Chapter 39: When You Need To, You Use It
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 39: When You Need To, You Use It
Ki Mu-hyeok was accustomed to fighting opponents with more internal energy than himself.
His match against Song Jun-ho was no different.
‘More manageable than I thought?’
During his vagrant days, the internal energy he could draw from his Artificial Dantian was so minuscule it could be called a mere handful. Even that would quickly run out if he didn't conserve it and use it precisely when needed.
To survive, he had no choice but to compensate for his shortcomings with other means.
‘Train my body to its limits and sharpen my senses to the utmost.’
Just as a blind person develops other senses to an extreme degree, Ki Mu-hyeok, whose internal energy was meager, devoted himself to external martial arts and sensory training.
And he personally mastered how to maximize the use of his limited internal energy.
‘I don't exactly lack internal energy now, but...’
Perhaps it was an old habit? Ki Mu-hyeok hated wasting even a bit of internal energy.
“At this rate, something’s going to break...”
“Isn’t the internal energy difference too great?”
Because of this, to others, it looked as if Ki Mu-hyeok was overwhelmed by Song Jun-ho’s immense internal energy and was being pushed onto the defensive.
Thump-thump-thump!
Each time Song Jun-ho unleashed a move from the Eight Trigrams Palm, the air burst violently.
While shooting energy blasts from a distance was forbidden, channeling internal energy into one’s limbs was permitted.
“Hyaaaah!”
The internal energy flowing through Song Jun-ho’s arms shimmered translucently.
It was a phenomenon caused by his inability to fully control his overflowing internal energy.
For his opponent, every collision felt like being struck by an iron club.
This was why Ki Mu-hyeok’s brow furrowed occasionally.
‘Still, this much is bearable.’
In his previous life, Ki Mu-hyeok’s excessive strain on his body had been an unavoidable choice.
Since his external and internal martial arts couldn’t harmonize, the stronger aspect had to compensate for the weaker one.
Of course, now that he possessed a true Dantian, there was no reason for that.
Nevertheless, Ki Mu-hyeok clashed with his opponent almost solely through external martial arts for one reason.
Wham-wham-wham!
It was to directly experience his opponent’s martial art with his own body.
Even in his previous life, it was rare to directly clash with the martial arts of a Great Sect.
He had clashed with their Branch Sects or subcontractors many times, but he had always tried to avoid creating Gratitude and Grudge with the Great Sects themselves.
Ki Mu-hyeok protected his body with minimal internal energy, directly feeling the profound principles embedded within the Eight Trigrams Palm.
‘So this is what the Eight Trigrams Palm is like.’
The Eight Trigrams Palm, which sublimated the palgwae (Eight Trigrams) – representing the changes and phenomena of all things in eight symbols – into a palm technique, was a martial art that unleashed powerful yet soft and flexible moves with both arms.
It wasn’t for nothing that it was considered a high-level martial art of the Eight Great Sects.
Simply witnessing and experiencing it firsthand was a great lesson.
‘I think I’ve seen enough...’
Song Jun-ho was already repeating the same moves with similar forms several times over.
They were becoming increasingly predictable.
“Just a little more, just a little more!”
The man himself, seemingly intoxicated by his own martial art, muttered to himself as he poured out a fierce offensive. But to Ki Mu-hyeok, it looked unnatural, like wearing clothes that didn’t fit.
“-When you go to the exam, you’ll encounter youngsters who’ve clumsily learned the martial arts of the Great Sects. Fledglings whose internal energy has become unmanageably vast from spiritual medicine, and who think they’ve become something overnight just by suddenly learning a high-level martial art... Do you know how to snap those kinds of kids back to reality in one go?”
“-How about beating them with the Three Calamities Sword Technique?”
“-Exactly! That’s it!”
A smile formed on Ki Mu-hyeok’s lips as he suddenly recalled the exchange he’d had with his Master.
But to Song Jun-ho, that smile looked like mockery.
“Don’t look down on me and laugh!”
“Don’t look down on you? So you want me to fight on my knees?”
“Uwaaaah!”
Song Jun-ho, letting out a monstrous battle cry in response to Ki Mu-hyeok’s innocent question, charged forward fiercely.
He rushed in like a small wild boar, and thanks to using his explosive internal energy as propulsion, his speed was tremendous.
Whoosh!
As Song Jun-ho narrowly brushed past Ki Mu-hyeok, a torn piece of fabric fluttered in the air.
“...That was a bit dangerous.”
Ki Mu-hyeok muttered, looking down at the torn sleeve of his right arm.
