Chapter 115
Chapter 115
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: Ironclad Heart
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Thanks to Dan Hyeong-u, I had attained enlightenment. The deep meditation that followed didn't end so easily. Savoring that enlightenment was an utterly sweet experience. It felt like only a moment had passed, but when I opened my eyes, three full hours had gone by.
There was no point in trying to sleep with the time that remained. Naturally, it was far better to wait here for Dan Hyeong-u like this.
"That said, Young Master Dan usually rises quite early in the morning..."
Jegal Rin's words caused the group's expressions to shift subtly. Dan Hyeong-u's room clearly emanated a presence. There was no way the Sword King or Sword Demon could miss that familiar energy of his.
But the man in question was Dan Hyeong-u. The Sword King hurriedly leaped to his feet and flung open the door to Dan Hyeong-u's room.
A thick veil of emptiness settled over the Sword King's face.
"He's already gone."
The room still held some lingering warmth. Dan Hyeong-u's presence lingered there too. It was strange—no person, just the aura left behind. But at that moment, not a single soul had eyes to marvel at the wonder of it.
"Let's hurry after him. He must have headed to the Moyong Clan anyway."
The moment Umun Hye spoke, the group sprang into frantic motion. It was still early enough to call it dawn. Almost no one was out and about. They unleashed their lightness skills without restraint, racing toward the Moyong Clan.
Dan Hyeong-u had slipped out of the inn well before the group even finished their meditation, in the dead of pre-dawn hours. He knew countless ways to move without detection, so leaving unnoticed was no issue at all. A single step took him outside the inn.
Once out, Dan Hyeong-u quietly surveyed the flow of energy around him. Without hesitation, he set off in one direction. He could have used Convergence to get there in one go, but he didn't feel like it. Right now, he just wanted to walk.
Dan Hyeong-u walked slowly, then came to a stop. Before him sprawled a massive estate. He followed along the wall encircling it. At the far end stood a small smithy.
A door connected the smithy to the estate—it was obvious this was for delivering goods forged there for use within.
Dan Hyeong-u strode toward the smithy without pause. A familiar sensation wafted from within. It was the aura of a long-forgotten friend. The scent of iron that always clung to him.
A fragrance no other smithy could produce. It was utterly different from the metallic smells of the forges he'd visited before.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Even at this early hour, the ringing of hammer on anvil echoed through the smithy. He'd never heard it when with his friend, yet it felt strangely intimate.
Standing before the smithy, Dan Hyeong-u lingered, the hammer strikes conjuring memories of his friend. Then he stepped inside.
Inside, bronze-hued muscles rippled. Each wave brought the unerring clang of the hammer.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Dan Hyeong-u stood silently, watching the man at work. The smith clearly knew he'd entered, yet the hammering never ceased.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
How much time passed? Dan Hyeong-u gazed at the blacksmith's back, still hard at work. It was the very scene his friend had always dreamed of. Long-submerged memories slowly surfaced. This was the world his friend had always described.
Dan Hyeong-u turned his head, scanning the smithy. It matched his friend's words perfectly. No decorations, nothing fancy—just the forge, the hammering blacksmith, and the resounding strikes shaking the place...
Dan Hyeong-u could wait forever if needed. An hour slipped by. By now, his comrades would be awake.
The hammer fell silent.
The rugged-faced blacksmith turned, staring straight at Dan Hyeong-u. Dan Hyeong-u's eyes gleamed faintly at the sight.
He was unchanged. The blacksmith's appearance was the spitting image of his friend. Even with the years added, it rang true. It felt different from seeing Ak Bi-hwan at the Ak Family Manor back then.
Dan Hyeong-u untied the sword from his waist. He had no intention of drawing it—just offered it as is.
Cheolmak-sim, the blacksmith, eyed the proffered blade, his gaze sharpening. He took it absentmindedly, then couldn't hide his shock.
Even sheathed, its biting edge pierced straight through to his hand. Were it not for hands tempered by years at the forge, it might have sliced clean through. Cautiously, Cheolmak-sim drew the sword from its scabbard. The blade's sharpness seemed ready to cleave his very eyes.
"What a pity."
Cheolmak-sim murmured unwittingly. Anyone else would call it an extraordinary sword, but not in his eyes. Such superb material, utterly wasted. The ingredients were too precious for this.
Cheolmak-sim's eyes turned to Dan Hyeong-u. This was originally the Moyong Clan's private smithy. He wasn't one to work under others, but the massive debt he owed the clan left him no choice.
Even so, he couldn't work on this stranger's sword.
"This blade needs no maintenance."
With those words, Cheolmak-sim offered it back. Dan Hyeong-u knew as much. This sword had never once been tended in all its time with him. After all those years together, not a speck of dust marred it.
Dan Hyeong-u shook his head.
"It's mere material."
Cheolmak-sim's eyes widened at the words, filled with astonishment.
Dan Hyeong-u calmly pressed on through the shock.
"It belongs to Muhan."
