Chapter 239: Been Quiet for a While (2)
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“Bleeegh.”
“Senior Brother. You need to stand up.”
I pulled up Senior Brother Myeong-seong by his back as he threw up. The other senior brothers looked back with disgusted expressions.
Currently, Wudang Sect’s disciples were running along Wudang Mountain’s ridges for three days and three nights. They weren’t just running aimlessly. It was lightfoot training.
Wudang Mountain was steep and rugged. One wrong step could send you plunging down a cliff. In such an extreme situation, what would happen if they ran without even sleeping? They would have no choice but to squeeze out every drop of concentration to use their lightfoot arts.
“Whoa!”
Myeong-gyeong, who had been lagging behind, misstepped. I was at the very back to prevent precisely these kinds of situations.
I grabbed Myeong-gyeong’s arm as he fell. I held on until he could scramble for a foothold and regain his posture.
“Phew.”
Myeong-gyeong looked back and gave a slight nod. It was his way of saying thanks. The training was so gruelling that they couldn’t even speak.
“Ugh.”
“Haah, haah.”
The disciples, who had been chatting a bit at first, were now busy gasping for breath.
Only after fully completing three days did I allow the senior brothers back into the Wudang Sect.
“Bleeegh.”
“Cough, cough.”
The moment they entered the sect, the senior brothers bent their knees and vomited. Fortunately, the seniors of the older generation, including Myeong-yeop, had their pride to maintain, so they took care of their junior brothers even while catching their breath.
“Next is sword training.”
I clapped my hands. The senior brothers’ complexions turned as pale as dirt. Actually, their faces were already covered in so much dirt that you couldn’t distinguish between their skin and the soil.
“Hui-yeong. Shouldn’t we rest at least a little bit?”
Myeong-yeop spoke to me cautiously. I shook my head firmly.
“No. Training now, when your bodies are warmed up, will yield the greatest results.”
“…It’s too hard.”
Myeong-gyeong looked up at me with a tearful face. He looked so pitiful that I was almost swayed for a moment.
“Absolutely not.”
Right now, I was trying to subject them to extreme circumstances. It was a situation that any martial artist had to experience.
They didn’t need to experience the absolute limit every time they trained, but they needed it at least once.
Looking back, I too had always made leaps forward when pushed to the absolute limit. Real strength emerges from extremes, and you must drag that true self out in order to make it bloom.
“Everyone, stand up!”
Since they had already accepted that I was leading them, the disciples didn’t complain about my generation ranking.
But regardless of that, I couldn’t help but feel their personal resentment piercing through their eyes.
I felt that it might actually be more refreshing if they just cursed at me. Having people who liked me, and whom I liked, look at me with resentment pierced deep into my heart.
‘It hurts.’
But what could I do? I couldn’t loosen the reins just because I feared their temporary resentment.
What was truly terrifying was them panic-stricken and giving up when they faced real life-and-death extremes. Compared to the thought of losing even one of them, their brief resentment was nothing to fear.
“Get up, get up!”
“Sigh…”
Shouting, I went around pulling people up. The senior brothers eventually had no choice but to sigh and stand up.
The training method was simple. While they swung their swords, I would go over and spar with them.
Only by fighting them directly could I see what needed to be corrected and what kind of insight to offer them.
In total, there were about thirty disciples in the Myeong generation. I continuously took turns sparring with all thirty of them.
I was exhausted too, but I couldn’t show any signs of fatigue. I had felt this deeply during my time as a merchant company lord.
When I was a novice merchant leader, I used to easily reveal my emotions and get swayed. But my agitation affected my subordinates much more severely.
If the leader is anxious, the followers are bound to be even more anxious. Keeping that in mind, I maintained an ironclad composure.
I continued to drive the senior brothers. I didn’t care whether they threw up or cursed. I just needed to keep them moving.
If they looked like they were truly going to die, I had them circulate their qi through the small orbit. Naturally, the most dangerous time for a martial artist is when they are circulating their internal energy. Meditating and circulating qi when one’s physical strength was pushed to the absolute limit was also part of the training.
“Focus, focus!”
“Aaargh…”
Was it because I drove them like dogs?
Before I knew it, the senior brothers began to avoid my gaze. Since eye contact meant an immediate spar, it might have been a survival instinct.
But what was sadder was the fact that during short breaks, the disciples would glance at me and whisper among themselves. The moment I approached, they pretended as if they knew nothing.
Being excluded like that was actually quite sad. I was someone who had never felt a shred of sadness when someone suddenly left the merchant company. If that side offered more money, it was only natural for them to leave, or so I had thought.
“Senior Brother Myeong-gyeong.”
“Uh, yes?”
“What were you talking about?”
