Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Dragon-Phoenix Tournament (5)
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A mysterious master had appeared, causing a brief commotion.
However, most of the experts remembered nothing, as if their memories had been tampered with.
They only recalled the Little Sword Phoenix, who had been dominating the fight, collapsing to the ground and receiving aid from the Plum Blossom Sword Empress.
Whispers spread, wondering if some demonic possession had occurred.
Yet there were no signs of qi deviation or the like. After a simple treatment, the match resumed.
Still, having sustained an injury, it seemed unlikely she could display the same nimble movements as before.
-Kang!!!
Hwa-ryeon precisely slashed away the incoming Magistrate Brush and flying daggers, then closed her eyes and cleanly cut through Ji-yeon's illusions and formations to break free.
In that process, it was as if she had gained some new insight.
Hwa-ryeon's movements grew even more splendid and refined, yet restrained in a way that wasn't uncomfortable to watch.
The subtleties carried in her sword began to flicker subtly.
In the wake of the splendor of Mount Hua sweeping through, a bittersweet floral scent lingered.
From the ashes left by those blazing flames, red flowers bloomed.
Not the flowers of soot, coal blossoms, but a single flower of plum blossoms signaling the start of spring.
A subtle yet profound change blossomed like that.
The masters nodded in astonishment.
This time, it would be a overwhelming victory for the Little Sword Phoenix.
However, contrary to that prediction.
-Shwaaaaek!!!
A flying dagger that Hwa-ryeon failed to deflect hurtled forward, beginning to press her once more.
Sensing the crisis, Hwa-ryeon tried to end it quickly.
But the dagger that ricocheted off the wall behind her inexplicably maintained its speed and flew straight back toward Ji-yeon.
She had gained enlightenment.
"...You're not the only one, Hwa-ryeon."
"...!!"
"While watching your spar with my benefactor, I learned a great deal amid my worries."
Previously, she had been overpowered by the benefactor without lasting even a single exchange.
Now, observing footwork she hadn't seen before.
"Heavenly Mechanism Bewildering Step."
"...How do you..."
Naturally, she had comprehended the secret art passed down in her family.
Ji-yeon smiled brightly, pointing to her blue Insight Eyes.
"My eyes are just good."
"......"
After that, Hwa-ryeon couldn't bloom any more plum blossoms.
Though Ji-yeon was soon subdued herself.
The two earned phoenix titles side by side.
Only after the match ended did Ha-yeon quietly return to her seat.
Hyun-deok earnestly pleaded with her, begging her to please stay put.
"Please... just stay still, benefactor."
"Ahaha."
Ha-yeon could only offer an awkward laugh.
And watching such a Ha-yeon.
"Great hero."
"...?"
"I am Yeon-rin, known as the Plum Blossom Sword Empress."
The Plum Blossom Sword Empress offered her greetings.
The woman known as the Plum Blossom Sword Empress, Yeon-rin, bowed her head in greeting to me.
Flustered but nodding in response, I accepted her courtesy.
"Please don't do this, great hero. You're older than me..."
[No one would believe that, little one.]
Snow Python snickered mockingly at me.
But I thought it took guts for her to mock me after messing up my growth myself. I kept a straight face like iron.
She's not a 14-year-old girl.
But so what?
She looks about 14, so I'll just live like that.
"I want to repay you somehow for granting enlightenment to my junior sister and me."
"......"
As expected, not knocking her out had been the right call.
'...The Plum Blossom Sword Empress seems like the type who would do anything.'
The novel's description had been like that from the start.
[Disillusioned with Mount Hua, she refused the sect leader position, never directly meddling in Mount Hua's affairs, wandering the central plains like a wastrel, drinking.]
As Snow Python said, around chapter 10 of the novel, the Plum Blossom Sword Empress disappears.
A description set a few years from now.
"...Hmm."
"......"
"Uhmm...?"
"I-Is something wrong?"
Looking at her now, she didn't seem like a wastrel at all.
There was a faint smell of alcohol.
But it didn't seem like she'd been drinking heavily.
'...She seems to carry a bottle around.'
Masters can control their intoxication, they say.
She probably drinks when bored but knows when and where to get properly drunk.
She didn't seem that much of a wastrel.
'Something big must happen in a few years.'
The fact that there's no description of Ji-yeon, the golden child of one of the Five Great Families, vanishing without a trace.
And the Plum Blossom Sword Empress's description vastly differing from the woman before my eyes.
