Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Chang'an Ink Sword Grove, New Year's First Day (1)
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"Great Hero!"
Yeonhwa rushed over and threw herself into my arms. I gently patted her back.
"Welcome back, Great Hero."
"You've returned safely, Great Hero."
Seolha greeted me with a warm smile lighting up her face.
Sohye didn't show it openly, but if she had a tail, it would be wagging like a windmill.
The common thread among the three women was the affection brimming in their eyes as they looked at me.
And the one most flustered by the sight was, predictably, Yang Cheonhak.
"M-Master? These ladies are…?"
"Come on, let me introduce you. This is Yang Cheonhak, the disciple I just took in. And these are Seolha, Yeonhwa, and Sohye. Hmm… this is a bit tricky with the titles. Normally, they'd all be called 'Master's Wife,' but that feels a little off, doesn't it?"
"Gasp…."
Yang Cheonhak's eyes went wide at the mention of "Master's Wife."
Seolha, Yeonhwa, and Sohye all wore slightly awkward expressions.
"For now, let's do proper introductions inside. Over a cup of tea."
"Yes, Great Hero. Please come in."
With that, we headed inside and sat around a round table.
Seolha prepared the tea and brought it out. Yang Cheonhak stared at her in a daze.
But it wasn't just Seolha he was looking at.
He glanced at Yeonhwa and Sohye too, then blinked and averted his gaze to the teacup in front of him.
The kid's eyes were spinning, as expected. I don't keep just anyone by my side.
"Alright, let's do this. To you, all three are both Master's Wives and Hall Leaders. Since these girls are learning from me too. So just call them 'Hall Leader.' They're my Inner Hall Leader, Outer Hall Leader, and Medicine Hall Leader, respectively. Sound good? 'Madam' or 'Master's Wife' makes them seem older."
"We'll go with whatever you decide, Great Hero."
Seolha was consistent as always. Blindly so.
I wondered what it would take for her to ever refuse me.
"Madam… hmm, that might be okay. But Hall Leader sounds good too."
Yeonhwa muttered to herself. Her saying "Madam" was a bit shocking.
"I think Hall Leader is the best."
The pragmatic Sohye figured Hall Leader was the way to go.
Of course it was. Even I thought so.
It kept a proper distance. That would be better for Yang Cheonhak.
But honestly, the titles around here were a mess.
They were still calling me Great Hero.
Changing it now would feel awkward for everyone.
If we did change it… something like hubby? No, that wouldn't do.
It was embarrassing. Too intimate.
Besides, my surname is Kang. Kang Hubby? Nah. Great Hero was better.
"By the way, Great Hero, you said he's your disciple?"
Yeonhwa asked curiously, and everyone wore similar expressions.
"Yeah. Surprising, right?"
"I'm sure you have your reasons."
"Yes, it's a bit unexpected. I thought if it was you, Great Hero, your disciple would be a woman."
"It's… a little puzzling."
The three had wildly different reactions.
Blindly accepting Seolha, straightforward Yeonhwa, and cautious Sohye voicing her opinion carefully.
Yeonhwa was really coming into her own personality. And thinking my disciple would be a woman? She knew me too well.
"Cheonhak. What did I say was the reason I took you as a disciple?"
"You compared it to river water and seawater, Master, saying you wanted to see how far I could fathom."
"Right. This kid has a Heavenly Martial Body. You all know what that means, at least roughly."
At that, curiosity finally sparked in their eyes.
A Heavenly Martial Body was exactly that.
A body optimized for martial arts. No different from one that had already undergone Bone Transformation and Marrow Shedding.
"So you'll probably witness something rare. How quickly a third-rate kid like him can improve."
Everyone looked somewhat satisfied with my explanation.
And Yang Cheonhak's lips were curling up just from hearing my words.
Hah. Smile while you can, kid. Soon, you might regret taking me as your master.
And so, Yang Cheonhak entered Ink Sword Grove.
Hmm… thinking about it, that sounds a bit weird too. "Entered the Grove"? Not "entered the mountain."
Maybe I should have just gone with something plain like Ink Sword Sect from the start?
But regrets were meaningless. The sword was already drawn.
Nothing in the world was perfect. Everyone knew that.
Anyway, I set aside those worries. More important matters were at hand.
The bathhouse. Water between warm and hot. Scattered flower petals. And three women more beautiful than those petals.
