The Jade Ghost of the Jegal Family - Chapter 9

The meaning of being able to predict the trajectory of the opponent’s attack is, in other words, being able to read the opponent’s moves in advance. In other words, it means being able to completely dominate the flow of a fight.

“That’s totally cheating.”

Reading the opponent’s moves is never easy. If you’re facing an opponent of lower skill, it might be possible, but when facing an equal or superior opponent, it’s usually difficult to even evade, let alone read their moves.

– At best, one can only calculate the end of the trajectory.

“That’s what makes it cheating.”

This is a talent that only Jin Sobaek, who possesses an extraordinary intellect even within the Jegal family, can do. The scariest part of this talent, which is close to a supernatural ability, is that it’s not yet complete.

“The more battles he goes through, the more his reasoning, judgment, and senses will improve. And his combat sense as well.”

Right now, it’s just about grasping the trajectory, but in the future, he might be able to manipulate his opponent to fit into his desired trajectory or turn back opponents to nothing without lifting a finger.

“He’s not just a genius.”

To Hyun-woo, Jin Sobaek’s talent was something beyond genius; it was monstrous.

“An insane talent.”

Just as he was marveling at this inexplicable talent, Black Dog, filled with anger, gritted his teeth and swung his sword more fiercely.

However, his sword couldn’t even catch the hem of Hyun-woo’s clothes. Hyun-woo avoided all attacks smoothly, like a fish swimming in a pond, while Black Dog’s frantic swings landed in vain, like clumsy fishermen stabbing with harpoons.

“Damn it!”

Feeling impatient and urgent, Black Dog tried to brace himself and swing his sword again.

“Such sloppy attacks won’t work.”

Hyun-woo’s accelerated reasoning foresaw the trajectory and endpoint of the just-swung sword. He struck Black Dog’s wrist with his hand, disarming him.

“Hmph. You’re not the only one who can use fists.”

Black Dog, improvising, clenched his fists and aimed them at Hyun-woo’s face.

But clumsy punches wouldn’t work on an experienced martial artist. Hyun-woo dodged all the attacks by swaying his body up and down, pivoting from his waist, and then took a strong step forward.

Boom—

The power gathered from stepping forward traveled through his waist, chest, and reached his shoulders.

“It’s over.”

Hyun-woo dug into Black Dog’s side, extended his arm, and sent the power accumulated in his shoulder forward.

Thump!—

Black Dog’s body, hit squarely on the side, floated slightly in the air. With his body in the air and his chest wide open,

Hyun-woo placed his fist on his waist to perform the first technique of Cheonseongbungkwon (Heavenly Star Collapse Fist).

Boom!

Hyun-woo took a step forward with enough force to make the ground vibrate and focused his energy on his right arm, hanging on his waist.

Chit-chit-chit—

Originally, his internal energy should have been depleted, but after consuming Yeonggeun and doubling its effects, his inner force was still surging from his dantian.

“Haaap!”

Just as the energy, condensed to its limit, was about to escape through the fist, the fist, positioned at his waist, was thrust straight out.

Cheonseongbungkwon – Rye (Thunder)

The first punch, resembling thunder, rushed toward the opponent like a lightning strike with such tremendous speed that even Black Dog, who was at the same advanced stage as Hyun-woo, couldn’t see it.

“Stop growing.”

Crack!—

“Gosh… damn….”

With the sound of bones cracking, the whites of Black Dog’s eyes flipped back, and he fell backward like a puppet with severed strings.

“Huff… Huff….”

Hyun-woo breathed heavily to calm his racing heart.

“It’s quite exhausting.”

-It’s because you focused your internal power on the upper dantian. The Trajectory Number technique is effective but consumes a significant amount of internal energy.

“No wonder I feel so hollow.”

Even though he only used his internal power a few times, he felt an inexplicable emptiness inside. That was the reason.

-Heaven’s People (천인). Thank you.

Jin Sobaek’s voice trembled faintly in Hyun-woo’s mind.

-Thanks to you, I was able to achieve my revenge.

“No, I needed it too.”

In this Black Path, where one is bitten off the moment they appear weak, revenge was essential to avoid being underestimated.

Moreover, for Hyun-woo, who needed to become a disciple of the leader and learn the bow, this revenge was not just vengeance but also a plan for the future.

-Thanks to you, I feel I can be at ease now.

As Sobaek’s relieved voice resonated in his mind, Hyun-woo sensed something new.

What was it? It felt like the air of a pure forest sweeping through his mind.

“Huh?”

