Possessing Nothing Novel (쥐뿔도 없는 회귀)

Chapter 79 - Shaolin

'I see the way of Shaolin.

I feel the way of Shaolin.'

Lee Sung-min thought as he finished his spar with Jihak.

He had already placed down his trusty spear and put his armour away, unceasingly swinging his cheap spear. Jihak's martial arts, which was claimed to be one of the best in Shaolin, seemed fathomless. Jihak, who had learned martial arts from all of Shaolin's beasts and had lived in the spirit of inspiration and sincerity since childhood, could be said to have incorporated with the spirit of Shaolin itself.

It wasn't difficult for Lee Sung-min to understand why the Grand Master entrusted his guidance to Jihak. Jihak was able to perform the seventy-two arts of Shaolin like no other. That meant that Jihak alone could take on the role of seventy-two No-Class warriors alone using the arts he had mastered.

Jihak was also as good at teaching as he was at martial arts. So far, Lee Sung-min had been taught by two people. Wijihyeon and Baek Sogo. Truthfully, neither Wijihyeon or Baek Sogo were great teachers. Wijihyeon was a brilliant genius who was able to repair and adapt the martial arts for Lee Sung-min's body, but she was unable to properly teach Lee Sung-min everything. What Wijihyeon could do for Lee Sung-min was to fill in the gaps of basic Jihak that Lee Sung-min lacked, and to make his foundation strong.

The same was true for Baek Sogo. Lee Sung-min received the No Shadow-Spirit Stealing Steps from Baek Sogo: but unlike Baek Sogo, who used to perform the technique perfectly, Lee Sung-min was unable to easily adapt to No Shadow-Spirit Stealing Steps. It was because of the concept and memory of "heaviness" that Lee Sung-min had in the mountains of Mush. No matter how hard he tried to make his Qi flow, if his body wasn't suitable, it would be hard for Qi to flow at all. In addition, Baek Sogo had a lot of difficulty guiding others in martial arts because of her unusual way of communicating, hence making it a bit hard for her to converse clearly.

But Jihak was different. Could it be due to the education of all the Shaolin warriors he had received since childhood? He was really good at teaching.

Although there was a big difference between Ohsung's five-star character and Lee Sung-min's five-pointed star, Jihak knew what he needed to instill in Lee Sung-min.

"It's just to give you a lot of experience."

Jihak wasn't just all about action. He repeated his daily routine with Lee Sung-min until he was exhausted. Every time he moved, Jihak changed the martial arts he was performing.

How weak. How poor. How lacking. Lee Sung-min sat down and thought the same thing everyday. Jihak was really indomitable. When Lee Sung-min was short of breath and sat down, Jihak's breath was still unhurried. The martial arts that Lee Sung-min had displayed with all his strength could not threaten Jihak. The attack that Jihak had casually thrown out had still penetrated Lee Sung-min's defense.

"Expand your field of view. See more. Understand your opponents before you strike them. To practise martial arts means to utilise your body the most efficiently. No one can easily escape an armed person. If you're a master of Qi, you'll be able to launch invisible attacks through Qi, but even so, there are limits to ideal movements using your body and weapons."

Swords and spears are straight weapons. Depending on how you use your joints and muscles and how you swing them, you can create disturbances in the other's defense and offense. Mix Qi with it to increase speed and weight, and draw afterimages to create confusion.

"You have to see more clearly what you see before trying to delve into what you don't see. Your senses are weirdly tangled. Your sixth sense is impeccable, but your five normal senses are dull. Your cultivation so far has led you to a high level, but at the same time, it has also stagnated your growth. You learned how to ride a horse before you even learned to walk. "