The World’s Greatest Martial Arts Instructor - Chapter 235
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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 235. Would It Be Difficult Perhaps?
“Ah, Elder!”
At Wi Ji-gun’s appearance, Namgung Ji-hu and Namgung Ji-yu performed a cupped fist salute.
Wi Ji-gun waved his hand dismissively.
“Hehe. Such courtesy is excessive for an old worker.”
Though Wi Ji-gun spoke jokingly.
The Namgung siblings had felt some intangible, unapproachable aura from this old man several times.
So they didn’t dismiss him as just a worker elder and showed proper respect like this.
It was because they kept the saying that extraordinary people in Gangho are as numerous as grains of sand close to their hearts.
Though they didn’t know Elder Wi’s story.
“So, what brings you here?”
Wi Ji-gun asked again.
“Ah, my sword broke, so I came to find the practice sword that was issued to me.”
Wi Ji-gun’s gaze fell on Namgung Ji-hu’s scabbard.
“I see. You must have been flustered seeing this state. Yes.”
Wi Ji-gun pointed at the lock.
Soon he took out a key from his pocket and unlocked it.
“I manage this place, and I had just finished cleaning, so I locked it up intending to seal it for a while. Since no one comes looking for anything anyway. I almost made a mistake.”
Creak.
When Wi Ji-gun opened the door, the hinges made a loud noise.
“Come, go find your sword.”
Wi Ji-gun opened the door wide and Namgung Ji-hu stepped inside.
Swords, blades, spears, staffs, and more.
Various weapons filled the space.
Among them, the most numerous were naturally swords and blades.
Namgung Ji-hu and Namgung Ji-yu quickly scanned the swords.
The swords were placed on sword racks without scabbards.
And they were soon able to find the swords engraved with their names.
They had no choice.
They were the two swords shining brightest in this place.
Naturally their eyes were drawn to them, and they discovered their own names engraved on the sword blades.
“This is… what on earth…”
Namgung Ji-hu muttered with a dazed expression.
They were merely practice swords.
How exactly would one have to maintain them to achieve this result?
Namgung Ji-yu also stared blankly at her sword.
Originally, only Namgung Ji-hu had come to get a sword.
But Namgung Ji-yu also found herself taking her sword without realizing it.
She had no choice.
Despite being an ordinary practice sword, its blade was shining pure white as if tempting her.
Namgung Ji-yu must have felt an unconscious attraction to that radiance.
After finding their swords, other weapons also came into view.
The other weapons were also maintained in gleaming condition.
“Did you do all of this, Elder?”
Namgung Ji-hu asked in amazement.
“I did some of it, and someone else did some. Well, this time mostly someone else did it. I was busy with other matters. Hehe. But those two need scabbards, don’t they? Wait a moment.”
Wi Ji-gun then headed toward a corner of the armory.
A pile covered with a large cloth.
When he lifted the cloth, scabbards were piled underneath.
“Here they were. Yes. Hehe. I don’t know why someone brought these here like this either. But here they are.”
The two people who received the two scabbards hesitated for a moment.
They felt that if they sheathed their swords in the dusty scabbards, these shining swords might be damaged.
In the end, the two placed their swords back on the sword rack and only after thoroughly cleaning the scabbards could they sheath their practice swords.
Thus the three people left the armory.
Wi Ji-gun locked the armory entrance again and departed.
Namgung Ji-hu and Namgung Ji-yu walked back toward the training ground.
‘I must have met a lucky day.’
Namgung Ji-yu thought to herself.
Seeing the sword break, she had thought it wasn’t a lucky day.
But thanks to that, she got to see such a sword.
The sword itself was a common practice sword.
However, she couldn’t understand how exactly one would polish and maintain a sword to achieve this result.
On top of that, the clean martial uniforms too.
Today.
It was certainly a lucky day.
***
Night had deepened before they knew it.
Namgung Hwi was drinking alone with alcohol he had brought from somewhere.
“May I come in for a moment?”
“Please come in, Elder.”
At Wi Ji-gun’s voice, Namgung Hwi rose from his seat and opened the door.
“So, how are you getting along?”
“Thanks to your consideration, I’m living comfortably.”
The two men sat facing each other at a small tea table.
Though it was a small room with only a bed, a small tea table, and a wardrobe.
For a worker to use such a room alone could be considered luxurious.
“How is the work?”
“Yes. I’m getting along well without any difficult tasks.”
At Wi Ji-gun’s question, Namgung Hwi answered with even a slight smile.
