That’s Not How You Use Martial Arts

Chapter 3
Years Later (1)

『 Translator – Divinity 』

Five years passed by like an arrow.

My age, which was 15, had now reached 20. It meant I had become a full-fledged adult.

It had already been ten years since I joined Cheonpung Martial Arts School. For a time long enough for the mountains and rivers to change once, I had been constantly devoted to martial arts.

If you asked if there were any results worth spending such a long time on, honestly, I wasn’t sure.

“Haaap!”

“Oh ho, not bad!”

Because I still hadn’t been able to defeat Master Wang-sam even once.

It was truly a blow to my pride that I hadn’t achieved a single victory in over ten years, but that didn’t change reality.

At least, the fact that I didn’t lose easily anymore was a small comfort.

“Heup!”

My feet kicked off the ground, and I sprang forward.

I swung the wooden sword in my hand, aiming for Master’s head, but his wooden sword blocked it.

I had already expected that much.

I immediately twisted my wrist, parried his wooden sword, and thrust towards his throat.

Master barely dodged the thrust by twisting his upper body.

So close, if only I had been a little faster…!

Suppressing my regret, I created distance and regained my stance.

Then, this time, Master’s counterattack began.

Just like I did, he stomped his foot and approached, swinging his wooden sword.

In the blink of an eye, Master reached within arm’s length and thrust at my shoulder.

As I swung my wooden sword to deflect the thrust, Master’s left hand, his empty hand that wasn’t holding the sword, swung towards my abdomen.

Seeing this, I raised my knee to block his fist.

Bang!

“Kugh…!”

When a knee and a fist collide, it’s only natural for the fist to hurt.

As Master frowned and stepped back, I realized that a golden opportunity had come and smiled triumphantly.

Today was the day I would shake off all the resentment I had accumulated and thoroughly trample that damn Master…!

Releasing internal energy from the soles of my feet, I flew towards Master.

The five years of training were not in vain, as I dug into Master’s bosom at a speed incomparable to before.

Perhaps surprised by my speed, Master’s eyes widened as if they were about to split.

Seeing Master’s bewilderment, I quietly reveled in joy and swung my wooden sword with all my might towards his abdomen.

“Haaaap!”

Finally, finally…!

But the joy was short-lived.

Just before my wooden sword could reach him, Master suddenly created distance with a strange movement.

Because of that, my decisive strike only managed to slightly cut the front of Master’s martial arts uniform.

“Aaaagh!”

I failed again! I could have really landed a blow this time~!

I glared at Master with all my might.

“…Master, what was that just now?”

“Uh, huh? What, what else could it be? The Three Talents Step I’ve been teaching you?”

I pointed at Master, who was stammering nonsense with a strangely stiff face, and questioned him.

“Don’t lie! What Three Talents Step is that? Who are you trying to fool—!”

“Uh, ahem! How dare you doubt the words of your master who’s like the heavens! This is definitely the Three Talents Step! I just applied it a little differently.”

Master continued to talk nonsense.

I snorted in response, not to be outdone.

“Do you think I’d fall for that now? You, who’s hiding your own martial arts?”

“Uh, ahem! Wh-what nonsense are you talking about…!”

Master continued to feign ignorance until the end.

But that couldn’t fool my senses.

I could clearly feel it even now.

An immense amount of qi that was incomparable to the occasional escorts who visited the village.

He gathered that much internal energy with the Trinity Qi Method?

There were only two possibilities for that to be possible.

Either Master was an absolute master who had undergone the legendary rejuvenation, or he had consumed a ridiculous amount of elixirs.

Either way, it was absolutely impossible for a third-rate martial artist who had learned third-rate martial arts.

“…Hmph.”

I shouldered my wooden sword and looked at Master with a crooked gaze.

“Uh, ahem. Come to think of it, it’s almost time for Ran-ah and Ryeong-ah to prepare lunch…”

Perhaps feeling pricked by my gaze, he subtly averted his eyes and hurriedly left.

Oh, that sly fox.

***

‘What a monstrous kid…!’

Wang-sam, who had hurriedly left the training ground as if fleeing, burst into a hollow laugh as he looked at the cleanly cut front of his martial arts uniform.

And once again, he realized the reality.

He had just used his true martial arts to avoid the attack of a brat who had only practiced insignificant third-rate martial arts for ten years.

At this absurd situation, he wondered if he was dreaming and pinched his cheek, but it only hurt; he didn’t wake up from any dream.

“…Could it be that he had some kind of fateful encounter?”

Even thinking logically, it was hard to comprehend how Ja-seong’s martial arts skills had improved so dramatically with just the Trinity Qi Method and the Three Talents Sword Technique.

