The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 224

"Y-Your body, you say?"

Hwangbo Jung-hyeon, whatever he was thinking, suddenly blushed and stuttered.

I, with a frown, said to him, "I'm asking for a spar. What are you thinking right now?"

"Ah...! A spar!"

He, as if he finally understood, nodded his head and then, with a slight frown, said, "But old man Maeng Gwang-gae has forbidden spars between the rising stars. He said that any martial artist who is caught having a spar, even secretly, will be sent home..."

"I was thinking of going back now anyway, so it doesn't matter. Ah...! It would matter to you, Brother Hwangbo. Since you have to stay here and build up more achievements, you can't go back to the Hwangbo family."

"Yes...?"

He said to me with a face as if he knew nothing.

I, getting a little annoyed, said to him bluntly, "You were the one who went around saying that I was the one who defeated the leaders of the Yellow Sea Seven Tyrants, right, Brother Hwangbo? No matter how much I think about it, there's no one else who would do that but you."

"... That's right."

"Why did you do that?"

"For a martial artist, fame and reputation are like life itself. I was disappointed that Taoist Master Unhwi didn't gain any benefit even after doing such a great thing. So I spread the rumor so that at least the rising stars would know of the Taoist master's achievements."

"So why? It's not your business, so why did you go that far?"

"That's..."

He couldn't speak clearly and was fidgeting.

I, after waiting for his answer for a very short time, said to him, "If you can't think of an answer, hurry up and follow me out. You'll think of it while we're having a spar."

I, with a small laugh, continued, "I'll be able to learn a lot from just one spar. Brother Hwangbo will be able to know why I can act without thinking about achievements, and I will also be able to know why Brother Hwangbo did such a thing."

After leaving only those words, I, without any lingering attachment, turned around and came out of the inn.

Since I had been eyeing the open space next to the inn's stable while coming and going, I moved my steps there without hesitation, and Hwangbo Jung-hyeon, with a firm face, had already followed me to my side.

"Fortunately, there's no one around. If we finish quickly, we can finish without anyone finding out."

"Without anyone finding out... good. Let's finish it quickly."

A look of competitiveness began to appear in his eyes.

It seems he was originally curious about my skills.

Well, I received a completely different mission from the missions that the other rising stars received.

And a mission that was clearly several times more difficult in terms of difficulty.

In the meantime, since I had completed the mission very successfully, it would be a lie if he wasn't curious about my martial arts skills.

'From the beginning, with all my might.'

I, after closing my eyes and meditating for a very short time, opened my eyes again and looked.

As if he had already circulated his internal energy in his body, I could see that his sleeves were slightly puffed up.

"Do you need a warm-up?"

"No. I don't need it. If the Taoist master says he needs it, you can do it."

"I don't need it either. Do you know why?"

"Is there a separate reason?"

"Because I always live with my body tense and my internal energy circulating in my body. It has become a habit, so I even do a full circulation when I sleep."

"Yes?"

"It's not a joke, it's serious. I'm telling you one thing before we have a spar. I always think about martial arts and fighting to this extent. I don't think of martial arts simply as a tool to build up my achievements, or as a way to fight."

"Then how do you think of it?"

"It's my life and my life. If I don't learn martial arts properly, if I neglect my training, I practice martial arts desperately with the thought that it wouldn't be strange if I died tomorrow. I always train and learn martial arts with this mindset."

“……”

Hwangbo Jung-hyeon had no answer.

He just looked at me with a strange look.

It seems he thinks that the conversation I'm having now is a psychological warfare.

"Now. Then let's start. The way we'll have a spar is like this. First, Brother Hwangbo will attack me with five moves."

"Five moves?"

"If I block or avoid those five moves, then I will only perform two moves."

"Are you... joking with me right now?"

"It's not a joke. If I fall within five moves, it's Brother Hwangbo's victory. And if I can't defeat Brother Hwangbo in the next two moves, it's also Brother Hwangbo's victory. How about it? It's a very advantageous spar for Brother Hwangbo, isn't it?"

He frowned very slightly.

It seemed his pride was slightly hurt by the content of the very unfair spar.

But, I didn't care at all.

No, on the contrary, hurting his pride was my goal.

"Then I also want to make one condition."

"What condition?"

"If I win like that, please have a proper spar with me. Hitting each other from the beginning."

"Heh. Okay. If Brother Hwangbo wins, let's do that."

"Good. Then I'll go first."

At the same time as his words ended, a strong energy enveloped his surroundings.

It's a strangely familiar energy.

And that's understandable, because it's obvious that he's using the Sumeru Heavenly King Divine Art that I learned the day before yesterday.

He has no weapon in his hand, and even his stance is ambiguous.

'It's the Thunderclap Divine Palm.'

I realized that the martial art he was trying to use was the Hwangbo family's secret palm technique, the Thunderclap Divine Palm.

The Thunderclap Divine Palm is one of the most embarrassing martial arts to be hit by without knowing it.

There is no special stance or move.

