The Moon Fairy Sword
Cheon Seong-hwa, the Moon Fairy Sword.
The fourteenth Moonmaster currently leading Cheongwol Gate.
He was a man who never failed to be mentioned whenever people listed the ten greatest swordsmen under heaven.
He was well past his forties—an age considered the absolute prime for a martial artist.
They said that when he drew his sword, its radiance could turn the darkest night into brilliant day.
His elegant, precise swordsmanship and the profound enlightenment woven into it were said to leave all onlookers in awe.
In short:
A monster.
A genuine monster who could kill someone like me in the blink of an eye.
I couldn't even begin to gauge his strength, nor would I dare try.
Ssshh.
I slowly regulated my breathing. The Moon Fairy Sword's gaze was fixed on me.
Those silent, staring blue eyes felt incredibly oppressive.
"We greet the Moonmaster."
"We greet the Moonmaster."
"We greet..."
The kneeling members of the Sowol Squadron scrambled to pay their respects to the Moon Fairy Sword.
I had thought they were stiff when they were guiding us here.
Turns out that was nothing.
In front of the Moon Fairy Sword, even they were visibly trembling with tension.
Furthermore...
"...Moonmaster."
From behind me, Cheon Ui-jin also dropped to one knee and bowed his head.
The Moon Fairy Sword spared Ui-jin a brief glance. It lasted only a fraction of a second.
Then, his gaze returned to my eyes.
I did not look away. After a tense, suffocating silence that felt long enough to give me indigestion, the Moon Fairy Sword finally spoke.
"You have traveled a long way. It must have been difficult."
His voice was deep and low, matching his stern appearance perfectly.
"I am Cheon Seong-hwa."
"I am Bang Seong-yeon."
The Moon Fairy Sword gave a brief nod upon hearing my name.
"I shall escort you inside."
That was all he said. The Moon Fairy Sword turned on his heel and walked into Cheongwol Gate.
As I watched his retreating back with a strange expression, a voice echoed in my mind.
Yoo Chun-gil let out a dry chuckle.
"..."
Calling that massive, imposing middle-aged man a snot-nosed brat.
I barely managed to suppress the laugh that threatened to burst out of me.
We followed the Moon Fairy Sword inside. Once again, the Sowol Squadron took charge of guiding us.
With the incredibly heavy wooden coffin strapped to my back, I walked into the Moonmaster's office.
The moment I stepped through the entrance, only one thought came to mind.
Fancy.
As expected of a prestigious sect enjoying peak prosperity, the place was exceptionally luxurious.
Not only did it feature a massive pond, but the supporting pillars were also exquisitely crafted.
And the floor? It was polished to a mirror shine.
I took in the sights with quick, subtle glances as we entered the room.
Right then, the Moonmaster spoke.
"Allow me to greet you properly once more."
The Moon Fairy Sword looked at me.
"I am Cheon Seong-hwa, the fourteenth Moonmaster of Cheongwol Gate. It is an honor to meet our esteemed guest."
"I am Bang Seong-yeon of the Yo-ryeong Bang family."
An esteemed guest. Hearing that felt surreal.
"I must first apologize for the delay in welcoming you. We received the news quite late."
"Please, think nothing of it."
So they really had received the news late. I had found it strange from the beginning.
Even though the successor of the Sword Saint had appeared, Cheongwol Gate's response had been sluggish.
I had wondered why, but it seemed this was the reason.
As he spoke, the Moon Fairy Sword's gaze drifted to my side. He was looking at Cheon Ui-jin.
Sensing his father's gaze, Ui-jin flinched slightly, but the Moon Fairy Sword quickly looked away.
Hmm.
The way he looked at his own son was unusual. I kept my expression neutral as I noted this dynamic.
Before we began our conversation, there was something I needed to show him first.
"Before we speak, could you please take charge of what I have brought with me?"
At my words, the Moon Fairy Sword looked at the wooden coffin.
Feeling his gaze, I opened the lid.
"..."
