The Awkwardness Was Brief
The awkwardness that had settled over daily life at the Paeng Family Manor lasted only a moment. It was true that Paeng Hu-sang’s words had left Namgung Woo’s heart unsettled. Yet he was far too composed to let such feelings show on his face. He quickly returned to his usual demeanor and fell into step beside Paeng Ha-ryeong, matching her pace. Warm summer sunlight brushed against them both, carried on a cool northern breeze. The weather made the life-or-death battle they had fought only days ago feel like nothing more than a fleeting summer dream.
Paeng Hu-sang had wrapped up matters in Beijing and returned only yesterday. Having raced from Beijing to Tianjin in a single day after concluding negotiations with the imperial court, he had arrived almost at the same time as Namgung Woo. In other words, the Beijing Rebellion remained a very recent event, not even a full week old.
Namgung Woo could still see the chaotic aftermath of the rebellion flickering before his eyes. But unlike him—a fake martial artist in many ways—Paeng Ha-ryeong, a true warrior of the murim, had shown remarkable resilience. She had already returned to her normal self despite everything she had endured. Or perhaps she was simply acting that way so as not to worry anyone.
“Ye-ryeong has improved so much,” she said.
“Has she?”
“Yes. It was that Gongryeong Taeheo Singong, right? She told me it was incredibly difficult and that she had only reached around the third stage, but when you looked at her, you said her Heavenly Gate had narrowed. It means she’s begun to control her upper dantian through the divine art! At this rate, she might be able to close her Heavenly Gate completely and regain her lifespan before the year is out! Isn’t that wonderful?”
She was the precious younger sister he had been willing to throw his own body into the battlefield to protect. Seeing Paeng Ye-ryeong show such clear signs of recovery filled Paeng Ha-ryeong with joy so bright she could have stepped over stones in her path with a smile. Her face glowed with hopeful expectations for the future as she chattered away like a skylark, talking about this and that regarding her sister.
Yet Namgung Woo was not particularly interested in hearing about Paeng Ye-ryeong right then. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about her. On the contrary, he paid her nearly as much attention as Paeng Ha-ryeong did. In fact, shortly after returning to Tianjin, he had personally checked on Paeng Ye-ryeong’s condition.
The Yang twins, to whom he had passed on the Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms. Paeng Ye-ryeong, who had received the Gongryeong Taeheo Singong. All three were precious connections who had accepted his most valued martial arts. In Paeng Ye-ryeong’s case especially, he felt a particular gratitude; it was thanks to her that he had been able to overcome Lee Ja-ryong’s sorcery.
Still, there was no need to discuss Paeng Ye-ryeong with Paeng Ha-ryeong right now.
“And how about you?” he asked.
“Pardon?”
“Not Miss Ye-ryeong. I mean you, Miss Paeng. You faced quite a formidable opponent this time.”
“Ah… you mean me.”
The Black Tortoise Warrior who had blocked their path to prevent them from reaching Lee Ja-ryong. From what Namgung Woo remembered, the man had been a step above Paeng Ha-ryeong but a step below Paeng Ja-ryeong. She had endured without serious injury, but he had heard in passing that it would have been dangerous had Paeng Hu-sang not arrived in time.
He had thought it was a light matter at the time and let it pass, but Paeng Ha-ryeong seemed flustered to be asked about it directly. She stammered slightly as she answered.
“Um… it was more manageable than I expected. Since he had only just entered the Transcendent Realm, there wasn’t a huge difference in our internal energy control. Our instantaneous power output seemed fairly even as well.”
With her opened Heavenly Meridians compensating for the relative weakness of her Twelve Main Meridians and Eight Extraordinary Meridians, Paeng Ha-ryeong had managed to fight on even footing with a Transcendent expert, at least temporarily, despite being in the Peak Realm. The Black Tortoise Warrior had been among the lowest ranks of Transcendent experts, but merely holding her own against someone of higher rank was impressive.
“In the end, though, it came down to endurance. It seems I’m still not ready to trade internal energy with someone who has achieved the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.”
“Your opened Heavenly Meridians make your energy circulation far more efficient, but the total volume of your internal energy itself hasn’t changed. Recognizing that difference is important.”
It felt strange for Namgung Woo—who had gained his power so easily compared to her—to be giving advice, but this counsel was based on what he had personally experienced. In his fight against Lee Ja-ryong, his dantian had run completely dry for the first time. In those moments when even executing footwork while leaking energy had felt exhausting, he had regretted not clearly recognizing the limits of his own internal energy reserves.
Had he fought while fully aware of his limits and the possibility of running out, he might have used his energy more efficiently and avoided such a crisis.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I suppose I stated the obvious. Feel free to let it go in one ear and out the other.”
“Let it go in one ear? I’ll remember every word!”
Her sparkling eyes, which regarded him as some once-in-a-millennium genius grandmaster, always made him feel somewhat burdened. I should watch what I say from now on.
Namgung Woo tried to view himself as objectively as possible. He possessed a fair amount of knowledge and understanding regarding martial arts. But that knowledge had been granted to him by a certain power. It was not something he had obtained through his own research and contemplation. There was a vast difference between knowing something in theory and truly understanding it—embodying it as one’s own.
I need to work harder.
