Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Training the Plum Blossom Sword Guards
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The annihilation of the Overlord Sect that occurred overnight.
Its aftermath was considerable.
In a way, it was a natural progression.
The sect that had wielded unchecked power in Hamyang County had been wiped out overnight.
Yet the fall of the Overlord Sect had a greater impact on the martial world than anticipated.
First, the sects that had been cowering under its prestige began to slink out into the open.
No, not content with merely emerging, they began fighting over the interests previously held by the Overlord Sect.
Like wolves running rampant after the death of the tiger that ruled the mountains.
And that was not all.
Sects and merchant groups near Hamyang County also began eyeing the territory covetously.
Mid- and small-sized sects affiliated with the Bicheon Alliance.
Sects and black path factions under the Overlord Sect.
And even sects belonging to the Murim Alliance.
Hamyang County turned into a muddy quagmire amid the fierce struggles of those gathering in droves.
And the very person responsible for creating this hellish situation was leisurely staying at the Bipung Merchant Guild.
"Yawn."
Cheonhwi lay sprawled on the bed in the annex that Go Gaeyoung had specially prepared for him, idling away like a good-for-nothing with nothing to do.
With his body sunk into soft bedding instead of the hard floor of a prison cell, he murmured languidly with a drowsy expression.
"I'm bored."
It had already been ten days since he arrived at the Bipung Merchant Guild.
In that time, he had done nothing but eat, sleep, and perform qi circulation exercises twice a day.
Of course, at first, it had been wonderful.
He could gorge himself to his heart's content for the first time in ages and lie on a soft bed.
But even that lasted only a day or two.
As the tenth day approached, he was starting to get sick of it.
Flick—
Unable to endure the boredom any longer, he sprang up from the bed and grabbed his training robes.
"Guess I'll go for a walk."
For the first time in a while outside of mealtimes, as he strolled down the long corridor after leaving his room...
"Whoa there."
He bumped right into Go Gaeyoung and Yeon Suran, who were rushing somewhere.
Perhaps due to the sudden encounter, the two, who had been startled, offered greetings.
"It's been a while, benefactor."
"It's been a while, benefactor."
Cheonhwi looked at the two greeting him.
Go Gaeyoung had a broad smile plastered on his face, clearly delighted to see him.
In contrast, Yeon Suran was forcing a smile that looked terribly stiff and uncomfortable.
As if she were terrified.
Seemingly accustomed to their differing reactions, Cheonhwi gave a casual greeting.
"Long time no see."
At Cheonhwi's greeting, Go Gaeyoung's eyes widened, and he broke into another broad smile.
"Hahaha, but to see you out and about outside of mealtimes... has something happened, by any chance?"
Go Gaeyoung asked cautiously in a very low voice, as if afraid someone might overhear, and Cheonhwi answered flatly.
"I just came out because I was bored."
"Hahaha, then shall I assign a servant to..."
"No. Not necessary."
Cheonhwi firmly refused as he met Go Gaeyoung's gaze.
In just two days, the man had changed again.
'I was friendly, but not to this extent.'
He had started changing from the day the news of the Overlord Sect's annihilation spread.
At that time, like the stiff Yeon Suran beside him, Go Gaeyoung had been wary of him, but after some turning point, he had become warmly attentive and exceedingly hospitable.
"Young master."
Then Yeon Suran called out to Go Gaeyoung.
"We're short on time."
"Ah! Right!"
Recalling belatedly why they had been rushing, Go Gaeyoung bowed to Cheonhwi once more.
"My apologies. I have prior engagements, so I must go ahead."
"Sure, take care."
Cheonhwi replied in a listless tone, indifferent to whether they stayed or went, but Go Gaeyoung steadfastly maintained his smile as he spoke.
"If you ever need the guild's assistance or funds, please come find me."
With those final words, Go Gaeyoung departed, followed by Yeon Suran.
Bow—
After Go Gaeyoung, who kept smiling, and Yeon Suran, who only bowed with a difficult expression, disappeared, Cheonhwi rested his chin on his hand.
'Assistance or money... Hmm. Might be useful later.'
As he pondered distant futures while walking again...
Hah! Hah!
Small voices mixed with spirited shouts reached his ears.
'This voice...'
As if drawn by something, he abruptly changed direction and headed toward the source of the sound.
How far had he walked?
Soon, his view captured Jeokgeom and Seollan scolding the rest of the Plum Blossom Sword Guards while instructing them in swordsmanship.
"Get your head in the game! How do you expect to counter if you miss the opponent's sword tip?!"
"Y-yes, understood!"
"Yes!"
Jeokgeom was teaching Jeokun and Jeokjae, while beside him, Seollan watched Jeokbi swing his sword before shouting.
"Senior Brother Jeokbi! I told you to mind your footwork before swinging the sword!"
