## Chapter 56 – (7)
The five representatives for the Cheonseon Battle against the Cheonmu Academy were decided, and a week had passed.
Poong-woon, me, Seol-young, Jeong-seon, and Namgoong Hyeok, the number two from the training hall who lost to me.
These were the five.
In the end, none of the senior students earned the right to participate.
Ironically, the person who grew the most during this week was Poong-woon, who was already strong enough.
“So… you were trying to catch a two-headed snake, fell off a cliff, found an unknown cave, and that turned out to be the tomb of the Sword King from the past?”
“Yeah, haha, it’s really a stroke of luck.”
Well, it was a stroke of luck.
The inner core of a mythical creature called a two-headed snake, a martial arts manual from the Sword King, and even a thousand-year-old wild ginseng from the tomb.
I had no choice but to admit that Poong-woon was the protagonist of this martial arts novel.
Seriously, which martial arts novel would give you two lucky breaks at the same time?
I felt like the gap between Poong-woon and me had narrowed a lot, but now it had widened again.
“Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything to cure Seol-young’s illness, though.”
To want even more than that, he really was protagonist material.
In other words, he had no shame.
For reference, Seol-young herself told the five participants in the martial arts competition and Instructor Cheol-woong about her illness.
That was the only way to make them understand that Seol-young couldn’t use ice techniques.
It was an unavoidable choice.
Anyway, Poong-woon’s lucky break was more significant than I had expected.
I had to master this Solar Heart Sutra as soon as possible, just in case.
Now that Poong-woon knew about Seol-young’s illness, he might encounter another lucky break and find a way to cure her.
As always, after finishing training with Poong-woon, I returned to my dorm room and sighed.
Even with Jeong-seon’s help, I didn’t expect the level of the Solar Heart Sutra to be so difficult to raise.
Of course, I knew it well.
My growth rate so far had been abnormally fast, and the current rate was normal.
Nevertheless, I was greedy.
“They say too much is as bad as too little. Even if you don’t rush, you should be able to master it within a year.”
Jeong-seon, who had heard my concerns, said that to me.
A year.
If other martial artists heard that, they would all be speechless.
Mastering an extremely Yang internal energy technique in just one year.
But that wasn’t what mattered to me.
[Remaining Time: 2 months, 3 weeks]
I don’t know what this remaining time means.
Whether it’s the period in which Poong-woon will cure Seol-young,
Or the time it will take for Seol-young’s condition to worsen to the worst.
If it was the former, it would be fine, but if I thought about the latter, I had to raise the level of the Heart Sutra as quickly as possible.
“…Did you learn that Solar Heart Sutra because of Seol-young?”
I nodded at Jeong-seon’s sharp question.
Then Jeong-seon’s lips pouted.
“Everyone is head over heels for Seol-young… Is it because of her pale skin and big boobs?”
There were plenty of other reasons besides those, but those two were definitely significant.
“Sigh…”
I smiled bitterly at Jeong-seon’s words.
If you’re a man, there’s no way you wouldn’t know why you’re falling for Seol-young.
I guess it’s natural that she doesn’t understand since her preferences are in that direction.
And then, there was a knock on the door.
But no one ever visited us at this hour, after all the work was done.
“…Instructor Cheol-woong?”
I called out the name of the most likely person, but there was no response.
Instead of answering, the person on the other side of the door quickly slipped a folded note under the door and disappeared with hurried footsteps.
To suddenly give me a neatly folded note and disappear on this moonlit night.
It was definitely a love letter or a threatening letter.
Then, Jeong-seon casually picked up the paper and started reading it.
“Aha…”
Then, she smiled strangely and nodded.
“I found it, a way to raise the level of the Solar Heart Sutra faster.”
“What? No, how?”
I asked, flustered by Jeong-seon’s words.
She must have received the method through that note.
Who on earth delivered that note, and how did the person who delivered the note know that method?
Everything was full of things I didn’t understand.
Jeong-seon smiled awkwardly and asked me.
“…Okay, then I’ll tell you. But everything I’m about to say is our secret, okay?”
“…”
I nodded with a serious expression, keeping my mouth shut.
Then, as if satisfied, Jeong-seon began to speak.
“I actually lived in the back alleys.”
Back alleys?
Does that mean she’s a thief… or from the Beggars’ Sect?
Since I didn’t have basic knowledge about this world, I tried to understand the meaning of Jeong-seon’s words with a puzzled expression.
“Have you heard of a Giru?”
Giru.
It was a place where women called Ginyo danced or poured drinks for guests, entertaining them.
…Depending on the place, they also did more intimate things.
“My mother was a Ginyo belonging to a Giru.”
It was a somewhat deep story.
I didn’t expect such a story to come out of nowhere, so I didn’t answer rashly and just listened to Jeong-seon’s words calmly.
“Then, my mother met my father, who was a famous master, and gave birth to me.”
Her vast internal energy was also a legacy of that master.
