Chapter 2

I Obtained Guan Yu’s Martial Arts

Gwan Hwi (2)

“…?”

Guan Yu could not hide his bewilderment at Gwan Hwi, who suddenly cursed and looked as though he were about to cry.

‘Has the poison reached deep into his brain?’

Had it driven him insane?!

To Guan Yu, Gwan Hwi’s sudden, deranged behavior made him look nothing more than a madman.

Such crude and undignified behavior would have been unthinkable in Guan Yu’s era.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I was just too happy.”

Seeing Guan Yu’s bewildered expression, Gwan Hwi hurriedly calmed himself down.

Years of experience dealing with debt collectors demanding repayment instantly helped him regain his composure.

However, his heart was still beating rapidly.

Faster and harder than ever before.

‘The martial arts of my ancestor…’

Ancient texts described Guan Yu as an Enemy of Ten Thousand.

A general who could stand alone against ten thousand soldiers.

To think he could learn martial arts of that caliber.

Just imagining it made a thrill surge throughout his entire body.

‘If I can obtain those martial arts…’

If that truly happened, then the revival of the Gwan Estate, which was on the verge of extinction, would no longer be an unrealistic dream.

For a martial family, martial arts were more important than anything else.

If the Gwan Estate could recover Guan Yu’s martial arts—

Perhaps they could do more than simply escape the brink of extinction.

Perhaps they could actually restore the family to its former glory.

“…”

Guan Yu opened his mouth as if to scold him, but then closed it again.

He did not particularly like such an undignified display, but at the same time, seeing his descendant this happy was rather satisfying.

These were emotions Guan Yu could no longer experience during the endless years of boredom in the Middle Heaven.

‘I suppose I can overlook this much.’

After all, Guan Yu himself had gradually changed during these endless years, worn down little by little by the passage of time.

Even if he disliked certain things, he needed to close one eye to them.

This descendant was necessary for his own goal, after all.

“But how are you going to teach me martial arts? Will you teach me here? Is this one of those places where the flow of time stops?”

Seeing Gwan Hwi filled with anticipation, Guan Yu firmly shook his head.

“No.”

“Oh, then will you just make some hand gesture and directly implant the formulas of the martial arts manual into my head?!”

“That is not it either.”

“…Then how?”

“Part of my soul will reside within you. I shall remain with you inside your mind and gradually teach you the martial arts.”

“Hmm… Can’t I just learn it right now? Even just a little?”

Guan Yu smiled faintly at his impatient descendant.

“You cannot remain here for very long. Creating a gap between this world and the mortal realm without Heaven noticing is not an easy task.”

“What?”

Gwan Hwi tilted his head, unable to understand the words.

“And if you stay here any longer, you may die.”

“I might die?”

“Look.”

Guan Yu lightly waved his hand toward the empty air.

The white space opened like clouds dispersing, revealing the world of the mortal realm beyond it.

There, Gwan Hwi was lying unconscious in a spread-eagle position.

And Garam, the pharmacist of the Poison Refinery Hall, stood over him with a drawn sword pointed at Gwan Hwi’s neck.

“Huh? That, that crazy bastard?!”

Gwan Hwi was shocked when he saw Garam trying to take his life.

Why is that bastard doing that?!

“Go.”

Guan Yu motioned with his chin as if telling him to jump into the opening.

“W-Wait a second. Even if that bastard is like that, his martial arts are at the second-rate level. I’m only third-rate. There’s no way I can beat him. P-Please teach me at least a little!”

Garam was not particularly outstanding among the members of the Poison Refinery Hall.

But he was still a genuine second-rate martial artist.

He was far stronger than Gwan Hwi, the inadequate patriarch of a third-rate martial family that did not even possess a proper martial arts manual.

In other words, if Gwan Hwi fought him as he was now, he would simply die horribly.

“Do not worry. I shall help you.”

With a single wave of Guan Yu’s hand, the opening in space grew even larger.

The opening, now as large as a house, swallowed Gwan Hwi’s body in an instant.

“W-Wait! General! General…!”

Gwan Hwi lost consciousness once again within the pure white light.

“Gasp!”

Gwan Hwi suddenly opened his eyes, his body trembling violently.

As if proving that everything that had just happened had not been a dream, Garam stood before him with his eyes wide open and a sword in his hand.

“What? You weren’t unconscious?”

“Garam. What are you doing? Are you insane? Get that sword away from me!”

