Kang-hyuk smiled at Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g's concern.
"It's nothing much. I couldn't inform you of it yesterday as it had gotten too late, but from today onwards, construction is to begin in Yeongyowon."
"Construction?"
"I want to build a shed to store the gardening tools. The worker I hired for this purpose said that they were going to come early in the morning."
Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g nodded, and pointed towards the entrance of Yeongyowon. "Are you referring to that person?"
Kang-hyuk then turned around.
A young man could be seen walking into Yeongyowon. He had a white pipe hanging from his mouth, and was carrying a long box on his shoulders.
Kang-hyuk smiled at the sight.
'He never lets go of that pipe, does he!'
That young man was none other than Ji Cheol-muk.
He had come under the guise of a young man as a result of Kang-hyuk's warning.
"You aren't thinking of coming to work with your original appearance, are you?"
"Would there be a problem if I do?"
"Yes, it would be a big problem. That's why that fellow Shim-gu is under the guise of the Byeonyeongsul technique as well. Of course, I gave him a beating along with it."
"...reflecting on it, that would indeed be a big problem."
With his transformed appearance, it was impossible for others to identify him as an elder of the clan.
The only similarity that was present was his long white pipe, and that could be put down to coincidence.
"You're here?"
Ji Cheol-muk bowed his head in response.
"Yes, I'm here."
"This is my teaching a.s.sistant, Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g."
Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g bowed his head at Ji Cheol-muk in response to Kang-hyuk's introduction.
"It's nice to meet you, I'm the horticulture teacher's a.s.sistant, Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g."
"And this is the site for the construction. I'll leave the job to you."
Ji Cheol-muk looked at Kang-hyuk and asked, "Where would you like the shed to be exactly?"
"I'll show you."
Kang-hyuk led Ji Cheol-muk to the location he had in mind for the shed. It was a place in Yeongyowon that was close enough to the entrance, but also somewhat hidden within the thickets of vegetation, so that the building wouldn't obscure the natural beauty of the landscape.
"You can construct the shed here."
"Okay, I'll start right now then."
Kang-hyuk shook his head.
"Ae-rin and Baek-gap are going to bring breakfast, so you can start after eating."
"Ae-rin made breakfast?"
Kang-hyuk nodded.
"I've always thought that Ae-rin's food is delicious."
Soon, Baek-gap and Byeok Ae-rin had brought the packed lunch. They sat down in the pavilion to eat.
Baek-gap tilted his head as he was introduced to Ji Cheol-muk. "I've never seen you before."
"Is that so?"
Baek-gap nodded at Kang-hyuk's response.
"Usually all the construction work in the academy is done by workers that the academy commissioned."
Baek-gap spoke correctly.
Byeok Ae-rin, who was already aware of the academy's condition of using contracted workers, had asked Shim-gu for some help. Followng that, Shim-gu had promptly gone to Eun Myeong-myeong, and the matter was almost instantaneously resolved.
Overnight, Ji Cheol-muk had become a contracted worker of the academy.
Byeok Ae-rin spoke smilingly, "This is a new construction worker."
"Ah! I see!"
Despite Baek-gap appearing to have accepted the explanation, there was something that was still bothering him. That thing was the long white pipe hanging from the man's mouth.
It was quite unusual for a young man to be smoking from a pipe, but strangely enough, it seemed to suit the man.
'Where have I seen that pipe…?'
Baek-gap was a skilled Jimilgak warrior.
Through his recent time with Kang-hyuk, he learned that when there was something that seemed amiss to him, it was best to investigate with caution, in a way that would best preserve his life.
This was why he greeted the construction worker with utmost respect, and bowed.
"It's nice to meet you! I am servant Baek-gap."
"Alright."
The man's response to Baek-gap's greeting was rather concise.
'There's no way he's an ordinary man!'
Baek-gap was now certain.
After having breakfast, Ji Cheol-muk immediately headed over to the site of construction, while Kang-hyuk decided to look over his plants before his cla.s.s began. He meticulously looked over the plants, with no small detail being spared from his line of sight.
After watering and removing insects from one plant, Kang-hyuk's gaze moved onto another.
This particular plant wasn't an ordinary flowering plant, but was cla.s.sified as a sacred herb. It was the Tranquil Smile of Yellow Nectar Flower.
"Oh! There's plenty of nectar in here!"
