Chapter 4

Chapter 3, right?

Since you already know the situation, I felt relieved that there was no need for me to explain it.

"Make yourself comfortable."

"......"

What should I say to that?

For now, I just listened in silence.

"......Quite a shock."

Not just anyone, but Master Zhang Sanfeng saying this means that the next sparring with Yun Shihu is not going to be good.

"Is it that bad?"

I'm a tiger cub.

When I grow up, I'll become the master of the mountain, commanding the mountains and rivers.

Yun Shihu is at best a stray dog.

"Feeling good. A tiger cub, huh."

It does sound good when you think about it, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still just a cub.

If we fight, I'll be torn to pieces.

"To make me even worse, right?"

Yun Shihu, who has dropped his guard.

I can clearly see the difference. I know this from personal experience. Even when he was playing around, I couldn't handle him, and that was my current level.

Indeed, a fortnight is far too short to achieve anything.

But it seems Master Zhang Sanfeng has some thoughts.

I thought I might have to run away, but there must be some way.

"What can I do?"

"Is that enough?"

It's an easier request than I expected. Since I have some knowledge of Tai Chi, it shouldn't be too difficult to relearn it...

"Is it that bad?"

No less than the origin of Wudang has given a 'fake' judgment.

"Really, a fortnight is far from enough."

There's a big difference between making minor adjustments and having to relearn everything from scratch.

It's like my body is filled with the wrong Tai Chi. Even if I learn something new, the old characters will remain messy.

It would have been much better to start from scratch.

"Is there nothing in the heavens? Something like a martial art that can cleanly correct unnecessary habits?"

I know it's a futile thought, but I can't help but wonder.

What kind of beings are those up there? There's no way they would have a martial art for failed individuals.

Since a fortnight is far from enough, I start thinking of strange shortcuts...

"Is there?"

"......"

I had a very impious thought for a moment, but I hope it didn't show on my face.

For a brief moment, I thought, 'Are there beings in the heavens who waste time on unnecessary things?'

Is it just my imagination?

It must be.

"Wow!"

Let's forget it. Let's move on.

I'll clap my hands and send it far away.

"I was just expressing my feelings for my master."

Why do I feel like someone is looking at me?

Is this just my imagination?

I don't think so.

Still, it's fortunate that he's letting it go.

"......"

Today, I seem to be at a loss for words.

Is this just my imagination?

There's no way.

While slightly tense, words spread in my mind.

But the voice was different from before.

It was solemn.

Master Zhang Sanfeng's voice, which usually resonates in my mind, is much clearer and sharper than ordinary sounds. The voice I hear now carries even more depth.

Like characters taking shape and moving, like raindrops falling to the ground, the characters pour into me.

The voice, upon reaching my mind, turns into a refreshing stream that flows through my body. The sound, the characters, melt like water. It feels like a stream of water from a high place pouring over my crown and spreading through my limbs.

The strange thing is that while the refreshing water flows, the center of my crown feels as if it's being split open.

It's as if someone from a high place is hitting my crown with a stream of water.

But the sensation of something inside me moving due to this voice is so profound that I can't help but be deeply immersed in it.

I contained all of it within me.

Just by containing the pouring words, I can already feel a refreshing breath within me.

The energy feels very similar to my name.

It's clear and bright.

My body and mind are becoming purified by this energy.

I remained silent even after Master Zhang Sanfeng finished speaking, waiting for the aftereffects to subside.

Master Zhang Sanfeng, looking at me with deep concentration, transmitted his voice with a sense of approval.

'Huh?'

But his words were a bit strange.

Is what I'm feeling not the true effect?

I can clearly feel a refreshing energy flowing within me.

Is this an illusion?

I need to verify it.

To make sure it's not just my imagination.

I stood up.

Interestingly, the refreshing breath and energy of the Qingming Heart Method continued to flow within me, even as I moved.

In this feeling, I felt like a calm lake.

A calm lake so still that it could reflect the clear autumn sky.

The headache starting from my crown didn't stop, but I continued to move my limbs without interrupting the refreshing breath.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The moving hands and feet. Their trajectories were like droplets falling into a calm lake, the beginning of a change, creating clear ripples.

Since the change occurred in the calm, the trajectory of the flow was felt very clearly from start to finish.

What was wrong, what was sloppy, and how to fix it.

The clarity erases the complex confusion and points the way.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

And when I moved again.

My sloppiness was largely gone.

To the point where it felt like a leap.

Qingming Heart Method.

A martial art so powerful that even Master Zhang Sanfeng said it would be impossible to master immediately, now resides within me.

