Chapter 82

With a faint whistling sound, the spear tip sliced through the air. Ma Widong’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

Ma Widong’s expression turned serious for the first time as he swung his mace in a wide arc, and Taewoon countered the blow with every sense in his body.

As their weapons clashed and parted a dozen times, sweat poured off Taewoon’s body like rain.

His breath grew ragged and his chest felt as if it would burst, but a greater euphoria was clouding Taewoon’s mind.

“Hmph… You’ve learned a fairly interesting spear technique!”

Taewoon barely managed to evade Ma Widong’s offensive as the latter burst into laughter while slamming his mace down. Taewoon took a large step back to create distance.

At that moment, Ma Widong stopped his attack and looked at Taewoon with serious eyes.

“You are exceptional for your age, and you seem well-versed in spear techniques… but I can’t help but feel that something is missing.”

“…What is that?”

“Determination, I mean Determination. For some reason, the spear of a man who calls himself a Martial Artist contains no mental imagery; how could this elder not frown at such a sight?”

What Ma Widong pointed out was something Taewoon had not given much thought to.

‘Determination? Does he simply mean the thoughts held within…?’

Yet, for some reason, he knew it was something different.

Though he wasn’t entirely sure, it was clear that what Ma Widong meant was not that.

“I apologize for my lack of insight. Could you perhaps grant me a bit more guidance?”

“What a bothersome fellow. In that case, think about this. What is Martial Arts in the first place?”

“Is it not the act of harmonizing Martial Arts, which possesses form and technique, with internal energy to project it outwardly?”

“Look at this idiot! If you truly believe that, you are gravely mistaken!”

Ma Widong glared at Taewoon as if he were utterly absurd, then, in a rare move, took a stance and began to unfold a technique as he spoke again.

“This is called the Sluggish Snake’s Fatal Gasp, one of the techniques of the Spirit Snake Fist. It means that even a lazy snake possesses a desperate will to take a life when biting the enemy’s throat.”

“…”

“Have you ever thought even once about why forms and techniques are given names, or why they have been passed down in such forms? Originally, Martial Arts are meant to contain someone’s life and will. Without knowing that, there is no point in this conversation.”

Ma Widong’s hand moved incredibly slowly, closing the distance until it almost touched Taewoon’s throat.

It was clearly just a demonstration of a single technique, but Taewoon felt overwhelmed by the immense latent power contained in that gesture, to the point where he felt a momentary threat to his life.

“Your spear technique has depth. But that is all. This elder felt no Will and Determination within it, so no matter how much you struggle for a hundred days, you will not be able to advance to the next stage until you fill that void.”

“Intent…”

Taewoon fell into deep thought, quietly rolling the two words Ma Widong left behind in his mouth.

It was a belated realization, but through Ma Widong’s advice, Taewoon came to realize a very obvious fact.

Ma Widong was right. For the past dozen years, Taewoon had merely learned and mastered spear techniques; he hadn’t specifically mastered Martial Arts.

“…The Will and Determination you speak of, elder, surely does not mean merely the thoughts in one’s heart or a strong will.”

As Taewoon spoke cautiously, Ma Widong gave a light snort and nodded with a dissatisfied look.

“You’re stating the obvious. True Determination is the power that flows from the deepest part of the practitioner’s soul to overwhelm the opponent—the power itself. A technique without intent is nothing more than an empty shell, no matter how precise or flashy it may be.”

Taewoon nodded silently, but inside, he felt a vague confusion.

He understood it roughly in his head, but that abstract power still felt as distant as an unreachable star.

After all, in Taewoon’s original world, Martial Arts were a concept far removed from reality, existing only in movies.

As he felt his mind becoming cluttered, Ma Widong let out a scoff and, with a subtle attitude, made a proposal to Taewoon.

“So, how about it?”

“About what?”

“You have quite decent aptitude, so why not receive proper guidance from this elder as a way to kill time during your journey?”

Naturally, it was a proposal Taewoon had nothing to lose from. In fact, it felt unexpected that Ma Widong would make such an offer.

“Hmph! Don’t make a fuss. It’s just that your form was so frustrating I could hardly bear to watch it.”

“…If you grant me your guidance, I shall not forget this kindness.”

Thus, while tracing the whereabouts of the Spear Ghost toward Huainan, Taewoon began to spend his days receiving several Martial Arts from Ma Widong.

The journey to Huainan flowed quite meaningfully. Taewoon could feel himself growing day by day.

In particular, it was an unexpected stroke of luck to begin realizing the deep essence of Martial Arts, something he had never considered before.

“This elder does not have great expertise in spear techniques, but I can teach you a few other things.”

Before Taewoon could prepare an answer, Ma Widong’s body vanished.

No, rather than vanishing, his form blurred for a moment, and it became impossible to properly perceive his appearance, as if his cognitive image had been scattered.

