Chapter 176: The Assassin’s Ambush (3)

Splash!

Shockingly, the assassin’s abdomen burst open, and his entrails spilled out, floating atop the water.

Bukri Sogun covered his mouth with one hand and quickly turned his head away.

He had seen many die bleeding, so it wasn't surprising in itself. But it was his first time seeing someone die with all their innards spilled out like that. Bukri Sogun barely held back the bile rising in his throat.

He feared that if he vomited, Yong Hwarin would see him as weak.

Yong Hwarin looked down at his own hand.

‘I operated my energy weakly since the opponent had lost his internal power, yet it had this much effect. Did I unconsciously use excessive force?’

As he pondered for a moment, Yong Hwarin retraced the events of the battle.

He still hadn’t realized that he and Bukri Sogun were both naked, still staring at each other.

Crouching slightly, Bukri Sogun used the moment when Yong Hwarin was waving his hand and frowning at it in thought to grab his clothes and put them on.

During that same time, Yong Hwarin was experiencing something remarkable.

After activating the blood channels in his fingers and toes, as taught by the Demonic Master, and as true energy began flowing through each acupoint, his Bamboo Forest Soaring Dragon Step and Descending Dragon Strikes Fist became even more powerful.

‘The techniques have become more precise and dense.’

Even when moving his body against the assassin’s back underwater, he realized he felt no difficulty.

‘The Demonic Master wasn’t lying when he said that if one could properly utilize the acupoints in the fingers and toes, one could reach another level.’

Until now, when wielding the sword, he had mainly used his wrists, and for footwork and body movement arts, he had only used his ankles.

That had been accepted as orthodoxy in martial theory.

This was because most of the true energy flowed through the blood vessels ending at Laogong Point in the center of the palm, and for the feet, it flowed only up to Yongcheon Point, so no one paid attention to the fingers or toes.

‘But now that I’ve opened every acupoint in each finger and toe, I can feel more stability in my techniques, and while before, the true energy only burst from Laogong Point, now it bursts from five different acupoints, doubling the power. This is it. This was the exact difference I sensed while watching Lee Geuk and Jeung Eungang. Now I finally understand.’

It was the moment he realized the unknown gap in power and the strange sense of disparity he had felt while watching the fight between Lee Geuk and Jeung Eungang.

The method taught by the Demonic Master was something he might never have realized on his own, even in a lifetime.

A martial artist solely obsessed with internal power and techniques could never discover it.

‘The Demonic Master might truly be a real teacher to me.’

Though he had always felt hesitant because of the master’s demonic nature, it was none other than the Demonic Master who had helped elevate his martial arts to this level.

Whenever he hit a wall, it was the Demonic Master who showed him the way forward, so it was only natural to feel this way.

“Hwarin hyung.”

Called from behind, Yong Hwarin snapped out of his thoughts.

“Sogun, are you alright?”

He asked while looking at Bukri Sogun, who was already dressed.

Though he stood naked in front of Yong Hwarin, he was holding his clothes up to eye level, blocking his view of Hwarin’s lower body.

“Yes, please put on your clothes.”

Yong Hwarin accepted the clothes and dressed himself.

“You were shocked, weren’t you?”

As he dressed and asked, Bukri Sogun nodded.

“Yes, I’m still not used to it… seeing people die like that.”

Yong Hwarin nodded.

“Sogun, no human likes the sight of another dying. But if we are martial artists, then holding onto the identity of being a martial artist is the only way to overcome that.”

“What does that have to do with identity?”

Bukri Sogun tilted his head at Yong Hwarin’s words.

“You don’t know how important identity is. Let me explain… right, think of it like this. An ugly person has to know they’re ugly. Only then, even if someone says they’re ugly, they won’t get angry—because they already know. The words may still sting, but since it’s the truth, they can’t blame the person who said it. But if someone doesn’t realize they’re ugly and others point it out, they’re bound to get angry. That difference is immense. A person who knows they’re ugly tries to improve in other areas and make up for it with other charms. Eventually, that person hears things like ‘they’re unattractive but still charming.’ But someone who’s ugly and doesn’t know it just gets mocked for living as they look. That’s how important knowing your identity is. If we’re martial artists, we must understand that we can save people, but we can also kill them. Otherwise, we must step down from the martial path and live as commoners.”

“...we must live.”

Those words came from his past life, when he had been mocked as a white pig.

He had been overweight, but had worked so hard to overcome it.

Bukri Sogun suddenly trembled.

Those words struck him deeply, aligning perfectly with his own situation and sending a shiver down his spine.

It felt as if Yong Hwarin had said them while knowing exactly what he was going through, and he turned to look at him.

Yong Hwarin was already rummaging through the assassin's robes.

“Hwarin hyung.”

Yong Hwarin replied absentmindedly while searching through the assassins' belongings.

“Yeah?”

“If, hypothetically... I...”

“Seeing that both had the same token, it must be Jeung Eungang’s mark.”

Yong Hwarin, holding up the token, turned and looked at the hesitating Bukri Sogun.

“Oh, if what?”

Bukri Sogun shook his head as he met Yong Hwarin’s gaze.

“No, it's nothing.”

Yong Hwarin patted his head.

“You silly thing.”

As Yong Hwarin strode forward toward where the group was waiting, Bukri Sogun hurriedly took small steps to stick close to his side.

Looking up at his face, Bukri Sogun’s cheeks flushed.

It was because Yong Hwarin’s naked form flashed in his mind again.

