Chapter 15: Growth
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 15: Growth
The wind whipped violently past his ears. The true qi coursing through his body layered upon itself, embodying the principles of the Scripture of Initial Overcoming.
Yeon-shin reached for his sword hilt.
'I'll cut him down in a single strike.'
A commotion was unfolding across the vast village fields.
People were screaming for it to stop, while a red-haired man burst into laughter, shouting that they had no right to make demands. He hadn't noticed the approaching cultivators yet. The distance was still significant.
Right then—
Whoosh!
The fabric of a hood brushed past his cheek and darted ahead.
Cheong-myeong, who had been following from behind, overtook him with an incredible lightness skill.
It was the realm of Grass-Gliding, lightly treading upon the very tips of the blades of grass. He was indeed of the Brightfolk.
The footwork of the Jeong Family Manor simply wasn't advanced enough to keep up within the Desolate Fortress's sphere of operations.
Lately, he had been trying to create his own essential body protection scriptures—specifically lightness skills and footwork—but he lacked inspiration.
'Damn it.'
In the end, even Baek Mi-ryeo bypassed him with nimble steps. Heonwon Chang tapped his shoulder as he passed, saying he was going ahead.
When it came to lightness skills, Yeon-shin hadn't even reached the level of a Desolate Fortress White Rank. He was painfully aware of this.
"Hmm."
His eyes darted, calculating his options.
Beyond the farmland and livestock pens sprawling beneath the government office's hill, numerous houses dotted the landscape.
Further out, green hills rolled toward the mountain range outside the village, covered in unusually dense foliage.
Even at a glance, it looked like an ideal place to hide.
'They said he periodically comes to the village to commit atrocities.'
The Central Plains was immense. Even in a single county, the population was beyond counting.
Yet, for this man to appear so regularly, he had to reside nearby. And there wouldn't be many places where he could hide that distinctive red hair.
After all, it was widely known that Blood Flame Cultists were forbidden by their doctrines from wearing bamboo or straw hats.
Yeon-shin changed his direction and glanced down.
Having blocked Cheong-myeong's swift sword strike, the Blood Flame Cultist's body was flung backward.
This meant the cultist wasn't at a level to handle a Desolate Fortress Blue Rank. What would happen if Baek Mi-ryeo joined the fray?
"Just in case."
He dashed toward the hills.
By the time he passed the startled, terrified gazes of the county locals and reached the mountain path, he realized he had made the right choice.
"Out of my way!"
A man rushed toward him, his disheveled red hair fluttering wildly. Traces of internal force lingered all over his crimson martial uniform.
It was genuinely surprising that he had managed to shake off Cheong-myeong and Baek Mi-ryeo.
With his hand on his hilt, Yeon-shin splayed his fingers once before firmly wrapping them around the grip.
At the same time, he activated the Demonlight Formula and visualized his sword path.
Sssss—
An intangible momentum—dense enough to be called a physical wave of energy—seeped heavily from his body. He stepped forward with his right foot and lowered his upper body into a starting stance.
Once Yeon-shin was fully in position, even the Blue-Ranked experts of the Demonlight Wing would find it difficult to withstand his fast sword, the Demonlight Formula.
"A brat? No, what on earth is that...!"
Surprise flashed across the face of the Blood Flame Cultist, who had been charging with a demonic expression. He immediately gritted his teeth and veered off in another direction.
'Huh?'
Where was he going? Yeon-shin was momentarily dazed.
It was a moment that rendered all his past experiences—where opponents either charged head-on or clashed right before his eyes—completely meaningless.
The sight of the man taking a wide detour to flee, as if teaching him a harsh lesson about the real Jianghu, came as a shock. Yeon-shin was still a novice newly entering the martial world.
Regardless of his talent in martial arts, he had just discovered his own naive greenness—a phase every martial artist in the world had to go through.
He did not yet possess the footwork or lightness skills to catch the Blood Flame Cultist. In the end, Yeon-shin could only watch helplessly as the man's back receded into the distance.
"What a shame."
Cheong-myeong, who had caught up before he knew it, gave a bitter smile.
"Yeon-shin, don't blame yourself. It's our fault."
"He possessed a Life-Saving Herb. It was a body protection scripture perfectly suited for fleeing, typical of a Blood Flame Cult underling."
Baek Mi-ryeo, arriving just behind him, let out a sigh.
A Life-Saving Herb literally referred to a trump card martial art capable of saving one's life.
In the cultist's case, it seemed to be his footwork. It was the absolute worst matchup for Yeon-shin.
"A body protection scripture faster than a member of the Brightfolk using Grass-Gliding? We heard that guy hadn't even been in the Blood Flame Cult for very long," Yeon-shin couldn't help but ask.
Cheong-myeong's bitter smile deepened.
