Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 526 (Part 2)



526 (Part 2)

**Udeuk**

I could see the master spitting out words and loosening his body.

A chill ran through me at that sight.

I immediately stood up and jumped back a few steps.

“If you lack something I will fill it. If you don’t know I will teach you. If you cannot strengthen your power I will provide that as well. Since I have become your master I can do at least that. No I must do that.”

“… Why are you suddenly acting like this?”

He seemed much more passionate than before. Had something happened in the few days I hadn’t seen him?

The old man felt somewhat invigorated.

And it was in a rather bad way.

I rolled my eyes looking for a place to escape.

My instincts were speaking.

If I was going to run I had to do it now.

Whether he knew that or not the master continued to speak to me.

Just as I was about to make a run for it.

“It seems your body is ready. I thought it was time to move on to the next stage.”

“…!”

My steps came to an involuntary halt at his words.

The mention of the next stage…

‘The transplantation of Tuapachunmu?’

Right after I had learned about the corrupted officials’ eclipse last time.

It meant he was going to start training for the next stage of Tuapachunmu which had not been taught for a while.

The problem was.

“… Are you talking about now?”

He was going to do that now? As I expressed my confusion the master shook his head.

“Not right now. Your physical preparation seems complete but… the most important thing has not yet been fulfilled. We must satisfy that first.”

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“If it’s something important…”

“I told you earlier. You need to change your low vision.”

“Ah.”

The reason I couldn’t reach the master.

And.

The meaning behind the strange sensation I had just felt.

Was he talking about that?

The master said.

If I didn’t understand he would keep explaining until I did.

“If you manage to grasp this you will at least look like a martial artist compared to now.”

“… So I’m not a martial artist right now?”

“Well you’re at the level of a kid who gets into neighborhood fights.”

“Kid who gets into fights….”

[Hehe how can he spit out words that match my thoughts so well.]

It felt like those damn old men were mocking me.

In many ways it felt like crap.

“If you become that way you won’t get beaten up easily. Until then I will allow it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I will allow you to call yourself my disciple.”

At my question the master spoke with a satisfied smile.

That meant I would be recognized as a true successor of the master.

A successor acknowledged by the great master.

This was equivalent to being set up for the position of the king of martial arts in the future but…

“… I don’t really need that.”

“…?”

I wasn’t particularly interested in that.

Even if he told me to go around saying it I wouldn’t want to talk about it. Would I really go around bragging about it just because he allowed me to?

‘It’s not embarrassing… but it feels like bragging so it’s a bit awkward.’

That’s how I felt.

I am! The disciple of the great master!

It felt like that.

Just imagining it made me feel embarrassed.

I got goosebumps from the cringeworthy thought.

Hiding that feeling I looked at the master.

I could see his eyebrows twitching slightly.

Was he angry? I hurriedly tried to explain myself.

“Well… it’s not that I don’t need it… it’s just that…”

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“… You might not need it. I didn’t mean to say you should go around talking about it.”

So he wasn’t angry?

That would be a relief.

“Ah yes thank you for understanding…”

Udeuk.

“Huh?”

As I turned my head at the sound of something violent coming from the master’s arm.

I saw him moving his fists around loosening his body.

“Elder?”

“I think I didn’t explain enough about the training method earlier. Let me tell you a bit more.”

“Wait a moment. Please don’t come any closer. Let’s talk from there okay?”

“If you can’t understand with your head you need to learn with your body. Do you know what the fastest way to do that is?”

“No. I don’t want to know…!”

Swoosh-! It seemed he didn’t even hear my words as the master suddenly lunged forward with his fist.

It was even faster than before.

I barely dodged it.

Bang-!

“Ugh…!”

I thought I had turned my head to avoid it but for some reason the master’s fist landed right in my solar plexus.

Was it a feint? I didn’t see it coming.

My upper body instinctively bent forward.

The master’s fist was filled with the heart energy of Tuapachunmu.

The enhanced qi shattered and flowed into my body.

No matter how relaxed I had been I had raised my enhanced qi firmly not knowing when I would be hit.

‘… He pierced through the weakest point of my enhanced qi.’

Somehow he had found and broken through the spot where my enhanced qi was the weakest.

But that wasn’t the end.

As my upper body collapsed a gap formed.

The master kicked me away with his foot.

Boom-!

I was sent flying and crashed into a tree.

“Ugh…!”

I couldn’t even cough out a breath.

The qi in my body twisted from the attack I had just received.

The acupoints I had barely managed to heal were going haywire again.

What kind of nonsense was it to fix something only to have it revert back?