A red handprint on his upper arm.
If his reaction had been even slightly slower, his shoulder might have been dislocated by Song Jun-ho’s technique.
The two Black-White Agents, who had been closely observing the match, began to look at Ki Mu-hyeok with growing concern.
[He’s being pushed back that much, yet he still isn’t properly unleashing his internal energy.]
[Could it be that his Constitution itself is lacking in internal energy? Even a Grade 4 Constitution might have a lower Qi accumulation capacity...]
Song Jun-ho was wielding far more internal energy than they had anticipated, while Ki Mu-hyeok appeared to be the exact opposite.
He possessed physical abilities unbelievable for his age, but his handling of internal energy felt somewhat unrefined.
It was as if he was forcibly holding back something that should be unleashed.
Black-White 13 folded his arms and quietly muttered.
[Looking back, it seems he wasn’t the type to use much internal energy even when fighting Oh Jung-min of the Pine Moon Sect. At most, he just hardened his sword with Qi-Guided Thrusting Sword, didn’t he?]
[Participant Ki Mu-hyeok possesses excellent skill, but... unfortunately, it seems the disparity in Constitutions is becoming apparent now.]
The two Black-White Agents concluded this among themselves and nodded.
Who could possibly imagine?
That Ki Mu-hyeok had a miserly habit of conserving internal energy, a habit that stemmed from his previous life.
And that he was fighting while barely using any internal energy, simply because he wanted to experience the martial arts of a Great Sect firsthand.
The man himself, far from being in danger, was currently engrossed in a different dilemma.
‘How can I win in a way that makes it look like a narrow come-from-behind victory?’
In the official Constitution Test, Ki Mu-hyeok had been judged as Grade 4, but his true Constitution was Grade 2.
However, the only people who knew this fact were Kim Bok-ja, who had personally performed the Grade-Concealing Spell, and his Master, Sword Demon Choi Geon.
What if he were to unleash his full internal energy and fight Song Jun-ho right now?
‘It would be an easy victory.’
But that wasn’t the outcome Ki Mu-hyeok wanted.
It was different from his fight with Oh Jung-min.
If he showed himself overwhelming a Rising Star who carried the full expectations of the Eight Great Sects, he would attract far too much attention.
Among that attention, there would undoubtedly be malicious gazes.
‘A narrow, lucky win will be enough.’
Although he had unintentionally drawn attention to himself several times, Ki Mu-hyeok intended to conceal his true abilities as much as possible until he judged himself strong enough to protect his family and those around him.
The problem was that his opponent wasn’t so easy that he could win while still conserving so much internal energy.
“Hyaaaah!”
Song Jun-ho still lacked experience and his martial art proficiency was regrettable, but his overwhelming internal energy from his Grade 1 Constitution and his ability to wield it were undeniably formidable.
In particular, he needed to break through that dense, net-like Qi Sensing Domain to tear off the number tag on his back, which was by no means an easy task even for Ki Mu-hyeok.
After diligently racking his brain while fending off Song Jun-ho’s fierce assault, Ki Mu-hyeok came up with a method.
‘I’ll need a bit of acting.’
Ki Mu-hyeok’s eyes changed as he recalled something he often did during his vagrant days.
He bit the inside of his cheek, drawing blood.
Drip-drip...
As blood trickled down the corner of his mouth, he saw Song Jun-ho flinch.
Ki Mu-hyeok muttered softly to himself.
“Even if it’s not enough, when you need to use it, you use it.”
“Wh-what are you going to do?”
With a solemn voice, Ki Mu-hyeok’s upper garment swelled.
Whoosh!
In that instant, the eyes of the two Black-White Agents watching them widened, and Song Jun-ho flinched back in surprise.
“Tahaat!”
For the first time, Ki Mu-hyeok launched an aggressive offensive.
A faint aura gathered around his two arms.
“This is my full power!”
Ki Mu-hyeok, spitting blood as he charged, wore the face of a martial artist unleashing his Life-Saving Ultimate Technique.
Everyone watching could tell that the twin palms he extended with all his might were his final move.
“...I accept your challenge!”
Song Jun-ho, who had retreated momentarily, did not evade but extended his own twin palms to meet him.
An aura far more intense than Ki Mu-hyeok’s enveloped his two arms.
Clang!
The moment their palms collided and they were pushed back by the recoil, Song Jun-ho’s senses became disoriented, as if he were experiencing motion sickness.
“H-huh...!”
It happened so quickly that he didn’t even realize it himself, but it was a phenomenon that occurred when another’s Qi interfered with or invaded one’s Qi Sensing Domain.
