Ch 198
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 198
—You can't come?
"Yeah. I'm feeling a bit under the weather."
—Are you very sick? What about the hospital?
"It's not bad enough to go to the hospital, I think I just caught a cold. I don't want to go and end up spreading a cold to others."
—...It can't be helped then. I understand. Please rest well... Ah! Then should I drop by after we come back?
Deep disappointment seeps through Eunseo's voice from beyond the phone.
"No, it's okay. I think I'll be fine after resting for a day or two."
—Still... I'll come visit you when we get back.
"I think I'll be all better by then. Anyway, have a good time at the MT."
—Yes. I'll take lots of pictures and send them to you.
I answered that I understood and hung up the phone, then returned to the portal.
Actually, I had packed everything yesterday, but I had no choice since I decided to train with Zhang Sambong for the next week.
I could only stay here for exactly one week, so I couldn't waste two days.
I wasn't particularly eager to go to the MT anyway.
In the summer training event, there's nothing special except for Lee Ji-sung gaining favor with the girls.
When I arrived at the camping car, no one was there, so I went inside to find both Master and Zhang Sambong sitting on the bed watching TV.
I wondered what they were watching—it was a martial arts movie.
Who would have thought they weren't martial artists?
"Um..."
"Oh, right. Did you cancel your appointment and come back?"
"Yes. I can focus solely on training for the next week. Should we start right away?"
"We're at an important moment right now, so let's start in a bit."
"No way..."
"Shin-hyeok, bring me a cold beer. Yeah, bring one for Sambong too."
"If we're going to train, isn't alcohol a bit inappropriate?"
"Can't we just get rid of the alcohol effects before training? Bring one for Sambong too."
I even canceled the MT to train...
I don't really like it, but I still went to the refrigerator and took out canned beer for Master and Sambong.
"What's this again?"
"Hey, you country immortal, you don't even know canned beer? It's alcohol made from barley, and you drink it by opening it like this."
When Master demonstrated, he quickly followed suit.
"Light drinks aren't my preference, but the fizzy sensation is quite nice."
"Right? Shin-hyeok, put some dumplings in the air fryer too."
"Oh— Yu-ryang, do they have dumplings in this world too?"
"Of course, even if they don't taste like the ones we used to eat at inns, the filling is much more substantial and the wrapper is thinner and very delicious."
"Excuse me, Master?"
"What? There should be plenty of dumplings in the freezer."
"No, those dumplings are made with meat... Is it okay for a Taoist to eat meat and drink alcohol?"
In martial arts novels, Taoists usually don't eat meat or drink alcohol...
"I'm not a Taoist now, I'm an immortal, so it doesn't matter, right? Besides, this guy was a fake Taoist, so he never followed any of those rules even when he was a Taoist."
"Hey, why bring up old stories in front of the kid..."
"What's the big deal? Hurry up and make the dumplings. Should this old master have to do it?"
"Ah... I understand."
I heard that in martial arts novels, to become an immortal, you have to cut off the five desires and seven emotions...
I think that's probably wrong information, I thought as I took dumplings from the freezer and put them in the air fryer.
"Check the left drawer, there should be popcorn there too, bring some of that."
They're really ordering me around from one to ten.
I was about to retort asking if Master doesn't have hands, but I held back since Zhang Sambong was there and handed it over.
It's been a while since he met his friend.
"Here you go."
"Oh, what's this again?"
"It's called popcorn, fried corn."
"Isn't corn yellow? But this is white?"
"It becomes like this when fried, try it first."
"Oh, it's nutty and sweet and seems to have a slight onion flavor too. Good."
"Onion flavor, he says. This popcorn is amazing as a beer snack. Ah, of course not as much as dumplings though."
"It's definitely good."
Zhang Sambong seems to like the popcorn as he eats it by the handful.
Master also eats it by the handful, not to be outdone, so the popcorn was quickly gone.
Like master, like friend—they both really seem to love eating.
"Is there more?"
"Wait a moment. We'll have dumplings soon too."
DING!
Just then the air fryer finished, so I took out the dumplings, put them on a plate, and brought them over.
"Don't you have soy sauce?"
They want a lot.
"I'll get it for you."
