Ultimate Martial Venerable - Chapter 40

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 40. The Fifth Disciple of Ilwon Academy
An hour later.
Moonlight settled over the collapsed roof and the cracked blue stone.
In the center of Ilwon Academy sat an old table retrieved from who knew where, and around it three men with puffy faces were seated in a row.
Han Pung grinned with one front tooth missing, Cho Haeng had a bruised eye half-shut, and Cho Cheon’s lip was split, but he fared the best of the three.
Il Cheong sat in the place of honor as though nothing had happened.

“Yuk Beom, allow me to introduce you. These are your senior disciples.”

Thick fingers gestured in turn.

“Fourth senior is Han Pung, third is Cho Haeng, second is Cho Cheon. Your eldest senior is currently training with Do Gwang on Back Mountain, so you won’t see him for some time.”

Yuk Beom rose from his seat and clasped his fists in salute.

“I am Yuk Beom. I look forward to your guidance.”

The three men raised their hands with smiles.
In that instant, their swollen faces contorted simultaneously.

“Ugh, my lip.”
“Don’t smile. The bone shifts.”
“Both of you were rushing at it eagerly enough in front of the master a moment ago—now you’re whining?”

At Cho Cheon’s jab, Han Pung pointed to his jaw with an aggrieved expression.

“It’s easy for you to say, second senior, with your teeth still intact. Every time I smile, the wind whistles through.”

Indeed, as he spoke, air hissed between his missing front teeth.
Il Cheong’s eyes narrowed.

“One more hit and you’ll be perfectly matched on both sides.”

Han Pung immediately closed his mouth.
On the table sat a plate of yellowed pickled vegetables and a few fruits—whether boiled or dried was unclear. For an evening meal laid out by people who had just consumed an entire Ja Yeom Bun Cheon Jak

whole, it was pitifully sparse.
Han Pung picked up some vegetables with his chopsticks and placed them in Yuk Beom’s bowl.

“Come on, youngest, have a taste. I made this myself.”
“With the same skill you showed butchering meat earlier?”
“Cooking demands more finesse than a blade.”

The words came from a man who oiled his Jade Water Long Sky Sword

with such care, yet rang hollow.
Still, it was his first meal here.
Yuk Beom placed a chopstick of vegetables in his mouth.
He chewed.
He chewed again.
Bitterness spread across his tongue, followed by an indeterminate saltiness and a charred aftertaste. When he tried to swallow, his body instinctively rebelled.

“How is it?”

Han Pung’s eager gaze was oppressive.
Yuk Beom forced it down before speaking.

“What is this vegetable supposed to taste like?”
“Bland, maybe a little sweet.”
“None of that came through.”

Cho Haeng’s shoulders trembled beneath the table.
Il Cheong made no attempt at restraint, laughing loudly.

“So you’re allowed to say it tastes bad if it does. If you keep standing on ceremony with Han Pung’s cooking, your stomach will give out first.”
“Sir, but today’s effort turned out fairly well.”
“I’ve heard that line for the past ten years.”

Han Pung, his head bowed, pushed the plate toward Cho Cheon.

“Second brother, you take it. I’m going back to the sword.”

Cho Cheon crossed his arms.

“Fine. But don’t leave anything I’ve made.”

Il Cheong’s hand shot up like lightning.

“Enough.”

Cho Cheon’s expression hardened.

“I haven’t even made it yet.”
“I’ve tasted it before.”
“That was different from now.”
“You said the exact same thing then.”

The disciples’ gazes converged on Yuk Beom like a last desperate hope.

“Can you cook?”
“Not well, sir.”

A collective sigh erupted around the table.
Han Pung cradled his head in both hands.

“The heavens are truly indifferent. If you’re going to send a new recruit, at least send one who can cook.”
“The Martial Arts Academy selected a person for martial training, not a kitchen hand for an inn.”
“After a few days of hunger, he’ll understand that rice matters more than Moo Gong.”

Il Cheong, unusually, nodded with a serious expression.

“That much is true. Ilwon Academy is short on people, so there’s no one to handle meals. We have to butcher and prepare what we catch in the mountains ourselves.”

His gaze turned toward Han Pung.

“And hard as it is to believe, he’s still the best of us at it.”

Yuk Beom recalled the taste of the greens he’d just swallowed.

“Do people die if the others cook?”
“They don’t die.”

Cho Haeng added quietly.

“Sometimes death would be the better option.”

Cho Cheon glared but couldn’t mount a rebuttal.
Just then Kkamangi, sitting at their feet, yawned.
Yuk Beom looked down at its head and opened his mouth.

