The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 88

"You want to have a match?"

"Yes. Can you have a spar with me?"

I let out a small laugh without realizing it.

It's definitely not because I find my senior brother's request for a spar amusing.

It's because I feel like I know exactly what my senior brother is feeling right now.

"Okay. Right now?"

"Yes. I think it would be good to do it right away."

At my and Senior Brother Uncheol's sudden talk of a spar, the other senior brothers are just blinking their eyes.

I looked back at my senior brothers and said, "Senior brothers, if you're feeling that good, do you want to join in too?"

"Together?"

"Yes. Let's all do it together while we're at it. Well."

"What do you mean, let's do it together? You and Senior Brother Uncheol are having a spar, so are you saying we should do it separately on the side?"

"No. If that were the case, I would have told you to do it on your own, so why would I ask you to do it together? I'm telling you to all come at me at once."

"What...?"

Perhaps because he didn't expect me to come out like this, even Senior Brother Uncheol looked a little surprised.

But no matter how strong Senior Brother Uncheol has become, it's clear that the spar will end without him even having time to feel whether he has become stronger or not in a one-on-one match.

Of course, there is the option of me going easy on him and checking his skills, but then what do I get out of it?

If I want to get at least one thing out of sparring, I'll have to go at it with all my might, and to do that, I think I'll have to face all four of them at the same time.

And, by doing so, I can get a more accurate grasp of my senior brothers' level.

From now on, I'm going to make the four of them stick together as if they were one body, and I need to know how much strength they show when they attack together to decide which battles to take them to and which ones to leave them out of.

For example, this time, I took them with me because I thought that my senior brothers would not be seriously injured by the martial arts level of the Geoungbangdo, and I didn't go with them to the fight with the Black Society because I thought it would be a little difficult.

"Everyone, come out. Outside. This yard is a little spacious. I think we can do it right here."

"In this dark night?"

"A spar is done with a real battle in mind, isn't it? Do you think the enemies will wait and not fight at night, and only fight during the day? And when I checked my senior brothers' internal energy just now, if you brighten your vision, you can see this much darkness as if it were day. The moon is bright today."

At my explanation, my senior brothers reflexively nodded.

Because they themselves are realizing that their internal energy has increased a lot.

But Senior Brother Uncheol's expression is a little sullen.

"Senior Brother Uncheol. Why, are you dissatisfied?"

"No, I'm not."

Although he answered that he wasn't, he can't hide his expression at all.

Well, it's understandable that he's dissatisfied.

His internal energy has been enhanced by the elixir, and based on that, he has even gained enlightenment.

But since I'm not taking him seriously and telling him to all come at me at once, he doesn't like this situation.

"It doesn't look like you're not dissatisfied at all."

Then my senior brother slyly nodded and said, "To be honest, this is the first time I've grown so much, as if I've skipped several stages at once. I want to fight you properly and know exactly how strong I am now."

"I knew it. But, Senior Brother. I think doing it all together will allow you to feel your current strength more objectively."

"Why is that?"

"How strong do you think I am now?"

Then, not only Senior Brother Uncheol, but also the other senior brothers looked at me intently and fell into thought.

It seems that they are comparing the martial power I have shown in front of them with the existence of a master they usually think of.

After a very short time, Senior Brother Uncheol opened his mouth.

"At least first-rate... wouldn't it be?"

"First-rate. Well. That could be an answer. But what I asked was not about a level like first-rate, peak, or transcendent."

"Then?"

"How long can I survive if I fight against the many masters in this martial world?"

"......!"

"My standard is always like this. We fought against the Geoungbang and the Black Society guys this time, but I was overwhelmingly stronger than them, right? But what if the opponent was the leadership of the Four Evils, which is called the number one Unorthodox Faction? What if the mountain bandit was not a simple mountain bandit, but a super master like the Green Forest King of the Green Forest Fortress? I probably would have died absurdly. If you look at the entire martial world like this, I'm still just a very weak existence."

My senior brothers couldn't answer anything.

Unconsciously, my senior brothers must have thought of me as a great master.

Since I was always the closest to my senior brothers and tormented them, and showed them a martial arts skill that could overwhelm them, it's natural that they would think so.

But since I'm explaining that I'm still a very weak existence in the martial world, the standard of strength that each of them thinks of must be shaken.

"But to be honest, you guys are still at a level where you can't do anything even if all four of you come at me. Especially Senior Brother Uncheol. Although you've gained a small enlightenment and become stronger, do you think you can receive my ten moves?"

"......"

Perhaps if I had said this before, my confident senior brother would have answered that he could, but it seems that my senior brother has also developed some sense now.

"So, all four of you come at me, get thoroughly beaten, and grasp the reality. Because greater growth is usually achieved in wounds."

My senior brothers' expressions are not good. It's natural.

If they feel good when I'm telling them to their faces that they are too weak, then they are people without the pride of a martial artist.

Then it's time to give them some motivation.

"Instead, let's do this. If all four of you come at me together and land a valid hit on me even once, from then on, I will take on all four of you one by one seriously."

"Even once?"

"What is the standard for a valid hit?"

"Whether you cut, stab, or hit, whatever it is. It's okay even if it grazes. Although we'll be using wooden swords, let's say it's a valid hit if I bleed even a single drop of blood, assuming we were using real swords. Well."

"Aren't you looking down on us too much?"

