Episode 510 Damcheonwoo (3)
body.
Eyes nose mouth ears arms hands legs feet flesh skin muscles bones etc.
The moment when you perceive the world with the five senses that come from a living body rather than perceiving objects and phenomena trapped in a cold object made of metal.
After a long period of patience Dam Cheon-woo realized that he had finally succeeded in escaping from the swamp of death and being revived as a new vessel.
As a ‘resurrector’.
also….
Excited….
As an ‘ancient deity’.
My heart is pounding───.
Hierarchy of divinity.
Going beyond becoming the subject of a concept through divinity and becoming the subject of the concept itself.
Therefore as a part of the universe and a member of nature a being that possesses immortality is called an ancient god.
The man had already seen in person the day when a being named Han Seong-yoon who was comparable to the three ancient deities first became an ancient deity and engraved it in his memory.
That’s why I realized it with difficulty.
‘I see…’
He like Han Seong-yoon of the past is on the verge of reaching the highest level of ancient godhood.
‘This is… transforming into divinity itself and becoming one with the concept of divinity. Are you saying you will be reborn as an ancient god?’
‘Blood (血)’.
The subjective concept of blood which can be said to be a man’s life itself goes beyond the level he achieved during his lifetime and goes beyond.
In the past the concept of divinity of a man who could not even become a formal deity but only died was now changing beyond the formal deity and higher deity to become that of an ancient deity.
As time passes the heartbeat becomes lighter and it becomes clear that we are breaking away from the bondage of the body.
In it the man let her go without holding on to her fading consciousness and with her eyes closed she sank deep into unconsciousness.
Gooooo-!
and.
‘I am….’
I thought about it.
‘In the end what did you hope for and what did you want to see?’
About his old wish that he wanted to achieve even at the cost of his own life.
***
Blood Demon Religion.
An enormous martial force that is not only considered one of the four sects but is also mentioned along with the Murim Alliance of the political sect and the Heavenly Demon Religion.
Dam Cheon-woo who was the child of the concubine of the previous leader of the Blood Demon Church had the weakest power base among the cult’s successors and was also very young.
━That’s wrong. Confucius Cheonwoo… this is true. Well it looks like he’s so incompetent that he wouldn’t even be able to survive the blood system ceremony. Isn’t that right?
━Tsk tsk. That’s true. Confucius Cheonwoo I heard that you have just entered martial arts. Isn’t it obvious that even if you train to the point where you live and die you won’t be able to become even a second-rate warrior? It’s strange that he doesn’t die.
━Tsk tsk. What a pity. Even if he survived there was a high chance he would be crippled. It’s a pity that I was singled out as the successor to this church for no reason.
Heavenly.
fallow year.
Absence of support.
━Hmph. Well no matter what happens you either die or become worse than alive. One of the two is the ending of Confucius Tianyu.
The signpost formed by numerous adverse conditions pointed the road to death.
But despite this the passage of time was fair to everyone and the time for resolution had arrived.
Blood system type.
In a life-and-death battle disguised as a military martial arts battle to determine the next leader of the Blood Demon Church the successors displayed typical Sapa martial arts with a focus on murder.
In the bloody struggle everyone thought that at least one person would definitely die.
On the day the bloodshed ceremony began everyone’s expectations were overturned and only one person remained on the stage.
Drop… drop… drop….
The boy Dam Cheon-woo looked down at his red uniform soaked in his blood and at his hands which were sticky with other people’s blood and muttered calmly.
━It’s boring.
That day.
A total of eighteen successors who had honed their martial arts skills to become the next leader of the Blood Demon Church one of the four sects of the Jungwon martial arts sect lost their lives.
He was unilaterally defeated and his life taken away from the heir of heaven whom no one was wary of and no one recognized.
To the boy who not only learned martial arts for the first time after being designated as the successor to the Blood Demon Church but also honed his martial arts skills for a period of about two years at most which is not a very long period of time.
The superiority relationship between them was clear enough to be seen at a glance.
Differences in physical development levels between adults and children are inevitable.
The overwhelming difference between the time and capital spent on learning and honing one’s martial arts skills.
The difference is that growing up alone without a teacher inevitably results in the lack of improvisational experience to respond to the gap between theory and practice.
however….
Nevertheless the boy won over everyone.
Overwhelming talent.
Even if you look at the entire history of the Jungwon Martial Arts it was truly an exceptional talent of over a thousand thousand people.
It does not matter how long or how hard the turtle crawled on the ground in front of the bird of prey flying in the sky.
sameness.
In front of a boy born with over a thousand talents it didn’t matter how long and diligently other successors had been honing their technical capabilities.
Death.
All 18 successors who had focused on honing their murder skills for over a decade lost their lives before even having a cup of tea.
