Chapter 173: Chapter 173
After a while, Cheon-hwi finished his qi circulation and felt his body lighten.
“How refreshing. Should I try exhausting all my internal energy once in a while?”
Thanks to wandering around while unfolding the Flying Heaven Footwork, Cheon-hwi, who had exhausted all his internal energy, felt the true taste of qi circulation for the first time in a while.
“Alley-oop.”
Cheon-hwi jumped down from the peak and approached Jeok-geom and Seol Ran.
“I heard you guys got beaten up because I wasn’t around.”
The two tried to subtly avoid Cheon-hwi’s eyes before biting their lips.
And then they bowed their heads at the same time.
“We are sorry.”
“We are sorry.”
Cheon-hwi waved his hand and said.
“Hey. What’s with the apology. It’s fine.”
Just as the two stiffened in slight bewilderment, not expecting Cheon-hwi to say such words.
“It’s my fault for raising you guys weakly.”
The two broke out in a cold sweat.
He said it was his fault, but wasn’t the meaning hidden in his tone and words obvious?
“I was going to have you take steps gradually if possible, but since the situation is what it is, I’ll have to hurry a bit. Because I don’t know what will happen to you if I don’t.”
Cheon-hwi looked at Jeok-geom.
“First, for the next four days, do absolutely no other training and just focus on the Plum Blossom Qi Art and do qi circulation.”
Jeok-geom’s eyes widened slightly.
“If you mean ‘absolutely no’…. Are you saying I shouldn’t even do the Horse Stance?”
His speaking voice grew louder.
“Oh, really? Do you like resting?”
“N-No.”
Jeok-geom waved his hands, but Cheon-hwi, who already saw his face brighten up completely, didn’t believe him at all.
“You’ll have to do nothing but qi circulation for three whole days, except for the time you eat or sleep. If you skip even a little bit…. You know what will happen then, right?”
Jeok-geom’s expression, which had been secretly happy at the thought of not training, hardened slightly before the corners of his mouth lifted awkwardly.
“Ha, haha. Of course, wouldn’t I?”
“Right. Let’s see then. Whether you did it properly or not.”
“I under… stand.”
Darkness fell over Jeok-geom’s expression.
‘I thought I could rest a bit….’
It was certain that Cheon-hwi would know like a ghost even if he skipped training for just a single day.
‘But I still won’t have to do the Horse Stance.’
Just as Jeok-geom was trying hard to think positively.
“And Seol Ran.”
Cheon-hwi turned his gaze to Seol Ran.
Seol Ran raised her head abruptly.
“Did you call me?”
“Do you want to become stronger quickly?”
“….!”
Facing Cheon-hwi’s serious expression, she swallowed her saliva and carefully opened her mouth.
“…Is there a way?”
“Why wouldn’t there be.”
Cheon-hwi looked toward Seol Ran’s navel.
“There’s the energy of the White Gold Pill stuck in your lower dantian. Even if you just absorb that properly, you’ll become twice as strong as you are now.”
Seol Ran bit her lip firmly.
It was a fact she knew well too.
The White Gold Pill was certainly an elixir that contained internal energy beyond imagination. Therefore, more than half of its energy was stuck to her lower dantian and blood vessels without even being absorbed.
However, there was a problem….
“But Martial Uncle. Even if I circulate my qi, the absorption speed is slow. At this rate, I think it will take at least a year.”
“No. Two weeks is enough.”
“Is that true?”
Seol Ran opened her eyes wide.
If someone else had said it, it would be words worthy of being rebuked as speaking bullshit.
‘But if it’s Martial Uncle….’
Dry saliva was swallowed once again.
To her, Cheon-hwi was a person who made impossible things possible.
“How do you mean?”
“Do you know what Pushing Palaces and Activating Acupoints is?”
Seol Ran nodded her head.
“I’ve heard of it. Hitting to unblock obstructed qi and blood vessels….”
Seol Ran’s expression gradually paled.
Didn’t those words mean that he was going to perform Pushing Palaces and Activating Acupoints.
Just imagining the already terrible Cheon-hwi performing Pushing Palaces and Activating Acupoints, her expression went beyond white and became pale.
“Right. That’s it. Do you hate it?”
Cheon-hwi lightly loosened his wrists.
“If you hate it, I’ll quit. Instead, don’t throw a fit about wanting to get stronger anymore.”
It was a statement no different from a threat.
In other words, wasn’t it no different from an eviction order telling her not to come here.
“…I will do it.”
When Seol Ran spoke as if resigned.
“You made a good choice.”
Cheon-hwi lifted his sword sheath.
