Chapter 87

Anyway, it was impossible to secretly go and break the legs as Wang Miaoyang suggested.

“Master, I won’t tarnish the name of our sect. Please leave this matter to me.”

Since the guy and I are sworn brothers, I wanted to finish it myself.

At my persuasion, Wang Miaoyang took off her mask with a *pop* and asked a painful question with an innocent face.

“It doesn’t matter, but the Martial Alliance Leader said you’re weaker than him. Can you win alone?”

Indeed, the Snowflake Sword Technique he displayed was impressive.

The brilliant swordsmanship with sharpness hidden within its splendor, combined with the wide-ranging ice techniques of the North Sea Ice Palace.

Moreover, being a cunning guy, he must have other hidden tricks up his sleeve.

…Knowing that, Sosso and my sworn brother must be telling me not to fight.

Well, in the end, I decided to fight on my own terms.

But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with a way to beat him right now.

“Master, the Martial Alliance Leader said I’m too greedy to beat him. Do you have any solutions?”

I sought advice from my little master, Wang Miaoyang.

Personally, when I’m stuck, talking to someone else is better than agonizing alone.

It clears my head and lets me see things from another perspective, sometimes leading to unexpected solutions.

Isn’t that why we have mouths and ears? To communicate? I should use them more.

…But at my question, Wang Miaoyang’s face fell, and her already small body slumped.

“Greed… The Jeonjin Sect fell because of greed…”

“…Huh?!”

Wang Miaoyang sighed and sat down weakly on the porch near the training ground.

“Originally, the Jeonjin Sect is a Taoist sect… but marriage is allowed, and it doesn’t deny human desires.”

“…Huh? It doesn’t deny them?”

At Mantian’s question, Wang Miaoyang nodded lightly.

“The second sect leader of Jeonjin and one of the Jeonjin Seven, Ma Yu, and her sworn sister Sun Bu’er, were a couple…”

She added, blushing slightly as she explained the sect’s teachings to her disciple.

“The two of them… had a good relationship. They left behind systematic bedroom techniques and recipes for vitality pills for harmonious marital relations.”

…But since I’ve lived a life completely unrelated to such stories, it was still embarrassing.

“Don’t misunderstand the bedroom techniques. They’re not like the corrupt fake Taoists talk about. It’s about achieving harmony of energy through yin-yang interaction, strictly between couples…”

Not wanting to seem like a weird sect, she quickly defended.

“It’s about cultivating proper sexual ethics!”

“I didn’t say anything.”

If it’s interesting, it’s interesting. There’s no bad image associated with bedroom techniques, so I shrugged and calmly sat next to Wang Miaoyang.

“Master, can I learn the bedroom techniques later?”

Martial arts are about moving the body, and sexual activity is also about moving the body.

So, bedroom techniques can be considered a martial art performed by two people in harmony.

In that sense, how do they differ from regular martial arts? How should internal energy be applied? I was quite interested.

Of course, Mantian was asking for academic knowledge about the bedroom technique texts left by the Jeonjin Sect…

“?!?!?!?!?”

But to Wang Miaoyang, who was already heated, it sounded completely different.

“I-I’m your master! You’re my disciple! No dirty stuff!!”

With wide eyes and a red face, she raised her fist and gave me a knock on the head.

“Ugh?!”

Anyway, after a while, embarrassed by her own excitement.

Wang Miaoyang coughed and steered the conversation back to the teachings of the Jeonjin Sect.

“Ahem… Anyway, the Jeonjin Sect believes that desires shouldn’t be excessive, but it doesn’t deny human desires.”

Certainly, it’s good that I can eat meat, get married, and somehow became a direct disciple of the sect leader, but compared to other Taoist sects, the standards are quite lenient.

Originally, denying the idea of immortality and focusing on maintaining a healthy body to live long is quite unique.

“Feeling hungry and wanting to eat, or wanting to become one with a loved one, are natural human instincts. Forcing yourself to deny that is not the way, according to Master Wang Zhongyang.”

During the turbulent times of constant war.

Wang Zhongyang, from a wealthy family, tried to relieve the poor by distributing grain, but there were limits.

Seeing farmers, unable to overcome hunger, turn into bandits, he realized something.

Or perhaps he became disillusioned with the world.

He wandered the world like a madman. Then suddenly entered Taoism and founded the Jeonjin Sect.

Wang Zhongyang sought salvation for people through religion.

Thus, unlike other Taoist sects that discriminated against Confucianism and Buddhism.

Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism are different means to benefit people, but ultimately, they all lead to the same path.

