****
To me, there was no bolt from the blue worse than this.
Even the pig I fought in my past life was Sagong Hyeon's subordinate, so I had suffered a great deal and only gotten beaten up.
Furthermore, that pig hadn't even learned martial arts; he had just beaten me with sheer size.
It went without saying what would happen if it were Sagong Hyeon.
"I am fine with it."
Sagong Hyeon's eyes flashed with killing intent for a moment.
Cheonghwa nodded as if he had expected that.
But he didn't even ask for my opinion.
He seemed to think it was a given that I would fight.
"I would prefer it if you matched me with someone else."
"Why?"
Cheonghwa asked in an openly disappointed tone.
It seemed like he was expecting something from me, but I had to let him know that whatever he was expecting, I didn't have it.
"I have never learned a single move of martial arts."
"Did my Saje not teach you the Three Powers Fist and the Three Powers Mental Method?"
"As you know, Sagong Hyeon over there is the young sect leader of a Central Plains sect. I am nothing more than the son of a mere farmer. I have absolutely nothing to gain from this fight."
"I am simply trying to gauge your talent, so do not worry."
Cheonghwa stared at me intently before continuing.
"Naturally, Young Master Sagong will know that and hold back, and if a dangerous situation arises, I will step in to stop it."
"You do not need to worry, Jinin. Since my peer has only recently started learning the mental method, I will also fight without using internal qi."
Sagong Hyeon smiled.
Cheonghwa nodded in satisfaction.
"...No."
I tried to say more but clamped my mouth shut.
From behind, Cheonghyeon was glaring at me as if he wanted to eat me alive.
He seemed to think his face was lost because I had talked back to his Sahyung, who was like the sky to him.
There was no way to get out of this.
I reluctantly nodded.
Because it wasn't as if I had prepared absolutely nothing.
In fact, this could actually turn out for the best.
"Then I will do so."
"You made a good choice."
Only then did Cheonghwa relax his expression and nod.
I sluggishly walked out and stood on the training ground.
Unlike me, Sagong Hyeon took the stance of the Three Powers Fist.
As expected, his stance alone showed traces of having learned martial arts.
With his thick forearms and thighs that resembled a stallion, he couldn't even be compared to a soft, greasy lump like me.
"I'll go easy on you, so relax your expression."
Sagong Hyeon spoke to me in a friendly tone.
Since it seemed I was receiving Cheonghwa's attention, he was even pretending to be close to me.
He was a disgusting guy from head to toe.
"Let's begin."
At the same time as Cheonghwa's words, Sagong Hyeon lunged forward.
The look in Sagong Hyeon's eyes as he rushed toward me held absolutely no intention of going easy.
There was only one chance.
Fortunately, Sagong Hyeon was underestimating me.
Because he was underestimating me, he was charging straight at me without any probing.
I pulled out the pouch at my waist and vigorously threw its contents in front of me.
The sand that had filled the pouch scattered, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Ugh!"
Flustered by my sudden action, Sagong Hyeon's speed decreased.
However, since he was already running at full speed, he couldn't stop.
Sagong Hyeon took the sand directly to the face.
"...What in the world!"
I heard the furious voice of Cheonghyeon Jinin, who had been watching.
I knew.
I knew that this was something only the Unorthodox Faction would do, and something that absolutely should not be done in the Wudang Sect, the pinnacle of the Orthodox Faction.
But I wanted to deal a blow to the pig who had beaten me down in my past life, and if I got kicked out because they found fault with this, I would actually be thankful.
"You crazy bastard!"
In this sudden situation, Sagong Hyeon couldn't contain his anger either.
He seemed to have momentarily forgotten that Cheonghwa and Cheonghyeon were watching.
I had no intention of missing this opportunity.
I threw a punch at the jaw of Sagong Hyeon, who didn't know what to do with sand in his eyes.
Smack!
The sensation of striking his jaw, which wrapped perfectly around my fist, was substantial.
'Got him.'
When I was a marketplace merchant, I had gotten into many fistfights with other merchants.
We had even gotten into physical altercations to claim good spots.
Judging from that experience, no one could get back up after taking a direct hit to the jaw like this.
However, Sagong Hyeon, a martial artist, was different.
Upon getting hit by the punch, Sagong Hyeon's head whipped to the side once, but he immediately snapped his stance back and glared at me.
His eyes were red, perhaps because he forced them open.
I immediately threw another punch.
But this time, my wrist was caught by Sagong Hyeon.
In that instant, I saw the night sky, and a massive impact was delivered to the back of my head and my back.
