—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator:Bobt
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
When Jang Geon took down the Firebear, the admiration in the eyes of the watching warriors began to steadily drop. From Jang Geon’s perspective, their gazes felt slightly burdensome. Especially Birang’s sparkling eyes were difficult to meet.
However, Jeakpung, who had laid the Firebear down in the shade of a tree, reacted a bit differently. With a serious expression, he asked Jang Geon,
“Your main weapon is a sword, right? If you had fought with your weapon, the Firebear would have died…”
Jang Geon, who was also skilled with his fists, didn’t bother to deny it. After all, if he had used his sword, he wouldn’t have needed two or three exchanges. And the other warriors’ expressions also hardened at Jeakpung’s following words.
“The beggars I saw in the village were not martial artists. Are all true martial artists like you?”
Jang Geon chuckled at the stiffening expressions of the warriors.
“I may not know what qualifies as a ‘true martial artist’, but I am certainly no ordinary fighter.”
“Then does that mean the martial artists the Central Plains man will bring will be easier than you?”
“…I cannot be some absolute standard for martial artists. From the beginning, there can be no precise ranking in fights where lives are risked with blades. But, well, you could say they will be roughly like that.”
Jeakpung folded his arms and stroked his chin.
“Still, borrowing the power of spirits to fight head-on should be the last resort.”
“Was that the power of spirits earlier?”
At Jang Geon’s question, Jeakpung grinned wryly.
“Not just the Central Plains people can use mysterious powers.”
Jang Geon furrowed his brow.
“I’ve never seen anything like that from the people of Cheonhuseng.”
“Not every tribe can borrow the power of spirits. This is not a power that is easily granted.”
Jeakpung seemed reluctant to explain in detail. Jang Geon recalled the rebound he felt when striking the Firebear with his internal force, the flow he sensed from the ground, and the glimpse he caught of the beast’s meridians. Although he couldn’t tell about its blood vessels, the unobstructed flow through its twelve meridians was certainly similar to internal force. Yet he didn’t sense any focused danjeon, which was strange.
However, if they wanted to keep it secret, Jang Geon didn’t wish to pry. He already had his own martial arts that he had cultivated through effort and ability, and would continue to develop. It would be nice to learn more, but even without that, he had many things yet to achieve.
Perhaps sensing Jang Geon’s apparent lack of interest, Jeakpung asked regretfully,
“Aren’t you curious? Shall I tell you?”
As Jang Geon looked at him in puzzlement, Birang cut in from the side.
“To use the power of spirits, you first have to meet a spirit. And with their help, your heart opens, allowing you to accept the power of the spirits and ancestors pervading all things in the world…”
“You brat! Quiet!”
She pursed her lips as Jeakpung scolded her.
“What’s the problem? You can’t meet them unless they allow it anyway.”
“Girl, but still, you can’t just blurt that out…”
Jang Geon silently watched the two bicker, glancing between them, the other warriors shaking their heads, and the Firebear getting up in the distance. It seemed to be some secret of this tribe, but to Jang Geon, it wasn’t worth dwelling on right now.
He spoke up.
“Shall we do what we were going to do?”
“…What we were going to do?”
Jang Geon picked up the sword he had propped up.
“Didn’t you ask me to teach you how to deal with martial artists? Let’s do that.”
Jeakpung and Birang’s faces grew serious. The other warriors watching their banter with smiles also had the same reaction.
Jang Geon sheathed his sword at his waist and stepped back from the gathered warriors, creating a distance about the length of this yard.
“The most dangerous moment against a martial artist is likely their first strike. It’s when their internal force, physical strength, and keen senses all coalesce into an explosive attack. So when two martial artists face off one-on-one, the fight often ends in that first exchange. Life and death can be separated by a paper’s breadth.”
Standing at a distance, Jang Geon looked at the assembled warriors.
“The range for that first exchange is usually around this distance, perhaps a few steps closer or farther. There are martial arts styles that start from greater distances or stick to very close ranges, but those are exceptions. Let me demonstrate.”
Saying so, Jang Geon turned towards a tree outside the clearing. After taking a breath, he instantly traced a white flash.
“Oh…”
“So fast…”
Jang Geon’s flash cleanly severed a tree slightly thinner than a person’s waist. As the tree toppled over, Jang Geon neatly sheathed his blade and faced the warriors.
“The speed will be around that level. The power of the blade may vary somewhat.”
The warriors now looked not just serious, but grave. They had lost confidence in evading that first strike Jang Geon described.
“So how do you deal with that initial attack? Elsewhere it might be difficult, but in this valley, it’s not so hard. Just lure them into the forest.”
The grave expressions turned puzzled. Jeakpung voiced their confusion.
“What do you mean by that?”
“A martial artist’s first strike is powerful but also incredibly straightforward and simple. Facing a blade, the subtle angles and small movements spawn innumerable martial principles. But from a distance, it’s undeniably straightforward. So lure them into the forest to obstruct that linear path.”
Jeakpung seemed to understand quickly.
“You mean block their strongest attack with trees as shields. And then?”
Jang Geon shrugged.
“Well, if it’s those so-so martial artists, the spirit power I saw earlier should be enough.”
“…And if they’re not so-so?”
Jang Geon’s eyes hardened. Looking around at Jeakpung, Birang, the warriors, and the Firebear getting up in the distance, he said,
“Then you’ll just have to risk your life. Hope that the tides of life tilt even slightly in my favor.”
After receiving Jang Geon’s advice, the valley tribe decided to have pairs of warriors lying in ambush along the path leading up to the village. When the Central Plains people came, they would launch surprise attacks as the group passed through the forest. In addition to the ambushing warriors, others went about setting traps in the forest. The tribe’s warriors moved remarkably lightly and nimbly, practically flying through the trees.