It would be more plausible if he had obtained some kind of fateful encounter.

But Wang-sam immediately shook his head.

“No. There’s no way he would have had the time.”

It had already been ten years since he started hiding in Gun-gang County.

When you live in the same village for ten years, you’re bound to learn things, no matter how quietly you try to live.

The Gun family, the most influential and wealthiest family in Gun-gang County.

And Gun Ja-seong, the youngest son of the Gun family.

The entire family doted on him since he was the youngest, and just recently, they even mobilized all the servants in the house to turn the village upside down because he didn’t come home until past the yusi hour (5-7 pm).

Wang-sam couldn’t understand why they were making such a fuss over a young man, already 20, coming home late.

They said he was kidnapped by bandits, attacked, and so on, but the absurd conclusion was that he was actually learning acupuncture from a doctor.

The youngest master of the Gun family’s eccentricities were already quite famous throughout the village, but acupuncture out of the blue?

Curious about the reason, he once asked Ja-seong why he was learning acupuncture.

And a cryptic answer came back.

Ah, that? I was studying pressure points.

Pressure points? He had already taught him all about the twelve meridian channels and the eight extraordinary vessels while teaching him martial arts, so why would he need to study pressure points?

He continued to inquire, but all he got was a vague answer that such a thing existed.

Recalling that day, Wang-sam suddenly paused.

“…Could it be that it was just a simple excuse?”

Could it be that the doctor was a hidden master in disguise?

That he recognized Ja-seong’s talent and secretly taught him martial arts out of desire…

“What a ridiculous imagination…”

Wang-sam shook his head.

Perhaps because of the absurd experience he had just had, his thoughts kept wandering in strange directions.

“Huu…”

As he let out a small sigh and started walking, he saw two girls just entering the school through the gate.

It was Seol-ran and Ha-ryeong, his two disciples.

They seemed to be returning from the market, as their hands were full of baskets overflowing with ingredients.

“Ah, Master!”

Ha-ryeong, his youngest disciple, beamed at the sight of Wang-sam and trotted over to him.

Looking at Ha-ryeong, who was now fourteen and ready to blossom like a flower bud, Wang-sam nodded with a warm smile.

“Are you returning from the market?”

“Yes.”

At Ha-ryeong’s words, Wang-sam looked at Seol-ran, who was approaching behind her.

Seol-ran, now nineteen years old, was unlike Ha-ryeong; her flower bud had already bloomed radiantly.

The harmony of her straight nose, elegant facial features, and sculpted eyes, nose, and lips created an enchanting beauty that captivated everyone, regardless of age or gender.

The rumors of Seol-ran’s beauty had even spread to neighboring counties, so you could imagine how stunning she was.

However, her beauty was veiled with an icy coldness, creating an atmosphere that made it difficult to approach her casually.

Of course, this didn’t apply to Wang-sam, who had been her master for ten years.

“So, anything happen?”

“No.”

Seol-ran, after uttering just one word, closed her mouth and tried to pass Wang-sam and enter the kitchen.

But at that moment, she made eye contact with Ja-seong, who was coming out of the training ground.

“Oh, hello, Junior Sister?”

“…”

Seol-ran’s expression grew even colder at the sight of Ja-seong waving and greeting her cheerfully.

She tried to ignore Ja-seong and enter the kitchen, but he quickly blocked her path.

“Hey, hey, it’s not right to just walk away when your senior brother greets you first.”

“…Hello. Happy now?”

Seol-ran, clearly forcing out the greeting, walked past Ja-seong, who suddenly dropped a bombshell.

“What, are you still sulking?”

Pause

Seol-ran stopped in her tracks at the word “sulking.”

Ja-seong continued in a playful tone,

“As a martial artist, you win some, you lose some in sparring. Why are you holding onto it like a child?”

“…Who are you calling childish? I don’t really care…”

“Angry, are you?”

“…”

“Yep~ You can’t kill me because you’re weak, right? Super pissed?”

Trembling

Seol-ran’s whole body trembled.

Seeing Seol-ran on the verge of exploding, Ja-seong delivered the final blow.

“Still, you can’t do anything~ Because you’re weaker than me. Kyakya!”

“Shut up!”

Finally exploding at Ja-seong’s annoying laughter, Seol-ran threw down all the ingredients and lunged at him.

Ja-seong laughed even louder at the sight of Seol-ran’s distorted face, falling for his provocation, and then quickly ran away.

Seol-ran chased after him.

In the end, only Ha-ryeong and Wang-sam remained in the school.

Ha-ryeong sighed as she looked at the scattered ingredients in the kitchen.

“…Looks like I’ll have to prepare lunch alone again today.”

It was the same as always, a typical day at Cheonpung Martial Arts School.