Childhood Friend of the Zenith
chapter-293

He was one of the Three Heavenly Venerables, the man infamously known as the Dishonored Venerable, who had ascended to the pinnacle of close combat arts. Born into the prestigious Bi Clan, but chose the path of a martial artist over a life of servitude to his clan’s honor.

The Dishonored Venerable, Bijuu.

If I had to use one word, I’d dare say ‘Madness’ described him best. He was a crazed martial artist, utterly obsessed with reaching the highest levels of martial arts.

Having been born a man, he set a singular goal for his life: to reach the Transcendence realm. With unwavering focus, he forged a single path to his destination, never once glancing back.

From the moment of his birth, Bijuu was different. When he was old enough to clench his fists, he easily beat up all his older relatives, his extraordinary talent making the clan’s Lord and Elders believe he was destined to revive the clan’s glory.

But then…

I’m not doing such a thing.

The Dishonored Venerable vanished one day, leaving behind nothing but a letter. At fifteen, he left the clan, severing all ties.

In other words, he ran away.

Why did Bijuu flee from a noble clan? The reason wasn’t anything grand. He simply wanted to experience the world, to seek enlightenment, and to create his own martial arts.

The Bi Clan’s Fangs of Flawlessness, their prized Divine Art reserved only for the direct members of the clan, didn’t interest him.

But it’s not fun.

Bijuu found no joy in it. Despite its prestigious status, he craved something more. He wanted to carve out his own path, and so his journey began.

He started with duels.

Wherever he went, he sought out masters and challenged them to fights. Some refused; others nearly killed him. Yet, Bijuu pressed on, undeterred by the prospect of death. After years of such victories and defeats, he had ascended to the Peak Realm.

Was that his starting point?

-It’s pointless.

He had left the clan to escape their arts, yet he found himself relying on them anyway. Realizing this, Bijuu decided to seek a new path, one that would satisfy him. The young prodigy then spent ten years in seclusion on an unknown mountain, abandoning the clan’s expectations.

Ten years.

It was certainly a long time, but far too short to create an entirely new martial art.

Furthermore, Bijuu already had Mind Arts ingrained in his body, and even if he developed a new style, it would be useless if it didn’t harmonize with those arts.

Thus, he made a drastic decision: he would erase the Mind Arts that had been etched into his body.

It meant sacrificing everything he had worked for so far, but Bijuu didn’t hesitate. It took him one whole year to erase the Mind Arts without destroying his Dantian or damaging his blood vessels.

That was only the beginning. To find a more efficient movement and to create a martial art that could surpass his old one, he embarked on a difficult path. But nothing could stop Bijuu.

The movement he envisioned already existed in his mind. To put it into practice, he spent a year erasing the clan’s Mind Arts from his body.

Now, all he had to do was move as he desired.

Others might have found the process torturous, but Bijuu, funnily, made it seem effortless.

He shattered his state of mind and goals, for in martial arts, goals existed only to be broken.

Bijuu spent countless days and nights crafting a path that allowed for efficient movement and optimal use of Qi. This journey took him another ten years.

Crack-

Kwoaaah!

The massive boulder behind the mountain shattered, and the ground trembled as Bijuu watched.

-I think it’s time to go down now.

He felt it was time to return to the Central Plains. Bijuu was a little over thirty years old then.

After a decade of isolation, he returned to a world that had changed dramatically.

The Azure Dragon had ascended to the position of Lord of the Namgung Clan, and the Five Sword Masters were gaining renown.

As the Wind Sword, a middle-aged man, began to spread his name, Bijuu resumed his challenges.

Before naming his own martial arts, he sought out masters across the land for duels. He faced three of the Five Sword Masters and even crossed paths with the Zenith of that time, Cheolhyun Buseon.

Bijuu didn’t care whether his opponents were from Orthodox Factions or Unorthodox Factions; he fought them all.

Despite creating his own martial arts, he continued to suffer defeats. There were still many stronger than him, but that didn’t deter him.

He simply got up after each defeat, and he was never content with a victory.

The Namgung Clan’s Azure Dragon wielded a sharp sword, the Wind Sword was powerful, the newbie from Mount Hua, the Celestial Plum Blossom was fast, and that greatest prodigy of the Kunlun Sect wielded a heavy blade.

Bijuu couldn’t defeat any of them with his newly crafted martial arts. Yet, time passed…

-Not bad.

Bijuu smiled as he lay on the ground, blood dripping from his mouth.

He didn’t hesitate. He was sure his martial arts would one day become an undefeated Divine Arts.

So, he wasn’t disappointed.

His limbs were intact, his eyes unharmed.

He was lucky. It was quite surprising, as he had expected to lose them one by one on this journey of his.

-This really isn’t bad at all.

