Martial Arts Ain't Anything Special-Chapter 11: Black Tiger Sect (2)

Under the cover of night, Seojun stepped onto the streets and quietly examined his surroundings.

This content is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

As he moved further from home, a soft red glow dimly lit the streets. The red lanterns of the brothels.

From inside buildings and between alleys came faint sounds of women moaning and obscene flesh slapping. A cheap courtesan gazing at the moon from a window had empty eyes.

He didn’t like it.

After briefly watching the courtesan, Seojun moved on.

Before long, he saw a large, impressive building that stood out in the back alleys. The Black Tiger Sect. Seojun clicked his tongue as he looked up at the wall.

Clean up the trash, get medicine for his little sister’s disease, and fill his pockets while he was at it.

He could kill not just two birds with one stone, but three. It seemed worth trying at least once.

“Huu...”

He clenched and unclenched his trembling hand, and the shaking stopped. Tonight the moonlight was faint, making for a dark night. Even the heavens were on his side.

Seojun leapt onto the wall using the Yellow Dragon Crossing the Rosy Clouds and surveyed the area.

The security wasn’t particularly tight. So where should he head?

His eyes lit up as he spotted an especially ornate building.

With graceful steps like a yellow dragon crossing the sunset sky, he moved. Seojun looked around, pressing close to the building’s wall to avoid the torch-bearing men.

They weren’t complete fools it seemed, as there was no obvious way to sneak in. In that case, the front door it was.

Pak pak!

The qi bullets he fired struck between the eyes of the guards at the main gate and they collapsed silently. He hadn’t been discovered yet, but it was only a matter of time.

He quickly opened the door and entered, a long corridor unfolding before him.

“Ugh, at this damn hour... Who goes there!”

This was as far as stealth went. Abandoning secrecy, Seojun drew his sword.

“Who? It’s Chunbong’s big brother.”

Slice. As the man’s head fell, multiple footsteps could be heard approaching.

The night was still young.

*The sect leader of the Black Tiger Sect was like an emperor in the back alleys. That was the nature of the First-Rate Realm. The starting line for being called a Master.

Of course, to the eye of a truly Peerless Master, he wouldn’t even register, but to ordinary people, he occupied that strange position of seeming like an unreachable Master while actually being far from it.

Naturally, a Master with nothing better to do wouldn’t be scratching his belly in some back alley corner, so to the sect leader, this place was like his own world.

“Aahn~ Darling, you’re so naughty.”

“Hoho, come here.”

“Nooo~ don’t be like that, try this instead.”

“Hehe, I’d rather eat you than meat.”

“Kyaaa!”

Crash!

The sect leader, drinking with a woman on each arm, frowned at the untimely commotion.

“What kinda crap are those fools tryna pull now?”

“Darling, just ignore it. A little noise isn’t bad for setting the mood, right?”

“I suppose you’re right—”

BANG!

The door burst open and a sect member rushed in. The sect leader frowned at this rudeness, but the man paid no heed and shouted.

“S-Sect Leader...! We have trouble!”

“Trouble? What trouble? Did the Murim Alliance Leader come knocking or something?”

As the sect leader chuckled, the man shouted with a pale face.

“A fiend! A fiend is attacking...! Guh!”

A sword tip protruded from the man’s throat.

“Kyaaa!”

The women screamed in surprise and crawled away to hide in a corner. The sect leader let out a laugh of disbelief.

“You crazy fucker where do you think you are, coming alone?”

As the sect member’s corpse fell, the fiend’s figure was revealed. A boy dripping from head to toe in blood, with only a few scratches for wounds, and the rest came from the blood of his enemies.

He had heard he was young, but this young? The sect leader clicked his tongue. Watching him, Seojun tilted his head.

“Hey, mister. Got any spirit pills?”

“Spirit pills? Even if I did, why would I give them to you?”

“Hmm.”

The fiend held out his hand, which the sect leader ignored. At most, he had to watch out for hidden weapons, and he was confident he could react to those.

But when he noticed the boy flick his fingers at the air and the qi condensing at his fingertips flying towards him like a beam of light, he couldn’t help but panic in shock.

“Peak Realm!?”

He hurriedly threw himself to the side, but his reaction was a bit late. His left arm was pierced and went limp.

The sect leader glared at the fiend, sweating from the pain.

“What grudge must a peak expert bear to target the Black Tiger Sect?!”

“...”

The fiend said nothing. He just stared silently.

The sect leader glanced at his treasured weapon’s location, slowly moving toward it while speaking.

“Even if you’re an expert of the Peak Realm, you can’t take on me and all my subordinates. If you leave now, we won’t pursue- Damn it!”

The fiend’s hand moved. The sect leader reacted instantly, grabbing a nearby woman by the collar and hurling her forward.

