Chapter 388: It’s Nothing Special
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 388: It’s Nothing Special
After following Father into the restaurant, I found a group of people already waiting for us.
It was the same crowd from yesterday’s meal, though the First Elder and Cheol Jiseon were conspicuously absent. Cheol Jiseon had likely fled, and I had no idea where the First Elder had gone.
As Father and I stepped inside, I felt the weight of everyone’s gaze fall upon us.
Slide—!
A few of those seated rose to their feet.
It was Namgung Bi-ah and Wi Seol-Ah.
The emotion burning in their eyes as they stared at my purple, bruised eye was palpable.
“Who…?” Namgung Bi-ah asked.
Her tone was even, but Gu Yeonseo flinched, sensing the intensity behind the question. In response, I waved a hand dismissively.
“It’s nothing special.”
“Liar.”
Wi Seol-Ah nodded firmly in agreement after Namgung Bi-ah’s reply. “You are indeed lying. Every time you say that, it’s always something major.”
“…”
A mix of emotions washed over me as the two girls shared a knowing look. What kind of person did they think I was, to react like this? Did they believe I was some troublemaker who attracted disaster?
…
Sadly, I couldn’t exactly argue the point.
“Who… did this to you?” Namgung Bi-ah pressed, her hand twitching as if ready to draw her sword. But what could she do? She had only just recovered.
“What would you do if you found out?”
“I’d scold them…”
“Scold them?”
“Mhm.”
I couldn’t help but smirk at Namgung Bi-ah’s response. Even I couldn’t scold the man responsible for this shiner—what could she possibly do? I appreciated the sentiment, but it was a futile gesture.
When I simply smiled without answering, Namgung Bi-ah stepped forward and gently laid her hand on my bruised eye. Her fingers were cool, yet they carried a warmth and concern that was unmistakable.
Wi Seol-Ah joined her, patting me down and checking for other injuries. It soon grew embarrassing as the surrounding stares intensified.
“I told you, I’m fine—stop it! People are watching.”
The two girls finally backed away when I raised my voice, though their worry remained evident. Why were they making such a fuss over a simple bruise?
After stepping back, Wi Seol-Ah spoke as if struck by a realization. “For you to end up in this state… your opponent must have been incredibly powerful.”
I nodded. “He was strong. Extremely strong.”
“…How fierce was he?”
“Oh, he was plenty fierce.”
“Was he… a bad person?”
“Uh, I don’t… think so?”
I felt Father’s presence looming behind me as I teased them. Sensing I might be pushing my luck, I decided to come clean.
“It was my father.”
“…What?”
“…”
The two girls froze solid, their gazes shifting from my black eye to my father, whom they had yet to properly greet.
Father showed no reaction, merely observing the two girls who had been so worried about me.
Huh. Maybe that’s even scarier.
A moment later, their eyes returned to me, now filled with resentment, as if blaming me for not telling them sooner.
…What happened to scolding him?
Instead of directing their frustration at Father, they were upset with me. I couldn’t help but feel a little hurt.
* * *
After the meal, I headed to the cave where I’d been training lately. Having missed several days, I needed to catch up—and I also had business with the Dishonored Venerable.
“I’m here.”
The moment I stepped inside, the pungent smell of alcohol assaulted my senses. Frowning, I looked around to find a small mountain of liquor bottles piled in one corner. There were too many to count.
“You came.” The Dishonored Venerable stood in the center of the cave, the bottles having been cleared to the side.
“What’s all this?” I asked, pointing at the bottles.
He smirked. “I had a few drinks with some old friends. First time in a long while.”
“That looks like more than a few.”
“When the mood is right and the company joyful, this can happen quite naturally. You’re just too young to understand.”
“…”
I shook my head slightly. I hadn’t been much of a drinker in my past life, either. There was no one to share it with. The only times I ever drank were when the Demonic Sword insisted on setting the mood under the moonlight.
“Your friends… was the First Elder here?”
“Correct.”
These old men had really gone all out. Judging by the number of bottles, it seemed like more than two people had been drinking, but I didn’t know for sure.
The Dishonored Venerable laughed at my expression and waved his hand. A powerful gust of wind exploded from his body.
Swoosh—!
The blast swept through the cave and vanished in an instant, taking the foul odor with it. Astonishingly, the stale air was gone, yet not a single bottle or loose stone had been disturbed.
I’m fascinated every time.
I stared at him, impressed anew by his flawless control over Qi. I could generate wind with my own energy, but his technique was on another level—targeted, precise, leaving everything else untouched.
Noticing my gaze, the Dishonored Venerable asked, “Want me to teach you?”
“Can someone like me even learn something like that?”
“I can’t speak for others, but I’m sure you could.”
“…I’ll pass.”
“Really? It’s more useful than you’d think. Oh well.” He clicked his tongue in disappointment. I knew a skill like that would be handy, but I had my reasons for refusing.
This man overestimates me.
Whenever he trained me, the Dishonored Venerable often said, “You are capable.” What he really meant was, “You’re like me, so you can do it too.” He seemed to believe I possessed talent on par with his own.
But I don’t.
It didn’t take me long after meeting him to realize one thing: the Dishonored Venerable was the real deal—a genuine pinnacle of talent in the Central Plains.
Sometimes during training, I’d make small talk, and he’d respond with things like:
- Why can’t they do this? The youngsters these days lack persistence. Anyone could manage it if they put in the effort.
Whether it was Qi control or reading an opponent’s movements, he believed anyone could achieve it if they tried hard enough. But the old man failed to grasp that if that were true, the world would be overflowing with masters.
Easy, my ass.
