Chapter 82

“You fought with Jihak?” Namgong Hee-won exclaimed .

He had been with Scarlett all this time . Namgong Hee-won listened to Lee Sung-min with his mouth wide open . Namgong Hee-won, who had been watching Lee Sung-min for a while, shook his head .

“What Grand Master of Shaolin? He’s just a dog-like old man . I told him he couldn’t ask Jihak to do that!” he said .

“Did you know who he was?” asked Lee Sung-min curiously .

“I know . Jihak is the future of Shaolin and a direct student of the Grand Master . No, that’s a bit wrong… Jihak has learned martial arts from all of Shaolin’s great “monsters” ever since he was a child . They are the elites of Shaolin . ”

Namgong Hee-won sighed as he said:

“The successors of the four households are quite excellent . But they pale a bit in comparison to Shaolin’s well-established practices and masters . Shaolin’s knowledge, clarity in martial arts and versatility . The people that master these three are said to be the future of Shaolin . ”

These were terms he had never heard of . In his previous life, Lee Sung-min lived as a mercenary and heard about various titles, but he had never heard of Shaolin’s knowledge, the clarity in martial arts, and versatility .

“I’ve never heard of these . ”

“Jihak has mastered all the three . These three sound simple, but they form the base to any martial arts . It’s like a secret weapon of theirs . Most cultivators who aren’t even thirty years old, get stuck in a bottleneck and learn nothing . . ”

Namgong Hee-won muttered and shook his head .

“Every year I come to Shaolin, I’ve heard about Jihak . I really wanted to have a duel .

Who would win if Namgong Hee-won and Jihak fought? Lee Sung-min had never seen Namgong Hee-won’s true strength . Likewise, he had never seen Jihak at his best either . However, if he had to make comparisons, he assumed Jihak would have been stronger than Namgong Hee-won .

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“… I’m going to stay in Shaolin for the time being . ”

Scarlett opened her eyes at Lee Sung-min’s answer and stared at him, her gaze piercing into him .

“What? You’ll stay here?”

“Yes . There’s a lot to think about, and a lot of things I want to improve . Fortunately, we met Brother and were able to enter Shaolin . ”

“I really like this brother . ”

Namgong Hee-won said ruefully .

“If I knew that my brother was such a good guy, I’d take him to the Namgong household,” he said suggestively .

“… If I get a chance later, I’ll go there . What happened to you?”

“Me? It’s just like last year . Show a bit of my skills to Grandmaster Bul-yeong and that’s all . We are all incapable of being a Heavenly Demon, or even close to one . On the other hand, I can’t win against my father . ”

Lee Sung-min felt a little lost after hearing him . .

The world was really too vast . Namgong Hee-won, who fought with Lee Sung-min, was weaker than Jihak . And Jihak was devastated by Wijihyeon . Namgong Hee-won couldn’t even beat his father, Namgong Baek .

‘I’m… too weak . ’

Is it because my status is different? Or because the perspective I’m looking through is different?

Compared to his previous life, the world seemed to have grown exponentially in his eyes . So many people, such great power, endless competition . It was obvious . He had never experienced such incidents as a Class C mercenary .

What one experiences is different from what one sees and feels . It was a continuation of the enlightenment that Lee Sung-min had felt on Mush’s mountain . The world changed when he changed .

‘I have changed, so what I see is different . ’

“… If you’re staying here, I guess I’ll go around a little bit more . ”

Scarlett said, tilting her head .

At that, Lee Sung-min glanced at Scarlett .

“Really?”

“Ever since I’ve come here, I haven’t learned nor gained anything . On the way to this place, I was worried about you . But now, if you’re here, you’re not going to be in danger . I can rest assured”

“… Where are you going?”

“Everywhere . I have a lot of talent to keep myself . ” She said vaguely, shrugging her shoulders .

Lee Sung-min thought about not letting her go, but then immediately exterminated that thought . Scarlett’s past life did not have him involved . Her fate was likely to change significantly if she got deeply involved with him .

“Will we meet again?”

