Chapter 11. The Cultivation Art Begins Anew

Anything he picked up was a valuable item, an expensive artifact. The problem had been that he hadn’t eaten until now; if the Eldest Young Master were to eat something for his health, they would have brought him wild ginseng and fleeceflower root as if they had been waiting.

“Listen, outside.”

“Yes, young master.”

One of the four guards answered from outside the door.

“I will now enter meditation. I will not eat breakfast, and it may take a long time. No one is to enter the room until I come out. The same goes for my grandfather.”

“…Yes.”

The answer was not enthusiastic.

Hugong did not press further.

This much warning was enough.

If a guard answered enthusiastically, that in itself would be a problem. It was right for them to be worried and anxious.

He came down to the floor, immediately sat in a meditative posture, and began to circulate his cultivation art.

The first time circulating his cultivation art after the union of essence, energy, and spirit.

At some point, Hugong’s skin began to glow as if it were transparent. Not only his face, but even his hair slowly fluttered and took on a light.

The light gradually subsided and disappeared.

However, his complexion became brighter than yesterday.

The dark circles under his eyes were gone, and his somewhat dark complexion now had a clear energy. His hair was soft and shiny, with each strand flowing with luster.

How much time had passed?

While Hugong was in the midst of circulating his cultivation art, his guards had long since betrayed him.

The result of the betrayal.

The old family head and other family members had come in a large group and were watching the heir and Eldest Young Master of the Cheonhwa Library, who was meditating quietly.

Beomyun and Bumong just gulped, wondering what was going on, and the uncle, who had come despite his uncomfortable body, also had his pupils shaking anxiously. The family head was also frozen like a stone statue.

Having received a report that he had entered the winter illusion formation in the study last night, and now, this morning, he was suddenly skipping meals and meditating, their anxiety was beyond words. They didn’t even want to imagine what would happen if he really recovered his memory.

“But, why is the eldest’s face so bright?”

The old family head whispered.

“Father, I was thinking the same thing. Hang’s skin was rough and dark, but now it’s clear and fair, looking better than a woman’s.”

“It seems like a good sign, but I’m anxious because it’s so sudden.”

“Grandfather, your voice is too loud.”

Bumong, who had been listening, chimed in.

“Oh? Was it?”

“Yes.”

“Achoo!”

Yun, who had been quiet all along, sneezed loudly.

The sound was quite loud, and everyone glared at Yun as if they would kill him. Yun quickly covered his nose and mouth with his hands.

Hugong finished circulating his cultivation art around noon.

When he opened his eyes, a violet light swirled around the edges of his pupils. The violet radiance that had been swirling around his pupils flowed to the center, became a dot, and disappeared.

It disappeared in an instant, as if it had just appeared, so no one, including the family head who had been watching all along, saw it.

Hugong stood up and bowed.

Hugong had already been aware that they had come while he was circulating his cultivation art.

“Grandfather, you’ve come. I also greet you, uncle.”

“My child… are you alright?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Th-that’s a relief. Your meditation was quite long. We were worried for no reason… hehe…”

The family head couldn’t bring himself to ask what he wanted to ask and just laughed awkwardly.

How could Hugong not know the worry in his heart?

Having even received the transfer of Beomhang’s memories, he could understand the family’s concerns even more clearly.

‘I can’t waste time unnecessarily.’

It wasn’t something to be glossed over, nor was there anything to persuade.

Hugong immediately took action. He let out a firm kiai.

“Hup!”

He immediately took a horse stance on the spot.

Seeing once is better than a hundred words.

“Grandfather, look. I have definitely changed. I have found my memories. All of them.”

“Hehe, so you have. You’ve found your memories… huh?”

The family head, who had been chuckling, went blank, and Yun and Bumong were no different. Everyone went blank for a moment, but it didn’t take long to understand the meaning.

The meaning of the Eldest Young Master of the Cheonhwa Library still holding a horse stance and letting out a “hup-hup” kiai even after his memory had returned was clear.

Slowly…

The faces of all the family members bloomed brightly.

There was no difference from yesterday.

It was the same as yesterday.

Even the playful tone and relaxed expression he had been showing recently. If his memory had returned, it was an action he would never see and would never do.

Who could not understand this meaning?

The family head was choked up and his eyes welled up with tears.

“My child… you have…”

“Yes, grandfather.”

“…overcome it.”

He was asking if he had found his memories and now shaken off the darkness.

It was filled with a desperate hope that it was so.

There would be no need to worry about his memory returning anymore.

Perhaps his skin was glowing because he had overcome it, the family head thought. It could be the result of the power of the mind affecting the body. If the mind is sick, the body also becomes sick, and if the mind is full of vitality, the body also becomes lively.

His eldest son had burned away his vitality and died as an old man overnight. If he was his father’s son, then his eldest grandson’s brightly bloomed face might be the result of his enlightenment blooming his vitality.

If he had overcome the darkness, it was entirely possible.

Hugong nodded his head.

“I have overcome it.”

At his eldest grandson’s calm answer, the family head sobbed.

For him, it was the moment the darkness of the Cheonhwa Library, which had begun with the death of his first daughter-in-law, was lifted.

“Ah! It’s done now. It’s done. I truly have no regrets even if I die today.”

As the family head sobbed and wiped his tears with his sleeve, Beomgang, Yun, and Bumong also cried. They embraced each other, not knowing what to do.

Hugong watched the scene,

and stood awkwardly.

Gulp.

He swallowed dryly.

