Chapter 316

Taoist Haewol chuckled.

“Such an insolent brat. The Reverse Afterimage Confusion Body Technique is a secret martial art that no one in Wudang has mastered. With just that one technique, you could live comfortably for a lifetime. But you say ‘just’? Isn’t that a bit too much?”

“You gave me a lost martial art because openly teaching Wudang martial arts would cause problems. Isn’t that right?”

“Your intuition is truly remarkable.”

“No matter how much the Reverse Afterimage Confusion Body Technique deceives the opponent’s eyes, it’s useless if I can’t penetrate their defense.”

“You’re talking about Shaolin Temple’s iron silk.”

Jin Ja-gang had painfully felt the limits of low-level martial arts. No matter what he did, he couldn’t penetrate Great Master Beom-mong’s iron silk. Even poison needles didn’t work on the Iron Head Technique.

He needed advanced martial arts that could somehow penetrate a master’s protective energy.

“Great Master Beom-mong naturally isn’t an opponent you can beat in a direct confrontation. This time you were lucky, so of course you should run if you encounter him.”

“Do as you please. Then let’s consider there’s no deal.”

Taoist Haewol clicked his tongue.

“Tsk tsk. Listen to the end. I didn’t say there was no method. Have you seen the Calamity Slaying Demon Spirit?”

Jin Ja-gang was slightly surprised.

However, the Guizhou branch had reported the escape of Enlightened Teacher Yelu Hwan, and Wudang Sect, as a member of the orthodox path, might know about the Toad Art.

“It’s sleeping quietly now.”

“The ghost in your brain is quite persistent, yet you endured it well. Then… come here.”

Taoist Haewol extended his hand. He extended it gently and slowly, placing his fingertip in front of Jin Ja-gang’s chest. The middle finger almost but not quite touching.

Then he muttered.

“Accumulate power with the entire body.”

Taoist Haewol’s body suddenly contracted and writhed.

“Mark the point and release power.”

The moment Jin Ja-gang heard the words “release power,” he tried to dodge. But before that, Taoist Haewol lightly touched Jin Ja-gang’s chest with his fingertip.

At that moment!

Thump!

Jin Ja-gang flew backward frantically. He was pushed by tremendous force without being able to resist.

Taoist Haewol quickly became distant.

He could already see the ferry he had been riding clearly.

Jin Ja-gang flew over a distance of more than five or six zhang to the opposite riverbank and fell.

Crash!

Jin Ja-gang rolled on the ground several times, then pressed his hands to the ground and flipped to get up.

He felt his chest. There was a very small hole in his clothes.

Other than that, there were no major injuries.

It was bewildering power. If Taoist Haewol hadn’t dispersed the force at the last moment, it wouldn’t have ended with just a hole in his clothes. It would have been enough to smash his spine while punching a large hole through him.

Taoist Haewol stepped on the ferry and leaped across the water surface to land in front of Jin Ja-gang in one breath.

“It’s a technique called Inch Force. One of the methods using Taiji Quan’s energy techniques.”

Taoist Haewol explained about inch force.

“Protective energy like iron silk, especially Shaolin Temple’s Golden Silk Iron Vermillion, can only be destroyed by specialized methods unless you know the weak meridian points. Inch force is one of the few energy-breaking methods you can learn before completely subjugating the Calamity Slaying Demon Spirit.”

“Inch force…”

Jin Ja-gang touched the hole in his clothes.

Taoist Haewol gestured to Jin Ja-gang.

“Now, you only have half a day. Since you’ve been so greedy, let’s see how much you can take with you.”

* * *

The Three Venerables of the martial world who lead the martial arts world: three absolute masters.

The leader of the Demonic Cult, the master of Northern Heaven, and the martial alliance leader.

Receiving martial arts instruction from one of them, Taoist Haewol, was the greatest opportunity for Jin Ja-gang.

Having already experienced guidance from Venerable Woo-am and Yelu Hwan, he knew well how precious this time was.

Jin Ja-gang did his utmost not to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

He memorized all the formulas in one watch, asked questions for half an hour, and mastered the basic movements and principles in another half hour. After that, he fought against Taoist Haewol using only the Reverse Afterimage Confusion Body Technique and inch force, practicing as if in real combat continuously.

