Martial Arts Ain't Anything Special-Chapter 37: The Black Serpent (2)

In the end, they didn’t find much useful in the mountain fortress besides the Giant Spirit Divine Art.

Seojun and Chunbong disposed of the remaining Giant Spirit Divine Pills before returning to Granny Chun’s house.

But for some reason, the house felt a bit restless.

As he was looking around to see what was going on, that mentally strong woman spotted Seojun and approached.

“Benefactor, thank you so much.”

“Huh? For what now?”

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“About Leehyang. I heard you gave her a push?”

Oh, that’s what she meant? I was wondering what she was talking about.

“It was nothing special.”

“It’s not nothing special. I was so worried about her unstable state, but now I can rest easy.”

“Is that so?”

Well, she did seem a bit mentally unstable.

Seojun looked around and asked.

“But did something happen? Things seem a bit restless.”

“Ah, with Leehyang’s marriage and all, we were thinking of leaving soon too. We feel like we’re imposing too much on Granny Chun.”

“I see.”

Seojun nodded and reached for Chunbong’s head out of habit.

“Oh.”

She dodged? This brat. Just you wait.

“Then you can come with us. We were thinking of leaving soon too.”

“I hope we won’t be a bother...”

“It’s not far to the village, so it’s fine. See you tomorrow then.”

Seojun waved and headed to the main building.

The Wang family was there.

Wang Daesan smiled faintly when he saw Seojun.

“Are you planning to leave?”

“Yeah, it’s about time we left.”

“Perhaps you’re heading to Mount Hua?”

“Oh? How did you know?”

“With your skills, Benefactor, it’s only natural you’d aim for a good result in the upcoming martial arts tournament.”

Wang Daesan was certain. With his skills, even first place was not out of reach.

People would gather from all over Shaanxi or even further, so he couldn’t guarantee it, but there was no doubt he could achieve a good result at the very least.

Seojun smiled back in return.

“I’ll slice up a few people with the Wang family blade techniques.”

“Haha... you shouldn’t slice people in a tournament.”

“Aw, you know what I mean.”

“Well, as long as that’s the case...”

Why does it feel like everyone’s losing faith in me lately?

It’s so sad.

“Anyways, we’ll be heading in. Looks like So-ryeong needs to be put to bed soon too. The kid’s dozing off.”

“Indeed. So you’ll be leaving tomorrow morning then?”

“Yep, what about you?”

“We’ll stay here until Guard Jang recovers sufficiently.”

“Alright, well, see you tomorrow then.”

“Rest well.”

After saying goodbye to Wang Daesan, Seojun turned to go back to their room, but noticed Chunbong’s cheeks were puffed out as she followed.

“What’s this!”

Puffy-cheeked Geum Chunbong? I can’t resist.

When he squished her cheeks with his palms, a puff of air came out of her mouth.

“Ugh! Hands off!”

“Hey, why have you suddenly become so rebellious?”

“Shut up. You, what’s this about blade techniques?”

“Oh, right.”

Since it came up, he might as well swing his sword around a bit to incorporate it into the Primordial Divine Art.

“Follow me.”

*Seojun demonstrated the Wang family blade techniques with his sword in the backyard.

“...”

Chunbong watched silently with a blank expression.

Wasn’t that good?

He sheathed his sword, stood in front of Chunbong and stared into her eyes.

“...”

“...”

“...Oh. I won.”

“We weren’t having a staring contest.”

“Then why are you staring at me like that?”

Chunbong’s brow furrowed intensely.

“Because I’m pissed off, you dumbass! What blade techniques?! Were you so desperate to learn that you picked up some half-sword martial art?!”

“Half-sword? What are you talking about?”

Is this brat calling it a half-sword because a blade only has one edge, like it’s half a sword? Because it only has an edge on one side?

If so, what a truly weaponcist statement.

“Geum Chunbong, you brat! This is not how I raised you!”

“No, why learn blade techniques when you can do everything with a sword!”

“But the feeling is different~”

“The Yellow Cloud Divine Sword is a much better martial art!”

“Mm-hmm, the Yellow Cloud Divine Sword is indeed the best sword technique in Murim.”

“Well... as long as you know.”

Chunbong shut her lips tightly.

Now that she had calmed down, Seojun viciously attacked her cheeks.

She didn’t resist, seemingly pleased by the praise for the Yellow Cloud Divine Sword.

Good.

After massaging her cheeks to his heart’s content, Seojun scooped her up.

“Let’s rest for today. We’ll have to walk again starting tomorrow.”

“Oh, about that. How about we stop by a big city and travel with some merchants? Or maybe with some escort agency people.”

“Is there a need?”

“We can ride in carriages and earn money too. Doesn’t sound too bad, right?”

“Oh?”

That sounds just like an adventurer’s guild quest.

In martial arts novel terms, it would probably translate to something like wandering swordsman or sword-for-hire.

Wandering swordsman...

While their actual lives probably suck, there’s a certain romance to the term itself.

Wandering MUGONG Master Lee Seojun.

Wandering Swordsman Lee Seojun.

Not a bad ring to it.

“Alright. From now on, call me Wandering Swordsman Lee Seojun.”

“I seriously cannot understand you...”

Chunbong shook her head.

It was sad.

*The next day, Seojun prepared to leave as soon as it was light out.

There wasn’t much luggage to speak of. Just what they had packed when leaving the back alleys.

The women had also finished their preparations at just the right time, so Seojun said goodbye to those staying behind along with them.

“Old man, let’s meet again sometime.”

“Of course, Benefactor. Please visit anytime. Our family is not far from this village, so you can send word here.”

“Ah, right.”

Come to think of it, he didn’t even know where Wang Daesan’s house was located.

