Chapter 5

## Chapter 5. Our Master is the Best!

A first-class martial artist.

An existence who can cut down dozens of ordinary men without receiving a single scratch.

While there are many martial artists in the Central Plains, a first-class martial artist can walk with confidence anywhere.

Perhaps because of this, the man with the goatee was brimming with confidence.

"Brat. Let's see if your skills match your mouth!"

"Shuryong! Step back!"

Clang!

My father, who had already drawn his sword, stepped in front of me to face the man with the goatee.

However, from the other side, Namgung Wook, who had also drawn his sword, lunged at my father.

"Hey! Let's talk a bit, mister!"

—Clang!

My father, pushed back by Namgung Wook's strength, had a look of frustration on his face.

"Hahaha! A master should fight a master!"

"Scum! Get out of the way! Shuryong!!"

Perhaps because he was worried about me, my father couldn't fully display his skills and his movements became disordered.

While Namgung Wook was keeping my father occupied, the man with the goatee approached me with a sneer.

"Hehehe. Let's see you struggle a bit!"

I took a step back, showing a terrified expression.

This made his smile even wider.

"Hahaha! You look just like a rat with its tail on fire!"

'He's openly ignoring me.'

His movements are unnecessarily large.

He spreads his arms wide, as if showing off, and steps with a flamboyant gait.

His face is full of a carefree smile.

'I'm grateful for that.'

He's relaxed because he knows I can't even match him.

Yes, it's natural for him to be relaxed.

A first-class martial artist versus a third-rate brat who can't use any internal energy.

He should win a hundred times out of a hundred.

But there's one thing he can never know.

'I've lived without internal energy before.'

In that brutal Blood Demon Sect, I taught martial arts to juniors for over 20 years without using internal energy.

Were all the students I taught obedient and diligent?

Among them, were there none who ignored the words of a teacher without internal energy?

When they grew up and their martial arts skills improved, were there none who defied me?

Absolutely not.

There were countless who ignored me.

Even so, until the Demon Brain called me to the underground prison, I was the best and worst instructor in the Blood Demon Sect.

'I'll show you how to defeat a first-class martial artist without internal energy.'

"Don't be so scared. I'll enjoy myself slowly before I kill you!"

Whoosh!

The man with the goatee shaped his hand like a hawk's claw and aimed to slash at my chest.

It was threatening, but his movements were too large.

I fell backward, lying down, and kicked up my leg.

Swoosh!

His claws tore through my clothes, but my kick hit his stomach.

Thud!

Caught off guard, the man with the goatee took a few steps back.

"This brat?"

His eyes widened slightly. The hit was almost ineffective, but his expression showed confusion and displeasure.

"Hmph. Just lucky once..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

At that moment, I had to quickly raise my arm to protect my face from the coin I shot at him like a hidden weapon.

—Clang!

I had hidden small coins in my clothes and sprayed them at his head and eyes.

"Will such a cheap trick work on me!"

Because we were so close, he naturally had to raise his arms to protect his head.

At that moment, his elbows were exposed.

'Got you.'

With a triumphant smile, I hit the Quzhi point on his exposed elbow with the last coin I had hidden.

—Thud!

The Quzhi point is a crucial acupoint where the energy of the arm converges. If struck accurately with strong force, it can paralyze the arm.

"Ugh..."

With my current strength, I could only paralyze the arm of a first-class martial artist for a brief moment.

'But that brief moment is enough to decide the outcome.'

I immediately lunged at the man whose arm was stiff.

His eyes widened in surprise.

"Ugh!"

He tried to dodge, but his reaction was slow because his arm was still paralyzed.

I formed a sword finger with my index and middle fingers and struck the Jianjing point near his shoulder.

—Thud!

The Jianjing point is where the most turbid energy accumulates in the body. If stimulated with the right intensity, it can paralyze the entire body.

"Ugh..."

He shivered as if feeling a sharp pain. I grabbed the back of his head firmly and smiled.

"You're dead, brat."

I grabbed the back of his head with both hands, pulled him close, and kneed him in the face.

Smack!

It was disappointing to end it in one hit.

Smack! Smack!

Two hits were too merciful.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Three, four times, I kneed his face repeatedly, determined to finish him off.

"Ugh... You... Bastard..."

He had the resilience of a first-class martial artist.

Despite staggering, he swung his arm to try to shake me off.

Whoosh!

Even a casual swing was dangerous to my current body.

I narrowly avoided the attack and moved to his left side.

