Chapter 164
Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
I initially thought that the Thunder God Lineage just practiced en masse at the Azure Dragon Martial Arts School, but contrary to my expectations, the daily schedule was extremely rigorous. I had to wake up first thing at dawn, squeezing every last bit of wisdom from Jang Sam-bong to desperately train, while the others rose after half an hour and mimicked my practice.
Miraculously, the sparring sessions began with me at the center, surrounded as if in a Circular Formation, with about a foot’s distance between everyone. At first, I was puzzled by this setup, but by the third day, once Sagong Rin and Jai Hu grew accustomed to their forms, the reason became clear.
Those surrounding the Circular Formation dove into their martial arts, deeply contemplating techniques and their meanings, and as noon approached, they gathered to discuss among themselves. I joined in the debates, and to my astonishment, even Sagong Rin and Jai Hu, who were clearly less experienced than I, made remarkably sharp observations.
Jin So-cheong, Geuk Ho, Lee Kwang, Sagong Rin, and Jai Hu—all of them were rare talents in martial arts, and their intuitive grasp of the arts they cultivated was extraordinary. Every time I practiced my Gul Gong Cham or Cheon Chuk Geom, sharing insights during these discussions made me gulp in awe.
‘Amazing…’
While I would have merely grabbed at basic techniques, by the time the conversation circled back, we had stumbled upon profound insights. The discussions even led us to the connections and derivations from the hidden techniques. I felt my head spinning, needing to concentrate relentlessly on these discussions.
But of course, this made perfect sense. Learning martial arts together is often faster than alone, and if innate talents share their insights, the efficiency skyrockets. After training for about seven weeks, I realized that the martial arts research I managed to accomplish alone would have taken several years.
“Hrgh… hrgh…”