Chapter Title: Dark Heaven Village
I calmly meditated while waiting for Zhang Sanfeng to examine my martial arts, including the Seven Great Ultimate Arts.
Thanks to the Great Dual Tasking Method allowing me to perform two actions at once, and with my internal energy and spells now both exceptional, even simple meditation yielded significant results.
I finished meditating after two shichen had passed. Only then did Zhang Sanfeng speak.
[It's incomprehensible, young friend.]
[What do you mean?]
When I asked in return, Zhang Sanfeng spoke as if perplexed.
[You already possess the Heavenly Escape Sword, yet you've come all this way... Truly a path of 苦行... You should have relied on Yeo Dongbin back then...]
[......?]
[A divine existence?]
Zhang Sanfeng hesitated briefly before continuing.
[Perhaps.]
[That’s vague.]
[No one in the Heavenly Realm knows exactly what he is... He appears without regard for time or space, elusive as a ghost, yet he harms no one. He merely conveys his will to another and vanishes.]
[That’s why you called him a mirage.]
I pondered deeply before speaking.
[Did that Martial God perhaps bestow insights upon you, Immortal?]
[No, not at all. Not just me—none who encountered him received insights or achievements directly. He never interferes with causality.]
[What? Then what...]
[He simply posed a question and left.]
Zhang Sanfeng’s illusion gazed at me intently before saying.
[Young friend. What do you believe is the ultimate pinnacle of martial arts?]
The pinnacle of martial arts?
It was a sudden question. I wondered if this was a Zen koan, but I couldn’t read his intent. One thing was clear: the question carried an intense presence, demanding a proper response.
'Hmm... It’s something everyone ponders at least once.'
The pinnacle of martial arts?
It was a sudden question. I wondered if this was a Zen koan, but I couldn’t read his intent. One thing was clear: the question carried an intense presence, demanding a proper response.
'Hmm… It’s something everyone ponders at least once.'
I had thought about it myself. Drawing on my martial experience, I considered and answered.
[Becoming the strongest, perhaps?]
Becoming the absolute strongest, untouchable by anyone—that would make one the greatest martial artist.
[Heh heh.]
[Wr… wrong?]
When I asked cautiously, Zhang Sanfeng replied.
[Young friend, let me ask again.]
[Yes.]
[Among the martial arts you’ve witnessed, which was the most powerful and fearsome?]
I thought for a moment before answering.
[The martial arts of the White Lotus Cult Leader and Yeo Dongbin.]
[Indeed. What was their power like?]
[Well… They could shatter mountains and split the earth with a single strike.]
[Can you imagine a martial art even more powerful than that?]
I pondered his question more deeply.
[Well... They could shatter mountains and split the earth with a single strike.]
[Can you imagine a martial art even more powerful than that?]
I pondered his question more deeply.
'Stronger than that?'
Anything beyond that wouldn't even qualify as martial arts anymore. Their clash had nearly obliterated Luoyang entirely—something stronger couldn't even be called a martial art. Still, I could vaguely imagine it, so I nodded.
[... Sure, I can imagine it.]
[What about one a hundred times stronger than what you just imagined?]
That was absurd just to think about. At that level, it'd only draw a hollow laugh.
[Uh... If two warriors clash swords, does the Central Plains perish?]
I shot back curtly at Zhang Sanfeng's question, and he chuckled before speaking.
[Suppose human martial arts evolve further and further, reaching a sword strike that destroys the world—would you accept that without doubt as the pinnacle of martial arts?]
[......]
[What if there's one that shatters the greater universe?]
Hmm... I'd never even considered that.
Was it possible for martial arts to achieve such a feat?
It was an unprecedented possibility I'd never contemplated, so I nodded without hesitation.
[Of course. Everything would die—how could that not be the pinnacle?]
Was it possible for martial arts to achieve such a feat?
It was an unprecedented possibility I’d never contemplated, so I nodded without hesitation.
[Of course. Everything would die—how could that not be the pinnacle?]
Nothing could survive the destruction of the greater universe. Even gods might perish. Regardless of whether death applied, the universe’s annihilation meant exactly that. At my response, Zhang Sanfeng shook his head.
[No.]
It was an unexpected denial.
[What?]
[Even if that martial art brings victory in a hundred battles, it proves nothing ultimate. For instance, if another emerges with ten thousand times the destructive power, does that become the pinnacle?]
That’d be no different from children bickering over who’s stronger.
[Uh... well...]
I was dumbfounded by Zhang Sanfeng’s words, pondering intensely.
'Is this just wordplay?'
But it didn’t seem like mere wordplay. Desperately trying to grasp what he meant, I finally realized and said.
