“Hmm…”
In the [Martial World], there was a feature that allowed one to create martial arts. But not many liked that feature. I had tried it once or twice, but I didn’t find it appealing.
It was only when I founded my own sect that I occasionally made martial arts because I needed sect martial arts.
First of all, creating martial arts took a lot of time and was an inefficient task, so there was no practical reason for it. But the biggest reason I ignored this feature was that the martial arts you create by trying end up being mass-produced martial arts.
If the Mu-dang Sect’s martial arts are drawn with the Taiji symbol, and the Hwasan Sect’s martial arts are like plum blossoms scattered in the wind, the martial arts created by players are just ordinary sword skills with no personality or flair.
They were made by combining a few predefined options, and that was that.
“Martial arts, huh.”
I fell in love with martial arts because I liked the image of a protagonist growing stronger through training. Training in the mountains, going out into the world, meeting various masters and martial arts, experiencing incidents, and then improving my martial arts…
Now that I had fallen into the Martial World, I also wanted to try and explore martial arts. Well, anyone entering a martial world would want to become an absolute expert, right?
So, I put all my effort into breaking through the wall known as Iryu for two years. Even as a veteran, it took me a year to adapt to the world as a 15-year-old martial artist in the Martial World. I spent a year adjusting to this Martial World, but I worked two years just to overcome the wall of Iryu.
I wasn’t particularly frustrated or anything. I just came to know the reality.
It wasn’t anything remarkable.
It was merely the process of an sixteen-year-old Ho Cheon-an learning about the world.
The Rebirth Truck didn’t promise it would make me the protagonist, so of course I came to this world thinking I was a player character, filled with expectations.
I gathered money and showed my body to a famous healer, and when I consumed spiritual medicine or acquired skills, I thought the limits of Iryu would be shattered, risking my life to procure a few. I did all sorts of things.
In that process, I realized something.
The land I was standing on was not the martial arts world I dreamt of in my head, but the reality known as the Martial World.
I wasn’t a protagonist; I was just one of the countless people existing in the Martial World.
I accepted that I wasn’t special and hadn’t been chosen.
So I decided to just be moderately satisfied.
Even if I couldn’t become an absolute expert, being a well-rounded Iryu martial artist was not bad at all. I could easily handle the martial artists of mediocre small and medium sects.
Well, if it was a compromise, then it was a compromise, but isn’t everyone living like that? Everyone knows you can’t do anything just because you want to. Reality clearly has limits and walls.
It’s just a matter of whether you can see them or not.
Now that I realized I could no longer hide as Iryu, I decided to actively break out of that mold, but it was more of a choice for survival than a genuine desire to become the best.
No, it wasn’t even a choice. It was just the only means for me to live.
Martial arts were not my purpose in living in this world.
They were merely a tool for survival.
So I learned gambling. For me, martial arts had become a tool that couldn’t develop any further, so I needed to have a new tool.
Most of the gambling skills I learned were things I created myself. Few had mastered the art of gambling properly, and among those few, even fewer passed on their skills.
So what could I do? I had to create it alone. Having once been interested in magic and hand tricks, I gradually developed my skills through trial and error using those memories as a foothold.
Those gambling skills became martial arts through Do-gyeong’s hands.
I gave up on the tool known as martial arts and honed a new tool, the gambling skills. That tool was then refined into martial arts through Do-gyeong’s hands.
What should I call this?
The sight of a tool becoming another tool made me chuckle.
If my limit wasn’t Iryu, would I have learned gambling skills? Perhaps I might have. But even if I had reached the peak, it likely wouldn’t have been the same form of gambling skills.
If that were the case, would the martial art known as Tang Clan’s Bat-Leaping Tiger Method ever have been created?
I didn’t know.
I couldn’t find the answer, so I just kept staring at Do-gyeong as he demonstrated the Tang Clan’s Bat-Leaping Tiger Method.
It was simply the spectacle of a tool changing into another tool.
I couldn’t take my eyes off that sight.
* *
“Now, you cross your hands like this. Can you see well from behind?”
“Yes! Older Brother!”
Ho Cheon-an smiled as he watched Tang Rye-ah, who was close by. Hadn’t she said she would show her friends at the school her skills tomorrow? Seeing the eager student, Ho Cheon-an slowly moved his hands and taught her a simple magic trick.
“Then Brother Ya, I’ll step out for a moment. Please take care of Rye-ah.”
“Have a good time! Older Brother Do-gyeong!”
“Understood. Now, Rye-ah, if you hold it like this and twist your hand…”
“Ah! It worked! I succeeded!”
“Great job! With a little more practice, you’ll be better than me!”
Listening to their conversation while heading outside, Do-gyeong smiled.
The place Do-gyeong was headed to was the head of the clan’s residence.
“Family Head, it’s Do-gyeong.”
“Alright, come in.”
