Chapter 6
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: The Undefeated Cheon Muryang
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Fortunately, the sparring partners who showed up from the next day on didn't admit defeat before even crossing swords.
“You’re here?”
“Yes, Young Lord.”
Like Cha Myeonghak, they were people who held grudges against Cheon Muryang from the past.
Most of them thought of Cheon Muryang as arrogant, insolent, and someone who acted out, relying solely on his status.
“Shall we begin then?”
“Yes. Please be careful.”
He even gave a kind warning.
Thinking that would be his last act of kindness, he swung his sword at Cheon Muryang.
*Whooosh!*
It was a clean strike, without any unnecessary movements.
He’d either retreat, dodge, or perhaps roll on the ground in fear.
He could picture it clearly.
“Careful?”
But Cheon Muryang didn't retreat.
He showed no sign of dodging, nor did he seem afraid.
‘When did he move?’
He didn't know.
He saw a sword soaring into the sky.
That sword came crashing down.
Just like a lightning bolt.
“Huk!”
He couldn't help but be startled.
He had moved first, but it felt as if Cheon Muryang's sword would reach him first.
*Swoosh!*
So, he made the worst possible move.
He retracted his advancing sword to block Cheon Muryang's.
*Kaaang!*
Sword met sword.
But the result was disastrous.
The sword that blocked the Heavenly Light, which had already gained momentum, shattered on the spot.
*Thwack!*
The Heavenly Light, which was falling towards the crown of his head, veered slightly to the side and stopped between his shoulder and neck.
*Woooong!*
But its sharp edge broke the skin.
Blood trickled from the small wound.
“H-how?”
It seemed he couldn't believe the outcome.
As he trembled, denying reality, his eyes fell upon his own horribly shattered sword.
“You should have been careful. Tsk.”
Cheon Muryang withdrew his sword.
The duel was over.
Then, Woryeong hurried over to tend to the wound.
“What on earth was that sword technique…?”
“A downward strike. You saw it and still don't know?”
“…!”
“Anyway, good work. Let's have another match if we get the chance.”
*Pat.*
Cheon Muryang patted his shoulder a few times and headed to a corner of the training ground.
*Swoosh!*
It was to swing his sword once more.
He was speechless at this absurd situation.
“…”
“Are you alright? I've given you some basic first aid for now.”
“Th-thank you.”
“Don't mention it.”
Woryeong felt a sense of satisfaction, using the medicine and bandages she had prepared in case Cheon Muryang got hurt.
“Does he always train like this?”
“Yes. Every single day, without fail.”
“…”
He clenched his fists tightly.
Just a month ago, on a rainy day.
Back when Cheon Muryang was still only running laps around the training ground.
He had been one of those who had joined the bet on whether the runt Great Young Lord would show up to run at the training ground.
‘Was I… the foolish one?’
He left the training ground without a word.
Suddenly, he thought of Neung Ryeoun.
‘So there was a reason he suddenly dedicated himself to training.’
From a certain point, Neung Ryeoun had stopped socializing with anyone and focused solely on his training.
He had thought it was simply because he'd lost to the runt Great Young Lord.
‘That wasn't it.’
It was the same for Cha Myeonghak.
The two of them weren't close, but they shared something.
‘I think… I know what that is now.’
The Cheon Family was a martial family.
Thus, there were many training grounds within the family estate.
Among them, there were bound to be some so remote that no one used them.
Neung Ryeoun and Cha Myeonghak.
At some point, the two had started gathering at an unused training ground to practice.
‘I wonder if they're there.’
Defeated by Cheon Muryang, he too headed there as if possessed.
Woryeong tilted her head.
‘It feels like everyone connected to the Young Lord is changing.’
Hadn't she changed as well?
Woryeong realized that she had come to watch the Great Young Lord with warm eyes.
“Keep it up.”
Woryeong pulled down her rolled-up sleeves.
* * *
After that, Cheon Muryang's routine remained the same.
