Chapter 1005: All of a Sudden (Part 5)

You can't have everything. If you must obtain something, you must also be prepared to lose something.

And this moment of choice comes to everyone who seeks the advancement of their sect.

To ensure the future of the sect, disciples must be nurtured. And those who are the strongest in the sect are usually the ones who can nurture those disciples the best, no matter what anyone says.

Of course, having a high level doesn't necessarily mean that you can be a good teacher. It is because it is easy to say, "Why can't you do that?" However, generally, someone with a higher level can become a better teacher. It is in the nature of things for someone who has climbed to the top of a mountain to look down and easily show the way to those climbing up from below.

The problem is time. Time is limited.

Climbing to a high place demands a considerable price. Moreover, Mount Hua, which is a barren mountain, gets steeper the more you climb. Therefore, just maintaining your own level requires a great deal of time and effort.

Climbers who have come to such a place are usually already seasoned, so they don't easily lend a hand to their falling comrades just before reaching the top. They know that they could fall themselves if they make a wrong move.

"Ugh…."

His legs were trembling. His pupils dilated, and saliva flowed from his mouth involuntarily.

But he couldn't afford to fall.

"Try falling."

"...."

"Please, I'm looking forward to it, so please fall. I'm begging you."

Namgung Dan pushed as hard as he could into his shaky legs. However, his damned body would not listen, no matter how hard he tried to give it strength. It swayed here and there like reeds in a typhoon.

"Tsk, look at your legs giving out. You're supposed to be a swordsman, and you can't even control your own body properly."

Of course, the criticism was accurate. Ultimately, using a sword involves moving one's body accurately. To use a sword correctly, you must first be able to handle your body accurately.

But Namgung Dan also had an excuse.

'You crazy bastard! How can you… in this situation...?'

"Oh? Are you falling? Are you?"

"Ughhhhh."

Namgung Dan desperately supported his legs.

At the same time, a rock the size of a house on his back tilted dangerously.

"Annoying brats who keep talking about mental strength can't survive for long, this guy. After fighting day and night for three days, they'll end up with shaky hands, not a sword. Being a martial artist is no different from being physically fit. What helps you endure in the end is the training you've piled up over time."

"...."

"Refined swordsmanship? Profound inner energy? Those things aren't something you can discuss at your level. You can't even run properly, and you want to fly around. The first priority is just to be able to swing a sword one more time."

Namgung Dan almost unconsciously nodded his head.

If he hadn't experienced the Plum Blossom Island incident, he might have ignored Chung Myung's words as nonsense. However, he felt it on Plum Blossom Island. There was nothing wrong with what Chung Myung was saying now.

From the moment the battle had been going on for over three days, there was no swordsmanship or tactics. When something came into view, you just stabbed at it reflexively, didn't you?

Maybe this training also took that into account...

"Oh, it feels like my constipated bowels are being cleared as I watch these kids struggle. Kekekeke."

"...."

No, that couldn't be. That devilish guy would never do that.

"Ah, he's stumbling again. Give it your all."

"Ugh...."

He wanted to cry, but his eyes were so dry that not even tears came out.

"...."

Namgung Myung wiped the cold sweat from his brow as he watched the young disciples of the Namgung Family, who were struggling with large rocks.

"What...?"

A voice mixed with laughter was heard in Namgung Myung's ear as he stared in bewilderment at the scene.

"It looks like you're perplexed."

"Th-that's right. This is..."

Even Namgung Dowi, who was leading at the front, was staggering as he carried rocks that were twice as heavy as the others.

"What is this...?"

A voice, mixed with amusement as if finding it utterly perplexing, reached Namgung Myung's ears as he stared at the scene.

"It seems you're quite taken aback."

"Th-that's right. This is..."

Standing next to Namgung Myung, Un Geom nodded silently.

"It may appear to be simple torment, but this is the process that all of Mount Hua's disciples have gone through."

"...This?"

"Yes."

Un Geom added with a bitter smile.

