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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Pain Flows Downhill
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Having taken a day off from training to extort over twenty times the amount he'd been scammed out of, Mujin woke before sunrise the next day and headed to the training grounds.
Just as he stood in the center of the grounds, iron sword in hand, ready to begin his practice.
"Young Master!"
"You're here?"
"You're up early."
"Ready to train, I see."
The Four Demons approached, each offering a greeting.
"Are you here to train as well?"
"Of course!"
Mujin nodded at the words of Cheol-muk, the eldest of the four.
'They've trained in the mountains, so I guess they're used to being diligent.'
Mujin decided to postpone his own practice of the Nine Swords of Dugu for a moment and watch the Four Demons train.
As each had learned different martial arts, they all began their training by practicing their own forms.
After warming up with their forms for a while, they began to spar with one another.
Despite the bandages on their torn palms, Jang-tae and Dong-jeok clashed, sword against saber.
The bandages on their hands quickly began to stain red, but the two warriors paid it no mind, clashing with even greater force.
It was the same for the eldest and youngest, Cheol-muk and No-sak.
No-sak, whose shoulder had been dislocated, swung his iron staff with brute force, his joints and ligaments likely not yet stable, mercilessly striking at Cheol-muk's arms, which were protected by his Arhat Guards.
*Clang!*
Cheol-muk, showing no sign of the fracture he had suffered in his arm, blocked every strike from the iron staff with his guards.
*Whoosh!*
The sound of a fist cutting through the air echoed fiercely.
After watching their brutish sparring for a moment, Mujin spoke.
"Stop."
At his single word, the Four Demons, who had been fiercely trading blows, stopped as if by magic and looked at Mujin.
"Is this how you always train?"
Cheol-muk nodded in response to the question.
"Yes. When our master was alive, we would spar with him and then practice our breathing exercises. After he passed away, we spar with each other before our breathing exercises."
Sparring that closely resembles a real battle is undoubtedly a great help to a warrior's growth.
But that is based on two premises.
When you know little about your opponent, or when your opponent is more skilled than you.
Otherwise, sparring between warriors of similar skill who know each other inside and out is not as effective as one might think.
A duel is only truly effective when there is little prior information about the opponent, forcing a state of high tension like a real battle, or when a more skilled warrior can help the other realize their shortcomings.
"Since your master passed away, your skills haven't really improved, have they? You've hit a plateau."
At Mujin's direct question, the Four Demons all nodded in unison.
"To be honest, yes. Just before our master passed, he said that if we went out into the world and gained experience, the day would come when we would break through our walls, but…"
Cheol-muk trailed off.
"You haven't been out in the world for very long, I take it. Alright. I get the picture. From now on, for one hour every morning, you will spar with me. Outside of that time, aside from practicing your forms, there will be no sparring amongst yourselves. It's meaningless."
At Mujin's words, the Four Demons took a hesitant step back.
"Excuse me?"
"What do you mean…"
"How did it come to this…"
"..."
"Didn't you hear me? Come at me."
Mujin beckoned with his finger, the brutishly large iron sword resting on his shoulder.
The Four Demons exchanged glances, but no one dared to step forward.
Having crossed blades with Mujin once before, they knew the sword force contained in his blade was beyond imagination and had no desire to clash with him again.
"There must be other training methods."
"Yes, we have the methods our master left us…"
"That's right!"
"Yes! That's correct!"
"I don't like repeating myself. I won't kill you, so come on. Or should I come to you?"
At Mujin's words, the Four Demons exchanged glances and began to communicate telepathically.
*Youngest! You go! If the Young Master takes the initiative, we'll be pushed back endlessly!*
*Rather than me… The eldest should probably be the one to go…*
*My bones haven't fully healed yet. Dong-jeok, Jang-tae! You two go first…*
Just then, Mujin took a step forward and raised his aura, causing all four to charge at him simultaneously.
Having personally witnessed Mujin beat down the Bloodless Sword, they truly did not want to face him again.
But what could they do? When ordered, they had to obey.
*Clang! Whoosh!*
First to arrive was a punch from Cheol-muk, his Arhat Guards on his arms, tearing through the air.
*Thud!*
Mujin casually deflected the attack with the flat of his blade.
