Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 29 - Pride (3)

Chapter 29 – Pride (3)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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I smiled as I stroked the wooden token the sect leader had given me. The character that had once marked it as temporary had disappeared from the back. That alone made me feel rather good.

But Cheong-hwa still seemed displeased that I had not chosen to become a main-sect disciple.

“You have made a very wrong choice.”

“What about it was wrong?”

“The main-sect disciples will feel uncomfortable, and the lay disciples will feel awkward as well. You chased after being special and instead found loneliness.”

“I’m not lonely at all. Isn’t this great? I get to learn Wudang’s martial arts without being tied down inside the main mountain.”

“Tsk.”

What Cheong-hwa said was not entirely without basis. The main-sect disciples truly were confused about what they ought to call me, and the lay disciples were the same.

I was a lay disciple, yet I did not live with the lay disciples. I lived among the main-sect disciples, receiving martial instruction alongside them. In one sense it was special. In another, it was awkward and in-between.

“I don’t know about the other Myeong-generation children, but at least to the children under me, you are to call them Senior Brother.”

“What? Why?”

“Because, whatever else may be the case, you are studying under the same master.”

As expected, I ended up entering under Cheong-hwa as his disciple. He was the one who had dragged me in this far in the first place, so there was no one else to do it. Apparently, after word spread that I had defeated Myeong-il, several people of the Cheong generation had coveted me, but Cheong-hwa had driven them all away.

“…Fine.”

Only after hearing that answer did Cheong-hwa take me to the Hall of Exhausting the Way.

His three disciples were already standing outside it as though they had heard the news.

Come to think of it, I knew the Daoist names of Myeong-gyeong and Myeong-seong, but not the remaining kid. He looked around Myeong-gyeong’s age.

“From the left, Myeong-seong, Myeong-gyeong, and Myeong-jin. Their order of seniority is also from left to right.”

“Ah, I see.”

So now I knew the Daoist name of the one I had not known. In truth, his Daoist name did not matter that much. I had to call them all Senior Brother anyway.

“You must call all of them Senior Brother.”

“Ahem…”

The moment I tried to call someone Senior Brother, it felt as though my throat was trembling.

“Go on, say Senior Brother.”

Myeong-seong swelled up with importance and prompted me. Even Myeong-seong, the oldest among them, was probably seven years younger than I was.

“…Senior Brother.”

“Louder!”

“Senior Brother.”

“Can’t hear you!”

“Senior Brother!”

Only after I shouted it did the Myeong-generation children nod in satisfaction.

“Your generation is the third generation of Myeong disciples. It would be good for you to remember that. Once you go out into the jianghu, generation order matters.”

“That’s like asking someone’s age before fighting, then.”

“Something like that. From now on, you are their junior brother. Though you may not share blood, you are to cherish one another and look after each other.”

“Yes. Understood.”

If I were the older one, that would be one thing, but to treat these little brats like elder brothers. What kind of tyranny was this?

Still, I knew the wisdom for escaping such situations in life. There was a saying even in the merchants’ world. In this line of work, the one with more money was the elder and the senior.

Even if I was lower than them in generation order, all I had to do was overwhelm them with skill.

I was someone who had defeated even the hall master of the Ascending Thunder Gate, and Myeong-il, the greatest prodigy of the Myeong generation. So naturally, my so-called senior brothers would be no different.

…That was what I thought.

“Junior Brother. To be honest, you’re unbelievably bad.”

“That can’t be true. Watch again.”

“No. We’ve done this several times already. You’re really, truly awful. Admit it.”

Myeong-gyeong looked at me with a face full of disappointment. The pure gaze of a child was more destructive than anything else in the world. That look stabbed me, carved me up, and left me in tatters.

Myeong-seong and Myeong-jin beside him wore the same disappointed look.

Right now, they were teaching me Taiji Fist. Since it was the foundational fist art of Wudang, my senior brothers all knew it well enough, so there was no need for Cheong-hwa to step in personally.

“I’ve never seen anyone this bad at Taiji Fist before.”

“Taiji Fist has to be done softly. You can’t move so stiffly.”

“No, but when you used your sword your body was really supple. Why did you suddenly become this stiff?”

Myeong-seong and Myeong-jin looked as though they genuinely could not understand it.

