Chapter 57: Above You, Below Me (2)
-Tsk Tsk Tsk.
A creepy laugh echoed from the man in the uniform. And then, his counterattack came flying in.
A spinning elbow strike.
I dodged it slightly and thought.
Attacking without a word? I get it, having your shoulder grabbed by a stranger can be upsetting. But will he understand my punch?
“Master! Hajin! Master, Hajin is just a regular member who doesn’t know anything. Please show mercy-!”
“This is insane-.”
Smack. Thud-
The smack was the sound of the dojo master slapping that guy, and the thud was my fist hitting his jaw.
Fighting me while being distracted?Now both my fists and I were pissed off.
I landed additional blows on the staggering man in the uniform. Naturally, he couldn’t even raise a guard and was knocked down completely.
Judging by his rolled-back eyes, he won’t regain his senses for an hour.
“Pathetic, acting all tough.”
I said, looking down at him. Then the dojo master beside me mumbled with a stunned expression.
“This... this master specializes in defensive Qi techniques. How did he get taken down in just three moves?”
“I’m a bit strong, Master. Are you okay?”
“Uh, no. What do we do about this situation? Is this insubordination? But...”
I spent the next ten minutes calming down the panicked dojo master.
“I was the one who hit him. You won’t face any repercussions, Master.”
“No, Hajin was just trying to help me, and if I don’t take responsibility...”
“Master!”
I grabbed the dojo master’s shoulder. It was surprisingly firm. No matter how I looked at it, the master seemed much stronger than that guy in the uniform.
Yet, because of a lower rank, they had to follow his orders? This system seemed utterly ridiculous.
With those thoughts in mind, I spoke to the master.
“I beat him up just because I didn’t like him. It’s not something you should worry about. By the way, what was he talking about? Something about becoming someone’s concubine?”
“Ah, in our Qi sect, we value unions among disciples. They believe it leads to children with high Qi talent. It was just my turn.”
The master continued.
“Master Kim Dogun is the son of the 9th-generation grandmaster and already has three wives. This time, with the 9th generation’s permission, he aimed for me...”
The master suddenly burst into tears.
Embarrassed, she quickly wiped them away.
“When my master’s master was the head here, Master Kim Dogun had given up on me. But now, there’s no choice. They’re no longer here.”
“Master, this is just my personal guess...”
I began to speak.
“But aren’t you incredibly strong? From what I can see, you could take down that loser and twenty more like him.”
There’s a saying that a healthy body houses a healthy mind. After having a bout with a tiger, that saying felt a bit off.
A strong body houses a strong soul. And while the master might not be on the same level as me or a tiger, she certainly had a superhuman physique.
She’s strong.
That’s my conclusion.
So I said this.
“Why don’t we just break through the entire dojo? Survival of the fittest. Let’s go the way of the sects. I’ll help you!”
As I thought about breaking through the other dojos of the Qigong sect, I wondered if we could acquire techniques or treasures that can help me to feel yang energy. However, this suggestion was met with fierce rejection.
“No! That means becoming a Qigong sect! Our sect’s traitors. I’ve been a practitioner of the Qigong sect since before I could speak. It was the Qigong sect that raised me after my parents abandoned me.”
Master Jin-yu nodded resolutely.
“Even if I die, I will die as a disciple of the Qigong sect. So, Hajin, you must escape quickly.”
“Huh? Why would I run away?”
Are the Qigong sect members coming for me in a gang?
Daring to come after me, a senior from the 2nd generation of the Qigong sect?
“The faction Master Kim Dogun belongs to is enormous, inheriting the Extreme Yang from the main sect. Honestly, I hate to admit this because it’s a dark side of our Qigong sect, but they have the power to eliminate someone without batting an eye. So, please, hurry...”
“Wait a minute, Extreme Yang?”
Extreme Yang. Could it be similar to Extreme Yin? Extreme Yin, that strange stone that made me feel cold. Just taking it out of the box knocked out a few researchers at the lab.
“Is the Extreme Yang similar to Extreme Yin?”
“It seems you know about Extreme Yin. Yes, Extreme Yang is considered the sacred counterpart to Extreme Yin. It’s a place with such a powerful force that it inherits such a sacred object.”
Suddenly, Master Jin-yu grabbed my hand.
“Thank you for standing up for me.”
She smiled as she spoke.
But there were still tear stains around her eyes.
“From now on, this is an internal matter of the Qigong sect, so please don’t worry about it anymore. I’ll explain things to Master Kim Dogun.”
“No, wait a moment.”
And so, I was pushed out of the dojo, heading toward the door. I could have resisted her touch, but seeing her pitiful gaze made me think I should listen to her for now.
As I left the dojo, I thought.
The way to sense Yin and Yang energy was like this. By feeling the coldness of the stone containing Yin and the heat of the stone containing Yang, one could complete the 30 stages of Qi cultivation.
And I only felt cold from a sacred object like Extreme Yin. It would likely take a sacred object like Extreme Yang to feel the heat.
“I have no choice.”
I searched for Master Kim Dogun and his dojo on my phone.