"No. The difference in skill between me and you senior brothers is just that much. If I go all out now, you senior brothers won't be able to hurt a single hair on my head."

"......!"

"And let's not just have a spar today, but let's have one every day whenever we have time. The reason I haven't made you senior brothers have a spar until now is because I was afraid you would develop a bad habit. If you have a spar, you have to relax your strength at the last moment, and if you get that habit wrong, it can be fatal in a real battle."

Still, perhaps because they have all experienced a real battle, they all nod their heads together.

The words I have repeated to my senior brothers are 'don't hesitate at the last moment', but if you do that in a spar, the opponent can be seriously injured.

"Anyway, shall we go out? You've all taken the elixir, and you've had plenty of qi circulation. I'm almost exhausted from taking care of you senior brothers. This might be the best opportunity."

"Yes. Let's go out. Although it's a little strange to say this... I'll make you regret your words."

"Good. That's what I was hoping for."

I led my senior brothers and went out to the yard.

The night of the merchant guild is noisy. Because goods are constantly coming in and going out.

It's a good thing our quarters are at the merchant guild, not at a guesthouse or an inn.

If everyone else had gone to bed, I would have been sorry to wake them up and wouldn't have been able to have a proper spar.

"Now. Everyone, warm up on your own, and tell me when you're ready."

I also stretched my arms and legs to warm up and looked at my senior brothers.

And I thought to myself.

'When should I let them catch me?'

Although I said that to shock my senior brothers, to be honest, my current level is fluctuating between first-rate and peak.

It's at a level where I think I can survive without dying if I run away even if I fight against guys like the Four Evils or the Green Forest King that I mentioned earlier.

Why should I fight and die when I can just run away if I think I'm going to lose?

And although my senior brothers' growth rate is fast, it's nothing compared to my current growth rate.

If I set my mind to it, I'm confident that I can never be caught by my senior brothers for the rest of my life.

But for my senior brothers' motivation, I'm thinking of letting them catch me once someday.

Of course, no one knows whether that will be a month later or a year later.

"I'm ready."

"Really? Shall we give it a try?"

"Yes. Come on!"

At Senior Brother Uncheol's brave cry, I immediately rushed at my senior brothers, and we sparred to our hearts' content until the morning sun rose dimly that day.

So what was the result?

Of course, my senior brothers were beaten to a pulp by me for the first time in a long time.

Although they probably don't want to have a spar for a while, didn't we just promise? That we would have a spar once a day from now on.

It's really heartbreaking to see my senior brothers in pain from being hit by the wooden sword, but it's unavoidable for growth.

It's definitely not because I'm having fun. Definitely not.

***

After the time I had promised to rest with my Master had passed, we began to help with the work of the merchant guild in earnest.

In fact, my Master knew that I was sparring with my senior brothers every day, and he said that it was a violation of the promise to rest and tried to stop me from doing the work of the merchant guild.

But I insisted that it was not a violation of the promise because that much sparring was not even a warm-up, and fortunately, my Master accepted my stubbornness.

Not long after I started helping with the work of the merchant guild, a welcome guest came to see me.

"Young Hero Unhwi. It's been a long time."

"It's good to see you again. I hope you've been well."

"Yes. Thanks to you, I returned to the Jeongsan Wang family and was hiding. I was going to come right away, but because of my young master's order to stay in the family until the situation was sorted out..."

The person who came to see me was the old man Gyu-sam, whom I had met briefly at Wang Hyeon-seong's safe house in Xiangyang.

I had something to ask him, so I requested Wang Hyeon-seong to let me meet him, and Wang Hyeon-seong readily granted my request.

"I know. In fact, it was my Master who advised me to do that. Because there might be remnants of the Black Society left, and if someone notices that you, old man, know the whereabouts of such a large sum of money, you could be in trouble."

"Ah... so that's what it was. Thank you for your consideration."

"But it seems to be mostly sorted out now. Probably no one knows about the bills and the account books except for us and the guild master."

The old man smiled brightly and said thank you repeatedly.

I also answered that it was okay several times, and then the old man asked me, "But I heard you wanted to see me. What did you want to see me for? Ah, of course, it's not that you shouldn't see me..."

"I need someone I can trust with something, but no matter how much I think about it, I can only think of you, old man. I wanted to ask you a few favors."

"Favors...?"

"Yes. It's not difficult. I have some money, and I want to invest it a little... but since my status is a Taoist, there are many restrictions on my actions. So I'm asking you, can you invest my money for me?"

"Investment? But I'm a layman when it comes to things like investment, so I don't know anything."

"You don't have to worry about that. I'll tell you where to invest."

"You, Young Hero? How much are you thinking of?"

"It's not that much. About this much?"

I took out a money pouch from my bosom and handed it to the old man Gyu-sam.

Although the old man took the money pouch, a look of disappointment flashed across his face for a moment.

Because he had immediately realized that there was not much inside from the clinking sound and the weight of the money pouch.

I smiled inwardly and said, "It's not that much, right? It's only seven taels of gold."

"Pardon...?!"

At my words, the old man was surprised and opened the money pouch.

Inside it, not copper coins or silver coins, but seven gold coins were emitting a yellow light.

I said in a triumphant voice, "I don't think that's not enough for investment capital. What do you think?"

He couldn't answer my words for a while.

(End of Chapter)