Get Moving, Girl! Part 2
Hyeon-myeong was in a state of near-ruin.
Although his dantian was not completely shattered, it was heavily damaged, and the meridians throughout his body were left in tatters.
It would take at least a year or two just to recover enough to function in daily life.
Sigh. What an absolute disgrace.
It was an undeniable defeat.
That young monster was stronger than him. Frankly, even if Hyeon-myeong recovered his martial arts and fought him again, he didn't think he could win. But...
Arrogant bastard. You took the world too lightly.
On the way back to Mount Hua, carried on the backs of his disciples,
he had remained quiet, doing his best not to provoke Han Cheong-un. Returning quietly to the Mount Hua Sect was, in itself, his victory.
"Ugh... cough... Hehehe..."
Even with his body in ruins, a chuckle escaped his lips.
If he had been in Han Cheong-un's position, he would never have quietly returned to Mount Hua.
He would have silenced everyone present to erase all traces of his actions.
But Han Cheong-un hadn't done that.
He had spared the disciples and even Hyeon-myeong's own life, returning to the Mount Hua Sect without a fuss.
It went beyond naivety; it was downright foolish.
He doesn't know what a sect truly is. The brat simply overestimates his own talent.
Individual martial prowess was important, but power in the Jianghu was not determined by that alone.
Why else did factions exist?
A pillar of the Nine Great Sects and One Gang.
A prestigious Daoist sword sect.
The Mount Hua Sect, a renowned orthodox sect of the Wulin that had once proudly claimed to be the greatest under heaven.
Han Cheong-un had crippled an elder of that very sect.
Even if it had been a fair duel, the Mount Hua Sect would not let this slide.
In fact, no organization, giant sect or not, would overlook their elder being treated this way.
Now, even if he just lay here doing nothing, Mount Hua would seek revenge on that monster...
Slam!
It was then. Someone burst into his quarters, shattering his sweet delusion. It was...
"S-Sect Leader Senior Brother?"
"Hyeon-myeong!"
The Sect Leader had ordered Hyeon-myeong to be brought to him, but upon hearing that the elder couldn't even stand, he had come in person.
He glared at him with a murderous intensity.
"Speak the truth. The moment you lie, I, as the Sect Leader of Mount Hua, will execute you as a traitor."
"What... cough... what do you mean by that?"
As Hyeon-myeong cried out in grievance, his eyes caught sight of Han Cheong-un, who was casually stepping out from behind the Sect Leader.
The moment he saw that monster, an ominous dread began to pool in his chest.
Every time he crossed paths with that brat, disaster followed. Surely, not again...
"Did you truly learn the Light-Splitting Hand of the Qingcheng Sect?"
"..."
Hyeon-myeong's eyes widened in shock.
Seeing him tremble, a fire of fury ignited in the eyes of the Mount Hua Sword Immortal.
His reaction alone was answer enough.
"You really did learn the Light-Splitting Hand. You actually... you actually committed taboo."
"S-Senior Brother. Please, listen to me. This is a misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding? What is there to misunderstand? Are you saying you did not learn Qingcheng's martial arts?"
"That is... well..."
"And you wouldn't have just learned it for free. To acquire a technique like the Light-Splitting Hand, you must have offered something in return."
"..."
"What was it? What did you leak?"
"..."
"Speak this instant!"
The thunderous roar of the Mount Hua Sword Immortal sent a wave of agony through Hyeon-myeong's twisted meridians once more.
"Cough... blegh!"
Vomiting blood violently, his mind raced as he processed this worst-case scenario.
How... how did they find out?
Had he learned Qingcheng's martial arts?
Yes. It was true.
To be more precise, he had also learned the martial arts of Wudang and Zhongnan, in addition to Qingcheng.
Within the Wulin Alliance, there were those who formed a political faction alongside him.
Centered around Cheongheo Jinin, also known as Hyeon-un, the Sect Leader of Wudang.
It was a political faction formed to back him as the next Alliance Leader.
This in itself was not particularly surprising.
What they had in common was that they all belonged to Daoist sword sects. Since the current Alliance Leader was Abbot Suun of Shaolin, they had united under the claim that the next leader must come from a Daoist sect.
Yes, up to this point, it was standard politics.
After all, humans would divide into factions even if only three of them gathered.
In a massive and complex organization like the Wulin Alliance, the formation of factions was only natural. But...
Cheongheo Jinin had made that proposal.
In truth, this was a taboo of the Wulin.
Among the martial arts of the great sects, there were plenty of basic techniques open to the public, taught even to lay disciples.
Exchanging those would hardly raise an eyebrow. But Cheongheo Jinin's proposal was different.
He was talking about techniques strictly forbidden from being taught to outsiders.
The core, foundational martial arts of a sect—techniques that bound anyone who learned them to the sect for life.
