The Regressor is too Powerful in Martial Arts – Chapter 22

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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The next day.

To match the time Yeon Mi-rae finished school and returned home, I also headed to Yeon Mi-rae’s house.

I had gotten Yeon Mi-rae’s home address from her in advance.

When I said that I needed a space where I wouldn’t be disturbed for a few hours, she had readily invited me to her house.

‘Still, for a girl in her prime to invite a man to her house without any sense of caution….’

But it must have meant that she trusted me that much.

While thinking that, I stood in front of Yeon Mi-rae’s house and pressed the doorbell.

Ding-dong~.

“Yes, coming.”

Yeon Mi-rae, who seemed to have already returned home, said that and opened the door.

And when she opened the door….

“…Huh?”

She was surprised to see my appearance.

To be precise, she was surprised to see my main body and the doll together.

Yes.

I hadn’t come to see Yeon Mi-rae only in my doll’s body. My main body had come to see Yeon Mi-rae directly as well.

My physical ability was certainly a lot better with the doll.

But my ability to handle qi, that is, internal energy, was far superior with my main body.

The process of treating Yeon Mi-rae’s constitution was all work done after infusing her body with my internal energy, so it was necessary for my main body to step up rather than doing it with the doll.

It didn’t mean that I couldn’t do it with the doll, but….

‘I wouldn’t mind if it was someone else, but I don’t want to treat Yeon Mi-rae’s body carelessly.’

For that reason, I had come to see Yeon Mi-rae directly in my main body.

Of course, if only my main body came, it didn’t seem like Yeon Mi-rae would recognize me, so I had taken out the doll as well.

“……”

Yeon Mi-rae, who had been looking back and forth between my main body and the doll for a moment, seemed to realize something and asked as if to seek confirmation from me.

“This one is your main body, I take it?”

She looked at my main body… that is, the body of an 8-year-old elementary school student, and asked that.

“You can tell?”

“Yes. The physical ability certainly seems to be superior with the clone…? The doll…? Anyway, the one that was with me yesterday…. But the energy I feel inside is different. The small body I’m seeing for the first time today feels like it has a much… deeper and stronger power.”

Hearing her words, I smiled with satisfaction.

It was partly because I had been deliberately revealing my presence and internal energy, but it was also because I was pleased with her talent for recognizing it at a glance.

“That’s right. More importantly, is it okay to come inside now?”

“Ah, yes! Please come in.”

It was a bit much to keep talking while standing in front of the door, so Yeon Mi-rae and I went inside the house.

As I entered, I looked at the room and thought this.

‘This is a high school girl’s room…?’

It wasn’t that I felt strange entering the room of a high school girl in her prime…

…It was just that it was too bleak.

It seemed as if only the bare minimum of items necessary for a student had been placed here.

‘…Well, unlike other children, Yeon Mi-rae isn’t well-off.’

She must have spent only the bare minimum of the money she had earned from her porter work and saved the rest.

Thinking that, I focused my consciousness on controlling the doll.

Then, my doll took out a plastic sheet from the subspace and spread it on the floor.

“…This is?”

“You’d want to avoid getting the room dirty, right?”

“…Ah, well, since it’s a procedure, I suppose there might be blood.”

At her words, I was about to ask her what she meant, but I realized right after…

That I hadn’t properly told her the method for treating her constitution.

That I had intended to explain it right before treating her because it was a hassle to explain it twice.

“First, sit down.”

At my words, she sat down on the plastic sheet.

And I sat in front of her and began my explanation.

“First of all, what do you think is the reason you can’t produce aura?”

“At the hospital, I was only told that I have a peculiar constitution that can’t hold aura.”

I nodded my head.

“That’s not wrong. With all your meridians blocked, there’s no way you can hold aura. But the fundamental problem is that there’s a problem with your heart, which was originally supposed to produce aura.”

“…My heart?”

“Yes, your heart.”

Her heart had a disorder.

A disorder of not being able to produce aura.

Normally, the Awakener System would have naturally modified her heart to produce aura when it awakened her, but for some reason, her heart couldn’t produce aura even after the modification was finished.

“So, to make you able to produce aura, we need to touch your heart. Ah, don’t worry too much. The procedure I’m going to do isn’t the kind where I open up your chest and fix your heart directly.”

“That much is fine as long as I can use aura. If it’s more convenient for you to open up my chest directly, you can do that too.”

Hmm… so….