The moment he saw what was inside, the Moon Fairy Sword's eyebrows twitched.
He clearly recognized it.
"...Man-wol."
For the first time, emotion broke through the Moon Fairy Sword's otherwise stoic expression. It was pure shock.
"...How did you find this?"
"Ah, I discovered it in a cave in Anhui."
"Anhui, you say?"
"Yes."
Why was this in Anhui? That was the exact question written all over the Moon Fairy Sword's face.
"...May I examine it?"
"Of course."
At my permission, he gently touched the blade of Man-wol. After tracing it slowly to confirm its authenticity, the Moon Fairy Sword looked up at me.
🗡 Man-wol 🗡
The broken sword of the Sword Saint, forged from Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Iron.
"...It is indeed his sword."
I wondered how he could tell just by touching it, but if he said so, then so be it.
"I managed to recover it, but it seemed too dangerous for me to keep... I thought it would be best to leave it in the care of my master's sect."
Master. At that word, the Moon Fairy Sword's brow furrowed slightly.
Reaction confirmed.
I had deliberately used that word to gauge his response. Now, how would he react?
I tried to anticipate his next move, but...
"Very well."
Huh?
His response caught me completely off guard.
He just agreed?
Did he really just accept it without hesitation? If so...
This is unexpected.
It was highly unexpected.
I hadn't thought he would agree to take custody of it so readily.
Usually, if someone claimed ownership, they would have made a fuss, but the Moon Fairy Sword simply gave his assent.
"I shall keep it safe as you wish. You must be exhausted from your journey, so it would be best to postpone our discussion until tomorrow."
"...Yes. I agree."
I frowned slightly as I answered.
I had wondered why he was reacting this way, but now I had a vague idea.
Ah, I see.
This middle-aged man...
"Thank you for the warm welcome. I will gladly accept your consideration and see you tomorrow."
He doesn't believe me.
To be precise, yes, suspicion.
The Moon Fairy Sword suspected me.
Immediately after Bang Seong-yeon left, only the Moon Fairy Sword and Man-wol remained in the quiet room.
As the Moon Fairy Sword stared silently at the broken sword, a figure suddenly materialized beside him.
It was as if the man had dropped out of thin air, but the Moonmaster did not react in the slightest, clearly having anticipated his arrival.
"Do you believe him?" the man asked.
"I wonder."
The Moon Fairy Sword's reply was ambiguous.
"It is difficult to believe him outright, yet it is equally difficult to dismiss him."
"Then why did you not ask him anything?"
"..."
The Moonmaster took a sip of the cold tea sitting before him.
Why hadn't he asked anything?
There were countless questions to ask. If he wanted to, he could have interrogated the youth for hours.
However...
"That, too, is complicated."
"What do you mean?"
"His eyes were undoubtedly the Moon Eyes."
"..."
The man, addressed as the Squadron Leader, did not deny the Moonmaster's words.
The Moon Eyes. It was proof that one had not only mastered the Cheongwol Mind Method but that their physical body was perfectly attuned to it.
By tradition, the Moonmaster of Cheongwol Gate was always chosen from those who had awakened the Moon Eyes.
The youth named Bang Seong-yeon had met that minimum requirement.
But that wasn't all.
"Even putting the Moon Eyes aside, the stability of his internal energy is remarkably high. You must have noticed it as well, yes?"
"..."
Once again, the Squadron Leader remained silent. The Moon Fairy Sword had been inwardly astonished upon seeing Bang Seong-yeon.
The energy of the Cheongwol Mind Method was extremely delicate and sensitive.
If it deviated even slightly, the qi would fail to circulate properly.
"Yet it is already circulating."
Even if it was incomplete, the energy was flowing smoothly through Bang Seong-yeon's body.
Judging by this...
"It means he did not just start practicing the mind method yesterday."
It was at a level that required at least several years of dedicated cultivation.
Bang Seong-yeon's body showed exactly that.
However, there was one perplexing detail.
"His realm seems far too low compared to the mastery of his mind method."
