Volcanic Age - Chapter 4

Editor: Summerstood, Imagine

Note from Imagine: To the readers from here on out we will be doing full chapters, so no longer .1 or .2! (unless the chapter is extra long)

At the training center

“Ju Seo-Cheon!”

“Yes!”

Ju Seo-Cheon replied loudly when Cheol Woong (a third-generation disciple of Mount Hua Sect and instructor of the Nakan Hell) called him as he stepped forward.

“I heard that you achieved getting the Plum Blossom Qi Arts to the fifth level. Is that true?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“If that’s the case, you will be joining in the training of fist techniques.”

Before one was able to reach the fifth star level of the Plum Blossom Qi Arts, the physical training at the Nakan Hell ended at making a round trip to the center.

And when he was about to reach five stars in the Plum Blossom Qi Arts after about one year, he would go over the next physical training phase.

“I will teach you the Plum Blossom Strengthening.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The pride of Mount Hua Sect was the sword but it didn’t mean that other martial arts were neglected. They weren’t at the level of the Sword Skills, but they did exist.

Most of them weren’t hard to understand and were comparatively easy, and these techniques were the fundamentals to protect yourself when you weren’t holding a sword.

“In Kang Ho there’s a saying that goes ‘A hundred spears, a thousand daggers, and ten thousand swords.”

It meant that learning and mastering the sword was the hardest and took the most time of them.

“The fist techniques also contain the essence of Mount Hua Sect so they will become the base for when you learn swordsmanship. So don’t complain and follow well!”

Cheol Woong spoke with a strict tone.

Ju Seo Cheon didn’t make unnecessary remarks and joined in training the fist techniques.

‘Hoh, normally they get disappointed at not being able to practice the Mount Hua Sect’s sword…he has a good posture.’

Cheol Woong saw his back and exclaimed lowly.

After that, a small change occurred in Ju Seo Cheon’s life.

He woke up at dawn and circulated energy near the plum tree. However, that was what attracted the eyes of others.

The fourth-generation disciples were mostly kids that hadn’t even come of age. In addition, children were curious beings by existence.

He would obviously attract attention in a society with those children as he would sit in front of the plum flower by himself and circulate energy.

“Hey, plum tree lover.”

When he opened his eyes after having finished circulating energy he could see a group in front of him. They were all children of the same age.

“I heard that the plum tree is your only friend.”

Kik kik!

“There’s no purer evil than children.”

Ju Seo Cheon mumbled with a sad expression.

“What is he saying?”

The kid who was leading the others heard that and put on a dumbfounded expression.

Ju Seo-Cheon stood up from his place without saying anything and continued speaking with eyes that contained melancholy.

“Normally I would have said ‘This hyung of yours finds it bothersome to deal with you so leave when I’m saying it nicely’.”

“What?”

“But I’m sure that you are going to keep quarreling with me because the world is formed with that kind of continued hate. That’s why I’m going to cut off that hate before it continues.”

The words Ju Seo-Cheon was speaking were hard for these children.

From olden times people would think that you were full of yourself if you spoke in words that were hard to understand.

At first, they came to tease Ju Seo-Cheon a bit as he was alone but they started to feel bad as he came out like this.

“Come you, evildoers! I have polished the Plum Blossom Fist techniques until now to end that cycle of hate!”

Ju Seo Cheon charged forward.

He wasn’t that fast. It was an obvious thing as he had just started training in the Plum Blossom Life Arts and Plum Blossom Fist Techniques.

“Wh, what is with this crazy guy!”

The boss of the group of kids threw back a fist towards the Ju Seo Cheon that was, charging towards him, in a fluster. It was at a fast speed.

“Haha.”

Ju Seo Cheon laughed as if he was having fun and dodged it.

The boss of the kids was superior in terms of speed and strength but he was still a kid.

He wasn’t even a proper opponent for Ju Seo Cheon that had the memories of his past.

He could see clearly how the kid would move and how he would attack.

“Huk?”

The kid’s boss got shocked and turned his body in a hurry but it was already late. Ju Seo-Cheon kicked the chest of the kid boss.

“Kek!”

The kid’s boss screamed and fell backward.

Ju Seo Cheon raised his head high and spoke in a saddened voice.

“This is the fist of Kang Ho.”

“What are you saying, that now was a kick!”

Ju Seo-Cheon was actually the calm and silent type. He was like that because he had lived oppressed by pressure.

He passed his life somehow because he had been training all his life and when he became middle-aged he got gloomy because he had to be walking on eggshells.

But his personality changed a little bit after reincarnating. Precisely speaking, he had started to solve the things that were pressuring him.

A little bit more freely in his new life. But that started to go in a strange direction.

“Kek kek…get that crazy bastard!”

The boss of that group yelled while grabbing his stomach.

And then all the other kids yelled and attacked Ju Seo-Cheon.

“Haha, this is the Plum Blossom Fist Technique! Take the Plum Blossom Fist Technique!”

Ju Seo-Cheon handled the kids in an indulgent manner.

It was an obvious thing but in his position, fighting with kids was no different from kid’s play. It did look like the kids had fought with all their strength but in Ju Seo Cheon’s position, the movements of the kids were too simple and easy to read that he could dodge them with his eyes closed.

Ju Seo-Cheon slipped off from among the kids like an eel and trampled on them.

“Uwaaak!”

“Kueeek!”

The kids screamed and fell down in large numbers.

Ju Seo-Cheon looked at those kids and smiled gently.

“Do you…want to be secret friends with this uncle?”

“Hiiiik”

A lunatic was at that place.

