The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

Gu Munryong's training method and Sama Hwi's training method were as different as heaven and earth.

Any martial artist would consider Gu Munryong's training method to be the orthodox path. Martial arts must be learned by vomiting blood to train the internal organs and breaking bones to strengthen the muscles and bones. There is a reason for an easy path, and they believe that only by walking a difficult and arduous path can one reach the end and become a master.

On the other hand, the Sama family had argued that it was torture in the name of training and that there was a more efficient and simple method. With a regular lifestyle, balanced nutrition, and peace of mind and body, one could become a master. The proof of that was Sama Hwi, the second son of the Sama family. By the standards of a martial artist, he had become a master with little effort. To other martial artists, that appearance seemed like a demonic cult member walking an unorthodox path, or a scene where sorcery or strange powers and spirits were involved, so it could only be seen as a heretical path.

Then, the orthodox path and the heretical path.

Which one is right, and which one is wrong?

Gu Munryong declared.

"Both are right. Effort does not betray. It is also an effort to use one's head to take an easy path. Do not belittle the efforts of the Sama family. You can become a master by any method. Even if it is the orthodox path and the heretical path, the path of martial arts will eventually converge into one path when it reaches the end, so the only difference is time."

The result is the same. Only the time it takes in the process is different.

Gu Munryong continued to command.

"It's a funny story, but the Sama family's method is slow. I will declare it. The orthodox path is the best, fastest, and shortest master training method. Do not neglect external arts."

Jang So-gil had never done any physical labor. Work that used the body, such as farming, mining, or carpentry, was something that could only be done if someone taught it. It was extremely rare for someone to take in dirty and useless children and teach them to work, so orphans generally did not know how to use their bodies.

So his head was excellent, but his body was terrible. He could not follow the external arts training method that Gu Munryong demanded at all.

But it would be the same for anyone. No one could do things like climbing a mountain with their bare hands while carrying a large stone on their back, swimming with a weight of several dozen jin tied to their legs, or running while holding a jar full of water with only their fingertips.

"Who says no one can do it! It's something that anyone who learns martial arts does."

"Then you would have raised the level slowly! Before carrying a stone, you should have started with just climbing! Before tying a weight of several dozen jin to your legs, you should have started with just swimming! Before holding a jar full of water with your fingertips, you should have started with just running, shouldn't you!"

"That's true. But if you do it, you can do it!"

"What do you mean, if you do it, you can do it!? What else can you do but get hurt!"

"I do not know the word 'give up'!"

If it doesn't work, make it work. It was the proud family motto of the Gu family.

Jang So-gil, who was practicing that family motto with his body, was really on the verge of death.

But he was following the excessive training, even while grumbling.

"You don't have a steel-like body, but your will is comparable to it."

Gu Munryong looked at Jang So-gil with proud eyes. The fact that he was following the training, which was close to abuse, was excellent. Gu Munryong had inwardly thought that Jang So-gil would not be able to follow this training. But that was an underestimation of his will. Jang So-gil was following with stubbornness.

As a result, his ten fingernails were broken, his fine face was full of scratches, and his whole body was covered in bruises. He had already passed his limit and was at the stage of moving his body with his will.

At this point, it would be good to really try moving. Gu Munryong gave a triumphant smile.

"As I said before, there is no orthodox path or heretical path in the practice of martial arts. All streams return to one source. Therefore, it is also possible to walk the orthodox path and take the method of the heretical path."

"To walk the orthodox path and take the method of the heretical path, what do you mean by that?"

"You will practice the external arts, which are the orthodox path of martial arts, but I will change the method."

"That sounds ominous already."

"Don't be anxious. I've done it before."

"Have you done it a lot?"

"If I use it on you, it will be the second time."

Gu Munryong suddenly took out a needle from his bosom and threw it at So.

It wasn't just any needle. It was a long needle with a length of no less than one chi (about 30 cm).

He had thrown not just one, but hundreds of them, and the total number was 375.

"Uwaaaaaaaah!?"

Jang So-gil, who had become a hedgehog in an instant, shouted.

Something tingling flowed through the needles. The corners of his eyes twitched, and his knees went weak. The internal organs in his stomach squirmed on their own, and his spine stiffened on its own. His toes spread out on their own, and his pupils dilated on their own. Sweat flowed like rain, and the sound of bones cracking was heard from the joints all over his body. It was natural for fear to creep up in his heart.

Nevertheless, Jang So-gil was not crushed by fear. It was thanks to his naturally strong nature and spirit. But that also did not last long.

"Now, run. Run!"

