Genius Martial Arts Trainer

Bloodline

“How can that old monster…?!”

Seeing Tang-gak suddenly appear, Geumsun Shinni’s expression involuntarily twisted.

Changhyeon Zhenren, the head of the Qingcheng Sect, shared the same expression as hers.

Tang-gak, the Dark King.

For decades, he was known as the best in Sichuan and was the person who made the Tang Clan’s influence the greatest in Sichuan.

To Emei and Qingcheng, he was nothing less than a symbol of defeat.

However, he had not been seen for years, with rumors spreading that he had suffered severe internal injuries, leading them to ignore his existence.

And since he did not appear in the last battle, Tang-gak had gradually been forgotten by the minds of Qingcheng and Emei.

The sight of numerous disciples dying from the Mancheonha-u technique he unleashed was enough to recall the nightmare they had been trying to forget.

However, the shock lasted only briefly.

Geumsun Shinni, as the head of a prestigious sect, quickly noticed something unusual about Tang-gak.

“…He seems sluggish somehow.”

His skills did not seem as fierce as she remembered from the days when he rampaged freely.

And her intuition was correct.

* * *

“Ugh.”

Right after unleashing Mancheonha-u, Tang-gak forcibly suppressed a groan that was about to escape.

The signs had been there since he used his light footwork to climb the fortress wall.

When he stimulated his dormant dantian to move his inner power, a ripping pain surged from his lower abdomen.

And at the moment he unleashed Mancheonha-u, it felt as if he heard the sound of a bowl breaking near his ear.

It wasn’t hard to identify the source of the sound.

It was the sound of his dantian, which had been lodged in his body, shattering to pieces.

But Tang-gak didn’t care.

He reached into his pocket again, pulling out another set of hidden weapons he had prepared.

He gathered the scattered inner power from his shattered dantian and once again unleashed Mancheonha-u.

With the second Mancheonha-u, only those in Tang Clan uniforms remained around him.

It was an astounding skill.

To throw countless hidden weapons simultaneously, hitting only enemies and avoiding allies.

Yet ironically, this amazing skill appeared as a sign of hope to his enemies.

“The Dark King is injured! Don’t be afraid, push forward!”

Seeing the blood dripping from Tang-gak’s mouth, Geumsun Shinni shouted with a mighty inner force.

Realizing he couldn’t hide his injury, Tang-gak laughed heartily.

“Keuk keuk keuk. If you want to kill me so badly, come yourself instead of sending your disciples!”

Deciding there was no need to hide his injury, Tang-gak spat out blood as he shouted.

His blood-spitting appearance was terrifying to some, but to others, it seemed like an opportunity.

“How dare you insult the head of our sect!”

“I’ll rip that filthy old monster’s mouth apart!”

The Emei disciples, angered by the insult to their sect leader, approached Tang-gak again, followed by the disciples of Qingcheng and Wudang.

“Keuk keuk keuk. Who would think these vicious ones are Daoists and monks?”

Seeing them approach, Tang-gak smirked and thought to himself.

“Keuk keuk keuk. I’m no different.”

Once called the best in Sichuan, now he was a cripple after just a few bouts of martial arts.

With his dantian completely shattered, he realized that the person known as ‘Tang-gak’ had no future left.

But because of this, making a decision was simple.

“Hoo.”

He took a deep breath and stimulated the innate qi deep within his body to replace his shattered dantian.

Innate Qi.

Tang-gak decided to use the life force he had been born with.

“Keuk keuk keuk. It seems I didn’t have long to live anyway.”

Even at the age of ninety, the amount of innate qi left in his body was not plentiful.

However, the qi that spread throughout his body when his dantian shattered was still there.

“Come at me! You brats!”

Contrary to his words, Tang-gak rushed towards them.

With little time left, there was no reason to sit back and receive their attacks.

He fought fiercely.

He threw a dagger hidden in his sleeve at a monk approaching him, piercing his forehead.

He dodged another monk’s attack with a body flip.

His movements were like a frenzied beast, not like a seasoned master.

Whack!

Caught off guard by his unexpected movements, the enemy was startled. In that moment, Tang-gak’s palm strike pierced the monk’s side.

“Have you no pride?!”

“As expected, you filthy old monster of the Tang Clan!”

Despite the enemies’ enraged shouts, Tang-gak ignored them.

With his clan’s survival at stake, what meaning did the pride of an old man hold?

He willingly rolled on the ground, kicked stones scattered on the fortress wall, and even threw handfuls of dust to continue the fight.

After fighting fiercely alone for some time, his clothes became tattered, but his eyes still burned brightly, noticing something new.

“Keuk keuk keuk.”

What he saw was a new force approaching beyond the main forces of Qingcheng, Emei, and Wudang.

On the flags they carried were the names Shaolin and Wudang.

Yet ironically, what caught his eye first was not the flags, but the sturdy young monk leading the charge.

A monk of a young age, at most in his late teens. They had only spent a few days together, but…

“Keuk keuk keuk. How fortunate.”

Seeing the young monk called the Shaolin Dragon, Tang-gak felt a sense of relief for some reason.

Thanks to sacrificing his old life, reinforcements had arrived in time.

As the elder of a great family, what could be a more honorable death?

“Now, it’s time to show the children the glory of our Tang Clan again.”

The reason he had been rolling around like a madman was not just to avoid the enemy’s attacks.

It was to conserve his inner power and retrieve the hidden weapons scattered on the ground.

“As long as I live, no one will breach the Tang Clan’s walls!”

With a smiling face, Tang-gak spat blood and unleashed Mancheonha-u once again.

