Chapter 196
Chapter 196
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 196
Chapter Title: The Sword Immortal's Arrangements
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"You said its name is Won-u? If you've gone so far as to name it, that must mean you've been together with that bird for quite some time."
"We met at the Sword Pavilion. It must have sensed my energy and started following me. It listens well, too."
-Kieeeh.
"If it's energy, then it must be pure immortal qi. I see."
"Do you know why Won-u reacts to pure qi?"
He tossed out the question, but he didn't expect it to be answered clearly.
He had discussed pure qi with Master Eum-hu before, and even then, he hadn't gotten a straightforward reply.
It would probably be the same this time.
"It's a spirit beast nurtured by the Sword Immortal. No, perhaps I should call it an immortal beast."
"Hm? Could you explain that in more detail?"
"Spirit beasts can't be created artificially, under any circumstances. But the Sword Immortal made it possible."
"How can you be so sure that Won-u is the Sword Immortal's immortal beast?"
"Hey. Are you the bird raised by the Sword Immortal?"
-Kieeeh.
Won-u cried out briefly and nodded its head, leaving Baek Yang-hui to gape in stunned silence.
Come to think of it, he'd only speculated up until now and never actually asked.
No matter how clever Won-u was, he needed the experience of questioning a bird directly first.
"Both the pure qi and this creature... Young friend, you truly seem to have inherited the Sword Immortal's arrangements."
"Yes. It looks that way."
"If the Sword Elder of Wudang knew, he'd have a fit. Ahaha, just thinking about it clears up my chest."
Wudang had been founded a hundred years ago under the Supreme Ultimate Sword Elder, who enshrined Taiji Sword Immortal Jang Sam-bong as its patriarch.
According to legend, Jang Sam-bong was either Yeo Dong-bin's priestly brother or disciple.
"Are the legends about Yeo Dong-bin and Jang Sam-bong true?"
"At the very least, the Sword Elder believes they share a connection."
Then he'd really throw a fit?
What would happen if he demonstrated the initial forms of the Hidden Heaven Sword Technique right in front of Wudang?
"In that case, I might be Wudang's elder, in a way. If you think about it, I'm sort of the Sword Immortal's disciple too, aren't I?"
"That's not wrong. I think it's quite right."
A chuckle escaped him.
It was true, even if saying it in front of Wudang folks would surely get him beaten.
As he had that thought, Master Eum-hu suddenly let out a sigh.
"The Sword Immortal's will has been inherited, and the Sword Elder reveres his master more than anyone in the world. How could Wudang..."
Come to think of it, Wudang had refused cooperation just as the trail on the Blood Cult went cold.
Master doesn't seem to understand it.
To Baek Yang-hui's eyes, Wudang's aims were plain as day.
Not because he was particularly clever or shrewd—it was something anyone with eyes could see right away.
"As your master, I command you. If you encounter Hyun-geom, make sure you emerge victorious."
"Yes. I'll make Wudang reflect on its path and find a new direction."
"Young friend, you're always so reasonable. That's what I like about you."
"I've spent a long time living off sidelong glares. With that in mind, may I add one more word?"
"Go ahead."
"Does it frustrate you that Wudang and the Sword Elder can't see the dust right in front of their eyes?"
Master Eum-hu let out a deep sigh.
"Was it that obvious? My discipline is still lacking."
Hm. Sometimes Master is just too lofty for her own good.
She had the depth of experience from her years, but a Daoist was a Daoist.
Her way of thinking was distant from worldly concerns.
This works out perfectly.
"Master. If you proclaim to the world that you won't stand by any dust under heaven, may this disciple use you to that end?"
It was rude phrasing, but Master Eum-hu looked intrigued.
"Looks like the little schemer is scheming again. Speak."
"Moving Wudang is simple. Just lend your fame as Stormcleaving Yin Gale to the Seol-ha Clan."
Wudang and the Jeon-gak Clan were both in Hubei Province.
Wudang ran its sect with rigid absolutes, so conflict was inevitable.
No—in fact, the Jeon-gak Clan was already in dire straits, and the clash would soon break the surface.
"So you're forcing me to build a faction when I hate the idea, just to meet your demands."
True to her lineage of sole transmission, Master Eum-hu disliked getting tangled in power struggles and land grabs.
As she frowned in distaste, she suddenly posed a question.
"Then how does the scheme you mentioned involve using me?"
"Simple. I'm thinking of playing the fisher."
Hubei bordered the Yangtze, and even had Wu-han.
Wu-han was the logistics hub where all the rice from south of the river converged.
"Planning to reap the fisherman's benefits?"
"Exactly. But the clams and crawfish fighting for the fisher to scoop up aren't Wudang and the Jeon-gak Clan."
"Then what?"
"It's you, Master."
At that moment, Master Eum-hu exhaled a sigh laced with weariness.
She had realized she was already entangled in worldly affairs.
"You asked permission, but it's more like an announcement."
"It's an apology too."
"From the moment I took Seol-ha and you as disciples, the flow was set. Who is there to blame? How far do you intend to go? It seems you're aiming at the Supreme Ultimate Sword Elder."
On a small scale: Wudang and Jeon-gak.
On a grand scale: the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans.
The world would be shaken starting from the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly.
Baek Yang-hui grinned and answered his master's question.
"I don't know either."
