Chapter 116: Chun-bong's Puberty (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 116: Chun-bong's Puberty (3)
Pubescent Chun-bong. A concept that could be nothing short of terrifying…
Seo-jun had absolutely no idea how to navigate this horrific situation.
"Starting today, we're sleeping in separate rooms."
"What…! No, Miss Geum! Why so suddenly?!"
"It was weird for an unmarried man and woman to sleep together in the first place."
"Siblings are supposed to sleep together!"
"Whatever. That's only when they're little."
Hmph. Chun-bong snorted coldly, packed her things, and marched out. Right into the next room.
The detached villa the Namgung Clan had provided for Seo-jun had several rooms; Chun-bong's new room was a grand total of five steps away from his.
Seo-jun poked his head through her doorway and grumbled.
"I can't sleep without my Chun-bu-i…"
"What are you talking about? You slept just fine while I was gone. You certainly kept yourself busy with plenty of other things, too."
"Well, that was… back then…"
"Enough. That's how it's going to be."
Having successfully claimed her own room, Chun-bong firmly shut the door.
"I'm changing, so don't come in."
"…You've really grown up, our Chun-bong. Does this mean Oppa doesn't have to help you change anymore…?"
"Don't you dare even try! I'm serious, I won't let it slide."
Creak. Chun-bong poked her head through a small crack in the door and stuck her tongue out at him.
Then, she quickly slammed it shut again and tried to calm her racing heart.
‘Yes, this is right.’
They had been far too casual with each other until now. If they kept going like that, she would never escape the "younger sister" frame.
Therefore, this was taking one step back to take ten steps forward…
It was a necessary sacrifice.
"Hehe."
She had nothing to feel inferior about now. This thing called a "period" was a massive nuisance with all the pain and bleeding, but it was also proof that she could get pregnant.
She was truly Adult Chun-bong…!
Chun-bong, who had already pre-named about twelve of their future grandchildren, spread out her bedding with a silly grin.
The reconstruction of the Divine Sword Geum Family was not far off.
*
"Mmmgh…"
Opening her eyes, Chun-bong wobbled her head groggily and barely managed to sit up.
"Yawn… Water…"
"There, there, our Chun-bong. Here's your water."
As she tilted her head back, water naturally flowed into her mouth. Gulping it down, Chun-bong let out a massive yawn and threw her arms up in the air.
"That's it, good girl."
Her body moved on its own. Guided by practiced hands, Chun-bong was quickly changed into fresh clothes and stood up blankly.
Standing there half-asleep, she felt her hair being gently brushed and tied.
The soothing touch on her head made her even sleepier. After another wide yawn, Chun-bong habitually started counting the days.
‘Today is…’
What day of the week was it?
After about five minutes of deep thought, she finally managed to remember.
Giggling at her small sense of achievement, Chun-bong suddenly snapped her eyes wide open.
"Wh-what?!"
"What do you mean, 'what'?"
Seo-jun, standing right in front of her, tilted his head.
Chun-bong hurriedly scanned her surroundings. This was Seo-jun's room, which looked a bit emptier than before. Why was she here?
Chun-bong's eyes widened in horror.
"Hey! You kidnapped me while I was sleeping, didn't you?!"
"I did not."
Seo-jun waved his hand with a genuinely innocent expression. Chun-bong couldn't help but be flustered.
"Then why am I here…?"
"Because you opened the door in the middle of the night, walked in, and lay down next to me?"
"I definitely went to sleep in my own room!"
"How should I know?"
Seo-jun shrugged.
Chun-bong searched her memory with a serious expression. What on earth happened last night…?
After agonizing over it for a long time, she caught a faint fragment of a memory.
‘Yawn… What is this…’
The chilly air. The spot beside her that felt exceptionally empty.
‘Where did that jerk Lee Seo-jun go…’
The memory of her crawling out of bed, staggering over, and throwing open her brother's door…!
"No way…"
Had she truly become someone who couldn't even manage to sleep independently?
Horrified, Chun-bong clutched her head.
