CLS-Chapter 172

Chapter 172

“Uh, well, that’s because…”

What should I say to refute this?

It wasn’t that he couldn’t argue back because he was losing in logic. It was so absurd that he couldn’t grasp where to even begin speaking.

“H-how can that be the same as this?”

Later, when Jang-il heard about this debate, he evaluated it like this:

“Because Wei Yan-ho is such a lazy bastard, people often mistake him, but Wei Yan-ho is absolutely not stupid. That bastard’s mouth is worthy of being called the greatest in history. If you try to persuade him with words, you’ll lose with words, and if you try to persuade him with a sword, you’ll get beaten with a club.”

But unfortunately, Cho Hyeon at this time didn’t know Wei Yan-ho well.

Moreover, the fact that Wei Yan-ho’s father was Wei Jeong-han played a part. Who could have imagined that such a son would come from Wei Jeong-han, the Righteous Hero Sword?

If one could predict that Wei Yan-ho, who was Wei Jeong-han’s son and even Wei San-ho’s younger brother, would be the world’s greatest good-for-nothing, Cho Hyeon would have already become immortal and ascended to heaven.

Wei Yan-ho tilted his head.

“Dharma and Zhang Sanfeng both created their martial arts through self-study, didn’t they?”

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

“It’s a bit awkward to mention, but that Heavenly Demon also created martial arts alone and rose to that position.”

“…”

“Shouldn’t we seriously consider the fact that all three people who could be called the greatest in history learned martial arts through self-study? Perhaps we’re going down the wrong path right now. A master teaches, and a disciple learns. But those disciples are all unable to surpass their masters.”

“What are you saying! That disciples cannot surpass their masters. Haven’t you heard the saying that blue comes from indigo but is bluer than indigo!”

“So is there anyone in Wudang who claims to have surpassed Zhang Sanfeng?”

There isn’t.

Even if there were, you couldn’t say so.

If there were someone in Wudang who blabbered “I have surpassed our founder,” they would immediately be subjected to joint attacks by the Seven Star Sword Formation and their body would be split into a Taiji pattern.

“There are people who learned, but no one who surpassed. So something’s wrong.”

“In cases like Zhang Sanfeng and Dharma, didn’t they create their own martial arts after already mastering other martial arts to perfection?”

“Where?”

“…Huh?”

“If they learned, there must be somewhere they learned from, right?”

“Well… first, Dharma learned the martial arts of Tibet…”

“Ah, so Shaolin’s roots are in Tibet. That’s a new fact. I happened to come with a monk named Musan, may I ask him to confirm this?”

Cho Hyeon was horrified and waved his hands.

“No! That’s not it! Did I say such a thing? I don’t remember!”

The statement that Dharma’s martial arts came from Tibet was something that should never be mentioned in front of Shaolin monks.

If that word leaked out, the Orthodox Alliance would explode with Shaolin monks shouting “Then are we learning barbarian martial arts?!”

“Then Zhang Sanfeng must have learned martial arts somewhere too. Taoist martial arts, so Mount Hua…”

“Ahhh! No! Zhang Sanfeng was completely self-taught!”

This was the same situation.

Zhang Sanfeng’s origins were a very sensitive issue. Since Zhang Sanfeng himself said he descended from Mount Hua, there were claims that Zhang Sanfeng was a disciple of Mount Hua, but if you said that in front of Wudang, the same situation would definitely occur with sword-wielders shouting “Then are we a branch of Mount Hua? You crazy bastard!”

In fact, cases like this where you couldn’t call a father “father” were very common in the martial world.

“So that’s exactly what I’m saying. People who never learned other martial arts created martial arts alone and rose to such lofty positions, but… the so-called successors can’t even reach their master’s toes despite having masters, so what help could the existence of a master be?”

Cho Hyeon laughed helplessly.

It seemed like the first time in his life he’d heard such absurd words. But to point out the flaws in this logic, he would have to mention Dharma and Zhang Sanfeng’s origins.

“Grrrr…”

Only then did Cho Hyeon realize that this chestnut-sized fellow in front of him might not be as easy as he thought.

‘If he prepared this level of logic just because he doesn’t want to teach… this is really a scary guy.’

In a different sense.

Normally, if you prepared this much, you’d just teach the class instead. Because that would be easier.

‘I can’t tell if he’s lazy or diligent.’

Cho Hyeon bit his lips tightly.

He understood what Wei Yan-ho was saying, but if he backed down here, wouldn’t the name Divine Strategist be wasted? Even if he was suppressed in momentum by being entangled in disadvantageous sensitive situations, Cho Hyeon had no intention of losing in logic.

Cho Hyeon took a deep breath and opened his mouth.

“Of course, you…”

“But isn’t the food coming? I think I ordered it earlier.”

“…”

Should I just forget about logic and beat this guy to death and turn everything upside down here? They say he’s incredibly strong, but isn’t that somewhat exaggerated? If I fight well, I think I could beat him?

“Isn’t the food coming?”

“The cook has to prepare it for it to come! The cook!”

“…I just asked if the food was coming, but if you get angry like that, I get scared and it becomes harder to speak.”

Get scared?

Who? You?

Where did the person who was talking back to him just moments ago go that he’s now saying he’s scared?

“Grrrrrrr!”

Cho Hyeon could finally understand what the term “anger sickness” meant at this age. Anger sickness isn’t a disease you get from accumulated anger. When unbearable anger rushes in instantly, your neck becomes stiff and words don’t come out easily like this.

