Chapter 2

“I died. I’m sure of it.”

Yeon Mu-Hyuk felt around his chest without even realizing it. Heavenly Demon Dan Mok-Jin had activated Asura’s Heavenly Dance, causing his sword to break, and the attack had sliced off both his legs and carved out his heart. In an instant, the memories of his death resurfaced, making the fierce pain of his injuries come back to him. Cold sweat poured down his body as if he were being wrung out.

“Ugh...!”

His body hadn’t even fully matured yet, and it had trouble handling the shock. His heart pounded, his muscles convulsed as if he’d been electrocuted, and his vision spun from the vertigo. It took a very long time to fully calm down. Yeon Mu-Hyuk barely managed to pull himself together.

Even a Creation Realm martial artist was strong enough to match him, but the Heavenly Demon was in the Profound Realm. Just thinking about the fight made his heart race.

I can’t figure it out right now. I don’t even know I’ll be able to recall it,

he thought to himself.

Out of all the countless battles he’d fought, his duel with Heavenly Demon had been the peak. He knew that he had gone through a very valuable experience. If he could just remember what it was, he could become several times stronger than he was now. He was sure of it.

But when he couldn’t remember it, Yeon Mu-Hyuk readily accepted this and turned toward another topic. As someone who had once been in the Creation Realm, he knew that everything would happen at the right time.

Let me figure out where I am first.

He stretched out his legs, which he still had difficulty moving. He hopped off the bed and slowly walked around the room. It was decorated with furniture in a style he’d never seen before in the Central Plains, or even in the surrounding areas. The desk was covered with books and papers, which were also written in a language completely alien to him. It resembled Sanskrit, but there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the shape of the characters or the way they were arranged.

However, he was immediately able to tell what this room was used for.

The smell pricking his nose, the clear bottles with sloshing liquid, the mess of bandages, the small knife that sat next to them...

It’s an infirmary.

It seemed that the owner of this tiny body had been brought here to receive treatment after injuring himself somewhere.

As soon as he realized this, he felt a sense of discomfort around his head. He raised his right hand, and his fingers were met with the rough feeling of bandages. There were several layers wrapped around his hair.

I see. So he hit his head, didn't he? And that’s why I—no, it’s too early to jump to conclusions. Let me look around a little more.

Though he could only assess his wound from over the bandage, he didn’t feel much pain when he touched it. That meant it wasn’t serious.

Yeon Mu-Hyuk pushed aside everything he’d taken in so far and continued to think. Where was he? Who did this body belong to? Why was he alive? If this was someone’s plot, what was their goal, and what were they up to?

His thoughts flew around like arrows as he paced around, but it didn’t take long for both he and his thoughts to stop in tandem.

“... Huh?”

There was a large mirror. Needless to say, he had never seen such a thing in the Central Plains, or even in the surrounding areas. Its size and the light that reflected off its surface caught his eye.

Blond hair.

Crimson eyes.

And well-defined features—specifically, the features of a foreigner.

A foreign-looking boy gazed back at him from the mirror. He didn’t believe that this could be him.

“Wha—?!”

Perhaps because he had finally become aware of his appearance, some of the body’s memories rushed back in fragments. The average person would have fallen into an identity crisis, but as someone who had overcome countless inner battles that had slowed his inner cultivation, the Sword Emperor only had a brief headache. The memories of a fourteen-year-old boy weren’t enough to make him falter, especially when he’d only received a portion of them.

“

... So, this boy’s name is Leonard, and he is a trainee from the Cardenas Family. Is that it?”

Yeon Mu-Hyuk muttered as it all began to come back to him. He could feel the imbalance in his too-short limbs, but on the other hand, he seemed to be able to read and speak the alien language as if it were his native tongue. It wasn’t difficult to adopt the mannerisms of this “Leonard” either.

Click.

The tightly shut door opened, and the knight and the medic who then entered widened their eyes. They had just been warned that disciplinary action would be taken if the boy didn’t wake up by the next day, so the shock of seeing him awake was quickly overtaken by joy.

“Leonard! I mean, Trainee No. 381, are you feeling better?” The knight rushed forward to inspect him thoroughly. Afterward, he finally let out a sigh of relief. “Whew.