‘It’s an atmosphere where I should cry too… what should I do.’

***

The Cheonhwa Library was noisy all day.

The Eldest Young Master had been resurrected.

The family head, the uncle, the physician, and the servants and scholars of the Cheonhwa Library cried and laughed repeatedly, and each said a word of joy, so Hugong could only have a quiet time late at night.

‘My head is spinning. What is all this?’

Hugong shook his head.

Although he had taken Beomhang’s memories, as someone who was not Beomhang, the passion, emotion, and sea of tears of the Cheonhwa Library today were quite distracting.

He understood the situation of the Cheonhwa Library, but it was too much for him, who had been the Martial Alliance Leader until recently, to feel any emotion.

And he had no intention of continuing to live as the heir of the Cheonhwa Library, pretending to be Beomhang. He hadn’t been reborn, and he had just swapped bodies with Beomhang in the same era. The connection with the Cheonhwa Library was one thing, but no matter what anyone said, he was Hugong, not Beomhang.

Of course, he wasn’t going to leave the Cheonhwa Library right away.

He had no reason to go to the Martial Alliance, and he shouldn’t go.

For the time being, he had to stay in a safe place, and in that respect, the Cheonhwa Library was the optimal place.

The Cheonhwa Library was called an impregnable fortress and a stronghold even in the martial world.

It was surrounded by various strange formations and mechanisms over a vast area of a mountain, making it almost impossible to infiltrate from the outside.

Even if one got inside, it would be difficult to achieve their goal.

Not to mention the various pavilions, but even the flowerbeds, small paths, and even the walls of the Cheonhwa Library were under the influence of formations, and if one caused a change, they would be trapped in an illusion or attacked by mechanisms.

That wasn’t the only advantage.

As a family with a long and distinguished history, they had considerable wealth, and ancient books and artifacts of high value were scattered around.

But was the current Cheonhwa Library truly intact?

Probably not.

How many places had rotted away due to the shadow of Beomhang?

Therefore, before he devoted himself to martial arts, he had to normalize the Cheonhwa Library as soon as possible.

In that respect, it was a relief that he had absorbed Beomhang’s memories.

No, if we only look at the memory aspect, Hugong had gained a lot, and it was even marvelous.

He had thought that the boy’s mental world would not be ordinary, as it had crushed the Cheonhwa Library and dragged it into a swamp, but Beomhang’s genius, which he learned through his memories, was beyond imagination.

He had been outstanding since he was a child.

When children of six or seven were playing with clay dolls, Beomhang was creating formations, deciphering documents, and enjoying solving complex formulas and arithmetic.

He was not only excellent at deciphering codes but also at creating them, and he was skilled in creating, breaking, and modifying formations and mechanisms based on his vast knowledge. While deciphering and studying ancient documents, he even created strange cultivation arts himself, so it was not enough to say he was an amazing guy.

Around the age of nine, he had also turned the Confucian world upside down.

The great scholar, Ju Baekheon, had boasted that no one could solve it and had published an encrypted document, but he had stopped by on his way and solved it in half a day.

Not only that, but he was also well-versed in the six arts of music, go, poetry, calligraphy, painting, and etiquette, and he composed songs, played instruments, and had a deep knowledge of painting.

Until his mother’s illness worsened, Beomhang was a shining genius in all aspects.

Anyway, by absorbing his memories, Hugong was able to utilize all of that.

The soul transmigration also became clear.

Nowhere in Beomhang’s memories, nowhere in his heart, did soul transmigration exist. The boy had just been a victim of soul transmigration.

The letters exchanged with ‘Juyang’, which were inserted in the ‘Winter’ book, were not about soul transmigration either. The letters exchanged with Juyang, who had studied with him at the Cheonhwa Library as a child, were encrypted and contained a fatal secret, but it was not soul transmigration.

Then was the soul transmigration the work of an external hostile force?

No.

Hugong had come to the conclusion that it was not.

The exchange target of the soul transmigration didn’t make sense.

There was no reason to swap the Martial Alliance Leader and the Eldest Young Master of the Cheonhwa Library.

What kind of crazy person in the world would perform this kind of soul transmigration? Without any benefit. And it was impossible for soul transmigration to occur in different regions, not in the same space.

Even if we were to concede a hundred times and say that it had to be that way, seeing that there had been no follow-up actions such as attacking or infiltrating the Cheonhwa Library for over a month, it couldn’t have been an external force.

At this point, the soul transmigration was a work of heaven and earth.

***

On the morning of the third day.

Hugong, who had been devoted to cultivating his cultivation art under the pretext of meditation, took a short break.

When he came out and walked slowly, Songhwa immediately followed him.

Hugong did not give her a glance and just looked at the surrounding scenery, inwardly admiring it.

‘It’s not for nothing that the Cheonhwa Library is called one of the three great libraries.’

The appearance of the Cheonhwa Library, viewed after the transfer of memories, was different from before. The more than a hundred formations installed in all sorts of places were now drawn in his head as if he could see them.

The huge defensive formation that surrounded the entire Cheonhwa Library.

From the small flowerbeds and small paths.

The moment he saw and recognized where the numerous formations were applied, what their respective uses and applications were, everything came to his mind. Not only Beomhang’s knowledge, but the Cheonhwa Library itself felt newly mysterious.

This knowledge and his brilliant brain would be useful someday. Before that, there was something else he needed right away.

‘It’s time to get some spiritual medicine. Through the power of the Cheonhwa Library.’