Chapter 115: Chun-bong's Puberty (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 115: Chun-bong's Puberty (2)
Early morning.
The first thing Chun-bong saw as she cautiously stepped out of her room was Seo-jun’s smirking mug.
“You’re up? My, my, look at our Chun-bong. You’re an adult now, aren’t you?”
She immediately twisted her body and delivered a vicious roundhouse kick.
“Gah…!”
Sent flying by the blow, Seo-jun squirmed on the dirt. Chun-bong stepped on his chest with one foot, her eyes flashing dangerously.
“You. Stay away from me for the time being.”
“What…!”
Seo-jun cried out in despair. Chun-bong snorted dismissively, but then her face suddenly scrunched into a frown as she rubbed her stomach.
Startled, Seo-jun asked, “Hey, are you okay?”
“…Shut up.”
Sticking her tongue out at him, Chun-bong dashed away and disappeared from sight.
Seo-jun stared blankly at her retreating back before lying back down and scratching his head.
“Sigh… What am I supposed to do at a time like this?”
What was the correct way for an older brother to handle his younger sister’s first period?
Usually, biological siblings would probably just ignore it and move on, but his relationship with Chun-bong wasn't built on such flimsy blood ties. He wanted to do something for her… but what?
He was genuinely flustered.
* * *
Chun-bong, who had vanished earlier, reappeared quite a while later walking alongside Namgung Su-ah.
When Seo-jun stole a glance at her, she let out a sharp huff and coldly turned her head away.
“What the….”
Seeing this, Namgung Su-ah giggled and approached him.
“Don’t worry too much. It’s a bit late, but it’s something every girl goes through.”
“No, I mean, I know that, but…”
Seo-jun scratched his head. He had been brainstorming all sorts of things until late last night, but this unexpected development had wiped his mind completely clean. Though his immediate reflex had been to tease her, Seo-jun himself was actually quite taken aback.
“For now, it’s fine to act as usual. But just in case, it might be better to take it easy during training today.”
“Yeah, I should.”
Nodding, Seo-jun hesitantly headed toward the martial arts arena. He stole glances at Chun-bong’s expression along the way; surprisingly, she didn't seem to be in a particularly bad mood.
He had heard that women could get incredibly sensitive during this time, but fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case here. In fact, the slight upward curve of her lips suggested she might even be in high spirits.
“Oh, you’re here?”
When they arrived at the arena, Pae Jin-gwang greeted them. He looked puzzled by the unusual atmosphere for a brief moment, but quickly brushed it off and hoisted a massive boulder onto his shoulders.
“Alright, alright, warm up.”
“Yes, yes, of course.”
Having grown quite accustomed to this routine, Seo-jun also hoisted a boulder without a word of complaint. He felt a strange sense of satisfaction from the crushing load and the deep ache in his muscles, which honestly felt a bit odd to admit.
After finishing their light—yet incredibly heavy—warm-up, they began their training in earnest.
Training in earnest, of course, meant practicing the Tyrannical Power Ghost God Art.
Pae Jin-gwang was bold enough to teach the Tyrannical Power Ghost God Art right in front of Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah; he didn't seem to care in the slightest if they picked it up by watching from the sidelines.
“You’ve already formed your Qi Roots. I was going to help you out today, but how did you manage it?”
“I learned the Tyrannical Power Ghost God Art. I just did what I was taught.”
“Hmm, fair enough.”
Forming Qi Roots was the process of taking the Qi naturally dissolved within the muscles and forging it into an entirely new layer of spiritual muscle through rigorous training.
In Seo-jun’s case, he had finished forming the Qi Roots, but they hadn't properly grown yet. As much as he wanted to just take a shortcut, even Seo-jun couldn't grow his Qi Roots without putting in the actual physical labor.
It was a matter of causality.
Since Qi Roots were an entity that grew through training in the first place, he could artificially increase the speed of that growth, but it was impossible to grow them while just sitting around scratching his belly.
So, Seo-jun applied himself to the grueling regimen without complaint.
He held up massive boulders, went outside the estate to uproot a tree for squats, and when he got bored of lifting weights, he threw punches following the precise forms of the Tyrannical Power Ghost God Art.