"So please observe for now. The effect will be certain, especially since the child himself has taken the initiative."

"No..."

Namgung Myung continued to watch the training process with a face that just couldn't comprehend it. Instead of speaking more, Un Geom smiled, deciding to remain silent.

'He'll understand soon.'

And then, he would be disappointed. It was about his age, in fact. Among those who survived in Plum Blossom Island, older individuals weren't included. To begin with, those who were reasonably older were all excluded by Chung Myung.

It wasn't because it was difficult to handle them or because teaching older individuals was uncomfortable. It was because those whose bodies and spirits have become weak due to accidents and hardened bones had limitations in their progress. Taking such people along with them would only be an act of kindness but wouldn't yield significant results.

Therefore, it was more beneficial to prioritize teaching those who still had flexible bodies and minds for the future of Namgung.

'But it's not just this person who feels regret.'

If Un Geom had been born a little later, he might have been able to become even stronger than he is now.

'Really regrettable...'

"No. But this brat!"

Kwaaang!

At that moment, Chung Myung struck Namgung Dan without mercy.

"I told you to straighten your back! Your back! Can't you understand a word? Do you want to try with me now? This brat! Now even the Namgung brats are deteriorating. Get up, you brat! You have to do double today!"

"..."

No. Maybe, it was better for people to reach the right age. Especially when it came to keeping up with him.

It was the same for Mu Hak. [idk] If you didn't diligently work on yourself and constantly polished yourself, you could rust in an instant. If you went in the wrong direction, you could be hit with a disaster in the world of absolute strength.

That was why most prestigious martial arts schools paid special attention to their strongest individuals. They passed on their knowledge to only a few selected disciples, and they rarely interacted with disciples beneath them.

That was the path to glory for the martial arts school and for themselves.

Most renowned martial arts schools consisted of such a composition – a handful of absolute experts and excellent disciples supporting them, all the way up to the top of the martial arts world.

But...

"Good-for-nothing kids."

Here, here was a human who had been completely excluded from such fresh amusements.

Chung Myung gritted his teeth.

Incomprehensible... Well, it's embarrassing to say the word 'incomprehensible' when you had the Heavenly Demon. In any case, a person who had reached a level so high that he almost touched the sky and yet managed to regain an absurd amount of time, that was Chung Myung.

This was a person who had spent a lot of time not only building his martial arts but also teaching everything from scratch to young disciples who couldn't do anything about their runny noses.

In the past, the Sword Saint of Plum Blossom Island hadn't paid much attention to the lower ranks. In his eyes, who even abused his fellow brothers for not being good enough, there was no way that the people who were far below would catch his eye. What about below that?

In more straightforward terms, from Chung Myung's perspective, Mount Hua was a martial arts school filled with nothing more than rolling stones, except for the exceptionally great Cheong Mun, the clumsy Cheong Jin whose head only spun, and a few Cheongja individuals who had some usable corners.

Aside from how much he regretted that perception later…

Anyway, how did Chung Myung feel when he arrived a hundred years later and saw Mount Hua?

All he could do was to train his disciples, whom he would have paid no attention to in the past, in swordsmanship until they could compete with anyone.

So, what does this mean...?

In other words, the training that Mount Hua's disciples had been doing until now was a system created by Chung Myung, who, before the war, was the best swordsman in the Mount Hua Sect, or the best swordsman in the world, and he had entirely changed his martial arts from the ground up due to numerous actual battles with the Demon Sect.

What could you say about its efficiency?

What would other high-level monks do when they invented new martial arts for the future of their martial arts school? Chung Myung thought about how he could get even a little more talent from these losers and stupid guys who didn't understand how to use a sword with their senses when other great masters showed off their strength to the world.

Because of that, the training system he created was known for its unimaginable efficiency as long as it could endure. In just a few years, he turned Mount Hua's disciples, who couldn't even reach the level of third-class martial artists, into top-notch swordsmen.

Yes, as long as they could endure.

As long as they could endure.

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