190. My Sister's Groom?
Cheok Bal-soyo had felt from the start that she kept falling for Yeop Hyeon's tricks somehow.
At that moment, Yeop Hyeon smiled and spoke up.
"I'll be straight with you. I came to the Imperial City to fight."
Yeop Hyeon leaped down from his Black Flame Horse and looked up at Cheok Bal-soyo.
"Nice meeting you. From here on, I have to go fight Changmok Academy and the Dark Factions. We should part ways now. I don't want you getting hurt because of me."
Yeop Hyeon turned and strode toward the city gates.
A person always needed a sense of propriety.
If you crossed the line without considering the other party's position, that was wrong.
"Sword Cultivator!"
Cheok Bal-soyo's voice called from behind Yeop Hyeon's back.
Yeop Hyeon stopped and turned, and Cheok Bal-soyo grinned as she said,
"You've got a sly side, but you don't seem like a bad guy. Wanna be friends?"
Yeop Hyeon grinned back.
"Yeop Hyeon, from Qingzhou's Jiang Kingdom, Dean of Canglan Academy!"
Cheok Bal-soyo mimicked him with a laugh.
"Cheok Bal-soyo, from Central Divine Continent, top talent of the Cheok Bal Clan, ninth in Yo Yeolbang—soon to save the world!"
"Haha! Soyo, you'll need to work a bit harder if you wanna save the world!"
Cheok Bal-soyo nodded with a sincere expression.
"Of course!"
Yeop Hyeon resumed walking toward the gates. Just as he reached the base of the wall, a middle-aged man appeared before him.
A Myriad Laws Realm cultivator.
The man said nothing. He simply stared at Yeop Hyeon and lowered his aura.
Soon, the man's energy dropped from Myriad Laws Realm to Divine Fusion Realm.
The middle-aged man slowly approached Yeop Hyeon. The moment he opened his mouth as if to speak, Yeop Hyeon's figure vanished from the spot.
In an instant, Yeop Hyeon appeared right in front of the man's nose. And twelve golden figures had suddenly materialized, blocking all directions and charging in.
Then, amid them, a flash of sword light!
A moment later,
As the twelve golden figures retreated behind Yeop Hyeon, a head gushing blood appeared in their midst. The middle-aged man had died with his eyes wide open, as if he couldn't believe it even in death.
Under the pressure of the twelve golden figures, the man hadn't even gotten a single chance to strike back before meeting a miserable end.
The twelve golden figures and Yeop Hyeon—this combination could now kill a Divine Fusion Realm expert with ease.
Yeop Hyeon suddenly looked up at the gates.
"Changmok Academy, I've arrived."
With that, Yeop Hyeon entered the city with quick steps.
Meanwhile, Cheok Bal-soyo, who had been following him, glanced at her Black Flame Horse and shouted toward Yeop Hyeon.
"Hey! Sword Cultivator! Aren't you taking the horse?"
Meanwhile, news of Yeop Hyeon's arrival spread like wildfire throughout the Daeun Empire's Imperial City. Crowds of people rushed toward the base of the mountain where Changmok Academy stood.
Changmok Academy was one of Qingzhou's three great overlords, with a thousand-year legacy.
There was a saying that when Changmok Academy so much as stomped its foot, all of Qingzhou trembled. Of course, it was an exaggeration, but it showed just how immense their influence had been.
And now, a boy not even twenty had arrived in the Daeun Empire. The key point was that this boy was boldly declaring he would tear Changmok Academy apart.
Such audacious provocation—no one, not even in the mighty Daeun Empire, would dare say it.
Already, the area below Changmok Academy's mountain gate was packed with people from all over the Imperial City, so crowded that not even a drop of water could leak through if the river banks burst.
Nearly a hundred thousand had gathered in the vast plaza before the mountain gate.
And they awaited just one thing!
Yeop Hyeon.
Having entered the Imperial City, Yeop Hyeon took a seat at a noodle shop tucked in an alley.
"Boss, two bowls of noodles with two eggs on top, nice and hot!"
"Two bowls for the young man!"
The owner grabbed a handful of noodles and deftly dropped them into the broth.
A moment later, two steaming bowls arrived before Yeop Hyeon.
Yeop Hyeon twirled his chopsticks quickly, then paused and stared at the bowl in front of him.
"Ryeong, I miss you."
He buried his face in the hot bowl and shoveled the noodles into his mouth.
Yeop Ryeong was always the most important person to Yeop Hyeon. Suddenly, he recalled that day.
The day Yeop Ryeong turned eight, when she stood blankly in front of a noodle shop for half a day. She wanted it so badly her mouth was full of saliva, but Yeop Hyeon had not a single coin on him that day.
After that, Yeop Hyeon had vowed to succeed and take good care of her.
Central Divine Continent.
A girl and a beautiful woman walking slowly down the street. Passersby glanced sidelong at them.
Especially at the girl.
The girl, who looked about thirteen or fourteen, wore clothes that seemed woven from ice, and every strand of her hair resembled icy threads. The chill emanating from her body was palpable even a dozen paces away.
