Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Dispatch to the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion (2)
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#067: Dispatch to the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion (2)
Visiting the Library Pavilion after so long brought back a wave of nostalgia.
The Library Pavilion mostly housed basic arts and intermediate martial arts; there was nothing that could be considered advanced. Still, I used to come here whenever I had a spare moment.
Unlike the prodigies from the Eight Halls of the Inner Fortress, who had already mastered some level of martial arts before entering, I had absolutely nothing back then.
Thanks to that, however, I found the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes, a martial art perfectly suited for me. In a way, you could call it a blessing in disguise.
“Hmm, it was around here, wasn't it? Ah, of course it’s not here.”
I searched the spot where the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes manual had been, just in case, but the space was empty as expected.
Disappointed, I rummaged through the other manuals on the nearby shelves, but nothing piqued my interest.
I put the books back and sat at a nearby reading desk, looking around the interior.
I remembered finding the manual for the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes and reading it voraciously.
‘I’d read a bit, go outside to practice, then come back in to read some more.’
I could have just borrowed it. I wonder why I went to all that trouble.
‘I never enjoyed learning martial arts as much as I did back then.’
I was completely, madly obsessed.
Every time I closed my eyes, I would trace the forms in my mind, and with every step I took, I would practice by extending my hands and feet.
‘I was a madman.’
As I briefly savored the memories, my conversation with Bukgung Baek came to mind.
‘I broke through my limits by facing life and death on the battlefield. Since your martial arts began at the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion, returning to your starting point and re-examining them will help you find a way to overcome your wall.’
Is this why he told me to come here?
Returning to my origins certainly gave me a new perspective on my martial arts.
For example.
‘Do I even truly understand the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes?’
It was enough to make me ask such a question.
Spurred by this sudden doubt, I immediately headed to the open ground in front of the Library Pavilion.
I was there to re-examine the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes.
The first form I executed was the first strike, a simple straight punch.
*Swoosh.*
Even without imbuing any internal energy, my fist shot out with a sharp sound.
It was a move I had performed countless times, but with this new mindset, the outstretched fist seemed strangely novel.
To think my body could move just by thinking it.
‘It’s like… I’m wearing the martial art.’
Was it because I had reached a certain state?
It felt much more attached to my body than before.
How to describe it? If before it felt like wearing sweatpants, now it felt like putting on a tight, red thermal suit.
I wondered when this change had occurred, and the answer came quickly.
‘It was from when I forced myself to use the Chain Ring Force.’
The Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes had felt closer ever since that time I blew about five hundred nyang on medical fees.
I immediately moved my arm and unleashed the second strike.
*Pow.*
The moment my elbow reached the target point, the air seemed to pop.
Simultaneously, the third strike unfolded on its own.
After executing all the forms up to the final strike in an instant, I realized one thing.
‘Ki moves even without imbuing internal energy.’
From where? Why? How?
A flood of questions immediately followed, and I performed the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes once more.
This time, I performed it as fast as I could.
I could feel gazes turning toward me at the sound of the air exploding.
But I had no time to worry about such stares.
*Papapapang!*
This training, which had started from a small question, was beginning to reveal new possibilities for the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes.
Even as my body moved, my mind was ceaselessly deconstructing and reassembling the martial art.
‘The War King Thirteen Strikes?’
It was the height of arrogance.
This art was not so shallow that its name could be changed just by adding a variation that unleashed force with the War King's energy.
But was it an ultimate art? I wasn't sure about that either.
I hadn't learned any other martial arts to be able to make a proper assessment.
However, it was clear that it was a martial art with immense potential for growth.
Because it resembled the War King Arts, the greatest martial art I knew.
And just as I suspected.
‘Every time I perform it, it draws in external ki.’
The War King Arts also absorbed external ki with each execution.
Was this an inherent effect of the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes?
Or was it an effect added because I had learned the War King Arts?
I had no idea.
But one thing was certain.
