Chapter 67: Great problem of Martial arts(武) And Chivalry(俠) (2)

It took around half a day to completely remove the ban on Ha Sun-young’s body.

The ban was placed everywhere on her body, and even the smallest movement of qi (Mana) would alarm Dharma immediately. To avoid this and lifting the ban at the same time was a huge task, even more so when there were two bans engraved on her body.

The ban of feeling any connection and the ban of using Mugong. It took a tremendous amount of mana to lift both prohibitions.

Fortunately, the silver spirit flower who worked as the CPU for White Witch’s Library handled all the tasks perfectly. So, all Yoo Seodam needed to do was to power up the skills.

But the problem was that it was harder than he ever thought. The pot finally interpreted the ban after Yoo Seodam replenished his mana through Aracelli-style Mana Circling for god only knows how many times.

Thanks to that, his heart where the mana was running was experiencing deep pain.

It really hurt, as if he was dying. But he did his best to endure. Because if he gave up, Dharma would come to find him.

And, when the ban was finally lifted, Yoo Seodam fainted right after.

After he came back to his senses,

“Thanks to you, I’ve regained my freedom. In return, I will tell you about Mu and Hyeob.”

Standing upright on the ceiling like a spider, Geom-hee told Yoo Seodam so.

* * *

Those two Chinese characters represented a few of the sub genres of martial Arts as well as the most important virtue in martial arts.

Yoo Seodam knew about the genre of martial arts because he had been studying about those subjects quite a bit recently.

An era of war full of bloody wars and slaughter. When lives were easily sacrificed, chasing someone and being chased was a daily routine, and civilians lived their life by enduring sufferings. In those turbulent times, like a shooting star, a hero appeared. With only one sword the hero resolved all the problems!

That was the most common cliche in martial arts novels.

In addition to that, there have been numerous derivative stories, such as the last disciple of the fallen sect or the revenge of the enemy’s father, but in the end, the overall story was still the same.

In the meantime, the main character of the story would undergo training while sweating blood. And in the midst of it, the main character would meet a master who can help him. Or in another scenario, he would gain a skill after overcoming hardship after hardship. But eventually, both scenarios ends when the main character overcomes everything on their path and successfully conquers Murim. That’s how the story usually goes.

But something else was important for Yoo Seodam.

The other day, after he almost had a big accident for not understanding Infinite Loop, he started reading martial arts novels fervently. And as the result, he came across a fusion fantasy novel that went back and forth between fantasy and martial arts.

‘Knight of fantasy and Murim martial arts.’

It was only natural to compare the two.

Because it was the most common ‘cliché’. The mana concentration in the air of Murim was only one-tenth that of the fantasy world, warriors from Murim developed their own unique breathing techniques and effectively built their Qi core on their Dantian, which is not necessary from the view of Warrior from the fantasy world.

Without any special breathing method, warriors from fantasy worlds could exert destructive power simply by swinging their sword thanks to their abundant mana.

On the other hand, martial arts from Murim could be said to be lacking in destructive power compared to other worlds. But in terms of training and control, they were overwhelmingly superior compared to the others. Then again, it is said that  warriors from fantasy worlds had developed swordsmanship that could surely crush the other side with force.

But in the end, it was impossible to compare which swordsmanship was better.

The martial arts of Mugong was optimized to deal with ‘people’ using a great control even with a small amount of Qi, while fantasy world’s swordsmanship was optimized to deal with ‘monsters’ using its explosive damage.

To sum it up,.

‘Mana concentration on Earth is really trash, so you have to learn both.’

It was better to learn both the controls of Mugong and Fantasy world’s way of fighting against monsters.

“…That’s why, to get used to Amie’s Golden Peak Heavenly Dragon God Art, you must continuously train and hone it’s cultivation techniques (Jeoljatakma)”

That was the conclusion Yoo Seodam reached as he listened to Geom-hee’s explanation while dozing.

“Hey. Are you listening?”

“Of course, but I have a question.”

“Ask away! I’ll tell you anything except for my love story.”

“What is Jeoljatakma?”

“….. It means to sharpen your academics or character.”

“Aha.”

Ha Sun-young seemed to want to properly teach Yoo Seodam what ‘mugong’ was, and Yoo Seodam, who was quite curious about it, decided to learn right away. 

“So, if you learn the Mu(Martial arts) but don’t know about Hyeob (Chivalry) you can’t say you are someone from Murim. I also practiced Jeolchibusim (切齒腐心) but never used that power.”

“What is Jeolchibusim?”

“….”

How should he know?

“No, why the hell don’t you know this much?”

“I dropped out of middle school to become a Hunter.”

“Ah.”

Ha Sun-young shut her mouth and thought for a brief moment before continuing her words with a groan.

“Before learning about Martial arts… No, before you learn about Mu and Hyeop, why don’t you learn Chinese characters first?”

“Do I really have to learn about Mu and Hyeop if I want to learn Mugong in the first place?”

“Tsk! If you only know about Mu and don’t know about Hyeop, you are just some thug who knows about swordsmanship, and if you only know Hyeop without knowing Mu, you’ll just become a normal man of great chivalry!”

