Dropped into Murim with an Instant-Kill Skill - Chapter 16

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Chapter 16: In the Jianghu, One Cannot Control One's Fate (5)

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Yeon Sowol rose before sunrise, when the world outside was still bluish.

As soon as he got up, he practiced the Willow Serenity Art for about a quarter of an hour. It burned away the turbid qi that had accumulated overnight and warmed his cold, stiff body, so it was not something he could skip.

Once he stepped outside, the blue light began to fade as dawn deepened.

Sowol headed for Yi Yubaek's residence.

When the three direct disciples, Kang Muhyeok, Seon Jehun, and Mo Cheong, had all gathered, the four of them entered side by side to pay their morning respects.

"Did you sleep well last night?"

Kang Muhyeok, the eldest disciple, spoke for them, and the other three immediately bowed behind him with fist-and-palm salutes.

"Mm."

Yi Yubaek was generally in a good mood in the morning.

Mostly because he drinks.

Kang Muhyeok frowned again today.

"You're drinking on an empty stomach again."

"It's a delicacy."

"Didn't you teach us that alcohol is bad for the body and bad for cultivation?"

"That applies to you lot, who can't even kindle True Flame. I can simply burn it away with internal energy."

Ssssss!

White steam rose from Yi Yubaek's shoulders, carrying a heavy scent of alcohol.

Kang Muhyeok sighed softly as he looked at Yi Yubaek's drinking vessel.

No. Calling it a cup would have been wrong. It was a bowl.

"Then why are you drinking cloudy rice wine? No matter how much you burn away, some turbid qi will remain if you drink such murky liquor. If you want something low-proof, why not drink the Jade Crown Red you received as a gift this time?"

Yi Yubaek clicked his tongue.

"Muhyeok. Muhyeok. Jade Crown Red is red fruit wine. You drink it during moments you want to remember. This is cloudy glutinous rice wine, something you can drink whenever you please."

"Alcohol is alcohol, so what does it matter..."

"How sad. My eldest disciple doesn't even know the taste of liquor."

Yi Yubaek tipped the whole bowl back and chuckled as he drank.

Kang Muhyeok looked at him with complicated eyes before speaking.

"You've been drinking more lately."

"Have I?"

"Yes. The number of bottles being brought out has at least doubled."

"You count things like that?"

"Is it because of Heavenly Road Mountain? You've been meeting a lot of people and exchanging a great many letters lately."

Heavenly Road Mountain?

Sowol jerked his head up.

Yi Yubaek smiled bitterly.

"Well. When you're preparing for something big, you need a bit of drunkenness one way or another."

"Master, everyone else in the Jianghu only looks after their own interests. I don't understand why you always insist on taking the lead in dangerous matters."

"That's because."

Yi Yubaek set down his large bowl with a bang.

"When I think about those bastards, it ruins the taste of alcohol."

"Though you've actually been drinking more."

"Hey. Do you even know the taste of liquor? I'll show you!"

"..."

Yi Yubaek raised his fist, and Kang Muhyeok hunched his neck.

"Go on. Morning greetings are over. Sowol, I'll see you at the training grounds later. Mo Cheong, you come too."

Yi Yubaek raised the bowl again and took another large gulp of cloudy rice wine.

* * *

"Mo Cheong."

"Yeah?"

"What's that about? Heavenly Road Mountain."

"Ah."

After finishing their morning greetings, Sowol and Mo Cheong spoke as they headed toward the training grounds.

Sowol now spoke casually to Mo Cheong.

Had he become Yi Yubaek's disciple, he would have had to call Mo Cheong his martial brother. But he had become Yi Yubaek's foster son instead, so the two had simply become friends. They were the same age, too.

"Master... wants to wipe out the bandits of Cheonro Mountain Stronghold."

"...!"

Sowol had suspected as much, but hearing it confirmed still startled him.

"Are the bandits of Cheonro Mountain Stronghold weak? Weaker than Master and Windflow Martial Academy?"

Mo Cheong looked dumbfounded.

"How could they be? If they were, the government troops would have wiped them out long ago."

"The government troops... are strong?"

"What?"

Mo Cheong let his head droop in disbelief.

Sowol waved his hands as he explained.

"Ah, well. There's that principle, Noninterference Between Officials and Martial Artists..."

"Good grief."

Mo Cheong clicked his tongue.

"The government troops are strong. Incredibly strong."

"That strong?"

"Yeah. If Jianghu martial artists and government fighters clashed on an open plain, thirteen Jianghu martial artists would die for every three government fighters."

