Ultimate Martial Venerable - Chapter 7

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

Chapter 7. Effort Is Also a Talent
The next morning, Yuk Beom woke to the sound of hammering.
When he opened the door to the Separate Building, unfamiliar craftsmen filled the yard, bustling about tearing down pillars and roof tiles and measuring out dimensions for new furnishings.

“You’re awake?”

Yuk Ho approached with a bright face.

“I’m thinking of bringing in a new bed and desk, and replacing the cultivation stone with a larger one too.”

Yuk Beom watched the craftsmen moving back and forth in the chaos.

“This was fine before, Father.”
“Fine? What’s fine about it? The roof leaks whenever it rains, and snow blows in through the cracks in winter.”

Yuk Ho patted his son’s shoulder with a laugh.

“Your grandfather even suggested you move your quarters to the Blue Bamboo Garden altogether. But since this is where you’ve lived since childhood, I thought it better to repair it properly than tear it down.”

One bout of sparring the night before had changed everything. Until then, no one had given this weathered Separate Building a second glance.
It was bitter to realize how easily people’s treatment of you could shift on the strength of your skill alone.

“Stay at your grandfather’s quarters each evening until the work is finished. He says he’ll oversee your training personally.”
“Understood.”

Yuk Ho nodded with satisfaction. Before turning to leave, he pressed a small pouch into Yuk Beom’s hand.
When Yuk Beom opened it, there were more than ten Gold Coins inside.
He let out a hollow laugh. In a single day, he’d received more than he’d accumulated in years.
Still, there was a good chance he’d need money for O Jin’s training, so for now this support was welcome.
Yuk Beom placed the pouch of Gold Coins into the Kusomun Ring and left the house.
Near Yeonmu Plaza, whispers about Yuk Beom—who had climbed three ranks in a single month—never ceased. The old mockery had transformed into wariness and envy.
Yuk Beom paid attention to neither.
In the center of Yeonmu Plaza stood Yuk Myeong and Jang Wol Ham side by side. Jang Wol Ham had returned to the Yuk Clan after going home to see in the new year.
When Jang Wol Ham spotted Yuk Beom, she looked at him with complicated eyes.
The gaze of someone who had heard the rumor that the man she’d abandoned had climbed three ranks in a month and defeated Yuk Cheon Gang.
Yuk Beom passed by the two as if he hadn’t seen them.

“Yuk Beom, stop right there.”

Yuk Myeong’s voice cut through the air.
Yuk Beom stopped and turned his head only.

“What is it?”
“You break Yuk Cheon Gang’s arm and walk around as if nothing happened.”
“It was a formal bout. The Patriarch witnessed it himself.”
“He’s my man.”

Yuk Beom’s eyes grew cold.
By blood, he was closer to Yuk Myeong than to Yuk Cheon Gang. Yet Yuk Myeong had never once called him his own.

“So you’re planning to settle it in his place?”
“Not right now.”

Yuk Myeong tilted his chin up.

“I have to return to the academy soon. But in three months, I’ll definitely come back for the Seoshan Hunting Tournament. Then we’ll settle this properly. I’ll see with my own hands whether you’ve truly changed, or just got lucky once.”

It was a transparent provocation, but in Seoshan, where family rules held no sway, they would inevitably clash sooner or later.

“Do as you please.”

Yuk Beom spoke only those words before turning away.
Yuk Myeong shouted from behind that he was merely at the sixth stage of the Continuous Realm, but Yuk Beom did not look back. Jang Wol Ham could not hold him back until the end.
Only after Yuk Beom had vanished from sight did she ask quietly.

“In yesterday’s sparring match… did you really finish it with a single punch?”
“Don’t speak of that.”

Yuk Myeong’s voice turned rough.

“I simply got lucky.”
* * *
Upon arriving at the tavern, O Jin locked the door as though he had been waiting.

“Let’s go to the Rear Courtyard.”

Behind the worn shop lay a vast courtyard hidden from view, lined with Alcohol Jars. At its center stood a tremendous tripod cauldron, large enough to hold four people with room to spare. Eight dragons carved into its black body all had their jaws pointed inward toward the vessel’s belly.

“What is that?”
“The Wenhua Cauldron.”

O Jin gestured toward the cauldron.

“From today on, you’ll train inside it.”

Yuk Beom alternated his gaze between the cauldron and his master.

“Inside it, not beside it, sir?”
“Your ears work fine, so you heard me clearly.”