‘It shares the same nature as the War King Arts.’
It felt as if the two martial arts shared the same root.
As soon as that thought occurred, I began performing the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes with slight modifications.
Once, twice… and finally, on the eighty-first attempt.
“Ah!”
Something flashed in my mind.
And then began the eighty-first Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes.
*Pang!*
Even though I had unleashed all thirteen strikes, only a single sonic boom was heard.
And then.
*Kwoooaaang!*
The force that exploded in all directions ravaged the clearing in front of the Library Pavilion, kicking up a cloud of dust.
*Sccrrk! Craaack.*
The Ultimate Death Force erupted at the intended spot, cleanly shearing off the base of a large tree.
I hadn't just mixed the force of the War King Arts into the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes; I had completely merged the two martial arts into one.
‘Now, I can truly call it the War King Thirteen Strikes.’
I had obtained an even more powerful weapon.
‘The Hall Master’s advice was right.’
To think I would gain such an opportunity just by seeking the origin of my martial arts.
Indeed, Bukgung Baek was a top-tier instructor.
* * *
“You destroyed the Library Pavilion while training? What in the world am I supposed to do with you?”
“...I apologize.”
I had completed the War King Thirteen Strikes, but I’d failed to control my strength and ended up completely demolishing one of the Library Pavilion’s walls.
Thanks to that, I was now being summoned by the Adept of Annihilation for a lecture.
This went on for the better part of two hours.
The long lecture began to stir a feeling of rebellion in me.
‘Isn’t it possible to break a wall or two while training in martial arts?’
I lifted my head to argue back, but…
“What?! Why?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
The Adept of Annihilation’s murderous expression made me lower my head again.
After a much longer lecture, the Adept of Annihilation finally delivered his verdict.
“Pay for it.”
If he was just going to make me pay, why did he lecture me for so long?
“My, I didn't take you for such a petty person. How much could it possibly be...? How much is it? I’ll pay you right now.”
“Thirty nyang.”
“...Why is it so expensive?”
As I questioned him, the Adept of Annihilation handed me a small piece of paper.
It was a bill for the repairs.
I checked the invoice, ready to argue if I found any padded charges, but…
“Eighty secret manuals were torn.”
“Do you have any idea how many scribes it will take to transcribe all of those? And think of how much paper that will require.”
The details were so precise that I was at a loss for words.
“...Considering our history, can’t you give me a little discount?”
“What history? The only thing I want is to erase you from my sight.”
“We’re not strangers, you’re being too harsh.”
“If we’re not strangers, what are we?”
“Family.”
“Where on earth does that shamelessness come from? You’re the one who refused to become a Taoist despite your master’s pleading, and you talk of family! Besides, how can I overlook the destruction of public property just because of a personal relationship?”
“Please, just a little…”
* * *
I managed to negotiate it down to twenty-five nyang.
Of course, the unexpected expense stung, but since I was the one who broke it, I had to just forget about it… yeah, right.
The thought of the wasted money was enough to wake me from my sleep.
*Grumble.*
I was so upset I couldn't even eat properly.
Still, what’s done is done.
The only way to recoup my losses was to inflate the expenses for this dispatch.
I could claim I was injured while monitoring the Path of Life and Death and request medical fees, or I could give an exhausted trainee a Yosangdan pill and inflate the cost of the medicine. There were many ways.
After coming up with a solution, I finally felt at ease and went around the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion, meeting people.
The cook in the dining hall, who would give me extra meat dishes out of pity after hearing I was an orphan.
The instructors, who always gave me advice whenever I had questions about martial arts.
The members of the Heaven-Ascending Corps, who would buy me snacks when they returned from the fortress.
And finally, Tagon, the son of the Southern Barbarian Great Chieftain whom I had escorted all the way to the Nine Dragons Fortress.
I visited each one of them, exchanging greetings and reminiscing about the past.
Before I knew it, the day of the hellish Path of Life and Death had arrived.