He wanted to share those.
It was an act that, if discovered, would lead not just to expulsion, but to Severing Tendons and Rupturing Meridians.
Yet, that was precisely why it was valuable.
The tight bond forged by sharing a mutual crime made their alliance all the more unbreakable.
Furthermore, it allowed them to learn the high-level martial arts of other sects.
Greed had taken hold.
It was a temptation far too sweet to refuse.
Ultimately, Hyeon-myeong had accepted the offer.
He had learned the martial arts of several sects, but among them, the Light-Splitting Hand of the Qingcheng Sect suited him exceptionally well.
Since it was a technique designed to obscure the enemy's vision, it left no trace, and it synergized perfectly with Mount Hua's swordplay.
Indeed, having used it in real combat several times, the results were outstanding.
No one would ever suspect an elder of Mount Hua of using a secret technique of the Qingcheng Sect.
That blind spot yielded results far beyond expectations.
Even Han Cheong-un had only managed to counter it easily because he had prepared for Hyeon-myeong to have a hidden trump card.
Power obtained at the cost of betraying his sect's rules.
But now that it was exposed...
"S-Senior Brother..."
"..."
"I was... I was wrong. I will explain everything, cough... so please, forgive me..."
Grit.
The Mount Hua Sword Immortal ground his teeth. Then...
"Hyeon-cheon! Hyeon-gang!"
"Yes, Sect Leader."
"Yes, Sect Leader."
Two Mount Hua elders who had been waiting outside entered. These two, serving as the First and Second Elders of Mount Hua, were the closest confidants of the Mount Hua Sword Immortal.
"Hyeon-myeong has violated the rules of our sect. As of this moment, by the authority of the Sect Leader, I strip Hyeon-myeong of his position as an elder of Mount Hua."
"Sect Leader Senior Brother!"
Hyeon-myeong cried out, his eyes wide, but the Mount Hua Sword Immortal's fury was far greater.
"I will interrogate him personally. Keep in mind that depending on the outcome, expulsion may follow."
Even in a giant sect like Mount Hua, expelling an elder was an extremely rare occurrence.
This was because expelling an elder was practically synonymous with taking their life.
"Senior Brother! cough... Sect Leader Senior Brother, please listen to me! If you just hear what I have to say... cough..."
Hyeon-myeong cried out desperately even as he was dragged away, but the Mount Hua Sword Immortal turned away, his face set like stone.
No matter the reason, mercy could not be shown to a traitor of the sect.
That was his duty as the Sect Leader of Mount Hua. Watching the Sect Leader handle the situation, Han Cheong-un thought to himself:
Is there at least a glimmer of hope?
Revealing the truth about Hyeon-myeong and seeing how the Mount Hua Sword Immortal handled it—
this was a test Han Cheong-un was presenting to Mount Hua.
A test to judge whether Mount Hua was worthy of walking alongside him in the future.
Others might call it arrogant, but Han Cheong-un was entirely serious.
And the Sect Leader's handling of the matter was quite fair, even from Han Cheong-un's perspective as a third party.
He could have hidden the truth, swept it under the rug, or tried to silence me...
But he hadn't.
To the Mount Hua Sword Immortal, Hyeon-myeong's crime of violating the sect's rules was utterly intolerable.
"Whew..."
The Mount Hua Sword Immortal let out a long, heavy sigh.
Exhaling his anger along with his breath, he turned to Han Cheong-un.
"You may take all the items from the secret cave."
"Understood."
That had been the plan from the start.
"In return, I have one favor to ask."
"Speak."
"Keep quiet about Hyeon-myeong's affair. I am not asking you to keep it a secret forever. It is just..."
"I know. We shouldn't make the mistake of beating the grass and startling the snake."
"Thank you for understanding."
The Mount Hua Sword Immortal replied weakly, his face clouded with deep worry.
Just how much of the sect's martial arts had his junior brother leaked? Who were the people who had learned those leaked techniques?
Most importantly, how could he uncover, prove, and clean up this mess?
Every single question was a massive headache just to think about.
If Han Cheong-un went around blabbing about what had happened here, it would truly become impossible to salvage.
I am glad he is reasonable.
Mount Hua would be fine even without the treasures of the secret cave.
But if they failed to recover the martial arts Hyeon-myeong had leaked, Mount Hua stood to lose something far greater.
Outsiders with no connection to Mount Hua might learn their techniques, or worse, counters to Mount Hua's martial arts might be developed.
That would be truly irreversible damage.
The Mount Hua Sword Immortal was, at the very least, a man who knew what was truly important.
The moment Han Cheong-un returned, Tang Jin asked:
"How did it go?"
"Everything went perfectly."
"Perfectly? Don't tell me..."
"I said, everything went perfectly."