An ominous feeling crept over him.
O Jin’s lips curved upward, as though savoring his disciple’s expression.

“The first ordeal to becoming a Flame Practitioner is Body Tempering—forging the flesh itself. If you cannot endure this process, you will never be able to sense Original Qi.”

Yuk Beom’s eyelids twitched lightly.
O Jin tapped the cauldron’s rim as he continued his explanation.

“To become a Flame Practitioner, one needs a sensibility that harmonizes with the breath of heaven and earth. Those who manipulate fire or water, or those with unusually potent Original Yang or Original Yin—these are the examples.”

“It seems I lack such talent, sir.”

When Yuk Beom spoke candidly, O Jin let out a scoff.

“That’s exactly why I took you on.”

“That’s hardly comforting.”
“Another Flame Practitioner would have sent you away. But what talent we lack, we can forge.”

The playfulness vanished from O Jin’s eyes.

“I wasn’t exceptional from the start either. I’ve failed countless times, persevered longer than others, and climbed to where I stand now. If you lack inborn gift, then make effort itself your talent.”

Yuk Beom regarded his master in silence.

“Many are born with aptitude, but few see it through to the end. Don’t grow giddy at a few successes, and don’t collapse at the first failure.”
“I will remember this.”

At Yuk Beom’s response, O Jin’s face slid back into his usual sly grin.

“Then strip off your shirt and get in.”
“Not even time for the sentiment to settle, is there?”
“Fire doesn’t wait.”

Yuk Beom shed his tunic and plunged into the Wenhua Cauldron.
The moment his feet touched the cauldron’s floor, characters carved into its inner wall began to glow one by one.
From the mouths of eight dragons, violet flames erupted.
Whoosh!
In an instant, fire consumed his entire body.

“Agh!”

The pain burned not in his skin but deep in the bone itself. Even when both arms had shattered at Seoshan, it hadn’t been anything like this.
Purple Heart Heavenly Fire

didn’t merely burn the flesh. It hunted down the breath sleeping in the body’s depths and dragged it up, strand by strand, into the flames.
Yuk Beom suppressed the urge to bolt from the cauldron.
Strangely, his body wasn’t deteriorating. Wherever the flames swept, his meridians and muscles grew tighter, more resilient.

‘Just a little longer.’

He clenched his teeth.
O Jin had said to endure as long as he could from the beginning. There was no reason to set his own limits.
Each time the flames washed over him, his entire body convulsed, but Yuk Beom didn’t step out of the cauldron.
A quarter hour passed, then half a double hour.
O Jin’s expression, as he controlled the flames from outside, began to shift.
At first, he’d thought half a double hour would be enough. If Yuk Beom endured for half a double hour daily, repeated for a month, the Original Qi seed could be drawn from his body.
But now a full double hour had elapsed, and Yuk Beom remained standing.
By the sound of his ragged breathing, he hadn’t lost consciousness.

“Does this boy actually feel pain at all?”

O Jin’s murmur drew no answer from inside the cauldron.
Another double hour passed.
At last, the violet flames wreathing the cauldron began to diminish. The Purple Heart Heavenly Fire he’d prepared had been completely exhausted.
The moment the flames vanished, Yuk Beom burst from the cauldron.
His entire body glowed crimson-hot, and thick steam rose from his hair.

“Aaaahhh!”

Yuk Beom released all the pain he’d been holding back, driving his fist down hard against the stone floor.
Crash!
Violet flames bloomed from his knuckles.
The courtyard’s stone floor cracked deep, and purple fire spread along the fissures before fading away.
O Jin’s pupils constricted to pinpricks.
Just once.
With just a single session of Body Tempering, the talent he had been trying to forge revealed itself on its own.
Yuk Beom, oblivious to this fact, collapsed onto the ground.

“Master, do I really have to do this training every day?”

O Jin hid his amazement and answered calmly.

“Two hours of endurance isn’t bad at all.”
“Just ‘not bad’?”
“Did you come in looking for praise?”

Yuk Beom lacked the strength to respond and lay flat on his back.
When O Jin placed a hand on his shoulder, white light flowed into his body. The burning fatigue washed away, and strength returned to his rigid limbs.

“Get up. There’s something to check.”

O Jin pointed to the Wenhua Cauldron.

“Strike it with the Collapsing Mountain Fist at full power.”

Yuk Beom rose to his feet and examined the cauldron’s thick body.

