Chapter 216. The White-Robed Scholar’s Qinggong

Because the White-Robed Scholar remained in place to the very end, I did not exchange warm farewells with the subordinates, junior disciples, and brothers I had reunited with after so long.

I sent them away coldly, roughly.

Some came to say goodbye, saw my hand gesture, and turned back. Whether they understood my heart or not, I did not know.

On the other hand, the White-Robed Scholar watched me with a relaxed air.

His disciples stood so stiffly it was as if they needed permission just to breathe, which made the White-Robed Scholar’s ease stand out all the more. In the end, I sent the party from the Thousand-Li Inn to the Sword Demon’s residence. If our side and the White-Robed Scholar’s party clashed, it would be no different from a second Great Battle of Baekeung.

When I approached the White-Robed Scholar, who had been watching me all along, he welcomed me with a smile.

“Sect Leader, you are quite a busy man.”

Only then did the White-Robed Scholar rise, brushing off his backside, and speak to his disciples.

“I will take a walk with the Sect Leader.”

“Yes, Master.”

I walked side by side with the White-Robed Scholar along the night road.

How should I describe this man’s feeling?

There was no fighting spirit or killing intent.

He was the kind of man who could approach a beast of prey without showing the slightest murderous aura and, out of nowhere, slip a leash around its neck. But a beast caught like that would have to run itself to death, just like his disciples.

Sure enough, the bastard jerked his chin toward the front and abruptly said to me,

“Have you ever taken a walk with qinggong?”

It was neither a threat nor an invitation. He had simply said it naturally, but it contained so much meaning that I had no choice but to follow.

I let out a sigh, then answered.

“Go.”

It did not feel like a contest of qinggong. It felt more like a trainee being tested by an instructor teaching qinggong.

When the White-Robed Scholar set off, I had no choice but to unfold my own qinggong.

I had no idea where we were going.

Even though the White-Robed Scholar had not warmed up, he was as fast as a gale shooting forward.

Had I already been hooked by the White-Robed Scholar? Or was this simply a qinggong contest?

If I viewed it purely as a contest, I could not lose, so I recalled the qinggong training I had practiced since my previous life and caught up to him. But the moment I caught up, the White-Robed Scholar’s speed increased even further.

In the end, I reached the point of running while monitoring my internal energy.

After I caught up three times, the White-Robed Scholar’s posture changed as he ran. Just as when I had met him at the Kwaedang, he slightly leaned his upper body forward and clasped his hands behind his back.

Naturally, his speed grew even faster.

It had been the same in my previous life, but even now, I simply could not keep up with that.

Just what kind of qinggong was that?

I prided myself on being fairly fast at qinggong, but in the end, unable to catch him, the gap between the White-Robed Scholar and me gradually widened.

This was not a matter of the depth of internal energy.

It was purely a matter of qinggong and footwork. In other words, the White-Robed Scholar was a man who recognized qinggong as a martial art in itself and had studied it deeply. Since I had ultimately failed to catch him even in my days as the Mad Demon in my previous life, there was nothing I could do now either.

The White-Robed Scholar, who had opened the distance, came back again and slowed down.

I regulated my breathing while maintaining distance from him. Since I did not know when this bastard might attack, I had to prepare both body and mind.

The White-Robed Scholar, having returned, spoke in a calm tone.

“Sect Leader, you have not trained in qinggong at all.”

“Do you think I could reach this speed without training? You are as fast as if you were flying on a turtle shell. Impressive qinggong.”

The White-Robed Scholar smiled.

“When it comes to qinggong, you are a novice. Let us walk for a while.”

I walked with the White-Robed Scholar while looking around at an unfamiliar neighborhood I had never been to before. We had come so far in such a short time that it would not have been strange if the sea appeared before my eyes.

I said to the White-Robed Scholar,

“If my qinggong is that awful, teach me something first, then let’s compete.”

The White-Robed Scholar spoke in a tone of disbelief.

“Well, this is… You are nothing short of a robber. Sect Leader. Is there any precedent for asking someone to teach you, so shamelessly and casually, what he learned with difficulty and realized only after great hardship?”

“Look, Scholar. Even if you teach it, there aren’t many people in the gangho who can swallow it all down. Are any of your disciples faster than me? The Butcher was a bit fast, but he wasn’t faster than me.”

“Now that you mention it, the Butcher died by your hand.”

“Why? Are you going to avenge him?”

The White-Robed Scholar burst into laughter and pointed at me with his finger.

“You are talking nonsense. The Butcher was human refuse beyond saving.”

Only then did I recall the events of my previous life. It seemed it had not been an exaggeration at all that this bastard had killed his disciples and thrown their heads at the Murim Alliance. In other words, saying this bastard treated people like ants was not an exaggeration either.

