Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 178 - Embroidered Uniform Guard (5)
Chapter 178 – Embroidered Uniform Guard (5)
Of course, just because his face looked benevolent did not mean he himself was benevolent.
“Couldn’t you move your left foot faster just now?”
“No. That was as fast as I could move it.”
“Bullshit. You just haven’t tried it. Move again.”
I stood before a wooden dummy, swinging my sword and stepping through the footwork. In the middle of that, a sharp blow struck my left knee.
“Ah!”
From the recoil of the hard hit to my knee, my foot jumped forward. For about the length of a blink, I really had moved faster.
“See? You can do it. Why do you say you can’t before even trying?”
“….”
I had nothing to say. Seo Jong-haeng really was a military man through and through, and his teaching was clearly different from the affectionate master-disciple relationship.
As a result, although I had only been learning from Seo Jong-haeng for half a quarter hour, my whole body was already throbbing.
Seo Jong-haeng was definitely several levels above me, so he clearly knew the exact limit of how far I could move. And his lessons proceeded by gradually widening that limit.
The only problem was that his method of widening it was so utterly forceful that it left my whole body aching. On top of that, my wounds had only just been treated, so that affected things as well.
“Do you teach the other guardsmen like this too?”
“Then how else would I teach them? Is there some other way?”
“No.”
Soldiers tended to be somewhat rigid in their thinking to begin with. My master had once said in passing that if your muscles hurt, that only meant you had not yet reached that level and should not overdo it. Who would have thought even such a passing remark had been affection?
“How dare you let your mind wander while learning martial arts!”
Seo Jong-haeng immediately noticed that my thoughts had strayed.
The bamboo sword cracked against my forehead. It was a strike completely devoid of affection, so it hurt terribly. Even my master, who had beaten me often enough, would loosen his strength right before the blow landed so that it only made noise and did not hurt.
For some reason, it was a day that made me think a lot of my master. Once I returned to Wudang, I ought to pay him a visit if the Sect Leader permitted it.
“Faster, faster!”
I was beginning to regret this a little. I had not expected him to cling so stubbornly to such a brute-force training method. I was not even sure my martial skill was truly improving this way.
“By the way, what exactly is your relationship with Chae-hyang?”
“What relationship do you mean?”
“Are you lovers? It’s my first time seeing Chae-hyang act that comfortably around a man.”
“There’s no way.”
“Do you at least intend to make it that way? Honestly, if you pressed her, it feels like it’d work.”
“What do you mean, press her? Forget it.”
I’m sorry, but I had no intention of getting involved with a woman. Of course, ever since my return I had not once suffered the madness I had been born with in my blood, but that did not mean I could be certain I was cured.
“So at least you do have a conscience.”
“It’s not because I think I’m not good enough for her.”
“My mistake. So you really don’t have one.”
Seo Jong-haeng shook his head. It was a strange thing. Peng Chae-hyang’s father had pushed me along, saying I was too good for her, yet over here the one taking her side was the Commander-in-Chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Shouldn’t it have been the opposite?
“What exactly am I lacking?”
“Family, looks, money.”
“…Honestly, that’s unfair. You’re only stating facts.”
Of course, later on I would earn enough to surpass even the Hebei Peng Clan, but it was still a long way off. And family background and looks were not things I could change.
“Still, judged only by martial ability, you are promising enough.”
“You’re finally acknowledging it.”
“I never expected a youngster your age to wound me.”
Seo Jong-haeng rubbed his shoulder. It had probably been treated, but since the injury was still fresh, it must have stung.
Seo Jong-haeng gave my body a quick glance. With so many strips of cloth wrapped around my wounds, I must have looked like a bundle of rags.
“If I was too heavy-handed, then I apologize.”
“I didn’t think you’d apologize.”
“You seem to be a bit different from other hoodlums. Then again, someone like Wang, whose profession is judging people, wouldn’t be bad at it.”
“I am a bit different.”
“Even so, the fact that you’re a hoodlum hasn’t changed. I’m apologizing because you pardoned the guardsmen.”
