Void Grasping!
He already knew Void Grasping was possible. However, moving a sword right in front of you and moving a single sword from such a distance were different matters.
The hall buzzed with murmurs.
“Such a level…”
“Whoa…”
But the master’s next action astonished everyone even more, including Jin Cheon-hee.
Another sword flew in.
And then another, and yet another.
A total of five swords floated in front of the master.
Master Zhuge Rin grasped one of the swords and began performing a sword dance to the music.
Sword energy imbued with Five Elents Divine Qi gathered at the tip of the sword.
Zhuge Rin said,
“They say lightning brings good fortune.”
Blue lightning gathered at the tip of Zhuge Rin’s sword.
As if depicting a state of no-self, the lightning gathered and slowly scattered light in all directions.
It was a marvelous sight.
The Acupuncture Hall Master, who was watching, let out a groan.
“Lightning energy clearly has the subtleties of swiftness and speed, but how is it possible to circulate it slowly?”
Jin Cheon-hee couldn’t understand either.
Even more amazing was that the remaining four swords each traced different elegant lines, following the master’s movents.
Ting-
The lody continued.
Everyone was speechless at the chilling genius.
When the master finally finished dancing, an image was engraved on the stone floor.
What level of mastery was needed to create that?
Is it really possible to move five swords at once while scattering lightning?
It wasn’t just a matter of moving the left and right hands in different directions.
Is it possible to move them with just ntal control?
How is it possible to display the subtleties of heaviness and lightness with lightning?
Zhuge Rin casually threw out nurous topics for discussion and then said:
“Hee-ya. This is you.”
It was a dragon.
The dragon drawn with sword energy was so majestic it seed it might wriggle and leap out at any mont.
To carve his disciple’s alias with sword energy in front of everyone!
Jin Cheon-hee’s face flushed with embarrassnt.
“Master!”
“Hmm, don’t you like the picture?”
That’s right. The master, who was already known for doting on his disciple, showed his affection even more openly now that his health had improved.
Jin Cheon-hee wanted to find a mouse hole to crawl into.
The dical pavilion hall masters each made a fuss.
“The majestic dragon resembles Little White Dragon.”
“As expected of the hall master. You drew it with a single stroke.”
“Drawing a picture with sword energy, this will be the talk of the martial world.”
“Congratulations on reaching a higher level!”
If one could die of embarrassnt, Jin Cheon-hee would have already bitten his tongue and died.
‘Urgh. By next week, there won’t be anyone in the martial world who doesn’t know about this.’
Jin Cheon-hee’s prediction was wrong.
The next day, a letter arrived from Wang-ya Ju.
It was a letter saying she would definitely! absolutely! co to visit to see that picture.
Judging by the trembling at the end of the handwriting, she must have written it while laughing.
***
Arc 16: Welcoming Guests (1)
A few days after the banquet ended.
Countless gifts poured into the White Dragon dical Pavilion.
They were all gifts congratulating the hall master on his recovery.
The master skimd through a few letters with an indifferent expression. Jin Cheon-hee said with a bright expression:
“Everyone is congratulating you, Master.”
To that, the master replied:
“Hee-ya. In the martial world, nothing is more frightening than a tiger returning to health. Even those who were relieved thinking I had a terminal illness will soon draw their swords.”
“What?”
“They thought heaven would kill , but since that’s not the case, they’ll have to kill with swords.”
The master smiled coldly.
“Of course, so might not have believed I was sick in the first place.”
“But doesn’t everyone in the martial world know you’ve had the Nine Yin ridian Obstruction since childhood?”
“That’s true. But you see, Hee-ya, there are those who believe what they want to believe.”
It was quite a brutal conversation for a gift-opening ceremony.
Jin Cheon-hee shook his head.
Seeing his disciple like this, Zhuge Rin chuckled.
“Still, martial artists are martial artists. There aren’t any amateurs who would mix sothing strange into a recovery gift.”
“But Master, you haven’t completely recovered. We’ve just prevented imdiate death and helped you regain strength, but the congenital Nine Yin ridian Obstruction…”
“Yes, Hee-ya. In the martial world, that’s called recovery. If you can swing your sword energy streams with all limbs intact, that’s recovery.”
‘…I see.’
Now the master’s person-bashing function is fully operational.
The sword dance he showed recently was at a level not seen before.
“Gifts from benefactors and enemies are mixed together.”
“How do you distinguish them? By the price of the gift?”
“Hmm…”
The master rubbed his temples.
“In principle, there’s no need to distinguish.”
“Why?”
Instead of answering, the master just smiled. Then he said sothing out of the blue.
“Hee-ya. In the martial world, power is the principle.”
Jin Cheon-hee nodded at those words.
He knew it intellectually, and now he knew it physically too.
Thanks to the bounty placed by the Hao Sect, he realized how much power dictates in the martial world.
Zhuge Rin said to Jin Cheon-hee:
“I hope you’ll wield your sword without emotion. A swordsman must be heartless, and your thinking is sohow different from other martial artists. That worries .”
“Master.”
“No matter how precious sothing is, the mont it points a blade at you, it becos sothing you must cut down. Hee-ya, we are martial artists before we are doctors.”
Martial arts doctor.
It was indeed a peculiar position.
From the beginning, they didn’t take the Hippocratic Oath that existed in Jin Cheon-hee’s original world.