He had no choice.
Hadn’t he seen those children today?
And wearing the clothes he had carefully laundered at that.
“The weapons in the armory were all polished by you, weren’t they?”
“Yes. I polished them all.”
Wi Ji-gun nodded quietly.
“Will you give me a drink too?”
At those words, Namgung Hwi took out a wine cup and poured for Wi Ji-gun.
Wi Ji-gun emptied his cup in one go.
There were no side dishes.
Namgung Hwi had just been drinking alone.
“Bamboo Leaf Wine? It’s clean and quite good.”
Wi Ji-gun nodded while savoring the taste of the alcohol.
“I’m glad to hear you’re adapting well. I have another place I’d like to ask you to take care of. Would that be alright?”
“Please, tell me anything, elder.”
“Well then, starting tomorrow afternoon, please clean the Jamryong Corps Training Ground. I’ll show you the way.”
At Wi Ji-gun’s words, Namgung Hwi hesitated.
“J-Jamryong Corps, you said?”
His voice came out slightly trembling.
Wi Ji-gun looked at Namgung Hwi with profound eyes.
“Would that be difficult for you?”
“N-no. There’s no problem.”
“Good. Then have lunch with me tomorrow, and then go. I saw the armory today and you did such an excellent job. There shouldn’t be any armory work for at least this month, so I’m asking you to clean the Jamryong Corps Training Ground. Well then, get some rest.”
With those words, Wi Ji-gun rose from his seat and left Namgung Hwi’s room.
After greeting Wi Ji-gun at the front door, Namgung Hwi sat back down at the table and filled his wine cup.
His hand trembled slightly in an unseemly manner.
The bamboo leaf wine going down his throat.
It was sweet.
Only sweet.
This wine shouldn’t taste like this, but Namgung Hwi could only taste sweetness.
It couldn’t be helped.
Hadn’t he said the Jamryong Corps Training Ground?
The Jamryong Corps where Namgung Ji-hu and Namgung Ji-yu belonged.
Starting tomorrow afternoon, he might encounter the two children more often.
Namgung Hwi drank another cup.
Thinking this cup would be his last, he swallowed it down.
It was still sweet.
Whether he could sleep properly tonight was uncertain.
***
The sunlight was becoming quite harsh.
Having passed through full spring, signs of heat were beginning to show little by little.
Han Seol-bing was heading to the training ground instead of the school building for the first time in a while.
Her morning hours were always tied to the school building, so how long had it been since she walked breathing this refreshing air?
Her afternoons were tied to training the Maengryong Corps at the Great Training Ground.
Thanks to Ha Mu-baek who dumped everything on her and disappeared again.
So today, thinking she’d take a break too, she was heading to the empty Maengryong Corps 20th Unit Training Ground.
A man caught her eye.
A worker, but one-armed.
‘Huh?’
A one-armed worker?
Her first thought was whether it wouldn’t be difficult for him to work.
Taking one step closer, she could see the face of the man diligently sweeping.
A face full of scars from sword wounds.
It was a face she remembered.
‘How is that person here…?’
Her eyes widened in surprise.
Namgung Hwi spotted Han Seol-bing and bowed his head politely.
Namgung Hwi was equally surprised.
‘Even the Vice-Leader of Hocheondang…?’
The two passed each other like that, and Han Seol-bing changed the direction of her steps.
Not to the Twentieth Group Training Ground, but to Group 7 Training Ground.
As expected, Ha Mu-baek was lounging on a rock.
“D-Dan-ju!”
So surprised was she that the title “Dan-ju” slipped out first after so long.
That was natural since when she had met him in those days, Ha Mu-baek was the Dan-ju and Han Seol-bing herself was the Vice-Leader.
“What? I’m tired.”
Yesterday he had gotten into the spirit and sparred with Namgung Ji-hu.
Seeing him enter the State of No-Self, he had put care into leading the training match.
That was quite mentally exhausting work, more than expected.
So Ha Mu-baek saying he was tired now was somewhat true.
Though it wasn’t that difficult a task at Ha Mu-baek’s level.
“D-did you see? That person?”
“Who?”
“N-Nameless. Nameless.”
How long had it been since he started working at Gyoryong Hall?
Was she making such a fuss only now after finding out?
No, was this even something to make a fuss about?
“I saw him. So what about it?”
At Ha Mu-baek’s reaction, speaking as if it was nothing special, Han Seol-bing immediately made an uninterested expression.
