"If you have the Nameless Ritual Manuscript , it might be possible. No matter how mysterious a language may be, it must still follow certain linguistic rules. If we have enough samples, we can roughly grasp the meaning. I couldn't decipher it before because the Nameless Ritual Manuscript is only a single volume. But if we compare it to the Cheonam Secret Codex, which contains the same strange language, we might be able to figure out what it means."
"I see…"
I nodded slowly, then got straight to the point.
"So you're saying that if I bring you the Nameless Ritual Manuscript, you can translate it?"
"Well… yes, but…"
Master Mangryang, though it was his own suggestion, spoke a bit hesitantly, perhaps realizing just how unreasonable it sounded.
"The Inner Imperial Pavilion is right next to the Great Dragon Hall , which is the Emperor's residence. It's located in the deepest part of the Inner Palace. Could you really steal the Nameless Ritual Manuscript from there?"
"It's possible."
"Hah…"
When I answered without hesitation, Master Mangryang looked stunned. Well, it made sense. What I had just declared was akin to saying I would infiltrate the most heavily guarded place in the empire—the very heart of the imperial palace—and steal a book. I definitely sounded like a lunatic.
But I had a chance of surviving even death itself by using the Cheonam Secret Codex to reverse time. If I planned it right and thought it through, even the Nameless Ritual Manuscript could end up in my hands.
"Wait here a moment."
Master Mangryang, looking conflicted, went into the house. After a while, he came back with a few scrolls and three books. He handed me one of the scrolls.
"Take this."
"What is it?"
"A map of the Inner Palace. The imperial palace is comprised of 99 core halls, and if you count all the additional buildings, there are actually 173. Without this map, you'll never be able to reach the Inner Imperial Pavilion."
I stared at Master Mangryang in disbelief.
"Don't tell me you walked out of the palace with a map of it?"
"I made it myself."
"Still, this is…"
Just possessing something like this could be considered high treason. If the map of the imperial palace were to fall into the hands of foreign enemies, the Emperor and the royal family…
…because it was obvious that escaping would be nearly impossible. Master Mangryang had coolly done something that, if discovered, would have led to immediate beheading and the extermination of nine generations of his family.
But then Master Mangryang said confidently,
"Whatever. In any case, let me continue the explanation."
This guy really lived by his own rules.
Well, that was probably why he had left the imperial palace and was now living as a wandering Taoist.
"And these are three books you must read. The Taeguk Arcane Manual contains basic explanations of formation arts and spell techniques. To better understand it, you'll need to read the Fundamentals of Yi Arts . Lastly, the Thunder Essence Sutra —read it aloud for at least one hour every day. It will awaken vitality in your brain."
"Why do I need to read books about spell techniques?"
"Haah… As I thought, you don't understand,"
Master Mangryang clicked his tongue in disapproval.
"The Outer Palace of the Imperial Palace consists of normal buildings, but the 36 halls of the Inner Palace are constructed using Sixfold Formation Magic and Mystic Gate Tactics. If an intruder enters or is discovered, the astrologers or the Golden Guards will activate the formations. The guards stationed inside will then have overwhelming advantage, able to track and trap the intruder like a rat in a maze. To avoid this, you must understand formation magic and the mystic gates yourself."
"Are these formations really that dangerous?"
Master Mangryang responded with a slightly deflated voice,
"Even you, who tore through my Cloud Mist Formation like water, must not underestimate the formations of the Imperial Palace. They were created by the greatest masters of mystic gate tactics. Even if you had twice your current level of internal energy, you would still be hunted down and killed."
"You'll understand what I mean once you experience them yourself."
With that, Master Mangryang handed me the three books like he was bestowing some sacred relics.
"Once you've gained a sufficient understanding of the Taeguk Manual and the Fundamentals of Yi Arts, come back to me. I'll then explain how to break through the palace's defenses. Don't come back before then."
I frowned.
"This… all seems too complicated."
"Infiltrating the Inner Imperial Pavilion means getting close enough to the Great Dragon Hall to potentially assassinate the Emperor. Of course it's going to be difficult."
"And if I fail and get caught? Then what?"
"Well, we'll deal with that when it happens. As far as the world knows, I'm already dead. I'm confident I can escape on my own."
Only after looking at the three books and the scroll map in my arms did I fully grasp just how absurdly difficult this mission was.
If I had known it would be this hard, I might have taken more time to prepare before coming here.
But now, I decided I needed to completely revise my plan.
"Then maybe it'd be better if you just taught me Mystic Gate Tactics yourself."
At that, Master Mangryang made a face as if to say, Huh?
"Well… this is the most basic of basics. Anyone who's studied the Four Books and Five Classics can read it without much trouble…"
"I've never studied the Four Books and Five Classics. I'm not illiterate, but I only know enough to read standard official documents."