Seolha on my left. Yeonhwa on my right. Sohye leaning against me from the front.
The brothel was nice, but this was the best.
A relationship filled with genuine affection.
Women I could relax with completely, no pretenses needed.
Plus, after being away for a fortnight, all three seemed subtly expectant.
The flush on their cheeks confirmed it. That wasn't just from the warm water.
"I think that's enough bathing now, right?"
The three women just smiled without a word.
They all reacted the same in moments like this.
Of course. Personality aside, they were all women.
We left the bath, dried off, and headed to the bedchamber.
About two hours later, the three women passed out asleep beside me.
I, too, enjoyed a deep, satisfying slumber for the first time in ages.
Dawn.
Despite sleeping deeply, my eyes opened surprisingly early.
This was the downside of a perfect body. Fatigue recovery was too quick.
No, hardly any fatigue built up at all. So I didn't need much sleep.
Sleep was the brain shutting down briefly to reorganize after processing information.
And my brain, with its Upper Dantian opened, was different from others'.
Upper Dantian. Ren and Du Meridians fully unblocked.
Impossible to explain to someone who hadn't experienced it.
Like teaching a fish to breathe air.
I saw this world differently, from another existence.
Not just seeing, though. All five senses were abnormally heightened.
If not for the developed Upper Dantian, I might have just thought, "My body's getting old," and moved on.
Like old folks who slept little. I'd have felt the same sorrow, realizing I'd lived nearly a century.
Anyway, actual age 95… no, today was Lunar New Year? Then 96.
Lying still at 96 actual years—but calling myself 29—I felt the three women asleep beside me.
Seolha still hogging my left side.
Yeonhwa wedged in on my right. Behind her, Sohye hugging Yeonhwa from the back, using my wrist as a pillow.
The balance among the three was a bit off.
Still, no complaints. Far from it.
I closed my eyes again and let my mind wander.
Among those idle thoughts, the one that puzzled me most was about these girls.
Why weren't they getting pregnant?
It was too serious to call idle musing.
I met Seolha late spring this year. No, late spring last year. A year had passed.
In that time, I'd embraced her countless times.
Not just her. Yeonhwa and Sohye too.
And none of them used contraception. This era had no perfect birth control anyway.
Sohye might have access to something, but I knew none of them used it.
Which meant the problem was me.
A profound topic that sparked endless thoughts.
A side effect of Rejuvenation to Youth or Bone Transformation? Of all things, fertility?
More believable: maybe because I wasn't from this world.
How did I come to this world?
When I awoke in Black Wall Cavern, it was my original body.
A wretched one, never exercised.
Not premium, but hard to flaunt.
Did I bring my actual body here?
Or just my consciousness, into a body identical to my original—but stripped of fertility?
No certainties there either.
The one certainty: I couldn't impregnate any woman.
Lost in those thoughts, I sensed a presence moving in the distance.
Far off, but detectable.
I knew who it was immediately. Yang Cheonhak.
But where was he headed? Not this way.
A quick think, and I figured it out.
The training ground. Even as a guest at Mount Tai Sect, he swung his sword from dawn.
If I hadn't seen that, I might suspect he was just showing off now.
But no. He was diligent and earnest.
His hardware was excellent. Just the software inside was a mess.
That's why I took him as a disciple.
Carefully, I slipped my arms out from under Seolha, Yeonhwa, and Sohye, then got out of bed.
Utter stealth. Nimble enough they wouldn't notice.
I dressed quietly and stepped outside.
Then completely masked my presence and headed to the training ground.
The closer I got, the clearer his ragged breathing became.
Finally, he entered my sight. Oblivious to me, Yang Cheonhak kept swinging his sword.
Precise cuts. Basic forms clean enough for anywhere.
Another reason I took him as disciple.
Twenty-five years old. Long-honed basics.
Age was a flaw, but it meant solid foundations.
Fortunately, the martial art he learned was third-rate garbage.
A notch above Three Disasters Swordsmanship?
"Better" was relative. Both were trash.
Still, that was a blessing.
If it'd been decently okay, he might have picked up bad habits.
No such issues, so he could improve.
Anyway, it was Lunar New Year, not even a full day here, so I hadn't planned to start immediately.
But with him like this, today it was.
This was him wagging his tail first, practically.
This must be how a university professor feels eyeing a prospective grad student.
I could totally understand that vibe now.