“I understand it now.”
‘This world lacks qi or internal energy.
But that doesn’t mean that the path of martial arts is forever blocked.
Through my will I can reach into what the Martial Record calls the Plane of Soul and bring it back into the lower Plane of Qi also known as the physical world.
Through that I can create my own qi.
Normally I would not be able to do this as my soul is too weak, but the Martial Record has given me some kind of miraculous ability to do it anyway.’
Yousti let out a breath, and felt a weight he didn’t know he ever felt release itself.
‘I feel like there’s so much more behind what the Martial Record revealed but I haven’t become qualified to learn it.
Even just knowing about this Plane of Soul must be a massive boon considering I don’t see any mention of this in the first 7 realms of martial arts.
I only learned this as I had learned enough that my Martial Record had an opportunity to expand my knowledge of Martial Arts.
But now I won’t be able to learn any special martial arts form the martial record for a while.’
Yousti stood up and rubbed his forehead that was sore but rapidly recovering from his headbutt against the tree.
He looked at the tree with a sense of anticipation and a look of curiosity.
He had finally found a method to generate his own internal energy from the Plane of Soul.
It was a bizarre feeling for him, as if he suddenly had two limbs that he had to perfectly align in movement.
But it strangely felt completely natural to him as he kicked the tree once more.
This time with the true martial arts of Murim that applied the movement of the body and internal energy at the same time.
Crack!
The tree collapsed.
His kick had caused it to fold over his leg and finally collapse.
Yousti stared at the tree and his leg.
He looked at the tree, then his leg, then the tree again, then his leg again.
Back and forth until.
“I HAVE ACHIEVED MARTIAL ARTS!!!” Yousti yelled at the sky with clenched fists in triumph.
“Breath.” Yousti quickly calmed himself and began analyzing his own strength.
‘I went straight from being an early third rate master to an early second rate master.
Meaning that I am skilled in using both Martial Arts and Internal Energy methods.
I must be very talented, or the Martial Record causes me to learn super fast.
Either way it’s the same difference.’
~
Yousti had payed his respects to Phaedo’s grave.
Perhaps it was because he finally achieved his dream but he was much more reverent than he probably would have been if he hadn’t.
After that Yousti was truly reinvigorated.
His body, mind, and spirit were in full force as he began travelling the world once more as a wandering martial artist.
Along his travels he would continue to train his martial arts to advance to the next stage.
“Oh No it’s the Silk Spirit! Run!”
Bandits who once terrorized the silk road with ‘protection fees’ or blatant thievery learned to fear Yousti who had become known as the Silk Spirit or the Divine Silk Spirit (丝之神) because he had wandered the silk road killing bandits for a living.
“Thank you for saving me. You must be the Silk Spirit so take this silk.”
Along the way Yousti had become a folk myth that people even prayed to.
The general idea was that you gave silk to the Silk Spirit and you would be free from danger.
Small temples all throughout the east began to be set up to the “Silk Spirit” and people would go there to offer silk.
Yousti couldn’t really deny what people saw when he used his martial arts to completely dominate any bandits he met along the way.
And people kept on insisting on calling him a spirit whenever he saves them so eventually he accepted the title along with the silk.
Eventually Yousti had collected an enourmous amount of silk.
He looked at the pile of just silk textiles and silk clothes that he had in a huge bag he had bought from a city last year.
‘I might be able to create a martial art to manipulate silk.
Yeah I would be like those anime characters who use strings as weapons.’
Yousti had reached late second rate master meaning he could use internal energy and martial arts simultaneously without thinking about it at all.
However he felt that he lacked a proper martial art.
He had learned how to use various polearms, swords, and even his own body as a weapon but he had never felt committed to any of them as a martial artist.
‘In order to become a first rate master I feel that I must properly dedicate myself towards a martial art.
But I don’t know if I want to be a string type of fighter?’
He unwove the fabrics and injected his internal energy into the silk strings as he slowly figured out how to manipulate them.
‘Should I make a yoyo?
I could just put all the weapons I’ve learned at the ends of these strings.
And nothings quite stopping me from still fighting with my own body if I use these strings.’
He closed his eyes and reached into the Martial Record of 14 Realms.
Enough time had passed and enough progress had been made that he could obtain knowledge from it again.
So this time he would use it properly and ask for a martial art that allows for free use of strings and silk.
‘Puppeteering?
No.
Drawing silk from my tear glands!?
Hell no is that even a martial art.
Hmm.
Oh this is interesting, the Silksong a martial art that incorporates weapons and even sound arts.
Yeah this is the best option.’
Yousti opened his eyes as he felt knowledge pour into his brain.
He clutched his head with both hands.
“Ow! My brain!”
“That’s way more than what I bargained for.”
Although the complete knowledge of Silksong had entered his mind he knew that in order to become a first rate master and beyond he would need to train a lot with this new martial art of his.
After finishing all his thoughts over the Silksong he looked back at the huge pile of silk he had in front of him.
He had more silk than most people would ever get of anything in a lifetime in this era and he would keep getting more cause of all those temples dedicated to the Silk Spirit.
Assuming he bothered to retrieve from those temples in the future.
At this predicament Yousti could only wonder aloud.
“How am I going to carry all this silk?”