Chapter 75: Four Paths of Power

The Iron Fist had grown solid.

‘I just need to highlight their characteristics now.’

The martial arts I taught had branched into four directions.

Each group developed their own unique traits, becoming effective weapons in their own right.

“Sian, your group has a talent for assassination, so I will teach you that.”

“Yes!”

“Learn it well. Once you master this, your movements will become completely invisible.”

Sian’s squad focused on agility.

I passed down the stealth techniques used by Muyoung, the subordinate who had followed me in my past life.

[To Gajei:

I’ve made these new ones for you, so use them well. These are tools that become even harder when you infuse your soulforce into them.

Thank you!]

Simply providing new tools for body tempering was enough for them.

They were the type to grow stronger through extreme training amidst pain, after all.

I gave them training tools that were capable of piercing even their toughened hides.

‘People would think these are torture devices if they saw them.’

To anyone else, they looked like terrifying weapons, but for Gajei’s squad, they were excellent training tools.

Then, to Birence’s side:

“Is there nothing for us?”

“I’ll be teaching you a footwork technique that suits you.”

“Won’t it slow us down if we have to learn something new?”

“This is the right fit for you. Trust me and follow along.”

I gifted them a footwork technique that could compensate for their lack of mobility.

The Immovable Wind and Cloud Footwork.

It was a martial art perfectly suited for those who practiced external arts and used their sturdy bodies as weapons.

“Listen well. Being light isn’t the only way to be fast. Even with weight, there is a way to reach your destination in a single move.”

“That sounds like some high-quality nonsense, but…”

“Just listen.”

“Gah… Yes.”

***

After shutting down Birence, who had grown comfortable enough to talk back, I was able to hammer the lesson home.

‘He looks just like my brother.’

Birence, who began picking up the footwork quickly, showed movements similar to my older brother, the former head of the Iron Blacksmith Sect.

He seemed slow, but he had a way of piercing an enemy’s opening with a single clever maneuver.

“Hehe. Then I should also…”

“You need to get hit first to get stronger.”

“Gah… Dammit.”

Thwack!

Of course, I gave Hoden the most attention.

For him, who practiced the War Sword, the best way to grow stronger was through endless sparring with a powerful opponent.

“Ambush him! Now’s your chance!”

“Waaaaah!”

His squad members, who were the spitting image of Hoden, were completing their mastery of the War Sword through all sorts of underhanded tactics.

“Right! That’s how you should come at me! There’s an opening in your side!”

“Ugh! I-I got him! You punks, I told you to jump him!”

“We’re coming… Argh!”

“You’re all full of openings.”

Thwack!

Since they were sparring against someone as strong as me, they might not realize it, but they were definitely getting stronger.

No, they had already become strong.

If I utilized all of them, they were equivalent to the combat power of a decent specialized unit.

They were warriors being forged in the basement solely for my sake.

‘Very good.’

They were loyal subjects whose lives were in my hands.

This place was growing rapidly.

Everything was being resolved.

‘Everything is going exactly as I wanted.’

However, a difficult problem had surfaced for me as well.

It was a situation I never expected to encounter, neither in my past life nor this one.

“So, what we call soulforce is essentially utilizing what exists in the atmosphere. The method of internalizing this into your own body is the cultivation heart law…”

I taught her step-by-step, as if instructing a young child.

I’m embarrassed to say it myself, but I thought I had a talent for teaching others.

However…

“…I still find it hard to understand.”

“Hmm. Even this?”

“Yes! Is cultivation always this difficult?”

Manar was the exception.

She couldn’t understand the very concept of a cultivation law.

Or perhaps, she was refusing to understand it.

In exchange for her natural affinity, I had decided to teach her a divine technique, but she only felt overwhelmed.

‘I thought it would be easier for her than others.’

In the case of my family members, they already knew the existing Auran Yeongongbeop that had been passed down.

It wasn’t like they were blank slates; there was already something drawn on them.

Because of that, I thought they would find it difficult even if I handed them an improved cultivation law.

But quite the opposite happened.

Far from finding it difficult, they adapted quickly.

Even in the case of my older brother, who had the most trouble, he managed to melt the martial arts into his own after a single realization.

‘I thought I was doing it right…’

Yet Manar, who knew absolutely nothing about the Aura cultivation laws and was a complete blank slate, was struggling with the heart law!

“Exactly which part do you not understand?”

“All of it.”

“Hmm… Then how do you obtain the spirit power to summon spirits? Do you not even meditate?”

‘How on earth did she summon spirits?’

“Uh… It just increases when I play with them.”

“What?”

“In the beginning, my master guided me. After that, I just found that it increased as I summoned them and played together.”

“…”

This was crazy.

Her power to command spirits increased just by playing?

I hadn’t even considered this possibility.

‘Wasn’t this the same as someone saying they became rank one in the whole school by playing while solving problems?’

‘The early Murim was like that, though…’

The early Murim, during the time I lived as Jegal Hyeon, had been similar.

Back then, in what people called the Primitive Murim, modern concepts like heart laws and martial arts hadn’t been firmly established.

People just struck, stretched, and swung their bodies countless times.

From that, a tiny seed of energy would be obtained.

They built their power by grinding and polishing that seed.

It wasn’t built through refined methods.

Individual experience naturally caused the energy to sprout.

‘There was a lot of trial and error.’

Because of that, all sorts of methods had appeared.