With his eyes closed, Hyun-woo savored that feeling, tilting his head to the side.

It was because of unfamiliar memories emerging in his mind.

“These memories are….”

Memories of sparring with Jin Huk-ggae, memories of fighting and losing to his third disciple, Jin Hyeok, memories of getting an upset stomach from eating spoiled food, and various other memories simultaneously filled his mind.

“These are Jin Sobaek’s memories.”

What emerged in Hyun-woo’s mind were Jin Sobaek’s memories that he had been unable to see until now.

“Was it you who did this?”

-What are you talking about?

“No, nothing.”

Judging by Sobaek’s response, it seemed he wasn’t aware of this either.

“Is it a reward…? Or is it a natural phenomenon that occurred as Sobaek’s grudge was resolved?”

Hyun-woo had no way of knowing the mechanics behind it, but one thing was certain.

“It’ll be a big help. The inability to see this guy’s memories was inconvenient.”

People cannot remember all of their past. Jin Sobaek, too, only remembers parts of his past.

In other words, there were things he had forgotten and couldn’t provide answers to.

However, Hyun-woo could now see everything that Sobaek couldn’t remember.

This would unquestionably offer significant advantages in his life as “Jin Sobaek.”

-And now, I’ll tell you what I promised. Heaven’s People, your thoughts were correct. I am from the Jegal family.

Along with Jin Sobaek’s words, a series of memories surfaced in his mind.

Memories of being sent to the Black Path with secret martial arts ingrained in his mind by someone from the Jegal family.

-I don’t know why I was sent to the Black Path or what the family wants. All I know is one thing: the words imprinted in my mind, telling me to return after mastering So Cheonseonggong.

“Hmm. So there was a reason, huh.”

Even within the Blood Cult Story, there isn’t much mention of the Jegal family. In this novel, the Jegal family isn’t even considered one of the top ten houses, so there’s little information about them.

-I have one more request for you, Heaven’s People.

“You mean fulfilling your wish, right?”

-Yes. What I hope for from you is that one day, you’ll master So Cheonseonggong and visit the Jegal family.

“That’s not too difficult.”

Hyun-woo was also curious about the Jegal family, so he had always planned to visit them eventually.

“That might take some time. Is that okay?”

-Of course. It’ll likely take several years to master So Cheonseonggong.

Mastering a martial art isn’t an easy task. Unlike martial arts that can be understood by repeating thousands or tens of thousands of times, it is achieved only through internal growth and amplification of internal power.

“I’ll have to put off delving into that for later.”

Hyun-woo set aside his curiosity about the Jegal family for a future date. While he was curious about the Jegal family, which wasn’t well-detailed in the novel, he had more pressing matters to attend to.

-What do you plan to do now?

“First, becoming a disciple of the leader. Let’s see….”

Hyun-woo delved into Sobaek’s memories, looking for a way to become a disciple of the leader.

“So if you defeat someone of lower rank in a duel, you can apply for one with a higher-ranking person.”

Candidates ranked first to fifth can only challenge higher-ranking candidates after defeating lower-ranking ones.

In other words, having defeated Jin Huk-ggae, the fifth candidate, Hyun-woo now had a chance to request a duel with Jin Hyeok, the third candidate.

“Well, I should report this right away.”

Hyun-woo moved to report to Hak-Unjong, the internal chief responsible for managing the disciple candidates.

* * *

“That’s absurd. How can this be?”

Hyun-woo wore an expression of frustration at the internal chief’s words.

“Not recognizing an unofficial duel?”

“That’s the rule.”

Unless someone witnesses it, unofficial duels are not recognized.

Winning or losing unofficially holds no value.

While it is somewhat unfair, he could accept it up to this point.

“No, look at this face. Anyone can tell it’s a face that’s been beaten.”

Hyun-woo gestured toward Huk-ggae.

Huk-ggae’s face, already wolfish, had become even more grotesque due to injuries.

“Jin Huk-ggae, do you acknowledge your defeat in an unofficial duel?”

“I do not acknowledge it.”

“Then it can’t be allowed.”

“This damned bastard!”

What Hyun-woo couldn’t accept was Huk-ggae, who had been thoroughly beaten, shamelessly dismissing the entire ordeal as if nothing happened in front of the internal chief.

“This damned troll.”

As Hyun-woo’s cold, blue eyes glared at Huk-ggae, he rolled up his sleeves and spoke.

“Then let’s fight right now. Let’s have an official duel.”

Since he had already defeated this opponent once, Hyun-woo was confident, even after multiple battles, that he wouldn’t be defeated, and he would win.

