Chapter 92: Xi'an (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 92: Xi'an (4)
I didn't have any grand motivation, but up until now, my goal had been to reach the 8th Circle.
At first, since I’d been lucky enough to become a mage, I wanted to aim for the top. I was also tempted by the social status and fame that came with being an Archmage.
Of course, "Archmage" wasn't just some common title, and it was the kind of pipe dream others would laugh at if they heard it.
But was forming relationships and having sex with women from other dimensions any more realistic? If you ask me, that was the real pipe dream.
Right now, there are three 8th-Circle mages on Earth, and Iris is one, too.
But I was certain that I was the only person, past or present, to possess the ‘Another World Dating App.’
In any case, if I’d once vaguely wanted to become an Archmage, things were a little different now.
Iris and Cheon Yeo-hwa had become my motivation. I wanted to become strong enough to protect them, no matter what. The same went for Choi Hyena, of course, but she was relatively safe compared to the other two.
It didn't matter if my final destination wasn't the 8th Circle.
For the sake of Iris's revenge and Cheon Yeo-hwa's safety, I would use magic, swordsmanship, or anything else. In the end, they were both just tools to protect my women.
“Look at your face, all swollen.”
“...Let go.”
“Hold still. I'll wipe it for you.”
After her flood of tears, Cheon Yeo-hwa kept trying to get away from me, seemingly embarrassed by her swollen face.
But I wasn't having any of that. I pulled her into an embrace, trapping her in my arms, and wiped her tears with my handkerchief.
“Need to blow your nose?”
The moment I said it, Cheon Yeo-hwa turned her head and glared at me. Don't treat me like a child, she was saying.
For the record, Cheon Yeo-hwa is 20, and I'm 21.
“Why don't you try calling me Oppa?”
“...Hyun-woo.”
I felt a heavy pressure from the formless energy radiating off her. Not wanting a repeat of the One Palm strike from this morning, I obediently let her go.
“...You will regret not leaving me today. You will be met with hardships that will make you cough up blood and face colossal adversities you cannot possibly overcome.”
Despite her words, a hint of undeniable joy peeked through on her face.
I got up from the bed, walked over to Cheon Yeo-hwa, and touched her chest. This was what I liked about martial arts uniforms. It was easy to touch her breasts without taking off her clothes.
I groped her large breasts, which were more than a handful, kneading them as I pleased. Their softness was beyond description; it felt like my fingers were being sucked in.
“If you ask me, not being able to touch these breasts would be the greatest hardship and adversity of all.”
“Try to be a little more serious... Heuk...?! D-don't pinch me...!”
I grabbed her chin and kissed her. That finally shut her up.
I kissed her as if I were devouring her soft tongue, my hands gripping her breasts. Her uniform had already been half-undone for a while now.
“Haa... mwah... slurp...♡”
With her eyes squeezed shut and her face bright red, I leisurely admired Cheon Yeo-hwa's expression.
As expected, she was so beautiful it left me speechless. Walking the streets of Xi'an, I'd seen some pretty women, but none of them could hold a candle to her.
Objectively speaking, the only ones who could compare to Cheon Yeo-hwa were Iris, Choi Hyena, and Noel.
'...Come to think of it, I guess the Gray Tower Lord was on that level, too.'
Of course, there was no chance of anything happening between me and the Tower Lord, so I let the thought go.
“Oop!”
“Mwah, sorry.”
As if sensing my mind had wandered, Cheon Yeo-hwa gave my tongue a sharp bite. It wasn't hard enough to draw blood, though.
It was a light, playful protest.
In response, I pressed up against her from behind and rubbed my half-hard dick against her.
“Hng, heung...♡”
Pleased by the blatant contact, Cheon Yeo-hwa stood on her tiptoes and ground her ass against my dick. What a sly little fox.
Unable to hold back any longer, I was about to rip off the rest of her uniform when...
Knock, knock.
“Um... Great Hero?”
