Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Sword Phoenix
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The Dragon-Phoenix Tournament finally wrapped up late into the evening.
The champion was Little Sword Phoenix, Hwa-ryeon.
Watching that, I allowed myself a satisfied smile.
She was still conjuring that pathetic little flame, but now a single plum blossom bloomed in its wake.
If it had helped her gain enlightenment, that was enough.
Of course, I’d nearly charged out there again myself.
‘At least Nangong’s normal.’
The fact that Nangong was the sane one, combined with Zhuge Hyun-deok, the Sword Phoenix, Zhuge Ji-cheon, and Zhuge Ji-yeon all desperately holding me back, kept me from jumping in again.
Any more commotion, and who knew what Nangong’s Sword Sovereign might do to me.
He’d been glaring at me from afar, ignoring his own son and daughter’s matches entirely.
He looked like he wanted to run me through right then and there.
Keep causing a scene, and I’d end up the enemy of the righteous sects—might as well form my own Evil Alliance at that point.
Wudang had slashed at me with pig squeals before the matches even started, launching killing blows.
And Zhongnan Sect’s response? Coming at me with daggers, thinking speed alone would do the trick, dead set on murder.
It took real restraint not to escalate.
I praised myself for it as I dragged my weary body to the carriage, unable to watch any longer.
And now, time has passed.
Inside the carriage, with soundproof barriers up: Hwa-ryeon, the Sword Phoenix, me, and Snow Python.
Just three people and one beast left.
The reason? To finish the conversation the Sword Phoenix and I hadn’t gotten to earlier.
“Benefactor… thank you.”
“No need, Hwa-ryeon. You don’t owe me any thanks.”
Hwa-ryeon’s face looked more vibrant than before—it was obvious.
“Someday… I want to fill Mount Hua with these warm plum blossoms.”
“……”
“Until now, I’ve never once felt this kind of gentle warmth.”
She already had a master, so she couldn’t bring herself to ask me to take her as a disciple.
Still, I thought she needed to hear this clearly, so I nodded.
“Junior Hwa-ryeon.”
“Yes, Benefactor.”
“A master is like a parent once they’ve accepted you. Please serve Mount Hua’s Sect Leader faithfully to the end.”
“I understand.”
Well, she didn’t seem inclined to abandon her master anyway.
I flashed a gentle smile, my gaze naturally shifting to the side.
“So, how did you know?”
The Sword Phoenix sat there, her expression calm and composed.
I’d asked because she seemed like the one who could explain Snow Python’s past.
And she answered.
“…Mount Hua has a forgotten history.”
“……”
“Forgotten sword techniques, cultivation methods, and the names of great masters.”
Closing her eyes, the Sword Phoenix began to recount the day as if reliving it.
“…Thanks to my Rebirth Transformation, even in my youth, I’m now past forty, approaching the heavenly mandate age.”
I nodded.
I’d roughly guessed as much.
Zhuge Hyun-deok was around that age too, past forty and heading toward his heavenly years.
“And… I still remember what happened when I was around the same age as Hwa-ryeon here, who’s still merely at the initial study stage.”
Yeon-rin, the first-generation disciple of Mount Hua.
That day, too, she’d shoved her training aside and was hiding alone, munching on tanghulu, smearing sugar all over herself.
She looked so innocently happy.
Then, from somewhere, came a sharp, searing sound—like something fiercely burning.
It wasn’t the scent of Mount Hua’s plum blossoms.
It felt like paper catching fire—a scorching heat prickling Yeon-rin’s skin.
She jumped up and headed toward it.
Was someone causing a fire?
Mount Hua was a rocky mountain; wildfires were unlikely nearby.
What the hell had they done to start a fire here? She ran quickly.
And there…
[Is this the end of it?]
“Yes, Strange Fire Spirit.”
[Took you long enough…]
She saw it.
Her master—the Sect Leader—and the revered fire spirit of Mount Hua, the Strange Fire Spirit, burning books.
Shadows draped her master’s face.
No trace of emotion.
His vacant eyes stared at the roaring red flames, as if brainwashed.
What could they be burning to make him look so hollow?
[Today, this false Mount Hua will be erased from history. And it must never resurface.]
“…!!”
Yeon-rin, covering her mouth from the corner, felt her mind flood with questions.
False Mount Hua?
What did that mean?
She was pretty far away, but she heard everything.
Neither bothered with guards, so Yeon-rin just prayed they’d leave quickly.