“I cannot do it, but Kkamangi can.”

Han Pung’s head turned slowly.

“That creature who just picked a bird clean to the bone?”
“Eating well is not all it can do.”

From the household token, Yuk Beom withdrew meat, medicinal herbs, and dried mushrooms, laying them before Kkamangi.

“Make one for us.”

Kkamangi first confirmed the scent of the ingredients. Satisfied, it gathered everything in its front paws and carried them to an open space beside the table.
Black flames poured from its mouth.
Whoosh!
The stones around it softened and melted in the inferno. As its front paws moved a few times, the stone quickly took the shape of a cauldron and vessels.
Cho Haeng’s half-closed eyes opened wide.

“That creature is controlling the flames?”
“It’s melting the stone without charring the ingredients.”

Cho Cheon leaned forward as well.
Kkamangi cut the meat into uniform pieces with its sharp claws. It added water and medicinal herbs to the stone cauldron, narrowed the black flames to a fine thread, and added the meat in the proper order for cooking.
As the fragrant aroma spread, all four eyes remained fixed on the cauldron.
Han Pung swallowed.

“Youngest.”
“Yes.”
“I like you.”
“You mean because of Kkamangi?”
“I see the two of you as one.”
“That’s only true when we use Spirit Beast Fusion.”

Han Pung did not answer. His mind was already captured by the boiling cauldron.
Before long, Kkamangi lifted the entire cauldron onto the table. Yuk Beom took the largest piece of meat and placed it first in the creature’s bowl.
The three seniors glanced at each other uncertainly.
Il Cheong took the first spoonful of broth.
As the tender meat and the fragrance of medicinal herbs spread across his tongue, his eyes widened.

“Excellent.”

That single word was the signal.
Cho Cheon and Cho Haeng’s chopsticks shot toward the cauldron simultaneously. Han Pung too took a piece of meat and placed it in his mouth, then slowly closed his eyes.

“Fourth senior?”
“Do not speak to me.”
“Why not?”
“I am committing this moment to memory.”

When Yuk Beom turned his head, the hands of Il Cheong and the two seniors had already become afterimages.
The meat and broth diminished before his very eyes.

“Sageun, please eat slowly.”
“Food must be eaten while it is hot.”
“Third senior, that was the meat in front of me.”
“Once it is in the cauldron, it belongs to all of us.”

Yuk Beom quickly grabbed his chopsticks.
Before Han Pung’s belatedly opened eyes sat nothing but an empty stone pot, scraped clean.
The last drop of broth traced a lazy circle along the bottom.
A hollow sigh escaped through the gap where his front teeth were missing.

“Why did I close my eyes?”

Il Cheong patted his belly with satisfaction.

“From today on, Kkamangi will handle the cooking here at Ilwonwon.”
“Sageun.”

Yuk Beom objected at once.

“Kkamangi came here to train, not to cook.”
“Cooking is also a form of training with fire. And it sharpens the senses—learning to discern the vital energy in ingredients.”

It sounded reasonable enough.

“When the right time comes, I’ll give Kkamangi a good opportunity besides.”

Kkamangi’s ears perked up.

“Not every meal.”
“Once a day.”
“Once every four days.”
“Once every two days.”
“The senior students will gather the ingredients.”

Il Cheong considered for a moment, then nodded.

“Good. That seems fair enough.”

Cho Cheon and Cho Haeng promptly produced a crimson fruit from their robes and set it before Kkamangi.

“A Ju Gwa—a welcoming gift for you as our junior. Accept it.”

“We look forward to working with you.”

Kkamangi clutched the fruit between his front paws. His gaze toward the two seniors he’d only just met softened visibly.
Han Pung hurriedly rummaged through his robes.
What he produced was a single ginseng root, withered and twisted.

“Kkamangi. I’ll forget all about you eating my meat earlier.”

Black eyes narrowed.

“But if you make me one extra pot—just for me—I’ll give you this.”

Kkamangi caught the scent of the insam.
A moment later, he tucked the fruit under one armpit and took the ginseng in his other paw.
Han Pung’s face brightened.

“See? You and I were meant to understand each other!”
“Han Pung.”

Il Cheong gestured to the empty bowls.

“Clear these and come back.”
“Why me alone?”
“Because you rested the longest with your eyes closed.”

Han Pung, finding no words to counter, hugged the stone pot. In that moment, Kkamangi darted ahead toward the kitchen where the ingredients were kept.

“Wait! I’m only eating for myself, so you don’t need to make a lot!”