Thank goodness."

The medic, who’d thought he was about to lose his wages, reacted similarly.

Yeon Mu-Hyuk studied their reactions and clicked his tongue.

No matter how confused I was, I should have sensed such obvious presences. I must reflect on my actions.

He had been a Creation Realm martial artist in his previous life, but his current body couldn’t even compete with that of a Third-Class martial artist. Still, his predicament was no excuse for him to fail to sense their presence.

He was silent when it dawned on him how much he’d let his guard down. Then, he met the eyes of the knight, who had started to grow concerned with his lack of response.

“Instructor... Gerald?” Yeon Mu-Hyuk asked, remembering his name too late.

“Yes, it’s me. Instructor Gerald. You didn’t respond right away. Are there any gaps in your memory?”

“Um, I’m not sure why I’m here...,” he said, imitating the way the Leonard in his memories would speak.

The knight nodded, looking unsurprised. “Someone hit you on the back of the head with a training sword during practice.”

“Oh...” Yeon Mu-Hyuk nodded, finally realizing the reason behind all the bandages.

“I’m glad you’re awake now, but it doesn’t seem like you’ve fully recovered. Take a week off so you can focus on getting better.”

“Yes, sir.”

“If it’s not too difficult for you to move around, go eat at the mess hall. After that, you can go about your day as usual.”

After Yeon Mu-Hyuk replied with another “Yes, sir,” Gerald gave him a single nod. And with that, he was gone. He looked a little more relaxed when he left, now that he had one less thing to worry about.

As soon as the knight left, the medic let out a long sigh. “Goodness, what a mess. You haven’t done anything wrong, but I’ve never gone through anything like this."

“I’m sorry.”

The medic hadn’t intended to elicit an apology from a little kid, so he waved him off, looking tired. “Oh, please.

You’re

the one who was injured. What could possibly be your fault? Anyway, I’ll give you some healing potions, so drink one per day.”

The medic pulled five small bottles from the shelves and filled them evenly with a green liquid from another container. He held them out to Yeon Mu-Hyuk.

“Th-Thank you.”

“You can repay me by not getting hurt again. And by not even thinking about coming back again. Run along, now.”

“Okay.”

Hugging the bottles close to his chest, Yeon Mu-Hyuk left the infirmary with calmer steps. Fortunately, he was able to find his way without wandering or getting lost thanks to Leonard’s memories. He didn’t pass by a single person, perhaps because it was the middle of the workday. And just like that, he arrived at Leonard’s assigned room.

Creaaaak.

This door was much stiffer than the infirmary’s. When it opened, it revealed a room that looked like it could only be used to sleep in. It was completely empty save for the bed and the closet. There wasn’t even a desk. In addition, the only things the closet contained were a few training uniforms and two or three practice swords. This was no place to raise a child.

“It’s a little cramped, but other than that, these are fine quarters.”

The Sword Emperor Yeon Mu-Hyuk had been a vagabond since his younger years, and it had been decades since he’d started that lifestyle. It was also not uncommon for him to steal the clothes off of those he had killed to use as blankets.

The room wasn’t filthy, nor was it covered in stench. It even had a clean bed. To him, it was splendid.

First, he put the potion bottles into the corner of the closet. Then, he climbed onto the bed, assumed the lotus position, and closed his eyes.

I must learn more about myself.

Not in terms of martial arts knowledge, to be specific. He needed to find out more about this “Leonard” figure. It had only taken him a few bits of memories to familiarize himself with his body, name, and status, but that was barely anything. It had even taken him a moment to remember the instructor’s name, so if there were people who were close to him, they would immediately grow suspicious unless he learned more about this boy.

I’ll find out

everything,

starting from the very beginning.

Those who reached the level of a Creation Realm or higher had the ability to enter a state of self-renunciation without using an ounce of qi. Within ten breaths, Yeon Mu-Hyuk was able to fully concentrate and reach into the depths of his body to make his soul meet his brain. His body, qi, and mind each functioned on their own. The box of memories had closed itself in the face of a stranger, but it couldn’t withstand the Sword Emperor’s power.

