Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Protective Technique
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Protective Technique
Namgung Seonwoo had lived a long life well past forty, but he had never witnessed a scene like this before.
It was only natural, then, that he asked Yeo Dae-un once more about Goon Ja-seong.
“Lady Yeo, how exactly did you raise him…”
“I told you. I didn’t raise him. He grew up on his own.”
Yeo Dae-un, who had already witnessed Goon Ja-seong’s exquisite movements and was even learning them himself, shrugged nonchalantly.
But inwardly, he was just as shocked as Namgung Seonwoo.
‘He’s gotten even faster.’
Especially at the start of the spar, when he charged at Namgung Hyun—his speed was truly instantaneous.
So fast that not even an afterimage lingered.
And what about the swordsmanship that followed?
After the initial strike aimed clearly at closing in on the opponent, every subsequent form flowed organically.
Each form had a clear purpose and demonstrated exceptional completion.
It was at a level where one could believe it was a peerless sword art refined over many years.
‘That swordsmanship was created in a mere three days?’
How was that even possible?
Was inspiration gushing inside that kid’s head like an endless spring?
Yeo Dae-un had no idea that Goon Ja-seong’s mind was a culmination of the imaginations of countless wuxia novelists from his previous life and modern knowledge.
To him, Goon Ja-seong was an utterly incomprehensible existence.
‘Trying to understand an incomprehensible being will just give me a headache.’
Sighing inwardly, Yeo Dae-un shook his head.
In the meantime, as Goon Ja-seong approached after helping the defeated Namgung Hyun to his feet, Namgung Seonwoo patted his son’s shoulder in encouragement while voicing his great admiration for Goon Ja-seong.
“Truly astonishing, Young Hero Goon. This isn’t just because he’s my son—Hyun’s Heavenly Wind Swordsmanship is no small feat, yet to be defeated so utterly without a chance to respond.”
“Ah, Father…!”
Namgung Hyun flushed red with embarrassment, trying to stop his father.
The sight seemed amusing, as he burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! Experiencing defeat once in a while isn’t such a bad thing. It provides more valuable nourishment than any victory. This spar will be a great turning point for you.”
“…Yes.”
Namgung Hyun gave an awkward reply before slipping away from his father toward his fiancée.
Yakbing blushed as she gazed at the muscles peeking through Namgung Hyun’s tattered training robes before hastily turning her head away with a fake cough.
Namgung Seonwoo watched the scene fondly for a moment before turning back to Goon Ja-seong.
“I heard the technique you just demonstrated was a new creation?”
“Ah, yes. It’s called the Vault of Heaven Unfettered Swordsmanship.”
“Vault of Heaven Unfettered Swordsmanship…!”
Namgung Seonwoo nodded in admiration, but for some reason, Goon Ja-seong eyed him awkwardly.
“Truly an impressive swordsmanship. And to think it was created in just three days—I can’t help but be astounded. It’s an honor to witness the first technique crafted by a future grandmaster.”
“Ahaha, you’re too kind—you’re gilding the lily.”
Goon Ja-seong scratched the back of his head bashfully, grinning.
Seeing the corners of his mouth twitching as if a huge smile might break out any second, Yeo Dae-un clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘Tsk, he’s so immature at hiding his feelings…’
No matter how brilliant one’s martial arts, one must never let their guard down carelessly in the jianghu.
The martial world was overflowing with those who smiled to your face while stabbing you in the back.
‘I need to teach him about that at least.’
He’d never properly taught the boy anything, and it made him uncomfortable being called master, but teaching him that much might ease his mind.
Yeo Dae-un mulled this over inwardly as he returned to the guest hall with the rest of the group.
And as soon as they arrived, Goon Ja-seong tossed out a completely absurd question.
“Master, what’s a protective technique? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it.”
“…What?”
‘…This punk?’
Yeo Dae-un’s face twisted hideously at the ridiculous question.
*
After the spar with Namgung Hyun, I returned to the guest hall and immediately asked my master.
I just couldn’t hold back my curiosity.
“Master, what’s a protective technique? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it.”
Yeah, protective technique.
It was probably the reason Namgung Hyun endured the impacts of Sword Shadow Observing Heaven and Mysterious Heaven Wild Wind with barely a scratch.
I wanted to ask right away what a protective technique was when Namgung Hyun proudly introduced his Heavenly Thunder Divine Body Art, but I held back because I noticed something.
From Namgung Hyun’s reaction and demeanor, it seemed like this protective technique—or shield technique or whatever—was fairly well-known to the public.
