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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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No. There exists a martial art a clever person can’t learn? That’s nonsense. Was he making excuses because he didn’t want to teach me?
I didn’t think my master would be like that, but I wasn’t sure, and I wanted to learn Twin Hand Combat so badly that I pressed him.
“No! You’re only teaching me half of the Dog Beating Staff Technique, and you won’t even teach me Twin Hand Combat. Am I really your disciple?”
Apparently, the Dog Beating Staff Technique was a two-handed staff technique. So, my master, considering my limp leg, had taught me mainly the one-handed moves. Honestly, those alone were strong and useful enough, so I had no complaints.
However, I was already fixated on Twin Hand Combat. Such things didn’t matter to me. The present was being rewritten for the sake of the future.
Even though I felt ungrateful, I desperately wanted to learn Twin Hand Combat. I’m sorry, Master. I’ll show my filial piety later.
“Haha~ I didn’t only teach you half, I taught you what was necessary. In fact, it could be called a ‘Revised (改)’ Dog Beating Staff Technique, since all the unnecessary parts were removed.”
“Haha~ Half the moves are gone. How is that ‘Revised (改)’? It’s a ‘Counterfeit (僞)’ Dog Beating Staff Technique.”
My master chuckled quietly at my words, then nodded as if he suddenly understood my behavior.
“Seeing you throw a tantrum like a child when you’re usually so mature, I see you really want to learn Twin Hand Combat. Indeed, it must be frustrating not being able to learn a martial art you desire.”
Surprised by my master’s unexpected empathy, I tilted my head in confusion.
“Is there a martial art even you haven’t learned, Master?”
Considering what he’d shown me so far, it wouldn’t be strange if he knew every martial art in the world. Seeing him like this was intriguing.
“Of course. Mancheon, the world is vast, and there are many martial arts. …There are so many martial arts I don’t know.”
His last words were almost a lament.
Martial artists were known to love martial arts, but my master’s thirst for knowledge about them was excessive. He already knew dozens, perhaps even more, of profound martial arts, each powerful enough to make him unmatched. Why did he still wander the world, searching for new techniques? I couldn’t understand.
“I’ve heard that martial artists usually only learn and practice the techniques of their own sect. But why do you learn and study so many different martial arts, Master? For that matter, do we even have a sect?”
I hadn’t originally intended to ask this, but the opportunity presented itself, so I voiced my long-held curiosity. The atmosphere felt different today, like he might actually tell me.
As I expected, my master paused for a moment, then, as if ready to speak, looked at me with his kind yet emotionless gray eyes.
“That’s because I’m not a martial artist, but a martial scholar. That’s why I don’t belong to any sect.”
“A martial… scholar?”
‘Martial,’ relating to the body, and ‘scholar,’ relating to the mind. The words didn’t seem to fit together. I’d never heard the term before. But well, this was the martial world, so maybe there were scholars who studied martial arts.
“Mancheon, what do you think martial arts are?”
It might have seemed like a random question, but I was used to these kinds of questions from my master. This was his way of imparting the wisdom he’d gained in life. In these situations, it was best not to overthink it and just answer honestly.
“Hmm… I’ve been so busy learning that I haven’t really thought about it. But if I had to answer, I’d say they’re interesting techniques.”
“Interesting techniques?”
“Yes. Wind comes out of people’s hands, the scent of plum blossoms from their swords, and they can do things ordinary people could never do through training. How interesting is that? I want to keep learning interesting techniques in the future.”
“I wander without a fixed location, so I can’t teach you forever. How do you plan to learn martial arts from now on?”
“Of course, I’ll find a new master. Man, woman, old, young, I don’t care. If they have something to teach me, and I want to learn it, I’ll take them as my master and receive their instruction.”
Depending on how you heard it, my words could sound arrogant, almost like, “It doesn’t matter if you leave, I’ll just find another master.” But my master laughed. He threw his head back and laughed heartily, a laugh that seemed to reach the heavens.
“Yes! That’s it! If you want to learn something, keep learning! If you have questions, keep asking!”
My master sprang to his feet. I’d always thought he was a large man, but today his presence felt especially imposing, like a towering mountain.
“Don’t mind what other martial artists say. Don’t pay attention to their talk of sects, history, or bloodlines! Martial arts are just tools!”
An unwavering energy, unlike his usual gentle demeanor, filled the air. His kind eyes blazed with passion.
