Martial Arts Ain't Anything Special-Chapter 107: Muscle Training (3)

Chunbong murmured in awe.

The principles of the Sword Form of the Emperor added to Namgung Suah’s sword stifled her opponents.

The heavy sword seemed to be straight out of a painting, crushing those who dared to stand against it, grinding them down until they collapse beneath its weight.

As Namgung Suah wiped the sweat from her forehead and sheathed her sword, Seojun jumped up and applauded.

“Bravo...!”

Her skills had improved significantly. Honestly, if they were to fight with just swords and no inner qi, Seojun had no doubt he would be utterly defeated.

“Fufu, it’s nothing special.”

Namgung Suah gracefully approached and leaned against Seojun.

Previously, she would have been hesitant to get too close when drenched in sweat, self-conscious about her body odor. But now she seemed to realize that Seojun genuinely didn’t mind, she no longer held back.

And she was right.

Her body was warm from training, and the faint fragrance rising from her was surprisingly pleasant. Who could possibly dislike that?

While absentmindedly stroking the pouting Chunbong’s head as she glaring at them, Seojun fell into deep thought.

Still... at this rate, Chunbong might surpass her first.

Namgung Suah was a talented martial artist. Combined with relentless effort, her growth was nothing short of astonishing.

Reaching the Transcendent Realm before the age of thirty was nearly unheard of, such cases were extremely rare even if one searched the entire martial world.

But Chunbong... was beyond exceptional.

At the age of seventeen, Seojun could see that she was truly just one step away from the Transcendent Realm.

“Why is my Chunbong so strong?”

“Hmph.”

She lifted her chin proudly, looking undeniably adorable. Unable to resist, Seojun scratched under her chin. Chunbong purred happily, a reaction so endearing it made his heart ache.

“She’s like a completely different person since recovering from her blocked meridians.”

There’s an old saying that martial artists born with blocked meridians possess extraordinary innate talent, and once healed, they leave an everlasting mark on the martial world.

It seemed that acquired meridian blockages were no different.

While they couldn’t create talent out of nothing, in Chunbong’s case, the yin qi that had blocked her blood vessels, the spirit pills she had consumed, and the true qi that had been trapped and matured in her dantian all combined to fuel an unprecedented internal growth.

No joke, Chunbong’s inner qi was probably twice that of his big sis now.

Moreover, she had achieved something similar to Body Rebirth while healing her meridians, also achieving excellent development in essence. She was teetering on the edge of a breakthrough.

“Is my Chunbong gonna reach the Transcendent Realm before she’s even twenty?”

As he kneaded her soft Profound Realm cheeks, her nose rose high with pride.

“Of course! I’m Geum Chunbong, after all!”

“Aww, my Chunbong.”

Seojun pulled her into a tight embrace before shifting his gaze to Namgung Suah, who was leaning against his shoulder, watching him.

“Anyway, from what I can see, big sis already has a good balance of essence, qi, and mind right now.”

This was the advantage of orthodox martial arts—growing with a stable foundation from the beginning.

It was quite different from himself, who had grown in a way closer to unorthodox sects or the Demonic Cult.

“But it seems slightly insufficient for reaching the Transcendent Realm. If you could grow just a little bit more in the right way, I think you’ll be there soon too.”

“Fufu, aren’t you being too generous with your praise?”

“No, I’m serious.”

It’s just that last step was always the hardest. He wasn’t just saying empty words to make her feel better.

Seojun closed his eyes and imagined a scene a few years into the future.

Himself, Chunbong, and big sis. Three Transcendent Realm experts roaming the martial world together.

A force powerful enough to rival a major sect, laughing as they wandered the land?

It would be nothing short of a calamity.

A walking disaster... a truly terrifying thought.

Namgung Jincheon, who had been silently watching them, let a faint smile cross his lips.

The new generation is blossoming...

Even without him, these children would lead the Namgung Clan well.

Myeong was also growing closer to Suah, and above all, this once-in-a-millennium genius cherished her.

Once his son-in-law reached the Unrestrained Realm, he would have no lingering regrets about following his wife...

Ring.

A soft hum resonated from his sword, Namgung Jincheon stroked his sword with his rough hand.

I know... Do not worry too much, my dear...

The moon in the night sky as he looked up was especially bright.

*Seojun bid Namgung Jincheon and Namgung Suah goodnight before heading to his room.

Namgung Suah had suggested the three of them sleep together, but that was a bit too intense. Seriously.

He wasn’t confident he could fall asleep with big sis clinging to him.

“Hey, hey.”

An excited Chunbong scampered ahead before suddenly spinning around.

“What?”

“By the way, have you completely recovered?”

“Recovered? From what? I’m not hurt anywhere.”

“Judging by your mental state, I’m not so sure about that.”

“What.”

Seojun covered her mouth, but as always, Chunbong ignored it and kept talking.

“Well, you know. Your misogyny. It seems like you don’t mind at all when big sis clings to you now?”

“Oh, that?”

Seojun gave it a brief thought. It didn’t take long to come to a conclusion.

“Well, it’s not as bad as before.”

Looking back now, it had been closer to fear.

That unknown woman. The bitch who had likely bewitched his mother, driving her to kill his father.

