Martial Arts Ain't Anything Special-Chapter 95: War (1)

Seojun and Jang Geuk continued moving quickly even after entering Shanxi.

However because they were headed for a battlefield they couldn’t afford to go any faster for fear of damaging their own bodies, so as night fell they prepared to camp.

Former bandit Jang Geuk skillfully completed all preparations while Seojun sat quietly.

Crackle, crackle.

Rabbit meat cooked appetizingly over the campfire. Jang Geuk handed it to Seojun with a grin.

“Meat eaten while camping has a special taste.”

“Yay!”

Seojun took a bite of the meat.

...Setting aside the gamey smell, it was bland. No salt? He checked his pockets but of course found none.

Left without a choice, he simply chewed and swallowed the tasteless meat, hearing Jang Geuk laughing greatly.

“It seems not to suit My Lord’s palate.”

“The seasoning isn’t on point enough. And the meat isn’t evenly cooked.”

“What’s on point? It isn’t sharp enough?”

“Nothing. I just grew up a bit pampered, that’s all.”

“...Did you?”

“...What’s that supposed to mean?”

When Seojun glared at him, Jang Geuk waved his hands.

“Anyone who saw My Lord that day wouldn’t easily think that. You know, arms sprouting out, tearing them off... Hmm. It’s still hard to imagine even now.”

“Sure, whatever. Fuck alright, I’m actually from the back alleys.”

Jang Geuk’s eyes widened as he scratched his head.

“Yet now you’re the son-in-law of the Namgung Clan... How remarkable.”

“It’s all thanks to my Chunbong.”

“Indeed, the one called Chunbong. I’ve heard about her hundreds of times but never seen her. What a shame.”

“If you leer at her, you’ll seriously die. Your head just goes pop. This sound like a joke to you?”

“It sounds quite serious to me...”

“I’ll cut you a bit of slack though. I understand. After all, my Chunbong is famous for her title Smolest Under the Heavens...”

After listening to Seojun praise Chunbong for about an hour, Jang Geuk awkwardly smiled and subtly changed the subject.

“So I’ve been curious about something while learning the Giant Spirit Divine Art.”

“What are you curious about? It’s not a difficult enough martial art to have questions about.”

Jang Geuk’s expression quickly soured.

“Please don’t measure the world by your standards. I have been told I have talent all my life, but in front of you I feel like a foolish village child.”

“Oh, speaking of that, you know Chunbong once said my talent is the greatest in history...”

After enduring another hour of Chunbong praise, Jang Geuk rolled his eyes.

Just who is this Chunbong woman to have My Lord so utterly enchanted? Surely it’s not some sorcery?

Jang Geuk stood up, thinking thoughts that would have earned him a cracked skull had Seojun heard them.

Between the Chuunbong praise session and the small tidbits of information he was taught about the Giant Spirit DIvine Art, his mind started tingling from the newfound knowledge.

“So you’re taking first watch again, old man?”

“As your subordinate, how could I let you take watch?”

“I don’t mind, really.”

“Kuhaha! A few sleepless nights won’t tire me anyway.”

At his hearty response, Seojun grinned and lay down on his spread-out clothes. Then his attention suddenly shifted to one direction.

In the dark night, black-coated daggers flew towards them.

Jang Geuk’s eyes flashed as he blocked Seojun, swinging his pudao.

Clang!

Sparks flew. Jang Geuk frowned and then shouted.

“Come out now, you vermin!”

The forest trembled at the Transcendent Realm expert’s roar as birds blew up in a furry, the sound of wind mixed in the commotion.

Thunk!

Jang Geuk caught a flying arrow, discovering a paper tied to its end.

“What...”

Clicking his tongue, he unfolded the paper. There was writing on it, but being a bandit he never learned how to read. He scratched his head and sheepishly handed the paper to Seojun.

“Let’s see.”

He took the paper and read it while laying down.

“Uh... basically it says to watch my neck. They claim to be from the Black Serpent. How very kind of them.”

“I’ll go kill them all.”

“Alright, good luck~”

Jang Geuk darted away into the forest like a tiger.

While lying down staring into the campfire, Seojun fell into thought.

This is tricky.

His qi detection was extremely sensitive to the flow of qi but it was nonetheless difficult to detect ordinary movements at that level.

The Shadow Concealment Technique used by these assassin friends seemed to be the kind of skill that could exploit that so his detection had been slightly delayed.

Even with all of that, there was still time to respond, but who knows what might happen if the assassin were truly skilled.

“Perfect.”

Inspiration struck. Seojun sat up and crossed his legs.

The Sword Form of the Emperor he’d been focusing on lately. Perhaps the emperor’s gaze looking down from above could provide coverage?

Though his proficiency with the Sword Form of the Emperor was still at a beginner’s level, taking their essence and mixing them into his own martial arts was his specialty.

Whoosh—

Seojun’s body lifted slightly as he circulated his inner qi, blue qi surging from his half-opened eyes.

The Emperor Above The Heavens. As he visualized this image, his thoughts reached the Giant Spirit Divine Art.

The hazy giant he had seen during his fight with Jang Geuk.

The Giant Spirit Divine Art unleashed with his thoughts, granting his body tremendous power.

Emperor Looking Down Upon All Things Under Heaven.

Part of the Sword Form of the Emperor’s sutra. The emperor looking down governs all things. Seojun extended the overwhelming power throughout his body skyward, drawing the form of an emperor.

