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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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“So, you said we were really going to train now?”
“Yeah. I did.”
In front of the training grounds where Seon-go was watching intently. Sanyeo and I were facing each other. I was holding my ax as usual, and Sanyeo was leisurely standing in her stance, extending her shackled hands forward. Seon-go was looking at us with a very excited face.
“I finally get to see a real martial arts duel. I’ve only been listening to that man’s stories, I’m curious how real masters fight.”
She said that while munching on the snacks that she had brought from the storage. Sanyeo seemed to be bewildered by her relaxed appearance, tilted her head and said,
“…What kind of stories did that leader even tell?”
Seon-go frowned at Sanyeo’s question and said,
“Every time he opened his mouth, he’d just keep saying the same things. When he shot out his quan, it would split the earth open, and with the sound of thunder, it would fly towards his opponent, and the opponent would then use some kind of secret technique and shake the heavens to the point…”
“Ah, I got it.”
It seemed like Seon-go had heard the leader’s stories many times. Sanyeo, who had been listening to her explanation, shook her head and cut her off.
And then, looking at me, she said,
“It seems that you have defeated an expert at the transcendental level, Do-cheol.”
“If you had seen it happen before your eyes, even the grandpa of transcendental experts would die from it.”
Sanyeo covered her mouth and giggled as if she had recalled how I killed the leader. Because she was wearing shackles on her hands, every time she covered her mouth, she would lift both her hands as if she was a squirrel that was being fed.
Seon-go looked at us and asked,
“But Sanyeo, why are you wearing shackles?”
I had only explained Sanyeo to Seon-go as my master. At first, Seon-go had felt slightly uneasy about having such a beautiful woman as her master, but thanks to Sanyeo treating her kindly, she had become less wary.
Sanyeo showed off her shackles and said,
“This? It’s because you can’t face me properly with your current level, Do-cheol. I’m just giving you some leeway.”
“Aaah….”
It seemed like Seon-go truly believed her words. I strongly swung my ax in the air once and then took a stance as I said,
“So you said we were going to seriously train, right? What kind of training is it exactly?”
She had said that the true training would start after I took over the sect. But on that first day, she was still standing there in a proper stance, and I was still preparing to attack her with an ax.
Sanyeo gave a meaningful smile at my question before saying,
“Come at me. You’ll find out then.”
I chuckled at her words and assumed my stance. At the same time as I extended my leg forward, I strongly swung my ax down vertically. And together with the movement of swinging downwards, something white flashed out of my view.
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
Sanyeo was standing on one foot with her leg extended straight, and I was hit and sent rolling until I reached Seon-go’s feet. Seon-go was sitting there with a snack in her mouth, eyes wide open, and I raised my body while grabbing my head.
“What…”
Before I could say anything, Sanyeo opened her mouth, slowly putting down her leg like a crane.
“You’ve perfectly learned the stances for the Mount Tai Ax during the last month, Do-cheol. But you don’t know anything about considering your opponent in a real duel and how to react to their movements. Even now, because you were too focused on swinging your ax and attacking me, you couldn’t react to my attack.”
“That’s because you didn’t tell me…. Nevermind. Yeah.”
I was becoming frustrated, and I had spoken without thinking, but since what I had said sounded like bullshit, I closed my mouth.
Why would one tell someone and then attack them? In a real fight, it was obvious that people would attack while aiming for blind spots, and there would be countless people who would create and use strange techniques, doing whatever they want.
Sanyeo nodded and said,
“Okay. Until now, we went over how to understand the postures, and how to swing more precisely and quickly. From now on, you’ll learn how to engage in mind games while also performing techniques. How do I act so that the opponent can’t counterattack? How do I penetrate the opponent’s defenses and minimize their counterattack?”
I stood up again and took a stance, and asked her,
“Is this related to taking over the sect at all?”
Sanyeo widened her eyes and said,
“Of course it is. You need to be able to grasp the opponent’s mentality without wavering. If the training until now was to become immersed in your own world, from now on, you need to drag your opponent into your world as you are fighting. Thinking that you are the only one in the world and thinking that you and I are the only ones in the world is completely different. This is much more tiring than it seems as well. It’s something that can’t even be tried without a stable place to rest.”
A situation where we had no immediate goal to resolve and a stable space to rest.
So she was saying that this type of training would be difficult if we didn’t have that stability.
Sanyeo raised one leg while saying that. Because she was wearing a skirt, her white thighs could be seen completely when she raised her leg casually. Seon-go commented at her bold action,
“Oh my, how indecent…”
“I’ll adjust to about the second-rate level. You have to dodge all my attacks and then attack me. You can do it, right?”
