Chapter 120: Me
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Chapter 120 – Me?
-It’s me.
Cheol Ryu-heun recalled the last words the woman in the dream had spoken and lightly touched his forehead with one hand.
‘Strange.’
What memory could this be?
It was clearly not a memory belonging to this body’s original owner.
However.
For it to be his own memory as the Divine Martial Sword, it felt too unfamiliar.
From the first moment he awakened to self-awareness until the era of Sagong Woon, the final owner, he had never once seen a scene similar to that dream.
Moreover, it had been one person’s memory, not a sword’s.
That made it an even more incomprehensible dream.
Suddenly.
A hazy saying from a previous dream crossed his mind.
-So you became a sword after all. You wished for it so earnestly…
At that time, at the final moment of that dream, even the gender of that voice couldn’t be guessed.
Yet.
He had the feeling that it was very similar to the voice of the woman who appeared in today’s dream.
Something about the intonation.
Following that, another thought crossed his mind.
‘Wait, could this be the memory of whoever created me?’
In truth, the creator of the Divine Martial Sword was unclear.
When he first awakened to self-awareness as a sword, the memory wasn’t particularly special.
It was just a remote cave.
That was where he had first been placed, before the glorious weapon name of Divine Martial Sword was born.
He had spent nearly three years lonely and trapped there.
Since moving freely like a human was impossible, all he could do was watch night and day alternate through the cave entrance while thinking and thinking again.
Why am I here? Who made me? Why was I abandoned in a remote cave?
Spending time like that, eventually one human set foot in the cave, and at last he came out into the world, held in that person’s hands.
The moment the Divine Martial Sword’s first owner was born.
The Heavenly Demon.
The pioneer of the demonic martial world who had stepped up to the Nine Heavens and a being recorded as the only god.
The series of time spent with the Heavenly Demon was the first memory he had as the Divine Martial Sword.
Yet.
If today’s dream was perhaps a fragment of memory from before that era… He wondered if it might be connected to the unknown creator.
For example, as an effect of some mysterious technique that breathed soul and intent while making the sword.
At any rate, one thing was certain – it was absolutely not one of the countless memories accumulated over a thousand years as the Divine Martial Sword, nor of course did it belong to this body’s original owner Cheol Ryu-heun.
‘Enough. Leave the unknowable aside and focus on business.’
Having erased his thoughts like that, Cheol Ryu-heun stretched and let out a yawn, when a quiet sound from Divine Wind was heard from beyond the door.
It seemed like a signal that he was in a good mood.
CREEAK-
When Cheol Ryu-heun opened the old door of the hermitage and stepped out, Divine Wind was lying in an utterly comfortable position on the weed-covered yard, and beside him, a large tiger was clinging to him.
“Just like an overgrown cat.”
The tiger was busily licking Divine Wind’s fur, pink tongue flicking.
As if fawning over a being stronger than itself.
Looking at the situation, it seemed that, drawn by the scent and targeting prey, the tiger had been thoroughly beaten by the tremendous power of the spirit beast-level Divine Wind.
“Let’s go.”
With Cheol Ryu-heun’s brief words, Divine Wind abruptly stood up, and the startled tiger fled at full speed into the forest yonder.
THUD.
One ginseng root lay on the ground.
Divine Wind quickly lowered his head, chewed it up and swallowed, then wiggled both ears as if satisfied.
“Thanks to achieving Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, it’s nice that the amount you eat has decreased.”
Cheol Ryu-heun smirked, then swept his eyes across the scenery of the gorge surrounding the hermitage.
‘Hmm. It should be around there, probably.’
Having found his destination, he immediately launched his body and mounted the horse saddle.
Divine Wind vigorously billowed pure white vapor.
It meant he was ready to run to his heart’s content.
“Now, let’s rampage with abandon.”
At Cheol Ryu-heun’s quiet voice as he gripped the reins, Divine Wind immediately kicked off the ground with a BOOM! and charged wildly toward the cliff at the far end of the steep mountain path.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE-!
A fearsome momentum that violently shook the mountains and vegetation.
Before long.
Divine Wind, carrying Cheol Ryu-heun on his back, rapidly broke through a mountainside with no proper path, only boulders and trees in abundance.
RUMBLE… RUMBLE…
Before the unprecedented immense strength carried in the horse’s hooves, rocks shattered and dirt shot high.
The slope grew steeper as they went.
But Divine Wind, as if that were no problem at all, gathered tremendous force and BOOM! leaped, compressing the space they traveled.
Amid the constant sounds of all sorts of mountain creatures fleeing in terror at the sudden thunder and vibrations.
Finally, Cheol Ryu-heun pulled the reins when they reached near the mountaintop that jutted out like a cliff.
“Whoa.”
Where Divine Wind came to an abrupt stop stood a stone pagoda of unknown origin, backed against a wall-like boulder.
Cheol Ryu-heun stomped onto the ground and strode behind the stone pagoda, then began digging at the soil with the tip of his scabbard.
DIG, DIG, DIG-
Shortly after, something was discovered at the bottom of the pit dug somewhat deep.
Cheol Ryu-heun immediately reached in and pulled it out.
It was a scabbard-shaped object carved from polished jade stone that glowed bluish-green like a magnolia leaf.
About two cheok in length, its color and appearance certainly marked it as a precious item.
