Chapter 55
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Jeong-seon's Secret
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The five members set to face Heavenly Martial Academy in the Heavenly Selection Tournament had been decided, and a week slipped by.
Pungwoon, me, Seol-yeong, Jeong-seon, and Namgung-hyeok—the Number Two spear wielder who'd lost to me.
That made our lineup of five.
In the end, none of the seniors earned a spot.
Ironically, the one who'd grown the most over that week was Pungwoon, who was already plenty strong to begin with.
"So... you went after a two-headed snake, fell off a cliff, found some mysterious cave, and it turned out to be the Sword King's tomb?"
"Yeah, haha. Talk about a stroke of fortune."
Yeah, a real stroke of fortune.
The inner core of a spirit beast called the Twin-Headed Serpent, the Sword King's martial arts manual, and even a thousand-year-old spiritual herb from the tomb.
I had no choice but to admit that this wuxia novel's protagonist was Pungwoon.
I mean, what wuxia story hands out two fortunes like that at once?
I'd felt like the gap between us had narrowed, but now it had widened again.
"Too bad I couldn't find anything to cure Seol-yeong's illness, though."
Asking for more on top of that? Classic protagonist move.
Put simply, he had no conscience.
(For the record, Seol-yeong had personally told the five of us competing in the sparring tournament, plus Instructor Cheolwoong, about her condition.)
(It was the only way to make them understand why she couldn't use her ice techniques.)
(An unavoidable choice.)
Even so, Pungwoon's fortune had exceeded my expectations.
I needed to master this Solar Heart Technique as fast as possible, just in case.
Now that he knew about Seol-yeong's illness, who knew what other fortune he'd stumble into that might lead him to a cure.
After finishing my usual training session with Pungwoon and returning to the dorm, I let out a sigh.
I hadn't expected the Solar Heart Technique's level to rise so slowly, even with Jeong-seon helping out.
Of course, I knew better than anyone.
My growth up to now had been abnormally fast, and this pace was normal.
Still, I couldn't help feeling greedy.
"They say excess brings deficiency. No need to rush—you could achieve great success in that technique within a year, easy."
Jeong-seon said that to me after hearing my worries.
A year.
Any other martial artist would gape in shock.
Great success in an extreme yang internal art in just one year?
But that wasn't what mattered to me.
[Remaining Time Limit: 2 Months 3 Weeks]
I had no idea what this countdown meant.
Was it how long until Pungwoon cured Seol-yeong?
Or the time until her condition hit rock bottom?
If it was the former, fine—but if the latter, I had to raise my technique's realm even a little faster.
"...You learned that Solar Heart Technique for Seol-yeong's sake?"
I nodded at Jeong-seon's sharp question.
Her lips puffed out in a pout.
"Everyone's head over heels for Seol-yeong... Is it the pale skin and big breasts?"
There was more to it than that, but those two things definitely played a huge part.
"Sigh..."
I gave a wry smile at her words.
No red-blooded man could fail to fall for Seol-yeong.
With my fetish leaning that way, it made sense she couldn't understand.
Then came a knock at the door.
But at this hour, after all duties were done, no one should be visiting us.
"...Instructor Cheolwoong?"
I called out the most likely name, but silence.
Instead, a neatly folded note slid quickly under the door, followed by hurried footsteps fading away.
Slipping a note under the door and bolting on this moonlit night?
Had to be either a love letter or a threat.
Jeong-seon calmly picked it up and started reading.
"Aha..."
She nodded with a strange smile.
"Found it. A way to raise your Solar Heart Technique faster."
"What? How?"
I asked in surprise.
It seemed like she'd gotten the method from that note.
Who delivered it, and how did they know the method?
Questions everywhere.
Jeong-seon smiled awkwardly, then asked me,
"...Fine, I'll tell you. But everything from here on is our little secret, okay?"
"..."
I nodded solemnly, lips sealed.
Satisfied, Jeong-seon began.
"Truth is, I grew up in the back alleys."
Back alleys?
A thief... or from the Beggars' Sect?
Lacking basic knowledge of this world, I puzzled over her words.
