The Teaching Material Ran Away with All Its Might
The pride of a martial arts master? The teaching material knew better than to cling to such nonsense; practicality always came first.
What could be gained by challenging someone capable of unleashing such absurd attacks with ease?
Vengeance for his subordinates? Nonsense. Running away was the only logical choice.
However, the one miscalculation he made was thinking he could escape from Seo-jun.
BOOOOOM────────!!
Seo-jun, unleashing the Soul Fusion Steps, was at least several times faster than the teaching material.
"Hello there."
The teaching material glanced blankly at Seo-jun, who was now running alongside him. Reality felt surreal.
"Is this a dream?"
And then, his vision went dark.
"Oh, I guess it was a dream after all."
The teaching material drifted into a blissful dream.
*
Returning to the harbor, Seo-jun handed over the captured teaching material to Yeo Woon-jeok.
"I’ve sealed his acupoints. Just keep him until tomorrow."
Yeo Woon-jeok didn’t dare refuse. After everything he had witnessed, he no longer had the nerve to defy Seo-jun.
Though he hoped for support from the Namgung Clan, he still feared they might use this opportunity to extend their influence into Zhejiang Province.
And yet, despite his anxieties, he had once dared to show disrespect to the women beside Jin Gi-jaecheon.
Of course, in martial society, such actions weren’t entirely unexpected. Even so, one should always think twice before speaking out of turn to someone of greater strength.
In the end, Yeo Woon-jeok trudged back to the Sea Wall Sect, the teaching material slung over his shoulder.
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Seo-jun and his companions remained at the harbor.
"Anything else to do?" Chun-bong asked.
Seo-jun casually tossed Choo Gyeom’s battered body into the sea using Sky Grasping Techniques, replying with a smirk, "Treasure hunt?"
"What?"
"A ship sank out there. Don’t you want to check it out?"
"How would we even...?"
"There’s always a way."
Seo-jun hummed a cheerful tune as he strolled across the water. Chun-bong and Namgung Sua clumsily followed, using rudimentary water-walking techniques.
A larger wave rolled in with a whoosh. Chun-bong wobbled, losing her balance.
"Uh, uh...? Hey, hey, hey! I’m about to fall...!"
Despite her flailing, Seo-jun just chuckled.
"If you fall, you’ll get a nice swim."
"I can’t swim!"
"I can, though."
"You bastard, you son of a—ACK...!?"
Her anger disrupted her internal energy, and her precarious balance collapsed entirely. Chun-bong began to sink into the sea, but Seo-jun grabbed her by the scruff of her neck.
"KYAAAH...!"
"Did you really think I’d let our Chun-bong fall?"
"I-I thought I was gonna drown...."
Clutching her chest, Chun-bong tried to steady her pounding heart.
"Jeez, I thought I’d die...."
"Whose kid are you calling a baby?"
"You, you bastard!"
Still in his grip, Chun-bong expertly executed a dropkick.
THWACK!
Seo-jun tumbled across the water as though it were solid ground.
"Oof...!"
Watching Seo-jun’s exaggerated antics, Namgung Sua chuckled softly.
"You’re surprisingly good at being weird."
Seo-jun sprang to his feet, pointing dramatically at Sua.
"Noona! She kicked me!"
"She did? Want me to give you a hug?"
Before waiting for a response, Namgung Sua wrapped Seo-jun in her warm embrace.
"Wow..."
They say the sea is the mother of life. In Namgung Sua’s arms, Seo-jun felt as though he were gazing at the ocean itself.
Splash! Crash!
The soothing sound of waves was suddenly accompanied by a sharp sting on his back.
"Having fun?" Chun-bong asked, her tone icy.
Seo-jun slipped out of Sua’s arms, grinning ear to ear.
"Totally having a blast."
Laughing as they walked further, they soon arrived at the location where the treasure ship had sunk.
Unlike the shallow waters they had traversed, this area was deep and dark, almost black. Chun-bong stared nervously at the water beneath her feet before climbing onto Seo-jun’s back.
"Wow... if I fall in here, I’m dead, right?"
"Probably not."
The idea of a martial arts master drowning was admittedly laughable. Perhaps it could happen in the middle of the vast ocean, with all their strength exhausted, but not here.
"Well, shall we dive?" Seo-jun asked.
"Dive...? You mean down there...?" Chun-bong clung tightly to Seo-jun’s neck.
"Leave me out of it!"
"Nope."
With a mischievous grin, Seo-jun lifted his leg and stomped down hard on the water’s surface.
BOOOOOOM────────!!
Using a simplified version of Heavenly Demon’s Dominion, Seo-jun created a massive hole in the water, sending the group plummeting downward.
"AAAAAAHHHH...!!!"
Chun-bong screamed in terror while Namgung Sua laughed, enjoying the rush of falling.
Seo-jun maintained light control of his energy as he unfolded Soul Fusion Sun-Moon Art.
Instead of forming a typical sphere, the technique shaped the surrounding water into a cylindrical void. Thin layers of Qi coated the walls, holding the water at bay.
Shhhh────────
The principles of yin and yang toyed with the sea. The water flowed rapidly along the Qi-coated walls but could not fill the void.
With a soft thud, Seo-jun landed lightly on the ocean floor and looked up.
The small hole above appeared no larger than a fist, a distant portal to the sky.
In the pitch-black abyss, Chun-bong clung tightly to Seo-jun, trembling.
