Chapter 197 :

<An Unwelcome Visitor to the Academy (2)>

"H-how… How do you know Lotus Flower…?"

For the first time, Yaryul Geuk wore a foolish expression appropriate for his age.

"Lotus Flower?"

I feigned ignorance.

After all, the Lotus Flower I had used was the ascending form adapted into Jegal's Three Forms.

"Are you talking about a grafting technique?"

"…You are saying that was not Lotus Flower?"

"It was not."

His eyes were full of suspicion, but what could he do about it? I said it was not.

It was not as though the Flowing Cloud Gate had exclusive rights to grafting techniques.

"Are you not coming at me again? Were you and your brothers truly as worthless as I said?"

"…"

Yaryul Geuk's expression twisted with fury again.

"Why was it only you…"

"Hmm?"

"Why were you the only one who brought all his fellow disciples back?"

So that was why he reacted so violently toward me.

"Was that why you hated me?"

I had faced the same circumstances as him, yet achieved a different result.

The brighter I shone, the darker his own shadow must have seemed.

"Do you truly not know why?"

"Why?"

Yaryul Geuk's eyes widened.

He looked hopeful that he might hear an answer he had never imagined himself.

"Because you are inadequate."

Yaryul Geuk charged, drawing on every scrap of internal energy he had.

He unleashed the Mighty Thunder Fist Art and Rainstorm Palm Art, but martial arts that were not even secret techniques had no chance of working against me.

Tat-tat-tat-tat.

When I neutralized his attacks with one hand rather than two, he apparently decided they would not work and performed Snow Flower of the Flowing Cloud Divine Art.

If anything, I welcomed his inferiority complex.

Had he truly given up on himself, he would have been consumed by his own darkness and become indifferent to everything.

"Why blame others for your own inadequacy?"

He felt such resentment toward me because some desire to change still remained within him, however small.

"Go on. Let more of that pathetic resentment out, you miserable bastard."

"Aaaaaaargh!"

That was why I continued provoking him.

I believed Yaryul Geuk could use his own darkness and wretchedness to become stronger.

If Lotus Flower was a counterattack employing a grafting technique, Snow Flower was an offensive technique based on the principle of Four Taels Deflects a Thousand Jin.

It should inflict tremendous damage with only a small amount of force, but…

"What is this? Not even children play like this."

His Snow Flower felt like nothing more than a little hand trick.

Crack!

"Aaargh!"

Yaryul Geuk cried out and retreated as his wrist twisted.

"Understanding positional force and momentum is fundamental to grafting techniques and Four Taels Deflects a Thousand Jin."

Rubbing his wrist with a grimace, Yaryul Geuk glared fiercely at me.

I grabbed him by the collar and threw him into the air.

"Aaaaaaargh!"

Yaryul Geuk flailed in midair, trying to regain his balance.

I put more strength into my hand.

"An object falling to the ground after being raised high is positional force at work."

Then I slammed him into the ground.

Grinding his teeth, Yaryul Geuk sprang up and swung his fist.

I casually dodged his punch, hooked his leg, and pulled his clothes in the direction he was already moving.

"The force possessed by something in motion is momentum."

Thud, thud, thud!

After tumbling several times across the ground, he staggered upright, apparently in considerable pain.

"If your sect's martial arts focus on the principles of grafting techniques and Four Taels Deflects a Thousand Jin, you should have learned the basic concepts. Did you fail to grasp them?"

"…Huff, huff, huff."

Yaryul Geuk kept panting as though he could not hear a word I said.

The sight was not unfamiliar.

"Like older brother, like younger brother."

I murmured quietly enough that he could not hear.

Yaryul Geuk was hotheaded, but Yaryul Jae's temper had been no better.

When using a grafting technique, he would forcibly add strength. When using Four Taels Deflects a Thousand Jin, he would tense his body even more than usual.

He put too much strength into his movements because he wanted his blows to match the ferocity of his temper.

That might work with an overpowering martial art, but it was useless for one that relied on the opponent's strength.

It was ironic that he had finally completed the Flowing Cloud Divine Art toward the end of the Righteous-Demonic War because he constantly had to fight before fully recovering his internal energy, forcing him to perform it without excessive strength.

'He needs to loosen up.'

And what better way was there to take the strength out of someone than a beating?

Of course, I had no intention of inflicting mindless violence like Ak Jupyeong.

My goal was entirely different from that bastard's.

If I stimulated his meridians and acupoints while constantly pestering him so he could not properly recover his internal energy, perhaps he would eventually understand.

