A short while later, they emerged with their belongings packed.
Not that they had much to pack–each carried only a single bundle, so they left the inn sooner than expected.
Warrior Dae-nok’s face was still burning red.
No matter how hard he tried, he clearly couldn’t let go of his anger.
Broken arms and legs were one thing, but he had nearly been forced to give up being a martial artist for good.
“Raaaaagh!”
He swung his fist at a nearby tree.
Boom!
At least it would be a good thing if that helped him vent his anger… Huh?
Crash! Craaash! Boom!
Five or six trees toppled from that single punch.
Wait. A First-rate martial artist shouldn’t be capable of that.
I called out to Warrior Dae-nok.
“Warrior Dae-nok, forgive the intrusion, but may I take your pulse for a moment?”
“What?”
“There’s something I need to confirm.”
He hesitated at my request, but soon nodded. After everything I had done to help them, he must have decided he could trust me.
He held out his wrist, and I took it in my hand to examine his pulse.
What in the world… This made no sense.
Until moments ago, he had been at the First-rate realm, but now he had reached the early stage of the Peak realm.
Could this be…?
Still holding his wrist, I spoke to him.
“Take a deep breath and calm yourself.”
“Whew…”
“What is your favorite food?”
“I, uh… I like candied hawthorn best.”
“Then imagine yourself eating candied hawthorn.”
At my words, he closed his eyes, and his racing pulse gradually settled.
At the same time, something strange happened.
As his anger subsided, his cultivation dropped back to the First-rate realm.
Then let’s test it again.
“Now imagine that Namgoong Ho snatched that candied hawthorn away from you and stomped it into the dirt.”
“Grrrk!”
I heard his teeth grinding, and his cultivation immediately rose to the early Peak realm again.
That settled it.
I nodded to myself and released his wrist.
Then was this something unique to the individual, or was it a trait of their martial art?
I turned to Warrior Su-am.
“May I take your pulse for a moment?”
He readily held out his wrist, and I examined his internal power.
Then I ran him through the same test I had used on Warrior Dae-nok.
The result was similar. I released his wrist and asked,
“Do the Yeongyeol Sect’s martial arts normally become stronger when the practitioner is angry?”
Both of them shook their heads.
“I’m not sure about that either.”
“Our master never told us anything like that.”
Their master–in other words, the Yeongyeol Sect Leader–had he never mentioned it because he truly didn’t know?
Or had he genuinely never realized it?
Their martial arts became drastically stronger whenever they were angry.
But nothing came without a price.
There had to be a drawback…
Grrrrr.
Rrrrumble.
So that was it.
In exchange for that surge of strength, they seemed to burn through their stamina at an alarming rate.
We had stopped at a restaurant to eat on the way here. I wasn’t hungry in the slightest, yet their stomachs were already growling like that.
Come to think of it, had their master deliberately kept quiet because anger would make them burn through food faster and waste their limited supplies?
The Yeongyeol Sect wasn’t exactly well-off.
Don’t tell me…
I cut off that line of thought.
“From what I’ve seen, the martial arts the two of you practice become much stronger when you’re angry.”
“When we’re angry?”
“That’s right. If you learn to use this properly, you should be able to achieve good results in the main matches.”
“Then can we get our revenge?”
I asked him,
“When you say revenge, do you mean against Young Lord Namgoong On?”
He didn’t answer my question, but his silence was answer enough.
I offered him some advice.
“Getting even by hitting someone as many times as they hit you is the revenge of an amateur. A true expert makes sure the other person never dares touch him again.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Even if you take revenge now, it will be worse than doing nothing if he goes after the people around you later.”
“Ah…”
They nodded as though they finally understood.
Warrior Dae-nok clenched his fist and asked,
“Then are weaklings like us supposed to do nothing and swallow our anger for the rest of our lives?”
“Not at all.”
I shook my head.
“Everyone lives with some measure of unease in their heart. And when that unease swells to its limit, that is when a person suffers most.”
I continued,
“Imagine that someone you once beat down has risen to a position where he can take revenge, yet he refuses to touch you. You wouldn’t know what he was planning or what he wanted. The uncertainty alone would make every passing day feel like torture.”
“You’re telling us to work hard and rise higher… but the Yeongyeol Sect is a tiny sect hardly anyone has even heard of. No matter how hard we try, we could never rival the Namgoong Clan…”
“Who says you can’t?”
I cut him off and spoke with absolute conviction.
“Nothing in this world is truly impossible. Most people simply don’t know how to accomplish it–and even when they do, they hesitate to act.”