“Oh.”

He could see. Everything around him seemed within reach, centered on himself.

This became another insight.

The Sword Form of the Emperor. A cool breeze blew through Seojun’s mind as he glimpsed part of this profound martial art.

The true power of the Sword Form of the Emperor can only be seen upon reaching the Unrestrained Realm.

Does that mean it’s useless before then? Not at all.

Swish—

Assassins rushed in. A different group from those Jang Geuk was chasing.

Seojun’s consciousness looked down upon them from above and commanded.

Halt.

The assassins froze in place. Even with most of their emotions suppressed, they couldn’t hide their confusion.

Seojun with his eyes half-opened, slowly waved his hand.

Whoosh!

A blood wind swept through, leaving a pool of blood in its wake.

The assassins who survived by not charging in hid themselves, concealing their presence.

Futile. Seojun, watching them from above, bent his fingers.

Bang, bang, bang!

The finger bullets accurately pierced through their heads.

Only a few remained. Seojun unfolded his legs and stood up.

His feet touched the ground as he drew the sword from his waist and raised it high, as if commanding an army.

The bodies of the fleeing assassins stiffened, and their leader’s eyes looked at Seojun.

Standing tall with his sword raised, the leader saw an arrogant ruler in the overwhelming figure.

The raised sword was like a flag, sweeping down to order his soldiers to annihilate.

Give a warning to someone like that?

The leader smirked. Damn those bastards. Let’s see how fucked you get.

Whoosh────────

In an instant, the world turned blue.

Seojun panted heavily as he looked at the devastation he had created.

A cleanly erased part of the forest. He let out a hollow laugh looking at the flattened ground.

“So... this is what father-in-law considers a normal attack?”

This is ridiculous. At this level, isn’t he literally the Unrivaled Under the Heavens?

Come to think of it, those at the Profound Realm weren’t considered human but rather a god, so they weren’t technically people.

Oh? Then father-in-law might actually be the Unrivaled Under the Heavens?

Now I’m curious. Maybe I should ask later?

Seojun shook his head and moved his bedding.

The ground had become so flat that lying down there would be quite comfortable.

*Jang Geuk returned from his assassin chase.

“...I let a few escape.”

Seeing him immediately kowtow, Seojun waved his hand.

“Come on, that’s expected. They scattered and fled, how could you catch them all?”

Assassins specialized in hiding and escaping, after all. It was actually impressive that he had lost only a few.

That’s not wrong, but...

Jang Geuk smiled awkwardly.

Anyone would react the same way upon seeing a forest turned into a plain in the brief time they were gone.

He had seen it from afar. The moment the forest turned blue, Jang Geuk thought his breath had stopped.

He felt pride that such a person was his lord, but also feared if that power would ever fall upon himself.

“Let’s rest well tonight and move quickly again tomorrow.”

“Understood.”

Jang Geuk kowtowed again.

*Crazy motherfuckers.

Seojun clicked his tongue at the night visitors coming every other day.

How did they even know I left the clan?

It was strange now that he thought about it.

Those who would know such information would be members of the Namgung Clan or perhaps the Murim Alliance, which oversaw the war.

Maybe information leaked from cities they passed through, but that seemed unlikely.

So in the end, information leaked from either the Namgung Clan or the Murim Alliance...

The Murim Alliance? Whatever the case, I don’t like those bastards.

They were naturally more suspicious than the Namgung Clan.

However, speculating in the current situation was meaningless.

Seojun just clicked his tongue and gossiped about the night visitors.

“Do they have an endless supply of people or what?”

“They probably do. How many people live in the Central Plains?”

“True, good point.”

Come to think of it, isn’t China a place where talking about a million-man army doesn’t sound strange?

The Central Plains didn’t form armies from commoners because it would be meaningless, but creating a million-man army wouldn’t be difficult if they wanted to.

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The Central Plains seemed much wider than modern China, so with proper effort, couldn’t they form an army of a hundred thousand even with just First Rate or Peak Realm martial artists?

Or not?

Seojun clicked his tongue as they continued to move quickly.

Though he had never experienced war, he began to feel the air of war on his skin at some point.

As they approached Datong County, the increasingly heavy atmosphere was impossible not to notice for anyone with emotions.

The expressions on people’s faces. The quiet market. The occasional stench that pierced the nose and villages burned to ashes.

He had already beheaded martial artists plundering villages about three times.

Seojun stood on a hill, looking down at the distant plain.

It was filled with corpses, perhaps from a battle.

Frowning at the stench carried by the wind, Seojun gathered fire qi in his hands.

Judging by how long they seemed to have been abandoned, recovery would be difficult. It seemed better to send them off peacefully.

Whoosh—

The fireball left his hand and covered the plain.

The once human flesh burned away, fading to ashes and scattering.

When Seojun withdrew his flames after watching silently, all that remained was the charred earth.

“What could they possibly gain from doing this?”

What could be the purpose of deliberately starting a war? Seojun sighed and leaned his head back.

His mind was in disarray. Tsk. He clicked his tongue and moved on.

“Let’s go and ask what they’re thinking.”

These people who don’t know the happiness of living while squeezing Chunbong’s cheeks.

Countless lives, caught up in the greed for more, crumbled into ashes so futilely.

What use was it to comfort the souls of soldiers who didn’t want war?

They were already dead, turned to ashes.

His steps felt heavy with unease.