Despite the grumbling content, his tone had softened quite a bit. From the Commander’s point of view, he would naturally cherish the guardsmen under him more than an outsider like me who had been inserted as a censor. In that sense, it seemed he rather liked the fact that I had forgiven them.
Perhaps embarrassed, Seo Jong-haeng cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“You mainly use two sword arts right now, don’t you? The Flowing Cloud Sword Art and the Nine Nether Asura Sword.”
“I use the Five Elements Sword sometimes too.”
“I’m talking about what you mainly use.”
“Then yes.”
“Your problem is that you don’t use body techniques much. Orthodox-path hoodlums are usually like that. Since they treat wielding a weapon as though it were some sort of cultivation, they all lean in that direction. Though, for that very reason, they do handle blades well. But a weapon was made, in the end, to take a person’s life. Calling it cultivation doesn’t make the violence disappear.”
I nodded. It clearly contained a critical view of the martial world, but there was reason in what he said.
“Which is why you need to learn hand techniques.”
“Hand techniques, huh. I did learn a bit of Taiji Fist.”
“Show me.”
I sheathed my sword at once and began to perform Taiji Fist. After finishing every movement, I returned to the starting stance. Looking at Seo Jong-haeng, I saw him nodding.
“Not bad. Your body techniques aren’t bad either.”
I remembered how the senior brothers, starting with Myeong-gyeong, had used my Taiji Fist to grind me down before. Back then I had no talent for body techniques, but now I had talent for them, and middle grade at that, so it seemed I finally had some proper form.
“At this level, you should’ve learned more advanced body techniques. When you mix swordsmanship and body techniques together, it creates more variables and makes you much harder for your opponent to deal with.”
“Is that so.”
“Since you belong to the Embroidered Uniform Guard too, I suppose I can teach you some palace martial arts.”
“Oh? Really?” “If I only say I feel sorry and leave it at that, you’ll just complain about it behind my back.”
“That’s true.”
Seo Jong-haeng frowned at my answer. Even so, it did not seem like he meant to withhold it.
“Watch carefully. This is the palace body art called the Golden Imperial Thirteen Strikes. Within the thirteen strikes are all contained fist, palm, kick, finger, and leg.”
“Is it something the people of the Embroidered Uniform Guard use too?”
“No. Palace martial arts and the martial arts taught in the Embroidered Uniform Guard are different. Palace martial arts are far more advanced. This is a martial art that even within the Embroidered Uniform Guard may only be learned starting from the rank of True Martial Commissioner, which is regular fourth rank.”
“Is it really all right to teach something like that to me?”
“It would be a bit much to apologize by teaching some low-grade martial art.”
It seemed Seo Jong-haeng felt more sorry toward me than I had expected. As far as I was concerned, that was only a good thing.
Seo Jong-haeng slowly demonstrated the Golden Imperial Thirteen Strikes. The name alone made it sound unmistakably like a palace martial art. Come to think of it, this was my first time directly observing palace martial arts.
I wondered whether I hadn’t already encountered palace martial arts when I fought the Superintendent of the Eastern Depot before, but even the basic starting stance was entirely different. Then again, the Superintendent of the Eastern Depot had only been regular fifth rank, so according to Seo Jong-haeng’s explanation, he would not have been able to learn palace martial arts in the first place.
I could see golden energy rippling from Seo Jong-haeng’s hands and feet. He was releasing that energy on purpose, clearly telling me to watch how it was being moved.
“Uweeeegh.”
“…?”
Seo Jong-haeng turned to look at me. I was startled too. I had suddenly started retching.
He had been in the middle of demonstrating a martial art, so naturally Seo Jong-haeng looked at me as though I were ridiculous.
“Blegh, ah, I’m sorry. Why is this happening?”
I swore there was no mockery in that retching. I really had vomited because nausea rose in me on its own.
“….”
Seo Jong-haeng stopped demonstrating the Golden Imperial Thirteen Strikes. Since the person who was supposed to be watching was busy vomiting, there was no point in continuing.
“Did you eat something bad?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
I hadn’t even eaten a single meal today. So if there was one blessing, it was probably that only spit had come out when I retched.
