Martial Arts Ain't Anything Special-Chapter 102: Chunbong Returns (1)

Jang Geuk was dumbfounded.

Honestly, while he kind of understood, nonetheless he was still dumbfounded.

“Uhahaha...! Sorry about that. You just seem like a bandit when I look at you, so I couldn’t help but misunderstand.”

Fist King Pae Jingwang. This fellow claimed he thought the bandit was trying to kidnap someone.

“But I told you several times.”

“I said I’m sorry. Gets harder to hear what people are saying when you get old.”

Cramming his massive body into the chair, he laughed loudly.

“Good grief.”

Jang Geuk was secretly relieved. This fellow was just as much of a monster as his lord. Moreover, this one was a monster hundreds of years old.

In truth, if they were to argue about who was less human, his lord would be the one more like a monster... but that was besides the point.

It was enough to be relieved that they had avoided a fight.

“By the way Ji-baek, are you alright? Your complexion is terrible. What’s a soft-hearted fellow like you doing on the battlefield?”

“I am fine.”

Ji-baek slightly bowed his head. As Pae Jingwang said, his face was so pale that he didn’t look fine even as a polite formality.

However, that was a matter of the heart, not physical injury. It was something he had to overcome himself.

“Senior, did you come after receiving a message from the Murim Alliance by any chance?”

Pae Jingwang shook his head at Namgung Changhwi’s question.

“Nope? I came where my instincts led me, you know?”

“I... see.”

“You’ve lived long enough, do you still trust the Murim Alliance’s handling of matters? No matter how much that Zhuge fellow runs around, this can’t be helped. What authority does the Murim Alliance have that would make others listen?”

“Huh? Then what about me?”

All eyes turned to the sudden voice.

Flap. The curtain was pushed aside, and a man entered the tent. Jang Geuk’s eyes widened. Hadn’t he collapsed just earlier?

“My Lord! Is it already alright for you to be up?”

“Yeah, what about it? I’m fine. Nothing’s seriously injured.”

Pae Jingwang laughed so loudly upon hearing that it felt like their eardrums would burst.

“Hahaha...! You’re probably the only person who would say such things after having their head cut off!”

“H-Head cut off...!?”

Having not witnessed it firsthand, Jang Geuk was greatly shocked, but Seojun just shamelessly said.

“Sometimes in life, your head might fly off. I just put it back, and it stuck, didn’t it?”

“But is that even possible?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Surely that’s not supposed to work...?”

“Come on, it’s nothing.”

Seojun chuckled and casually sat down on the remaining chair.

“Anyway.”

“You can’t just say anyway and brush it off!”

“Hey now, old man Jang Geuk. Quiet!”

Seojun then said to Pae Jingwang.

“As far as I know, I’m close to being dispatched at the Murim Alliance’s request? Are you saying others ignore such requests?”

“That’s right. But to be fair, they can’t help it either. Even the major sects have manpower shortages these days.”

“That’s ridiculous. What about the Black Serpent then?”

“It’s different. Unlike the Murim Alliance, the Black Serpent is a single force that reigns over the unorthodox sects.”

“Ah, I see.”

Seojun nodded brightly. He seriously needed to consider switching sides to the Demonic Cult.

“However... things will change considerably from now on. You know, it’s usually like this during wartime. The orthodox faction surprisingly tends to unite well in such times.”

Seojun nodded somewhat and sprawled in his chair. His body seemed droopy, suggesting he hadn’t fully recovered yet.

That’s why he didn’t particularly want to hear complicated discussions.

Technically, it was wrong to barge into a meeting and act like this... but what are they going to do about it? He’d earned his keep. This much was fine.

“Can I ask just one thing?”

“Hm?”

Pae Jingwang nodded generously.

“Sure. In exchange, let me ask a few things too.”

“I’m asking one, why do you get to ask several?”

“Take it or leave it.”

“Augh...!”

Pae Jingwang stared blankly at Seojun, who was licking his lips.

Where’s my Aka when I need her?

If it were Chunbong, she would have played along.

Grumbling, Seojun asked.

“Anyways. Are you really Second Rate Realm?”

“Huh? Well, technically yes. Why? Curious?”

“Of course I am.”

Although realm and combat prowess were separate matters, he still thought that advancing in realm was the fastest way to become stronger.

Rather than moving your body around with sword qi, wouldn’t it be better to advance to sword force and decimate everything?

Namgung Changhwi burst into laughter at Seojun’s words.

“You shouldn’t say such things elsewhere. Martial artists who have hit a wall would try to kill you if they heard that.”

“That’s all because they haven’t worked hard enough.”

“Hmm...”

Namgung Changhwi touched his forehead. Pae Jingwang looked at them both, laughed heartily, then flexed his arm, swelling those massive muscles.

“Kid, look at this. What do you think?”

“Pretty gross.”

“Hey... This is why I can’t stand those who only focus on qi cultivation!”

Pae Jingwang stood up abruptly and struck a pose. His enormous, rippling muscles were clearly visible. Seojun frowned.

“Ew.”

“Muscles! Eh? They’re like inner qi! What you can do with inner qi, you can do with muscles!”

“Wow, for real?”

Though Seojun responded halfheartedly, he couldn’t quite deny it.

This crazy dude could shatter space with a simple punch. He had proven his own words.

“Hey, hold on. But your realm itself is still Second Rate.”

“In terms of Muscular Realm, I’m close to the Unrestrained Realm!”

“No, cut the bullshit for a moment. What about lifespan? You can’t extend that without advancing in realm, right?”

Pae Jingwang sneered.

“Didn’t I tell you! Muscles are like inner qi! Sufficiently developed muscles can overcome aging!”