“Please don’t be angry if I break it.”
“If you break this cauldron, I’ll make you my master.”
“I’ll remember those words.”

Yuk Beom drew a deep breath and thrust both fists forward.

“Collapsing Mountain Fist!”

Bang!
The moment his fists struck the Wenhua Cauldron, a thin strand of Qi rose from his Dantian. The wisp of energy, fine as thread, raced down both arms and transformed into flames above his clenched fists.
Clang!
The cauldron remained pristine, unmarked.
Instead, a powerful recoil sent Yuk Beom flying backward.

Oof!

Yuk Beom sailed across the courtyard and landed hard on his backside. His entire body felt as though it might scatter again, yet his eyes blazed with astonishment.

“Fire just came from my fists.”

This time, O Jin made no effort to hide his smile.

“I saw.”
“Is this Original Qi?”
“It’s still just a wisp that hasn’t even reached seed form yet. But you’ve proven your qualification.”

O Jin helped Yuk Beom to his feet.

“From today on, you can become a Flame Practitioner.”

Yuk Beom’s heart raced violently.
One of the two impossible paths was opening before him.

“What should I learn first, then?”

O Jin drew a long folded paper from his robes and handed it over.
When Yuk Beom unfolded it, the names of over ten medicinal herbs and their required quantities filled the page densely. They were common herbs, but the quantities were excessive—even the lantern grass alone required several pounds.

“Buy everything on the list. Starting tomorrow, you’ll spend your days in the Wenhua Cauldron, and use whatever time remains to learn how to handle medicinal herbs.”

Yuk Beom scanned the inventory carefully before asking with some hesitation.

“With what I earned today, I’m afraid it won’t be enough for all of this.”
“No, it won’t.”
“If you could contribute a little, Master…….”
“I don’t have it either.”

O Jin spoke without a trace of apology.

“A Flame Practitioner without money?”
“Have you ever seen the tavern do well?”

Yuk Beom had no counter to that.

“If you want to learn, you provide the funds. You have until this time tomorrow.”

In the end, Yuk Beom left the tavern with the list of medicinal herbs in hand.
The moment the door closed, the smile vanished from O Jin’s face.
The results of Body Tempering that he had expected to take a month appeared in a single day. He would need to overhaul his entire training plan.

“I’ve found a vessel far larger than I anticipated.”

O Jin went to his room and retrieved an old book wedged beneath the legs of his wobbly table.
When he blew away the thick layer of dust, the characters on the cover emerged into view.
The Supreme Limit Soul Refining Manual.

O Jin slowly opened the book that had been sealed away for so long.

“Perhaps the time has come for this to see the world again.”
* * *
Yuk Beom spent the entire day moving through the herbalists and street vendors of Ganglim Castle.
Comparing prices, haggling over costs, wearing out his feet from dawn to dusk—he managed to gather only half of what was on the list.
By the time the sun was setting, not a single gold coin remained.

‘I never realized money would cost so much.’

He would need to find more funds to purchase the remaining herbs.
His father would give him money if he asked, but explaining what it was for would be difficult. He wanted to keep the fact that he had taken O Jin as his master and that he could become a Flame Practitioner hidden for now.
As Yuk Beom arrived at the Yuk Clan’s gate, deep in thought, the guard rushed toward him with urgency.

“Young Master Yuk Beom, you’ve returned at last?”

His manner was wholly unlike his usual self—reverent, almost nervous.

“What’s the matter?”
“The Clan Lord waits for you in the Rear Garden. He’s been searching for you since early on, so you should hurry.”

Even after finishing his words, the guard lingered.

“And your match last night was truly extraordinary, Young Master. I’ve long known you were destined for greatness.”

Yuk Beom regarded him quietly.

“Is that so?”
“Of course.”
“Then why didn’t anyone help me up when I collapsed in the snowdrift in front of the gate a month ago?”

The guard’s laughter froze on his face.
Yuk Beom did not press further.

“I’ll go to the patriarch.”

He passed the stiffened guard and made his way toward the Rear Garden.
Above the lake where night had settled, the lantern in the pavilion swayed gently.
Yuk Ho Yeon, moving slowly in the center of the pavilion, turned to face Yuk Beom.

“You’ve come, Beom.”

Yuk Beom bowed respectfully, and Yuk Ho Yeon beckoned him closer with a wave of his hand.

“Welcome.”

A gentle smile bloomed at the old man’s lips.

“Show me your full strength. Strike at me with all you have.”

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