Suddenly the way she talked became like an old man. She coughed loudly and said again.

“Huh? Do you understand? In order to learn martial arts from the people of Moorim, you must learn both Mu and Hyeop.”

“Oh, yes.”

If the conversation drew parallel lines like this, it was hard to learn martial arts properly, so Yoo Seodam had no choice but to protest.

“Excuse me. We’re Korean. Can’t you speak in Korean? A good teacher told me that a teacher should teach at the level of their student’s eyes.”

“I didn’t know that! A stupid student should have bury their eye on the floor.”

Having been agonizing for a while, Ha Sun-young opened her mouth.

“As I wandered through various schools, I have learned several kinds of Mugong. Do you know that?”

“Ah, okay.”

“There’s no particular school to belong to. So, I refused their invitation and I met a lot of teachers, learned a lot of martial arts, combined them, and made them completely mine. So there’s few people who put ‘Sunyoung’s Sword way’ after my name.”

“······.”

It’s a bit…. Well, that’s some naming sense they had right there. Even the martial arts association didn’t bother to say anything because they thought it was always like that.

“Do people from Murim teach that easily?”

“No way. I was an Inner Student in every School, and I hardly learned anything like ‘Divination Writing’. I was able to learn a little bit about swordsmanship because I sold my humble talent.”

“That talent is?”

Then Geom-hee said, with a hint of shame.

“I, well uh,. Before I fell into Murim and learned about martial arts 20 years ago, I was an aspiring idol. Because I like to listen to music and sing, I memorized all the modern pop songs in my head, and I used to go around and sing them in places like Manor where masters gathered. I didn’t know that my talent could be used like that.”

In other words, she learned Mugong by singing some songs.

‘……Does that make sense?’

Yoo Seodam wouldn’t know because he had never been to a world with a martial arts worldview. Well, modern things must have been developed for hundreds of years more than civilization at Murim. Just like Ha Sun-young who sold her singing, it seemed that there were a lot of people from Earth who used their modern knowledge and talent to enter a prestigious family. 

“Anyway, I created my own ‘Simbeop’ by sticking only to the merits of various ‘Daos’ I had learnt. Of course, it was not enough if you compared it to the perfect Cheonma’s or Dharma’s, but mine can always be combined with other ‘Dao’s and it can be altered.”

“Oh…”

“What I’m trying to say is…. Doesn’t matter how you go about learning my mental cultivation technique. It’s like a mishmash that’s fit to be served in dogs’ bowls.  Ah, if I were to compare it to something, think of it as a ‘Fugu Sushi Restaurant’. Fugu sushi is more expensive than most regular steaks. However, those restaurants give off a vibe of street vendor.”

“Well.”

It was such a great metaphor that Yoo seodam couldn’t even say anything.

“So from now on, I’m going to explain my ‘Dao’ or my ‘way’ in ‘Korean’”

“Yes.”

She thought for a short time, and then raised her finger as if she had found the right word.

“Imagine, you are being beaten to death every time you fight with someone.”

“Yes, Okay.”

“But, the more that happens, the more you need to focus on your meditation and cultivate yourself.”

“And why is that? Why should I meditate when someone beats me up?”

“Because if your meditation fails, you’ll receive a backlash.”

“If I’m not mistaken, wouldn’t I be in trouble if I receive the backlash?”

“That’s right. That’s why you need to control your emotion through meditation. Why? Because as soon as you think about something else, you’ll die.”

“······.”

Yoo Seodam thought that he was risking his life too much to control his mind.

“I know it’s hard to believe my words but it’s a very effective way to learn when you meditate with such risk involved.”

After that, Ha Sun-young translated the term ‘Murim’ into ‘Korean’ words and explained it to Yoo seodam.

Before they knew it, it was already dinner time.

***

[You can’t learn the Skill.]

That was the result of Yoo Seodam’s practice.

“You have no talent.”

Even when he heard Ha Sun-young’s words, he just silently stared at the system message.

Yeah, that was the case

So far, nothing worked out when he tried to do something for himself. 

Yoo Seodam didn’t know the exact reason why he couldn’t learn the skill, But it didn’t really matter. Because he had a good idea.

“Sun-young, this Sutra is not as good as those of Cheonma’s and Dharma’s, but you said it’s okay to combine it with anything, right?”

“Yes.”

“So, can I fuse it with the existing Simbop?”

“Huh? Uh-huh-huh. Don’t you think so? But, you can’t fuse it with my simbob because it’s already complete. I don’t think you can take advantage of it..”

It doesn’t really matter. The place where Yoo Seodam was going to put this thing called ‘Sunyeong-Sutra’ was none other than Araceli-style Mana Circling.

The other day, Yoo seodam realized that he could put another four or five different swordsmanship on top of the white swordsmanship, and that new skill could be overlaid on top of existing skills.

In other words, there’s nothing that can’t be done.

Araceli-style mana circling was always closer to a passive skill that naturally attracted mana rather than a skill that Yoo Seodam deliberately used.

But what would happen when he put Sutra on top of it to overheat the skill even more?