The name was Jin Yang Kwan, a venerable martial arts school existing since before the Awakening.
The main building is quite a large gymnasium.
It seems even bigger than something built by the government.
But that’s not the point right now.
The head, what generation is the head?
The head of Jin Yang Kwan, Master Jin Yang, was listed as from the 5th generation.
“5th generation? How dare a lowly 5th generation touch my Extreme Yang, no, threaten my Master Jin-yu? These undisciplined fools. The Qigong sect has truly turned upside down. Seriously!!!”
As I rode my electric scooter, I thought.
Indeed, these guys need a good scolding.
I will start the discipline right away tomorrow.
****
Master Kim Dogun was in a good mood. Finally, he could make Lee Jin-yu his own.
Lee Jin-yu, known as the genius of the Qigong sect, was a girl who could defeat her peers single-handedly. Even Kim Dogun had challenged her and was humiliated with a single move.
He still grinded his teeth thinking about how his father scolded him back then.
But he couldn’t forget her beauty either.
If Lee Jin-yu had abandoned her masters and joined a higher-ranking disciple, Kim Dogun would have had no choice but to live under her.
But that foolish woman stayed loyal to the dojo that raised her. She even used her winnings to protect the crumbling dojo.
“Pathetic woman.”
Because of this, Lee Jin-yu would now learn what defeat truly meant. He was determined to repay the humiliation he suffered tenfold, a hundredfold.
He would completely subjugate her and make her his slave.
Master Kim Dogun looked down at Lee Jin-yu with a cruel gaze.
“The hierarchy of the Qigong sect is absolute. But you dared to live arrogantly, relying only on your skills.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Apologizing without even changing your expression. I’ll re-educate you until you know what real remorse is. Now, first, take off your clothes...”
Beeep- Beeep- Beeep-
Suddenly, alarms blared.
It signaled an intruder.
Kim Dogun ordered the surrounding disciples.
“Quickly, go and stop the intruder. Lee Jin-yu, stay by my side for now.”
The intruder, Yoo Hajin, had already knocked down over forty Qigong sect disciples.
‘These guys are such pushovers.’
They use their hands and feet.
No weapons, meaning no threat of getting stabbed.
Moreover, Qigong’s techniques were ineffective against Yoo Hajin.
Even as the Qigong sect practitioners chanted Yang Qigong techniques while dancing, it looked like nothing more than a silly dance to him.
It was the perfect mismatch.
Yoo Hajin went around beating people up like a fish in water.
And Lee Jin-yu watched it all.
“Hajin, why...”
Why had he come here alone?
He had only been a member for just over a month.
Lee Jin-yoo bit her lip hard.
Yoo Hajin broke through the hallway and entered the gymnasium. Hundreds of people were glaring at him.
‘I can handle beating up two people at a time in a hallway, but fighting surrounded by dozens in this wide-open space might be risky...’
’Should I use ‘that box’ now?’
‘I’d prefer to save it.’
While Yoo Hajin was assessing his chances, a man who seemed to be the leader spoke to him.
“Why are you causing trouble at Jin Yang Kwan?”
“Of course, for the Ex-...”
Why was he causing trouble?
Naturally, it was for the Extreme Yang.
But he couldn’t say that now.
So he decided to state his second reason.
“You took my master.”
“Your master?”
“Yeah, my master, the second strongest Qigong sect disciple I’ve ever met. And you did it with some ridiculous military game.”
As soon as Yoo Hajin said that, the disciples burst into laughter.
Except for one woman listening in the corner.
She looked on the verge of tears.
But the Qigong sect members, unaware of this, continued to speak.
“A Qigong sect disciple? And you dare cause a scene where higher-generation disciples are gathered??”
“Kneel down at once!!! Quickly, bring his master here!!!”
“He looks like he’s from the 15th generation!!! Kids these days have no respect!!!”
Then, they all suddenly took out books from their robes. As they held the books high, machines in the ceiling scanned them.
And phrases like <10th Generation>, <7th Generation>, <12th Generation>, <11th Generation> appeared next to them.
A man with <8th Generation> next to him spoke.
“Are you surprised? It’s OmegaTech’s technology. It accurately identifies the generation of Qigong sect disciples. Why are you silent? Are you shocked by our generations? Do you understand the insubordination you’ve committed? If you do, bow your head and apologize immediately!!!”
Yoo Hajin laughed at those words.
How much did they want to play this generation game to create such a machine?
So he took something out from his robe and said,
“Then, you bow first.”
“Wha-what?”
“Lowly disciple talking back?”
The 8th generation master looked at the phrase next to Yoo Hajin.
Next to Yoo Hajin, the phrase <2nd Generation> was displayed.
“What are you waiting for? Aren’t you all going to bow your heads?”
The 8th generation master turned around and saw that most of the disciples were already bowing their heads in fear.
Even his own master, the 7th generation elder, was bowing.
– – – The End of The Chapter – – –
TL: You can support the translation and read 5 chapters ahead of the release here on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Bill94
Join Our Discord for regular updates and have fun with other community members: https://discord.com/invite/SqWtJpPtm9 ]