Someone who gained internal energy by thrusting their fist like a madman would make their disciples thrust their fists like madmen too.

It was a relief if they gained energy that way, but…

‘Most of them ended up crippled.’

Teaching methods that weren’t systematized and relied only on experience were always prone to problems.

Even if they did the exact same thing as their master, some would gain internal power while others failed and ruined their bodies.

Many sought power, but few could attain it.

That was the state of the early Murim that martial artists were ashamed to speak of.

And Manar was exactly in that state.

‘Luckily… her innate natural affinity prevented any problems from arising.’

It was a method that completely lacked a system.

“Do all spirit summoners learn like that?”

“Yes! My master said so.”

“…What about people other than your master?”

“I happened to see a few others, and they were all similar.”

“Wow…”

There were few spirit summoners to begin with.

If several of them were like that, it meant almost everyone was.

I wondered why there was a saying that spirit summoners grew stronger as they aged, and this was the reason.

The longer they played with spirits, the more their spirit power increased!

Dammit!

They played for a long time, so of course they became close!

‘I’ll have to completely rework the plan…’

I thought I could teach her easily because she handled spirit power.

I thought I could just use her in exchange for making her stronger.

I thought I had acquired a good—no, a talented asset.

‘It feels like the contract terms have changed.’

I thought it was a deal in my favor, but it wasn’t necessarily so.

‘Once I’m done teaching her…’

I would make sure to get my money’s worth.

Thinking that, I braced myself and began the lesson again.

“This thing called a cultivation law is for the sake of efficiency.”

“Efficiency? Is that really necessary?”

“Yes. Now, this efficiency means…”

I lowered the level drastically, as if teaching a toddler rather than a child.

There was no need to even go to the level of Murim.

I had to make her understand the basic concepts of this world first.

My older sister understood ten things when I taught her one… Sigh.

Only then did she begin to understand little by little.

“Oh. I think I get it now. So, if I gather this spirit power into one place, it’s much easier to use, right?”

“…That’s it.”

One step at a time, starting from crawling.

‘How long did I spend teaching her?’

“Then, the reason we circulate the cultivation law for this is… Huh?”

“Hmm?”

By the time the sun, which had been high in the sky, began to set in the west.

“Young Master!”

“Dean? What is it?”

Dean was approaching hurriedly, bringing two more maids with her.

As my status rose, I was assigned two more dedicated servants.

In a sense, Dean now had subordinates of her own.

She was usually one to maintain her dignity in front of the younger girls, but right now, she looked quite urgent.

“The Count is looking for you urgently.”

‘What could it be?’

Lately, it was rare for my father to call for me.

While I was handling the overall affairs of the territory, my father had been using his newfound leisure time to scout people from among the veteran knights.

He was looking for those who were loyal and trustworthy regardless of what other nobles did—those who had always been by his side on the battlefield.

Among them, he was choosing those who would prioritize the Count’s House over anyone else, regardless of their talent.

‘He’s choosing who to pass the techniques to.’

It was the same in Murim.

Setting talent aside, martial arts weren’t easily passed down unless the person was trustworthy.

My father was essentially doing that work.

He wanted to prioritize passing the martial arts to those who would always be on our side.

Eventually, it would spread to the entire Knight Order, but he was making sure to handle things properly beforehand.

By teaching them the cultivation laws, the Knight Order would definitely become stronger.

‘Loyalty will rise as well.’

My father had been busy for quite a while working toward that.

But for such a father to call me… it was clear that something unexpected had happened.

“The messenger from the capital must have brought something.”

A messenger had arrived from the capital not long ago.

There seemed to be a significant reason for sending a physical messenger rather than using communication magic.

‘The territory has changed a lot, after all.’

Our family’s territory was one of the places the central government paid special attention to.

With the border to the west and monsters overflowing to the north, if this place were breached, the entire kingdom could be in danger.

‘The petty kingdom doesn’t provide defense and financial support for nothing.’

Thus, the capital provided various conveniences for our Count’s territory.

They even took care of us separately even if we didn’t show up at royal events.

For my father, who had little greed for power, that was enough.

In such a situation, a royal messenger had arrived.

“Tell my father that I have arrived.”

“Yes, sir!”

Boom. Boom.

“Let him in.”

The door to my father’s room opened.

‘Let’s see what he looks like.’

The messenger I expected wasn’t inside.

He seemed to have already departed.

Instead, other people were occupying my father’s room.

“Brother? And Master, too?”

The two of them, who had gone to stop the monster uprising in the North during the winter, were in the room.

I thought they would return soon, but I didn’t know it would be today.

“Haha. It’s been a long time.”

“It’s been a while, little brother.”

It was clear they had both been at the forefront of the monster subjugation.

The armor my brother wore was full of spots that hadn’t been repaired yet.

Some parts were even dented.

‘He even got a scar. Mother will freak out if she finds out.’

Seeing the long scar on his forearm, the fighting must have been quite fierce.

The mana of the Master, who had moved to assist my brother, was also still rough and fierce.

It was an aura befitting a War Mage, but it was also an energy he usually didn’t reveal.

Still, far from weakening, both of their energies had grown stronger.

In particular, my brother must have gained some kind of realization on the battlefield.

His level had risen again.

“How did you return so quickly?”

“We pushed ourselves. It couldn’t be helped.”

“We’ve been traveling since we heard the royal messenger had departed. It took quite a while.”

“Hmm…”

‘What on earth was happening for them to act like this?’

It was a complete mystery.