Transaction (1)
“It’s Master Uncle Hyun-gwang.”
“Hmm hmm. I am Jegal Jin-hee. Hyun-gwang Sunim.”
Pretending to be calm, Jegal Jin-hee clasped her fists together and greeted, prompting Hyun-gwang to burst into a hearty laugh.
“Hahaha. Truly, the Lady Yeosiju is full of energy.”
“Grandfather, may I spar with Lady Jegal Jin-hee instead of training?”
“Since the Lady Yeosiju’s level seems similar to yours, Mu-jin, it will be very beneficial.”
She, who had been slightly lowering her head in embarrassment, quickly regained her composure at Hyun-gwang’s words.
“Similar level? Mu-jin novice and me?”
Although she had lost in the previous spar, her martial arts level was clearly superior.“Is it an old monk’s misunderstanding? No, Mu-jin novice certainly said he gained enlightenment after that spar.”
In that case, it meant that Mu-jin novice’s skills had improved rapidly over the past five months.
“This is not the time to entertain random thoughts.”
Realizing this, she took a deep breath and looked at Mu-jin with a more composed mindset.
“Please teach me a lesson, Mu-jin novice.”
Seeing her already holding two steel fans, Mu-jin also took his stance and responded.
“Likewise, I ask for your guidance, Lady Jegal Jin-hee.”
Right after Mu-jin’s response.
“Haa!”
Unlike before, Jegal Jin-hee moved first.
Her stepping technique towards Mu-jin was so light that it seemed she could leap to either side at any moment.
When she closed the distance to about one jang (approx. 3 meters), she simultaneously leaped to the left and threw a fan in her right hand in a surprise attack.
Whoosh!
Seeing the movement of the fan, Mu-jin twisted his upper body to avoid it.
Swoosh!
In that brief moment, she closed the distance of one jang and was already swinging the other fan at Mu-jin.
“!!!”
Amazingly, the fan she was swinging contained sage energy (선기).
Unlike their previous spar, she released sage energy in an instant without any prior preparation.
“I see, she hasn’t been idle these past five months.”
Despite such thoughts crossing his mind, Mu-jin easily avoided the attack by stepping back.
The reason was simple.
“Her skills have improved, but she is still slower than Ryu Seol-ho’s bodyguard.”
Compared to the sword of the bodyguard he recently faced, her fan was still slow.
“Though the same could be said for me.”
Honestly, even if he fought the bodyguard again now, it would be difficult to win.
The bodyguard was at a level where he could create sword energy without being confined to forms, while Mu-jin was just beginning to step into the level of manifesting energy.
However, the experience from that time remained vividly in Mu-jin’s mind.
Whoosh!
Mu-jin easily avoided the steel fans Jegal Jin-hee alternately swung and threw, and he also effortlessly deflected attacks that lacked sage energy.
While defensively engaging in the spar and observing for a moment, he concluded:
“Although it doesn’t take her long to create sage energy, she’s still confined to basic forms.”
He realized that she was still at the level where she relied on martial arts to produce sage energy.
Having already sparred with her three times, he remembered most of the forms she used.
“Haat!”
As she once again swung her steel fan imbued with sage energy, he thought:
“Now!”
Anticipating her move, Mu-jin spread the internal energy originating from his danjeon throughout his limbs.
The energy, amplified by various martial arts techniques, traveled from his toes, through his waist, and into his fists.
Bang!!
When Mu-jin’s fist collided with the sage energy, a booming sound, rather than a cutting noise, echoed.
“!!!”
Naturally, a ripple appeared in Jegal Jin-hee’s eyes, which had been swinging the steel fan.
“A fist technique…”
She noticed a faint golden shimmer emanating from Mu-jin’s fist, blocking her sage energy.
“At just fifteen years old!”
This was an unprecedented achievement, even within the vast Central Plains.
Briefly astonished by Mu-jin’s accomplishment, Jegal Jin-hee quickly realized she didn’t have time for admiration.
Right after Mu-jin’s fist and her steel fan collided, the rebound force flung her right hand backward.
In previous spars, she had only gained the upper hand by infusing her steel fans with internal energy or sage energy. Now, with sage energy neutralized by the fist technique, the difference in strength was evident.