He continued moving forward, finding his flaws through his defeats. That’s what martial arts was—an endless pursuit of improvement.

-A little more.

The path stretched on, rough and untrodden. It was a grueling journey, but…

-This is fun!

Bijuu found nothing more enjoyable than paving his own path.

Bijuu wiped the blood from his lips and stood up. Before him, three martial artists lay dead, their lifeblood staining the ground.

Who were they? Supposedly, they were well-known figures within the Unorthodox Factions, but Bijuu hadn’t even bothered to learn their names.

After inspecting their bodies one by one, a thought crossed his mind.

-Your fist… it destroys… the heavens.

The one who had uttered those words had ‘Heaven’ in his title. Was it the Monster of False Heaven? Something like that.

-Destroying the heaven, huh?

He wasn’t worthy of a title with ‘Heaven’ in it, judging by the fact that Bijuu couldn’t even recall his face. Probably just another nobody.

The word heaven brought to mind his fight against the Wind Sword—that blade, a blade so pristine that it seemed to hold the moon itself, was far more deserving of such a title.

Now, that man could cut through heaven itself.

Bijuu smiled, reminiscing about that fight. It was one that lingered in his memory, though it had nearly cost him his life.

-Heaven, huh? Not bad.

To destroy the heavens—it didn’t sound bad at all.

-That settled it. This martial art will be named Destruction of the Heavens.

The Fist that Destroys Heaven.

This marked the beginning of Bijuu’s rise as one of the Masters of the Central Plains. It was a title he earned by slaying three of the Four Emperors and Eight Kings.

But, Bijuu didn’t care for such trifling rumors. Perfecting his martial arts was far more important than whatever nonsense people whispered about him.

Time passed.

The Wind Sword became the Leader of the Murim Alliance without Bijuu even noticing, and the Zenith of that era, Cheolhyun Buseon, succumbed to a chronic disease.

The new prodigy of Mount Hua ascended to lead his Sect, and the disciple of the Kunlun Sect also rose to the same position.

Yet Bijuu remained just Bijuu.

He was content as long as he was called a martial artist. That was enough for him. Only later did Bijuu realize that he was being referred to as one of the Heavenly Venerables.

Again, Bijuu found perfecting his martial arts to be of the utmost importance. It was, after all, his lifelong goal.

Then one day…

-Oh.

Bijuu gained an enlightenment during his usual training.

-How problematic.

He realized that he wasn’t capable of perfecting his own martial arts. While he had maintained his youth thanks to his prowess, his aging body and deteriorating blood vessels were now the issues.

It wasn’t that his martial art had weakened—he was still incredibly powerful—but the crucial problem was that he could no longer progress.

He was just one step away from perfecting it.

-Damn it!

He laughed bitterly.

The level he had reached through countless battles had come back to haunt him.

-Hahahahahahahaha

Only after reaching old age did he recognize the biggest problem of all. With an aging body, it was impossible to reach the pinnacle of his martial arts, the Destruction of Heaven.

Despite his youthful appearance, he could no longer attain the ultimate mastery of his art.

Going back wasn’t an option, even with miraculous medicines or divine interventions—his body had already aged too much.

On that cold winter day when the sky wept and snow fell, Bijuu, as usual, didn’t hesitate for long.

If lack of time and an old, weakened body were the problems, then the solution was clear: he just needed to turn back the clock.

Eternal Youth.

Bijuu yearned for Eternal Youth.

He was well aware of the side effects, but he believed that if his body grew weaker, he could just expand his vessel.

It wasn’t an impossible task, even if it required immense effort. WIth a young body again, he could build on his enlightenment and experience to reach the pinnacle of his martial art.

To Bijuu, perfecting his martial art was more important than the honor and fame he had earned as the Dishonored Venerable.

Thus, Bijuu returned to his clan and began preparing for the ritual of Eternal Youth.

Though he had left the clan to forge his own path, he was grateful for the support they had given him, so he sent all of the wealth he had managed to gather back to them.

The Lord of the clan welcomed his return—after all, the Dishonored Venerable was still one of their own, and his return brought them great prestige.

Upon returning, Bijuu saw that his father’s nephew was now the Lord. It truly made him feel the passage of time.

The Lord of the Bi Clan was concerned when Bijuu told him of his plan to undergo Eternal Youth, but Bijuu had already made up his mind.

That night, Bijuu discarded everything he had built up and reverted to a younger body...

-Fuhh me…

Yet, he couldn’t help but curse out loud noticing that his vessels were in a more miserable state than ever before.

It was much worse than he had anticipated—so bad, in fact, that it was impossible for him to even learn martial arts.

******************A little more than ten years had passed since Bijuu undertook Eternal Youth. He had discarded his former name and now lived as a blood relative of the Bi Clan, going by the name Bi Eejin.