“Of course we’ll have to meet, idiot . Forgot what I said? Whenever you’ll be in danger, I’ll help you . ”

Scarlett grumbled and put her hand inside her robe . After fumbling around for a while, she pulled out a bracelet made of red thread .

“Take it . ”

“What is this?”

“It’s a bracelet that’s connected with my psychic . I gave it to Baek Sogo . I didn’t expect you’d be the next one to receive it . ”

The bracelet did look extremely familiar . Thinking back… He recollected that Baek Sogo was definitely wearing such a bracelet on her wrist .

“It’s not really a convenient tool for telepathy . But wherever I am in the world, if you wish to talk to me, the bracelet would inform me . ”

Lee Sung-min nodded his head and put on the bracelet without a word, feeling grateful to her .

The next day, even though she had wondered if she was leaving too soon, subsequently, she left, saying that it would be meaningless to stay any longer . The same was true for Namgong Hee-won .

“If you’re alive, you’ll be treated whenever your brother comes . ”

It was a sudden meeting, but the relationship was not thin . Namgong Hee-won knocked Lee Sung-min’s shoulder a few times and went down the mountain . The lineage’s other successors, like Moya, had already left the previous day .

Shaolin’s monks offered Lee Sung-min a room to live in, but he politely declined . Lee Sung-min grabbed his spear and left through the Shaolin’s rear door . He relied on his memory to reach the Grandmaster’s residence .

He decided to postpone his journey to go to Drimoor and meet Denir, the god of time . In any case, Drimoor was not far from here, and he thought it would be a great honor to receive the guidance of the Grandmaster and Jihak .

‘Five years later… When winter starts . ’

The spirit in Grandmaster Bul-yeong’s body had told him to go to a place where the snow did not melt . The northernmost region of Eria was the only place where layers of snow piled up not melting throughout .

Five years later, it said, so there was still time left . Lee Sung-min thought about what he should do in the future .

He was supposed to meet with Wijiho-yeon when he turned 24 . Five years from now, the fight between Baek Sogo and Wijiho-yeon would take place . Prior to his reunion with Wijiho-yeon, Lee Sung-min had to prevent Baek Sogo’s death .

In other words, no matter what the order was, the time left for Lee Sung-min was still five years .

‘How far can I go?’

‘How much can I accomplish?’ It was still not close to Wijihyeon . Lee Sung-min looked down on his scarred hands . He handed himself an ultimatum . If he doesn’t get over this, he was going to lose everything in 10 years .

He decided to not eat the Greater Restoration Pill .

If he decided to take the pill while his body, when his Qi and body parts were all imbalanced, it could increase the chances of the backlash occuring .

‘What… should I do?’

Lee Sung-min looked down at the spear he had held in his hand . It was a spear that he was satisfied and happy with . He looked down at his armor . He had been hoping and looking forward to the day he would climb and exceed the wall he was facing .

Lee Sung-min took off his armor . As the armor was taken off, the cold air blew in the gaps making a squealing sound . Lee Sung-min placed his armor down on the ground . The same was true of the spear in his hand . Lee Sung-min threw the spear into a large rock near the cave . The spear pierced through the rock like a knife through tofu .

He took out another spear . It was an ordinary spear that he had used for a long time . Purchased and carried as a spare, the spear wasn’t wielded much since the quality of the spear was poor .

He swung the spear with his bare hands . The deep calluses in his palm, mixed with wounds from old fights and endeavours were evidence of his hard work . Lee Sung-min chortled out a laugh .

He didn’t think that a genius’s life was effort-free . Even if they started at a point ahead from them, they still have to put in efforts to run . The turbulence geniuses had to face was no lesser than theirs .

To keep up with genius’ efforts, they needed to do more, even more than usual . Surpassing their limits was the only way .

Rabbits and turtles . He was reminded of the ever-so-famous tale narrated to him as a child . The rabbit leaped and ran quickly… The turtle moved slowly, one step at a time . The rabbit fell asleep indulging in overconfidence, and the turtle continued to crawl ahead while the rabbit was sound asleep, reaching the finish line before the rabbit .

