The Wildcat of Mount Song
"So what's the reason this time?"
Wasn't this the woman who'd been lunging at me like a wild animal every chance she got lately, swinging that greatsword around? I wiped the sweat from my brow and asked why she'd broken her promise.
"Being apart for a while made me realize it. I really do… need you."
What was with this woman now? Had everyone eaten something weird today?
…
At the Purple Micro Star's strange confession, Salsung twisted her whole body in pure disgust. Right in front of my eyes, the red thing contorted her fingers into pretzels, putting on an absolute show of revulsion.
"What the hell are you even talking about?"
"My body's itching for it, all right? You're the only one who can take everything I've got, Dan Mujin."
Ah. So that was the kind of "need" she meant.
Fair enough. This was the Purple Micro Star who'd broken through twice on my advice alone. That ferocious saber art of hers came crashing down like a storm, riding the monstrous physique and tireless body that came with an ominous star. The only person who could actually take that was someone just as absurdly durable, overflowing with internal energy — namely, me.
"Still, hold off a bit. There's an old man around here who'd have a heart attack if he saw you."
More than a heart attack — he'd throw a full fit and come after me next. One particular beggar of a geezer. And if he found out she wasn't just some ordinary ominous star but the Purple Micro Star itself, he'd grab me by the scruff like a rat.
"That old man who'd have a heart attack — that's your master, Elder Hwang, right?"
Jo Harang had figured it out after I'd made her scatter enough times whenever she tried to come to the office.
"Yeah, that's him, but—"
"You don't mind Ilhong hanging around, so why am I the only one you keep shutting out?"
Put like that, I had nothing. A proper explanation would mean telling her there was a divine art tied to the ominous stars and that I was tangled up in it too.
"They say a master in the Central Plains is like a parent. So why do you hide me from yours every single time? Don't tell me you're embarrassed of me?"
"…"
The fallout from kicking her out of the office for so long was coming home to roost. I'd known it in my past life too — when a woman lined up her points this logically, a man ran out of things to say.
"Master completely loses it if he catches me training with a girl my age instead of practicing."
When cornered, throw your master under the cart. I cast Hwang Geolgae as a pure, desireless Daoist and argued that I'd had no choice. Ilhong was around the same age, sure, but she was still dressed as a man, so whatever.
"A girl my age? I'm a vagabond. And Mujin — do we look like we're playing around?"
We were always sword-fighting, she pointed out, so my master's suspicions were completely unfair.
"Yeah, well, that old bastard won't buy it."
"Why not? How come?"
"You're too pretty for a vagabond. Two of us sticking together this late at night is just asking for misunderstandings."
I tossed the line out and watched her reaction.
"Hmm. Well. I guess that could be true…"
She scrubbed under her nose and nodded as if convinced. Her face was playing it cool, but the way her lips kept twitching told me she didn't mind the compliment one bit.
I'd figured that kind of flattery wouldn't work on her. Surprise. I'd have to file that away for future emergencies.
"Anyway, if he finds out, I'm in deep trouble, so don't come looking for me like this again."
The moment I told her to stay clear for a while longer, her good mood wilted on the spot.
"It's fine. He won't catch me. I'm the Tiger of Mount Song — you have no idea how quick and sharp I move."
She thumped her chest with absolute confidence.
"If he catches you, you're not a tiger anymore. You're the Wildcat of Mount Song."
I narrowed my eyes at her.
"Heh. I'll slip around like a ghost, so quit worrying. More importantly, it's about time we…"
Maybe it was the thrill of seeing each other after so long. With a thirsty look in her eyes, she gripped the hilt of her greatsword and suggested they get on with "it."
"Draw your sword, Dan Mujin."
In the pitch-dark night, a vivid blue saber force bloomed along the greatsword's edge, wrapping the blade in sharp light. The edge radiated a tyrannical aura that looked ready to cut and smash anything in its path.
"What is wrong with you? We just meet and you're already screaming for another sword fight."
"My body's itching. I can't help it."
"Why, though? Training's great and all, but—"
"Lately I've been closing in on another clue. One that might lead me into the Transcendent Realm."
"…"
You've got to be kidding me. She'd only been at the Transcendental Peak Realm for a year, and she already had a lead on the Transcendent Realm?
So this was what a heaven-blessed genius looked like. I stared at the Purple Micro Star in front of me with pure disbelief.
