Martial Arts

Martial arts at its core, is an expression of movement.

Some martial arts are akin to drawing paintings with their movements, others are like a perfectly coriographed dance with just one's body. Some are like a boxing match that leaves the crowd on the edge of their seats for the whole match. Regardless of how you describe it, martial arts is an expression of movement.

Some are simple, some are complex, some are both and some are neither.

Some have purpose, some are empty, some are beautiful and peaceful while others are ugly and chaotic. But such is maratial arts.

The martial arts I created in the future, I made them with the purpose of finding myself. My Silver Breath arts were made during a time where my mind was lost, the millennia I had spent living had driven me mad.

Everyone I would come to care about would die before me, civilizations grew and fell before my eyes and lives were lost for such petty things like bloodlines and resources.

I even watched the Jianghu slowly burn over the span of my life, until I was the only one left who remembered what once was. I wandered the world seemlessly while my mind was lost, but nothing changed.

But then my actions changed, instead of wandering the world my body stayed in one spot. For a week I stood still, with no food or water to speak of, only surviving because of Inedia.

But during that week my mind became crystal clear, and soon after that week had passed I performed the Silver Breath arts physically for the first time. The Silver Breath arts is the reflection of who I was, so my new martial arts must be a reflection of who I need to be.

Palm arts are very different from Blade arts, Palm arts mainly involve punches, palm strikes, stabs, and the occasional slash.

However, Blade arts are the exact opposite, primarily using slashes with the occasional stab move. If I wanted to create a new martial art to identify who I will be in the future, I would first need to master the blade and achieve harmony with it.

But such a feat is not so easily acomplished, as even the greatest masters can take years to master a weapon and achieve harmony with it.

But there is something weird with this blade, when I try to inject my qi into it to form a Blade Force, the dragon horn blade rejects it, almost as if it has a mind of its own. But maybe I didn't need to use Blade Force with this specific blade, as the sharpness and durability this blade showed was better than even the swords of the future.

In the future, the worth of a sword was determined by what it could cut through, with the best swords being able to cut through five inches of solid steel.

But if I had to guess, I'd say this blade could easily cut through seven inches, and that's on the low end. But what made this blade truly special was that it wasn't made from metal, so it wouldn't rust if blood or other materials stayed on it for prolonged amounts of time.

Heiik!

With each slash of my blade I stook a step forward, prepping my next swing as my sweat dripped from every pore of my face. Countless fallen trees laid around me, as they were in the way of my attacks.

I had been practicing every type of slash I could think of for the past hour, however, this had left a hefty toll on my body, as every time I swung the blade my shoulder quaked in agony.

Despite how much internal energy I used to prevent my muscles from tearing themselves apart while swinging the blade, the sheer amount of practice I was doing would inevitably break down my muscles beyond what my internal energy could prevent.

"Haaah... Damn it..." I sighed out in between my ragged breathing, the hour I had spent training was a drop in a bucket compared to the amount of training I would need to complete if I wanted to make a new ultimate martial art. "I guess that's enough training for today, anything more and my body will take days to recover."

With how much I used my right arm today, I'd have to train my left arm extra hard in order to keep the balance of muscles within my body. I couldn't let my left arm… left arm?

It suddenly it me, in this day and age, martial artists who use their left arms instead of their right are all lower ranked warriors because they have to use different qi circulation techniques while using martial arts.

But if I used my knowledge from the future and my left arm, I could make a martial art that even the masters of the Namgung clan, no, the entire world couldn't react to!

However, just as I switched the dragon horn blade into my left hand, Pyo Yong appeared behind me and bowed before speaking.

"Master, the cultists are on their last lap around the headquarters, what should they do once they've finished?"

I quickly turned to face him and returned the blade to my right hand, "Let them rest and eat for three hours after they finish, then come and get me once those three hours are almost up."

"As you wish, Master." Pyo Yong replied before returning to the Demon Dragon Cult headquarters.

Even though I trusted Pyo Kang and Pyo Yong, I couldn't have them knowing that my new martial arts technique would be used with my left hand. I couldn't afford to let anyone know until the time is right.

I moved the dragon horn blade into my left hand once more and stamped my right foot into the ground in front of me, readying my blade as I did so. It would be hard to master the way of the blade with my left arm, but it is what must be done if I am to bring down the Namgung clan.

With a ferocious spin I swung the dragon horn blade around me, creating a vortex of air the pushed away the scattered leaves around me.

"The Namgung will not succeed, even if I have to sacrifice my chances at ascension to ensure it."