Chapter 20
Chapter 20
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Sword Qi
-----------------------------------------------------------------
‘Sword qi.’
It wasn’t the first time he’d seen it. In the life where he’d never left Cheonhwa Sect or Divine Spirit Mountain, his sparring partners had only ever been his father and Chief Steward Woo.
Chief Steward Woo. From the earliest memories Wi Seongcheon had of himself, Chief Steward Woo had always been at his father’s side. Vaguely... his mother’s face would come to mind sometimes, but sadly, he couldn’t recall her features clearly.
In any case, for those dozen or so years, Chief Steward Woo had been Chief Steward Woo. In Cheonhwa Sect, where his father stood alone without grandparents, siblings, or even distant relatives, Chief Steward Woo was an outsider who didn’t carry the blood of the Wi family.
Though called a chief steward, to Wi Seongcheon, he felt no different from an uncle.
‘Though he’d hate it if I actually called him that.’
Chief Steward Woo. In Cheonhwa Sect, which could hardly even be called a sect, he stubbornly insisted on the title of chief steward. He was proficient in the sword and a variety of martial techniques. The reason Wi Seongcheon, who had only ventured out into the ‘outside world’ once, never felt a lack of experience was thanks to his steady spars with Chief Steward Woo.
‘...I don’t even know his name.’
That was literally the case.
Chief Steward Woo was just Chief Steward Woo. From when Wi Seongcheon was very young until now. They only ever called him Chief Steward Woo; he’d never heard what his actual name was.
The same went for Chief Steward Woo’s wife. Wi Seongcheon just called her ‘Auntie,’ and his father called her ‘Chief Steward’s wife.’
The only one whose name he knew was Chief Steward Woo’s two-year-old son, Woo Hyeonil.
Back when he hadn’t left Cheonhwa Sect and his ‘world’ was limited to Divine Spirit Mountain, he hadn’t felt anything particularly strange about it.
No, to be precise, even if he thought it was strange, he hadn’t felt the need to learn more.
But not anymore. It had been two months since leaving Cheonhwa Sect. Just that much time, but he had seen the world. The first person he’d directly crossed paths with after coming out into the world was Dang Heeran, but even before meeting her, Wi Seongcheon had seen plenty of people.
Brawls breaking out in inns from drunken fists. Bandits lying in wait on mountain paths. Ronin samurai swaggering with swords at their waists. Ordinary ‘weaklings.’
Back in his Cheonhwa Sect days, Wi Seongcheon hadn’t paid much mind to the ‘strength’ of Chief Steward Woo or his father. But now he did. He had come to realize it.
‘Why?’
Having realized that, questions swelled about his father enduring the mockery. He couldn’t understand why Chief Steward Woo, who guarded his father’s side while handling most weapons with skill, would do such a thing.
“You’re here?”
At the entrance to the intermediate dormitory stood a familiar face. In truth, the only familiar face to Wi Seongcheon at Uicheon Academy was Dang Heeran.
She had been leaning against the wall, idly kicking at the ground, but upon seeing Wi Seongcheon approach, she flashed a grin. Wi Seongcheon set aside his fruitless worries.
“What are you doing here?”
“What else? Waiting for you.”
Peeling her back off the wall, Dang Heeran stretched languidly.
“Entrance evaluations aren’t open to observers. So, how’d it go?”
“Pretty well, I think?”
Wi Seongcheon tilted his head as he answered. The entrance evaluation. He felt he’d done the best he could in that situation. It was fortunate that Professor Seok Ijin of the Absolute Death Sword wasn’t completely unreasonable. He’d been inwardly worried about provoking him too much... but thankfully, Professor Seok Ijin had stopped there and backed off. If he’d pressed further, even using sword qi, Wi Seongcheon would have been in a bind.
“Classes start tomorrow, so the class schedules will be posted on the wall. You’ll find out your class assignment, your supervising professor, and who your entrance recommender was.”
“Won Gwangbul.”
Dang Heeran’s expression froze for a moment.
“My recommender is Won Gwangbul.”
“...For real?”
