Chapter 12: Medicine Overdose

Chapter 12: Medicine Overdose

Without the sniveling brats, the normally noisy training ground was as silent as a grave. The only thing I could hear was the sound of my own breathing.

Dad had left to sell the tiger carcass, and wouldnt be back for a few days.

Hoo

I took several deep breaths and did a light warm-up, then slowly started to move my body according to the Sixth Strike of the Eighteen Strikes of the Outlaw.

Kuhahaha! Did you just say that you wanted to learn my martial art?

Every time I had asked him to teach me his martial arts, Maeng Ho-Ak would thump his chest proudly and declare:

Did you know? I created this martial art myself!

You call that a new martial art? All you did was put together a bunch of random techniques! As I thought, youre shameless!

Shut your trap, Crazy Demon! The instant I get out of here, youll be the first one I beat to death!

Hmph, thats my line.

For some reason, I cant recall a single memory where those two sirs werent fighting

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Maeng Ho-Ak, the Bandit King, and Hyon-Won Hu, the Crazy Demon, were like oil and water.1

Before being captured by the Blood Cult, they had never met before (surprise surprise), but the instant they saw each other in prison, they decided that they couldnt get along with each other.

At first, they only had minor arguments resulting from personality clashes and their differing opinions about the ultimate goal of martial arts, however, as time passed, theyd argue with each other for the sake of arguing.

Youre a brainless vagrant whos only scratched the surface of martial arts!

Bark bark bark! All I hear is a noisy dog!

Most of their arguments were like this, but because they were locked up in different rooms (their rooms were right next to each other though, so they could happily argue all day), they never actually got to fight and compare their martial arts.

Ive always wondered who was the stronger among those two

Unfortunately, in the end, the match between the two never took place.

Right after escaping from the underground prison, we fought our way through the Blood Cults warriors. At that time, these two men who did nothing but fight verbally all day long worked together so well that anyone would think they were the best of friends.

Perhaps its as they say, that sometimes your enemies know you better than your friends

Well, anyway, back to the main point.

The Eighteen Strikes of the Outlaw that Master Maeng created was a combination of the many martial arts that were passed down within bandit society, which stretches back hundreds, even thousands, of years.

Y arent you reading this at ?

However, unlike the orthodox (and even unorthodox) sects, no one recognized their long history. The martial artists of the murim saw bandits as nothing more than regular criminals and easy fighting experience for their young warriors.

You orthodox dogs always treat us like insects you can stomp on any time you want. Who becomes a bandit because they wanted to become a bandit?

Hmph! If you didnt like being treated that way, why didnt you go become a farmer? You just didnt want to work hard and chose the easy way out.

Fuck, are you seriously saying that?

One day, Maeng Ho-Ak and Hyon-Won Hu were quarrelling as usual, when suddenly, Hyon-Won Hus words hit a nerve in Maeng Ho-Ak.

You ought to read this at .

That was the first time I saw Maeng Ho-Aks cold, merciless side.

If youve ever tried farming, you wouldnt be saying that. You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth and lived a life of luxury. How would you know how a farmer feels, working day and night only to have the fruits of all their efforts taken away by corrupt officials? Also, did you know? That if a farmer tried to avoid paying their taxes, the men would be beaten up by the constables and the women raped. In the years where crop yields are poor, their entire harvest would still be taken away as taxes while the farmers starve to death. Do you honestly think that everyone could have a better life as long as they worked hard?Fôll0w current novÊls on n/o/(v)/3l/b((in).(co/m)

As Maeng Ho-Ak gasped for breath after his sudden outburst, Hyon-Won Hu hesitated for a long time, and did not make his usual snappy remarks.

Is that your life story?

No, I made it all up. Kahahahaha!

You fucking lunatic. You actually came up with a better excuse than usual.

In the end, it didnt matter if Maeng Ho-Aks story was fake or not.

Only people at the very bottom of society, with nowhere else to go, became bandits. However, instead of offering help to them before it was too late, both the government and the orthodox murim treated them as naturally evil beings who must be exterminated.