A broad grin spread across my face.
“Of course, that is a matter for later. Right now, you’re probably dying to hit him at least once.”
“That’s right.”
“You can’t beat him senseless, but how about revenge that comes close? If that will satisfy you, I’ll help.”
“Why? Why would you go this far for us?”
“Go this far? I never help anyone without receiving something in return.”
“Then there’s something you want from us?”
“In exchange for my help, lend your strength to the Eunhae Merchant Group one day.”
“That’s all?”
“It’s more than enough. So, what will you do? The choice is yours. But you should prepare yourselves for what it will take.”
The two exchanged glances, then respectfully cupped their fists toward me.
Snap!
“Please help us.”
Their eyes burned with fierce determination.
Now that was a good look.
“Deputy Gwak, let’s draw up a contract.”
.
.
.
We returned to Yeonpung Inn.
I told Dae-nok and Su-am to get something to eat, then went to see my parents and explained everything that had happened.
“Hah! To think such a thing happened!”
Naturally, my parents were furious.
“It’s a good thing Jin Ho isn’t here.”
“Yes. That’s exactly why I’m telling you while Brother Jin Ho is away.”
Father gave a quiet chuckle.
“Very well. You clearly have something in mind, so do as you see fit.”
“Thank you.”
I bowed, then changed the subject.
“By the way, I’ve entered the friendly martial matches at the Murim Grand Assembly. Why haven’t either of you said anything about it?”
This time, Mother answered with a smile.
“You’ll handle yourself perfectly well without me saying anything. What would be the point?”
“I’ll be cheering for you.”
“Hahahaha.”
As expected, both of them knew me far too well.
“More importantly, I’m worried about Jin Ho.”
Mother let out a sigh.
“I’m afraid his stubborn pride will make him push himself too far and get badly injured.”
“Ah…”
I smiled awkwardly and stared into empty space.
Brother Jin Ho. See…?
Our parents already know.
You handle this one yourself.
It has nothing to do with me.
.
.
.
I moved into action immediately.
Judging by the pace of the friendly matches, all the remaining preliminaries would be over in about five days.
Which meant I had five days to raise Warrior Dae-nok’s abilities.
I brought him to the backyard of Yeonpung Inn.
One reason the Eunhae Merchant Group often rented out the entire Yeonpung Inn was this backyard.
It was spacious enough to make an excellent training ground.
“From this moment on, your special training begins.”
“Yes!”
“We’ll give it everything we have.”
At my declaration, Escort Guards Dae-nok and Su-am cupped their fists in salute.
“First, let’s test your basic physical fitness.”
I pointed toward the iron apparatus that had been assembled nearby.
A horizontal bar connected two upright posts at about the height of my chest, forming a squared arch shaped like the character 冂.
I had asked the Baekyeom Merchant Group to make it under the pretext that I needed it for my own training. The Escort Guards had gone through quite a bit of trouble to haul it here.
After all, everyone knew that the Alliance Leader had recommended me for the martial matches.
“I’ll demonstrate first. Hook your legs over the crossbar connecting the two posts, fold your hands over your chest, lower your body, and then sit back up.”
“That looks easy.”
“We used to do this all the time during training.”
“Good. Since you’re familiar with it, keep going until you physically can’t do another.”
“Understood.”
They hooked their legs over the structure and began doing sit-ups.
“Ah! I forgot to mention one important thing. You’re not allowed to use internal power.”
“What?”
“We’re testing your basic physical fitness. How could I measure it properly if you used internal power?”
“That makes sense. Understood.”
Escort Guards Yeo Eung-am and Lee Pil stood beside them and counted each repetition.
Hm. How many will they manage?
Even without internal power, they had spent years training their bodies. A hundred repetitions should be easy… like hell it would.
“Sixty-two.”
“Gasp, huff, gasp… I, I can’t… do any more…”
“Keep going! Just one more!”
“Raaaaagh!”
“Sixty-three.”
I clicked my tongue and shook my head.
“How can you be exhausted after only sixty-three?”
“…”
They didn’t even have the strength left to speak.
Escort Guard Seo Wu, who had been training beside them, spoke with a troubled expression.
“This road is going to be longer than I thought.”
“Whew. It’s fine. We’ll make it work.”
Just then, Escort Guards Myeong Jong and Chang Un approached me.
“My lord, if it isn’t too much trouble, there is something we would like to request.”
“What is it?”
“We would also like to receive special training.”
“You two as well?”