Sagong Hyeon had grabbed my arm and thrown me, slamming me into the ground.
"Gah!"
Having crashed into the ground, I let out a groan that sounded like I was throwing up.
The strength of a martial artist who had trained his body since childhood was formidable.
Even though he threw me without using internal qi, I flew about three jang.
Sagong Hyeon's anger wasn't over.
He was running toward me again after throwing me.
His tightly clenched fists were filled with the burning desire to beat me to a pulp.
They say a person's body awakens when faced with a crisis.
Feeling like I wouldn't escape unscathed if I just lay there, I sprang up.
And although it was clumsy, I took the stance of the Three Powers Fist.
I hadn't even paid attention when Cheonghyeon was explaining it, but right now, this was the only thing I could rely on.
"Damn it."
Relying on my hazy memory, I executed the footwork.
But suddenly, contrary to my expectations, my feet moved incredibly smoothly.
In my memory, my feet had never moved like this before.
A fist traced a semicircular trajectory and rushed toward me.
Without realizing it, I jerked my body backward.
The fist brushed right past the bridge of my nose.
Normally, if I bent back this far, I should have fallen over backward, but unlike my mind, my body didn't lose its balance and established its stance once again.
"You little!"
Perhaps feeling provoked, Sagong Hyeon began to take a different stance.
Judging from the unfamiliar stance, it seemed he was about to use his family's martial arts rather than the Three Powers Fist, which he hadn't fully mastered yet.
Immediately, a storm of kicks poured down.
We had learned the Three Powers Fist, not the Three Powers Kick.
That was his family's martial arts, just as I expected.
With a single kick, he aimed to strike my shin, solar plexus, and nose.
I moved my body left and right, dodging those kicks.
As my movements kept up, my eyes also grew accustomed to Sagong Hyeon's speed.
No, since my eyeballs were also part of my body, was it natural for them to read his movements?
'I can see the trajectory.'
Did this make any sense?
Sagong Hyeon must have learned martial arts from the time he took his first steps, just like children from other martial families.
There was no way it was possible to read the trajectory of such a person.
I had experienced a few fights in my past life as well, but this sensation was a first.
Only then did my thoughts reach the Martial Talent Shop.
What I had bought was definitely Agile Movements.
'What kind of magic is this?'
Could I have suddenly changed just because of that one thing?
It was unbelievable by common sense.
Then again, coins suddenly disappearing didn't make sense either...
"Eek!"
As I continued to dodge Sagong Hyeon's attacks, a venomous glint even appeared in his eyes.
A faint blue light hovered around Sagong Hyeon's foot.
Now he was even using internal qi.
Bang!
As Sagong Hyeon's heel struck the ground, dirt flew and the earth cracked.
Mixed with internal qi, he became stronger and faster.
I barely managed to roll my body to dodge it.
A handful of sand got into my clothes, but I didn't even care about something like that.
Immediately, Sagong Hyeon reached out toward me with his hands formed into claws.
"Stop!"
I blinked, and the back of a person wearing a blue Daoist robe appeared before my eyes.
It was Cheonghwa Jinin.
"To use internal qi against someone who has not learned martial arts. I could not stand by and watch this any longer."
"He was the one who fought cowardly first!"
Sagong Hyeon raised his voice in protest out of a sense of injustice.
Right behind him, Cheonghyeon let out a furious roar.
"Who do you think you are raising your voice in front of right now!"
No matter how much Cheonghyeon had the weakest martial arts in the 'Cheong' generation, that was only within the 'Cheong' generation.
The internal organs of my body felt like they were shaking from Cheonghyeon's loud shout infused with internal qi.
It must have been the same for Sagong Hyeon, as his body flinched.
"Saje, it is fine. This child's words are not wrong. That is why I have no intention of holding you accountable. However, it is a taboo to use internal qi against someone who has none. Hwi-young throwing sand at the start was something the Unorthodox Faction would do, but using internal qi against someone without it is something not even the Unorthodox Faction would do."
Cheonghwa spoke in a stern voice.
Come to think of it, there was such an unwritten rule.
Of course, there were scoundrels who didn't follow it, but those people became objects of contempt for showing off their martial arts to commoners.
Sagong Hyeon ground his teeth and glared at me.
The sand I had thrown was still stuck around his eyes.
Seeing him glare at me as if he wanted to kill me even though his eyes must be stinging, he clearly wanted to beat me up quite badly.
But what could he do?
Right now, there was a person named Cheonghwa between me and Sagong Hyeon.
I rolled my eyes back to mock him.
"Mok Hwi-young."
Cheonghwa suddenly turned around toward me.