Like a child constantly demanding milk, Jin Ja-gang endlessly pestered and bothered Taoist Haewol.

Thump!

Taoist Haewol’s inch force struck Jin Ja-gang’s chest.

Jin Ja-gang, whose clothes were now tattered like rags, rolled on the ground again. But covered in dirt from head to toe, he quickly got up and rushed at Taoist Haewol.

One, two, three afterimages remained in the air.

Jin Ja-gang circled to Taoist Haewol’s left. Without looking, Taoist Haewol extended his hand to the right.

Thump!

“Kugh!”

With a groan, Jin Ja-gang flew away. Even in his disheveled state, Jin Ja-gang rushed at Taoist Haewol without rest.

However, Taoist Haewol didn’t truly find it bothersome.

He had seen countless talents and non-talents while at Wudang Sect.

There were geniuses who memorized everything after reading the Thousand Character Classic twice, and geniuses who instantly understood martial arts formulas.

But no genius was as desperate as Jin Ja-gang.

Desperation.

Jin Ja-gang had desperation that drove himself to the limit to the point where watching made one’s liver shrivel.

He himself was the same.

If he hadn’t had a sense of mission from the beginning, he wouldn’t have come this far. Though his path went astray and made the martial world even more precarious, the martial world was his reason for existence and life’s purpose.

Roll roll roll.

Jin Ja-gang, who had been rolling on the ground, got up again and moved.

Using the Reverse Afterimage Confusion Body Technique, he left afterimages opposite to the direction he moved.

Three, four… Faint afterimages circled behind Taoist Haewol.

Taoist Haewol extended his hand to the left. Taoist Haewol’s hand passed through Jin Ja-gang’s afterimage. Jin Ja-gang’s afterimage rose above Taoist Haewol’s head.

Taoist Haewol flinched and tried to block above, then struck to the right.

Whip!

The afterimage of Jin Ja-gang on the right disappeared like being extinguished by the wind from Taoist Haewol’s gesture.

Front!

Jin Ja-gang crouched low from the front and brought his finger to Taoist Haewol’s abdomen.

Jin Ja-gang drew all the whirlpools and eddies accumulated in the five dams to one place. Just as righteousness gathers to become a greater cause, just as various tributaries separate and combine to become the main stream, he gathered different eddies and moved them according to the formula, pouring them all into one spot on his right hand’s middle finger.

Inch force!

Jin Ja-gang’s attack hit Taoist Haewol for the first time!

But Taoist Haewol’s body rippled and Jin Ja-gang felt like he was pressing cotton.

Thud.

Jin Ja-gang’s hand was lightly bounced back, and an explosion occurred beneath Taoist Haewol’s feet.

Bang! Like stepping with True Step technique, dirt burst and the ground shattered. He had diverted Jin Ja-gang’s inch force beneath his feet.

Jin Ja-gang stepped back two paces hesitantly and took his stance again. Though breathing heavily, his eyes were still vivid.

“I won.”

“Right. No matter how crude it looks, that much power is sufficient.”

Crude meant rough and unrefined.

“Is it really sufficient?”

He asked because Taoist Haewol looked unharmed.

“You only used inch force the whole time, so would I get hit knowing that? The speed of power release is still slow. It needs to be at least ten times faster than now.”

Though Taoist Haewol was speaking as seriously as before, somehow his tone seemed slightly softened.

Jin Ja-gang quietly stared at Taoist Haewol. Though his eyes were hidden by eyebrows so the exact expression couldn’t be seen, he seemed to be thinking something else.

When Jin Ja-gang was about to move his body immediately, Taoist Haewol raised his hand.

“Stop. Time’s up.”

Hearing those words, Jin Ja-gang stopped without pestering further. Then he politely cupped his fists to Taoist Haewol.

“Thank you.”

Taoist Haewol nodded slightly, then was silent for a while.

“…”

“What’s wrong?”

When there was still no answer, Jin Ja-gang asked back.

“If you have something to say, I’ll listen.”