The White-Robed Scholar continued.

“Still, his skills were fairly decent. It would have been nice to pit him against the Grand Dukes and watch.”

“Were you planning to watch that too and paint it?”

“If I thought it had value, I would paint it. If it had no value, I would have merely watched and ended it there. We are straying from the topic. In any case, your qinggong is terrible. You have talent, but it is obvious you have not even studied what qinggong is. Do not overestimate your talent. It slows your growth. Until now, you must have thought you ran well on your own, yes?”

“Mm.”

At this point, it was on the level of mocking me.

I recalled once more the way the White-Robed Scholar had run. In my previous life, I had never watched him from this close. Also, compared to my previous life, my thoughts on martial arts were now somewhat different.

For a moment, I analyzed the White-Robed Scholar’s qinggong deeply.

Leaning his upper body forward while clasping his hands behind his back must also have been a posture meant for running quickly. The phrase Ground-Shrinking Technique suddenly came to mind.

Could the depth of qinggong the White-Robed Scholar spoke of perhaps be a matter of perception?

In truth, considering the internal energy I possessed, it was only right that I should be able to run faster than I did now.

Could it be that the posture I used while running was failing to fully draw out the internal energy held in my dantian? Regardless of whether the White-Robed Scholar chattered beside me or not, I, who had been seriously pondering qinggong, looked at him.

“…Scholar, let’s go again. Start.”

The White-Robed Scholar answered with a somewhat surprised expression.

“Sect Leader, did you gain something?”

“Shut up and start.”

The White-Robed Scholar laughed through his nose, then vanished in an instant. I took a deep breath and followed him.

I looked back on whether I had been caught in the error of simply running all this time. Running with external arts and running by infusing internal energy were unquestionably different domains.

If one ran using internal energy…

There was no need to keep a fixed stride.

Because a martial artist with internal energy could travel an extremely long distance with a single leap.

To begin with, qinggong was the study of making the body light.

When you break it down in detail, that is why the term Light Body Method (輕身法) is used, and it is a study that also includes footwork (步法). In other words, the theory I knew was that your overall qinggong skill rises only when your footwork becomes faster while your body is in a lightened state.

But when I actually ran beside the White-Robed Scholar, his footwork was not fast.

Rather, the distance he advanced with a single step (一步) was so tremendous that he did not run in that fussy, skittering way I did.

That was why the term Earth-Shrinking Technique suddenly came to mind.

On the other hand, if I imitated the White-Robed Scholar’s posture, the force of the leap infused with internal energy far exceeded my body weight, so I rose too high into the air. In other words, my speed dropped.

This was what I found strange.

The White-Robed Scholar was fast even though he was not running with his body lightened from start to finish.

It looked as if, within the trajectory of advancing one step, he had mastered a method of making his body light and then heavy. In short, it was a martial art that could not simply be called qinggong.

Would it not be more accurate to call the way the White-Robed Scholar ran not qinggong, but ever-changing Light-Heavy Skill (輕重功)? I abruptly called the White-Robed Scholar, who was ahead of me, to a stop.

“Scholar, Scholar, White-Robed Scholar!”

When I shouted at him, the White-Robed Scholar, who had been far ahead, came back and said,

“Sect Master, it seemed like you had figured something out, yet have you not become even slower?”

I answered in an indifferent tone.

“I only slowed down because I’m hungry.”

“You stuffed your face so happily earlier, and you are already hungry again?”

“My stomach says it’s hungry again. Got a problem with that?”

I deliberately entered a busy street and went into a shabby noodle shop. The White-Robed Scholar followed me in and asked,

“Did you figure anything out?”

I sat at a table and said,

“I am running only with qinggong, while you, Scholar, are running with ever-changing Light-Heavy Skill, so for now there is no way for me to catch up.”

Only then did the White-Robed Scholar’s expression brighten a little.

“Ah, you managed to figure out that much. In any case, Light-Heavy Skill, is it?”

The White-Robed Scholar nodded.

“Well, if summarized, I suppose it could be expressed that way.”

After ordering two bowls of noodles, I glared at the White-Robed Scholar with a sour expression.

‘Is this bastard treating me like an ant too? Damn bastard.’

After emptying one bowl of noodles, I was not satisfied and was about to order more, but then stopped. Come to think of it, if I competed in qinggong with the White-Robed Scholar again, my stomach would slosh around and make running uncomfortable.

“Ah, damn it, I can’t even eat noodles to my heart’s content. Eating just one bowl makes me angry. My temper’s flaring up.”

The noodle shop owner, who had been quietly listening to me, answered cautiously.

“Please have more.”

“Ah, it’s fine.”

I deliberately pointed at the White-Robed Scholar, then asked the noodle shop owner,

“What do you think of this man’s appearance?”

