Chapter 45 – The State of Selflessness

Chapter 45 – The State of Selflessness

San-ho was currently witnessing a very strange sight.

“……Excuse me.”

“Yes. Did you change your mind?”

The face of the man who asked with a bright smile was chilling.

If one were to ask why this man, who had a calm and gentle tone and an atmosphere with no malice to be felt, was so chilling, there was only one answer.

It was because beneath that smiling face, Gwang-baek was being trampled in a wretched state. It was truly surprising that the upper body and the lower body could have such different opinions.

“No, I have no intention of……”

“A-Aaargh!!!”

As if it were not the answer he wanted, the man smiled gently and put more strength into the foot trampling Gwang-baek. When a scream filled with pain was heard, San-ho frowned.

“………”

The man who had subdued Gwang-baek with a single light paper fan just a moment ago.

Even when he, who had quickly settled the commotion in the inn, called him out, San-ho had never dreamed that something like this would happen to him.

“Why? I am suggesting we spar once.”

“So why should I……”

What the man, who had made even the air freeze in an instant, proposed was none other than a sparring duel.

Although they said a person's life was unpredictable, was his life not almost at the level of a blind man with open eyes? Breaking an eatery while eating, and then a sudden duel? Was this right?

“…Rather, who are you?”

“Ah, I did not tell you that.”

At San-ho's question, the man wearing a face veil extended one hand.

“I am Do Yi-gyeom, the owner of the Drunken Lotus Pavilion.”

Ah, so he was the owner. Then it was understandable for him to be quite pissed off……

It was certainly not his fault, but if asked whether he was not to blame at all, that was also uncertain. Had he controlled his strength properly, there would have been no reason to kick him away in the first place. Moreover, since the primary perpetrator was already being trampled under the owner's foot, the situation was not comfortable at all.

“……I did not do it on purpose.”

“I know. You did it to help Un-jo, did you not?”

Un-jo? As San-ho tilted his head, Do Yi-gyeom, the owner of the Drunken Lotus Pavilion, added an explanation.

“The errand boy who had the dispute a moment ago is Un-jo.”

“Ah, the waiter… Is he alright?”

“Are you curious about that?”

He quietly looked down at Gwang-baek beneath his feet and continued speaking.

“You are kind.”

“……Pardon?”

“I tend to want to give a reward to a good child.”

“Ugh… ugh!!”

Seriously, owner, why did he say such things while crushing a person?

San-ho frowned once more at Gwang-baek's scream. With that scream as a backdrop, a voice as soft as silk was heard.

“Very well, let us do this. If you spar with me and win, I will give you the answer to what you are currently looking for.”

At Do Yi-gyeom's words, San-ho's eyes widened.

“What do you mean by……”

“Do you not have something you are looking for? I have been the owner of the finest inn in the Central Plains for fifty years. Whatever it is you are looking for, I think I might already know it.”

“………”

Though he did not show it, confusion filled San-ho's eyes.

He had never said he was looking for something, nor had they had a conversation. So, how did he know that he was looking for information?

‘Besides…’

Although it was half-covered by the face veil, the face he could see was in its thirties at most. Yet, he had been the owner of the inn for fifty years? If that was true, there was only one possible answer.

An expert who had achieved Rejuvenation.

Rejuvenation, meaning an elderly person becoming a child, referred to the realm where an old master who had attained high enlightenment rejuvenated and became young. It was not just the appearance changing like a youth-retaining technique, but the body itself regaining its peak. A realm of high enlightenment that ordinary people could never reach.

That meant that the owner of the Drunken Lotus Pavilion was a martial artist with one of the most powerful martial arts in the Jianghu.

‘But why on earth……’

San-ho looked at Do Yi-gyeom, unable to erase his doubts.

‘Why is a martial artist who has reached such a realm running an inn?’

“You look like you do not understand. Do you not believe me?”

“Rather than that… I just do not know the reason.”

