The Poison Emperor Comes Flying In (1)
Though more than ten days had passed since Moyong Seol and I consummated our bond, entering Seongnakwon didn't mean we were always glued to each other. She spent most of her time trying to stay by my side, but after all we'd been through, she now dedicated certain hours to honing herself.
Bzzz.
A sharp blade's keen whistle echoed from Seongnakwon's rear garden. To me, it sounded like a sword cry wondering, "When will I reach that far?" The strikes rang out one after another, steady as water droplets falling from a stalactite.
Whoosh, whoosh, bzzz.
In the murim world, there's one absolute taboo: you must never casually watch someone practicing their martial arts. But I could observe Moyong Seol's training. Even husbands and wives rarely show each other their cultivation, yet Moyong Seol had told me it was fine to watch her anytime.
Well, right now, I wasn't spectating her sword practice. That made her swings even sharper, but it wasn't my fault. If I wasn't watching her, it meant I was busy with something else—or someone else had visited Seongnakwon, and I was greeting them.
The former happened when I was cleaning the room, doing laundry, or cooking. And now, in a rare twist, it was the latter.
"Physician Seok."
The one person freely allowed in and out of Seongnakwon—the Sword Saint, Moyong Cheon—had come to visit.
"I sent a letter to Dokwang summoning him to Moyong Manor."
"You sent a letter to Dokwang?"
I couldn't help but gasp in surprise at the Sword Saint's words as he arrived carrying food for Seongnakwon.
"Yes. Why? Are your preparations lacking?"
"No, sir. I thought you'd go fetch him yourself."
"Me?"
"Yes."
The Sword Saint tilted his head as if I'd asked something ridiculous, but I knew his "speed" better than anyone.
"Isn't it a single day's journey from Yodong Castle here to Sacheon Dangga in Sacheon?"
"Nothing impossible about it."
From the Central Plains' northeast to the southwest—in just one day. Utterly impossible for any ordinary human, even on horseback. A murim warrior? Even a master of lightness arts or someone who'd reached peak Bi Yeong Shin Bo would need at least a week.
But the Sword Saint could do it. Others might not know, but I had secret intel from my master.
"House Lord."
"What is it?"
"That... are you saying it's possible because you truly can?"
"......Heh."
For the first time, the Sword Saint smirked at me.
"You're a man, after all."
"...Before being a man, anyone human would be curious. It's transcending human limits."
"......."
"Why look at me like that?"
"No reason. It's just absurd hearing that from you, the miracle-worker."
The Sword Saint let out a dry chuckle and rose to his feet.
"Seol. That's enough practice on the Jeokran Pahoon Sword forms. Come see this."
How did he know what form she was practicing from behind the building? As expected, the world's greatest's senses defied human logic.
"Father, what are you going to show us?"
"I wasn't planning to, but since Physician Seok is so curious, I suppose I'll demonstrate."
"The physician?"
"Mm, well, yes."
Honestly, I was curious.
"When the Cheonma displayed overwhelming might against Shaanxi's righteous sects."
There was a tale murim enthusiasts loved to tell.
"That's when the Sword Saint descended from the heavens, hands behind his back, 'walking on air.'"
The day Cheonma fell and the Sword Saint became murim's star and hero. Many claimed they'd witnessed his "descent" with their own eyes.
"Not the heavens. I walked down from Huashan's peak to where Cheonma waited."
The Sword Saint casually corrected the rumor, without denying what common sense demanded be questioned.
"And not fully hands behind my back. One hand was already extending sword aura as I descended; only the other was at my back."
He stood, manifesting sword aura, striking an arrogant pose as if Cheonma were gazing up from below.
And then—
"Void Step is merely walking on wind instead of earth."
With utter naturalness, he began stepping into the air like climbing stairs.
"Will you befriend nature and move with it? Or dominate and trample it upward?"
"The difference between white path and black?"
"It matters not. What counts is comprehending nature's principles, then imposing your will upon the world."
He walked straight up a tree, plucked a leaf despite no ladder or stairs, and held it between index and middle finger, turning back to us.
"This is Void Step."
"Whoa...."
I couldn't help but gasp in awe at the secret art, but Moyong Seol seemed unimpressed.
