The World’s Greatest Martial Arts Instructor - Chapter 120
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 120. Tch
Ten Thousand Year Black Gold Iron.
The most precious metal in the world.
Black iron with a subtle golden glow.
A metal whose hardness is unmatched anywhere in the world.
However, it is also the most difficult metal in the world to work with.
It was so rare that some blacksmiths would die without ever seeing it once in their lifetime.
Only because it was Manmulryeon that they kept such Ten Thousand Year Black Gold Iron stored in their Secret Vault.
“What I’m saying is that using too much is the problem. You could make a treasure blade by mixing just one tael of Ten Thousand Year Black Gold Iron, so with that amount, are you trying to create the world’s greatest treasure blade?”
Deung Gun-hyeon was right.
Even mixing just one don of Ten Thousand Year Black Gold Iron into an ordinary sword would transform that sword into something worthy of being called a famous blade.
The blade that So Hwi-ung mainly used was in the form of a large saber, known to weigh approximately six geun (about 3.6kg).
But Gung Do-hyeok said he would use thirty percent, which was close to two geun of the large saber’s weight.
One geun equals sixteen taels.
Gung Do-hyeok was saying he would use a total of thirty-two taels, or three hundred twenty don of Ten Thousand Year Black Gold Iron.
That amount was an enormous quantity, reaching half of what Manmulryeon currently possessed.
“This is an order to create the finest blade for the Jeongcheon Alliance Leader to use. Since Manmulryeon’s reputation is at stake, I believe we must create at least the world’s greatest blade.”
Deung Gun-hyeon frowned.
At first, he had unknowingly asked if they were going to make the entire blade body from Ten Thousand Year Black Gold Iron, but honestly, he thought even one tael would be sufficient.
How much he had struggled in his youth to obtain just that one tael.
It was something that couldn’t be exchanged for money or anything else. No matter how much money one offered.
The honor of making the Jeongcheon Alliance Leader’s blade could be sufficiently obtained even using only Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron instead of Ten Thousand Year Black Gold Iron.
It wasn’t like he used just one or two blades either.
He felt doubtful about whether they really needed to create and offer the world’s greatest blade.
A fact that occurred to him in the midst of this.
“Vice Ryeon-ju. Even though you say you’re acting as Ryeon-ju, taking out more than one geun of Ten Thousand Year Black Gold Iron requires the Ryeon-ju’s approval. In fact, the act of trying to make a hole in the Secret Vault chamber door to take out Ten Thousand Year Black Gold Iron is also punishable according to Ryeon law.”
Actually, how much Ten Thousand Year Black Gold Iron was mixed into that Jeongcheon Alliance Leader’s blade wasn’t what was important.
He brought up that topic solely to obtain legitimate justification for drilling a hole in the Secret Vault chamber.
Nevertheless, the reason he deliberately argued with Deung Gun-hyeon about the amount of Ten Thousand Year Black Gold Iron was because the more they did so, the more it would appear that they were drilling a hole in the Secret Vault door because of the ‘Ten Thousand Year Black Gold Iron.’
But what Deung Gun-hyeon just said.
Those words touched Gung Do-hyeok’s nerves.
The Ryeon-ju’s approval.
His insides boiled with anger.
As expected, being only a Vice Ryeon-ju, this was his limit.
After all he had done for Manmulryeon until now, he couldn’t even decide the amount of Ten Thousand Year Black Gold Iron to take out?
No matter how precious it was, it was ultimately just a mineral.
Wasn’t it a small amount to take out compared to what he had contributed as Vice Ryeon-ju?
“I understand. Then I’ll mix in only one tael.”
Gung Do-hyeok suppressed his surging anger and tried to answer calmly.
“Hmm. Yes. Do that then. Well, work hard.”
Leaving those words, Deung Gun-hyeon departed.
Now, whatever he did inside the Secret Vault, there would be no one to worry about it or express dissatisfaction.
Who would say anything when it was to make the Alliance Leader’s sixtieth birthday gift?
“That ignorant blacksmith bastard.”
The curse that flowed from Gung Do-hyeok’s mouth after Elder Council member Deung Gun-hyeon left.
It perfectly represented his current feelings.
Only after two days had passed was Gung Do-hyeok able to drill a hole in the chamber door without activating the mechanism.
Even then, it was a small hole that one could barely crawl through.
Joy filled Gung Do-hyeok’s eyes as he entered the chamber this way.
Five units.
A full five units of Ten Thousand Heaven Golden Chain Explosive Thunder existed.
Gung Do-hyeok took all of them.
