I Am the Youngest Disciple of the Martial Arts World’s Mastermind
Chapter 7
Chapter 7
I am the Youngest Disciple of the Murim’s Hidden Mastermind
Episode 7
As my face rapidly turned pale, Danhwi, who was standing behind me, clutched his stomach and burst out laughing.
“Pwahaha! You actually fell for that!”
Danhwi slapped the physician on the back while laughing, but the physician remained standing as still as a stone statue.
“…….”
Thank you, Mister. If even you had laughed, my face would have exploded from embarrassment….
As I squeezed my eyes shut, Master spoke in a light tone.
“You needn’t worry about such things.”
“Huh?”
“If you play your cards right, you’ll achieve great success.”
Which means….
Since I had gained some confidence in my martial talent because of my running, I quickly asked.
“Actually, I felt a bit cold at night… Am I an Extreme Yin Body?”
“Where on earth do you hear such things… No, never mind. I suppose you’ll say you heard it from the Beggars’ Sect again?”
“Hehe.”
Yes! It must be an Extreme Yin Body.
If things go well, I might become a genius of ice techniques.
I grinned, imagining myself freezing the public enemies of the Murim with the chilling ultimate techniques of ice arts.
Of course, the me in my imagination was fully grown, possessing a long, well-trained body instead of these short limbs.
“Hehehe.”
However, as Master watched me grin, he said something completely unexpected.
“You’re not.”
“…Pardon?”
“I said you aren’t. An Extreme Yin Body.”
I’m not? What a shame….
“Th-then… Ah. Am I an Extreme Yang Body instead?”
I remembered my insides boiling when I ran. It must be that.
But Master cut through my delusions once again with a sharp blow.
“No.”
My voice began to tremble more and more.
“Th-then, a Heavenly Martial Body…?”
Master wore a benevolent smile.
“You have big dreams. Indeed, one should dream big. Though it is literally just a dream.”
“…….”
So this is what it feels like to be struck by words.
“Ahahaha, ha! Look at the kid’s expression.”
Danhwi was practically rolling on the floor laughing. I hate him.
Is it really none of them?
“Then….”
I was about to rattle off every special constitution I could think of, but realizing there would be no end to it, I scrambled to my feet.
“Then, what kind of talent do I have?!”
When I shoved my face right up to Master’s, he smirked for the first time, wearing a mischievous grin just like Danhwi’s. He then pressed his finger against my forehead, pushing me back into my seat.
“You are ab~solutely nothing.”
“…Wh-a-at?!”
That can’t be right.
I rubbed my forehead with a long face.
Darn it. He just pushed me, so why does it hurt so much?
No. Maybe it’s not my forehead that hurts, but my heart.
Eventually, by the time tears were welling up in my eyes, I asked.
“Really…? I’m, like, super fast… so people said I’d definitely be good at martial arts….”
“I know what kind of fantasies you had, but you simply have a healthy and sturdy body. You look to be about eight years old. Hyeonhak examined you well. If you eat well, sleep well, and train well, that is the path to great success.”
As if to emphasize his point, Master kept muttering, ‘Being healthy is the best.’
But I couldn’t take those grandfatherly words at face value. Because….
“…Why does my stomach boil every time I run fast, and why do I go from hot to cold? What’s the reason for that then?”
“…….”
Suddenly, Master fell silent.
Even Danhwi, who had been laughing his head off, read the atmosphere and instantly went quiet.
…What is it? Was it really a terminal illness?
Caught up in the tension, I shut my mouth and swallowed hard.
The surroundings fell into an absolute silence.
Master spoke softly.
“There is one peculiar thing.”
“What is it…?”
When I asked in a trembling voice, Master chose his words for a long moment before speaking lowly.
“You have inner energy in a body that doesn’t even have a dantian. It’s stuffed full, like a pig.”
“…Pardon?”
A pig?
But there was something even more baffling than that.
“…I-I don’t know much, so….”
“Speak.”
“How do I have inner energy…?”
And enough of it to be called a pig? A dantian is the vessel that stores inner energy. The size of the dantian often determines how much power one can accumulate. That is why the dantian is often compared to a ‘vessel’ and inner energy to ‘water.’
However….
If there’s no vessel, the water just spills onto the floor.
‘How can there be inner energy in a body without a dantian…?’