"Ughhhhhh!? My body is moving on its own!"

"Thunder Essence Blood Altering Great Art. I will control your body with my true qi, so now your body is not yours!"

Why is it difficult to train in external arts? It is because handling the body is completely different from acquiring knowledge.

Jang So-gil knew all 375 of the eight extraordinary meridians and pressure points of the whole body as knowledge. But he did not know how to circulate them, how to handle them, and how to make them react in what situation.

It was natural that he didn't know. No matter how much someone teaches you with knowledge, it is your own body that uses it. It is not an easy task to observe oneself and handle one's own body. That's why you repeat and engrave the path of combat, and you repeat so that the body remembers that action. External arts were the work of carving a sculpture on a rock with a chisel. It was bound to be a time-consuming task.

But Gu Munryong had a reverse idea. After sticking needles into Jang So-gil's body, he would blow in true qi to move the bones, muscles, and blood. It was an application of the Void Object Grasping. If he used this method, he could directly improve Jang So-gil's eight extraordinary meridians and muscles and bones, and as a bonus, he could also move him at will.

It was the number one under heaven using his body for him. Correct, accurate, and movements that fit the principles were engraved. If this were repeated for a week, Jang So-gil's movements would become infinitely close to Gu Munryong's movements.

"Be glad. The only one in the world who can use this method is me."

"Help! Someone! Ughhhhhh!"

"Now, shall we try the Cloud Dragon Eight Forms? Don't worry and entrust your body to me. I'll make you able to use the Cloud Dragon Eight Forms freely in a week!"

"My legs! My leeeeeegs!"

"Concentrate on the sensation of the Yongquan point! Hahahaha!"

Jang So-gil's hell began.

Later, the guards who guarded the Alliance Lord's garden said that the sound of wailing did not stop in the garden for a week.

* * *

To put it simply, the Martial Alliance was a coalition created by the gathering of the famous Nine Sects One Alliance, that is, the nine sects belonging to the Orthodox faction, the Beggars' Sect, and the five families called the Five Great Families.

For what purpose was it founded? For the peace and tranquility of the martial world.

If you look through the numerous histories, the enemies of the Martial Alliance have always existed. The Asura Blood Cult, the Potala Palace, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. When the Unorthodox faction was in power, the Unorthodox Alliance was also a rival.

Because there were enemies, the nine sects, the Beggars' Sect, and the five great families united, and because they united, they have won until now.

But what about the current martial world? No matter where you looked in the world, there were no enemies of the Martial Alliance.

The Demonic Cult War that the Martial Alliance had experienced this time was one of the largest in history.

It was because the strongest Heavenly Demon Divine Cult in history and the strongest Martial Alliance in history had fought.

As a result of that wound, two of the three great heavens of the outer martial world had suffered damage close to annihilation, and the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had lost its focal point and had scattered. The Unorthodox Alliance, which had been caught up in the Demonic Cult War, had also lost its focal point because it had lost its leader to the Heavenly Demon, and as befits a heretical cult, they had taken individual actions and were in a state of being torn apart.

Among the forces that had the name of a group, the only one that could compare to the Martial Alliance was now the imperial family, but the relationship between the imperial family and the Martial Alliance was so close that there was even a rumor that the Martial Alliance Lord and the current emperor called each other brothers in private.

The Martial Alliance had no enemies. Because it had no enemies, it was invincible, and because it had no enemies, it looked for enemies.

Still, there were no enemies. If there are no enemies, is there a need for the Martial Alliance to exist?

The Nine Sects One Alliance and the Five Great Families were affiliated with the Martial Alliance, but they did not equate themselves with the Martial Alliance. The prestige and honor of the sect were prioritized above all else. The sense of belonging to the Martial Alliance, which had faded because there were no enemies, could no longer gather them.

The Martial Alliance was a group that should have been disbanded.

Nevertheless, the Martial Alliance is steadfast.

The Five Great Families and the Nine Sects One Alliance now wanted to leave the Martial Alliance, but they could not.

There were three main reasons for that, and the first was the current Martial Alliance Lord, Gu Munryong.

With his overwhelming martial prowess, he had cut off the head of the Heavenly Demon and reigned as the number one under heaven. One could not survive by being hostile to him. No one wanted to be his enemy.

The second reason was the martial library.

The martial library stored the secret manuals of numerous sects that had been worried about their lineage being cut off in the Demonic Cult War.

Each of those secret manuals was a secret and unique martial art of the Nine Sects One Alliance and the Five Great Families.