“Kyaaa!”

Seojun fired his readied qi bullet without any particular reaction.

Thwack!

The airborne woman was struck by the qi bullet, spun once, and collapsed face-first. Her body quivered on the ground.

“You cruel bastard, killing an innocent woman so easily!”

I didn’t kill her. She just fainted. Besides, weren’t you the one who threw her?

Seojun snorted and immediately dashed forward, unleashing Yellow Dragon Crossing the Rosy Clouds. The sect leader hurriedly grasped his ornate pudao and swung.

Swoosh!

A dark blue line was carved in the air. Seojun’s eyes lit up. Is that sword qi?

“I won’t go down so easily!”

The sect leader stomped the ground, pivoting behind Seojun towards the door.

Seojun frowned as he fired a barrage of qi bullets.

Ting ting!

Deflecting them with his blade, the sect leader burst into the corridor. Corpses littered the long hallway. He clenched his teeth at the gruesome scene.

A true fiend!

As he headed towards his subordinates while blocking the unrelenting qi bullets of Seojun, the sect leader suddenly felt something was off.

Why was he only firing qi bullets? Surely, even a peak expert would struggle if he joined forces with his subordinates?

Furthermore, the qi bullets’ power seemed off. Those fired by higher realm masters were typically hard to block. Yet here he was, deflecting them with relative ease.

Is he toying with me?

Swallowing his anger, the sect leader joined forces with his subordinates who were rushing over and bared his teeth fiercely.

“Now, what will you do!”

With about a dozen second to third-rate subordinates plus himself at first-rate, he was confident they wouldn’t fall easily.

“This complicates things.”

Seojun manipulated qi above his palm while observing them. The sect leader’s mistaken assumption about Seojun’s realm was understandable. Typically, only those at the Peak Realm could project qi with such ease.

Wait a moment. If that’s considered Peak Realm, aren’t I nearing it myself?

Splash—

Bloody footprints marked Seojun’s path as he raised his sword.

His impatience subsided and excitement filled the void. It had been this way since falling into this martial arts world. Fighting was fun.

He wanted to see the limits of this thing called qi, driven by pure enjoyment. He couldn’t contain his curiosity about what lay at the end.

“Huu...”

He exhaled, calming his excitement. His hand naturally gripped the sword.

“This won’t do.”

He didn’t come for the thrill of battle. It was to save Chunbong. That reminder brought him back down to earth.

Tap—

The Yellow Dragon Crossing the Rosy Clouds technique he had practiced for a year unfolded naturally, and his body shot forth like a dragon cleaving the sky, weaving between the Black Path thugs.

Whoosh!

Weapons converged on him. A faint radiance glinted in Seojun’s eyes. He slipped through visible gaps, swinging his sword in an arc.

Slash—

Blood sprayed. The familiar Three Principles Sword Technique flowed as naturally as breathing, thirsting for blood. In such an urgent situation, the Three Principles Sword Technique still felt more comfortable than the Yellow Cloud Divine Sword.

“YOU BASTARDDD!”

The enraged sect leader charged, faint light trailing his blade.

Seojun avoided him and only targeted his subordinates. When his frenzied footwork, like a game of tag, finally came to a stop, realization dawned on the sect leader.

“You...! You’re not Peak Realm!”

Am I not? Seojun wondered as he pointed his sword forward.

He’d seen enough sword qi—the sect leader’s inner qi flowing through his blade.

Suddenly feeling doubtful, Seojun focused his inner qi on his hand instead of his sword. It wasn’t much different from the sensation of the Finger Bullet Technique. He merely kept the inner qi in his hand instead of projecting it.

“Ah...”

As a faint golden haze formed on his hand, Seojun lamented his own stupidity.

The reason I couldn’t use sword qi was because my understanding of the sword was lacking.

A weapon isn’t part of one’s body. Therefore, to imbue a weapon with qi requires an understanding deep enough to consider it an extension of your own body.

Concepts like unity of body and sword refer to that kind of insight.

But hands were different. Hands were obviously part of one’s body, and mere intention was enough for hand qi to manifest naturally.

By nature, hand qi was more difficult than sword qi. When sword qi became dense enough to manifest externally, it could damage the hands.

However, Seojun’s talent for qi defied that. After momentarily controlling hand qi, he grasped its very essence and let out a hollow laugh.

“It wasn’t much after all.”

That insight seamlessly transferred to his sword. Understanding of the sword? He substituted it with understanding of qi.

He reminded himself. My talent is qi. With that alone, there’s nothing I can’t do.

A smile played on Seojun’s lips as his blade shone with brilliant golden light.

“I’ve attained it. First-Rate.”

Martial arts, huh? It ain’t anything special.