Lee Sung-min knew he was not a rabbit . Maybe he’s even worse than a turtle . Nevertheless, he was resilient . He wouldn’t only crawl to go forward, he would even sell his eyes if that would help him in reaching the heights he wanted to reach .

Lee Sung-min was determined to move ahead . He tightened his hand that was holding the spear .

‘Not enough,’ he berated himself .

Everything was lacking, he was no way near being good enough . Lee Sung-min slowly began to practice the Nine Heavenly Spears technique .

“That’s a great technique . ”

A voice commented when Lee Sung-min was done practicing all of the Nine Heavenly spear techniques . He looked in the direction of the sound as he struggled to take in a breath, chest heaving . A man dressed in robes stood there, observing Lee Sung-min .

“It’s a shame though,” said the man .

It was none other than Jihak .

“Are my skills not acceptable?”

Lee Sung-min looked at Jihak’s expressionless face and asked skeptically .

In response, Jihak shook his head .

“I did not say so . What you don’t have is experience . ”

Jihak seated himself at the entrance of the cave while saying so . The Grand Master was not present . What Jihak saw was a familiar spear placed near the entrance .

“Why did you take off your armor and put down a good spear?”

“It doesn’t suit me now . ”

“Is this your way of showing your determination?”

“Do you think it’s hypocrisy?”

“I don’t think so . Being free from the shackles of self-ridicule will relax your mind, and ultimately, the body is commanded by the mind . It is a way of being true to your heart . Heart, Qi and body, those three are often said to be the factors that make cultivation a smooth or bumpy journey, depending on how well they’re utilised . ”

He pulled out the spear with a tug from behind . It was a window of the middle garden where the red spear swelled .

“What all the martial arts practitioners require is a good link between all of them . It’s about supporting the heart inside the body, and strengthening it with Qi, almost like a protective cage . ”

“… Is that a technique?”

“Oh, this is a theory of Shaolin . There are many types of techniques . Each one is different . … Shaolin has a theory of inviolability as well . The theory aims to achieve self-discipline through meditation and techniques and gain great enlightenment . ”

“Great enlightenment?”

“The way we want to express ourselves and the words we speak are different… After all, we’re still humans . The technique is mainly based on the concept of discipline . The impossible task of being an immortal like Buddha, using discipline and maturity as foundation is what we aim for . He was originally a human being as well . ”

It was the first time he had heard this kind of analogy, so Lee Sung-min opened his ears and listened to Jihak carefully . As he saw Lee Sung-min listening, Jihak smiled and added to his words .

“As I said, there are many different types of martial arts . It’s not just strengthening the body and achieving the impossible . The technique, often referred to as the Praying Mantis, is more intuitive, made only to kill people . There are also many other techniques that have been picked and adjusted to depict the behaviour and characteristics of different animals and insects . . ”

“Do you want to be an Immortal?”

“Huhu! I am too immature to be an Immortal . I’m going to say this to you… I hope you understand . All I know are the martial arts of Shaolin, it’s not sufficient enough for me to be an immortal . I do not mean that it is impossible to become one though . . If you want me to look at your techniques and martial arts, then first you have to understand the martial arts of Shaolin . ”

Jihak approached Lee Sung-nim, shifting the spear in his hand .

“There’s a technique in Shaolin called the Seventy-two arts of Shaolin based on the seventy two pedants . It’s common to use bare-handed martial arts such as the Hundred Steps Divine Fist as martial arts consisting of great powers . But I am sure that wielding the spear with this technique isn’t powerful enough to defeat many martial arts practitioners like me . No place in this world has been established so deeply as to understand the Art of the Spear as much as Shaolin . ”

Jihak adjusted his posture while holding the spear with both his hands, legs slightly spread apart . Lee Sung-min performed the role of a spectator . .

“Listen to the sound . ”

Jihak gave a deep chuckle .

“And feel it . ”

The determination that flowed from Jihak was filled with the pride he had in Shaolin, his eyes filled with alertness .

***