Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Chapter 5 Baek Ri-seol (2)
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Training continued afterward as well.
Baek Ri-seol would watch with an utterly bored expression until she finally exploded, at which point Chu Un-hwi would lazily get up and explain.
Nangong Yun-ho, watching from the side, felt on pins and needles as he gazed at Baek Ri-seol biting her upper lip with her face flushed red.
But the seasoned trainer Chu Un-hwi timed it perfectly, offering a carrot just as she reached her limit.
"Infinite Pavilion's treasure. Use your head a bit. The first and second forms use a single sword. But the third and fourth are dual-wield forms. Then the fifth uses a single sword again. Doesn't something feel off?"
"Hmm. Where did the sword go? No way!"
Baek Ri-seol, who had been rapidly executing the forms one after another, tossed the sword from her left hand.
Whish. Thunk!
Chu Un-hwi clapped his hands as he watched the blade embed itself in the wooden post, trembling.
"Well realized. What great imagination. As expected of the Baek Family's treasure. A true monster of the Infinite Pavilion."
"Hold on. I think I just heard some disrespectful word."
"Must be your imagination. You're doing great. A real genius. Genius. Hurry and show us the next awesome supreme world-best swordsmanship form."
"It's Peerless Supreme Swordsmanship!"
Clap clap clap clap.
Chu Un-hwi clapped at Baek Ri-seol's protest, fanning the air.
"Hmph, hng. I'll let it slide this time. I'm a genius, and a generous one at that."
Her nostrils flared, and her shoulders rose proudly. If there were no eyes on her, she looked ready to break into a shoulder dance right then and there.
It seemed the name of the martial art no longer mattered.
"You're doing well, our Seol. Uwujujuju."
"Who's 'our Seol'!"
Even as she got angry, Baek Ri-seol eagerly executed her sword forms with excitement.
"This can't be..."
Nangong Yun-ho couldn't close his mouth at the scene unfolding before his eyes.
It wasn't because of Chu Un-hwi.
There was nothing surprising about that monstrous instructor accomplishing anything.
What shocked him was Baek Ri-seol's talent.
'She can reproduce the form just from a simple explanation?'
Typically, sects teach martial arts only after countless basic drills, finally imparting the sword intent.
Sword intent is the meaning behind the form.
Studying the reason it was created, when to deploy it, and what techniques to infuse into the blade tip.
It's the part masters put the most effort into when teaching swordsmanship.
No matter how well you mimic the shape, without grasping the meaning, you can't unleash its true power.
But what about Baek Ri-seol?
She recreates the form in an instant just from hearing its meaning and techniques a few times.
"White Crane Soaring to Heaven!"
Just look at her now.
The dance-like movements that seemed hopeless yesterday transformed into an elegant form in a flash.
Her breathing and movements, once disjointed, began to harmonize.
'My god.'
This went beyond the realm of ordinary genius.
With such ability, she could master swordsmanship from a manual alone, without a high-level master or guidance.
'It's an indescribable talent.'
A talent he wouldn't have believed without seeing it himself.
Only then did Chu Un-hwi's words come to mind.
- Get rid of the habit of looking at flaws first. To survive long in the jianghu, train yourself to see strengths first.
Why had he only noted the form of the swordsmanship, overlooking her talent?
Shiver.
Nangong Yun-ho's breathing quickened at his own shortcomings.
'I was complacent. I, once called the Ghost of Bronze Hall, have no right to judge others.'
Had he grown arrogant from minor achievements?
'Absorb others' strengths first. Yet I only stare at my flaws endlessly.'
Nangong Yun-ho steadied his shaken heart, and his forms began to stabilize.
Breaking through another shell, advancing toward evolution once more.
Shhh shhh shick.
He traced ever more intricate sword paths without pause.
"This guy or that guy."
Crunch crunch.
Chu Un-hwi munched on snacks and chuckled.
"Gro~wing nicely."
Ten days later.
Surprisingly, Baek Ri-seol no longer fell over.
And she finally completed the seventh form, which had been incomplete.
"Flying Kick Tiger Claw!"
Whish.
Baek Ri-seol leaped into the air, spinning and shaking her sleeves.
Shick. Thunk!
In an instant, a hidden sword shot from beneath her sleeve, piercing the straw dummy.
Tremble tremble.
Krrunch.
The wooden dummy rolled away in pieces from the seamless form.
"Ah, gotta fix that one again."
Unlike the grumbling Chu Un-hwi, Baek Ri-seol stood still, her chest occasionally heaving.
Soon, looking up at the sky, moisture gathered in her eyes.
"Hic, hngh."
"Miss..."
Ryeong-ryeong murmured sympathetically.
After a long while immersed in emotion with her head turned away, when she finally turned back, her eyes were red.
It wasn't hard to guess what had happened, but Baek Ri-seol was smiling.
"I knew I could do it!"
She smiled even more radiantly.
"I'm a genius, after all!"
"I'm the Baek Family's Forbidden Jade Leaf."
"The Infinite Pavilion's Pavilion's Central Treasure!"
Chu Un-hwi smiled at her proclamation.
"I knew you could do it too."
"Really?"
"Really. Have you ever seen me say empty words?"
"Hehe. I feel trusted."
Baek Ri-seol's beaming face was brighter than ever.
The day she completed the four incomplete forms.
Baek Ri-seol invited two people to her room.
