A first-class martial arts expert was an existence that could slaughter a squad made up of a few dozen ordinary soldiers without sustaining a single scratch. They were extremely common in the Central Plains, but they were still people that could hold their heads up high no matter where they went, especially in the rural areas where there were no strong martial artists.

“Brat, let’s see if you’re as talented in martial arts as you are in talking!”

“Suryong! Get back!”

SHIING!

Before I knew it, Dad had already drawn his sword and charged forward with the intention of taking on Goatee himself. Unfortunately, Namgoong Wook, who had also drawn his blade, immediately intercepted Dad.

“Hey hey! Hyung, you should be playing with me instead!”

CLANG!

“Wait! Let’s talk this out!” Dad, who was being crushed under the weight of Namgoong Wook’s heavy blow, shouted in frustration.

“Hahaha! It’s only right for the directors of both martial arts academies to face off against each other!”

“Damn it! Get out of my way! Suryong!”

Perhaps because he was worried about me, Dad couldn’t utilize his full strength and his movements were extremely clumsy.

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While Dad was preoccupied with Namgoong Wook, Goatee grinned and pounced at me, saying, “Kekekeke, try your best!”

I took a step backward and put on a frightened expression.

Goatee’s smile deepened. “Hahaha! You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” he laughed.

*Good, he’s underestimating me and making too many unnecessary movements. *

Goatee spread his arms wide as if showing off and strutted toward me confidently. The corners of his lips were curled into a relaxed smile.

He knew that I was no match for him, so he let his guard down. After all, he was a first-class expert, and I was a brat with qi weaker than even a third-class warrior. Even if we fought a hundred times, he would win every single time.

However, there was one fact he couldn’t possibly know.

In that cruel Blood Demon Sect, I taught martial arts for more than twenty years despite not having any qi. Were all the people who learned from me hardworking students who obeyed their teachers? Did any of them ignore the words of a seemingly powerless instructor? Were there any obedient children who became rebellious as they grew up and gained strength?

Of course there were!

Countless people looked down on me. Nevertheless, until the Demon Strategist sent me to the underground prisons on , I was the best and most feared instructor in the Blood Demon Sect.

“Don’t be too afraid. I’ll enjoy killing you slowly!”

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SWISH!

Goatee shaped his hand into an eagle’s claw and reached for my heart. I felt slightly threatened, but his movements were too big. I leaned backward and, at the same time, I kicked upward.

RIIIIP!

His fingernails tore through my clothes. At the same time, I kicked him in the stomach.

THUD!

Goatee took several steps backward and widened his eyes, shocked by my unexpected retaliation.

“What?”

He seemed displeased although my attack was completely ineffective.

“Hmph! You got lucky…”

Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly raised his arms to protect his face from the coins that I had shot at him.

CLINK! CLINK!

“Do you honestly think that you can defeat me using such parlor tricks?”

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At the moment that goatee raised his arms to protect his head, his elbow was revealed.

I grinned and shot a coin that I had hidden at the Lake’s Bend Acupoint on Goatee’s elbow.

TAK!

The Lake’s Bend Acupoint is an important acupuncture point where all the qi in the arm gathers. If it is sealed, that arm will become paralyzed.

“Kuh!”

I leaped at Goatee’s paralyzed arm.

His eyes grew even larger with disbelief. He tried to dodge my attack, but because his arm was still paralyzed, he failed to react in time.

Using my index and middle fingers, I sealed his Shoulder Well Acupoint.

BZZT!

Sealing the Shoulder Well Acupoint will cause a blockage in one of the most important meridians in the body, allowing me to completely paralyze Goatee.

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“Grargh!”

His entire body twitched, and then he began to shiver uncontrollably. I grabbed his head and grinned.

“You’ve lost, asshole.”

I pulled his head downwards and slammed my knee into his face.

THUD!

It’d be a pity if I only hit him once, so…

THUMP! THUNK!

I hit him two more times, but for some reason, I still didn’t feel satisfied…

BASH! BAM! WHAM!

With the spirit of a finishing move, I kneed him in the face over and over again.

“Stop…You…Punk…!”

As expected of a first-class expert, he was very resistant to beating.

Suddenly, he shakily swung his arm and pushed me away.

WHOOSH!

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It was just a rough movement, but considering the difference in strength between him and me, getting hit by him would be a terrible idea. Thus, I dodged his attack and moved to his left.

POP! POP! POP!