Of course, this was completely different from the Taiji exercises old men did for their health. That was not a fist art but a kind of calisthenics. Wudang’s Taiji Fist was a combat fist art.

To be honest, I was frustrated too. When I held a sword, my body felt light enough to fly, but the moment I thrust out my fist, my body felt heavy and I could not tell how it was supposed to move.

“Retract your back like this and then throw your fist. That way the power carries through.”

“How do I retract it?”

“Pull your shoulders back.”

“I did.”

“Argh. Get on your knees.”

Myeong-gyeong was still not even five chi tall, so he could not reach my shoulders. It was humiliating to kneel in front of these child senior brothers, but there was nothing for it.

When I knelt down, Myeong-gyeong’s tiny hand grabbed my shoulder and yanked it violently backward.

“Aagh!”

“Bend it like this, like this!”

“I told you I can’t!”

“Everyone else can do it, so why are you the only one who can’t?”

At Myeong-gyeong’s words, the past suddenly came back to me. It was exactly what the one who had been my martial arts master in my previous life had said.

– Mukga. No matter how I look at it, you’re not a martial artist. You don’t have the tiniest shred of talent as one. Even some beggar brat rolling around in the street would move his body better than you.

And it had not been only that man. In fury I had hired other masters too, but though their tones differed, they all said roughly the same thing. The point was that I lacked talent in martial arts and had no clue how to use my body.

“And then, for the second form, One Hand Surpasses the Moon, you have to turn your waist while twisting your foot.”

“I am doing that.”

“Your waist moves first. First you twist the foot, then the knee turns, and only after that does the waist move.”

“I told you, that’s what I’m doing.”

“Ha…”

To think I was listening to a sigh from a child more than ten years younger than me.

That’s right. Even though I had regressed, my rotten martial talent had not fundamentally changed. Up until now, I had only mistaken the purchased talents from the Martial Talent Shop for my own.

In other words, when it came to talents I had not purchased, I was still exactly the same hopelessly clumsy man from my previous life.

“Whew. Junior Brother, let’s try once more. Your movement itself is excellent. Your footwork is perfect. But the moment you actually launch a fist, your body becomes completely strange. I’ll show you again.”

That was only because I possessed Swift Movement. If I wanted to use fist arts properly too, then either I had to practice like a madman, or I had to buy talent for fist arts.

With dull eyes, I looked past Myeong-gyeong’s demonstration and at the Martial Talent Shop instead. By now I had watched his demonstration at least twenty times. Watching it one more time would not change anything.

[ Body Arts Talent – Lowest Grade ]

[ Price: one hundred nyang of silver ]

Annoyingly enough, this was a bundle package. Yes, I had used that strategy often enough when I was a merchant too. Bundle the things that sell with the things that don’t, or bundle the unpopular things together and move them wholesale.

Well, I supposed there was no way to sell fist arts, palm arts, kicking arts, sleeve arts, finger arts, claw arts, and qinna arts separately. It would be odd for someone to be good at fist arts but bad only at claw arts. So they bundled them together. That must be why it cost as much as one hundred nyang of silver. Sword Talent had only cost ten nyang of silver.

‘Will I work hard? Or will I earn money and buy the talent?’

I had two options before me. My choice, of course, was obvious. I would pay money and buy it.

Each person had clothes that suited him. I had talent for earning money, and I ought to make use of that. There was nothing more exhausting or pathetic than clinging to a talent one simply did not have.

“Try once more. Junior Brother.”

Myeong-gyeong said this after finishing his demonstration and catching his breath. But my answer was firm. If I kept going now without purchasing the talent, it would all be pointless anyway.

“I’ll rest for today.”

“What? No. You should rest only after you’ve made at least some progress.”

“It won’t work anyway if I do it now.”

“…Are you giving up?”

Myeong-gyeong looked up at me. The disappointment, sadness, pity, betrayal, and self-reproach mixed in his eyes stabbed me to pieces.

Myeong-gyeong sank down on the ground. His expression, staring listlessly at the dirt, looked so hollow it was as though he had suffered a bereavement.

“He was my direct junior brother, so I really taught him with everything I had…”

“Myeong-gyeong. That’s enough.”

Myeong-seong and Myeong-jin, who had been watching the whole time, came over and comforted Myeong-gyeong. As a bonus, they glared at me.