I immediately returned my rolling eyes to normal.
"Yes."
"You have failed to uphold the dignity that a person of Wudang must possess. It is unacceptable for a disciple of the Wudang Sect to throw sand and perform the Lazy Donkey Roll in a spar."
The Lazy Donkey Roll seemed to refer to when I rolled my body on the ground.
Then again, the Orthodox Faction was particular about many things.
If one's life was in immediate danger, wouldn't they have to roll on the ground to survive?
Of course, since it wasn't the situation to say such a thing right now, I just kept my head bowed.
"I apologize."
"I will think of a suitable punishment for you. Wait for it."
"...Yes. I understand."
I bowed my head, pretending to reflect on my actions as much as possible.
Would a suitable punishment mean expulsion?
It probably would.
Because there was no place that valued face as much as the Nine Great Sects and One Union.
I hoped a decision would be made quickly.
Anyway, the fight was satisfying.
I had landed a punch on Sagong Hyeon's jaw, and I had even achieved my goal of getting on the Wudang Sect's bad side.
"Go back."
I went back alongside Sagong Hyeon.
Sagong Hyeon stuck close to me and murmured in a voice swirling with killing intent.
"I will kill you."
That voice contained an indescribable sense of injustice and anger.
I felt so exhilarated by that clear emotion that I ended up bursting into laughter.
Sagong Hyeon's gaze grew even more vicious.
Feeling self-conscious, I looked back and saw that Cheonghwa was expressionless, while Cheonghyeon was glaring at me as if he wanted to eat me alive.
<><><>
Just as Mok Hwi-young had expected, Cheonghwa was holding expectations for him.
They had accepted lay disciples over several terms up until now, but he was the first fellow to do business with the main mountain disciples.
He had held onto the expectation that this cleverness might perhaps be displayed in martial arts.
"We must kick that bastard out immediately!"
His Saje, Cheonghyeon, erupted in a roar of anger.
"To fill a pouch with sand and throw it. Does this not mean he had prepared that from the very beginning?"
"Did Sagong Hyeon not use internal qi as well?"
"We can at least take into consideration that it stemmed from anger. Is that the same as a fellow who intentionally brought it out from the start?"
That was true.
Cheonghwa let out a bitter smile.
In reality, the person who was most disappointed when he scattered the sand was none other than Cheonghwa.
To think he was preparing such a cowardly trick.
Even from the stance he took beforehand, not a single hair of martial talent could be felt.
"Still, we must keep an eye on him. Did you not see it as well? That child's movements."
"...Hah."
Cheonghyeon still seemed to find Mok Hwi-young displeasing, but he could not deny Cheonghwa's words.
Cheonghyeon and Cheonghwa were martial artists.
They could tell at a glance whether the child in front of them had trained in martial arts or not.
It was likely the truth that Mok Hwi-young hadn't even learned a single move of martial arts.
Because in reality, there were absolutely no calluses on his hands, and his body was incredibly soft.
However, the movements Mok Hwi-young showed after throwing the sand were astonishing.
They were swift movements that absolutely could not be seen from someone who hadn't learned martial arts.
If he had thrown a punch from there, it would have been perfect Three Powers Fist.
To think he could show movements befitting the Three Powers Fist taught the day before yesterday without having learned martial arts.
It was a talent that even Cheonghwa, who had abundant experience in the Jianghu, was seeing for the first time.
"If he showed those movements without having learned any martial arts at all, he is a tremendous martial talent."
"Could he have perhaps learned at least a lightfoot technique?"
"We would have known if he did."
Cheonghyeon tightly clamped his mouth shut.
Mok Hwi-young had definitely not learned any martial arts.
Even if Sagong Hyeon had ordinary martial talent, he was someone who had trained in martial arts for over ten years.
Dodging the punches and kicks of such a person held great significance.
"Saje. Could you perhaps let me join in on managing the lay disciples as well?"
"Excuse me?"
"It is because I am curious."
At Cheonghwa's gaze, Cheonghyeon made an awkward expression.
"It is a bit awkward to say this, but two people seem excessive for the task of being in charge of lay disciples. Do you not frequently set out into the Jianghu as well, Sahyung?"
"That is why I will only go and watch when I have the time. I will not particularly interfere with your work."
"...I will try speaking to the Elders about it."
"Good. As expected of my Saje."
"But did you not say you would hand down a punishment to Mok Hwi-young?"
"Ah, right. What should I give him?"
Cheonghyeon clicked his tongue.
Cheonghwa did not have the solemn face of one handing down a punishment, but the pleased face of one intending to give a reward.