Chapter 21: Mystery

I wanted to start this chapter by thanking you for the comments and asking for even more feedback. The author here is starved for comments, which is what rewards me for writing. I don’t gain anything tangible from writing this, only the satisfaction of creating something enjoyable and the recognition from all of you. So, it might not seem like much to you, but for me, it’s both fun and rewarding to read your comments.

The shock in response to Yujin’s words was not insignificant.

Mito and Tsunade were still trying to understand the situation, and Yujin quickly reached an absurd conclusion.

He reached this conclusion because he could read what was written on the walls of the cave. The fact that the handwriting was the same as his, and it was signed by him, was just enough to confirm the written content.

“Are you sure you wrote this?”

Tsunade took a deep breath and asked in a trembling voice. Yujin nodded slowly and replied flatly.

“I never wrote this, and I would never write something like this. It’s blasphemy. But the handwriting is mine, the content is something only I would know, and it has my signature below, so it’s hard to deny.”

He seemed irritated by the written content; Tsunade had never seen him like this. At the same time, she could sense confusion in his voice. Mito could sense Yujin’s emotions even more easily and knew he wasn’t lying, making the situation even more absurd.

“What does it say? You said only you would know.”

Yujin looked at Tsunade in silence for a few seconds, then took the photo and began to read aloud.

‘I leave these words for anyone who wants to inherit my martial arts.

There are thirteen caves like this scattered throughout the world; find them.

Collect all the fragments, and you will have my complete martial arts.

To find the caves, I will use riddles to test you.

Intelligence and determination will be necessary.

This is cave number five.

Below are the riddles for caves six and four, as well as fragment five.

...

...

...

43rd Grandmaster of Yin-Yang Harmony school, Yi Yujin, the God of Martial Arts.’

The more he read, the more Yujin’s voice conveyed the anger he was feeling at that moment.

What blasphemy!!!

There was so much wrong with what was written that Yujin didn’t even know where to begin.

“Are these caves a way to choose a disciple? Is that what I understand.”

Tsunade tried to deduce the meaning, choosing her words carefully not to further infuriate Yujin. She didn’t understand why he was so furious, but she knew it was better to tread carefully.

“Maybe. But I have never done anything like this before, and I never would. Disciples are important and should be chosen carefully. Turning it into a game is the last thing I would do. It disrespects the past Grandmasters as well as disrespects my skills and reputation. I would never do that!”

Yujin respects his master a lot, as well as the masters who came before. He, better than anyone, knows how deep the martial art he learned is. Although he doesn’t like to boast, he has never seen a martial art so profound where, even after becoming a Grandmaster, he is still constantly improving, as if there is no end to his progress.

Typically, after a martial artist achieves the rank of Grandmaster, they start refining and enhancing the skills they have developed, further strengthening their expertise

You can try to teach these skills to others, and others may even learn, but it is very difficult, as reaching Grandmaster level depends a lot on the person’s understanding of where they will go in their martial arts.

That’s why there is no “stage” above Grandmaster. After Grandmaster, it is highly subjective, each with a different understanding.

While before Grandmaster, there is a method to reach that level with training and skills created by martial artists of the past, after that, it depends a lot on the person.

But Yujin’s martial arts are different.

He can still perfect it, as if there is no limit to the level he could reach.

Because of this, the creation of his own skills is still in the early stages; he has not completely perfected the skills he learned from his master.