That’s Not How You Use Martial Arts

Chapter 18
The Golden Dragon Elixir (2)

『 Translator – Divinity 』

Hwa-ryeon shook her head at Ja-seong’s apology.

“It’s alright, Young Master. Your words were true.”

“You proved your words were true by killing Shin Se-gon, the Heavenly Mace, in one strike. So you don’t have to apologize to us.”

Ja-seong awkwardly scratched his cheek at her words, accepting the criticism since it was true.

“But still, to say it so bluntly…”

Seeing Ja-seong still hesitant, Hwa-ryeon raised her hand as if to stop him.

“Let’s stop here. That’s not what’s important right now. Would it be alright to return to the main topic?”

“…Yes.”

At her firm tone that refused any objections, Ja-seong quietly nodded.

After clearing her throat, Hwa-ryeon returned to the main topic.

“Anyway, the heat haze you created when you killed Shin Se-gon… a way to use that…”

“Sword Qi.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Sword Qi, that heat haze.”

Ja-seong calmly answered Hwa-ryeon’s question with “Sword Qi.”

Wondering if she had misheard, she asked again.

“…Sword Qi, you say? Are you talking about the Sword Qi from those storybooks?”

Ja-seong silently nodded, and Hwa-ryeon and Dae-un exchanged puzzled glances.

Come to think of it, Ja-seong had been talking about lightness skills and Sword Qi ever since he first entered the school as a child.

Techniques that allowed one to move faster than words and imbue weapons with tangible qi.

A fiction that seemed to exist only in stories.

Now, Ja-seong was claiming to have brought that fiction, that illusion, into reality.

The problem was, it seemed to be true.

Hwa-ryeon had also read a few such novels when she was young.

The descriptions in those novels clearly…

—As he concentrated his mind, a heat haze rose from the tip of his sword.

Yes, a heat haze.

It was the heat haze emanating from Ja-seong’s sword that had killed Shin Se-gon.

“So, you’re saying that was Sword Qi?”

“That’s right. Sword Qi, which every martial artist in this world calls fiction or nonsense. I proved that it’s not nonsense.”

A bright smile spread across Ja-seong’s face as he answered.

***

I couldn’t help but laugh as I watched Hwa-ryeon and Master, unable to hide their surprise at my answer.

—Lightness skills? What nonsense are you talking about?

—Sword Qi? Sword Force? Puhahaha! To think there’s someone who actually believes in such nonsense!

I clutched my pounding heart, remembering the escort who had ridiculed me when I asked him about martial arts.

He had said that lightness skills, Sword Qi, and Sword Force were all nonsense, that such things didn’t exist in this world.

Back then, I couldn’t refute his words.

Because to me, those were still just illusions.

They were products of imagination created by countless authors in countless martial arts novels.

I had heard that martial arts existed, that there were martial artists and a Jianghu, but I hadn’t experienced them myself.

So, I couldn’t say anything.

But now it was different.

I had learned martial arts myself and even created new techniques.

After ten years of trial and error, I had finally manifested Sword Qi on my own.

If I ever met that escort again, I could confidently tell him now.

That my words weren’t nonsense.

That through my efforts, the illusion had finally become reality.

“…Amazing.”

Hwa-ryeon, speechless for a moment, finally managed to utter a word.

And I already knew what her proposition was.

“You want me to teach you Sword Qi, right?”

“…Yes.”

Hwa-ryeon, after looking around for a moment, slowly nodded.

“Of course, I know how shameless it is to ask someone to teach their secret techniques. That’s why I’m offering you the most valuable thing I have.”

“……”

“If that’s not enough, I’ll also offer you my martial art, the Sky-Splitting Sword Technique. It’s the peerless sword technique that allowed my father, Ju Cheon-mu, the Defeated Sword, to become one of the Ten Great Masters, so surely…”

“Wait, wait.”

I stopped Hwa-ryeon, who was starting to ramble.

She closed her mouth and stared at me intently.

Although she seemed to be just staring, I could tell from the subtle changes in her expression that she was desperate.

“Hmm.”

I organized the situation in my mind.

Hwa-ryeon wanted to learn the method of using internal energy to manifest Sword Qi from me.

And she was offering the incredible Golden Dragon Divine Elixir in exchange.

Conclusion.

“This is awesome.”

“Huh? What do you mean…?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. Ahem, ahem!”

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

I coughed, changing the subject, and desperately suppressed my twitching lips.

Teaching them Sword Qi.

To think they would give me sixty years’ worth of internal energy in exchange for just that, what a steal!

I had already planned to teach Master, Hwa-ryeon, and Seol-i how to use Sword Qi to achieve ‘my goal.’

But to think there would be such an unexpected bonus.

