Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Running Through the Sky (2)
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"…Um, Brother Eon, aren't you going to have any? It feels like I'm the only one eating."
"No, no. Just watching Sorung eat fills me right up."
It was sincere.
'Where did this bundle of good fortune roll in from, vines and all?!'
This was exactly what it felt like to be so full you didn't need to eat!
And no wonder.
Rewind time to before I ran into U Sorung.
I was staring at the blackboard with the rankings, devising strategies for the next trial and the final one.
The fourth trial of the entrance exam was the Lightness Body test.
As the name suggests, it evaluated lightness skills—the art of making your body light and swift.
'It really is an essential foundation.'
People tended to downplay lightness skills or lightness arts.
You could walk into any tavern and overhear debates about the world's greatest sword anywhere, but "world's fastest" just sounded awkward, didn't it?
Yet training to move lightly and step swiftly formed the bedrock of all martial arts.
Besides, most students at the Righteous Martial Academy—aside from the rare few destined for scholarly pursuits—would end up eating sword rice for life. And anyone living that way would eventually face a moment or two where they'd have to run for their life, tail between their legs.
At those times, lightness skill could mean the difference between life and death for yourself and your allies. That made it all the more crucial.
'It's no accident that "flight is the best policy" and "golden cicada sheds its shell" made it into the Thirty-Six Stratagems, curated from countless military maxims.'
Plus, the world of the jianghu desperately needed experts in lightness skills.
'The only communication methods in this era are pigeons or hawks for messenger birds, or human couriers running on foot.'
The former were inevitably insecure. That's why the information trade valued human talent above all.
Anyway, the long preamble led to the issue: my sect, the Heaven-Splitting Sword Sect, wasn't known for its prowess in lightness skills.
Of course, as I'd mentioned, lightness body was foundational to all martial arts, so we had the basics down.
To put it in terms anyone could grasp, using the academy's entrance exam standards...
'Enough to pass a three-point assignment?'
This wasn't some novice sword guard spouting off after barely learning the first three forms of the Heaven-Splitting Ten Swords—it was something even my master acknowledged.
'Right, Master? If we're talking narrow lightness arts, our sect doesn't have a proper lightness body technique, does it?'
- Hey now! Saying it's flat-out nonexistent makes us sound deficient! Better to say we never needed one!
'That's the same as not having it. We don't have stuff like Wudang's Ladder Cloud Step, Kunlun's Cloud Dragon Great Eight Steps, the Zhuge family's White Crane Step, or Huashan's Dark Fragrance Drift. Us?'
- ...Why'd you have to pick those beak-faced fools' techniques of all things?! You little punk!
'Calm down. The list definitely included the Zhuge family's White Crane Step.'
- Anyway! Your grandmaster—my own master—was a cripple. He devised footwork that could open and close attack paths from all directions without much movement. That's what became the Heaven-Splitting Twelve Steps!
'...Coming at me with excuses like that makes your disciple look like what, exactly?'
- What? A punk, that's what. Though you were always one anyway. But what's this "excuse" you keep mentioning?
Hmm.
In gaming terms, it was a move you couldn't guard against. Here, it'd be...
'Something like an unavoidable technique.'
- ...Kids these days use the strangest words.
'Anyway, dragging out grandmaster is cheating. You made the world tremble with a single sword, so you could've devised one too.'
- Ahem. I was pretty impressive, yes. But in my case, I never felt the need. I'd cut down attackers and let runners flee—no need to chase.
Putting it so coolly: no reason to sweat my soles running around...
I was nodding along, thinking 'Fair enough,' when my master continued.
- Anyway! You don't need to envy those beak-faces at all.
'...Hmm.'
- Great lightness methods are fifty percent inner power, forty percent circulation technique, and just ten percent knack.
'...Hmmm.'
- The Heaven-Splitting Divine Art will lead your inner power to profound depths, and your wits are genius-level, so you just need to pick up the knack over time. Argh! If only my body were whole, I could've whipped one up right here on the spot!! But you keep doubting your master—now you're doubting me?! Argh!!
'No way.'
Well, my master was probably right.
The Heaven-Splitting Divine Art was infamous as the origin of demonic arts that grew abnormally strong.
Of course, passed down blindly—like the blind men and the elephant—modern demon cultists burned life force for that intensity.
My stable accumulation paled in explosive growth by comparison.
But against orthodox inner arts, the same meditation and elixirs yielded superior absorption.
'And with Master himself declaring my talent genuine, it'll surely prove true in time.'
