Chapter 1150: Scorched World.

Three days had passed.

With the trip to Shanxi decided, the days flowed by, and the time to depart had finally arrived.

Kugugugung.

“Hooah……”

On a mountainside prepared a little ways away from the Murim Alliance.

I barely stood there, breathing out.

It was a space where the messed-up ground was clearly visible.

It was also the space where the Master had dragged me last time to show me his strength.

There, I was calming my ragged breathing while continuously circulating my internal energy.

“……Damn, that’s tough.”

After barely managing to regulate my breathing. These were the words I managed to utter once I could speak.

It was really fucking hard.

Kwadeuk.

Releasing the residual internal energy in my body, I bounced it off the ground, and the pressure caused the earth to cave in.

It was proof of the immense pressure I had contained within my body.

As my muscles, seemingly surprised by the expanded meridians, continued to throb with pain.

“Tsk tsk.”

I heard a tongue-clicking sound from behind. Turning around, I saw the Master, an old man, looking at me with a rather displeased expression.

“No matter how I think about it, it’s strange.”

“……What is?”

What could be strange? As I asked with a question, the Master stated firmly.

“Why did I ever take a brat like you as a disciple?”

“……”

His tone suggested he truly couldn’t understand.

“I question if there was truly no other way.”

“What’s wrong with me?”

“What’s wrong? You’re incredibly slow-witted.”

“……”

“Your physical abilities are monstrously excellent, and your skill in handling internal energy seems unparalleled in the world… but when it comes to martial arts, you’re rather dull. So dull, in fact, compared to what you possess.”

What was that? It was hard to tell if it was praise or an insult.

“Amidst it all, you have grit, enduring the fundamental aspects of martial arts through sheer guts, which is commendable. Yet, despite your lack of martial arts proficiency, I took you as a disciple…”

“I’ve heard that hundreds of times, so you don’t need to say it anymore.”

“Right? Well, there’s no way I wouldn’t have said it.”

“……”

He was right. I had already heard it countless times from the Master.

When it came to talent in handling internal energy, I was among the best in the Central Plains.

But regarding martial arts, I was comparatively slow.

I had heard that sentiment deeply long ago.

However.

“You told me to make the impossible possible.”

These were words the Master himself often uttered.

“Hmm?”

“Those are the words you always told me were your creed.”

“……Hmph.”

Hearing that, the Master nodded.

Then, he let out a small chuckle.

“You’re right. Fine. I just said it out of curiosity, so don’t dwell on it. There must be a reason.”

“Don’t dwell on it? Bullshit. You’ve already inflicted all the wounds you could.”

“So what? If you’re pissed, let’s spar. I always welcome teaching my disciple.”

“……”

Damn it.

If it were the place we were originally in, I would have easily won. But I couldn’t do that against the current Master.

‘Seriously, my luck is just terrible.’

Whenever I try to get something done, my luck is this bad.

What a shitty life this is.

“……That’s enough.”

All my strength is gone, what else is there to do?

“So, just tell me the problems. How was it? Was it any better this time?”

I said, dusting off my hands.

Right now, I was undergoing training from the Master.

The Sixth Form of the Two-Waves Heavenly Demonic Art (六式).

A simple, single thrust. The vast spectacle it created. The Sixth Form, which the perfectionist Master himself had evaluated as perfect.

I rolled and rolled through the nights trying to learn it.

“Failure.”

Master’s reaction was always decisive.

I couldn’t even come close once.

However.

“It was too slow. And too heavy.”

Every time he mentioned something to fix, I felt like vomiting.

“……How was it slow, and how was it heavy?”

Was that even something you could call words? It was always like that.

My footwork was too fast. My breathing was too strong. My joints were too light.

It was a repetition of the world’s most abstract and difficult answers.

This was…

“Why are you acting like this, unlike an elder?”

It was a teaching method unlike the Master. He did tend to use abstract terms often, but…

‘There’s a limit to that, though.’

He just spoke as if asking me to figure it out myself, prompting me to come up with answers. As for the training itself, he was a person who based it on detailed explanations.

‘Just look at when I was training the First Form.’

How the martial arts energy moved. The reason it traveled from the dantian to the meridians. And how the density of joints and muscles formed as the energy flowed, etc. He calculated all of that and made me internalize it through thorough preparation. The Master, who couldn’t tolerate even the slightest gap or flaw, was acting like this.

“Can’t you just teach me properly?”

I don’t know why he’s explaining things so abstractly now that we’re on the Sixth Form.

Perhaps…

‘Was it like this back then?’

I wondered if his teaching style only changed after he regained youth, and this was how it was before.

“The Sixth Form has a correct answer.”

I hoped the Master would answer my question.

“However, there is no single correct answer for the process of reaching that correct answer.”

“……What are you talking about?”

“It means it changes moment by moment depending on all possible variables.”

