The World’s Greatest Martial Arts Instructor - Chapter 230

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 230. A Worker…

 

 

“Hmm. Is everything settled now?”

Wi Ji-gun muttered quietly as he brought his wine cup to his lips.

Namgung Hwi turned his head to look at Wi Ji-gun, but he said nothing more.

What had been settled?

He was curious, but didn’t ask.

Instead, he turned his gaze back to the tall pavilion in the distance.

A moment ago.

He had felt as if tremendous energy had surged from that place.

It happened so quickly and was so far away that Namgung Hwi could only tilt his head in confusion.

He might have been mistaken.

‘That fellow. Did he hold back a bit this time?’

On the other hand, Wi Ji-gun, who could extend his ki sense all the way to the Director’s Pavilion, had felt everything that happened.

Those who had rushed over on horseback and entered the building earlier.

He had guessed they came because of the commotion from a few days ago.

As expected, there had been a conflict with his disciple, and naturally, they all lost.

It seemed time to wrap up this pleasant afternoon drinking session.

“You said you wanted to work there?”

Wi Ji-gun asked Namgung Hwi.

“That’s right.”

“I don’t know what your circumstances are, but… they’re always hiring workers. Well then, have a good time.”

With those words, Wi Ji-gun rose from his seat.

Namgung Hwi watched him intently until his slowly departing figure disappeared.

“A worker…”

Namgung Hwi muttered quietly.

The thought suddenly occurred to him that there was nothing he couldn’t do.

Then he glanced at his empty right sleeve.

‘Even so, would it work?’

One-armed.

Wouldn’t he be rejected just by appearance alone?

When his thoughts reached that point, a bitter smile naturally formed.

Namgung Hwi’s gaze turned back to Gyoryong Hall.

 

***

 

When the western sky was tinged with red.

Five people moved in perfect coordination.

When one fell back, two swords flew to fill that position.

The fiercely attacking sword was met by three swords.

Namgung Ji-hu was vigorously wielding his sword within the sword formation created by the five people.

“Impressive.”

Baek Ri-pyeong admired the sight. Dan Mok Un-rae nodded beside him.

“If it were Ji-hu now against us from last year… we would have been utterly defeated.”

At Dan Mok Un-rae’s words, Namgung Ji-yu chuckled.

“You now are also different from you last year. You’ve already fought one-on-one and won.”

At Namgung Ji-yu’s point, Dan Mok Un-rae could only smile.

The swordsmanship Namgung Ji-hu was displaying now had improved so rapidly that it was hard to guarantee the outcome of an immediate match.

“Is that the Imperial Sword Style?”

At Baek Ri-pyeong’s question, Namgung Ji-yu just gave a mysterious smile.

“It is and it isn’t.”

A cryptic answer followed.

“Incredible.”

Dan Mok Un-rae was genuinely amazed.

And rightfully so.

The five people executing the Dragon Swimming Sword Formation were barely managing to block Namgung Ji-hu’s sword.

Only half of a quarter-hour had passed, yet they were completely on the defensive.

And how many more exchanges passed?

Eun Hwa-ryong dropped his sword, and Na Jung-cheon was sent flying backward.

Two were eliminated in an instant.

And it took only one breath for the remaining three to fall as well.

The five people stared at Namgung Ji-hu with dazed expressions.

“This is the Namgung Family…”

Sim Cheol-san muttered with a blank expression.

“Not the Namgung Family, but Namgung Ji-hu.”

Baek Ri-pyeong corrected him.

“Whew.”

Watching Namgung Ji-hu regulate his breathing, Dan Mok Un-rae fidgeted.

He looked eager to spar with him right away.

“Hold back. Those kids are first right now.”

Nak U-jin read his intentions and calmed Dan Mok Un-rae.

“Come on, there’s no time to lie there defeated. This time it’s five against two.”

Baek Ri-pyeong organized the confusion.

At his words, Nak U-jin and Ha Seol-ran drew their swords and stepped forward.

The training of Waryong Corps 20th Group continued without rest.

They refined martial arts and formations at Gyoryong Hall, and conducted practical training on rest days.

This was the schedule for Waryong Corps 20th Group until the tournament.

They were devoted to training, unaware of what had happened at the Director’s Pavilion today.

How much time had passed?

Dusk had now settled around them.

The cadets who had been swinging their swords with full effort were each taking rest as they pleased.

“By the way, when are we eating dinner?”

It was Nak U-jin.

After finishing afternoon training, they had immediately started sword formation practice, even skipping dinner time.

Now it was time to be quite hungry.

However, dinner time at Damryong Pavilion had already ended.

There might be some simple snacks left, but as a proper meal, well…

“Let’s go out. Let’s just go to Geumryong Pavilion right in front. Let’s eat first and then come back to continue.”

Seeing everyone wondering what to do about food, Baek Ri-pyeong suggested.

The role that Dang Jin-san would have played if he were here.

Though it had only been a few days of absence, Baek Ri-pyeong keenly felt the void left by Dang Jin-san.