Moreover, he would have an excellent teacher like me offering instruction.

Where else in the world could he find such personalized education?

'These brothers really are irritating.'

Yaryul Geuk's breathing was still ragged.

"Tired already?"

At my words, he charged again with an expression suggesting he was about to lose his mind.

He really was easy to understand.

Tap, tap, tap, boom!

A linked sequence followed the Mighty Thunder Fist Art and Rainstorm Palm Art.

Yaryul Jae had used the same approach so often that I knew it inside out.

And if I added a slight counterattack—

"…"

The way he hissed like an injured cat was utterly laughable.

In any case, I had shown him clues to Lotus Flower and Snow Flower, so he would not do something like give up again.

I gave him one last sneer and walked away.

"F-fuck! Jin Sowoon! Watch your back!"

Haa… That bastard was still obsessed with the back of my head.

As expected, he immediately came at me with the Flowing Cloud Divine Art.

"Tsk, tsk. I told you it would not work."

I turned his Lotus Flower back on him and slammed him into the ground.

"Ugh…"

The impact must have been fairly strong this time, because his body writhed.

"Softness overcomes hardness. Think again about what it means for softness to defeat strength. Neither grafting techniques nor Four Taels Deflects a Thousand Jin is merely a trick. Unless you understand the source of their principles, you will never complete your sect's martial arts, no matter how long you live."

Even sprawled on the ground, Yaryul Geuk glared fiercely at me.

The following morning, after straightening my clothes and stepping out of the building, I sensed a presence overhead.

"Oh, for…"

Yaryul Geuk was leaping from the roof, clutching his usual jagged rock.

"Would the sword the academy gave you not be better for an ambush?"

I could not begin to understand what went on inside his head.

Then again, I had never understood Yaryul Jae's personality either, so trying to understand his younger brother's behavior was probably pointless.

'Does he have some disease that will kill him if he fails to keep his word?'

Even so, targeting the back of my head every single time was bizarre.

I stepped back slightly and struck his abdomen with a spinning kick, supposedly the specialty of unattractive men.

Yaryul Geuk flew nearly three jang and rolled across the private training ground before beginning to retch, as though his stomach had turned inside out.

But instead of food, he brought up only yellow stomach fluid.

"Tsk… Did you come without eating breakfast?"

Well, I had intended to seek him out anyway, so I appreciated him coming to me. But I was not grateful enough to go easy on him.

"I intended to deal with you after enjoying a peaceful morning, but you had to interrupt my routine."

I unleashed the Myriad Transformations Invincible Fist, stimulating the meridians and acupoints throughout his body.

In other words, I beat him everywhere without leaving a single spot untouched.

"Gurk."

Sent flying another jang, he sprang upright, then apparently felt something wrong inside and retched again.

This time, it was dark red blood rather than yellow stomach fluid.

The stagnant blood that had accumulated inside him over a long period had risen through his digestive tract.

"Damn it…"

An ordinary martial artist might have hesitated, fearing an internal injury.

But Yaryul Geuk merely wiped the blood from his mouth and assumed his opening stance again.

Then he lunged at me like lightning.

'Oh? Has he recovered this much in a single day?'

It seemed yesterday's meridian and acupoint stimulation had opened up his circulation a little.

His movements were much smoother and faster than before.

But—

"Softness overcomes hardness! Softness overcomes hardness, you idiot! Have you already forgotten what I taught you yesterday?"

His movements were forceful and overbearing, entirely disregarding the principles of the Flowing Cloud Gate's martial arts.

Suppressing a sigh, I performed the ascending form of the Flowing Cloud Divine Art's Lotus Flower with one hand and slammed him into the ground.

"Ugh…"

After rolling across the hard marble floor, he squirmed like a crushed worm for a long time, apparently overwhelmed by the pain.

I lightly planted my foot on him.

"If you intend to charge blindly, use some other martial art. If you intend to use your sect's martial arts, apply their principles. You have to do at least one of those."

"Huff—huff—"

Yaryul Geuk glared at me, breathing harshly.

I beckoned with a finger.

"Come on. You will never crack the back of my head just by glaring."

"Aaaaaaargh!"

Yaryul Geuk charged with a furious cry.

Before half an hour had passed, I had exhausted him completely.

"Haa, haa, haa."

Yaryul Geuk lay sprawled on the ground, panting.

I deliberately twisted my lips into a sneer.

"Not coming at me again?"

