The Autumn Hunt

The dinner hour had come and gone.

Beom Undae trudged along the narrow path toward the Cloud Ascending Stairs, his face a bloodless white.

He was a wreck. The disciple's robe that had once been so immaculate hung from him in tatters, flapping in the wind, and his torn pant legs left his backside embarrassingly bare. The hair he had so carefully groomed every morning was a chaotic snarl, whipping about like chicken feathers in a gale.

That was the least of it. What truly tormented him was the needle-sharp pain stabbing through both wrists, both elbows, both ankles—and a terrifying Profound Qi churning inside his body, rattling his organs as if it meant to tear them apart.

He lurched forward one step at a time, like a man whose legs had gone lame. The distance was short, but he clenched his teeth and only reached the Cloud Ascending Stairs after a grinding half hour.

"Damn you, Yeop Pung!"

Having barely made it off Nagun Peak, Beom Undae felt a chill crawl over his entire body. Far from crippling Yeop Pung, he had been forced to pour nearly every ounce of his strength into merely holding his own against that monster.

Until a week ago, Beom Undae had not felt the thing called fear in a very long time. Was Senior Brother Yeop Pung—the one who had slammed him into the dirt six years ago—truly coming back?

He walked on in a daze, returning to Nawoon Peak without another thought. He did not so much as twitch until the Cloud Ascending Stairs slammed into the opposite cliff face and shuddered violently.

"No!"

He clenched his teeth and forced himself to his feet.

"If that bastard Yeop Pung rises again, there won't be a place left for me in the Cheonun Sect…"

Black-hearted Beom Undae gazed out at the distant peaks of the Cheonun Sect, and a sinister smile crept across his face.

"But Yeop Pung—luckily for me, I'm not your only enemy. It's about time those others paid you a little visit!"

On Nagun Peak, every joint in Yeop Pung's body ached and throbbed. Yet he lay on the ground in high spirits, bathing himself in the sunlight.

In the duel just now he had fought on his own terms, at his own level. He had clashed hundreds of times with an expert of the 5th Meridian Mysterious Realm—and lost.

But more important than the loss was this: that bastard Beom Undae had come within a hair of never walking down from Nagun Peak at all.

The satisfying images flickered through his mind—Beom Undae twitching and jerking under the Raging Thunder Palm he had just unleashed. His enhanced technique had given full play to the crushing power of his golden Profound Qi, driving every blow into the opponent's joints and weak points. He could now inflict real damage even on a martial artist of the 5th Meridian Mysterious Realm. For someone at the 2nd Meridian Mysterious Realm to do that much against a fifth-meridian opponent was a remarkable achievement.

But Yeop Pung was not satisfied. He staggered to his feet, his face streaked with sweat and blood. Beneath the sunlight, the set of his jaw was fiercer and more resolute than it had ever been.

A week. A week at most, at my current rate of Profound Qi absorption, and I'll break through to the 3rd Meridian Mysterious Realm. When that happens, I'll settle everything with that bastard for good!

He made the vow inwardly and dragged his battered body back toward the hut.

Behind him, Maeng Chang-haeng and Bone sauntered into view, leisurely cracking sunflower seeds and tearing at chicken legs. Watching Yeop Pung's steadfast retreating figure, Maeng Chang-haeng wore a meaningful smile.

"Looks like that kid's sparring partners are about to start feeling a little inadequate…"

When night fell, Lee Sujol came flying through the darkness on a sword. Maeng Chang-haeng hurried down the mountain to receive him.

"Chang-haeng. Calling me in such a rush—what's happened?"

Lee Sujol asked the moment he landed. Worry clouded his eyes.

Maeng Chang-haeng answered with a complicated look.

"What else could it be? It's that monster of a kid, of course."

"What's Yeop Pung done now?"

"You'd best see for yourself…"

The two of them bent at the waist and crept like thieves up to the window of Yeop Pung's hut. Lee Sujol lifted his head and peered inside.

"Th-th-this kid—how in the world has his star energy multiplied like this?!"

The Sect Master, well over a hundred years old, nearly spat out a curse. He had spent ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a century cultivating the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture, pouring every effort into completing the constellation diagrams, and had barely managed to condense a little over a hundred points of starlight. And this boy? One hundred… two hundred… he was getting tired of even counting!

Maeng Chang-haeng beside him looked considerably shaken as well, his expression conflicted. He gave a bitter smile.

"Senior Brother, there's no explaining this except as a revelation from the Founding Ancestor. A few days ago the kid said the Ancestor appeared in his dream and guided his training. I didn't believe it—but to think the boy would actually turn out like this…"

"Hahh…"

Lee Sujol let out a deep sigh and was silent for a long while.

I… need to calm down and think this through again.

"Incidentally, how is his training in the Raging Thunder Palm coming along?"

At last Lee Sujol composed himself and asked.

"That, too, is progressing beyond all expectations. Beom Undae will likely lose to Yeop Pung before long…"

"He's already at a level where he can defeat a 5th Meridian Mysterious Realm opponent?"

"Heh heh. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it either! Senior Brother, this kid's speed of enlightenment can only be called monstrous. The growth he shows after every fight is truly astonishing. In my opinion, at next year's year-end tournament…"

"It's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still too soon for Yeop Pung!"

Lee Sujol said, frowning.

"But if what you say is true, this could be the perfect opportunity to temper him properly."

"What do you mean?"

Lee Sujol enunciated each word with deliberate clarity.