The hammer nearly slipped from Cheolmak-sim's grasp.
"What did you say?"
Dan Hyeong-u held his words, but the meaning and sincerity reached home. Cheolmak-sim looked down at the sword in his hand. Even he had to admit it was flawless material. He wondered if anyone could even work it properly.
"No iron from this world."
"Muhan said the same."
Cheolmak-sim looked up at Dan Hyeong-u. He had one more question burning, but couldn't bring himself to ask. He already knew the answer.
Silence stretched on.
"Muhan, he..."
Cheolmak-sim steeled himself and spoke. Dan Hyeong-u cut him off instantly.
"Said he wanted to become a blacksmith."
Cheolmak-sim squeezed his eyes shut. So it had come to this. He'd suspected as much long ago, but hearing it straight filled him with unstoppable tears. A single thick teardrop traced down from Cheolmak-sim's eye.
The father mourned his son's death with that one tear.
After a quiet moment, Cheolmak-sim opened his eyes. Bloodshot red, yet radiating crystal-clear resolve.
"A comrade?"
"A friend."
Cheolmak-sim nodded deeply at Dan Hyeong-u's reply. He examined the sword again.
Iron not of this world. Immensely strong, but more—the metal itself bore an edge. And perfectly balanced. Like iron forged by the gods.
Cheolmak-sim's hand glided along the blade. Touch alone revealed how to shape it. Nodding, unable to hide his awe.
"Truly remarkable material. Not even hard to work."
Murmuring that, Cheolmak-sim looked back at Dan Hyeong-u, who stood utterly still.
"Come back in five days."
Dan Hyeong-u nodded. It was his friend's father speaking. He'd grant any request if possible.
Dan Hyeong-u slowly bowed at the waist. After greeting Cheolmak-sim thus, he turned and took a single step—vanishing like smoke.
He reappeared in the exact center of his room in the inn's rear garden.
But his comrades were nowhere to be seen.
The Moyong Clan.
It could be called the hegemon of Yoneung Province. Hardly any powerful martial sects existed there. At best, minor ones—and even their strongest couldn't touch the Moyong Clan's toes.
Any other clan entering Yoneung would have claimed the same dominance. Yet no one dared ignore the Moyong Clan. Because of one man within.
Moyong Cheon. Former head of the Moyong Clan, still wielding immense influence. People called him not by Moyong Cheon, but Azure Dragon Sword.
His influence not waning but growing was only natural. He was among the Ten Great Experts.
Though rated slightly below the Sword King, he himself never thought so. The Azure Dragon Sword was still growing stronger.
Moyong Cheon sat quietly in his room, polishing his sword. It was part of his daily routine, before breakfast every morning. Since acquiring this blade, not a single day had passed without its care. He cherished it that much.
Polishing it reverently, he smiled in satisfaction and sheathed it.
"The more I see it, the more I love this sword."
Even when rumors swirled of the Heavenly Qi Master's hidden disciple revealing Heavenly Island and Blood Shadow Sword, Moyong Cheon hadn't budged. He had his beloved Azure Dragon.
True to its name, his treasured blade gleamed with a dark sheen overall. Forged from Dark Iron—no ordinary sort, but Chilly Yin Profound Iron. Thus, Azure Dragon always carried a chill aura.
Moyong Cheon rose, fastening the sword to his waist. He walked slowly outside. Acquiring this sword had been the most joyous event of the past decade.
"Come to think of it, it's been ages since I last saw him."
Moyong Cheon suddenly missed that blacksmith. Cheolmak-sim, forger of Azure Dragon.
Cheolmak-sim was truly exceptional. At least by Moyong Cheon's judgment, no greater smith existed.
World's Greatest. Not a title easily claimed. Yet Cheolmak-sim bore it without flaw.
Not content with mastering ordinary Dark Iron, he'd perfectly wrought the impossible Chilly Yin Profound Iron. The result hung at Moyong Cheon's waist, bearing the name Azure Dragon.
He'd visited Cheolmak-sim constantly back then, ever since hearing of the Chilly Yin Profound Iron. But Cheolmak-sim was no man to be commanded lightly.
Moyong Cheon had entrusted it all to his son Moyong Yeonghwan, and Azure Dragon had returned as the prize. He'd even drawn Cheolmak-sim into the clan's fold, saddling him with a debt of ten thousand silver taels.
That was why Cheolmak-sim couldn't leave the Moyong Clan. The debt of ten thousand silver taels shackled him.
With his skills, repaying such a fortune was impossible. Cheolmak-sim was fated to labor for the Moyong Clan until death.
"It would have been better if he'd had a child."
Cheolmak-sim's offspring wouldn't be ordinary. Born with prodigious talent for smithing. And Cheolmak-sim wouldn't let it lie fallow. Destined to become the world's greatest blacksmith. But he had no heir.
He'd had a wife, but she'd piled debts on him before dying. It made reeling him in easy. Though few knew that very scheme was the Moyong Clan's plot.