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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Bobt
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Cultivation Cave.
“Joo Seo-cheon!”
“Yes!”
At the call of Cheo Woong, the third-generation disciple of the Mount Hua Sect and the supervisor of Rakan Hell, Joo Seo-cheon responded vigorously and came forward.
“I heard that you achieved the fifth level of the Plum Blossom Qi Technique yesterday. Is that true?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Then from today onwards, you will also participate in fist technique training.”
Until achieving the fifth level of the Plum Blossom Qi Technique, physical training ended with the round trip of Rakan Hell and horse stance.
And after about a year, when achieving the fifth level of the Plum Blossom Qi Technique, physical training would also move on to the next stage.
“I will teach you the Plum Blossom Fist.”
“Yes, I understand.”
The pride of Mount Hwa was the sword, but that didn’t mean there were no other martial arts. Although not as much as sword techniques, they still existed.
Most of them were simple and not difficult, serving as a guard in case of not using a sword and as a foundation.
“In the murim, there is a saying: a hundred days for the spear, a thousand days for the blade, and ten thousand days for the sword.”
It was a metaphor expressing that learning and mastering the sword was the most difficult and time-consuming among weapons.
“The essence of Mount Hwa is also contained in the fist techniques, so it will be a good foundation for learning sword techniques. So don’t complain and follow along!”
Cheo Woong spoke in a stern voice.
Joo Seo-cheon joined the fist technique training without a word.
“Ho, usually people are disappointed that they can’t access Mount Hwa’s sword first… His posture is good.”
Cheo Woong inwardly exclaimed, looking at Joo Seo-cheon’s back.
Afterward, there was a slight change in Joo Seo-cheon’s daily life.
He would wake up early in the morning and always practice Qi circulation near the plum blossom tree. However, that drew a bit of attention.
Most of the fourth-generation disciples were just children who weren’t even of age yet. Children were naturally curious by nature.
In a society of such children, sitting alone by the plum blossom tree every day to practice Qi circulation naturally stood out.
“Hey, Plum Blossom Friend.”
As soon as he finished practicing Qi circulation and opened his eyes, a group of people had come to find him.
They were all children around his age.
“You have no friends other than the plum blossom, right?”
Giggle!
“They say there is no evil as pure as a child.”
Joo Seo-cheon muttered with a deeply sorrowful expression.
“What?”
The child who seemed to be the leader of the group made a face as if asking what nonsense he was saying upon hearing those words.
Joo Seo-cheon silently got up from his spot and continued speaking with sorrow-filled eyes.
“Usually in this situation, I would say, ‘I don’t feel like dealing with you guys, so leave while I’m still being nice.'”
“What?”
“But you will definitely pick a fight with me anyway. The world is made up of such a chain of hatred. So I will break that chain before it begins.”
For the children, Joo Seo-cheon’s words were difficult.
In a child’s society, speaking in a difficult manner was seen as showing off and being annoying.
They had originally come to tease Joo Seo-cheon a bit when he was alone, but as he acted like this, their mood gradually worsened.
“Come, you evil ones! These fists have been practicing the Plum Blossom Fist until now to break that chain of hatred!”
Joo Seo-cheon kicked off the ground and launched his body.
He wasn’t particularly fast. It was only natural since he had just started the Plum Blossom Vitality Technique and Plum Blossom Fist.
“Wh-what’s with this crazy bastard!”
The leader child was perplexed and threw a punch at the approaching Joo Seo-cheon. It was quite a fast speed.
“Haha!”
Joo Seo-cheon laughed as if it was amusing and lightly dodged.
Although the leader child had the upper hand in speed and strength, he was just a child after all.
He was no match for Joo Seo-cheon, who had the memories of his previous life.
It was evident in his eyes what kind of movements he would make and how he would attack.
“Huh?”
The leader child panicked and hastily turned his body, but it was already too late. Joo Seo-cheon kicked the leader child’s chest with his foot.
“Argh!”
The leader child screamed and fell backwards.
Joo Seo-cheon lifted his head high and spoke in a sorrowful voice.
“This is the fist of the murim.”
“What are you talking about? That was a kick just now, not a punch!”
The original Joo Seo-cheon was quite quiet and well-behaved. He had lived under the pressure of something like oppression.
He had spent his life just getting by while training, and by the time he reached middle age, he had a gloomy personality from only being mindful of others.
But after regressing, that personality changed a bit. To be precise, he started to unleash everything that had been suppressed.
In his new life, he wanted to be a bit more free. But it ended up going in a ridiculously strange direction.
“Ugh… Catch that crazy bastard!”
The leader child shouted while holding his abdomen.
Then the other children yelled, “Waaah!” and charged at Joo Seo-cheon.
“Haha, it’s the Plum Blossom Fist! Take the Plum Blossom Fist!”
Joo Seo-cheon responded, “Come on,” and faced the children.
Needless to say, from his perspective, fighting the children was nothing more than child’s play. The children seemed to have done their best, but from Joo Seo-cheon’s point of view, their movements were too simple and easy, to the point where he could dodge with his eyes closed.
Joo Seo-cheon weaved through the charging children like a loach and trampled them.
“Aaaah!”
“Ugh!”
The children screamed and fell in large numbers.
Joo Seo-cheon looked at those children and smiled kindly.
“Do you want to be… secret friends with this uncle?”
“Eeek!”
There was a madman there.
For children, especially young boys, “losing a fight” was an extremely shameful fact.
It was even more so if the opponent they fought was younger and smaller in stature.
The children who had picked a fight with Joo Seo-cheon were embarrassed about being beaten by him, so they didn’t go out of their way to talk about being thoroughly defeated by him.
They had ganged up on a child who was the youngest among the fourth-generation disciples and only nine years old, but they were defeated without even being able to lay a hand on him. If that got out, it would be a huge loss of face.
