“Uwaaa! Master, this is too much!”

“What’s too much, Hee? If you want to survive throwing yourself at Transformation Realm absolute masters in the future, you need at least this much.”

Indeed. Upon returning, Jin Cheonhee started the hell training plan Master created.

He’s intensely fighting Yoo Ho’s special wooden dummy Mark Two within an unparalleled formation Zhuge Rin personally created.

This bastard Yoo Ho – instead of doing the cultivation work he should in the lab after parting with Jin Cheonhee, did he only research wooden dummies to beat Jin Cheonhee? Because damn does it hurts.

Hut, the left fist was a feint?

Thud thud THUD!

The instantly multiplying right fists turn Jin Cheonhee into pulp.

Indeed. Within Master’s unparalleled formation, Jin Cheonhee is weakened while the wooden dummy is strengthened.

Moreover, these dummies made with killing intent to murder the young master have, despite being wooden dummies, demonstrated martial arts of flower-butterfly connection within the formation, even dislocating Jin Cheonhee’s left arm once.

Not just hitting fast and hard, but each punch contains martial arts. Crazy… is Yoo Ho inside that dummy?

How nice it would be if Yoo Ho popped out when opening the zipper on the back.

However, behind the wooden dummy having a bloody battle with Jin Cheonhee, other wooden dummies stood in line waiting.

If the dummy Jin Cheonhee was facing was the fist-art type.

Behind it, spear, saber, bow, sword – all holding one weapon each waiting their turn.

Just like customers waiting at a restaurant.

Getting mercilessly beaten by these wooden dummies, what he felt was.

Yoo Ho… knows various martial arts.

And really sincerely wanted to beat me up.

The relationship between professor and graduate student is ultimately an inescapable battlefield.

Right. Yoo Ho, if our research achieves results even through beating me like this, I can accept that too. Just keep staying in the lab. Yoo Ho!

In this era without PhDs, if Yoo Ho pretends to go crazy and flies away, Jin Cheonhee has no way to catch him.

Fortunately, Yoo Ho stays grinding together in the lab due to loyalty to Master, and 2% madness feeling the need to see through what they’ve done so far out of regret.

And perhaps 0.00000000…1% of caring-hate toward Jin Cheonhee.

Still, the biggest reason must be loyalty to Master.

The motivation doesn’t matter anyway.

Getting beaten by these wooden dummies, Jin Cheonhee will learn how to fight Transformation Realm masters, and Yoo Ho will relieve stress.

Come morning, they would again strive together toward human progress.

Such was the mad relationship between martial world professor and eternal graduate student.

“Hee-ah, you’re thinking other thoughts again. Didn’t this master personally obtain the Heaven Earth Vajra Arts[1] for you? Practice diligently.”

As expected of Master, he instantly noticed when I briefly thought other thoughts with the Dual Mind-Intention Technique while facing the dummy.

“I understand the Heaven Earth Vajra Arts is amazing but… how can I do practical training when I just started learning it, Master!”

“Hahaha, if you don’t like it, how about being quietly confined until you master each stance one by one?”

Agreeing now due to immediate pain would confirm at least three years of confinement.

Heaven Earth Vajra Arts.

The peak of external martial arts is Shaolin’s Diamond Arhat Divine Art. That’s considered the best.

When mastered to the extreme, one becomes diamond-indestructible, and the body hardens like diamond able to block sword energy and sword force, they say.

The Heaven Earth Vajra Arts was created by a highly accomplished Daoist who experienced this Diamond Arhat Divine Art.

It’s the true ultimate art of the Shangqing Sect[2], an extinct Daoist sect.

The Heaven Earth Vajra Arts uses Heaven Earth Dual Energy[3] to train the body – Heaven Earth Dual Energy in modern terms simply means the energy of heaven and earth.

In other words, it means heaven-earth paired energy, which also signifies taiji.

From its roots it can be called extremely Daoist. But its effectiveness is certain.

Jin Cheonhee has been training this for three months since the Dragon Phoenix Gathering ended.

As soon as his arm fully healed, now he’s overlapping with full-scale practical training.

Thanks to combining with previously learned external arts, he’s now reached the level of easily enduring sword energy, but.

Just as no martial art in this world has only advantages, this art had a major disadvantage too.

Internal energy doesn’t increase at all while training it.

Looking at the core principle of this seemingly strongest external art, the basic concept is strengthening the body by pouring into external what would be gathered as internal energy.

Of course it’s good that external arts grow faster proportional to internal energy poured in.

However, achieving greatness is impossible with just internal energy.

Since it requires enlightenment about that martial art, the goal could be said to be training to ten completions rather than great completion.

The goal is completing ten completions within half a year… aigooo, others would call me crazy if they heard.

Short-term six month fermentation for such an art.

There’s no bigger bullshit than this bullshit.

However, Jin Cheonhee was a Korean of (hurry-hurry).

In his blood flowed the spirit of a people who couldn’t endure 2G.

In that country where StarXraft[4] was a folk game, one must be fast to survive anyway.

Following such blood’s call, one month after Jin Cheonhee began full-scale training post-recovery.