This meant that it was time to harvest.
Unfortunately, he had no one to a.s.sist him, as Cheon Hae-gw.a.n.g and Baek-gap had already been a.s.signed with respective tasks.
'I'll have to find another a.s.sistant as soon as possible.'
Nonetheless, the harvest of the nectar was a task of urgency.
He decided to harvest the nectar himself, lifting his hand up, then down.
An idea sparkled within his mind.
'Oh yes, there is some free labour I can utilize. On top of that, I can receive the price I deserve for being bothered.'
A complacent smile spread over Kang-hyuk's face.
***
The evening had arrived.
After he had finished the tasks for the day, the first-year swordsmanship teacher Oh-Tae was walking towards Yeongyowon.
Kang-hyuk had sent word to him to meet there, as he had something to discuss regarding the teachings he had promised to him during the field-trip.
Oh-Tae was awe-struck as he entered Yeongyowon.
With the arrival of spring, flowers of all five colours had blossomed throughout the land, and the air was filled with the fragrance of those flowers.
'This is…Yeongyowon?'
He was amazed that Kang-hyuk had been able to create a practice plot on the land that had been forbidden for so many years due to the presence of the Wailing Gra.s.s.
He hadn't entered the plot before, as he had been angry that his plot to defame Kang-hyuk on the account of the Wailing Gra.s.s had failed.
This place was beautiful beyond description!
All of a sudden, some flowering plants caught his eye.
In particular, the individual plants respectively had red flowers, yellow flowers and white flowers. Oh-Tae walked over to the plants, and was taken by surprise.
"Huh! These plants are…"
He seemed to know what kind of plants they really were.
'The Thousand Year Red Rose, the White Ten Flower, and the Tranquil Smile of Yellow Nectar Flower?'
They were rare sacred herbs, and it was usually difficult to catch even a glimpse of them.
The cultivation of these flowers in the plot was concrete evidence of Kang-hyuk's advanced abilities.
Sweat dripped down Oh-Tae's back as he imagined the potentially dire consequences if he hadn't asked for Kang-hyuk's forgiveness.
He suddenly heard a strange sound emanating from behind him.
*Tak tak! Tak tak!*
It was the sound of a hammer.
Oh-Tae stealthily headed over to the source of the sound, and found a young man hammering away.
"What is this? Why is he hammering so late into the day?"
"You should have said something if you arrived. What are you doing here?"
"Huh?!"
Taken aback, Oh-Tae immediately turned around to find Kang-hyuk staring back at him.
"Ah, Kang Seonsaeng..."
Kang-hyuk spoke, addressing the construction work, "Don't worry, he's constructing a shed for the storage of gardening tools."
"I've never seen that worker before."
"Ah, he's a new construction worker that just came yesterday. Anyways, do you recall what we spoke about the other day?"
Oh-Tae nodded.
He recalled that Kang-hyuk had mentioned that due to a lack of time from them both actively teaching, he would convey his teachings and give a.s.signments to Oh-Tae at the same time.
"I remember."
"So today, I will convey a teaching to you."
Nervous, Oh-Tae swallowed down his saliva, then spoke, "I'll show you my martial ability then."
"Why would you show me your martial ability?"
Oh-Tae tilted his head to the side at Kang-hyuk's response. "Well, you can only accurately know my level of cultivation when I show you my martial ability, right?"
"Ah, so that's what you meant?"
Kang-hyuk shook his head.
"There's no need for you to do that. I'm already aware of what level your cultivation is."
Kang-hyuk spoke once more, with the awareness that Oh-Tae was half-doubting what he had said.
"You hurt your left leg when you were a child, didn't you?"
"...!"
"This is why your body lacks balance. If we just work on improving this one aspect, even if you don't work on raising your cultivation, your skills will automatically rise."
"...!"
Oh-Tae was startled.
As Kang-hyuk had said, when he was around five years old, he had fallen from a tree, resulting in a serious injury to his left leg.
To this day, if he wasn't conscious of his movements, he would start to limp slightly. However, he had never publicly revealed any weakness in his legs.
Despite this, Kang-hyuk had been able to find out this issue of his.
"Oh Seonsaeng, your leg is perfectly fine now. Why are you holding onto those past memories?"
"...."
