Chapter 81
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: For Now, That's Enough
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For now, that's enough.
Just like she'd explained to the disciples during their first lesson.
Swordsmanship, and martial arts in general, encompassed an incredibly diverse array of subtleties.
How could anyone possibly master it all in a mere half-year?
Thus, Moyong Seol focused on imparting just four core sword intents to the disciples, awakening them to a certain degree.
Perfect transmission?
That was impossible.
Even she herself would shake her head if someone asked whether she'd fully grasped all the sword intents.
Borrowing a phrase from the gallery.
She had only just crested the peak of ignorance, crossed the valley of despair, and begun climbing the slope toward enlightenment.
Even if her motives were a bit impure—no, completely laced with personal feelings.
She was a martial artist first, then an instructor and teacher.
It wasn't the least bit wasteful to teach a once-in-a-millennium genius.
Moyong Seol's sword, wrapped in fury and sorrow, thrust toward Geum Sihyeon with lethal force.
The first strike she unleashed was the Strong Sword.
Rooted firmly on the earth, her weight-centered stance propelled a blade that seemed to crush the world itself straight at Geum Sihyeon's chest.
In response, Geum Sihyeon's sword extended softly, silently wrapping around hers.
Softness overcomes hardness.
Of course, in real combat.
Overwhelming strength would often shred softness to pieces.
But this was merely a test, a spar.
Geum Sihyeon's sword precisely targeted the center of her power, deflecting it before thrusting toward Moyong Seol's meager chest—that flat expanse she'd half-blamed on him.
For an instant, Moyong Seol's sword lost its momentum.
Then, brimming with resentment and jealousy, it twisted in an unpredictable arc, devouring the softness whole.
Illusion overcomes softness.
Its tip bristled like a hedgehog raising its quills, weaving endless transformations as it targeted Geum Sihyeon.
Geum Sihyeon hesitated, gauging feint from truth, then moved his hand indifferently.
His blade shot forth like lightning, nullifying countless feints and surging toward Moyong Seol in a flash.
Speed overcomes illusion.
What trick could prevail against such overwhelming velocity?
Yet it fell just a hair short of reaching her.
Kaaang—!
A heavy sword, weighted by the emotions buried deep in her heart, clashed with Geum Sihyeon's, producing the first metallic ring.
Strength overcomes speed.
From the fingertips of Moyong Seol bloomed the mystery of the martial world defying physics—the kindergarten principal-turned-physicist's theory that "speed equals mass."
And so it circled back.
Strong, soft, illusory, fast.
These sword intents, origins of countless variations like changing, splitting, sharp, and blunt, flashed between the two warriors in an instant.
As if by prior agreement.
They simultaneously withdrew their swords.
"...You pass, Disciple Geum Sihyeon."
That was the end of her evaluation.
She had so many questions she wanted to ask.
But a test was a test.
If she pressed further.
She might lose control of her surging emotions and give in to the impulse to bite his nape, leaving her mark.
Unaware or perhaps fully aware.
"Thank you so much for everything."
Geum Sihyeon bowed politely in gratitude.
Why was it.
That sincere thanks, brimming with pure heartfelt appreciation, calmed the storm of emotions that had raged moments before.
"...You're free to descend the mountain now. I've taught you everything I can."
Moyong Seol murmured quietly.
Then.
"Huh? Sword Mistress? Are you cutting me loose now? Excommunicating me?"
"...?"
Geum Sihyeon's face suddenly popped up, twinkling with mischief.
"W-what are you...!"
As the flustered Moyong Seol stepped back.
This time, Geum Sihyeon advanced a step.
"You've been extra frosty today, especially... frosty... Hm, anyway, you're not mad just because I didn't come visit personally, right?"
His words pierced straight through Moyong Seol's heart.
"I actually debated coming to see you, but then the perfect answer hit me. What I told Chicken Mistress—no, Instructor Seo Dohee—was—"
Pfft—.
Moyong Seol burst out laughing at "Chicken Mistress."
A bizarre term that popped up rarely in the gallery.
Chicken coop... farm...
Given Geum Sihyeon's mischievous nature.
The nickname undoubtedly stemmed from him.
The ice around Moyong Seol's heart began to melt away.
"Ahem. Precisely, 'How could your most talented, clever, and handsome disciple not rank among your treasured possessions?' Honestly, even you'd have to admit that's a brilliant answer."
Pffhehe, hehe, stop, that's hilarious...! Pfahahaha...!
In the end, Moyong Seol doubled over in roaring laughter.
After laughing so hard she nearly choked, wiping away tears, she looked straight at Geum Sihyeon.
