I Obtained Guan Yu's Martial Arts - Chapter 40

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Obtained Guan Yu’s Martial Arts – Chapter 40
Shanxi’s First Spear (5)
They wore robes of different colors and styles.
The men blocking Guan Hui’s path were guests who had declared a severance of ties with the Yang Family.
“Why do you block our way?”
Jang Seong asked, his voice sharp as a blade.
After the humiliation they’d dealt him at last night’s gathering, he harbored no goodwill toward them.
“Stand aside.”
“Wait… just give us a moment. There’s something I wish to say.”
“One incense stick’s worth of time.”
“Much obliged, Master Guan.”
Wang Hang, the guild master of the Taesung Trading Company with the strongest presence among the guests, bowed respectfully with clasped fists.
“First, I offer my apologies. Forgive our rudeness last night. It may sound like an excuse, but we had no choice—it was at the behest of the Yang Family master.”
These guests spoke without hesitation to martial artists, but not out of fearlessness.
In truth, they harbored no particular animosity toward Guan Hui or Jang Seong.
They were simply merchants who had received a benefit and paid its price accordingly.
“Think nothing of it. Our positions were simply different.”
Guan Hui accepted their apology without fuss.
He held no grudge against them either.
Both by nature he was even-tempered, and besides, he’d suffered no real loss.
If truth be told, the resentment should have fallen upon himself.
He’d provoked them without cause and paid the price dearly for it.
“Then please clear the way. We have far to go.”
With a light nod, Guan Hui turned to pass the guests by.
Wang Hang, his expression flustered, hurried after him and grabbed his sleeve.
“Wait… wait just a moment. Surely you don’t think we waited here merely to apologize?”
“I do.”
“…It’s awkward to say of myself, but I am Wang Hang, guild master of the Taesung Trading Company. I’m not a man of leisure.”
“…? Then why did you wait?”
“…”
Guan Hui’s expression was one of genuine confusion.
Wang Hang, seeing this, found himself at a loss for words.
“The reason I’ve blocked your path is to propose a transaction with the Guan Family.”
“A transaction?”
“It may sound presumptuous to say so, but we are quite prominent figures throughout Shanxi province, including in Taiyuan.”
Though his words might strike one as arrogant, they were the truth.
These guests were the connections Yang Wu Yuan had spent considerable time and coin cultivating.
That meant their influence within Shanxi was formidable enough to warrant such investment.
“We all wish to establish favorable relations with your household.”
“…!”
Ju Ho’s eyes gleamed at those words.
“Brother, is this…?”
“Yes. Go ahead.”
Guan Hui, reading the light in Ju Ho’s eyes, took a step back to the side.
“…?”
The guests looked at Ju Ho with puzzlement.
“Welcome, honored guests. I am Ju Ho, strategist of the Guan Family.”
“Provisional strategist.”
“Yes, provisional strategist Ju Ho. You wish to establish favorable relations with the Guan Family? Excellent. We share that sentiment. Shall we align our interests?”
With easy grace, Ju Ho led the guests toward a nearby inn.
Guan Hui tapped Jang Seong on the shoulder as he stood staring blankly after them.
“…?”
“What are you doing? Why don’t you come along?”
“Am I included too?”
“They’re looking for a martial family to replace the Yang Family.”
“I’m aware. That’s why they seek to bind themselves to the Guan Family, isn’t it?”
“Since we toppled them together, shouldn’t we share the spoils together as well?”
“…!”
Jang Seong’s mouth fell open, then closed again.
It was his first taste of such generosity, and he found himself without words.
It was a sensation the family had never experienced before—entirely unfamiliar.
“……Patriarch. You’re truly a fine friend.”
It was the first time in his life that Jang Seong had spoken the word “friend” aloud.

* * *
“Heh heh.”
“…….”
“Heh heh heh.”
“…….”
“Heh heh heh heh.”
“That pleased with yourself?”
Guan Hui shook his head at the sight of Ju Ho, who had done nothing but laugh for the past two hours.
“Of course. My friend. Do you know how much we’ve gained today?”
Ju Ho waved the papers in his hand proudly.
They were contracts bearing the terms of trade agreements with merchants who had once served the Yang Family and now had become guests of the Guan Family.
“We did seize the Black Path’s business foundations, but we haven’t been able to expand properly since. Do you know why?”
