Ch.229Side Story 2: When I Met Him (3)

# When I Met Him – 3

Clang- Clang-.

The bell rang, announcing noon.

“Hmm, that’s it for morning training.”

The moment those words were spoken, I immediately collapsed onto the dirt ground.

Who cares about the dirt? I’m dying here. Whether my butt gets dirty or not, I just plopped down.

“I told you our sect’s external martial arts differ from what they teach at Shaolin or Beggar’s Sect. What’s the biggest difference again?”

“Huff… we don’t do… stupid things… like sticking our hands… in hot sand. Huff… we practice… systematic… high-level… external training…”

“Right, don’t forget that.”

External martial arts basically train muscles and harden the body to increase physical durability.

Which means that “systematic, high-level external training” pushes the human body to its limits.

We did all kinds of bizarre poses and strikes, plus non-stop exercises that would be called cardio and weight training back on Earth.

On top of that, at night they fed me brown soup filled with strange medicinal herbs supposedly good for bodies exhausted from external training, and even some unnamed medicine that smelled nice but was far inferior to the Great Revival Pill.

My body was actually getting harder, and muscles I never had before were developing.

If my previous body had, at best, just enough muscle to survive, now I had a great physique covered with well-defined muscles.

But hard is still hard. Every night I shed tears from muscle pain and sleep while twisting my body.

Damn, seriously, am I going to die from this? Do all regular disciples in the sect receive this kind of training?

My entire body, including my face, was drenched in sweat, and my clothes were covered in salt crystals from dried sweat.

To make matters worse, my throat was so dry it felt like it was sticking together.

“A decent-looking fellow being so weak! Get up already!”

One of the members of the Talming Squad, the unit directly under Grandpa Cheonma, poked at my body sprawled on the ground.

Both Grandpa Cheonma and Young Sect Leader Seonwoo Dan are busy people with their own responsibilities.

This uncle was the one who supervised my basic training in their place.

“Ah, I don’t care. I’m going to die at this rate!”

“Die? Your mouth seems to be working just fine. Get up quickly and let’s go eat lunch. Today they’re giving out whole chickens.”

Whether the sect has good welfare or not, the three daily meals were always delicious.

The food was so good that even the Talming Squad member was drooling, and if we were late, we might miss lunch.

Especially since days when they gave out whole chickens were rare, even a Talming Squad member who could supposedly slaughter any enemy with just a few moves couldn’t help but look forward to lunch.

Ah, I want to eat too, but I really have no strength.

“I’ll really go down soon. I don’t think I can move my legs even a tiny bit.”

“Such exaggeration. Then I’ll go ahead!”

No, seriously, I can barely move at all. Do people in this sect chew iron instead of rice? How do they endure this training every day?

The Talming Squad member grinned and descended the mountain using qinggong. Wow, he disappeared from sight in an instant. Terrifyingly fast.

The day was sweltering. After crawling and dragging myself to the shade of a tree, I found an elegant-looking elderly woman with a familiar appearance looking down at me.

“How’s the training going?”

“I feel like I’m going to die. Seriously.”

When I grimaced and stuck out my tongue, the elderly woman covered her mouth and laughed lightly.

This woman was “Blood Phoenix,” the wife of Grandpa Cheonma and the direct superior of the Hongxue Squad, an all-female unit.

There had been a great battle between the Four Blood Lotus, a pillar of the demonic sects, and the Demonic Sect, as our sect was infamously called. It was Blood Phoenix who treated Grandpa Cheonma when he was severely wounded.

The issue was that Blood Phoenix came from a righteous sect background.

Particularly, she was the youngest daughter of the Medical Immortal, the head of the Seomun Family, which produced many outstanding physicians.

She was called the Medical Fairy back then, but her title changed to Blood Phoenix right after marrying Grandpa Cheonma.

When I asked if she regretted marrying Grandpa Cheonma, she said that apart from not being able to visit her parents during holidays, she was actually happier than before.

Blood Phoenix looked at me still lying shamelessly on the ground and laughed heartily.

Then she gave me a piece of tangguo, a Central Plains confection, from a tray placed on the stone bench.