Slowly, he managed to rebuild his body to an average level—an achievement that had seemed impossible for him when he first underwent the ritual.

This feat was only possible because he had once been of the Heavenly Venerables, aided by the miraculous medicines stored in the Dishonored Venerable’s vault.

What do I do?

Bi Eejin lay in the sunlight, lost in thought. He wondered how he could succeed—how he could master it.

The Destruction of the Heavens.

Even he admitted that this martial art was nearly impossible to perfect. He understood this clearly after his Eternal Youth.

He now knew precisely how his joints needed to move, how much strength his muscles required, and how his Qi should flow.

This Divine Art could only be performed after mastering all these intricacies. Because it was an art of pure destruction, even the slightest mistake rendered it unusable.

And the body was the most critical component.

How regretful.

His body, ravaged by the Eternal Youth process, couldn’t fully execute the martial art he had created. His body simply couldn’t keep up with his mind.

…Was I too greedy?

Just how many miracles would it take to restore the body he had once possessed as Bijuu?

No.

It needs to be more than that.

After experiencing the degradation of his body, he realized his martial art required a near-perfect vessel. It demanded a body capable of reaching the Peak realm before the age of twenty, provided it had sufficient Qi.

…Sigh.

A heavy sigh of resignation couldn’t help but escape Bi Eijin’s lips. He hadn’t realized just how rare such a body was, even if he scoured all of the Central Plains.

What should I do?

It was impossible for him to reach the pinnacle of his martial art with his current body. He had taken Eternal Youth way too lightly…

If he had known this would happen, he would have waited until he had gathered all the miraculous medicines in the world.

So, I can’t reach the pinnacle like this?

He had believed that after Eternal Youth, he could simply rebuild everything from scratch. That had always been his approach to life, so he thought he could do it again. But his situation was far worse than he had anticipated. It was so bad that even reaching his previous level was a struggle.

I need to find a way.

He couldn’t afford to end things here. As always, he needed to search for a solution. He could no longer be reckless with his body.

A different solution… I need to find a different method.

“Brother!”

Uh oh.

Lost in his thoughts, Bi Eejin had forgotten he was supposed to be hiding. He quickly tried to conceal himself, but it was too late. Someone appeared beside him.

“Hmm? Again! What are you doing hiding here!?”

“…Tsk.”

It was none other than Bibi, a one of the children of the direct line.

To everyone but the Lord, she was known as Bi Eijin’s little sister, though she was more like a granddaughter to him.

Ironically, she was also the reason the Dishonored Venerable hadn’t ended his life despite his failure to reach the pinnacle of his martial arts.

“Seriously… Why do you keep hiding from me?”

“Hmph! You keep bothering me like this, so what else can I do?”

“How am I bothering you…?!”

“Tch. Anyway… What do you want?”

Bi Eejin sighed deeply as he asked. She was probably going to just ask him to eat or train with her again. That’s how it always was.

But Bibi surprised him by bringing up a completely unexpected topic.

“Brother, did you hear about this year’s Tournament of Dragons and Phoenixes?”

“…No?”

The tournament of Dragons and Phoenixes, huh?

What a cumbersome name.

Actually, ‘Bi Eejin’ also had a title, it was a grand title ‘The Dragon Warrior’ or something like that. He had no desire to attract any attention until he regained his strength, but…

-Please! If you come with me this time, I won’t bother you for half a year!

In the end, thanks to Bibi begging him for days straight, he had no choice but to go.

Well, he would just take it easy, no hassle of dealing with unwanted attention, but…

Hah… Kids these days are way too weak…

He had overestimated the so called Young Prodigies.

People called this the Meteor Generation or whatever, claiming it was filled with the greatest of talents, but these Young Prodigies were far far weaker than those of his era.

Of course, there was a gem among them, but even that one wasn’t fully polished yet.

“So, what about it?”

Bi Eejin asked with a sour expression. Was she going to nag him again because he hadn’t gone to the tournament this year?

“Dragon! A new dragon was born at this year’s tournament of Dragons and Phoenixes!”

Thankfully, that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Dragon?”

A dragon, huh? Was she referring to the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes or whatever they were called? Sigh… People were still messing around with titles, just like before.

“That’s right…! He’s called the True Dragon!”

The True Dragon.

It meant he was the real dragon among all the others. What a grand title.

“So? What’s that got to do with me?”

It was nothing new for more dragons to appear. After all it was the Murim Alliance who bestowed the Dragon titles, so it was completely up to their whims. He had lost all expectations of the Murim Alliance ever since that old man, the Sword Emperor, left.

Bi Eejin’s lukewarm reaction seemed to anger Bibi.

“It’s! It’s because the True Dragon is rumored to be the disciple of that man…!!!”

