Myth of Martial Arts - Chapter 20

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

Chapter 20
“It’s been about a month since you all came to Changung Academy, right? During this time, I’ve focused solely on teaching you cultivation methods and forgot to teach you martial arts. Coincidentally, I plan to teach you one martial art tomorrow, but today, I’ll first show you its power.”

At these words, everyone’s eyes lit up.

“Martial arts? What kind of martial art?”
“If it’s a martial art taught by the Director, it must be amazing!”
“Perhaps it’s a marvel on par with Extreme Flawlessness!”

Everyone was tremendously excited, their eyes brimming with anticipation.

Jang Wook smiled and spoke.

“You’ll find out what kind of martial art it is soon enough. For now, I’ll only tell you that this is a Mortal-tier Middle Grade Martial Art. But its power is formidable. Far stronger than you could imagine!”

Mortal-tier Middle Grade Martial Art?

Everyone’s expressions stiffened, and the anticipation in their eyes instantly turned to alarm.

“Why? Are you looking down on Mortal-tier Middle Grade Martial Arts?”

Jang Wook raised his brows and spoke earnestly.

“I’m not bragging. This Mortal-tier Middle Grade Martial Art of mine is truly powerful!”

No matter how powerful a Mortal-tier Middle Grade Martial Art might be, in the end, it’s still just a Mortal-tier Middle Grade Martial Art, isn’t it?

Im Myeong let out a couple of forced chuckles.

“Heh, heh···.”

Jang Wook looked at Im Myeong and asked.

“Im Myeong, I take it you still don’t believe me?”
“I believe you, Director. If you say so, I believe everything.”

Im Myeong said he believed, but his expression showed he didn’t believe a word of it. He still thought Jang Wook was joking with him.

“You lot··· Ugh, just step aside.”

Jang Wook shook his head helplessly and waved his hand.

“These two are mine to handle.”

He turned his gaze back to Jeon Pung and Na Gun, smiling.

“Jeon Pung, Na Gun, that’s right, isn’t it? I happen to have developed a Mortal-tier Middle Grade Martial Art, so I’ll use you two to test its power. If you endure it and don’t die, I’ll let you go. But if you die, don’t blame me for not giving you a chance.”
“A Mortal-tier Middle Grade Martial Art?”

Na Gun felt deeply insulted. Like a reckless young man, he shouted.

“Hey, don’t underestimate people! I could beat you to death with a single palm!”

Jeon Pung’s brows knitted deeply. He spoke to Na Gun in a low voice.

“Calm down. I can’t even gauge this guy’s cultivation level! Besides, once he gets his hands on us, that group beside him might all rush in at once!”

He was utterly drained, both mentally and physically.

He had to guard not only against ambushes from Jang Wook, Im Myeong, Mu Heon Heon, and the rest, but also keep Na Gun from doing something foolish.

If he hadn’t known Na Gun’s identity, he would have suspected that this man was a spy sent by the other side.

At his words, Na Gun’s barrel-like head seemed to suddenly grasp the situation. He broke out in a cold sweat and spoke.

“Right, I nearly forgot about those monsters standing right beside you!”

He wasn’t afraid of Jang Wook, but Im Myeong’s group was utterly terrified of him, since he had nearly lost his life at their hands.

Na Gun glared at Im Myeong, then said without hesitation.

“Let’s go!”

Seeing Na Gun finally drop the commotion and leave quietly, Jeon Pung was so moved he nearly teared up.

‘This distinguished man has finally decided to leave. That was no easy feat!’

I had poured so much effort into making it happen.

Watching Jeon Pung and Na Gun dash out of the academy grounds, Im Myeong’s group suddenly panicked.

“Director Jang!”

Jang Wook didn’t hurry. He took a single step forward and smiled calmly.

“No need to rush. They can’t escape.”

The moment he finished speaking, Jang Wook vanished from everyone’s sight with a sharp “whoosh,” like an afterimage.