“Eating something sweet will help restore your energy somewhat, so eat this and hurry to lunch. Understand?”

“Thank you.”

Crunch, crunch.

As the sour fruit flavor and sweetness filled my mouth, strength returned to my body that had seemed immovable just moments ago.

It wasn’t the cheap, artificial sweetness of inexpensive snacks easily found in space, but a subtle, natural sweetness.

“Ah, I think I’ll live.”

“I hear you’re only training in external martial arts, not internal energy cultivation?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. They said rather than me learning something incorrectly, I should just learn reliable and safe external martial arts.”

Blood Phoenix approached me, took my wrist, and closed her eyes.

The Central Plains planet was a strange place where people could immediately know someone’s physical condition just by placing their hands on them.

When I asked Seonwoo Dan if everyone could do this, he said not many people had this ability.

Anyway, after entrusting my body to Blood Phoenix for a short while, she opened her eyes and smiled lightly. Is that a good sign?

“Hmm. Not pure, but not turbid either. But it’s strong. I’ve never seen someone with such balanced qi who hasn’t even practiced cultivation.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about the qi inside your body.”

Grandpa Cheonma had also said something about my qi being special, questioning how someone without internal energy could have such abilities.

Hearing similar words from Blood Phoenix, I had to ask.

“What exactly is special about my qi?”

“Your taiyang acupoint isn’t bulging from excessive training, nor do you have profound internal energy.”

When I stared blankly with a confused expression, Blood Phoenix nodded.

“Ah yes, you’re not from here. I forgot to explain simply. Let’s see, how should I explain this…”

Blood Phoenix patted the back of my hand as she pondered, then spoke again.

“I see. Your body has a proper harmony of heart, qi, and physical form, and from today’s training, I can tell you have enough martial prowess to easily subdue a third-rate martial artist.”

“I don’t know how good that is…”

“Your condition before training was exactly at the level between third-rate and second-rate.”

“Huh, then being able to easily subdue a third-rate martial artist isn’t basic?”

“Basic? Other sect members would cry if they heard that.”

Blood Phoenix laughed lightly and looked at me with narrowed eyes.

“For someone who hasn’t properly learned internal energy cultivation to be able to fight at that level shows considerable talent. I wonder what kind of life you’ve lived to display such martial prowess without ever learning martial arts.”

I didn’t expect Blood Phoenix to ask about my past. Neither my martial brother Seonwoo Dan nor my master Grandpa Cheonma had asked such questions, and I hadn’t even thought to bring it up.

Looking at the kind-hearted Blood Phoenix, I somehow felt I should tell her everything, even things I didn’t need to say.

Though I stammered a bit, I revealed everything from beginning to now.

Starting with being abducted into space five years ago, then loading and unloading cargo ships, mining unknown ores, serving as labor for space pirates… I did all sorts of dirty and difficult jobs.

After spending time like that, a year ago, I made a bad contract and ended up as a lowest-grade mercenary, practically a slave.

By chance, I met Eliya in the back alleys of a planet owned by Tenpenny Corporation, and she offered me a job as her bodyguard, risking my life to save hers.

Eliya was both an employer and friend hard to find elsewhere. She provided regular meals and even systematic training, saying it was for her benefit.

When I asked why she would do such things for a cheap back-alley mercenary like me, she said, “Because among all the people there, your eyes were the most radiant.”

“Eyes that radiated…”

Blood Phoenix repeated those words several times, then smiled gently.

For some, it might be just five years, but for me, it was as long as five whole years.

After I finished stammering through the story of my five years of experiences, Blood Phoenix patted my shoulder and said:

“Adeok, you’ve been through so much.”

Adeok. A nickname only Blood Phoenix used, adding “A” before my name.

“I had… really bad luck.”

“Yes, living alone at such a young age… how much you must have suffered.”

Blood Phoenix continued to gently stroke the back of my hand, encouraging me.

My eyes started to sting, and I felt something welling up inside me.