As I stared at him with questioning eyes, Master let go of the wrist he was holding and pressed his finger firmly just above my navel.
“Ugh.”
“Feel it.”
Considering the lower dantian is generally said to be below that, it was a completely different position.
“Here.”
Master spoke while pressing down on a child’s protruding belly.
“A massive amount of true qi is seething and boiling here. When you unconsciously draw upon it, because it is true qi that hasn’t been stabilized in a dantian, your body will fluctuate between hot and cold, causing you pain.”
“So that’s why…!”
That was why I fainted.
Master drove the point home with his next words.
“If you can accept this into a dantian, you might indeed achieve great success.”
“……!”
Really?
It wasn’t the special physical constitution I had expected, but I had learned something that might be even better.
“Did you pick up and swallow a dragon pearl somewhere?”
“I’m not sure….”
Since I had never swallowed a dragon pearl, only the original owner of this body would know the truth of the matter.
“But it’s a good thing, right?”
So for now, I just gave a silly grin.
The knowledge that more inner energy is better is something even an eight-year-old would know.
Countless people in the jianghu are willing to throw away gold and jewels or even risk their lives to obtain spirit medicines, and the purpose of those medicines is usually to increase one’s inner energy.
Just then, the physician, who had been watching, spoke for the first time.
“…Did you know?”
Master shook his head.
“Of course not. This is the first time I’ve seen such a case as well.”
Then, he looked me straight in the eye and said.
“You might not have known before, but as you learn martial arts and gradually draw this out, you will surely become prominent in the jianghu. Are you prepared?”
“Uh….”
What is he talking about? I’m going to live tucked away in Master’s robes….
But since I couldn’t give that answer right now, I just smiled brightly and said.
“Yes!”
Master nodded and replied.
“That’s a relief. If it became known in the jianghu that you harbor such pure inner energy, you would surely be kidnapped by those who take inner energy through human sacrifice, have your energy drained, and be killed.”
“…….”
Pardon?
My facial muscles froze mid-smile.
Master smiled faintly with an innocent face, as if he had never said such a terrifying thing.
“I’m glad to hear you’re prepared. As you said, you’ll have to work hard to survive.”
Master…?
As my eyes began to shake uncontrollably, the physician spoke softly.
“Your jokes are quite mischievous.”
“…….”
It’s a joke, right?
When I looked at Master with desperate eyes, only then did he ease my worries with a clear voice.
“Well, do not worry needlessly. You just need to train hard in martial arts from now on and become a powerhouse who won’t be kidnapped. The Demonic Cult’s law of the survival of the fittest isn’t always wrong.”
I immediately bowed my head.
“Thank you, Master!”
“Master?”
“……?”
I raised my head awkwardly and looked at him.
“Yes, Master…?”
“I haven’t accepted a child as my disciple yet.”
“Wh-a-at?!”
You haven’t accepted me?
That’s why you, like, checked my pulse, examined my body, and gave me words of encouragement about achieving great success.
When I asked with wide eyes, Master said with a shameless face, without a single change in expression.
“You haven’t taken the entrance exam yet.”
“An exam…?”
A real exam for an eight-year-old who only has a bit of inner energy and doesn’t even know the first thing about martial arts?
As I looked at him with disbelief, Master said calmly.
“In truth, my mind hasn’t changed much from the beginning. This is not a suitable place for a child to stay. You are too young, and it would be safer not to reveal that peculiar constitution of yours.”
“…….”
At his firm voice, I reflexively lowered my head.
Thinking about it again…. It would be bothersome and annoying to protect me from groups like the Demonic Cult that steal inner energy from people through methods like Yin-Harvesting.
Then, unexpected words reached my ears.
“So, you decide.”
“Pardon?”
Master spoke in a gentle voice, no different from the beginning.
“This is Cheongsanbong, one of the seven peaks of Hyeongak. Leave the Medical Hall, look around the outside, and judge for yourself if you can endure it. Then, go and greet those who will become your senior brothers, and I shall formally take you as my disciple.”
“……!”
Finally, the words that he would take me as a disciple came directly from Master’s mouth.
There were difficult steps, but considering I’m making the Murim’s hidden mastermind my master, this was a bargain in terms of both time and effort!
Unable to control the beaming smile on my face, I nodded my head vigorously.
“Yes!!”
