The World’s Greatest Martial Arts Instructor - Chapter 315

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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 315. Baek-a?

 

 

Ha Mu-baek’s daily routine remained the same today.

He leaned against the platform at the training ground, overseeing the cadets’ training.

His eyes watched the training, his mouth offered points for improvement.

His mind was absorbed in contemplating his spiritual question.

As he spent time doing these three things simultaneously.

Ha Mu-baek’s remaining senses.

A sound that stimulated his hearing reached him.

Coo coo, goo goo. Coo coo, goo goo.

A cry coming from high in the sky.

Ha Mu-baek stopped what he was doing and looked up at the sky.

A small black creature circling round and round up high.

“Baek-a?”

Had it heard that small murmur?

The black pigeon flew down toward Ha Mu-baek.

Landing on Ha Mu-baek’s shoulder, it extended one leg.

A message tube.

As he untied it and held it in his hand, the creature flew back up.

“It seems to have suffered quite a bit…”

Uncharacteristic of a spirit beast, wounds were visible here and there.

And it looked utterly exhausted on top of that.

This meant the creature had flown here in great haste.

It meant something serious had definitely happened to Han Seol-bing.

He had told her to send Baek-a if anything happened, but he hadn’t expected Baek-a to arrive in such a state.

Ha Mu-baek hurriedly opened the message tube and took out the letter.

On the small letter, tiny cipher text was densely written using a fine brush.

“Hmm.”

Ha Mu-baek’s expression gradually hardened.

The more he read, the more the contents became increasingly serious.

And the words that concluded the message.

 

-Please help me. Dan-ju.

 

Ha Mu-baek’s eyebrows twitched.

He wanted to rush to the North Sea immediately to help her.

However.

He couldn’t do that.

The nearly two hundred Maengryong Corps cadets who were earnestly wielding swords and shields right now.

He couldn’t abandon those children.

Hadn’t he already promised to take charge of teaching them?

With Han Seol-bing absent, there was no one he could trust to leave them with.

Yet he couldn’t ignore Han Seol-bing’s request either.

If she was asking for help to this extent, it meant this wasn’t an ordinary situation.

In the end, he had to find a way.

A way for Ha Mu-baek to depart for the North Sea while still properly teaching the Maengryong Corps children.

Ha Mu-baek’s gaze turned again to the cadets who were training earnestly.

‘Not bad.’

At least now they had reached a level where they could somewhat imitate the movements.

At that level.

They wouldn’t easily fall to something like Death Jiangshi.

As long as they held their shields properly and moved as they were trained.

Now he needed to drill those movements into their bodies so they would come out in any situation.

For that, training matches resembling real combat were necessary.

He couldn’t take all of them to Sanwol Demon Forest right away.

From now on was the stage where Ha Mu-baek needed to step forward personally and put the cadets through their paces.

It was even more impossible to leave his post.

He could only entrust them to someone capable of pushing them as hard as Ha Mu-baek could.

But there was no way such a person would exist…

Ha Mu-baek’s gaze, which had been shaking his head, stopped at one spot.

Someone who happened to be holding a broom and looking at him.

Wi Ji-gun.

If it was Master, he more than met all the conditions.

The only concern was whether it was appropriate for him as a disciple to make such a request.

Meanwhile, Wi Ji-gun, whose eyes met with his disciple’s, smiled broadly.

Hadn’t Wi Ji-gun also been worried about his disciple and been cleaning around this area unusually often lately to keep watch?

He was concerned about how Ha Mu-baek would resolve the spiritual question of eliminating the scent of blood.

But looking at his expression now, it seemed he had some request to make.

“One moment of rest.”

Ha Mu-baek instructed the cadets to rest and stood up.

 

“What matter troubles you?”

Wi Ji-gun had clearly watched the messenger pigeon fly down.

“It seemed like the creature that follows Seol-bing around.”

Wi Ji-gun was already aware of Baek-a’s existence.

“Something seems to have happened to Seol-bing, or more precisely, to her sect and family.”

“Oh my…”

Sympathy appeared on Wi Ji-gun’s face.

Having been at Gyoryong Hall, he had long since grasped her character and personality.

He was also well aware that she had helped Ha Mu-baek greatly in various ways.

“We must help her.”

The words that immediately came from Wi Ji-gun’s mouth.

Ha Mu-baek nodded.

“She asked for help.”

“Of course we should. She’s your person, isn’t she?”

“However…”

Wi Ji-gun looked intently at Ha Mu-baek.

“I can’t leave because of those children.”

Ha Mu-baek pointed to the Great Training Ground.

Wi Ji-gun nodded as if he understood.

“That’s right. That too is work you’ve undertaken. So that’s why you looked at me that way.”

“I apologize.”

“No. I should help. When a disciple is in a difficult situation, it’s natural for a master to help.”

Wi Ji-gun answered readily.

Ha Mu-baek had already expected this would happen.

“However. It would be alright to cover my face, wouldn’t it?”

Wi Ji-gun asked this.

