Chapter 7 (4)
Chapter 7 (4)
Jincheon, who had quickly left the village, stopped in a vacant lot where there were no people and a woodcutter had cleared the trees, creating a wide space. He took off his bag, set it to one side, and began to warm up.
A moment later, Yeon I-gang appeared near Jincheon, who was loosening up.
"As expected."
He smiled at the sight of Jincheon, who had known he would come and was waiting for him.
"It's truly sad that martial artists are like this. Our blood boils the moment we see someone we consider a worthy opponent."
"If you have something to say, cut the intro."
"I want to spar."
Yeon I-gang's first impression after seeing Jincheon's skill was a competitive spirit that made him think, 'I want to cross swords with him.'
It was the same for Jincheon.
The sight of Yeon I-gang easily subduing the Demonic Cultist instinctively gave him a sense of danger.
If this were the modern world, he might have just passed by thinking, 'Oh, there's a guy like that,' but this was the world of Murim.
It was a world where he didn't have to suppress the competitive spirit boiling inside him.
'In a way, maybe I was meant to live in an era like this.'
Just the fact that he didn't have to suppress this competitive spirit and could just clash with it made Jincheon glad he had come to the world of Pungun Murim.
Of course, there would still be politics and agitation in a world like this.
Even so, just the fact that he could clash without hiding his competitive spirit, and that it was even considered natural, made this world far better than the modern one.
Jincheon thought about something for a moment at the word 'spar,' then took off his clothes and the thin armor inside, placing them in his bag.
'Sparring is a way of fighting that is half-training, not killing each other. This is perfect. A fight with this guy will fill in my lack of experience.'
If it were a fight to the death, that would be one thing, but there was no point in wearing armor to gain an advantage in a spar.
"Let's skip the stuffy righteous sect pleasantries."
"So, we're starting right away?"
Yeon I-gang smiled as if he liked Jincheon's line about wanting to start quickly.
"Yeon I-gang of the Taecheon Sect. I look forward to your guidance."
"Jincheon. Try not to get your ass kicked and cry on the way home."
"Pu-hahahaha!"
How many people had ever spoken to him so openly?
On top of that, the unique lines that popped out were things he couldn't even imagine saying himself.
Having had a fresh experience, Yeon I-gang soon wiped the smile from his face and took a stance.
'Hmm?'
Jincheon also took a stance, but the problem was that, to Yeon I-gang's eyes, it was a bizarre stance he couldn't understand.
He wasn't facing forward, but sideways, and he was keeping the hand closest to him near his abdomen.
'Strange. It's clearly a bizarre stance I've never seen before... but why can't I see any openings to get in?'
His intuition, honed by countless experiences, was telling him.
That he couldn't easily break through that.
But that was exactly why he had to go straight in.
'Let's see what kind of fighting style you have!'
Yeon I-gang took a defensive stance and used footwork, moving quickly in a zigzag pattern.
The moment Yeon I-gang entered Jincheon's range,
Tsupang!
"!?"
In an instant, Jincheon's arm created an afterimage and struck the spot where Yeon I-gang's head had been.
Naturally, thanks to him dodging by moving his head to the side, all it did was tear through the air.
But Jincheon didn't stop there; he moved in the opposite direction at the same speed Yeon I-gang was approaching, maintaining the distance.
And then, a flurry of punches.
Papapak!
Yeon I-gang blocked or parried the punches flying toward him, but he couldn't easily break Jincheon's offensive, as he kept attacking while maintaining a hair-thin distance at the tip of his fists.
'It's a flicker jab, you bastard.'
Jincheon had once seen a character in a boxing manga use a flicker jab, and he had spouted immature nonsense at a boxing gym, asking them to teach him the flicker jab.
But it turned out the flicker jab wasn't special; the boxers who used it were special.
The essence of the flicker jab is nothing more than throwing a jab with your hand lowered from a guard position; it's actually a harder technique to use than a standard jab.
In other words, the boxer who first used it, Thomas Hearns, looked like he had an incredibly amazing technique because he had the talent of speed, destructive power, and long arm reach, and the manga had added manga-style exaggeration.
If a fighter without that kind of talent used it, they would just end up throwing a punch slower than a normal jab.
While learning the Fire Artisan's martial arts, Jincheon felt frustrated because it conflicted with his experience of learning fast, concise, and linear modern martial arts.