He achieved the feat of reaching four completions in one month.

With good compatibility with his previously learned external arts, he was shocked to find he could now endure sword energy.

Yoo Ho! Thank you! Thank you for hitting me with sincerity every day! Wahaha! My word, to think that the wooden dummies even throwing punches with the mysteries of Through-Body Fist[5]. Wahahaha!!!!!

The professor immersed himself in training today too while thinking crazy thoughts.

***

After finishing training, Jin Cheonhee lightly washed and headed to Master’s study.

More books and letters than usual were piled in Master’s study.

Yoo Ho attended Master beside them, sorting what Master said to keep and what to burn.

“Training must not be easy, but you’re enduring it well.”

“Hehehehehe.”

“Tsk, don’t laugh.”

When his disciple smiled brightly, Master softly clicked his tongue.

He’s putting him through training that would knock down even fairly tough people daily.

Yet his disciple somehow endured and achieved results.

Watching this, the master’s heart grew complex.

“You never give up even once. You.”

If he showed even slight hesitation, he could use that excuse to confine him, but his disciple never stopped despite knowing what path he walked.

That this sight was both upsetting and heartbreaking.

Must be because they’re master and disciple beyond mere friends or family.

Zhuge Rin thought this while looking at Jin Cheonhee’s arm.

The wound from the Demonic Snake Venom Poison Arts had almost completely healed, leaving only faint spots.

Even those spots would soon disappear completely.

Then this foolish disciple will throw himself to save someone again as if nothing happened.

“The children from the White Dragon Foundation show much interest in the martial world.”

It started with helping Sama Hyeon establish the White Dragon Foundation.

Since adulthood comes earlier here than modern Earth, this is actually late.

“They’ll become martial artists.”

“Though they took refuge in the White Dragon Foundation having nowhere else to rely on, they’re all children of martial families with circumstances, so they’ll become martial artists again.”

Jin Cheonhee smiled bitterly.

“They won’t take other jobs?”

“Hee-ah. In the martial world, power is absolute. Once someone learns martial arts, they’ll eat sword rice, you could say definitely.”

Sama Hyeon is strange, normally that’s right.

“You arranged Escort Agency work for such martial artists, right?”

“Yes. Focusing on relatively safe work. However, that alone is insufficient.”

Many martial artists die in their first year entering the martial world.

Could be from tension, could be from momentary guilt, could be from being naive and deceived.

‘Relatively safe’ means better than other work, not that it’s safe.

Zhuge Rin smirked.

“Well, so we decided to directly take in those interested in the martial world. Not just Escort Agency arrangements, but direct employment.”

Master said he’d expand influence. Is this part of that?

Zhuge Rin carefully observed his disciple’s expression growing heavy.

Finally he added one thing.

“Well, from here it’s not charity work, Hee.”

At those words, Jin Cheonhee hurriedly nodded.

“Yes. I know.”

“Of course they can receive support like physician treatment and regular medicine, so it’s better than Escort Agency work. However, once they decide to take up the sword and become martial artists, it won’t be safe work.”

Even after eating martial world rice for so long.

His disciple still hadn’t adapted to the martial world.

That must be because Jin Cheonhee’s essential nature was physician, not martial artist.

His disciple couldn’t avoid the contradiction Zhuge Rin held living as a martial world physician.

“Phantom Archer will command them. They’ll learn bow-related martial arts too, so you could call him their master.”

“Elder Phantom Archer?”

“The bow is better martial arts than you’d think. It becomes more powerful the more numbers there are. Moving quickly with lightness skills to launch bow attacks. Just that makes it very difficult for ordinary martial artists to handle.”

At those words, blue light flashed across Jin Cheonhee’s retinas.

“But what about jiangshi?”

With that one line, the disciple immediately found the weakness in the unit Zhuge Rin was trying to create.

Jiangshi neither feel pain nor stop.

If they become moving walls closing distance in one breath regardless of arrows flying, defeat was obvious.

“Based on the breaking method you wrote, we modified it to suit bow techniques. Plus we plan to equip special Iron Fire Arrows[6].”

As expected, Master. Seems you arranged for that part too.

Jin Cheonhee nodded but asked back as if briefly curious.

“But aren’t Iron Fire Arrows quite expensive? Plus since reuse is difficult, cost management would be hard in reality.”

As expected, the disciple had already finished calculating that side too.

The master answered.

“Currently the White Dragon Medical Pavilion’s finances have increased about five-fold compared to before you came. Part of that is used for White Dragon Foundation, research, maintenance costs etc., and over half is stored away.”

Five-fold?

He knew the budget increased greatly as White Dragon Medical Pavilion Master. However, to think the total increased five-fold…!

“Adding that we succeeded in lowering the unit cost and mass producing the White Dragon Divine Pills, finances will jump even higher from here.”

Jin Cheonhee’s jade and ondol also bring in considerable sales.

Soap is just starting to become known now, gradually spreading for pure washing use rather than just fragrance.

Though slower than the previous two, it’s still definitely growing steadily with a squirm.