“I couldn’t say.”
Though he was the patriarch, Guan Hui had little interest in arithmetic and accounting.
Besides, with a steward to handle such matters, he’d never felt the need to concern himself with it.
“It’s been a matter of credibility. An unfamiliar family name. Coupled with the Black Path’s former dealings. Together, those two things made other merchants unwilling to join hands with us.”
A business cannot thrive in isolation.
One must coordinate with established trading companies and merchant associations, and build deep relationships with escort houses to manage protection and transport.
“But today, all of that has been resolved. The most renowned merchants of Shanxi have all agreed to trade with the Guan Family!”
“The big fish came, so the small fish will follow.”
“Precisely! That’s exactly it.”
Ju Ho grinned widely and carefully tucked the contracts into his robes.
“And the contract terms are quite favorable as well. I suspect it comes from their desire to appear favorable to us.”
“But why would these big fish want to appear favorable to our Guan Family?”
Most merchants disliked martial artists.
Whether they walked the White Path or the Black, to merchants they were simply sword-slingers and thugs.
“I haven’t bought their favor with money like the Yang Family did, and I never intended to.”
“That’s precisely the reason.”
“Hmm?”
Guan Hui tilted his head, puzzled.
“My friend. Do you know what merchants hate most?”
“Beggars?”
“No. Swindlers. And in their eyes, the greatest swindlers are martial artists.”
Martial artists are those who wield their blades in the name of Righteous Conduct.
Yet in reality, the deeds of those who wear swords at their belts are no different from the selfish brutality of street thugs.
In a way, it was only natural that merchants despised martial artists.
They were the greatest con men in all the Middle Kingdom.
“But you’re different.”
Admiration gleamed in Ju Ho’s eyes as he looked at Guan Hui.
“When the Yang Family patriarch attacked you cowardly, you faced him fairly. And you didn’t hold his transgression against the Yang Family’s retainers.”
The sight of drawing a line even against an opponent who had crossed one.
That image left quite an impression on the merchants.
“Moreover, they made inquiries about you in this short time. Your deeds against the Black Path in the name of Righteous Conduct clearly struck a chord with them.”
“I see.”
“Of course, there were still some who remained wary of martial artists. But thanks to the Taesung Trading Company’s master lending his support, all of them agreed to trade with us.”
“That man Wang Hang?”
Guan Hui was taken aback anew.
Wang Hang had been the one most actively criticizing Jang Seong and Guan Hui at the banquet.
“Yes. When the steward sees this, he’ll be overjoyed.”
“He will. Very much so.”
The steward, who was even now fretting over how to elevate the Guan Family to the rank of a great clan, might well dance with joy.
“Here they are. My friend. Please present these on our behalf.”
Once Ju Ho confirmed that the Guan Family compound was close enough to come into view, he handed Guan Hui the bundle of contracts he’d kept in his robes.
“Why give them to me?”
“Because you’re the one who should present them, of course.”
Ju Ho’s position was that of a guest of the family.
Though he was treated as a guest of the household, he could not involve himself in matters of true consequence.
“Enough. Tell them yourself.”
“Me? You want me to speak?”
“Of course. You’re their strategist, aren’t you? You should deliver it yourself.”
“…! Y-yes, brother!”
Ju Ho’s eyes glistened with emotion.
He could not contain his gratitude at seeing Guan Hui acknowledge and praise his contributions.
A soft sound escaped his throat.
A single hot tear rolled down his cheek.
At the Baek Family, no matter how talented he was, they dismissed him as low-born — unworthy of recognition.
He had believed he would never see his abilities shine, cursed by the mere fact of his birth.
‘This is my home.’
Ju Ho felt as though he had found, at last, a place where he could belong for the rest of his life.
A master he could serve without end.
“I truly… thank you. Brother. Or rather, Lord of the House.”
“That’s too flowery. Just call me brother.”
“Yes, brother!”
Ju Ho’s eyes red-rimmed, broke into a brilliant smile.
“Then I’ll go report to the Superintendent right away!”
Unable to hide his excitement, Ju Ho dashed off toward the Guan Family compound.
At that very moment, brilliant sunlight fell upon him with gentle warmth.

* * *
Guan Hui, alone in the forest, gave a quiet nod.
“This will do.”
