Chapter 444
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 444
Chapter Title: My Mistake
"We've arrived."
The old man, his face etched like wind-sculpted bones, gazed at the massive walls stretching before them and spoke.
"Yes, Elder."
Standing beside him, Gong Son Mu-oe, the former valley lord of Seonyu Valley, kept his eyes fixed on the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall as well.
A dozen or so warriors from Seonyu Valley stood guard behind them.
Ma Jin-gi, the old man with wind-sculpted features, carefully examined the walls.
He was checking the state of the ritual he had deployed here years ago.
The Heavenly Constellation Radiant Blossom Demon-Subduing Ritual.
"It's deteriorated some," Ma Jin-gi muttered calmly, nodding his head.
"Is that so?"
Gong Son Mu-oe asked, his face showing a hint of surprise.
Having devoted himself solely to medicine, he possessed only basic knowledge of rituals.
If Ma Jin-gi said it was so, then it was.
"Indeed, Supreme Valley Lord."
Supreme Valley Lord.
An honorific for a living former valley lord.
"That's too much, Elder. Just call me Mu-oe like old times."
Ma Jin-gi calmly shook his head at Gong Son Mu-oe's request to treat him casually now that he was no longer valley lord.
"How could I disregard your status and honor in the martial world, citing our old ties?"
Gong Son Mu-oe gave up further persuasion at the calm but firm reply.
They had discussed it several times on the journey from Seonyu Valley to the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall.
"Understood."
This would be the last time he tried.
"However... this level of damage shouldn't greatly affect the ritual's power..."
Ma Jin-gi frowned.
He had set it up accounting even for the ravages of time.
"It seems I need to inspect the site directly, Supreme Valley Lord."
"Understood, Elder. Let's head to the Demon-Sealing Corps headquarters first."
Gong Son Mu-oe took the lead.
The Demon-Sealing Corps base, located due north of the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall, was about a day's walk for an ordinary person.
"We're here."
Due north of the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall.
A gate stood beneath the towering walls.
It had been built for the Demon-Sealing Corps to come and go.
Measures were in place to seal it in emergencies.
Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong leaped over the gate without using it.
Behind him followed Dam Mu-hyeon and the Hocheon Corps warriors.
Not far off, the Demon-Sealing Corps base came into view.
Tents sprawled everywhere.
"It's mealtime, sure, but this is too lax."
So Hwi-woong muttered in disappointment.
No one in the Demon-Sealing Corps had noticed his arrival.
They had failed in vigilance.
What if he had been a jiangshi instead?
A horrifying thought.
"They seem too complacent. And there's the wall's ritual too."
Dam Mu-hyeon spoke calmly, but So Hwi-woong shook his head.
"Even with an attacker on the walls, thinking no one could climb them? Tsk tsk."
As he grumbled his displeasure, So Hwi-woong's gaze shifted west.
He sensed a group approaching.
"What's wrong?"
Dam Mu-hyeon asked warily, scanning the surroundings at So Hwi-woong's action.
"Looks like we have company besides ourselves."
He leaped down from the wall and slowly walked toward the sensed presence.
Soon, he encountered the group.
"Valley Lord Gong Son?"
"Alliance Leader?"
So Hwi-woong and Gong Son Mu-oe recognized each other.
"It's been a while."
"Indeed it has."
So Hwi-woong and Gong Son Mu-oe clasped their fists and bowed to each other.
"What brings the Alliance Leader here? I thought you never left the alliance."
In response to Gong Son Mu-oe's question...
"What brings Valley Lord Gong Son to this perilous place?"
So Hwi-woong countered with the same question.
Both were surprised and curious about each other's presence.
Gong Son Mu-oe answered first.
As the Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader was his superior, courtesy demanded it.
"It's about the ritual you inquired of our valley before. Our Supreme Protector wanted to inspect the wall's ritual himself, so I accompanied him. And I'm no longer valley lord. I handed the empty title to my son and stepped down."
As Gong Son Mu-oe finished, Ma Jin-gi stepped forward and clasped his fists.
"Ma Jin-gi greets the Alliance Leader after a long time."
"I greet the Supreme Protector, Elder."
So Hwi-woong returned the courtesy with a bow.
He had met the man once when deciding to deploy the ritual on the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall.
Seonyu Valley's foremost ritualist—the orthodox world's greatest.
"My deepest thanks. For coming all this way through danger to check the ritual."
"I deployed it, so the responsibility is mine. What brings you here, Alliance Leader?"
"I came to find and destroy the entity that attacked the walls. But it's proving difficult."
The Seonyu Valley group looked at him with admiring faces at his answer.
The Alliance Leader, who hadn't stirred from headquarters since the Martial World Great War ended, was out on his first mission to eliminate jiangshi.
A fitting feat for the Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader.
"Is there some incident in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest?"
Ma Jin-gi asked from among them.
So Hwi-woong nodded.
"The jiangshi have vanished."
The Seonyu Valley folk were startled by the reply.
And rightly so.
For jiangshi to disappear from the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest?
Impossible.
"Does that mean..."
Ma Jin-gi ventured, as if guessing something.
"It seems the Blood Cult remnants hiding there can control the jiangshi."
"As expected."
Ma Jin-gi spoke as if he had anticipated it.
And rightly so.
During the recent war.
When the Blood Cult's jiangshi attacked Seonyu Valley.
It hadn't been the assault of mindless beasts.
Some had moved as if under command.
All meaningless before the Heavenly Constellation Radiant Blossom Demon-Subduing Ritual over Seonyu Valley, but still.