“What the hell, how does that even work?”

It made no sense to him.

Of course, Seojun was the only one unaware that others looked at him in a similar manner.

After briefly scanning the people around him, Seojun asked after shortly thinking.

“So, did you see?”

The people present looked at him confused since he hadn’t specified what they had seen.

Strangely enough, Pae Jingwang understood perfectly.

“You mean the Sword Form of the Emperor?”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, asshole.”

While Seojun had a fit, Pae Jingwang just snorted.

“Not like anybody cares. The only people that will are the Namgung folks, those old guys might have a fit if they find out.”

Seojun raised his middle finger and looked at Namgung Changhwi.

He nodded bitterly.

“Quite a few people probably saw it.”

“Man.”

Will this become a problem? As he pondered, Namgung Changhwi said.

“I will try to prevent the news from spreading, but even if it does, it will probably not be a big deal.”

“Really? It doesn’t seem like something that would be easily overlooked.”

“Of course, if the elders or previous generation masters hear of it, they may try to destroy your dantian and cut off your tongue and wrists.”

“What... But you said it wouldn’t be a big deal.”

“Rather, the Clan Head would challenge them to a life-and-death duel. Seeing as he taught you the Sword Form of the Emperor, he must consider you family, and he is the type who would invade the Black Serpent alone if someone dared touch his family.”

“Wow.”

That’s my father-in-law for you. Seojun clapped in admiration.

However, Pae Jingwang tilted his head.

“That dimwit? Isn’t the current Namgung Clan Head Namgung Jincheon?”

“Hey, what the fuck? Don’t talk about my father-in-law like that.”

“Haha, listen kid. I’ve known him since he was a suckling babe.”

“OK boomer...”

“Boomer? What’s that?”

“Don’t worry about it, sir.”

Seojun ignored Pae Jingwang and smiled brightly.

“So when are we going home?”

*To summarize, they were able to leave Datong County after about four days.

The martial artists who arrived for the deployment relief set up base in a nearby city instead of the original garrison.

This was actually normal.

In the previous case, they hadn’t dared return to the city due to frequent clashes, but the battlefield was not a place to stay for long.

As soon as the handover was complete, the group headed south toward the Yellow River, where they parted ways with the Beggar’s Union and Shaolin.

“I look forward to meeting you again.”

“Take care~”

After exchanging farewells with Grandmaster Ji-baek and spending quite some time saying goodbye to others, Seojun was left with mixed feelings.

Compared to when he had first arrived in Datong County, the number of martial artists had dwindled significantly. Even the beggar who had vowed to avenge Drunken Dog Beggar was nowhere to be seen.

“What are those Black Serpent bastards thinking? Living peacefully then suddenly starting this war bullshit.”

“According to them, the standards of martial artists have fallen too low. They say they want to spill some blood for the development of the martial world. Not that they’re wrong. It’s certainly been quite peaceful these days.”

“Deadass mental.”

“What does that mean now?”

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Youngsters these days...”

Pae Jingwang naturally followed him, occasionally giving impromptu lectures on common knowledge unbefitting of him perhaps because he realized that Seojun had absolutely no common sense.

“From the Black Serpent’s perspective, there’s nothing to lose by starting a war. Those bastards are only thinking about transcending their realm by refining the corpses of Unrestrained Realm martial artists.”

“What.”

“I heard it helps quite a bit. You be careful.”

He sounded more suspicious than concerned, however, so when Seojun frowned he laughed greatly.

“You wouldn’t look out of place swallow people whole from what I saw before!”

“Hmm, indeed my lord is a bit like that.”

“Even you, old man Jang Geuk...!”

Seojun jumped up, thinking to himself.

If it looks like we’re going to lose the war, maybe turning an Unrestrained Realm Martin artist into a spirit pill and eating them wouldn’t be so bad?

While the pill is meant for advancing from Unrestrained to Profound Realm, wouldn’t it also greatly help in reaching the Unrestrained Realm from Transcendent?

Actually, a Transcendent Realm pill wouldn’t be bad either.

If I could reach the Supreme Demonic Realm (equivalent to the Unrestrained Realm in demonic arts) and go to the Demonic Cult, couldn’t I secure a pretty good position?

Unaware of Seojun’s sinister thoughts, the group found an inn and dispersed to their respective rooms.

And that night.

BOOM────────!!!

While lying in bed, Seojun witnessed the wall exploding right before his eyes.

“...What the fuck is this guy doing, seriously?”

The Fist King, with steam rising from his muscles, was looking around.

“I sense assassins!”

“Right, that. I know.”

Namgung Changhwi came knocking on the door, either having detected the assassins like Pae Jingwang did, or simply responding to the noise, but Seojun sent him back telling him to rest.

Jang Geuk just peeked his head in, licked his lips, and went back.

Clicking his tongue, Seojun got up from the bed and opened the window.

“Excuse me. If you don’t come out quickly, that man might destroy the entire inn, so could you please just show yourself?”

“Fufu, shall I?”

A woman revealed herself from the darkness.

“Hello, handsome young master.”

“Ah, yes. What brings you here?”

At his nonchalant question, Pae Jingwang shouted.

“Why else would an assassin come you fool!?”

Ignoring him, the woman answered.

“I came to deliver a message.”

“Is that so? Would you like something to drink in the meantime?”

“My, would you really offer me that?”

The woman walked in gracefully, cleared away the debris, and sat down.

Pae Jingwang’s eyes widened in confusion.

“What’s this? Do you know each other?”

“It’s our first time meeting.”

Hearing Seojun’s answer, Pae Jingwang found the situation even more difficult to understand.

“...Is this some kind of youth culture these days?”

He just couldn’t understand.