“Well, let us just say it is because I also have something I want. I have a debt to repay as well.”

As San-ho hesitated to answer, Do Yi-gyeom added.

“It should not be a disadvantageous proposal for you.”

“…….”

It was a reasonable point. He had come here to find information from the very beginning. However, if someone who knew the ins and outs of the Jianghu helped him, things would become much easier.

‘Even if I keep the Borrowing Flowers to Offer to Buddha or the secret manual a secret… I should at least be able to find out the meaning of the writing in the book.’

After pondering for a moment, San-ho asked.

“What are the exact conditions?”

“If you win against me, I will give you the information you want, and in the opposite case, you will fulfill what I want. Since it is a spar I proposed, I will only use the minimum amount of attack and defense.”

“What is the criterion for victory?”

“If you leave the training ground or surrender within two hours, it is my victory. Any other situation, I will recognize as your victory.”

‘So, as long as I do not surrender within two hours, I win?’

Even if it was difficult to defeat a master of Rejuvenation, it was a different story if it was only about holding out for two hours. Furthermore, since he had promised only the minimum attack and defense, it would not be dangerous either. Since he was also confident in his lightness arts, if worst came to worst, could he not just evade and run away?

Was there any need to take the long way around? The answer was close, as if it were within his grasp.

San-ho nodded his head as if he had made up his mind.

“Alright. A man's word is worth a thousand pieces of gold. Do not regret it.”

***

The annex visible after passing through several walls, located at the innermost part of the Drunken Lotus Pavilion.

Do Yi-gyeom's quarters were located in a place cast by the shadow of an old pine tree that remained green through all four seasons. Passing through those quarters revealed a space that was not visible from the outside. Paved with solid blue steel stone, this place was the training ground Do Yi-gyeom normally used when practicing.

‘…What kind of inn has a training ground?’

It was not a dirt ground, but a full-fledged training ground.

In that place, which did not suit the luxurious Drunken Lotus Pavilion at all, San-ho and Do Yi-gyeom stood facing each other.

“Are you ready?”

Do Yi-gyeom was merely holding a single paper fan.

“Yes. But are you really going to be okay with just that?”

“Are you worried you might get hurt? You are indeed kind, but there is no need to concern yourself.”

Do Yi-gyeom, folding the fan with a snap, chuckled softly.

“Since I already know that you came from Sichuan Province, attack with what you are most confident in.”

“……”

He had thought there was nothing left to surprise him anymore.

San-ho stared at Do Yi-gyeom, who had penetrated not only his purpose but now even his identity, as if looking at a ghost. What was his true identity? No matter how powerful a master he was, was it possible to see through someone's mind like mind-reading?

‘I can just ask after winning. I am a martial artist of the Tang Clan, after all, so a hand-sized fan should be nothing.’

As San-ho nodded, the corners of Do Yi-gyeom's mouth rose faintly.

And how much time had passed?

It did not take very long for the ease to disappear from San-ho's face.

‘…Huh?’

San-ho was one of the fastest among the martial artists of the Tang Clan. For San-ho was the one who had mastered the Shadowless Flying Wing Movement Technique, a martial art that was difficult to learn even among the secret movement techniques of the Tang Clan.

A closely guarded secret movement technique that was said to be as light as if one's body were floating in the air, and so fast that not even a shadow could be seen. Due to the nature of the Tang Clan's martial arts, which specialized in attack rather than defense, a high achievement in movement techniques was essential. It was also an area he was normally confident in.

Swish!

“I told you to attack, so why are you only running away?”

However, Do Yi-gyeom pursued San-ho, who was executing the movement technique, without even a change in his facial expression. To an outsider, it was at the exact same speed as San-ho, as if they had agreed beforehand.

‘What on earth is this?!’

Thwack!

Do Yi-gyeom lightly raised the fan and tapped San-ho's head.

“You cannot win like this.”

