Chapter 14: The Transcendental Path

“Thomas!”

 

Jumping at the sound of his name being called from someone in his doorway, Thomas rubbed his eyes for a moment before realizing that it was his dad who called him.

 

“Dad… What is it?” Thomas yawned, still half asleep.

 

“Dinner will be ready in ten minutes, so get up.” David said as he walked out from Thomas’s doorway and towards the living room.

 

‘Well, I had to wake up here soon anyways, it’s way easier to study time sensitive things here than in the dreams, since one hour of sleep is one day in the dreams.’ Thomas thought as he slid out of bed and walked over to his desk.

 

After grabbing several sheets of paper out of his school bag that was leaned up against the wall atop his desk, Thomas began writing down the contents of the History of Cultivation that he could remember.

 

‘I get why they want me to learn about the history of cultivation, but all this book seems to be about is this guy named Chin Se-Yoon.’ Thomas thought after writing everything he could remember about the book.

 

“Thomas! Are you going to eat or not?” David exclaimed from the hall as Thomas set down his pencil.

 

“Yeah, I’m coming now.” Thomas replied as he stood up from his desk and walked out of his room.

 

As Thomas entered the living room, he noticed his mom, Lilly Smith, in the kitchen opening a bag of salad.

 

“Hey mom, what’s for dinner?” Thomas asked as he walked into the kitchen and towards the cupboard.

 

“Chicken thighs, mashed potatoes with gravy and caesar salad.” Lilly said as she dumped the now open bag of salad into a metal bowl.

 

“Sweet. So how was your three day visit to Grandma and Grandpa’s?” Thomas asked as he grabbed a cup from the cupboard and moved over to the fridge.

 

“Grandma and Grandpa are doing fine for now, but we’re all going back up there tomorrow so they can tell the entire family something.” Lilly said as she grabbed the salad dressing bottle off the counter and started drizzling it over the salad.

 

“Tomorrow? Alright, what time do we have to leave?” Thomas asked as he opened the fridge and grabbed a cold, half filled, pitcher of sweet tea and set it on the counter.

 

“Around ten in the morning, since they want us there before noon.” Lilly said as she started tossing the salad to evenly spread the dressing.

 

“Alright, do you want me to set the table?” Thomas asked as he poured himself a glass of sweet tea.

 

“Yes please.”

 

After setting his cup down on the counter and grabbing three plates out of the cabinet, Thomas walked over to the table and set the plates down accordingly with the chairs’ locations.

 

As Myeol Mang turned back around and grabbed his cup off the counter, Lilly walked past him and towards the table with a pan with steaming chicken thighs resting upon it.

 

After setting down the pan of chicken thighs, Lilly walked back into the kitchen and grabbed the bowl of mashed potatoes off the stove and the salad bowl off the counter as David and Thomas sat at their respective chairs.

 

“So Thomas, how was your day?” Lilly asked after all three of them had placed food on their plates.

 

“I got into another fight today, Ej is in the hospital, oh and I found a sword in the attic with dad. So it’s been a bit chaotic.” Thomas said while cutting his chicken into small bite sized pieces.

 

“Wait. You found a sword in the attic? What did it look like? Was it resting on a ceremonial pedestal?” Lilly asked as her face hardened with seriousness.

 

“Yeah I found it on a ceremonial pedestal. And its sheath was jet black, and the sword itself had black edges with a glowing blue line going down the center of it, it also had a deep blue hilt which feels like it’s made out of a really old and sturdy silk.”

 

“Thomas…. Come with me for a second will you?” Lilly said as her hardened expression turned into an agitated smile.

 

“Uhmmmm…. Sure mom.” Thomas said as he slowly stood up and followed Lilly away from the dinner table and towards his room.

 

After entering his room, Lilly waited by the door until Thomas walked in, then promptly shut and locked the door while staring into Thomas’s eyes.

You are reading story Memories of the Unorthodox Murim at novel35.com

 

“Thomas, have you had the dream?”

 

“The dream?”

 

“The dream! Where you’re an old man and you get killed by masked men while trying to chop down a tree!”

 

“Oh that dream…. I had that dream while I was sleeping this morning.”

 

“Damn it! I was too late…. Thomas, have you had anything weird happen to you today? Or any other dreams?”

 

“Yeah I have, I had a broken nose from my fight at school today that got healed from an hour of sleep after finding and touching Fallen Star in the attic.”