Even though it could be described as past midnight, Tang Guanglie welcomed Do-gyeong without even showing any surprise at his visit.
“Did you come because of Teacher Ya?”
“Haha, yes.”
Do-gyeong and Tang Guanglie sat across from each other.
“I thought Brother Ya was a gambler and learned martial arts for practical purposes.”
Do-gyeong evaluated Ho Cheon-an as more of a gambler than a martial artist. Most of the Sacheon Outcasts, well, excluding Black Cat and Ho Cheon-an, had a fervent passion for martial arts.
Considering the atmosphere inside the Outcast Inn, it would seem like the ones who didn’t practice were the odd ones out.
Nonetheless, Ho Cheon-an had not trained alone, so they took him for someone uninterested in martial arts.
“However, after seeing the Tang Clan’s Bat-Leaping Tiger Method today, I began to see him differently.”
“I felt that way too.”
Tang Guanglie and Do-gyeong pondered over how to describe Ho Cheon-an’s expression after watching the Tang Clan’s Bat-Leaping Tiger Method.
“Shall we say it was an expression filled with resentment?”
“Perhaps it might be longing.”
It was too complex of an expression to simply say he was captivated by seeing his own skills transformed into martial arts. Neither Tang Guanglie nor Do-gyeong could know precisely what thoughts were going through Ho Cheon-an’s mind as he observed the Tang Clan’s Bat-Leaping Tiger Method.
They could only read his yearning for martial arts reflected in his gaze.
Do-gyeong joked.
“Though I acknowledge Brother Ya is the world’s best gambler, in terms of martial arts, we are a few steps ahead.”
“Hahaha! That’s true! I was quite surprised today. I knew Teacher Ya’s insights were exceptional, but I never expected you to be knowledgeable not only in gambling theory but also in the principles of martial arts.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Do-gyeong recalled Ho Cheon-an from earlier that day. Though he tried to pretend otherwise, he ultimately lost himself in a fervent tone preaching the principles of martial arts.
Indeed, the Tang Clan’s Bat-Leaping Tiger Method achieved remarkable development in just one day’s time. The principles of martial arts proposed by Ho Cheon-an, along with the close-range hidden weapon techniques used by Tang Guanglie against the Outcast Faction, and the direction offered by Do-gyeong, the creator of the martial arts—these three elements significantly advanced the Tang Clan’s Bat-Leaping Tiger Method.
Though there was an absolute lack of time for systematically intertwining everything, it was clear that if the materials gathered over the day were properly woven together, the Tang Clan’s Bat-Leaping Tiger Method would become an even stronger and more complete martial art.
Ho Cheon-an had a considerable share in that miraculous development.
“Such principles of martial arts could never arise from merely the experiences of an Iryu martial artist… They are knowledges that can’t be amassed without passion and effort for martial arts.”
Both Do-gyeong and Tang Guanglie felt a deep sense of unease about that part. Why was Ho Cheon-an an Iryu martial artist? While it’s true that there are those excessively knowledgeable in theory, neither of them saw Ho Cheon-an as just that. His body was well-trained, and just observing his hand movements when gambling showed he couldn’t possibly lack martial talent.
To the two, Ho Cheon-an didn’t seem like someone who would get stuck at the wall of the peak, let alone the wall of the proficient.
Exchanging glances, both men were convinced they shared the same thought.
That there must be some special reason keeping Ho Cheon-an from moving beyond the level of Iryu.
“Family Head, I would like to offer a somewhat presumptuous request.”
“Haha! Do-gyeong! Don’t flatter yourself! Where would Teacher Ya be your benefactor? I am the benefactor of Tang Guanglie and the Tang Clan!”
Tang Guanglie tapped on the desk. Do-gyeong saw what Tang Guanglie was pointing at and smiled wryly.
“It seems I ended up making a fuss even though the Family Head already knew everything.”
“No, this is also a precious reward… But Teacher Ya is quite extraordinary. He must have devised his own measures, but since he hasn’t resolved them, I wonder if it’s not a simple matter.”
Tang Guanglie recalled a week ago. The moment he heard the situation, he sought fundamental solutions immediately, taking action and developing arrangements towards resolving it, all while observing Ho Cheon-an’s demeanor.
An exceptional insight!
‘A teacher with such discernment wouldn’t neglect their own issues. He must have tried every avenue, yet has been unsuccessful.’
Given the current situation, it seemed likely that Ho Cheon-an would have to exert considerable effort. But if he did all that and yielded no results? He would only be making his benefactor suffer.
“So I would like to offer a tangible reward in case of failure. I heard you competed against the Blood Jade Plaque. Is there something special you would want, Teacher?”
“Hmmm…”
Do-gyeong, lost in thought, suddenly looked up.
“If so, how about this?”
At the head of the clan’s residence, the discussion between the two Tang Clan members to repay the debt of kindness would continue deep into the night.