"I came here planning to monitor the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest's movements from the Demon-Sealing Corps, deeming it ominous."
As So Hwi-woong finished...
"I wanted to inspect the wall damage from the jiangshi attack myself and find the witness from the Demon-Sealing Corps."
So Hwi-woong nodded at Gong Son Mu-oe's answer.
It made sense.
However.
"Even if the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest's jiangshi are gone now, isn't it still dangerous?"
He worried.
Especially since a Heaven-Exterminating Jiangshi had appeared there once.
"True, but... I asked a reliable friend for help but left without a reply. Not sure if word reached them."
Gong Son Mu-oe replied with a subtle smile.
"Why not rest at the Demon-Sealing Corps base first? Alliance Leader, Supreme Valley Lord. It's been a long journey."
The two agreed readily at Ma Jin-gi's sudden interjection and turned.
The Demon-Sealing Corps was naturally thrown into chaos that day.
"Hm."
Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul gazed down at the sword before him.
Because of that final incident, this year's Summer Combat Festival ended without a winner.
A bizarre conclusion with finalists but no victor.
But there was no other way.
Both claimed to have lost.
He understood both their sentiments.
One had faced overwhelming power.
The overwhelmingly powerful one had entered a trance and completely forgotten the match.
Though superior in skill, he couldn't claim victory in that situation.
Still, it was fortunate no major disaster occurred.
The arena being smashed? Well.
It was due for disassembly after the finals anyway.
It had served its purpose and collapsed.
The sword that produced such an outcome.
He was scrutinizing it closely.
He never imagined such an expert hidden in the Dragon Training Pavilion.
"Undefeated Sword, wasn't it."
As far as Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul knew, only Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek had reached such a realm in the Dragon Training Pavilion.
But Ha Mu-baek wasn't there now.
Whose hidden master's weapon had they recovered? The result was disappointing.
It was a training sword from the drill grounds across the Dragon Training Pavilion, or stocked in the armory.
Utterly common in the Dragon Training Pavilion.
"Who could it be?"
Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul stared at the sword with genuine curiosity.
"Hoo."
Namgung Ji-hu let out a deep sigh.
After the match ended that way.
He had been in this state ever since returning to Hidden Dragon Corps Squad One's drill ground.
Namgung Ji-yu watched quietly from one side of the ground.
Saying nothing.
Just observing.
Namgung Ji-hu looked up at the darkened sky.
'I'm lacking... too lacking...'
Entering samadhi was good.
He had reached the stage to advance to the next realm.
However.
'To lose yourself completely in samadhi.'
Samadhi meant such a state by nature.
But.
'I nearly killed my sparring opponent.'
That was the problem.
It tormented Namgung Ji-hu.
If this continued, samadhi could become a heart demon.
Step.
Footsteps approached then.
Yeon Ha-min, who rarely visited the Hidden Dragon Corps side.
Ha Seol-ran had sensed Namgung Ji-hu lingering here and informed her.
"Eh?"
Namgung Ji-hu turned at the sudden presence, startled by her appearance.
As his lips parted to speak...
"It was my mistake. I overestimated my ability... thought you wouldn't attack further, Namgung Ji-hu. I poured out everything without strength to retreat. Desperate to defeat you."
Calm words.
But Namgung Ji-hu couldn't accept them.
She had nearly died because of him—yet she called it her mistake.
"A warrior must always think ahead. And give your all for survival in any situation."
Yeon Ha-min's calm words continued in his ears.
"That's what our monster instructor says."
Yeon Ha-min had failed to follow that first lesson.
Think ahead—yet she hadn't, pouring out her all without reserve.
Not leaving even a scrap of inner energy.
She could have yielded then.
But Yeon Ha-min tried to heed Ha Mu-baek's second lesson.
Moving to survive even then.
Even after exhausting her qi, relying on physical strength to escape the arena somehow.
"It was my fault for not thinking ahead. Our instructor drilled it into me."
"It was a spar, not real combat."
Namgung Ji-hu finally spoke with effort.
"Once blades cross, it's real combat for a warrior. I've always treated it that way."
Firm words.
"Even if we spar again and face you, I'll treat it as real combat. I won't repeat today's mistake of not thinking ahead."
"......"
Namgung Ji-hu was speechless.
"If you're blaming yourself for losing yourself in the match, that's your business. But blaming yourself for nearly killing me? That's an insult to me. An insult to a warrior who gave her all."
With that, Yeon Ha-min turned away, as if she had said her piece.
As she left the drill ground, Namgung Ji-yu gave her a slight nod of the eyes.
A greeting full of gratitude.
"I..."
Namgung Ji-hu trailed off, lost in thought.
Namgung Ji-yu turned away, sensing he no longer needed watching.
Instinct told her he needed to be alone now.
Shuuung.
A sharp whistle cut the air.
Ha Mu-baek raced on, leaving fierce winds in his wake.
"Good."
Deploying Eyesight Spanning a Thousand Miles at full power, there was no discomfort.
He had adjusted the disparity considerably.
At this level, few opponents could match him.
Thanks to that, he sped toward Luoyang at full tilt.
'Too late.'
By Ha Mu-baek's knowledge of Han Seol-bing's lightness skill.
She would arrive in Luoyang tomorrow.
Ha Mu-baek figured the day after at best.
This was faster than expected.
Faster than he had anticipated in recovering his body's balance.
Even so.
He didn't know when it would be perfect.
Even fully balanced.
He couldn't be sure his body could withstand the power he unleashed.
'Need more tempering.'
The road ahead was long.