—Smack!

I pressed his acupoints with my sword fingers, but his reaction was much weaker than before.

'Acupoint strikes won't work anymore.'

The man with the goatee started to channel his internal energy to protect his meridians.

With this body, lacking both internal energy and strength, further acupoint strikes were impossible.

I stepped back without hesitation.

"Argh! I'll kill you!"

The enraged man with the goatee charged at me.

But his momentum was much weaker than before.

His head must have been spinning from the repeated blows, and it would be difficult for him to maintain his balance.

He was driven by the anger of wanting to kill me.

'If I get hit by such an attack, I'll be crippled.'

Whoosh! Whoosh!

I minimized my movements and narrowly avoided all his attacks.

"There were many like you."

"Ughhh!"

He wasn't listening to me, but it didn't matter.

"Thinking you were better than me just because you had some internal energy, thinking you had learned enough, thinking you were more important because your head was bigger."

"I'll kill you!"

During my time as a martial arts instructor in the Blood Demon Sect.

I was despised by many students and even fellow instructors because I couldn't use internal energy.

"Thinking I was inferior to them just because my dantian was intact."

"Die! Die! Die!"

"Do you know what happened to them?"

Slyly.

I deliberately showed a weakness, and he charged at me like a beast that had smelled blood.

I took a step forward at the right moment.

"Hah!"

His foot got tangled with mine, where he should have stepped.

His breath was cut off as his foot got tangled.

His body stiffened as his breath was cut off.

Again, that 'brief moment' was enough.

"It ended like this."

Whoosh!

I dodged his attack and moved to the side.

A moment later, my elbow hit the back of his head.

—Smack!

With a sharp impact, the man with the goatee fell to the ground like a frog.

"Ugh..."

I clutched my chest and caught my breath.

Perhaps because of the strain on my weak body, blood was trickling from one nostril.

I wiped the blood with the back of my hand and sensed movement from the side.

"Ughhh!"

The man with the goatee was staggering to his feet.

It had only been a month since I awoke in this body.

It was far too short a time to properly train.

'Damn. If only I could fix the Heavenly Sound Meridian...'

I could learn all the supreme martial arts in my mind.

Then, I wouldn't need to use such tricks to deal with such opponents, even if hundreds of them came at me.

"Die! Die! Die!"

The man with the goatee, staggering to his feet, charged at me with a murderous aura, his eyes wild.

"Phew..."

But I didn't dodge.

I had bought enough time.

I glanced behind me and asked.

"Is it over now?"

"It took a while, but it's been a long time since I had a real fight."

At that moment, a figure behind me swung a sword fiercely.

—Whoosh!

The man with the goatee's arms were severed and flew into the air, and blood spurted from the cuts.

"Ughhh!"

In front of the screaming man with the goatee, my father stood with a determined expression, holding his sword with both hands.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, more or less."

Looking behind, Namgung Wook (self-proclaimed) was lying on the ground, defeated.

In contrast, my father was unscathed.

'So he was a true first-class martial artist. A real one.'

For some reason, my father, Bai Wuchen, had been hiding his true strength.

Of course, I already knew this.

We had lived together for a month.

I had provoked them because I believed we could win the fight.

I panted heavily and said,

"We got his confession, and there are so many witnesses. We can hand him over to the martial arts alliance branch, and they'll take care of the rest."

"There's a lot to talk about when we get back..."

At that moment, a chorus of cheers interrupted my father.

"Wowww!"

"They defeated the evil sect members!"

"Hurrah! Long live Bai Wuchen!"

"Long live Bai Shuryong! Long live Bai Wuguan!"

People whose lives we had saved gathered around us, cheering and crying.

Among them, the most entertaining expression was that of the Zhang family's snot-nosed kid, Zhang Yi.

"Master Bai! Our master is the best!"

He'll probably pester me to teach him martial arts again tomorrow.

"Ah, what about the others..."

"They all ran away."

The subordinates of the man with the goatee, including Yang San and the other students of the Martial Arts Hall, had already fled.

As the situation settled, a deep fatigue washed over me.

"Is it over...?"

Wobble.

"Shuryong!"

I felt dizzy.

As the tension eased, my knees buckled, and my body leaned to the side.

My eyes slowly closed.

This weak body...

I looked at my father with a sideways glance.

My father, who had already caught me, was looking at me with concern.

"...I'll rest a bit. Please take care of the aftermath."

Thud.

Amidst the cheers of the people, I lost consciousness.