Martial Arts Ain't Anything Special-Chapter 108: Muscle Training (4)

He could still lift it, but now the weight was noticeable.

By the time one reaches the Transcendent Realm, their body fundamentally surpasses ordinary human limits. Even a boulder of this size isn’t much of a challenge. It was a bit heavy, but still manageable.

“That was easy. Next.”

Seojun lifted a few more boulders without much trouble. But when he reached one twice his height, things changed. No matter how much he struggled, it wouldn’t budge.

“Oh god...! I’m dying!”

“Haha, you’re so weak.”

Pae Jingwang grinned and, without ceremony, jabbed his fingers into the side of the house-sized boulder, and then lifted it one-handed, as if it weighed nothing.

“This is ridiculous. Seriously.”

Boom!

The ground trembled as Pae Jingwang set the boulder down. Frustrated, Seojun placed a hand on it.

“But with inner qi, even this is nothing.”

He activated his light body technique to reduce the weight, then used the principle of absorption on his palm.

The boulder stuck to Seojun’s palm and was lifted instantly.

This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.

Pae Jingwang’s expression soured completely.

“You little brat, what kind of rotten mindset is that? Hmm? Even the ladies are working hard over there.”

Seojun turned his head slightly. Sure enough, Chunbong and Namgung Suah were both struggling to lift boulders.

Though he seemed like a frivolous old man, this was training under a man with the title of King.

Both Chunbong and Suah had wanted to participate, and Pae Jingwang had allowed it without hesitation.

This was the result.

Chunbong had managed to lift a boulder about the size of her torso, while Namgung Suah had lifted the boulder Seojun had given up on over her head, albeit with some difficulty.

“Wait, big sis...? How are you lifting that?”

Boom!

Suah set the boulder down, her face glistening with sweat, but she smiled broadly.

“I did some external training at the clan.”

“Oh...”

She’s stronger than me...? Even without inner qi?

“Essence” didn’t just refer to physical strength, it was more than that. But still.

I’m weaker than big sis?

Seojun’s expression stiffened as he understood the gravity of the situation.

“No, seriously...?”

This was unacceptable. A matter of pride.

Without warning, he dropped onto the ground and planted his right elbow down.

“Big sis, come here.”

“Huh...?”

Suah blinked in confusion, but when Seojun gestured, she hesitantly lay opposite him and placed her hand in his.

An arm-wrestling match.

Pae Jingwang squeezed his eyes shut.

“Do you really have to be this pathetic?”

“Old man, shut up for a sec. This is serious.”

Seojun locked eyes with Suah. Their faces were close. She flushed slightly.

“Big sis, do this seriously. If you go easy on me, I’ll seriously cry.”

“Fufu, alright.”

Chunbong, who was watching from the side with mild amusement, acted as the referee.

“Ready... Begin!”

Crunch!

The veins in Seojun’s arm bulged. He was sincerely putting in all his strength.

Suah didn’t hold back either. That was exactly what Seojun wanted.

It didn’t even take a few seconds for the result to emerge.

Tap.

Without any unexpected twists, Seojun’s hand hit the ground as it was pushed down.

“...”

Seojun stared blankly at his own hand.

“Pfft...!”

A stifled laugh. Seojun’s eyes slowly shifted to Chunbong.

“Pffft...! W-Why are you looking at me like that?”

“H-How could you...”

“Hehehehe...!”

Chunbong finally burst into open laughter. Seojun’s heart shattered.

Moving in slow motion, he rose to his feet and turned to Pae Jingwang, his eyes void of life.

“...Fine. I’ll just have to do it. I’ll just do it.”

“Th-That’s... right.”

Pae Jingwang, momentarily at a loss for words, had never imagined a display of defeat this pitiful.

But Seojun was dead serious.

“Everyone’s just fucking dead today...!”

Serious Mode: Lee Seojun. Activate!

*“Ack... Agh...”

Seojun lay sprawled on the ground, gasping like a dying.

At some point during training, he’d considered creating a muscle-pumping martial art to forcibly stimulate muscle growth. But external training wasn’t just about building mass.

It was about developing the muscles through the training process, so unless one wanted to create flashy, useless muscles, it was better to avoid just making something like that.

Besides, if he really wanted to use inner qi to create strength, he might as well just rely on inner qi directly.

Pae Jingwang looked down at him in utter disgust.

“You’ve lost your damn mind.”

The sleeves of his martial garment had shifted slightly, revealing his blackened arms. His legs and waist were probably in a similar state.

He had pushed through without rest, despite his muscles tearing and blood vessels rupturing. This was the result.

What kind of person is he?

