Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Those Thirsty for Martial Arts
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The next day, the group prepared to depart.
Some went to the cliff to erase their martial arts, while others prepared the meal.
After finishing the meal, they lined up below the cliff. There were fifty camels, but no one was riding them.
"From here to our first destination, Silver Heaven, it takes about half a month. But I'll go slowly and arrive there in a month. In that time, you all need to perfectly make everything you've learned so far your own. If you can't, the assassins will kill you. On top of that, you must learn a concealment technique called the Great Flow Breathing Method and Lizard Steps. The names sound grand, but they're not much. The Great Flow Breathing Method means shoving your nose and mouth into the ground or sand and breathing. Lizard Steps are exactly what they sound like: lizard movements. I'll demonstrate right now. Everyone, turn around."
The squad members turned around in unison.
"Try to sense my presence."
Ak Muyoo lay flat on the spot and executed the Great Flow Breathing Method. His breathing gradually slowed, and at one point, it completely blended with the air.
'Huh?'
Dong Pung was startled.
Just moments ago, he could clearly sense Ak Muyoo's presence. But suddenly, it vanished.
—Seo Pung.
He sent a transmission to Seo Pung.
—I lost the leader's presence too.
Seo Pung replied.
—Buk Pung, did you figure out the leader's position?
This time, he sent a transmission to Buk Pung.
—He didn't go somewhere else?
—Even if he did, we should sense him as long as he's within fifty paces.
—Right. This is insane.
—He's a total monster.
"Look at me."
At that moment, Ak Muyoo's voice came. Even the voice made it hard to pinpoint the exact location.
The group turned around.
"My god...."
Their mouths fell open. Astonishingly, Ak Muyoo was right there in the same spot.
"How is that possible?"
Dong Pung muttered like a groan.
"It's possible. If you bury your nose and mouth in the ground, your breathing disappears, and if you press your heart close, even your heartbeat gets absorbed into the earth. But you have to breathe only once every half breath unit."
"Breathing once every half breath unit? That's not human; that's a whale."
Someone muttered softly.
"It's a technique I managed without internal energy, so you all should be able to do it even easier than me. And Lizard Steps are like this."
Ak Muyoo drew the dagger from his waist, bit it in his mouth, and lay flat. He looked just like a lizard. Supporting his body with both arms and legs, he lowered his chest almost to the ground.
"Move like this."
Ak Muyoo's arms and legs moved. His form shot forward at tremendous speed. It really was like a lizard scurrying.
As he ran, his body lifted slightly into the air. The moment he landed, he shoved his nose and mouth into the sand and executed the Great Flow Breathing Method. He raised his head, spat out the dagger from his mouth, and moved again.
At one point, he spat out the dagger.
He snatched the falling dagger, thrust it forward, and bit it again. Then he moved.
And at another moment, he wrapped himself in the bloodwind cloak. Enveloping his body with the bloodwind cloak and executing the Great Flow Breathing Method made him perfectly one with the sand.
"That guy's a monster."
The Wind Squad members clicked their tongues.
Most of the squad knew Ak Muyoo moved like a lizard on his belly. But none had deeply considered the reason or its power.
They had even mocked it as the movement most suited to someone without martial arts.
But that was a mistaken notion.
Lizard Steps and the Great Flow Breathing Method were the most essential techniques... no, martial arts for survival.
Ak Muyoo returned to his original spot and stood.
"You have one month. In that time, master everything you've learned so far and what I'll teach you. Learning this isn't to get stronger; it's to survive. Begin!"
Ak Muyoo lay flat and shouted.
"Begin!"
So Pung echoed, lying flat. The others followed suit, all lying down.
"Depart!"
Ak Muyoo immediately started moving.
"There are no special rules for Lizard Steps. Keep your chest as close to the ground as possible and work your arms and legs. Find the method that suits you in that state."
The group followed Ak Muyoo.
Sun Woo Chang Cheon and Ara herded the camels.
"Impressive."
Sun Woo Chang Cheon clicked his tongue.
The Great Flow Breathing Method, undetectable even by Heaven's Ear Ground Listening, and the Lizard Steps he was showing now transcended common sense.
"I'm alive today because of that guy."
Ara said.
"What kind of person is he?"
Sun Woo Chang Cheon asked.
"He says he's innately martial-less with a strange constitution lacking a dantian, and he came to the battlefield to make money."
"To make money?"
"Yeah. But he didn't get paid even ten years' worth of salary."
"He's unique."
"I've learned a lot from him."
"It's only been a few days, but I've learned a lot too."
"That guy has a weird way of putting people at ease."
"You're not the only one who feels that."
Sun Woo Chang Cheon nodded.
It's not just because he saved me. Even his rude speech doesn't feel bad. It could be his eloquence, but I think it's more the sincerity in his words.
"He has the power to draw people in too."
"He's general material."
"That guy is general material. He's tall and has a loud voice. But can you herd the camels alone?"
"Me alone?"
Sun Woo Chang Cheon looked back. Dozens of camels were following.
"I want to learn that too."
"Martial arts...."
