Crumbling Her to the Point of Despair
The sky was a flawless blue, not a single cloud in sight.
Today, I could only call myself lucky. I had claimed the shade beneath the plum tree—the place everyone coveted during summer sparring.
Unfortunately, the looks being thrown my way were so intense that I couldn’t properly enjoy the shade at all.
Seo Jin-ah muttered in bewilderment, “Seo-hwa has never acted like this since the day she entered the sect….”
Well, of course.
It was that inflexible, unfriendly personality that had kept us from ever truly crossing paths in my previous life.
If I had to name the biggest change I’d brought about since my rebirth, it would be Ha Seo-hwa without question.
She didn’t approach me.
But she watched me from a distance.
Nothing was more distracting than that.
Ha Seo-hwa had followed me before, but that had only been back when I first beat her in a spar.
After our duel in the forest, she’d locked herself in her quarters and hadn’t come out until now.
“Did something happen while Seo-hwa was taking a break?”
“I hadn’t seen her for a while, and then I ran into her at the Library yesterday.”
Once disciples entered Mount Hua Sect, training in Hwa-yeon Hall was mandatory for the first year. After that, attendance became voluntary.
But Ha Seo-hwa had never once skipped training in Hwa-yeon Hall, even when it wasn’t required.
And yet she hadn’t shown her face for several days.
The third-generation disciples assumed she must have fallen ill and been bedridden.
But Seo Jin-ah, who had worried enough to visit her quarters herself, flatly rejected that theory.
“She was training just fine in the front courtyard of her quarters.”
Which was why Hwa-yeon Hall had only grown more interested in Ha Seo-hwa over the past few days.
There were plenty of disciples who came out not because they wanted to train, but because they wanted to see Ha Seo-hwa.
And after she’d finally appeared again, the first thing she did was stare fixedly at me from afar.
In an instant, all the attention that had been on Ha Seo-hwa shifted to me instead.
If I were one of Hwa-yeon Hall’s instructors, I’d have chewed out the third-generation disciples for fooling around and made them pay dearly for it.
I would’ve punished them with two shichen of horse stance, at the very least.
Honestly, I didn’t know why the instructors were still letting this go.
Martial instructors didn’t want their disciples getting distracted.
Sparring time wasn’t just there to test each other’s skills.
It was also meant to make the disciples study their seniors’ matches, notice what they could learn, and recognize what they needed to correct in themselves.
But ever since I’d beaten Ha Seo-hwa, the hall had been buzzing, and now half the third-generation disciples kept glancing in my direction.
At last, one of the martial instructors could no longer stand watching those distracted children.
He approached the person at the center of the problem and asked, “Ha Seo-hwa. Is there some sort of issue?”
“No.”
“...You’ve been staring holes through Yoo Sung-woon.”
“It was coincidence. He just happened to be where I was looking.”
She insisted she wasn’t looking at me, but the instructor didn’t believe her.
In truth, no one would.
The third-generation disciples who had feelings for Ha Seo-hwa still looked at me like I was their sworn enemy.
“For now, focus on the sparring. Watching a match is part of training, too.”
“Understood.”
Just then, another instructor came to stand beside the one dealing with Ha Seo-hwa.
Their voices weren’t loud enough to carry all the way to where I sat.
So I carefully watched the shapes of their lips.
I’d learned lip-reading, so as long as I could see their mouths, I could make out the conversation well enough.
“Senior Brother. I heard from Hyun-pil that the Sect Leader came by the Library yesterday, took a look at Sung-woon’s Falling Blossom Sword Art, and left. Seo-hwa was there too.”
“Is that true?”
“Absolutely. He said he happened to see it while organizing the manuals in the Library.”
“Did the elders or the Sect Leader say anything special to the instructors today?”
“No. Still, just in case….”
“Let’s keep watching today. A loosened focus can be tightened back up tomorrow without issue.”
I’d used lip-reading for the first time in a while, and all I’d really learned was that expecting the instructors to step in was a waste of time.
We were fine yesterday. We were, weren’t we?
Wasn’t showing her the Falling Blossom Sword Art once yesterday supposed to have been the end of it?
It felt like I’d gone back to the first day all over again.
Maybe the Falling Blossom Sword Art I’d shown her had changed something in her heart.
Come to think of it, it was simple enough.
Ha Seo-hwa wanted something from me.
But was there anything left I could do for her?
When sparring ended, the third-generation disciples headed toward the dining hall.
“Junior Brother, aren’t you coming?”
“I’m feeling a little heavy in the stomach today. Please enjoy your meal.”
After greeting Jung Nam-jung and Seo Jin-ah, I left my seat.