“Is there such a thing as a righteous sword, or an evil sword? No! It’s the same with martial arts. Whether a martial art is righteous or evil is just something people arbitrarily decide.”
My master paused for a moment, then spoke to me cautiously.
“Some martial arts, called demonic arts, involve eating people’s brains and consuming human flesh. But those are monstrous aberrations, so I won’t mention them further. They’re not even worth discussing.”
An extra bit of teaching in the middle of his speech, for his disciple’s benefit. That was just like my master.
“Ultimately, it’s the person wielding the sword who matters, how they choose to use it. It’s the person who’s important. Righteousness and chivalry are important. True righteousness isn’t constrained by the tools it uses.”
Martial arts are just tools. Mere tools. If any martial artist proud of their sect and its history had heard those words, they would have tried to tear him apart. No, perhaps countless martial artists had already tried to kill my master for such words.
“Even if heaven itself obstructs me, I will learn and study every martial art in existence.”
“Why… why are you trying to learn every martial art in the world?”
Respect for my master, and fear of this incomprehensible being, mingled in my trembling voice. And to my question, my master answered in his usual kind yet firm voice.
“Because after learning them, naturally, I must teach them.”
That was a perfectly reasonable answer, but somehow, it felt anticlimactic.
For a moment, I’d entertained the absurd fantasy that my master was gathering every martial art in the world to create one ultimate technique, defeat all martial artists, and conquer the world.
“I’ll find a house with a large yard. I’ll teach those who are willing the virtues of humanity – benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and sincerity – and then I’ll teach them martial arts.”
I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of my master calmly declaring his intention to gather treasures from a thorny path and share them with others. He truly was my master.
Gathering every martial art in the world to teach people in a yard – what a grand, yet humble, and wonderful dream.
But that was that, and this was this. I joined my master in laughter, fostering a harmonious atmosphere, and then asked him again.
“Master, thank you for that wonderful story. But when are you going to teach me Twin Hand Combat?”
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To cut a long story short, I didn’t learn Twin Hand Combat.
Or rather, I learned the theory. But… thinking about it, I didn’t really need Twin Hand Combat to live, and it didn’t seem like that great a technique anyway. I should just practice the Seven Star Formation…
To be more precise, I learned it, but I couldn’t use it. I memorized the theory perfectly, but whenever I tried to perform the technique, my hands got tangled up.
It’s fine. Twin Hand Combat must have been sour grapes anyway.
As I pouted like a duck, wounded in my pride, my master, seemingly amused and pitying me, offered a new martial art.
“Haha~ You can’t be helped. I’ll teach you a new martial art instead of Twin Hand Combat.”
“A new martial art?”
Seeing my interest, my master raised his left hand and explained.
“This is the fist technique my left hand used when my two hands were sparring with Twin Hand Combat earlier. It’s a Taoist technique called the Seventy-Two Emptiness Illumination Fist (空明拳).”
Empty (空). Bright (明). Fist (拳). A fist that empties light? ‘Empty’ could also mean ‘sky,’ so perhaps it was a fist that illuminates the sky? Just from the name, I couldn’t imagine what kind of technique it was.
“And I’ll also teach you a movement technique called the Golden Goose Technique (金雁功).”
“Huh? A movement technique? Master, I’m Limp. I can’t even run, so what use is a movement technique?”
“Isn’t your staff both your arms and your legs? Use your good left leg and your staff to perform the movement technique.”
“Is that even possible?!”
At my bewildered question, my master grinned mischievously with his unattractive face and teased me.
“Aren’t you Sima Mancheon (司馬瞞天), the genius who deceives the heavens? I believe you can easily manage this much.”
Provoked by my master’s teasing, I set my chubby face with a firm resolve and declared.
“How dare you doubt my genius! I accept your challenge!”
In the end, I couldn’t learn Twin Hand Combat. It was too difficult.
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This is my first time knowing martial scholars. And yeah, it sounds absurd yet interesting. The way he said “Because after learning them, naturally, I must teach them.” Makes me curious, did he annihilate them?🤔
Well, rather than annihilate them, it sounds more like he wants to disseminate them for the sake of others? Like he probably thinks similarly to the MC, and finds the way that even “Orthodox” sects and clans want to hoard and conceal their secrets instead of offering to teach them to others so they can protect themselves reprehensible, or something like that.