[Snow Python.]
[Why do you call, little one?]
At this point, curiosity gnawed at me.
[How many years ahead is the novel exactly?]
Exactly how many years ahead is the novel, and what on earth happens in that time?
[...I cannot tell you.]
[.....]
[Your summoning has already greatly weakened my body. If I reveal heavenly secrets here too...]
Snow Python apologized, saying it would exceed the realm she could handle.
Not wanting to lose her either, I gave a wry smile and nodded.
'For now... I know fragments of how the future unfolds.'
Ji-yeon disappears without a trace, and the Sword Empress fully turns wastrel, abandoning Mount Hua.
And the power of the Blood Ghost shown by those evil faction scum I ran into at the inn earlier.
It felt like slowly stepping into the murky depths of the murim, all tangled in chaos.
At the same time, intuition struck.
Unless I delved into this.
I couldn't change this phony, trashy martial arts world. That was the premonition.
"...Great hero?"
The Sword Empress tilted her head, calling me great hero.
I smiled brightly and spoke.
"Call me little brother. Not great hero."
"P-Pardon...?"
The Sword Empress looked bewildered.
Her gaze shifted to Hyun-deok, sitting behind me.
Hyun-deok broke into a cold sweat under the Sword Empress's gaze.
'...This is burdensome.'
Watching the flustered Sword Empress react to Ha-yeon's attitude, Hyun-deok sighed.
[Just call her that.]
He knew Ha-yeon would hear even telepathic messages.
Still, to observe propriety, he secretly informed her via transmission.
Couldn't say it to her face.
Glancing at the Sword Sovereign still staring at him, Hyun-deok turned away, too annoyed to calculate further.
He felt a prickling gaze along with a sense of trouble.
But Hyun-deok was busy thinking of a way to resolve the situation.
The Sword Empress, finding Hyun-deok irksome yet.
'...The Sword Sovereign's gaze keeps lingering.'
Feeling the burdensome stare herself, she sighed.
"How could I call our benefactor who granted enlightenment 'little brother'? Please allow me to address you as benefactor or noble one."
With a gentle smile, she requested. Ha-yeon pondered briefly and nodded.
"Yes, understood, Sword Empress."
"......"
Not easy.
The Sword Empress nearly let her expression crumble, forcing an awkward smile as she thought inwardly.
'...A senior who seems several times my age uses honorifics like Sword Empress. It sits uneasy.'
Couldn't she just speak casually?
She displayed martial arts like an immortal fairy, yet demands to be called little brother.
Common sense dictated that treating a master of shed mortal form and returned youth like a child would earn a smiling lesson in etiquette.
But this old monster, senile perhaps, even begged to be called little brother.
Her head spun.
However, more importantly, the Sword Empress had a question.
"Benefactor, where did you... discover that martial art?"
"Do you know the swordsmanship I demonstrated?"
Ha-yeon tilted her head, her face hidden behind the veil.
The Sword Empress pondered, then nodded.
"Yes, I know it."
"...How?"
The atmosphere shifted as Ha-yeon asked how she knew.
The Sword Empress gestured to wait, then spoke.
"Too many eyes watching."
"Is there reason to hide it?"
To Ha-yeon's question, the Sword Empress silently nodded.
Ha-yeon asked no more.
Thus, the two paused for now and continued watching the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament.
The victorious Hwa-ryeon advanced, achieving consecutive wins.
Ji-yeon, back before long, sincerely cheered for her friend, hoping she would win the tournament.
Winning would bring honor and elevate her sect's name.
Ha-yeon truly supported her friend.
Especially when her brother was getting pummeled by Hwa-ryeon.
"......"
The Beggars' Sect's gang leader, Majestic Wind Horn, grinned over drinks after the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament ended.
"...The child fated to die has survived."
Zhuge Ji-yeon, daughter of the Zhuge Family.
Inheriting Insight Eyes, already displaying terrifying talent.
The child who would become the central plains' greatest strategist.
She should have died for certain.
He had dealt with one assassin himself.
But assassins never came alone, so after consulting the Sword Sovereign, Murim Alliance members scoured Anhui province, secretly investigating members and weeding out suspects.
Yet despite those efforts, the patrol line was breached by backers.
Reports confirmed infiltration by the worst of the evil faction scum.
By the time Murim Alliance forces belatedly arrived.
Everyone was already dead.
"What a fateful connection has come..."
Wind Horn smiled genuinely for the first time in ages.