Chapter 44: Chapter 44

Jin Gyeon and Jin Won-sang collided in midair.

Tung,!

A noise as if a huge leather drum had been struck echoed across the salt plain. The shockwave created by internal energy colliding with internal energy scattered white salt dust into the air.

Taking advantage of the recoil, Jin Won-sang twisted his waist and kicked out his right foot like a whip. Jin Gyeon blocked that kick with his left arm, but his body pushed back slightly on the salt ground. Without missing that opportunity, Jin Won-sang thrust his fingers like claws toward Jin Gyeon’s throat.

The fierce claw technique ripped through the air with a screeching sound.

Jin Gyeon tilted his head to dodge the claw, then simultaneously threw a straight right punch. His fist, imbued with heavy internal energy, struck Jin Won-sang squarely in the chest.

“Guh!”

Jin Won-sang let out a brief groan and was thrown backward, while Jin Gyeon, who had nothing to tread on, also fell to the ground. But having room to spare, he struck the ground with both palms and stood upright again using that recoil. Standing straight like that, he immediately took the same stance as at first.

Meanwhile, Jin Won-sang, who had been thrown backward, scraped the innocent ground to raise dust and stood up again. From the impact just now, the scab on his chest burst, and black blood flowed out in streams. But as if unable to feel any pain from such a wound, he glared at Jin Gyeon with glinting eyes.

“What was I supposed to do? Should I have just closed both eyes tightly and done nothing? When Soso died wrongfully?”

“…We do not judge sins. That is not a humble monk’s business. You should have found another proper way to give them an appropriate punishment, rather than blindly beating them to death!”

Jin Won-sang kicked off the ground, charged in, and shouted.

“To me, this was the appropriate punishment!”

With that shout, Jin Gyeon and Jin Won-sang became entangled again. Robustness overflowed in every one of their movements, and with every step they trod, the ground gouged deeply, raising crushed salt and sand.

Jin Gyeon tightly clenched both fists and displayed simple yet heavy single strikes with a firm stance. In contrast, Jin Won-sang dazzled Jin Gyeon’s sight by changing variously from clawed fingers to wide palms, and back to clenched fists.

Next, a kick jumping up lightly and kicking both legs sequentially battered Jin Gyeon in succession. He crossed both arms to block that kicking technique and leaped far back. And as soon as his feet touched the ground, he pulled both fists to his waist and took a low horse stance. Jin Won-sang ran after him as he pulled back and shouted.

“What are you doing, Senior Brother Jin Gyeon! Is this all there is to the Arhat Fist you practiced so hard?”

As if answering that, Jin Gyeon raised the two fists he had pulled to his waist up to his chest and folded them in prayer. Immediately after, twisting those folded hands, he clenched his fists again, took a large step forward, and extended both fists at the same time. The two fists rushed toward Jin Won-sang’s chest in the shape of an open beast’s mouth.

At the speed and solid momentum contained in those fists, Jin Won-sang, who was charging forward, momentarily wore a dazed expression. It was an expression as if flustered from being unable to cope. And the moment Jin Gyeon saw that face, his two fists faltered without him realizing it.

Jin Won-sang did not miss that faltering. As if copying Jin Gyeon’s stance, he gathered both hands toward his chest and extended them straight out. The difference between him and Jin Gyeon was that his two hands were not clenched into fists, but wide open.

The moment those palms met Jin Gyeon’s fists, Jin Won-sang’s palms wrapped around the fists while simultaneously curling his fingers. And he swept right up Jin Gyeon’s arms.

Jin Gyeon’s arms swept by the Dragon Claw tore like rags, spewing blood.

“Ugh!”

As deep trenches were gouged into both arms and blood spurted, Jin Gyeon reflexively pulled back. And Jin Won-sang, not wanting to miss the opportunity created like that, raised his blood-soaked hands and caught up to Jin Gyeon. In Jin Gyeon’s eyes, the two hands driving down from above, Jin Won-sang’s face distorted like a devil, and the blue sky were reflected.

Just then, something flew toward Jin Won-sang with a whirring sound.

