Chapter 20
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: I Am a Dad
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I am a dad.
In an empty space, a man lands lightly from the air.
Standing before the rock where Ha Yuseong and Neung Baekdo had just been, was Yaun.
He could tell because he had been looking down at the rock from a high vantage point.
The truth of the bet, which those present couldn't have seen, obscured by the rock.
Yaun walked around the rock to look beyond it.
Behind it sat another rock, larger and thicker than the one in front.
And the center of that rock had been completely pierced through.
As if it had been struck by something.
A fist technique that strikes an object behind another without affecting the one in front.
Fa Jin is the simple emission of energy.
When one can converge the energy emitted through Fa Jin at a desired location, it is called a Remote Strike.
And an advanced form of the Remote Strike was the art known as the Internal Heavy Hand Technique.
A supreme art that strikes the exterior to damage the interior.
Just now, the man named Ha Yuseong had struck the rock behind the first one—a rock quite some distance away—without causing any damage to the one in front.
Of course, it wasn't perfect.
The pierced surface was quite rough.
This was proof that his energy was not pure, and its quantity was still insufficient.
That was why it was all the more astonishing.
This meant...
“He performed the Internal Heavy Hand Technique with sheer physical strength?”
By Yaun's understanding, it was an impossible feat.
Just then, a man in black robes appeared from thin air and landed beside Yaun.
Yaun asked the man.
“Where is the Young Master?”
The man in black prostrated himself and replied.
“He has gone to the Alliance Leader's Hall.”
“Understood. Continue to watch over the Young Master!”
“Loyalty!”
With his reply, the man in black vanished once more.
Yaun stared intently at the rock again and spoke.
“It seems I must report this to the Alliance Leader.”
This was a phenomenon that defied his common sense.
And Yaun was certain of one thing.
Unlike himself, the Alliance Leader would surely understand what kind of trick Ha Yuseong had used in an instant.
***
The Murim Alliance Leader, Neung Cheonhwi, was working late into the night again.
Since his wife's passing, working ceaselessly until he fell asleep had become his daily routine.
Either that, or he would swing his sword all night.
The Alliance Leader's Hall was silent.
Only the sound of him turning pages echoed through the room.
Then, suddenly, Neung Cheonhwi slowly placed the documents on his desk and stared intently at the firmly shut doors of the hall.
At a glance, his eyes seemed calm, but upon closer inspection, they were trembling faintly.
“H-how?”
As Neung Cheonhwi let out a bewildered cry, the doors opened.
Beyond the open doors, no one was visible. Yet, as if certain someone was there, Neung Cheonhwi did not avert his gaze.
Just then, a small head peeked out!
A child stuck his head out.
Seeing the child, Neung Cheonhwi's eyes trembled so violently that anyone could see it.
“F-Father.”
Neung Cheonhwi was a man who would not tremble before anyone.
Not even the leader of the Demonic Cult.
But that was definitely not the case before this small creature.
‘How should I act?’
Tens of thousands of thoughts raced through Neung Cheonhwi's mind.
“Yes.”
Neung Cheonhwi chose to continue as usual.
The blunt, stern, and cold demeanor of the Alliance Leader.
Neung Cheonhwi knew. He knew the child feared and felt awkward around this side of him.
But since his wife's death, Neung Cheonhwi had forgotten how to smile naturally.
If his wife were still here, would he have been able to treat the child differently?
The child he was seeing for the first time in two years was so adorable he wanted to gobble him up.
He couldn't take his eyes off the child's soft eyes, which resembled his wife's.
In that moment, Neung Cheonhwi felt a wave of fear wash over him.
He feared that his cold attitude might make the child disappear again.
‘I should have been a little gentler.’
As expected, the child quickly hid behind the door.
“Ah!”
Neung Cheonhwi let out a sigh without realizing it.
What should he do?
It was just like the past.
He was still only filled with regret.
The child would avoid him again.
Realizing he was the one who had kicked away this hard-won opportunity, Neung Cheonhwi's face darkened.
Just then, the small, cute face peeked out from behind the door again!
Still with only his head showing, Neung Baekdo said.
“Please teach me martial arts! I’ll come back tomorrow!”
Pitter-patter!
The sound of small footsteps echoed loudly.
Soon, only Neung Cheonhwi remained in the Alliance Leader's Hall, alone once more.
Neung Cheonhwi stared endlessly at the door, from which no presence could be felt.
It was the same as before.
He hadn't taken a single step forward.
But his child, on the other hand...
-Baekdo is a strong child.
“Indeed, he is. My wife.”
It was their first conversation in two years.
A short while later, his subordinate Yaun arrived to give his report.
“I see. So that’s why the boy came.”
“I will guide you there.”
“No, I’ll go alone.”
Neung Cheonhwi had known for some time where Neung Baekdo was training.
He wanted to savor this warm, fuzzy feeling all by himself.
Leaving the Alliance Leader's Hall, Neung Cheonhwi soon arrived at the place where Neung Baekdo had been training.
The rock showed signs of Neung Baekdo's long training. Moreover, one side was cleanly cut off.
“Hmph! Well done! My boy!”
It was undoubtedly the trace of Fist Qi.
Soon, Neung Cheonhwi examined the area beyond the rock that Yaun had mentioned.
A rock larger than the one in front stood there.