He knew it was powerful and that there was a reason for it—to circulate internal energy for attacks—but to him, the movements seemed too large.
However, with 100 Enlightenment and 100 Medicine, he succeeded in modifying the Fire Artisan's martial arts to suit himself, and he began using his own derivative martial arts.
Naturally, Yeon I-gang, who had experienced a derivative martial art that was on a different track from the martial arts he had seen so far, started to get annoyed by Jincheon's attacks, as he kept maintaining distance and throwing punches.
Kung!
Stomping hard with his footwork, he lowered his waist and lunged at a speed twice as fast as his previous movements.
Jincheon swung his fist, but Yeon I-gang lightly parried it with the back of his hand, letting it slide off, and finally succeeded in closing in to point-blank range.
"Haat!"
Peoeok!
Moving with the momentum of his strike, Yeon I-gang clenched his fist and succeeded in attacking Jincheon's side.
"Keuk!"
Naturally, Jincheon let out a painful groan as the punch landed.
However, the one who was more flustered was the one who had succeeded in the attack.
'What is this? His body is as hard as steel!'
Jincheon's muscles, having learned 100 Ganggong and the Fire Artisan's external martial arts, were harder than armor made of solid iron.
'In that case!'
Judging that things would get troublesome if he let him open up the distance like before, Yeon I-gang dug in even deeper and struck Jincheon's abdomen with a palm strike.
"Ha-hat!"
"Keok!"
With a rough shout, he landed a palm strike that circulated his internal energy, and Jincheon's body was sent flying.
Kwajib! Kwajak! Jjeojeok!
After breaking through several trees, Jincheon finally slammed into the last tree.
Kwang!
In an instant, Jincheon kicked off the tree he was embedded in, snapping it completely, and rushed toward Yeon I-gang at high speed.
"Hwahahahaha!!"
Enjoying the pain he felt in his body.
'Yes! This is it! This is a fight!'
This was the kind of fight he wanted.
Not fighting in a ring, but a fight where there were no rules, where the only thing that mattered was simply taking down the opponent in front of you.
Jincheon attacked Yeon I-gang's body using boxing techniques quickly and concisely.
When Chinese martial arts fight boxing, boxing usually wins, but if both sides have internal energy, it's a different story.
Yeon I-gang got used to the boxing techniques, which were fast and concise but had a flow that was honest and easy to figure out by the standards of a Murim warrior.
Generally, it is thought that Chinese martial arts are full of bluff and are unilaterally beaten by modern martial arts, but in the Murim world, where martial arts for killing each other have developed, boxing is too concise and therefore easy to read.
As Yeon I-gang parried the rapidly flurrying punches and launched a counterattack, his strikes landed on Jincheon's body, and bruises began to form.
'My attacks aren't landing!?'
Jincheon, lacking experience, had never fought a Murim warrior of a similar level, so once his boxing techniques were all read, he ended up getting beaten almost unilaterally.
'If this keeps up, I'll lose!'
Boxing techniques were no longer effective.
If so, he had to turn the tide with an attack the opponent couldn't predict.
Thinking that, Jincheon stopped attacking and focused on defense, blocking Yeon I-gang's strikes.
Kang! Kakang!
When he blocked the punches with his gauntlets, the sound of metal clashing against metal rang out.
That meant that each of the Murim warrior's punches was as threatening as swinging a chunk of iron.
"Hmm!"
Still, the gauntlets Jincheon had made by hand were so hard that the fist that struck them was starting to ache.
'An opening!'
Capturing the slight opening created by the small pain felt in his fist, Jincheon used his footwork with all his might to open up the distance to the rear.
Naturally, the moment Yeon I-gang lunged to not give him any distance, Jincheon swung his fist.
'What is this? Why?'
Swinging his fist now wouldn't reach him.
He seemed to lack experience compared to the martial arts he possessed, but was that lack of experience showing here?
Hwareuk!
"Ugeuk!"
The answer was no.
A flame, large enough to cover Yeon I-gang's face, burst out from the tips of Jincheon's fingers.
Startled by the flame that made his face feel hot, Yeon I-gang instinctively predicted that a follow-up attack would come if he stepped back, so he ducked his head, but,
Ppeoeok!
"Keuheok!"