Training. And sparring.
Surprisingly, Cheon Muryang never once lost.
It reached a point where rumors circulated, saying, ‘Was the Great Young Lord hiding his strength?’
Of course, a certain Yi Seok-gi and his cronies still slandered it as a baseless rumor, insisting it couldn't be true, but each time they did, Yi Seok-gi's reputation plummeted.
*Whooosh!*
Watching another trainee get knocked away today, Woryeong smiled.
“Come over here. I'll take a look at your wound!”
Woryeong was now quite skilled at tending to wounds.
“How was it?”
When she asked this, they would usually.
“…”
…either respond with silence.
“Damn it! If only I hadn't been careless!”
…or get angry.
It was one of the two.
Today's opponent belonged to the latter group.
“Ah, yes. I see.”
*Squeeze!*
Whenever she met someone from the latter group, Woryeong would intentionally grip their wound tightly.
“Ah!”
“Oh my! I'm sorry. I'm still a bit clumsy!”
“…”
What could he do when she said it was a mistake?
Woryeong grumbled at the back of his head as he left.
“Careless, my foot. You were completely serious. Who are you trying to fool?”
Watching the scene, Cheon Muryang couldn't hold back his laughter.
“Quite the sharp tongue you've developed, Woryeong.”
“He's just making excuses. Anyone could see he gave it his all.”
“He's probably just embarrassed.”
“Even so, if you pick up a sword, you should accept the outcome of the fight. Especially for a grown man. Acting so petty!”
“C-calm down.”
Woryeong was very angry.
It seemed it was because more of the latter type had been coming recently than the former.
“I really think all the people coming lately hold ill will towards you, Young Lord.”
“Ah, probably.”
It seemed Cheon Seonhak was deliberately selecting such people.
He might not even have needed to select them.
There were probably plenty of volunteers.
“They probably volunteered eagerly.”
“Why?”
“I defeated the top trainee, didn't I? And I'm undefeated so far. If they beat someone like me?”
“Aha! Now that you mention it, that makes sense.”
Woryeong nodded.
When she thought about it, Cheon Muryang hadn't lost a single time.
“He must have picked those with the biggest grudges against me first.”
“Are you okay with that?”
“Of course. This is much better, actually.”
Cheon Muryang smiled.
It was better this way.
Since they were men who wielded swords, wasn't it best to speak with their blades?
The problem was those who didn't.
“The thing I asked you for…”
“Ah. I'm still organizing it.”
“Alright. I'm counting on you.”
He had asked one thing of Woryeong.
A record of all the evil deeds his past self had committed.
‘This is a burden I must carry.’
There was a reason Woryeong was the Great Young Lord's only personal attendant.
It was because the others couldn't endure Cheon Muryang's tyranny and had either left the family or transferred elsewhere.
After that, the position of the Great Young Lord's attendant became one that everyone avoided.
‘So, aside from Woryeong who insisted on staying as his attendant until the end, they didn't assign any more attendants to him.’
Cheon Muryang had left them with indelible scars and insults.
As long as he didn't resolve this, Cheon Muryang wouldn't be able to move forward.
“Woryeong.”
“Yes?”
“If I've done anything to you as well… don't try to hide it. Tell me everything.”
“…”
“Do you understand?”
“Yes, Young Lord.”
Woryeong's expression was grim.
Cheon Muryang forced himself to continue training.
For some reason, it was especially hard to focus today.
* * *
The boundary between dawn and morning.
From Cheon Muryang's room, the rising sun in the east was visible through the window.
Watching this while circulating his energy was how Cheon Muryang began his day.
The dense energy from the elixirs, still heavy like large boulders, was blocking the Governor and Conception vessels, the main pathways for energy to flow into his dantian.
‘Normally, it should be circulating…’
Yang energy from the perineum to the crown.
Yin energy from the crown to the perineum.
This cycle of circulation had to be connected.
