Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 154
Chapter Title: Prodigy's Demonic Traces
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The instructors at the Heavenly Martial Academy had been largely dismissed en masse. Among them was Im Won-pyeong, who had often picked fights with me.
Moyong Hwi, who had come to see me, spoke calmly.
"I'm planning to overhaul the Heavenly Martial Academy. It was founded from the start to give everyone a fair chance, so this feels right. We'll start by changing the instructors. Now that there's no need for that deal with the Murim Alliance Leader, we don't have to put up with their ugly schemes anymore."
Pavilion Master Moyong Hwi grinned. Unlike the cold smile from our first meeting, this one was remarkably suave.
"I have no idea what you're dreaming of or what you'll do... but remember one thing. Changseong Moyong Hwi stands behind you."
"The spirit elixirs you've already given me are more than enough..."
"That's that, and this is this. You call it a gift when you give away things you don't need? Not for me, at least. Those spirit elixirs weren't something I needed anyway, so handing them over didn't leave me with any satisfaction. All I did was give you a few pills to replenish your vitality, really."
Moyong Hwi handed me the documents he had brought.
"The Murim Alliance Leader asked me to keep an eye on you and report back everything I found out. I'm planning to pass these documents on to him. Take a look and review them. Feel free to edit anything you want."
I skimmed through the papers Moyong Hwi had brought.
There was nothing to point out. External arts expert. Martial prowess around Peak realm.
It noted that I enjoyed teaching children and had a gentle temperament by nature.
It was a bit embarrassing, but that was exactly my impression.
Kind, friendly...
And recorded in a way that made me look perfectly exploitable.
"This is sufficient."
"Good. Also... the changes to the Heavenly Martial Academy will happen gradually. I'll keep things as they are for about a year to avoid linking it to you. However, for those secret lessons you planted here at the academy, I'll provide full support separately. I'll assign a few trustworthy people to educate the kids to the best of their ability."
"Thank you."
"Thank you? I'm just doing what I should have done long ago. I owe you nothing but gratitude. You've given me the chance to shake off my own shame..."
Moyong Hwi took my hand.
"You are my benefactor, Silent Sword Red Cloud. I don't know where you came from or what you dream of... but remember that I stand behind you."
"...Yes, Pavilion Master."
I bowed at the waist. Moyong Hwi chuckled warmly.
Then he casually asked,
"Is this where you've decided to leave your daughter?"
"It's a bit too dangerous to keep her with me... so I thought this would be best."
"Talk to the child once. Even though your departure is drawing near-with less than half a month left-have an honest conversation with her. Don't act unilaterally like I did."
"...Yes."
"If you entrust her to me, I'll take full responsibility and look after her. Don't worry. Since it came up, I'll personally guide her martial arts training."
"It would be an honor."
Changseong.
One of the Five Stars. One of the symbols representing the pinnacle of the martial world.
I approached Su-a, who was struggling alongside him. After having her swing a wooden sword a few times, Moyong Hwi tilted his head.
"Is she your biological daughter?"
"She's my adopted daughter."
"Hmm..."
Moyong Hwi spent half a day with Su-a.
She came running to me, chattering excitedly with spittle flying.
"Wh-where did you pick her up?! What a martial prodigy!"
"A prodigy... you say?"
"Who else could be a prodigy if not her! She's a natural! Born to move her body!"
I looked at Su-a in disbelief.
Looking back, I'd never properly taught her martial arts. She was just one among many children, learning the same basics as everyone else.
...Come to think of it, she was the only one who never came to me separately.
The other kids had sought me out whenever they struggled with the movements.
"Su-a."
"Yes, Daddy."
"Can you show me what you showed the Pavilion Master?"
"Yes!"
Her small body moved. I could see traces of my own movements flashing through hers.
The exercises to loosen unused muscles. The form of the swung sword was identical.
And that wasn't all.
The basic footwork techniques I'd taught the children...
They wove together with it to form something entirely new.
Wasn't this like combining two opposing martial arts into one?
"...How... did you...?"
"You said it, Daddy. The harder the path, the fastest it is."
Su-a beamed happily.
"Your movements are the hardest, Daddy. But your movements are just for loosening up the body. They're not even fast... so I mixed them with what you taught us."
"Do you know how hard it is to combine martial arts?! No, where on earth did you even find a child like this...?!"
Su-a glanced between me and Moyong Hwi.
Her shoulders slumped.
"D-did I... do something wrong?"
"No. You did great."
"...Heehee."
A child with genius I myself lacked...
I didn't envy her talent. Everyone has their own path, after all.
If anything, I felt proud. Even for a genius, combining those two must have been incredibly difficult...
It was tantamount to inventing a new martial art while perfectly preserving what I'd taught. The process must have been grueling.
I'd thought she hadn't been around much lately, but she'd been creating this on her own.
Suddenly, I thought of the spirit pill in my bosom. The ultimate elixir with pure qi.
If I gave this child the Shaolin Great Return Pill... wouldn't it help kickstart her martial arts foundation?
"Su-a."
"Yes, Daddy."
"Want to eat this?"
I took out the Great Return Pill.
The Pavilion Master freaked out.
"Isn't this... Shaolin's Great Return Pill?! Are you insane?! Why are you carrying something like this?!"
"I got it from the Venerable One."
"Heavenly Fragrance Layman Goong Baek! No... even if it was mutual help... to receive a Great Return Pill...? What on earth happened at Shaolin?!"
The Pavilion Master was visibly excited.
"If pure qi backs up a prodigy like this... explosive growth is possible! Even if external arts have limits due to her physique, her talent and inner power can overcome that! A supreme expert in my qi cultivation! But... handling inner power is a whole different matter from body control..."
"Daddy. What's this?"