Jincheon, having predicted his action, swung his leg in a wide arc, aiming for Yeon I-gang's temple, and struck him.
Jincheon had used the Yang Arts to ignite fire in the air, like a game character or a manga character, to induce the enemy's action.
Just as he was about to rush out with murderous intent to turn the fallen Yeon I-gang into a pulp.
"Stop! I lose!"
Yeon I-gang, clutching his head, waved his hand and surrendered.
"Hoo! Huuk!"
As the surrender came from Yeon I-gang's mouth, Jincheon, who belatedly realized that they were sparring and not fighting to the death, gasped for air and calmed his internal energy.
"Keueuk...! You... ugh...! Do you even know the fact that we are sparring!"
"Hmph, obviously. If I had meant to kill you, your body would already be burnt meat."
"Heuhehaha! That's true too!"
Yeon I-gang burst into laughter at Jincheon's words, as if he were happy that he had lost the spar.
"I targeted the fact that you lacked experience, but it turns out the lack of experience was on my side."
Perhaps he didn't even have the strength to stand, as he sat on a cut-down tree stump.
He had seen it beforehand, but he hadn't imagined he would possess Yang Arts of this level, and he expressed regret that Jincheon had hidden this much power until the very end.
'His experience is definitely lacking. But he seems to have plenty of experience fighting those who aren't Murim warriors.'
Every one of Jincheon's techniques was honed in real combat.
But since the targets didn't seem to be Murim warriors, he showed a very weak side when he, a Murim warrior, dug in close.
If his lack of experience were filled, what kind of martial artist would he become?
While Yeon I-gang was reflecting on his own vulnerability to unexpected situations, Jincheon was also reflecting on himself.
'Boxing techniques didn't work.'
At first, he seemed flustered because it was a unique technique, but Yeon I-gang, who got used to it quickly, dug in in an instant and unleashed a flurry of blows on his body.
If he hadn't learned 100 Ganggong and external martial arts, he would have been the one knocked out and saying the word surrender.
'Fast and linear attacks don't work easily.'
The physical abilities of modern people without internal energy are all about the same, except for a few with exceptional talent.
But in this Murim world, one gains physical abilities that defy common sense through martial arts and internal energy.
For modern martial arts, which have pure physical strength without internal energy, to be active in this world of the absurd, they would have to continue to develop and research.
Jincheon, who absolutely lacked experience fighting martial artists of a similar level, decided to dig into this point.
First, whether to polish it further to strengthen his speed like an Iaijutsu draw, or to find another way.
Jincheon thought about something for a moment and headed to his bag.
"Hey."
"Hmm?"
After taking something out, he tossed a small, sealed medicine bottle toward Yeon I-gang.
"Apply it. The bruises will heal."
Then, without waiting for an answer, he began to apply medicine to the bruises that had formed on his own body using another bottle.
Yeon I-gang applied the medicine at that sight and felt a refreshing sensation around the bruises.
"Let's call this the sparring fee. And,"
Jincheon opened his mouth menacingly, emitting a slight killing intent as if growling.
"Next time, fight with everything you've got."
With that, he put on his thin armor and clothes, shouldered his bag, and headed toward the road.
Yeon I-gang, watching Jincheon's retreating back, scratched the back of his head.
"I don't know about anything else, but he's a guy with excellent intuition."
In Murim, there is a saying to hide 30% of your power.
It's because there are various benefits, such as always leaving room to escape, landing a blow at the necessary moment, or catching the enemy off guard.
Yeon I-gang was faithful to that saying and fought with only 70% of his power.
Thanks to that, he couldn't block Jincheon's strike, though.
"Hoo. I still have a long way to go."
What was clear was that if this had been a real fight, he would have died from that strike, or he would have been so seriously injured that he wouldn't have been able to withstand the next attack.
If his sparring with peers until now had been a gentle fight to check and improve each other's skills, his sparring with Jincheon felt like dealing with a mad dog trying to bite him.
It was his first time in a fight like this, but because of that, he also received a strange sensation that it was fun.
"But even if I had plenty of energy left, a loss is a loss because I couldn't control my power. I will make sure not to lose like this next time."
Yeon I-gang muttered toward the direction where Jincheon had disappeared.
If Jincheon had gained a lot from this fight, it was also a valuable experience for Yeon I-gang to learn what he was lacking.
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