“……”

He had tried to drag out the time, but since it seemed he would run out of breath first, San-ho shifted his direction toward attacking.

What was held in his hand was the Soul-Chasing Dagger.

‘It just needs to graze him.’

Confirming Do Yi-gyeom's position with sharp eyes, San-ho shot the Soul-Chasing Dagger loaded with internal energy. There was no space to hide, and no weapon to block. Evading a flying hidden weapon in a training ground with limited space was more tricky than he had thought.

Swish!

The Soul-Chasing Dagger flew so fast that it was difficult to track with the eyes.

Yet, Do Yi-gyeom twisted his body without any major movement and avoided the attack.

“……Oh my.”

This much was not enough.

San-ho continued with the next attack without hesitation.

As the attacks continued, internal energy was gradually added to the flying dagger held in his hand.

The worry of whether this was fine lasted only a moment. When Do Yi-gyeom, who had avoided the incoming Soul-Chasing Dagger once again, smiled leisurely, San-ho gritted his teeth.

‘It won't even touch him?’

The flying dagger, loaded with even stronger internal energy, rushed toward Do Yi-gyeom once again.

Thwack!

This time, blocked by the thin paper fan, the flying dagger lost its power and dropped straight to the ground.

“……!!”

It was an attack of a strength that would easily break an ordinary sword. Yet, the flying dagger was blocked by a fragile fan that could be torn even by a child's hand. This meant Do Yi-gyeom was shrouding the fan in a massive amount of internal energy, and with ordinary internal energy, let alone Do Yi-gyeom himself, even piercing that fan was impossible.

He could not reach with speed, and he fell short in power.

‘……This is not enough.’

San-ho pushed the internal energy stored in his dantien into the flying dagger with all his might.

The dantien, expanded by the Ten Thousand Flows Return to the Source Divine Art, was filled with the internal energy drawn in by the Heaven and Man Unity Art. Not only that, but the massive internal energy absorbed through the Borrowing Flowers to Offer to Buddha was overflowing to the point that he had trouble even controlling his strength.

Such was San-ho, who was pouring as much of his internal energy as he could into the flying dagger.

Hummmm!

The flying dagger, buzzing with a blade hum, wriggled and asserted its presence. The movement grew stronger the more the massive internal energy he held was injected into the flying dagger. It was wriggling larger and larger, like a living creature. However, San-ho did not stop.

‘More, more…!!’

Hummmmm!!

Before he knew it, internal energy exceeding the limit he could withstand was contained within it.

Had it not been for hundreds or thousands of temperings, the flying dagger would have already turned to powder, unable to withstand the massive internal energy.

It was then.

The flying dagger, which had been howling wildly, seemed to gradually calm down… and then, did it not float gently above San-ho's hand like a butterfly?

‘………..!!’

Looking at that sight, a sparkling, unusual light filtered into Do Yi-gyeom's eyes.

San-ho fixed his vision clearly.

Unnecessary things began to be erased from his vision one by one. The square training ground, the walls surrounding the outside, the pavilions where light leaked out… He felt everything except Do Yi-gyeom gradually disappear.

Shhhhh—

In the complete darkness that arrived in this manner, the only thing visible was Do Yi-gyeom's pupils.

The surroundings were entirely silent.

The butterfly that was floating above San-ho's hand gently took flight.

Flutter.

The butterfly departed as if swimming with small wingbeats.

Swishhh!!

The fragile wingbeat finally tore through the darkness, flying forward as a sharp flying dagger. The pitch-black darkness was swept away and disappeared into a giant vortex created by the flying dagger.

“………!!!”

Shot with a tremendous momentum, the flying dagger reached Do Yi-gyeom in an instant.

San-ho ended up holding his breath at the unfamiliar sensation he felt.

What San-ho felt after pouring out the internal energy he held and throwing the flying dagger with all his strength was none other than…

“………..Owner!!!”

A sense of liberation.