novelraw Chapter 71 : Chapter 71
Chapter 71 : Chapter 71
Chapter 71 - You'll Get Burned
Young Master Yi.
At the appearance of Sedong, the jaws of the disciples of the younger generation dropped and showed no sign of coming back up.
It wasn't strange at all for him to be on Kongtong Mountain.
He had been staying here since yesterday, saying he was here to observe the Diancang Sect.
But a skilled assistant instructor?
Everyone was thrown into confusion by this utterly nonsensical story.
“From now on, when I explain the movements of the Flying Eagle Steps, the assistant instructor will demonstrate. Also, if you run into any problems while practicing alone later, you can call the assistant instructor and ask questions.”
“S-So you’re saying……”
We’re supposed to ask someone who hasn't even been initiated into the Diancang Sect about its martial arts?
Eung Gajin was so dumbfounded he couldn't even finish his sentence.
Danseol, who was relatively calm among them, asked Biyoung.
“How did Young Master Yi learn our sect's footwork?”
As if he had expected it, Biyoung answered immediately.
“Before this instructor went to Simao, I taught Sedong a few key footwork techniques.”
“Are you saying you taught our sect's martial arts to an outsider without permission?”
At that cold tone, Sedong flinched.
His pale skin and expressionless, slitted eyes remained the same, but the anger was clearly felt.
However.
The answer to Danseol's question came not from Biyoung, but from someone else.
“When the sect itself had vanished, from whom was he supposed to get permission?”
“Senior Brother Uma?”
“Young Master Yi learned the Flying Eagle Steps even before the Diancang Sect reclaimed its main mountain. Do you ask for the owner's permission before picking up a few coins you find on the street?”
“Senior Brother. How can you compare the Flying Eagle Steps to a few coins dropped on the ground?”
“I’ve been in the loan shark business for so long, I can't think of any other analogy besides money.”
“………….”
Should I laugh or not?
It was a relief that Danseol was naturally expressionless.
“In any case, it's not something to be blamed for, spreading something that had no owner. When the foundation of the Diancang Sect is properly established in the future, we can decide on it then.”
Listening to him, it wasn't exactly wrong.
Even Eung Gajin, the most conservative when it came to the sect's rules, seemed to be letting the current issue slide.
But even so, a question remained.
It would be one thing if Biyoung were explaining, but why was Uma stepping up to defend him like this?
As if wanting more, Danseol's slitted eyes remained fixed on Uma.
“Didn't I tell you not to look at me like that? You're so pale, you look like a ghost, you sometimes appear in my dreams, you know?”
“……My apologies.”
“I didn't want to say this because it's embarrassing, but do you remember what I looked like when I came up Kongtong Mountain yesterday?”
“Yes. It looked less like a body and more like a single lump writhing.”
“……I didn't think you'd be so truthful. It's my fault for asking you.”
Uma spat on the ground and smiled bitterly.
“The three of us came up using the same method then.”
“The same…… method……?”
“All three of us used the Flying Eagle Steps to come up.”
At those words, everyone, including Danseol, looked surprised.
Uma had a large build, so he tended to tire quickly when using movement techniques continuously.
But that was only by the standards of the Diancang Sect.
Compared to an ordinary person who hadn't trained in martial arts, the difference was like heaven and earth.
Let's exclude Biyoung, since that guy was born a monster.
But while using the same Flying Eagle Steps, only Uma was exhausted?
‘At that time, surely…….’
Danseol's eyes looked to the past.
Back then, Sedong also looked quite tired, but compared to Uma, who had collapsed and was gasping for breath, he was like a fairy.
And yet they both came up using the exact same method.
As the story reached this point, one by one, their gazes began to fix on Sedong.
As people's attention focused on him, Sedong scratched his cheek, as if embarrassed.
“I saw Young Master Yi's Flying Eagle Steps with my own two eyes. I dare say, it was more refined and orthodox than not only mine, but anyone else's here.”
“!”
“Don't they say seeing is believing? You'll know for yourselves once you see Young Master Yi's demonstration.”
Those words were meant not just for Danseol, but for everyone.