In that brief instant, various thoughts swirled and tangled in Dang Heeran’s mind. At the center of them all was, of course, ‘why.’ Cheonhwa Sect and Won Gwangbul. No matter how she thought about it, there didn’t seem to be any connection.
“You think I’d lie about it now?”
“Fair enough.”
Dang Heeran cleared her throat with a cough, aware of her stiffened expression.
“How was the intermediate dorm? No one gave you trouble?”
The topic shifted. Wi Seongcheon thought of Jang Ilu and chuckled.
“There was only one guy yesterday.”
“Who?”
“Jang Ilu.”
“Oh, him.”
“Seemed like a nice guy, though?”
“Already buddies? Must suck to part ways.”
It was obvious, but Dang Heeran hadn’t for a second thought Wi Seongcheon would stay in the intermediate dorm. She knew his skill.
And she knew that wasn’t even all of it. The speed that had saved her from the Jijon Chamber’s assassin. The one exchange that had killed him. It was only natural for Wi Seongcheon to be in the advanced class.
Thinking of that made her feel a bit pleased. She’d never felt lonely in advanced class life. But she’d felt fed up with it plenty of times.
It was like that everywhere in the world. The top tier was always small in number. The advanced dorm was large but had few students. She hadn’t interacted much with those scant few...
Nor had she ever felt the need to.
But starting tomorrow, Wi Seongcheon would be in advanced class. He was completely different from the other advanced students.
What kind of upheaval he’d cause. It hadn’t happened yet, but anticipation swelled for those obvious events.
That anticipation.
Came crashing down emptily the next day.
‘No way.’
Dang Heeran gaped at the class schedule posted on the wall.
A crowd of students had gathered around her. Classes started tomorrow, but the opening day was today.
Most students had already arrived at Uicheon Academy that morning, and the stragglers would trickle in by sunset, the deadline.
‘Lower class? Why?’
She didn’t even glance at the main class schedule, the most important part.
She wasn’t the only one. Most students checking the schedules were focused not on them, but below.
Recommended entrant: Wi Seongcheon.
Recommender: Won Gwangbul.
Lower class assignment.
Supervising professor: Golden Capture Whip Flash, Seo Il.
The scrawled brush writing swirled in Dang Heeran’s mind. The entrance evaluation for Wi Seongcheon had been handled by Absolute Death Sword Seok Ijin. Had he assigned him to lower class? Ridiculous.
Professor Seok Ijin had known Wi Seongcheon’s skill even before the spar, and he’d surely acknowledged it was advanced-class level.
Wi Seongcheon had handled what even advanced-class Dang Heeran couldn’t.
‘And Professor Seo Il?’
Professor Seo Il’s subject was the basic practical Golden Claw Technique.
First-years couldn’t choose courses. Basic practicals were once a week, and the suppression techniques were somewhat helpful... but she’d never been particularly impressed.
It hadn’t left much of an impact on Dang Heeran. And now that class’s professor was Wi Seongcheon’s supervisor?
‘Something’s wrong... isn’t it?’
Was it because of his Cheonhwa Sect background?
She thought maybe not, but looking at the reactions around her... it didn’t seem impossible.
“Cheonhwa Sect?”
“That bat-sect disciple thinks he’s hot stuff coming to Uicheon Academy?”
“Look... the recommender’s Won Gwangbul.”
“Won Gwangbul... yeah, that one, right?”
“How the hell did this happen? Why would Master Won Gwangbul recommend a loser like that?”
“Something’s gotta be off.”
“Hahaha! A recommended entrant in lower class!”
The murmurs turned to mockery. Won Gwangbul was an elder deeply respected in the righteous martial world.
Why would such a great figure recommend a disciple from a place like Cheonhwa Sect? Unable to understand, they jeered. Lower class. On opening day, it was like smearing shit on Master Won Gwangbul’s face after receiving his recommendation letter.
“Pfft.”
A snickering laugh came from right beside her.
It was Yeong Sojin. Arms crossed, she eyed the schedule with mockery.
“Dang Heeran.”
She didn’t want to get involved with her, but Yeong Sojin addressed Dang Heeran.
