Zhuge Lin spoke, "What do you think is the standard for defense, Martial Arts Master?"
"I don't understand the meaning of your question."
At that moment, Jin Cheon-hee lightly twisted his body to evade the attack.
Even though it was the Three Talents Footwork, he avoided the attack as naturally as water flowing.
Seeing this, Dokgo Joong-hoo thought that Jin Cheon-hee might have learned and was using a different footwork.
If that were the case, it would be troublesome.
It wasn't medicine, but martial arts.
In the martial world, martial arts hold significant meaning.
If he had learned another family's martial arts in advance, he wouldn't be qualified to learn the Zhuge family's secret techniques.
However, no matter how he looked at each movement, it was clearly the Three Talents Footwork.
Zhuge Lin laughed heartily as if he found it admirable.
"I trust that the Martial Arts Master did not make the mistake of using bamboo as the standard for defense."
Only then did Dokgo Joong-hoo realize. 'Ah, I see.
Defense is relative.
There's no reason to be confined by the terrain...!'
But could it be possible to achieve that level with just a few months of learning? He couldn't believe it even after seeing it.
The boy was demonstrating his own defense on thin bamboo, unfolding the mysteries of left, right, and forward.
Finally, Jin Cheon-hee landed safely on the ground.
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it. Isn't he just an ordinary child with no exceptional martial talent?"
"He just has the martial talent to learn what he needs to."
"But how on earth...?!"
The master seemed to enjoy Dokgo Joon's reaction, closing his eyes and savoring it.
His demeanor was not that of the world's genius, Baek Lin the Immortal, but rather the world's fool, Zhuge Lin himself.
"Inner strength is indeed a significant part of martial arts. That's why prestigious families tend to be obsessed with martial talent."
"Are you saying that's wrong?"
"No, the better the martial talent, the easier it is to build inner strength and learn the family's secret techniques, so there is merit in that. However, in martial arts, martial talent is just one part. That child simply trained his external skills more diligently than anyone else."
"By external skills, do you mean he trained his body?"
As expected of a warrior from the Zhuge family, he understood quickly.
"Yes, that's correct. He especially focused on training his lower body."
"Any warrior could do that sufficiently..."
"The point is that it's not just to that extent."
To what level did he train his lower body? It was hard to understand.
Zhuge Lin smiled without further explanation.
Dokgo Joong-hoo spoke, "But isn't determining defense not just about the lower body? No matter how well the body is trained, if the mind isn't ready, it won't work. It would be difficult without a deep understanding of formations..."
"Quick thinking is a very basic fundamental."
He was at a loss for words.
Leaving Dokgo Joon behind, Zhuge Lin approached Jin Cheon-hee.
"It seems you've become quite familiar with the Three Talents Footwork."
It wasn't just a certain level.
He was a rare breed, unmatched by any other.
Jin Cheon-hee had been training tirelessly, to the point where anyone watching would grind their teeth in envy.
The boy was more concerned about how to deal with the young fox cub after this demonstration than the fact that he hadn't been hit by a single flying stone.
Yet, his expression was as innocent as anyone's.
"Hehe, I'm so happy that you see it that way, Master!"
"Yes, yes. Now it's time to move on to the stage of the Miri Step. It will be much harsher than now. Can you do it?"
"What is the Miri Step?"
He already knew from reading books, but pretending not to know was important.
"It's the next stage of the Three Talents Footwork."
The Three Talents Footwork starts by determining the three directions: left, right, and forward.
In a way, it was similar to the Five Elements Mind Technique.
The Zhuge family's Five Elements Mind Technique begins with the five attributes of the Five Elements and, as one's abilities increase, allows for more diverse abilities using the Five Elements.
Wind energy using fire, wood, and water energy.
Ice energy created using water, metal, and earth energy.
In the case of thunder energy, it is created by mixing fire, metal, and water into the previously created wind energy.
When one reaches the pinnacle of the Five Elements Mind Technique, they can handle the energy of all things in the world, and by mastering the cycle of creation and destruction, they can become one with the universe.
This is the realm of ascension spoken of in the martial world.
Zhuge Kongming, known as the Sage of the Four Directions, succeeded in extending his lifespan by offering sacrifices to the heavens, contrary to the ending known in the Three Kingdoms from Earth.
After achieving his desires to some extent, he retired to the countryside to nurture future generations and finally ascended to the state of non-action and naturalness.
In that sense, it is said that reaching the higher stage of the Five Elements Mind Technique, the Heavenly Earth Five Elements Mind Technique, can even summon the southeast wind.
Indeed, the martial world is truly the martial world.
Similarly, the Three Talents Footwork initially uses only the three directions.
However, like combining the Five Elements, these three directions are combined to control 9, 27, 61, 81, and eventually countless directions.
The 3 of the Three Talents and the 5 of the Five Elements.
Both are indivisible prime numbers, which hold significant meaning not only in Eastern philosophy but also in mathematics.
'If you consider them as Fermat primes, they are the first and second primes.'
The paths of the Three Talents, which could only avoid in three ways, become more diverse when reaching the Miri Step.
And when that diversity is completed, the next evolution awaits.
"What comes after the Miri Step?"
