Childhood Friend of the Zenith

Martial arts with an extremely high threshold.

With power that went beyond the Peak Realm and touched Transcendence.

That was what most people called Divine Arts.

For example, the Moonlight Dance of the Sword Emperor, one of the Heavenly Venerables, was a sword art that used Mind Art as its foundation and the martial art created by the Dishonored Venerable was a Mind Art that did not belong to the Bi Clan.

The great art of the Namgung Clan that stood as a pillar for many centuries used by the Heavenly Venerable were all worthy to be called Divine Arts.

They were martial arts that transcended human’s limits, vaulting over their walls and breaking their shells.

Hence, they were called Divine Arts.

Then, was the Gu Clan’s Destructive Flame Arts also a Divine Art?

Indeed.

The Destructive Flame Arts was a Divine Art.

Just observing its power from either father, Gu Huibi, or funnily enough, even a bastard like me was enough to conclude that it was a Divine Art.

In other words, the Divine Art was an opportunity.

It was an opportunity to go beyond human limits.

They were all given the opportunity when they were taught the Divine Art, and whether they succeeded or not depended on their talent and effort.

Grabbing the opportunity, ascending to a higher level, and moving forward in the desired direction.

At least that was my interpretation of the Divine Arts.

Guiding a martial artist step-by-step; that was the secret purpose of both the Divine Arts and martial arts.

The Gu Clan possessed five Secret Arts.

One of them enhanced oneself by using Qi to contain the heat inside their body.

It was the art I used half-forcibly after my regression, once my Destructive Flame Arts reached its second rank.

The second was the ability to control the flame itself.

The Gu Clan’s flame arts were different from the flame arts used by other clans.

The flame of Gu Clan wasn’t just for burning things.

It was nonsensical to say that flames weren’t meant to burn things.

Even though it took me a while to realize what it meant after getting the explanation,  no matter what meaning the ancestors came up with, flames were still flames to me.

It was funny.

They tried creating their own sun.

Like how each Divine Art had a purpose, the Destructive Flame Arts had its own purpose as well.

Despite the existence of a sun in the sky, the ancestors tried to create their own sun.

There might have been some deeper meaning behind this, but it wasn’t something I could understand.

Is that why I was never able to reach max rank?

The reason why I struggled to reach the 9th rank in my past life, let alone touch the 10th rank.

Was it because I wasn’t able to comprehend its deeper meaning?

No, that probably wasn’t the only reason.

I failed to reach it because I was unable to overcome the wall.

There was nothing more pathetic than making excuses.

The third Secret Art used the martial artist’s Qi to turn the sky red.

An extremely well-trained Divine Art capable of dyeing the sky with the color of the martial artist.

The sky was also red back when Father came to the Black Palace and destroyed the formations.

Could he even be called human at that point?How could a human control the sky?

He probably became capable of doing such things once he reached a certain point and broke through his limits.

And fourth…

I was currently using the fourth art.

“Flaming Sphere.”

The Secret Art, Flaming Sphere.

I charged my Qi, increased heat inside my body and created a sphere in my palm after compressing all the flames that were released, without letting them escape.

Swoosh!

The Qi expanded my blood vessels as it flowed through them.

I could hear the violent beating of my heart.

Blaaaze!

The night sky changed.

The dark sky, decorated with a multitude of stars, used the heat my body was discharging as kindling to illuminate itself.

And soon, the dark sky became bright.

Its range was short and it wasn’t bright enough to make people shut their eyes, but at least in the spot he stood, it looked like the sun had risen.

Craaaack-!

The violent flames roared as they stormed the surroundings.

It was painful for them as they were dragged into a narrow space while emitting the desire to kill.

My veins bulged and my forehead was drenched in sweat.

My forearm had become stiff due to the tension, showing just how much strength I was exerting to keep it under control.

I wouldn’t have been able to use this Secret Art in normal circumstances.

Like the red sky, it required extreme training to attain proper control over it…

But I’m just brute forcing my way through.

I barely managed to pull it off due to the abnormal amount of Qi I possessed.

All the training of compressing and amplifying my Qi, the experiences and enlightenments I had gained in my past life, and all the things I had consumed in this life made it possible.

My reaching the 6th rank in the Destructive Flame Arts also played a part.

Woong–

After enduring all that pressure and concentrating all my strength at one point, a radiant red marble with a refined light was floating on top of my palm.

On observing it, I thought to myself.

Just a few more seconds.

It would take around five to seven seconds.

While it may seem like an instant to others, that same amount of time could decide one’s fate in a battle between martial artists over the Peak Realm.

This showed that I still wasn’t strong enough to use this in a real fight.