Whoosh!

The images of Leonard’s life flashed through his head and became one with his own.

Yeon Mu-Hyuk wasn’t trying to steal the boy’s body. There was no owner left to guard its memories, and he was merely taking a peek. From the moment he awoke, the body’s original soul had already been absent.

He finally realized what had happened to him.

“I... reincarnated.”

***

The boy named Leonard was a member of one of the Cardenas’ countless branch families. From the moment he was born, he was forced to endure many hardships.

Members of the Cardenas were known for their sturdy constitutions. When they tripped, they would injure the ground, not the other way around. It was unthinkable for them to suffer from minor ailments, but Leonard was bedridden nearly every day. At first, people suspected that his mother had been entangled with another man, but after testing him with magic, this was debunked.

“He may simply have a weak lineage.”

It would have been fine if that was where things ended, but the mage couldn’t find the source of his illness, which eventually caused the family to fall apart. Leonard’s parents kept blaming the other, and in the end, they left the child all alone at the main family and went their own ways.

Neither of his parents were dead, but Leonard had become an orphan.

“Tsk. It wasn’t their fault either.” Yeon Mu-Hyuk smiled bitterly. He couldn’t help himself.

The reason Leonard was always sick was that his mind couldn’t handle the Sword Emperor’s memories and ego. He’d spent sixty years amassing the experience and wisdom of a martial artist living a life of suffering and bloodshed until he reached the level of Creation Realm. It wouldn’t be surprising if all that knowledge caused brain death, especially considering that Leonard’s brain wasn’t yet fully developed. Because of that, his survival instincts had caused him to suppress all memories of his past life.

My body wasn’t ready to handle it until I reached this age.

It was only by chance that the head injury triggered his memories to come back; the door had been ready to open at any time.

“I bet that old Divine Monk would faint if he knew.”

No matter how many times Yeon Mu-Hyuk thought about it, these circumstances were truly peculiar. He was not a follower of Daoism or Buddhism, and yet here he was, going through samsara.

He hadn’t encountered the Jade Emperor or the King of the Underworld after he died, but for him, his reincarnation confirmed that there was some higher power watching over him.

In that case, it was also very likely that the legendary transcendent state of Ascension existed.

... Though, I probably have a very, very long way to go from where I am now.

Yeon Mu-Hyuk—or rather, the boy named Leonard—looked down at his hands and grinned. They were small and delicate, with only a hint of calluses. Though he had lost a lifetime’s worth of cultivation, if he followed Heavenly Demon’s advice, this could be a blessing in disguise.

It was an opportunity to perfect his craft from the bottom up!

“I can do it here,” he declared boldly. He was sure that he could surpass the Profound Realm in this place, something he’d failed to do in his past life.

The reason for this was very simple.

“Hmm,

hoo...

”

All he did was close his eyes and take a deep breath, but he took in an abundant amount of qi, and it raged within him.

The qi present here was incredibly dense. Not even the Enchanted Forest, the most mystical place in the Central Plains, could compare. Even if all he did was train in basic breathing techniques, he would easily be able to amass sixty years’ worth of cultivation in merely a decade.

Sorcerers, ascetics, and everyone else who relied more on external qi than internal qi would be at least ten times stronger in this world.

I suppose they call them mages here,

Leonard thought to himself. He had yet to see them in person, but he knew that he shouldn’t underestimate them. The thought that there were people other than martial artists he could compete with made his heart pound with excitement.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

Just then, the faraway sound of a bell rang in his ears.

It must be time for dinner.

Leonard’s stomach rumbled in unison with the dinner bell, making him burst out in laughter. He stood up.

“Hm. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a meal other than training food.”

Deep down, he wanted to immediately run out into the world and have exhilarating fights with all the opponents he had yet to meet. However, the small body was complaining that it wouldn’t be able to survive skipping even one meal.

Still, Leonard wasn’t in a hurry. He no longer had a way to achieve Epiphany, so he would have to rely on cultivating gradually to hone his physique, techniques, and qi. Only then could he become something great—something even greater than the Sword Emperor Yeon Mu-Hyuk.

He would have to keep training and training.