Chapter 106: Muscle Training (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 106: Muscle Training (2)
Experiment Name: Is your fist stronger, or is my sword stronger?
Standing across from Seo-jun, Fist King Pae Jin-gwang scratched his head.
“Isn’t this just a question of who’s stronger? It’s not about muscles or internal energy; the stronger guy wins. That’s just common sense.”
“Ah, let’s just give it a try first.”
Seo-jun didn’t actually intend to settle the debate between muscle and internal energy with this little spar.
He was just annoyed by the memory of his fight with the Giryeon Sect Leader. The man had warped space to clash with the Fist King, yet Seo-jun had been the only one taking one-sided damage.
“Well, if you say so.”
Pae Jin-gwang smacked his lips and drew his fist far back over his shoulder.
His muscles bulged with elastic tension, coiled tight like an arrow notched on a fully drawn bowstring.
Seo-jun focused, pouring every ounce of his concentration into his drawn sword.
Primordial Unity Sun-Moon Astral Qi.
Yin and Yang swirled together, forming a blade-shaped Reverse Taiji over the steel.
Then, pfft—
The Astral Qi dissipated weakly. Seo-jun tilted his head in confusion.
“Huh?”
“What are you doing?”
“No, wait. Hold on a second.”
Was it always this hard?
During the actual battle, maintaining it had been taxing but manageable. Now, he was struggling just to form the Astral Qi in the first place.
Is it still too much to handle without Demonification?
He clicked his tongue in disappointment.
When he underwent Demonification, his control over qi became incomparably superior, making it far easier to wield the Principle of Heaven-Defying. He had been thrilled, thinking he’d unlocked a permanent, overpowered ultimate move, but it seemed that wasn't quite the case.
He had hoped that the same Astral Qi that pierced the Giryeon Sect Leader’s defenses might at least leave a scratch on the Fist King’s fist.
Well, I’ll just use something else.
Once again, Yin and Yang energy began to swirl over Seo-jun’s blade.
This time, they formed a standard Taiji. The Primordial Unity Sun-Moon Art took the shape of a blade.
Seo-jun smiled in satisfaction at the sight of the relatively stable Primordial Unity Sun-Moon Astral Qi.
“Alright, bring it on.”
But there was no response.
Glancing up, he saw Pae Jin-gwang and Namgung Jin-cheon staring intently at his Astral Qi.
Pfft—
Time passed, and the Astral Qi fizzled out once again.
“Hey, what gives?”
“That thing… what was it?”
“Primordial Unity Sun-Moon Astral Qi.”
“Is that a martial art related to those Wudang bastards?”
“I’ve never even met anyone from Wudang in my life.”
Pae Jin-gwang and Namgung Jin-cheon exchanged looks at Seo-jun’s response.
“Namgung Jin-cheon, you see it too, right?”
“Hmm… The underlying principle seems slightly different, yet they appear strikingly similar… However, it is natural for martial arts that have reached such a profound level to share commonalities… It is not impossible…”
“Is that so?”
Pae Jin-gwang looked back and forth between Seo-jun’s sword and his face.
“Well, fine. Unless those Wudang fools have completely lost their minds, they wouldn’t dare mess with someone from the Namgung Clan.”
“Whoa, whoa! Don’t go planting flags like that!”
“There you go spouting gibberish again… No, forget it. Let’s just get this over with. I want to get some rest.”
Pae Jin-gwang raised his fist. Seo-jun grumbled, but once again coated his sword in Primordial Unity Sun-Moon Astral Qi.
“Here I come.”
“Good.”
──────────────!!!
A massive explosion erupted.
To summarize the outcome: the martial arts arena was completely demolished, and so was Seo-jun’s arm.
I guess that’s not how you’re supposed to use Primordial Unity Sun-Moon Astral Qi.
On the bright side, he had gained a new realization.
* * *
“O-Oppa…!”
Chun-bong freaked out when she saw Seo-jun’s mangled arm.
It had been so long since she’d last seen him, and watching his arm get crushed the moment they finally reunited made her blood boil.
“You…! You should’ve held back at least a little!”
Chun-bong hopped around in a rage, but Pae Jin-gwang merely let out a hearty laugh.
“It’s fine. It’s just an arm.”
“Oh, really? Then let me break your arm too…! Gyaak!”
Chun-bong squeaked and went silent as she was suddenly hoisted into the air. Seo-jun, habitually placing Chun-bong on his shoulders, extended his right fist toward Pae Jin-gwang.
His arm had been crushed, but he had already realigned the bones with internal energy, so it wasn't a major issue.
“I won’t lose next time.”
“Did I even win? You’re the kind of monster who wouldn’t even blink if his arm got cut off entirely.”
“Ahem, it’s a matter of pride.”
Pae Jin-gwang smirked at Seo-jun’s words. His massive fist lightly bumped against Seo-jun’s.
“Fine. Let’s try again when your muscles are twice their current size.”
“Twice is a bit much…”
Laughing awkwardly, Seo-jun took Chun-bong down from his shoulders and pulled her into a hug. She was still the perfect, stable size to fit snugly in his arms. Seo-jun grinned and rocked her back and forth.
“Our Chun-bong is such a good girl, isn’t she?”
“Hmph, bullshit.”
“Yes, such a good girl.”
Pae Jin-gwang’s face contorted.
“Even if you think of her as a daughter, raising her like that will only cause trouble later on.”
“She’s not a daughter; she’s like a younger sister.”
“What are you talking about? Anyone can see you’re treating her like a daughter. Think about the age gap.”
The age gap? Seo-jun paused to count on his fingers. It had been a while since he’d done any math, so it took him a moment.