Well, at least not in a one-on-one fight.

I couldn’t move while using this technique.

One had to have extreme control of their Qi, because even if they accidentally messed up their Qi flow in the slightest,, they would experience Qi deviation flow and damage their blood vessels.

Hence, a martial artist would be in a vulnerable state for a few seconds.

In other words…

At least one person will die.

Sigh.

It was truly a problem to use such techniques when I wasn’t at a sufficient level yet.

At least I was able to talk, mock, and step on others while using this technique in my past life.

I was once again reminded of how weak I had become.

Though of course…

When I asked myself if I really needed to go this far and endure such humiliation to use this…

…I have to.

I would nod without hesitation.

This was one of the few offensive martial arts that could be used in a real fight because its destructive power was just as horrifying as the amount of Qi it required.

‘The Fifth’ Secret Art was somewhat similar, but I couldn’t use it yet.

Woong…

“Whew…”

Once I managed to complete it, I released the breath I was holding

Like I said, I would become vulnerable while completing this process, but that was fine right now because…

The Sword Queen didn’t do anything.

Well, to begin with, I was certain that she wouldn’t do anything.

Of course, she wouldn’t.

After all, she had pushed me this far just for this.

I stared at the Sword Queen while doing my best to hide my trembling hand.

“Thank you for your patience.”

I also spoke while hiding the exhaustion in my voice, but the Sword Queen did not respond.

The Sword Queen was staring at me in shock, her eyes wide open.

Sigh, I really didn’t want to go this far because I knew she would react like that.

At the end of the day, Secret Arts were the result of all the numerous enlightenments one gained.

Their martial arts and Secret Arts showed how much enlightenment a martial artist had attained on their path and in this small marble…

Breathe…

Was all the enlightenment I had attained in my life; including my past life.

And someone like the Sword Queen would be able to see that easily, hence her reaction.

In her eyes, it would probably seem like I had gained a lot of enlightenment for my age.

After all, she didn’t know about how much I struggled in my past life.

Perhaps she believed that I was extremely talented.

And unbelievable talent at that.

“…This.”

Because of that, it was somewhat obvious for the Sword Queen to react like that.

Still in shock, the Sword Queen finally spoke as she stared at my hand for quite some time.

“…It seems that you are at a much higher level than I imagined.”

“It’s not that high. Can’t you see me trembling?”

That wasn’t a lie.

I had to use more than half of my Qi and all my strength just to maintain this tiny marble that was barely thicker than my finger.

If this exploded before I could retrieve it, everything in sight would be engulfed by the explosion.

It was really a pain to control something like this.

But in spite of that,  I still used it because…

The Sword Queen told me that she would handle the aftermath, ensuring it wouldn’t reach or harm a single person in sight.

As I continued to stare at the Sword Queen with sweat dripping down my face, the Sword Queen recovered from her shock and finally spoke up.

“Do you know… what people call Young Prodigies like you these days?”Huh, that was pretty random.

I wondered what she was talking about all of a sudden, but I responded anyway.

“What was it again…? The Meteor Generation, something like that right?”

“That’s right. The Meteor Generation. How fitting.”

They shone.

Even the Young Prodigies from the Sword Queen’s generation shone pretty well, but the current generation was especially dazzling.

They were called the Meteor Generation because their generation had the largest talent pool so far as if they were shooting stars, and they were given the name in hopes that their light would protect the future of the Central Plains.

Though of course…

None of that mattered to me.

During this…

The Sword Queen simply observed the red marble in my palm.

I could see the light radiating from the marble.

Even though it was the middle of winter, once the marble made its appearance, the dark surroundings had turned bright and warm.

Almost as if…

“You have a sun in your hand.”

“…How can I hold something that terrifying in my hand?”

I frowned on hearing the Sword Queen.

What nonsense was she spouting?

How could I hold something like that in my hand? I wouldn’t even be able to touch it.

The Sword Queen spoke with a gentle smile after I denied that.

“Or perhaps, you are the sun.”

“How can you turn me into something like that without my permission? I’m a human, you know?”

Tsk.

I was planning to take this lightly at first…

But it seemed like she wouldn’t let me pass unless I went all out.

We were already familiar with each other, so she could’ve just let me pass.

And on top of that, I even saved her life!

However, I did absorb that power from her.

Anyway, couldn’t she have gone easy on me?

I really wasn’t planning on using this.

I didn’t want to use this technique publicly for now, but I had to use it just to pass this damned exam.

The Sword Queen was finally satisfied due to that, but it was a problem for me.

Why does she have such high expectations of me?

She should have just focused on her own disciple.

