Chapter 24
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Let's Go! To the Tang Family! (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
'I should have rented a carriage.'
It was quite a long distance to walk just like this.
I wanted to use lightness skill, but...
Ji-yeon was the problem with that.
She had just entered the mid-tier first-rate level, hadn't she?
For someone like her, keeping up with lightness skill all the way would be too much of a strain.
'...I want to teach her lightness skill.'
Just teaching her Wudang's Cloud-Stepping Stride would make her much faster.
I'd shown it to her once before anyway.
'Should I teach her?'
There might be issues with teaching Wudang's lightness skill to a daughter of the Zhuge Family.
'The Wudang here is just rattling its bells anyway, so it shouldn't matter.'
In the end, I'd be the one reforming that Wudang.
It wouldn't be strange for disciples under the same master to use similar martial arts.
Nodding to myself, I called out to Ji-yeon.
"Ji-yeon."
"Yes, Master."
Ji-yeon looked a bit tired after three days of walking.
Even without Cloud-Stepping Stride, if she could use lightness skill on her own to some degree, it would be much easier.
I couldn't deny that her eyes were exceptional.
I'd heard she had developed Heavenly Mechanism Bewildering Step after seeing Mount Hua's footwork.
If she had the brains to realize it on her own, she could probably adapt after seeing Cloud-Stepping Stride.
"I'll show you a lightness skill. Think you can follow it?"
"...Lightness skill? I haven't even properly learned the breathing method yet."
Ji-yeon tilted her head.
I smiled brightly at her.
"I have no intention of teaching you martial arts from another sect."
I had no plans to teach her other martial arts.
Besides, I didn't even properly know the basics of Zhuge Family martial arts, so I couldn't teach her anyway.
But giving her enlightenment by showing her other martial arts rather than teaching Zhuge techniques directly would more than suffice.
I'd already given her one enlightenment with Mount Hua's Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Forms.
Doing it twice wouldn't be impossible.
I covered Ji-yeon's eyes with my iron fan.
"Watch carefully with those sharp eyes of yours. This is the first official lesson from master to disciple."
At that moment, her sky-blue eyes regained their vitality and began to shine brightly.
"Do you know the basics of lightness skill?"
"...Yes. Circulate internal energy and naturally grip the power in your legs. Not too tightly, nor fully released."
"You're right."
The basics of lightness skill involve bending the knees, slowly circulating internal energy to strengthen the legs, and propelling forward.
That makes the body feel light, allowing you to move twice as fast as usual.
"You've already realized the world's greatest footwork, Heavenly Mechanism Bewildering Step, on your own. You should be able to follow this well."
"Yes, Master."
The fatigue had vanished from Ji-yeon's face, her eyes now clear.
Smirking at her, I inhaled deeply and began circulating my energy.
Nature's qi flowed into my body on its own, repeating entry and exit.
My entire body was the dantian, and this heaven and earth were my power.
Slowly, it intertwined and unbound.
I let the flow go without controlling it, emptying my mind.
Then, naturally, the inner Taiji arose, imprinting behind me.
Ji-yeon saw it.
When her master closed her eyes for deep breathing and opened them again, that familiar energy emanated.
Like a massive vortex, it drew in the surrounding qi only to swiftly return it to nature.
She worried about qi deviation, but her master had long surpassed such realms.
Slowly.
Yet spinning rapidly, pure energy formed around her.
At the moment yin and yang harmonized.
Her master's pupils were dyed crimson as she opened her eyes.
Her master, emitting a fierce glint like a beast in the night.
Ji-yeon tensed.
That energy from before brushed past her cheek.
'So that's what she's showing me.'
The footwork too fast to catch last time.
Ji-yeon poured internal energy into her eyes.
The Zhuge bloodline trait, Insight Eyes, processed dozens of thousands of pieces of information swiftly.
Of course, without a brain to handle it, it was useless.
But Ji-yeon's mind was brilliant enough to take it all in.
"Watch closely."
With those words, her master kicked off and leaped forward.
It wasn't an intentional jump.
'...It's more like...'
She was trying to sink down.
Captured by the surrounding qi.
Moving to sink.