Though he was only at the Gyeseon Realm 6th Stage, Jang Wook’s strength was beyond anything Mu Heon Heon, Im Myeong, or the rest could compare to.

If I had to sum up Jang Wook’s strength in a word… unfathomable.

Having cultivated the complete version of ‘Extreme Flawlessness,’ the True Energy in his body had already transformed into an even more formidable Immortal Force.

His strength had already transcended the limits of the Gyeseon Realm, and it might be more fitting to call him a Pseudo Waseon Realm expert.

As the Immortal Force flowed through his four limbs and hundred meridians, Jang Wook’s speed erupted in an instant to a terrifying degree.

Wherever he passed, a strong wind rose, and the vegetation on either side swayed from side to side.

In just a few breaths, the Jang Wook who had vanished now stood firmly in front of Jeon Pung and Na Gun’s escape route.

Startled by Jang Wook’s sudden appearance, Jeon Pung and Na Gun hastily halted their frantic flight.

Then they stared at Jang Wook with disbelief, as though they had seen a ghost.

“Y-you… how…?”

They turned around. Confirming that the space beside Mu Muk was empty, they looked back at Jang Wook. Their eyes bulged wide.

Good heavens. That was a distance of more than thirty jang.

Could a human’s speed truly be this incredibly fast?

“W-wow… Waseon Realm.”

Jeon Pung’s face went pale. He swallowed hard and spoke with trembling lips.

Such astonishing explosive power and terrifying speed, and on top of that, I couldn’t gauge Jang Wook’s cultivation realm at all.

Aside from the possibility that Jang Wook was a Waseon Realm expert, he could think of no other explanation.

Na Gun’s face went even paler at Jeon Pung’s words.

“How is this possible, how…”

Inside him, a voice was screaming frantically, anxiety and terror rising in equal measure.

‘Somebody tell me, how did this guy become a Waseon Realm expert? Didn’t they say he was a Gyeseon Realm 7th Stage or 8th Stage cultivator?’

Na Gun clenched his fists and cursed under his breath.

“Im Hae Ae, you bastard…!”

Sending the two of them to assassinate a Waseon Realm expert was no different from sending them to their deaths.

Not just the two of them, but even if every martial artist in the Imperial City were pooled together, they would still fall woefully short of matching a single Waseon Realm expert.

“It’s over. This time, it’s really over.”

Jeon Pung’s spirit broke before the fight had even begun. Already gripped by fear, his face twisted into a look of despair.

“Run, now!”

All the fighting spirit drained out of Na Gun. Faced with a Waseon Realm expert, he had no choice but to flee.

Unlike Jeon Pung and Na Gun, the students of Changung Academy watched Jang Wook from a distance, their eyes unable to hide their astonishment.

“The Director’s speed is incredible!”
“Good heavens, he caught up to two Gyeseon Realm 9th Stage experts in the blink of an eye!”
“He’s too fast! I couldn’t even see the Director’s movements!”

Everyone was in awe, and their gazes toward Jang Wook brimmed with reverence.

Mu Heon Heon stared at Jang Wook without even blinking.

“Director, you’re so amazing!”

She suddenly felt relieved. If she hadn’t made that mistake at the very beginning, she would never have had the chance to become part of Changung Academy.

Im Myeong, too, was filled with awe, and the look he cast at Jang Wook burned with passion.

“This is the Director’s true strength!”
“This speed… it’s even faster than it was a month ago!”

Mu Muk was impressed. Among the students on the scene, he prided himself on knowing Jang Wook’s abilities best, yet in this moment he realized he had still underestimated him.

“So the Director wasn’t using his full strength when he fought my father!”

In that instant, Jang Wook’s image in Mu Muk’s mind grew deeper and more unfathomable still.

He even suspected that the Jang Wook standing before him now was not giving his all either.

“Perhaps no one in the entire Imperial City could draw out the Director’s full power!”