“Hah! Stay still, you bastard. Unless you want to die.”

When Gwan Hwi tried to push his arm away, Garam twisted his face and brought the sword even closer to his neck.

“You bastard…!”

“I’m sorry, but if you don’t die from this poison either, I’m going to be in trouble. No matter how tough you are, if even a poison I paid the Five Poison Sect a fortune to make doesn’t work, won’t the Hall Master kill me?”

“You’re going to kill someone just for that?”

“Don’t take it too personally. That’s simply how life in the Black Path works. You either die or you kill.”

Garam gave a sinister smile and pressed the sword harder against Gwan Hwi’s neck.

Crunch—

A sharp pain spread from his neck.

Gwan Hwi clenched his teeth.

‘I can’t die like this.’

Wasn’t this the very moment when a ray of sunlight had finally appeared over the perpetually gloomy Gwan Estate?

His family’s misfortune was finally about to end.

Happiness was finally about to begin.

There was no way he could die like a dog at a moment like this.

Especially not at the hands of some pathetic Black Path bastard.

“Who said… I’d die quietly, you bastard!”

Gwan Hwi gritted his teeth and swung his fist desperately.

Because he was lying down, he could not properly transfer his strength from his legs.

And because he had never properly learned a fist technique, his form and movements were a complete mess.

It was nothing more than a wild, reckless punch.

“Hah! Crazy bastard. Do you think I’ll even blink at a punch like that?”

Garam curled up the corner of his mouth and snorted.

“What an idiot.”

An amateurish punch from someone lying on the ground?

Garam sneered and even closed his eyes.

A punch without internal energy and with a completely worthless trajectory.

He did not think it was even worth dodging.

That was Garam’s fatal mistake.

BOOM!—

With a thunderous sound like an exploding cannonball, Garam’s jaw snapped violently to the side.

His jaw moved so fast that a cracking sound came from his neck.

“Guh!”

Ten teeth instantly flew from Garam’s mouth.

He was launched into the air and crashed headfirst into the opposite wall.

Thud—

His skull caved in, and he died on the spot.

A single wild punch from a third-rate martial artist had killed an experienced second-rate martial artist.

“…Huh?”

Gwan Hwi’s mouth hung open at the astonishing sight.

‘W-What?’

What kind of monstrous strength was this?

He could not believe that he had done it himself.

‘Could General Guan have helped me?’

Come to think of it, before Gwan Hwi had left the white space, General Guan had promised that he would help him.

It had to be General Guan’s assistance that had given Gwan Hwi such tremendous power.

—…I did not do that.

Guan Yu’s bewildered voice echoed inside Gwan Hwi’s head.

—You did it with your innate physical strength. What are you talking about…?

From Guan Yu’s perspective, it was a rather absurd statement.

He had been willing to risk damaging his own soul to awaken a fragment of it and lend Gwan Hwi his strength.

But before that process had even been completed, Gwan Hwi had killed his opponent with a single punch.

And now he was giving Guan Yu the credit?

It was utterly ridiculous.

“…? I did it?”

—Yes. You did it with your innate physical strength.

“No way.”

Gwan Hwi waved his hand in disbelief.

“I may be a little stronger than other people, but I’m not that strong. I’ve fought before, you know.”

Although Gwan Hwi was a third-rate martial artist, it was not as though he had absolutely no experience in combat.

He had fought another third-rate martial artist exactly once in his life.

“I got absolutely destroyed back then.”

It had been when he had just turned twenty.

At the time, Gwan Hwi had fought an unknown third-rate martial artist and had been brutally beaten without even managing to inflict a single wound.

His opponent had effortlessly dodged every one of Gwan Hwi’s attacks.

Even when Gwan Hwi had thrown dirt into his opponent’s eyes and landed what should have been a perfect opening, the man had emerged completely unharmed.

“I know myself. I’m not that strong.”

—…

“You’re just embarrassed and saying that for no reason, right? I’m not that stupid, General.”

—…

Guan Yu was speechless.

He could not remember ever being this dumbfounded even when he had been alive.

—You didn’t even give me time to help you. What are you talking about?

“Come on. It’s fine, General. I understand. Let’s just say you didn’t help me.”

—…

Guan Yu had plenty he wanted to say in response to this absurdity, but he decided not to continue the conversation.

There were more urgent matters at hand.

—First, sit cross-legged. I shall teach you one of my martial arts right now.