[Aracelli-style Mana Circling MK-40 (SS)]

The current Araceli-style Mana Circling was made by an archmage named Araceli Linekal by supplementing it for 40 times, but there was no law that stated anyone else couldn’t supplement it once more. It was an impossible task with his meager magical knowledge, but if the knowledge of already completed Mugong was added…

[Skill ‘Araceli-style Mana Circling MK-40 (SS)’ responds to new skill ‘Seonyoung-Sutra(A)’ and shows signs of change.]

Of course, it might be easy for Ha Seon-young, but for talentless Yoo Seodam it was quite difficult.

He had to struggle for days while being locked up in the Geumgang gym together with Ha Sun-young. For days, he constantly burned his heart with mana.

And after days of trial and error…

[Skill has evolved!]

[Ara-Seonyoung-Style Mana Circling MK-41 (SS+)]

They finally succeeded in transforming the passive mana breathing skill into an active skill. Ha Seon-yeong, successfully created a skill which could be taught to others by studying and supplementing the traditional Araceli-style Mana Circling with her own sutra.

[Supporting character Ha Sun-young’s skill ‘Senyeong-Sutra’ (A) has changed into ‘Senyeong-Celli-Sutra(S).]

Ha Sun-young, a girl who wandered around Murim and picked only the merit of the various Simbeop and made it her own. The newly created skill could never have been made without the help of her.

Late at dawn, Ha Sun-young, who finished her meditation, opened her eyes.

It was a momentary but wise and beautiful eye that seemed to shine in her eyes.

As a result from the Shingong skill evolution to the S-rank, Geom-hee, who was already at a high level, can circulates qi in more refined path

“…It was a good path.”

It takes 10 days to combine the two skills.

In fact, it was amazing that in just 10 days, A-rank skill had evolved into an S-rank and even made it possible to teach it to someone.

‘Of course. This shouldn’t be taught to just anyone.’

Yoo Seodam got up from his seat and checked his status screen.

[Magic: 60]

His current level is 49. Other stats couldn’t exceed levels, It was only possible for magic stats. However, the existing Aracelli method, which filled the limit of mana as much as the limit of his body, had to be adjusted to match his level, but he was trained by Misclean the other day and broke the limit once, and this time he had learned how to do it. So, the total amount of his mana increased explosively.

The power of 60 was about one-pack. However, it was not just the first one, but the first one that could be circled by the output of the SS+ank, and the essence itself was different. 

“Now  have to call Ms.Ye-Sahye.”

“To formally teach her swordsmanship?”

“Yes.”

The S-rank version of Seoyoung-Celli-Shingong can only be taught to someone when Ha Sun-young’s permits it. It wasn’t a ban, it was more like a courtesy to the producer. And Yoo Seodam was going to teach it to all the elite guild members who would be his limbs, including Ye-sahye. He didn’t plan to ask them to be together with him for the rest of their life. At least, they needed to stay with him until he entered Hell Gate.

But suddenly, a message appeared in Yoo Seodam’s mind.

[Skill ‘Protagonist Hunter’ Lv. 3′  has been activated.]

[Checking the main story of the Protagonist ‘Lee Dong-joon’]

[Checking out the contents.]

━

Supreme Dharma, The one who destroyed the Cheonma Sect in Murim!

However, There’s one who he can’t cut. She was the woman he loved, so, in the end he brought her to Earth.

“If you dare touch my skin, I will kill myself.”

However, due to her resolute refusal, he was forced to destroy all of her pathway and confined her in the middle of mountain where blizzard rages for 365 days a year.

Cheonma who was confined there constantly resented Dharma.

“I wanted to show you a good world to live in.”

But for some reason, her heart was shaking when she heard those words.

━

“What the f…”

‘You were able to check this?’

‘No, what’s that? I forgot because I didn’t remember using it.’

Come to think of it, when he hunted the Infinite loop protagonist, did the situation end too fast before he could use this skill?

‘By the way, Cheonma, huh?’

He heard stories related to Cheonma from Geom-hee and other people from Murim. When Cheonma crossed to earth together with 3 kings and 6 emperors, she was the only one who didn’t have any news whatsoever.

Yoo Seodam couldn’t believe the reason why nobody knew where she was was because she was locked up.

‘And the phrase ‘Cheoma’s heart is shaking’ is suspicious.’

Perhaps the problem is Lee Dong-joon’s ‘Charm’ skill. The correction of the Protagonist of the ridiculous ‘#Harem’ tag, which attacks without knowing friends or foes.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, just..”

Come to think of it, since Cheonma was always portrayed as the leader of the groups as well as the final boss in martial arts novels, wouldn’t she have a lot of power? If someone like her was influenced by Lee Dong-joon…

‘She will become a hindrance for me later..’

Whether Cheonma was evil or not, that’s not what mattered right now.

She was so important to Dharma that she emerged as the main story. He had to stop her before she fell for Lee Dong-joon.

But how? The plot is all good, but it doesn’t necessarily tell you the important part…… No, after some brief moments.

‘A mountain where blizzard rages for 365 days a year’? As far as he knew… 

There was only one such place on Earth.