[Being the strongest doesn’t mean it’s the ultimate.]
Zhang Sanfeng smiled.
[Exactly. Such comparisons are mere numerical games, limited to our imagination. The pinnacle of martial arts is a question with no answer—there’s always something above ]
[Being the strongest doesn't mean it's the ultimate.]
Zhang Sanfeng smiled.
[Exactly. Such comparisons are mere numerical games, limited to our imagination. The pinnacle of martial arts is a question with no answer—there's always something above.]
[To me, even Absolute Realm or Transcendent Realm masters seem pinnacle enough...]
It was a valid point, but I grumbled a bit resentfully. Honestly, twisting laws at will in the Absolute Realm to produce miraculous power was already astounding. Yet here he was discussing realms beyond even that—my head felt like it might explode.
[The emotion the Martial God evoked is precisely what you're feeling now.]
[What?]
[He made us realize that an impossible pinnacle of martial arts exists. And that the paths to it are infinite. Thus, those who meet him gain an endless aspiration to pursue martial arts.]
[Um... I don't quite follow...]
So what exactly did the Martial God do?
Scratching my head at Zhang Sanfeng's ambiguity, he gave a wry smile.
[Very well. I'll explain slowly so you can understand.]
[I'm all ears.]
[You may not know this, young friend, but for a human martial artist to reach the Absolute Realm means they qualify for ascension as an immortal. It's an unchanging standard since ancient times. While degrees vary within the Absolute Realm, the Heavenly Realm held such martial artists in high regard and actively encouraged ascension.]
[Encouraged?]
Realm means they qualify for ascension as an immortal. It’s an unchanging standard since ancient times. While degrees vary within the Absolute Realm, the Heavenly Realm held such martial artists in high regard and actively encouraged ascension.]
[Encouraged?]
[Leaving Absolute Realm humans on earth risks massive chaos. National armies become meaningless before them; they wield power to annihilate a hundred thousand troops, easily shattering the world’s balance.]
[......]
He was right.
Figures like Yi Cheong-un, the White Lotus Cult Leader, or Musashi wouldn’t fall to mere armies of a hundred thousand. They’d wipe them out entirely or gleefully decapitate commanders. No matter the emperor’s guards, without another Absolute Realm expert to stop them, assassination was inevitable.
Zhang Sanfeng continued.
[Those reaching Absolute Realm just before ascension typically felt extreme ennui.]
[Ennui...]
[They believed they’d reached the unattainable peak as martial artists, and ascension wouldn’t yield more. Arrogant, perhaps, but that’s the Absolute Realm.]
[Hmm...]
[Moreover, confronting the immense power of top Greater Immortals or truths like the [Ancient Rulers] often bred despair. They lost all will to train further post-ascension, succumbing to arrogance and despair in idleness.]
That made sense. Absolute Realm masters were mighty, but paled against apostles or [Ancient
[Moreover, confronting the immense power of top Greater Immortals or truths like the [Ancient Rulers] often bred despair. They lost all will to train further post-ascension, succumbing to arrogance and despair in idleness.]
That made sense. Absolute Realm masters were mighty, but paled against apostles or [Ancient Rulers]. And no amount of training could overcome innate divine beings—that despair was understandable. Hadn’t I myself relied on the Seven Desires because I couldn’t face them with martial arts?
Zhang Sanfeng smiled faintly.
[Yet… the Martial God showed, if only for an instant, the true pinnacle of martial arts. That alone ignites passion to strive for eons.]
[Hmm…]
As I looked troubled, Zhang Sanfeng said.
[You won’t grasp it now.]
[Honestly, no.]
[But when you grow stronger… and meet the Martial God, you’ll understand my words.]
His hand patted my shoulder like encouragement. I asked Zhang Sanfeng.
[Then did all who reached Absolute Realm meet the Martial God without exception?]
[No, quite the opposite—only a rare few.]
[Why?]
[I’m not certain, but he doesn’t appear merely for high martial attainment. He seems to have his own unique criteria.]
[……]
Come to think of it, he’d appeared to young Jin So-cheong too. That child couldn’t have been Absolute Realm, so the Martial God clearly had other standards for choosing.
'Whatever.'
Pondering further without reaching Absolute Realm myself was pointless. I was satisfied just gaining info on the Martial God. I said to Zhang Sanfeng.
[Then please teach me the Seven Great Ultimate Arts now.]
[……]
[Immortal Zhang?]
At my request, he hesitated before replying.
[Young friend. Your capacity is nearing its limit.]
[What do you...]
[The vessel you forcibly sealed with Yeo Dongbin’s Immortal Sword will soon fill completely.]