“No, there’s no need for that…. Anyway, after fixing your heart, I’m going to wash out all of your blocked meridians so that aura can flow naturally in your body. In that process, all the waste products within you will be discharged.”

If possible, I was thinking of getting rid of all the waste products with Samadhi True Fire or word-command magic, but….

“You wouldn’t want to see waste products scattered on the floor, right? That’s why I laid down the plastic sheet.”

“Ah, so that’s what it was.”

At my words, she nodded her head as if she understood.

And before performing the procedure, I asked her one last time.

“There’s one thing I’d like to suggest to you here.”

“A suggestion? Then I’ll follow it.”

“No, listen to my explanation first and then answer.”

At my words, Yeon Mi-rae spoke as if it were a matter of course.

“Because I believe that you, Mr. Artist, wouldn’t make a suggestion that would harm me.”

“……”

The weight of her trust was heavy.

Was this what the faith of a fanatic was like?

I broke out in a cold sweat inwardly while I explained what I wanted to suggest to her.

“You saw it yesterday, so you know, right? The power I use isn’t aura, nor is it mana. Nor is it something like psychic power or spirit power.”

“Ah, yes. That’s right.”

“And yet, I strengthened my body as if I was using aura, or forced a phenomenon as if I was using mana or psychic power.”

“…The thing you want to suggest to me is perhaps….”

It seemed that she had a rough idea of what I was trying to say.

“It’s a power called internal energy. How about you try using this instead of aura?”

“Is that really okay? Really…?”

At my words, Yeon Mi-rae asked back as if she couldn’t believe it.

Well, just from what I had said, internal energy would feel like a power that existed on a higher level than aura, mana, or psychic power.

“The explanation isn’t over. This thing called internal energy isn’t just a good ability.”

“I’m listening.”

I explained the difference between internal energy and aura, and their pros and cons, as simply as possible to Yeon Mi-rae, who was kneeling down while concentrating on my words.

First, as I just said, internal energy could replace other energies, and although it depended on the internal energy cultivation method used to gather it, its quality was also on the superior side.

As for the downside….

“The growth rate is slow?”

“Yes. And very slow at that.”

Compared to other energies, internal energy’s accumulation speed was very slow.

Therefore, it was difficult to accumulate a large amount of it.

Even for me, although my Divine Art of Harmony ate up other energies in the air and I had accumulated a large amount compared to the time I had trained, when compared to the growth speed of knights who used aura or mages who used mana as they trained, the quantity itself wasn’t that impressive.

It wasn’t for nothing that I had installed the mana-gathering magic circle from my elementary school in my house as well.

It was because without something like that, it would be endlessly difficult for me to increase the amount of my internal energy.

‘It’s not like spirit elixirs that often appear in martial arts novels are common here.’

No, it wasn’t that I hadn’t eaten a spirit elixir myself…

But in the case of such spirit elixirs, they didn’t enter the body in the form of internal energy from the beginning, so a lot of energy was consumed in converting it into internal energy, making the efficiency poor.

“In that sense, if you try to learn the martial art I’ve suggested, it’ll be difficult for you to become strong in a short period of time.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Hm…?”

Even though I had told her what would be a fatal disadvantage for an ordinary Awakener, Yeon Mi-rae said she would use martial arts instead of aura.

“You wouldn’t be trying to pass on martial arts to me for no reason. There must be a reason for it, isn’t there?”

“…That’s right.”

I affirmed her question.

“Although the growth rate of martial arts may be slow, its peak is high.”

And a genius like Yeon Mi-rae would be able to reach that peak someday.

“That’s enough for me. My goal is not to become a mediocre Awakener, but to be the strongest Awakener.”

“Is that so.”

I read her determination and decided not to say anything else.

In the first place….

‘The pre-regression Yeon Mi-rae was a woman who tried to use both internal energy and aura at the same time to look to a higher place. It might seem difficult or reckless for now, but for her to choose internal energy, which could ultimately lead to a higher realm, might be a matter of course for her.’

Thinking that, I said to her.

“Then let’s start the procedure. Lie down in your most comfortable position.”

At my words, Yeon Mi-rae turned her back to me and laid face down.

I put a towel in her mouth, then I got on top of her, placed my hands on her back, and began to infuse my internal energy.

“Ah, I forgot to mention…. In the end, since we’re forcibly changing your body’s structure, it’s going to hurt like hell.”