Mu Muk thought to himself.

‘If my father can’t match him, then people like Im Hae Ae or Na Ak San are even further out of reach.’

From a distance, watching Jang Wook’s calm face, Mu Muk could sense the solitude of a true master.

A forest edge, with trees scattered here and there.

“P-please… spare me, Jang Wook, I beg you, please spare my life.”

Jeon Pung had completely given up on fleeing. Discarding whatever dignity he had left, he begged for his life.

He knew all too well. If a Waseon Realm expert had decided to kill him, then even if he fled back to Sinwang Academy, there would be no escaping death.

In this small border town, a Waseon Realm expert was as good as a god.

With a single glance, he could decide a man’s life or death, and no one could resist.

Even if Im Hae Ae, the director of Sinwang Academy, came in person, she would not be able to change the outcome.

Na Gun, too, roused himself from his terror and pleaded.

“Ja-Jang… Director Jang. We had no choice either. Please, spare us!”

His voice was hoarse from excessive fear, grating on the ears.

Jang Wook folded his arms lightly and spoke with unhurried ease.

“Spare you? Fine. If you survive a single strike of my martial art without dying, I’ll let you live!”

Hearing this, Jeon Pung and Na Gun felt as though they might stop breathing. Their hearts pounded violently, their faces drained of color, and they trembled with dread. Their legs wobbled beneath them.

For them, taking a single attack from a Waseon Realm expert was no different from staring death in the face.

They did not believe they had any ability to withstand an attack from a Waseon Realm expert.

Jang Wook paid no mind to what they thought and continued on.

“And since I’ll tell you in advance, this martial art is one I just devised. Its grade is… Mortal-tier Middle Grade.”

A Mortal-tier Middle Grade Martial Art.

At Jang Wook’s words, Jeon Pung and Na Gun seemed to glimpse a ray of hope in their despair, and their emotions settled somewhat.

If it was a Mortal-tier Middle Grade Martial Art, perhaps they had a chance to survive after all.

As far as they knew, Mortal-tier Lower Grade and Mortal-tier Middle Grade Martial Arts had only a very limited effect on improving one’s strength.

In other words, even using such a technique, its power would be only slightly better than an ordinary attack.

If they were lucky, they might survive Jang Wook’s strike.

“I hope Director Jang keeps his promise.”

Jeon Pung drew a deep breath and rekindled his fighting spirit.

Na Gun, too, barely managed to rein in his emotions, steadied himself, and readied himself at his best to face Jang Wook’s attack.

Jang Wook glanced at them briefly, then turned to Mu Muk and the other students in the distance and smiled as he spoke.

“Now, watch closely. What I’ll teach you tomorrow is the very martial art I’m about to use. It’s called… Severance Strike.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Jang Wook’s body spun a full 180 degrees where he stood, and his long palm shot out suddenly, striking downward at an angle.

His movements were very simple and smooth, free of any unnecessary flourish. It looked like an ordinary sword-chop.

Jang Wook’s movements were so ordinary, and so was the name of his martial art.

‘Severance Strike.’

It was just two plain words.

Names like this were rare across the entire Yellow Continent.

Any martial art was born from its creator’s heart and blood, so no one would ever carelessly give it a plain name.

To do so was an insult to oneself, and an insult to the martial art one had created.

Mu Muk and the other students watched with lazy eyes and blank expressions. A martial art this simple could hardly hold their interest.

Had Jang Wook not demanded that they look closely, they wouldn’t have bothered to pay attention at all.

Jeon Pung and Na Gun watched the entire demonstration with faintly bewildered faces. Smirks they could not quite suppress were creeping across their lips.

‘Can this even be called a martial art?’

The two of them suspected that Jang Wook was merely waving a hand-blade through the air and dressing it up as research into martial arts.

If something like this counted as a martial art, then any ordinary fellow in the martial world could create thousands of them in a single day.

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