Indeed.

To the cadets here, Wi Ji-gun was just Elder Wi who cleaned.

If he suddenly appeared saying he would teach martial arts.

Ha Mu-baek searched through his mind.

“There’s a suitable disguise technique. If it’s Master, you should be able to learn it in just tonight and change your appearance without difficulty.”

The martial arts that Wi Ji-gun knew were entirely from his sect, the Mugeuk Sword Sect.

He had never shown interest in or learned any other martial arts.

Ha Mu-baek had learned necessary martial arts as needed while engaging in fierce battles with the Blood Cult and Demon Cult during the Murim War.

Among them were techniques from the Blood Cult and Demon Cult, as well as unorthodox sect techniques, and miscellaneous arts that were looked down upon in Gangho.

In the first place, Ha Mu-baek’s talent for being able to plausibly imitate martial arts just by watching others perform them once was absurd.

“That can be done then. So what should I do?”

Ha Mu-baek carefully explained the current level of the cadets.

And also about the training methods he would implement starting today.

“Understood. I’ll watch today.”

“Thank you, Master.”

Ha Mu-baek bowed his waist deeply.

Wi Ji-gun patted his disciple’s shoulder and disappeared with his broom.

Though he left like that, from now on Wi Ji-gun would carefully observe everything happening at the Great Training Ground.

 

The sweet rest of one gak ended.

The cadets gathered again in formation at the training ground.

They prepared for training with familiar movements.

Ha Mu-baek stepped onto the platform.

“From now on, the training content changes. It’s the next stage.”

At the concise words, the cadets looked at each other and murmured.

It had been difficult, but they had somewhat adapted to this stage.

But now they were moving to the next stage?

Then how much more difficult would it become?

Such worries flooded in first.

“Leave space in the center and move to the outer edge of the training ground.”

Following Ha Mu-baek’s instruction, the cadets moved.

Two hundred cadets surrounded the Great Training Ground in a circle, leaving the center empty.

“Everyone sit down.”

They followed the subsequent instruction while tilting their heads in confusion.

They had worried about more difficult training, but suddenly he told them to sit.

“Second-year Seventh Group and Twentieth Group. Come forward.”

Ha Mu-baek said, standing in the center of the training ground.

At those words.

The faces of the Seventh Group cadets turned deathly pale.

Because they knew all too well what this situation meant.

“It’s a duel.”

“It’s a duel.”

“He won’t go easy, will he?”

“How long can we last?”

They whispered in low voices as they moved to the very center of the training ground.

“From now on, you’ll duel with me. All group members will use the Shield Technique you’ve trained so far to block my attacks. The time limit is one-third of a gak. You must endure somehow during that time. If you can’t endure, what happens is…”

Ha Mu-baek, having said that much, looked at the members of the Seventh and Twentieth Groups.

They felt a chill.

‘We must endure even if we die. Otherwise, we die.’

A premonition flashed through Dang Jin-san’s mind.

“Raise your shields.”

At Ha Mu-baek’s instruction, the Seventh Group formed a shield formation.

“I’m coming.”

With those brief words.

Ha Mu-baek’s leg stretched out and struck a shield.

Thud!

Baek Ri-pyeong was pushed back with the sound.

Naturally, they were currently in a state where their internal energy was restricted.

As soon as they blocked Ha Mu-baek’s kick, Dan Mok Un-rae and Nak U-jin charged from left and right with shields raised.

Ha Mu-baek swung both fists to strike away the shields.

Then he charged toward Baek Ri-pyeong again.

The Seventh Group members watching his movements intuited.

‘He’s attacking according to our level.’

Baek Ri-pyeong realized this fact from Ha Mu-baek’s movements rushing toward him.

‘He’s guiding the Shield Technique forms.’

Yeon Ha-min read the direction of Ha Mu-baek’s fists and feet.

She could read Ha Mu-baek’s intention.

Then she had to move according to that intention.

She moved her sword and shield as fast and strong as possible, as she had learned.

Thud! Thud thud! Thud!

A fierce exchange of advance and retreat unfolded.

The other cadets watched the scene in a daze.

Though it was a one-versus-seven martial duel.

It was the seven who were being pushed back.

In the midst of this.

Ju U-myeong’s strike with his shield raised flew toward Ha Mu-baek’s side.

Ha Mu-baek’s eyes flashed.

“I said it was Shield Technique training!”

Shouting this, his fist moved like lightning.

Crack!

It struck Ju U-myeong’s head directly.

This was the price for Ha Mu-baek detecting that the mysteries of Taiji Wisdom Sword were mixed into the sword he thrust.

Seeing this, Dan Mok Un-rae swallowed dry saliva.

He had been about to unfold the Eighty-One Style Milky Way Phantom Sword Technique following Ju U-myeong’s sword strike.

If he had done so, Dan Mok Un-rae would have met the same fate.

He hastily thrust his sword according to the Shield Technique he had learned.

Thud.

Ha Mu-baek struck away the sword.