"What? This is your room?"
"Ahem. Pretty big, right?"
As she said, it was quite spacious.
Far from just for one person—even ten wouldn't feel cramped.
"What do you think? Impressive, huh? I'm loved just as much as this room is big."
"Ah, is that so?"
Nangong Yun-ho looked around and frowned.
"Something's... Ow."
Smack.
As he rubbed his stinging nape, Chu Un-hwi sat on the guest chair and tapped the table.
Ryeong-ryeong approached to pour tea, but Chu Un-hwi grimaced.
"Not this bland tea—got any liquor?"
"R-Right away."
Chu Un-hwi watched Ryeong-ryeong dash off and asked,
"Why the sudden invitation?"
"Hehe. To give you the promised reward."
Before starting training, she had said she'd grant any wish if he helped her complete the forms.
"The Infinite Pavilion, and even the Baek Family, will give you whatever you want. Anything in particular?"
"Liquor right now."
"Hehe. Liquor will come soon. Ryeong-ryeong's quick with it."
As she said.
Ryeong-ryeong soon returned at lightning speed, setting out liquor and snacks.
"Ah, perfect. Where were we?"
"You said you'd give a reward."
"Reward. My favorite word."
Chu Un-hwi made a circle with his index and thumb, grinning slyly.
"How much you giving?"
"Money's fine?"
"Our relationship started with money, so it should end with money, right?"
Disappointment flickered across Baek Ri-seol's face for a moment, but she raised her hand with a smile.
"Hoho. True enough."
"You're loved, aren't you? Meanwhile, I'm a beggar abandoned by the world. My monthly pay is ridiculously low."
"Ryeong-ryeong. Bring it. All of it."
Ryeong-ryeong rummaged under the bed and brought a small box.
"Thirty silver ingots."
Silver ingots.
Unlike coin-shaped silver taels, these were small boat-shaped silver bars.
One ingot was worth about twenty taels, so six hundred taels in total.
Chu Un-hwi's monthly salary was ten taels, so this was five years' savings without spending a penny.
But Chu Un-hwi's expression was impassive.
"The Baek Family's stingy."
"Ugh. Is it not enough?"
"Didn't the Infinite Pavilion love you enough to pay accordingly?"
"This is all I have right now."
"Well, can't be helped."
He took a swig regretfully and stood to leave, but Baek Ri-seol grabbed his sleeve.
"I can't end it like this, being looked down on. I'll visit the Infinite Pavilion soon and bring more."
"No need for that much."
"I always keep my word. If I ask, Father will give even ten thousand gold."
"Yeah, yeah."
Pat pat.
Chu Un-hwi patted her head and bid farewell.
"Thanks for your hard work. The jianghu is wide—see you if fate allows."
"Yes, of course."
Baek Ri-seol smiled widely, curving her lips.
"I'll be waiting."
"The snacks. Were good."
Step step.
Leaving Baek Ri-seol's quarters, Nangong Yun-ho's mind was troubled.
Glared at the small back walking ahead, passion surged in his chest.
'Doing this just for money...'
He was honestly disappointed.
Extorting money from a child like that. Even grumbling it was too little.
"Not the act of a jianghu hero."
Truthfully, that wasn't the only thing he disliked.
A relationship starting and ending with money.
Purely transactional and calculated.
'I thought the instructor would be different...'
Nangong Yun-ho shook his head to clear the thought.
No matter what anyone said, this man had saved him.
When everyone pointed fingers, he boldly extended a hand.
"No matter what, I'll believe in the instructor."
Pause.
Suddenly, realization dawned.
Adding a sliver of trust to doubt felt somehow off.
'Isn't this strange?'
Recalling memories, Nangong Yun-ho remembered Chu Un-hwi's first words.
- I need to find my student.
Chu Un-hwi had clearly said he needed to find his charge.
He's not one to take just anyone, given his personality.
He even refused the famed prodigy of the Eternal Sword Family, saying they'd be too needy.
- No one catches my eye.
Then what about Baek Ri-seol?
'Her talent was the real deal.'
Having watched closely, Nangong Yun-ho had never seen such astonishing potential.
A bit exaggeratedly, even his younger brother, the Nangong Family's top genius, didn't seem to match.
'Would he let go of such a once-in-a-lifetime talent so easily?'
The Little Sword Dragon that even he overlooked?
From there, questions piled up.
"Why did the Baek Family's Pavilion's Central Treasure enter Bronze Hall? With that talent, why learn such a weird sword art? Her barren room without a single Baek Family ornament..."
At that point, Nangong Yun-ho jerked his head up in shock.
Chu Un-hwi, walking far ahead with the sunset at his back, waited with a faint smile.
"Figured it out now?"
"I-Instructor. Don't tell me."
He spoke into Nangong Yun-ho's trembling eyes.
"I don't easily let go of what's in my arms."
Just as I thought.
"But forcing someone who doesn't want it isn't my style either."
This man already knew.
About Baek Ri-seol.
And his own wavering heart.
And he realized.
"Congratulations on grasping the truth without falling into delusion."
That the heart's turmoil was this man's kind of test.
"As a passing gift, a small present."
"What is it?"
"I'll take you somewhere fun. It'll be quite the experience."
Was it really the right choice?
He couldn't be sure yet.
"Yes."
But following behind him to the end would reveal it.