Meanwhile, Jang Geon returned to the tent area and sat down under the same tree he had rested against the previous day. He silently watched as Birang gathered a bow and arrows.
Noticing his gaze, Birang tilted her head quizzically.
“What is it?”
“You’re the youngest among the warriors, aren’t you?”
Placing her hands on her hips, she gave a mischievous smile and said, “Are you underestimating me because I’m young? Except for my uncle, I’m the fastest warrior in our tribe. Those martial artists will only be chasing my rear end in the forest before getting struck by my arrows.”
It was a plausible claim. While Jang Geon had studied long-range lightfoot techniques due to his past life’s memories, most martial artists focused their training on crossing just a few steps more quickly rather than running long distances.
But paradoxically, by researching long-range lightfoot arts, Jang Geon was able to reach higher realms of speed techniques. The principles of travelling long distances swiftly had elevated his ability to move short bursts at incredible speeds. It was the reason he had first gained confidence in his own martial arts.
“More importantly, aren’t you curious at all?”
“About what?”
“About the spirits. People from other tribes were curious about how we do it. At least our tribe has never revealed the secret to Central Plains people before.”
Jang Geon gave a wry smile at Birang’s meaningful look.
“So will you tell me?”
“Hmm… In my opinion… Even if I don’t explain, the spirit will likely find you first, Jang Geon. And they will open your heart. Then you too can be called a warrior.”
“Open the heart… What does that mean?”
Birang opened her mouth to explain, but then closed it, seeming stuck. After furrowing her brow in thought for a while, she gave an awkward laugh and said,
“Opening the heart… I guess it means opening the heart…? To be honest, I’m not sure. I just know it opens, but can’t really explain how.”
Jang Geon shook his head slightly and extended his hand.
“May I take a look?”
“Look? How?”
“Give me your hand.”
After a moment’s hesitation, she held out her hand. Jang Geon grasped her wrist and felt her pulse. An extraordinarily fine and delicate flow of energy brushed against her meridians through her wrist.
“Hmm.”
After probing her energy pathways this way, Jang Geon understood what she meant by an ‘opened heart’. Her danzhongxue, the crucial meridian point in the center of her chest, was wide open. It wasn’t just that the pathway for energy was unblocked, but rather it seemed to have a gaping hole through which she inhaled and exhaled the natural energies of the world with each breath.
The term that came to Jang Geon’s mind as he sensed this was ‘zhongdandian’ – the rarely seen Taoist conception of freely drawing in the vast energies of nature to use as one’s own.
At the same time, Jang Geon realized such an open danzhongxue was impossible for him. He had already formed his danjeon and contained his internal force within it. If he opened a hole in his meridians like Birang – however that was achieved, which he couldn’t even fathom – his carefully cultivated internal energy would dissipate over time.
For his painstaking martial arts to amount to nothing, that was unacceptable. He neatly let go of any lingering interest. It wasn’t as if he had helped them expecting to gain such abilities in the first place.
“…Well? Can you see it clearly?”
Jang Geon saw Birang watching him nervously as she asked. Releasing her wrist, he replied vaguely,
“Hmm. I can’t see it very well. And from now on, don’t let any martial artists grab your wrist.”
“Why not?”
“A very few top experts can subdue their opponent by seizing control of the wrist pulse.”
“So you’re saying you’re one of those top experts?”
“I’m a bit different. Unlike them, I awakened these abilities alone.”
Birang tilted her head and smiled.
“Isn’t that even more impressive? Anyway, so I shouldn’t let anyone grab my wrist except you?”
“…Why am I the exception?”
She just looked at Jang Geon mischievously, laughed “Hehehe,” and dashed off into the forest with her quiver. Watching her retreating figure, Jang Geon organized his thoughts.
The insight into Birang’s wide-open danzhongxue was not entirely fruitless. Recalling the Firebear’s movements when attacking him, combined with observing Birang’s meridians, he seemed to have gained some clues. Just considering how an open meridian could powerfully draw in energy in an instant sparked many ideas.
What fruits those ideas might ultimately bear required further contemplation, but his martial arts had always begun from small insights and imagination. Jang Geon could manage a satisfied smile.
Jang Geon stayed in the tribe’s village for several more days after that.
When Jeakpung and Old Cloud realized he intended to not just help but fight alongside them, they expressed gratitude. Jeakpung immediately handed over all the silver taels he had received, plus copper coins he had saved up.
Old Cloud performed rituals day and night in his tent, saying it was to allow Jang Geon to meet a spirit. When the spirit did not respond, he changed to performing the rituals for good fortune going forward.
The Firebear, whom Jang Geon had beaten badly, later came to greet him in a surprisingly casual manner compared to his initial impression. He gifted Jang Geon some fine deerskins and asked to be called ‘Mountain King’ in the Central Plains manner. Jang Geon accepted, as the natives’ pelts could fetch a decent price among Central Plains people.
By the fourth day, as innumerable traps were being set along the path leading up to the village, Jeakpung and Birang came running back from the forest alone.
“They’re here! That Central Plains man is coming up with a bunch of sword-wielding people!”
“Why are you alone?”
“My uncle is still monitoring them. Let’s go quickly!”
At Birang’s cry, the village became a bustle of activity. The tribe’s warriors who had been prepared swiftly left the village. Old Cloud would lead the elderly, children, and infirm deep into the valley to hide.
The warriors’ task now was to drive out the Central Plains people trying to force an unfair contract, using the forest, traps, and their individual martial prowess. At the very least, they would make sure the interlopers never thought of crossing this valley again while bearing blades.
Jang Geon took the lead, dashing ahead using his lightfoot skills. He intended to encounter those Central Plains people first, as there was something he needed to confirm.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