His attitude left me speechless. He had invented his own martial art, discarded everything he had built late in life to start over, and still remained one of the Three Venerables. He was a historical-level genius.
All that being the case, his high expectations only made me feel more pressure. Because no matter how I looked at it, I was at best a prodigy—not a genius.
“But, child.”
“Yes?”
“What happened to your eye? Looks like someone gave you a good beating.”
“…”
“You’re not at a level where just anyone can rough you up. How’d you end up in such an embarrassing state? Not that I mind—it’s rather entertaining for me.”
Entertaining for him? What kind of nonsense is that?
“…It happened during a spar with my father.”
The Dishonored Venerable looked amused. “The Lord of the Gu Clan?”
“Yes.”
“Hehe, that explains it. How was it? Fighting your father.”
“…”
What could I even say about my fight with Father?
“I couldn’t even touch his clothes.”
The Dishonored Venerable’s expression turned peculiar. “So your father hasn’t changed, I see.”
“Do you know much about him?”
“A thing or two.”
“How?”
“How? It’s impossible not to be aware of a martial artist like him. But child, how much do you know about your father?”
“Um… I’m not sure?”
Truthfully, I didn’t know much. I only knew he was far stronger than the rumors suggested.
Now that I think about it…
A question about the Dishonored Venerable himself occurred to me.
“Elder.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you ever ask my father to become your disciple? Did he not meet your expectations?”
I didn’t know what level Father had reached or how much potential he possessed, but in my eyes, he seemed a far more suitable candidate for the Dishonored Venerable’s ideal disciple than I was. The old man had practically begged me—why not my father?
The Dishonored Venerable stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Strange that you’d ask. Why do you want to know?”
“Just curious. No special reason.”
“Hmm…”
He fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
“When I first encountered your father, I hadn’t yet undergone Eternal Youth.”
Did that mean he simply wasn’t looking for a disciple back then?
“Of course, once I began my search, I did consider him.”
“Naturally.”
“But I ruled him out.”
“May I ask why?”
“It was pointless.”
What did he mean by that? Was Father not satisfactory? As I puzzled over it, he continued.
“Your father had already become one with his own martial art.”
“…Become one with his martial art?”
I didn’t fully understand, so I asked him to elaborate. He sighed, looking slightly weary, but obliged.
“Have you heard of ‘becoming one with the sword’?”
“Yes.” Becoming one with the sword—it was a state swordsmen aspired to, where wielder and blade were inseparable. Those who achieved it were considered masters, capable of shaping Qi into invisible blades. The Demonic Sword had reached that level in my past life.
“Becoming one with one’s martial art means advancing beyond the end.”
“Beyond the end…?”
“It means they possess a complete understanding of their art. Their body is no longer a vessel for the martial art—it is the martial art.”
I couldn’t fully grasp his meaning, but his words resonated deeply.
“This is what is known as the Transcendent Realm, though it’s not something you need to worry about just yet.”
“The Transcendent Realm…”
I fell into thought. Why was I only hearing about this now? It sounded profoundly important.
“…Does that mean my father has reached the Transcendent Realm?”
“That was how it appeared to me. Precisely because of that, I couldn’t ask him to become my disciple.”
So it took someone of Father’s caliber for the Dishonored Venerable to concede defeat, even when he saw potential. And Father had reached such heights?
I’ll have to ask him about it later.
I decided to pose one more question.
“Have you reached the Transcendent Realm as well?”
“…”
I immediately regretted asking. The Dishonored Venerable’s expression darkened. Had I offended him? He finally answered with a sigh.
“…Do you know the minimum requirement to enter the Transcendent Realm?”
“I do not.”
“One must reach the culmination of their martial art.”
“Oh.”
Now I understood his reaction.
“I never attained it. But that only made me more curious. I began to wonder what the pinnacle of my own path would look like.”
“So you’re using me to catch a glimpse of it?”
“…Your tongue grows sharper by the day. What do you mean, ‘use,’ you brat?”
But I wasn’t wrong. He didn’t argue further.
The Transcendent Realm. Attainable only by mastering one’s martial art to its absolute limit.
I had one more question, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask it. I wanted to know if that meant Father was stronger than him. But asking that directly would be far too blunt.
The minimum requirement is mastering your martial art, huh.
It was a staggering notion. Whether it was the Gu Flame Wheel Art or the Heaven Destruction Art, both were incredibly difficult to master. Reaching the Transcendent Realm would require perfecting one of them. What a ridiculous standard.
It’s not a level I can aim for yet.
Instead of fixating on the Transcendent Realm, I needed to focus on reaching the Ninth Star of the Gu Flame Wheel Art first.
“Let’s end the chatter and stretch our bodies,” the Dishonored Venerable said, shaking out his hands.
By “stretch our bodies,” he meant a spar—with the rule being no Qi allowed. We’d been doing this for months, and I had never once beaten him. Today would likely be no different.
As I clicked my tongue, resigned to another beating…
“Oh, right, Elder.”
“Hmm?”
I had forgotten to tell him something.
“What is it? Something else to say?”
“It’s nothing special.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“My father said he’d like to see you soon.”
“…Hmm?” The Dishonored Venerable reacted with rare surprise. “So suddenly? Why does your father want to meet me?”
“Ah, it’s really not a big deal.”
I scratched my head awkwardly under his gaze.
“I’ve been caught. He knows I’ve been training under you.”
“What…?”
“I used your martial art against him. He recognized it immediately.”
Haha!
I had basically just told him I’d dropped him right in it.
“So Father said he wants to see you soon. You’ll stop by sometime, right?”
After hearing my explanation, the Dishonored Venerable’s face fell.