Then he kicked away the approaching shield.

Baek Ri-pyeong watched the two and moved his sword quickly.

It was according to the swordsmanship used with the Shield Technique learned from Ha Mu-baek, plus the movements of Combined Combat Technique.

Myeong Style.

A designation Ha Mu-baek created using Zhuge Ming’s name out of respect for him, who had created three martial arts and transmitted them to the Maengryong Corps without any compensation.

Myeong Style Combined Combat Technique. Myeong Style Shield Technique. Myeong Style Swordsmanship.

Baek Ri-pyeong unfolded his sword as he had learned.

However.

The energy contained in the sword was different.

The energy contained in the sword was different.

At that sight, Ha Mu-baek made an expression that said ‘well, look at this.’

The other cadets from the Seventh Group and Twentieth Group also recognized the move Baek Ri-pyeong had taken.

At that moment.

Their movements changed.

They were certainly using the Bright Style Combined Combat they had learned from Ha Mu-baek.

But as each of their individual insights melted into every single movement.

They began to display tremendous power.

The other Maengryong Corps cadets watched with their mouths agape.

To think that such people were from the same Maengryong Corps as themselves.

It was unbelievable.

Ha Mu-baek’s expression also became serious.

He too was still showing movements that guided the Bright Style, but the qi energy in his hands had changed.

Clang! Clang-clang-clang-clang! Clang! Clang!

A dazzling exchange of offense and defense unfolded.

The promised time was gradually coming to an end.

These guys already had shield technique properly ingrained in their bodies.

Ha Mu-baek confirmed that fact properly.

Not only that, but to meld their individual insights into the Bright Style.

It was tremendous growth.

He was proud of them.

However, that was that and this was this.

If he ended it like this, it wouldn’t serve as an example to the other cadets.

The speed of Ha Mu-baek’s fist and leg techniques increased.

His qi energy also became more fierce.

Even knowing the combat forms, it was a speed impossible to follow without internal energy.

Powerful strikes that couldn’t be blocked even if defended against.

In the end.

Both the Seventh Group and Twentieth Group.

Were beaten by Ha Mu-baek and collapsed on the training ground.

Ha Mu-baek’s hands were fair.

Even his younger sister Ha Seol-ran was beaten just the same as the other cadets.

At that moment.

Silence descended upon the Great Training Ground.

What Ha Mu-baek had said.

What would happen if they couldn’t endure was unfolding before their eyes.

These were cadets who had been watching with admiration at the movements of the Seventh and Twentieth Groups throughout.

If even those people ended up like that, what about themselves?

This wasn’t something to be happy about just because they could sit and rest.

“Next is the second-year First Group.”

As the members of the Seventh and Twentieth Groups staggered to their feet and returned to their places.

The First Group members came out hesitantly like dogs being dragged to a slaughterhouse.

“Here I come.”

When they had barely finished preparing.

Ha Mu-baek’s words fell.

Bang!

With a loud sound, one person holding a shield tumbled backward.

“Is that how you were taught?”

Ha Mu-baek shouted with a razor-sharp voice.

The First Group members hastily put strength into their shield-holding hands and bodies.

Bang!

Thud!

Sounds that continued to ring out.

If they failed to move their shields in time.

Fists and feet struck their bodies and faces.

But if they just moved their shields in time.

Those hands were blocked by the shields.

While being attacked by Ha Mu-baek, the First Group members also realized this fact.

That’s why they moved desperately.

No, they moved instinctively.

To the point where they couldn’t even remember how they had moved.

Just when they thought they had endured for quite a while.

Ha Mu-baek’s movements became faster, and they too sprawled on the ground like the Seventh and Twentieth Groups.

The training matches continued.

Ha Mu-baek seemed to attack mercilessly.

But he guided the cadets to move their shields and swords according to the combat forms.

When they moved properly, Ha Mu-baek’s attacks were blocked by their shields.

When they didn’t, his attacks hit their bodies and faces without fail.

So the cadets had no choice but to instinctively move their shields and bodies.

The sun was gradually setting.

Even though it was a summer day with long daylight hours.

Before they knew it, they had continued the training matches repeatedly until darkness fell around them.

They had no choice.

There were forty groups in total.

Thanks to the second-year Seventh and Twentieth Groups being organized into one group, it was exactly thirty-nine groups.

Though he had said one moment per three groups, considering changeover time and preparation time, it took a bit longer than that.

In the end, it took just under three time periods to have one training match per group.

They only had training matches for one-third of a moment and spent the remaining time resting while watching other groups’ matches.

But even so, it was exhausting.

The cadets had gradually realized that watching other groups’ training matches was also cultivation.

Because they had been keeping their concentration at maximum levels at all times.

They had no choice.

To get hit even one less time in the next training match.

They had to concentrate and watch again and again.

“Good. That’s enough for today.”

After the last group’s training match ended.

When Ha Mu-baek’s declaration fell.

The cadets let out deep sighs.

The long, long training had finally come to an end.

—————
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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