"With a little vinegar and red pepper powder sprinkled on top, you know?"
"Yes."
I took it out with Subspace Magic and even made the sauce before bringing it over, but they couldn't wait and both had already picked up a dumpling each.
"How is it?"
"It's very crispy, with a texture just like it's been fried, and as you said, the filling is really substantial and excellent."
"Your taste buds are still alive. That machine called an air fryer is a treasure that creates a frying effect without oil. Here, it tastes even better when dipped in this sauce."
Seeing both of them eating so well makes me feel a bit hungry too.
I usually don't like frozen dumplings much, but I should try just one.
I took out chopsticks with Subspace Magic to grab a dumpling, but somehow I felt killing intent.
"What are you doing now?"
"Seeing you two eat made me crave dumplings, so I was going to eat just one... Are you really giving me the stink eye for that?"
"Didn't you eat breakfast earlier?"
"Didn't you two also eat rice mixed with rice cake ramen?"
"No, that's that and this is a snack, isn't it?"
"Can't I eat a snack too? Who bought these dumplings anyway?"
"We agreed to split them fairly in half, but if you eat one, it becomes an odd number."
"You can make more for yourself later."
"Master, you usually eat a lot, so you can eat one less."
"This, this guy..."
He gave me a knuckle rap, ugh... Old men, they just have big appetites.
I was going to say forget it, but being upset about getting the knuckle rap, I quickly stuffed 2 dumplings into my mouth.
"The dumplings are really delicious."
"No, Shin-hyeok you brat! What kind of behavior is this?"
"You said it would be a problem if I ate 1 because it would make an odd number, so I ate 2 to match the numbers for you."
"How can you call that..."
"Your disciple is a bit too much. How could he do such a thing to a master who is like the sky..."
"I know. Sambong, this is how I live."
It's ridiculous that they're grumbling over just 2 dumplings, but because of the two people who kept grumbling, I put two more bags of dumplings in the air fryer and brought them over before leaving the camping car.
If I stay nearby, they'll probably keep asking me to do this and that, so it's better to wait outside.
I spent about 30 minutes chatting with Luciel, and finally Zhang Sambong came out of the camping car.
"Your name was Sambong, right? Can I watch Shin-hyeok's training too?"
"Sambong? No matter how much you're a divine spirit from another world, you should be Yu-ryang's disciple, so how can you call a friend of your master who is like the sky by his name as if he's your friend?"
"Master is master, but you're not my master, are you?"
"Oh my, even if I speak nicely, counting the years since I entered the immortal realm, it's been over forty cycles, so how old are you?"
"Forty cycles? Shin-hyeok, you said one cycle was 60 years last time, right?"
"Huh? Yeah."
"Then that's only 2,400 years. I've lived more than twice as long as you."
Zhang Sambong looks flustered—it seems Master didn't tell him separately.
If he had heard, he definitely wouldn't have tried to suppress with age.
"Luciel seems bored, so if it's okay, couldn't she come along too?"
"It doesn't particularly matter. I heard there's a lake if we move a bit, so let's go there."
"Yes. I'll guide the way. Please follow me."
I moved to the lake with Luciel and Zhang Sambong.
"Ho, it has quite an atmosphere. The divine spirit can wait here while we go to the center of the lake."
"Yes."
I used Water Walking to reach the middle of the lake.
"I roughly grasped your level through yesterday's sparring, so today I'll teach theory and demonstration."
Yesterday he immediately wanted to assess my level through sparring.
Even though Zhang Sambong was an immortal and Master's friend, I thought I could succeed in attacking at least once if I used the Formless Sword, but I was completely wrong.
Not just the Formless Sword, but even though I poured out everything I could do including Yigieogeum, I couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes.
Master said he wasn't stronger than Master, so I had some confidence...
I think I was too arrogant.
"What are you doing? First, I'll show you a demonstration, so focus."
I looked at Zhang Sambong who had already drawn his sword.
He closed his eyes and very slowly swung his sword down once. That was all.
"What am I supposed to see... Huh?"
Following the trajectory of the sword, the lake, no... beyond the lake splitting, it split all the way to the lake bottom.