Of course, the “heavy in the stomach” excuse was a lie. If anything, I was hungry after training.
Refusing a proper meal from Mount Hua Sect while I was still growing was surely cruel enough to count as abuse, but my anticipation for the Nine Yang Pill was stronger than hunger and led me straight to the Medicine Hall.
When I arrived, one of the second-generation disciples guided me to the hall lord’s chambers.
“Hall Lord. Third-generation disciple Yoo Sung-woon is here.”
“Send him in.”
As soon as the brief permission came, the door opened.
Gu Seon-pung, the Medicine Hall Lord, was flipping through a medical text with deep lines creased between his brows.
He was so lean that he seemed almost delicate, but he was not someone to dismiss lightly.
He was, after all, a martial artist of Transcendence.
He had once crossed blades with Jeok Mu-ha, but eventually became the outstanding figure who devoted himself to medicine and rose to become the Medicine Hall Lord.
Gu Seon-pung sighed and closed the medical text. Only then did he meet my eyes.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Come in.”
“I greet Elder Gu.”
I’d met Gu Seon-pung a few times while living in Mount Hua Sect.
Thanks to that, we could skip the small talk and move straight to the matter of the pill.
“The Sect Leader came by last night without warning and immediately told me to give you one Nine Yang Pill. I assume that’s why you’re here?”
“Yes.”
“He specifically instructed me, so I prepared it in advance. No need to waste time on this. Take it.”
Gu Seon-pung pulled a wooden box about the width of a forefinger from his sleeve and tossed it lightly to me.
He really did handle the handoff with remarkable carelessness.
I joined both hands and received it properly.
“Since you’re from a medical family, you probably know roughly how to take a pill.”
“I know it in theory, but I’ve never experienced it myself. However, after I told my master about last night, he said I should take the minor vessel pill today.”
“Good. Experience is what matters with these things. You take the minor vessel pill to understand how to handle pills, and only then do you take the real thing properly.”
Gu Seon-pung continued, “The Nine Yang Pill can grant ten years of internal energy when taken, but in truth, very few people fully absorb its effects. Just in case, let me ask: the internal art you cultivate is still only Plum Blossom Qi Gong, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Then even with your master’s help, six years would be the limit. If you find it difficult to digest the energy, invest the excess into widening your channels and meridians. It’ll hurt, but it’ll make future martial arts easier to execute.”
“I will remember your words, Elder. I’ll remember them well.”
In truth, because I’d cultivated the Violet Mist Divine Art, I could fully digest ten years’ worth of internal energy.
Investing in my channels and meridians wasn’t a bad idea, but what I needed right now was sheer quantity of internal energy.
Unfortunately, the number of pills I could take was limited, so widening my qi and blood would have to wait until later.
“By the way, I heard you refused the Sect Leader’s offer to take you as a disciple.”
“It was an honor far beyond my station, but one cannot serve two masters in this world….”
Gu Seon-pung waved a hand.
“Oh, spare me. I’m sure you’ve got a whole speech ready for that. Since the Sect Leader already told me himself, you don’t need to explain it again. Refusing an offer from one of the Ten Great Masters to become his disciple—that’s probably a first in the history of the martial world.”
Gu Seon-pung stared at me as though I were a lunatic.
“Even if you’re not the Sect Leader’s personal disciple, your aptitude should still be enough to make you a Plum Blossom Sword Soldier. The sect gave you a Nine Yang Pill this soon after your entry because it expects great things from you, so don’t neglect your training.”
“Thank you, Elder.”
“Good enough. Off with you.”
After bowing once more to the old man who was shooing me away with a flick of his hand, I left the hall lord’s chambers.
Escorted by the second-generation disciple as I stepped out of the Medicine Hall, I silently apologized to Gu Seon-pung.
I’m sorry, but I have no interest in becoming a Plum Blossom Sword Soldier either.
The Plum Blossom Sword Soldiers were Mount Hua’s elite force, twenty-four men strong.
Only they could carry on the legacy of the Twenty-Four Style Plum Blossom Sword Art, so in practice they were the goal of every disciple in the sect.
But once you became a Plum Blossom Sword Soldier, all sorts of restrictions came with the position, so I wasn’t particularly interested.
The Twenty-Four Style….
I intended to train in it again in this life as well.
In truth, if you searched the whole world, it was hard to find a sword art as refined as that one. More importantly, the Violet Mist Sword Art and the White Flow Plum Blossom Sword Art both consumed internal energy at absurd rates. For general use, there was nothing better.
I’d decide what to do with it later.
Right now, I don’t even know what’ll happen to me if I return the Violet Mist Divine Art to the sect.