Because it is a martial art that only extends the hand in the direction where the energy gathered in the arm can be unfolded the fastest and most powerfully.

Although there may be people who ask what kind of martial art that is, the Thunderclap Divine Palm is also a very difficult martial art to perform properly.

Because depending on how outstanding one's qi sense and senses are, one can perform a faster palm technique, a stronger palm technique.

Of course, unfortunately for Hwangbo Jung-hyeon, I have seen the Thunderclap Divine Palm so many times that I know how to deal with it.

'Because it was the martial art that old man Wave Palm King used the most.'

The Wave Palm King's Thunderclap Divine Palm literally reminded one of lightning.

Because his palm technique, which finds the shortest distance between the enemy and himself and extends, is something you can't block even if you know it, and even if you do block it, it has the destructive power to break the arm that is trying to block the attack.

It's not for nothing that the seven leaders of the Yellow Sea Seven Tyrants had their heads smashed and died in less than half a day.

'But... it's very clumsy.'

Compared to the Wave Palm King, Hwangbo Jung-hyeon's movements and the energy he contained are clumsy.

From the standard of the rising stars, he is undoubtedly a martial artist who is far ahead.

Because he is a master who can fight on equal terms with Senior Brother Un Jeong even if he fights with our senior brothers.

But in my eyes, he looks like a child who is just barely following the form and taking his stance.

He, without any warning, extends his palm at me.

Although he caught the shortest distance quite well, and it also contained energy, it is a palm technique that is far from enough to reach my body.

I, lightly twisting my body, dodged his first palm.

Then Hwangbo Jung-hyeon, as if he were swinging the arm he had extended like a club, tries to strike my torso.

This attack was quite good.

Because he had performed the irregular attack that old man Wave Palm King used to use with a pretty good proficiency.

But I, as if I were sinking into the ground, ducked my head and dodged his attack.

In the time it takes to blink an eye, he made two attacks, and I dodged them twice.

"That's two already. There are three left."

Although I said it to teach him without any intention of being sarcastic, he, as if he thought I was teasing him, gathered his eyebrows and took his stance again.

And the three attacks that passed without any effect.

Although it seemed he had performed a rather desperate attack, he couldn't even touch a single hair of mine.

I, to him who was standing there looking at me with a slightly dazed expression, said, "Now. Then it's my turn, right?"

"... Come on."

I, the internal energy that was already flowing elegantly in my body, focused more and more on my arm.

Since he had shown me a palm technique, I was also thinking of showing him a palm technique.

Not a soft palm technique like the Tai Chi Palm, but the Heavenly Firm Subduing Demon Palm, which is full of destructive power.

I, unusually, raised my killing intent along with my energy as much as possible.

As if I were really going to kill him with this one palm technique... and with the thought of 'block it if you can', straight forward.

Although he said this move, it was because I was thinking of finishing everything in just one move.

"...!"

Is it because he realized my killing intent and internal energy? Astonishment appeared in Hwangbo Jung-hyeon's eyes.

My palm, which contained a great force, approaches him.

Although he tried to avoid it, there is no way he can catch up with my lightness skill.

Fear appeared in Hwangbo Jung-hyeon's eyes.

He must be feeling a threat to his life because of my Heavenly Firm Subduing Demon Palm, which he can't avoid even if he tries to.

Finally, when my palm reached right in front of his nose.

"Ugh, ugh-eok!"

He, while sitting down on the floor, shouted...

My palm, passing by his head, split the empty space behind him.

As a vacuum was created for a moment, the sound of the air splitting rang out, and the clothes of Hwangbo Jung-hyeon and I fluttered in the strong wind that rose, and the trees danced rustlingly.

I looked down at him who was sitting on the floor in a daze.

Fortunately, it seemed he hadn't wet his pants.

"To be honest, you thought you were going to die, right?"

“……”

"Hurry up and tell me."

"Yes... I felt the fear of death."

"What did you think at that time? To be honest."

"Actually... I couldn't think of anything. If I had to think, it seems the faces of my father, mother, and grandfather flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern.

I, looking at him, smiled.

He, since he didn't know why I was suddenly smiling, looked at me with a flustered expression.

"See, Brother Hwangbo. In fact, achievements or fame are not that important in life. There is something that I think is the most important. Don't you think that your family is the most precious and important to you, so that's what you thought of at the moment of death?"

"That's..."

"Shall I put it simply? What's the use of achievements if you die? The best way to survive is, of course, to train and learn my martial arts, but... there is another way."

"What way?"

"It's to make people who will protect me."

"People who will protect me...?"

"There can be many ways. Me directly teaching someone, or me helping someone get a good opportunity, and making the influence of the orthodox faction bigger, so that even one more good martial artist can come out in a better environment..."

A light began to appear on his face.

He seemed to have finally realized what I wanted to say.

"I'm just struggling to live. Because everything ends when you die. I help others, raise the orthodox faction, and train to live. I don't have time to care about achievements."

I honestly told him my feelings, and he, after looking at my face, couldn't speak for a long time.

I enjoyed that silence for a moment.

(End of Chapter)