Chapter 18
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Then It Will Be Very Tough from Now On
"Not bad today either."
Ha Mu-baek nodded with a satisfied look on his face as he headed toward the training ground.
Something interesting caught his senses along the way.
"Hm? Isn't this the Tang Clan's qi?"
A faint ripple of energy spreading near the East Devouring Dragon Pavilion.
It was unmistakably the Tang Clan's signature.
"Besides that fool Dang Jin-san, was there another Tang Clan kid here? This one's got some real skill, though."
His feet naturally carried him in that direction.
"What are you doing? You gonna stand there gawking all day?"
Dang Chu sneered at Dang Jin-san.
"Ta-hat!"
At the same moment, Dang Jin-san lunged straight into Dang Chu's guard.
A straightforward attack.
A fist shooting out dead ahead.
Dang Chu easily slipped it by twisting his body just a bit.
"Ha. Three Talents Fist Method, seriously."
Letting out a hollow chuckle, Dang Chu swung his left hand.
A palm strike flying precisely toward Dang Jin-san's face. Dang Jin-san didn't dodge. Instead, he whipped his own left hand from low to high.
The Earth stance from the Three Talents Fist Method.
It was the punch he'd drilled relentlessly for a month, enduring Ha Mu-baek's brutal critiques.
It smacked Dang Chu's palm away cleanly.
"Ho?"
Surprise flickered across Dang Chu's face. He hadn't expected the guy to deflect his hand.
He'd swung it expecting the satisfying smack of a clean hit to the cheek.
"Interesting. So you managed to knock away my hand with just the Three Talents Fist Method? The Chengdu Playboy?"
As Dang Jin-san charged again, Dang Chu stepped back nimbly with footwork.
He uncoiled the whip wrapped around his waist with his right hand.
Woven from the Tang Clan's secret special thread, it was thin, tough, and light.
Not quite on par with leather, but since Dang Chu's specialty was hidden weapons, the silk whip was really a backup for when he ran out of projectiles.
Of course, hidden weapons were banned in the Dragon Training Pavilion, so he'd drawn the silk whip instead.
Dang Jin-san swallowed hard at the sight.
He'd hoped to press the attack and land even one solid hit, but he hadn't even grazed him.
All he'd managed was knocking away that one incoming palm.
"Let's see you knock this away too."
The snow-white silk whip slithered forward like a living snake.
Spirit Snake Nine Whip.
The Sichuan Tang Clan's prized technique unfolded in Dang Chu's hands.
Dang Jin-san gulped as he eyed the whip hurtling toward him.
He knew the trick all too well.
He knew all nine stances. But knowing them was one thing—could he actually dodge them?
The Three Talents Fist Method can't handle this.
Dang Jin-san judged his own level coldly.
It was impossible to face that silk whip with the Three Talents Fist Method. His Three Talents Arts internal energy was too lacking too.
In the end, he'd have to use the Tang Clan's martial arts.
Can I even pull it off?
The thought nagged at the edge of his mind.
He had a decent amount of internal energy. That was it, though.
None of the Tang Clan techniques he'd learned could be executed properly.
Still, he had no choice.
He circulated the Three Yangs Returning to Origin Art. And he stepped into the Returning to Origin Step.
A mocking smirk curled Dang Chu's lips at the sight. He knew exactly what Dang Jin-san was capable of.
The guy would surely botch the footwork, trip over his own legs, and get pathetically thrashed by the silk whip.
Tang Clan's Greatest Dullard.
That was Dang Jin-san's other nickname.
He calmly followed the footwork as he'd learned it. If he stuck to the stances he knew, the directions to dodge were obvious.
But he had no confidence his body could actually execute it.
One step. Two steps.
Dang Jin-san widened his eyes. His legs were moving just as he intended.
This was the first time he'd ever pulled off the Returning to Origin Step.
How?
Thanks to that, Dang Chu's silk whip merely thrashed empty air.
"Huh? Even a grub knows how to roll, huh? Fine, let me make you roll properly."
The whip's movements changed.
Variations started mixing in—ones Dang Jin-san didn't recognize.
That was the end of Dang Jin-san's resistance.
Snap! Snap! Crack!
The sharp sounds of the whip cracking against flesh echoed harshly.
"Kuhk."
His clothes tore, skin reddened. His back split open in places, blood welling up.
"Eek."
Dan Mok Un-roe clenched his fists, ready to charge in at any moment.
Baek Ri-pyeong grabbed his shoulder and shook his head.
This was their spar, so butting in would be out of line.
Besides, Dan Mok Un-roe would only get it worse if he intervened. That's why Baek Ri-pyeong held him back.
Dan Mok Un-roe glared with bulging eyes and bit his lip hard. Blood trickled from it.
Meanwhile, Dang Chu's silk whip wriggled like a nimble serpent, lashing Dang Jin-san's body relentlessly.
Once more, the whip lashed out big.
Aiming straight for his face. Dang Jin-san threw up both arms to block.
But the expected pain didn't follow.
The silk whip failed to extend fully and dropped limp to the ground.
Namgung Ji-hu had grabbed Dang Chu's shoulder.
"That's enough. The match is decided."
A heavy voice.
Dang Chu couldn't refuse.
How could he defy the Namgung Clan's young master?
"Fine."
Dang Chu rewound the silk whip around his waist, shot Dang Jin-san a glance, and turned away.
Only then did the onlookers who had gathered start to disperse one by one.
Lunchtime had long ended.
"Hah. Hah. Hah."
Dang Jin-san heaved ragged breaths.