Jin Won-sang rapidly kicked off the ground, turned a backward cartwheel in midair, and pulled back. Landing on the ground with a thud, Jin Won-sang checked what had flown in, and saw a plain single sword sticking its blade into the ground, wobbling. Relaxing his stance, Jin Won-sang stood straight with composure and looked at the one who had thrown that sword.

“What if you hit Senior Brother, Jang Geon. Throwing such a thing carelessly is dangerous.”

Jang Geon felt that Jin Won-sang’s attitude, so different from days past, was somehow funny. Did his suppressed side pop out as he completely snapped? Of course, no matter how it turned out, looking composed while shedding blood tears only made him look like a lunatic.

“I am sorry, Warrior Jang…”

“You hesitated at the end.”

“…I have nothing to say.”

Jin Gyeon sat slumped with his ruined arms limply hanging down, looking up at Jang Geon with hollow eyes. He seemed shocked by Jin Won-sang’s appearance of trying to kill him without a single shred of hesitation. Jang Geon walked over slowly and grabbed the sword stuck in the salt ground.

At that moment, Jin Gyeon grabbed the blade with his injured hand. When Jang Geon turned to look, he looked up with sorrowful eyes and said.

“Please… show mercy… My junior brother has merely fallen into worldly afflictions…”

However, even at Jin Gyeon’s desperate voice, Jang Geon merely looked down blankly without any answer. Thinking it meant refusal, Jin Gyeon released the blade with trembling hands and deeply hung his head.

When he let go of his hand, Jang Geon drew the sword relentlessly and flicked it with a snap. Jin Gyeon’s blood on the blade was cleanly flicked off. He sheathed the sword he had flicked like that in a smooth motion. And in that smooth motion as it was, he drew it out sheath and all, and set it upright on the ground.

“Hmm, a fist fight, huh. It’s been a while. I only did it lightly back when I learned under a teacher in the Central Plains.”

At his words while loosening his shoulders, not only Jin Gyeon, but also Jin Won-sang standing far away and the Sword Dragon Sect martial artists wore dazed expressions.

A moment later, Jin Won-sang chuckled.

“Starting from stepping forward to guide internal energy the other day, your confidence in martial arts is quite considerable. But isn’t it arrogant to compete in martial arts with me bare-handed?”

“If I use a sword, you die.”

At those blunt words with no further courtesy, Jin Won-sang was stunned for a moment, then laughed softly. However, his two eyes were shining ominously.

“…It seems you think Shaolin’s fist techniques are funny. Then I must show you the orthodox Shaolin martial arts passed down from Grandmaster Bodhidharma.”

Saying so, Jin Won-sang spread both arms wide to take a large stance, also spread his legs wide, and lowered his knees to catch his balance. The fingertips at the ends of his spread arms were soaked in Jin Gyeon’s blood, drawing hawk claws once again. Leaving aside the sinister momentum flowing in his two eyes, it was a grand and solid stance.

Facing him, Jang Geon also slowly began to take a stance. Taking one step forward with his right foot and placing his center of gravity on his back foot, he bent his knees to lower his stance, keeping his right hand at about his eye level at the upper guard, and his left hand at the lower guard as if pressing down on empty space.

Seeing him, Jin Won-sang twitched his eyebrows.

“It seems you did properly learn fist techniques. So, did you learn the martial arts of the Imperial Army?”

“Why does everyone who fights talk about the Imperial Army? I made this myself.”

“…You created martial arts by yourself?”

Jang Geon chuckled.

“Rather than that, recreation would be a more accurate word.”

Hearing that answer, Jin Won-sang laughed incredulously for a moment, then leaped up and charged at Jang Geon. His Dragon Claw, which had already tasted much blood, tore through the air once again, aiming for Jang Geon’s throat. Compared to that large, distinct stance, Jang Geon’s stance looked slightly awkward, and he did not charge forward as Jin Gyeon had, so in a way he looked to have given up resistance.

In fact, Jang Geon was lost in thought for a moment while watching Jin Won-sang leap over.

Most martial arts in this world are linear. Based on the Imperial Army’s ethos that emphasized efficiency, whether using a sword, spear, knife, whip, or other strange weapons, prioritizing a straight line extending from oneself to the opponent was the same. In the New Continent, that spirit became even more severe, so when masters fought one-on-one, a moment of clashing swords just once like lightning occurred.