How could they leave the Martial Alliance when they had not even received back their secret manuals from the martial library?

Gu Munryong and the martial library.

These two reasons were, in a bad sense, shackles that choked the necks of the Nine Sects One Alliance and the Five Great Families.

So if it weren't for the third reason, the Martial Alliance would have become a symbol of hatred.

The third reason they remained in the Martial Alliance was a positive reason, unlike the two mentioned above.

The third reason, money.

If you stick to the Martial Alliance, money comes out indefinitely.

Money is good. With money, you can heal the wounds sustained in the Demonic Cult War and increase the power of your sect.

It is even better if that money is not your own, but someone else's, and the more you drain the Martial Alliance's money, the weaker the Martial Alliance becomes, so it will be even better when you become independent later.

As time passes, the Martial Alliance will weaken, and the Nine Sects One Alliance and the Five Great Families will become stronger.

They dreamed of independence. It was not an impossible dream.

It was a feasible plan that would surely be possible if time passed like this.

But the tide had changed.

A mad dog named Jang So-gil was appointed as an inspector.

After this young man in his early twenties entered the Martial Alliance, the infinite money was no longer infinite.

He had solved a few minor problems and then had suddenly bitten Elder Seok Pacheon. As a result, the money that the Hengshan Sect had been spending lavishly was charged to them. The guarantee of the first-class credit of the Martial Alliance disappeared, and its place was replaced by the credit of the Hengshan Sect and the Geumho Merchant Guild.

Could the Martial Alliance and the Hengshan Sect even be compared?

The Geumho Merchant Guild was shaken, and the numerous merchant guilds and merchant groups associated with the Geumho Merchant Guild made a decision. If they moved late, they wouldn't be able to get even a single roof tile, so speed was life. Merchants were skilled in such calculations, and they were a group that could be as cruel as they wanted for the sake of profit. They rushed in, vying with each other, and tore at the Hengshan Sect and the Geumho Merchant Guild like hyenas.

A whopping seventy thousand taels. At that enormous amount, the Geumho Merchant Guild tried its best, but soon its cash dried up and a crisis of bankruptcy came. The pillars of the Hengshan Sect, which should have helped, had already collapsed. The subsidies that the Martial Alliance had been giving had been cut off.

The Hengshan Sect, to foster a sense of pride as the Hengshan Sect in its disciples, had awarded something called the Firefly Snow Sword, which was decorated with expensive jewels. The situation was so urgent that they had taken back these Firefly Snow Swords and sold them. But even then, they were beaten down and could not get a fair price. The Qingzhen Merchant Guild, which was hostile to the Geumho Merchant Guild, had not missed the opportunity and had used its hand to hit them from behind.

Thus, the evil hand of bankruptcy had come right up to their chins, and the Hengshan Sect was on its last legs.

Seeing the fall of a large sect that had been one of the pillars of the Nine Sects One Alliance, it was natural for the lower parts of the others to become wet. They felt a chill that was enough to catch a cold in the middle of summer, not just their hair standing on end.

Among them, especially for the elder of the Diancang Sect, Guyang Su of the Ten Thousand Li Solo Journey, the fall of Seok Pacheon was not someone else's business.

Although it was Seok Pacheon's idea to kill Yu Heon, in the end, the one who actually carried it out was Guyang Su. Compared to Seok Pacheon, Guyang Su was a little lacking, but he had also embezzled a huge sum of money, and he had been making money by associating with merchant groups in the same way. Since it was something that Seok Pacheon had taught him, it had to be the same method as Seok Pacheon, so the same future awaited him.

"What should I do? What should I do?"

Even if he bit his nails and muttered into the air, Seok Pacheon, who would have answered, had been dragged to the Hengshan Sect and had not been able to return. He had lost his reliable advisor and trustworthy junior, his accomplice. Now he had to think with his own strength and break through this crisis.

"I shouldn't have made my title like this. Solo Journey, Solo Journey!"

He had to walk ten thousand li alone. Guyang Su was flustered, not knowing what to do. So he kept muttering like a crazy old man who had lost his mind.

"What should I do..."

The reason Guyang Su and the Diancang Sect had survived during this week when the Hengshan Sect was being torn apart was because Jang So-gil had entered a week of training. When he came out, where would be the first place he would go?

It was definitely the Diancang Sect. Guyang Su thought so, and it was actually so.

Jang So-gil, who had returned after finishing Gu Munryong's hellish closed-door training, shouted like this.

"First, food! And a bath! Next, buy new clothes, and then, I'll deal with the Diancang Sect!"

(End of Chapter)