I glared at the master with a resentful expression. He was looking at me with a smile in his eyes.

“You learn by getting hit directly. That’s the fastest way.”

“… Damn it….”

I was sulking.

That guy was definitely sulking.

Why are all these old men so narrow-minded?

Sweat flowed down my face from the pain yet the master slowly walked over and spoke to me.

“Your instincts are good. That’s the second thing I value highly after your physical body.”

I forced my body up with all my strength. I was in a hurry.

His voice sounded much closer than the distance suggested.

I moved my body according to my senses.

I tried to get away from him but—

Tap.

I was blocked.

Damn it…! The master had already cut off my escape route.

My shoulder moved involuntarily.

It wasn’t my will. It was the master’s strength.

Even though I shouldn’t have been pushed back the master casually shoved me away.

“First I didn’t like how you relied too much on that instinct. I’ll fix that this time.”

He released qi.

I tried to channel heat into my heart to show my strength.

Boom-!

“Cough…!”

The master cut through my flowing qi.

The unique destructive power of Tuapachunmu disrupted the flow of my qi.

In the moment my body was engulfed by the recoil the master grabbed me by the collar and threw me backward.

While flying I managed to roll to soften the impact.

As I barely turned my dizzying vision around.

“The condition to finish the training from now on is one thing you damn disciple.”

Once again the master’s voice was right in front of me.

“You must block my attack at least once. If you succeed this training will be over.”

“… What…!”

I wanted to shout what that meant but the master’s knee was already coming toward my face.

I raised my hands to block it.

Bang-!

I couldn’t block it all.

My head shook from the impact.

‘What the hell…!’

Attacks were coming from all directions.

I was in a state where I could only barely block or dodge and while I was managing that.

The master spoke to me while executing various moves.

“It’s not about blocking or dodging but ‘stopping’ it. Remember that.”

His voice rang out particularly clearly.

‘Damn it.’

I gritted my teeth at his words.

The training methods were all sudden and frustrating.

I thought that while getting hit.

******************

“…”

While Gu Yang-cheon was getting beaten by the master repeatedly.

Gu Cheol-woon was watching from a distance.

He was watching his son getting hit and rolling on the ground.

Even while watching that Gu Cheol-woon’s eyes did not waver.

He simply observed with calm eyes.

At that moment.

“You’re not intervening. Why is that?”

Someone approached Gu Cheol-woon and asked.

Gu Cheol-woon looked at the person. He wasn’t surprised. He had known from the beginning that he was coming.

The one who asked was a handsome man with expressionless eyes and white hair.

Gu Cheol-woon spoke softly as he looked at him.

“There’s no reason to intervene.”

“Even when your only son is being treated like that?”

Gu Yang-cheon was someone who would one day inherit the position of Clan Head and lead the Gu family.

For such a child to be in that state Gu Cheol-woon had no reason to intervene?

It was a strange statement.

“It doesn’t seem like something you should say considering you rushed here from so far away out of concern for your child.”

“…”

At the man’s words Gu Cheol-woon’s brow furrowed slightly but soon returned to normal as if nothing had happened.

The reason he didn’t intervene while his son was being treated like that.

It was a simple reason.

“I have already entrusted that matter to the master. Moreover I am not foolish enough to intervene in the training.”

“Is that so.”

The man nodded at Gu Cheol-woon’s answer.

It wasn’t that he understood.

He simply had no further words to say since that was what he said.

A brief silence passed and the man decided to ask Gu Cheol-woon something else.

“By the way what was the reason you called me?”

The reason the man was here.

It was because Gu Cheol-woon had summoned the Dark King himself.

At that question Gu Cheol-woon stated the main point of why he had called the Dark King.

“I have something to ask the Elder.”

At that question the white-haired man.

The Dark King looked at Gu Cheol-woon.

Gu Cheol-woon’s red eyes shone more vividly as he looked at the Dark King.

“What was it?”

“What do you mean?”

The Dark King tilted his head slightly at Gu Cheol-woon’s question.

He seemed not to understand what was being asked.

In response Gu Cheol-woon firmly stated.

“The letter sent by the Clan Head to the Gu family. It was an incident you intervened in wasn’t it?”

“…”

A few days ago the letter from the Poison King that had arrived at the Gu family.

The story that Gu Yang-cheon had almost been poisoned.

Gu Cheol-woon’s words implied that this incident was related to the Dark King.

Upon hearing this the Dark King replied.

“Well.”

He rarely smiled and responded like this.

“You’re still sharp.”

As he answered it felt like the sky had darkened slightly.