"When the Miri Step reaches the Twelve Stars, it becomes the Heavenly Qi Miri Step. It's a secret martial art and a divine skill. There are fewer than five footwork techniques in the world that can reach the Heavenly Qi Miri Step."
It's not just five fingers.
In Jin Cheon-hee's view, the Heavenly Qi Miri Step was the best among footwork techniques.
This Heavenly Qi Miri Step was closer to foresight than footwork.
It possessed the ability to foresee a path among countless uncertain variables.
Jin Cheon-hee couldn't understand why this was possible, but somehow it was when reaching the extreme.
However, the Heavenly Qi Miri Step had a fatal flaw.
The Miri Step, which served as an intermediate bridge, was incredibly difficult.
It was a realm of mathematics, calculating natural numbers and probability variables, beyond martial arts.
Transitioning from the Three Talents Footwork to the Miri Step was already daunting, but moving from the Miri Step to the Heavenly Qi Miri Step was possible for only a very few within the Zhuge family.
Understanding why the Three Talents Footwork was easy but the Miri Step was hell was something one could only realize through deep insight.
It was an insight that could never be obtained without delving deeply, and it wasn't an insight that could be gained from a martial artist's perspective.
It was an insight unique to Jin Cheon-hee, who could achieve it with the knowledge of Earth.
'Knowing the concept of base systems makes the insight easier.
Not the formation (陣法) of martial arts, but the base system (進法) of mathematics.
Specifically, the ternary system.
You have to match it to -1, 0, +1, that is, left, forward, right.'
This is called the balanced ternary system.
In Jin Cheon-hee's view, even the Three Talents Footwork was an incredibly difficult footwork technique if one were to delve into it properly.
If the sage who ascended had come to the modern world instead of the martial world, he might have been creating quantum computers.
The problem was that, like a true genius, he didn't consider that the minds of future generations might not keep up.
Although he also created the Hyeonwon Jeondan Divine Skill to expand the brain, the difficulty doubled without an understanding of numbers.
'In that sense, our master, who gained insight without modern mathematical theory and only with his five senses, seems like he's not just a person.'
Jin Cheon-hee spoke, "Master, can't I just continue practicing the Three Talents Footwork before learning it?"
"Oh, why do you think that?"
Normally, a disciple of a martial family would be eager to move on to the next stage.
However, Jin Cheon-hee, who was considered not very strong in the martial world, was saying he wanted to continue practicing the Three Talents Footwork, which was considered the basics of basics.
It was a strange thing.
Jin Cheon-hee furrowed one side of his forehead.
"I feel like I need to make the Three Talents Footwork more solid before learning the Miri Step."
"Do you find the Three Talents Footwork difficult?"
At those words, Jin Cheon-hee nodded.
"Yes. The more I know, the harder it gets."
Dokgo Joong-hoo, who was watching, showed a puzzled expression. 'Normally, if someone says the Three Talents Footwork is difficult, they're considered a dullard, but...'
Why was that? The boy in front of him was mastering the Three Talents Footwork more deeply than anyone else.
The actions the boy showed were paths that could only come from deep insight beyond ordinary trainees.
Yet, this child was saying that the Three Talents Footwork, which only involved moving in three directions, was difficult.
At that moment, Zhuge Lin replied, "Interesting. In fact, I also always thought the Three Talents Footwork was difficult."
Because if you don't gain proper insight during the Three Talents Footwork, you'll be completely destroyed in the Miri Step.
'Hahaha, although the direction is different, the conclusion is the same as mine.'
It's comforting to have something in common with the master.
In most martial families, if someone said they wanted to continue practicing the Three Talents Footwork, they would be frustrated and beat their chest.
Moreover, Zhuge Lin's life depended on Jin Cheon-hee's achievements.
Even in such a situation, he always prioritized the best path for Jin Cheon-hee.
"If you're hasty, you'll ruin the path. Let's start when you're ready."
Jin Cheon-hee deeply bowed.
Jin Cheon-hee continued to delve deeply into the Three Talents Footwork.
It didn't take long to gain the second insight after the first.
However, the third insight took longer than the first and second combined.
On the white, frozen snowfield, the boy's footprints extended in three directions.
The movements were free-spirited, but whenever the boy's footprints stopped, it was always at the end of a triangular number.
Sitting idly and counting his footprints, Jin Cheon-hee realized this and thought, 'Did Fermat enter the martial world as Zhuge Kongming?'
If there were such a novel, he thought he would definitely want to read it, yet also never want to read it.
If he were to follow the current trend, the title might be something like "The Protagonist Hides His Mathematics."
In martial arts novels, it was always like that.
Some small principle often hid a great insight.
There were protagonists who gained enlightenment from reading the Thousand Character Classic, and others who gained insight from Laozi's Tao Te Ching or Confucius's Analects.
Even Gung-gwi gained insight from the Buddhist concept of emptiness and reached the state of transformation.
Where one gained enlightenment wasn't important.
Whether it was from an old man's scythe work or an ant's march, it didn't matter.
It could be small, it could be trivial.
It didn't matter if it seemed absurd.
As long as it could contain the world in itself, that was enlightenment and insight.
Numbers were the most direct way to explain the world.
A small enlightenment began to expand Jin Cheon-hee's world.