"Firstly, we'll need to strengthen your left leg to bring balance to your body. I'll begin my teachings. Baek-gap-ah."
At Kang-hyuk's command, Baek-gap appeared, seemingly out of thin air. He was holding a long piece of cloth in his hands, and upon approaching Oh-Tae, he lifted his right leg, and tied it back with the cloth.
"Wh-what is this all about?"
Kang-hyuk was casual in his response. "This is just some preliminary preparation for the training. Now, you can go on with your work exclusively using your left leg."
"What? D-did you just say work?"
"The nectar of the Tranquil Smile of Yellow Nectar Flower needs to be harvested by today. And also, Baek-gap and Cheon Jogyo are busy with other tasks, so I thought I'd call you Oh Seonsaeng."
"So, you called me over to do your work?"
Oh-Tae had guessed correctly, however Kang-hyuk wasn't a man that was going to answer him straightforwardly.
"What are you talking about? Why would I make Oh Seonsaeng do my work?"
"S-so it's not that?"
"It's known that muscles will develop with sustained training and usage. Among the many forms of training, an age-old practice for this is the practice of collection! Can you not see the deeper meaning behind my asking of you to harvest the nectar?"
There was obviously not a chance that Oh-Tae would have naturally arrived at such a conclusion.
Fortunately, Oh-Tae seemed convinced by Kang-hyuk's explanation.
What added to the plausibility of his words was that for Oh-Tae, Kang-hyuk was the envoy of the Clan Leader, who had already demonstrated his lofty cultivation before his very own eyes.
"I misunderstood your deeper intentions. I apologize!"
"Well then, let's start the training."
Baek-gap promptly placed a bowl in Oh-Tae's hands as Kang-hyuk began to explain, "I'm sure you already know that the Tranquil Smile of Yellow Nectar Flower has thorns just below it, and that a great amount of pain will be inflicted upon you if you are p.r.i.c.ked, so be careful."
"I'll take that into consideration."
"What's also of great importance for this task is that you mustn't use your internal energy."
"What do you mean by that?"
Oh-Tae seemed disconcerted, but Kang-hyuk gave him a stern glance in response.
"If you use your internal energy, you won't obtain the full effects of the training."
"Bu-but..."
Kang-hyuk approached Oh-Tae, and tapped several points on his body.
*Tuk tuk tuk.*
Oh-Tae's usage of his internal energy was now disabled.
Kang-hyuk spoke smilingly, "You can now begin."
And just like that, Oh-Tae had been thrown into harvesting the nectar of the Tranquil Smile of Yellow Nectar Flower.
Around fifteen minutes had pa.s.sed.
'This is much harder than I had imagined!'
Having entered the area of where the flower was growing, Oh-Tae was sweating profusely, and was also having a bit of difficulty breathing.
Harvesting the nectar without the use of his internal energy and on one leg was a challenging task.
He had to focus all of his strength onto his left leg, so he didn't fall over. As much as this caused him leg pain, it was also the cause of mental strain.
The problem was that he couldn't exclusively focus on his left leg. He had to carefully control his force so that the nectar of the flower didn't spill out, and there were also the thorns of the plant to take into consideration.
And on top of that…'If I want to move my leg around, I have to hop…and if I hop, the nectar of the flower will….'
Oh-Tae was facing a variety of difficulties.
He endured the task for around an hour until he had reached his limit.
He put down the bowl, and addressed Kang-hyuk, "Kang Seonsaeng! No matter how much I ponder over this, it's just impossible!"
"What do you mean impossible? This is a completely doable task. Isn't it purely because you're lacking in tenacity?"
"Even so, there's nothing more I can do! How can I harvest the nectar on one leg?"
"So…are you saying you can't do it?"
"I am! I don't know if I could even swing a sword on one leg. I can't believe that doing this will raise my cultivation!"
*Seu-euk.*
Kang-hyuk removed something from his sleeve. It was the contract that Oh-Tae had signed.
"Look at this contract, it says that you will accept my teachings, and act on them with sincerity. It also says that if this is violated, you will receive ten beatings from me."
"...."
"And seeing as you have clearly stated that you won't receive my teaching…."
Kang-hyuk clenched his fists.
"I'll give you one beating, and then we can start again."
Kang-hyuk held his fists out.
*Hyu-ung!*
A great force flew towards Oh-Tae.
*Bak!*