"Haha, it sounds easy when you say it, but trying to do it is surprisingly confusing..."
At Jeokbi's sheepish expression, Seollan covered her face with her hand and sighed.
"Haa... That's why I..."
Cheonhwi approached them as he watched Seollan say something to Jeokbi.
"What are you doing?"
"...!"
The five Plum Blossom Sword Guards flinched.
"Martial Uncle?"
"What brings Martial Uncle here...?"
As Seollan and Jeokgeom asked in bewilderment, Cheonhwi repeated.
"What are you doing?"
Sensing the chill in the air, the two hurriedly pressed their hands to their sides and stood ramrod straight, as if rooted to the ground. They promptly replied.
"We were teaching martial arts!"
"Teaching martial arts."
Cheonhwi narrowed his eyes as he stared at the two sweating profusely from their foreheads.
"What? Teaching martial arts?"
With a look of utter disbelief, Cheonhwi scanned Jeokgeom and Seollan before speaking.
"You two."
Pausing, he shifted his gaze to the remaining Plum Blossom Sword Guards and continued.
"To them?"
"That's right, but..."
"Our senior brothers asked us to teach them, so..."
Deflated by Cheonhwi's incredulous reaction, their voices grew smaller, their expressions downcast.
Cheonhwi clicked his tongue.
"What an end of days. You lot teaching others..."
At that moment, Jeokgeom and Seollan's faces darkened as if daggers had pierced their hearts.
"Their help as junior sister and senior brother has been immense."
"More than sufficient."
"If anything, I'm too dim to properly receive her guidance."
The other three Plum Blossom Sword Guards hurriedly spoke up, noticing the visible change in their expressions.
"Everyone..."
"Senior brothers..."
As the three defended them, Jeokgeom and Seollan's faces brightened, the heavy atmosphere around them lifting.
A heartwarming mood.
But only for them.
'What the hell are these idiots doing?'
Cheonhwi felt no such sentiment.
Instead, as he looked at them pitifully, an amusing idea suddenly struck him.
'Perfect timing, since I'm bored.'
He put the thought into action immediately.
"Then how about I teach martial arts instead of you two?"
"...!"
"Gasp!"
Jeokgeom and Seollan froze in place.
"Really?"
"Please do!"
"Martial Uncle will teach us?"
In contrast, the other three standing beside them sparkled with excitement.
"What? You don't want to?"
The three shook their heads vigorously.
"No!"
"Of course not."
"We would be grateful."
The three Plum Blossom Sword Guards spoke energetically, their faces filled with感動.
Once they had dismissed Cheonhwi as just a young martial uncle, but now it was different.
The divine might he displayed saving the Bipung Merchant Guild.
And the annihilation of the Overlord Sect.
To them, Cheonhwi being their martial uncle was a given, and moreover, he was someone they revered.
For such a person to personally instruct them.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Thrilled to the point of jumping, the three bowed their heads toward Cheonhwi simultaneously and shouted.
"Please take care of us!"
Cheonhwi let their greeting flow in one ear and out the other as he drew the sword from his waist, scabbard and all.
"Good. Then you first."
He pointed the scabbard at Jeokun and called.
"Number One, come here."
"Yes!"
"I'll be your opponent, so unleash your full power."
Jeokun looked troubled.
"Weren't you going to teach us martial arts?"
"I need to know what martial arts you know first."
"Ah, understood."
Cheonhwi glared at Jeokun, who was emitting internal energy half-heartedly, and added.
"Not half-assed. Full power, I said."
"Full power? Are you sure that's okay?"
Reading the thought behind Jeokun's words, Cheonhwi smirked.
"What? Afraid I'll get hurt by your martial arts?"
"Th-that's..."
As Jeokun faltered, having been pierced to the core, Cheonhwi cut him off sharply.
"Even if you died and came back to life, that won't happen, so cut the nonsense and circulate your internal energy at full strength."
"Ah, understood."
Jeokun raised his sword with a tense expression and immediately circulated his internal energy.
Emitting a momentum utterly different from before, he executed his most confident techniques: the Nine Palaces Step and Heavenly Flow Sword Art.
Whoosh— Whoosh—
The Nine Palaces Step, properly treading the positions and dominating space, was flawless.
The subsequent Heavenly Flow Sword Art.
Its form, power, internal energy control—all executed perfectly, utterly different from when fighting the Overlord Sect disciples.
"What? You can actually perform martial arts properly?"
As Jeokun closed in right before his nose, Cheonhwi took half a step forward and planted his leading foot.
Thud!
By then, the swung scabbard struck Jeokun's exposed left side.
Crack!
"Kwaaaack!"
With the sound of something breaking, Jeokun's waist bent as he screamed.
Slide—
Jeokun, who had dropped his sword from the pain, clutched his side and knelt on one knee.