For some reason, the volume of his internal energy and his overall cultivation realm seemed incredibly low.
He appeared to be only at the Second-rate realm. Reflecting on this, the Moon Fairy Sword harbored deep doubts.
"You said he defeated the Young Azure Sword, correct?"
"Yes, Moonmaster..."
"Are you certain?"
"There were multiple witnesses."
The Young Azure Sword of the Namgung Clan. Rumors said the youth had toyed with the promising young expert, and according to their intelligence, it was indeed true.
Defeated the Young Azure Sword...
If Bang Seong-yeon truly was the successor of the Sword Saint, it wouldn't be impossible.
But how, with that body?
It made no sense that he had defeated the Young Azure Sword with such a weak-looking physical vessel.
Could he be hiding his true strength? No, that was highly unlikely.
That would mean he was capable of concealing his realm even from the Moonmaster's eyes...
"Hmm."
The Moon Fairy Sword recalled the youth he had just met.
The handsome young man claiming to be the successor of the Sword Saint possessed a very peculiar aura.
He was arrogant.
Yes, arrogant. That was the perfect word for it. Though he maintained a polite facade, there was an underlying dissonance in his attitude and tone.
He hadn't trembled in the slightest while facing the Moonmaster, and despite appearing tense, he behaved as if he couldn't care less.
"Hmm."
Yet, it wasn't unpleasant.
That unwavering gaze that met his own without flinching—could anyone be so confident if they possessed nothing to back it up?
Furthermore...
The energy residing in his body.
The Moonmaster frowned as a hypothesis crossed his mind.
It was his mind method.
An energy that was somewhat wild and unbridled, distinct from the standard Cheongwol Mind Method.
It bore a striking resemblance to the qi the Sword Saint used to wield.
It was a state that everyone in the sect had tried to learn and master, yet not a single person had succeeded.
To infuse a delicate, sensitive energy with a wild and free nature in one's mindscape...
It was like trying to mix oil and water.
It was a unique signature that belonged solely to the Sword Saint. Yet, Bang Seong-yeon, his self-proclaimed successor, possessed at least a faint trace of that very energy.
That was why. Despite the numerous suspicions and absurdities, the Moonmaster had chosen to let it slide for now. It was entirely because of this.
"Since he already has the mind method rooted in his body and has even awakened the Moon Eyes, it is only right to keep him close and observe him for now."
Moreover, since he had arrived carrying Man-wol, it was far better to keep him nearby and figure him out rather than turning him away or treating him poorly.
"Squadron Leader."
"Yes, Moonmaster."
"Keep an eye on his movements and report any anomalies immediately."
"Understood."
"Furthermore..."
Cheon Seong-hwa looked at the Squadron Leader with a slightly colder gaze.
"Investigate the Yo-ryeong Bang family. Find out everything you can about them."
"By your command."
The man bowed respectfully and vanished. The Moonmaster stared at the entrance and let out a soft sigh.
"This will not be easy."
It was an unexpected development. He had felt this way upon first hearing the news, but the situation was troublesome in many ways.
In their current circumstances, the successor of the Sword Saint was like a sudden typhoon.
What worried him most of all was...
"She must have already heard of it."
The news of Bang Seong-yeon's arrival would have reached his daughter's ears the moment the youth stepped foot into Cheongwol Gate.
If so, his daughter would act before he could even begin to assess the situation.
"Hmm..."
What would happen then?
A sharp curiosity stirred beneath his faint anxiety.
The Moon Fairy Sword closed his eyes, his blue gaze fading behind his lids.
He thought to himself:
Perhaps she is already on the move.
After my meeting with the Moon Fairy Sword, I was being guided to my quarters.
However, I had to tilt my head in confusion at the person standing in front of me.
"Nice to meet you."
It was a completely random greeting. The speaker was a woman with long, flowing hair.
I stared into her blue eyes and asked, "Who are you?"
"Who do you think I am?"
"Hmm."
I nodded at her response.
She was definitely a crazy bitch.