* * *

Seeing Tang-gak spewing blood and unleashing Mancheonha-u, Mu-jin ignored the muscle pain and channeled his inner power throughout his body, leaping forward. ɽâN𝙤𝐛Ê𝘚

Considering how injured the Tang Clan’s top warrior was, there was no need to ponder how urgent the battle was.

Bang!

Each time Mu-jin’s feet hit the ground while executing the Extreme Fast Ascent Step, a loud boom echoed, and his body left afterimages as he darted forward several meters.

In an instant, Mu-jin closed the distance between him and the martial artists from the Qingcheng Sect, Emei Sect, and Wudang Sect, who were surrounding the Tang Clan’s fortress.

Without any hesitation, he once again executed the Extreme Fast Ascent Step.

Bang!

Protected by the Golden Turtle Technique, Mu-jin charged forward, resembling a human battering ram. Anything that stood in his way, whether weapons or human bodies, was shattered and sent flying.

“Stop him!”

“He must not break through!”

At first, the martial artists of Qingcheng, Emei, and Wudang, who were positioned at the rear, tried to block Mu-jin by shouting orders.

“Move aside! Get out of the way!”

Soon, however, the sight of their comrades being flung aside and their bodies twisted unnaturally caused the elders of the respective sects to shout urgently for everyone to retreat.

Of course, they were not foolish enough to just sit back and take it.

“Leave that guy, block the rear!”

“Isolate him!”

Instead of confronting the solo charging Mu-jin, they chose to block the disciples of Wudang and Shaolin who were following behind him.

But Mu-jin did not care.

He had realized during the battle at Zhongnan Mountain and with the Martial Alliance that the Shaolin were strong enough.

Now, with Wudang joining them, they could break through without his help.

“Elder Tang!”

Thus, Mu-jin dashed forward, ignoring the rear.

Thanks to the elders’ orders, the number of those trying to stop him decreased, allowing Mu-jin to move forward as if running across a plain. Before long, he arrived near Tang-gak.

While Mu-jin was clearing a path, Tang-gak had also managed to deal with the enemies around him, but he was half-collapsed, being supported by his granddaughter, Tang So-mi.

“Click, click. Why did you take so long?”

“…I apologize for being late, Elder.”

Mu-jin bowed his head at Tang-gak’s reproach, given in a dying voice.

He had come as fast as he could, but it was no excuse in front of someone in such critical condition.

“Click, click… Since you’re late… you must protect our Tang Clan.”

“I will do so, please rest easy.”

At Mu-jin’s confident words, Tang-gak gave an uncharacteristically warm smile and closed his eyes peacefully.

Mu-jin thought Tang-gak had fainted from the intense battle, but soon realized something was wrong.

Tang-gak was not breathing. And for some reason, Tang So-mi, his granddaughter, was not moving him despite his unconscious state. Instead, she was barely holding back her tears.

“…Why are you not moving him to the treatment area?”

Mu-jin asked, hoping against hope, and Tang So-mi, with bloodshot eyes from holding back tears, replied.@@novelbin@@

“…Grandfather shouldn’t have fought. He was already suffering from the aftermath of the previous battle, with his dantian injured.”

It wasn’t hard to deduce what previous battle she was referring to.

The fight against the Head of Unhyangwon, one of Shinchun’s Daejus.

During the climax of that fight, Tang-gak had suffered serious injuries from the Head of Unhyangwon’s self-sacrificial technique.

And Mu-jin had been there at that time.

‘His dantian was injured?’

However, Mu-jin had not known that Tang-gak’s condition was so severe. The Tang Clan had kept it a secret.

He had assumed that enough years had passed for him to recover.

‘…Because of me.’

Mu-jin clenched his fists.

The clash between the Head of Unhyangwon and Tang-gak had occurred due to his involvement.

If Tang-gak hadn’t been there, Mu-jin would have likely been killed by the Head of Unhyangwon.

At that time, Mu-jin didn’t have the skills to handle such a high-level master.

While Mu-jin had survived thanks to Tang-gak, Tang-gak had ultimately died due to the injuries sustained back then.

Realizing this, Mu-jin closed his eyes tightly and then reopened them, shaking off his distracting thoughts.

If he started thinking that way, he would have to take responsibility for everyone who had died fighting against Shinchun.

It was absurd.

The initial goal was to escape from the novel’s plot. To deal with the dark schemes within the story.

As the situation escalated, countless people, including Shaolin and the Cheonryu Sangdan, got involved.

And now, with the war started, too many people were dying.

Of course, compared to the damage inflicted by Shinchun and those manipulated by them, the casualties on their side might seem minimal.

Moreover, most of the dead were people not even mentioned in the novel. Many of them were unknown to Mu-jin as well.

‘This is not just a novel.’

It was a realization Mu-jin had come to, building relationships with people like Hyeon-gwang, Mu-yul, Mu-gyeong, Mu-gung, and encountering Dao Yuetian.

He could no longer see them as mere characters in a story.

Thus, the lives lost on the battlefield, though unmentioned in the novel, were not insignificant.

But Mu-jin did not let the weight of it crush him.

Their deaths were not forced by Mu-jin.

They had willingly sacrificed their lives for the greater good, for what they believed was right.

Therefore, what Mu-jin needed to do was not be crushed by guilt.

He needed to fulfill the cause they had died for.

“Hoo.”

Clearing his mind, Mu-jin took a deep breath and looked at the sleeping Tang-gak with clearer eyes.

“Rest in peace, Elder.”

After paying his last respects, he turned away from Tang-gak.

The sight that greeted him was the enemies fiercely fighting to bring down the Tang Clan.

They looked like fiendish creatures trying to climb from hell to the surface.

“I will protect the Tang Clan.”

To protect the Tang Clan from those fiends.

That was, at least in part, Mu-jin’s way of atoning to Tang-gak.