ch29

Entering the inn with Kyle, the dining area immediately visible was quiet, with only a few people sipping alcohol, likely due to the late hour.

“Where are Rudolph and Duber?”

“Rudolph’s in the stable, and that kid’s in my room for now.”

“Rudolph in the stable? Did he take to it well?”

“Of course, he threw a fit at first. I had to rent the spaces on either side of him and tidy them up a bit before he’d go in.”

“That must have cost you.”

“No, it’s fine. I can handle that much.”

As I reached into my pocket for my pouch, Kyle waved his hand, refusing.

“Hmm. Is that so? I’ll gratefully accept your kindness. May I visit your room for a moment, then?”

“Huh? My room? Now?”

He rolled his eyes, his face flushed, thinking something over, then wore a slightly disappointed expression as he said,

“Ah, Duber.”

“It’s about one of the important matters.”

Kyle led the way to his room, asking,

“But is that okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“Martial arts, I mean. Is it okay to teach it to just anyone like that?”

“Ah… certainly, martial arts isn’t something to be taught carelessly. When someone unqualified gains power, the results are generally not good.”

“…Then shouldn’t you especially not teach him? Honestly, he seemed to be mixed up with some bad people.”

“‘Despite that, why?’ Shouldn’t a merchant be able to think like that?”

“Hmm…”

“Well, it’s hard to understand in this case, even if you think about it.”

Kyle pouted, as if his pride was hurt by those words.

While we were making small talk, we arrived at the door to his room. Kyle opened it, and Duber, who must have heard us approaching, awkwardly stood up from the bed.

I hung my bamboo hat on the coat rack and approached Duber.

I could feel him tensing up as I got closer.

“You didn’t run away.”

“…I did witness that spectacle with my own eyes, after all.”

His face, swollen from being beaten by Adreal and his men, was still a mess, but the light in his eyes hadn’t faded, only a hint of tension remained.

“Sit cross-legged.”

“Pardon?”

“I mean, try sitting like this.”

Kyle wasn’t too weirded out by the cross-legged position because of what he saw during the journey, but Duber, being told to do a strange pose, awkwardly tried to follow along with a bewildered expression.

I went behind Duber, placed the palm of my right hand on his Mingmen acupoint, and said,

“Don’t talk, or you might end up crippled.”

“What does that…?”

“Shhh.”

Duber, terrified by the possibility of becoming crippled, quietly shut his mouth as my demeanor changed.

However, I could still feel his fear and confusion as he fidgeted.

Regardless, I began to observe Duber’s body, channeling energy into his Mingmen acupoint.

Duber was shaking, probably because of the strange energy stirring inside him, which was distracting, but I soon finished observing Duber’s entire interior and removed my hand from the Mingmen acupoint.

“Uh… is it over?”

“Yes.”

He asked in a slightly frightened voice as my hand moved away.

Ignoring Duber’s voice asking if he could move, I fell into thought, using the knowledge I had just gained from observing Duber’s body.

‘It’s not much different from the anatomical charts of my past life.’

As a result of observing Duber’s body, it didn’t feel much different from the anatomical charts of the Central Plains people.

There were differences in the details, but those were differences that varied even among Central Plains people depending on their genetics.

It was unexpected, but the important part wasn’t that.

‘There’s true energy inside his body.’

Duber hadn’t formed a dantian, but the energy that would have been sufficient to form one contained energy other than his innate energy in various parts of his body.

In particular, the three meridians and energy in both arms were well developed.

Actually, I thought it was a bit strange.

A body that wasn’t fully developed due to a lack of nutrition because of the scarcity of food.

No matter how fast his hands were, he had maintained a speed that created afterimages for a long time, to the point where everyone in the market couldn’t keep up.

Functionality that would be impossible considering only the outward performance of the body.

‘I brought him along just in case, but I was right. Now that I’ve confirmed this much, what do I do…’

True energy that had accumulated naturally even though he hadn’t learned what was generally called Internal energyMental cultivation method.

‘Let’s organize my thoughts.’

First of all, the phenomenon of true energy accumulating even without learning martial arts wasn’t that strange.

When I thought about it, it was obvious.

Martial arts isn’t something that humans are born with.

Nor is it something that some transcendent being came down and gave to humans.

In ancient times when there were no proper records, in an era when even the concept of martial arts didn’t exist, some talented human felt, realized, accumulated, and used energy, and that knowledge gradually began to spread.

In the early days, Central Plains martial arts would naturally have been in a primitive form without things like Mental cultivation methods.

If so, it would be fair to say that Duber now, or some other humans I haven’t met, are humans who are beginning to enter that stage.

The way of controlling energy may not develop into a system like that of the Central Plains, but if time passes, a system based on the premise of accumulating and using energy will eventually arise here as well.

‘Honestly, considering the characteristics of the long-lived Elves, I don’t think humans can compete…’

There were many masters in the Central Plains, but they were still human, and even the masters who dominated the era eventually died.

However, the lifespan of Elves is probably much longer than that of humans, which means that, on average, an Elf who learns martial arts is likely to reach a much higher level during their lifetime than a human.