Jegal Jin-hee quickly stepped back, dispersing the impact.
“Here I come!”
Mu-jin shouted, chasing after Jegal Jin-hee, who had retreated.
It was the first time Mu-jin, who had been defensive until now, switched to offense.
Mu-jin’s rapid and powerful strikes flew at her, sometimes feinting with a fist or palm to pressure her with trapping techniques or the Golden Locking Hand technique.
She evaded some attacks with quick footwork and deflected others with her steel fans.
“This is dangerous.”
As she found herself on the defensive, she hurriedly gathered her internal energy and swung her fan with sage energy. However, Mu-jin anticipated this and twisted his body to avoid the attack.
As the spar continued, the tide of battle turned against her.
“He’s reading my moves.”
Mu-jin skillfully drove her back. Whenever she used sage energy, he either dodged it easily or—
“Haa!”
—seemingly anticipated it, countering with his fist energy or palm force to push her steel fan away.
Each time, her balance was significantly disturbed by the force pushing her.
Nevertheless, the reason the sparring session hadn’t ended was that Mu-jin wasn’t relentlessly attacking as he had in previous bouts.
Since there was no wager on this sparring match, Mu-jin considered it another form of training.
Jegal Jin-hee, being perceptive, also vaguely sensed Mu-jin’s intention.
‘In that case, me too!’
She resolved to use this sparring session to gain experience rather than force a victory over Mu-jin.
Just as Mu-jin read her movements and techniques, she also tried to anticipate Mu-jin’s next move.
However, it wasn’t as easy as she thought.
‘His moves are straightforward, so why is this happening?’
After exchanging moves with Mu-jin dozens of times, she finally realized the reason.
‘His moves are simple but fast! And although the moves themselves are simple, they are continuously connected!’
Mu-jin didn’t use complex martial arts. Instead, he employed intuitive and fast attacks, mixing in punching and kicking techniques, trapping techniques, and the Golden Locking Hand technique.
Though simple, the variety of swift and powerful moves executed in ever-changing sequences made them nearly impossible to read.
As her mind became entangled with her movements, she hastily created sage energy and swung her steel fan.
Bang!!
Mu-jin deflected her steel fan with his fist energy, then took a step back and adopted a half-stance.
“I believe this is enough for our sparring session, Jegal Jin-hee Shiju-nim.”
“Phew… Your skills have truly improved remarkably during this time, Mu-jin Dongja-nim.”
Jegal Jin-hee, having expended a considerable amount of her internal energy and stamina, caught her breath with deep breaths as she spoke. Mu-jin replied with a gentle smile.
“Sparring with Jegal Jin-hee Shiju-nim has been a great help to me. Amitabha.”
“It feels like I’ve been at a disadvantage since only Mu-jin Dongja-nim’s skills have advanced so much.”
She spoke in a slightly pouty tone, and Mu-jin smiled awkwardly.
Jegal Jin-hee then asked Mu-jin a question out of curiosity.
“In that case, could you answer a few questions for me, since I feel like I’ve been at a loss?”
A thought flashed through Mu-jin’s mind.
‘Hmm? I might be able to gather information about the Jegal family this way?’
The Jegal family, like the Cheonryu Sangdan, could become an enemy in the future. He had an instinctive feeling that he could gather information through Jegal Jin-hee, who could be considered a direct descendant of the Jegal family.
After organizing his thoughts, Mu-jin decided to agree to her request.
“If it’s something I can answer, I will.”
“Why didn’t Mu-jin Dongja-nim use any special techniques during the sparring? Did you think it wasn’t necessary to use them?”
With a slightly wounded pride, she asked. Of course, from Mu-jin’s perspective, it was an unfair situation.
“I didn’t not use it. I couldn’t use it.”
“Pardon? What do you mean by that…?”
“I haven’t learned Shaolin’s Seventy-two Consummate Arts.”
“!?”
As Jegal Jin-hee made a confused expression at Mu-jin’s words, Hyeon-gwang, who had been watching the sparring, spoke up.
“What Mu-jin says is true, Jegal Benefactor.”
“Then how could he already reach such a level?”