Ah, fuck.
The clueless innkeeper had to interrupt.
“We don't need cleaning, and we're not eating, so get lost.”
My words were a bit harsh, but this time, it was justified.
There's a time and a place to interrupt someone.
By the way, a moment ago, he'd called me Young Hero. Why the sudden upgrade to Great Hero? I had a bad feeling about this.
“S-sorry...!! It's just that... there are some people on the first floor looking for you, Great Hero...”
I was angry once at the still-clueless innkeeper, and twice at China for being the same now as it was then.
Even if this was ancient China, their casual disregard for a guest's privacy was irritatingly familiar.
“Hyun-woo, I think they're from the Hundred Flowers Sect.”
“The Hundred Flowers Sect?”
“The ones in the white uniforms you dealt with this afternoon.”
A sigh escaped me. I'd expected trouble, but I never imagined it would be right now. If they had come tomorrow, I wouldn't have been nearly this annoyed.
“Who is it?”
“Th-they're from the Hundred Flowers Sect...”
I'd hoped he was wrong, but I knew better than anyone that my life wasn't that kind.
“Tell them I'll be down in a minute and to wait there.”
“Y-yes! Thank you, Great Hero!”
Pushing aside my disappointment, I quickly put my uniform back on and strapped Gilenium to my waist. Cheon Yeo-hwa, also seeming reluctant to part, touched her lips, glistening with saliva.
'Should I change my weapon, by the way? Using a Western sword in a wuxia world will stand out too much.'
Finding a sword on par with Gilenium would be incredibly difficult, but I couldn't rule out the possibility that the swordsmanship I'd learn in this world wouldn't be compatible with it. It might be better to switch sooner rather than later.
However, after checking out a blacksmith shop earlier, I realized that the swords in this world weren't worth buying.
The overall quality was drastically inferior to those on Earth, and the prices were ridiculously high.
“Hyun-woo, there's a high chance the Hundred Flowers Sect brought an elder-level figure with them. Of course, there's no guarantee he's stronger than you, but this is the territory of the Orthodox Faction.”
“I know.”
I'm not some psycho who enjoys beating people up. If that guy, Lee Geon or whatever his name was, hadn't tried to talk to Cheon Yeo-hwa, none of this would have happened.
“I'll just get an apology and some compensation and let it go.”
“...What?”
“A man of his station should take responsibility for raising his disciples so poorly.”
My answer seemed to stun Cheon Yeo-hwa, who stared at me with wide eyes. She probably thought I was going to resolve this peacefully with words.
Unfortunately for them, that wasn't going to happen.
I'd already decided not to worry about any pursuit team the Heavenly Demonic Cult might send.
Who cares if rumors about us spread through Xi'an?
If the pursuit team is weaker than me or about the same, I'll kill them. If they're stronger, I'll go to another world, get stronger, then come back and kill them.
“But if you make an enemy of an entire sect...!”
“Didn't I tell you before?”
Creeak— I opened the door.
There was some madman on the first floor, blatantly flaunting his aura. This wasn't going to end peacefully.
“Just trust your Oppa.”
I wouldn't show any weakness, so Cheon Yeo-hwa wouldn't have to worry about a thing.
*
The Hundred Flowers Sect (白花門) was a sect founded hundreds of years ago by a man named Jo Yoon, then known as the Seven Flower Swift Sword (七花快劍). It was also a secular branch of the Mount Hua Sect.
Under the protection of the Mount Hua Sect, one of the Nine Great Sects and One Alliance, it grew in power day by day, eventually becoming known as one of the top sects in Xi'an.
For that reason, the people of Xi'an respected the Hundred Flowers Sect.
The Hundred Flowers Sect genuinely believed that it was because righteous members like them were in Xi'an that the scoundrels of the Evil Faction couldn't run rampant.
“How unpleasant.”
A few hours ago, Su Yanggeon, an elder of the Hundred Flowers Sect, had heard some unbelievable news.