"Ever heard of a pleasure house?"
Pleasure house.
A place where courtesans danced, poured drinks, and entertained guests.
...Depending on the house, they did stickier things too.
"My mother was a courtesan there."
Heavy stuff.
Not expecting this, I stayed quiet and just listened calmly.
"Then she met a famous master and had me."
So that vast internal energy was inherited from him.
I thought maybe she'd escaped the pleasure house upon meeting the master.
But a Daoist from a renowned sect couldn't be seen frequenting brothels and fathering kids.
In the end, her mother had kept and raised her there.
The father provided support, but she never saw his face.
Her only bond with him was the internal art manual he gave her to practice.
"..."
I looked a bit troubled.
No clue how to respond to something like this.
Jeong-seon seemed unfazed as she spoke, making it even harder.
The father's support wasn't just manuals and money.
For some reason, the head courtesan stepped down, letting her mother take over as madam.
And becoming madam brought a new job.
"...A new job?"
Why need another job as madam?
I wondered.
Then Jeong-seon dropped a surprise.
"Yeah, ever heard of the Hao Gate?"
"..."
I had.
In many wuxia tales, an info network rivaling the Beggars' Sect.
Like them, it used its positions to gather and sell information.
The difference? Beggars' Sect had hordes of beggars; Hao Gate drew from the lowest jobs: coachmen, boatmen, errand boys, porters... and courtesans.
Unlike the Beggars' Sect, which boasted some top masters despite being a sect branch, Hao Gate's power lay purely in info, not martial might.
That explained why Jeong-seon's skills lagged behind her internal energy.
If she'd learned from her father young—or even just gotten a manual—she might be at Heavenly Martial Academy now.
"So that note..."
"Yeah, from the Hao Gate."
"...How'd they deliver it here?"
"Hao Gate's everywhere."
"..."
It didn't sound like a lie at all.
"...Anyway, what's the method?"
Now that I knew the source, time for details.
"What's your ideal type?"
"...Out of nowhere?"
Felt off-timing, but since it tied to Solar Heart training, I answered.
"Ideal type?"
"A woman."
I told Jeong-seon, who pressed for my ideal woman.
Not satisfied, she dug deeper.
"Any woman? Be specific and honest."
"...Ideally, one who likes someone else more than me."
"Hm... Tricky."
No lie.
I had this weird fetish for conquering women who loved another.
Why was Jeong-seon asking this?
"Still, not impossible."
Swish.
The sound of skin and fabric rubbing.
Like undressing.
"What are you—!"
I whipped my head away in horror.
No interest in watching a guy strip.
Was this the price for the info—aiming for my back?
Cold sweat down my spine.
"Some master visited a pleasure house once. He had extreme yang energy."
She was talking, but I couldn't focus.
Amid her words, clothes rustled off, then thuds as they hit the floor.
Subdue her by force?
"He said he came to the brothel for training."
"...For training?"
What did a brothel have to do with cultivation?
Excuse to fool around with women?
Or maybe...
Brothels overflowed with yin energy?
No—could see it as brimming with both yin and yang.
That made sense.
Perfect spot for extreme yang arts.
...No clue how that linked to suddenly stripping.
"He said sexual arousal helps a ton with cultivation."
"...Sexual arousal?"
"Yeah, makes your own yang surge, drawing in more yin."
"...I see."
...Was she stripping to arouse me?
The thought terrified me more.
But Jeong-seon approached the turned-away me slowly.
Her footsteps rang in my ears.
Fine, fight.
As I steeled for that, Jeong-seon spoke.
"Look, your ideal type."
"...Huh?"
"A woman, and she still likes Instructor Cheolwoong a bit more than you. Perfect match, right?"
I turned.
Jeong-seon gazed down at sitting me, breasts bound in bandages.
Undressed, her vibe was totally different.
Slender build, nipped waist—pure feminine curves.
Right now, Jeong-seon looked just like a 'woman'.
A storm of emotions flashed through my mind.
In the end, I did one thing.
"...Phew..."
"...What? Why the sigh?"
She might take it wrong, but it was pure relief—I'd live.