“Ah, right. We don’t have time either, so try attacking me while using your martial arts. I’ll do it while letting you know where your weaknesses are.”
“Is that possible?”
“Do you think I wouldn’t be able to do even that?”
“N-No.”
“If you know, then draw your sword.”
“Yes!”
Seol Ran gripped and lifted her sword.
“Come to think of it, you said you entered the Seven Plum Blossom Gates too, right? How far did you go?”
“…Up to the Third Plum Blossom Gate.”
Seol Ran’s voice crawled inward.
“Sigh, you’ve still only gotten that far? At this rate, aren’t you going to fail to pass until you die?”
Cheon-hwi shook his head.
“Then let’s see your skills. Think of me as an enemy and attack. Hmm, yeah. Come at me thinking I’m the guy who made Jeok-geom shit his pants.”
“M-Martial Uncle!”
Jeok-geom shouted in embarrassment from the side.
His face turned red with shame.
‘It had been forgotten all this time because he hadn’t kept mentioning it….’
Cheon-hwi’s brow furrowed.
“You shut up and do your qi circulation. A fortuitous encounter has come, and you want to kick it away?”
“F-Fortuitous encounter?”
“Even if you just consistently focus on your qi circulation, your realm will rise by a stage.”
“I-Is that true?”
“Have I ever lied?”
Jeok-geom thought about it carefully.
He had definitely never lied.
“Understood!”
Jeok-geom immediately sat cross-legged.
Soon as he was about to fall into qi circulation, Cheon-hwi smacked his lips looking at Seol Ran.
“He’ll be stronger in half a year now. But are you going to stay the same?”
“No!”
Seol Ran’s eyes changed.
Jeok-geom and Seol Ran had continuously built up equal skills through friendly competition.
But only Jeok-geom gets stronger?
It was unacceptable.
As determination filled her eyes and strength entered them, Cheon-hwi nodded his head.
“Right, that’s the look. Then come at me.”
“Understood… Hup!”
The moment Seol Ran was about to move.
Smack!
Swung earlier than that, Cheon-hwi’s sword sheath hit her side.
“If it were a real sword, you’d already be dead.”
Seol Ran frowned.
That would certainly be true, but wasn’t this cowardly.
“But a sneak attack is cowardly….”
“Are you going to say that after you die?”
Cheon-hwi shot a cold gaze.
“Win first before you argue about whether it’s cowardly or whatever.”
They were harsh words.
But he was right.
Seol Ran suppressed the pain felt from her left side and gritted her teeth.
“Understood…!”
Thwack!
The sword sheath hit her back.
“Tsk tsk, you fought the demonic factions like that and you still haven’t snapped out of it? Do you think those guys will wait until you’re properly prepared?”
When Cheon-hwi rested his sword sheath on his shoulder.
Tat!
Perhaps thanks to taking two hits, Seol Ran, harboring malice in her eyes, swung her sword widely.
Cheon-hwi smiled broadly and said.
“Right. You can do it if you try.”
He lightly stepped back and avoided it.
“But your sword is too honest. I wouldn’t have taught you like that.”
Thwack!
He struck the passing Seol Ran’s entire body.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
It was a beating, neither a sword art nor a sword form.
“Kyaaak!”
Seol Ran, who let out a short scream, adjusted her grip on her sword and turned her body again.
“That reaction was good. But if you’re going to unfold the Jade Ring Wondrous Step, you have to dig deeper into the flow and move. Tsk tsk, now because you’re paying attention to the footwork, your sword is doing its own thing.”
Cheon-hwi evaded Seol Ran’s attack and hit her side.
“And your waist has been left wide open since earlier. Are you saying, ‘Please kill me’?”
Seol Ran narrowed her eyes.
The pain was one thing, but the continuous nagging got stuck in her ears and had no thought of falling out at all.
“I told you, didn’t I? The most important thing in martial arts is footwork. But what’s the point if you just recklessly put strength into your steps like that. Think of it starting from your feet and connecting to your sword, and extend it.”
Cheon-hwi easily unraveled the profound martial principles and conveyed them to Seol Ran.
However, Seol Ran, whose head was already dizzy, couldn’t take it in properly and staggered.
“A-Understood, so couldn’t you tell me later….”
At the continuous coaching, Seol Ran eventually couldn’t bear it anymore, and just as she spat out the words she had kept swallowing and swallowing inside.
“What do you mean later. You have to hear it now so you won’t forget and remember it well.”
Cheon-hwi responded with a freezing cold voice.
“Open your ears and listen well. This is becoming your flesh and blood right now. How are you going to become a master by doing that….”