As he spoke, the Master pointed a finger at the ground where I stood.

“The subtle angle of the ground. The flow of the wind. The amount of internal energy released at that moment. Even the state of my body, which differs day by day. There are things that cannot be the same, aren’t there?”

“That’s true.”

“And yet, you must reach the perfect result amidst those changes. Does a correct answer truly exist for this?”

“So…”

That statement basically means…

“No matter how different the situation is, instinctively calculate those differences and reach the perfect outcome?”

“Oh. Your head is quite sharp, aren’t you?”

“You know that’s completely insane, right?”

It couldn’t be anything but insane. He himself said the bodily conditions and situations are all different, yet the result must be the same.

‘……So, simply repeating the same movement with the same amount of internal energy won’t work?’

I already struggled to execute those flawless movements. Now, I had to create perfection beyond that. And that too…

‘Instinctively.’

Just as I was holding back a sigh out of disbelief.

“That’s why I was surprised.”

The Master said.

“Surprised that I, who received a disciple with relatively poor martial arts talent, would say this.”

“……”

Being able to adapt to all those situations and reach the perfect outcome. That is truly the realm of talent. It was something I definitely didn’t possess.

“Didn’t I tell you? That you were ready to learn the Sixth Form.”

“Yes.”

I had heard that. That I was ready to learn the Sixth Form. However, I came here without learning it.

‘I never thought I’d regret that.’

But now, I feel a bit regretful. If I had focused more on learning the Two-Waves Heavenly Demonic Art, I feel like many better things might have happened.

“Hmm.”

The Master nodded thoughtfully.

“Then you must have seen something.”

“……Are you sure?”

“Yes, you definitely saw something. I’m not the type of person to give a definitive answer out of mere affection for a disciple.”

“That’s true. You’re a person who only knows themselves.”

“……What did you say, punk?”

“Just kidding.”

It wasn’t a joke. The Master seemed to know that too, furrowing his brow for a moment.

“……Fine. If I keep watching, I’ll find the answer. If you’re done, let’s go back. We’ll be late at this rate.”

“Yes.”

Having no time to get angry, I turned my back and leaped up, disappearing. Just as I was about to leap after him, watching his retreating back.

“……”

I suddenly looked back. It was the space where I practiced the Sixth Form. The spaces deeply gouged out. It looked violently ruined, as if a storm had swept through.

‘……That’s the result of failure.’

That was the sight the Master had decisively declared a failure. Seeing that, I recalled what the Master had shown me. Calamity. Or despair. No matter how many fancy words I used, it was an attack that couldn’t be properly described.

‘……I need to learn it.’

I will learn it. Something I must learn has appeared. Perhaps because I realized that.

‘Hmm.’

Heat kept rising within my body. I really was a lunatic. I shouldn’t be here learning martial arts. Getting a new task made me strangely excited.

‘……Did I catch it?’

I felt like I might have caught it from the Master. Thinking that, I chuckled.

‘Let’s go for now.’

There was no time.

---

I returned to the Murim Alliance. By the time morning came after dawn, departure time was near, and it was a very busy period.

“The luggage is all loaded.”

Someone nodded at the squad member’s words. It was my father.

“Prepare for departure. I’ll go see the Daejunim, so get ready.”

He turned his back. It was only then that I arrived too.

As soon as I returned, the squad members’ expressions looked grim. Of course.

‘I caused trouble a few days ago.’

As a fellow squad member. Was it the time I subdued Wi-seok? Or was it the time I beat Namgung Jin to a pulp? I could see the squad members avoiding me since then.

‘Actually, that’s good.’

They shouldn’t mess with a rabid dog. Why do they keep provoking me? Satisfied with the easier situation, I got into the carriage. Someone was already inside.

“What? You were already here?”

“Ah, they told me to wait inside.”

It was Do-yun. It seemed he was participating in this mission too.

‘……I expected this, but…’

I had expected them to include Do-yun. He’s a person of interest, besides…

‘He’s from Shanxi.’

Since he’s from Shanxi, just like my father, they must have included him. I nodded and sat down in the carriage.

Kkiiik.

The carriage door opened again. And then.

“Aigoo. It’s cramped, so cramped.”

Someone followed and came in behind. It was Gu-ryun.

“……You want me to ride here?”

The Master entered. Why are these old folks suddenly here? I looked at the two of them, puzzled.

“Oh my, everyone’s already here?”

“……?”

Behind the old folks, Hyeon So-yeon suddenly entered and sat in the carriage.

“……What is this?”

I asked, looking at her. Never mind the old folks, what’s she doing here? I asked with that meaning in mind, but.

“Yes? Why?”

Hyeon So-yeon replied as if asking what the problem was.

“I’m going too, so of course I have to ride.”

“……?”

It wasn’t an obvious statement at all.