His favorite disciple, Lee Geon, had been beaten by some Evil Faction scoundrel, leaving him with a bloody nose and a broken nose bone. And that wasn't the only news that made him doubt his own ears.
The sect leader's youngest son, Jo Jaryang, had also returned with internal injuries inflicted by the same man.
Naturally, the Hundred Flowers Sect was in an uproar.
What kind of madman would do this to their innocent, precious children?!
The enraged sect leader and elders held an emergency meeting. After a short but intense discussion, it was decided that he, the 3rd Elder, would personally punish the scoundrel.
But the man had already left the inn long ago.
Attacking disciples and running away like a coward—how typical of an Evil Faction scoundrel. After asking around, he heard that the man had taken a room at a nearby inn.
He settled in at the inn and had the innkeeper summon the man.
“How dare he... a mere Evil Faction scoundrel, do this to the disciples of the great Hundred Flowers Sect...?!”
In truth, only two were injured, and they had been the ones to start it, but in ancient China, such details didn't matter.
What mattered was that the name of the Hundred Flowers Sect had been tarnished.
Su Yanggeon, a master of the Profound Realm, unleashed his aura without restraint.
He would ensure the Evil Faction dog couldn't even think of escaping.
He would keep it up until the scoundrel realized he had no choice but to grovel and beg for forgiveness.
Soon, he sensed a presence from the second floor.
'Is that him?'
Su Yanggeon didn't hide his killing intent.
As he rose from his seat, his pure white uniform fluttering, the third-generation disciples who had followed him cheered.
They had no doubt that the 3rd Elder, a master of the Profound Realm, would avenge them.
However.
“...”
“E-Elder...?”
Lee Geon, who had been dragged along half-unwillingly, cautiously called out to Su Yanggeon, who seemed off. He had seen it.
He saw the elder's form, trembling slightly as cold sweat beaded on his brow.
“Well, well, you brought quite a crowd.”
At the voice descending the stairs, Lee Geon and the other third-generation disciples flinched involuntarily.
It was the voice of that vile Evil Faction scoundrel.
“Y-your evil deeds end here!”
“How dare a filthy Evil Faction scoundrel like you run your mouth! Get over here and kneel this instant!”
“That's right, that's right!”
They were still just a mob, no different from before, but this time they had someone to protect them, so the third-generation disciples could raise their voices and denounce Kang Hyun-woo.
Su Yanggeon, however, felt like he was about to die.
'T-that's an Evil Faction scoundrel?!'
From the intense wave of energy that seemed to crush the entire inn, Su Yanggeon instinctively realized that Kang Hyun-woo was a master of a higher level than himself.
Moreover, being a martial artist ignorant of mana, he made a critical misunderstanding.
'A... a Transcendent master...?'
The sheer volume of Kang Hyun-woo's energy overwhelmed that of most masters of the Peak Realm, leading him to mistake Hyun-woo for a Transcendent master.
“You the elder?”
Even when the man, who was much younger than him, spoke so informally, the 3rd Elder couldn't easily open his mouth.
Seeing this, the murmuring among the third-generation disciples grew louder, and Su Yanggeon knew he couldn't stay silent any longer.
He was the 3rd Elder of the great Hundred Flowers Sect!
And behind him, his beloved disciples were looking only at him.
If he showed weakness against this Demonic Leader, what would these budding sprouts of the Orthodox Faction learn?
BAM!
“That is correct!”
Su Yanggeon shot up from his seat with an air of utmost confidence.
“Hoh, so you're the one they call elder?”
But faced with Cheon Yeo-hwa's overbearing glare, he had no choice but to sit back down.
He hadn't expected there to be two Transcendent masters.
“Hey.”
“...Yes.”
“Hand over everything you've got.”
“...Excuse me?”
CRASH!
Kang Hyun-woo slammed his fist down on the table. Naturally, it shattered into pieces.
“You completely ruined my mood.”