Kill!
And there was Salsung, throwing a fit, screaming to cut the Purple Micro Star down before she grew any bigger. She'd been quiet for ages, but the second the Demonic Cult got mentioned or the Purple Micro Star showed up, that mouth of hers flew open.
Tsssss—
Pure white sword force surged up the blade of the sword I'd borrowed from the training grounds. Now that my realm had risen, opponents I could freely clash sword force and saber force with at full power were rare.
"Mujin. What's your reason for getting stronger?"
The Purple Micro Star Jo Harang's purpose was clear enough — punish every villain, do good deeds, and make the world a better place. My goal was a little more humble and simple.
"Beating up a certain old man."
That, and carving out my own fate. Put crudely, I wanted to live however the hell I pleased without heaven sticking its nose in.
"So you want to surpass Elder Hwang in martial arts. Got it."
No, it wasn't some noble ambition — I genuinely wanted to thrash him black and blue. But she was putting a nice spin on it, so I just nodded along.
"All right then. Shall we start?"
With a heavy thud, the greatsword planted itself in front of me. The tip of the blade flicked toward me, as if yielding the first move.
Use this chance… kill her…
Salsung's feeble muttering.
Can't. If we went all out, I'd be the one dying — her realm was that much higher. I'd only just stepped into the Transcendental Peak Realm; she'd already mastered it. My internal energy reserves were bigger, sure. But that was about it.
The Transcendent Realm, though… that one I won't hand over.
I'd been late to Transcendental Peak, but this one I wanted to reach first. Was this what they called rivalry? Maybe the Purple Micro Star and I had become a healthy cycle, pushing each other higher.
"Receive my sword, destined nemesis."
"…What are you even saying all of a sudden?"
"Dangdu Chamgal!"
Head-On Cleaving Cry
I drove the second form of the Chamgu Sword Art straight at her.
"Hah… hah…"
By the time dawn broke and the edge of the sky had begun to flush a faint red, Dan Mujin had already vanished from the training grounds, muttering that he needed to open the office for clients. That left Divine Wind Saber Jo Harang sitting alone, catching her breath.
"That guy… how does he have that much internal energy…?"
She sheathed her greatsword across her back and clicked her tongue. Her martial skill had the edge, but Dan Mujin had answered every strike with that endless well of internal energy and that uncanny knack for reading a sword's path in advance. Their all-night spar had left the dirt training ground looking like a disaster zone.
"He acts like he's hiding his past, but he has to be from some great clan. Maybe that's why he grew up on spiritual medicines?"
She'd sensed it back when they went to Liaoning. Every time he ran into people from the Moyong Clan, Dan Mujin had gotten far more emotional than usual. He thought he was covering it well, but from the side it was painfully obvious. That refined air of a young master clung to his looks too. Of course, he never bothered dressing the part, which she found a little tragic.
"If he'd just stop tying his hair any old way and actually tidy it up, he'd look pretty good…"
A man who claimed he only worked for money while his heart was stuffed full of good deeds. Handsome face, upright conduct — he was exactly the righteous hero she'd always dreamed of. What would it feel like to walk the hero's path with a man like that at her back for life?
"Ugh, what am I even thinking…"
She shook her head hard. Lately, every time their blades crossed, those strange thoughts kept bubbling up. She had a purpose as the Purple Micro Star. She needed to get a grip.
"Whew! At least I got a proper workout in. Time to find somewhere quiet and sleep the day away."
Whenever their swords met, something in her chest felt full. Leaving the busy Dan Mujin behind and planning out her morning, she was just about to leave the Eunseong Merchant Group when—
"Huh? Who're you, kid?"
She walked straight into an old man sloshing a wine jug. His face was flushed red like a drunkard's from whatever he'd been drinking outside, and he was dressed like a beggar. He looked uncannily like the Elder Hwang that Dan Mujin had sworn she must never meet.
"…Just a passing vagabond. I'll be on my way."
The shocking part was that she — a Transcendental Peak master — hadn't sensed him appear at all. He'd popped up out of nowhere like a bolt from the blue.
"A passing vagabond? You?"
"Yes…"
Jo Harang had no intention of becoming the Wildcat of Mount Song. Uncharacteristically soft-spoken, almost ladylike, she tried to slip away in a hurry. But something must have tipped the old man off. The drunken haze vanished from his face as he stared at her.
