Chapter 69 – There is no regret, there is no regret (2)
Just at the moment when the disciples were hesitating due to the fierce presence emanating from Mu-myung. The only person who responded positively was none other than his disciple Murong Sua.
Of course, who could deny that her talent is among the top five in the martial arts world? But regardless of talent, if asked whether she was helpful.
At least Sua herself had already concluded that she was not helpful to her master. As evidence, when the Black Death Sect invaded the Sichuan Tang family, what had she done?
‘Frustratingly, I could only watch from behind. I couldn’t even perfectly use my internal energy to drive out the poison, let alone be immune to all poisons.’
When one reaches the first-class realm, they can prevent the poison from spreading by utilizing their internal energy. Going a bit further, one can even develop the skill to extract poison out of the body.
Nevertheless, the reason poison techniques are one of the few methods that can bridge the gap between different levels of skill is because the technique of extracting poison from the body is extremely difficult.
From the beginning, it would be impossible to extract poison from the body during a fight. One would need to settle in a proper position and deliberately concentrate their mind for it to be possible.
“There is also the risk that, if one’s internal energy is weak or their mind is unsettled, they may fall into danjeon deviation.”
“Sajeo… Shouldn’t we stop the master?”
“Hellish training? It’s already difficult enough as it is…”
“You are pathetically weak. And yet you claim to be disciples of the Sword Demon?”
Ma Kang clicked his tongue and retorted at the sight of Seolhwa and Namgung-yeon whining. Just training would be one thing, but hellish training? Even the sound of it doesn’t seem good, does it?
‘Regardless of whether it’s the righteous or Unorthodox sect, this is the training of the Sword Demon who shook the entire martial arts world. Even if you don’t want to have expectations, you can’t help it.’
In the past, he was someone who shook the martial arts world enough to be given the grand name of the Sword Demon War. Moreover, what would be the reason the righteous sect is letting him be active again now?
There are plenty of justifications.
Now is not the time.
The situation of the Righteous sect’s Martial Arts Alliance is not good.
And so on and so forth. There are truly many.
But the most decisive reason is only one. It is because he’s strong! Strong enough to face the Righteous sect’s Martial Arts Alliance alone, and he’s not alone now.
As far as Ma Kang knows, behind him are the Sadoryeon and the Murong family, and recently the Sichuan Tang family has joined as well. That’s two of the Five Great Families joining.
Moreover, among the remaining Five Great Families, the Jegal family has a very critical stance toward the Namgung family, which wields absolute power, so in the end, only the Habuk Pang family remains.
‘Of course, complete victory can’t be guaranteed… But still, the situation isn’t entirely bad. After all, he’s the Sword Demon who almost led the Sword Demon War to victory alone.’
And above all, the Evil Sect and the Namgung family owe a debt. On that very day when Ma Kang was imprisoned and faced the Dark Sword, he almost lost his life if he had not been careful.
Death is not frightening.
But dying without leaving anything behind.
Yes, that alone is frightening.
At Ma Kang’s words, Seolhwa also nodded with a resolute expression. Those around her say she doesn’t need to do anything, but well, is that really the case?
‘When the Black Death Sect came before, what would have happened to me if it weren’t for Master’s Spear-Sword Mind Technique?’
The Spear-Sword Mind Technique is a mind technique that uses waste materials or poison in the body as fuel to burn the flames even hotter. What if he hadn’t taught her the Spear-Sword Mind Technique?
Then she would not be here. And it will be the same in the future. If she doesn’t get stronger here, she will lose her place.
“Thinking about it again, I think the senior disciple is right.”
“Senior disciple? Do you mean me?”
“Of course! You did join after me!”
“Well, that’s true.”
A miracle occurred when Ma Kang, who was once a member of the Hundred Great Masters, even though a low-ranking one, instantly became a junior. And to a boy who was only at the second-class level.
But it wasn’t entirely wrong to protest with foam at the mouth. He wasn’t foolish enough to reject the Sword Demon’s teachings just because of pride.
In the end, Ma Kang reluctantly decided to give her the treatment for now. Since three of the disciples had agreed instantly, Namgung-yeon had no other choice.