Taking those hits wasn't a joke. It had drained a ton of stamina.
Yet Dang Jin-san stood firm without collapsing. Unthinkable back in the Tang Clan.
Has all that training paid off?
The brutally mindless bone-tempering drills.
Those hideous iron lumps.
For once, it seemed they'd borne fruit. He'd lost miserably, sure, but...
Compared to his old self in the Tang Clan, this was real progress.
"Jin-san!"
Dan Mok Un-roe rushed to Dang Jin-san's side.
"Ugh. It hurts. Easy."
Dang Jin-san groaned under his touch.
The other three approached as well.
Anger burned in their eyes.
It had the form of a spar, but it was pure one-sided provocation and assault.
"Pyeong. You held back well. Thanks."
Among the five at their current level, Baek Ri-pyeong was the strongest.
But even he couldn't match Dang Chu. A cold, honest assessment they both knew.
If even Baek Ri-pyeong had stepped in, things could've escalated badly.
"No big deal."
Baek Ri-pyeong replied flatly.
Only then did Dan Mok Un-roe feel a dull ache in his shoulder.
A peek under his clothes showed the spot where Baek Ri-pyeong had grabbed him to hold him back—red and inflamed.
Baek Ri-pyeong had been restraining his own fury while holding Dan Mok Un-roe back.
"Tsk tsk. What a sight."
A familiar voice drew all five heads in unison.
Ha Mu-baek stood there.
"When did you arrive, Instructor?"
Dang Jin-san asked with a bitter smile.
"Right when you two were squaring off."
"Why didn't you stop it?"
Dan Mok Un-roe asked, resentment in his tone.
"It was between disciples, and the spar had already started. Me jumping in would've been ridiculous. Didn't expect it'd end like this, though. Tsk tsk."
Ha Mu-baek clicked his tongue again.
"Let's head to our training ground first. We can talk there."
Ha Mu-baek took the lead.
As they walked to the training ground, Ha Mu-baek recalled what Jegal Myeong had mentioned during lunch.
Somehow, whenever Ha Mu-baek headed to the North Devouring Dragon Pavilion, he always ran into Jegal Myeong.
Summer Combat Festival, was it?
He'd half-ignored it while eating.
But now, he was deeply intrigued by this Summer Combat Festival.
Afternoon training was stance drills for the Three Talents Fist Method.
The disciples' eyes were dull and lifeless as they threw punches and moved their feet.
Probably because of what happened to Dang Jin-san.
Ha Mu-baek had no choice but to click his tongue at the sight. Falling apart over something like that?
"If that's all it takes to break you, you'll die the second we hit the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest. Just go home."
A cold voice escaped Ha Mu-baek's lips.
It had been a while since he'd said it.
Go home.
Dang Jin-san clenched his fist tight.
He couldn't go home like this. He'd come to the Dragon Training Pavilion after failing in the Tang Clan, only to get humiliated by Dang Chu.
How could he face it? Shame alone made it impossible.
He could already imagine how Dang Chu would blab about it.
Dan Mok Un-roe ground his teeth.
It felt like this had happened because he was too weak.
Yeon Ha-min's expression wasn't great either.
"You really gonna go home? When that bastard beat you, don't mope like this. You should be burning with rage, vowing revenge for next time. Tsk. With dead eyes like that..."
"Can we even get revenge next time?"
Dan Mok Un-roe asked.
"Eh, depends on you."
Fierce flames ignited in Dan Mok Un-roe's eyes at the answer.
"We will."
A short vow.
Ha Mu-baek smirked, pleased.
"Dang Jin-san. I don't know why you sparred with that punk. But I saw how you fought and how you lost."
"......"
Dang Jin-san said nothing.
"And that guy? Total lack of manners."
He hadn't seen the start, but he'd witnessed the end.
"Bet that makes you feel even worse. So do it. Get revenge. That's the only way to shake off that filthy mood."
Ha Mu-baek stared steadily at Dang Jin-san.
Dang Jin-san's clenched fist trembled.
"Lucky for you, there's a good chance coming up. You know about the Summer Combat Festival?"
Question marks popped up on everyone's faces. First they'd heard of it.
"Eh, I only learned about it at lunch today."
"What's that?"
Dan Mok Un-roe asked.
"Hm. Like a group spar for first-year disciples? Or a mock squad battle guerrilla war?"
Their confusion deepened at Ha Mu-baek's words.
"They herd all the participating squads into some mountain. During the day, you roam around fighting any squads you run into. No fighting at night. Do that for seven days, and the last squad standing wins. Simple, right?"
It was an event to commemorate the two wars, letting first-year disciples indirectly experience the hardships the martial world's heroes had overcome for victory.
When he'd heard it, Ha Mu-baek had just laughed it off.
How could a kids' game of tag capture the horrors he'd lived through at the heart of those wars?
So he'd brushed it aside.
But now, things had changed.
Dang Jin-san had been smashed by that Dang Chu punk.
And it looked like pure one-sided bullying.
Just taking it would make him a laughingstock.
Time to pay him back.
Officially. And smash him thoroughly.
That's when the Summer Combat Festival came to mind.
"What do you say? Join and get your revenge?"
"Yes!"
Dan Mok Un-roe answered first and loudest.
"We will."
Dang Jin-san ground his teeth and replied.
Ha Mu-baek's gaze shifted to the other three.
"Let's do it."
Baek Ri-pyeong's curt response.
Nak Woo-jin hesitated a moment, then agreed.
Yeon Ha-min gave a slight nod of affirmation.
"Then it will be very tough from now on."