And he also took one piece of Ten Thousand Year Black Gold Iron that had been refined into one-tael units. After all, this was his justification.
As he tried to go back out through the hole.
Another problem remained.
How to seal this hole.
Left like this, anyone who could come to the Secret Vault could enter and exit the chamber.
Gung Do-hyeok stopped moving and looked around the chamber.
There didn’t seem to be anything particularly important… no, there was.
What appeared to be blueprints for Ten Thousand Heaven Golden Chain Explosive Thunder…!
He hadn’t expected there would be one left here.
Naturally, he pocketed it.
And then there was nothing special.
As expected of Manmulryeon, most things were ores or metal materials.
And hidden weapons.
He had no interest in anything other than Ten Thousand Heaven Golden Chain Explosive Thunder.
“Well, does it matter what happens?”
The chamber itself wasn’t important.
He didn’t care what happened to the rare ores, metals, and materials inside it.
What mattered was that he had obtained Ten Thousand Heaven Golden Chain Explosive Thunder, and that if he didn’t deal with his elder brother and Ha Mu-baek with this, he would be finished anyway.
Gung Do-hyeok came out of the hole and left the Secret Vault.
Leaving the hole as it was.
If necessary, the Elder Council would seal it.
Thus, Gung Do-hyeok holed up in his office.
To prepare to face his elder brother and Ha Mu-baek, who might come at any time.
He researched and researched how to use Ten Thousand Heaven Golden Chain Explosive Thunder to produce the most powerful force.
The opponent had already survived an attack from Ten Thousand Heaven Golden Chain Explosive Thunder once.
***
It was early dawn.
Beom Il-so finally returned to Gyoryong Hall. Reeking of alcohol.
Mok Cheong-san frowned upon discovering him in such a state.
He didn’t like such a dissolute appearance. When it was a time when even dedicating oneself to cultivation wouldn’t be enough.
“Junior brother. If you continue living like this, I’ll have no choice but to inform our sect.”
Mok Cheong-san warned quietly as he passed by.
Beom Il-so gave no response whatsoever.
Mok Cheong-san shook his head at his junior brother’s attitude and headed toward the Twentieth Group’s Training Ground.
Then, someone was approaching from the distance.
Not wearing an official uniform.
A cadet from Maengryong Corps.
“You bastard.”
Beom Il-so’s lips, which had remained tightly shut even beside his senior brother, moved slightly.
Because of the bastard approaching him.
Dan Mok Un-rae.
Just when Ha Mu-baek was wondering what could have brought this guy, who would normally never leave Maengryong Corps territory, all the way to Waryong Corps.
He extended his hand toward him.
In that hand was one tael of silver.
“What Un-hye owed yesterday. Yesterday was really appreciated.”
At Dan Mok Un-rae’s words, Beom Il-so chuckled.
“Your younger sibling owes me nothing. I just paid on her behalf as an apology.”
“Even so, it’s too much for that child.”
Beom Il-so’s smile deepened.
“That’s for me to decide. Since I’m the one apologizing. It’s not your place to judge whether it’s excessive or not.”
A cold voice.
It was completely different from his laughter.
“Still…”
The person offering and the person saying it wasn’t needed.
The two faced each other.
“I need to go get some sleep. I overdid it playing around last night.”
Beom Il-so turned around.
“Before that, go wash up. You reek of sweat.”
At Dan Mok Un-rae’s words, Beom Il-so stopped abruptly.
“What did you say?”
“Under the cheap rice wine smell, there’s a strong sweat odor. Only someone who’s experienced it would know. Whether it’s the smell of old cheap rice wine gone bad, or sweat.”
Dan Mok Un-rae said with a smirk.
That was right.
Senior Brother Mok Cheong-san didn’t know.
Did he even realize that this alcohol smell was rice wine in the first place?
Since Mok Cheong-san was born into a prestigious family, he probably just thought of it as cheap alcohol smell.
Even the sweat smell from his own cultivation.
“There are many such people where I live. People who work until they’re drenched in sweat and soothe their fatigue with rice wine. Those people’s bodies give off exactly the same smell that’s coming from your body right now. Cultivation is good, but take care of your body hygiene too. And thank you once again.”
With those words, Dan Mok Un-rae turned around.
Since the person who helped was refusing to accept repayment, forcing it on them wouldn’t be proper either.
He decided to gratefully accept Beom Il-so’s kindness.
“Tch.”
Beom Il-so clicked his tongue briefly and resumed walking.