"...Wow, you absolute swindler."
He had actually managed to claim all the treasures in the Shadowless Divine Thief's secret cave.
Tang Jin spoke, utterly dumbfounded.
"Is this even a scam anymore? Seriously, what kind of silver tongue do you have to get the Mount Hua Sect to make such a concession?"
"Silver tongue? I simply persuaded them with elegant and refined rhetoric."
"That's exactly how most swindlers talk."
"This Vice Sect Leader of mine is really..."
"So, what did you pull? Did you dig up some dirt on the Mount Hua Sword Immortal and blackmail him? Does he have a hidden daughter or something?"
"Wow, you're really crossing the line now."
"No more than you, Sect Leader. Honestly, now that we're on the subject, how can a person pull off a scam so brazenly? Don't you ever think there's a serious flaw in your character..."
"You know, among the treasures I retrieved from the cave, there was a Taiqing Pill."
"...is what I would never think. Who would dare question the Sect Leader's character? I have always held the Sect Leader of the Extreme Dao Sect in the highest regard."
"..."
"Give me the Taiqing Pill."
This guy had gotten incredibly shameless.
Then again, anyone would lose their mind over a Taiqing Pill.
It was a legendary elixir comparable to Shaolin's Great Restoration Pill, and a secret treasure of Wudang, after all.
Actually, keeping it and risking Wudang finding out would only cause more trouble.
It was best to quickly dispose of any items from the cave that could cause political issues.
And when it came to elixirs, consuming them was the most foolproof way to make them disappear.
Since I still have the energy of the Human-Shaped Heavenly Ginseng remaining... it's only right that the Vice Sect Leader takes the Taiqing Pill.
Han Cheong-un sighed and handed over the elixir.
"Take it secretly."
"Of course."
Tang Jin grinned from ear to ear.
Lately, he had been sorely feeling the lack of inner force.
Since when had it been?
The forms he wanted to execute using his signature weapon, the Silver Flowing Flying Dagger, had been flickering in his mind.
He had a sense of how to do it.
But the problem was his lack of inner force.
He felt like he could do it in theory, but when he actually tried to execute it, it fell short of satisfaction.
He had been worrying about what to do, and right on cue, the Sect Leader had offered him the Taiqing Pill.
One of the highest-grade elixirs in existence.
The Taiqing Pill would easily make up for his lack of inner force. And besides...
I need to eat this if I want to keep up with that monster of a Sect Leader.
Tang Jin carefully tucked the Taiqing Pill into his robes. Then, looking slightly greedy, he asked:
"Do you happen to have anything stronger? Like a Hunyuan Divine Pill? Or the inner dan of a Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp?"
"Do you have no conscience?"
"None at all."
"..."
He really had become shameless.
No matter how many treasures the Shadowless Divine Thief had stolen while roaming the Jianghu, there was only one elixir in the cave more precious than the Taiqing Pill.
And that one was not meant for Tang Jin.
Han Cheong-un headed straight to see Baek Su-ah. When she faced him...
"Why are you here?"
She greeted him with an extremely cold demeanor.
Yet, there was a slight tremor in her voice, and she couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye.
Possessing the Dragon Eyes, she had a habit of looking directly into people's eyes when speaking.
That way, she could easily perceive their true nature. But...
"If you have no business here, please leave."
Right now, she couldn't meet Han Cheong-un's gaze.
Like a guilty person who had no right to face him.
Han Cheong-un chuckled softly and said:
"I came because I have something to give you, Lady Baek."
"I don't need it, so just go. I don't want to get involved with you."
"You will need this, though."
"I said I don't need it!"
Finally, Baek Su-ah snapped, raising her voice.
How... how can I face him and accept anything? After I died, he was locked in a dungeon for over a decade, living through a literal hell. How can I face him...
As she looked on the verge of tears, Han Cheong-un pulled something from his robes and held it out.
It was a small vial, smaller than the palm of a hand.
Without a word, Han Cheong-un unsealed the vial. And then...
"Ah..."
A soft gasp escaped her lips.
She could tell just by the scent.
What was contained in the vial Han Cheong-un had just opened was a legendary elixir of ages.
An elixir whose mere fragrance cleared the mind and made the dantian stir. Could it be...
"It is called Stalactite Nectar."
"..."
Baek Su-ah's eyes trembled.
It was a legendary elixir. Among the medicines that could be harvested from nature, it was considered the absolute pinnacle. And above all...
Most important of all was its specific utility. Unlike other elixirs that simply increased one's inner force, the primary effect of Stalactite Nectar was...
"It is a panacea that can cure all illnesses."
"..."
"It is what you need most right now. Isn't that right?"
"*Sob*..."
In the end, Baek Su-ah broke down, tears streaming down her face.
He had known everything all along.