be complete. I need to focus on strengthening the mana circuit first. That will improve my control.’

[You have acquired new knowledge about the mana circuit. Your control over mana has become easier.]

[Your mana has increased by 2.]

[Your mana has increased by 1.]

...

[Your proficiency in the ‘Mana Circuit’ skill has increased to 19.3%.]

‘I’ll focus on strengthening the mana circuit. The movement of mana will naturally follow.’

Of course, just changing his mindset didn’t bring immediate changes.

The mana circuit was a special ability granted only to dragonkind.

How could he strengthen it?

Yeonwoo had no plans other than completing the dragon body.

And the same went for his younger sister.

From here on, he had to research and acquire knowledge on his own.

He continued reading the next book.

After finishing one, he moved to the next, and then the next...

At first, his reading speed was slow, but as the number of thoroughly read books increased, it accelerated.

Concepts started to form in his mind, and terms were automatically translated into words he understood.

‘The dantian is the mana hole, internal energy is mana, meridians are mana channels, and primordial energy is the mana stream.’

His thoughts continued.

‘The cultivation method primarily aims to draw mana from the primordial energy (mana stream) in the air through breathing techniques and store it in the body.’

‘Mana moves through various channels according to each cultivation method. The practitioner’s will is embedded in this process, and the more mana one can control, the more the body is strengthened.’

‘The acupoints are necessary to control mana. They serve as storage and amplifiers of mana, located at various points along the channels to regulate the flow of mana.’

Yeonwoo started to apply the knowledge he had accumulated to the mana circuit.

‘The mana circuit doesn’t have a separate mechanism for acupoints. It just lets the mana flow. No, dragonkind don’t need it. They can manifest laws with their will alone. But I’m different. I’m human, and there’s a huge difference between me and dragonkind. So, I need acupoints. Let’s call them cores (cores).’

‘If I can install cores at various points in the mana circuit and control their opening and closing as I wish...’

Yeonwoo’s eyes sparkled.

He saw a path.

A new path to inventing his own cultivation method.

‘Controlling mana according to my will isn’t a problem...!’

[You have established a new concept of the mana circuit. You have pioneered a new field that even dragonkind have not explored.]

[You have achieved a great feat. Additional merit points have been granted.]

[You have earned 10,000 merit points.]

[You have earned an additional 15,000 merit points.]

...

[You have acquired the trait ‘Qi Person’.]

[Your mana has increased by 10.]

[Your mana has increased by 15.]

...

[You have acquired the title ‘Pioneer’.]

[Your strength has increased by 10.]

[Your agility has increased by 15.]

[You have acquired the title ‘Blessed by Mana’.]

...

[The skill ‘Qi Gong’ has been created.]

...

Messages kept appearing.

And.

[The gods and devils of the 98th floor are starting to look at you with curious eyes.]