Martial Arts Ain't Anything Special-Chapter 25: This is Not a Martial Arts Novel...! (2)

The Armored Demon.

Though individual specimens vary, they were generally demonic creatures with strength ranging from First-Rate to Peak Realm.

However, the Armored Demon’s infamous reputation wasn’t due to its strength.

The black armor covering its entire body made of unknown materials, possessed defensive capabilities that could deflect even sword qi.

But could humans wear this armor after killing one?

No, that wasn’t possible either.

The armor of an Armored Demon would lose its unique defensive properties upon death.

According to the Zhuge Clan, this was related to the Armored Demon’s unique inner qi flow, which led some to believe that they maintain something similar to protective qi.

And naturally, protective qi dissipates when its caster dies.

In simple terms, they were worthless trash monsters that were hard to kill and didn’t drop anything useful.

“Hey! Be careful!”

“Yep, of course.”

Chunbong watched on strangely as Seojun jumped straight down from the roof.

Though Armored Demons are tough, with that bastard...

Without any particular reason, her utter faith in him bloomed.

I know he’ll be fine. Somehow, she just couldn’t imagine him losing when he could unleash qi to his heart’s content.

*Seojun landed in front of the Armored Demon.

“Grrr...”

There was thick drool dripping from its protruding snout.

“Bit slow in the head, aren’t you?”

Seojun clicked his tongue in pity.

Even though it was a demonic creature, perhaps it could understand the meaning behind his actions?

“Kyaaak...!!”

The enraged Armored Demon stomped its feet and charged at Seojun.

“Let’s see here.”

Seojun also charged at the Armored Demon while drawing his sword.

Shwiiing—

As soon as the blade revealed itself, the Armored Demon swung its arm.

Whoosh!

Seojun lowered himself to dodge the swing and spun around using his planted foot as a pivot point.

His sword, wrapped in murky golden sword qi, targeted the Armored Demon’s leg.

Clang!

The sword left a tiny scratch before bouncing off. Seojun narrowed his eyes.

Damn, it really is tough.

It seemed pointless unless he struck with full force.

What should he do in this situation? Thinking logically, there were several options.

The joints would be relatively weak compared to the rest of its well-armored body, so one option was targeting them.

Another would be using a technique like the Internal Explosive Qi Strike to bypass its armor and strike internally.

Of the two immediate options that came to mind, Seojun chose a third.

“Alright friend, ready to get your ass kicked?”

If I hit it enough times, it’ll die eventually. A free punching bag to test martial arts! What a great discount!

“Grrrk...!”

The Armored Demon, pissed off from getting hit, charged roughly.

Seojun grinned and stomped the ground hard with his right foot.

Boom!

Crack! As yin qi penetrated the ground, the Armored Demon’s feet began sticking to the frozen surface.

“Kyak!”

However, it wasn’t to be taken lightly. It ripped its feet free through brute force and rushed forward with its shoulder.

Colliding with that guy would mean broken bones at a minimum.

Of course, that’s only if it hits.

Seojun grinned as he held his middle finger with his thumb.

Pew—

The qi bullet flew like an arrow. The Armored Demon raised its arm in defense, but its arm froze, drastically slowing its movements.

“Hah!”

Primordial Sun-Moon Finger. A qi bullet made of yang qi flew at the Armored Demon.

“Grrrk!?”

Did it instinctively sense danger?

The Armored Demon threw itself to the side to dodge the bullet.

“Oh? You dodge?”

The punching bag isn’t fulfilling its duty.

Annoyed, Seojun strode forward and swung his sword.

Crack!

It attempted to block once more, but its arm froze from the blade infused with yin qi.

“Kyaaak...!”

“Okay, now stay still this time?”

Seojun raised his sword, brilliant golden yang qi transforming into sword qi.

“You crazy bastard! If that explodes, you’ll die too!”

“Ah, woops.”

After hearing Chunbong’s shout, he quickly distanced himself from the Armored Demon.

“Better catch well!”

Pew!

Yang qi flew in the form of a bullet.

“Kiyaah...!!”

In desperation, the Armored Demon threw itself to avoid the attack.

“You bastard!”

Seojun gritted his teeth.

Okay, so you dodge, huh? Let’s see if you can dodge when your entire body is frozen.

Blue yin qi surged from his sword.