Mangryang looked like he'd been punched in the face. He must have assumed I was someone with a solid scholarly background.
But now that he realized he'd have to teach an ignorant brute who lacked even the fundamentals, he started frowning with his hand on his chin.
"Uh… well, I'm not very good at teaching either…"
"And you think I'm good at learning? If we want to achieve our goals, we'll need to work together."
"…How much Chinese character knowledge do you have?"
After briefly testing my literacy, he let out a despairing sigh.
"Damn it… at this rate, it'll take you at least three years just to properly read the Taeguk Arcane Manual."
"Whatever."
I replied casually.
"Then let's start tomorrow."
I canceled my plan to go to Luoyang.
A new plan had emerged—now I'd study literacy and Mystic Gate Tactics at the same time.
What's three years, anyway?
Time was the one thing I had in abundance. I'd simply keep marching steadily toward my goal.
So I decided to live in Master Mangryang's house for the next three years. Fortunately, there was an annex about ten paces behind his humble cottage.
It seemed he'd made quite a bit of money with fortune-telling and had built the annex in advance, intending to give it to a woman someday.
From the way he talked, he had one woman living in Jinrang Valley and a few more scattered across other regions.
This guy really has a thing for women, huh?
Maybe he left the imperial palace just to sleep around as much as he wanted?
Still, there was no need to provoke my one and only ally with a stupid comment, so I kept my mouth shut.
While living in the annex, I promised to help him with his work from time to time to earn my keep.
"To save the trouble of calling me 'Master Mangryang' all the time, just call me Mangryang from now on."
"Fine by me."
"Then I'll call you Baek-ung. That okay?"
"Sure."
After settling how we'd address each other, our training (or kungfu, as he called it) began the next day.
At first, I had no idea what I was supposed to study. Then, suddenly, Mangryang handed me an insanely thick book.
The title read: "The Ten-Thousand Character Text ".
I looked at him in surprise, startled by the book's sheer thickness. He said:
"Baek-ung, the foundation of all learning is Chinese characters. Starting today, you will thoroughly memorize the Ten-Thousand Character Text."
Ten-Thousand Character Text.
I had seen this book before. Unlike the Thousand Character Classic , which children study as an introduction to literacy, this was used by serious Confucian scholars preparing for the civil service exams. It included a massive vocabulary that students had to memorize word for word.
Even Geummanjae had a copy at home, but I'd only glanced at a couple of pages before letting it gather dust.
"Why are we skipping over the Thousand Character Classic?"
"If you study the Ten-Thousand Character Text, you'll naturally memorize the Thousand Character Classic along the way. Why waste time? Let's hit it hard from the beginning."
"Still, even so… ten thousand characters is a bit much…"
When I trailed off, Mangryang looked at me as if I were saying something ridiculous.
"Ten thousand characters? What are you talking about?"
"Wait, is it actually fewer?"
"It contains thirty thousand characters."
In that moment, I almost screamed You son of a bitch!
No wonder it was as thick as three of my forearms stacked together. For someone like me, who didn't even know five hundred characters properly, the idea of memorizing thirty thousand characters felt like a crushing weight.
"There's no choice. The texts on Mystic Gate Tactics and formation theory are full of ancient expressions and forgotten vocabulary. Unless you're someone like me, who's mastered all the classics, you'll need to treat the material like a foreign language just to interpret it. This isn't optional—it's mandatory."
"Ugh… couldn't you just translate it for me?"
"I'll help, of course. But with the amount of material, I can't possibly go through all of it for you."
It didn't seem like Mangryang was trying to mess with me on purpose. I let out a long, defeated sigh.
"…How many characters do I need to memorize per day?"
"At least a hundred a day. Aside from eating and sleeping, you'll be studying nonstop."
"…Shit."
I couldn't help cursing.
I had barely studied written texts in my entire life—never had a reason to. Now, I had to stare at page after page of characters that made my head spin just by looking at them. Concentrating on this for several hours a day would be nothing short of torture.
Mangryang added:
"Well, I understand it's hard to expect someone who's never studied to suddenly sit still at a desk for hours. So, let's use a little trick: the Thunder Essence Sutra ."
"The Thunder Essence Sutra? That's the one you said enhances brain vitality. Does it really work?"
"It activates your mental wave patterns. It should help with restoring focus and concentration."
And so, my daily routine was set.
Other than eating and sleeping, nearly all of my time was spent memorizing the Ten-Thousand Character Text. I reserved one hour a day for internal energy training. During short breaks, I would recite the Thunder Essence Sutra to recover mental stamina and enhance my concentration.
On paper, it was a flawless study method.