For now, I wanted to focus on the Nine Yang Pill.
If I gained ten years’ worth of internal energy, it would undoubtedly be a tremendous help in my future training.
“But….”
Turning my head, I found Ha Seo-hwa, who had been following me from the Medicine Hall, suddenly stopping in her tracks.
“Aren’t you going to eat, Senior Sister?”
“I always handle breakfast and lunch with fasting pills. I don’t have enough time for training.”
“Then go train at something you like. Why do you keep following me?”
“It’s an order from Senior Sister Seo. She told me to stop training and try interacting with the other disciples.”
“There are plenty of other disciples besides me.”
“You sound unhappy.”
If we were simply walking together as companions, I wouldn’t have any complaint at all.
What bothered me was her trailing after me for no reason and making me self-conscious.
This time, Ha Seo-hwa took the lead.
Since she was heading toward our master’s quarters, I ended up following behind her instead.
“Yesterday, you refused to become the Sect Leader’s disciple.”
“Yes. That’s true, isn’t it?”
“Then I’m still your senior sister, and you’re still my junior brother. And right now, I’m carrying out the order given by an elder.”
“...Yes.”
It sounded like she was just being told to make some friends, but did she really have no shame in dressing it up as an elder’s command?
Still, since it was true, I nodded.
“You’re not committing some grave breach of hierarchy, are you?”
“Ha, what kind of disciple as committed to order as I am would do something like that?”
I wasn’t yet fully grown, so I didn’t prepare breakfast, but I always rose before our master and went to greet him.
When I greeted him with proper respect and struck up conversation, even the instructors in Hwa-yeon Hall welcomed me warmly.
To be honest, even the senior brothers who badmouthed me behind my back would try to smile to my face when I approached them cheerfully.
That was the power of a smiling face.
Still, aside from Jung Nam-jung and Seo Jin-ah, I hadn’t spent much time with the other third-generation disciples.
My use of the Falling Blossom Sword Art to defeat Ha Seo-hwa must have come as a shock.
“Once today is over, I won’t bother you anymore.”
“Does something special happen today?”
“I got my answer from Hwa-yeon Hall earlier. It’s vague, but I finally got one.”
This time, I fell silent.
“Watching you all this time, I managed to find an answer of my own.”
“You’ve been watching me? Since when?”
“...All this time?”
Why was the one answering the question the one asking it?
“Just in case, I have to ask—while you weren’t coming to Hwa-yeon Hall, you didn’t happen to see me at all, did you?”
“I saw you every day.”
“While you were training with our master?”
“From a distance.”
“Did you also spy on me reading manuals in the Library?”
“...Only yesterday. I didn’t want to get caught and scolded.”
“I often go into the forest to be alone, too. Did you see that as well?”
Ha Seo-hwa shook her head.
“I didn’t see that. If I’d followed you into the forest, you would’ve noticed.”
Fair enough.
It was a completely different matter from watching from afar or pressing yourself against a wall to spy.
“I have a favor to ask.”
“Let me hear it first.”
“Crush me in sparring. Crush me to the point of despair.”
At that bizarre request, I frowned before I could stop myself.
“I think I misheard.”
“I said crush me miserably. And this time, don’t end it in a single exchange.”
I tried to make sense of her words.
They were simple enough. I just had to understand the meaning behind them.
So what Ha Seo-hwa was saying right now was….
She wants me to destroy the wooden-sword etiquette lesson the Sect Leader gave me… no, that’s not it.
It was a request for me to trample even her pride, so she could smash the shell that had kept her locked inside herself.
The expression was harsh, but it wasn’t wrong.
She wanted to face her limit.
And then she wanted to shatter the wall standing in her way.
To be honest, I’d already expected her to ask for something like this eventually.
Ha Seo-hwa had been training ferociously all this time.
But she had no opponent to pit that ferocity against.
Among the same generation, she had no equal.
And if she asked one of the second-generation disciples instead, she might be accused of bullying a third-generation disciple.
Besides, the age gap would make the match meaningless.
Considering the circumstances, I was indeed the most suitable opponent for her.
“Very well. I’m going to train and then take the pill. After that, we’ll spar immediately.”
In truth, the reason I’d beaten her in a single exchange in our previous spar was because the amount of internal energy I could use was extremely limited.
Now that I was about to take the pill and gain ten years of internal energy, I could afford to prolong the match. In that case, I had no reason to go easy on her.
“In that case, I should avoid your face, neck, and hands during the spar.”
“Huh…? Why?”
“Because if those places bruise, you won’t be able to hide them with your clothes.”
Ha Seo-hwa’s eyes wavered.