"What? You're sending Yeop Pung to the Autumn Hunt? The Gi Clan won't leave him alone!"

Maeng Chang-haeng said, startled.

Lee Sujol's eyes gleamed coldly in the pale moonlight.

"That child has already mastered a Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture that far surpasses our own level. Inevitably, he will walk a path that cannot coexist with the imperial house of the Great Jin Empire. If that is so, hardship and adversity will only serve as medicine for him. Though this time, you and Bone will have to put in some extra work…"

"Woof?"

Bone, who had been sleeping soundly nearby, pricked up its sensitive ears and looked up at the two men beneath the window.

"Those old geezers, talking behind a kid's back."

Under Bone's scathing gaze, Lee Sujol and Maeng Chang-haeng grew distinctly awkward.

"Ah… well… we should send some extra meat down from Nawoon Peak for Bone later. Bone looks like it's lost a bit of weight."

For some reason, even Sect Master Lee Sujol felt an inexplicable fear of the hound.

Maeng Chang-haeng, as if Bone's glare meant nothing to him, returned to the subject of the Autumn Hunt.

"Senior Brother, I don't mind for my own part, but this year's Autumn Hunt looks even more dangerous than usual! Never mind the monsters the Military Supply Bureau has been raising—the Gi Clan won't let us be, not after what happened with Gi Beonjin. The children participating this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time are going to have a hard go of it…"

Lee Sujol let out a long sigh.

"How long the Cheonun Sect can keep protecting these children… even I don't know."

Beneath the moonlight, the two old men stood in silence, worrying over the future of the Cheonun Sect. The pale light draped itself over their weary faces, wrapping them in a gentle embrace as if to offer comfort.

The Bongsang Autumn Hunt was drawing near. For days now, the news had set the young disciples of the Cheonun Sect buzzing.

In the Great Jin Empire, where martial prowess was held in the highest esteem, every commandery and county held a variety of martial tournaments each year to stir the people's spirits and encourage the martial path. Among them, the Bongsang Autumn Hunt was the premier martial festival of Fengsang Commandery, gathering the finest young martial artists under the age of eighteen from across the entire region.

As the name suggested, this grand tournament used hunting as its primary mode of competition, pitting each participant's combat prowess against the others. In particular, the Three Great Clans of Fengsang Commandery and the Military Supply Bureau each dispatched two hundred participants and competed in teams. For that reason, the unity of the disciples belonging to each faction was also a crucial criterion of evaluation.

Thousands of young heroes ranging across mountains and fields, displaying their martial arts and hunting beasts, burning with passion and ambition—the spectacle shook the whole of Fengsang Commandery.

What excited people even more was that after every tournament, the Military Supply Bureau of Fengsang Commandery published a Hunt Champions List based on the participants' results.

Those who placed in the top three on the champions list received lavish rewards from the Military Supply Bureau. First place, in particular, was awarded the finest treasure the Bureau had specially prepared that year.

The one who claimed first place earned the honor of being Fengsang Commandery's greatest martial genius under eighteen, and was regarded as a talent of boundless future promise. Unfortunately for the Cheonun Sect, even cracking the top ten—let alone first place—had been like plucking stars from the sky.

In recent years, the Cheonun Sect had posted abysmal results at the Autumn Hunt. In Fengsang Commandery, only poor children with neither money nor backing came to the Cheonun Sect to learn martial arts. Those with real ability had long since entered the Three Great Clans or the Military Supply Bureau's camps.

A few years ago, however, two figures had appeared and entered the top ten of the champions list side by side, giving the Cheonun Sect hope. They were none other than Yi Hwawu and Un Cheoncheon, the pride of the Cheonun Sect's younger generation.

Unfortunately, due to the age limit, the two prodigies of the Cheonun Sect—now eighteen this year—had lost their eligibility to compete. And so the question of which third-generation disciples would fight for the Cheonun Sect's honor in this tournament had become a matter of everyone's concern.

Among the Cheonun Sect's third-generation disciples, those under eighteen this year numbered some twelve thousand. But they were limited in innate talent and in the speed at which they absorbed qi. Those among them who had reached the 5th Meridian Mysterious Realm could be counted on one hand, and anyone who had attained the 6th Meridian Mysterious Realm was regarded as a genius among geniuses.

The aforementioned Yi Hwawu and Un Cheoncheon stood at the 6th Meridian Mysterious Realm. For two consecutive years they had placed in the top ten of the Hunt, and they were called the god and goddess of the Cheonun Sect's younger generation.

But among this year's competitors, no one could be seen who might follow in their footsteps. Everyone sighed at the fact that the 5th Meridian Mysterious Realm was the highest realm among the Cheonun Sect's participants this time.

Everyone knew that all three of the great factions in Fengsang Commandery possessed adolescent experts who had reached the 6th Meridian Mysterious Realm. The Military Supply Bureau, which had all but monopolized first place at the Hunt every year, boasted strength that was practically invincible. Unless something extraordinary occurred, it was obvious that the Cheonun Sect would be reduced to the weakest faction in this hunting tournament.

When the list of Hunt participants was posted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on the Cheonun Stele of Inquiring Qi, the faces of the disciples who had crowded in to see it were filled with disappointment and sighs. Among those selected, hardly anyone looked triumphant.

On the contrary, many of those who had failed to make the cut let out sighs of relief. They seemed glad they wouldn't have to go to the Hunt and disgrace themselves.

But as everyone scanned the list to the very end, they were all stunned by a certain name.

"Huh? Why is Yeop Pung on the participant list?"