"Hey, Miss Geum. We have to get going soon."
"Huh? Oh, right. Yeah. We should go."
"Go wash your face."
"Right, wash my face. Yeah. Okay."
Seo-jun watched Chun-bong walk off in a daze to wash up and tilted his head.
‘What's up with her?’
Geum Chun-bong…! How are you still this cute even when you're going through puberty…!
— Seriously! I told you not to wash your laundry with mine!
— You stink, so get lost!
— Sleep together? You Lust Demon. Why don't you just die?
— I can't live with someone like you anymore. I'm leaving, so don't look for me.
Seo-jun, who had secretly been running terrifying simulations of Geum Chun-bong's puberty in his head, felt a profound sense of relief.
‘Just keep growing up exactly like this…’
He held that small, earnest wish in his heart.
*
"It goes without saying, but the formation and growth of a Qi Root requires Qi. While you are training in the Tyrannical Power Ghost God Technique, it is better to give up on growing your internal energy."
It was time for his daily training session with the Fist King.
Seo-jun followed his words faithfully but knew how to boldly discard the parts he didn't agree with.
"Can't I just do both?"
"…Do whatever you want, you brat."
From the Super Peak Realm onwards, a martial artist had to walk their own path.
Once a disciple reached the Super Peak Realm, there was little a master could do other than offer a few simple pieces of advice.
Even if two people practiced the exact same martial art, once they found their own Dao, the way they walked it was bound to differ.
Especially in a case like Seo-jun's, where it seemed absolutely no one else in the world was walking a similar path, it was better to just let him do as he pleased.
In fact, Seo-jun was doing quite well on his own.
"Fist techniques aren't completely different from sword techniques, after all. I think I just need to figure out how to bridge the parts that are different."
"Most weapons are just extensions of the body anyway. Hands just have a shorter reach, but they can do a bit more."
"Aha."
Instead of forcing internal energy into the forms of the fist technique, he adjusted the fist technique to fit the natural flow of his internal energy.
It was a similar principle to how he had manifested Sword Qi first to grasp a fragment of the Unity of Man and Sword.
Seo-jun performed the Tyrannical Power Ghost God Technique while wrapping his hands in Fist Astral Qi.
With a single punch, he shattered space; he took incoming attacks head-on and endured them with sheer bodily toughness.
He modified the Fist King's crude, overbearing fighting style to suit himself, filling in the gaps in his proficiency by slotting in other martial arts to make it perfectly seamless.
Then, he suddenly realized something.
"Wait, shouldn't this be called the Tyrannical Power Ghost God Art instead of the Technique?"
"If that's what you think, then call it that. I didn't come up with the name anyway."
"Good."
From now on, it was the Tyrannical Power Ghost God Art.
As the days of continuous training repeated, proper, dense muscles began to settle on Seo-jun's body.
They weren't comparable to Pae Jin-gwang's monstrous bulk, but they were hard and tough enough to transcend human limits. His frame broadened slightly, increasing his overall weight.
He felt like he might actually have a chance if he arm-wrestled Namgung Su-ah now.
But Seo-jun was patient.
What he desired was an overwhelming victory. He devoted himself to training with the mindset of "tempering his resolve," waiting for the day he could effortlessly overpower Namgung Su-ah with pure physical strength.
Pae Jin-gwang, who had been smiling proudly at Seo-jun's growing physique, was struck with absolute horror the very next day.
"What…! Where did all your muscles go, you brat?!"
"Ah, the muscles?"
Seo-jun, who looked considerably slimmer compared to just the day before, gave a wide grin.
"This is what you call Combat-Compressed Muscle."
Qi Roots? They were said to be Qi that had mutated into the form of muscle, but in the end, they were still fundamentally Qi.
He had simply compressed that Qi to reduce the volume while radically increasing the density.
It was literally compressed muscle.
"Why on earth would you do such a thing…?!"
"Well, this is more efficient, isn't it?"
"You aren't even a man! Get off this mountain right now!"
"We aren't on a mountain."
"Fine. Let's see who dies today."