The blood ceremony ended in just one day with an unprecedented disaster and the next leader of the Blood Demon Church was decided unanimously.
━… I salute you. The religious leader members of the religious group and other decision-makers of this church unanimously agreed to the succession to the next religious leader. Blood Demon Church. The 7th leader is Dam Cheon-woo.
Damcheonwoo.
It happened when he was 14 years old.
Dam Cheon-woo the 7th blood demon of the Blood Demon Church began everything in a life made of someone else’s blood.
***
Time passes.
Spring summer fall and winter.
Flowers bloom the heat of the sun rises fleeting abundance and tranquility come and go during the harvest season and the leaves of trees dry out and cover the ground with snowflakes.
How many times was that repeated?
The flow of time continues without interruption like a river with no end in sight.
and….
The time has come.
[‘Tower of Trials’ has selected all suitable candidates in the martial arts dimension.]
[Please select a level of difficulty.]
[The reward increases depending on the difficulty you select.]
[….]
Tower of Trials.
That transcendental structure appeared in the Jungwon martial arts world and many martial artists were reborn as challengers.
Among them was Dam Cheon-woo the 7th blood demon of the Blood Demon Church and using the upheaval as an opportunity the Jungwon martial arts community was in an uproar.
This is because beyond the white sword the black sword and the magic sword even the Philbu who is not related to the powerful gained strength and returned from the Tower of Trials.
‘strength’.
In front of him a person suffers from impulses and thirst that can never be quenched and sinks into a swamp of desire.
‘Power’ comes from wealth ‘Strength’ comes from martial arts and ‘Strength’ comes from power.
‘Buoyancy’ ‘powerlessness’ ‘power’.
Whatever it is overwhelming power itself stimulates the essential and primal desire for life.
Those seeking power entered the Tower of Trials as if possessed by something and many things changed.
Almost half of the main power structures of the central martial arts group were replaced and new strong players naturally emerged.
However despite this there were many existing strong players who once again gained strength in the Tower of Trials and Dam Cheon-woo was also like that.
Luxurious people talk with a sense of joy worry and anticipation.
Dam Cheon-woo the 7th Blood Demon of the Blood Demon God Cult is a person who enjoyed fighting to the death in search of peerless experts even before the Tower of Trials appeared so this time he may have the power to discuss who is the best in the world at the Tower of Trials and start a great war in Wulin.
However contrary to the predictions of the magistrates Dam Cheon-woo was more interested in the Tower of Trials than in the Jungwon martial arts team just as most of the existing strongmen refused to return from the Tower of Trials and suddenly disappeared.
It was only one achievement that Dam Cheon-woo and the existing strong men pursued even refusing to return from the Tower of Trials.
‘Being strong’.
strength.
Achieving that power by cultivating it to a higher level.
Becoming stronger than anyone else and rising to the top of the food chain with no rivals.
━That’s fun.
Envy of power.
The joy I gain from becoming stronger becomes poison and sows seeds to the deepest part of my heart.
Secretion of neurotransmitters. Within this the neurotransmitters involved in pleasure engrave the intense memory of pleasure into the learning part of the brain through emotions.
Memory continues to generate impulses through the emotion of pleasure and urges specific actions that lead to pleasure engraved in the learning area.
Since the pleasure itself is used as a medium for memory the retrieval intensity of the corresponding memory is strengthened compared to memories without strong emotions and the number of retrieval times of that memory also increases proportionally.
At the same time the seeds of poison quietly bloom in the deepest parts of the hearts of those who are absorbed in the joy of becoming stronger.
A flower bud named addiction.
If there is a lack of not having it in the envy of power addiction develops quickly.
This is because in the pursuit of pleasure an individual’s deficiencies or elements necessary for survival act as huge firewood that is directly connected to the practice of action.
Therefore…
━Yes…. I believe the throne can still become stronger. Then we can’t stop here.
The Tower of Trials pushes challengers to the brink of death and then stimulates their survival instincts continuously increasing their thirst for power.
The most basic operating principle of living things is based on ‘survival’ and it whispers to us to continue to pursue what is necessary for ‘survival’ which is the basis of the genetic design principle of living things.
A reasonable compensation system of high risk and high return.
If this is repeated over and over again the challenger will not be able to stop even when the time comes when he no longer has to risk his life to fight.
This is because the desire for power has been engraved into the deepest part of my mind as a fire mark called addiction.
That’s how hunting dogs are raised.
Suddenly!
[Congratulations you have surpassed the 10th floor of the Tower of Trials.]
[As a reward for breakthrough… this… to…]
[As a reward for breakthrough…]
━….
Kkwajiik-!