"Little sister. Why the long face? The Sword Saint showed it himself."
"I've seen it often since I was little."
"......."
"Until I was seven, he was always dashing through the skies with Void Step. I thought it was normal and even asked uncles and warriors, 'How fast can Uncle run in the sky?'"
"Ahem."
The Sword Saint, higher than Seongnakwon's roof, cleared his throat awkwardly and thrust his sword aura sideways.
"Both you and Physician Seok—it's not Void Step I wanted to show."
"Not Void Step?"
"No. I showed this to Demon Physician Baekmyeon once. Two years ago, when Seol's body temperature plummeted, I demonstrated it while fetching the spirit pill to ease her pain."
"Ah, that time... the blood you mentioned? The one that tasted like beast blood?"
"Yes. Hard to swallow, but it stopped the pain, didn't it? Physician Seok worked hard then too."
"Water under the bridge."
I'd spent all night by her side, talking her into drinking that beast blood.
"Ph-Physician? Back then, I..."
"You got spirit beast blood on your face, I ate nine out of ten pills I'd made, and the inner core's excess qi made me bedridden for a week."
That was then.
"Ph-Physician. I..."
"How could a doctor prescribe medicine without understanding the patient's agony? Not entirely my merit, but showing true empathy in her suffering helped her survive that crisis."
Her body felt like it was shattering, yet this "physician" forced "medicine" that only worked if swallowed—beast blood or inner core, no less. No wonder she flipped out.
"Looking back, maybe she took the last pill because of those words."
"What words?"
"I told her I'd gone to Ami Mountain for that spirit beast's inner core. She swallowed the one remaining pill. The shattering pain stopped."
"...D-Did I?"
Moyong Seol let out a hollow laugh and looked away. That agony was probably too painful to recall.
...What? Not embarrassed about throwing tantrums like a villainess? If someone said that, I'd call it slander from Yugiyeon and the other women.
"Hmmm...."
The listening Sword Saint merely hummed, gaze cooling slightly toward me. Not icy, but chilly enough for a coat—like frostbite warning.
"Ahem. Yes. Hearing Ami's mountain lord had a spirit pill to ease Seol's pain, I fetched it. Took exactly two days. Now, I'll show you the technique used for that one day of travel... no, the one day."
One day for travel out of two. The other for finding and fighting the mountain lord, probably.
"Truth be told, nothing special."
He set his sword aura horizontally, parallel to the ground.
"Entrust your body to Flying Sword Arts of Remote Sword Control, focus intent for Man-Sword Unity, and that's it."
He stepped onto the hovering sword aura.
"Then just control the sword to move."
Bzzz!
A glow flashed behind the sword, wind stirred, and the Sword Saint rocketed forward atop it.
"Whoa."
This time, pure admiration escaped me. Riding a sword through the sky wasn't common, and its speed—if he willed it—seemed faster than a horse... no, a soaring falcon.
"Flying Sword Through Heaven. Flying sword arts, literally."
He leaped down, landing lightly, as the sword aura scattered like stardust.
"What do you think, Seol?"
"...Only possible at Hyeongyeong, right?"
Intense fire sparked in Moyong Seol's eyes.
"Of course. Likely the only technique I alone can perform in all Central Plains murim. Can't codify it fully in a manual, but I'll compile my insights in writing."
"Yes!"
Daughter's privilege? Inheriting decades of a Hyeongyeong expert's enlightenment so easily.
"Physician Seok."
"Yes, House Lord."
"That, uh... don't fully abandon the sword. You have talent."
The Sword Saint awkwardly cleared his throat and turned away—oddly unfamiliar.
"Talent for the sword?"
"To some degree. Though Seol will reach my level faster—"
"Obviously!"
Moyong Seol clung to me with fierce determination.
"Once I master Flying Sword Through Heaven, I'll scoop you up and race across the skies!"
"......."
Was it my imagination? The Sword Saint's lukewarm gaze turned to piercing frost again.
"That's not allowed."
"Right, Seol. That's—"
"I'll be the one carrying you."
"......."
I sensed killing intent.
* * *
"So why not use that to fetch Dokwang yourself?"
"Even as a senior, if he's weaker, he comes here."
"Ah."
I got it.