“Ugh, I was prebared for dat.”

Immediately after, Yeon Mi-rae’s body twisted.

Acupoint Pressure Treatment.

My internal energy released her meridians, and the meridians that had not been used until now screamed.

Power Transference.

The internal energy that had been scattered throughout Yeon Mi-rae’s body gathered in her Lower Dantian and gradually transformed into her internal energy.

Marrow Cleansing.

The waste products in her body were pushed out and discharged from her body.

It was possible to erase only the waste products with Samadhi True Fire or word-command magic while they were in her body, but right now, I had to focus on changing her body’s structure into one specialized for martial arts as much as possible, so I ignored them for now.

Complete Body Reconstruction.

Not only were her bones changed, but her entire body was remodeled to be suitable for martial arts.

“…!”

Yeon Mi-rae endured all the pain she felt during that process.

Relying on the towel in her mouth, she pushed through all that pain.

…It was easy to say, but since this whole process happened slowly over several hours, it must have been an endlessly painful time for her.

“…It’s over.”

I told her that the time of pain was over.

Then, she spat out the towel that was in her mouth and spoke.

“…Is this internal energy?”

“Yes. That’s internal energy.”

The internal energy I had transferred to her through Power Transference was now flowing naturally in her body.

‘Gokgol (Qugu), Hoe-eum (Huiyin), Miryeo (Weilu), Myeongmun (Mingmen), Cheokjung (Jizhong), Sinju (Shenzhu), Daechu (Dazhui), Okchim (Yuzhen), Baekhoe (Baihui), Indang (Yintang), Cheondol (Tiantu), Jeonjung (Danzhong), Singwol (Shenque), Gwanwon (Guanyuan).’

She was instinctively performing the Small Heavenly Circulation.

Although I had opened her Gate of Life and Death while fixing her body, still, performing the Small Heavenly Circulation without being conscious of it was definitely an amazing feat.

I decided to create an internal energy cultivation method for her.

“Follow my guidance and operate your internal energy.”

“Yes….”

I placed my hands on her back again and moved her internal energy.

The Divine Art of Harmony was a martial art tailored to me, so it was unsuitable for her as my standards had risen while creating the Divine Art of Harmony.

Moreover, since I also had the ability called the Eyes of a Grand Master given by the Awakener System, it wasn’t difficult for me to create a martial art that suited her.

‘It’s merely a patchwork.’

The martial art I created like that wasn’t on the same level as the Divine Art of Harmony, but it was still comparable to a peerless martial art, and it was a martial art that suited Yeon Mi-rae very well.

‘Its operation is endlessly difficult, but if she can practice it well, her power will be tremendous.’

For a genius like her, the martial art’s difficulty wouldn’t be a particular obstacle.

Having created and passed on such a martial art to her, I then asked Yeon Mi-rae.

“This martial art was created solely for you. So, you should name it too.”

“…Mr. Artist. What’s your real name?”

Me?

So suddenly?

“My real name is Han Geon-woo… But why?”

“Then, Geon-woo Divine Art….”

At those words, I shut my mouth.

No, that’s a bit….

“Haha… Just kidding.”

Perhaps seeing my soured expression, Yeon Mi-rae said that.

And this time, she gave it a proper name.

“In the sense that it is a martial art that goes against my destiny… that is, the will of heaven… I’ll call it the Heaven-Defying Divine Art.”

It was at that moment…

A message from the Awakener System appeared in my eyes.

At the same time, a message appeared in Yeon Mi-rae’s eyes as well.

And so, Yeon Mi-rae’s sword, which was only beutiful before, gained power.

Grumble….

“Ugh…!”

Right after confirming the contents of the message, a rumbling sound came from Yeon Mi-rae’s stomach.

“Haha. You’ve emptied all the waste products from your body, so it’s only natural for you to be hungry.”

“……”

“Shall we clean up and then go out to eat?”

“…Yes.”

Yeon Mi-rae nodded her head with her face blushing as if she were embarrassed.

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T/N – Well, it was pretty obvious that she was gonna be a martial artist, but I wonder what happens to her aura ability now? Because she did initially awaken an aura ability, it was just that her body couldn’t produce aura.

And what about if her body gets checked for aura? As someone who didn’t have any sort of energy before, she will most likely get scrutinized when she reveals that she suddenly has power. The novel clearly stated that the current sensors can’t detect internal energy, so what would happen then?

If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.