A mere fifteen-year-old child being able to emit qi and energy without relying on the power of ascendant martial arts was something she couldn’t understand.
“Haha, Mu-jin found his own path instead of learning the consummate arts, Benefactor Ye.”
“His own path?”
When Jegal Jin-hee asked again, Hyeon-gwang smiled gently and looked at Mu-jin. As Jegal Jin-hee’s gaze turned back to Mu-jin, Mu-jin answered with a slightly embarrassed tone.
“Ahem. I have a strong aversion to complex and difficult things, so I just combined a few of Shaolin’s introductory and intermediate martial arts to create my own.”
‘That’s impossible…’
That was the first thought that came to her mind after hearing Mu-jin’s words.
She knew how arduous it was to create martial arts. If it were some third-rate martial arts picked up from the streets, it might be believable. But creating martial arts capable of emitting qi and energy?
The word that naturally came to Jegal Jin-hee’s mind for someone who could create such martial arts was…
‘Grandmaster…’
To think that such a young child had that level of talent.
Coming from the Jegal family, she was even more shocked. After all, the Jegal family was one that constantly researched to create ascendant martial arts and divine techniques.
But what truly surprised her wasn’t Mu-jin’s talent for creating ascendant martial arts, but his way of thinking.
Because he felt complex and mysterious things didn’t suit him, he didn’t learn the famous Seventy-two Consummate Arts of Shaolin and instead pioneered his own path.
‘…He’s different from me.’
She suddenly felt insignificant.
She, too, had reached her current level by deeply training in the Black and White Fan Technique, the only ascendant martial art allowed to women. But she had never thought of honing it to the end.
‘To me, the Black and White Fan Technique was just a tool to gain recognition from the elders of the family.’
Her goal was to be acknowledged by the elders and to learn the divine techniques passed down to the direct line.
She had never thought of developing the Black and White Fan Technique into a divine technique herself.
‘Yes. If I can’t be taught divine techniques just because I’m a woman, I’ll just create my own divine technique!’
She might never have had such thoughts in the past. She had been a woman of the Jegal family, solely pursuing rationality.
But now, having witnessed someone who shattered the shell of what she considered common sense, her perspective had changed.
She realized that it wasn’t an impossible goal.
Therefore, she willingly put aside her embarrassment and sought guidance from the one who had shattered her shell.
“Mu-jin, how were you able to integrate basic martial arts and intermediate martial arts together? No, how did you resolve the side effects when you combined martial arts?”
In response to her question, Mu-jin answered as if it were nothing special.
“You just need to train your body.”
“Your body?”
When she asked again in confusion, Mu-jin gladly took off his robe and started demonstrating the Striking Bone Technique in the air.
At Mu-jin’s sudden exposure, she screamed and covered her face with her palms, but she peeked through the gaps between her fingers to watch Mu-jin’s movements.
The first thing that caught her eye was Mu-jin’s muscles, which seemed ready to burst with each move he made.
Being a person with a sharp mind, it didn’t take long for her to understand Mu-jin’s point.
“Are you saying that you overcame it with external energy?”
Mu-jin stopped his movements and answered together with a bow.
“That’s correct, Lady Jegal Jin-hee.”
“Isn’t there a clear limit to external energy?”
“The same goes for internal energy.”
“…”
As Jegal Jin-hee still seemed unable to accept it, Mu-jin gave her a light smile and provided an example.
“Simply put, think of picking up something that has fallen on the ground, Lady Jegal Jin-hee. If that item weighs about 600 grams, you can just bend over and pick it up with strength. But, if that item weighs around 300 kilograms, what would you do?”
“I would use my internal energy to lift it.”
“Yes. But for me, without necessarily using internal energy, I can lift that weight with just my physical strength. Now, what if the item weighs 600 kilograms? Lady Jegal Jin-hee might still be able to lift it, but the amount of internal energy required and the complexity of using that energy would be much higher.”
“I suppose so.”
“On the other hand, I can lift that item with about the same amount of internal energy, or even less, than you would use to lift a 300-kilogram item. Because I have the basic physical strength. In other words, the more developed your body is, the less your mind has to work.”
Mu-jin was once again advocating for the superiority of physical strength.
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