Chapter 14
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: I've Still Got a Long Way to Go
Bang! Tang! Tatang!
Moonlight barely pierced the dim, dusky night.
A sharp whoosh echoed through the mountains. With the sound, sweat droplets leaped into the air, only to shatter against the incoming fist.
Each punch made the muscles of his upper body bulge prominently.
"Hoo."
Ha Mu-baek let out a deep breath.
His bare torso was drenched in sweat. His hair was soaked through, his entire body slick with it.
This was pure external training, relying solely on the body's own strength without a trace of internal energy.
It was a practice he had never neglected for even a single day since learning martial arts.
His master had taught him as much from the start.
No matter how profound one's internal energy became, the foundation was always the external body—never neglect it.
Today, too, Ha Mu-baek faithfully adhered to that teaching.
Around midnight.
The session, lasting just over half a shichen, came to an end.
It was a short time, but the intense focus left steam rising from his body.
He washed in the valley stream, cooling the sweat from his skin.
After donning his upper garments, he used lightness skill to return to the Dragon Training Pavilion.
Just past the hour of the dog.
As Ha Mu-baek vaulted over the pavilion walls toward his quarters, familiar presences brushed his senses.
'At this late hour?'
His steps naturally turned that way.
A clearing a short distance from the Fierce Dragon Dormitory.
Not a proper training ground, so the space was limited. There, Dan Mok Un-roe was sweating profusely as he practiced Jegal Myeong's shield techniques.
He moved the shield methodically, following the basic forms—sometimes raising it high, sometimes blocking left and right attacks.
The shield art was purely defensive.
'A martial art that prioritizes survival above all.'
Ha Mu-baek gave that simple assessment of the forms and looked at Dan Mok Un-roe with newfound respect.
Training this late into the night.
"Not sleeping? What are you doing up?"
Dan Mok Un-roe froze at the sudden voice.
"Ah, Instructor. What brings you here at this hour..."
"I asked first. What are you doing past the hour of the dog? Even the moonlight's dim tonight."
"I didn't practice the shield art properly today. And I figured I'd train my external arts too..."
"Tch."
Ha Mu-baek clicked his tongue at the sight.
Jegal Myeong's shield art was undoubtedly useful in many ways. The external training benefits weren't bad either.
But not for Dan Mok Un-roe.
Ha Mu-baek approached and prodded various parts of his body. Just as it appeared to the eye.
"Stop. It's too early for you."
"Pardon?"
Dan Mok Un-roe's eyes widened in surprise.
"You know it too. The shield isn't being wielded by you—it's wielding you."
"That's..."
The pointed criticism left him speechless.
"You've built a little muscle, sure, but you're still far short. External arts are fundamentally about a sturdy body's balance and muscles. You lack the basics. Your strength isn't enough to execute the forms properly."
"I'll... I'll train even harder."
Ha Mu-baek shook his head at Dan Mok Un-roe's desperate plea.
"Hard isn't the way."
"Pardon?"
Another wide-eyed question.
"Don't train hard."
"What do you...?"
It was baffling.
He vowed to train harder for his external arts, yet he was told not to.
"You're not at the stage to train hard."
He was finally voicing what he'd felt every time he saw Dan Mok Un-roe training.
'Should've said it sooner.'
A twinge of regret.
He hadn't expected these kids to take things so seriously.
"Not at the hard-training stage?"
Ha Mu-baek eyed Dan Mok Un-roe's scrawny frame.
"You eating properly?"
"Yes."
Ha Mu-baek chuckled at the confident reply.
He'd seen how much he ate at lunch.
"Way short."
"What do you mean?"
"Eating is training too. Your skinny body can't handle external practice. The more you train, the weaker you'll get. So eat first. Eat until it's agonizing. Limit training to class time."
"Won't I fall behind?"
"Keep this up, and you'll ruin yourself forever. The Three Talents Arts will keep you from becoming a cripple, but your internal and external balance will shatter."
"..."
"External arts are about sturdy balance and muscles. Your body's weak now. Build it sturdy first. Eat—meat-heavy, balanced, plenty. Good thing Devouring Dragon Pavilion serves lots of meat, no limits. Once your body's set, I'll teach you more. Now go sleep. Sleep well too."
"But..."
Ha Mu-baek glared at the hesitant Dan Mok Un-roe.
"You doubting your instructor? Your top priority now is eating and sleeping well. Move."
A hint of pressure in his voice made Dan Mok Un-roe flinch.
"Still..."
Still hesitating. Ha Mu-baek frowned.
"Hah. You kids. Excess is poison. I'll detail external, strength training, and diet at dawn. Rest. You've overdone it."
His sigh carried a chill.
Only then did Dan Mok Un-roe head to the Fierce Dragon Dormitory.
