Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Master's True Identity
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Following my master, I headed to the inner quarters.
The place carried a faint scent of aged wood. On the wall hung a folding screen painted with a White Tiger Butterfly painting, worn from years of handling.
On one side stood a neatly arranged table and chairs, along with a simple bed, all quietly placed.
'Master lives a minimalist life too?'
A life where I minimized possessions, simplified everything, and focused on my goals.
Maybe that's why.
This somewhat sparse house felt more welcoming than unfamiliar.
I'd always believed that avoiding distractions from trivial things saved wasted time.
Realizing we shared the same taste brought an inexplicable sense of closeness.
"Disciple, now that we're in the same boat, I'll tell you about myself."
Master slowly paced the room, finally opening his tightly shut mouth.
"Yes, Master. I'll listen carefully."
I nodded, focusing entirely on his words.
I'd heard vague rumors about Master through Somi.
But after witnessing him dispatch that bandit group in an instant, I'd lost faith in those rumors.
There was definitely something more.
As Master lightly raised his right hand, the silent, handsome man entered the room once again.
Master introduced him plainly, without any flourish.
"Disciple, this is Hui."
Master called the man simply Hui, without a surname.
Hui's long hair, tied high in a single ponytail, swayed as he stood before me.
He performed a cupped-fist salute and greeted me politely.
"Young hero, I'm Hui."
"Senior hero, pleased to meet you. I'm Woonsik Oh."
I returned the salute with my own cupped fists.
However...
'Am I imagining it? He seems to be glaring. Does he dislike me?'
Something like anger or dissatisfaction seemed to flicker in Hui's eyes as he looked at me.
'I shouldn't prejudge. It could just be his resting face.'
Gazing at Hui's wide, whites-showing eyes, I steadied my mind.
I pulled my lips up tight, baring my upper teeth in a smile.
"Heh-"
My attempt at showing friendliness.
But Hui merely furrowed his brows, deep wrinkles forming between them, ignoring my gesture.
He glanced at Master, then spoke calmly.
"I'll explain about the Successor. The Successor is the eighth inheritor of the White Tiger Butterfly Sect, a mysterious sect passed down through single-lineage transmission."
"Single-lineage transmission...?"
"Only a rare few in the martial world know of the Successor. Now, young hero, you are one of them."
"...I see."
"The Successor's name is Jang Mucheon. But in the jianghu, he's called the 'Martial God' or 'Jianghu's Greatest,' a figure spoken of like a legend."
The master, known in the village and market as Elder Jang, his true name was Jang Mucheon.
Yet few knew that name; people only guessed at his existence through his titles.
The White Tiger Butterfly Sect, a mysterious faction.
Its location unknown, it was a legendary sect with a minimal organization.
Every member was shrouded in secrecy.
The martial arts passed down generation after generation were transmitted to only one person at a time, like a manual, continuing the lineage.
"...?"
Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine, my nape turning ice-cold. Because...
"Has there... been no disciple until now?"
I couldn't pinpoint Master's age, but by appearance, he was past middle age, nearing elderly.
Did that mean no disciple in all those years?
'Why?' The question swirled in my mind.
Master, listening quietly from the side, laughed heartily.
"Haha, disciple. Didn't Hui say it? Single-lineage transmission. The ninth inheritor must be worthy, no?"
Then, with a meaningful touch, he lightly brushed my back.
His hand was gentle, but the weight within was not light.
The White Tiger Butterfly Sect was a legendary 'sect' known only to a tiny few.
Revealing its secrets meant not only the leaker but anyone who learned them faced death.
In other words...
'Ah, if the chosen disciple isn't suitable... they might die.'
My mind went blank.
In an instant, color drained from my face, my body freezing like ice.
Master patted my back again, continuing calmly.
"Disciple, my martial prowess is exceptional, but my teaching skills are equally unmatched. Worry not."
"Y-yes, y-yes, M-Master..."
I'd originally planned to learn just enough martial arts to protect myself.
Now, my thinking had changed.
'No choice now. I have to learn with everything I've got. Even if I'm a slow learner, Master won't abandon me easily. Probably...?'
Master believed I had done him a favor.
Maybe he'd be a bit more merciful than with past disciples. I clung to that hopeful thought.
Suddenly, my heart tightened.
I quickly straightened my posture, bowed deeply to Master with a serious expression.
With burning resolve, I declared clearly.
"I'm sorely lacking, but I'll give my all, Master."
Though the circumstances differed, my previous life had been one of tenacious survival, like a cockroach.
Huaxiyuan, one of Korea's five great Chinese cuisine sects.
In that hellish place, I'd endured all sorts of bullying, abuse, and insane kitchen demands.
The path was different, but my grit was unmatched.
I could do it. No, I had to.
Confused thoughts swirled briefly, but as always, I accepted the situation and resolved to move forward.
'No turning back... I'll be a martial arts chef.'
Master looked down quietly at me prostrated on the floor. Then, in a low, firm voice of satisfaction,
"Good, disciple. Your resolute will is pleasing."
When I lifted my head while still prone, Hui was already gone.
Before me sat Master in a cross-legged position.
He asked me,
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-three this year."