Although Sedong was an outsider, the one who taught him the Flying Eagle Steps was Biyoung.
The same Biyoung who had said all the Flying Eagle Steps they had learned so far were fake.
“Seems like things have been sorted out to some extent. Shall we begin then? Starting with Forked Two Steps.”
“Yeah. Got it.”
At the instructor's words, the skilled assistant instructor's eyes sparkled.
Unlike when people's gazes were on him, his face turned quite serious.
As much as he admired the world of Murim, his attitude toward martial arts seemed extremely sincere.
Pababak!
“!”
Sedong's form moved, crossing left and right.
As the name Forked Two Steps suggested, it was a footwork designed to allow alternating attacks on both sides when performing swordsmanship.
One might think it was too basic of a movement to be called footwork, but even the most powerful technique of the Eagle Talon Twelve Swords, the Slanted Wing Flank Strike, was in fact based on this footwork.
“One more time.”
Pabak!
Sedong's form moved left and right as nimbly as a flying squirrel.
As he repeated the Forked Two Steps following Biyoung's instructions, the faces of the disciples of the younger generation hardened.
“This time, Rotating Retreat.”
Hwirleuk!
Sedong's body quickly spun once, creating a distance of one zhang outside.
It was a clean movement without any superfluous actions, and despite rotating his body, his center of gravity didn't waver at all.
“Hey, he's good, isn't he?”
Even Solbo, who was the best among the disciples of the younger generation when it came to movement techniques, couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
‘He's good.’
‘Just as Senior Brother Uma said…… he's better than us?’
‘How can this be…….’
Though the degree varied, the faces of the disciples of the younger generation flushed red.
They couldn't accept it.
To be more honest, they didn't want to accept it.
How many years had they spent living a hard life in Simao, training in swordsmanship?
Let's put Biyoung aside.
That guy was like a being from another dimension from the moment he was born.
But Sedong?
He was just the young master of a merchant family.
And yet, the Flying Eagle Steps performed by that young master was far smoother and more precise than theirs.
It felt as if the years they had spent training were being negated, and they felt like they would burst with frustration.
“That’s it! Good job!”
But Biyoung was so pleased that he even clapped his hands, encouraging Sedong.
“By any chance, can you do the Springing Foot Rotation too?”
“Um…… I've practiced it, but……”
“Ooh!”
Biyoung let out a heartfelt exclamation of admiration.
Initially, he had no intention of having him demonstrate the Springing Foot Rotation.
It was because it was the most difficult movement among the techniques of the Flying Eagle Steps.
But since the demonstrated movements were so smooth, Biyoung got greedy.
“Good. Give it a try.”
Sedong shyly scratched the back of his head once, then kicked off the ground and spun his body around once.
Hwirleuk!
“!”
Belying his hesitant appearance, Sedong's form rotated as fast as a carriage wheel.
Buung!
Simultaneously, his back foot fiercely struck the air.
It was a good thing no one was in front of him; if there had been someone he had a quarrel with, they would have been annihilated without knowing what hit them.
“Perfect!”
Biyoung smiled with utmost satisfaction.
At that sight, the disciples of the younger generation of the Diancang Sect had to feel something boiling up inside them.
They would deny it themselves, but surprisingly, it was a feeling close to ‘jealousy.’
Not a single one of the disciples of the younger generation had ever received such a satisfied gaze.
They had only ever been chided with words like ‘shoddy’ or ‘no foundation.’
They had thought he was a heartless guy who didn't know the meaning of satisfaction, but seeing the look on his face as he watched Sedong, they realized that wasn't the case.
An invisible flame flickered hotly around the disciples of the younger generation.
‘I'll get burned if I get too close.’
Looking at their expressions, Biyoung inwardly smiled a triumphant smile.
His exaggerated praise for Sedong was entirely intentional.
The reason he had brought Sedong in as an assistant instructor in the first place was for stimulation.
His personality might be trash, but as a swordsman, Biyoung was an object of aspiration for the disciples of the younger generation.
Wasn't he the one who had shown them the Sun-Shooting Sword Art?
Thus, a certain feeling began to sprout in the hearts of the disciples of the younger generation without them even realizing it.
