Chapter 363: Chapter 363

Cho Yeon-woon’s quarters were moved from the guest hall to separate quarters. It wasn’t very large, but it was a completely independent annex. This showed how specially Shaolin Temple thought of and treated Cho Yeon-woon.
“Phew! This is a bit better.”
Freed from other people’s gazes, Cho Yeon-woon quietly sighed.
The gazes of people he met while coming here were mostly similar.
Eyes mixed with reverence, sympathy, and pity – those eyes that respected yet pitied him made Cho Yeon-woon uncomfortable.
‘Was I being arrogant after all?’
He thought his heart had become much stronger, but it seemed he was mistaken. The wounds in his heart were still not completely healed.
Cho Yeon-woon smiled bitterly and stood up.
The annex he was assigned was surrounded by high walls. Because of this, he was free from external gazes, but it also felt suffocating. Moreover, without Bang Jin-bo who had always been with him, he felt lonely.
“Jin-bo, that guy seems to be happily wandering around.”
It was when he somehow felt a sense of betrayal.
“Brother!”
Bang Jin-bo entered the annex with a bright smile. Seeing Bang Jin-bo, a smile naturally bloomed on Cho Yeon-woon’s face.
“This guy!”
“Look who came.”
Bang Jin-bo pointed behind himself. Cho Yeon-woon’s eyes widened greatly as he casually looked that way.
“So-cheong!”
“It’s been a while, big brother.”
The girl who stuck out her tongue and smiled cutely was precisely Eun So-cheong.
“How did you come here?”
“I came for business.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“Did you happen to see?”
“See what?”
“That guy wouldn’t have gone out alone.”
Cho Yeon-woon pointed at Bang Jin-bo with his head. Then Eun So-cheong’s eyes briefly turned cold.
“That fox?”
“You did see her.”
“I saw her. Sigh!”
Eun So-cheong sighed and glared at Bang Jin-bo. But Bang Jin-bo only blinked his eyes, not knowing the reason behind Eun So-cheong’s sigh.
“You must have a lot of troubles too.”
“Tell me about it.”
“What a sinful guy.”
Cho Yeon-woon clicked his tongue looking at Bang Jin-bo.
“Why me?”
“Never mind, you guy! I’m hungry, so prepare a meal.”
“Can’t you just eat at Shaolin Temple? Everyone else does that.”
“Why would I eat grass scraps that monks eat when I have an excellent cook in front of me?”
“I can’t make dishes with meat either. This is a sacred temple.”
“You’ll probably make flavors as delicious as meat instead.”
“Sigh!”
Bang Jin-bo sighed at Cho Yeon-woon’s nonchalant answer. But his expression wasn’t displeased. Moreover, he had even met Eun So-cheong. There was no reason not to demonstrate his skills.
“Amitabha! I’m curious about what that flavor might be.”
“Huh!”
Then a calm voice suddenly came from behind. When Bang Jin-bo turned around in surprise, he saw a young monk standing at the entrance.
‘When?’
Cold sweat ran down Bang Jin-bo’s back.
Since the Five Elements Gentleman Technique had reached a high level, Bang Jin-bo’s senses had opened wide and he could easily detect the movements of ordinary martial artists. But until the young monk spoke, he had no idea. This meant the young monk’s martial arts far exceeded Bang Jin-bo’s.
On the other hand, Cho Yeon-woon greeted him with a nonchalant expression as if he already knew.
“It’s been a while, So-cheon.”
“Amitabha! Have you been well? Benefactor Cho.”
“Well, as you can see…”
Thang thang!
Cho Yeon-woon tapped his prosthetic leg with his finger. Then clear metallic sounds echoed through the annex.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”
“I know. So you don’t need to be sorry.”
“Amitabha!”
“I heard you were in closed-door training.”
“I finished it not long ago.”
“It seems you achieved what you wanted.”
The monk called So-cheon neither affirmed nor denied. But Cho Yeon-woon thought he had achieved great accomplishments.
So-cheon was one of the Nine Martial Dragons. He was Shaolin Temple’s hope and also a warrior monk likely to be the next abbot.
Cho Yeon-woon had met So-cheon long ago. Even then, So-cheon had achieved considerable accomplishments. But the energy So-cheon now displayed was incomparably more intense than then.
“Very much like Shaolin. It couldn’t have been easy to advance further from the precipice level. If you have a secret, why don’t you share it?”
“Being defeated isn’t entirely bad. Thanks to it, I came to my senses.”
“Defeat?”
When Cho Yeon-woon made a surprised expression, So-cheon smiled bitterly.
The defeat by Geom Yul-cheon was a memory he never wanted to recall again. But paradoxically, because of that day’s defeat, he was able to return to his original intentions.
With the mindset of starting over, he re-trained his martial arts. Starting from basic training, he reviewed all the martial arts he had learned until now.
Not knowing how time passed, he devoted himself only to martial arts. Training martial arts like this, he was able to cross walls before he knew it.
He wanted to extend his closed-door training further, but the situation was so urgent that he had to leave his meditation chamber.
The first news he heard after leaving the meditation chamber was that Cho Yeon-woon had entered Shaolin Temple.
“I really wanted to meet Benefactor Cho.”
“Me?”
Cho Yeon-woon made a puzzled expression.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“This is embarrassing, but I need new stimulation. And I want to confirm my achievements so far.”
“So you’re saying you want to spar with me now?”
“Yes!”
So-cheon looked straight at Cho Yeon-woon. His eyes were full of fighting spirit.
What he needed now was confidence in himself.
Confidence that he was walking the right path.
For a martial artist, there was only one way to gain such confidence.
Through confrontation with others.
That’s why he came to find Cho Yeon-woon. Because among the young martial artists at Shaolin Temple now, only Cho Yeon-woon had achieved accomplishments equal to his.
Thang thang!
Cho Yeon-woon tapped his prosthetic leg. Then metallic sounds echoed.
“You’re requesting a spar knowing my leg is in this state?”
“Is that a problem?”
So-cheon asked back instead. At this, Cho Yeon-woon chuckled and shook his head.
“No!”
“I thought so. I don’t think a martial artist of Benefactor Cho’s caliber wouldn’t overcome that level of disability.”
“I don’t know where to put myself with such high evaluation. No, I should say it’s an honor.”
Cho Yeon-woon’s smile deepened.
Right now So-cheon was treating him as an equal martial artist. This fact made him happy.
Just as So-cheon was burning with competitive spirit, Cho Yeon-woon’s whole body was also itching.
Like So-cheon, Cho Yeon-woon also wanted to confirm his own achievements.
“Then shall we begin?”
“Amitabha!”
Pat!
The two people moved almost simultaneously.
Clang!
And they clashed.
Intense energy waves swept across the courtyard.
“Dangerous!”
Bang Jin-bo protected Eun So-cheong and retreated backward.
So-cheon’s nickname was One Fist Mountain Crusher.
The Shaolin prodigy who could collapse mountains with one fist threw seven consecutive punches at Cho Yeon-woon.
Cho Yeon-woon didn’t avoid So-cheon’s fists, but rather clashed head-on.
The dragon that had fallen after having its legs cut was soaring toward the sky again.

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