Book 5 Chapter 5

The Origin and History of Sound Cultivation

Where can the origins of Sound Cultivation (音功) be traced?

Without even being asked, it can be confidently stated that it began with the experimental spirit of a martial arts master who had a penchant for the unusual and unique, perhaps even eccentric.

Otherwise, what madman would have created Sound Cultivation, which is worlds apart from practicality!

Of course, that eccentric but formidable master must have been someone who obsessively loved music.

All schools of Sound Cultivation universally trace their lineage back to their founder, Tian Ming Yin (Heavenly Sound) Hong Jo Hyeon.

He was a legendary Sound Cultivation master from 700 years ago, and the one who heralded its beginnings. In other words, he was the first person to kill someone with sound. To be more precise, he was the person who killed others with music, using musical instruments, not just pure sound. Is "killed" too harsh? Still, he was a Grandmaster of a martial arts lineage…

Usually, ordinary people associate music with the entertainment enjoyed during drinking and singing, but this is truly an ignorant and shameful way of thinking. While there is music that enhances the mood at drinking parties (and this is most of it), there are also countless types of music created for other purposes. And there were those who devoted themselves to music to cultivate arts and pursue immortality.

Tian Ming Yin Hong Jo Hyeon, the genius from 700 years ago, proved that music is not limited to the "sound" of drinking and singing. He was a man who loved music obsessively, and his music was described as reaching the heavens. He proved not only that music has an excellent effect in enhancing merriment but also that it can shake and control people's hearts, even inflict mental damage, and send them to the afterlife.

At first, everyone must have scoffed at his theories and explanations. This was because he had mastered the supreme internal energy technique, Tae Cheon Jin Myeong Sin Gong, and was a figure worthy of being called a Sword God, unmatched in swordsmanship. However, after ten years of contemplation, he astonished the world by creating a martial art of music that could move people's hearts and even lead them to death. Thus, he became a great master of a new martial arts lineage.

It is said that Tian Ming Yin Hong Jo Hyeon was the first to injure people with music, not with words, unlike the tremendous sounds of Shaolin's Fan Tian Yin or Lion's Roar, which unleash internal energy in an instant. And the sect he founded was Tian Yin Men, and the current Tian Yin Seon Ja Hong Ran was his descendant who carried on his legacy. Therefore, one can easily imagine Hong Ran's pride in her Sound Cultivation.

Before Sound Cultivation was perfected by Tian Ming Yin Hong Jo Hyeon, its power was truly crude. Furthermore, it was notoriously difficult to learn and even harder to use, making its inefficiency unmatched. Of course, it remains so even now.

The first cautious signs and possibilities of Sound Cultivation, with its unparalleled inefficiency, appeared around 300 years ago with Ma Eum Seon (Demon Sound Immortal) Gwak Hyu Jeong. Once, when he was surrounded by over a hundred martial artists in a barracks, he sat serenely on a rock ten zhang high and, with just a flick of his fingers and without moving his toes, sent all hundred martial artists within a thirty-zhang radius to the afterlife during the playing of a single melody. The song he played at that time was named Baek Hyeol Eum (White Blood Sound), meaning a melody that drank the blood of over a hundred people.

Of course, the martial world was aghast, and the shock they received at that time was beyond imagination. And then, in their shock, the martial artists could only silently acknowledge that Sound Cultivation possessed the power for mass slaughter.

From this point on, a lineage branched off from the schools of Sound Cultivation and came to be known as the Ma Eum lineage, which took root in the unorthodox paths and continued to the present. They are natural enemies to the orthodox path of Jeong Eum (True Sound) that descends from the Sound Immortal Tian Ming Yin Hong Jo Hyeon.

Sound Cultivation is advantageous at long distances from the enemy, but few martial arts are as disadvantageous as Sound Cultivation at close range. If too far, the power of music cannot reach, and if too close, one is attacked before reaching their full power.

Therefore, the unit of comparison for Sound Cultivation is not a difference of an inch, like with spears and swords, but in units of zhang. If an enemy is within ten zhang (approximately 30 meters) and facing you, it's safe to assume you have the lower hand. Especially with Sound Cultivation using portable and agile instruments like the Xiao, a master can contend with enemies up to five zhang (approximately 15 meters, 1 zhang is 3 meters) away. And only by being able to contend with enemies within three zhang can one truly be called a supreme master.

However, the Guqin was somewhat different from other forms of Sound Cultivation. With the Xiao, one can retreat by moving their feet when the enemy attacks, but with an instrument like the Guqin, which is the greatest hindrance to movement, serious consideration is needed for its use unless one is a peak master.

Therefore, it was not a martial art that could be used in a narrow fighting arena. The very posture of playing the Guqin restricts leg movement and only allows for movement above the waist, doesn't it?

There are whispers that a special movement technique has been developed and is secretly passed down for playing the Guqin. In other words, it's possible to glide on the ground or ice with only the movement of internal energy and the tips of one's toes, without straightening the knees. However, its true nature has never been fully revealed. That movement technique is the ultimate secret of the schools of Sound Cultivation.

It was impossible for Bi Ryu Yeon, who had only learned for half a year as an amateur, to do it.

The most important aspects of Sound Cultivation using the Xiao are the breathing technique, internal energy circulation method, and footwork that allow one to freely change their body while playing the Xiao. These three must be integrated into one; if any one is missing, mastery is impossible.

This was the same for the Guqin. Without this, the Guqin is merely a decorative item.

Sound Cultivation can be considered almost useless in group battles or chaotic mêlées. It's fine to consider it a useless item.

In the act of killing, using musical instruments and playing music to kill is, in a way, a very inefficient and unproductive matter. The person who first created Sound Cultivation must have felt the same way. After all, Sound Cultivation most likely began from the absurd idea of a martial artist who loved music too much. Furthermore, it was probably focused more on subduing than killing.

However, that doesn't mean Sound Cultivation is entirely useless. It is said that those who have reached the realm of Sound Immortal (音仙) with Sound Cultivation alone can injure or inflict mental damage on a large number of people with a single note. The ability to inflict mental and psychological damage is the outstanding advantage of Sound Cultivation. This is because Sound Cultivation has the power to stir people's hearts with music.

So, what is the greatest weakness of Sound Cultivation?

It is precisely distance and time. Short distances and the resulting lack of sufficient time are fatal weaknesses and serious threats to Sound Cultivation. This is why Sound Cultivation is considered one of the least suitable martial arts for fighting arenas. Because the arena is too narrow for Sound Cultivation to exert its full power.

Due to its nature, Sound Cultivation struggles to reach its maximum power in a short period. This is because music creates melodies through the harmonious combination of various sounds and chords.

Therefore, the level of Sound Cultivation is judged by how quickly one can capture the opponent within their sound. This shows how difficult Sound Cultivation is to learn, even more difficult to execute, and how many restrictions follow it.

Among Sound Cultivation techniques, those using the Guqin are particularly difficult to master and handle. Their practical use is like trying to grasp stars in the sky. This is even more so in a narrow and confined space like a fighting arena. It is akin to putting a thousand-pound shackles on one's own feet.

And it is this very martial art that Bi Ryu Yeon is now attempting to perform. For this reason, Hong Ran is worried, and her criticism that his actions are reckless and absurd is understandable. And Bi Ryu Yeon realized his mistake due to Dan Pyeong's relentless rapid attacks.

It was a fatal mistake for Bi Ryu Yeon, who was using Sound Cultivation in combat for the first time.