“That can happen. Even if someone has talent, whether he works hard is still up to him.”

“Maybe I taught him wrong, Senior Brother.”

“No. You did your best.”

Receiving accusing looks from the two child senior brothers made me feel like the world’s worst trash. But what was I supposed to do? It wasn’t as though I wanted to be bad at this.

I scratched at my head and walked over to Myeong-gyeong.

“Senior Brother. I’m sorry. I’ll practice more on my own.”

“If you still can’t do it even with me letting things slide for you, then will you really manage alone, Junior Brother?”

Even Myeong-jin, the youngest one, said something. He had always been so quiet that I had barely even heard his voice before, so hearing criticism from him made the shock even worse.

“No, Junior Brother. Don’t say that. Hui-yeong Junior Brother worked hard. I know that much.”

“That doesn’t make sense. He handles the sword that well, but he’s that bad at fist arts. He’s obviously being lazy on purpose.”

“Hui-yeong Junior Brother is a kind person. He wouldn’t do that. Right?”

Seeing the sorrowful look in Myeong-gyeong’s eyes made my guilt feel even heavier.

“Honestly, I don’t know about kind… but I did work hard.”

“Right. I know.”

“I think I’m burdening you senior brothers too much. You all need time for your own training too.”

“Excuses.”

Myeong-seong spat that out. It looked like, among my senior brothers, I had already become trash.

A piece of trash with talent who would not put in effort. And that was while they were teaching me with all their sincerity at their side. Even I had to admit I was unlikeable.

For the moment, I soothed the Myeong-generation senior brothers. Myeong-gyeong only went off to do his individual training after making me repeat my promise that I would practice Taiji Fist alone.

Once I was left alone, I had to rethink everything. Becoming a Registered lay disciple of Wudang was definitely an opportunity. The rise in martial skill and the thrill of victory I had never experienced in my previous life were exhilarating. If I learned martial arts at Wudang, then unlike in my previous life, the odds of dying from a blade would be low most of the time.

‘But I can’t remain only inside Wudang.’

Staying in Wudang and learning nothing but martial arts was not what I wanted. That was exactly why I had refused becoming a main-sect disciple.

Moreover, if I wanted to buy talents, then it was unavoidable that I would need to earn money.

Most importantly, I was a merchant. That needed no flowery language or further reason.

Once the conclusion settled in my mind, I immediately went to find Cheong-hwa. There was no need to search, however. When I went to the Hall of Exhausting the Way, Cheong-hwa was already there waiting for me.

“Immortal.”

The moment I sat down, Cheong-hwa shot me a glare.

“Why am I an Immortal?”

“Pardon?”

“You should be calling me Master.”

“Ah. Right. Sorry, Master.”

At the word Master, Cheong-hwa’s expression softened slightly. Was that form of address really so important?

“You are my disciple now. That means you have become a mirror reflecting me.”

“So I should be more careful in my conduct from here on.”

“No. Conduct is not something you fix simply by being careful. You need to change from the root up. Not only your martial arts, but your speech and your attitude must become those of a martial artist.”

Hearing someone deny my fundamental existence so suddenly left me dumbstruck.

“I heard from the children today. They said you practiced Taiji Fist halfheartedly.”

“What? That’s not true. I worked hard.”

“Sssst.”

“…?”

“If your master says so, then that’s how it is. Why are you talking back so much? Things like that are exactly what you need to fix.”

Cheong-hwa really seemed determined today. But from my perspective, it still felt unfair. What was I supposed to do when my body simply would not follow?

“You have outstanding talent, but you cannot approach things with that sort of attitude. Back when you were still a lay disciple, didn’t you make a point of resisting even when we taught you the Three Calamities Arts?”

“What are you talking about? I really did fall asleep because I was sleepy. And I do consider that my fault.”

“Ssssst.”

“…”

“Sssssst.”

“…I’m sorry.”

This was not even being made to bow and apologize. It was more like getting hit on the back of the head and then made to apologize for it.

“Do better from now on. I will be watching.”

Cheong-hwa spoke as though that were all he had come to say and began to rise. But I could not let him leave after saying only what he wanted.

“Master.”

“What.”

“I have something to say.”

“What is it?”

“I’m going to go out from the main mountain for a while.”

At my words, Cheong-hwa’s face immediately crumpled.