“No.”

“What?”

“I said no.”

But the troll, or rather Huk-ggae, shamelessly refused even the official duel.

“That scoundrel is starting again.”

“Does he often do this?”

“That guy is better at causing trouble than fighting.”

As Hyun-woo listened to Sobaek’s words and let out a faint sigh, he looked at the bearded internal chief and asked.

“Internal Chief. Is this really acceptable?”

“This is the first such case, so even I’m at a loss.”

In the Black Path, one never avoids a fight.

Avoiding a fight results in being ignored by everyone and receiving inadequate treatment. Thus, not avoiding a fight is an unwritten rule secretly upheld in the Black Path.

As a result, there are no rules for situations where a fight is avoided.

“I personally disdain such behavior. However, according to the rules… there’s no way to prevent it.”

“Ugh!”

It was absurd.

Being obstructed in this manner was both surprising and baffling.

“Hey. Are you scared? Are you scared?”

“Keep talking, but there’ll be no official duel.”

Even using the universally effective taunt of “scared,” commonly yielding the highest success rate, was ineffective against Huk-ggae, who remained unflinching.

“This guy isn’t easy, is he?”

Hyun-woo reconsidered Huk-ggae.

He thought he was just a cunning brute, but now he seemed to be more of a professional troublemaker.

“What should I do with this guy?”

As Hyun-woo pondered and strategized in his mind, the internal chief called him.

“Jin Sobaek.”

“Yes.”

“As of now, there’s no solution. The only option for you is to hone your skills and wait for the ranking matches three months from now.”

In three months, a ranking match will take place to determine the fourth disciple among ranks one to five.

Unless Huk-ggae agrees to an official duel, the only opportunity left for Hyun-woo is that.

But,

“Three months is too long.”

Hyun-woo didn’t have time to wait until then.

A lot needed to be done urgently as there was a massacre by Baekbaek Church, which would result in half of Gangseo’s Black Path dying a year from now.

“I’ll have to consider other measures.”

Hyun-woo looked up at the sky with determination.

“I should try all possible ways, whether through connections or other means.”

* * *

That night.

No matter how much he racked his brains, Hyun-woo couldn’t come up with a good idea, so he stepped outside to clear his head.

“When it comes to cooling off, nothing beats archery.”

Hyun-woo headed to the practice field, clutching a stylish red bow he named Hwayong Bow (Fire Dragon Bow).

“Huh?”

When he arrived at the practice field, he found Janeonpyeong, the leader of Hwaun Jongga, standing with his hands behind his back.

Seeing him standing under the moonlight seemed quite majestic, with his beard growing denser under his angular chin.

“You’re here.”

“You’re here again? Are you going to practice archery?”

“Follow me.”

Contrary to Hyun-woo’s expectation of practicing archery together, Janeonpyeong moved away from the practice field and towards another location.

“What is this?”

Hyun-woo cocked his head as he followed Janeonpyeong.

After walking for about half a mile beyond Hwaun Jongga’s estate, Janeonpyeong stopped.

A pond reflecting moonlight and an open space beside it appeared serene, and it was a familiar place to Hyun-woo.

“A national archery range?”

The target in the distance and the long grassy area leading to it closely resembled a traditional Korean archery range.

The only difference was the much larger moon compared to Seoul and the pond that mirrored it perfectly.

“I made this archery range today. It’s named Cheonggungjeong (Clear Bow Pavilion).”

On one side of the range, bows and arrows were neatly lined up, and next to them was a small pavilion for resting.

“The leader is nice for quickly setting up things like this.”

Just as Hyun-woo was mesmerized by the tranquil scenery, Janeonpyeong motioned towards the pavilion.

“You can enjoy tea in that pavilion. The moonlight feels pleasant.”

“….”

Noticing Janeonpyeong’s expression, seemingly expecting a response, Hyun-woo clapped lightly.

“It’s lovely.”

Then Janeonpyeong pointed at the targets.

“I added iron plates to the targets. There’ll be no punching through this time.”

“Oh, that’s nice.”

“Let’s begin now.”

Janeonpyeong picked up a bow from one side of the range and spoke to Hyun-woo.

“Now that you’ve learned the posture last time, I’ll teach you something today.”

Janeonpyeong assumed the Bi-jung-bi-pal (Non-uniform but balanced) stance and set an arrow on the string.

Watching this, a thought suddenly struck Hyun-woo’s mind.

“Wait a minute. Come to think of it, there was an easy method, wasn’t there?”

Hyun-woo’s expression subtly changed as he looked at Janeonpyeong.