Chapter 276: To Wuhan
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 276: To Wuhan
There's a saying about picking the worst possible day for something.
It's a proverb that metaphorically describes setting out to do one thing, only to run into something completely unexpected.
My situation was exactly like that.
Left all alone in the tent, I stared blankly toward the entrance. Yoo Sowol was no longer by my side.
Long story short, she turned me down.
-...I'm sorry.
My plan to have a good time with Yoo Sowol to celebrate our reunion was short-lived. Something seemed to be weighing on her mind, and she pushed me away.
Being rejected by Yoo Sowol, I felt a pain as if my qi and blood were twisting. It was minor, but I had sustained an internal injury.
-With what happened to my fellow disciples... I don't think this is right...
Yoo Sowol looked at me, her expression stained with guilt.
She was right.
It's common sense that having relations with your lover right before a funeral is just plain wrong.
They might have been strangers to me, but to Yoo Sowol, they were like family.
If anything, I was the one being inconsiderate.
I sent Yoo Sowol off with the best smile I could manage. It was a shame, but it's not like we'd never see each other again. I'd just have to look forward to next time.
“...Once Daoist Hyunseo comes back from checking the old temple, I should get going.”
[Remaining Matching Time: 59 days, 15 hours, 12 minutes, 47 seconds]
The matching time had extended to two months.
It was more than enough time to move according to my plans.
'I guess it's time to start looking.'
For Vajra Divine Monk's second legacy.
If the Formless Vajra Art and the Prajna Divine Pill left in the old temple of Jinheung Village were Vajra Divine Monk's first legacy and arrangement, then to advance to the next realm, I needed to obtain his second.
Right now, my attainment in the Formless Vajra Art is at 4-star.
The Formless Sword Art, Formless Electric Body, and Formless Step have all reached 6-star.
The Vajra Buddha's Demon-Subduing Palm, the Formless Dharma Void Palm, and the Great Sun Buddha's Heavenly Light Hand—the technique I used to reverse the trajectory of the Duke of Rutland's punch—are at 3-star, 2-star, and 1-star, respectively.
I had other martial arts, but I hadn't trained them separately.
Overall, I was raising my attainment levels smoothly, but in the end, the most important one was the Formless Vajra Art.
The Formless Sword Art, Formless Step, Formless Electric Body, and the Buddha's Palms. They are all like branches.
As their attainment grows, countless smaller branches will spread out and leaves will bloom, making the tree fuller.
On the other hand, the Formless Vajra Art is the trunk and roots of the tree. If the trunk and roots aren't strong enough to support them, too many branches will become a poison.
There are two ways to reach a realm beyond the 4-star level of the Formless Vajra Art.
One is to grow based on the enlightenment gained through repeated training, just as I've been doing.
In terms of difficulty, it's the easiest method, but it also takes the most time.
Until now, that was my only option. But thanks to returning to this world, a second option has opened up.
That is, to find the arrangements Vajra Divine Monk left behind throughout this world.
Of course, I don't know what's hidden there. The knowledge from the Formless Vajra Art only gave me the locations.
To put it nicely, they're 'arrangements,' but in reality, I have no idea what they are, or if they'll even provide a clue to advancing my realm.
Still, they were worth looking for.
'Is the closest one near Wuhan?'
From Shaanxi to Hubei.
They're right next to each other, but considering the size of the continent, it would take several weeks. Of course, I could get there faster using lightness skills, but I didn't want to rush.
I've been running nonstop as if someone was chasing me, so for a while, I wanted to take it easy.
See the sights, go on a few dates with Cheon Yeo-hwa.
Just as I was lost in thought, organizing my future plans, I felt a familiar presence outside the tent.
“Huhu, you got rejected quite spectacularly.”
It was Cheon Yeo-hwa.
Her neat and proper attire was a little unfamiliar, but her alluring, smiling eyes were the same as ever.
Cheon Yeo-hwa came over and sat gracefully beside me. Whatever she found so amusing, her lips were full of a smile she couldn't hide.
Just as you'd expect from a young lady of the cult, her ingrained etiquette made her fake identity as Jin Yeo-hwa seem perfectly natural.
“Well, it can't be helped. How many people in the world would be in the mood for intercourse when their family has just died?”
“I have no family, so I wouldn't have such a problem, would I?”
I couldn't help but let out a small laugh at Cheon Yeo-hwa's casual declaration of being an orphan.
“What about the Cult Leader?”