"B-bones... my bones..."
Looking down at Jeokun groaning while clutching his side, Cheonhwi moved his lips.
"But in real combat, you can't perform like this, so you struggled against those trash?"
Jeokun's back heaved.
"Pathetic bunch."
With those final words, he withdrew his gaze and turned to Jeokjae and Jeokbi, still frozen in shock.
"You two come at me together."
Jeokjae and Jeokbi flinched.
But soon, they took deep breaths to steady themselves and charged at Cheonhwi.
A half-beat later.
"......"
The three Plum Blossom Sword Guards lay collapsed on the ground after being felled in a single strike each.
Cheonhwi, standing before them, spoke.
"Next."
Receiving no reply, Cheonhwi furrowed his brow and looked up. Glaring at Jeokgeom and Seollan, he said.
"What are you waiting for?"
Feeling his gaze, the two paled in fright and pointed at themselves with trembling lips.
"...Us?"
"Us too?"
Cheonhwi's eyes grew even colder.
"You two aren't doing it?"
The two shook their heads frantically.
"N-no."
"No!"
Watching their vigorous head shakes, Cheonhwi slung the scabbard over his shoulder and spoke.
"At least you two have better skill than those three. You kept your cool in real combat."
At the first praise they had ever heard from Cheonhwi, Jeokgeom and Seollan's faces lit up.
But it shattered with his next words.
"But for five years of training under me, isn't this performance too pitiful?"
Though he didn't show it, Cheonhwi was slightly irritated.
How many times had he taught them martial arts while they attended him?
Yet to be pushed back by that rabble.
Jeokgeom and Seollan broke out in cold sweat.
"Th-that's..."
"It's our first real battle, so..."
"Bullshit. In a life-or-death fight, do you think excuses like that fly? Your head would be rolling first."
Pierced to the core, the two felt their breath catch and swallowed their words.
Cheonhwi then drove the wedge home.
"I've been too lenient lately, haven't I? Gotten sloppy."
Jeokgeom and Seollan's faces turned ashen.
Recalling Cheonhwi's teachings they had momentarily forgotten, their minds went blank.
"N-no!"
"That's not..."
"No, you must have. Otherwise, with what I taught you, there's no way you'd struggle against that trash..."
As he spoke, Cheonhwi's aura shifted dramatically.
Facing an overwhelming presence utterly different from when instructing the three, the two instantly paled.
"So next time, I'll teach you properly."
Emphasizing "properly," a vicious internal energy erupted from Cheonhwi's entire body.
"Block well."
Realizing words wouldn't work, Jeokgeom and Seollan desperately circulated their energy and raised their swords.
But despite their resistance, only the sounds of beatings and screams filled the air.
Thwack! Thwack!
"Kwaaack!"
"Tch, you can't even dodge this?"
"Please go easy..."
"What? Go easy? Why don't you ask the enemy to go easy next time?"
"B-but it's too fast!"
"Too fast? You're just too slow."
Cheonhwi retorted and vented his frustration by swinging the scabbard ceaselessly at them.
And Cheonhwi's scabbard didn't spare the others either.
"Guhk!"
"M-Martial Uncle! We..."
"If you're awake, get up."
Cheonhwi struck the acupuncture points of the Plum Blossom Sword Guards pretending to be unconscious.
"Kwaaack!"
"S-spare..."
"Don't worry. You won't die."
Half an hour after Cheonhwi's "training" disguised as beatings began...
"Grrr—"
"Please... stop..."
"Martial... Uncle."
"......"
"Please..."
Cheonhwi sheathed his scabbard as he looked at the five trembling on the ground.
"Groaning over this much. I should tell the Sect Leader to recruit new Plum Blossom Sword Guards."
Uttering words that would make them leap up if they heard, he dusted off his hands and prodded the corpse-like group with his scabbard.
"Anyone not up by the count of three gets more... Know that."
Sensing mortal danger instinctively, the five convulsed and sprang up.
"W-we're up!"
Cheonhwi twisted his lips as he watched them.
"Getting up right away means this much is fine. Then we'll go harder."
Regaining their senses too late, the Plum Blossom Sword Guards looked at Cheonhwi, their faces turning blue.
But heedless of their terrified expressions, Cheonhwi continued.
"Then more beat... no, more training. Right?"
"N-no."
"That's enough..."
"No, still lacking."
As Cheonhwi, looking somewhat relieved, raised the scabbard again, the Plum Blossom Sword Guards waved their hands in protest...
But the scabbard swung first.
Thwack! Thwack!
"Kwaaack!"
Cheonhwi's "training" beatings resumed, filling the Bipung Merchant Guild with the sounds of impacts and screams.
Swipe—
And from afar, eyes secretly watching their spectacle glinted.