The Miraculous Divorce Technique

Chapter 3

It was then, as Cheok Sagyeol was contemplating his future course of action with the Four Eccentrics in mind.

"Martial Uncle, you really were here."

A monk with a benevolent impression approached Cheok Sagyeol from behind. It was Gongseon, the head of the Scripture Pavilion, who had been away.

'So this is Gongseon.'

Cheok Sagyeol had already finished assessing the Shaolin monks coming and going in the vicinity, so he recognized him as Gongseon at a glance.

"I couldn't believe my ears when I heard that you've been living here since your return, Martial Uncle. And you've even quit drinking, which you loved so much?"

Gongseon spoke with a warm smile.

He was one of those who usually looked down on his Martial Uncle, Muheo.

Although his abilities were superior to anyone's, his conduct was not befitting of a monk.

Starting with his obsession with alcohol, as his moniker suggested, he had no hesitation in breaking the precept against killing, even if it was against villains, and above all, he associated with the bizarre group known as the Four Eccentrics of the World.

Gongseon was the person in Shaolin who disliked Muheo the most.

But now that Muheo was showing signs of turning over a new leaf, Gongseon was just as pleased.

"As you say, Martial Nephew, I intend to mend my ways from now on."

"A wise decision. The late former Abbot can finally enter nirvana in peace."

"So, could you help me with something, Martial Nephew?"

"If it's something this Martial Nephew can do, I will grant you anything. Just say the word."

Gongseon spoke vigorously and grabbed Cheok Sagyeol's hand.

'Damn it, why is this burdensome pig suddenly grabbing my hand.'

Cheok Sagyeol smiled awkwardly, pulled his hand away, and said.

"I asked that kid Wonsang for some manuscripts. Can't I take them to my residence?"

"Ah, I heard about that. You mean the seventy-two ultimate arts."

"That's right."

"Even as the head, no, precisely because I am the head, it is impossible. I, the head of the Scripture Pavilion, cannot break its rules. Can't you just read them within the pavilion as you have been?"

Gongseon's face was resolute.

He was a man called the Stone Buddha because he was as inflexible as a stone Buddha.

Stone Buddha Gongseon, a scholar monk who had a moniker despite not having learned martial arts, was a Shaolin monk famous in the martial world for his upright character.

'In my cult, everyone gets it without me having to say anything, but this is so damn tiring.'

Cheok Sagyeol, feeling a surge of anger, waved his hand as if shooing away an annoying fly.

"You just said to say the word, tsk! If you're not going to help, then get lost!"

"..."

Gongseon let out a deep sigh and turned his back.

An atmosphere of 'I knew it' emanated from his back.

"Oh, wait a minute."

"...?"

At Cheok Sagyeol's words, Gongseon turned only his head to look at him.

"The Marrow Cleansing Classic and the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic. Where are they? They don't seem to be in the Scripture Pavilion."

"..."

"Why... why are you looking at me with those strange eyes?"

The only two martial scriptures left by Bodhidharma were the Marrow Cleansing Classic and the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic.

Cheok Sagyeol had checked all the books in the Scripture Pavilion, but they weren't there, so he asked.

He thought that such legendary secret manuals would naturally be kept separately by the head of the Scripture Pavilion.

"Sigh, Martial Uncle. Have you been frequently forgetful or experiencing momentary memory lapses lately?"

"What?"

"Perhaps you suffered a severe head injury in the battle with the Demonic Lord..."

"Don't tell me... are you suspecting that I have something like dementia or amnesia? Is that it?"

Cheok Sagyeol stared at Gongseon with a dumbfounded expression.

"Ah... no. It's just that, Martial Uncle, you were never interested in any martial arts other than the great achievement of the Bodhi Lotus Art, and you've never been to the Bodhidharma Cave either. The Marrow Cleansing Classic and the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic are not legendary secret manuals as they are known to the public, nor are they grand secret divine arts. They are in the Bodhidharma Cave, so you'll know when you go there."

At Gongseon's words, Cheok Sagyeol suddenly felt something strange.

'What? A Shaolin monk who wasn't interested in the Marrow Cleansing Classic and the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic and had never been to the Bodhidharma Cave? Then perhaps his true martial art, the Bodhi Lotus Art, is an extension of the Marrow Cleansing Classic and the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic. That might be why he wasn't interested...'

The Bodhi Lotus Art was Muheo's unique martial art, and he was the sole successor in Shaolin.

He had looked for it first among the martial arts secret manuals but found that it didn't exist, so he was in the process of looking for a second-best option when Gongseon threw him a clue.

While Cheok Sagyeol was continuing his thoughts, Gongseon uttered his last words.