“No, it’s fascinating. He acted like he’d never leave that place for his entire life, then suddenly appeared as a worker at Gyoryong Hall.”
“I think that friend was more surprised? Since the Vice-Leader of Hocheondang is working as an instructor at Gyoryong Hall?”
At Ha Mu-baek’s question, Han Seol-bing pouted her lips.
“More than that, you. Are you properly assessing that friend’s level?”
She flinched at Ha Mu-baek’s question.
Come to think of it, she hadn’t properly sensed his martial arts level.
When she met him in Sanwol Demon Forest, it wasn’t like that.
“You seem to be slacking off too much lately.”
At Ha Mu-baek’s words, Han Seol-bing scowled fiercely.
Right now, what kind of hardship was she going through because of whom?
“That friend is being taken around by Master, and he seemed stronger than you.”
Her mouth, which was about to open, closed at those words.
No way?
That couldn’t be?
In Sanwol Demon Forest, he was nowhere near her level…
“He seemed to have entered the Return to Truth realm. That’s probably why he left that village. Since he achieved his goal.”
At those words, Han Seol-bing made a dazed expression.
Return to Truth realm?
The Nameless she had met back then was strong, it was true.
But he was merely a warrior looking toward the entrance of the pinnacle level. He had barely reached the end of first-rate.
But now he was at the transcendent level, and Return to Truth at that?
A realm that even she hadn’t entered.
A realm she couldn’t reach, blocked by a wall after entering the transcendent level.
To think Nameless had entered that realm.
“I should cultivate. Me too. Really, as Dan-ju said, I’ve been too lazy recently. This isn’t the time for me to be overseeing someone’s training…”
Leaving those words behind, Han Seol-bing disappeared.
However.
Those last words.
Ha Mu-baek was bothered by them.
It seemed like she was saying she’d skip the Maengryong Corps training starting today and focus on cultivation.
***
Wi Ji-gun and Namgung Hwi emerged from the Damryong Library.
They had deliberately finished their lunch at the Damryong Library since they were planning to clean around the Jamryong Corps training ground from now on.
What was there to particularly explain about cleaning?
However, he needed to let him know which unit’s training ground it was and what the route was like.
After quickly making a round of the area that needed to be cleaned with Wi Ji-gun, Namgung Hwi began sweeping by himself.
Perhaps Wi Ji-gun had taken measures after the incident with Hwang Ryeok, as there were no more administrators picking fights with him.
He had encountered Hwang Ryeok once this morning as well, but the man had passed by as if barely seeing him.
Because of this, Namgung Hwi was able to clean the surroundings with peace of mind.
Namgung Hwi might not have realized it, but he was gradually cleaning his way toward the Jamryong Corps Second Year First Group Training Hall.
As he swept little by little like this,
he eventually arrived at the Jamryong Corps First Group training ground.
And there, four cadets were diligently wielding their respective weapons.
Among them, only two weapons caught Namgung Hwi’s eyes.
Two practice swords that shone more brilliantly than the sun, dazzling to behold.
They were the swords being wielded by Namgung Ji-hu and Namgung Ji-yu.
‘He took that sword too.’
Suddenly,
tears threatened to flow once again.
Namgung Hwi hurriedly lowered his head and focused intently on sweeping.
Yeong Ho-jun noticed Namgung Hwi and glanced at him briefly, but soon lost interest.
It was routine for workers to clean around the training grounds.
It was curious that this worker was one-armed and had hideous scars covering his face.
But that was all.
He needed to focus more on his own cultivation.
After cleaning around the Jamryong Corps First Group training ground for a while, Namgung Hwi left the area.
He couldn’t keep sweeping only that one place forever.
As he moved away, his expression was filled with deep regret and sorrow.
‘Great Flame Sword Technique. Excellent, but lacking…’
Namgung Ji-hu displayed a level incomparably superior to what he himself had shown at that age.
However, from Namgung Hwi’s current level of mastery, there were clearly shortcomings visible here and there.
It was both heartbreaking and frustrating.
He wanted to teach him directly.
But his circumstances and position prevented him from doing so.
Suddenly his face throbbed.
This hadn’t happened since that day.
The area around his missing right arm also ached.
Even though it was an arm that could never hold a sword again.
The movements of the Great Flame Sword Technique that Namgung Ji-hu had displayed swirled chaotically through Namgung Hwi’s mind.
The movements of the Great Flame Sword Technique that Namgung Jihu had displayed swirled chaotically through Namgung Hwi’s mind.
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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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