That’s Not How You Use Martial Arts

Chapter 9
The Attack (3)

『 Translator – Divinity 』

Se-gon was dumbfounded by the words uttered by the young man named Gun Ja-seong.

‘What did that bastard just say?’

Kill? Who? Me?

How dare a mere brat, barely past twenty, try to kill me, Shin Se-gon, one of the Four Guardians of the Paecheon Fortress Lord?

He was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t even laugh properly.

He had already heard a bit about the landlord’s youngest son who had been frequenting Cheonpung Martial Arts School for ten years from Neung Baek-seo. Apparently, he had been practicing only the Three Talents Technique for that entire time.

‘The Three Talents Technique, you say.’

The foolishness of practicing a third-rate martial art, readily available for a pittance at any street bookstore, for ten years was almost pitiful.

If he had spent that time humbling himself before even the remnants of the Nine Great Sects, he could have at least learned some decent martial arts.

Thinking that far, Se-gon realized why Gun Ja-seong had uttered such delusional words about killing him.

His level was so low that he couldn’t even sense Se-gon’s overwhelming internal energy.

Having come to that conclusion, Se-gon shook his head.

‘A clueless fool who doesn’t know his place.’

Naturally, Se-gon’s assessment of Ja-seong couldn’t help but be harsh.

“I’ll give you one chance. Step aside, and I won’t kill you.”

But this guy… his words were becoming more and more absurd.

“…Huh, huh. Kill, you say? You’re going to kill me?”

“…”

Ja-seong remained silent, only sending a cold glare in response to the question. Instead of his answer, the sound of laughter from the surroundings filled the air.

“K, khehehe…!”

“Pfft.”

“Kekeke…”

Baek-seo, who had been thoroughly beaten by Ja-seong, the assassins in black who had surrounded Seo Hui, Jin-myeong’s bodyguard—all of them laughed at Ja-seong’s words.

At the end of the laughter that echoed through Cheonpung Martial Arts School, Neung Baek-seo spoke.

“Kihihihi… You’re truly out of your mind. Do you even know who you’re standing before? This is Master Shin Se-gon, the Heavenly Mace, the leader of the Four Guardians of the Paecheon Fortress Lord! One of the top masters in Paecheon Fortress, and a brat like you wants to kill him? Do you think that’s possible?”

“Yeah, I think it is.”

Ja-seong replied in a casual tone, as if he hadn’t heard the surrounding laughter.

At his response, Se-gon wondered if he had some hidden trick up his sleeve and glanced at the Young Mistress and her companions.

But their reactions were no different from his own.

They all looked at Ja-seong with dumbfounded or bewildered expressions.

Convinced that his assessment was correct, Se-gon let out a hearty laugh.

“Khaha—! The ignorant are fearless, as they say, and this is a perfect example. A guy who can’t even sense my internal energy…”

“I can sense it, though. It’s ridiculously strong. I’d give anything to have that much internal energy.”

‘…He can sense my internal energy?’

Did that mean he was spouting such nonsense despite knowing the overwhelming difference in their internal energy?

Se-gon tilted his head in confusion, then his face hardened at Ja-seong’s next words.

“But what good is it if you have so much? You’re an idiot who doesn’t know how to use it properly. Is this what they call ‘a dog with horseshoes’?”

“…What?”

What an absurd statement.

A brat who had never even set foot in the Jianghu dared to call him an idiot?

“…Your delusion is excessive. You, a mere child who hasn’t even experienced proper combat, dare to tell me I don’t know how to use my internal energy?”

“Because it’s true.”

Ja-seong replied curtly and looked around at everyone.

“It’s not just you. That Neung something guy over there, that assassin lady, and even Master. To me, you’re all idiots. You’ve accumulated all this internal energy, but you don’t know how to use it properly.”

Even the Young Mistress and her companions looked dumbfounded at Ja-seong’s words, which lumped them together with their enemies.

Whoosh!

Se-gon lifted his mace with a hardened expression.

Words were no longer necessary. He just needed to strike down this crazy guy in one blow.

That was all.

Se-gon stepped forward and stood before Ja-seong.

Ja-seong also drew his sword and took a stance.

With his right foot forward and the sword in his right hand held at his left side, it was the stance for Horizontal Sweep of a Thousand Armies, the horizontal slashing attack of the Three Talents Sword Technique.

Seeing that stance, Se-gon smirked.

Just Horizontal Sweep of a Thousand Armies? He was going to kill him with that most basic of basic moves?

Judging from how he had swiftly subdued Neung Baek-seo earlier, he seemed quite confident in his speed, but…

‘That won’t work on me.’

He would crush him in one blow before he could even get close.

Se-gon’s aura intensified.

At the overwhelming presence of his qi, the expressions of Hwa-ryeon and her companions grew serious.

But Ja-seong’s expression remained calm and collected, without a single change.

