Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 114 - Duality (2)

Chapter 114 – Duality (2)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“One-Sword Asura Wei Zhiqianying. He was quite a vicious bastard. I got it by cutting him down.”

Cheong-hwa suddenly pulled one arm out of his robe and bared his shoulder. A thick scar could be seen there. If it had landed even one inch lower, Cheong-hwa would have become a one-armed man.

“I don’t know who that is.”

“Of course you don’t. Figures of the Demonic Cult must not become known to the public. That would amount to admitting the imperial palace’s failure in wiping out the Demonic Cult. Even so, he was a famous demonic head among martial artists.”

“So not just an unorthodox fighter, but an actual demonic head?”

“Yes. This secret manual was in his robes.”

“Huh. So you’re telling me you’re about to teach me the sword of a demonic head?”

“Enough.”

Cheong-hwa smiled faintly as he clenched a fist. I immediately put an index finger to my lips and promised to keep my mouth shut.

“I’m thinking of taking a different view of what a master is, at least with you.”

“A different view of a master?”

“Yes. In Wudang, a master is normally like a potter who shapes even a person’s character. I too tried to change you as a person. To make you into a Daoist suited to Wudang.”

“You did. You kept telling me to become a main-mountain disciple, and how a Daoist should be, and so on.”

“But after watching you quietly, I realized my way was mistaken.”

“At least you realized it eventually.”

Cheong-hwa’s fist stopped right in front of my forehead. A bead of sweat ran down the back of my neck from the tension that fist created.

“I told you enough.”

“Yes.”

“To continue, there was no point trying to bend ivy growing to the left toward the right. In fact, it was cruel to the ivy. It wasn’t even an immature thing. I was trying to bend something already fully grown, so how much pain must the ivy have felt?”

“You didn’t do it knowingly. At this age, most people still haven’t fully formed their character.”

“Yes. It’s your fault. You’re too mature for your age.”

Cheong-hwa and I both let out short laughs. By now, it no longer felt strange that we were close enough to joke so freely.

“Even so, that doesn’t mean I’m not your master. Once a master, always a master. So I should strive to become a better master for you.”

“You don’t need to go that far. You’re already more than enough as my master.”

I truly thought so. At first, there had only been large and small clashes because I intended to leave Wudang. After that, it was an obvious fact that he had taken excellent care of me in every way.

“That’s a matter of my pride. In any case, no matter what I do with the others, with you I intend to teach in the direction that lets your strengths shine more clearly.”

“And that starts with the martial art of that demonic head?”

“It’s the martial art of a demonic head, but not a martial art that uses demonic qi. Of course, using demonic qi might produce synergy, but even as a martial art on its own, it’s excellent.”

“Is it?”

“It is. As people commonly think, the martial arts of the unorthodox path are crude. The ones with superb structure and the spirit of the upper realms are the martial arts of the Demonic Cult. Of course, what I just said is a secret.”

“Of course.”

Sometimes, there were times like that. Times when praising the enemy alone could get one branded a traitor. But as someone who believed praise should be given where it was due, I understood Cheong-hwa even better.

“But if you get caught teaching me this, won’t that be a disaster?”

“I might be expelled from the sect. A master teaching a disciple of Wudang a martial art of the Demonic Cult is something for which Wudang has no precedent.”

“Then it’s far too dangerous for you. I don’t need to learn it.”

“No. Watching you made me want to change as well. You are helping Wudang in a way that is not Wudang’s own, so I wanted to cast aside my own way and help you.”

I let out a small laugh. I could feel it. The fact that a person like me was changing the people of Wudang. It was also a little embarrassing that Cheong-hwa thought of me to that extent.

“If you put it like that, I can’t very well refuse.”

“Good. If you go to Gansu alone, dangerous things might happen. There are still some remnants of the Demonic Cult in Gansu. That’s another reason I’m teaching you this. If you understand the flow of Demonic Cult martial arts, it’ll be easier to deal with them.”

“I’ll be careful.”

That was probably because Xinjiang, which lay beside Gansu, was home to the Hundred-Thousand Great Mountains, the stronghold of the Demonic Cult.

What I had realized in this life was that, more than I had thought, the Demonic Cult had penetrated quite deeply into our lives. In my previous life, I hadn’t sensed it at all.

“This is a martial art even I haven’t practiced. It’s too domineering, so it doesn’t match the nature of Wudang’s heart arts at all. But after looking it over, I judged the martial art itself to contain the spirit of the upper realms to a very great degree. Enough to stand comparison even with Wudang’s martial arts.”

“If you evaluate it that highly, Master, then it really must be an excellent martial art.”

“It is. I know that better than anyone, since I fought against it personally.”

“But if even you haven’t practiced it, Master, is it really all right for me to learn it?”

“Do I look like a fool to you?”

Cheong-hwa pushed his face close. A shadow fell over my upturned face.

“Pardon?”

“I mean, did you really think I wouldn’t know why you sought out the Dual Intent Heart Art?”

For a moment, I nearly stopped breathing. I wondered whether Cheong-hwa had somehow discovered my demonic qi.

“…What are you talking about?”

I answered while barely keeping my expression and voice composed.

“You have another heart art right now, don’t you? Otherwise there’d be no reason for you to learn the Dual Intent Heart Art.”

Cheong-hwa went on.

“I don’t know what heart art it is, since you’ve been hiding it, but I know at least this much. That you’re practicing a heart art whose nature doesn’t match Wudang’s martial arts.”

Inside, I let out a huge sigh of relief. I’d almost died of fright thinking my demonic qi had been found out. It truly felt like losing ten years of my life.

“H-ha ha. So you knew.”