However, this circulation wasn't happening properly in Cheon Muryang's body.
‘It's a good thing my meridians have widened.’
With elixirs, one must strive relentlessly from the moment of consumption until it is fully assimilated.
However, because he had missed the opportune time, what could have been accomplished with ten parts of effort now required more than a hundred.
‘There's a right time for everything. I'm going through this hell because I missed that window. Tsk.’
Cheon Muryang felt a sense of regret.
If only he could absorb the elixir's energy that filled his dantian or move it outside, he felt he could use that momentum to unblock his Governor and Conception vessels.
‘A shame.’
But that was impossible.
Because it had taken such firm root, he needed to either slowly melt the energy with his internal art or find something that could encompass the massive energy of the elixirs.
‘Unless it was something like Azure Cavern Nectar, a Grand Return Pill, or a Supreme Clarity Pill.’
Any other elixir would be poison to Cheon Muryang.
Cheon Muryang didn't want to rely on the impossible.
‘Entering the Heavenly Dragon Library and learning a superior internal art is the top priority.’
Having diligently practiced the Heavenly Sun Divine Art, he had reached the seventh stage.
‘The Heavenly Sun Divine Art is certainly a good internal art, but that's all it is.’
It had many shortcomings.
He had a strong feeling that some core element was missing.
‘A superior internal art would likely be one where that core is supplemented.’
Therefore, he believed that if he could enter the Heavenly Dragon Library, things would become much easier than they were now.
*Flash.*
Having finished circulating his energy, Cheon Muryang rose to his feet.
“Whew.”
His body felt refreshed.
It was probably due to the impurities expelled through his energy circulation.
“The stench is no joke.”
“Young Lord, are you awake?”
At the scheduled time.
Woryeong entered as if she had been waiting.
“Ah, yes.”
“Oh my, Young Lord! I think you've lost more weight!”
Woryeong exclaimed.
“Hm. Seems like it.”
He could definitely feel the difference.
‘Well, his disposition was that of a runt, but his original looks weren't bad.’
It wasn't just 'not bad'.
If he had just possessed some common sense, he might have been called a young lord of arts and leisure.
‘Ugh.’
Of course, he couldn't even imagine a version of Cheon Muryang reciting poetry by a lake.
“You're heading straight to the training ground, right?”
“I need to wash up first.”
“Yes! Ah, and you need to eat breakfast.”
Under the pretext of needing to lose weight.
Cheon Muryang was strictly following Woryeong's diet plan.
“Is it greens again today?”
“No. I've prepared a special meal for today! But only for lunch!”
*Twitch.*
Cheon Muryang's eyebrow twitched.
“A special meal?”
“Yes. You can look forward to it!”
“Really?”
“Ah, of course! But you have to come back to your room on time, okay? Eating it at the training ground, with everyone watching…”
“Ah, right. I get it.”
“Oh, right. Young Lord.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“The Family Head is returning today.”
“Really?”
“Yes. The other servants are probably so busy they're losing their minds right now.”
Wasn't it called protocol?
Even if the higher-ups didn't care much, the subordinates always made a huge fuss.
“It must be chaotic then.”
“Yes. I'm going to use that chaos to sneakily prepare the special meal!”
“Aha. I'll look forward to it.”
“So, I won't be able to go to the training ground this morning, is that okay?”
“I know. It's not like I'm a child.”
Cheon Muryang undressed and washed himself.
In the meantime, Woryeong changed the bedding and left the breakfast she had personally prepared.
“Well then, shall I go again.”
The Family Head was said to be returning today.
To Cheon Muryang, he was a father.
And to Nameless, he was the benefactor who had taken him in when he had nowhere else to go.
‘To think I have to call the Family Head 'Father'... There was a time when I dreamed of this.’
Who would have known that dream would come true in this form?
He wanted to see him as soon as possible.
“I hope he returns soon.”
Cheon Muryang headed for the training ground.
Expecting to be able to meet the Family Head soon.