“You have some nerve. But this Jianghu is a world where the strong prey on the weak. Nerve alone won’t keep you alive!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Se-gon swung his treasured weapon, the Dragon-Breaking Mace, with all his might.

At the same time, Ja-seong lunged at Se-gon.

His speed was truly extraordinary, reaching Se-gon’s immediate vicinity in an instant.

‘Hmm…!’

Moreover, it wasn’t just his feet that were fast.

The sword, swung in the orthodox stance of Horizontal Sweep of a Thousand Armies, aimed for Se-gon’s neck in the blink of an eye.

At this rate, Ja-seong’s sword would reach Se-gon’s body first.

A desperate crisis where his head could be severed at any moment.

But Se-gon’s face, far from turning pale with fear, only held a sly smile.

He sensed that Ja-seong had drawn his sword too early, and the tip wouldn’t reach his neck.

‘A fool who can’t even gauge the length of his own sword.’

Ja-seong’s sword would swing futilely through the air, and in that opening, his Dragon-Breaking Mace would crush Ja-seong’s upper body.

That’s what Se-gon thought.

Until he saw the faint heat haze rising from the tip of Ja-seong’s sword.

‘…What’s this?’

What was that heat haze…?

While Se-gon was puzzled, the heat haze from the tip of the sword grazed his neck.

At that moment, Se-gon’s movement of swinging the mace stopped.

Thanks to that, Ja-seong passed by Se-gon without a scratch.

Just like that, Ja-seong and Se-gon crossed paths, their positions reversed.

“……”

“……”

Puzzled expressions appeared on the faces of everyone watching them.

What? What just happened?

Despite the murmurs around them, the two remained motionless.

Then, one of them started to move.

Shing

It was Ja-seong.

As he sheathed his sword without a word, Se-gon’s voice reached his ears.

“What, what is this?”

“What else could it be? The reason why you’re an idiot.”

“….Huh, huh.”

At Ja-seong’s scathing reply, a hollow laugh escaped Se-gon’s lips.

“You’re right… I, we were all idiots… What have we been doing all this time…”

His lament was cut short.

A long line appeared on Se-gon’s neck, and red blood gushed out like a waterfall.

“Cough!”

Thud!

With a cough, Se-gon coughed up blood, and the Dragon-Breaking Mace slipped from his grasp.

Se-gon himself could no longer hold on and collapsed on top of his beloved weapon.

And he didn’t move again.

He was dead.

The renowned master of the Jianghu, Shin Se-gon, the Heavenly Mace, had died at the hands of a young master from a rural landlord family.

“……”

“……”

Everyone was speechless at the unbelievable sight.

***

‘…Oh my god.’

Wang-sam, no, Yeo Dae-un, former leader of the Paecheon Fortress Lord’s Four Guardians and known as the Lightning Sword, looked back and forth between Ja-seong and the deceased Se-gon, his mouth agape.

When Ja-seong had declared he would kill Se-gon, Dae-un thought the boy was getting ahead of himself, drunk on his victory against the Young Mistress.

Even if he had won against the Young Mistress, Se-gon was a master on a completely different level compared to the still young Ju Hwa-ryeon. It was common sense that Ja-seong, who had only practiced third-rate martial arts, couldn’t win.

On top of that, Dae-un was dumbfounded by Ja-seong’s behavior of calling everyone around him, including Se-gon and himself, idiots.

For a moment, he had wondered if Ja-seong had truly gone mad.

But look at the result.

Ja-seong stood there without a single injury, while Se-gon, his fame now seeming awkward, had met his demise.

Could he, Dae-un, have achieved such an overwhelming victory if he had fought Se-gon?

‘No, absolutely impossible.’

As that thought crossed his mind, Dae-un realized another fact.

‘He was going easy on me during our spars all this time.’

He had clearly seen how Se-gon died.

The heat haze rising from the tip of Ja-seong’s sword, that heat haze had cut his neck and killed him.

He didn’t know what it was, but Dae-un had never seen such a thing during his spars with Ja-seong.

In other words, Ja-seong had been hiding his true skills during their training.

“…Huh, that kid.”

The word “monster” was no longer enough to describe him.

That kid was a true monster.

“N-no way!”

As he stared at Ja-seong with an expression of disbelief, a scream of despair reached his ears.

Baek-seo, his wrist twisted and leg broken, was screaming with a pale face.

“How could Master Shin, one of the top masters in Paecheon Fortress…! You bastard! What kind of sorcery did you use—!”

Ja-seong didn’t even spare a glance at Baek-seo, who was glaring at him murderously and shouting. Instead, he turned to Dae-un.

“Should I take care of the rest of these guys too?”

“What?”

Dae-un, understanding what Ja-seong meant as he glanced left and right, shook his head.

“No. Leave this to me now. You should hurry to the Gun family estate.”

“…Okay, then.”

Ja-seong nodded and immediately dashed out through the school gates.