***

"Yes."

"Yes."

Master Zhang Sanfeng seems to be in a state of disbelief.

But his voice has become subtle.

It's similar to the voice my mother used when she was about to hit my father on the back of the head.

Is it just my imagination?

A voice giving instructions as if to verify something. I followed it without knowing why.

I closed my eyes and focused on Master Zhang Sanfeng's voice.

Perhaps because of the deep focus, I felt as if I was submerged in heavy water.

"Yes."

"Lightly......"

It's easy to create ripples in water. Just lightly, very lightly, touch the surface. A slight movement of a finger is enough.

"......Create ripples on the surface."

Did I really start thinking it was water? Strangely, I felt as if I was stirring the surface with my finger, a slight resistance.

The water was inside me too. The refreshing energy of the Qingming Heart Method communicated with this stimulation and flowed calmly.

Throb!

'Ugh!'

At the same time as the resistance at my fingertips, a headache started in my head. It felt as if someone had injected a needle into my brain.

The resistance starting from my fingertips and the refreshing energy of the Qingming Heart Method met, rising as if to pierce the center of my head.

I opened my eyes, wondering why my head hurt just by moving my fingers.

Snap!

With a slight cracking sound, I saw traces of the sound floating in the air.

A few blades of grass, as if someone had kicked the ground lightly, soared into the air.

"Is this...?"

I realized that I was the one who caused this phenomenon, as there was no one else around.

Looking at the phenomenon with disbelief, I spoke the word that came to mind.

"Jing (勁)?"

Jing is the energy that a martial artist with inner strength can emit outward.

When Jing accumulates, it becomes a sword aura, and further, a sword beam.

It's a power that practically distinguishes experts from novices in the martial world.

Communication with heaven and earth?

He's using difficult terms again.

Superior communication with heaven and earth?

What does that even mean?

If it's good, then it must be good, right?

"Anyway, it's good, right?"

"Then it's settled."

Why such a serious statement?

"It seems so. I thought I wouldn't have any talent here, but what Master teaches fits me perfectly."

Anyway, it feels good to have obtained something great.

"Then can I now match that Yun Shihu kid?"

I just emitted Jing in a strange way, but since my head hurts just from doing it once, it's not practical in a real fight. The power is only as much as a kick.

Master Zhang Sanfeng seemed quite exasperated by my concerns.

***

The fortnight passed in the blink of an eye.

Really, it did.

Thinking back, it feels like the fortnight passed in the blink of an eye.

These days, each day feels really short.

Is it because I close my eyes and go to sleep, and the next day immediately arrives?

The cause is definitely Master Zhang Sanfeng.

After obtaining the Qingming Heart Method, Master Zhang Sanfeng started to thoroughly train me. He keeps giving me tasks, saying my talent is greater than expected. Really.

No matter how great a martial art you learn, it's meaningless if you can't build a body to use it. So he makes me do all sorts of bizarre foundational training that I've never heard of, claiming it's an advanced training method from the heavens.

Even I, who am usually mild-mannered, can't help but curse.

Really.

The most common thing I hear these days is this.

The moment I hear it, I know the day's schedule is ruined.

And when I manage to do it, he says it again.

It's driving me crazy. Master Zhang Sanfeng, who keeps pushing me, is crazy, and my body and mind, which have to endure it, are crazy too.

Every time he throws something at me, I obediently accept it. I accept it so well that I might soon have to meet him in person and thank him.

In other words, I feel like I'm about to die.

It's as if he's showing me why disciples shouldn't be considered human.

It feels like being tortured while fully conscious, and I might develop a temper.

Lately, Master Zhang Sanfeng has been saying I'm developing a temper, which I find a bit unfair.

If I don't develop a temper after all this, am I even human?

It's really unfair.

So I need to vent this unfairness in the right place.

"Are you nervous? Why is your face so stiff?"

Yun Shihu's words.

Yun Shihu is standing in front of me, grinning confidently and talking nonstop.

Seeing this, Master Zhang Sanfeng suddenly spoke.

"Is that so?"

It means that Yun Shihu has also grown significantly over the fortnight.

Thinking about it, it's a disadvantage that the opponent has become stronger, but strangely, my heart isn't shaken at all.

On the other hand.

"It would have been better to avoid it."

There's someone who doesn't think that way.

Ming Jin, who is acting as the referee for this sparring, is looking at me with a pitying gaze.

It seems Ming Jin only found out today that Yun Shihu had taken medicinal herbs to increase his inner strength. If he had known earlier, would he have told me?

"It's not too late even now."

He probably would have.

I can't help but laugh.

At least