“Here?”

Gwan Hwi looked around uneasily.

The room was filled with Garam’s corpse lying carelessly on the floor and countless poison bottles that had yet to be finished.

It was hardly a suitable place for training.

Normally, martial arts training was performed somewhere where the martial artist’s safety was reasonably guaranteed.

—There is not enough time for that.

“Time?”

—Do you not think the companions of those Black Path vermin you killed will soon come rushing in? We must prepare in advance.

“Ah, I see.”

The General was right.

By killing Garam, Gwan Hwi had effectively declared himself an enemy of the Poison Refinery Hall.

‘They won’t believe me if I say I killed him by accident.’

The moment they saw Garam’s corpse, it was obvious they would draw their swords and try to kill Gwan Hwi.

And Gwan Hwi had no intention of dying quietly either.

He would have to fight them.

“Understood.”

Just as Gwan Hwi nodded and was about to sit cross-legged—

Thud, thud, thud—

He heard the footsteps of members of the Poison Refinery Hall coming down into the basement.

—There are three of them. Second-rate level.

“Hmm. We don’t have much time to learn.”

Three members of the Poison Refinery Hall, all at an average second-rate level.

Even with his innate physical strength, Gwan Hwi, whose martial arts were only third-rate, would have difficulty dealing with them alone.

He had been lucky against Garam because Garam had let his guard down, but there was no guarantee that all three of these men would make the same mistake.

—Lock the door. Half a shichen—about an hour—will be enough.

“…Understood.”

Gwan Hwi was bewildered, but he followed Guan Yu’s instructions.

Only half an hour?

Even learning the Three Powers Sword Technique, a third-rate martial art sold in street markets, required several shichen.

Yet learning the martial arts of Guan Yunchang, a legendary general who had dominated an entire era…

Would only take half an hour?

‘I’ll trust him for now.’

Before the men could come down, Gwan Hwi locked the laboratory door.

Feeling that this was still insufficient, Gwan Hwi lifted a massive boulder whose purpose he could not even identify.

—Wait. You must not use your internal energy already.

“Huh? I didn’t use any internal energy.”

—…

Guan Yu was shocked once again and was rendered speechless.

What kind of boar-like monster is this?

Meanwhile, Gwan Hwi carried the boulder—which looked as though it would normally require ten strong men to lift—and placed it in front of the laboratory door.

It was truly astonishing physical strength.

—Huh!

Guan Yu, seeing the scene through Gwan Hwi, could not hide his admiration.

Though he had no physical expression in his soul form, if he had, his mouth would have been hanging open in shock.

—Your strength is extraordinary.

It was truly incredible.

Guan Yu had never seen anyone with such tremendous innate physical strength.

Except for Fengxian.

“Come on. It’s thanks to your help, General.”

—…

Guan Yu sighed inwardly as he watched Gwan Hwi continue to misunderstand the situation.

He had always thought humility was a virtue.

But seeing such excessive humility made him wonder if it was really a virtue after all.

—From now on, I shall teach you Scarlet Transformation Radiant Martial Arts, Jeokhwagwangmu (赤化光武).

Scarlet Transformation Radiant Martial Arts.

It was one of the greatest martial arts of the era and one of the techniques that had made Guan Yu known as a peerless general.

Even other generals who took pride in their own martial arts had coveted the opportunity to learn this technique.

—Scarlet Transformation Radiant Martial Arts is an external martial art that relies solely on the strength of the physical body.

It was an external martial art that did not use internal energy and instead relied entirely on physical strength.

The Scarlet Transformation Radiant Martial Arts, an external technique personally created by Yunchang, accelerated the flow of blood throughout the body, allowing its physical capabilities to increase several times over.

As the flow of blood accelerated severalfold, the user’s skin would take on a jujube-red color.

This martial art had even served as a symbol by which enemies recognized Guan Yu during his time as a general.

“We have no time, so I shall teach you only this for now.”

“General, I’m not doubting you, but… can I really deal with those men with just this one technique?”

—Do not worry, descendant. Scarlet Transformation Radiant Martial Arts is the strongest external martial art. If your innate physical strength is combined with Scarlet Transformation Radiant Martial Arts, those insignificant thugs will be no match for you.

Guan Yu spoke with a confident voice.

His tone seemed to paint a picture of his face, wearing a sinister smile beneath an arrogant expression.

—The only thing you need to worry about is where to pile up the corpses of your enemies.