[Congratulations you have surpassed the 15th floor of the Tower of Trials…]
[As a reward for breakthrough… this… to…]
[As a reward for breakthrough…]
━Hot….
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
[Congratulations on reaching the 20th floor of the Tower of Trials…]
[As a reward for breakthrough… this… to…]
[As a reward for breakthrough…]
[….]
━Puhahaha!
Pleasure.
Instinct resulting from envy for power rather than reason takes precedence and the swamp of addiction created by pleasure leads to actions without thought.
The envy of power soon becomes a chain that binds one’s freedom and existence engulfing one’s spirit and twisting even the direction indicated by life’s milestones.
‘I want to become stronger. I want to reach the end of that power that no one can reach. I want to reach that absolute power.’
‘I want to know. How strong you are and how weak your opponent is. I want to confirm my superiority as a strong man.’
‘I want to feel it. Who is superior and who is inferior. I want to feel again how valuable it is to become stronger.’
why.
Why should it be like that?
That kind of thing has now turned into a good thing.
From the moment one seeks to become stronger learns the meaning of power and realizes its value the cycle of addiction made up of pleasure continues to roll endlessly like a treadmill.
Things like Blood Demon Shinkyo or Wulin disappeared from his interests and he continued to move forward becoming a pleasure-filled killing machine that only sought to become stronger.
All abilities increase new skills are gained and each time you advance to the next floor your weapons increase one by one.
‘this….’
Laughing comes out automatically.
‘It feels good.’
The hound became a pleasure-filled killer and continued to climb the Tower of Trials advancing to the next floor.
He was even designated as one of the ‘candidates’ by the Tower of Trials and was able to become even stronger.
Time passed like that.
step….
━…
At some point he felt an alien emptiness in moving forward.
No matter how strong you become as you climb the Tower of Trials your thirst for power is never quenched and only greater impulses urge you to go out on a limb.
Again and again and again.
He achieved victory in a struggle to the death killed people killed monsters and sacrificed his own life without a care in the world to seek power.
He has raised all his abilities gained new skills and is now looking beyond the power of a high-dimensional realm called divine power.
In that case the desire for power still remains.
‘Where is the end of the road?’
Wandering without promise.
It was a journey without a destination.
As a strong man he is just wandering around trapped in the bondage of pleasure and desire to find a way out of his power and become stronger than anyone else.
In the end isn’t there a single being that has reached the end of its power beyond that and is trapped in the bondage of that pleasure and desire?
‘…How far do I have to go to reach the end of my power? Why is my desire for power not resolved? Why-‘
It’s not even just that.
‘Is it this painful?’
A sense of futility.
In the end even if you continue your endless wandering in search of a source of strength you will not be able to reach the destination.
However despite this the strong feeling of pleasure engraved in his memory becomes a spell that he can never forget binding Dam Cheon-woo.
Becoming stronger. Thus reaching beyond. It seemed to whisper that that was the only purpose of life.
Is it just an illusion that it looks like a breeding farm made to raise small animals?
━Haha ha…
Dam Cheon-woo smiled helplessly and closed his lifeless eyes.
━Do you really mean that this is the path that I want… something like this…? really?
In his skepticism Dam Cheon-woo thought that everything was meaningless but it was too late to turn back now.
The thirst for power could no longer be ignored when the pleasure was engraved into a memory deep within.
Pleasure. When you stop pursuing power pain proportional to the pleasure you have experienced gnaws away at your body and mind as if you are paying for it.
can’t stop
‘Is this a curse?’
A land stained with blood.
Standing on top of it Dam Cheon-woo raised his head opened his two lifeless eyes and looked at the sky.
I continued my thoughts as I looked up at the sky where the evening sunset seemed to be stained with blood.
‘Envy of power. If pursuing power and obtaining its fruits is a sin is this a punishment given to those who gain power? ‘Is it a curse placed on the strong?’
strength.
That is life.
Because life basically has no choice but to pursue desires for survival and for the prosperity of the species as long as it lives.
Pursuing power related to wealth or authority rather than personal force also has no destination and in the inertia of that desire someone will inevitably be destroyed.
so.
━Quuk.
Suddenly Dam Cheon-woo realized how ridiculous his situation was and burst out laughing.
He abandoned the blood demon religion came out of a small well called Jungwon Murim and came here in pursuit of power.
If so it turns out that it was done out of a desire for power completely regardless of the person’s will.
Even if he realized it now and later it would mean nothing but he thought that even if he realized it a long time ago it wouldn’t have meant much.
If life itself is a sin and the bondage of pleasure and desire is punishment then he was guilty and punished from the moment he was born.
Everyone is like that.
‘It’s amazing.’
He narrowed his eyes and let out a self-deprecating laugh.