By temperament, he wanted to just grab the collar regardless of classes or whatever, but if he got into a brawl with that young punk, Cho Hyeon’s reputation would fall to the ground.

On the other hand, Wei Yan-ho had nothing to lose.

Leading this disadvantageous fight favorably wasn’t easy even for Cho Hyeon. But Cho Hyeon walked that path confidently.

“…Listen well.”

“Yes.”

Wei Yan-ho was polite.

Strangely, even that polite answer didn’t sound good.

“Those people can be called geniuses who are hard to appear again in this world. Just because Zhuge Liang created the Eight Trigrams Formation doesn’t mean you can tell tacticians who studied similar tactics to create formations of similar level, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Everyone has innate talent. It’s sad but true. But education helps a person demonstrate their best ability under their innate talent. Dharma and Zhang Sanfeng would have reached that position whether they had masters or not. But others are different. If there are people who need to be watched over, there are also people who need to be pulled up.”

Wei Yan-ho nodded as if impressed.

“That’s certainly true.”

“Do you understand what I’m saying? Moreover, you have experience building up such martial prowess at a young age. If you share just a little of that experience, everyone can go to higher places. It’s good for everyone.”

Wei Yan-ho nodded repeatedly with an impressed face.

Why is he acting like that?

He expected him to talk back stubbornly by now, but Wei Yan-ho’s reaction was strange. Cho Hyeon looked at Wei Yan-ho quietly with narrowed eyes.

“Are… are you listening right now?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“I see. Then do you agree with what I’m saying?”

“Yes! That’s right.”

This can’t be right?

Cho Hyeon finished the situation feeling uneasy.

“Good. Then I’ll trust that you’ll lead classes enthusiastically from now on.”

“But there’s one problem.”

“Huh? What problem? I’ll solve it for you.”

“For example, there’s a kid named Peng Do-hyeong in our class.”

“That’s right. A descendant of the Peng Family, a child who will grow into a very excellent blade master. His older brother is already an excellent blade master.”

“Well, that doesn’t matter, but if I were to teach that kid.”

Cho Hyeon felt something tickling.

What is he trying to say by hesitating like that?

“I’d need to know the Five Tigers Severing Gate Blade.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve never used a blade, so how can I teach a kid who uses blades?”

“…Huh?”

It was an arduous battle.

Faced with Wei Yan-ho’s logic that to teach someone from the Eon Family you need to know Eon Family Fist, and to teach a Namgung kid you need to know Emperor Sword Form, Cho Hyeon swallowed the words “Damn it! Forget it, you crazy bastard!” several times while explaining and explaining again.

It took a full two hours to make him understand that what they wanted from Wei Yan-ho wasn’t to deepen individual martial arts but to teach general concepts about martial arts.

In the meantime, Wei Yan-ho performed the feat of asking for food three times, ordering tea four times because he was thirsty, and dozing off five times.

“So, in that case, it would be better to just self-study.”

“How many times do I have to say it! You don’t need to guide them individually! Just teach concepts, just concepts!”

“…Then why learn at all?”

At Wei Yan-ho’s expression that truly seemed not to understand, Cho Hyeon felt like crying.

Whether to focus on individual martial arts or receive group training is a sensitive topic even within the martial world. While there are pros and cons, when they later went out to the Jianghu, those with connections to martial halls stuck together and exerted greater influence, so the trend of everyone trying to enroll their children in martial halls became strong.

But you can’t explain to Wei Yan-ho, “Actually, learning at a martial hall doesn’t seem particularly better than learning alone at home, but… this is all social life, you bastard.”

‘How does he pick out only these kinds of things to attack?’

This guy has a naturally twisted nature.

There was no doubt. That’s why he finds only these twisted topics.

“Do you understand?”

“Hmm…”

Wei Yan-ho tilted his head as if he really didn’t understand.

“Anyway, just teach concepts and polish practical skills a bit! The guidance policy here is like that, so what’s your complaint!”

“I don’t particularly have complaints. I understood what you’re saying too.”

“Really?”

Cho Hyeon raised both hands high.

Rather than feeling understanding, Wei Yan-ho was simply relieved that he no longer had to deal with this completely insane guy.

“Then, now let’s…”

“But.”

Wei Yan-ho interrupted Cho Hyeon’s words and pulled out a piece of paper from his chest.

“…Isn’t this a contract?”

“Yes. If you look here, it says ‘Do not interfere with Wei Yan-ho’s teaching methods.'”

“…”

“So I’ll just do whatever I want.”

Cho Hyeon looked at Wei Yan-ho with blank eyes.

“Then, then why did we have this fight… no, conversation until now? You could have done this from the beginning?”

Wei Yan-ho grinned and glanced out the window. The sun was almost setting.

“Of course, I was curious about your wise opinions. It seems like class time is about to end now, so I’ll be going. Please send dinner to my quarters. Well then.”

Wei Yan-ho gathered up his papers and went outside without looking back.

“…”

Cho Hyeon hardened like a stone and stared endlessly at the door Wei Yan-ho had exited through.

After a long time, Seok Mun-cho, the head instructor who confirmed Wei Yan-ho had left, opened the door and came inside.

“General, the conversation…”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

From that day on.

Ominous rumors began circulating in Dormant Dragon Hall that Divine Strategist Cho Hyeon had gotten drunk in broad daylight and smashed all the furniture in the director’s office.

***