Thus, the twelve cadets headed toward the main gate of Gyoryong Hall.

Toward Geumryong Pavilion nearby.

 

***

 

Namgung Hwi filled his wine cup.

He was drinking slowly, very slowly.

Namgung Hwi continued to keep his seat even after the old man who had joined him left.

Darkness had now descended outside the window.

Even so, his gaze was directed toward Gyoryong Hall.

On the dining table were roasted duck and bamboo leaf wine.

Newly ordered dishes.

As if he had ordered them just to remain seated, they were barely touched.

The bill from what the old man had ordered still remained as well.

“Hm?”

A gleam appeared in his eyes.

Twelve people.

A group of young people was coming out of Gyoryong Hall.

The atmosphere was boisterous, as if something had made them happy.

Due to the darkness, their faces weren’t clearly visible.

He could see them if he enhanced his eye power with internal energy, but he didn’t bother to do so.

‘Are they around that age?’

He just had that thought.

Since he couldn’t even see their faces.

 

***

 

Dark night.

Gu Tan-gil barely opened his eyes.

Lying on the bed, his entire body was wrapped tightly in bandages.

Since his whole body had been slashed by a sword, even though only his skin was wounded, such treatment was natural.

“Ugh.”

As he regained consciousness, he felt intense pain throughout his body.

It was completely different pain from being cut by a sword.

He remembered the end.

The countless fist shadows that had overwhelmed him.

If those had been swords instead?

He would have died.

When his thoughts reached that point, his hair stood on end.

That madman Ha Mu-baek.

He had heard rumors, but he was much stronger than that.

Of all people, the cadet that Ryeong had picked a fight with was under that madman’s charge.

“Phew.”

A sigh escaped him naturally.

“Elder Brother?”

Gu So-so, who had been dozing while leaning against the bed, opened her eyes at the sound of Gu Tan-gil’s sigh.

“Are you alright?”

Gu Tan-gil asked, looking at his younger sibling.

“What is that guy?”

A question came back instead of an answer.

She knew nothing about Ha Mu-baek.

She had no choice.

She had been at Cheolgi Workshop throughout the last war.

“There is one. A madman. A monster too. I heard he was strong, but I didn’t know he was this strong.”

Gu Tan-gil said with a bitter smile.

He had no choice.

Gu Tan-gil was the sect leader of Cheolgi Workshop.

He prided himself on being as strong as the sect leaders of the Nine Sects and One Workshop.

Although he had moved while filled with rage, he had certainly given his all.

Moreover, the final form of Iron Cavalry Heaven-Piercing Eight Strike Spear that he had unleashed at the end was perfect even when he thought about it again.

Yet he had been miserably defeated.

That guy had stood there calmly as if nothing had happened.

This meant his skills were beyond those of the sect leaders of the Nine Sects and One Workshop.

Was such a thing possible?

“I made a mistake. I should have brought the military commander.”

The commander of the Iron Armor Cavalry.

Gun Mu-han.

The greatest master of Cheolgi Workshop.

Gu So-so regretted not coming with him.

However, Gu Tan-gil shook his head.

Even if he had come, the result would have been the same.

Having experienced Ha Mu-baek directly, he could tell.

“Enough. I asked if you were alright.”

Gu Tan-gil again confirmed his younger sibling’s well-being.

At that question, Gu So-so placed her hand below her navel, and her complexion immediately darkened.

“Is there a problem?”

He asked with a worried expression.

Gu So-so had only been hit twice by Ha Mu-baek’s fists.

Her face and solar plexus.

Solar plexus…

That couldn’t be.

“Don’t tell me it’s your dantian?”

Gu Tan-gil asked urgently.

Gu So-so nodded slightly.

“When I try to raise my internal energy above five levels… my dantian hurts as if it’s about to shatter. The physician at the medical hall said there are overall fine injuries throughout my dantian. Hmph. What a quack.”

This was absurd.

The dantian is usually the lower dantian. The lower dantian is located below the navel.

The place Gu So-so was hit was the solar plexus.

Much higher than the lower dantian.

Yet her dantian was injured.

What kind of tremendous fist power was that?

“Come to think of it, where is this place?”

The order of regaining consciousness and assessing the situation was all mixed up.

“Ah, this is the medical hall of Gyoryong Hall. Elder Brother’s wounds were severe, and I seemed to have internal injuries too, so Academy Director Peng guided us here.”

Gu Tan-gil nodded.

“Hmm. He’s not a quack. What he said must be right.”

“How are you, Elder Brother? The physician who read your pulse said your situation was more serious than mine.”

At those words, Gu Tan-gil forced himself into cross-legged sitting and began energy circulation.

He immediately frowned.

The physician was right.

Gu Tan-gil’s dantian seemed fine.

Instead, his blood meridians were damaged.

Large and small injuries had occurred in the blood meridians throughout his body.

Ha Mu-baek’s fists that had pounded his entire body.

That must be the cause.

When he tried to circulate internal energy above five stars, his blood vessels were blocked everywhere and he felt excruciating pain.