And yet, I’d never heard of a protective technique once in all this time.
So as soon as we got back to the guest hall, I asked my master about it.
“…What?”
But my master’s reaction was strange.
His face was all scrunched up like he’d heard the most absurd, outrageous thing in the world.
“……”
“……”
No, it wasn’t just my master.
Hwaryeon and Seol were looking at me with equally dumbfounded expressions.
“Ah, uh… why is everyone looking at me like that…?”
When I asked again, baffled, the group’s expressions shifted.
My master threw his head back with a long sigh,
Hwaryeon looked at me pitifully,
And Seol with a look of contempt…
“Hey, kid! Isn’t that contempt a bit much!?”
“Not even a little! How do you just forget something like that?!”
“W-What? Forget? Me forgetting what?”
Forget? Me? What did I forget?
For the record, my memory isn’t bad. No, it’s pretty sharp.
I can recite the contents of all the wuxia novels I read in my previous life fluently.
So what exactly did I forget?
“Ugh…!”
Bewildered, I stared at Seol, who pounded her chest in frustration like she was about to die of exasperation.
Then, as if she’d made up her mind, she opened her tiny mouth again.
“Don’t you remember when you first formed your dantian? Master said let’s start on protective techniques right away, and what did you say? That you weren’t going to learn some crappy external art!”
“…External art?”
Wait, we were talking about protective techniques—why bring up external arts all of a sudden?
“…Hold on. External art?”
I clutched my head with both hands.
Something, something was coming back to me.
External art? Oh, external art!
-That’s an external art. I’m not learning some crappy external art.
“…Gah!?”
I remembered.
It was right around when I’d just formed my dantian—my master had suddenly told me to learn an external art…!
“But that’s an external art…?”
External arts, shortened to external cultivation.
The opposite of internal cultivation, which is internal energy training—it’s external training.
In other words, training to toughen the body. But in most wuxia novels, it’s common knowledge that it’s a very low-level technique.
Powerless against advanced techniques or sword qi, it’s the kind of method only third-rate martial artists blocking the protagonist’s path would use.
Top-tier masters don’t train in crappy stuff like external arts, right?
Seol gave me a look like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing at my protest, which was rooted in that very mindset.
“That’s. Why! What the heck is this external art you’re talking about?! Where did you hear that nonsense? Master didn’t say anything until now because he wanted you to learn at least protective techniques properly…!”
“W-What?”
What was she saying?
Just as I was about to pry more details from Seol, my master suddenly cut in.
“Seol, enough of that. It’s all in the past.”
“M-Master…?”
Uncannily, with the gentlest, most benevolent smile.
“Uh…”
Faced with that supremely compassionate expression, I couldn’t think of what to say.
It was like my mind went completely blank.
Even back in his third-rate martial artist days as Bae Wang-sam, he’d never made that face, and seeing it now made me instinctively realize I’d committed some tremendous blunder.
Stammering incoherently, unable to speak properly, my master handed me something.
“Here you go.”
“This is…?”
It was a manual.
I looked at the title on the cover.
[Threefold Protective Merit]
A martial arts manual?
“Heh heh, I prepared it long ago but only giving it now. It’s a crappy technique, but take a look. I went through quite a bit to get it, so even if it’s crappy, you might learn something. It’s crappy anyway, though.”
“……”
In that brief moment, he’d said “crappy” three times.
I numbly accepted the manual and spaced out for a bit before belatedly looking for my master, but he had already vanished.
“…Haa.”
“Hmph!”
All that remained was Hwaryeon’s small sigh and Seol turning her head away with a huff.
H-How did things end up like this?
*
“Hmm…”
That night.
I sat on the guest hall veranda, shining moonlight on the Threefold Protective Merit manual.
After examining the manual closely, I realized that this world’s protective techniques were similar to external arts yet completely different.
What I mean is, the effect of hardening the body was the same as the external arts I knew, but the key difference was that it used internal energy to achieve it.
Reading how it circulated internal energy through the body to protect not just skin and muscles and bones but even the organs, I honestly couldn’t help but be baffled.
“This is just…”
“Does it still not sit well with you, young hero?”
I looked up.
There stood Hwaryeon with her usual expressionless face.
I was about to answer her question but paused, staring at her silently.
“……”
“W-Why… are you looking at me like that?”
No reason. She just looked picturesque.
I blankly gazed at Hwaryeon standing under the moonlight.
With the soft moonlight draping gently over her shoulders, the phrase “moonlit beauty” naturally came to mind.