“He is not family, merely a breeding stud.”
From the way she referred to her own father, the Cult Leader, as a stud, I could get a sense of just how much she hated him.
No need to even ask about the 1st Young Master.
“By the way, didn't you say there were three candidates for successor?”
“That's right. The 1st Young Master, myself, and the 3rd Young Lady. The three of us.”
“The 3rd Young Lady? You have a younger sister?”
“Younger sister... I think 'enemy' would be a far more fitting word. Well, compared to the 1st Young Master, whom I want to tear to shreds this instant, she's a saint.”
I thought about asking more about the 3rd Young Lady, but decided against it.
The atmosphere suggested she didn't particularly want to talk about it.
“Anyway, your face has changed.”
“My face?”
“Before, you looked like a martial artist from the Evil Faction. Now... should I say you look like a scholar who reads books like the Four Books and Five Classics or the Tonggam gangmok?”
“...Is that a compliment?”
“You ask the obvious.”
A crescent-shaped smile formed on Cheon Yeo-hwa's lips.
“From the very beginning, my type was never a handsome man, nor one with outstanding martial prowess.”
“Then?”
“Hyun-woo, it is you.”
A red rose bloomed on Cheon Yeo-hwa's pale white skin.
Her eyes, holding not a speck of falsehood, were fixed on me. What they held was the pure emotion of love.
“In that respect, I do not like your changed face.”
Pressing close against me, Cheon Yeo-hwa slowly reached out her hand.
With a hand that could only be described as slender and jade-like, she caressed my face.
“How about wearing a veil from now on? The thought of other wenches hitting on you makes me feel my killing intent might leak out unintentionally.”
“...If we both wear veils, won't that draw too much attention?”
I may have warned Ma Paeseon, but it was common sense that the Heavenly Demonic Cult would send pursuers.
In fact, if the 1st Young Master's faction found out Cheon Yeo-hwa was alive, it was highly likely they would scheme to get rid of her somehow.
'Salmak is a subordinate organization of the Heavenly Demonic Cult, so their assassins might come after us.'
What makes assassins tricky is the psychological pressure of not knowing when or where they'll attack.
You can't sleep soundly, you have to be careful with your food, and you must remain tense even in the latrine.
This wears a person down, body and soul.
And once the prey is thoroughly exhausted, the pack of wolves known as assassins comes to hunt.
Of course, that didn't apply to me.
Assassins are nothing more than little rats hiding from a martial artist's senses. How could fools who don't even know what magic power is possibly hide from magic detection?
In other words, their greatest strength—the surprise attack—was nullified.
Besides, thanks to the Rosary, most poisons don't work on me. Even if they used an extreme poison that surpassed the Rosary's effects, the magic power in my body would automatically break down the toxic components, making me practically immune.
Of course, since they've learned martial arts, their overall combat level would be higher than an assassin from Earth, but as long as they're ignorant of magic power, they're nothing but third-rate assassins.
“Nonsense. People who wear veils are quite common.”
“Hmm... I'll think about it.”
Veils were inconvenient in more ways than one. I'd rather just use perception-hindering magic.
“I hope your thinking doesn't take too long.”
The corners of Cheon Yeo-hwa's eyes curved beautifully.
She leaned naturally against my shoulder and gently closed her eyes. I took her hand and enjoyed the moment.
“Ah, right. Are you interested in learning a new martial art?”
“A martial art?”
I took the 'Heavenly Flower Moon Shadow Sword' manual from my inventory and handed it to Cheon Yeo-hwa.
It was a Unique-grade martial art I'd bought from the shop. I thought it would be better for one of my women to learn it rather than myself.
But as Cheon Yeo-hwa read through the manual, her expression grew increasingly strange.
“What's wrong? Is it no good?”
Cheon Yeo-hwa shook her head lightly.
“...That's not it. On the contrary, the art itself is outstanding enough to be called a divine technique. However, this is the martial art of the Sword Empress, Yu Harin.”
“You know who that is?”
“Of course. It would be rarer to find someone who doesn't.”
Cheon Yeo-hwa closed the manual and continued her explanation.
“Two hundred years ago, the Murim was engulfed in the flames of war due to successive Righteous-Evil and Righteous-Demonic Wars. And the Sword Empress was called the hero of the Orthodox Faction of that era.”
The Sword Empress, Yu Harin.
She was a rising star representing the Mount Hua Sect, a prodigy the likes of which would not be seen again for hundreds of years in the history of Murim.
