Chapter 35 : Hell Training (1)
The Number One Under Heaven.
As the words suggest, a person with no equal under the sky, the Martial Alliance Lord Gu Munryong had no one who could dare to compare to him in martial arts.
He had cut off the head of the North Sea Ice Palace Lord, had made the Naman Beast Palace Lord kneel, and had single-handedly destroyed the main base of the Black Dragon Alliance. Even after beheading countless Demonic Cult members, there was not a single wound on his body. Who could stand against the one who had even annihilated the Demonic Cult's leader, the Heavenly Demon?
In the current martial world, the value of Gu Munryong's martial arts was truly absolute. Everyone wanted to learn martial arts from him. There were countless people whose lifelong wish was to see the martial arts of the number one under heaven even once, and becoming his disciple was something they could not even dare to dream of.
Of course, despite that, Jang So-gil had already refused the path of becoming Gu Munryong's disciple once.
'Because that's a slave contract.'
It was because Gu Munryong had tried to make an unfair contract using martial arts as bait. He thought it was natural to refuse since he had tried to work him like a dog after teaching him a little martial arts, but Jang So-gil couldn't even argue.
Let's ask a passing martial artist. When the Martial Alliance Lord said he would teach even a little martial arts, how many people would be willing to risk their lives and mortgage their lives? Yang Gwan had guaranteed that if you lined up such people in a row, it would reach from Chang'an to Luoyang three times and still have some left over. The scary thing was that even that Sama Hwi had nodded his head repeatedly as if in agreement. That was how much value Gu Munryong's teaching of martial arts had.
'The true value of a master is not in the things he makes, but in his skill in making them. The skill of the number one under heaven is worth that much. I'm envious, so envious.'
To be able to take someone's entire life after giving a few pointers, how enviable was that from a merchant's point of view? Jang So-gil pressed down on his pouting lips and chewed on the conditions. This condition was quite good. It would be foolish to refuse.
'Before, it was a slave contract, so I threw it away and ran, but this time it's different. I have to do this.'
It wasn't about becoming his disciple, but just having him look over his martial arts for a week. That's why the Martial Alliance Lord Gu Munryong would not teach him his unique martial arts or secret martial arts. It was on the level of making Jang So-gil proficient in the martial arts he already knew but couldn't use properly, correcting his bad habits, or suggesting the right path.
'So it's even better.'
The number one under heaven said he would repay the reward for what Jang So-gil had done with his skills. It was quite unpleasant to give or receive one-sidedly. He really liked the fact that it was an equal transaction.
Jang So-gil drank the Gongbugaju, which had a brilliant white color, in one gulp.
"I will visit you tomorrow."
If an opportunity comes on its own and you kick it away, you're a fool, an idiot, a moron.
Jang So-gil had no intention of becoming a fool, an idiot, a moron, so he quickly seized the opportunity.
"Tsk, I'm envious."
"C-can I go too? I have to be your guard."
"Of course, you'll go to the front as a guard, but you won't be able to sit with the Alliance Lord."
"Can't I just watch?"
"No."
"What if some bad guy aims for him?"
Sama Hwi looked at him with a pitiful expression, and Jang So-gil laughed out loud, "Puhahaha."
He wiped away his tears and said.
"Who on earth would aim for him when the Alliance Lord is with him, you foolish fool."
Because he said that, Yang Gwan lowered his head with a sad heart.
And then, as if to vent his frustration, he chewed on the pork, and his appearance was truly pathetic.
* * *
Waiting for Jang So-gil's visit, Gu Munryong's heart fluttered for the first time in a long time. Jang So-gil was like a white piece of paper decorated with the best ornaments. A body that had never learned martial arts would not be attractive, but his head was full of knowledge, and the one who had done the decorating was the genius Sama Hwi. He had to draw a picture on the white paper decorated with the flower called the Sama Divine Art, sprinkled with the fragrance called the Soul-Stealing Ice Art, and decorated with the jewel called the Cloud Dragon Eight Forms. As the number one under heaven, like the number one under heaven. Let's draw a beautiful, grand, and splendid picture that can be boasted to anyone. Gu Munryong thought so.
Jang So-gil probably thought he would just point out a few things about his martial arts and be done with it, but Gu Munryong was a martial artist by nature, so his heart burned when he saw such a good material. He had been looking forward to this week, and had been looking forward to it. He had waited with the heart of a child who had received a new toy, with the heart of a painter who would draw a new masterpiece, with the heart of a blacksmith who would forge a divine weapon.
So Gu Munryong was completely sincere. Gu Munryong looked at Jang So-gil with deep eyes and then threw out his words.
"Choose. Will you master all the basics of martial arts through a week of harsh training and be reborn as a proper martial artist? Or will you walk the path of growing slowly as you are now?"
"Since my knowledge of martial arts is shallow, I don't quite understand the true meaning of what you are saying, but if I choose the former, can I become like a martial artist right away?"
"That's right."
Looking at Jang So-gil's situation, the saying "a gold necklace on a pig's neck" was a perfect fit. He had an internal energy cultivation method that could be called a divine art and a supreme lightness skill, and he held the divine weapon, the White-Clear Divine Sword, but since he had never properly learned martial arts, he did not know how to use them properly.
The function of the Sama Divine Art was certainly outstanding, so he could become a master in a shorter time than other methods, but that was only a relatively short time. In Sama Hwi's judgment, the time it would take for Jang So-gil to become a first-rate master was at least 10 years or more. Anyone would be satisfied if they became a first-rate master in 10 years, but not Jang So-gil. Faster, even faster. He was impatient. Jang So-gil the story of mastering all the basics of martial arts in a week sounded attractive. Since it was the words of the number one under heaven, his trust was even higher.