“Eek!”
It already hurt, but upon hearing continuous coaching on top of that, Seol Ran’s eyes spun around.
“Right. Emit killing intent like that and swing with the intention to kill me.”
Seeing Seol Ran rush in with a gaze full of malice, Cheon-hwi smiled contentedly and swung his sword sheath.
“Then block well.”
Pabababak!
Cheon-hwi, who unleashed dozens of continuous strikes at once, lightly poked Seol Ran, who was lying flat on the ground trembling, with the tip of his sword sheath.
After that, when he pressed her acupoint firmly.
“U, ugh….”
Seol Ran grabbed her head and stood up.
“J-Just now, that was…?”
“Now circulate your qi.”
Was it because she suffered a beating just now… no, Pushing Palaces and Activating Acupoints, Seol Ran reflexively followed Cheon-hwi’s words and fell into qi circulation.
And a moment later.
“Hup!”
Seol Ran, who finished her qi circulation, glared with both eyes and touched her lower dantian with her hand.
“My internal energy… has increased!”
She jumped up and down in joy.
It was unbelievable.
Internal energy increased by such an insignificant amount day by day that it was not easy to notice the difference.
But what was this.
Hadn’t the amount of internal energy equivalent to nearly a month of qi circulation piled up clearly!
“The White Gold Pill was actually absorbed….”
“How about it? It’s just like I said, right?”
Seol Ran nodded her head up and down at Cheon-hwi’s interrupting words and made her eyes shine.
“B-But how did this happen? No matter if it’s Pushing Palaces and Activating Acupoints, this level of internal energy in a short time is….”
“By stimulating the blood vessels attached to your body, the energy and internal energy….”
Cheon-hwi, who was explaining, changed his words as if it had become bothersome.
“Just know it as that.”
“Even so….”
“Then let’s do it this way. If you hit me even once, I’ll tell you.”
Seol Ran made a sour expression.
Because hitting Cheon-hwi, of all people, was an almost impossible task.
At that time, Cheon-hwi added a remark.
“Right, here you go! If you succeed, I’ll also teach you a martial art that suits you.”
Strength entered Seol Ran’s eyes.
“Really?”
“Have I ever lied about something like this?”
Seol Ran shook her head.
Because so far, Cheon-hwi had never lied regarding martial arts and training.
Afterwards, she made her eyes shine and said.
“Then don’t forget those words!”
When Seol Ran burned with enthusiasm, Cheon-hwi let out a smirk.
‘It was a martial art I was going to teach her anyway, but it’s nice to see her burning with enthusiasm like this.’
Cheon-hwi, who was saying words inwardly that would have made Seol Ran huff and puff if she knew, lifted his sword sheath.
“Then let’s start again. This time I’ll check if you remember the teachings from earlier.”
“Yes…?”
“It’s exactly the same as before, so dodge well.”
Instantly, Seol Ran’s complexion turned pale.
It was because Cheon-hwi unfolded the same but even more intense sword as before.
“Because this time it will hurt a bit more.”
What welcomed Jeok-geom, who finished his qi circulation, was a gruesome sight.
Thwack! Thwack!
“Kyak! Kyaaak! M-Martial Uncle!”
Seol Ran, who had valiantly challenged him, couldn’t endure the continuous beating and had a tearful face.
“Did you forget what I said earlier? Combine your footwork and sword into one….”
Smack!
Seol Ran, who got hit on her back, saw that Jeok-geom opened his eyes and spoke with a glance.
‘H-Help me! Senior Martial Brother!’
A desperate request for help.
However, Jeok-geom pretended not to notice, subtly turning his head and shutting his eyes tight.
‘I’m sorry. Junior Martial Sister.’
Even amid that, the screams grew louder and louder and echoed through Mount Hua for a while.
Thud.
Seol Ran collapsed on the floor in a spread-eagle shape.
“Pant, pant. N-No more….”
Panting, her chest repeatedly swelled largely and shrank.
“It was quite decent.”
Cheon-hwi, who finished beating Seol Ran with his sword sheath… no. Pushing Palaces and Activating Acupoints, lightly dusted off his hands and smiled.
Seol Ran, who was catching her breath while lying down, flinched at Cheon-hwi’s smile.
It was a smile that was even refreshing, but it was because it felt too evil.
And a moment later, at the words that came out as Cheon-hwi’s mouth opened, she could realize that what she just felt was the truth.
“You’ve rested enough now, right? Get up.”
Enjoyed the chapter?
If you like our work, consider supporting us on Ko-fi. This site solely runs on donations. Every donation helps us keep translating!
Support on Ko-fi