On top of that, how widely that spirit spread in the world was such that even the Shaolin fist technique right before his eyes, though there were differences in degree, ultimately drew a path to subdue an opponent quickly and surely.

Drawing such a stiff straight line was the same when operating internal energy. From this meridian to that meridian, and projecting outward in a straight line was emphasized. And in Jang Geon’s view as well, that was efficient enough for beating people to death. To the point where there was no need to seek another method.

However, in his memory, martial arts were not that simple.

Even dividing swordsmanship broadly, there were heavy swords, illusion swords, and the like, and light-ness techniques went beyond taking a single step quickly to bewitch opponents and penetrate openings, and there was even a method of drawing formations step by step. There were techniques like Solar Palm or Freezing Ice Palm that accomplished magic-like things, and there was also twisting internal force to create whirlpools, or expressing emotions and heart in the physical gesture of martial arts to achieve beyond simple bodily movements.

Of course, most of those martial arts were merely imaginations made of lines of text when written down, but to Jang Geon, who came to live in a world of real martial arts, they could not be simple imaginations.

So Jang Geon began to personally recreate those imaginations, those stories that had been nothing more than lines of text.

At first, there were times when he wondered what meaning this had. Seeing him do strange things alone, there was no one who understood him, and he was full of doubt as to whether those imaginations were really possible, or whether he could do them even similarly.

However, he eventually created what could be called a light-ness technique alone, and after that, he became versed in powerful techniques like martial force transmission, penetrating force, and illusion swords, as well as miscellaneous arts like the Thousand-Li Audition Technique that heard sounds from far away. Yet there were still numerous martial arts in his head that had not been properly implemented. What he had to achieve was far more than what he had achieved.

And Jang Geon, without anyone ordering him to, and without any big reward, wanted to recreate those martial arts with his own hands. It was a monument he erected based on his own body for those who imagined and longed for that world after being reborn into a world where martial arts existed, and at the same time, a monument of solace comforting his previous life that remained only as memories in his head.

While that short yet long thought passed through Jang Geon’s head, Jin Won-sang had drawn close to him before he knew it. Curled fingers capable of tearing apart even rocks extended straight toward Jang Geon’s neck.

And Jang Geon, who had not made a single movement from the first stance he took until then, let out a very short breath and shifted his center of gravity forward by putting force into his back foot where his weight had been placed.

Simply by moving his center of gravity forward like that, the distance between Jin Won-sang and Jang Geon seemed half a zhang closer. At that, Jin Won-sang felt a slight perplexity and adjusted his target point. Because if he extended his hand as it was, it would slightly miss Jang Geon’s neck.

At that moment, Jang Geon’s hand abruptly approached and met Jin Won-sang’s left elbow extended forward. At his arm being attacked, Jin Won-sang’s complexion changed, and he raised his internal power more strongly. He intended to push through with strength.

However, Jang Geon’s hand touching his elbow did not grab or strike it. That palm merely pushed while softly drawing a circle against the elbow.

Jin Won-sang felt the internal power extending inside his arm falter at that hand gesture and move as it pleased. And before he could react to it, Jang Geon made a left turn, drawing a large arc centered on his right foot stepped forward. With that single rotation, Jang Geon and Jin Won-sang came close enough to feel each other’s breath.

“Ah?”

At the internal power of his left arm raging on its own and Jang Geon’s figure closely sticking to his left side, Jin Won-sang let out a perplexed groan. At the same time, Jang Geon, who was closely stuck, lightly pushed Jin Won-sang with his body.

“Ah-ah?”

Unable to do anything, Jin Won-sang bounced off, lost his balance, and tumbled over and over. Though he quickly stood up again, his expression became odd. To the point where he, who had fallen into qi deviation and was full of ominousness, was flustered, just now was strange.

The solid lower body balance and firmness of internal energy gained while practicing Shaolin martial arts had been disrupted by Jang Geon’s light movements just now. What was even more shocking was that despite losing his balance and tumbling like that, there was no impact on his body. He had rolled on the ground under his own force moving as it pleased.

“…W-What is this?”

Jang Geon answered calmly with a figure that was merely reversed left to right from his initial stance.

“Jang-Style Tai Chi.”