"...Then why does the government leave the martial world alone?"

"Because the realm is huge and martial artists are as numerous as grains of sand. They can deal with a few who cross the line too badly, but if they start going after all of them, it never ends."

"Ah."

"And if a real fight broke out, the martial artists wouldn't agree to fight on an open plain either."

"Ah."

"Anyway, Cheonro Mountain Stronghold is the same. The government troops are strong, but the bandits are strong enough that even those troops have to worry about their losses. That's how they've held out this long."

"...Why are the bandits so strong in the first place?"

"They are strong. Shinheung County may be a small town, but follow the Jipseong River down and you reach the great city of Danzhou. Heavenly Road Mountain sits right in the way of the route linking Danzhou to the coastal cities of Yanggang, Yangchun, and Eunpyeong. Do you think the people who control a place like that would be ordinary? I hear they're even on friendly terms with the Eighteen Strongholds."

Mo Cheong let out one heavy sigh after another as he spoke.

"And even so, Master says he'll wipe them out. He's been gathering not only the martial artists of Shinheung County, but the martial artists of Danzhou, Seocho, and Bulsan as well. I'm worried sick."

"Ah..."

Only then did Sowol understand.

What Yi Yubaek had said yesterday.

'I have something important in the works. I can't indulge the whining of those Black Path bastards.'

This was what that important matter had been.

"What's wrong?"

"...Nothing."

Sowol suddenly felt ashamed.

'Father really did take up the sword.'

Yi Yubaek's words had not been empty talk. That realization sank in deeper than ever.

'Me too...'

At first, he had wanted to learn martial arts only to keep himself safe and find freedom and peace in this barbaric world called the Jianghu.

Yet that desire had slowly changed.

"Me too..."

He wanted martial arts more desperately now.

Today was finally the day he would learn Movement Art.

He would learn how to use his body as a martial artist.

* * *

At the training grounds, where birds sang in the morning air, Yi Yubaek asked,

"Footwork and lightness skill. Together, those two are called Movement Art. Now, Sowol."

"Yes."

"What is footwork?"

"Footwork is the method of moving the body's center. Taken literally, it means the way one walks, but it actually refers to every means of movement and evasion that can be used in battle. Dodging, closing in, retreating, all such methods are called footwork."

Yi Yubaek smiled.

"Good. Then what is lightness skill?"

"It is the practice of making the body lighter and running quickly."

"Well, that's roughly right."

"If you teach me, I will learn it properly."

Sowol promptly bowed his head, and Yi Yubaek smiled faintly.

Yi Yubaek, who loved Confucius and Mencius, greatly liked this side of his foster son.

"Then let me ask you something first. Footwork is called a method. Why is lightness skill called a work?"

Sowol fell into thought for a moment.

'Work. Work... Come to think of it, Willow Serenity Art has the same word in its name.'

He thought he had found a clue.

"Could it be related to inner cultivation methods?"

Yi Yubaek exclaimed in admiration.

"Excellent. Your insight is remarkable too. You're right. Footwork is a method of using the body, while lightness skill is the work of making the body lighter through internal energy and external cultivation. Another question."

Yi Yubaek smiled playfully.

"What is internal energy? And what is external cultivation?"

This time, Sowol answered almost immediately.

"The word work means study, or the effort put into something. Internal energy refers to the kindling the inner fire raised through an inner cultivation method, the stage of maturity used to regulate it, the innate true qi in the Eight Extraordinary Vessels that becomes refined through those processes, and all the power derived from them."

"Very good. Then external cultivation?"

"External cultivation is study and effort built outward. I believe it refers to the blood, flesh, and bones strengthened through kindling the inner fire and the stage of maturity, as well as the acquired qi that gathers there."

"Good."

Flap.

Unable to hide his delight, Yi Yubaek opened his fan. A tangy fragrance drifted out.

He spoke as though singing.

"Making the body lighter can be done through internal energy and external cultivation. In the end, lightness skill is an application of both, which is why it is also called a work."

Yi Yubaek looked at Sowol fondly, and Sowol smiled, a little embarrassed.

Then Yi Yubaek snapped his fan shut.

"Therefore, if you learn lightness skill incorrectly, you will suffer Cultivation Deviation."

"...?"

The smile froze on Sowol's lips.

Cultivation Deviation?

He barely managed to stop himself from asking aloud.

"What do you think you must do to make the body lighter?"

"...I'm not sure."

"Among your body's essence, what is the most turbid and cold?"

Essence was the foundation of matter and strength.

