"Wow, it really is like a dragon!"
As she rushed out of the mountain gate, Dang Yuhwa grumbled.
The Baekbo Sin-gwon is one of the top martial arts of the Shaolin.
If you don't have a decent understanding of martial arts, mastering it won't be easy.
Moreover, since it contains the principles of Buddhism, one must read many Buddhist scriptures as well.
It was only natural that Seoyun couldn't easily master it just because he was handed a secret manual.
The reason he was given the Baekbo Sin-gwon was precisely this:
If you want to learn properly, come to Shaolin.
Realizing Shaolin's intentions, Dang Yuhwa complained, and Seoyun wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"Don't worry. I'm not planning to become a monk."
After all, he had no intention of following the Buddha who gave him the Absorbing Technique after he had done thirty thousand repetitions.
Besides, desires and emotions are what drive people to live; he had no intention of abandoning them.
While he was tempted by Shaolin's backing, his interest waned knowing that Dangmun would support him instead.
Seoyun handed the Baekbo Sin-gwon manual to Dang Yuhwa.
"...So what?"
"I took a look while coming down, but I couldn't understand anything at all."
Until now, the top-tier martial arts Seoyun had learned were either through commentaries or from Dang Yuhwa herself.
The commentaries were straightforward enough for even beginners to understand, lacking any secret symbols and filled with advice and annotations.
Thus, as long as one knew how to read and had a basic understanding of martial arts, they could learn easily.
However, mastering general martial arts was a different story altogether.
It was said that there were even cases where third-rate martial artists became crippled trying to learn new techniques alone.
Dang Yuhwa stared at Seoyun intently.
"Are you saying I should learn Baekbo Sin-gwon and teach you?"
"Exactly. Why? Don't want to learn? Think it's impossible?"
"That's not it... Do you trust me? What if I take this and run away?"
Seoyun scoffed dismissively, and Dang Yuhwa kicked his shins.
"Ouch! Why did you hit me?!"
"I'm annoyed that you think so lightly of me."
As she walked ahead with a huff, Seoyun gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Damn..."
"What are you doing? Hurry up!"
She stopped and turned back after walking ahead for a bit.
Seoyun muttered while rubbing his sore shin at her cheerful smile.
"Damn... She's cute."
In any case, he had obtained the Baekbo Sin-gwon.
Since he had also received permission from Shaolin, learning it wouldn't be an issue.
Although he couldn't start immediately, Seoyun didn't mind; he was already busy training in Samyang Su and Biseojang, along with Chulhaengrang.
"Shall we practice Chulhaengrang's steps on the way?"
Upon arriving at Jeonghyeobmaeng, two carts were already prepared by the servants.
When Dang Yuhwa stopped a servant who was about to hitch horses to the cart and asked for his intentions, Seoyun nodded in agreement.
"Will we be late?"
"We have plenty of time."
"Then let's go while practicing; if we feel pressed for time later on, we can speed up then."
Seoyun's goal was to become stronger; attending the Jeonghyeobmaeng meeting wasn't his priority.
There was no need to match the meeting date strictly since accompanying Dang Yuhwa meant he had no choice but to follow her purpose in attending.
As a servant who received orders from Dang Yuhwa tied the horses behind the cart, Muyoung broke into a cold sweat.
"Ha! Friends! Then see you next time! Master! We'll go ahead..."
"Oh! You there! Make sure our horses are tied in back too."
Dojon emerged from Jeonghyeobmaeng after receiving greetings from Seon Jungmo and climbed onto the cart.
When Jeonghyeobmaeng's servants secured healthy black horses behind the cart, Muyoung wore a grim expression like he had eaten something sour.
"Oh man."
He felt trapped into pulling the cart now.
Dojon sat on the cart and flashed a refreshing smile toward Dang Yuhwa who sat beside him on the same cart.
"Shall we keep each other company until Habhi?"
"Yes, elder."
"But I'm still older than you here..."
He pulled out a money pouch from his robe pocket.
"I'll cover our travel expenses."
"Wow! Thank you! Elder Dojon!"
"Hahaha! It's nothing much! Disciple, let's set off."
"Yes."
With a deep sigh, Muyoung grabbed hold of the cart and began moving forward as Seoyun glanced at Dang Yuhwa again.
"We'll train our strength along with practicing our steps; make sure to follow Chulhaengrang's movements while we travel."
"Okay."
"And use your internal energy too."
