Martial Artist Lee Gwak

Light Novel: Volume 1 Chapter 19

Manhwa: Chapter 23

Episode 7. Another Thread of Fate Connects (1)

Lee Gwak fiddled with the spike.

It was the same spike he had purchased from the Yin Family Weapon House some time ago. Until now, he had been too engrossed in learning the Eight Sects Sword Art to pay attention to anything else. A tremendous amount of mental effort had been consumed solely by mastering the Eight Sects Sword Art.

To that extent, Lee Gwak had been completely absorbed in the Eight Sects Sword Art. However, recently his progress has stalled. Although he managed to fully understand up to the sixth level, he was stuck at the seventh and eighth levels.

At times like this, it would be nice to have a master who could teach and guide him towards the right path.

But unfortunately, Lee Gwak was on his own, and he couldn’t turn to anyone else for help.

He needed a new breakthrough.

That’s when he thought of the Invisible Spider Puncture Art.

The meteor hammer and the sword had completely opposite purposes and applications.

If swordsmanship was a martial art suitable for close-range combat, then the meteor hammer was a martial art for long-range fighting. Lee Gwak felt that if he could use the meteor hammer well, he could compensate for the shortcomings of the sword art.

After fiddling with the spike for a while, Lee Gwak stood up from his seat.

While he had martial arts books and the spike, something crucial was missing. Specifically, there was no cord to connect to the spike.

Hoping to find a usable cord in a shop in the outer city, Lee Gwak left his lodging.

The streets of the outer city were still bustling.

Many people were coming and going, and countless transactions were taking place. Rather than the outer city of the Jade Heaven Alliance, it resembled the capital of any other province.

Lee Gwak walked quietly among the people, no one paying any special attention to him.

Lee Gwak stopped by the shops on the street to inquire if they had a cord suitable for the meteor hammer. However, he couldn’t find any.

In the end, he gave up on finding it within the Jade Heaven Alliance and stepped outside. The place Lee Gwak headed toward was the northern street, for he had heard that many workshops were located there.

Come to think of it, although it had been nearly seven years since he entered the Jade Heaven Alliance, he had never been to the northern street. He had merely gone back and forth between his workplace and lodging for years.

In a way, it was to be expected. Everything they needed was available within the Jade Heaven Alliance, so there was no need to go outside. Perhaps that’s also the reason why they were in the dark about matters outside the alliance.

Lee Gwak walked on, thinking he had been heedless.

As he had heard, there were indeed many workshops on the northern street. As soon as he entered the street, he could smell the scent of burning iron and hear the sound of heavy hammering.

There were tons of weapons displayed on top of the table in front of the workshops, and many warriors were choosing weapons.

Lee Gwak also joined them, looking at the weapons on the tables. But he didn’t see the kind of cord he wanted anywhere.

The cord for the meteor hammer needed to be lightweight yet strong, and it had to be elastic. Finding one with those qualities was no easy task.

He had visited many workshops but couldn’t even see a cord with those features. Eventually, Lee Gwak’s patience was reaching its limits. He was beginning to feel like giving up.

Lee Gwak decided to visit one last place before turning back. If he couldn’t find it here, he would cleanly give up.

Lee Gwak examined the display table carefully.

‘Hmm!’

It was then. A strange object caught his eye.

It was a black whip. However, it was much thinner and longer than any typical whip.

The thickness was merely that of a child’s little finger, yet the length was a whopping three yards.

Lee Gwak reached out and touched the whip.

The texture that he felt at his fingertips was incredibly rough, and it had an unusually good elasticity.

Snap!

He tugged on both sides, he felt a strong elasticity.

At that moment, an old man who seemed to be the owner of the workshop approached Lee Gwak.

“Do you like that whip?”

“Yes! But it looks like someone has used it before.”

Lee Gwak pointed to the tiny scratches all over the surface of the whip.

“That’s likely. I picked that up on a battlefield far away in Nanman.”

“What?”