According to Mangryang, if I studied like this, even a complete ignoramus like me could pass the lower level of the civil service exam (Sogwa)—he was confident of it.
I couldn't do it.
By the third day of studying the Ten-Thousand Character Text, I'd hit my limit. I lay on the floor of the empty annex, staring blankly at the ceiling. The sheer volume of study and the intensity of the schedule were no joke. Sitting in front of a desk all day was driving me insane.
When I trained in martial arts, the physical strain helped me forget useless thoughts—but building up the stamina for academic study was another beast entirely.
Now I get how Geummanjae must have felt.
Even if you studied like hell and memorized the entire Ten-Thousand Character Text, passing the civil service exam still wasn't guaranteed. The life of a scholar might look weaker than that of a martial artist, but in truth, they were locked in the most brutal battle of all—one against themselves.
But thinking of Geummanjae rekindled my will.
If I gave up now, lying around moaning instead of pushing through, how would I be any different from that bastard?
A pathetic human being who leeched off his parents, indulged in wine and women, and had no shred of integrity.
The memories of grinding my way through decades of life as a bodyguard, the pain of clawing back from death, and the effort I put in to earn my place among the masters of the millennium flashed before my eyes like a montage.
It had all been a desperate, grueling struggle to reclaim ownership of my life.
I couldn't quit at this level.
I would push forward.
That scream from within reignited my resolve. I clenched my teeth and began reading aloud the characters in the quiet of the annex.
Ten thousand characters or thirty thousand—it didn't matter.
As long as I kept memorizing them, one day I'd have them all.
That thought brought a bit of comfort to my heart.
Six months passed since I began studying.
I truly did nothing but eat, sleep, and study. To memorize just one hundred characters a day, I gave everything I had.
Thanks to my overflowing internal energy, physical exhaustion wasn't a problem. But my concentration did waver at times. Whenever that happened, I recited the Thunder Essence Sutra and entered a meditative clarity. That almost always brought my focus back.
Curious, I once asked Mangryang what exactly the Thunder Essence Sutra was that it had such restorative effects.
His answer was simple:
"It's a Buddhist scripture that's been reworked in Taoist form."
"So it was originally a chant?"
"Most religious chants are like that. They may sound like meaningless murmurs, but they have a direct influence on the mind."
After saying that, Mangryang checked my homework and said:
"Well, you've at least reached the level of a village school student. Let's work on mastering the characters you've memorized."
"And how exactly do you propose we do that?"
"Let's read the Four Books and Three Classics ."
"What? How am I supposed to read something like that…?"
The Four Books and Three Classics are texts that only those with considerable literary training can manage. But Mangryang just smiled faintly and said:
"Baek-ung, do you happen to know how many Chinese characters exist?"
"Of course not."
"Neither do I."
For a moment, I thought this guy was trying to mess with me. But Mangryang answered with perfect composure:
"Chinese characters are the only writing system in the world that's a living set—in other words, anyone can create a new character at any time. Other countries' phonetic scripts rarely add new characters unless new sounds are introduced. But Chinese characters, being logograms, assign meaning to each symbol. So when a new concept or object arises, a new character has to be created."
I had no idea what he was talking about.
So I just shut my mouth and listened quietly.
"That's why no one can say how many Chinese characters there really are. The Ten-Thousand Character Text contains over thirty thousand characters for exactly that reason. It collects all sorts of rare and obscure characters."
Still dazed by the intellectual beatdown Mangryang had given my brain, I replied with a dull voice:
"Fine… but what does that have to do with me reading the Four Books and Three Classics?"
"Because those texts are canonical writings that aren't affected by the creation of new characters. That is, no matter how the language changes over time, you can still read them with only foundational characters. With the amount of study you've done so far, you should have no trouble reading them."
"Hmm…"
"And as you read them, you'll naturally become more comfortable using the characters you've memorized."
Could that really be true?
I couldn't help but doubt Mangryang's words.
After all, the Four Books and Three Classics are the core scriptures of Confucianism—seven books in total. Even among the countless scholars who dedicated their lives to study, fewer than ten percent had read them all. Some said they only got harder the deeper you went. There were even claims that simply reading and understanding the Four Books and Three Classics properly was enough to pass the Sogwa (lower-level civil service exam).
It was hard to believe that someone like me, who had spent a lifetime as a bodyguard and swordsman, could read books like that.
But Mangryang had been telling the truth.
In just four months, I was able to read the entire Analects—one of the Four Books.
Even after I finished it, I couldn't believe it. I just sat there in a daze.
I, who had done nothing but swing a sword as a bodyguard my whole life, had read through an entire Confucian classic—all by myself, without Mangryang's help.
When I told Mangryang about my progress, he smiled faintly.