When I enhanced my eyesight with internal energy, I could see something bright red deep in the hole—could that be magma?
Even though he's an immortal, it's truly an indescribable divine feat.
"Am... amazing."
"It's too early for admiration."
As soon as he spoke, Zhang Sambong swung his sword down once more, and the earth covered back up as it was, and the lake water that had been split also merged back together.
It felt like time had been reversed.
"Wow, how on earth do you do something like this..."
"Rather than admiration, didn't you feel anything?"
"Pardon?"
"I'm asking if you felt nothing from the sword technique I just displayed."
"I don't notice any particular special points..."
Sambong sighed once and took a step toward me.
"Yu-ryang said your talent was outstanding and that you were the first person your age to master the Formless Sword, so I had expectations, but it seems I expected too much."
"No, you didn't explain properly either, did you? If you suddenly ask if I felt something, what am I supposed to..."
"What I used just now was an ordinary slash."
"What? How is that an ordinary slash by any measure?"
"You really have no idea at all. Didn't your master tell you about the realm beyond the Formless Sword?"
"He didn't. He said that once I mastered the Formless Sword, I had to figure out the rest on my own from then on."
"Hmm, it's not wrong, but it wouldn't hurt to tell you about the realm at least... That guy Yu-ryang's personality is still the same."
"What was his personality originally like?"
"Ahem, ask your master about that later. Then let's start with theory. First, tell me the principle of the Formless Sword."
"I understand it as using mental focus to substitute for a sword."
"Correct. Then what is mental focus?"
"Isn't it my thoughts and will?"
"Correct. So the Formless Sword manifests your will and thoughts that are in your head into this world in the form of a sword. Now tell me the disadvantages? You must have felt something from yesterday's sparring with me."
"It doesn't work on high-level masters. I think it's a difference in mental focus."
"Oh, your head works pretty well after all. But that's not the correct answer."
"What?"
"Can you read other people's thoughts?"
"No..."
"I can't either. That's something only the Primordial Heavenly Honored One could do. Then how did I neutralize your Formless Sword yesterday?"
Certainly, thinking about it again, it's strange.
Obviously the Formless Sword has no sound or form, so unless you read the opponent's thoughts, defense should be impossible...
"I don't know."
"Try attacking me with the Formless Sword."
As soon as he finished speaking, I used the Formless Sword to target Zhang Sambong's arm, but like yesterday, nothing happened.
"Still don't understand? Then think again about what I said earlier. What was the principle of the Formless Sword?"
The Formless Sword manifests one's thoughts and mental focus into this world as a sword.
...So what does that have to do with anything?
"I think I'll have to retract the word 'genius.'"
"Yes. I'll accept that, so can't you just tell me straight out?"
"Can water harm water, can fire harm fire?"
Suddenly, what's with this abstract talk?
"Can't you speak intuitively instead of such metaphors?"
"Even if you manifest your thoughts and mental focus into this world, if that world is already under my control, naturally nothing happens like now."
"You control the world?"
"No matter how much the Formless Sword manifests your thoughts and will into the world, could it harm the world itself?"
...I feel like I'm about to understand, but I'm not sure.
"It couldn't. So how do you control the world?"
"Hmm, it's hard to explain in words... Ah! You know about Singeomhapil, right?"
"Isn't it becoming one with the sword?"
"Right. Don't think about this difficultly either. I used the expression 'control,' but actually the expression 'becoming the world itself' is closer."
"Um, when you put it that way, I understand even less."
"I told you not to think about it difficultly. Just as Singeomhapil is becoming one with the sword, the next stage of the Formless Sword is becoming one with the world."
"Then is there a separate name like Singeomhapil?"
"Well, there's no set name, so it's up to whoever calls it, but if we had to give it a name, wouldn't it be something like Absolute Domain?"
Absolute Domain... Not only the concept but the name also seems incredibly difficult.
"Could I learn something like that within a week?"
"Learning it in a week is preposterous."
"I see..."
"Right. Oh, Yu-ryang hits you with knuckle raps a lot. I think that once you master this Absolute Domain, you won't have to take Yu-ryang's knuckle raps anymore and might even be able to hit him back once."
Suddenly motivation wells up.
"I'll do my best!"