He increased his blood flow to break through the seal on his acupoints, but I could tell that his reaction time was much slower than before.

I stepped backward unhesitatingly.

“AHHHHH! I’m going to kill you!”

A wild Goatee charged at me. However, not only was his aura much weaker than before, he seemed to be having a mild concussion as a result of the blows to his head and was having trouble maintaining his balance. He was only moving because of his burning desire to kill me.

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SWOOSH! WHISH!

I avoided all of his attacks with minimal movement.

“I once knew a lot of guys like you.”

“Argh!”

He wasn’t listening to me at all, but I didn’t care.

“Just because they knew a few techniques and had a little qi, my students and fellow instructors looked down on me…”

“I’m going to kill you!”

“…Their qi centers were still intact, so they thought that they were superior to me.”

“Die! Die! Die!”

“Want to guess what happened to them?”

LEAP!

I revealed a weakness on purpose, and Goatee immediately fell for it. I then matched his momentum and took a single step forward, placing my foot in his path and disrupting his balance.

He made a misstep, twisted his ankle, and lost control of his breathing.

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When a person’s breath goes out of whack, they lose the ability to move properly for a moment.

That moment was more than enough.

“They all ended up like .”

THWACK!I stepped to the side to dodge Goatee’s punch, then slammed my elbow into the back of his neck.

THUMP!

Goatee fainted and fell to the floor face first, his body splayed out like a frog.

“Huff…huff…”

I placed a hand on my chest to steady my breathing. Perhaps because this body was too weak, I started having a nosebleed.

As I wiped off the blood with the back of my hand, I suddenly heard the sound of clothes rustling.

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“Ugh!”

I looked down and saw Goatee struggling to stand up.

“I will…kill you…!”

Even though his legs were wobbly, Goatee charged at me with killing intent. His eyes were rolled back in his head, showing only the whites. That was proof that he had already lost his mind and was moving purely on instinct.

“Sigh…”

However, I didn’t bother dodging this time. I had already achieved my initial goal of buying time.

I glanced behind me and asked, “Are you done yet?”

“…Sorry, it took me some time since I haven’t fought anyone in years.”

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A shadow leaped forward from behind me and swung his sword at Goatee.

SLASH!

The next thing I knew, Goatee was bursting into a fountain of blood in mid-air.

“AHHHHHHH!”

Dad stood in front of the screaming Goatee, holding his sword with both hands.

“Are you okay?”

“Yup.”

I turned around and saw Namgoong Wook (self-proclaimed) lying motionlessly on the ground. On the other hand, Dad did not have a single scratch on him.

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For some reason, he was hiding his true strength. He thought that I was clueless, but after living with him for a month, I was pretty confident in my deduction. If I wasn’t certain that we had a 100% chance of winning, I would never have chosen to provoke these two at this point in time.

Still panting, I said, “Since they confessed in front of all these witnesses, all we have to do is lock them up and hand them over to the Murim Alliance. I’m sure the Alliance people will gladly handle the rest of the cleanup.”

“We have a lot to talk about when we get home…”

Before Dad could finish his sentence though, the audience suddenly erupted into cheers.

“WOAHHHHHH!”

“You defeated those evil sect bastards!”

“Three cheers for Grandmaster Baek Muheun! Hip hip hooray!”

“Hooray for Grandmaster Baek Muheun! Victory to the Baek Academy!”

The people whose lives we saved surrounded us, cheering happily while tears and snots of joy ran down their faces. In particular, the cloth shop owner Mr Jang and his son Jang Yi’s expressions had the biggest impact on me.

“Master Baek! You’re the best!”

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“Ah! About the other guys…”

“All of them ran away.”

As the result of the battle became increasingly obvious, the Jin Academy disciples, including Yang Sam and Goatee’s lackeys, had all fled from the scene.

Now that the problem had been solved, I was suddenly hit by an overwhelming sense of fatigue.

“Finally, it’s over…”

STUMBLE.

“Suryong!”

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“So…dizzy…”

The instant I relaxed, my knees gave in and my body tilted sideways. I struggled to keep my eyes open, but my body was just too weak and unhealthy…

I glanced at Dad out of the corner of my eye. I wasn’t sure when he’d moved, but he was hugging me and looking at me worriedly.

“…I’m going to sleep. Please take care of the rest for me.”

FLOP!

Amid the cheers pouring in from every direction, I fainted.

Translator's Note: HAPPY NEW YEAR AGAIN! It's finally 2022 for me!!!