I vaguely remembered them saying something else, but it couldn’t have been that important.

More importantly, the Golden Dragon Divine Elixir.

An elixir that would grant me sixty years’ worth of internal energy.

If I consumed it, my internal energy would increase sevenfold.

There was no reason to refuse this. Refusing it would be idiotic.

I readily nodded.

“Alright. I’ll teach you how to use Sword Qi.”

“Ah…!”

Hwa-ryeon’s face brightened at my acceptance.

On the other hand, Master’s face darkened a little.

It seemed he had hoped I would refuse.

No way. How could I give up sixty years’ worth of internal energy?

Ha, I was finally free from being an internal energy weakling.

Farewell, my days of sorrow.

I would cast off all the shackles and restraints of this world and set off to find my happiness… wait, that wasn’t right.

My mind raced with random thoughts, excited by this sudden stroke of luck.

As I tried to hide my excitement, Hwa-ryeon handed me the Golden Dragon Divine Elixir.

“There’s no need to delay consuming it, right? My uncle and I will stand guard, so please consume it with ease.”

“Oh, then I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Unable to hide my excitement any longer, I grinned, took the Golden Dragon Divine Elixir, and examined it closely.

This thing, it was even more fascinating up close.

Just how did they make an elixir that emitted auspicious energy?

“Well, that’s not important.”

I quickly dismissed my unimportant curiosity and popped the Golden Dragon Divine Elixir into my mouth.

And just like the descriptions in countless martial arts novels, the Golden Dragon Divine Elixir melted in my mouth and began to circulate throughout my body through my meridians.

I immediately sat cross-legged and started circulating my internal energy cultivation technique, the modified Three Talents Technique.

The internal energy rising from my dantian surged through the eight extraordinary vessels and the twelve meridian channels to absorb the energy of the Golden Dragon Divine Elixir.

It coiled around and absorbed the energy flowing through the acupoints, devouring the energy hidden within my blood.

As I did so, my internal energy flowed through my meridians faster and stronger.

An intense energy I had never felt before.

It felt like I could open all the Conception and Governing Vessels, and even the twelve meridian channels and eight extraordinary vessels, if I wanted to.

But I pulled the reins on my galloping internal energy.

I also stopped absorbing the energy of the Golden Dragon Divine Elixir.

Not yet.

There was a saying, “Too much is as bad as too little.”

It meant that going overboard was no different from not having enough, and it was a fitting saying for my current situation.

There was no way my dantian, which had only held ten years’ worth of internal energy, could withstand sixty years’ worth.

If I tried to absorb all the energy of the Golden Dragon Divine Elixir right now, my dantian wouldn’t be able to handle it and would be destroyed.

That would be the end.

My dream of recreating the countless martial arts from those novels would vanish.

This was enough for today.

I redirected the energy back to my dantian.

What I had absorbed right now was about twenty years’ worth of internal energy.

This alone had tripled my internal energy.

If I continued to refine my meridians and dantian through cultivation and gradually absorbed the remaining energy, the forty years’ worth of energy still lingering in my acupoints and blood would also become mine.

Yes, there was no need to rush.

My dream was just beginning.

Finishing my cultivation, I opened my eyes wide.

***

Dae-un, who had been watching with regret as the priceless Golden Dragon Divine Elixir disappeared into Ja-seong’s mouth, suddenly widened his eyes at the energy swirling around him.

“This is unbelievable…!”

As expected of the Golden Dragon Divine Elixir, crafted with a decade of dedication by the Imperial alchemists, the best in the land.

Such a clear and potent energy that he could sense it with his qi perception.

But it was too early to be surprised.

Something even more astonishing happened next.

A ferocious energy arose from Ja-seong’s dantian and began to devour the energy of the Golden Dragon Divine Elixir.

The expression “devour the energy of the elixir” might sound a bit odd, but from what Dae-un was witnessing, there was no more appropriate expression.

Like a wyrm awakened from its slumber in the dantian, it greedily devoured the energy.

And its ferocity was intensifying.

“Th-this…!”

Dae-un’s face hardened at the sight.

He instinctively knew that if Ja-seong continued to absorb energy like that, he would self-destruct.

He wanted to stop him immediately, but interfering with someone during cultivation could lead to Qi Deviation.

So, even if he wanted to stop him, there was no way.

Dae-un, forgetting his age and dignity, anxiously paced back and forth.

“…..”

But Hwa-ryeon remained silent, just watching Ja-seong.

From her experience with Ja-seong, although he was usually playful and liked to provoke people with his strange way of speaking, he was fundamentally calm and collected.

Therefore, there was no way Ja-seong would get carried away absorbing energy and make an irreversible mistake.

Hwa-ryeon had that conviction and trust in him.