"O-Oppa... turn on the light...."
"Light."
From Seo-jun’s fingertips, Threefold Flame flared to life, illuminating the surroundings.
Beside them, dark seawater churned against the Qi walls, while beneath their feet lay damp, black mud.
As the faint light penetrated the dark ocean, a fish swam by, meeting Chun-bong’s gaze.
"W-What are you staring at!? I’ll take you down!"
Terrified, Chun-bong attempted to intimidate the fish. But the fish, exuding faint spiritual energy, was no ordinary creature.
With apparent pride, it rammed headfirst into the Qi barrier.
CRACK!
And It Shattered into Pieces
“Eek...”
Chun-bong, who had been readying her fist for a punch, quietly lowered it. Who knew our Chun-bong was this easily scared?
“Wanna touch it?”
When Seo-jun asked, Chun-bong’s eyes sparkled. Fearful but endlessly curious—that was Chun-bong in a nutshell.
She cautiously extended a finger, poking at the watery wall of the sea.
“Hyah...!”
Recoiling with a sharp hiss, she pulled her hand back quickly. Her fingertips were wet, and as Chun-bong stared at them, she instinctively brought her fingers to her lips.
“Oh... it’s salty for real?”
Fascinated by the taste of the salty seawater, she dipped her fingers a few more times, savoring the briny tang, before turning her gaze elsewhere.
Her curiosity satisfied, her attention now fell on a massive, partially sunken ship looming in the distance.
Her heartbeat quickened. There was something inexplicably thrilling about a shipwreck—it stirred a strange excitement in the heart.
“Let’s go!”
Leaping off Seo-jun’s back, Chun-bong dashed toward the ship. A short while later...
“There’s really nothing here.”
Namgung Sua emerged from the ship’s cabin, shaking her head.
Disappointed, Chun-bong seemed to lose interest in the wreck and gave Seo-jun’s waist a small tap.
“Let’s go now. I’m hungry.”
“Aww, is our Chun-bong hungry?”
“Yeah. Since we’re by the sea, there’s gotta be fish, right?”
“If you ask, I’ll get it for you.”
“Oooh...”
Chun-bong smacked her lips in anticipation. Then, something caught her eye.
“Uh...?”
It was massive. The diameter of its eye was longer than Chun-bong’s height.
“A whale...?”
As Chun-bong stared at the creature, dumbfounded, the whale let out a deep, resonant cry.
Woooooooo─────────
The surrounding darkness amplified the eerie tone of the whale’s call.
As Chun-bong froze in place, the whale began gathering an enormous surge of energy in its gaping maw.
RUMBLE────────
The immense aura matched the creature’s colossal body. Chun-bong’s face turned pale.
“Shit... I’m screwed.”
A whirlpool formed around the whale’s open mouth, swirling violently as the energy prepared to launch. But then, the whale’s gaze met Seo-jun’s.
Woooo───?
Snap! The whale shut its mouth.
Did... did it just read the room?
Glancing around nervously, the whale lowered its head slightly in a bow before swimming away leisurely.
Still frozen, Chun-bong stood stiffly as Namgung Sua chuckled softly.
“The sea’s pretty fun, huh?”
It was definitely a dynamic experience.
*****
Back at the Sea Wall Sect
After returning, the group enjoyed a full-course fish meal before retiring for the night.
Chun-bong, clearly exhausted, fell asleep immediately, snoring softly.
“Well, she’s sleeping soundly.”
Seo-jun watched her with a satisfied smile. His little sister—now his fiancée.
As Chun-bong slept with a carefree grin, Seo-jun got up quietly.
Yeo Woon-jeok’s presence was drawing near.
It didn’t feel like he was scheming something malicious, but it seemed something urgent had come up.
Careful not to wake Chun-bong, Seo-jun stepped outside just as Yeo Woon-jeok appeared.
“This is bad.”
“What’s going on?”
Yeo Woon-jeok’s expression soured. Clearly, he wasn’t thrilled about missing the chance to observe Chun-bong snoring.
“There’s still one transcendent warrior left, isn’t there? That bastard’s causing trouble.”
The higher the martial level, the greater the collateral damage in battles. If civilians were nearby, a massacre was inevitable.
To prevent such disasters, the Sea Wall Sect had evacuated Hangzhou’s residents deep into the city.
“But the bastard pushed his way in and took the civilians hostage.”
“Of course he did.”
It wasn’t fair to blame the Sea Wall Sect for their failure to stop him. What could they do against a transcendent master determined to break through?
Yeo Woon-jeok was the only transcendent warrior in Hangzhou, and he couldn’t be everywhere at once. It was only natural for the sect to prioritize defending their own base over allocating forces to the city.
As Seo-jun accompanied Yeo Woon-jeok, they soon reached a place illuminated by countless torches in the dark night.
At the center of a massive encirclement of warriors, the Black Lotus Union’s martial artists held the hostages by their throats.
One man, clearly a transcendent, stepped forward, holding a hostage in each hand.
“Prepare a ship immediately! If you let us leave peacefully, I promise not to harm them!”
Seo-jun stepped forward, his gaze fixed on the man. Warriors hurriedly moved aside to clear his path.
Standing in the newly opened space alongside Yeo Woon-jeok, Seo-jun scratched the back of his head.
Annoyance aside, his first reaction was one of genuine confusion.
“Wait... are you an idiot?”
What was this nonsense? He genuinely couldn’t understand.