“Sometimes weapons that have lost their owners make their way here.”

“Do you know who used to wield it?”

“Why does it matter? Weapons don’t carry memories. All that matters is how well the weapon fits in your hand.”

Lee Gwak nodded at the old man’s words.

“So? Do you like the whip?”

“I do.”

“Hmm! Many have seen that whip, but no one said they liked it. Now I see, it must have been waiting for you.”

“How much is it?”

“Just give me twelve pieces of silver. Normally I would charge twice that, but it seems you have some fate with it, so I’m giving you a special discount.”

The old man chuckled.

Lee Gwak laughed too.

“By that logic, five silver should be enough.”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

“After all, who else will buy it if not me? Moreover, since you picked it up from a battlefield in Nanman, you practically got it for free, didn’t you?”

“My, young people really make absurd arguments.”

The old man glared at Lee Gwak with fierce eyes. But Lee Gwak didn’t blink an eye.

This was the Jade Heaven Alliance, after all.

Even the craftsmen in the seemingly ordinary workshop looked uneasy, as if they were trying to rip him off.

Lee Gwak was quite fond of it, but there was no guarantee that others would feel the same. Who would want to pay the full price for something that clearly had been used, showing deep marks of wear and tear?

Moreover, this whip was much thinner than ordinary whips, making it more tricky and difficult to use.

Only someone like Lee Gwak, who intended to use it as a meteor hammer, would not be reluctant to buy it.

It was an item that was hard to sell in the first place, but when Lee Gwak showed interest, the old man tried to rip him off.

The old man rolled his eyes and grumbled,

“Very well, I’ll give it to you for ten pieces of silver. No more, no less.”

“Five!”

“I won’t sell it to you. Just go.”

“Okay.”

Lee Gwak put down the whip he had been holding. There was not a moment of hesitation. At this, the old man’s face twisted even more ferociously.

“Nine.”

“Five. That’s all I can give you.”

“You’re really a difficult person to deal with. Don’t you know that a good weapon is like an extra life? And you call yourself a martial artist?”

“I’m just a mere Outer Hall warrior, so I don’t need such a fine weapon.”

“……”

The old man glared at Lee Gwak menacingly. However, Lee Gwak didn’t even glance at the whip with any regret. In the end, the old man sighed heavily.

“Tsk! Thought I’d caught a sucker after a long time. Where did this cunning snake come from? Fine! Give me seven silver.”

“Six!”

“You’re still haggling? You’re better off as a merchant, not an Outer Hall warrior.”

“Will you sell it?”

“Yes! Just give me six silver. Hehehe!”

In the end, the old man gave a resigned smile. Lee Gwak had completely bested him. Lee Gwak handed over six silver to the old man.

“Use it well. Even though I gave it to you cheaply, it’s really a good item.”

“I know.”

Lee Gwak nodded.

He strapped the whip to his forearm. When he lowered the sleeve over the forearm where the whip was strapped, it disappeared as if hidden.

Lee Gwak moved his left arm, which was wrapped with the whip, here and there. There were no constraints in movement, and his arm did not feel suffocated either.

A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

He bowed to the old man and left the workshop. Although he could hear the slightly grumbling voice of the old man from behind him, he chose to ignore it.

Once outside, Lee Gwak touched his left arm, where the whip was wound, as he walked. The cold sensation of the whip felt quite good. Although the whip was wrapped tightly around his arm, it did not feel constricted at all.

Lee Gwak thought he was quite lucky. To be able to get something of this quality for six silver was a great fortune.

Eager to return to his lodging and complete the meteor hammer by connecting the whip to the spike, he took a shortcut.

The shortcut Lee Gwak chose led through the slums located behind the workshop street. He had heard of the slums but had never actually been there.

Unlike the glamorous Jade Heaven Alliance, the slums were exceedingly dirty. Most of the houses were wooden shacks that were on the verge of collapsing. The streets were filled with waste emitting a foul odor, and rats and dogs were seen here and there.