Rather than return to the compound with Ju Ho, Guan Hui made for the Bamboo Forest adjacent to the Guan Family estate.
There was a realization hovering at the edge of his mind ever since the match with the Yang Family patriarch.
‘That final thrust was truly magnificent.’
A piercing strike he had unleashed only after realizing his poison counter had failed.
That blow, executed with near-perfect form, had lingered in his mind like an afterimage since the moment the match ended.
“If I had unleashed that strike at the peak of my abilities, I would be dead.”
Yang Wu Yuan, master of the Cloud Valley Spear, was a First-Rate Master at the pinnacle of his rank.
Though he had set down his spear for nearly a decade and neglected his physique, his skills had faded—but the insight he possessed remained genuine.
“Let me try.”
Guan Hui recalled that spear strike and began to wield the Crescent Blade.
Whoosh!— Whishhh!—
Each time the blade traced a smooth arc, the bamboo stalks trembled faintly.
“…It’s not working.”
After wielding the Crescent Blade for more than two hours, Guan Hui came to a stop.
He had tried to replicate that spear strike, but could not reach it.
In every aspect—speed, strength, Inner Qi—Guan Hui’s abilities surpassed Yang Wu Yuan’s, yet in that single quality of insight, he fell short.
“What is the difference?”
Guan Hui called to mind that strike from the patriarch, still vivid in his memory.
The stance was unbalanced, the center of gravity broken, and even the Inner Qi was not properly gathered.
In every respect it was flawed, yet it was perfect.
As Guan Hui wrestled with the reason, he exhaled deeply.
“Hell, this is infuriatingly difficult.”
He had wielded the Crescent Blade for more than four hours, chasing that tantalizing, almost-within-reach realization.
The moon before dawn had grown weary and was sinking below the ridge of the mountain, yet the insight never came.
It was maddening enough to drive him mad.
“Perhaps it is too soon for me.”
The thought occurred to him that he might not yet be ready.
‘Yes. Do not cling to it.’
An unprepared realization could sometimes trigger Devil’s Descent into Heart.
Guan Hui rose to return to the compound.
But at that very instant.
—Ten thousand paths, in the end, converge at a single point.
A familiar voice reached his ears.
“…? General?”
Guan Hui’s eyes widened as he called out.
But Guan Yu gave no answer.
It was as though he had poured every last bit of strength into those words and vanished like wind.
Guan Hui turned over what Guan Yu had said in his mind.
Guan Yu’s words and Yang Wu Yuan’s spear thrust rose up together, merging into one.
The line of the thrust that Yang Wu Yuan had demonstrated.
The loosely gathered forces had concentrated at the tip of the spear blade, transforming into something menacing.
An attack that should have left no more than a scratch had been transmuted into a strike with the power to shred flesh from bone.
And the reason for that was none other than.
‘Force Concentration.’
Gathering strength completely into a single point.
That was the realization hidden within Yang Wu Yuan’s thrust.
‘I see.’
Guan Hui, awakened to this heart realization, swung the Crescent Blade with tremendous force.
Whoosh—
A massive Qi wave erupted, and dozens of bamboo stalks shattered.
A power as fearsome as an artillery shell detonating.
Yet now Guan Hui’s eyes laid bare the flaws before him.
‘The force scatters in every direction.’
Guan Hui’s attacks dispersed strength outward in all directions rather than gathering it to a single point.
Most martial artists at Guan Hui’s level would awaken to the technique of gathering force to use it more efficiently.
But the Heavenly Martial Body gave his flesh strength of such excellence that it deserved its own name—Body Strength—and because he had never felt lacking, Guan Hui had yet to master the art of concentration.
Why concern himself with the loss of force when he already possessed several times the strength of ordinary men?
Martial arts themselves were invented so that the weak might contend with the strong.
Guan Hui had been born strong and had never known want.
‘Force Concentration with no loss of power.’
Guan Hui called forth the realization he had just obtained and swung the Crescent Blade once more.
Whish—
A stroke more fluid and graceful than before.
The Qi wave that split the air was diminished compared to moments earlier, yet its power was not.
“Oh.”
Guan Hui’s mouth opened wide as he gazed upon the Bamboo Forest.
The scene before him was utterly transformed from just moments ago.
The sight was nothing short of…….
“Wait—no, what in heaven’s name is this? Brother?!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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