“…Um, nothing. We weren’t talking about anything.”
When even Myeong-gyeong, whom I trusted to the end, turned away from me, it was a bit of a blow.
Of course, that didn’t mean the intensity of the training decreased. The senior brothers’ so-called ‘Muk Hui-yeong avoidance syndrome’ only intensified.
After completing seven days and nights of hellish training, I gave them a day of rest. It wasn’t because I was mindful of the senior brothers’ feelings, but because that was how I had planned the training from the beginning.
The senior brothers needed to rest, but what was more important was my own self-refinement. I also needed some time to myself.
I decided to distance myself completely from the senior brothers during the break. It was a small consideration on my part, so they wouldn’t have to walk on eggshells around me and could actually rest.
The place I chose was the most secluded hermitage on Wudang Mountain. It was the place where Cheong-hwa had once left me after knocking me unconscious, and it was also where I first met my grandmaster, Hyeon-wol.
“Are you here, Grandmaster?”
I entered the hermitage and softly called out. Even after probing with my immortal arts, I couldn’t sense any presence. He seemed to be out.
“Thank goodness.”
I nodded. Since I needed some time alone, having Grandmaster around would have been a bit of a nuisance, to be honest.
“What is so ‘thank goodness’ about it?”
“Whoa!”
I was about to cross my legs when I gasped in shock and fell forward. Looking back, there was Hyeon-wol, the old man with a transcendent, sage-like air.
“…Greetings, Grandmaster.”
“If you’ve arrived, you should greet me properly. What do you mean by saying ‘thank goodness’ that I’m not here?”
“I did greet you.”
“If you greet me with a heart full of anxiety, wondering if I’m here, who would want to show up?”
He was sharp as a tack. Indeed, those who refined themselves to become immortals seemed to possess a different level of perception.
“Then why did you show up now?”
“To punish a cheeky grandson who shuns his grandmaster.”
Hyeon-wol chuckled at my grumbling. But I couldn’t bring myself to laugh along. As exhausted as the senior brothers were from being driven, I was just as exhausted from driving them.
When I let out an involuntary yawn, Hyeon-wol clicked his tongue.
“Your mindset in front of your grandmaster is completely lacking.”
“At least let me yawn as I please.”
“You insolent brat.”
“Grandmaster, I’m sorry, but I’m really tired and I want to be alone. So, if you don’t mind…”
I trailed off, looking at him warily. The sharp-witted grandmaster caught my drift instantly.
“Are you telling me to go curl up in a corner?”
“If you could use your immortal arts to completely erase your presence, I would be even more grateful.”
Now that I was caught anyway, I became bolder and spelled out my demands. Hyeon-wol let out a disbelieving laugh.
“Wudang Sect is truly running upside down. What an audacious fellow.”
“I apologize for my audacity.”
“Don’t offer an insincere apology. Turn around.”
“Pardon?”
“Tsk. When your grandmaster speaks, why do you talk back?”
“If Grandmaster tells me to die, I suppose I must…”
I grumbled, but I still turned my back to him.
“Straighten your back.”
Because I had no energy, I was slouched over, and now he was telling me to straighten up. Whatever it was, I stretched my back straight.
*Smack!*
“Ow!”
An incredibly sharp pain shot through my back. It felt as if he had struck me with his palm, but the pain was closer to being lashed by a whip.
“What was that for all of a sudden?”
“Quiet.”
I wanted to protest further, but I shut my mouth at the refreshing sensation that flooded my back. It was a pure coolness that I had never experienced before.
The energy coursed through my minor meridians, sweeping away all impurities. Vitality returned wherever the energy flowed. It was truly a marvelous experience.
Only after the energy had swept through all of my minor meridians did Hyeon-wol finally remove his hand from my back. To my amazement, my body and mind were completely restored, as if I had just had a deep, restful sleep.
“Oh…”
When I moved my limbs, they felt lighter and extended more smoothly. I immediately bowed deeply to Hyeon-wol.
“Grandmaster’s grace reaches the heavens!”
“Where did the grandson go who told me to shut up and curl in a corner?”
“I killed him. From today, I am a newly born person who has received Grandmaster’s grace.”
“If only you weren’t so smooth-tongued.”
Hyeon-wol scoffed. I immediately clung to him.
“Grandmaster. What was that? Was that also using immortal qi?”
“Don’t cling to me, it’s unsightly.”
Even as he spoke, the corners of Hyeon-wol’s mouth twitched upward slightly.
Having been old myself in my past life, I knew that the older one gets, the more they crave attention. And if that attention comes from a grandchild-aged person, it’s even sweeter. Knowing that, I clung to him even more.
“Ahem, yes. Always treat your grandmaster with such reverence.”