‘Having lost in a fight was a really shameful thing, especially for young boys.

That was even more so if the opponents they fought against were younger and smaller than them.

The kids that picked a fight with Ju Seo Cheon didn’t go speaking around how they had been beaten by him.

They picked a fight against the youngest of the fourth generation disciple that was only nine years old and got defeated without even being able to lay a hand on him. They would lose all their dignity if that got to be known.

Contrary to that, they observed Ju Seo Cheon anxiously in case he would say what happened to someone.

“Huhu, kids are originally like that.”

Thanks to that, this fuss didn’t get bigger and Ju Seo-Cheon was able to not get noticed so he got greatly satisfied.

“Let’s still reflect on it. I couldn’t hold it in and burst out. I feel like I’m aging backward perhaps because I got younger.”

Ju Seo-Cheon reflected himself and smiled proudly while thinking of what happened not long ago.

It was the first time he had run so wild. This had never happened even before he returned back in time.

“Should I focus on training again now that all the obstructions have disappeared?”

In addition, the kid boss and the other kids that picked a fight with him were located at the highest spot among their age.

They were worried that Ju Seo-Cheon may spread his tales of heroism so they blocked the kids that approached him with interest.

Thanks to that, he could train near the plum blossom tree without caring about his surroundings.

One month passed since he started circulating the Plum Blossom Life Arts and learned the Plum Blossom Fist Techniques.

“Haha!”

The results he obtained at that time were great.

“I managed to accumulate half a year’s worth of internal energy in one month!”

The condensation of the Plum Blossom Life Arts was no joke. He had only taken one month in accumulating half a years worth of internal energy thanks to having breathed along the plum tree.

He completed his dantian when he was merely eight and took one year’s worth of time in reaching the Plum Blossom Qi Arts to the fifth star.

But he accomplished half of that in only one month. It would be weird if he wasn’t happy.

The current internal energy Ju Seo Cheon had was a year and a half’s worth.

“Should this much be enough for the Plum Blossom Fist Techniques?”

Ju Seo Cheon swung his fist lightly.

Fwoosh!

He knew more about the Plum Blossom Fist Techniques than the instructors.

His body wasn’t trained but he learned most of it in less than a month after training in concentration.

It seemed like he had taken close to a year before he returned in time but he got to be able to use it freely in less than a month.

‘Um, what is left is boring repetition.’

Even if there was insight following its comprehension, all of that became meaningless if his body couldn’t follow it.

Your body wouldn’t be able to follow if you didn’t have the body of a heavenly martial artist.

It was still the body of a growing nine-year-old kid. His body would get destroyed if he got greedy.

If only his body followed the memories he already had, he would have stolen a sword and started training in swordsmanship already.

But he couldn’t do that so he could only train his body step by step by executing the Plum Blossom Fist Arts.

For reference it was only slow in Ju Seo-Cheon’s position, it was a crazily fast speed for others.

It was unavoidable as the understanding of martial arts was low in the beginning except for geniuses.

‘I should revise my plans.’

He could execute the Plum Blossom Fist Arts without thinking about it now.

It was almost at the boundary of it being unconscious.

There was no need to go through the process of thinking about it.

So instead, Ju Seo-Cheon organized a few things that would happen in the future.

“I really don’t want to think about it but the first thing that remains in my memories on what happens is…”

A dark shadow enveloped Ju Seo-Cheon’s face.

It was something that would happen five years from now when he was fourteen. It was something that had happened tens of years ago but he couldn’t forget what happened.

That’s why because couldn’t get to see his master Yu Jeong Mok from that year on anymore.

The soft smiling sword, Yu Jeong Mok.

It was a nickname he received because his smile was always soft and pure.

Ju Seo-Cheon knew about Yu Jong Mok more than anyone else.

And what would happen to him in the future.

‘Master…’

Yu Jong Mok was a respectable great man and martial artist.

That wasn’t a subjective observation at all.

A person that can be considerate towards others, gentleness, and a comfortable smile. There were no flaws in his personality and his martial arts were also great.

There was a position called Plum Blossom Sword Examiner.

One could become a Plum Blossom Sword Examiner only after going through strict tests and trials that tested your martial arts, personality, and wisdom.

That position was the greatest in Mount Hua Sect and they were the idol of all the disciples of the sect.

Yu Jong Mok was so outstanding he was selected as a candidate for the Plum Blossom Sword Examiner and had even passed some examinations.

Yu Jong Mok herself worked hard with that dream in mind but solely speaking about the results, he wasn’t able to climb to that position because of a certain thing.

It was because of the chronic disease he had from long ago.

No, precisely speaking it wasn’t known if it was even a disease.

Yu Jong Mok had a high understanding of martial arts from his youth and could even execute it more precisely than others.

However, he got exhausted more easily than others and his body structure was also weak.

It was because his health and physique weren’t good from birth.

It was to the point that he got teased for being a weakling by his fellow apprentices when he just joined the sect.

But Yu Jong Mok didn’t yield and worked a few times more than others in training his body to complement his weakness.

It was harder than others, perhaps because he was born that way, but he somehow managed to overcome it with his solid will.

But his weak constitution didn’t get better even with the passing years.

Fortunately, he never got greatly ill but he frequently suffered from slight fevers or light sickness.

The conditions for becoming a Plum Blossom Sword Examiner were really harsh and strict and he fell down on the examination site due to suffering from these diseases frequently.

The reason Ju Seo-Cheon didn’t have other fellow brothers was because of this.

Yu Jong Mok wasn’t healthy enough to take in more disciples besides Ju Seo-Cheon.