Chapter 9 – Only One Answer

Chapter 9 – Only One Answer

Wherever my gaze landed, martial arts secret manuals were neatly displayed.

As I thought of this test as an opportunity, my heart began to flutter. Since wuxia, by definition, starts with powerful martial arts, being able to learn the profound martial studies representing the Tang Clan would be a great help to me.

“Well, I suppose this is an opportunity in its own way.”

Of course, I did not start this crazy act without something to rely on.

Even in my ill-fated past life, there was only one thing I could boast about. It was that my memory was exceptionally better than others.

In my past life, I had a good memory. Adding a slight exaggeration, it was not an overstatement to say that I remembered most of the moments I had lived.

I went around memorizing not only textbooks for all subjects but also workbooks and answer sheets. Thanks to barely forgetting anything I saw once, I was even called a walking search engine.

Furthermore, what was one of the natural blessings of this current body, the Heavenly Martial Body? It was none other than outstanding comprehension.

In short, it meant my brain rotated incredibly fast.

Since I, who was already confident in memorization, even benefited from my constitution, I could raise the 1/300 probability to a 300/300 probability.

‘This is more fun than I thought.’

Thus, starting with the books of the Ten Thousand Poisons Hall, I began to read all the books of the Martial Hidden Hall and the Craftsmanship Hall in turn.

Not all the martial studies of the Sichuan Tang Clan were contained in this library.

However, it was more than enough for the current me. From basic martial arts that could be called the foundation, to high-level martial arts that were worthy of being called divine techniques and absolute arts.

Rustle.

Furthermore, mysteriously, the more I read the secret manuals in the library, the more I felt my speed increasing.

Was it not that the letters on the paper were heard and understood like a language, like a picture?

Although I did not want to admit it, it seemed I had benefited from Tang Hae-soo's hellish training.

‘It is not just about memorizing the text and oral formulas; it feels as if I am looking at it with my own eyes.’

Before I knew it, I fell endlessly into the new world of martial studies, to the point of not even feeling the flow of time.

How much time had passed like that?

When I finally closed the pages of the last book in my hand,

“Oh, my back…”

A full week had passed.

***

“Shall I head out now?”

I stood up from my seat, stretching my stiff body.

Perhaps because I had focused so much, even though eating a few Fasting Pills was all I did, I did not feel any hunger, and instead my head felt clear.

‘I had my doubts, but this actually works.’

Perhaps thanks to my changed constitution, even without trying to memorize blindly, the information was naturally imprinted and neatly organized in my head.

Since the volume was vast, I had not yet fully comprehended all the deep essences contained within it. I had merely grasped the basic principles of how a single martial study is operated and what kind of movements and power it possesses. However, those insights were by no means shallow, so if training were added, mastering it would also be smooth.

Before heading outside, I took one last look around the library and muttered to myself.

‘Sigh… If my constitution hadn't changed by good fortune, I would have just taken out the most famous one.’

To be honest, at first, I thought that if I read to some extent, I would be able to find the answer within.

However, even after memorizing all the secret manuals in the library, I could not tell which secret manual was the answer to this test. Those specialized in attack, those for defense, medicines to cure illnesses, and poisons to kill people. Although their types and danger levels varied wildly, none of them were anything but precious things that must not be left out.

If I hadn't memorized them all, it was obvious that I would have ended up in closed-door cultivation. Because there was no way I had the confidence to choose just one book.

I breathed a sigh of relief and placed my hand on the doorknob.

And at the very moment I was about to open the door to end the test,

‘…Huh?’

A strange sense of incongruity stealthily reared its head.

Rattle.

Something was strange.

I stopped my hand, which was about to open the door, to find out the identity of this strange incongruity, and recalled the very beginning of the test.

– There are hundreds of secret manuals selected by each hall in this library. Finding the single secret manual that is transmitted as the most important among them is the test you will take.

The voice of Tang Hwa-seon, who had issued the test, came to mind.

‘What is it? What on earth is strange? Since I memorized all three hundred books assuming they were the answers, it shouldn't matter which one is the answer.’

Even looking back, the sense of incongruity I felt now could not be explained.

It was then.

“…Ah.”

A certain fact suddenly crossed my mind, having found three hundred answers.

“……Isn't this only possible for me?”

Upon realizing that fact, a short groan escaped.

All assumptions were wrong.

This test I took was a qualification test to become a martial artist of the Tang Clan. In other words, it was a test that every martial artist, including the rising stars, had gone through once.

‘There is no way a test is something impossible for everyone. It was said that although the types of secret manuals are different, even the martial artists of the branch lineages take a similar kind of test.’

The number of martial artists belonging to the Tang Clan was more than several hundred, even just glancing at the Martial Hidden Hall.

Of course, they wouldn't even be able to easily attempt such a crazy thing, but at the very least, unless they had the same constitution, it would be close to impossible.

If so, there was only one thing that could be expected.

‘There is a more definite, unquestionable… single answer.’

At first, I thought that I was just unable to find the answer. However, the fact that I could not find the answer even after memorizing all the secret manuals meant that, in the end, it was impossible to select just one book.

As I learned the secret manuals, that fact became clearer. There was nothing that was unnecessary, and nothing that was less important.

A clear answer that must be found under unclear conditions. If so, at least that answer was not here.

Having thought that far, I slowly examined the library again.

Inside the library, illuminated by dim lamps.

The area near the entrance had wooden flooring, but the central area where the bookshelves were located had a solid stone floor supporting the weight.

Above it, the bookshelves divided into three areas were positioned slightly higher than an adult man's eye level.

‘Could it be?’

Only then did I realize the identity of the strange incongruity that I had faintly felt.