“Need you even ask?”
When I massaged his shoulders, Hyeon-wol chuckled. It was a bit pathetic how happy he was over something so trivial. But older people really do cherish even small gestures of attention. So, we should all pay attention to lonely elderly people…
“You, you’re having impious thoughts again.”
“Ack, no, I’m not!”
When Hyeon-wol suddenly turned around, I choked on my saliva. Seriously, I can never let my guard down around this grandmaster.
“Tsk, tsk. See what happens when you mock your grandmaster? You end up choking.”
Even as he clicked his tongue, Hyeon-wol explained the method he had just used.
“It is nothing grand. Immortal qi is the energy of the heavens. In the heavens, there is no fatigue, no impurities, and nothing unclean. That means there is nothing to discard in the heavens.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Therefore, simply circulating the immortal qi is enough to blow away all mortal fatigue.”
“Ah, so you just need to guide the energy using immortal qi.”
That was simpler than I thought. Tsk. If I had known, I wouldn’t have flattered him so much.
“Again, again.”
“I didn’t think of anything.”
“At least wet your lips before you lie.”
It was truly troublesome that my merchant’s poker face didn’t work on him. But I had already gotten everything I wanted.
“Anyway, thank you for teaching me such a wonderful skill.”
“Indeed.”
“By the way, Grandmaster, do you have any plans to teach immortal arts to other Wudang disciples?”
“Even if I teach them, they won’t be able to use it. You are the anomaly here.”
“Then why not teach martial arts? Currently, Wudang is short-handed.”
As the master of my master, his martial arts would surely be extraordinary. If such a person could step up to the front lines, it would be great, but for some reason, Hyeon-wol only seemed to show himself to me.
“It is a violation of our covenant for a retired martial artist to directly teach techniques to descendants.”
“A covenant?”
“There is such a thing.”
This was the first time I was hearing of this. Whatever covenant it was, seeing how all the grandmasters of the Hyeon generation adhered to it, it must be an exceptionally grave one.
“Then why do you teach me?”
“Immortal arts are not martial arts, so it’s fine.”
“Is that so?”
It seemed a bit loose, to be honest. Well, anyway, I had no intention of dragging out someone who clearly didn’t want to come out.
“Then, I shall be off.”
“Ah, Grandmaster.”
“What is it?”
“Before you leave, won’t you bestow one last grace upon this grandson?”
“What?”
“Could you give me just one Supreme Clarity Pill?”
I clasped my hands together and looked up at Hyeon-wol with innocent, sparkling eyes. Hyeon-wol scoffed as if dumbfounded.
“You speak of the Supreme Clarity Pill as if you’re asking for a common cold remedy.”
“But surely, someone of Grandmaster’s stature would have at least one, right?”
“Well, that is true.”
“Just give me one. Please? I’ll be really good to you.”
“Ahem.”
As I massaged Hyeon-wol’s arm with a bright smile, his expression softened slightly.
“But didn’t you already receive two Supreme Clarity Pills?”
I flinched slightly. Where on earth did he hear that? Before I could even ask, Hyeon-wol kindly answered.
“I heard it from my disciple. He was bragging that his own disciple had received two Supreme Clarity Pills.”
What a completely unhelpful master. I was left speechless. It was true that I had received two and consumed them both. So, did this mean I had to give up on getting a Supreme Clarity Pill from Hyeon-wol? It was quite a pity.
Just then, Hyeon-wol said something unexpected.
“Haha. Only now do you show a face befitting a grandson. Yes, a grandson should show their weak side in front of their grandmaster. Seeing you look so disappointed is quite pleasing to the eyes.”
“Pardon?”
Had I looked disappointed? I thought I always maintained perfect control over my expressions, but it didn’t work on Hyeon-wol at all.
Soon, Hyeon-wol fluttered his sleeve. Before I knew it, a warm and refreshing energy spread through my chest. Even without pulling it out, I could tell. He had tossed me a Supreme Clarity Pill.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
I immediately prostrated myself and bowed repeatedly. But since he apparently didn’t want to receive the bow of a dead person twice, he vanished after only receiving one. He must have gone back to practicing his immortal arts or whatever.
For me, it was something to be incredibly grateful for. Not only did he relieve my fatigue, but he even gave me a Supreme Clarity Pill.
“Phew.”
Shall I begin my training in earnest then?
Before training alone, there was one thing I had to check first.
And that was the very reason I had gone out of my way to act pitiful and beg Hyeon-wol for a Supreme Clarity Pill.
[ Unity of Body and Sword (身劍合一) — Grade 3 ]
[ Price: One Supreme Clarity Pill (太淸丹) ]
The Martial Talent Shop, which had been quiet for a while, had opened once again.