At first, I thought she would leave the Giru after meeting a master.
But they couldn’t reveal that a famous Taoist from a Taoist sect was visiting a Giru and even had a child.
In the end, her mother had to take care of her and raise her in the Giru.
She said that she received support from her father, but she couldn’t see his face.
The only bond she had with her father was receiving and training in the secret manual of the internal energy technique that her father gave her.
“…”
I had a slightly troubled expression.
I didn’t know how to react to this kind of story.
It was even more difficult to react because Jeong-seon’s expression was calm while she was talking.
Her father’s support wasn’t just manuals or money.
Later, for some reason, the owner of the Giru gave her mother her position, and her mother became the owner of the Giru.
At the same time, she said that she got another job when she became the owner.
“…Another job?”
She was in the position of owner, so why would she need another job?
I was wondering about that.
Then, Jeong-seon mentioned an unexpected name.
“Yeah, have you heard of the Hao Clan?”
“…”
I’ve heard of it.
It was an information organization that had as much information as the Beggars’ Sect, as it appeared in many martial arts novels.
Like the Beggars’ Sect, it was an organization that listened to and collected information from various places using its position, and bought and sold information.
The difference was that the Beggars’ Sect consisted of countless beggars, and the Hao Clan consisted of the most undervalued professions.
Among them were coachmen, boatmen, servers, porters, and Ginyo.
Another difference from the Beggars’ Sect was that the Hao Clan was not a very strong organization in terms of martial power, despite handling countless information.
Considering that there were some masters with tremendous martial power in the Beggars’ Sect, even if they were only a part of it, the Hao Clan was closer to a pure information organization.
Another reason why Jeong-seon’s martial arts were lacking compared to her internal energy was here.
If she had learned martial arts from her father since she was young, or even obtained a martial arts manual, she might have been at Cheonmu Academy by now.
“Then that note…”
“Yeah, I got it from the Hao Clan.”
“…How did they come all the way here to deliver it?”
“The Hao Clan is everywhere.”
“…”
Those words didn’t feel like a lie at all.
“…Okay, what’s the method?”
Now that I knew the source of the information, it was my turn to ask about the method.
“What’s your ideal type?”
“…Suddenly?”
I thought it didn’t fit the timing, but she said it was important for training in the Solar Heart Sutra, so I answered.
“What’s your ideal type?”
“A woman.”
I answered Jeong-seon, who was asking about my ideal type.
Jeong-seon delved a little deeper, as if she wasn’t satisfied with the answer.
“Do you like all women? Be specific and honest.”
“…If possible, a woman who likes someone other than me.”
“Hmm… that’s difficult.”
It wasn’t a lie.
I had a bizarre fetish for getting more excited when targeting women who liked someone other than me.
But why is Jeong-seon saying this to me?
“Still, that’s a relief, it’s not that difficult.”
Swish.
I heard the sound of skin and cloth rubbing together.
It sounded like she was taking off her clothes.
“What are you…!”
I was horrified and turned my head.
I didn’t want to see a man undressing.
What is it, is she trying to take advantage of me in exchange for giving me information?
Cold sweat ran down my spine.
“There was a master who visited a certain Giru before. That master had extremely Yang internal energy.”
She was saying something, but I couldn’t concentrate.
Because in between those words, I heard the sound of clothes being taken off and the sound of clothes falling to the floor with a thud.
Should I subdue her with force?
“That person said that they came to the Giru for training.”
“…For training?”
What does a Giru have to do with training?
Was it just an excuse to play with women?
Maybe…
Is it because the Giru is a place full of Yin energy?
No, maybe it could be seen as a place full of both Yin and Yang energy at the same time.
Once I thought about it that way.
It seemed like there was no better place to acquire an extremely Yang internal energy technique.
…I don’t know what the correlation is between that and suddenly taking off her clothes.
“That person said that getting sexually aroused is a big help in training.”
“…Getting sexually aroused?”
“Yeah, they said that your own Yang energy comes out and you can hold more Yin energy?”
“…I see.”
…Could it be that the reason she took off her clothes was to sexually arouse me?
I was even more afraid when I heard that.
But Jeong-seon slowly approached me, who had turned my head.
I could hear her footsteps in my ear.
Okay, let’s fight.
Just when I was convinced that there was no other way, Jeong-seon said.
“Look, your ideal type.”
“…What?”
“A woman, and she still likes Instructor Cheol-woong a little more than you. Isn’t that your ideal type?”
When I turned my head, Jeong-seon, who had covered her chest with bandages, was looking down at me sitting down.
Jeong-seon, who had taken off her clothes, looked completely different from before.
Her slender figure and slim waist drew out the curves unique to women.
Yes, Jeong-seon’s appearance now looked like a ‘woman’.
For a moment, various emotions flashed through my mind.
In the end, there was only one thing I did.
“…Hoo…”
“…What, why are you sighing?”
Jeong-seon might feel bad, but this sigh was a sigh of relief that I was alive.