"Among them, Dong Pung's group is similar to me, and Yo Pung is stronger than me."
"He seems the strongest to me...."
Sun Woo Chang Cheon looked at Ara quietly. He didn't know what opportunity she had, but she was much stronger than when he last saw her. She might even be stronger than him.
"You're seeing it wrong."
"Do as you like."
"Thanks."
Ara immediately leaped back to the rear of the group. She then executed Lizard Steps to follow. Crawling on the sand belly-down wasn't easy at all, contrary to appearances. It was fine at first, but as time passed, arms and legs gave out.
After two hours, the group collapsed.
"Execute Flying Heaven Void Step. Run while using martial arts too. When your limbs give out, return here!"
Ak Muyoo sprang up, drew his fear horse, executed Mad Thousand Blood Steps, and ran.
"Get up and run!"
So Pung shouted, springing up and running. They ran using halberds and demon hooks to execute the martial arts they'd learned. After about fifteen minutes, they returned to the spot and assumed Lizard Step position.
"Depart!"
Ak Muyoo ran at the front.
Over a hundred people crawling like beasts under the blazing sun was a wondrous sight. The Wind Squad training didn't stop even after nightfall. When Lizard Steps grew tiring, they stood and ran; when limbs gave out, they crawled again.
"Conceal!"
Ak Muyoo shouted, covering his body with camouflage cloth, flattening himself, and executing the Great Flow Breathing Method. When the release order came, they ran again.
Training ended near midnight.
The group brushed off sand, took out jerky, and chewed vigorously. After eating their shares, they spread bloodwind cloaks, covered with sand, and entered two or three per shelter.
"Shall we sleep together?"
"Sure."
The two made a shelter and entered together.
"Honestly, I'm astonished."
Sun Woo Chang Cheon said.
"What about?"
"First, no one complains. Second, their learning ability."
It was a miraculous sight.
Ak Muyoo pushed the squad members to their limits. By evening, some even collapsed. Companions then carried them off, and the fallen soon rose and ran again. From some point, no one collapsed. Panting, they all followed Ak Muyoo.
In less than a day, they had grasped Lizard Steps to some degree.
It was an acquisition speed ordinary people couldn't imagine.
"They're all geniuses."
"Geniuses?"
"They survived the battlefield for five to ten years without proper martial arts. Impossible without sharp minds and agile bodies."
"Plus, being smart, they must have thirsted for knowledge."
"They staked their lives on scraps of third-rate martial arts. Guys like that encountering real martial arts for the first time in their lives can't help but be ecstatic."
"That martial arts on the cliff?"
"Yeah."
"And the leader wrote it, they say."
"I couldn't learn it myself, but I know a ton of martial arts."
"Well.... I have nothing to say."
"Probably part of why they're gritting their teeth and enduring is because of me."
"The leader without a dantian did it, so how embarrassing if we can't.... Something like that."
"Yeah. They don't say it, but those guys all know they're smart. Failing this would crush the pride deeply rooted in their hearts. Even if they die trying, they'll do it. And by Silver Heaven, they'll do it better than me."
"I see."
"Let's sleep."
Ak Muyoo executed Myriad Phenomena Great Heaven Force in his lying position. Before, he used it when needing sleep, but now to recover fatigue.
Regardless of internal energy, executing Myriad Phenomena Great Heaven Force melted away the day's fatigue. Even better, he could sleep while executing it. Soon, Ak Muyoo fell asleep.
The next day, Ak Muyoo woke first. He got up and quietly stretched to one side. While stretching, So Pung's group approached.
"You're tired; sleep more."
"How with you all so noisy beside me?"
"No sound at all?"
"Thanks to the Great Flow Breathing Method we learned yesterday, it keeps echoing in my head."
"You're excited?"
"Since learning martial arts, I haven't slept properly. None of us have. We only slept enough not to die and immersed in martial arts. Still doing it."
"You know your internal energy is pathetically lacking?"
"Yeah. That's why we train harder."
"I bet on strength and speed."
"For someone without internal energy, only muscles remain."
"You all must stake your lives on those two. Internal energy or forms won't cut it."
"Everyone's doing that. The cliff martial arts all turned to fast sword techniques, fast blade techniques, even fast palm techniques."
"Now you just need to do one thing."
"Get used to it?"
"Right."
"Did you hear?"
So Pung shouted toward the rear.
Ak Muyoo turned. All Wind Squad members were up: some circulating energy, others stretching.
"You all will achieve great success."
"Heh!"
The Wind Squad members chuckled softly and went about their tasks.
"Isn't that a person over there?"
So Pung pointed east.
Far away, something shimmered like a mirage.
"Yeah?"
Ak Muyoo narrowed his eyes. Definitely a person.
"Battle ready."
At the order, Wind Squad members scattered in all directions, went to the camels' front, covered with camouflage cloth, and lay flat. Soon, silence fell.
Ak Muyoo took out the Heaven God Sun Bow and mounted a camel. Then Yo Pung and Ara mounted camels too.
The three herded camels and moved ahead of the squad members.