When he had first sparred with Hwang Mu-tak, Namgung Woo had not known how strong he truly was in this world. After the closed-door battle in Muan County and learning common sense from the Yang twins, he had come to understand his position. Then, in the grand stage of Beijing, he had seen and experienced for himself that there were those stronger than him.
Defeating Lee Ja-ryong was largely due to luck. Without the Changnyeongmanan, and if I hadn’t experienced what lay beyond the Heavenly Gate through resonance with Paeng Ye-ryeong beforehand, I would have lost.
Fortune had favored him. At the same time, he still could not fully wield all of his power.
I haven’t used my upper dantian at all.
His essence, energy, and spirit had not yet completely unified. As proof of that, he had fought relying only on his lower and middle dantians. He had used his upper dantian only once—when teaching Paeng Ye-ryeong the martial art. He did use the Changnyeongmanan, which could be considered an ability of the upper dantian, on a daily basis. Yet that was merely one of the infinite possibilities contained within it. It was indeed a very large portion, but other possibilities still remained.
The Gongryeong Taeheo Singong and the upper dantian. They were the homework left behind by the battle in Beijing.
“Miss Paeng, if we go to the training ground, would you spar with me? If you’re willing.”
“Of course! I’d be happy to… but would I actually be of any help to you, my benefactor?”
“I’ll limit my internal energy to some extent. You need time to digest the realizations you gained from the last battle, don’t you? We’ll be helping each other.”
“Then I’ll gladly do it.”
Perhaps she was happy at the thought of being helpful to him. A small humming tune could be heard coming from Paeng Ha-ryeong.
The training ground the two headed toward was a small arena attached to the training pavilion the Paeng Family had provided for Namgung Woo’s group. Though called small, it was more than enough space for three people. Yang Kvae, who had been up there first, spotted the approaching pair and jumped down from the platform.
“Oh! The captain’s here?”
“You’ve arrived,” Yang Jeong said, following his brother down.
Yang Kvae immediately began picking at his ear and spouted, “What’s that? Must be a hallucination. I thought I heard a voice that couldn’t possibly exist… Heh, of course not. This Peak Realm expert Lord Yang Kvae’s hearing has already transcended the level of ordinary mortals.”
“Sigh… Aren’t you embarrassed? You should feel some shame in front of the captain… It’s like writing characters in front of a scholar.”
Yang Jeong sighed and scolded him, but Yang Kvae’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. “Talking back? Troublesome. This one, Peak Realm expert.”
“You’re really full of shit, you know that?”
Yang Kvae’s cheeky antics were enough to make even Yang Jeong—who had stubbornly maintained polite speech—abandon honorifics and spit out a curse.
“Captain, please do something about him. He’s been like this every single day since we left Beijing.”
“Hmph… Captain, there’s no value in listening to a weakling’s words. While we’re at it, how about our Changcheon Squad establishes some proper rules? No entry for anyone below the Peak Realm. Or those below Peak Realm can only be apprentice members, not official ones. Something like that.”
The Beijing Rebellion had helped many people grow. Namgung Woo and Paeng Ha-ryeong. Even the Yang twins. But unfortunately for Yang Jeong, the degree of growth varied between individuals. Yang Kvae had entered the Peak Realm while Yang Jeong had not. Whether it stemmed from a sense of crisis now that his younger brother was pulling ahead, or from a sense of responsibility as the older twin, Yang Kvae had taken the next step before him.
“Yang Kvae, enough with the jokes. Last time I watched, you were still losing to Jeong in terms of forms.”
“Ahem, well, that’s…”
“I understand you’re happy about reaching the Peak Realm, but don’t get too caught up in it.”
“I know, Captain. Flaunting Peak Realm strength in the murim will just get you killed.”
Yang Kvae answered with the playfulness stripped from his voice.
“Good. From now on, you two should spar and discuss martial arts often. Yang Kvae can teach Yang Jeong the insights and energy manipulation that come with the Peak Realm, and Yang Jeong can help Yang Kvae increase his proficiency with forms. That would be ideal.”
“We’ve already been doing circulation practice together before bed and talking about martial arts until we fall asleep. During those times, my brother gets serious too.”
It seemed Yang Kvae’s constant “Peak Realm expert” refrain had only been in the realm of jokes after all.
“All right then. Can we use the training ground for a while?”
“Go ahead. We’re pretty much done here.”
Namgung Woo turned his gaze from the two men toward Paeng Ha-ryeong and asked, “Would it be all right if these two watch our spar?”
In the murim, it was taboo to secretly observe another’s personal training. A spar was a form of training. The opponent naturally had the right to observe the techniques, but spectators were a more ambiguous matter. However, Paeng Ha-ryeong gave permission without hesitation.
“Of course. The Paeng Family’s martial arts aren’t so easily unraveled by a single glance, you know?”
Tap. Paeng Ha-ryeong leaped onto the training platform first. With a determined expression that declared she would not yield easily even to her benefactor, she called out, “I will face you with everything I have!”
Watching the spirited Paeng Ha-ryeong, Namgung Woo smiled faintly and vaulted onto the platform. If she was going to say that, then he would have to give his all as well.
Soon the sounds of clashing echoed across the grounds. Man and woman focused entirely on each other as they sweated under the sun. It was summer.