“At the very least, please go easy on us.”
“Don’t let that kind of talk come out.”
“Ah.”
He just ended up making things worse.
◇
There is a plan behind Mu-myung’s confident proposal of hellish training. As the memories of the Sword Demon are unlocked, the knowledge that the Sword Demon had is gradually emerging.
Certainly, while I don’t know about other things, his talent alone was arguably the greatest in the history of the martial arts world. Why did martial artists call the Sword Demon the Sword Demon?
It’s not simply because he fought on par with the legendary Sword God of the righteous sect that he was called the Sword Demon. He could implement any martial art just by seeing it.
If you’ve read martial arts novels, there’s that cliché where someone can imitate a martial art after seeing it just once, right? Actually, Mu-myung has seen quite a few of such martial arts novels. And the Sword Demon was exactly that kind of case.
And inheriting those memories means that Mu-myung directly inherits the martial arts that the Sword Demon understood and used. Though he would be consumed little by little in the process.
How can one not use fire at all because fire is scary? The memories will continue to erode anyway. In that case, I might as well use them.
‘Rather than sitting idly and being consumed, I’d rather make use of it. I will use everything to suppress the Sword Demon and survive.’
Thanks to this, Mu-myung could identify the problems of the disciples with eyes almost similar to the Sword Demon’s. Indeed, the biggest problem is external energy. Of course, internal energy is important too.
Especially using protective energy to defend against an opponent’s attack is fundamental for a martial artist. But it’s absurd to only train internal energy and not learn external energy.
Of course, external energy can’t be the main focus, but at the very least, training the body is the basic of basics for a martial artist. That’s why martial artists don’t emphasize it.
‘External energy, that is, physical ability, when strengthened, greatly increases what one can do. In modern terms, it’s similar to increasing basic specs like attack power or stamina.’
Therefore, what Mu-myung prepared was a very simple, yet extremely hard and strenuous training. Sua blinked her eyes and looked at the weights attached to her wrists and ankles.
“What is this?”
“It’s equipment I specially requested from the Four Islands. Each weighs about 5 kwan (approximately 18kg).
“Are we supposed to train wearing as many as four of these?”
“It’s a bit burdensome, but if I use internal energy…”
“No, you will train without using any internal energy at all.”
Even Sua looked at Mu-myung with a surprised expression at his words. If each is 5 kwan, then all four together are 20 kwan, which is equivalent to the weight of a person.
“Carrying that much weight and training without using internal energy.”
“Of course, if you’re not careful, it could severely damage the body. But you can put that worry aside. I have ways to handle that.”
“Since it’s Master’s words, I will follow.”
The first to wear the weights was none other than Sua. For her, there was no option to doubt her master. He must have his reasons.
“If it means I can become stronger, this is nothing.”
After that, Ma Kang also wore the weights without complaint. It was indeed burdensome to move the body without using internal energy, but still, it was the Sword Demon’s teaching.
There must be a reason for it.
After Sua and Ma Kang wore them, Seolhwa and Yeon also wore the weights. While Sua and Ma Kang were enduring to some extent, Seolhwa and Yeon didn’t seem to be doing so.
“It’s heavy!”
“This is much more burdensome than I thought…?!”
“You must endure without using internal energy. Only then does the training have meaning.”
“Ah, I understand. If it’s Master’s words!!”
‘Oh, this seems difficult.’
In the end, Yeon, whose retreat path had disappeared, had to grit his teeth and adapt to this situation. Training without using internal energy was a much more difficult task than expected.
From the beginning, most martial arts assume the utilization of internal energy as a basic premise. That is, without using internal energy, such flashy and quick movements are impossible.
But what if one could show similar movements without using internal energy? No, even if they could just achieve movements close to half of those using internal energy?
‘If that’s the case, after using internal energy, the options would become much wider.’
Of course, enlightenment is important to reach a higher level. Especially when enlightenment reaches its peak, one can obtain a body suitable for martial arts through transformation.
But to rely solely on transformation and not train the body is truly absurd. Find ways to become stronger right now.
To prepare for the fight with the Evil sect that will come someday.