“Even if you suppress your other internal energy on purpose, it still gives off a feeling. I certainly didn’t teach your Flowing Cloud Sword Art to be so domineering.”

“Ahem. So you really did know.”

“Yes. I don’t know what sort of internal energy it is that you’re hiding so carefully, but if you’re going to hide it, then hide it to the very end.”

“Understood.”

Fortunately, Cheong-hwa didn’t probe into the internal energy I was hiding. In the martial world, prying into another’s concealed martial art was taboo. Since he was my master, he could have broken that taboo if he wanted to, but Cheong-hwa seemed to trust me. Thinking that made me feel guilty for no reason. It wasn’t as though I had cultivated demonic qi because I wanted to.

“May I ask if there’s anything I don’t understand?”

“No, don’t ask. I don’t know much about that side of things either.”

“What if I fall into qi deviation?”

“People who fall into qi deviation usually do so because they don’t understand themselves well enough. They don’t know how much internal energy they can handle, or what sort of principles they themselves handle best. But from what I can see, you’re not that kind of person.”

“I am very good at objectively assessing myself.”

“You’re a child for whom praise is utterly unrewarding.”

I smiled. Honestly, I did want to accept the praise humbly, but being praised at my age was embarrassing, so I just let it dissipate instead.

“I realized it when you sparred with Martial Brother Cheong-yu. You’re already someone who has completed his own world. No matter how domineering the Nine Nether Asura Sword may be, it won’t devour you. A completed martial artist isn’t devoured by his martial art. He wields it instead. That’s why I can entrust this martial art to you with peace of mind. If it were any of the other children, it would be out of the question.”

“I see.”

Cheong-hwa truly was a good master. He knew I possessed domineering internal energy, he knew I wouldn’t be devoured by the domination in the Nine Nether Asura Sword, and only then did he give me the martial art. He could have refused to teach it because of Wudang’s rules, but he was teaching it because he thought it suited me. What more ideal kind of master could there be?

In any case, it really was a strange bond. To eat a spiritual medicine containing demonic qi in Wudang, and then receive a martial art suited to demonic qi in Wudang as well. It seemed that fate connected wherever it chose.

I carefully tucked the book into my robes. The book itself was so old that it felt as though it would crumble if handled even a little roughly.

“Then off with you. Travel to Gansu well.”

“I’ll bring you back a gift.”

“No need.”

At Cheong-hwa’s dismissal, I stepped outside.

I could have gone straight to the Hall of Exhausting the Way, but for some reason I suddenly wanted to try using the Nine Nether Asura Sword once.

Fortunately, I had once served as a messenger in the Hall of Preserved Wholeness. That meant I knew very well where the secluded places in Wudang were.

The place I chose was the Small Practice Ground in the outer court. The Small Practice Ground of the outer court was usually where lay disciples trained alone, but lay disciples rarely did personal training. At night, at this hour, even more so. So there was no one guarding it.

When I spread my senses, there really was no one there. Even so, I didn’t let down my guard as I slowly drew my sword.

I had no idea what kind of man that One-Sword Asura fellow had been, but he had certainly been quite scholarly.

The original contents of the Nine Nether Asura Sword manual had been written in such vicious handwriting, and in such a disorderly manner, that it was hard to tell what was a form and what was a mnemonic verse.

But then annotations that seemed to have been written by One-Sword Asura caught my eye.

How one should guide internal energy when using a given form, how one should emit that internal energy, and how the sword should be extended.

There were even many places where he had struck out the original text with a brush and written in passages of his own. That was how martial arts developed in the first place.

I slowly began to unfold the Nine Nether Asura Sword. The first form was Asura Emerges. My sword shook softly and produced afterimages.

“Hmm.”

I was about to keep going, but simply sheathed the sword instead. The spiritual qi I currently possessed was formed from Wudang’s breathing method and the Supreme Clarity Pill, so it definitely didn’t suit the Nine Nether Asura Sword.

I drew out my demonic qi. In any case, so long as I didn’t emit it externally, no one would be able to sense the demonic qi.

I used the Nine Nether Asura Sword again. The afterimages shook rapidly left and right and gave off a sinister killing intent. If each afterimage gave off killing intent, that meant each one was a real strike.

‘Huh.’

For a moment, I was startled. I barely stopped the demonic qi inside me from being drawn out by the energy of the Nine Nether Asura Sword. The Nine Nether Asura Sword was resonating with demonic qi.

It seemed my ability to handle demonic qi was still lacking. To think it had nearly been drawn out immediately. I had almost advertised to all of Wudang that I possessed demonic qi.

In any case, even though it was the same martial art, using a different internal energy made the differences plain.

There were several differences between spiritual qi and demonic qi. If one had to choose the most representative ones, it would be that spiritual qi was slow, while demonic qi was fast. And spiritual qi was curved, while demonic qi was straight.

The Nine Nether Asura Sword was a domineering and swift sword art. It was diametrically opposed to Wudang’s heart arts, which were leisurely, unhurried, and seemed ready to break yet never did.

Of course, the Nine Nether Asura Sword was still an excellent martial art even when performed with spiritual qi. But if one wanted to draw out all of the subtle principles of the Nine Nether Asura Sword, demonic qi really was indispensable.

‘Am I lucky?’

What were the odds that my master would fight a remnant of the Demonic Cult, obtain a Demonic Cult martial arts manual as spoils, and then pass it on to a disciple of the orthodox path? The world was indeed a series of accidents.

And turning accidents into inevitability, and opportunities into gains, was a person’s role.

I closed my eyes and opened them again. Faint words floated up before me. It was the Martial Talent Shop, which I hadn’t seen in a while.