Three months.
If one thought it was a lot, it was a lot, but for Seol-Hwi who was preparing for the test, it was short.
Two hundred thousand books.
He wondered if it was even possible for people to memorize this much and even understand them. It was so absurd that he was breaking into laughter.
“But the Earth Demon knows a lot of things… he wrote all these?”
Looking at the bookshelf, he was stunned.
It was packed with books of martial arts, and the fact that they were classified and organized meant that he had to be very obsessive so…
When he passed the test in the past, he never thought that he would have to read the books.
Tuk. Tuk.
“It isn’t something a human can do.”
Looking at the vast collection of books, Seol-Hwi felt complex.
He knew that being the Heavenly Killing Star meant he was someone with exceptional abilities, but even so what experience did he have to accumulate to have such knowledge in his head?
Looking at the books piled up, he could not just see martial arts, but astronomy, painting, poetry, and calligraphy.
And there were two hundred thousand copies.
In a period of three months, to read this large amount of books and understand it all was…
“Impossible?”
Seol-Hwi made a cool decision.
Even if he picked and read a martial arts book, he would not be able to understand everything. What was more, painting and calligraphy, and more of it required deep understanding.
It was impossible by all means.
“Now, come…”
Come to think of it, there was a way this was possible.
System.
“If it is to memorize… there is no reason not to use the system.”
He had a decisive reason for not using the old system. That was because he learned martial arts only for strength, and after reaching Supreme Demon, he lost his way.
It was not something he realized by himself, so he could not set the direction of how strong to be.
So he decided to not do the same thing again. The way the others went, he did not want to just copy martial arts, he wanted to pioneer them.
But now that he thought about it, if he knew a lot of martial arts, would it not be easier to find a way on his own?
Rather, it would be better.
Would it not be possible to understand the numerous origins and find the best method or training method for the self?
“Let’s try it. Because there is no other way.”
Seol-Hwi made up his mind and began to read the books again.
He touched it thinking that there might be a book which he could read at once.
“In the past, he could have tried it…”
But he had not seen much change.
In the past rounds, specific martial arts books glowed and such, but right now he could not see such a thing.
I am sure there is a way…
Seol-Hwi was worried.
With a system which can learn the opponent’s martial arts by looking at it, then, should it not be possible to have all books in the system?
Then.
In an instant, he thought of something.
So he grabbed a book and skimmed through it. He did not understand it, but he just read through it, and as soon as he finished reading the chapter—
<Confirmed the contents of the Chest Cartilage Treatment.>
“…!”
Seol-Hwi’s face brightened at the words which floated in front of his eyes.
<In the case of the medicine, in the early stages if blood comes out, if you block the point near the cartilage well, then the blood will stop. When the muscles get cut off or various different veins are pushing blood too much, a holy gold powder is placed to block it and stop the blood flow…>
And a lot of information came into his head at once.
The treatment. Seol-Hwi checked the title of the book in his hand. It was a note of a physician on how to treat a heavily damaged body caused by swords.
“For real…”
Seol-Hwi put on a puzzled expression. The ability to memorize everything by skimming through the contents, it was another discovery of the tremendous power the system provided.
“I don’t know.”
However, Seol-Hwi was not happy. Rather he was afraid of this.
“Is this a gift or a curse…”
When he began to read the books in earnest, he could skim through the books, and he could get through around 300 of them in just two hours
If he just glanced through them, all of its contents would fit in his head, but the speed was fast and he was not comfortable about this. First of all, it was not all in because it was a book.
Some of the books were less than 10 pages long and some did not even have titles written on them. Mainly they seemed to be spells, stuff about land or such or other things that were related. After that, Seol-Hwi began to read in earnest.
Even if he could understand 2,000 books, he still had 200,000 books to read. He had to read more than nine poems, and then two other books before sleeping and repeat the same for three months.
“Ugh!”
Finally he succeeded in going through all the books and a vast wealth of knowledge was now within his head.
“Does Earth Demon keep so much information in his head?”
Seol-Hwi could only exclaim in admiration. There was literally nothing in this place that was missing.
From fields like normal tests, to the structure of buildings to tea and alcohol. There were books about which month a baby would be born, when, and why they cry.
“Perhaps because he is the Heavenly Killing Star.”
It seemed like he could understand why the Earth Demon was so absorbed into learning things.
The number of books related to martial arts were 50,000 alone.
In it, there were not just about innate skills, but martial arts and their robes, and such.
Why was he obsessed with martial arts? Would not all of this be the result to overcome his fate?
Even after he did all this…. he couldn’t find a way.
Contrary to his present form of acceptance to his fate, it seemed like the man had done all he could to overturn it.
Because his will to live was clearly seen in the martial arts.
“No matter how much it is, the martial arts is a world where blood is spilled…”
Three hundred years ago, there was a superhuman warrior named the Blood Demon in Kangho.