"That's how those young bloods are. They gain power through arts where the boundary between sorcery and martial arts is blurred. I hear some of them burn their own blood along with others' to master martial arts at an accelerated pace—at the cost of their lifespan. That guy earlier must have been particularly talented. It felt like his sword mastery couldn't keep up with his lightness skill."
"Even acting alone for so long is strange. The Blood Flame Cultists aren't free-spirited folks. There's something more to this," Baek Mi-ryeo said with a thoughtful expression.
She glanced at Yeon-shin, who had his head slightly lowered as he managed his frustration, and continued.
"As you've probably guessed, his base must be nearby. Judging by his bizarre obsession, he won't just back down like this either."
"Shall we enjoy the fresh air for a change and wait patiently?"
"...Sure. You do that, you damn Brightfolk."
Cheong-myeong clasped his hands behind his head, while Baek Mi-ryeo glared at him with narrowed eyes.
As they conversed, they saw Heonwon Chang running toward them, panting heavily.
"Heonwon Chang, your overall martial arts achievement is decent. It's fitting for a White Rank. However, your stamina is lacking. You might think your current level is sufficient, but you should assume you will never fight an opponent in the Jianghu while in perfect condition. It's not enough."
Baek Mi-ryeo spoke in a nonchalant tone. Flustered, Heonwon Chang apologized and performed an arching hand salute.
Yeon-shin's eyes gleamed. This was the reason Ma Jin had sent the four of them together.
It was a tradition of the Desolate Fortress for Blue-Ranked experts to guide and evaluate the experience and achievements of White-Ranked warriors.
On a worldly scale, martial artists of an incredibly rare caliber were personally accompanying them on their journey through the Jianghu to tutor them.
It was a privilege that was by no means common across the Central Plains.
"And as for Jeong Yeon-shin..."
Meeting Baek Mi-ryeo's gaze, he flinched inwardly. The normally sharp look in her eyes had softened.
"Your foundation is astonishingly well-polished. I wonder if such a case even exists across the Nine Sects and Eight Great Families. Seeing you run without any technique made it completely clear. In terms of physical build alone, no one in the Demonlight Wing can match you. Especially not a scrawny Brightfolk like Cheong-myeong."
Scanning Yeon-shin's physique with a gaze devoid of any ulterior motive, Baek Mi-ryeo smiled with satisfaction.
"A martial artist must have a good body, after all. With a physique like yours, you are bound to achieve great completion no matter what martial arts you learn."
"Exactly. There's no need to be disheartened by your lightness skill right now."
Cheong-myeong patted Yeon-shin on the shoulder with a grin, completely unfazed by being called scrawny.
The envious look on the face of Heonwon Chang, the Divine Hero of the Desolate Fortress, was also hard to ignore.
Feeling that the Jeong Family Dynamic Art, to which he had dedicated his childhood, had truly paid off, Yeon-shin changed the subject.
"Is it really alright for us to stay at the government office? I was a bit harsh back there."
"What if it isn't? We are the Desolate Fortress. He is obligated to cooperate with us."
"Indeed. The one who should feel uncomfortable is that County Magistrate, not us. What can he do about the imperial law? Thanks to you, that official probably realized his place."
Cheong-myeong chimed in agreement with Baek Mi-ryeo. To them, it seemed like a matter of no consequence.
But what of the influence held by the County Magistrate of his hometown, Xinye County?
He had seen that magistrate stand on equal footing with the Jeong Family Manor, which was both a great landowner and a martial family.
Once again, he couldn't help but marvel at the standing of the Desolate Fortress.
It was an unprecedented sect, with virtually no rivals in either the martial world or the government.
'I've really joined an incredibly convenient place. I just need to do my part well.'
He had to think deeply about his opponent's martial power, but there was no need to worry about the influence of his own organization.
How many such places could there be in this vast world?
"More importantly, would you like to learn how to walk?"
"How to walk? Do you mean a body protection scripture?"
Cheong-myeong looked troubled by Yeon-shin's question and scratched his hood.
"I can't pass down my sect's martial arts... but I can teach you how the Brightfolk move. Normally, people can't do it even if they know how, but I think you might be able to."
"The movement technique of the Brightfolk!"
It was Heonwon Chang who made a fuss. He wore a desperate expression, as if begging to be taught as well. For once, Yeon-shin fully understood his reaction.
Having met many of the Brightfolk recently, Yeon-shin had grown desensitized to their exotic features and long ears. But in most parts of the Central Plains, the Brightfolk were still viewed as celestial immortals.
The realm they inhabited was just that deep and secluded.
Their ageless beauty, ethereal movements, and reputation as friends of Mother Nature were so legendary that they were often treated as myths among commoners.
Heonwon Chang spoke excitedly, spitting slightly in his fervor.
"To witness the movement technique of the world-renowned Brightfolk is nothing short of a once-in-a-lifetime fated encounter! Please, grant this humble one a sliver of this fated encounter as well!"