“What?”
“I just said your name, why so prickly?”
“Get to the point.”
They were in the same advanced class.
But Dang Heeran disliked Yeong Sojin. She’d made it to advanced thanks to her unique martial arts... but objectively, Yeong Sojin’s skill didn’t suit advanced class.
Of course, the reason Dang Heeran ‘disliked’ her wasn’t her lacking skill.
Simply put, personality clash. Dang Heeran couldn’t stand how Yeong Sojin was obsessed with Cheonin and dragged other students into fawning over him.
“...You. Word is you came back with that Cheonhwa Sect punk the day before yesterday?”
“So what?”
Uicheon Academy was a closed place. Rumors spread fast. Seok Ijin professor, Wi Seongcheon, and Dang Heeran returning together had already been spotted and turned into gossip.
“Why’d you come back together?”
“Ran into him on the way.”
“By chance?”
“Why are you interrogating me like that?”
What answer was she hoping for? Dang Heeran’s eyes sharpened. At the sign of sudden conflict, other students fell silent and watched Dang Heeran and Yeong Sojin.
“Interrogating? Just curious. It’s weird, right? The great lady of the Tang family... what connection does she have with a Cheonhwa Sect disciple that she’d come back with him?”
Yeong Sojin smirked, lifting the corner of her mouth.
She hated that too.
Spreading rumors, yapping away. Look at her now. Thanks to Yeong Sojin’s blabbing, everyone’s eyes were on Dang Heeran. Her gaze turned icy.
Stroking her index fingernail, she glared at Yeong Sojin. She wanted to rake her nails across that smug face, but she couldn’t actually do it.
“Scram.”
Hearing it so bluntly, Yeong Sojin didn’t flush with anger. She shrugged and looked back at the schedule. Lower class... Her snickering grew louder.
“There’s a limit to shitting on a master’s face. Getting a recommendation and still lower class.”
Other students nodded in agreement. Yeong Sojin recalled the Wi Seongcheon she’d seen that morning.
She also thought of Muyeon Jun and Sang Irin intently examining the broken wooden doll. Yeong Sojin didn’t fully know what those remnants meant, but she figured there was no need to care anymore.
“Quite the crowd.”
That small mutter struck Dang Heeran’s ears with unnatural clarity. She whipped her head around.
The other students were still staring at the schedule on the wall, and so was Yeong Sojin.
Dang Heeran spotted Wi Seongcheon standing at the back.
He hadn’t forced his way to the front but stood blankly at the rear of the crowd. Everyone was yammering about how it tarnished Won Gwangbul’s name, how a Cheonhwa Sect nobody didn’t belong in Uicheon Academy no matter the recommendation. But the man himself didn’t seem to care.
“...Why are you in lower class?”
They were quite a distance apart, and the surrounding voices were noisy. Dang Heeran’s quiet voice, without any inner energy, should have been drowned out.
She asked anyway, knowing he’d hear.
“Disappointed?”
As expected.
Wi Seongcheon grinned at her. His expression and smile brimmed with mischief.
Dang Heeran sighed deeply. When she’d asked yesterday, he’d said ‘pretty well.’ Absolute Death Sword knew his skill.
Yet he’d been assigned to lower class.
“Yeah.”
There must be a reason. Though assigned to lower class, Wi Seongcheon showed no disappointment. If anything, his face held relief, like he’d expected it. Dang Heeran had no reason to chide him for it.
But she couldn’t help feeling disappointed herself.
‘I thought we’d be in the same class.’
That was it, ultimately.
“Get lost, all of you.”
Dang Heeran shoved through the milling students. Wi Seongcheon’s lower-class assignment and Yeong Sojin’s provocations made her words sharp.
“What?”
Yeong Sojin’s body jolted from the shove. She glared at Dang Heeran, but Dang Heeran didn’t spare her another glance.
“...Huh?”
Watching Dang Heeran storm past roughly, she then noticed Wi Seongcheon standing there. Yeong Sojin’s eyes widened.
“Well, if it isn’t...”
Her voice rose loud enough for all to hear.