And in the center of the rock was a fist-shaped hole, punched clean through.
Neung Cheonhwi knew it the moment he saw it.
“Hmph! It’s nothing special!”
“The energy isn’t even refined.”
“And the amount of internal energy is barely half a cycle!”
“It was done with mere physical strength!”
“Well, I guess the only slightly surprising thing is that he imbued the essence of 'heavy' into a single punch?”
“But for me, that’s a piece of cake.”
However, as Neung Cheonhwi's eyes remained fixed on the rock, a curious light gleamed within them.
***
The Alliance Leader's Hall.
Normally, the Alliance Leader's Hall was a very quiet place.
This was because its master disliked commotion.
But today, the hall had a slightly different atmosphere.
Tap, tap, tap.
Neung Cheonhwi was shaking his leg restlessly.
Those working in the hall were cautiously watching Neung Cheonhwi.
Just then, crack! Neung Cheonhwi's desk shattered.
“Ahem! This desk is getting old.”
“Pardon?”
The first-class secretary was momentarily baffled. The desk had been replaced just a month ago.
And it was one made from the famously durable black ironwood of the Southern Barbarians.
“Bring me a new one.”
This was only the beginning.
Snap!
The brush held by the Alliance Leader broke.
For reference, it was worth 100 gold coins.
Every time the Alliance Leader's leg trembled, energy surged through the hall like a typhoon.
To work in the Alliance Leader's Hall, especially right beside him, even a secretary had to possess a certain level of martial skill.
Everyone here was at least a second-class martial artist.
Yet these same people were experiencing a strange phenomenon of nausea and successive vomiting.
“Ugh! I’m not feeling well, I’ll be right back!”
“M-me too! I can’t take it anymore!”
At this rate, all work within the Murim Alliance might come to a halt today.
This wasn't an issue limited to just the Murim Alliance.
Even for a single day, a halt in the Alliance's operations was a massive event that could affect the entire Central Plains.
Yaun, who had been guarding the Alliance Leader while concealed, had no choice but to reveal himself.
He offered his earnest advice to Neung Cheonhwi.
“Alliance Leader. It might be best if you reined in your energy a little.”
A mistake the Alliance Leader would never normally make.
“My, I seem to have gotten excited without realizing it.”
Across the entire martial world, there were not even twenty people who could withstand the energy of a master who had reached the Transcendent Realm.
If it was the energy of the Heavenly Sword Emperor, one of the supreme masters of the Transcendent Realm, that number would shrink to less than five.
Yaun, too, was slowly reaching his limit.
Neung Cheonhwi reined in his leaking energy. Yaun sighed in relief as his stomach finally settled.
However, something was still bothering Neung Cheonhwi.
“What about the information I asked for?”
“Yes. Here is the profile of the man named Ha Yuseong.”
“Hoh! So this is the fellow!”
“But there is something unusual.”
“I knew it! He must have used some dark art to steal the boy's heart. Report quickly!”
“It’s not that, sir. When we looked into Ha Yuseong, we found a connection to the Ronin King.”
At the mention of the Ronin King, Neung Cheonhwi's excited expression instantly sobered.
‘This is the Alliance Leader’s usual demeanor!’
“The Ronin King you speak of, is it Myeongwon?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
The Ronin Association, led by the Ronin King, was literally a gathering of ronin, but its power was on par with the Murim Alliance.
No! It would not be an exaggeration to say that if the Ronin Association didn't exist, the peace of the Central Plains would have shattered long ago.
The northwest of the Central Plains where the Ronin King was based, Qinghai, was the former territory of the Kunlun Sect.
In other words, the Ronin Association was currently the northern front line, protecting the Central Plains from the Demonic Cult.
Coincidentally, the Murim Alliance was confronting the Heretic Heaven in Guangdong, in the south of the Central Plains.
In essence, the Murim Alliance and the Ronin Association were in a cooperative relationship, protecting each other's backs from the Demonic Cult and the Heretic Heaven.
“I thought he was no ordinary fellow, but to think he has a connection with Myeongwon.”
Honestly, Yaun himself had been quite surprised when he heard this information from the Strategist during his investigation.
The Ronin King was a figure who could be considered the king of the north if the world were divided into four.
To have a connection with such a person was akin to possessing a tremendous fortune in this martial world.
“But this is the Murim Alliance.”
At the Alliance Leader's words, Yaun’s momentarily lost pride returned.
What does it matter if he’s the Ronin King?
The man before me is the head of the Murim Alliance, and also the Heavenly Sword Emperor, one of the four pillars who divide the world!
“And if it’s the Ronin King, I have even more reason not to lose. Indeed!”
His master seemed to have made a decision.
Yaun did not bother to ask what it was.
The very fact that his master had made up his mind meant that whatever the situation, it was as good as resolved.
And around sunset that day.
Peek!
Neung Baekdo's second visit followed.
“Ah, Father. Do you still remember what I said yesterday? If you’re busy, it’s okay for me to just leave.”
Neung Cheonhwi rose from his seat.
He took the sword hanging behind him.
“I am not busy.”
A bright smile spread across Neung Baekdo's face.
Seeing it, Neung Cheonhwi felt something ignite within his heart.
It was the first time this had happened since he lost his wife.
‘I will show him! A father who is far more impressive and cooler than that pathetic fist technique!’