‘This is it. I wondered why it was split into three places…’

In the first place, before the Sichuan Tang Clan was a martial organization or a sect, it was a single family.

This meant that the most important thing here was the family of the 'Sichuan Tang Clan' bound by blood, not a single hall to which one belonged. Just as individual family members gather to form a single family.

However, how was it inside this library?

Bookshelves that were clearly divided enough to be distinguished by the color of each hall. While a martial artist of the Tang Clan would naturally learn all the secret manuals in common, only inside this library did they appear divided, as if making different assertions.

‘I should start from here.’

I knew something was odd.

Having organized my thoughts, I recalled all the books related to mechanism formations and formation arts among the secret manuals of the Craftsmanship Hall in my head. It was to find the answer invisible to the eye.

Recalling that information in detail and examining my surroundings, only then did I notice that this library itself was a single test sheet.

‘First, the three divided areas. Next is… the floor? Was that pattern originally there?’

Standing with my back to the entrance, I stared at the lines tracing across the floor as if possessed.

On the central stone floor, there were lines carved like intaglios, which were so shallow that unless one looked closely, they would just think of it as a pattern and pass by.

‘Seeing that the intervals are constant, it is not a naturally occurring pattern. If so…’

As I walked forward, tracing the line originating from the entrance with my hand, that line first reached the bookshelf of the Ten Thousand Poisons Hall. The line passing the bookshelf did not break, continuing to the bookshelf of the Craftsmanship Hall, and soon passing the bookshelf of the Martial Hidden Hall.

The line that had completed one full circulation did not stop and stretched toward the center. And when it finally arrived at the center of the library and the middle of the three areas, the character 'Tang' , meaning the Sichuan Tang Clan, clearly revealed itself.

“Why did I miss this?”

One sees as much as one knows.

Only after reading all the secret manuals inside did I learn that not a single one could be left out. Thus, it was natural that none of these entered my sight at first.

Without the Craftsmanship Hall, the Martial Hidden Hall cannot exist. Similarly, without the Ten Thousand Poisons Hall, the strength of the Martial Hidden Hall weakens. If the Martial Hidden Hall weakens, it naturally cannot protect the Craftsmanship Hall and the Ten Thousand Poisons Hall.

Everything exists for one another.

That is how they become one.

Once I realized the most basic fact and the source of the Sichuan Tang Clan, the rest followed like flowing water.

Creak. Thud.

I began to change the positions of the bookshelves placed on the line.

The bookshelf of the Craftsmanship Hall to the Martial Hidden Hall, the bookshelf of the Martial Hidden Hall to the Ten Thousand Poisons Hall, and naturally, the bookshelf of the Ten Thousand Poisons Hall to the position where the Craftsmanship Hall was.

‘…This was a test far more difficult than expected.’

Half-mixed with relief that I had recalled it now, and half-mixed with a chilling feeling of what would have happened if I hadn't passed, I muttered to myself.

At that moment.

A glint suddenly rose from the floor.

“……!!”

The faint engraved lines began to shine one by one.

I widened my eyes and carefully took in that sight.

Like grains of sand sparkling in the sunlight, those faint lines were reflecting the light and glittering.

“Wow…”

It was a scene so astonishing that an exclamation escaped my mouth before I knew it.

A shining path.

I slowly moved my steps along the light embroidering the floor.

The place reached by the light that had arrived after connecting everything starting from the entrance.

Finally, the character 'Tang' in the center glittered vividly.

‘So this was how it connected.’

The one who created this formation using mechanisms must be the Craftsmanship Hall.

But the ones who carved the lines that would never be erased onto this hard floor were the martial artists of the Martial Hidden Hall.

“And if my guess is correct…”

Without hesitation, I bit my thumb to draw blood and let it drop onto the character in the center.

Poison flows in the bloodline of the Sichuan Tang Clan.

This was the final piece of the puzzle I had found.

Ruuuumble!

Then, as if to prove my guess correct, the ground began to shake with a loud noise.

“…!”

Grrrt. Creak!

Finally, as the vibrating floor opened as if splitting apart, a small space between it was revealed.

Gulp.

The height of the stepped space was roughly about two meters.

I swallowed hard and leaped down into it.

The interior was solidly and simply arranged like a secret room, seemingly to protect that object.

A chest emitting a faint blue light.

“…Found it.”

I curled the corners of my mouth, grinning, and picked up the chest placed in the center.

I wanted to open the chest quickly and find out the single answer inside.

“Huh?”

However, contrary to my expectations, the dark blue chest had no opening lid or latch, and was completely covered in detailed patterns.

“Ah, damn, it's that thing.”

Before long, realizing the identity of the chest in my hand, I sighed in annoyance.

The geometric patterns surrounding the chest.

At first glance, one might think it was a decorative pattern, but I knew what it was.

“…Why is a puzzle box showing up here?”

Something also called a secret box. It is a box that can only be opened by sliding or pulling the carved patterns and faces in a designated way, solving it like a puzzle.

The method of sliding and pulling itself is not difficult.

But if you have to repeat that hundreds of times and even follow the sequence, that's a different story. In the end, unless you are the person who made it, it meant you would have to make thousands or tens of thousands of attempts.

“Argh, seriously, this is just too much!”

Unable to hold back, I was about to vent my anger and throw the chest in my hand, when the four words 'closed-door cultivation' flashed through my mind.

Venting anger is venting anger, but there must be something precious inside this…

Regaining my composure in an instant, I carefully held the chest and scrambled up. Making a quick compromise with reality was also one of my rare merits…

Was the effort put in too great to ruin it by failing to control my temper?

Biting my lip, I calmed myself down and began to slide the patterns of the chest one by one.

‘Let's do this, yeah. If I keep at it, I'll see the answer.’

Without knowing how what was inside this would change my destiny.