Scratching his head, Seojun also waved to Wang So-ryeong and her guard, Jang Yuho.

“See you again. You too.”

“We have to meet again, handsome big brother!”

“I wish you martial success, Benefactor.”

There were more people to say goodbye to than expected.

First Granny Chun. Then the kind youth and his companion they met when entering the village. After saying goodbye to Seong Leehyang and Yang Chu-il as well, quite some time had passed.

Seong? Who cares. He’ll probably manage on his own, right?

Anyway, they left the village like that.

There was nothing to worry about since he had gotten directions from Wang Daesan before leaving.

“Is this the right way?”

“Yes, Benefactor.”

After walking along the mountain for a bit with the women, they quickly found the village where they lived.

“But is it okay not to see Leehyang’s wedding?”

When Seojun asked them, the mentally strong woman smiled brightly. Now that he looked, she seemed to be the leader among them.

“It’s close by and since they’ll have the ceremony soon, Leehyang said she would send word then.”

“I see.”

“I suppose it would be difficult for you to attend, Benefactor?”

“Hmm... probably, I think?”

“That’s a shame.”

After dropping the women off in the village, Seojun exchanged final goodbyes with them and set off.

Now Chunbong was the only one left in the party. There was something relaxing about it that felt very comfortable.

“Phew. It’s nice with just the two of us.”

“You sure talked a lot with them though.”

Is she really going through puberty? Seojun chuckled at her slightly snarky response.

“That’s all just social skills, dummy. I’m actually an introverted person.”

“Sounds like complete bullshit.”

“Hmph.”

I really was a capital I when I took the MBTI test though.

Seojun pouted as he unfolded the map.

“Let’s see...”

It was easy to read since he had roughly drawn lines based on Wang Daesan’s instructions.

“Should we just cross this mountain first?”

“Yeah. Looks like we can cross it pretty quickly.”

“Alright, let’s go Geum Chunbong!”

Seojun scooped up Chunbong, put her on his back, and started running.

For a Peak Realm martial artist, a mountain slope is no different from flat ground.

As he was running across the mountain like it were flat ground, Seojun suddenly stopped.

“Gak...!”

Chunbong, who was riding on his shoulders, bent over and grabbed his hair tightly.

“W-What is it!”

“Shh.”

Seojun’s eyes flashed as he lowered her from his shoulders.

He sensed something with his qi detection.

It was hard to describe, but it felt wicked and impure.

It clearly wasn’t a good feeling, so he quietly frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

He explained the presence he was sensing to Chunbong, who was whispering. Her expression quickly hardened.

“It can’t be...”

“You know what it is?”

“It’s probably the Unorthodox Faction. What you felt was likely the unique sensation of evil qi.”

Unorthodox Faction. Seojun had a rough idea now, but above all, he remembered what Chunbong had said.

That it was probably Unorthodox Faction guys who directly attacked the Divine Sword Geum Clan.

“What should we do?”

“Something’s strange. They’re probably not ordinary Unorthodox Faction people if you sensed the wickedness. The small fry aren’t much different from Black Path sects.”

Chunbong chewed her lips as she continued.

“But this is Shaanxi, even if it’s a bit north. It’s still Mount Hua territory even in the outskirts. How can the Unorthodox Faction be running around freely? It doesn’t make sense. Are they planning a war or something? Just what...”

“Knock knock. Miss Geum Chunbong, you there?”

When he tapped her head, she jolted.

“Ah! You startled me... What is it?”

“Are you worried?”

“Huh? N-No? Why would I be worried. It’s dangerous so let’s just ignore them and move on.”

“No, you’re super worried.”

“I told you I’m not worried, what are you talking about!”

“No, you are. I know you better than you know yourself.”

“What the hell are you even saying...”

Chunbong sighed and held her forehead.

Then Seojun grinned and picked her up.

“Let’s go, Geum Chunbong!”

“No! No fucking way, we can’t!”

Too late.

Seojun approached the Unorthodox Faction group using Yellow Dragon Crossing the Rosy Clouds as if flying through the sky.

“It could be the Black Serpent!”

“Now now, it’s fine. My qi sense says it’s okay.”

“You’re taking Murim too lightly...! Oh fuck.”

They finally encountered them.

About a dozen men immediately drew their swords when Seojun suddenly appeared.

The aura they gave off was no joke.

The moment they met, Chunbong was certain. These guys were definitely from the Black Serpent.

They weren’t even just small fry. There were even a few Peak Masters mixed in from the looks of it.

Seojun gently put her down as she gritted her teeth and took a soft step forward.

“Watch closely, Hee.”

His front foot slid forward to become the pivot. His waist twisted, and his hand naturally moved to grasp his sword.

“You can do whatever you want.”

Then the qi within him began to rampage—the Giant Spirit Divine Art taking hold. Raw power infused into his body as the qi flowed violently.

He held his breath, then inhaled.

While tradition dictated the back foot as a pivot, he chose differently. The sword was merely a brush to unleash the Primordial Divine Art.

“So trust your big brother and live however you want. Got it?”

His qi concentrated in the scabbard, which he could replenish even mid-battle. The unrestrained qi surged within, threatening to burst.

Schwing—

As his sword arced through the air, it unleashed the Wang family’s blade technique Wang Daesan had taught him—and their signature tyrannical bladeplay unfolded.

────────────!!!

A golden sword qi shot out.

Two men who were charging blocked with their weapons, but were cut through along with their weapons.

The flying sword qi cut down over ten more trees before finally dissipating.

There were severed corpses and scattered blood all around. A deathly silence where not even an insect chirped descended upon the mountain.

“So, what should we do with the rest of them?”

Seojun smiled.