Seeing Seo-jun working his body with such rare intensity, Namgung Su-ah approached him with a wet towel.
“Oh my, your physique has already improved this much.”
Wiping Seo-jun’s sweat-drenched face with the towel, Namgung Su-ah affectionately kneaded his forearm.
His arms had become quite thick before he even realized it. Previously, while he had lean muscle, there had always been a lingering sense of slenderness to his frame; now, he looked thoroughly masculine.
Of course, compared to Pae Jin-gwang, he was still dainty.
She giggled.
“At this rate, aren't you going to end up all hulking like Great Hero Pae?”
“Probably not. My body approached its ideal form during the Bone-cleansing and Body-changing process, so I don't think the shape will change drastically from here on out. Why? Would you like that?”
“No? I think you’re just right as you are now.”
The hand that had been fiddling with his forearm traced further up. From his forearm to his shoulder, across his collarbone, over his chest, and finally down to his abdomen.
“Mmm, I think we should start putting the character for ‘King’ in your nickname soon.”
“Was that supposed to be a joke?”
“…Was it not funny?”
“Haha.”
As Seo-jun laughed awkwardly, Namgung Su-ah’s expression turned into a cute pout.
Instead of making an excuse, Seo-jun reached out and touched Namgung Su-ah’s stomach. Her body flinched. When he pressed down, it felt incredibly firm, though she didn't have a six-pack or anything of the sort.
It was just the distinct feeling of dense, solid muscle hidden beneath soft skin.
‘Where on earth does such explosive power come from a body like this?’
Since it felt nice, he kept pressing, causing Namgung Su-ah to blush furiously and let out a soft breath.
“Nng….”
“You really have consistent tastes.”
“Hehe, are you going to hit me?”
“That’s a bit much….”
Watching the two of them flirt shamelessly, Pae Jin-gwang eventually clicked his tongue and looked away in disgust.
“That damn brat….”
The Fist King had no children. His partner was his muscle, and his lover was a boulder. Watching such a nauseating display of affection made his own sides feel unnecessarily cold and empty.
“And why are you acting like that?”
“Like what.”
Chun-bong replied curtly. At first, she had at least made a show of being polite to the senior martial artist, but now even that pretense was completely gone.
Pae Jin-gwang let out a hollow laugh at the blunt response that so closely resembled her brother’s.
“Did you two get into a fight or something?”
“No.”
“You definitely fought.”
“I said no.”
“Good grief.”
“Hmph.”
Snorting, Chun-bong stared at her brother flirting with Namgung Su-ah.
She had to force her face into a scowl; if she let her guard down for even a second, her lips might accidentally curl into a smile.
Of course, thinking about his mischievous pranks made a flash of anger flare up, but the overwhelming emotion of her body finally being healed easily suppressed that annoyance.
Her brother’s relentless devotion had finally saved her dying life. And by extension, it had saved the lives of the new generations that might be born someday.
‘Lee Seo-jun Junior….’
Blankly imagining little kids running around the courtyard, Chun-bong finally let out a soft giggle. She thought to herself that she would have to be a bit strict with their education.
The thought of children running wild and causing trouble exactly like her brother made her laugh, yet it also filled her with a profound fear for the future….
* * *
“Was that actually true…?”
Namgung Hyeok gathered information while moving stealthily between the main Namgung Clan estate and his secluded dwelling.
He couldn't just hand over the Emperor Sword Form to that arrogant brat, Lee Seo-jun, without a second thought.
Know the enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated. Since he understood his own limits more than enough, he had spent the past few days meticulously collecting information on the boy….
“Are you talking about the Young Master? He is truly a magnificent person! Just look at his Azure Lightning Heart Method and Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms. I heard he has many other achievements as well; a single night wouldn't be enough to hear them all.”