Han Pung hurried after him in a panic.
Il Cheong led Yuk Beom toward the largest wooden building.
As he opened the door, a faint sandalwood fragrance drifted out. Above a landscape painting that covered one wall of the room, eight characters were written:
All returns to unity

, and all things are renewed.

From one beginning, all creation becomes new.
Below that, standing before an incense burner, Il Cheong handed over three sticks of incense.

“Bow three times. From today, you are an official disciple of Ilwon Academy.”

Yuk Beom received the incense.
He who had waited only for the day to be cast out from Ganglim Castle had come to the Martial Arts Academy, and now he was about to become a disciple of an Academy Branch he had chosen himself.
He bowed deeply toward the landscape painting.
In the first bow, he placed the promise he had made when leaving the Yuk Clan.
In the second, he carried the resolve not to forget the intent behind O Jin sending him here.
In the last, he held his determination to pursue the Martial Way to its end through his own strength.
The moment he finished the third bow, the incense flared up all at once.
The incense turned to ash in an instant and fell onto the back of his hand.
Il Cheong stopped Yuk Beom, who was about to move his hand at the burning sensation.

“Stay still. It means acceptance.”

The black incense ash seeped into his skin.
A moment later, a faint character meaning “origin”

emerged on the back of both his hands.

“You must bear this mark to gain the right to learn the Ilwon Dao Jue.”

Yuk Beom could not take his eyes from the mark on his hand.
He had not yet gained any Moo Gong. But the first door that had been closed until now had certainly opened.
When Il Cheong gestured, two chairs from the corner flew over. As he settled into one, his expression twisted oddly.

“This chair—doesn’t it seem smaller than before?”
“The chair appears unchanged, Sageun.”
“Then are you saying I’ve gained weight?”
“You asked the question, Sageun.”

Il Cheong glared at Yuk Beom for a moment, then forcibly wedged himself into the chair.

“A disciple who is too honest is also a problem.”

After a brief murmur of complaint, his expression grew serious.

“There are two things you must observe in Ilwon Academy. First, do not enter recklessly into Eo Ryeong Mountain deep within the Gyeong Cheon Mountain Range. Without permission from myself and Do Gwang, it is best not to set foot there at all.”

“What lies there?”
“There are many people in this world who could kill you as you are now. Many who possess the Hwang Su
Wild Beast
technique.”

His tone was light, but his eyes held no amusement.

“Second. A student of Ilwon Academy must keep their mind clear and bright. If you use strength to crush the weak, or let greed blind you to the Martial Way, I will end your training and cast you out.”

Yuk Beom nodded without hesitation.

“I will remember this.”
“Good.”

Il Cheong, leaning back against the wooden chair, slowly stroked his abdomen.

“I won’t promise to make you strong all at once. I won’t hand you flashy techniques on a whim. Instead, I will teach you to become someone who does not break.”

His voice was low, but heavier than when he’d been pummeling the senior disciples moments before.

“Polish your heart before your martial skill. There is no shame in slow steps. If you plant your feet firmly with each stride and climb steadily, one day you will stand higher than anyone else.”

Yuk Beom gazed down at the “Circle” character written on the back of his hand.

“Yes, Sageun.”

When he’d first seen Ilwon Academy, he’d thought he’d gone to the wrong place.
But now, he didn’t hate the fact that this weathered wooden building and its raucous senior disciples were the place he had chosen.
The next morning, before dawn.
Yuk Beom arrived at the practice grounds before anyone else.
Kkamangi, who’d spent the night in the vacant room that had belonged to the eldest senior, lay sprawled across the doorframe with his belly pressed against the stone, snoring soundly while clutching the Ju Gwa he’d received the day before.
The Weaponless Heavy Sword cut slowly through the morning air.
Wind moved in rhythm with his unhurried strikes, and the Geom Ap gathered densely within a fixed radius.
Watching from the open doorway, Cho Haeng froze with his water cup raised to his lips.

“Youngest.”
“Yes, Third Senior?”
“What swordplay is that?”
“It’s not a technique.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve never learned it properly, so I’m just swinging.”

Cho Haeng forgot to swallow his water.
Cho Cheon, emerging from the adjacent room, looked back and forth between Yuk Beom’s sword and his face.

“You’re saying you’ve never learned the technique, but you’re producing that level of Geom Ap?”
“That’s right.”

The two disciples, ready to suspect a lie, found nothing in Yuk Beom’s expression.
Cho Haeng slowly lowered his cup.

“Then this is fortunate.”

He walked down to the practice grounds and stood before Yuk Beom.

“Would you like to learn the sword properly?”

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