Chapter 145
Chapter 145
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: Mount Hua Withdraws
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“What do you mean? You’re not participating in the Nine Dragons Tournament?”
“Haha, that’s how it turned out.”
“What?”
At Cheong Jin’s sheepish laugh, Jin San’s eyebrows contorted.
“Is that something to be laughing about right now?”
“…”
“That’s absurd! How can it be called the Nine Dragons Tournament if Mount Hua, of all places—the home of the Sword Saint—pulls out?”
“I understand what you mean, but my master is being too stubborn…”
“Don’t use your master as an excuse!”
Jin San glared, his eyes wide, but Cheong Jin only smiled awkwardly.
“Withdrawing from the Nine Dragons Tournament… Are you telling me you don’t know this is the first event organized by the new Alliance Leader?”
“I know. How could I not?”
“And you’re still not going? Have you already forgotten we promised to support him in his lonely fight!”
Jin San’s voice grew louder, but Cheong Jin merely listened in silence with an apologetic expression.
“Hah, what is it? You wouldn’t do this without reason. What did your master say to make you reach such a decision?”
“I have no excuse.”
“Gods, this is frustrating. I heard that people eager to see the Sword Dragon of Mount Hua have been camped out in Zhengzhou for a while now… Does your master know about that?”
“I told him as much.”
“…?”
“But he flew into a rage at once, didn’t he? You heard him, right?”
“Well…”
Jin San nodded with a sour look.
There was no way he could have missed it.
He had been drinking plum wine in the courtyard, trying not to disturb the conversation between Cheong Jin, Un Hak, and Dokgo Seong.
He was too far away to hear the entire conversation, but how could he not have heard the sudden roar?
Shouts like ‘Have you all lost your minds?’, ‘Absolutely not!’, ‘That boy isn’t ready!’, and ‘I’ll show you your shortcomings right now!’ had echoed through the air.
Of course, that was all he heard, so he didn’t know the details… To think it was about the Nine Dragons Tournament.
“Hah, so? Why did your master get so angry? Surely he understands the significance of the Nine Dragons Tournament, which has been held for generations to promote harmony among the Nine Great Sects?”
“Of course, he does.”
“He knows, and he still got that angry?”
“Well… it’s because of Young Master Neung.”
“Hmm?”
“Excuse me?”
Neung Un-bi, who had been listening quietly, wore the same expression as Jin San.
Why was he suddenly being dragged into this? What did I do?
“Oh, my. Please don’t misunderstand, Young Master Neung. It’s not because of anything you did.”
“Then why did you say it was because of me…”
“The truth is, my master became quite heated because of the talent you displayed, Young Master Neung…”
“Talent… me? I haven’t really shown anything, though?”
As Neung Un-bi tilted his head in confusion, Cheong Jin gave a slight smile.
It seemed he himself was not yet aware of it.
But would it be alright to tell him?
Cheong Jin hesitated for a moment, thinking his words might hasten the young man’s blossoming.
But his hesitation didn’t last long.
This, too, was a matter of fate.
Hearing something does not guarantee one will obtain it, and obtaining something does not guarantee one will master it. As his master, Dokgo Seong—no, Hyeon Cheon—had said, it was all just a pointless obsession.
The distinction between the Orthodox and Demonic no longer mattered. It was simply one who had walked the path leaving a signpost for those who would walk it later.
Having made up his mind, Cheong Jin spoke softly.
“Young Master Neung. I heard my master showed you his insight.”
“Huh? What? What did you say? Your master did what? He showed him his insight?”
At Cheong Jin’s words, Jin San’s eyes widened beside him.
“So he said. He was lamenting how the result of his forty years of wall-gazing was completely snatched away.”
“Ha! Such a thing… Did that happen before we arrived?”
Jin San, who had been furious, now looked at Neung Un-bi as if all the energy had been drained from him.
“You’re quite lucky. You saw something that precious?”
“Pardon? No, that’s…”
Neung Un-bi was utterly bewildered.
What was he supposed to have seen?
It was just a hallucination. And that was an insight?
“You’ve had a fateful encounter. A fateful encounter indeed. Our Woong-hyeon should have been there… No, I wish I had been there.”
Jin San muttered, his voice filled with regret.
“Young Master Neung, could you perhaps tell me what you saw?”
“Ah, well…”
What was so difficult about telling them?
It wasn’t like he had tried to see it in the first place.
“Actually, the elder lowered a tree branch like this…”
As Neung Un-bi described the hallucination he had seen in detail, Cheong Jin listened without a word.
Jin San, too, held his breath and pricked up his ears, as if hoping to gain something from the story. But no matter how high his realm, it seemed difficult to comprehend something just by hearing about it, and his face soon scrunched into a deep frown.
“…And then, a purple sky poured down. When I awoke from the hallucination, the elder was just as he was at the start. The only difference was that he was sweating and his breathing was ragged.”
“I see.”
After hearing the whole story, Cheong Jin smiled faintly and nodded.
“Then it seems there is nothing more I need to say.”
“Pardon?”
“You have already seen everything, so there is no need for me to add any more words.”
“…?”
His words were still vague. What in the world had he seen to cause such a fuss from both Cheong Jin and Jin San?
“Young Master Neung.”
“Yes.”
“Just remember this. Etch everything from that moment, which you thought was a hallucination, deep into your mind. Someday, when you seek to understand Sword Intent, what you saw then will surely be of great help.”
“When I seek to understand Sword Intent?”