“Of course.”
I swung my ax towards her. Sanyeo was moving languidly, as if she had been waiting for it, and then rushed at me at lightning speed.
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“Huu….”
Of course, it’s impossible to have everything all at once. I was lying on the floor, spitting out dirt. Sanyeo leisurely dusted her feet and sat on the floor. And when she stretched her head towards Seon-go, Seon-go placed a snack in her mouth.
Sanyeo said after swallowing the snack,
“You did well for your first day. As expected, you have talent. Your decisiveness, and the ability to focus on your opponent.”
“Just wait. I’ll split your head open for sure.”
“I look forward to it.”
Sanyeo smiled and said that, and I smiled while showing her my teeth.
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There were also many things that I had to do after becoming the leader of the sect.
One of the most important things was,
the problem of how to take care of Ja-yeong.
I had already made a promise to Seon-go, so if possible, I had the intention of sending him away nicely, but I didn’t know how to. Sanyeo tilted her head at my worries and said,
“You mean kill him when you say you’re going to send him away?”
“….Why would I kill him?”
When I asked back, Sanyeo had a startled expression. It was like I looked like a murderer who would kill any person he didn’t like. She asked,
“You’re not going to kill him?”
“I’m not going to kill him. Why would I kill a man who had been living such a good life? I’ll just send him far away. Although I’ll kill him if he comes back.”
Sanyeo’s expression looked sullen at those words. She pouted her lips and said,
“So, what are you going to do?”
I looked at her attire and then moved my gaze towards the storage area. People were gathered at the storage, and it was like Seon-go was getting rid of all the expensive things in the storage by selling them to merchants.
“No. This vase is not for sale. It’s a family heirloom that has been passed down from generations.
“Huhu, it looks like a relic from the early Qin dynasty, but you really don’t want to sell it? I’ll pay a lot for it.”
“No. Selling such a relic would attract attention. I’ll add in some other things for a cheaper price, so just look the other way.”
“Alright.”
A merchant and Seon-go were talking while standing near the large vase in the storage. Sanyeo was watching their conversation with curious eyes, and I had a good idea when I looked at the merchant.
“Sanyeo.”
“What is it?”
“I had a good idea.”
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“Hey. Wait a second.”
It was Ja-yeong and I who had caught the departing merchants.
Ja-yeong had been following me like some kind of luggage, and since I didn’t want to waste my time persuading him, I had knocked him unconscious.
I had lightly hit the back of his head with the blunt end of my ax, and the sight of him falling on his face while sweeping the yard was quite impressive.
The merchant was a man with plump lips and a wide face, and since his beard was as long as that of a catfish, he gave off a fishy impression. He looked at me and then at the sprawled-out Ja-yeong, and then he bowed to me and said,
“Oh my, aren’t you the new leader of the Hongryun Sect? What brings you here, sir?”
“Take this guy with you as well.”
I said that and placed Ja-yeong, whose consciousness was gone, onto the cart. The merchant said with a puzzled face,
“What do you mean by take this guy…”
“He had been a loyal servant in the Hongryun Sect for a long time, but I heard he has feelings for my wife, so he’s been making me feel uncomfortable. I wanted to kill him, but I felt bad killing a man who has been living decently until now, so I’m giving him to you with some travel money. You can do whatever you want with him, either send him to a school and let him learn to read or something.”
The merchant had a truly impressed look on his face after hearing my words. He twirled his beard and said,
“Oh my…. You have a large heart, Leader. Yeah, if it was me, then I wouldn’t have let it go.”
“That’s all thanks to my good wife. Then, knowing that, I’ll take my leave now. I’ve placed some money in his bag, so please take him to a nice place.”
“Understood, Leader. Hahaha.”
I gave a farewell greeting to the kind merchant and turned around.
I felt quite good after acting like a good guy, as was fitting for a hero.
When Ja-yeong woke up, he would also be thanking me for sparing his life.
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“Did you send him away safely?”
“Yeah, I did a good deed. I should tell Seon-go that I sent him far away to a good school.”
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.
.
.
.
“Hey, why hasn’t the guy we knocked out woken up yet? Wake him up.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I wonder if he’s just sleeping like there’s nothing in the world to worry about.”
“Sir. This guy’s not breathing.”
“What? Check it! Quickly!”
“Oh my god, look at the dent in his head. Sir. This guy’s dead.”
“That new leader of the Hongryun Sect…. What a terrifying man.”
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XD