*“That cruel man!”

“Demonic creature or not, does it deserve such a beating?”

“What do you mean deserve? Why show mercy when killing demonic creatures?!”

“That’s right! Kill it!”

The crowd gathered in the red-light district was in an uproar.

The reason? The Armored Demon.

More specifically, because the Armored Demon was getting beat to a pulp for fun.

Miss this spectacle? Few in the Central Plains would.

It wasn’t just the courtesans gathered in the red-light district filling the streets, but also people who heard the news flooding in.

Crack—

The completely frozen Armored Demon cried pitifully.

“Kyaaak...!”

“Yeah, yeah. Try dodging again, I’ll keep firing until I hit.”

And the Fiend, at a safe distance from the Armored Demon, kept firing qi bullets.

Pew—

“Kyaaak...!!”

The Armored Demon threw itself around desperately. Its movements were so desperate that even observers felt sorry for it.

“It dodged again! I win the bet!”

“Motherfucker. Here, take your ten coins.”

Even gamblers had appeared now.

“Sister Maewol, is this the person you mentioned?”

“Yes. Watch carefully. Information about a rising star is always valuable.”

Among these people, Maewol observed Seojun’s every movement with her piercing eyes.

A young boy who appeared suddenly one day. Ever since he wiped out the Black Tiger Sect, Maewol had been keeping a close eye on any information about him.

Skills to toy with an Armored Demon. Does this mean he’s at least Peak Realm?

Her eyes narrowed. Then, she felt the cool touch of a blade at her neck.

“What are you doing?”

“You’re... the little miss who accompanies the Young Expert?”

“Shut up. You’re overstepping.”

“Fufu, overstepping? The Young Expert wouldn’t even glance at someone like me.”

“That’s enough.”

“I envy you. To be so loved by someone like him.”

Love? Chunbong pouted and withdrew her sword.

“Hmph, that’s enough. Just continue your duties as a Hao Sect member.”

“Hmm, did the Young Expert tell you? I thought I hid it well.”

“Stop testing me.”

“That wasn’t my intention.”

Chunbong snorted at Maewol’s words. Her eyes never left Seojun fighting the Armored Demon.

Maewol smiled softly.

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“You really adore your big brother, don’t you?”

“You’re noisy.”

Clicking her tongue, Chunbong silently watched Seojun. Somehow, she could almost hear his voice.

No way, Geum Chunbong! You’re totally being the perfect supportive wife, the queen of housewives!

So noisy.

She snorted. Then, crossing her arms haughtily, her expression hardened and she raised her chin.

Of course, this was all in her head.

Maewol watched adoringly as Chunbong’s lips involuntarily curved into a smile.

*“Man, this kid. Really making me work here.”

Seojun clicked his tongue as he looked at the Armored Demon.

“Kyaaak...”

It was frozen solid like a statue, its entire body covered in ice. Meeting its black eyes, Seojun scratched his cheek.

“What a pitiful look you’re giving me.”

But that didn’t mean he could spare it. It only looked pitiful because it was getting beaten up—just looking around, there were several corpses. They were the bodies of people who encountered the Armored Demon before Seojun arrived.

“Farewell.”

Seojun held his middle finger with his thumb.

Pew—

The qi bullet embedded itself in the Armored Demon’s chest, and—

────────────!!!

The convergence of yin and yang caused a massive explosion.

Seojun fell into thought as he watched.

Guess there’s lots of room for improvement.

First, hitting the same spot twice is harder than expected.

And another thing. The ratio of yin to yang qi is more important than expected.

During his experiment with the Armored Demon, he used yang qi to hit the spots with yin qi many times.

However, because its body had already accumulated an overwhelming amount of yin qi, the yang qi was consumed by it.

The explosion a moment ago worked because he increased the yang qi concentration to roughly match the ratio.

“Well... not bad though.”

Seojun grinned as he looked at the scene before him.

Armor that deflects even sword qi? All that existed before his eyes were the scattered pieces of what used to be an Armored Demon.

The deep crater was just a bonus.

This is like... an instant-kill move against humans? Anyone who takes this and survives probably shouldn’t be called human anymore.

Against humans it’s certain death on hit, and against demonic creatures...

Can’t really say.

Since I don’t know what kinds exist out there, it’s hard to say.