"Then of course I have to do the harsh training."
"That's right, that's right. Ahem, you've thought well. A man should be like that!"
Gu Munryong was happy and patted Jang So-gil's shoulder. He was so happy that it was rather unsettling. As Jang So-gil stood there reluctantly, wondering if he had misunderstood something, he straightened his back and said.
"First, I will objectively teach you your current situation. You are in a very advantageous position. Do you know what the most difficult thing is when learning martial arts?"
"Isn't it choosing a good martial art?"
"Wrong. No matter how good a supreme martial art is, if you can't read it properly and understand it properly, you can't even use it in the latrine."
"If you read it properly and understand it properly..."
"A martial arts manual, if you misread or misunderstand even a single character, can cause an irreversible situation. It's a common thing for your qi and blood to be cut off, boil, and flow backwards, turning you into a cripple, and there are also cases where you go crazy and run wild."
"I know about qi deviation. But it's just reading, so how can you misread it?"
"That's because the martial arts manual you read was an annotated version with Sama Hwi's notes. Usually, it's very difficult to read the true meaning because it's engraved with complex metaphors, allegories, and abstract concepts. If it's an old martial art, it's even more difficult. As time passes, the meaning of the words used also changes, doesn't it?"
"Ah."
Jang So-gil opened his mouth slightly and nodded his head.
Words change as time flows. The pronunciation changes, the way of writing changes, and it is common for the meaning to be reversed in the end.
"The founder of the martial art and the current practitioner are from different eras. Jang So-gil misinterpretations and misreadings are very common. But you won't have such a problem. You've already entered the world of martial arts with Sama Hwi's annotated version, and you yourself are quite proficient in ancient languages, aren't you?"
"You praise me too much."
Jang So-gil was illiterate during his orphan days. So, as if to compensate for those orphan days, he had devoted himself to scholarship day and night under Jang Daegil, and he had learned to read to a very high level.
The reason he had bothered to learn ancient languages was because it was a study that made money, but to think it would be helpful now. You never know how life will turn out.
"To summarize, you have a rich knowledge of ancient languages, the intelligence to memorize meticulously, a supreme martial art, and Sama Hwi's growth plan. With all this, it's actually harder for you not to become a master. You will become a master someday. You have no choice but to. But I will not speak in vague and ambiguous words like 'someday'."
"Th-then?"
"In a week, you will be able to enter the threshold of a master. I will make it so."
It was an arrogant statement, to the point of being overbearing. But there was no sense of conceit from him as he said it. There was a naturalness of saying he would do it because he could. Jang So-gil was slightly excited and his shoulders twitched.
"I'll be in your care."
"Mm. Yes. Then since time is tight, we should start right away. First, yes, how do you understand the internal energy cultivation method?"
"It is a technique of circulating one's qi through meditation and adding the qi of nature through breathing to store it in the lower dantian."
"You understand it correctly. Then you must have noticed, but originally, you should not have trained in an internal energy cultivation method."
"Because the vessel of my lower dantian is small."
"That's right. If you force the operation of a cultivation method when the vessel is not ready, you are likely to bring disaster and die. But you are learning the Sama Divine Art. The Sama Divine Art grows the vessel and the internal energy at the same rate, so you don't have to force the vessel to grow. But it's not without its drawbacks. Do you know what they are?"
"According to Strategist Sama, since the size of the lower dantian's vessel and the internal energy are similar, if the balance is broken once, it is easy to fall into qi deviation. Isn't the possibility of qi deviation itself a drawback?"
He gets it right away. For someone who doesn't know martial arts, he knows the theory correctly.
Gu Munryong stroked his beard with satisfaction.
"That's right. So those who learn the Sama Divine Art need a countermeasure against qi deviation. In the Sama family, they prevent it in advance by adjusting the body condition very carefully and pursuing peace of mind. Strategist Sama said that in your case, he would give you the White-Clear Divine Sword and use its function to suppress it."
"So that alone was not enough. Then is there another measure?"
"There is. Let's go back to the basics. What is the cause of qi deviation? Isn't it because the vessel is small? If you arm yourself with a steel-like external art and make the vessel large, the possibility of qi deviation decreases."
It was a simple story.
A healthy mind resides in a healthy body.
"If you have a strong lower body, a firm waist, a rock-like stomach, and steel-like arms, not only will the possibility of qi deviation decrease, but it will also be a great help in using martial arts. How far have you learned the Cloud Dragon Eight Forms?"
"I have memorized the oral formula and the footwork, but that's all. I haven't even entered the basics."
"That's also because you don't know how to use your body. What you lack is external arts!"
Gu Munryong, who had finished his short diagnosis, clicked his tongue.
"You must have thought that your future self would be like Strategist Sama. You would neglect the training of external arts and train your internal energy with the Sama Divine Art to become a supreme master."
"That's true."
"That fellow has been training in that way since he was born and has recently become a supreme master. Do you have that much time?"
"But there is also something called a fortuitous encounter. Isn't there some way..."
"If I must say, the fact that I am looking over your martial arts is also a fortuitous encounter."
"Ah, that's true."
He falls off a cliff and meets a reclusive master. He trips on the road and picks up a spiritual medicine. Among the two representative ways of a fortuitous encounter, the number one under heaven becoming his master for a week perfectly matched the fortuitous encounter of meeting a reclusive master.
Come to think of it, the fortuitous encounter was not far away. This very moment was a fortuitous encounter.
"Prepare yourself. First, we need to lay the foundation of external arts to utilize the lightness skill so that you can use the Cloud Dragon Eight Forms. A fight is half eyes, half feet. Your eyes are already sufficient, so if you fill in the feet, you will be usable.”
(End of Chapter)