“You fools! You call yourselves first-rate assassins, and that’s the kind of idiotic decision you make? You deserved to die!”

The leader who had brought thirty assassins of the Secret Beyond Secrets scolded the subordinates tasked with reconnaissance.

“They made that decision because Yong Hwarin and the Bukri family’s brat were bathing at the time.”

Judging purely by the situation, it had seemed like a perfect opportunity for a first-rate assassin to launch an ambush.

However, according to the intelligence, Yong Hwarin was not someone to be taken lightly.

He might look like a novice, but he was anything but—his martial skills were unpredictable and his experience impressive.

He had supposedly fought to a draw with people like Jeok Gwang and Do Gye-gong, yet managed to repel the Hongui Twin Demons and Sword Demon of Absolute Skill Eom An.

Clearly, his abilities were far beyond those of his age.

The more someone appeared to be hiding something, the more careful assassins had to be.

The ones who neglected that and went for the ambush deserved death.

“What if they discover our identity?”

“We acted as disciples of Jeung Eungang in anticipation of being discovered during reconnaissance. They will think those two are Jeung Eungang’s disciples.”

At those words, the leader’s scowling expression softened.

“We’re revising the plan to assassinate him within the day.”

“I understand the concern of Lord Three Slaughter, but with our numbers, we can easily bury them. The only real threat is Yong Hwarin.”

The assassin referred to as Three Slaughter handed over a thick stack of documents.

“Read this before you speak. Most who approached like that ended up dead. You understand what that means? That kid’s not just some ordinary brat.”

At Three Slaughter’s words, the vice-captain picked up the stack.

The red letters ‘First-Rate (一級)’ stamped across the page indicated that even the main organization judged Yong Hwarin to be extremely dangerous.

‘First-rate... that grade is usually reserved for elders of great sects. And that kid qualifies?’

The vice-captain, unable to believe it, resolved to make time to read the document thoroughly.

When Yong Hwarin explained that the attackers by the stream had posed as disciples of Jeung Eungang, the rest of the group all turned their eyes to Bukri Sogun.

While Yong Hwarin was strong enough to easily repel such ambushes, Bukri Sogun was still a child with no martial arts skills.

“Sogun, are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine. If it weren’t for Hwarin hyung, I would’ve been in danger.”

At his words, Yong Hwarin smiled softly.

“Then you must serve me for life as your lifesaver.”

As he even puffed himself up while saying it, those who had been listening intently burst into laughter.

Yong Hwarin’s occasional playful side like this wasn’t something he disliked.

“It seems Jeung Eungang’s disciple is targeting Sogun. There might be more remnants of them, so we must stay vigilant.”

After that, the group kept three guards on watch whenever camping outdoors, and even while staying at inns, they always posted guards as well.

Because of that, Bukri Sogun lost any opportunity to bathe alone.

Yong Hwarin settled down in a shabby inn on the outskirts of Sajin County, about five days away from Kaifeng.

Since the assassin attack, he had chosen remote places to stay, so he could better detect any approaching people, and to prevent civilians from getting hurt even if fighting broke out.

Yong Hwarin recalled once more the progress he had felt during his fight with the assassins and conveyed it to the Heavenly Central Ten Prodigies.

“I believe by now, you’ve stimulated and awakened the acupoints in your fingers and toes to some extent. Keep that in mind and spar with each other. You’ll understand what kind of effect it brings. Just don’t be discouraged even if the results don’t meet your expectations. The acupoints in fingers and toes aren’t easy to open.”

While Yong Hwarin had little difficulty breaking through the blocked meridians with the Tai Chi Dantian, it wasn’t so easy for the others.

However, contrary to Yong Hwarin’s assumption, the Heavenly Central Ten Prodigies had already been consistently training with Soft Core Blade and Ten Finger Upper Meridians Method to activate the meridians in their fingers.

Moreover, they often walked barefoot, which helped develop the acupoints in their toes, leading to enhanced development in those areas. As a result, their techniques displayed a far more delicate sense than expected.

As they sparred with one another, the Heavenly Central Ten Prodigies smiled at the more sticky, intricate feeling in their movements.

“Ordinarily, one controls the flow of qi through Laogong Point, but now we regulate it through six different acupoint paths, including Laogong Point. That means if we reach a certain level, we’ll be able to unleash several times the power compared to others at the same stage.”

The Heavenly Central Ten Prodigies, who had always trusted Yong Hwarin’s teachings, now heard those words as a promise that they would one day be counted among the greats recorded in the Record of the Moonless Blade and Sword.

Watching their training, Yong Hwarin became confident that he could raise the elites of the Heavenly Central Sect to be stronger than anyone.

“I should call this Dragon Claw Five Fingers.”

Because when the five fingers were honed, they were no less fearsome than a dragon’s claws.

“At this rate, the Heavenly Central Sect might just become the Greatest Sword Sect Under the Heavens.”

Namgung Yoo approached and said so.

Even from Namgung Yoo’s perspective, the achievements of the Heavenly Central Ten Prodigies learning martial arts directly from Yong Hwarin were extraordinary.

It was proof that Yong Hwarin’s ability was far beyond what anyone imagined.

If only martial arts could grow like bamboo shoots after rain—how wonderful that would be.

But most people trained their entire lives without progressing and remained at the same level.

Those who achieved enlightenment and ascended to the next realm were exceedingly rare.

The reason noble clans were called noble clans wasn’t because of the length of their history.

Only when countless widely acknowledged experts emerged and raised their fame to the highest could they truly be called noble clans.

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