Drawing on everything he had learned so far, Sowol answered.

"Flesh and bone. Then blood."

"They have weight, don't they?"

"Yes."

"Then for the body to become lighter, they must become lighter too. Isn't that right?"

"Yes..."

Sowol was confused.

'How can bones and flesh become lighter?'

Was it some kind of metaphor?

Yi Yubaek watched Sowol's darting eyes and grinned.

"Good. Listen carefully, then. What I am about to teach you is the secret legacy of our Windflow School. My master, your grandmaster, was a peerless swordsman whose name was known throughout the realm. As such, the martial arts of our Windflow School carry profound teachings of the orthodox path. They are precious treasures of the realm, so engrave them well in your heart."

"Yes."

Yi Yubaek had never shown such solemnity, not even when he passed down the Willow Serenity Art. Sowol swallowed hard.

"The Void became one. One became two. Two became five, then twenty-two, then one hundred and eight. At last, all things were born."

"..."

Sowol tried desperately not to furrow his brow.

'What in the world does that mean?'

Yi Yubaek smiled.

"I'll explain further. At the beginning, there was nothing. From there, one was born. This is called the Limitless Void."

"As the Limitless Void cooled and grew turbid, it divided into two, Yin and Yang. This is the Supreme Ultimate."

"Yin and Yang divided again into five and formed the Five Elements."

"From the Five Elements came the Ten Heavenly Stems and the Twelve Earthly Branches."

"Those twenty-two Stems and Branches then formed the one hundred and eight Malefic Stars."

"And from the one hundred and eight Malefic Stars, all things were finally shaped. Your blood, flesh, and bones were made in the same way."

Sowol thought,

'What does this have to do with lightness skill?'

But he was a good student, so he did not voice the thought that had come to mind.

Yi Yubaek asked him,

"Let me ask you this. Of essence, qi, and spirit, the Limitless Void forms spirit. The Supreme Ultimate and the Five Elements become qi. Then how many stages is essence divided into?"

"Broadly speaking, three. From the twenty-two Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, to the one hundred and eight Malefic Stars, and finally to all things."

"Correct. Now, this is the key. What about all things? Do they have weight?"

"They do. Even air, which has no visible form, has weight."

"Right. But when the essence of all things becomes hot and turns into Malefic Stars, it no longer has weight."

Sowol's eyes widened.

'No weight?'

"The essence of the Ten Heavenly Stems and Twelve Earthly Branches cools into the one hundred and eight Malefic Stars, and the one hundred and eight Malefic Stars cool into all things. Yet before essence is shaped into all things, it has neither weight nor texture. It is only the foundation of power and matter. That is why it is sometimes called essence qi."

Sowol turned his mind frantically, trying to understand the laws of this world, which differed so greatly from common sense on Earth.

Because of that, he realized a little too late.

"Now you understand, don't you? The heart of lightness skill."

!!!

Cold sweat soaked Sowol's back.

"Judging by your expression, it seems you understand."

No.

Sowol wanted to deny it.

He forced out the words.

"Surely the heart of it isn't... heating the essence that has already hardened into bone and flesh until it becomes weightless essence qi?"

Yi Yubaek beamed.

"Why wouldn't it be? Your insight is excellent, which makes teaching you wonderfully easy!"

Sowol's chest tightened.

"That. That... If you heat flesh and bone incorrectly, won't there be problems? I've heard a lot of terrifying stories..."

People melting and sticking to the ground.

Internal organs burning away.

The perineal acupoint melting so that everything meant to stay inside spilled out.

Yi Yubaek answered,

"That happens if you heat them incorrectly. So we will heat them correctly."

"...Yes."

Sowol let his head drop as if bowing.

'This. Insane Jianghu...'

There was no way he could avoid learning martial arts.

He had to learn them.

He should have been grateful that he could learn them.

"We'll do this a little intensely. You need to show progress quickly if you don't want to get beaten around. I won't stand for my son getting beaten up. So stay sharp. One wrong move and you melt, understand?"

At Yi Yubaek's words, Sowol could not help but feel faint.

Melt?

"Come stand here."

Sowol forced his unwilling feet to move and stood before Yi Yubaek.

"First, shall we learn the sensation?"

Grip!

Yi Yubaek seized both sides of Sowol's waist.

Scorching kindling the inner fire flooded into him.

'Hot, hot!'

His flesh and bones rapidly heated to a temperature he had never imagined possible.

Was he going to melt away completely like this?

"Hey. Don't move. You could die if you make a mistake. Just focus your mind completely."