Nine instructors and twenty warriors from the First Squad of the Outer Hall.
Standing before them were fifteen ninth-year trainees.
The Adept of Annihilation spoke to them.
“From this moment, you will walk a thousand li to cross the Nine Dragons Mountain Range.”
That’s a lie. Or is it just an inaccurate statement, since there’s no intent to deceive?
In any case, the maps of this era aren’t very accurate.
There were bound to be discrepancies in distance, and the problem was that the destination was just before Qinghai Fortress, at the very end of the Nine Dragons Mountain Range.
Considering the vastness of the martial world, I was sure it was well over a thousand li.
If only accurate surveying techniques could be introduced sooner, such victims could be avoided.
While I was inwardly praying for rapid technological advancement, the Adept of Annihilation finally concluded his long speech.
“...And so, may you all return safely.”
“Yes, sir!”
With the trainees’ resounding reply, the Path of Life and Death began.
The fifteen trainees set off, each armed with only a single weapon, followed by the instructors and the warriors of the First Squad.
‘I wonder if there’s a guy like Dan Un this time.’
As I watched with interest, one of the trainees suddenly bolted forward at high speed, and an instructor hurriedly followed him.
The sight brought back old memories, and a chuckle escaped my lips.
“Pfft.”
Woo Je-jun, who was beside me, asked the reason for my laughter.
“Is something amusing, sir?”
“No, just thinking about the old days.”
That fellow Dan Un had sprinted from the very beginning to the very end of this training.
Although he slowed down from exhaustion along the way, the fact that he ran until the end made him a remarkable guy.
Still, he lost to me, who had hidden food in advance and memorized all the shortcuts.
‘A guy who only uses brawn can’t beat a guy who uses his brain.’
And just as I thought, I spotted someone using their brain.
A kid dressed in layers of black clothing darted his eyes around, assessing the movements of those monitoring him.
He was clearly looking for an opportunity to head to where he had hidden his food.
I used Flying Heavenly Wind and appeared beside him in a single step.
“You’ve been caught. How about you just keep going?”
“Are you Senior Fighting Dragon?”
“I am.”
“I knew it was you, Senior. To notice at a single glance. Understood. I’ll give up.”
As expected of a smart kid, he was quick on the uptake.
“That’s right, kid. You have to do this fair and square. You can’t use tricks.”
“But... I heard you were the first person to successfully cheat on the Path of Life and Death, senior...”
“Who told you that?”
“Senior Jo Sang-man of the Heaven-Ascending Corps told me.”
It seems I’ll have to have a word with him about keeping his mouth shut soon.
If this ever reached the Adept of Annihilation’s ears, he might actually try to break my legs with his sword.
“...It’s only a crime if you get caught. If you don’t, it’s a strategy. And you know this is a secret, right?”
“I will keep it in mind.”
“I like you. What’s your name?”
“My name is Jeon Gwang. The Hall Master of the Gray Dragon Hall is my father.”
I was surprised to hear he was Jeon Muk’s younger brother and took another look at him.
He was short with a slender build.
A stark contrast to Jeon Muk, who was nearly two meters tall and boasted a muscular frame.
“...You’re nothing like Jeon Muk.”
“I hear that a lot.”
“Do you also train by swinging a pickaxe?”
“I find it inefficient.”
“I like that about you.”
“I should get going, or I’ll fall too far behind and it’ll be tough later.”
“Good luck.”
Jeon Gwang gave a small bow and moved slightly ahead.
I watched his retreating back and thought.
‘Heh, I’ll let it slide just this once.’
The kid’s clothes—specifically, between the inner lining and the outer layer of his martial arts uniform under his robe—had beef jerky hidden inside.
Normally, I should have confiscated it, but I let it go.
A faction with so many simple-minded warriors needs intelligent talents like him.
‘The future of the Nine Dragons Fortress is bright.’
To nurture such talent, it was truly befitting of the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion, the best educational institution in the Nine Dragons Fortress.