[Ah...]
[Not just the Seven Great Ultimate Arts—even their eight derivative potentials are peerless divine skills forged by geniuses. Mastering them all is impossible.]
I understood what Zhang Sanfeng meant.
In the past, to control swordsmanship chaos, I’d received Yeo Dongbin’s Heavenly Escape Sword Method up to the fifth stage. Thanks to it, I’d smoothly advanced beyond peak realm
divine skills forged by geniuses. Mastering them all is impossible.]
I understood what Zhang Sanfeng meant.
In the past, to control swordsmanship chaos, I'd received Yeo Dongbin's Heavenly Escape Sword Method up to the fifth stage. Thanks to it, I'd smoothly advanced beyond peak realm. But according to him, even that control had reached its limit.
'Chaos in my martial arts again?'
Trembling anxiously, I heard Zhang Sanfeng say.
[The fundamental solution is strengthening the Heavenly Escape Sword embedded in your soul. Only Yeo Dongbin in this world could do that. All I can do is expand your vessel slightly to delay the limit...]
[But Yeo Dongbin is...]
I started to reply but stopped. There was no way to save Yeo Dongbin, sealed by the Sea God and self-destructing, in this lifetime. Caught off guard by this setback, I groaned, and Zhang Sanfeng said.
[Young friend. First, I'll bestow my blessing to grant you about ten years' worth of training leeway.]
Wuuung
Light emanated from his hand on my shoulder, clearing and refreshing my mind. Likely his blessing. Looking at me pityingly, he continued.
[I'll teach the Seven Great Ultimate Arts to the best of my ability from now on, but you must control your future training yourself. Otherwise, cracks will form in your vessel, madness invading your mind. To avoid true qi deviation, heed my words.]
[......]
[I’ll teach the Seven Great Ultimate Arts to the best of my ability from now on, but you must control your future training yourself. Otherwise, cracks will form in your vessel, madness invading your mind. To avoid true qi deviation, heed my words.]
[......]
I’d finally secured a training environment, yet now I needed another solution!
I inwardly cursed but calmed myself—I’d faced worse. At least I could train for ten years and boost my skills!
[Understood. I’ll train diligently and reach Absolute Realm within ten years to overcome the limit!]
I’d do it!
I’d slain the Sea God—what couldn’t I?
[Uh... well... that...]
As I clenched my fist and shouted boldly, Zhang Sanfeng stared blankly for a moment. After pondering long, he composed himself and said.
[Y-Yes... indeed, young friend!]
His reaction was odd, but I decided not to dwell. Motivation and effort mattered now.
Over the next half day, I relearned the Seven Great Ultimate Arts from basics under Zhang Sanfeng. He didn’t teach derivatives immediately, aiming to solidify foundations. I initially thought basics pointless, but mid-lesson realized otherwise.
[The essence of the Seven Great Ultimate Arts is the Six Harmonies. Their fusion births the Peerless Hegemon.]
Zhang Sanfeng slowly raised his hand, forming Taiji energy. Yin and yang harmonized, infusing his illusion as he assumed Taiji Fist forms. Wudang’s basic fist art, widespread even among
[The essence of the Seven Great Ultimate Arts is the Six Harmonies. Their fusion births the Peerless Hegemon.]
Zhang Sanfeng slowly raised his hand, forming Taiji energy. Yin and yang harmonized, infusing his illusion as he assumed Taiji Fist forms. Wudang's basic fist art, widespread even among commoners, was deemed at best second-rate for its mild power.
Pabat
Mid-Taiji form, he shifted seamlessly to Seven Great Ultimate Arts stances, unleashing them. I observed carefully: over twenty-four forms, the flow was flawlessly stable without gaps, returning to Taiji—drawing an exclamation.
"Ah!"
Truly soft.
And powerful.
Beautiful, even!
'Is this the true form of Wudang's yielding overcomes strength?'
I'd seen Wudang experts use it, confident my Thunder God Style could shatter their softness. But charging Zhang Sanfeng's Taiji now felt like I'd be swept and crushed.
[The Six Harmonies' uniqueness lies in their ascending transformability.]
[Ascending?]
[Have you heard of the earthly branches?]
[I studied spells and Taoism, so yes.]
I'd learned them during three years under Mangnyang, basics for Qimen Dunjia, Taoism foundations like earthly branches, heavenly stems, five elements, eight trigrams. That study
[Have you heard of the earthly branches?]
[I studied spells and Taoism, so yes.]
I’d learned them during three years under Mangnyang, basics for Qimen Dunjia, Taoism foundations like earthly branches, heavenly stems, five elements, eight trigrams. That study helped me later decipher complex manuals despite ignorance.