“That’s right. It won’t matter whether the sword you practice is Orthodox, Demonic, or something else entirely. It will simply be a process of realizing the true essence of the sword.”
“What does that…”
Neung Un-bi tried to ask more, but Cheong Jin simply turned his gaze away as if he had nothing more to say.
It seemed pointless to press him for an answer.
Sword Intent…
Well, he would probably find out someday.
Perhaps the reason Cheong Jin didn’t explain further was because he felt the time wasn’t right.
But it was a strange feeling.
From the perspective of a Demonic practitioner, it was hard to understand their actions. No, it might have been the same even if he were from an Orthodox sect.
He didn’t even know what he had supposedly seen.
If that was truly an insight, how could they so easily share something so precious with another?
Especially with him, a man who bore a Demonic name…
“My friend, Jin San.”
“Speak.”
“Hearing Young Master Neung’s story, I now understand why my master was so angry.”
“Tch.”
Jin San pouted.
He felt the same way as Cheong Jin.
It was truly a blessed talent.
Neung Un-bi seeing the hallucination was likely not Dokgo Seong’s intention. He hadn’t tried to show it; the young man had seen it on his own.
The state of selflessness that martial artists yearned for. It comes like a chance occurrence when one is perfectly immersed in something.
It was an experience that even a martial artist who had reached a great realm could not easily have. Neung Un-bi had wanted to see Dokgo Seong’s swordsmanship, and his concentration must have created that synchronization.
He may have thought it was just a hallucination, but within it lay the true essence of Dokgo Seong’s swordsmanship. If he reflected on it and came to understand it, he would undoubtedly achieve great things.
Of course, Neung Un-bi still looked as if he had no idea.
“As my master said, I have clearly raised Un Hak poorly.”
“That… goes for me as well. But even so, withdrawing from the Nine Dragons Tournament is unacceptable. Instead, you should think of a way to persuade your master.”
“My master? Are you saying that because you don’t know how stubborn he is?”
“Well… I do know.”
At Cheong Jin’s words, Jin San’s heated face cooled as if doused with cold water.
Hyeon Cheon Dokgo Seong’s stubbornness was quite famous.
When he had given up his Daoist name and excommunicated himself after his defeat to Dam Un-cheon, the entirety of Mount Hua had tried to stop him. Not only the disciples of the main sect but also the secular branches had flocked to him, begging him to retract his decision.
Yet, he was the one who stubbornly decided to leave.
And that wasn’t all.
Even Daoist masters who had trained for a long time would set a time limit for their wall-gazing. How could staring at a wall for an extended period not be an extraordinarily difficult task?
Dokgo Seong was a man who had endured it for forty years. Except for the time he spent eating and relieving himself, he had spent all those long years staring at a wall.
It was a stubbornness that couldn’t be described even by the word ‘tenacious’.
If Dokgo Seong was dead set on training Un Hak, persuasion was already a lost cause.
“…Dammit, so that’s how it is. Mount Hua won’t be at the Nine Dragons Tournament.”
“What can we do? Let’s look forward to the next one.”
“I suppose we’ll have to.”
“Still, I prefer this over participating in the Nine Dragons Tournament.”
“Prefer it, my ass…”
“My friend. He was a man who said he would leave the sect to settle his score with Dam Un-cheon. All the renowned martial artists of Mount Hua stepped forward to try and stop him.”
“…”
“But that man has had a change of heart. After his conversation with Young Master Neung, he solidified his resolve to teach Un Hak.”
At Cheong Jin’s words, Jin San looked at Neung Un-bi and smiled bitterly.
He was once again struck by how remarkable Neung Un-bi was.
With just a few words, he had broken the stubborn will of a man who had endured long years with the sole thought of having another match with Dam Un-cheon.
“Damn it all, you must be pleased. You think he did that for no reason?”
“Haha, I know what you mean. Is he not passing the fight on to the next generation?”
“…”
“He himself has already lost, but does he not wish for the next generation, at least, to never be defeated by the Demonic Cult?”
Cheong Jin looked at Neung Un-bi, his face full of smiles.
“Truthfully, I’m starting to get excited as well. What about Young Master Neung? Will he be able to inherit the name of the Heavenly Demon, just as Dam Un-cheon did in the past? And what about our Mount Hua? Will Un Hak be able to stand above Young Master Neung’s name?”
“Hmm…”
“So I, too, intend to put in some effort this time. I must pass on a wonderful future not just to Un Hak, but to all the children who carry the name of the Plum Blossom.”
Jin San nodded weakly, as if agreeing with his words.
Water must flow, not stagnate, to avoid becoming foul.
And Mount Hua was now at a crossroads.
To keep flowing, not dwelling on past glories.
The Zhongnan Sect must do the same.
If Mount Hua was already clearing a path for the next wave, how could they remain in one place?
However, their method would be different. The Zhongnan Sect had its own way.
Then, suddenly, Jin San remembered an important matter he had forgotten.
“Ah!”
“…?”
“If Mount Hua doesn’t participate in this Nine Dragons Tournament!”
As Cheong Jin looked at him with a puzzled expression, Jin San thrust out his hand with a serious look.
“Give me the money.”
“…Huh?”
“Since Un Hak isn’t participating, it’s a win by default. The bet we made before, I won.”
“…”
“Don’t even think about skipping out on it. Hand it over.”
It was a pity that Mount Hua couldn’t join them, but that was that, and this was this.
Jin San was a man who could never give up on his betting money.