What's more, at the mere age of thirty, she made a name for herself by beheading the Flame Emperor, an absolute master of the Evil Faction, and the Heavenly Killing Poison Demon and the White Bone Blood Demon, absolute masters of the Demonic Cult.
Originally, she should have received the title 'Sword Emperor' and become one of the new Five Emperors, alongside the Two Venerables, Three Sovereigns, and Seven Demons.
However, during the Righteous-Demonic War, she lost her life to the Demon Venerable, one of the Two Venerables of that time.
To honor her, the martial artists of the Orthodox Faction gave her the title 'Sword Empress'.
“The Heavenly Flower Moon Shadow Sword... this is the Sword Empress's martial art, long thought to have been lost. If an outsider were to learn it, they would be hunted by the Plum Blossom swordsmen of Mount Hua.”
“Hmm...”
“Besides, if I, who have learned demonic arts, were to practice it, I would surely suffer from Qi Deviation.”
Hearing that, I had no choice but to admit my thinking had been shallow.
Thanks to the power of the Formless Vajra Art, I can learn martial arts of different schools, but if a normal martial artist tried that, they would, as Cheon Yeo-hwa said, fall into Qi Deviation.
'I guess I should give it to Sowol, as I originally planned.'
In fact, the most suitable person to learn the Heavenly Flower Moon Shadow Sword was Yoo Sowol.
The roots of the Heavenly Flower Moon Shadow Sword were said to lie in Mount Hua's Moon Shadow Sword.
And the sword Yoo Sowol had used in the forest that night was none other than the Moon Shadow Sword.
'I've already made a copy, so I can just hand over the whole manual.'
After spending some time with Cheon Yeo-hwa in the tent, I went outside.
The Shaolin were nowhere to be seen; they must have already left. In their place, a joint memorial service by the Zhongnan Sect and Mount Hua sects was in full swing.
The elders of Mount Hua and Zhongnan Sect, whom I had seen in passing, were chanting Daoist scriptures to honor the souls of their disciples. Daoist Hyunseo was with them.
Yoo Sowol was crying in Daoist Hyunseo's arms.
I watched the scene in silence, and after the memorial service ended, I approached Yoo Sowol.
“Orabeoni...”
Her eyes were so red and swollen it looked like she could burst into tears at any moment. I pulled her into a hug.
The moment she was in my arms, Yoo Sowol began to cry again. She wept so sorrowfully that my own heart ached.
Fortunately, no one else was around.
If Daoist Hyunseo had seen this, she would have undoubtedly foamed at the mouth and gone on a sword-wielding rampage.
Afterward, once her tears had stopped, I handed the Heavenly Flower Moon Shadow Sword manual to Yoo Sowol.
Seeing the title of the manual, her eyes went wide.
“Th-The Heavenly Flower Moon Shadow Sword?!”
Shhhk-
Yoo Sowol hurriedly skimmed through the manual's contents.
With every page, her expression changed.
Thump.
After closing the manual, she looked at me with an expression of utter disbelief.
“H-How did you get this...?”
“Well... I came across it by chance.”
I bought it at the shop for 3,000 coins.
“If you're okay with it, why don't you try learning it? The sword style you're practicing now is the Moon Shadow Sword, isn't it? Besides, since it's the Sword Empress's art, it belongs to Mount Hua. It should be returned to its rightful place.”
“Ah...”
As she accepted the manual, Yoo Sowol's eyes trembled slightly.
“Thank you...”
Fat tears rolled down her cheeks.
When I subtly opened my arms, Yoo Sowol immediately threw herself into my embrace. I did my best to ignore Cheon Yeo-hwa's murderous gaze boring into the back of my head as I comforted her.
As I did, I found myself looking forward to something.
I wondered just how high she could climb by learning the Heavenly Flower Moon Shadow Sword—she, who possessed talent greater than the Sword Dragon, called the greatest rising star of Mount Hua, yet had not yet blossomed.
It felt like I had one more thing to look forward to when we met again.
'...By the way, if the Sword Empress Yu Harin was from this world, does that mean Peng Yugang, the creator of the Crimson Cloud Thunder Art I learned, was from this world too?'
It was a plausible hypothesis.
Besides, speaking of the Peng surname, there was the Hebei Peng Family, one of the Five Great Families.
Although the distance between my next destination, Wuhan, and Hebei was too great to visit right away, it seemed like a good idea to ask about it if I ever met someone from the Hebei Peng Family.