Can normal people train until their body reaches this state? Not to mention the pain, how can he even exert any more strength in that condition?

Pae Jingwang was genuinely curious. But, to his disbelief, Seojun soon sat up as if nothing had happened.

“Oh god, I’m dying...”

“If you’re this reckless on the first day, what are you gonna do tomorrow?”

“This is nothing.”

Ptooey!

Seojun spat out blood-streaked saliva and dusted off his clothes.

This much would heal after a short rest anyway. Even a severed neck could be reattached with inner qi within a few days, so this was hardly an issue.

“Seojun, are you sure you’re okay?”

Namgung Suah supported him. Chunbong, stomping lightly in frustration, hesitated before grabbing his sleeve.

“B-Big brother... Is it because I teased you earlier? I just laughed because the situation was funny...”

Now that he was being fussed over, Seojun felt a little embarrassed.

Haven’t they heard my head was cut off once and put back just fine?

Compared to that, this was nothing. But with everyone looking so worried, he felt like he should at least pretend to be in pain.

“Ow, owww...!”

Chunbong’s expression turned skeptical at his poor acting.

“Yeah, no. He’s definitely fine...”

“What!”

“Sigh... You scared me for nothing. Come on, let’s just get some rest. Watching this hurts more than anything.”

The moment she looked relieved, though, Seojun felt a bit of disappointment.

“Hmph.”

Stretching once, he waved lazily at Pae Jingwang.

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow, old man.”

“...Mm. That’s the spirit!”

Accepting things as they were, Pae Jingwang grinned and waved back.

“Let’s increase the weight tomorrow!”

“Are you seriously fucking insane?”

Seojun raised his middle finger.

*After bathing, the group gathered in one room.

“Ta-da.”

Seojun took out coffee beans. Recognizing them, Namgung Suah’s eyes widened slightly, her blue irises peeking through.

“Oh my, coffee? Where did you get it?”

“Hidden Sword in Darkness? That person gave it to me.”

Chunbong’s head snapped up.

“The hell? Who?”

“Hidden Sword in Darkness. You know her?”

“How could I not? She’s a famous assassin who took down even Transcendent Realm experts.”

“Oh... so she was actually famous.”

A famous assassin. What a strange resonance.

As Seojun was secretly impressed, Chunbong squinted at the coffee beans inside the bottle.

“So what is this?”

“Haha, my dear Chunbong. You mean to tell me... you don’t know coffee? You’ve been missing out on half of life.”

“Aren’t these just beans?”

Seojun clicked his tongue at Chunbong’s reaction.

“Miss Geum, this is no ordinary item.”

“What...!”

“I’m giving it only to you, so don’t tell anyone else.”

“Mmm! My lips are sealed!”

Namgung Suah tilted her head, watching the little skit unfold.

Seojun, satisfied, smoothly wrapped it up and examined the glass bottle.

Something resembling a barcode was engraved on the glass. Thin bars, neatly spaced, with numbers beneath them.

12471993325461607

What the hell? A barcode?

At this point, he was starting to question how Westerners lived.

Maybe I should go on a tour later?

But that was for later. For now—

Seojun opened the glass bottle with excitement.

“Ohhh...!”

A rich, subtle coffee aroma wafted into the air. Chunbong’s eyes sparkled.

“It smells goood!”

“This is absolutely amazing.”

As Seojun grinned, Chunbong, curious as always, reached in, grabbed a coffee bean, and popped it straight into her mouth.

“Oh, dear.”

“Bleh...!?”

Her eyes went wide as she immediately spat it out.

“Pffft...! Wh-What is this...! You said it was delicious...!”

“Miss Geum, who the hell eats raw coffee beans?”

“You should’ve told me sooner...!”

“Hmm.”

Seojun had many things to say. But since it was Chunbong, he decided to let it slide.

Instead, he pulled out thin paper filters and ceramic cups he had prepared in advance.

“Chunbong, hold this for me.”

“Like this?”

“Yes.”

Chunbong held the cone-shaped folded paper with both hands.

Seojun heated the water with yang qi and then poured a little over the filter to remove any paper taste. Then, he crushed the coffee beans and piled them generously into the filter.

“Perfect.”

Then, slowly, he poured the hot water, maintaining a steady stream.

Not that he actually knew much about brewing, but he’d seen people pour in circles before so he just decided to copy that.

Soon, a rich, dark liquid dripped into the ceramic cup below.

“Oh, ohhh...”

Chunbong let out a small gasp of admiration.

“The smell is really nice. Will it taste like scorched rice tea?”

“Maybe...?”