‘Does this mean that from the moment of gaining life all living things are reduced to beings that are dominated by pleasure and pain by the inertia of desire without any free will…?’
and.
━….
In it Damcheonwoo repeated his thoughts and a new wish sprouted in his heart.
Assuming that being born with life is a sin and that the punishment for it is the perpetuation of desire for pleasure and pain is it also possible to break away from the shackles of such an endless cycle?
Is there a way for the strong who pursue power and continue their endless wandering in hopes of reaching the end to be relieved of their thirst for power?
He thought and pondered and answered himself.
‘I don’t know.’
There is no way the answer will come easily.
Isn’t the reason why the Tower of Trials chose the bondage of pleasure and desire as the way to raise hunting dogs also because the answer to this question is not easily derived?
It is impossible that he could with a mere moment of thought come up with a way to acquire free will from the perpetual bondage of desire.
However Dam Cheon-woo’s wish to see the end to his thirst for power was an earnest wish without any lies.
That is why Damcheonwoo stepped on the ground stained with his blood and went to where he needed to go.
━Then I guess I should go find the answer.
Thirst for power.
How is the free will of an intelligent being that has gained life proven and where is the final destination of that life and intellectual power?
In order to find out the destination and the answer that exists beyond it he once again set out on an endless wandering in search of a source of strength.
***
In order to make his wish come true he searched for people qualified to provide answers.
There are also many religious and spiritual practitioners who pursue Buddhism and Seondo in the Jungwon Murim.
Most of them are far from the qualifications of spiritual practitioners but a very small number have reached a high level as spiritual practitioners.
Hyeseung the head of Shaolin Temple also did the same.
━Tree Amitabha Buddha. It was truly an interesting story Siju. You said that all living beings cannot prove their freedom and existence by themselves right? That’s a good question.
Hyeseung an old monk of about 200 years old gave an answer with a hollow smile.
━Hehe. In Hinayana’s view the doctrines of Buddhism seem to be helpful for the suffering suffered by the Lord. In the end doesn’t the Lord think that the greed of sentient beings is punishment for the sins of life?
Tong- Tong- Tong-
━’I(我)’. The desires of the world arise because they are not ‘me’ and they want to be ‘me’. In the end it is you who sees the world.
━Among the oldest doctrines of Buddhism there is something called ‘selflessness.’ Since the donor is also a martial artist he must have some vague knowledge about this. It is important to forget ‘me’.
━’My’ things. Something that ‘I’ have to do as I please. Thinking like that desires that cannot be fulfilled come across as the pain of lack. The pain of lack soon degenerates into a more powerful impulse to pursue pleasure.
Hyeseung smiled.
━Again. That’s why I feel afraid of change. As I see things that belong to me also changing I feel loss and suffer from the pain of lack. Even though the only truth is that everything changes and the things that do not change change.
━In the end we need to look at ‘me’ again. Confining ‘me’ in a narrow well degenerates into desire and pain. Smoke (緣起). It is necessary to know the fundamental cause of suffering through deeper acts of perception and to broaden the scope of perception.
━Do not confine ‘me’ in a narrow cage but look at it broadly. In the end the meaning of everything is not determined until ‘my’ thoughts and judgment are made. However anything can have meaning depending on how ‘I’ view it.
Tong- Tong- Tong-
━Isn’t that true? Everything is given meaning through my thoughts and judgment creating possibilities. Until someone gave them meaning the sun sea mountains and rivers also did not have a fixed or static meaning. That’s why I say don’t confine ‘me’ in a narrow cage.
━Confining awareness within the narrow conceptual category of ‘I’ causes wrong desires and pain. It is beneficial to see everything as something that can change and become anything rather than something that is static.
━So. Empty. Rebirth is about finally finding a vessel of possibility that can contain anything. In Hinayana thinking this would lead to free will for sentient beings.
Hyeseung spoke with a strange smile with her narrow narrow eyes slightly open.
━How did you get the answer?
After hearing those words the man Dam Cheon-woo stayed still for a moment then stood up and answered.
━No. That could also be another answer. However this is not the case for me.
━Tree Amitabha Buddha. I see. Still I hope this was of some help to you.
Time passes again.
The journey continued again without a destination and I found another answerer.
At the sacred site of Taoism where the Jeonjin Bridge Hwasan faction and the Jongnam faction have their roots I encountered the long text Gyoyeom.
━Ahaha! This is true. When I asked why the blood cult leader had come to visit me he told me a very interesting story. You have an unusually cute side. Hehehe.
━Let me tell you. If you add any more unnecessary words I will interpret your words as a request to personally kill you.
━….
━Let’s just talk.
Unlike Hye-seung Gyo-yeom was a woman who did not seem mysterious at all on the outside but when she started talking to him he could tell that she was not like that.
.