Still, reality bit: lacking that knack meant no five-point pass on the next trial.
'Rivals Zhuge Seolji and Jeong Hyeon learned White Crane Step from their Zhuge family and Ladder Cloud Step from Wudang.'
Both aced the lightness trial with five points in the original story.
If I stuck to three points for the next one, ending the fourth trial...
'Zhuge Seolji at fifteen points, Jeong Hyeon at fourteen, me at twelve.'
Passing scores, but top rank would slip away.
I was pondering this when I met U Sorung.
Flying Shadow Divine Thief U Sorung.
The man who'd soon claim the title of World's Fastest.
He was exactly who I needed to teach me lightness skill knacks.
'You really did roll in, vines and all.'
So no wonder just watching him eat filled me up.
"Phew, you really love that fried chicken. Here, have mine too."
"…Cough. Ah, you don't have to. I heard portions are fixed—no seconds. Brother Eon, you should eat."
"It's fine. Between sworn brothers, what's yours is mine. Eat up."
"S-Sworn brothers?"
"Yeah. It's what you call really close friends."
Your fried chicken can become mine, and your lightness skill mine—friends like that.
- Is that U Sorung's lightness skill really that impressive?
'Yes, Master. That kid's the heir to the era's greatest thief lineage.'
U Sorung wasn't a main character in the original.
He appeared briefly at the late-game start, then died soon after.
Yet his name stuck because his entry and exit were explosive.
The late-game opener: the Blood of Ten Thousand battle.
Blood of Ten Thousand was a horrific elixir made by slaying nearly ten thousand people, crafted by demon cultists to revive their trance-plunged Heavenly Demon.
The peace-drunk orthodox jianghu failed to stop its creation, and faction infighting let it reach the gates of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.
With orthodox forces disunited, the cult's full revival loomed.
'Enter U Sorung.'
Wanted for looting sect and clan vaults amid their outrage.
He snatched the Blood from a Cult Protector King-level demon and bolted for the Murim Alliance.
But the cult wasn't one to shrug it off—fierce pursuit and desperate flight ensued. The protagonists helped, thwarting the cult's recovery.
'But U Sorung, giving his all, breathed his last.'
His final words were something like...
『"Truth is, thieving never suited me. I wanted to be a hero like you all."』
Jeong Hyeon and friends investigated: his victims were tyrannical officials, clans, and sects preying on the common folk.
The stolen wealth returned to its true owners—the people.
His death rang alarm bells across orthodox jianghu, earning him posthumous World's Fastest title and sparking brutal reforms.
I'd thought his death such a waste back then.
"…Brother Eon. You really don't mind if I eat all this fried chicken?"
Watching the man who'd inspired those thoughts beam over a few chicken pieces stirred all sorts of feelings.
"Yeah. Eat it."
"Yes. Then I will."
Most urgent among them: extract pure lightness essence from this guy.
'How to save him? That's for later.'
With that resolved, I turned to U Sorung, who'd polished off his tray.
"So, why'd you approach me?"
He exclaimed 'Ah! Right!' and hesitantly spoke.
"…Well, you saw my test paper earlier, but I'm on the verge of failing. Thing is, I'm pretty good at lightness skills. But I'm kinda timid, and the academy's exam format doesn't suit me much."
"And?"
"…If it's okay, could you watch my lightness skill and advise which point level to attempt?"
I nodded vigorously at his request.
"Hmm. That lines up perfectly with the constructive talk I had in mind."
Joy bloomed on his face, then faded to gloom.
"Right, you did say that! But am I worth having a constructive chat with?!"
Not easy to read the guy—and awfully negative.
How'd someone like this snatch the Blood from demons later?
Whatever. It worked in my favor now.
He seemed the type to follow if I pulled.
I grinned and spoke.
"Sure. I lack lightness skill expertise myself."
"…Ah."
Then I laid it out confidently.
"Straight talk: let's make a deal. Teach me lightness skill, and I'll not only advise but slot you into my group for the final team task. Deal?"
But then—
An unexpected refusal from Sorung.
"…Um. Teaching you might be tough."
"Why?! I gave you five pieces of fried chicken! Is our bond that weak? We said sworn brothers! People even pay to be my friend! I didn't peg you for this!!"
- ...Does that even make sense?! Didn't you say his lightness skill is the world's top thief clan's secret?! And you're trying to snag it for five chicken nuggets... Your greed...
"…N-No, Brother Eon! Not like that! Don't misunderstand! I mean it's not something I can teach in a day or two!"
- ...It... works?