"I see. From now, I plan to perform marrow cleansing on you."
"Pardon? Marrow cleansing...?"
Marrow cleansing.
It was a supreme technique where an expert infuses qi into the body, expelling deep-rooted impurities and purifying the meridians.
In simple terms, shedding the old and being reborn.
The technique worked best on the young.
Younger bodies were less tainted, easing the expert's burden and yielding superior results.
Thus, prestigious clans often had the patriarch or former patriarch perform it on young heirs.
But I was twenty-three, well past the ideal age.
This meant both I and Master would endure significant strain.
Now I understood why he'd told me to come on an empty stomach.
"Thank you, Master."
With my words, we began the marrow cleansing ritual.
Outside was still bright daylight.
But the room was shrouded in black cloth, blocking all light.
The interior felt like midnight, dark and still.
I relied on the faint flicker of a few oil lamps.
"I will now commence the marrow cleansing."
Master's voice announcing the start echoed through the space.
I knelt with my upper body half-bared, back straight.
Hands on knees, palms up to the sky. Eyes gently closed.
Master positioned himself behind me, kneeling upright.
"Disciple, you must not lose consciousness until it's over."
He repeated the warning several times.
With no martial foundation, he said he'd handle everything else.
But one thing: no fainting midway, no matter what.
"Yes, Master."
I replied with resolve in my eyes.
Soon, his palms rested on my back, injecting qi through contact.
A supreme expert, Master.
He sent qi generated in his dantian outward in steady waves with his breath.
Before long, my body trembled as if facing a massive beast in pitch-black mountains.
First my arms, then all limbs shook violently.
"Ugh, uh, urgh."
The sudden pain hit like a typhoon. Soon, it pierced my organs and meridians like a massive spear countless times.
Had I ever hurt this much since birth?
Disciple or top chef—nothing mattered in this moment.
I'd gladly die if it meant escaping this agony...
My organs and every vessel screamed.
My mind might flee before my breath did.
"Focus, disciple."
I didn't turn, but I could sense it.
Master, in his prime yet aiding a martial novice like me, was fully piercing my blocked meridians with inner qi arts.
I clenched my teeth until my lower lip tore, blood pooling.
'Endure it. Absolutely... don't lose your mind.'
Breath ragged, as if death loomed.
My mind flashed a short life review, craving relief.
That grueling time peaked.
My tightly shut mouth parted slightly. With ragged breaths, muddy brown impurities rose like steam.
Waste accumulated in my body began to purge.
Confirming it, Master acupointed my dantian and Gate of Life with his fingertips.
Stimulating acupoints to open meridians, guiding qi to expel impurities.
Simultaneously paving paths for qi circulation.
"Hngh..."
A groan escaped involuntarily.
And at that instant.
From sweat pores and every orifice, dark blue chill and black liquid poured like waterfalls.
The stench was vile, like being dunked in a sewer.
Yet my body felt incredibly light, like a newborn foal.
Utterly limp, but filled with pure, clear qi.
"It ended faster than expected, disciple. Well done."
My body was now primed for martial cultivation.
Splat-
Hearing Master's warm voice, I collapsed face-first.
In that moment, as the slanted ceiling entered my view.
Ping, ping.
It was my first golden status window.
Around it, a Vermilion Bird with golden feathers flew gracefully, flapping massive wings.
'What is this?'
Even as consciousness faded, I thought.
'Yeah, it was weird. Awakened as a Hunter, yet also Jianghu Chef.'
Through marrow cleansing, I'd gained a body optimized for martial cultivation.
As a result, my hidden Hunter potential unlocked alongside it.
The next day.
"How long was I out?"
I gazed at the ceiling from an unfamiliar bed, wondering.
This seemed to be one of Master's pavilions.
As I slowly sat up, the blanket slid off.
Through the gap, bare skin with not a thread showed.
"Awake?"
Startled by the unfamiliar voice, I hurriedly wrapped the blanket around me.
Turning my head, a man came into view.
He held a large basin filled with pitch-black stained cloths piled like a mountain.
"Thought your nose was rotting off."
The frowning, grumbling man was none other than Hui.
"Taking a twenty-three-year-old who hasn't even learned basic martial arts as a disciple... What is the Successor thinking?"
He muttered loudly enough to be heard.
Now I was certain.
The anger and dissatisfaction in Hui's eyes earlier weren't my imagination.
'He disapproves of me.'
It was an understandable reaction.
But I wasn't one to be swayed by it.
For the record, one of my strengths is not being greatly affected by others' dislike.
'Hmm, looks like Senior wiped away the waste from the marrow cleansing himself.'
Whatever the reason.
He'd gone to some trouble for me after I passed out.
I rose from the bed.
Blanket around my lower half, I smiled slightly at Hui.
"Senior, thank you..."
Oof.
But he didn't wait for me to finish, turning briskly and leaving through the door.
Seemed I'd thoroughly gotten under his skin.
Whatever. I looked at the neatly folded new clothes beside the bed.
Master had prepared martial robes for me.
Dried crisp in the sun, they looked neat.
Smiling faintly, I began changing.
And then.
"Disciple, are you awake?"
Master entered the pavilion.