"Don't tell me I have to tell you the location of the Bodhidharma Cave as well, right? I'm busy, so I'll be leaving now."

With those words, Gongseon quickly left the place.

It was a blatant act of not wanting to talk anymore.

"Bodhidharma Cave..."

Cheok Sagyeol muttered the name softly.

It was the place where Bodhidharma had practiced wall-gazing meditation for nine years, a particularly famous place in Shaolin.

"He said I'll know when I go, so I'll just go and see."

Cheok Sagyeol moved without the slightest hesitation.

The Bodhidharma Cave was located on the mountainside of Wuru Peak, so it wasn't far.

The place Cheok Sagyeol arrived at had such lax security that it was hard to believe the Marrow Cleansing Classic and the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic were stored there.

No, it was no exaggeration to say that the security was not just lax, but nonexistent.

STEP. STEP.

Cheok Sagyeol slowly walked, examining the inside of the Bodhidharma Cave.

'He stared at a wall in a place like this for nine years? Is he crazy?'

The cavern inside the Bodhidharma Cave was too small for even one person to live in.

And perhaps because it was small, there was nothing prepared to commemorate Bodhidharma; it just felt like an empty cave.

'The Marrow Cleansing Classic and the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic are here? Where? If not in a book, then don't tell me?'

Cheok Sagyeol looked around, then approached the wall and examined it closely.

"There it is!"

The walls of the cavern were densely covered with characters.

The characters, which looked like they were carved with a finger, were so exquisite that he could guess they were definitely carved by Bodhidharma.

"The left side seems to be about blood vessels and acupoints, so it's the Marrow Cleansing Classic, and the right side deals with muscles and skeleton, so it's the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic."

Although they were carved messily, it wasn't to the point where he couldn't distinguish between the Marrow Cleansing Classic and the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic.

But after reading all the contents, Cheok Sagyeol's brow furrowed even more.

'It's ordinary. There's nothing special at all. This level of content is just a simple training method to strengthen the body.'

From the perspective of external arts, it couldn't be called ordinary.

Literally, in terms of training the body, the Marrow Cleansing Classic and the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic would certainly show clear effects.

But Cheok Sagyeol had expected the profundity of a divine art.

"Was it because it was considered the origin of Shaolin martial arts that such absurd rumors spread?"

Indeed, if it were special, it wouldn't have been left without any security, and it would have been impossible for no one to discover its secret in all that long time.

Throughout history, Shaolin had always produced outstanding individuals.

"Still, I know why the monks who only eat grass are so muscular."

Cheok Sagyeol smirked as he swept his hand over the characters on the wall that he presumed to be the Marrow Cleansing Classic.

But then, a sense of incongruity was felt at Cheok Sagyeol's fingertips.

'This... the depth is subtly different?'

Cheok Sagyeol, without relying on the torch, closed his eyes and began to trace the characters with his fingertips.

He was a swordsman so skilled that he could divide an inch more than ten times when moving his sword.

Because of that, the sensation at his fingertips was catching all the depths of the characters.

The walls of the natural cave were uneven, so without such a sense, it was so subtle that one would have passed it over as insignificant.

"The depth is definitely different."

Most of the characters were of the exact same depth, but some parts were carved extremely subtly deeper.

Cheok Sagyeol sorted out only those parts and combined them.

"This is... another incantation?"

There was an incantation hidden within the incantation.

No matter how excellent one's inner vision was, it would have been impossible to discover this in a cave where sunlight did not enter, so it was clear that it had not been discovered until now.

The Shaolin monks would not have touched it for fear of possible damage.

THUMP. THUMP.

His heart pounded as if it were running wild, and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down, proving his excitement.

GULP-.

It was as if a vision of Bodhidharma was in front of him, carving the Marrow Cleansing Classic and the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic.

"Did he leave it with the meaning that what is seen is not all? That Bodhidharma fellow had a sly side."

After memorizing the true incantation of the Marrow Cleansing Classic, Cheok Sagyeol sat in a cross-legged position.

And he realized.

The Marrow Cleansing Classic, which moved the blood vessels and acupoints at will, was an external art and a study based on a kind of ideation method.

In other words, it was not moved using internal energy but controlled by will.

"This is a jackpot. With this, not only can I change the position of acupoints at will like the Acupoint Shifting Grand Art, but I can also wash away the impurities of the entire body's meridians and even place the flow of blood under my will."

Because it was an ideation method, it would take some time to master, but it was definitely a profound and outstanding ultimate art.

Getting up from his seat, Cheok Sagyeol this time began to feel the characters of the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic and search for the hidden incantation.

SWEEP. SWEEP.