The noodle shop owner looked at the White-Robed Scholar and said with a smile,

“He has a very fine impression, he is handsome, and how should I put it… he gives off the air of someone who has studied a great deal.”

I nodded.

“You have a remarkable eye.”

Worried that the White-Robed Scholar might harm the owner, I glared at him as he ate his noodles. After drinking the broth, the White-Robed Scholar suddenly folded his arms and said to the owner,

“Owner, next time, add just a little more salt. It is too bland.”

The owner lowered his head slightly.

“Understood.”

After paying for the noodles, I sent the White-Robed Scholar out first. I looked at the owner for a moment and bid him farewell.

“If that fellow comes to eat noodles alone later, add just a little more salt for him. He’s not right in the head.”

The owner looked at me with startled eyes.

“Understood.”

The White-Robed Scholar sighed outside.

“I can hear everything. Must you really say it like that?”

I looked at the owner and nodded.

“Look at that temper of his. You understand, yes? Be sure to add a little more salt.”

“Understood. Thank you.”

“For me, it was just right. Water noodles are eaten for this kind of taste. Owner, I ate well.”

“Yes, then please take care on your way.”

As soon as I came outside, I checked the noodle shop’s signboard and clapped.

“A truly excellent noodle shop. Or perhaps it tasted good because I ran so hard. My stomach feels very solid now.”

The White-Robed Scholar said with a smile,

“Sect Master, do you think I would kill even people like this so carelessly? Put aside your pointless worries.”

I walked slowly with my hands clasped behind my back and answered,

“Scholar, how would I know your heart? You cannot know what is inside a person. Do you know why you cannot know what is inside a person?”

“What sort of bullshit is that?”

“It is because a person’s heart changes that you cannot know it. And I will retract the term Light-Heavy Skill.”

“Why?”

“It is a qinggong that seems like a peerless art of Jianghu in its own way, but the name of the martial art is too frivolous. It is only right to give it a proper name.”

The White-Robed Scholar stopped walking and looked at me.

“For example?”

I faced the White-Robed Scholar with my hands clasped behind my back.

“That posture with your hands clasped behind your back is not actually suited to running. If judging only by posture, you look as if you are climbing a ladder rather than moving across the ground. You are moving horizontally, so in truth there is no need to take such a posture. Instead, once you become accustomed to it, you should be able to climb a cliff in the same posture. In other words, it is a posture that looks as if you are climbing an imaginary staircase. Let us include the character ti (梯), meaning ladder.”

The White-Robed Scholar asked with a serious expression,

“And next?”

“From up close, it may look as if you are climbing a ladder, but from afar, your movement technique looks like clouds drifting. Naturally, let us include the character yun (雲), meaning cloud.”

“Tiyun Shenfa (梯雲身法)? Tiyun Gong (梯雲功)?”

I pondered the name of the qinggong.

“Both feel a little lacking. While I am chasing after you, Scholar, I am naming the qinggong. Your footsteps are fast enough that it is difficult for me to follow. Is there no feeling that contains a name like that?”

The White-Robed Scholar nodded as if it were not difficult and created the name of the qinggong.

“I shall call it Tiyunzong (梯雲縱).”

The character zong (縱) originally had the meaning of footprints and something stretching out, while within it, the character cong (從), meaning to follow, could also imply that the Haomun Sect Master was following after him. In other words, the White-Robed Scholar had instantly found a character that perfectly condensed the present situation.

I nodded with a calm expression.

“Tiyunzong… I do not think there could be a better name than this.”

The White-Robed Scholar asked back with a surprised expression,

“Ah, did you understand everything I meant?”

“I’ve more or less understood it all. Your qinggong, Scholar, is a consummate art of the jianghu, one hard-pressed to find a match. Congratulations on its receiving the name Ti Yun Zong as well. I wonder if there truly is a qinggong in the jianghu superior to Ti Yun Zong. Looking into that might prove rather interesting in its own way.”

The White-Robed Scholar suggested to me.

“Why not have you create one, Sect Master?”

I shook my head.

“My skills are still lacking. Becoming stronger and creating a martial art that has never existed in the world are entirely different things. I’ll give it some thought, but not now.”

For a while, I walked slowly together with the White-Robed Scholar, our hands clasped behind our backs.

Perhaps the scholar bastard had sunk into thought, because he did not tell me to run. I also kept my mouth shut for a while and simply left the White-Robed Scholar alone.

Even when I thought about it…….

The White-Robed Scholar’s qinggong was so outstanding that it had few rivals in the jianghu, yet the fact that it had not even possessed a name sent a chill down my spine.

In other words, to summarize, this man apparently had not even had anyone around him with whom he could exchange martial learning of a high realm.