Paradoxically, her body accelerated as if floating upward.
Her master kept moving faster and faster.
It was overwhelming just to follow, but Ji-yeon's heart grew hot.
'Amazing.'
Sinking into the qi, it gradually lifted her master up.
Instead of controlling the flow, she let herself be swept by it.
Moving as one with the qi.
This eliminated complex movements, making it appear elegant and beautiful to the viewer.
Suddenly, Ji-yeon recalled the book her father had given her, recording her master's battle.
'Read it carefully before you go.'
Her father had willingly handed it over. It detailed her master's movements and the beauty of her swordsmanship.
A sword art different from what she showed at the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament.
It seemed to slowly steal the flow, controlling everything.
Yet by letting everything flow, it harmonized gradually, overwhelming the opponent with their own force.
Taiji.
"......"
Ji-yeon saw it.
Black and white qi trailing behind her master.
'Now I understand why she's not teaching it directly.'
Zhuge breathing methods controlled everything.
Calculation, control, manifesting mental images into reality.
To do that, they controlled all qi, trimming it to favorable directions.
But her master's martial art shown now made her advantageous by letting everything flow.
'It's the polar opposite of Zhuge style.'
Antithetical to Zhuge arts.
Yet that's why the enlightenment gained...
'Control...'
It's different.
But lightness skills achieved through qi control definitely existed.
Heavenly Mechanism Bewildering Step read the opponent's qi to induce the next move.
Induce, then off-beat movement.
Disrupting balance in the gap where they don't notice.
What if she used that?
Slowly, blue light flickered around Ji-yeon.
'...What if I pre-occupy the path myself?'
To move, she had to let qi flow.
Follow the path qi creates.
Thus accelerating, stepping on clouds—that was Cloud-Stepping Stride.
For Zhuge, create the path in a Zhuge way.
Yes.
In the most familiar manner.
'......'
Ji-yeon gritted her teeth and snapped open the iron fan.
She crouched, loosening her leg muscles.
Calculations were done.
Close eyes, block info, focus on qi.
'...Create the path.'
In her mind's image, a path began forming slowly.
Concentrate more qi in the direction it wants to go.
Respect the flow, control it to match.
Qi tends to stray.
Trim it well.
"Not bad speed."
"...!!!"
Before she knew it, Ji-yeon was running beside Ha-yeon.
"Huh, what?"
Unable to hide her bewilderment, Ji-yeon stared at her master, who smirked while moving lightly as if floating in the air.
"I gave you a little help."
"Ah......"
"Excellent."
"Th-thank you."
She hadn't named the lightness skill yet.
How could a mid-tier first-rate create something new?
It was possible because a nature realm expert helped control the qi flow beside her.
Still.
"I merely added a bit of strength to what you mostly did yourself. Be confident."
"I'm embarrassed......"
Ha-yeon said, stroking Ji-yeon's head.
Meanwhile, as Ji-yeon and Ha-yeon raced toward Sichuan at terrifying speed.
At a waypoint on their path to Sichuan, a shady deal was taking place.
"...Is this the infamous Thousand Beasts Poison?"
"That's right."
Thousand Beasts Poison.
A poison made from the blood of over a thousand beasts, so potent that only those at the poison-impervious realm could survive it.
"To think the Blood Demon personally crafted it with Tang Family secrets. My gratitude."
It was the Tang Family secret laced with Blood Demon essence.
The poison that sent countless righteous faction masters to hell during the Righteous-Evil War.
Even crueler: it required scraping flesh from over a hundred humans along with the beasts to complete.
The Green Forest leader cackled at the sight.
The man hiding his identity with a black bamboo hat and face cloth rasped.
"...Everyone except the Tang Family head will die screaming from this poison."
"Indeed. Well done, milord."
"Do you know how much I suffered to avoid detection...?"
"Tch, I know, so worry not. I'll inform Grandmaster Yin Blood."
"......"
The man nodded and swiftly vanished.
Watching him, the bandit leader grinned at his men.
"Got the recipe, right!? Now we mass-produce this."
"Yes!"
The bandit leader's eyes gleamed red as he grinned at his subordinates.