She was dying to know what “that” was.
She held her breath and slipped into the bushes to hide.
Then her eyes met her master’s.
“……”
“……”
Her master turned away without a word.
He even released a bit of inner energy outward, shielding the Strange Fire Spirit’s body.
“Let’s go, Strange Fire Spirit.”
[Very well.]
It was the sacred Strange Fire Spirit, so it couldn’t be anything evil, she thought.
But on the other hand…
‘What the hell is that…?’
She couldn’t shake her curiosity.
What exactly was piled down there?
“……”
It gnawed at her.
The moment the Strange Fire Spirit and her master vanished, Yeon-rin rushed forward, digging through the ashes, over and over.
“…Books?”
What burned were books.
Every title related to martial arts.
Ones she’d never seen before.
“Plum Blossom…”
The word “plum blossom” caught her eye.
Mount Hua’s plum blossoms.
Ones only Mount Hua could bloom.
But the character was slightly different.
Not the soot plum (), but the plum tree plum ().
Deeper in, unburnt books started appearing one by one.
Purple Haze Divine Art, Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Forms, Hidden Fragrance Dart, Six Harmonies Sword Method, Five Elements Plum Blossom Step, Plum Blossom Qi Technique.
“……”
Seeing them, Yeon-rin felt something emanating from the books.
Whether drawn by evil energy or not, she couldn’t say.
But she knew: this spirit called the Strange Fire Spirit had been desperate to hide them.
And her master had unwillingly gone along with it.
Why…?
Yeon-rin stopped thinking.
She had to take them.
Among the countless manuals, she grabbed the relatively intact Purple Haze Divine Art and Six Harmonies Sword Method.
And the half-burnt but still readable Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Forms.
Then she raised her sword, swung once to whip up wind, and scattered the ashes.
The manuals dispersed into the air, gone.
How many more had been there?
The thought crossed her mind, but she closed her eyes.
‘…I have to hide them.’
She had to.
Somewhere no one would find.
From that day, Yeon-rin skipped Mount Hua’s training, sneaking off alone to study the manuals.
Mount Hua’s swords—but different.
Seeing the same principles, now corrupted, she learned to distinguish good from evil.
She also realized there was nowhere to speak of it.
She couldn’t recreate the true Mount Hua sword herself.
And without it, she couldn’t oppose the Strange Fire Spirit, who seemed the culprit.
So protecting the sword was best.
Until someone could be shown it.
Finishing her recollection, Yeon-rin opened her eyes.
Before her sat her benefactor, veiled in a bamboo hat.
The one who’d bloomed the plum blossoms she could never manage.
Right before her eyes, exactly as written in the manuals.
‘I could die without regrets now.’
Thinking that, Yeon-rin finished.
“That’s… the story I’ve kept hidden all these years.”
“……”
Ha-yeon said nothing.
Maybe she suspected something.
But she just stroked her chin, deep in thought.
Then Yeon-rin made a proposal.
“Benefactor.”
“…?”
“Will you… take Hwa-ryeon, my martial niece, as your disciple…?”
“What do you…”
A request to accept Hwa-ryeon as a disciple.
Hwa-ryeon’s eyes widened.
“Mount Hua isn’t ready to bloom plum blossoms. A peculiar spirit holds that seat firmly. The children of Mount Hua are brainwashed by false swordsmanship. If Hwa-ryeon returns like this…”
She might be killed.
Quietly, without anyone knowing.
Better then to…
“…I spent my life unable to bloom plum blossoms. The false arts had taken root too deeply. But today’s Hwa-ryeon…”
“Bloomed them.”
“……”
Hearing Ha-yeon, the Sword Phoenix’s lips curved slightly.
“Exactly.”
“……”
“Please.”
Yeon-rin bowed her head.
Hwa-ryeon startled, begging her to lift it.
Accept Hwa-ryeon as a disciple?
What was that supposed to mean? I asked again.
“…What do you mean, Sword Phoenix?”
But she said no more.
“M-Martial aunt, I… expulsion or something…”
How do you expel a Sect Leader’s direct disciple?
Hwa-ryeon stammered in panic, insisting it couldn’t be.
“Martial niece, you must realize it now too.”
The Sword Phoenix was resolute.
And at those words, Hwa-ryeon fell silent.
The only one thrilled here was…
[If that’s what you say, double loli event incoming.]
[…Hwa-ryeon’s not quite a loli, is she? She’s short, but a proper girl.]
Snow Python.