On the contrary, they nervously watched Joo Seo-cheon, wondering if he would tell anyone about it.
“Hoho, that’s how children are.”
Thanks to that, this commotion didn’t escalate much, and Joo Seo-cheon was also very satisfied that he could avoid standing out.
“Still, I should reflect on myself. I couldn’t hold back and lost my temper. I feel like I’m getting younger in mind as well as body.”
Joo Seo-cheon reflected on himself but also smiled in satisfaction, recalling the recent event.
It was the first time he had acted so freely. Even before regressing, he had never been so reckless.
“Now that there are no distractions, should I focus on training again?”
By the way, the leader child and the other children who had picked a fight with him were among the highest-ranking in the group of children their age.
They were concerned that Joo Seo-cheon might spread tales of his exploits, so they preemptively stopped the children who approached him out of curiosity.
Thanks to that, he was able to train alone near the plum blossom tree without worrying about the gazes around him.
* * *
A month had already passed since Joo Seo-cheon started practicing the Plum Blossom Vitality Technique and learning the Plum Blossom Fist.
“Haha!”
The results obtained during that time were tremendous.
“To think I accumulated half a year’s worth of internal energy in just a month!”
The speed of Qi accumulation with the Plum Blossom Vitality Technique was no joke. Thanks to breathing together with the plum blossom, it only took a month to accumulate half a year’s worth of internal energy.
Around the age of eight, he had completed his dantian, and by practicing Qi circulation until achieving the fifth level of the Plum Blossom Qi Technique, he had accumulated a year’s worth.
But he had achieved half of that in just a month. It would be strange if he wasn’t happy.
Currently, Joo Seo-cheon’s internal energy was equivalent to a year and a half.
“Is this enough for the Plum Blossom Fist too?”
Joo Seo-cheon lightly swung his fist.
Swish!
He already knew more about the Plum Blossom Fist than the supervisor.
It was just that his body wasn’t accustomed to it, but after focusing on training a few times, he had almost fully mastered it in less than a month.
In his previous life, it seemed to have taken nearly a year, but now he could handle it like his own hands and feet in less than a month.
“Hmm, all that’s left is tedious repetition.”
Even with the understanding that came from spiritual enlightenment, if the body couldn’t keep up, it was meaningless.
Unless one had the legendary Heavenly Martial Physique, the body wouldn’t be able to keep up if pushed too hard.
He was in the body of a nine-year-old child who was still growing. If he got greedy, his body would be ruined.
If his body could keep up, he would have stolen a sword from somewhere and started training sword techniques before anything else.
Since he couldn’t do that, he had no choice but to gradually take steps and train his body by practicing the Plum Blossom Fist.
By the way, it was slow from Joo Seo-cheon’s perspective, but to others, it was an insanely fast speed.
Originally, when first learning, one’s understanding of martial arts was low unless they were a genius, so it couldn’t help but be slow.
“In the meantime, I should review my plans.”
He could perform the Plum Blossom Fist without even needing to think about it.
It was a realm that could be called almost unconscious.
There was no need to consciously think about the mnemonics or the fist paths.
Instead, Joo Seo-cheon repeated and organized a few things about the future that would happen.
“I really don’t want to recall it, but among the things that will happen to me, the first thing that comes to mind is…”
A dark shadow crossed Joo Seo-cheon’s face.
It was an event that would occur five years from now, when he was fourteen years old. It was something that had happened decades ago, but he still couldn’t forget it.
Because that year, he could no longer see his master, Yu Jeong-mok.
Yu Jeong-mok, the Smiling Gentle Swordsman.
It was a nickname given to him because his smile was always gentle and mild.
Joo Seo-cheon knew Yu Jeong-mok better than anyone else.
And he also knew what would happen in the future.
“Master…”
Yu Jeong-mok was a respectable figure and martial artist.
It wasn’t subjective at all.
His considerate personality, kindness, and comfortable smile. There was nothing to criticize about his character. His martial arts were also outstanding.
In Mount Hwa, there was a position called the Plum Blossom Swordsman.
The Plum Blossom Swordsman could only be attained by passing thorough and strict evaluations and tests of martial prowess, enlightenment, and character.
That’s how much their presence was the best within the Mount Hua Sect, and they were the idol that every disciple of the Mount Hua Sect dreamed of.
Yu Jeong-mok had once been a candidate for the Plum Blossom Swordsman, that’s how outstanding he was.
He had passed several rounds of evaluation.
He himself had also worked hard with that dream.
However, to put it simply, Yu Jeong-mok was unable to become the Plum Blossom Swordsman due to some reason.
It was because of the chronic illness he had since long ago.
No, to be precise, they didn’t even know if it was a chronic illness.
From a young age, Yu Jeong-mok had a high level of understanding of martial arts, and he was also good at accurately executing them with his body.
However, he tired easily compared to others, and his physique was also frail.
It was because he was born with poor stamina and physique.
When he first entered the Mount Hua Sect, he was even ridiculed as a weakling by his peers.
But Yu Jeong-mok didn’t let that discourage him and trained his body harder than others to compensate for his weaknesses.
It was even more difficult for him because he was born frail, but through his unwavering will, he somehow overcame it.
However, this frail constitution did not improve with age.
Fortunately, he had never been seriously ill, but he occasionally suffered from low-grade fevers and minor illnesses.
The conditions to become the Plum Blossom Swordsman were truly strict and thorough. Due to frequently suffering from these minor illnesses, he ultimately failed the evaluation.
This was also the reason why Joo Seo-cheon had no other martial brothers.
Yu Jeong-mok’s health was not very good, so he didn’t have the capacity to accept more disciples besides Joo Seo-cheon.
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