"Fine, I admit it. Perfect revenge answer."
"I'm pretty good, right?"
With the lump in her chest fully dispelled, Moyong Seol grinned and poked his side with her finger.
"Still, expulsion is expulsion. There's nothing more to teach, and I'm only handling first-year classes now. I taught you pretty diligently, didn't I?"
"You did."
"So, from now on."
She paused briefly.
"Call me by name instead of Sword Mistress?"
She voiced the words she'd held inside.
"Like, Seol noona?"
Moyong Seol beamed at his immediate reply.
"For now, that's enough."
Yeah. For now.
As if shooing him away, she patted Geum Sihyeon's back.
Gazing longingly at his retreating figure as he sheepishly bowed and left the training ground.
Moyong Seol hatched an idea befitting a scion of a noble house.
No matter how free love had flooded the Central Plains lately.
Marriage was still a matter between families.
When vacation came and she returned to the Moyong Family.
She'd send a matchmaker officially and seal the deal.
The tumultuous, chaotic first day of exams passed.
But the next day brought a string of tests lined up like sausages.
Today's exam: Herbology and Toxicology.
Heading to the Medical Hall while inwardly cursing Dang Mok—who, true to his dank Tang Family blood, hadn't announced the practical assignment even for the final lesson.
"Young master! Hehe, are you well?"
"How's my little Narang doing on her exams?"
"Hehe, it's a bit tough..."
"You'll do great. Come on, let's go."
"Yes!"
He savored a moment of contentment gazing at the sole pocket of conscience amid this chaotic academy life—fooling the fools, placating the sentimental elders, and corrupting the young ones.
For now, this is enough.
The lecture hall in the Medical Hall buzzed with tension.
The collective mood of the disciples could be summed up as:
- What did we even learn to deserve a practical exam?
It wasn't entirely wrong.
They'd made Wall-Grooved Pills, simple golden sore salves, brewed decoctions from book recipes, condensed them, and done various hands-on tasks.
But something like operating a decoction vessel seemed unlikely, and it was impossible to predict what the question would be.
Soon, Dang Mok sauntered in with his usual sullen face and slammed the door shut.
"There's a prejudice that the Tang Family of Sichuan monopolizes poison, but poison users are common in the jianghu. Even powerless commoners can easily mix it from wild ingredients—as you've already learned."
Watching him posture only made my stomach turn; I half-wanted to demote him back to Dang Chunsik.
"Plants can save or kill. Especially in the jianghu, when poisoned, inferring the source to suppress its energy is crucial. Even suppressing spread with true qi, knowing its target makes countermeasures easier."
Before long, the disciples were listening intently to Dang Mok.
Hmm... That Dang Family kid?
Just pop Immunity to All Poisons. Is that hard?
...Yeah, it is.
"Thus, today's test: Infer the origin of this poison pill. Accurately deduce its ingredients for 80 points. Deduce accurate antidotes for 20 points. It won't absorb through skin, but don't eat it by mistake."
Murmurs rippled through the room.
But I stayed calm.
A test this easy?
Suddenly, memories of the Life and Death Divine Doctor surfaced.
- Hoho, Immunity to All Poisons? Don't bullshit me. Then eat this?
- Huh... How about this? Tasty?
- Next, try this. Alone it might be harmless, but combined with the last, it could paralyze.
- This is a rare elixir. Of course, it kills about 30% on consumption—extreme poison.
What would I hide from the benefactor who saved my life?
Having come out as Immunity to All Poisons, I chomped through elixirs, herbs, and even toxic plants, contributing massively to primitive ancient uncivilized traditional Chinese medicine.
Without touching poisons, reaching First-Rate in two years would've been impossible.
Mutually beneficial.
Thus.
Geum Sihyeon, master taster.
Time to sample.
Amid the clattering of mortars pounding bowls everywhere.
Gulp—
I swallowed the issued poison pill whole.
Hmm...
Taste is pretty stable.
Not instantly fatal.
For a normal person without poison resistance.
Bedridden groaning for a day.
Not just toxic herbs—cleverly mixed with subtle detoxifying ones. A cunning exam poison pill.
Given Dang Mok's nasty temperament, he'd planned deductions for incomplete herb analysis.
Out of courtesy, as I dropped one into a bowl to grind.
"Kyuu, kyuuu...!"
"Hm?"
Suddenly, a foreign sensation in my chest.
Looking down.
The squirrel desperately thumped my solar plexus, infusing true qi like some spirit beast hero.
What's with her? Hurry up and show me the answers? As I looked up at my cheating accomplice.
I saw Narang Sojeo's wide eyes, her face pale as a ghost, staring at me.