As I hung my head low, Blood Phoenix spoke in a flustered voice:

“I didn’t mean to make you cry… A disciple of Cheonma shouldn’t be so downcast. Besides, you’re much taller than me and quite strong.”

“I-I don’t think that’s true…?”

Even if Blood Phoenix’s appearance suggested she was a grandmother who would cherish even a single insect, being the wife of Grandpa Cheonma was a different story.

According to the Talming Squad member, she was quite a beauty in her twenties, and a master known as the Color Demon tried to do something inappropriate to her.

Eventually, she engaged in a life-or-death battle with that Color Demon and essentially rendered him unable to function as a man.

That’s why some sect members would occasionally pass by Blood Phoenix covering their groins with both hands.

In the Central Plains, they say to be careful around women, children, and the elderly—and she fit two of those categories, so how terrifying must she be?

I thought she might just pick me up and descend the mountain together using qinggong.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing. Well, I’ll go down for lunch now.”

“Yes, and please ask the kitchen master to bring some mooncakes at the hour of hai.”

“Mooncakes… Grandpa Cheonma’s snack?”

“Even at his age, he still loves such snacks.”

“That’s how all grandfathers are, I guess.”

Blood Phoenix smiled lightly as if to say ‘go well,’ and I slowly descended the mountain path on my trembling legs.

A whole chicken, I’m looking forward to it.

* * *

“Strike! Strike! Defend! Your hands are too slow! Can’t you move faster? Strike! Strike! Defend!”

Despite his words, the Talming Squad member training me in external martial arts looked happy.

I’ve already been here for over three weeks.

When I contacted Eliya using the spaceship set up at the mountain peak, she said she was hiding somewhere no one knew about.

When I asked why she was hiding, she gave the ridiculous answer that without me around, she couldn’t trust anyone, so she was working from a hiding place only she knew about.

Still, she told me not to worry about her, but I felt I needed to finish this training quickly.

“Rest for one meal period, then we’ll resume training. Still holding up?”

“Yeah, this much is fine.”

“Heh, look at this guy?”

The Talming Squad member chuckled at my confident answer.

“So now it’s ‘manageable,’ is it?”

“I can hold a horse stance for a full two hours without breaking a sweat. Do you have any training that can actually challenge me?”

“This guy, I told him to train his body, but he only trained his mouth.”

Despite his gruff response, the smile never left the corners of his mouth.

It’s the first time I’ve seen him with such an expression.

To be honest, most of the training only provided slight stimulation and wasn’t that difficult.

Seeing his expression made me feel anxious rather than pleased.

Whenever I got used to the training, he would bring something more difficult and strenuous, and he always had that smile right before telling me about the new training method.

What kind of training is he planning to give me with that smile?

Seeing my openly fearful expression, the uncle put his hands behind his back and stared at me intently.

“Now that you’ve built the basics, it’s time to try something.”

“Try what?”

“Practical application.”

“Practical application? Like beating up some thugs or something?”

“Where would we find thugs around the sect?”

“Then what?”

“You need to face off against a sect member.”

When I just blinked in confusion at his inexplicable words, the uncle shouted loudly:

“By order of the Sect Leader’s disciple!”

“Wait, hold on.”

“Summon the Initial Hundred Squad!”

“What? What squad?”

With the uncle’s words, dust began to rise from the mountainside, and with vibrations that seemed to shake the earth, the dust cloud approached me.

Thump, thump, thump, thump!

And then I saw them.

People who looked three or four years younger than me, dressed in white martial uniforms, rushing toward me in a crowd.

“Who are those people?”

“Children who have received the sect’s teachings from a young age. We selected exactly one hundred with outstanding skills for training. That’s why they’re called the Initial Hundred Squad.”

“But why would I need to be with the Initial Hundred Squad?”

“You said it was manageable.”

“I meant the training.”

“Then we need to develop through sparring.”

“With a hundred people?”

“No. No matter how strictly I teach, that wouldn’t make sense.”

If he has any common sense, he wouldn’t really make me fight a hundred people.

As I sighed in relief, the uncle raised one corner of his mouth and said:

“Let’s start by fighting just ten of them.”

No way. What did he just say?