He thought no one would know, but here was someone who could detect the sweat smell hidden within the cheap rice wine odor.
Well, that guy had also lived a bottom-tier life, as he’d said.
“I’ll have to at least rinse off next time.”
His face slightly reddened as Beom Il-so muttered.
It had been a mistake to just splash on alcohol because washing took too much time.
***
Ha Mu-baek left Gyoryong Hall.
There was still some time before cultivation would begin.
He headed to the inn where Gung So-yu and Gung Mu-hyeok were staying.
Recently, he hadn’t been able to visit because he was refining his senses.
If he proceeded with treating the severed meridians, which required extremely precise internal energy manipulation, while his senses were off, he might make a mistake.
Now that the treatment was nearing its final stages, such a disaster couldn’t be allowed to happen.
Instead, Master had been taking detailed care of the two. After all, he himself had been learning the treatment of severed meridians from Master.
Since it was his first visit in a while, he set out early in the morning.
Now that his senses had returned to normal, he wanted to proceed with treatment as quickly as possible.
“What brings you here so early in the morning?”
Gongsun Mu-oe welcomed Ha Mu-baek’s visit.
“I need to continue the treatment.”
“Oh. It seems you’ve finally consolidated all your achievements. Congratulations.”
Gongsun Mu-oe said, rejoicing as if it were his own accomplishment.
“Congratulations.”
Gongsun Bi-yeon, who had been attending to Gongsun Mu-oe nearby, greeted him with a bright smile.
“Thank you.”
The treatment went smoothly.
Gung So-yu’s condition was really good.
She was now about eighty percent healed.
It was thanks to Wi Ji-gun’s consistent care.
She had recovered to almost the same level as Dan Mok Un-hye.
“Good.”
At Ha Mu-baek’s words, Gung So-yu smiled brightly.
“Thank you so much.”
Then Ha Mu-baek went to Gung Mu-hyeok. Now it was his turn.
He was also about fifty percent healed.
Though poisoning was said to be similar to severed meridians, the two were clearly different problems, so his treatment progressed more slowly compared to Gung So-yu.
Since it was Master’s first time encountering such a condition, it couldn’t be helped.
But today was different.
Ha Mu-baek’s breakthrough was also applied to the treatment.
While there wasn’t much change in Gung So-yu, who had already made significant progress in treatment, Gung Mu-hyeok showed tremendous improvement.
In an instant, twenty percent of the remaining poison disappeared.
“Thank you. You’re truly amazing.”
At Gung Mu-hyeok’s words, Ha Mu-baek shook his head with a calm expression.
“Not at all. I had some suspicions about the poison, so I tried something that worked out well.”
Ryeon-ju’s younger sibling had colluded with the demonic cult to eliminate his elder brother.
If that was the case, then Ryeon-ju’s poisoning must have been their doing.
Since Ryeon-ju’s younger sibling couldn’t have obtained such poison, what if it was a demonic cult poison?
And what if he manipulated qi energy that was antagonistic to demonic energy?
In the past, he wouldn’t have been able to change the nature of his internal energy while manipulating extremely delicate and precise qi.
The ability to manipulate delicate and precise qi necessary for treating severed meridians was only possible for someone like Ha Mu-baek or Wi Ji-gun.
It wasn’t for nothing that they came to find Ha Mu-baek from Seonyu Valley, unable to treat the Nine-Tone Severed Meridians.
The treatment method was a problem, but qi manipulation was also an issue.
Additionally, after breaking through the wall, he could even change the nature of his internal energy.
Hadn’t he used two different types of gang qi simultaneously to block and counter Master’s final deadly technique?
And that was with martial arts of different natures: sword aura and body protection energy.
Indeed, the effect was remarkable.
The result was the healthy-complexioned Gung Mu-hyeok now before his eyes.
“No, thank you so much. Thanks to my benefactor, the day I return to Ryeon seems to be coming sooner. I need to go quickly and untangle the twisted knots.”
Gung Mu-hyeok’s eyes shone with determination.
There was no hesitation in those eyes.
“Have you decided?”
“What is there to consider? Ryeon has its laws.”
At his firm words, Ha Mu-baek nodded.
“So, may I shamelessly ask you a favor?”
“What kind of favor?”
“Please come with me. I don’t know what preparations that bastard might be waiting with.”
“Would it be alright for me, an outsider?”
“The Demon Cult are also outsiders.”
That was a valid point.
“And above all, doesn’t Instructor Ha also have a debt to repay to my younger brother?”
At Gung Mu-hyeok’s words, Ha Mu-baek smiled faintly.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————