For survival, the bandits had no choice but to create their own martial arts that were easy to learn yet practical.

We never had the luxury of quietly meditating and accumulating qi, since we always had more pressing matters to tend to like housing and food. Thats why, the way of the bandits is to start by swinging our fists!

The internal arts required one to spend months, even years, slowly accumulating qi. On the other hand, the results from training ones body and learning external arts was immediate. Thus, the bandits focused on developing and improving the external arts.

The one bad thing about the external arts was that it was heavily talent-dependent. If one did not have a large, muscular build, one would naturally be at a huge disadvantage. It was for this reason that the bandits martial arts were considered shallow and barbaric.

HooHoo

I continued training in the Beginner Stage of the Eighteen Strikes of the Outlaw until the stars twinkled in the night sky, only taking a short break for dinner in between.

According to my estimations, as long as I trained slowly and gently, my body would be able to keep going for a long period of time.

Nevertheless, when my arms trembled and my legs wobbled, I nearly wanted to give up and lie down on the ground. At those times, I told myself, Just a little bit more. I can still continue.

I forced my shaking arms to move.

Y arent you reading this at ?

I gathered my strength in my legs.

Although Im only practicing the Beginner Stage for now, it wont be long before I can begin learning the Intermediate Stage. Unlike Maeng Ho-Ak, I have the time and luxury to dream of mastering the Advanced Stage and surpassing him.

However, am I satisfied with just that?

In addition to the Heaven Defying Divine Art, I also know the martial arts of the Crazy Demon, the Ice Moon Goddess, and the Sword Saint.

If I mastered all of these martial arts, just how strong would I become?

Perhaps I was just being overly optimistic. All of these martial arts were so deep and complex that it would take a miracle for me to master just one of them, much less all of them.

If youre seeing this, you are at the wrong place.

I also didnt know how many hidden masters there were in the gangho.

Even so, the possibility wasnt zero.

I could be the Worlds Strongest.

My imagination was running wild, but my body never stopped moving.

I forgot about the passing of time and let my muscle memory do the work.

BAM!

The gates of the Baek Academy were thrown open. Dad strode in, drunk with happiness.

Son! Daddys home! Hahaha! Do you know how much that tiger skin was sold for? Your jaw will drop to the floor

Read this at , or else.

Huff. Youre already back? That was quick.

Wait, what are you doing? Why do you look like that? Did you pull an all-nighter?

No, I uhI was overdosed on medicine and needed to release the extra energy

I panicked and immediately tried to explain what had happened, but it backfired.

Overdosed on medicine? No way Did you eat the tuber fleeceflowers? By yourself? Didnt I tell you to wait until I returned because it was dangerous!?

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Ah, no, about that

Dad looked around the training ground for a moment before finally deciding upon his punishment weapon of choice: the broomstick.

You little punkGet your ass over here!

W-Wait! Lets talk this out! No violence!

For the next two hours, I played a game of tag with my broomstick waving Dad.

Judging by the fact that I lasted that long, it seems that my stamina had indeed improved.

My life went back to normal right away the day after I swallowed the tuber fleeceflowers.

In the mornings, Id train in the Heaven Defying Divine Art, gathering the contaminated chi in my body into the inner pill inside my dantian.

In the afternoons, Id train in the Eighteen Strikes of the Outlaw to improve my physical condition and joint flexibility.

About a month later, the thing I was waiting for finally arrived.

Go Ju-Yeol sent me a letter informing me that the Azure Dragon Academy was now hiring new instructors.

Translators Note: I actually translated this chapter of the manhwa (C9) because the usual TL was busy, but damn if I dont prefer the novel version! Also, work has been rather busy lately (Im aiming for a pay raise), so I can only guarantee 1 chapter per series a week for now.

Proofreaders Note: Pray that translator-nim gets that pay raise. ?

Like oil and water: Actually a Korean idiom, like dogs and monkeys.