 

“YOU TOUCHED FALLEN STAR!?!?!” Lilly exclaimed as she placed both hands atop her head and started gripping her hair.

 

“Yeah I did, more than once at that. Is that bad?”

 

“Well, since you’ve already had the dream, had injuries heal and touched Fallen Star, I guess there’s no point in hiding it from you anymore.” Lilly sighed out as she walked up to Thomas and placed her pointer finger on his forehead.

 

Fsshhhhh!

 

Thomas suddenly looked around and noticed that his room was no longer there, as it was replaced with a seemingly empty world except for the uncountable amount of stars in the purplish blue sky.

 

“Where…. Am I?” Thomas asked himself as he looked straight up into the sky, admiring its beauty.

 

“We are currently in the Transcendental path, Thomas. This plane of existence was created by the original Myeol Mang after he reached a state beyond the seventh realm, the Realm of Ascension.” Lilly said as she appeared from behind Thomas and placed her hand on his shoulder.

 

“The Transcendental path? Created by the original Myeol Mang? Realm of Ascension? I don’t understand a single thing you’re saying mom.” Thomas said as he tried to process everything he had been told.

 

“I’ll explain from the basics then, since you probably haven’t learned the realms of internal energy yet.”

 

Clapping her hands in front of her chest then pushing them down towards the pitch black ground they stood on, Lilly then looked up and focused on one of the stars in the sky until it started falling down towards the area she gestured her hands at.

 

“The realms of internal energy for regular martial artists are broken into seven realms. The Entrance Realm, Realm of Attainment, Realm of acceptance, Realm of Truth, Realm of Comprehension, Realm of Greed, and Realm of Ascension.” Lilly said as the star that was falling made contact with the ground and suddenly morphed the ground into seven circles explaining each of the realms.

 

“What about Myeol Mang?” Thomas asked.

 

“Our ancestor, the original Myeol Mang, found a way to go beyond the Realm of Ascension, and stayed in the mortal realm until his death. He left no trace of his realization to ascend past the seventh realm. The only things he left behind was his bloodline through our family, Fallen Star, which stayed in our family the entire time, and the Transcendental path, which he cursed upon every member of our family so he could never be forgotten.”

 

“So let me get this straight, our family’s ancestor, a legendary martial artist, found a way past the Realm of Ascension, left no records of how to do it, gave his sword to his family and cursed them with this Transcendental path? He doesn’t even sound like that bad of a guy, I mean sure he cursed his family so he couldn’t be forgotten, but this place is awesome.”

 

“You don’t get it, the Transcendental path isn’t a normal curse,” Lilly sighed out. “The Transcendental path is what makes us enter the ‘memories’ of Myeol Mang in our dreams. But they aren’t his exact memories, Myeol Mang’s memories get used as a basis to create a new world with different possibilities. The cursed part about it is, that it will go through every single member of our bloodline until another person manages to reach the stage beyond the seventh realm.”

 

“So, the real curse of the Transcendental path is that it has a mind of its own? That it will try and get someone to reach the same state that Myeol Mang reached?”

 

“Yes, and none of the members of our bloodline have a choice in it. I still enter the version of Myeol Mang’s memories that the Transcendental path gave me, so does your Grandpa, and it won’t go away unless we die in the memories. So we’re forced every night to try and cultivate past the Realm of Ascension.”

 

“Wait, why can’t you just die in the memories and get it over with?”

 

“If you die in the memories…. You die in real life…. That’s how your Great Grandpa died. He lost a fight in the memories and had his head cut off…. When Great Grandma found his decapitated body in bed the next morning…. Well, her mind couldn’t handle it.”

 

“Wait, one more thing. What about the time dilation between the memories and the real world? Doesn’t that mean our minds will have aged years within a few months?”

 

“Unfortunately you’re right, our minds will age years within a few months but our bodies will age normally because the Transcendental path keeps us healthy and in near perfect shape. I’ve already been a martial artist in the memories for over 200 years, and Grandpa has been a martial artist for around 500 years now. So I’m sorry to ask you this Thomas, but can you help me and your Grandpa break this damned curse?”

You can find story with these keywords: Memories of the Unorthodox Murim, Read Memories of the Unorthodox Murim, Memories of the Unorthodox Murim novel, Memories of the Unorthodox Murim book, Memories of the Unorthodox Murim story, Memories of the Unorthodox Murim full, Memories of the Unorthodox Murim Latest Chapter