"Huh? Is that okay?"
"Chulhaengrang is now at first level right? Then this will be your practice from now on. Let's go."
"Yes!"
Following Dang Yuhwa's instructions, Seoyun began pulling the cart as well.
Even on the shaking cart, she focused solely on watching Seoyun.
Dojon admired their form.
"Hmm hmm! That enthusiasm and passion are excellent! Disciple, let's move quickly!"
---
Two weeks had passed since departing from Jiuhyeon.
During their travels, they practiced Chulhaengrang during the day and Samyang Su at night.
Occasionally they watched Dojon and Muyoung sparring.
At first, Seoyun hadn't noticed it but as his skills improved, it became clear.
Muyoung possessed incredible talent.
On the month mark since leaving Jiuhyeon, Dang Yuhwa pulled Seoyun aside while watching Muyoung being playfully hit by Dojon.
"What's up?"
"You saw Muyoung's movements earlier? That's the foundation of flower integration."
To avoid getting hit too much, Muyoung was using rising martial arts techniques.
Just watching Dojon and Muyoung sparring provided great help.
After receiving permission from Dojon to observe their duel deliberately, she said to Seoyun,
"Think about that while practicing Samyang Su."
"Okay."
She extended her fist toward him as he executed Illyang Su.
Although it wasn't perfect due to his limited understanding of internal energy and martial arts principles yet,
he managed to form a decent shape.
Having successfully redirected his attack towards her side, Dang Yuhwa stepped back.
"This time it's different."
"Huh?"
"Ha!"
It was simply a thrust with her palm.
But her thrust contained an invisible force.
As this intangible force struck his shoulder, Seoyun bit his lip.
"What was that just now?"
"Baekbo Sin-gwon."
She waved her hand lightly and attacked him several more times.
It wasn't even at a distance of one hundred paces nor particularly powerful,
but launching an invisible force from over thirty paces away was still quite threatening.
As Seoyun assumed a defensive stance in response,
Dang Yuhwa sighed as she lowered her hands.
"Phew... Is it still only at first level?"
"That's impressive! How did you do that?"
"I thought my head would explode trying to interpret it; fortunately one of my learned martial arts is from Buddhism..."
"What is it?"
"Hehe! I'll tell you when we get to Dangmun later; anyway I'm not sure how well you can use it since your foundation is Taoist internal energy."
"You might only master it up to eight levels at best? Still worth trying out though; alright then I'll teach you some key points—listen carefully."
To use it properly requires Buddhist internal energy as its base,
but since there are many principles mixed within martial arts itself,
learning it will definitely be beneficial.
After she explained several key points repeatedly,
Seoyun finally memorized them and clenched his fist.
"So basically it's about releasing internal energy?"
"Exactly! The characteristic of Baekbo Sin-gwon is shooting out internal energy through martial techniques; if you're at first level you should be able to do this."
As he lightly punched forward,
the bag behind him collided with something on the ground and rolled away.
The force passed right through him.
As he expressed admiration for this,
Dang Yuhwa brushed off her hands lightly.
"One of the principles contained in Baekbo Sin-gwon is precisely Geoksantaewoo (the technique for hitting mountains). Learn this well and applying it will greatly help with other techniques you'll learn later."
A technique for striking cows over mountains—a relatively advanced technique among rising martial arts indeed.
Dang Yuhwa spoke with a bitter expression,
"But consuming internal energy is no joke; if you're not skilled beyond eight levels it could become quite ambiguous given its short range."
"I have Taoist internal energy as my base... so I need to master this fully before using it?"
"Exactly."
If even Dang Yuhwa found it challenging,
then Seoyun wouldn't find it easy either.
However, Seoyun thought of another method:
'Releasing internal energy... then...'
He could utilize Absorbing Technique!
By absorbing an enemy's life force or internal energy,
he could accumulate this unique internal energy.
This could be accepted for use as his own internal energy,
but since it's not something he built himself,
it ultimately belongs to someone else,
making acceptance difficult—and even if accepted could lead to problems.
The commentary stated that internal energy gained through Absorbing Technique should either be released quickly or used up fast; ideally one should avoid accumulating too much.
'Could I apply this concept of releasing internal energy in Baekbo Sin-gwon? Since I have to release it anyway...'
Of course Baekbo Sin-gwon is Buddhist martial art while Absorbing Technique belongs to Taoism;
they might not blend well together but it was worth attempting.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh nothing—just thinking about something; anyway thank you for your help today."
