The Farmer Who Ended Up Teaching the World’s Greatest Martial Artist - Chapter 5

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

| Chapter 5

“Martial arts?”

Yoo Eun-hyun asked back in surprise at the unexpected question. As if suddenly coming to his senses, before Sa Un-sik could even answer, Yoo Eun-hyun hastily added:

“Even if I say interest, in such a remote place like this, there aren’t any martial arts or sects worth being interested in.”

“Have you never thought about wanting to learn?”

At Sa Un-sik’s question, Yoo Eun-hyun shook his head as if there was nothing to think about. While saying he had no interest was honestly a lie, he had never once thought about wanting to learn.

“Not even once. No, in the first place, is martial arts something that even a farmer like me can learn?”

“Anyone who is human can learn it. It’s just that the time it takes to learn differs. But little brother seems to have quite good intuition, so you look promising.”

“R-really? What would I need to do to learn?”

Since he didn’t even know if he could learn or not, Yoo Eun-hyun showed interest.

Sa Un-sik, who had almost finished his meal, put down his chopsticks and raised his hand, lifting one finger.

“Not just martial arts, but I suppose this applies to all learning—the very first step is the beginning.”

“Yes… Well, I suppose. Nothing can be achieved without starting.”

Yoo Eun-hyun casually added a comment to Sa Un-sik’s words, not thinking much of it. But Sa Un-sik began to stare quietly at Yoo Eun-hyun, who had interjected with his own words.

“The beginning is first feeling the energy of nature. Martial arts is about handling the energy of nature. If you can’t feel that natural energy, it’s all useless.”

Sa Un-sik said this and paused briefly while looking at Yoo Eun-hyun. It was a gaze that seemed to ask if he could feel that natural energy.

Yoo Eun-hyun couldn’t give any answer.

What Yoo Eun-hyun felt was largely the mountain and the flow of energy flowing through the mountain, but he had never experienced anything clearly enough to recognize it specifically as natural energy.

Therefore, he couldn’t be certain whether the natural energy that Sa Un-sik was talking about for learning martial arts was the same as or different from what Yoo Eun-hyun was feeling.

But Sa Un-sik seemed to find some answer in Yoo Eun-hyun’s appearance of neither affirming nor denying, as he raised another finger and said:

“When you feel the natural energy and convert it into internal energy to gather it, only then are you ready to learn martial arts. However… to be honest, it’s still too early a stage to be called a martial artist.”

At Sa Un-sik’s words, Yoo Eun-hyun was suddenly reminded of the past and unconsciously muttered:

“It’s like when starting to farm…”

And Sa Un-sik, who didn’t miss that muttering, asked back:

“Little brother, when did you start farming?”

“When I was 5 years old… I think that’s when it was.”

“Oh ho. You received early education.”

“Actually, I don’t remember that time very well. Should I say that the habits I used to do just vaguely remain in my body?”

“Kuk kuk. Originally, the beginning of learning is like that. Memory is done by the head, but ultimately, to master it, you have to work your body hard.”

“Ah… I think I understand what you mean.”

For a moment, his grandfather’s words that ‘farming is also done with the body’ seemed to come to mind. To Yoo Eun-hyun, who was nodding, Sa Un-sik raised another finger.

“The next step in martial arts training is to follow exactly what the predecessors have cultivated. Actually, this is the most difficult path. Most people stay here for a very long time, or even their entire lives.”

Sa Un-sik was right. The path that predecessors have cultivated is naturally a concentration of the wisdom of those who came before.

Those predecessors are the founders of martial arts, geniuses, so it’s natural that it would be difficult for ordinary people to follow them.

“Still, wouldn’t it be better than doing it for the first time? Actually, farming also starts with following exactly what others do.”

At Yoo Eun-hyun’s words, Sa Un-sik asked back as if interested:

“Hmm. Does farming also have something like secret manuals?”

“It’s not that grand, but… you can tell by looking at the farming records that my father and grandfather kept. Starting from when they planted seeds to when they harvested. The beginning starts with looking at that and following it exactly.”

“Indeed. Farming is no different from martial arts. Right. Since the predecessors have lit the way, you can advance just by following. When you find the direction you should go and make progress like that, then you can go around calling yourself a martial artist.”

“Direction…”

Yoo Eun-hyun muttered thoughtfully as he listened to Sa Un-sik’s words. Meanwhile, Sa Un-sik’s third finger was raised.

“By reaching that end and completely understanding the teachings of the predecessors and being able to act accordingly, only then can you hear yourself called a master.”

“As expected, becoming a master must be difficult.”

Yoo Eun-hyun, who knew well how difficult the path to get there was, frowned.

“As little brother says, there aren’t many who reach that point either. If the Martial Arts World is like sand on a beach, then among them, masters are only about a handful.”

“But that’s not the end, is it?”

Yoo Eun-hyun unconsciously asked back. Sa Un-sik, who let out a sigh for a moment, asked meaningfully:

“Why do you think so?”

“If it ended with just following, there wouldn’t have been any development. Isn’t it that the knowledge and skills of the pioneers who overcame those walls accumulated little by little to reach the present? And farming has been going on for an immeasurably long time.”

Looking at the period that humanity has been farming, Yoo Eun-hyun’s words were by no means an exaggeration.

As Yoo Eun-hyun said, humanity has been farming since immeasurably ancient times, and that knowledge has been tremendously accumulated.

“Then what about little brother? Regarding farming, have you overcome that wall?”

“M-me? Well…”

At Sa Un-sik’s sudden question, Yoo Eun-hyun scratched his head and shook it.

