Martial Arts Ain't Anything Special-Chapter 27: Murim

“Want to know?”

At Seojun’s question, Churyeong stared at him with her lips tightly pressed together.

The corner of his mouth curved upward.

“It’s nothing special. Just felt a bit sorry. In a way, you could say our paths were meant to cross.”

Everything had been by chance, their first meeting, the incident, gaining power, and now their reunion.

Seojun did not believe in fate, but he knew how to cherish the connections that formed.

And once formed, whatever kind of connection it was, could not be undone.

“Nothing special?”

“...That’s right.”

Churyeong, slumped weakly, gave a faint smile. It was the first smile Seojun had seen from her.

Then she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and spoke as if reciting a poem.

“What was nothing special to you, was everything to me. Were our paths not to cross, I would have lived and died a lowly courtesan. But by chance, our paths intertwined and my worthless life became a miracle. This too, must be fate, wouldn’t you agree?”

She had a bright smile. Looking down at her, Seojun grinned.

“Looking at you now, you probably would’ve succeeded as a courtesan either way. Whether through poetry or singing.”

“I would have died before then.”

“You think so? Well, doesn’t matter now anyways.”

Oof, Seojun stretched his back.

He couldn’t help but laugh when he saw Chunbong watching him with a somewhat disgruntled expression.

That’s right, fate.

His most precious connection was right there.

*After rolling the courtesans around until they became dirt dumplings, Seojun got them settled in their quarters and returned to the training ground.

The recent battle with the Armored Demon gave him more to think about than any previous fight, even though he had won overwhelmingly.

The Primordial Sun-Moon Finger and protective qi.

After setting those two martial arts aside, he had one more crucial matter to consider.

Do yin and yang qi really explode when they meet?

It was strange now that he thought about it.

Supposing that was the case, when martial artists using yang qi fought those using yin qi, neither could guarantee their survival.

If practitioners of the Hot Yang Art and Cold Yin Art decided to suicide bomb, they might unleash power far beyond their realm.

Not that it mattered much.

The martial arts he was using were working well enough anyways.

But there was one crucial reason why he couldn’t just let this slide.

Chunbong could be in danger.

When he fed her the spirit pill and used Yin-Yang Reversal to treat her meridian blockage, his initial fear was, what if the yin and yang qi had converged and exploded inside her body at that moment?

“Huu...”

Seojun closed his eyes with a sigh.

Lights were flickering beyond his eyelids.

He walked aimlessly, following the faint sunset glow.

Soon a shadow fell across his eyelids.

When he opened his eyes, a wall blocked his path.

He placed his hand on the wall.

It was a solid stone wall, one he could easily break as he was now.

Boom! Boom!

But no matter how much he pounded with his bare hands, the wall showed no signs of breaking.

As he mindlessly beat the wall, Seojun suddenly looked down at his fist and saw blood flowing from his reddened knuckles.

After wiping the blood on his clothes, he blankly looked up at the sky.

“What is it?”

He placed his still-bloodied hand on the wall and walked along it.

A line of blood traced his path.

Seojun continued walking like this until he reached a door and crossed its threshold.

“Ah, right.”

He wrapped both hands in yin qi, still staggering like he was drunk.

An icy wind lingered on his hands.

He remembered a tree he had passed, turned back, and stood before it.

Knock knock.

When he tapped it like he was knocking, the tree frosted over.

“This is Yin.”

Seojun smiled brightly and leaped to the treetop in one bound using Yellow Dragon Crossing the Rosy Clouds.

The view from above wasn’t particularly novel.

The setting sun. The colored sky. The moon rising above.

Seojun gently rubbed the white tree glistening in the moonlight with warmth at his fingertips.

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Whoosh!

All the melted leaves fell from the tree.

As he watched this sadly and sighed, a small new bud sprouted at his feet.

“This is Yang!”

Excited, Seojun jumped down from the tree and danced about in pure joy.

When winter passes spring comes, and eventually winter returns again.

The cycle of yin and yang—that is the Supreme Polarity.

“Oh, how profound!”

How fleeting is life!

Sobbing loudly, Seojun tilted his head back to look at the sky.

The moon had risen above his head and was looking down at him.

He reached out.

Alas, his fingertips could never touch the moon.

Murim. This cruel, heartless world...

The moon in the sky remains unchanged, while everything except myself has changed too greatly.

“This too is fate.”

Until the risen moon set, his outstretched hand could not grasp it.