"What, why isn't it here?"

Cheok Sagyeol touched all the characters as well as the entire wall surface, but unlike before, there were no different parts.

"If there's a Marrow Cleansing Classic, there can't not be a Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic..."

This time, he touched the entire floor with his hands as if sweeping dust, but he was soon disappointed.

Unlike his guess, there were no clues.

But not giving up, he muttered the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic and was examining every nook and cranny of the cavern when a thought flashed in his mind.

'Right. Bodhidharma's origin was India. The clue might be related to that place.'

Cheok Sagyeol left the Bodhidharma Cave like the wind and headed for the Scripture Pavilion. And he found books related to India and began to read them voraciously.

And not long after, in a book called 'Journey to the West in the Great Tang Dynasty,' he found an anecdote that he presumed to be the true form of the real Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic.

'The ascetics of India. They were beings with mysterious abilities to shrink or stretch their bodies, become as hard as stone, or as soft as jelly...'

'Journey to the West in the Great Tang Dynasty' was a travelogue written by the great monk of the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzang, who had traveled to India.

What he saw, heard, and felt was vividly written, and the description of the ascetics of India in the content was hard to believe.

'If this passage is true, then the real Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic is not just about training bones and muscles.'

Cheok Sagyeol closed the book and headed back to the Bodhidharma Cave.

The scholar monks sighed as they watched Cheok Sagyeol, who had come like the wind, scattered the books in a mess, and disappeared.

PATTER. PATTER. PATTER.

Arriving at the Bodhidharma Cave, Cheok Sagyeol once again carefully examined the inside of the cavern.

With the thought that a secret must be hidden, he did not look at anything carelessly, but as expected, there was no gain.

PLOP.

Sitting down on the floor and taking a posture as if practicing wall-gazing meditation, Cheok Sagyeol thought and thought again.

'I am Bodhidharma. I will think as if I am Bodhidharma.'

In that silent space, the days passed one by one.

The thought of Bodhidharma's out-of-body experience had long since disappeared from his mind, and only the desire for a new martial art existed in his heart.

One month later.

"I don't know. How on earth did you hide it? Phew..."

Cheok Sagyeol sighed and dropped his head.

All his attempts were in vain, and he couldn't find the secret.

"That bastard Bodhidharma, he must have been a psycho like Muheo. Look at this. To carve so many characters, and the thickness and depth are constant. Is this a human being? An obsessive-compulsive pervert bastard!"

The incantation of the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic was written as if in one go, and even the lines connecting the letters were of a constant thickness and depth.

Nevertheless, there was not a single error, and the handwriting was also so excellent that it could be considered a masterpiece.

"Let's see who wins."

Cheok Sagyeol sat down on the floor and began to munch on the grain pills he had prepared.

Even so, his eyes did not leave the incantation of the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic.

If he hadn't found the hidden incantation of the Marrow Cleansing Classic and hadn't read the content about the ascetics of India, he would have given up long ago.

But the desire for a new martial art kept him captive in the Bodhidharma Cave.

GULP. GULP.

After moistening his parched throat with water from his canteen, Cheok Sagyeol resumed his wall-gazing meditation.

The will to uncover it, no matter how long it took, was what made Cheok Sagyeol, who had dismissed wall-gazing meditation as a crazy act, do so.

Another month later.

"Fucking Bodhidharma!"

THUD. THUD.

Cheok Sagyeol ultimately failed to uncover the secret and kicked the wall with his foot.

"If you have something good, why hide it! You should have just passed it down!"

He knew that if it had been passed down to his descendants, he wouldn't have even obtained the incantation of the Marrow Cleansing Classic, but he was so annoyed that he was spouting nonsense in a fit of anger.

Not content with kicking it, Cheok Sagyeol now threw the remaining grain pills and canteen at the wall.

He had no respect for Bodhidharma anyway.

"Hah. Hah. Hiss. Hiss."

Cheok Sagyeol gasped for breath, his eyes still fixed on the Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic.

And at that moment, something different from before caught his eye.

It was the part that had been touched by the water that had burst out when the canteen shattered.

"The color is changing? Could this be the secret?"

Cheok Sagyeol did not hesitate, lowered his waistband, and grabbed his member.

He was the head of the Demonic Cult, which revered strength.

With a new world of martial arts before his eyes, there was nothing to be hesitant about.

TRICKLE. TRICKLE. TRICKLE.

"Hah! This was it?"

If Bodhidharma had seen this, he would never have hidden the incantation in this way.

Cheok Sagyeol grinned as the crimson letters were revealed where the urine touched, and he put more strength into his bladder.

SWOOOOOSH.

(End of Chapter)