Su-a reached for the Great Return Pill. She sniffed at the qi aura shimmering above it.
"It's like weird mist rising from it."
"...No way. She can already see inner power? And she hasn't even formed a proper dantian yet?"
"No need to worry, it seems."
"A once-in-a-century genius! So, what martial art are you planning to teach her?"
"You decide, Pavilion Master. I have to leave anyway."
"M-me?! For real?! I-I'd love that... Heh heh... Sh-shall I raise her into a Star-level expert! Then it'd be like I'm personally grooming my successor to Changseong! Heh heh... This is unbelievable... Picking up the world's prodigy in my old age...? What kind of nonsense is this...?"
Su-a tightly gripped my sleeve.
"Daddy?"
"Yes?"
"...Are you leaving?"
"...Yeah. Guess we need to talk about that first."
That was the original reason I'd come, after all. Beyond her being a prodigy, a proper farewell was important.
"Pavilion Master. Could you give us some space?"
"Oh? Of course. See you later."
I took Su-a and slowly strolled through the garden. We sat in an empty pavilion with no one around, and I held her hand.
"Su-a. You know I'm an inspector for the Murim Alliance, right?"
"Yes, I know."
"So in half a month, I have to leave this place. The Murim Alliance has another mission lined up."
"......"
"And that path might be extremely dangerous... so I can't take you with me."
"Daddy."
"Yes."
"It's okay. I understand. I know what kind of work you do."
Su-a leaned her head gently on my shoulder.
"You don't have to say it like that. I don't want to burden you."
"......"
"I'll stay here. But Daddy..."
Su-a looked up at me steadily. Her smile, forcing back loneliness, was heartbreaking.
"You'll... come pick me up, right?"
"...Of course."
"Yeah. That's enough for me."
Su-a hopped down. She stood before me.
"There are big sisters and brothers here, so I'm not lonely at all. I even made friends! A few of them."
"......"
"So I'll wait. Come back soon, Daddy."
"...Yeah."
She's a good girl. I slowly stroked her head.
Su-a placed her hand over mine as I stroked her hair.
"...Daddyyy..."
"Yes?"
"......"
Su-a shook her head side to side.
"It's nothing."
...
Shaolin's Great Return Pill.
I decided to give it to Su-a. Moyong Hwi said now was the perfect time, before her skeletal structure and dantian were fully set.
"Leave her to me. I'll craft a vessel worthy of the world's prodigy."
Even without his bold promise, I'd planned to entrust it to him anyway.
Shaolin's Great Return Pill. Its pure qi.
It was a type of energy I couldn't handle delicately. I'd cultivated the Nine Heavens Blood Demon Sword, harboring demonic and blood qi...
There was no way I could control it in someone else's body, let alone mine. So I waited patiently.
But...
The result felt off somehow.
"...Hm...?"
The watching Pavilion Master tilted his head. He glanced at me and said,
"The... dantian formed perfectly... The Great Return Pill is scary powerful, but..."
"What went wrong?"
"Nothing went wrong. But... how to put it... the final sensation had a hint of blood scent mixed in..."
"Pardon?"
Blood scent...
No way...!
The moment the Pavilion Master turned away, I examined Su-a's body.
Pure qi had taken root in her dantian. But it was gradually turning red as time passed.
Her inner power's nature was changing. Why?
"...This is...?"
I belatedly noticed faint traces of a heart method in her rhythmic breathing.
"Su-a. Don't tell me you..."
"...Ah, Daddy, this... um..."
Nine Heavens Blood Demon Art.
The very art I'd cultivated in my mental world-she was instinctively replicating it.
"......"
It wasn't just her dantian turning red. Her genius steps had already permeated her body everywhere.
Having naturally repeated my movements, traces of the Nine Heavens Blood Demon Art had strongly embedded themselves throughout her body. If it had been before, maybe not-but forming her vessel with the Great Return Pill had solidified it naturally.
"...How do we...?"
"...Ah, I watched how you breathed, Daddy... and mimicked it... then I noticed the pattern... and your moving muscles too... somehow it just..."
Her talent had crossed into the realm of the absurd.
To pierce through an entire martial art just by observing the rhythm of my breathing and muscle movements.
I looked down at Su-a. I gazed tenderly at her fidgeting face.
"Ah, Daddy... D-did I do something...?"
Did she want to resemble me that much?
To the point of using her genius talent to see through me.
An unexpected outcome. I should have given her the Great Return Pill a bit later.
After showing her the many paths in martial arts and letting her choose, then perfecting her vessel.
...My mistake.
"Su-a."
I pulled her into a hug. Could it still be reversed now?
Yes. Right. First, let's erase my traces. I stroked Su-a's head.
"You have to forget all the movements I did."
"...Pardon?"
"Su-a. Walk a different path. This one... I don't really recommend. I think you instinctively understand what I mean. It's a path you don't need to take. You're a genius-far better paths are open everywhere than learning my martial arts. No need to learn this..."
"...Because Daddy's martial arts aren't ordinary?"
Su-a shook her head vigorously.
"I... I like it. Daddy's martial arts. You saved me, Daddy. You caught the criminal who killed my old daddy... and brought me all the way here."
"......"
"Ah, I want to learn Daddy's martial arts. I don't know about anything else... but that, I want. Daddy... please don't say that. I d-don't want to forget. I'll do it in secret. No one will know... I'll train alone. So please..."
"...This is a martial art that manifests outwardly when you swing the sword. Until you reach a high realm, that is. If those around you find out you learned it... it'll be big trouble. That's the kind of martial art mine is."
"Why...?"
"...Because."
I gently pulled her from my embrace.
Looking down at her frail little body, I whispered.
Words I would have to say someday.
"I'm a wanted criminal in the martial world, a man of the Demonic Cult."
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