"The rest won't be much different. If I help you, you'll be able to finish reading the Four Books and Three Classics within a month."
And he was right.
With Mangryang providing interpretation and guidance at my side, it didn't even take a month—I finished all of them within just three weeks.
I was honestly stunned. I never imagined I'd be able to read the Four Books and Three Classics, those foundational texts every Confucian scholar was required to master, so easily.
It may sound arrogant, but at this point, I felt like there wasn't a book in the world I couldn't read.
"How is this possible? Don't most scholars spend years just trying to get through those texts?"
"They're just terribly inefficient with how they study."
Mangryang spoke of scholars with clear disdain.
"They sit at their desks all day, groaning with their heads in their hands. But the root of all learning is Chinese characters. You, Baek-ung, have looked at no less than 10,000 characters in the past six months. Even if you only memorized half of them, that's still 5,000 characters.
While those scholars cling to their classics and chant 'Confucius said, Mencius said,' you've already done the foundational work and don't need any extra prep. And to make it worse, they try to interpret benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom like they're decoding riddles."
"…I see."
At that moment, I realized I'd truly found the right teacher.
Mangryang's dramatic self-introductions hadn't been exaggerated. He really was a genius who had placed among the top three in the Imperial Examinations—the arena where all the most brilliant minds of the realm gathered.
"And I think your memory is just unusually strong, Baek-ung."
"Huh?"
"I've been watching you study. When you read something ten times, you memorize at least four parts of it on the spot. After two or three more reviews, you've got it all. I wouldn't call it a genius-level gift, but it's definitely far above normal."
"That's strange. I never thought of myself as having a good memory…"
I answered honestly. Mangryang tilted his head and said:
"Could it be that the effects of reciting the Thunder Essence Sutra are resonating with your internal energy? I can't think of any other explanation."
"…That could be it."
Now that I thought about it, whenever I recited the Thunder Essence Sutra, my mind would clear out as if becoming a blank slate, and I'd feel my internal energy surging and swirling through my body.
There were even moments where I felt my skin tighten slightly, like a gentle tug. At the time, I thought it was just my imagination. But in hindsight, it was clear: the sutra had harmonized with the energy of the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng cultivation I'd undergone.
It meant my mind had grown sharper—and I couldn't help but feel a little pleased.
Once I finished studying the Four Books and Three Classics, I could devote nearly all my time to mastering the rest of the Ten-Thousand Character Text.
By the time I'd memorized 80% of it, a year had passed since I started studying. When I finally finished the entire text, another half-year had gone by.
Only then was I able to begin studying the Taeguk Arcane Manual and the Fundamentals of Yi Arts .
And the moment I read the first pages of those books—I was overcome with a shiver.
"Hmph… This is hard."
Back in the days when I thought "the black stuff is letters and the white stuff is paper," I had no idea what anything meant.
But now, having mastered the Ten-Thousand Character Text and the Four Books and Three Classics, reading the Yi Arts Manual was an entirely different experience. It was twisted and convoluted far beyond any standard classic. The meanings were difficult to interpret, and the text was full of rare and practically unused characters. It hardly felt like a book meant to be read by humans.
I glared at Mangryang.
"Mangryang, are you telling me you just tossed me this impossibly hard book and expected me to self-study it?"
Looking a bit guilty, Mangryang averted his gaze. He muttered quietly:
"I thought you were the top-secret weapon or heir of some righteous sect. I assumed you were a prodigy skilled in both the literary and martial arts…"
"Hah."
"…In any case, if you start now, you could probably finish most of your studies within a year."
I didn't even hear the rest of what he said.
In the end, I did manage to finish both the Taeguk Arcane Manual and the Fundamentals of Yi Arts within the year, and I gained entry-level understanding of basic formations and Mystic Gate Tactics.
But the path to get there was truly grueling.
Eventually, I had no time left to train my internal energy at all—my days became a relentless cycle of memorizing, thinking, and studying. The arithmetic and mathematical logic sections were especially brutal, and Mangryang constantly scolded me as I struggled through them, forcing me to hammer the knowledge into my head through sheer willpower.
At some point, I even forgot why I was studying in the first place.
I just stayed in the annex, memorizing things like a machine.
But then, one day, as I was mindlessly repeating something I'd already memorized for the tenth time, I suddenly snapped out of it.
"Damn it… What the hell am I even doing!?"
It had been nearly three years since I started studying under Mangryang.
At this rate, I'd spend a thousand years studying and die of old age before doing anything meaningful. I felt like I had learned all I needed to, so I went to Mangryang and said:
"I think the time has come for me to retrieve the Nameless Ritual Manuscript."
To which Mangryang replied:
"Very well. Then I will now teach you how to infiltrate the Imperial Palace."
And three days later, I left Jinrang Valley.