*“...Hey!”

He opened his eyes to a faint voice.

“Hey, wake up! What are you doing here!?”

Chunbong? He quickly sat up to find her looking at him strangely.

“Are you... okay?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

He stood up, brushing the dirt from his clothes.

“Oh, the blood.”

The blood on his knuckles had dried brown. Seojun shook his head with a sigh.

“Did I drink last night?”

“Nope.”

Chunbong leaned in close, her face serious.

“You’re not actually going crazy, are you?”

“What? I’m perfectly fine?”

“Well, if you say so...”

After looking him up and down, Chunbong sighed.

“If anything happens, you have to tell me, okay?”

“You’ll help?”

“Of course. Whatever it takes.”

Her earnest tone made him feel awkward.

“Y-You brat...! You precious little thing!”

He picked up Chunbong and gave her a piggyback ride. Strangely, she didn’t resist and stayed quiet.

“...Just for today... I’ll let it slide.”

“What...! A free Geum Chunbong pass for today!?”

“You bastard...You’re fake being sick, aren’t you!”

“Kyaah...! Not the hair...!”

He desperately protected his hair from Chunbong’s grasp.

“Do you want your big brother to go bald?”

“Hmm... I have wanted to slap a bald head. Slap slap. Might be fun.”

“...I’ll find you one later to slap. Just don’t try to make your big brother bald.”

Geum Chunbong, you scary child...!

*Back in his room to wash up, Seojun examined his scabbed knuckles.

“Hmm.”

Yesterday’s memories were hazy.

More frustrating than anything was how the insight seemed to shimmer just beyond reach, like a mirage.

If that was all, he would have just been annoyed and left it at that, but one realization actually made him feel better.

“Chunbong’s body won’t explode.”

Yin and yang qi convergence didn’t automatically cause an explosion.

It exploded because compressed energy burst out when failing to achieve the Supreme Polarity.

To use a simple example... right. Like heating water in a confined space.

The water turns to steam, and when the volume expands explosively, the container can’t withstand it.

So then?

Bang!

The Primordial Sun-Moon Finger was complete.

“Hmm.”

On impulse, Seojun wrapped his hand in the Yellow Cloud Divine Art’s inner qi.

“Huh?”

The golden energy rippling around it was denser than usual.

After staring at it blankly, he burst out of the room.

“Geum Chunbong! Look at this!”

“Huh? Look at wha— Pffft...!”

Chunbong jumped straight up.

“Hey! Hey! Have you lost your mind?! Your clothes! You’re not wearing clothes, you lunatic!”

“No! That’s not what’s important right now!?”

“What could be more important than that, you crazy bastard!”

“Look at this!”

Seojun held out his hand.

Chunbong’s gaze started to drift down before shooting back up.

“Um, uh!? What is it!”

“It got denser! Is this reinforced qi!?”

“Like hell it is!”

“Oh, it’s not?”

“It’s not, so get back inside! What if others see...”

Snap! Chunbong’s head turned.

“...Oh my.”

Churyeong covered her mouth with her hand.

“That size... Eek...”

Churyeong, who had been rubbing around her navel area, lowered her head and quickly disappeared.

“That, that...! That perverted bitch!”

Chunbong’s face turned bright red as she jumped up and down.

Why is she so angry? I’m the one who was exposed.

“Anyways, guess I’ll be heading back in?”

Damn, it’s not reinforced qi. That’s disappointing.

*After finishing his bath and getting thoroughly beaten by Chunbong for no apparent reason.

Seojun stared at his denser inner qi.

“Is it just because I gained some insight into the Supreme Polarity?”

“Prob...ably.”

While he was lost in thought, Chunbong slapped her own cheek and shook her head vigorously.

Unforgivable.

“Hey! Why did you hit your cheek!”

“What nonsense are you spouting? You’re the one who hit my cheek.”

“Your cheeks belong to me!”

“...Bullshit.”

Sighing, she held out her hand.

“Reinforced qi isn’t that simple. Have you heard the phrase ‘sword qi becomes force’?”

“Uh... somewhat?”

“Sword qi becomes force. It means the qi of the sword forms a star.”

“A star? Is that some poetic expression?”

“No. It’s literal.”

Chunbong’s eyes grew distant, looking somewhere far away.

“...I saw my father’s sword force once. That’s when I finally understood. Engraving your own star into qi. That is the Transcendent Realm.”