It wouldn’t have been difficult to bewitch his mother who had been an ordinary person.

A simple mind-control technique could have turned her into nothing more than a puppet.

Nevertheless, watching his father fall to the betrayal of the woman he trusted most was reason enough to distrust women altogether. It was inevitable that he would tense up around anyone who even vaguely resembled that unknown woman.

But now, well.

“Who am I?”

“Martial arts master Lee Seojun?”

“Nope. TRANSCENDENT REALM Master Lee Seojun.”

If it came down to it, he could simply kill them all. That level of confidence had long since become second nature.

Even if that woman was some kind of immortal—so what? The fact that she hadn’t shown herself all this time suggested she had limitations.

In that case, all he had to do was grow strong enough to find her and smash her skull in.

It couldn’t be a simpler conclusion.

“But honestly, I was fine with big sis from the beginning? Why would anyone dislike a pretty and kind older sister?”

“...You bastard.”

“What—! Why! It’s true!”

“Just die already.”

“Eek...! Miss Geum!”

Seojun chased after Chunbong, who snorted and entered the room.

The room they entered, after what felt like ages, was an absolute mess.

It wasn’t that the maids had neglected their duties; Seojun simply refused to let anyone clean his room.

And naturally, if no one cleaned, things would get messy.

You know, entropy—the measure of disorder—always increases over time, right?

So, of course, a room’s disorder would only increase as time passed.

But what if there were people whose rooms never became messy? Then they had to be the Heavenly Demon. What else could you call it but defying the heavens?

Since Chunbong was not the Heavenly Demon, she pushed aside some clothes with her foot and laid down on the floor.

“Come on, Miss Geum. Why are you sulking again? Hmm? Isn’t it a good day?”

“Go sleep with big sis.”

“Really?”

“...”

“...I won’t, so stop looking at me like that. Big brother’s scareddd~”

Seojun cautiously examined her mood and, at just the right moment, slipped his hands under her armpits and lifted her up.

Before she could react, Chunbong had her chubby cheeks violated by Seojun’s wicked  hands, erasing every trace of her sulky mood...

And that was when Chunbong suddenly realized—

What’s with this guy...?

It had always been like this, but it felt like he knew her better than she knew herself.

As if he could predict exactly how she would feel based on her actions—like he understood her completely, down to the smallest detail.

Am I living too simply...?

As she stared blankly at him, Seojun smirked.

Thump. Her heart skipped a beat.

This was just because she hadn’t seen him in so long. That was all.

It annoyed her, so she yanked his hair.

“Why is your hair such a mess? Don’t you ever tidy it up?”

“I’m growing it out, you know? Don’t you know that ‘body, hair, and skin are gifts from parents’?”

“Who fed you that nonsense?”

“What...”

“Never mind, just sit down.”

Chunbong found a dagger in the corner of the room and sat down in front of Seojun.

His eyes darted around the room.

“Hey, you... Are you sure about this?”

“I’ve never done it before, so I don’t know?”

“Chunbong. Wait. Let’s think about this one more time?”

“No need, I’ve got this. It can’t be harder than the Blue Cloud Divine Sword, right?”

“W-Wait...!”

Surprisingly, Chunbong had a hidden talent for hairstyling.

*The next day, before training with the Fist King, Seojun took a moment to organize his thoughts.

There’s too much to do.

First and foremost was the domain.

Even if it wasn’t the true domain of the Unrestrained Realm, every martial artist had their own domain.

Of course, it wasn’t a tangible space in the literal sense.

Rather, it was the range within which one could perceive every movements and the distance they could reach within a single breath.

This varied depending on one’s weapon, physique, and the refinement of their foot techniques.

But was this domain truly separate from the one attained upon reaching the Unrestrained Realm?

By blending the insights gained from observing the Qilian Sect Leader and the pseudo-domain, a path to the Unrestrained Realm may reveal itself.

For now, this took top priority.

Next was sorcery.

Although he was using it amateurishly, he felt the need to properly learn it to some extent.

It seemed to suit his aptitude well, and it would be a waste to let it stagnate.

However, sorcery was fundamentally different from martial arts.

Martial arts sought answers within oneself, while sorcery relied on external factors.

At higher levels, that might change, but for now, Seojun couldn’t conjure something from nothing.

In other words, he couldn’t use earth-based sorcery in a place without soil.

Beyond that, it simply felt different. He needed a solid foundation before advancing further.

And those weren’t the only things.

He needed to master the Heaven-Defying Sun-Moon Reinforced Qi, and also think about the demonic transformation.

Not only did he need to consistently practice the Sword Form of the Emperor, but he also couldn’t neglect the Yellow Cloud Divine Sword.

There were probably other things he was forgetting as well.

Hmm. Why am I living so diligently?

The question suddenly struck him, but all of it was necessary.

He could slack off later, maybe after reaching the Profound Realm or so.

“Alright, let’s begin!”

Pae Jingwang’s booming voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Seojun looked up to see the man grinning broadly, flexing all his muscles.

“First, we’ll figure out how much weight you can lift.”

Should I just create fake balloon muscles with some trick? I don’t want to exercise...

Seojun seriously considered it.