That day, the Family Head's private martial arts arena was half-destroyed.
The clan members rushed over in a panic, but Namgung Jin-cheon simply chuckled and said one thing.
"We can always rebuild the arena, so please, just focus on your training…"
Truly the Great Namgung Clan…
Seo-jun found himself squinting at the brilliant, saintly halo seemingly shining behind Namgung Jin-cheon's head.
Pae Jin-gwang grumbled about the incident for a long time.
"Tsk… I want to beat the crap out of you, but I can't even land a hit."
"Now, now. You should just become much stronger than me, then."
"Oh? You want to go another round?"
"Whoa, whoa. The arena's going to break again. Are you really going to be like this?"
By now, the difference in power between Seo-jun and Pae Jin-gwang wasn't that great. To truly settle the score, one of them would have to go all out with the intent to kill.
And the one to die was still more likely to be Seo-jun.
If he took a direct hit from the Fist King's full-power punch, his body would be shattered to pieces.
But if his body was shattered to pieces, would he actually die?
Seo-jun pondered this seriously.
Wait, would I? Maybe not?
The thought occurred to him, but he didn't dare put it to the test.
If he actually died, he would undoubtedly achieve the title of the #1 most pathetic death in the history of the Central Plains.
When he casually asked Pae Jin-gwang about it, the old man also gave it some serious thought.
"I don't know. If you fought while running away, I'm not sure I could catch you."
"And if I get caught, I die, right?"
"That thing you called the Heaven-Defying Sun-Moon Astral Qi? The one you used when fighting the Giryeon Sect Leader. Even I would be cut pretty deep if I took a hit from that, so I can't say for sure who would win."
"I feel like even if I hit your neck directly, I wouldn't even be able to cut halfway through."
"Normally, people die when their neck is cut halfway through."
"I feel like you wouldn't die, old man."
"Well… I've never had my neck cut before, so I wouldn't know."
Chun-bong, listening to their bizarre discussion, wore a strange expression.
Why on earth were these two arguing over who would lose…?
Chun-bong sidled up to Namgung Su-ah, who was at least closer to being a normal person. But Namgung Su-ah spoke first.
"Miss Geum."
"Yeah?"
"Don't Seo-jun's arms look incredibly firm?"
"Uh, yeah. I guess?"
"I wonder if it feels good to be strangled by them?"
Chun-bong beat a hasty retreat. This unnie was also starting to lose her mind lately.
‘Did we get too close…?’
Before, Su-ah seemed to care about appearances, but now she had absolutely no filter.
Chun-bong came to a new realization.
Was it possible that there were simply no normal people among martial artists who reached a high realm?
Come to think of it, reaching such a realm was probably impossible with the mindset of an ordinary person.
‘Could it be me, too…?’
Chun-bong took a brief moment for self-reflection.
But no matter how much she thought about it, she was definitely the most normal person here.
"Sigh, at least I should stay sharp."
It was then that Namgung Jin-cheon appeared, soaring through the sky and landing gracefully.
"Son-in-law…"
"Oh, Father-in-law!"
"My granduncle has set the date… It will be in one week…"
"The date? You mean for the… proof?"
"Indeed…"
According to Namgung Jin-cheon, the trial proposed by Namgung Hyeok consisted of three tests.
First was Integrity.
Second was Swordsmanship.
Third was Martial Arts.
"He said that if you pass even two of the three, he will recognize your qualifications… If that happens, he will likely support you, so you won't have to worry about any other noise from the clan…"
"What if I fail?"
At Seo-jun's question, Namgung Jin-cheon gave a faint, silent smile.
"I don't think there's any need to worry about that…"
He had intended to step in if the elders truly tried to destroy Seo-jun's Dantian and cut his tongue and wrists, but it didn't seem like that would happen.
Even if he failed, it didn't look like his granduncle had any intention of actually harming his son-in-law.
Namgung Jin-cheon didn't bother explaining further and simply left a single word of encouragement.
"Take this opportunity to firmly establish your position…"
For his son-in-law, it wouldn't even be a difficult task.