“That man? Who?”

“Our granduncle…”

“…?”

Bi Eejin couldn’t help but frown at Bibi’s words. Bibi’s granduncle. The only person older than the current Lord of the Bi Clan…

Huh? Me?

Was the Dishonored Venerable, Bijuu, himself.

“That is a false rumor,” Bi Eejin responded firmly.

I have never taken on any disciples after all. Instead of worrying about such a thing, perfecting my martial arts is more impor—

Wait.

“Just listen…! The True Dragon supposedly came with a recommendation letter from our grandunc— “

A disciple?

Bibi continued talking, but her words no longer reached Bi Eejin.

Disciple…Yes! A disciple!!

Bi Eejin’s lifelong goal was the perfection of his martial art. But if he couldn’t achieve it with his own body, then…

Isn’t it okay for another bastard to perfect it for me?

Doesn’t it still count as achieving my goal if I see the pinnacle of my martial arts through another person with enough talent and a capable body?

“Moreover, people say he might’ve reached the Peak realm, when he isn’t even twenty yet! Just how in hell is that possible?!!”

“Hmm? Peak realm? Who?”

“…? The True Dragon? Wait, were you even listening?”

Bi Eejin’s eyes widened at Bibi’s words.

“Do you know that little friend’s name?”

“Who? The True Dragon? Wait, answer my question!”

“Yes, him.”

“Gu…? Yeah, it was Gu something… I don’t remember the details. But I did hear that he’s the younger brother of the Sword Phoenix.”

“…The younger brother of the Sword Phoenix.”

The Sword Phoenix.

Bi Eejin was familiar with the clan the Sword Phoenix hailed from. It was a place where many a monsters hid their fangs, and it was also home to one of the very few friends he had.

The son of that clan, huh?

Bi Eejin had heard about him a few times. He recalled Gu Ryoon inviting him to the clan on several occasions, mentioning how the boy was growing stranger by the day.

“…Peak realm, and a body that hasn’t yet reached the age of twenty.”

“Brother?”

“Hehe! I see… Is that so?”

“Brother? Hello?! Wha? Where are you goi—Hey!”

Bibi shouted after him, but Bi Eejin ignored her and continued walking. This was the moment when the name Gu Yangcheon became etched into his mind.

******************Back to the present.

When Bi Eijin finally met Gu Yangcheon in person, he was far more impressive than he had anticipated.

It’s impressive.

Bi Eejin could hardly recall the last time he had laughed so much—perhaps it was when that raccoon from the Beggar’s Sect had approached him with Gu Yangcheon’s commission.

Do we share the same intention? It will work out better if that is the case.

“How about it?”

Here was a talent who had reached the Peak ream at such a young age, with a body close to the absolute perfection that he had long sought.

He had heard that Gu Yangcheon was a close-combat martial artist, so it was highly likely that his movements had been trained in precisely the way Bi Eejin desired.

This meant…

This boy was born to master the Destruction of Heaven.

Everything about him was perfect.

Gu Yangcheon checked all the boxes required to perfect Bi Eejin’s martial art.

It was to the point that Bi Eejin even wondered if Gu Yangcheon had undergone Eternal Youth himself. He was that impressive.

Moreover, despite his linering doubts, Bi Eejin was convinced the moment he grasped Gu Yangcheon’s neck. There was no way this young man could have such a clean, firm vessel of a body without any exceptional circumstances.

With such thoughts lingering in his mind, Bi Eejin spoke, “Our master happens to be looking for some disciples.”

He honestly felt a twinge of embarrassment at selling himself out like this, but it was fine since Gu Yangcheon had no idea.

He had never taken advantage of his Dishonored Venerable title before, but now he had no choice but to use it—he knew just how impactful it was.

There was no way Gu Yangcheon would an offer to learn from a Heavenly Venerable.

Bi Eejin daydreamt as he stared intently at Gu Yangcheon, waiting for his inevitable agreement.

That body and that talent. If the boy gains my guidance on top of that…

Bi Eijin would be able to witness the peak of his martial art, the Destruction of the Heavens, finally perfected.

Now, hurry and answer. Then I shall…

The moment Gu Yangcheon would accept the offer, a new page in history would be written. He would be able to reach never before seen levels as a practitioner of the Destruction of the Heavens.

“I’m not buying it.”

“Humu! That’s good, then I shall—Wha?”

A flabbergasted expression hung on Bi Ejin’s face.

“Huh? What did you say?”

“No, it’s not that I don’t buy it, I’m just not gonna to do it.”

“I believe you’re not fully informed, but as I said last time, my master is—”

“Yes, I know already, but to reiterate. I’m not gonna do it.”

Bi Eejin hadn’t been at such a severe loss of words other than the time he was reborn.