Then, Dong-jeok's saber and Jang-tae's sword sharply aimed for Mujin's upper and lower body at the same time.
*Flutter!*
Mujin launched himself into the air, spinning to lightly evade their attacks as well.
An iron staff descended upon his head.
"Hah?!"
But Mujin quickly closed the distance, entering No-sak's range and neutralizing his attack.
"Cheol-muk! Your fist arts are powerful, but too simple. Because they belong to the school of hard fists, you can't vary the forms, so you must create variations with your footwork."
"I don't understand a single word you're saying!"
*Whoosh!*
The brutally honest Cheol-muk said as much as he threw another punch.
"Stop charging in a straight line like this and move more unpredictably! You can't change the path of your fist, but you can change the direction of your body!"
*Thwack!*
Mujin effortlessly deflected Cheol-muk's attack and drove the hilt of his sword into his solar plexus.
As Cheol-muk staggered back, his body bent like a shrimp, Mujin moved past him and continued to speak.
*Swish! Swish!*
"Jang-tae. Your sword is fast and sharp, but because of that, it's easily shaken and lacks a center, making your sword force weak. In contrast to Cheol-muk, you must firmly anchor your stance!"
*Clang!*
With just a light tap from Mujin's sword, Jang-tae's body swayed, and the path of his sword went wide.
"But if you do it so foolishly, your center will be shaken like this."
*Thwack!*
The hilt of Mujin's sword found the solar plexus of the staggering, off-balance Jang-tae.
"Gack!"
Drool spilled from his open mouth as Jang-tae pitched forward.
Now only two remained. Dong-jeok and the youngest, No-sak, looked back and forth between Mujin and the fallen Jang-tae with parched lips.
"Not coming?"
*Shhhwiik!*
Mujin smiled as he watched Dong-jeok's saber, which carried the force to split heaven and earth.
*Clang! Screeeech!*
Instead of being easily deflected, Dong-jeok's blade slid down the edge of Mujin's angled sword.
"The power in your saber is decent, but it's too slow. You focus so much on power that you fail to utilize your speed. Your forms clearly belong to the school of the swift saber, so maintain a good center. You will never unleash its true power if you lean too far to one side."
*Thwack!*
The sword hilt struck his solar plexus without fail.
*Whump! Whump!*
Next, Mujin dove into the path of No-sak's iron staff, moving with such ease that he effortlessly dodged the weapon.
"No-sak. Your skills lag the most compared to your brothers. You need to focus more on refining the forms you've learned rather than sparring. You are not yet at a level where you can infuse your will into that iron staff."
*Thwack!*
"From now on, put more effort into practicing your forms than sparring. Only after you have perfectly mastered them can you add your own color. Trying to imbue your own will without proper mastery is what third-rate martial artists do."
As No-sak fell sideways and rolled on the ground, Mujin turned around to see the other three, each clutching their solar plexus.
"No-sak, you go over there and practice your forms… The rest of you, how long are you going to stay like that? Get over here, quickly!"
"..."
After exchanging glances, the three demons once again rushed at Mujin.
'Are you watching, Master? Your disciple, who has surpassed you. I've found some good ones to break in. Four of them, in fact.'
*Thwack! Thwack! Thwaaack!*
The eldest, Cheol-muk, boasted a resilience that required him to be hit twice as hard as his brothers before he would go down.
After an hour of torment at Mujin's hands, the Four Demons were completely drenched in sweat.
Even the youngest, No-sak, ached all over from being struck by Mujin every time his forms faltered.
"That's about an hour. Now go and train the family's warriors. Hmm… three months. By then, you'd better have them all whipped into shape, enough to be called warriors wherever they go."
"Yes…"
"Under… stood."
The Four Demons barely managed to get to their feet and leave the training grounds.
"Brother… he seems even worse than Master."
"If we get beaten like this every day, even our bodies won't be able to take it…"
"I'm already dreading tomorrow."
Watching his three younger brothers whine, Cheol-muk spoke.
"If you don't want to get hit, solve the homework the Young Master gives you. That's the only way. In fact, I was hit two fewer times than you, Dong-jeok and Jang-tae."
"You were… counting?"
"Ahem. First, let's wash off this sweat and then see the warriors."
Mujin watched them leave the training grounds for a moment before raising his iron sword and beginning his practice of the Nine Swords of Dugu.