‘That is…’

Like pine needles falling from a tree and scattering in the wind, Ma Widong’s form blurred and split, dispersing into dozens of afterimages.

One step split into two, two split into four, and dozens of illusions repeatedly intertwined and tangled.

Taewoon felt dizzy just from the sight unfolding before his eyes.

‘I knew he was great, but was it to this extent?’

It was a step technique that transcended the mere realm of speed.

Drawing a trajectory so complex that it was difficult to track even with Qi sense, not just the eyes, Ma Widong repeatedly appeared and disappeared within Taewoon’s field of vision.

Eventually, those chaotic illusions gathered back into one, and at one moment, Taewoon could see Ma Widong standing right in front of his nose.

“How is it, this elder’s Flying Ring Step?”

“Flying Ring Step…”

Taewoon murmured softly and took a deep breath. Just uttering the words felt like it carried a strange weight.

At Taewoon’s reaction, Ma Widong nodded and wore a confident smile.

“That’s right. The Flying Ring Step is not simply a step technique for moving quickly. It is a peak light-footwork technique that embeds one’s will into every single step to confuse the opponent’s eyes, shake their spirit, and execute more than ten steps of movement in a single stride.”

“Truly, this is the first time I have seen such a mysterious step technique.”

At Taewoon’s honest praise, the corners of Ma Widong’s mouth curled up.

Ma Widong laughed crudely and said while staring at Taewoon.

“If you master this, you will also be able to realize the method of embedding will and planting Determination into your movements.”

Taewoon bowed his head seriously in greeting.

“Thank you, elder. I will take your teachings to heart.”

And so the journey continued, and Ma Widong continued to pass on the heart’s attainment of the Flying Ring Step to Taewoon even while moving.

“Walk with your heart, not your body. Concentrate your mind and follow the footsteps I have shown.”

As time passed, Taewoon’s stride began to change.

All these movements were unfamiliar to Taewoon, but the process of training in proper Martial Arts brought him an inexplicable euphoria.

Taewoon vividly drew Ma Widong’s footsteps in his mind and opened all his senses to engrave that mysterious flow into his body and heart.

From a certain point, every time his toes brushed the ground, he felt a sensation as if something were slowly blooming from deep within his heart.

Ma Widong watched this and let out a satisfied smile.

“Yes, that’s it! Control the flow of your body like that and continue to move between the boundaries of speed and illusion. A step technique is not simply moving the body. It is an art of deceiving the enemy’s eyes and piercing their blind spots.”

Following Ma Widong’s guidance, Taewoon gradually realized the essence of the Flying Ring Step. After several days had passed, a mysterious principle was finally embedded in Taewoon’s toes, and he began to produce movements different from before.

As his body crossed the void, six illusions scattered like a dance in the mist, cluttering the surrounding scenery.

“Ho, your progress is quite fast.”

Ma Widong burst into an interested laugh upon seeing this, and Taewoon stopped his feet, tidying his breath as he murmured.

“So this is truly the sensation of unfolding Martial Arts…”

“Yes. Now do you see how foolish your heart was? Intent is the sum of your experiences, memories, and will. If you cannot handle that as you wish, you will forever be bound by what is visible to the eye.”

Taewoon nodded obediently upon hearing those words. Ma Widong turned around and began to walk again.

“Enough small talk. We are almost at Huainan.”

As Ma Widong said, the two had passed through the rugged mountain range and arrived before a remote abandoned village in Huainan.

Taewoon glanced around and spoke.

“Would it not be better to gather information in a nearby city?”

“It will probably be meaningless. If this elder’s prediction is correct… that fellow must be holed up near Bagong Mountain.”

Ma Widong continued to walk without hesitation, and the two soon entered a mountain valley where all traces of people had vanished, eventually reaching deep into Bagong Mountain.

“Stop for a moment.”

“Why is that?”

“I see traces of his training. It seems he is staying nearby, so he might show himself if we call him out.”

A moment later, Ma Widong, taking a deep breath and fully unleashing his internal energy, began to let out a shout loud enough to shake the entire mountain.

“Yeonjeoksan, you bastard!! Are you there!!”

It was a cry that anyone nearby could not possibly miss, but no answer returned even as time passed.

However, immediately after.

A single black shadow shot out in a strange trajectory and lunged at Ma Widong’s neck.

Ma Widong lightly swung his mace to block the strike, then threw a reproach in a dissatisfied voice.

“Hmph, you Spear Ghost! Isn’t this greeting a bit too aggressive after all this time?”

“…Tsk, what is the meaning of this.”

A body that was strangely gaunt yet could not hide its build, and a face with shadows so deep it felt eerie.

The Spear Ghost, Yeonjeoksan, was staring at Taewoon and Ma Widong with a heavily frowned expression.