"A young lady carrying a strange aura. What in the world is this…"
He must have cycled some technique — a blue flash flickered in both eyes, and she felt a ripple of qi. The longer he looked, the narrower and more suspicious his gaze became.
"Hey, kid. Let me take your pulse."
He'd clearly figured out she was no ordinary expert.
"I refuse, old man!"
Dan Mujin's disappointed face flashed through her mind. The Wildcat of Mount Song immediately deployed her lightfoot technique and tried to bolt. But as if he'd dealt with this exact reaction before, his figure blurred — and reappeared right in front of her.
"Heh heh. Did that sound like a request to you?"
A wrist bent at an unnatural angle shot toward her shoulder.
"Hup!"
Startled by that ghostlike rush, Jo Harang swung a fist loaded with Gang Qi without thinking.
BOOM!
But her opponent met her with equal force — no, greater force — wrapping his own hand in power. From that single clash alone, Jo Harang realized the old man before her stood at a realm far beyond her own.
"This fierce rebound, the star's aura, and martial skill at such a young age… You. Have you taken an ominous star into yourself?"
"…!"
One exchange. That was all it took for the secret she'd been ordered never to reveal on Mount Song to come spilling out. Jo Harang's face went blank with silent shock.
The moment she heard "ominous star," the young woman skittered back several sharp steps.
"I-I have no idea what you're talking about!"
There stood a person delivering the least convincing denial imaginable. Hwang Geolgae snorted at Jo Harang's transparent panic.
"Out with it. Which ominous star have you taken in?"
The Seongun Simbeop settled in his body had been sensing the star's energy and thrashing ever since they met. Ironclad proof that she carried no ordinary power.
"…Like I said from the start, what are you even talking about? An ominous star?"
Having lost the first exchange, Jo Harang shoved her massive greatsword forward in protest. The will to cut her way free if she had to was written all over her.
"Judging by that oversized blade, you must be that Jo Harang who became Dan Mujin's subordinate."
Thanks to Dan Mujin's repeated mentions, Hwang Geolgae had a decent picture of the office roster.
"And you, Elder — are you the Master Hwang who beats his disciples for training?"
That damn brat. What kind of introduction was he giving his own master to people? Next time they met, he'd make those words a reality and thrash him black and blue again.
"A child bearing an ominous star comes looking for my disciple in the dead of night. What's your aim? Speak. Now."
"…"
Even after repeated questions, the woman called Jo Harang stayed silent. He'd heard she was Transcendental Peak at that age.
"Hup!"
Hwang Geolgae slid in like a ghost until he was right under her nose and drove a fist forward. Jo Harang swung her greatsword in a desperate arc. Fist wrapped in flesh met greatsword wreathed in saber force, and a sound like ringing metal exploded through the air.
CLANG!
The enormous impact sent her skidding backward with the greatsword still raised. Having laid bare the overwhelming gap in their skill, Hwang Geolgae slipped clean into her blind spot and tapped her pulse point.
The instant he sent qi into her meridians, a sensation completely different from the Heavenly Killing Star flooded him from every direction.
"Not just any ominous star. This body is packed full of virtuous energy… What on earth…"
It felt like reading the aura of a high monk who had spent a lifetime accumulating good karma. Ordinary ominous stars never carried energy like this. And this child couldn't have learned the Seongun Simbeop and performed good deeds the way they had.
Then, suddenly, he remembered his hopeless disciple mentioning the Purple Micro Star in the past. Piece after piece snapped into a single conclusion.
"Don't tell me… you've taken in the Purple Micro Star?"
Hwang Geolgae's voice was thick with shock.
"…!"
Her mute point was sealed so she couldn't speak, but the way her eyes trembled said everything. It was certain.
"Heavens. Turning the Purple Micro Star into an ally… what kind of monster is this kid?"
From what he'd heard, they'd even trained together, sharpening each other and raising their realms like forging steel. To think a Heavenly Killing Star existed who was using his fated nemesis as free labor — without even paying her.
"This kid's completely insane…"
Even for someone dodging fate this hard, this was ridiculous. He wasn't tangled up with any other ominous stars too, was he?
"Honestly."
His disciple, it seemed, was not just extraordinary — he was so absurd it left you speechless.