Once enough coffee had been brewed for three cups, they gathered around and picked up their cups.

“Come on, cheers!”

“Fufu, it’s been a while since I’ve had coffee.”

“This is really delicious, right?”

Seojun nodded firmly at Chunbong’s suspicious expression.

“Don’t you trust me?”

“I really do trust you?”

“It’s delicious, I promise.”

Lifting his cup first, Seojun took a deep breath. The familiar aroma of coffee soothed his mind and body.

“Mmm.”

To think he would be drinking coffee in the martial world of all places...

Slurp.

The moment he took a sip, his body trembled.

Hidden Sword in Darkness. Was her alias Yehwa?

Her personality matched the coffee, it was quite acidic.

As the complex flavors spread through his mouth, he couldn’t tell if he was in the martial world or the modern world.

“Wow... This is the good stuff...”

“The aroma is nice. It must be quite good beans. Hidden Sword in Darkness gave it to you?”

“Yeah. She said she liked me, so she gave me some.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Namgung Suah sipped her coffee elegantly. Chunbong, seemingly reassured, finally gave in.

“Hehe.”

Excited by the idea of tasting something new and delicious, Chunbong took a big sip.

“Pffft...!”

And immediately spat it out.

“Bitter! It’s so bitter...!”

Completely soaked with coffee blended with Chunbong’s saliva, Seojun smiled gently.

“My Chunbong is still too young for this.”

“You said I could trust you...! Liar!”

“I thought you were all grown up. But I guess... not quite yet.”

At those words, Chunbong’s body stiffened. Then she took another sip, just enough to wet her lips.

“A-After drinking a bit... it kinda tastes good...?”

Her brows furrowed deeply, but she didn’t stop.

Seojun chuckled.

“If you don’t like it, give it to me. I’ll finish it for you.”

“Hmph, it’s mine!”

And so, stubbornly, Chunbong finished the entire cup in tiny sips.

...Technically, it was only half a cup, since she’d spat out the first half.

But still.

She had consumed caffeine equivalent to half a cup of coffee...!

In the end, that night, Chunbong stayed up all night.

*Over the next few days, Seojun trained under the Fist King, feeling his body develop by the day.

The training itself was... well, brutish. It was closer to a crude form of weightlifting that involved brutalizing one’s own muscles into submission.

But in Seojun’s case, thanks to his mysterious regenerative ability, his muscles were torn apart and rebuilt over and over again at an unnatural speed.

Naturally, his rate of muscle growth was just as ridiculous.

And all this was purely for the sake of defeating Namgung Suah at arm wrestling.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—training with the Fist King didn’t take up too much time. With the remaining hours of the day, Seojun occasionally went out to mess around with Chunbong and Namgung Suah.

Then at night, he continued training alone.

Domain, sorcery, Heaven-Defying Sun-Moon Reinforced Qi, Primordial Sun-Moon Reinforced Qi, demonic transformation, Sword Form of the Emperor, Yellow Cloud Divine Sword, and sometimes Shadow Concealment Technique when he felt like it.

Endless training.

At least he was never bored.

...Wait.

Am I actually a diligent person?

Late at night, lying on the roof, Seojun suddenly sat up.

This wasn’t sustainable. He couldn’t keep living like this. Occasionally skipping out was part of a healthy life.

But it was already too late at night. At this hour, his options were:

Bothering a sleeping Geum Chunbong. Watching Geum Chunbong sleep. Sneakily touching Geum Chunbong’s cheeks.

As he looked around to see if anyone was still awake, his eyes caught sight of a light.

“...Over there.”

Seojun leapt through the air.

A cluster of brightly lit buildings stood out against the dark night. As he got closer, a peculiar scent drifted toward him.

More importantly, he could sense active qi movements.

After some quick observation, Seojun realized that this was the place where spirit pills were made.

“Oh.”

That could be interesting.

Of course, being an important facility, the security was quite strict. Even though he hadn’t been detected yet since he was hiding his presence to test his Shadow Concealment Technique, it was obvious that avoiding detection completely would be quite a real pain given the formation arrays installed there.

But who am I? The Young Master of the Namgung Clan.

Seojun boldly walked forward.

“Ah, Young Master?”

“Can I go in?”

“Hmm...”

The gatekeeper hesitated, then glanced toward someone who looked like a superior.

After rolling his eyes for a moment in thought, the man shook his head.

“I’m afraid that would be difficult without the Clan Head’s permission.”

“Ah.”

What a shame.

*The next day, after his usual training with the Fist King, Seojun proudly strolled into the Heavenly Medicine Hall with Namgung Jincheon’s permission.