“Of course I know him. Isn't he the God of Alchemy! Man, I still can't believe it. Instead of listening to me, why don't you stop by the Heavenly Medicine Hall? There are traces he left behind, and they are just miraculous…”
“If I ever head back to the battlefield, there would be nothing more reassuring than being by his side. I still vividly remember the moment I was heavily wounded in Daedong Prefecture and death was right before my eyes—he appeared and treated me. My realm has dropped a bit, but I can just recover that, can't I? In fact, thanks to the enlightenment I felt at the moment of death, I think I can go one step further than before.”
He didn't know how the boy had done it, but almost the entirety of the Namgung Clan was overwhelmingly favorable toward him.
In particular, the members of the Heavenly Medicine Hall had even set up something resembling a shrine in a quiet corner of their hall. They were literally worshipping some small wooden carving of him like a god; Namgung Hyeok had been so incensed by the ridiculous sight that he almost blew the Heavenly Medicine Hall away with a single palm strike.
‘They must be insane.’
The Heavenly Medicine Hall of the past was never like this.
Recalling the dignified Namgung Clan from several hundred years ago, Namgung Hyeok let out a long, heavy sigh. Too many things had changed while he was sequestered away from the secular world.
“Just what is the world coming to….”
However, regardless of the lamentable state of the world, if even half of what people said was true, that Lee Seo-jun brat was a peerless treasure that must never be lost.
The person himself seemed far too lighthearted and flippant for his liking, but if he possessed such heaven-defying ability, that was an entirely different story.
Arrogance from the truly strong isn't arrogance at all.
Then what should he do?
After some deep thought, Namgung Hyeok prepared a test.
First, since the nominal purpose was to test his qualifications to learn the Emperor Sword Form, he figured he should thoroughly evaluate his loyalty, swordsmanship, and martial arts.
If he could use those as an excuse to bind him to the Namgung Clan, that would be good; if he could put an unbreakable shackle on him entirely, that would be best.
‘Namgung Su-ah, was it? I wonder if that girl can keep him tied to the Namgung Clan….’
No matter how great his contributions were, he abhorred the idea of handing over the Emperor Sword Form to an outsider. But if the boy genuinely cherished the clan without harboring other dark intentions, he could exercise that much flexibility.
No, actually, no matter how much he thought about it, teaching the Emperor Sword Form to someone who wasn't the Family Head or the chosen successor made absolutely no sense… but his rigid mindset had changed slightly after seeing the fanatical behavior of those lunatics in the Heavenly Medicine Hall. If this was the undeniable flow of the times, trying to forcibly block it would only cause a massive backlash.
In that case, he had to change his focus.
‘How can I block every hole he might use to escape…?’
Namgung Hyeok’s worries only deepened.
* * *
Seo-jun continued his intense training for several days.
Not just the Tyrannical Power Ghost God Art, but also the Emperor Sword Form, Yellow Cloud Divine Sword, Domain, Sorcery, Primordial Unity Sun-Moon Astral Qi, and Heaven-Defying Sun-Moon Astral Qi.
He postponed practicing Demonification for a bit.
He figured showing Demonification in front of an ancient monster like Namgung Hyeok would lead to quite a headache.
‘But when is this guy coming?’
Despite leaving as if he were going to cause a massive scene at any second, the old man hadn't shown his face yet.
‘Did he run away?’
Maybe. If his father-in-law got pissed off by mistake, the old man’s head would be lopped off instantly.
In the Murim, where the gap between generations was nearly a hundred years, a great-granduncle who had left the family and whose face had rarely been seen was basically a stranger. Of course, he wouldn't be treated entirely like a stranger, but the important thing was that his opponent was Namgung Jin-cheon.
Acting tough against a man who could handle the Giryeon Sect Leader within ten moves?
Seo-jun, for one, didn't have the confidence for that.
This was the sheer power of guanxi. In other words, connections.
After taking a moment to silently praise his father-in-law once again, Seo-jun soon lost all interest in Namgung Hyeok.
‘Whatever. He’ll show up when he shows up.’
He figured it would be far better to spend his time teaching his sister various things in preparation for the Yongbong Gathering held in the coming spring.
And besides, there was one problem right now that was far more important than anything else.
‘What’s wrong with her…?’
It seemed Chun-bong had fully entered her puberty phase.
I’m so screwed.