And the martial arts of theirs was to gain strength by burning innate energy. Knowing that it was an extremely risky martial art, and seeing how the Earth Demon even researched it, the heart of the man could be felt.
It was the will to overcome this curse of heaven.
“So many martial arts related to Buddhism and their principle of the flow of energy and time…”
There were other martial arts found in the books that were unknown ones. In the case of the Bright Daylight Arts, it was a unique energy attack which can be performed by reciting something.
It was a martial art that was almost like sorcery but the Earth Demon had even that.
“But he gave up in the end…”
However, even after mastering all these martial arts, he was still the same. The martial arts compiled by the best warriors of the past were all meaningless to him.
In the actual history, the Earth Demon cannot overcome the First and Second disciple.
“But it could have been some help though.”
Considering that he was able to extend life past sixteen years, he must have no income. Seol-Hwi did not go deep into this. There were too many books which would showcase the Earth Demon’s suffering.
“Well, I don’t think the test will be easy…?”
After finishing the memorization process, Seol-Hwi pondered on it again. The first test was difficult. That meant this one would be too.
It was difficult to overcome simply by the ability of the system.
“Telling me to memorize it isn’t the answer to it.”
Seol-Hwi recalled the memory of meeting the Earth Demon. At that time, the Earth Demon questioned himself about how he became strong.
At the time, he said he was a disciple of Chun Mi-ryeo. Come to think of it, the question did not seem to end there.
200,000 books in three months.
Passing this test made him think about what he will have to face again. He cannot be wrong. Because it would mean he would lose.
“Let’s think about it. There are still a few days and there is time.”
Seol-Hwi sat down in one place and began to cultivate. Sometimes, when it was hard to find an answer, meditation helps.
He said to himself.
No matter what difficult questions he will be asked, he will pass the test.
On the day of the test—
Seol-Hwi was able to see quite a few people close to the Earth Demon that day.
Eight people with their faces covered in masks and eyes exposed. Even if he had not met them, they were people he would see again.
Secret warrior!
Even though everyone was wearing masks, Seol-Hwi was convinced.
Warriors who were invited as warriors. And the people seemed to have a similar appearance as in the past.
Everyone was doing their own thing, and it seemed like the Earth Demon had specially called them for the test.
“Seol-Hwi. This is the second test to become a secret warrior. You will be asked a total of ten questions and you will answer them right away. But, the number of right answers doesn’t determine if you pass, so just do your best.”
Chairs were placed around a large table prepared in advance, and the masked men and the Earth Demon took their seats.
And the middle aged man who was now speaking the rules was a person he had seen before.
“In addition, this test is only allowed now, so if you find it difficult to answer or don’t remember it, you can open the book if you want. However, because you will be given time, the question cannot be counted as correct.”
“I understand.”
Seol-Hwi calmly replied.
As the atmosphere calmed down, the Earth Demon looked at the masked man on the side, and at his gaze, the masked man opened his mouth.
“I would like to ask you about the blood flow on the body. Will you answer?”
It was decided to make this quick.
“I will answer.”
“…”
As if he knew the scope of this question, the man looked shocked at the Earth Demon and then opened his mouth.
“Meridian Flow Loss?”
“Are you asking about the source of it or what the book says?”
Seol-Hwi asked, and this was because the approach of this was different in two books.
“It is to ask for the source.”
As expected, the man was aiming for the trap. However, that level was not difficult for Seol-Hwi.
“I will answer. The meridian flow refers to the flow of the meridian in the order of numbers. And as there are 12 in the body, they are known as the 12 Meridians. This is separately called the Twelve, and all have their own point to be opened. It refers to the flow until the last meridian gets opened. And along with that, there are 22 blood vessels on both sides and the flow is called Insi, and when the meridian point gets touched by them it would help when used later. In this way, each meridian and vessel has a name of its own, Paein, Daemyo, Weijin, Bisa, Simoh, Somi, Bangshin, Shinwoo, Shimsul, Samhae, Damja, Kanjeok, Bisan. And the eight of them are called the Energy Eight Meridian.”
“…!”
“…!”
The eyes of the secret warrior who asked the question showed his shock. Aside from just answering this, which speaks of flow, he spoke of details.
What Seol-Hwi said now meant he truly understood the concept.
In particular, the order of meridians in the body is a recitation of understanding of the meridians spoken in the Shaolin Sect, not the Demonic Sect.
Because even the origins of this thought could be different from Demonic Sect’s view.
“I ask this time.”
Another masked man raised his hand. Before the puzzled examiner could speak, he asked,
“I will ask about Wang Tong’s descendant, Wang Bal, and a poet in the Tang dynasty. Will you take it?”
Poetry.
Following martial arts came poetry.
“Yes.”
Even so, Seol-Hwi nodded. The distinctive experience looked like that of confidence. And—
“I will take it.”
There was nothing to be afraid of.