But there was one thing he was certain of.
"Master. What if one of the Nine Great Sects has been infiltrated by some mysterious demonic force?"
"I'd have to help. If they don't want it, I'd respect that, but if it's irreversible, I'd gather strength and wipe the sect out."
"I figured as much. But Wudang won't step in."
Master Eum-hu gazed at him with doubt.
"Simple reason. If there's no dust, there's no need to clean."
In other words, no need to hire a servant for the cleaning.
"There's one who guards against the advisor's corruption and seeks to purify from within. He says this: Watch over us. With our own strength, we'll cleanse the head family. How would you reply, Master?"
"......"
"The master I know wouldn't move either. You'd respect his will."
When punishing evil, Master Eum-hu showed no mercy—but precisely because of that, she wouldn't interfere in Jin-cheong right away to uproot everything.
She wanted to witness that person's shining goodness firsthand.
That was the Master Eum-hu that Baek Yang-hui knew.
"I believe the orthodox sects earn the people's respect because they protect against the Sima rabble and the unorthodox paths."
If there were no evildoers.
If they couldn't cloak slaughter as virtue by defeating enemies.
All martial sects would lose their reason to exist.
"The current martial world is a tangled mix of black and white in a balance of power. But in actual strength, the orthodox hold the advantage."
They held superiority yet maintained the facade of balance.
"Wudang won't uproot everything. Even if blood flows."
As heroes emerge in chaotic times, great turmoil offers chances for great fame.
Letting opportunity slip would be foolish, and a sect of fools couldn't rise to lead the Nine Great Sects in just a century.
So, was Wudang evil?
"If a true supreme sect under heaven arises and brings all the martial world under one order, the realm might become more peaceful."
The world is called chaotic precisely because good and evil aren't clear-cut.
One person's good might be another's evil—or not.
"I've said my piece. This disciple awaits your decision, Master."
"......"
Master Eum-hu pondered long and hard.
Then she reached a conclusion.
"Young friend."
"Yes, Master."
"Brace yourself. Your life might be in danger."
"Yes?!"
Anyone could tell she meant to work him to death.
Why did it end up like this?
"I've decided. Young friend, you'll handle all the troublesome matters in my stead. That's your master's command."
Master Eum-hu smiled brightly.
For the first time, he felt fear looking at her.
But.
"Thank you, Master."
It was thanks laced with three layers of meaning.
Baek Yang-hui steeled his resolve.
* * * "These days, the world is overflowing with geniuses. The Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans each have one or two called geniuses, and there are already five or six late bloomers who could have been the supreme under heaven in another era."
Baek Yang-hui agreed.
Past life and this one. With the flow changed, geniuses unseen in his previous life had emerged.
A-du of Shaolin and Neung-o of Jin-cheong were prime examples.
"And you're one of them, young friend."
He agreed with that too.
In his past life, if he'd joined a famed house with ample support for training, he might have aimed beyond peak realm by his forties.
"I originally planned to stop once I thought you could beat that Hyun-geom kid. But my goals have changed."
Defeating Hyun-geom to shatter the Supreme Ultimate Sword Elder's notions had become a given.
Master Eum-hu had seen in Baek Yang-hui the potential to handle the world's filth in her place.
"So endure it, young friend. It'll be hellishly tough, and you might actually die."
"......Urk. But the gains...... will be...... worth it......"
"Correct."
Among Baek Yang-hui's talents, the greatest was his martial genius, and the pinnacle of that was his genuine enjoyment of honing his martial arts.
In other words, training was joyful time for him, allowing him to drive himself into hell.
Even for such a Baek Yang-hui, this was hellish training that sparked real fear for the first time.
I'll endure.
The reason was simple.
"As the current sect leader of the Sacred Sound Jade Command Sect, gazing at the heavens, the omens I divine speak of turbidity. Chaotic times are coming."
Master, you can read the heavens' will too? And accurately, no less.
Yes, chaos would come. The orthodox would start twisting this way and that, and the unorthodox would lick their chops at the sight.
And not just that. With the demonic rising, the realm would face the greatest bloodbath in history.
The Dragon-Phoenix Assembly is just the beginning. So much will change.
He had changed much already.
But.
Even more would change.
No matter that he'd turned back time, he was still just one man alone.
Aware of his limits, he'd prioritized the Baek Clan's growth over his own tempering.
But the Baek Clan is just one family.
Could a single grain of sand on a riverbank alter the river's flow?
No.
So he had to become a boulder. One with the size and weight to dam the waters and redirect the current.
"Young friend. Is it tough?"
"Yes. Feels like I'm dying."
"Your tongue's still alive, eh. Endure. Molting is inherently agonizing."
They call it molting when an insect sheds its shell to gain wings.
Eight or nine out of ten die eaten mid-molt or crippled to death.
Changing oneself is that arduous.
But. Changing oneself is also the easiest way to change the world.
Humans view heaven and earth from their own eye level, after all.
No matter how tall the mountain before you, you can't boast of its height once you've climbed higher and looked down.
I'll climb higher than anyone.
This life, without fail.
He would seize the name of supreme under heaven.
"Good attitude, young friend. Let's make your every moment feel like three years."
One moment like three autumns— a genius's year often surpasses a mortal's decade.
And so.
Baek Yang-hui endured three springs.
And the year of the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly arrived.