“No. Not to that extent… I’m just practicing what I’ve learned.”

Actually, these words were both sincere and false.

All the methods Yoo Eun-hyun currently used for farming were naturally things he had learned from Yoo Pyo-gyeong and Yoo Dong-gi.

But after the two of them died, Yoo Eun-hyun had been making all judgments and acting on his own.

Of course, there were times when he sought advice from Soo Hwa-seon, but since Yoo Eun-hyun was better at grasping the flow of natural energy, which was important in farming, such cases were rare.

“Though I may not know about farming, I’m not without common sense. There are no fields made this way anywhere under heaven. Then wouldn’t it be fair to say you’ve sufficiently surpassed those limits?”

“Hmm… I’ve never seen other people farm, so I thought this was ordinary… Don’t everyone do this much?”

“Hahaha! This isn’t a frog in a well, but a dragon in a well.”

At Sa Un-sik’s ambiguous words that might or might not be praise, Yoo Eun-hyun also smiled awkwardly.

According to Sa Un-sik’s words, the way Yoo Eun-hyun farmed was certainly quite unusual.

“Don’t be modest. Even if you can follow exactly what the predecessors achieved, martial arts may be the same, but the person learning it is different. You must look back on what you’ve learned and change it into something that suits you.”

“Yes. Even if you follow the records exactly in farming, the land is different and the climate is different in each location. Even in the same place, the situation is different every year… In the end, you must be able to change according to the situation.”

When Yoo Eun-hyun nodded at Sa Un-sik’s words, Sa Un-sik also continued as if he knew it would be so:

“Then you understand even better. That is an enormous wall. You have to overturn everything you’ve learned in your lifetime and change it into something that suits you… It’s not something that can be done just by learning or trying to master it.”

“Hmm… Certainly, there seem to be limits to just learning or mastering alone.”

Yoo Eun-hyun thought of Soo Hwa-seon and nodded as if agreeing with Sa Un-sik’s words. Actually, both Yoo Eun-hyun and Soo Hwa-seon had learned and mastered the same things.

In some ways, Soo Hwa-seon, who had lived in this place since before Yoo Eun-hyun was born, would have learned more in terms of knowledge alone than Yoo Eun-hyun.

But looking at the results now, what do we see? In the end, only Yoo Eun-hyun was able to make maximum use of what he learned and put it into practice.

“In the end, effort is necessary, but some other something is needed, and that is different for each person. When something is distorted, it fits together in an instant. What’s needed is a momentary enlightenment.”

“Hmm… By enlightenment, you mean…”

“In the Martial Arts World, we call the stage that overcomes that wall the Realm of Natural Transformation. If masters who reached the wall are a handful of sand, then those who overcame the wall and reached the Realm of Natural Transformation exist only as much as a fingernail among them.”

“That few?”

Yoo Eun-hyun asked back in surprise, and Sa Un-sik, who was watching such Yoo Eun-hyun, answered meaningfully:

“Don’t you think so too, little brother?”

Yoo Eun-hyun knew well that what Sa Un-sik was asking was naturally not about the realm of martial arts, but about farming.

“Well. I’ve already surpassed just doing what I learned, and I can adapt according to what I see and feel depending on the situation.”

“Since when has it been like that?”

At Sa Un-sik’s question, Yoo Eun-hyun tried to recall his memories in thought, but soon frowned as if he had failed.

“I don’t remember well. It just seems like it was suddenly like that from some point.”

“That’s exactly what enlightenment is. Sometimes enlightenment comes without you even knowing it.”

“I-is that so?”

Yoo Eun-hyun asked back and thought once more, but what he couldn’t remember, he couldn’t remember.

He couldn’t remember when it started, so how could he suddenly recall it?

Instead, after hearing Sa Un-sik’s words up to this point, other thoughts suddenly began to emerge in his mind.

‘Hmm… After overcoming the wall, isn’t there something next?’

But what that was, even Yoo Eun-hyun found it difficult to shape into form.

Only the vague notion that such a thing would exist was emerging.

“Even if you suddenly try to recall it, it won’t come easily. Enlightenment is originally truly like grasping at clouds.”

As if reading Yoo Eun-hyun’s thoughts, Sa Un-sik provided the answer instead. Yoo Eun-hyun also set aside the thoughts that wouldn’t come anymore and scratched his head.

“I’m wondering if I’ve been saying nonsense up until now.”

“No. Having this conversation has made me more certain. Little brother, at least in terms of farming, you are at the same realm as me.”

“N-no. It’s just farming methods.”

“I may not know about other things, but farming seems to have many parts that connect with martial arts, so wouldn’t there be something for me to learn?”

“I’ll tell you anything if you’re curious.”

Yoo Eun-hyun also nodded, thinking that might be so. Since Sa Un-sik said so, he had no choice but to agree.

“I’ll go back for today. As I said a little while ago, enlightenment is like grasping at clouds, so it doesn’t come just because you’re conscious of it. Little brother, just continue naturally as you have been doing.”

With those words, Sa Un-sik tidied up his spot and stood up. Then he turned to head back to his dwelling.

Sa Un-sik’s eyes were shining differently from when he had been conversing with Yoo Eun-hyun just moments before, and that gleam was so intense it could even overwhelm the moonlight.

“Agriculture is the great foundation of all under heaven… Indeed, there is truth in this. Hahahaha!”

Under the full moon, Sa Un-sik burst into wild laughter, but the sound only circled around his vicinity and didn’t spread anywhere else at all.

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