"Sure, sure. How could I discriminate against a fellow member of the Demonlight Wing? It's just that even if I teach it, most people can't use it..."
The awkwardness on Cheong-myeong's face deepened. Beside him, Baek Mi-ryeo shook her head.
"Just show him first. Why worry about disappointment already?"
"Well, didn't someone suspect me for over a year, claiming I must have left out the core principles? And in the end, they still couldn't learn it."
"I have no idea who you're talking about. Aren't there plenty of people who fit that description? Since no one in the Demonlight Wing has ever managed to grasp even the basics."
Turning away with feigned nonchalance, Baek Mi-ryeo walked off, saying she would go investigate the village.
Cheong-myeong watched her retreating figure with a smirk, while Heonwon Chang, looking utterly dismayed, muttered weakly.
"Not a single person in the Demonlight Wing could learn it? Is it truly a movement technique exclusive to the Brightfolk...?"
"It's not systematically structured. It's simply a way of walking and running."
In an instant, dust stirred beneath Cheong-myeong's feet. There was no flow of true qi, yet a gust of wind fluttered the hem of his trousers.
"Watch."
He lightly kicked off the ground and soared upward without making even the faintest sound.
Stepping nimbly against the side of a tree trunk a few times, Cheong-myeong stood tall upon a branch at the very canopy. It could hardly be called human movement.
The Divine Hero of the Desolate Fortress approached as if possessed, craning his neck upward with his mouth agape.
'It wasn't true qi, but something like true qi supported his body.'
Yeon-shin stared up at Cheong-myeong, mentally retracing his movements.
Cheong-myeong closed his eyes for a moment, inhaled the forest air, and only then leaped down like a feather.
He landed as gently as a falling leaf, and once again, there was absolutely no sound.
It was a body protection scripture that was not just amazing, but terrifying. To move without leaving a trace was practically equivalent to possessing a lethal trump card.
Yeon-shin fell into deep thought.
"Do you... happen to get it?" Cheong-myeong asked as he approached, looking half-skeptical. Then, he flinched, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
"I didn't interrupt your meditation, did I?"
"No. I was pondering how to generate wind using true qi. Since I don't possess the same innate power as the Brightfolk..."
"What...!"
Cheong-myeong's eyes widened at Yeon-shin's casual remark.
"You gained insight into the energy of Mother Nature just by seeing it once? How is that even...!"
"Isn't that why you showed it to me? A few ideas came to mind. If I break down the movements into forms and release the true qi in segments... Ah."
Yeon-shin, who had been gradually sinking into a state of selflessness, snapped back to reality. He smiled warmly at Cheong-myeong.
"Thank you for the wonderful inspiration. Sometimes I feel guilty because it seems like I only take from the Desolate Fortress, but at least I think I can contribute significantly to this mission now."
"..."
Cheong-myeong stared blankly at Yeon-shin, who was even performing a clasped-hand salute to show his respect.
Heonwon Chang approached with a similar dumbfounded expression.
"Shall we unpack our things at our lodging? If only for Young Hero Jeong's sake."
"...Yes, let's do that."
The three of them set off, following Baek Mi-ryeo, who had already walked far ahead.
Cheong-myeong and Heonwon Chang kept glancing back at Yeon-shin, who walked slightly behind them.
As if the chaos caused by the Blood Flame Cultist had never happened, the chilly evening spring breeze of the newly arrived season gently brushed against their shoulders.
By the time they leisurely walked back to the Zhenping County government office, the sun had completely set, spreading a cozy blanket of twilight.
The four members of the Demonlight Wing settled into the government office.
Having released the County Magistrate's acupoints, Yeon-shin was so deeply absorbed in the fundamentals of the movement technique that he seemed far from a novice in many ways.
Shrugging off the fearful glances directed at him, he continued to study martial arts even after going to bed.
'If I plan my path in advance and release true qi in short, sharp bursts at every joint of my movement...'
Yeon-shin slowly closed his eyes.
* * *
Cheong-myeong, who had been sleeping lazily in a hemp hammock strung between the trees, blearily opened his eyes.
He seemed to be basking in the sunlight that nourished and awakened the vegetation. Smiling pleasantly, he suddenly looked down.
In the clearing stood a boy, silently standing with his eyes closed.
With the Desolate Fortress Sword at his waist, a serene aura enveloped his entire body.
Was it a bold confidence, showing he didn't care who watched his training?
Just as Cheong-myeong smiled proudly.
Right in the middle of the shafts of sunlight piercing through the leaves.
Along with the morning light, Yeon-shin's body swayed slightly.
Soon, a gust of dust rose from his lightly stepping toes. His spinning, ground-kicking movements mirrored the fluttering of falling leaves.
Cheong-myeong's eyes widened.
"Crazy...!"