“A seven-year difference makes her a younger sister, doesn’t it?”
“What?”
Pae Jin-gwang looked at Chun-bong in Seo-jun’s arms with a strange expression.
“Is she really that old?”
“She’s not that old, right? She’s seventeen.”
“Hmm, I see. She does look exactly that age.”
Pae Jin-gwang nudged Namgung Jin-cheon’s arm.
“I’m getting old, so my math is a bit fuzzy. If you add seven to seventeen, is it twenty-four? That doesn’t seem right.”
“It is twenty-four, Senior…”
“Right? It’s twenty-four, isn’t it?”
Pae Jin-gwang’s eyes slowly drifted toward Seo-jun.
“So that guy is twenty-four?”
“‘That guy’… I understand your feelings, but you mustn’t call him that, Senior…”
“No, that’s not the point! Twenty-four?! I thought he was some young buck around a hundred or two hundred years old, but he’s practically a babe in arms!”
“Usually, a hundred isn’t considered young…”
“Agh! Are you going to keep being difficult? You know what I mean!”
“Mm, I agree…”
Pae Jin-gwang stared at Seo-jun as if he were looking at some bizarre anomaly.
To possess that level of martial prowess at the age of twenty-four.
The Martial God Ju Un-cheon had reached the Super Peak Realm at fifteen and the Transcendent Realm at forty, hadn't he? Perhaps the person destined to shatter those nonsensical records was standing right before his eyes.
Seo-jun raised an eyebrow at the strange gaze.
“What is it, old man?”
“Listen to the mouth on this brat.”
“Hey, come on. Once you reach the Super Peak Realm, a few hundred years of age difference just makes us friends, right?”
“It absolutely does not.”
“So stingy.”
Seo-jun grumbled and waved them off.
“Anyway, go away now. I need to watch my sister’s martial arts.”
“Hmph, fine.”
Pae Jin-gwang grumbled as he turned and disappeared.
Before they knew it, quite some time had passed, and the sky had grown dark. Seo-jun scratched his head and looked over at Namgung Su-ah.
“Noona, is it okay to do this now? Aren’t you tired?”
“It’s not like I’ve done much.”
Namgung Su-ah chuckled and drew her greatsword with a fluid, graceful motion.
“I’ll show you. Your older sister hasn’t just been playing around all this time.”
* * *
“Hall Master, it is finished…”
A man stumbled forward. He looked so exhausted he might collapse at a single touch, yet his expression was remarkably bright.
An equally exhausted middle-aged man took the scroll from him.
“Finally…!”
Namgung Yeong-bo, the Medicine Hall Master of the Namgung Clan.
His expression was the brightest it had been in nearly ten years.
The development of a spirit herb that had taken almost a decade was finally nearing its end.
Excited at the prospect of lying down and resting like a corpse for the next few months, Namgung Yeong-bo hurriedly unfurled the scroll.
“Yes. Yes…! This is it!”
As he scanned the recipe for the spirit herb, Namgung Yeong-bo’s face suddenly froze.
“Wait. Is this even possible?”
He looked like he was about to cry. His subordinate, Yang Song-baek, spoke up cautiously.
“Is there no way…?”
“Good heavens, man! Even so, there’s a limit to how complex a concoction can be! To manipulate internal energy with this much precision, it would take the Family Head himself a long time to manage!”
“But Hall Master, you know as well as I do! If we follow the previous recipes, the efficiency is far too low!”
“I know, but still!”
Thud. Namgung Yeong-bo set the recipe down and stood up unsteadily.
“Let’s… let’s just try it for now. Who knows? Maybe another way will come to mind.”
The one silver lining was that the spirit herb currently under development didn’t require absurdly rare ingredients. Even if they had to repeat the experiments, it wouldn't significantly impact the Namgung Clan’s finances.
This was largely because the spirit herb itself wasn't aimed at increasing internal energy. It was intended for physical refinement.
They had tentatively named it the Heaven-Man Divine Elixir—a pill that truly deserved the title of 'divine.' But…
Is it truly impossible…? Must I either use rarer ingredients or sacrifice its performance…?
As he paced aimlessly, a wild idea popped into Namgung Yeong-bo’s head.
If he had been in his right mind, he would have barked at himself to stop spouting nonsense, but in his half-delirious state of exhaustion, it felt like a decent idea.
“Right! We have the Young Master! The genius! They say he even creates Divine Arts on the fly!”
Yang Song-baek blinked.
“Did you think of something good?”
“They say he’s so good at creating martial arts, so maybe he can do something about this too?”
“Would that work? It’s a completely different field…”
“Is it?”
“It is.”
“I suppose so.”
Namgung Yeong-bo, who had been pacing, simply flopped down onto the ground.
“Let’s just deal with it tomorrow.”
“Hall Master, you can’t sleep here.”
“It’s actually not bad. I tried it before, and it was quite nice. Song-baek, why don’t you rest here too?”
“I’m going home to rest.”
“You still have the energy for that…? You’re not allowed to leave.”
“Hall Master!”
“I’m joking. I’m not that much of a villain.”
Namgung Yeong-bo chuckled. But there was no reply.
When he glanced up, Yang Song-baek was nowhere to be seen. He had already made his escape.
“What an utterly wicked fellow…”
He wanted to chase him down immediately and make him work for a month straight, but he didn't even have the strength to stand up.
Namgung Yeong-bo closed his eyes, using his arm as a pillow.
Should I just make the Family Head do it…?
With a thought that would have earned him a severe scolding if anyone had heard it, he fell into a deep sleep.
There was a minor incident later where a maid discovered him and screamed in terror, but it wasn't a big deal.
Namgung Yeong-bo was just sad.