It was astonishing that people could live in such a place. However, there was not a trace of disturbance in Lee Gwak’s eyes as he looked at the slums.

Before joining the Jade Heaven Alliance, he had wandered the world alone. He had seen places far more shocking and dirty than this.

Lee Gwak knew well from experience that the world is not as clean and beautiful as it appears.

As a stranger entered their territory, the people of the slums looked at him with guarded eyes. Such stares were familiar to him too.

Lee Gwak deliberately did not look at them and only looked straight ahead as he walked. How long had he been walking like that?

“Is that how you’re really going to do things?”

Suddenly, a girl’s shrill voice resounded through the slums. It was a voice loud and sharp enough to capture everyone’s attention.

Lee Gwak naturally looked in the direction from which the voice came.

Where his gaze landed, a young girl and a shabbily dressed man were arguing.

“It’s totally different from what you promised, isn’t it? Why do you men change your words? And you still call yourself a man?”

“Hmph! How dare this little brat provoke me? And when did I ever make such a promise?”

“Then what about the promise you made with our master?”

“Who says that was a promise? I said I would consider it, not that I would do it. You brat, you should listen to adults until the end.”

Anyone could see that the shabbily dressed man was making fun of the young girl.

He had disheveled hair, dirty skin with dripping sweat, and torn clothes. On the opposite side, the young girl, who was raising her voice in frustration, was dressed neatly, completely out of place in this slum.

What caught Lee Gwak’s attention was precisely this young girl. Not because she was cute or pretty, but because they had exchanged greetings before.

‘Was her name Lim Sobo?’

The audacious young girl who had gone alone to take revenge when her younger sibling got beaten up was the very same girl who was now arguing with the ragged man.

“Annoying!”

Unable to contain her anger, Lim Sobo glared at the ragged man with her tiny fists clenched. However, her expression looked more cute than intimidating.

The ragged man also seemed to enjoy Lim Sobo’s reaction and wore a faint smile on his lips.

“Oh my, how scary! I’m trembling all over.”

“Tch! Fine. Don’t regret this. I’ll tell everything to my master.”

“As you wish.”

The ragged man shrugged his shoulders, then Lim Sobo pouted her lips.

“See if I come here again.”

“Kid, stop talking nonsense and look behind you. Seems like you’ve got a man interested in you. Already chasing after men, are we?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Lim Sobo shot back sharply and looked behind her. There she saw a man staring at her intently. It was Lee Gwak.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

Lee Gwak shook his head slightly, thinking that Lim Sobo might not have remembered him. But Lim Sobo stared at him for a moment, then relaxed her expression.

“Ah! The older brother with a two-character name. Lee Gwak, right?”

She had remembered him.

Lee Gwak nodded his head, impressed by her memory.

“Correct.”

She had only seen him once, a year ago. While he had vividly remembered her because she had left such a strong impression on him, he really hadn’t expected her to remember him. It was an insane level of memory.

“What brings you here, older brother? This is not even the outer city.”

“Just passing by.”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“Hmm!”

Just as Lim Sobo scratched her head.

The ragged man she had been talking to earlier suddenly interjected,

“Hey, little girl, why do you call me uncle, but him, older brother?”

“Because at first glance, you obviously look much older.”

“Ugh!”

The ragged man looked as if he’d taken a hit. Seeing his expression, Lin Sobo smiled.

She had only been the one getting picked on until now, so hitting him back like this made her feel somewhat better.

The ragged man then looked towards Lee Gwak.

“Lucky you, getting called ‘older brother.’ This cheeky girl is pretty selective and doesn’t call just anyone that.”

“……”

When Lee Gwak offered no reply, a gleam suddenly appeared on the ragged man’s face.

He said to Lim Sobo,

“By any chance, do you like him?”

“Ah, seriously! Stop talking nonsense!”

Lim Sobo’s shrill voice echoed throughout the slum. 

SoundlessWind21’s Notes:

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