"It's nothing much—I also learned a good martial art; there aren't many techniques that allow using Geoksantaewoo so easily."
Dang Yuhwa shrugged lightly,
and when she sat cross-legged with an exhausted face,
Seoyun stood beside her.
Dojon and Muyoung seemed to have finished sparring and were resting nearby.
"Elder Dojon."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"Let's rest here for today; Muyoung looks exhausted too."
As he barely managed some breathing exercises,
Seoyun pointed toward Dang Yuhwa whose breathing exercises took about an hour or so.
Since night was falling anyway,
it seemed better to stay here for today rather than continue traveling further.
Dojon appeared slightly displeased but didn't reject this suggestion.
As Muyoung staggered over near Dang Yuhwa and started his breathing exercises,
Dojon surveyed their surroundings.
"Then we'll need to camp out."
"I'll prepare everything; Elder Dojon please take care of security around us."
"Hmm."
For someone like Dojon setting up two guards wasn't difficult at all;
as he drew out his weapon focusing intently,
Seoyun grabbed a shovel instead.
After digging into the ground firmly packing it down,
he laid down some mats inside before placing bedding made from leather he'd hunted weeks ago
to create sleeping areas for both himself and Dang Yuhwa.
"Aren't you going to make your own sleeping area?"
"Haha! I'm fine; if anything I'll just sleep next to Yuhwa."
He had previously performed breathing exercises earlier.
Sleeping could always wait until later;
with just breathing exercises alone restoring strength,
Seoyun couldn't help but feel amazed by how effective they were.
Learning martial arts he'd long desired from someone he liked—there wasn't any chance for mental fatigue here!
"You've really brought in an excellent disciple there—Dang Soja."
"I'm not really a disciple."
"Oh really? Watching both your actions makes you seem like lovers... am I right?"
"Well… for now yes."
"Hahaha! It seems there will be some good news for Dangmun!"
"I hope so..."
"Don't worry; isn't necessity often linked with success?"
Could it be because of Muyoung who tends to take things lightly?
It seemed Dojon greatly appreciated how diligent Seoyun was in everything.
"As long as Yuhwa isn't the eldest daughter of Dangmun there shouldn't be too much pressure."
"But she hopes to become head of Dangmun."
"Well… if she accomplishes enough then that could happen; head… wow that's quite an arduous path she's choosing—make sure you support her well."
After speaking slowly with these words,
Dojon drew out his weapon slowly standing between them while performing breathing exercises alongside both Dang Yuhwa and Muyoung.
"Did you notice anything?"
"Yes."
"You're quick on your feet—it's good! This damn kid takes forever before realizing anything until I point things out."
There was subtle malice hidden within winds blowing through them—could they be wild beasts?
Or perhaps thieves?
Or something else entirely...
"I'll protect them myself; seems like there are quite a few so do your best—if necessary I'll step in too."
"Understood."
The wind ceased abruptly causing bushes nearby tremble—
it wasn't just one spot;
when multiple areas shook simultaneously,
Seoyun clenched his fists tightly.
"Gyaaaah!!"
They were small monsters resembling children in height
with grotesque faces so horrifyingly deformed they seemed almost unreal!
As small creatures with rough green skin appeared before them,
Dojon exclaimed in surprise:
"There are quite a number!"
At least more than thirty—
these creatures were known as "Goblin," according to survival guides from Amigu continent.
"Can we handle this?"
"We won't know until we try… but I don't think it's impossible."
"Confidence is good~ Yes! If you're truly a man then act accordingly!"
When he first encountered goblins he felt fear—but now?
This felt entirely different compared with before.
Seoyun slowly assumed his stance while Dojon calmly said:
"Show me your skills."
"Gyaaaah!!"
Seeing goblins charging forward without fear upon seeing both Seoyun & Dojon made them roar loudly!
"Ha!"
With low battle cries accompanying him extending his hand grasping onto goblin heads firmly—
and then bringing them down swiftly!
Previously just doing this alone would've drained all my internal energy but now things were different—
his internal energy overflowed abundantly!
"Come forth monsters!"
"Keheee!!"
With just slight pressure applied against goblin heads—
using Absorbing Technique allowed him siphoning off their life force which then burst forth utilizing that very same power!
"I'll kill you!"
Removing his hand stained crimson red from squished goblin heads towards those tense creatures left trembling before him!
---