“Ugh, I’m a little better now. My stomach just suddenly turned nauseous.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Fine, I’ll do it again.”
“Yes.”
Seo Jong-haeng demonstrated the Golden Imperial Thirteen Strikes again.
“Gueeegh.”
“…Are you doing this on purpose? I already apologized.”
“N-no, that’s not it, bleegh.”
I vomited again. The nausea had come over me too suddenly. Seo Jong-haeng tilted his head.
In that instant, I remembered the senior brothers who had been taking the Taiji Sword Guardian examination. When they were exposed to demonic qi, the disciples whose training was lacking had retched and drooled, hadn’t they?
But I carried both demonic qi and spiritual qi within me, and I had never felt this sort of nausea before. Even when I sensed the spiritual qi of someone on the Fighting Exalt’s level, my demonic qi had not reacted. So for it to react to palace martial arts like this was deeply unsettling.
“I guess I must have eaten something bad this morning after all.”
Wiping the saliva from my mouth with my sleeve, I spoke. Even so, it would be strange if I said outright that I had retched in reaction to palace martial arts, so I meant to brush it aside somehow.
“Yes, I suppose that’s it. Palace martial arts don’t contain any extremity-aligned energy.”
Apparently Seo Jong-haeng had been considering that possibility too.
“Ah, there is one exception. It is said that the demonic qi of the Heavenly Demon of legend was a different kind of energy from that of ordinary Demonic Cultists. Palace martial arts were created in reverse after the Founding Emperor saw that martial art.”
For a moment I was so startled I almost hiccupped. Naturally he couldn’t possibly know that the demonic qi of the Divine Demon Pill was inside my body.
“Haha. There’s no way.”
I let it pass naturally. Seo Jong-haeng nodded as well.
“Mm. That’s true. I certainly hope not. If it were, I would have to execute you on the spot.”
“That’s one vicious joke.”
The two of us laughed. But the one whose laughter cut off first was Seo Jong-haeng.
“Still, because the possibility exists, I should verify it just in case.”
“You mean, whether I’m the Heavenly Demon?”
I pointed at myself in exaggerated shock. Seo Jong-haeng nodded.
“You might have inherited the Heavenly Demon’s blood.”
Before I could even think of evading him, Seo Jong-haeng snatched my wrist. For an instant I considered trying to avoid it, but there was no way I could evade him all the way through, and it would only make me look suspicious, so I stayed still.
“That hurts.”
All I did was whine once. Since it had come to this, all I could do was trust in my talent, All Streams Return to the Source.
The energy currently flowing inside my body had already been turned into Primordial Mixed Qi.
“…Hmm.”
Seo Jong-haeng let out a low sound. Judging by the fact that a sword had not flown at me immediately, it seemed All Streams Return to the Source was doing its job properly.
“You carry some strange sort of energy.”
“I hear that a lot. A unique secret art, you could say.”
“Hm. It’s definitely not demonic qi.”
Seo Jong-haeng let go of my wrist. Every time something like this happened, it felt as though I lost ten years off my lifespan.
Come to think of it, Gwan Seoye had been a demon, yet I had not sensed any demonic qi from her at all. Was it some sort of self-preservation measure they had developed because of examinations like this? In any case, it left me confused.
“Fine then. Since the Golden Imperial Thirteen Strikes send you into fits, we’ll forget that. I’ll just teach you the body art I personally use. It’s quite useful.”
Seo Jong-haeng said that while still looking at me with suspicious eyes. Even so, since he had no concrete proof, it seemed teaching me martial arts was still on the table. If he had insisted on demonstrating the Golden Imperial Thirteen Strikes again, I was ready to grit my teeth through it and avoid vomiting this time.
“Sounds good.”
“It’s a martial art called Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance. This one also contains fist, palm, kick, finger, and leg.”
“That’s a pretty name.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Seo Jong-haeng slowly began to demonstrate the Dragon Splendor Soaring Wind Dance. There was no nausea at all.
And just like that, I realized that what I had vaguely suspected was true. The energy flowing within my body was the Heavenly Demon’s energy.