The dical pavilion itself is a faction and moves centered around that.
They maintain the minimum duty of saving lives as doctors.
But as long as they live in the martial world, each dical pavilion has its own principles, and the rule of the strong still applies.
Doctors who move between righteousness and evil.
In a way, they were among the most heterogeneous existences even within the martial world.
‘Maybe I’m still too arrogant to find that answer.’
Jin Cheon-hee had never seen the bottom of human nature that the martial world speaks of.
The master said:
“Hee-ya, promise . That you’ll prioritize your own life no matter what situation arises.”
“I’ll do that even without you saying so.”
“Oh? My thoughts are a bit different.”
The master laughed softly. Sohow, the laughter seed to penetrate Jin Cheon-hee’s skin and pierce his heart.
Feeling a bit flustered, Jin Cheon-hee scratched his neck.
“Answer .”
“I will prioritize my life above all else. I promise.”
“Good. This master feels a grain of reassurance.”
It was hard to tell if he was reassured or not.
Zhuge Rin said:
“Now that they know this Zhuge Mo has escaped heaven’s punishnt, many will make their move. You’ll need to move wisely in between.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
The master lowered his eyelashes and smiled.
It’s a beautiful face. So much so that you forget his 190cm ferocious physique.
“Now, pick any gift you want.”
“What, what?”
“No one will say anything if a master gives a gift to his disciple. We received that precious celestial silkworm thread, and the Ice Clarity Sword sent from the Northern Sea Ice Palace.”
“Ice Clarity Sword?”
“Your eyes light up at the ntion of a sword.”
Zhuge Rin seed pleased when Jin Cheon-hee showed interest.
“It’s a sword made of Northern Sea cold iron. Despite being made of tal, it contains the energy of ice crystals, so it emanates cold. It’s good when utilizing the Ice attribute of the Five Elents True Qi.”
Jin Cheon-hee said:
“Can I learn swordsmanship?”
“The spear technique was prepared just to protect you. In conclusion, the sword is the most versatile. Of course you can learn it. If you master our sect’s martial arts to the extre, you can handle ten thousand weapons and also beco the world’s number one.”
The phrase “world’s number one” is one of the things most sects in martial arts novels claim.
It’s a martial art containing hundreds, or depending on the worldview, thousands of years of history.
The pride built up over that ti couldn’t be exchanged for anything else.
‘It’s true that you can handle ten thousand weapons.’
Even the Three-Elents Sword Technique changes in ten thousand ways depending on the weapon wielded.
‘That’s why it demands endless boring basics as a drawback. Well, if you’re not planning to learn it properly, becoming the world’s number one is impossible anyway.’
The master paused his writing and used Void Grasping to take out the Ice Clarity Sword and throw it into Jin Cheon-hee’s hand.
Thud-
The handle feels cold. Even though it’s tied with a strap made of so unknown precious animal skin, the cold transfers to the hand.
“Shouldn’t you not use this, Master?”
“Right. Even though the Ten-Thousand Fire Carp’s internal core is functioning, it’s better to stay away from cold energy.”
“Then why…”
“Gratitude and resentnt.”
The master only said that much and didn’t answer further. Instead, he put a rice cake in Jin Cheon-hee’s mouth.
“…”
As Jin Cheon-hee frowned while chewing the rice cake, the master laughed, finding it amusing. Then he said:
“I once killed the heir of the Northern Sea Palace. At the sa ti, I’ve also treated people from the Northern Sea Palace. The Northern Sea Palace Lord said that his gratitude and resentnt reach the heavens, so he would wait for heaven’s punishnt to end.”
“He ans he’ll leave you alone since you’re going to die from the Nine Yin ridian Obstruction anyway.”
“Treating the Northern Sea Palace’s people was a favor, but it’s hard to forget the resentnt of killing his son. And that answer is probably contained in that sword.”
Jin Cheon-hee unsheathed the Ice Clarity Sword.
Shing-
On the ice-cold blade that seed to hold frost, beautiful snow patterns were engraved.
These snow patterns, which can only be seen when light is shone and observed closely, are not visible under normal circumstances.
The master said:
“They beco clear when the blade tastes blood.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because it’s the sword the Northern Sea Palace heir was carrying. I returned that sword to the Palace Lord along with his son’s body.”
“…”
It’s heavy. The weight of this sword was too heavy.
Seeing Jin Cheon-hee’s face turn pale, the master calmly said:
“It’s a peerless treasure sword. Northern Sea cold iron is a peerless rare material. Isn’t it a waste to let it rot in storage?”
“This is a bit…”
“There’s nothing better than this to save your life.”
It was always like this. The master had a strange sensibility different from others.
“Th-thank you.”
“Hahaha, and you know, it’s not necessarily just resentnt.”
“Why?”
“At that ti, the Palace Lord said he would pray for my heaven’s punishnt to end, but he didn’t say what he would do after it ended.”
‘Master, he even sent the sword his son used. Normally, wouldn’t he co to kill you…?’
As if reading Jin Cheon-hee’s expression, the master said:
“I told you, didn’t I? It’s aningless to distinguish gifts by gratitude and resentnt. If they put resentnt first and co to our pavilion, we’ll just make them pay the price. Hahaha.”
It was sothing he could say because he was strong.
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