“I…”

Taoist Haewol began to speak.

“Have no disciples. Do you know why?”

“I don’t know.”

“They all died.”

Jin Ja-gang couldn’t respond carelessly to those words either.

“I took in three in total, but every one died in accidents before they could bloom.”

“Were they really… accidents?”

Taoist Haewol slightly raised the corner of his mouth instead of answering.

“Two died while I was traveling the martial world pursuing those people’s tracks, and one died while I was organizing Yangtze River Sword Sect. Only then did I realize again the seriousness of what I was trying to do. And I haven’t taken disciples since then.”

For a martial artist, disciples are like children. Sometimes they’re regarded as one body even more than children. They say you feel unity while passing on your progress.

So when he lost his disciples, Taoist Haewol must have been extremely heartbroken.

Taoist Haewol looked at Jin Ja-gang meaningfully.

“I wondered if you could have survived until now if you had been my disciple.”

Jin Ja-gang stared at Taoist Haewol.

“I see people’s character with Golden Beads. I chose those with good character and outstanding qualities. Those who absorbed what was taught like water being absorbed. But seeing you today…”

Taoist Haewol said.

“I realized I chose disciples with too weak hearts for the path I was taking. Those disciples died because of me. No, if only I had given up my intentions.”

Hearing those words, Jin Ja-gang suddenly chuckled.

“So, are you blaming yourself?”

“Why? Am I not allowed to blame myself?”

“When I was at an age where I couldn’t protect myself, when I hadn’t bloomed yet as you put it, I met someone who could have been my teacher.”

“Who was that?”

“Vice Sect Leader Yong Myeong of Medicine King Sect.”

“That’s a name I haven’t heard. But for you to call someone teacher… I’d like to meet him once.”

“He died in my place.”

Taoist Haewol’s eyebrows twitched.

“Not just him, but the Medicine King Sect disciples who followed him too. They sacrificed their lives to save me.”

Taoist Haewol’s eyebrows drooped further. He seemed to have closed his eyes.

“Thanks to that, I’ve survived until now. I was able to take revenge for Medicine King Sect and somewhat uncover the full picture involving medicine and poison sects. And when it comes time to take your head, I’ll reveal the true mastermind.”

“You mean my disciples would be alive if I had died?”

“In the same situation, what would you have done? Would you have saved your disciples?”

Taoist Haewol was silent briefly, then sighed and said.

“I felt truly ashamed. Hearing your words, I was too buried in greater causes. I still don’t know. Could I have died in place of my disciples? Would I have trusted that my disciples would protect the martial world in my place…!”

“So if I had been your disciple, I would have died in your place.”

“What?”

“I mean if the disciples knew their master’s intentions, they would have gladly died to not endanger their master. So as not to hinder their master’s path. That’s not weakness.”

Taoist Haewol became speechless for a while.

Then he suddenly snorted.

“You’re still an insolent brat. Where does a greenhorn lecture an elder who’s lived a hundred years?”

But contrary to his words, Taoist Haewol took something from his sleeve and threw it to Jin Ja-gang.

It was a small jade pendant with golden and red silk threads. Even at a glance, it didn’t feel ordinary.

“Payment for the lecture. Get some clothes. If you enter a shop with the same pattern as carved on that jade, they’ll treat you well.”

“This doesn’t seem like something I should receive.”

“Just keep your promise properly. Never let anyone else take me from you. The remaining dregs of old evils must fall by the hands of the new era.”

I want to die by your hands.

Somehow Taoist Haewol’s inner thoughts seemed to reach him.

But Jin Ja-gang replied coldly.

“I have no intention of becoming a hero. After killing you, what happens next is none of my business.”

Keke!

Taoist Haewol laughed heartily.

“Fine. I won’t entrust you with what comes after. You’re not a hero anyway. Well then, farewell.”

Taoist Haewol stomped his foot and leaped up with a thump, then jumped across the water surface and disappeared in an instant.

Jin Ja-gang watched the direction Taoist Haewol disappeared while gripping the jade pendant tightly.

Then once again he politely cupped his fists in that direction and bowed his head.