But there is one thing. He remembered the flow of its protective qi.

Though the structure of demonic creatures and humans differs, making the outcome uncertain, it was definitely worth experimenting with later.

“Phew. My whole body aches.”

After stretching, he grinned as he saw Chunbong walking over.

“Were you watching?”

“Yeah.”

“Pretty sick, right?”

“It was kind of cool, I guess.”

“W-WHAT!?”

Seojun covered his mouth in shock.

“Wh-Who are you! You’re not Geum Chunbong!”

“So noisy.”

“What in the world happened?!”

Watching Seojun act up, Chunbong sighed.

“Why the hell does he act like this...”

She was starting to genuinely worry, and not as a joke. Qi deviation could come suddenly, but it could also creep in slowly.

Usually, she accepted that was just how he was, but sometimes she wondered if he was even human. At those times, she seriously worried whether he had fallen into a state of qi deviation.

“Hey, Geum Chunbong.”

“What.”

“Should we head out?”

Seojun jumped up onto the roof. Chunbong followed.

“Are we going straight to the Clear River Sect at this hour? Seems inconsiderate.”

Upon hearing her words, Seojun nodded.

“True. Let’s let them stay at our place tonight and go tomorrow.”

“...At our place?”

“Yeah. Don’t like it? We have plenty of spare rooms.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Though Chunbong didn’t seem too enthusiastic, there wasn’t really anywhere else to house the courtesans.

Smacking his lips, Seojun returned to the roof where the courtesans were. They seemed to have adapted somewhat, quietly waiting for him on the roof.

Churyeong was still unconscious.

These pressure points are seriously effective.

Seojun nodded with satisfaction.

“Everyone, for now let’s go to our house...”

“Please take us too!”

Some of the courtesans who hadn’t left called out.

Actually, there were still many people in the streets.

Some glaring with jealousy, some applauding, some poking through the scattered remains of the Armored Demon.

“First come, first served is over. Better luck next time?”

“How can that be—!”

Crash!

A tile shattered at the feet of the courtesan speaking.

Chunbong stood slanted, looking down at the courtesans.

“What was that?”

“Um, well...”

She looked down at the courtesans with a murderous gaze.

To me it just looks like a squirrel glaring, but the courtesans seem to see it differently.

The courtesans, faces pale, quickly fled.

“Hm, my Chunbong seems pretty angry.”

When he poked her cheeks, Chunbong’s eyebrows formed an inverted eight.

“They were being annoying.”

“Aww, so cute.”

“Want me to hit you too?”

“That’s a reward in our industry!”

When he offered his back, she quickly stepped back.

“That’s a bit...”

Oh, what a shame!

*After returning home and giving rooms to the courtesans, Seojun sat in the courtyard looking up at the sky.

Well, now that things were somewhat settled, it seemed about time for them to depart.

After escorting the courtesans to the Clear River Sect and watching over them for a few days, we should leave.

Where should we head?

The Twenty-Four Plum Blossoms Sword Technique, Sword of the Boundless Azure Sky, Wisdom Sword of Supreme Polarity, Sun-Piercing Sword Technique, Five Tigers Breaking the Gate Blade.

His heart started racing at the thought of seeing martial arts he’d only read about in novels.

That reminds me...

The Primordial Thunder Blade.

Along with the Five Tigers Breaking the Gate Blade, it was one of the Hebei Peng Clan’s famous blade arts.

And the Primordial Thunder Divine Art, their famous cultivation technique.

Though he wasn’t sure if they used the same martial arts here, if they did, it could be quite problematic.

“The Primordial Thunder Divine Art? It’s famous. Only direct descendants of the Hebei Peng  Clan can learn it,” said Chunbong, who was next to him counting the stars.

“Oh fuck...”

“Why are you suddenly cursing?”

“Then doesn’t that make the Primordial Divine Art look like a knockoff?”

“Now that you mention it...”

Seojun pondered seriously.

“If I annihilate the Hebei Peng Clan, wouldn’t I become the original?”

“What the fuck, are you insane?”

“Hehe, just kidding.”

“You are just kidding... right?”

“You think I was being serious?”

“I was worried for a second.”

How can you have so little faith in your big brother? I’m so disappointed, Geum Chunbong.

“...Don’t be mad, big brother.”

“Okay!”

All better now.