The feeling of ‘wanting to be acknowledged by Biyoung.’
But the one actually receiving the praise was not them, but Sedong.
“What are you doing? Let's do it together too!”
As if Biyoung's intention had hit the mark perfectly, Eung Gajin rolled up his sleeves and took a step forward.
“Good attitude, Senior Brother Eung Ga. Shall we all start together then? Forked Two Steps!”
Pababak!
As several people performed the footwork at the same time, clouds of dust rose.
The ground was soft because Tiger-Bear Stronghold had sold off the bluestone, but not a single person's posture wavered.
“Hmm…….”
Forked Two Steps was a simple footwork, so there was nothing to be altered or distorted in its form.
The problem was the center of gravity.
It wouldn't do for there to be even a speck of wavering after finishing the Forked Two Steps.
“There are some Senior Brothers whose heads are shaking a little, aren't there?”
“!”
He didn't say who specifically, but this had a greater effect.
It was because it made each of the disciples of the younger generation wonder, ‘Damn it, is it me?’
Needless to say, they put more effort into their next movement.
“Next is Springing Foot Rotation!”
Hwirleuk!
The sight of several people performing a single move as if in a group dance was quite picturesque.
But Biyoung frowned and took a few steps forward.
“Here!”
Tak!
“Ack!”
His wooden stick smartly struck Eung Gajin's thigh.
“If this part moves, it's all for nothing, Senior Brother.”
Biyoung shot him a murderous glare and then corrected Danseol's posture.
‘It's difficult…….’
Beads of sweat formed on Eung Gajin's temples.
To think a day would come when he would feel that the Flying Eagle Steps was difficult.
It was the basic footwork of the Diancang Sect, and since it had many simple movements, he had felt it was manageable from the time he first learned it.
But as he paid attention to each and every posture Biyoung corrected, there was no footwork in the world as tricky as this.
‘Is this what he meant by just scratching the surface…….’
If even the simple footwork of the Flying Eagle Steps was like this, how must the Eagle Talon Twelve Swords they performed have looked?
The more he practiced, the more complex Eung Gajin felt.
However, the incident that troubled his heart the most came next.
“Rotating Retreat. In reverse.”
“R-Reverse?”
Reverse?
What did that mean?
The disciples of the younger generation had always performed Rotating Retreat only in a clockwise direction, so Biyoung's order sounded unfamiliar.
As they hesitated, Biyoung's face contorted once more.
“Look at these people. Is there a rule that a sword will always fly from the same direction? In a world where there are swordsmen who hold their sword in their left hand from the start! Of course, you should know how to apply it in the opposite direction too!”
“…………!”
Hearing it, he was right.
But in Simao, there was no senior who spoke like Biyoung.
They had only repeatedly practiced according to the established footwork, and there had been no attempt to apply and modify the techniques.
“Hurry up! Rotating Retreat!”
At Biyoung's command, the disciples of the younger generation performed the Rotating Retreat footwork.
Moving counter-clockwise was not a problem at all.
But when they tried to do it in the style of the Flying Eagle Steps, it felt like their limbs were getting tangled.
It was because they felt the same awkwardness a right-handed person would feel becoming left-handed.
The effect of that was even more apparent when looking at the Absolute Protector.
Unlike the others, it was the first time for the Absolute Protector to learn Rotating Retreat today.
Therefore, it made no difference which direction he turned.
“Forward direction! Reverse direction!”
As if playing a game of ‘Red light, green light,’ Biyoung messed with the legs of the disciples of the younger generation.
‘I'm so confused, I could die.’
‘Isn't that bastard enjoying this?’
‘I think he's having a blast……!’
“Pant, pant.”
But.
While turning this way and that for a long time, a major disaster occurred.
Teok!
“Oh?”
Someone who was frantically moving their feet tripped over their own foot.
Baladang!
In the middle of footwork class, there was a person who fell with a thud.
“…………!”
The identity of that disaster was none other than, Eung Gajin.
“Hoooooooooooooooooo? What is thisssssssssssss?”
Looking at the fallen Eung Gajin, Biyoung's eyes sparkled.
As if he had discovered a very interesting toy.