With internal injuries this severe.

“I’ll need to rest and recover for at least half a year. Sigh.”

It was a situation that naturally brought out sighs.

How did things end up like this…

“Ha Mu-baek. I will never forgive that bastard.”

Killing intent flowed in streams from Gu So-so’s eyes.

Gu Tan-gil felt similarly, but he thought rationally.

Could they defeat that monster?

Would it be possible if they brought all the Iron Armor Cavalry and pressed him with military formation?

The sword technique he had displayed came to mind.

They might be able to block it once.

If it was the Iron Armor Cavalry’s military formation.

But what about twice?

Three times?

It seemed difficult.

An individual who could defeat a group.

It was an absurd thing.

He had thought only Jeongcheon Alliance Leader So Hwi-ung was capable of such things.

But there was another person.

Come to think of it, the Peng Family was defeated by just one master…

His thoughts stopped there.

Perhaps, just perhaps.

That mysterious master…

“Na Jin. Are you there?”

Since he felt a presence, he called his subordinate thinking he must be there.

He was one of the three who had remained to deal with the fallen horses.

“Yes. Sect Leader.”

[Go and find out if anything happened between the Peng Family and Ha Mu-baek at Gyoryong Hall.]

He gave the order secretly through sound transmission.

“Yes.”

Na Jin bowed his head and left the room.

“What’s the matter? Elder Brother?”

“That boy Ryeong, let’s go see his face once when his wall-facing meditation ends.”

At those words, Gu So-so’s eyes widened.

“What do you mean by that! We should bring him out tomorrow immediately!”

“You want to have another brawl with that monster? In my injured state?”

“Not with that bastard. To Academy Director Peng…”

Gu Tan-gil shook his head.

If it had been before fighting Ha Mu-baek, it might have been different.

He could have pressured him.

But not now.

In his current state where he couldn’t draw up more than five stars of internal energy, there was no way to pressure him.

“With a body suffering from internal injuries?”

At Gu Tan-gil’s question, Gu So-so hung her head low.

And tears dripped down.

“Ryeong. That poor thing…”

Strength entered her tightly clenched fists.

“If you’re a man, you grow by experiencing such hardships.”

Gu So-so suddenly raised her head.

“Elder Brother…”

A murmur full of resentment.

“Ha Mu-baek. It seems best not to get involved with that monster. So you should quickly forget about this matter too. Now rest.”

Leaving only those words, Gu Tan-gil lay back down on his bed.

 

Gu So-so came outside the medical hall with a frustrated heart.

She couldn’t contain the flames of anger rising from deep in her chest.

“Still haven’t come to your senses.”

Ha Mu-baek was there.

“You, you bastard…”

“Your elder brother seems to have some brains at least. But you still can’t tell front from back.”

Killing intent surged from Ha Mu-baek’s entire body and strangled Gu So-so.

Gu So-so trembled all over from the tremendous killing intent that suddenly pressed down on her entire body.

“Th, this is…”

“It was kids’ fighting so I went easy on you. When I’m being lenient, come to your senses and back off. If you cross the line, then even I don’t know what I’ll do.”

As soon as those words ended, the killing intent disappeared as if washed away.

As if such a thing had never happened.

When Ha Mu-baek left and Gu So-so was left alone.

She collapsed right there on the ground.

If she had been surrounded by that killing intent a little longer, she might have wet herself.

Such terrible fear.

Even now, strength wouldn’t enter her legs.

Now she seemed to understand why her elder brother called that bastard a monster.

It was the first time in her life experiencing such fear.

‘St, still, I will definitely get revenge… They say a gentleman’s revenge is not too late even after ten years…’

Even though she was paralyzed with fear, Gu So-so resolved never to forget her grudge against Ha Mu-baek.

Consoling herself that she only bowed because she was weak now.

 

***

 

‘Should I have said I’d do the wall-facing meditation…’

Dan Mok Un-rae’s small murmur from a few days ago.

Ha Mu-baek, who was leaving the area, heard that murmur.

Since they were doing wall-facing meditation anyway, he had given Muryangwhan pills to two people to help them become stronger, but hadn’t given them to the other three.

‘Hmm. I should take care of the other guys too.’

After leaving Gu So-so with a killing intent-filled warning, Ha Mu-baek was walking when he suddenly recalled Dan Mok Un-rae’s murmur and thought so.

So.

He looked for the Maengryong Corps cadets, but they weren’t at Gyoryong Hall.

“I’m trying to give them something good but they’re being troublesome.”

When he spread his ki sense widely, he could know their location.

The tavern in front of Gyoryong Hall.

Geumryong Pavilion.

Though it was called a tavern, it also served meals, so he thought they probably went to eat a late dinner.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t had dinner yet either.

He had skipped dinner because of those troublesome Cheolgi Workshop bastards.

First, he headed to the dormitory to get the Muryangwhan pills.

After gathering an appropriate amount, he set off again.

Toward Geumryong Pavilion where the cadets were gathered.

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