Moreover, since the sensitivity to feeling energy from birth is so different between humans and Elves, the gap will be even greater.

Once a Martial artist begins to reach a certain level, the gap between each stage begins to widen considerably.

Moreover, another problem created by human lifespan.

Martial arts can evolve as they are passed down through generations, but they often deteriorate because the inspiration and insights of the predecessors are not properly understood.

Humans inevitably have to leave behind successors so that their true martial arts can be passed down to future generations due to their short lifespans, but Elves have a much longer period to cultivate and preserve martial arts on their own due to their long lifespans.

‘Someday, considering the lifespan of Elves, it would be worth creating the ultimate late-blooming martial arts just for Elves.’

But apart from that, I knew the dangers of humans due to the weaknesses of Elves and the memories of my past life.

The population of Elves probably won’t increase dramatically even after a long time due to the restrictions tied to the species.

However, in the case of humans, even in the Central Plains in my past life, there was an astronomical population of nearly 100 million.

Of course, this world’s natural environment is much harsher than that world’s, so it may be difficult to prosper to that extent, but conversely, the human species that overcomes that and rises up may prosper much more strongly.

‘Therefore, some restrictions are necessary.’

It’s absurd to wipe out a species because of something that might happen in the future.

In the first place, whether it’s even possible to drive humans to extinction is another matter, and the repercussions when such a species goes extinct wouldn’t be small either.

However, among humans, there were humans like Duber who accumulated true energy, whether unconsciously or consciously.

Someday, someone will start the seeds of a system.

That’s why I felt the need to intervene to some extent on the human side.

A way to limit the growth of humans so that Elves, who are only 10 years old, can become strong enough that humans can’t even look up to them.

‘Gu Poison Technique’

Rejected.

In the first place, the number of individuals that can be controlled is too limited.

There is no individual in this world who wields such overwhelming influence over the human world like the emperors of the Central Plains.

‘Ideological contamination of the martial arts system’

If I had to think about it, it would be this.

Martial arts is originally about drawing energy from nature, not one’s own innate energy.

The greater the energy inside the body, the more a reasonable methodology for handling that energy is needed.

There are various causes of Qi Deviation, but a common one is when someone tries to operate in a new way for a new realm, and that direction is wrong.

In fact, in the history of the Central Plains, lost superior martial arts circulated due to the schemes of the Demonic Sect, causing a bloody storm. The problem was that the people who obtained those martial arts were fine at first, but at some point, they would fall into Qi Deviation and become madmen, causing secondary damage as a trap.

‘I don’t intend to be that vicious.’

Moreover, such blatant distortions may work on ordinary people, but someone who has realized a certain level of reason can easily find the distortion.

‘But even the orthodox sects have similar methods.’

I was thinking of using something similar to that method.

Lay disciples (俗家弟子)

This refers to disciples who live in places other than the main base of famous clans.

In the long history of the Central Plains, there were only a handful of cases where lay disciples rose to fame.

Of course, there were many talented disciples in the main base, but it wasn’t as if all the lay disciples were always untalented.

Nevertheless, why couldn’t the lay disciples rise to fame?

The martial arts that lay disciples learned were, in the end, accelerated martial arts.

The more famous the clan’s martial arts, the more diverse and late-blooming they were, from the basic martial arts to the superior martial arts.

In comparison, the martial arts that lay disciples learned were easy to reach a certain level, but they were completed quickly.

They forcibly completed contemplation and inspiration at an early stage.

The vicious part was that those lay martial arts were shallow in depth and quick to complete, but each one was logically sound.

Since the lay disciples were using the authority of their clan’s signboard from the outside, the level of martial arts itself wasn’t bad.

However, once they became accustomed to the lay martial arts and common sense and prejudices about martial arts began to take root, it would take tremendous effort to develop further.

Considering that martial arts is a study that must be endlessly contemplated and trained as an incomplete art without setting an end, it was virtually a death sentence as a Martial artist.

It was an abnormal situation created because they didn’t want the secrets to be leaked to the outside, but they also couldn’t have the martial arts that came from them be of a low level.

There were even cases where the expression “abandoned child” was used for lay disciples.

Thanks to that, lay disciples could use the reputation of the main base, but the difference between the main base disciples and the lay disciples was often a topic of conversation in the martial arts world.

‘Even if someone with outstanding talent overcomes that wall, it doesn’t matter.’

Considering the era, it’s an era of power and barbarism, not an era of governance with virtue and wisdom.

Power is authority, and they wouldn’t share the secrets to increasing that power with others.

The human martial arts system will wander for a considerable time without overcoming that limitation.

I finished thinking and looked down at Duber, who was looking up anxiously in an awkward cross-legged position.

If the Elf forest was the main base, Duber would be the first lay disciple in the human world outside.

In this era of barbarism where nothing is properly established.

Until the Elves safely gain enough power, as one of the curses that will contaminate and bind the ideology and inspiration of the human martial arts system that I will spread throughout the human world.