Sigh, What a hassle.

Even so, I guess I finally satisfied her.

Noticing my gaze…

“I’m sorry. This was just a personal test of mine, so I apologize.”

The Sword Queen offered me an apology.

“Yes. Thanks to that, everyone is watching.”

Well, I obviously wasn’t going to accept her apology.

After all, it wasn’t just the Sword Queen watching this.

Thanks to my impromptu display, the Young Prodigies who had evacuated were now observing us from a distance.

The instructors also had a look of shock on their faces.

“I don’t get why they’re watching this so intently.”

“How could they not?”

The Sword Queen chuckled on hearing my blunt words.

“It’s like the birth of a comet right before their eyes.”

“Stop putting me on a pedestal, I’m starting to feel sick inside.”

It made me uncomfortable.

Was this what the Sword Queen wanted?

Did she want me to draw all the attention?

If that was the case, well, it was a problem.

I had no intention of drawing so much attention.

“…What do you want from me?”

“I don’t want anything. It’s just– “

The Sword Queen sheathed her sword and continued speaking.

“I want your light to shine even brighter as you reach a higher point. That’s all.”

“I might be mistaken to be a disciple of Mount Hua if you put it like that.”

“You are an honorary disciple, isn’t it similar?”

“Oh.”

Right.

Yeah, I forgot about that.

I made a request for that title from the Celestial Plum Blossom just in case someone asked about Mount Hua’s Qi inside my body.

Of course, it was just honorary and that wasn’t the reason the Sword Queen showed interest in me.

As I snorted…

“Thank you for complying with my stubbornness.”

The Sword Queen started to conclude the conversation as if this exam was over.

“…Did I pass?”

“Of course you did. It would make no sense if you failed.”

I felt a bit better after I heard that I passed.

Well, I would’ve blown my top off if she wasn’t satisfied after all of this.

After that, the surroundings fell silent for a moment.

She was about to retrieve her sword and return it, but I simply stood still without retrieving my Qi.

Finding my behavior strange, the Sword Queen asked me a question.

“What’s the matter?”

I didn’t reply.

I guess she found it pretty strange that still hadn’t retrieved the marble on my palm.

I then spoke up.

“Didn’t I tell you earlier?”

“Hmm?”

“That I would trust you to take responsibility.”

“Y-You, what do you… mean by that?”

Hearing my words, the Sword Queen tilted her head in confusion, and then, her eyes opened wide after realizing what I meant.

She was more shocked than when I used this technique.

The Sword Queen was probably clueless about my nasty personality and didn’t know that I was one to hold a grudge.

The situation had already made me annoyed and it made me feel like I had become a source of entertainment. I would die of anger if I just returned.

And because of that, it wasn’t time for me to go back yet.

“Surely not… child.”

“You may have forced me to show this technique, but I’m not capable of retrieving it yet.”

That was obviously a lie.

I could get rid of it if I wanted to, but I had no intention of doing so.

“Wait…!”

“Please take the responsibility.”

As I watched the Sword Queen hastily charge her Qi…

Clench.

I clenched my fist.

And then…

Swooosh!

Extreme heat surged from my body.

Whoooosh–!

******************The next day.

If the first day was allocated for the blood relatives of clans, the second day was for the Young Prodigies from the various Sects.

Because everyone had gathered together to arrive in time.

“What do you mean by that?”

While Yung Pung and his Seniors were climbing up to the mountain, he heard some rather strange news.

“What do you mean the exam is delayed?”

The exam for blood relatives which should’ve ended by yesterday, was delayed by a day.

How was that possible?

After all, they couldn’t afford to delay an exam organized by the Murim Alliance.

Yet, they told him that the exam would either take place the next day or the day after.

“…It can’t be helped. Something big happened last night.”

The Sword Queen who delivered this message, seemed really tired for some reason.

Almost as if she was completely exhausted.

Just what happened?

Yung Pung was unable to understand.

Insisting on becoming an instructor was one thing, but what was happening right now made no sense.

Just the entrance exam got her exhausted?

The powerful Sword Queen who was still out of his reach, was that exhausted after a single day.

Moreover, it didn’t seem like she was just mentally exhausted, but physically as well, which made it harder to believe.

However…

“…Huh…?”

“What is this?”

“What happened here?”

Only after Yung Pung arrived at the place where the exam took place, he understood the reason for her exhaustion.

It seemed like this was the problem.

“…Wow.”

Seeing the sight before him, Yung Pung exclaimed unconsciously.

“Did a meteor fall here or something…?”

At the original location of the exam, was a giant crater of at least 30 meters in radius, as if something exploded there.