*Swish! Swish!*
The sword forms of the Nine Swords of Dugu, now completely familiar to him, unfolded from his blade, and the muscles throughout his body began to contract and expand as if they were one.
'These forms truly teach you how to handle your body. They allow you to naturally learn how to gather the strength of your entire body into the sword, and how to disperse the shock of a blow throughout your body.'
Having once before trained his body to that level, Mujin was once again amazed by the Nine Swords of Dugu, which was designed to allow one to naturally learn such principles without the need for lengthy explanations of its secrets.
He had known from the start that it was no ordinary martial art, but the more he practiced, the more he discovered the depth it contained.
While Mujin was training, the Four Demons moved to another training ground where the warriors practiced.
"Why is no one here?"
"Brother. Do you think they're trying to give us the cold shoulder?"
At the youngest No-sak's words, the faces of the other three contorted.
"Those bastards…"
Just then, Elder Jo entered the training ground, leading thirteen warriors of the Yeomhwa Family.
"We're late. I apologize; it took some time as I came to hand over the warriors myself."
Cheol-muk nodded at Elder Jo's words.
"These men are the warriors of the Vermilion Sword Unit, the family's only current military force. That man is the captain, Cheol Bo-in."
"I am Cheol Bo-in, captain of the Vermilion Sword Unit."
Cheol-muk nodded at the warrior who offered a martial arts salute.
"From now on, you will be under the direct instruction of these masters. You must all work hard. A new wind is blowing through the Yeomhwa Family, so I hope you will all be reborn with a new mindset."
With those words, Elder Jo left the training ground, and Cheol-muk spoke.
"All of you, unbuckle your swords and take off your shirts."
With Elder Jo gone, Cheol-muk, whose appearance was intimidating enough on its own, unleashed the demonic energy he had been suppressing.
The warriors, startled by the sudden release of his ferocious aura, quickly unbuckled their sword belts and began to remove their shirts.
"Pathetic."
"Can we really do it with these guys in just three months?"
"This seems impossible."
"The Young Master told us to, so we will."
At Cheol-muk's words, his three brothers sighed and nodded.
It was the one and only creed they had inherited from their master.
Do it, or die.
Once they decided to do something, there was only one path.
"From now on, you will follow our lead. There will be no desertions. No one falls behind. If you follow us and survive, you will surely see results. But if you die, that's the end of it."
With that, the Four Demons' breaking-in of the warriors began.
The warriors couldn't utter a single word of protest to the Four Demons, who were radiating a terrifying aura.
Their intimidating looks alone were enough to make one's legs tremble, and against these demons who exuded enough demonic energy to overwhelm any first-rate master, there was nothing that second or third-rate warriors could do.
The training consisted of making them run around the training grounds at full speed, then forcing them into a horse stance on their trembling legs, on top of which they had to bear heavy stones.
*Thud!*
"Ugh!"
As one warrior collapsed to the ground, dropping his stone beside him, No-sak flew at him with a wooden sword.
*Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!*
"Agh! Agh! Aaargh! W-wait a moment…"
"Get up, you bastard, if you have time to talk!"
*Thwack! Thwack!*
The warrior, who had collapsed thinking he had reached his limit, shot back up, picked up the stone, and quickly returned to his horse stance.
"The limits of a human are far beyond what you think. But many humans fail to realize that fact. Don't worry. For a weak mind and body, there is nothing better than this rod. A good beating will make you realize it on your own."
This training method was something the Four Demons had learned firsthand from their master from the day they entered Mount Jung.
Something you come to realize on your own after being beaten and rolling in the dirt countless times.
Indeed, after seeing the state of their comrade who had been thrashed without an ounce of mercy, the warriors gritted their teeth and endured.
"In the morning, we will do only two things. This horse stance and running at full speed. We have a long way to go. Do not get tired."
At Cheol-muk's words, the warriors' faces began to turn pale.
Holding a horse stance with stones that had to weigh over thirty catties and running without rest.
But not a single warrior dared to protest to the Four Demons.
The Four Demons were passing down the pain they had received from Mujin that morning directly to the warriors.
'So this is what they call passing on the love.'
Unaware of Cheol-muk's thoughts, the warriors could only tremble from head to toe as they held their horse stance.
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