"That's settled..."
Ha Mu-baek had sensed two presences, not one. Time for the other.
Sweat-soaked hair veiled her eyes. She swept it back and thrust her fist again.
Her training garb was long since drenched. Clinging to her sweat-slicked skin, it revealed her body's curves plainly.
"Annoying."
It hindered her movements too.
Grumbling irritably, Yeon Ha-min assumed her stance.
The Three Talents Fist Method from this afternoon.
She couldn't forget the humiliation at lunch.
Even in sleep, dreams replayed it—waking her at midnight.
Her teeth ground together.
Desperate to grow stronger faster, she'd thrown on her garb mid-sleep and found this clearing to drill the afternoon forms.
The first form was a basic straight punch—barely a technique. As second and third forms followed, it began to resemble a proper fist art.
Yeon Ha-min poured her heart into each one.
No internal flow like at the session's end, but the dantian tickle was clear.
"What are you doing out here in the dead of night?"
Her head snapped toward the voice.
"Instructor."
"You should be sleeping. What's this training nonsense? Tch."
Ha Mu-baek approached as he spoke.
He scanned the sweat-drenched Yeon Ha-min up and down.
"Hmm."
Unlike Dan Mok Un-roe.
During self-study, she'd trained solo body techniques. That explained it.
He easily read the intent in her every stance and motion.
The result: her current form-fitting silhouette.
"Mind if I check?"
"Pardon?"
"Need to assess your muscles and balance."
He couldn't just grab like with Dan Mok Un-roe.
"Yes."
Yeon Ha-min permitted it readily, meeting his clear, pure gaze—nothing like the lechers' stares.
At her nod, Ha Mu-baek lightly pressed her arms, shoulders, calves.
Then nodded.
Well-fed, well-moved body.
But not for martial purposes.
"How is it?"
She asked impassively.
"Your foundation's solid, unlike that kid's. Just wrong direction. Fix that, and you're set."
"Wrong direction?"
"Yeah. Not developing tendons and bones for martial arts. More like sculpting beauty."
Yeon Ha-min smirked faintly.
She suspected as much.
The Yeon Clan's "basic tendon training"—really body-sculpting exercises.
Prep to sell her off in a political marriage someday.
She'd expected it but had no choice; it was her only "martial" knowledge.
"So what should I do?"
Her voice flat again, emotionless.
"Start with external training. Three Talents Fist alone leaves gaps."
"External?"
A faint emotion now—displeasure.
Ha Mu-baek caught it.
"Tch."
He clicked his tongue.
"Most martial artists scorn external for internal. Wrong."
"Wrong?"
"Both vital. Balance and harmony unleash true power. Advanced internal dominates, sure—but without a body to bear it, limits hit."
"And me now?"
"Both lacking. Body conditioning first—for martial-suited tendons and bones. Keep Three Talents Arts steady too."
"How?"
"I'll teach."
Ha Mu-baek shared several tendon-strengthening methods, demonstrating each.
Yeon Ha-min tilted her head.
They looked much like her Yeon Clan ones.
He grinned slyly.
"Seeing is believing less than doing. Try it."
At his gesture, she took horse stance—like Dan Mok Un-roe's usual.
"Toes out more, feet wider."
He adjusted her.
"Good. Slowly bend knees, drop hips. Knees track toes. Down till thighs touch calves."
She followed precisely, though he instructed from a few paces away, arms crossed.
'Ugh.'
Pain shot from hips through thighs, calves, waist—she nearly groaned.
"Back straight."
She stiffened it.
"Good. Now once."
He nodded as she slowly descended and rose.
Just once.
A simple move, done slowly once.
Yet sweat poured anew on her face.
"Not... easy."
Her voice trembled slightly.
Seemed like Yeon Clan exercises—but no.
Those hadn't tensed her whole body like this without torment.
"Just once. Slower next."
She progressed through the methods per his guidance.
Pain intensified over time.
"Muscles everywhere stimulated. Even development for optimal martial tendons."
"Nngh."
She kept going amid his explanation.
"No. Foot angle wrong. Precision matters."
She gritted teeth, corrected.
Ten reps? Seven felt deadly. Eight on: sheer grit.
"Good you're clueless on internal. Lucky."
Ha Mu-baek muttered approvingly.
Internal users instinctively tap it in such strain, nullifying external gains.
She had the seed but no control—pure body power.
"Good. Stop. Next stage when familiar. Go rest."
Now past the hour of the rat.
Deep night edging dawn.
Confirming her toward Graceful Dragon Dormitory, Ha Mu-baek headed home.
Replanning training en route.
Three Talents Arts and Fist vital, but he'd overlooked external.
He trained it daily—its importance self-evident—yet skipped teaching.
"I've still got a long way to go. Still green."
He shook his head.