‘Actually, I can do that too.’
Ki Mu-hyeok’s eyes settled, becoming calm and deep.
In the very brief instant their twin palms collided, he infiltrated Song Jun-ho’s body with his own Qi, causing confusion in his Qi Sensing Domain.
A subtle and covert Qi manipulation ability, so refined that even the recipient wouldn’t notice.
Because of this, in that very moment, Ki Mu-hyeok seemed to blur before Song Jun-ho’s senses.
Whoosh!
Song Jun-ho, flailing his arms in the air as he tried to grasp the blurring Ki Mu-hyeok, muttered with a bewildered expression.
“Th-this is Yi Hyung Hwan Wi?”
‘There’s no way I could unleash such an advanced martial art already.’
Riiip-
Ki Mu-hyeok, who had somehow appeared behind Song Jun-ho, tore off his opponent’s number tag.
At the distinct sensation of the tag being ripped off, Song Jun-ho’s jaw dropped, his face dumbfounded.
“I... lost?”
I, with a Grade 1 Constitution, even using the Taiji Sword Sect’s Eight Trigrams Palm, lost?
At that moment, Ki Mu-hyeok’s ragged cough snapped him back to reality.
“Cough! Cough...”
Several coughs brought up traces of blood.
Anyone could see that he looked as if he had overexerted himself by forcibly drawing out his internal energy.
“A-are you okay?”
Song Jun-ho approached Ki Mu-hyeok, asking with a mix of emptiness and concern.
Song Jun-ho himself was fine, apart from being a little tired and without injury, but Ki Mu-hyeok clearly looked to have severe internal injuries at a glance.
“It’s my victory, right?”
But it was Ki Mu-hyeok who had won the tag-tearing match.
Staggering and struggling to stand, Ki Mu-hyeok extended his hand to Song Jun-ho first.
“If you had used the martial art you’ve practiced for a long time, it might have been much more disadvantageous for me. The Taiji Sword Sect’s martial art is formidable, but your proficiency was a bit lacking.”
“...”
Song Jun-ho’s ears turned red with embarrassment.
It was because he had a profound realization from Ki Mu-hyeok’s words.
He had secretly known himself that even a Divine Martial Art like the Eight Trigrams Palm, learned in just two months, would inevitably be clumsy.
But he had tried to fill that deficiency with overwhelming internal energy, and it had always worked until now.
‘Ki Mu-hyeok is right. I should have prioritized the fundamentals more...’
As he tried to unleash unfamiliar moves consecutively, his openings grew larger, and Ki Mu-hyeok didn’t miss that opening in the final moment.
In other words, it was his own mistake to try and win with an unrefined martial art.
‘I was still just a frog in a well.’
The first taste of defeat since entering the Taiji Sword Sect.
But more than that, his opponent had poured out all his strength, even forcibly drawing on his insufficient internal energy, while he, full of arrogance, hadn’t given his best. He was too ashamed to lift his head.
‘This should be a good enough excuse, right?’
Though Ki Mu-hyeok had said it to create a plausible justification for his come-from-behind victory.
Just then, Song Jun-ho, finally lifting his head, offered Ki Mu-hyeok a Fist Salute.
“...Thank you for the feedback. I’ll keep it in mind.”
Ki Mu-hyeok also managed his expression, nodding with a pale face.
Honestly, it was a bit unexpected.
‘Is it because he’s still young? His personality isn’t as prickly as I thought.’
He had expected the young master of a Great Sect to get angry, refuse to accept defeat, or insist on a rematch, but instead, Song Jun-ho humbly accepted his loss.
“And... take this.”
Song Jun-ho pulled out a luxuriously packaged case from his pocket and offered it.
It was a top-grade internal injury medicine prepared by the Taiji Sword Sect for their cherished Rising Star, an item difficult to obtain even with money.
“Thanks. I’ll make good use of it.”
Ki Mu-hyeok didn’t refuse, taking the internal injury medicine and carefully tucking it into his clothes.
And Black-White 13, who had been quietly watching from behind, was replaying the moment Ki Mu-hyeok and Song Jun-ho’s twin palms had collided.
‘As expected, Participant Ki Mu-hyeok seems worth keeping an eye on.’
As Black-White 13 smiled contentedly behind his mask, Song Jun-ho declared with a determined expression.
“Ki Mu-hyeok! I acknowledge you as one of my rivals!”
“...Hm?”
It was the second rival declaration he had heard, after Shin Kang-heon’s.