…was the ideology that absorbed the teachings of Confucianism and Buddhism.

“…He’s an amazing person.”

I’m not sure if it’s okay to say this about the founder of a Taoist sect, but to Mantian, Wang Zhongyang was a greedy…

A twisted path walked to solve his own anguish.

Learning and devouring literature, martial arts, and even religion, he was a voracious human.

…Thus, the Jeonjin Sect was more secular compared to other Taoist sects.

Unlike Wang Zhongyang and his direct disciples, the Jeonjin Seven, who controlled their desires and reached higher realms.

Later disciples were consumed by their desires and fell.

“Excessive greed harms people… but there’s no need to deny one’s nature. Accept and control it.”

“…Thinking about it, it’s frustrating. Who does the Martial Alliance Leader think he is? Why does he set limits on others’ disciples?”

He just said I’d lose if I fought now, but that doesn’t matter.

Wang Miaoyang jumped up, turned, and looked at her precious disciple.

“Don’t mind what others say. Even if you take a detour, even if you fall, learn and move forward through your struggles.”

She extended her fist and placed it on Mantian’s heart.

“That’s what Jeonjin is. To me—the path I take is the right path.”

Even if the end is a petty squabble over inheritance, pulling hair and beards…

The warmth of her small hand on my chest made me let it go.

…And it was quite to my taste. Isn’t it similar to being true to one’s desires?

At the age of ten, not even knowing what martial arts were, I learned the inner energy technique as my master taught.

Through the Mystical Taoist Inner Energy Technique, I felt a pure, greedy energy in my dantian that could learn almost any martial art, whether Taoist, Buddhist, or otherwise.

‘Was my master a prophet? Did she know?’

I got up, leaning on my cane.

‘That I’m greedy, and the more I learn martial arts, the more I’ll want to learn various techniques.’

There was no more time to sit around.

“Master, thank you. A genius has a genius’s path.”

I took a deep breath and exhaled.

“I was uncharacteristically intimidated by others’ evaluations.”

My amber eyes gleamed like a beast finding prey.

“Thanks to you, I see the solution. That bastard Seol Modan is no longer my match.”

Once decided, full speed ahead. Without hesitation, I stepped forward…

*Snap.*

…Just then, Wang Miaoyang’s slender fingers gently grabbed my sleeve.

*Growl~!*

A cute sound echoed.

“I’m hungry. Feed me before you go.”

Turning my head, I saw the sky dyed red as the sun set.

It was already past lunchtime, time for dinner.

…And since my disciple didn’t bring dumplings.

The cute sound echoed again from the empty stomach of my master, who had been starving since morning.

*Growl~!*

I definitely had to take responsibility and fill her up.

So, I changed my plans and decided to spend the day eating delicious food and resting with Wang Miaoyang.

Tomorrow, I’ll be incredibly busy.

***

The next morning.

Martial Alliance Leader Jaro, taking his eyes off the documents, spoke to Mantian, who barged into his office like it was his own home.

“Foolish disciple, this master is very busy with the upcoming Dragon and Phoenix Association. State your business quickly and leave.”

“Those trivial matters can wait. Why are you suddenly acting busy?”

“…What? What?!”

“Enough. Master, teach me some martial arts.”

…Is this what they mean by being too absurd to get angry?

“Let’s share the excellent martial arts Master taught us, as sworn brothers.”

The audacity of this brat, who’s not even a match for a single punch, left me dumbfounded.

“Teach me the Nine Yin True Classic, and I’ll share the Dog Chasing Stick Technique with you.”

This brat… Has he no conscience?

Whether Jaro had question marks over his head or not, the conversation continued.

“I told you before, having many martial arts doesn’t mean they’re all good.”

“Yes, you did. The stages of learning: Shu-Ha-Ri. But that’s for ordinary martial artists. The path of mediocrity.”

This brat, who just entered the martial world, dared to correct the Martial Alliance Leader, the pinnacle of the righteous martial world, and stepped forward.

“A genius has a genius’s path. My own path.”

He boldly sat in the seat of honor.

“The more, the better. For me, the more, the merrier.”

With the face of a greedy wolf, his eyes sparkled as he shamelessly smiled.

“To catch a mouse, does a tiger need to imitate a cat?”

“Ha……”

Jaro couldn’t say anything. He looked at his disciple, who was not just bold but possibly insane.

Before serving Liu Bei, he was a 27-year-old layabout.

Did Zhuge Liang, who compared himself to the wise minister Guan Zhong and the master strategist Yue Yi, act like this?

If nothing else, his confidence alone could be called the best in the martial world.