The ground where she stepped froze in her footprints.
"Who's that weird kid?"
"You still don't know? That's the North Han Saintess! Twelfth in Yo Yeolbang!"
"No, she climbed to eighth just a few days ago!"
"Heavens! At that age?"
"I can hardly believe it, but she's the youngest ever to make the Yo Yeolbang list in the Central Divine Continent!"
"……."
At that moment, the girl stopped and turned her head. Her gaze fell on a small noodle shop.
She approached, sat on a chair outside, and instantly, icicles formed beneath it.
All eyes were now fixed on her.
She beckoned the owner and ordered in a cold voice,
"Two small bowls of noodles, with two eggs."
The owner, staring blankly at the frozen chair, hadn't heard. The beautiful woman beside the girl shot him a chilly glance.
"Y-yes, two small bowls with two eggs. Right away!"
While waiting, the girl pulled out an ice-made pouch and rubbed her thumb over it. Five swords appeared on the table.
True-grade swords, all five.
She gazed at them briefly, then turned to the woman beside her.
"I'll claim that Heavenly Sword for myself!"
The woman looked puzzled.
"Saintess, you're not a sword cultivator—why this obsession with swords?"
"Because my big brother is a sword cultivator. These are all for him!"
The woman quietly met the girl's eyes.
The girl stored the swords back in the pouch and asked,
"Is my big brother doing well in Qingzhou?"
The woman nodded.
"Very well."
The girl nodded in relief, but her eyes suddenly turned icy.
"Changmok Academy still harassing him?"
The woman shook her head.
"Doesn't seem so. Anyway, he's fine, so don't worry. I'll let you know if anything happens. Right now, the most important thing for you, Saintess, is to master the sacred relic, reach Myriad Laws Realm, and enter the top five of Yo Yeolbang!"
The girl nodded.
"I will. I need to get stronger to protect my brother!"
The woman gazed silently into the girl's eyes.
Then the server arrived, placing two bowls before her. He jumped back in shock—the area around the girl was freezing cold.
Meanwhile, the steaming hot noodles rapidly chilled, frost spreading.
Staring at the frozen bowls, the girl murmured softly,
"Oppa, I miss you……."
She could never forget that night when her brother rushed into the room with a hot bowl of noodles and fed her. The small egg garnish on top, the warmth.
That night, she was so happy. It was the first time she'd ever eaten noodles she craved so badly.
But her brother claimed he was full and didn't take a single bite.
She believed him.
He sat in the corner, watching her eat with a happy smile.
It happened the year her brother turned twelve, the same year their mother passed.
She still didn't know where he'd gotten the noodles. Every time she asked, he just smiled.
Back in Qingzhou, Daeun Empire's Imperial City.
As Yeop Hyeon nearly finished his noodles, a woman sat across from him.
Yeop Hyeon paused eating and looked up at her. She wore a tight black skirt embroidered with a soaring black phoenix.
The woman smiled and spoke.
"Mind if I join you?"
Yeop Hyeon nodded silently and slurped more noodles. She took a bite from her own bowl and said,
"Let me introduce myself. I had another name once, but now it's Yeon Man Ri. Like it?"
'High Mountain King!'
Yeop Hyeon's chopsticks stopped. The High Mountain King of the Daeun Empire—who in Qingzhou didn't know that name?
Yeon Man Ri sipped the broth and set her bowl down firmly.
"Let's talk."
"You got business with me?"
Yeon Man Ri smiled.
"No business, just curious what kind of guy you are."
Yeon Man Ri suddenly stood and scanned Yeop Hyeon from head to toe.
"Not bad skills, decent looks…… Follow me? I'll give you wings."
Clack!
Yeop Hyeon set his chopsticks down.
"What, confessing your love?"
Yeon Man Ri blinked in confusion.
"Sorry, I'm already taken!"
Yeon Man Ri straightened up.
"Something wrong with your head? The palace has good physicians—go see one."
"……."
Yeon Man Ri moved to his side, placed a hand on his shoulder, and said,
"If you really want, come with me. Might even cure whatever ails you."
With that, Yeon Man Ri left the shop.
Yeop Hyeon stared blankly at her back for a moment, then buried his face back in the noodles.
Half a shichen later, Yeop Hyeon arrived at Changmok Academy.
The place was swarming like a sea of people—so packed that even if the river burst, no water would escape.
Yeop Hyeon was speechless at the crowd. Was there some spectacle?
"Excuse me, coming through!"
Yeop Hyeon pushed past people.
"Coming through!"
A man blocking his path glared fiercely and yelled,
"Hey, why shove? You wanna die!?"
Yeop Hyeon politely cupped his fists.
"Sorry about that. Got business here… let me through!"
"Business? Think I got none? Huh? Today my sister's groom is taking on Changmok Academy—know that or not?"
"Y-your sister's groom? Who's that?"
The man snorted.
"Yeop Hyeon! You've heard of him, right? That's my brother-in-law! My little sister's eight months pregnant—got it? Now scram!"