"…Y-you. Once I… complete the Flowing Cloud Divine Art…"

"Do not worry. As far as I can see, you have no talent for it whatsoever."

His eyes bulged furiously, but what could he do?

All he could manage was lying there and breathing.

"Master Jin Sowoon."

At that moment, the head maid emerged from the building.

"It is time for breakfast. Will your friend be joining you?"

I looked at Yaryul Geuk and asked.

"You will eat, right? The food at the representative's dormitory is famous for being delicious."

"…N-no!"

For some reason, Yaryul Geuk's face reddened.

What was that about?

"He says he does not want to go inside to eat."

The head maid nodded.

"Then we will bring the meal out here."

"Thank you."

After the head maid went back inside, Yaryul Geuk raised his voice.

"I-I said I am not eating!"

Why was he putting so much passion into refusing a meal?

That temper of his really was something.

"Eat. I want to beat you some more, but beating someone who cannot get up is not to my taste."

"…Bastard!"

A short while later, the head maid and three maids brought trays of food that would be easy to eat and set them before us.

The boy had stubbornly refused to eat, but when the maids remained nearby waiting, he finally took a spoonful.

At the first bite, his eyes grew as wide as a rabbit's.

"Good, is it not?"

"…Once I become representative, I can eat things like this whenever I want!"

His words made me burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! With those skills?"

"…!"

Yaryul Geuk pressed his lips shut and trembled as he glared at me.

"The Flowing Cloud Gate's Flowing Cloud Divine Art can counter any martial art! Do you think you will be an exception?"

At last, I understood a little.

Why he had never wanted anyone's help.

Why he had kept attacking Ak Jupyeong despite being beaten every day.

Why he had surrounded himself with such sharp, thorny defenses.

'This boy…'

He was struggling to protect a pride he held sacred.

His refusal to accept help came from the conviction that he needed no one but his brothers.

His repeated attacks, even knowing he would be beaten, must have been a final, desperate struggle not to disgrace the brothers who had sacrificed themselves for him.

To protect those things, he had struggled and struggled until he was on the verge of death.

His sheer willpower drew a disbelieving laugh from me.

'…He was even crazier than I thought.'

Even as he glared at me, Yaryul Geuk rapidly emptied his dishes.

Without taking his eyes off me, he moved his utensils quickly, determined to finish before I did.

Clack.

"Th-thank you for the meal."

Then he awkwardly bowed to the maids before looking back at me.

"How long are you going to keep eating?"

This bastard…

Why was he still giving me that disrespectful look?

I was the one who had treated him.

He clearly needed education in several areas.

"You are dead."

Training was all well and good, but correcting his character came first.

After all, had Yaryul Jae not mellowed out after enough beatings?

The method had already been proven.

After treating Yaryul Geuk to all three meals and promptly making him vomit everything back up afterward, I finished the day and changed clothes for my evening appointment.

I needed to prepare to form the representative council before classes resumed.

'First, Jang Ujae.'

One of the four vacant positions had been filled, leaving three.

And one of those three positions had been filled unexpectedly.

'Nam Hwaseong…'

Someone I had never anticipated had appeared.

If they had wanted information about our internal affairs, I had expected Cheol Sunjik to come himself.

'That man trusting someone else to handle something is hard to imagine in the first place.'

For whatever reason, Nam Hwaseong had applied to join the representative council.

I had asked several questions to determine his intentions, but he had only brushed them aside with answers like, "I simply wanted to. Is there a problem?" and, "Why? Do you think I cannot serve as a council officer? I am not that ignorant."

"It is suspicious, but it is not as though I had failed to anticipate something like this when forming the council."

Even if he intended to keep me in check, I had little to lose as long as he offered a minimum of cooperation.

"Once I fill the remaining two positions, the council can officially begin operating."

With that thought, I headed toward the meeting place.

Compared with those in other regions, Wuhan's entertainment district had far more martial artists carrying weapons.

Naturally, that also meant more opportunities for trouble.

I slipped between people, making subtle use of the principles of the Taeul Eight Myriad Divine Steps.

'Hmm?'

Then I had no choice but to stop in front of a man.

I had clearly left an afterimage and slipped into an empty space, yet the man was somehow standing in my path again.

It was plainly deliberate.

When I raised my head, a massive man was looking down at me with piercing eyes.

"Are you Jin Sowoon?"

'As expected…'

Without even waiting for my answer, he continued.

"I am from the Inspection Pavilion. Come with me."

The man seized my shoulder roughly.