“Yes. We’ve realized that we can’t continue as we are. Unless we push ourselves harder and advance with greater determination, we’ll eventually be left behind.”
Both men looked at me with desperate eyes.
But I refused them without hesitation.
“No.”
“But…”
“Neither of you would gain anything from joining this training. It would only be a waste of your time.”
I sent them a Voice Transmission.
– From what I can see, your basic physical fitness is already more than sufficient. You’re already training diligently, yet you want to pile even more basic conditioning on top of that? Too much of anything becomes harmful.
“…”
– As I told you before, what the two of you need is enlightenment and the right opportunity.
Even after hearing that, neither man looked convinced.
I turned toward Escort Guard Lee Pil.
He, too, was deeply serious about cultivating martial arts and advancing his realm.
When I had first met him, he had seemed content to drift through life one day at a time. But somewhere along the way, he had changed.
“Escort Guard Lee Pil.”
“Yes.”
“Why haven’t you asked to join the special training like these two?”
Escort Guard Lee Pil’s reply was simple.
“Because… I trust you, my lord.”
I smiled.
“You care about your own safety more than anything else, my lord. Even if only to keep yourself out of danger, you’re always considering how to strengthen your Escort Guards.”
Uh… that wasn’t an insult, was it?
“If someone like you doesn’t tell us to join the training, there can only be one answer–we have no need for it. No one values efficiency more than you do.”
“Exactly.”
I looked at Escort Guards Myeong Jong and Chang Un.
“Could it be that the two of you don’t trust me?”
“N–no, my lord!”
“Never.”
“I know. I was joking.”
I gave a soft laugh to ease the mood, then continued.
“Impatience is the greatest obstacle to success. If your impatience drives you into Qi Deviation, every bit of effort you’ve made until now will have been wasted.”
“…”
“What you need–as I have already said–is enlightenment and the right opportunity. So could you trust me just this once?”
At my gentle tone, they dropped to their knees and apologized.
“We’re sorry. We let our impatience get the better of us.”
“Please rebuke us for our recklessness.”
“That’s enough. Get up. There’s no need to go this far. You’ll be the ones suffering if you ruin your knees.”
Despite my words, neither of them rose.
Seriously. They came from major sects, and it showed in how stubbornly formal they could be.
“Then what if I kneel too…?”
“N–no, my lord! We’ll get up!”
They sprang to their feet. They should have done that from the start.
“If you can’t trust me as a person, then trust me as a merchant. Just as Escort Guard Lee Pil said, I never make a losing deal.”
I turned my head and said,
“So, Warrior Dae-nok. Warrior Su-am.”
The two men were still sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath.
“The next five days will become a memory neither of you will ever forget.”
After ordering each of them to perform ten thousand repetitions of the basic sword forms, I asked Palgap to procure some medicinal ingredients.
“Here, I brought the herbs you asked for, but what are you planning to do with them, Young Master?”
“What else? I’m going to brew medicine for those two. I happened to learn this recipe by chance.”
Back in my previous life, that is.
“It’s called the Tiger-Bear Primordial Body Decoction. It forcibly improves physical stamina.”
“Then drinking this will make them stronger?”
“Yeah.”
“But… seeing as you’ve never drunk it yourself, Young Master, I suspect there’s a reason.”
As expected of Palgap. He was quick to catch on.
“That’s right.”
There were several reasons I had never drunk it myself.
“First, it leaves you suffering from agonizing muscle pain.”
“Then couldn’t they simply rest until the pain… Ah. No, they couldn’t.”
I nodded.
“They have to keep moving despite the pain. That doubles the effect and also makes the suffering slightly more bearable.”
“What else is there?”
“Oh, and this stuff… tastes absolutely vile. I’d rather chew on a raw gallbladder.”
“Good heavens… Is it really that bad?”
“Yeah. On top of that, for three days, they have to drink nothing but the decoction for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They can’t put anything else in their mouths. If they endure that, they’ll gain the equivalent of roughly three months of training.”
“Pain and terrible food. Those are both things you hate most, Young Master.”
That was exactly why I had never drunk it.
I would rather train every single day.
But we were short on time, so I had no choice but to resort to desperate measures.
Some might call it unfair, but the heirs of great clans had grown up eating every Elixir their families claimed was good for their bodies.
So wouldn’t this much only make things fair?
“I already warned them.”
I told them they would have to prepare themselves.
“They might run away.”
“Run away? Do you think they can?”
— Kui!
If they tried to run, Geumryeong would catch them and bring them back?
All right. I’m counting on you.
–TL Notes–
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