[The state embracing earthly branches has a special trait. Do you know?]
[Immutability?]
[Correct. They do not change. Thus treated simpler than five elements, ignored by Taoists. Unlike intuitive, ever-shifting yin-yang five elements or grand Taoist principles, Six Harmonies are fixed, unmoving.]
[Hmm, yes.]
[Yet Six Harmonies hold heavenly stems in earthly branches’ balance.]
What was he getting at?
[From myriad changes comes immutability. From immutability, myriad changes. A self-devouring loop.]
[......?]
[The deeper you delve, the more meaningless it seems. Yin-yang five elements’ changes are finite yet infinite—thus immutable. What a paradox.]
Tuwung
His fist merely grazed empty air, yet the ground shook as if overturned. Realizing it was a single Taiji form, I shuddered at his prowess.
[Mentioning Six Harmonies often in martial arts or spells, even naming them thus, is because
Yuwung
His fist merely grazed empty air, yet the ground shook as if overturned. Realizing it was a single Taiji form, I shuddered at his prowess.
[Mentioning Six Harmonies often in martial arts or spells, even naming them thus, is because their uniqueness links to the world's laws.]
I couldn't hold back, voicing aloud.
"What do you mean by 'links'?"
I'd studied spells, but grasping the intense aura in his explanation was hard. Only decades or centuries immersed in Taoism could easily comprehend.
[Because they are 'everything.' Connect anything arbitrarily, and it becomes Six Harmonies.]
"Too difficult. Simpler, please..."
[Simpler: unlike five elements' changes, Six Harmonies encompass all possibilities of fate. The broadest realm expressible as fate is Six Harmonies, perhaps?]
"Hmm... kind of get it..."
I recalled such explanations, though no Taoist text delved deeply.
[You don't quite grasp it.]
"Yes, that's right."
[Sort what you've heard so far in your mind.]
As I pondered, his explanation refined.
[Know why sorcerers study yin-yang five elements or trigrams but not Six Harmonies separately?]
"Uh... not really."
[As said, Six Harmonies are immutable yet myriad-changing. They symbolize ‘all things in this world.’ Studying them means achieving omniscience over everything—which humans can’t.]
"Aha!"
[Every blade of grass, breeze, drifting cloud—all motions are Six Harmonies.]
Immutable yet myriad—that’s it!
As ‘everything,’ grandly it’s totality and void—immutable. Minutely, it’s the endlessly changing world itself.
'Wow, such vast perspective...'
As I paled at Six Harmonies’ scale, Zhang Sanfeng smiled warmly.
[Thus, Six Harmonies cover not just external worldly realms but conceptual ones too.]
"Conceptual realms?"
[Broadly: fate, divinity, revelation, causality. Elements unexplained by Qimen Dunjia—coincidental factors. This is orthodox Tao view; sorcerers interpret differently.]
[......]
[In summary: ‘the state of all things across all spacetime.’ That is Six Harmonies’ essence.]
Sususu
[Thus, after comprehending Taiji, I created martial arts harnessing Six Harmonies’ power.]
Suddenly, his form flowed. He chained six of the Seven Great Ultimate Arts, flow heating like a dance. Embracing Taiji and Six Harmonies, shaking the world with will—it was like witnessing heaven and earth divide into yin-yang.
Wuuuu!
At some point, I couldn’t follow his forms. Like Heavenly Escape Sword, each motion held hundreds of thousands of possibilities, scattering like raindrops or snowflakes. In subtle ripples, Six Harmonies’ image imprinted phantom-like in my pupils.
His dance faded slowly in the Vast Wasteland Realm. I knew he’d demonstrated perfect Six Great Ultimate Arts linkage—flawless beyond any prior learner.
[Inner Three Harmonies, Outer Three Harmonies, Mind-Intent Six Harmonies. Grasp these to wield Peerless Hegemon. Combine arts by this principle for ease.]
A major clue. No one knew martial principles rooted in Six Harmonies.
"What exactly is Peerless Hegemon?"
[... My youthful challenge.]
Zhang Sanfeng smiled bitterly.
[My answer to the Martial God’s question...]
"......?"
Bewildered, I said.
[My answer to the Martial God's question...]
"......?"
Bewildered, I said.
"Uh... won't you show Peerless Hegemon?"
[I already did.]
"What?"
[Young friend... Peerless Hegemon isn't a physically mighty art. The world's weakest. Merely embodying Six Harmonies' essence to answer the Martial God.]
From his words, I thought focusing on Six Great Ultimate Arts for now wise.
[With Peerless Hegemon, you'll defeat no foe.]
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