‘Since this was buried here, Mount Heng Sect was as clueless as the blind…’
The scabbard ornament made from light green precious jade was none other than the Sect Leader’s Command Token that Mount Heng Sect had lost long ago.
How this symbol of the highest authority representing the Sect Leader’s power came to be buried in this remote mountain was the doing of an owner of the Divine Martial Sword.
Sword Forest Evil Freak Yeong-am.
A swordsman who had been among the highest ranks within the unorthodox world sixty years ago, he was very famous for his bizarre behavior of playing vicious pranks relying only on his personal martial power.
At the time, the Mount Heng Sect Sect Leader had also been his victim.
One day, the two masters held a sparring match with their high reputations on the line.
The result was the Mount Heng Sect Sect Leader’s defeat.
But Sword Forest Evil Freak Yeong-am wasn’t satisfied with just the glory of victory and took away his Sect Leader’s Command Token.
Mount Heng Sect was turned upside down.
At that time, Yeong-am had only left word that he had hidden the Sect Leader’s Command Token somewhere before fleeing to another region.
Perhaps as punishment for a person who played such vicious pranks?
Before long, Yeong-am encountered a rising orthodox master and died fighting.
The Divine Martial Sword’s new owner – he was none other than Ascending Heaven Sword Dragon.
Due to Yeong-am’s unexpected death, the whereabouts of Mount Heng Sect’s Sect Leader’s Command Token fell into obscurity, and that situation had continued until now.
Perhaps if Cheol Ryu-heun, who had been the Divine Martial Sword, hadn’t come here, it would never have emerged into the world.
“Got the Sect Leader’s Command Token.”
Cheol Ryu-heun then gazed at the distant peak opposite.
At a glance, with all four sides of the mountain being extremely steep, it seemed a place no ordinary person could easily climb.
What else could be there?
Having already mounted Divine Wind’s back, he secured the Sect Leader’s Command Token and firmly gripped the reins.
“Now, let’s go to the century ginseng colony on that mountain peak. I wonder how much we’ll collect this time.”
Century ginseng colony.
If anyone else heard, they would faint from shock.
BOOM-!
Kicking off the ground in a leap, Divine Wind fell rapidly down the mountainside, wrapped in clouds like an immortal.
* * *
Mount Heng.
A renowned and sacred mountain that was the finest in the Hunan region, where majestic mountain ranges and strange peaks formed harmony.
Each of its seventy-two peaks was a magnificent sight, and at this place counted as the foremost of the Five Mountains of Jianghu, the prestigious great sect of the orthodox martial world, Mount Heng Sect, had established its base.
Thus, Mount Heng’s fame was truly deserving of being placed at the very top among all mountains in this land.
Around noon.
The marketplace in Anling, a medium-sized city adjacent to Mount Heng, was currently so crowded that there was no room to step.
It was the effect of tourists gathering from all over, attracted by the splendid reputation of Mount Heng.
Then.
BANG!
A door of an inn on one side of the busy street burst open as if about to break, and six armed martial artists came outside.
Young swordsmen in brown martial attire.
The six were disciples of Falling Star Sword Sect, an unorthodox martial force in the vicinity of Mount Heng.
The falling star-like patterns embroidered on the left side of each of their chests proved that fact.
Sharing this region of Anling together with Mount Heng Sect, one of the Nine Great Sects, Falling Star Sword Sect’s scale was on par with Dark Hall, which ranked in the top ten across all of Hunan Province.
Soon, the young man standing at the front of them looked toward the inn and shouted sharply.
“Come out! I want to see just how sharp your sword skills are!”
Immediately after, three swordsmen in their twenties wearing white Taoist robes opened the inn door and stopped near where the Falling Star Sword Sect group stood.
The three were Mount Heng Sect disciples.
One could easily tell just from the three characters ‘Southern Peak Sword’ embroidered large on the left chest.
Mount Heng was part of the Southern Peak among the Five Mountains of Jianghu.
That was why, from the first patriarch’s era, the three characters ‘Southern Peak Sword’ had been used as Mount Heng Sect’s symbol.
“Do you insist on fighting here again?”
The identity of the Mount Heng Sect young disciple asking in a calm manner was second-generation disciple Gong Wol.
And.
The young man in his twenties from Falling Star Sword Sect who had raised his voice was Chae Sa-rok, a rising star of the sect.
Conflicts like this weren’t a matter of just a day or two.
Since the geographically close Mount Heng Sect and Falling Star Sword Sect divided this Anling region between them, an environment where quarrels were frequent was inevitable.
In practice, as long as the fighting didn’t go too far as to involve killing moves, both sects mostly overlooked it.
Chae Sa-rok immediately sneered.
“What, scared?”
At that, Gong Wol raised one eyebrow slightly and spoke quietly.
“I mean let’s refrain from unnecessary disputes. How long are we going to keep this up?”
“Until you all grovel on the ground. Yes, I’m the one who picked the fight first. So what?”
“…!”
“Ha, want to avoid this? Do as you like. When a tiger appears, naturally mongrel pups hide their tails and scram. Nothing new.”
Chae Sa-rok’s words and actions were arrogant and insolent.
But Gong Wol and the others couldn’t readily draw their swords.
Setting aside the difference in numbers, the gap in personal martial level was even greater.
Why?
Because Chae Sa-rok was a first-rate talent on par with Dark Hall’s Dark Sword Fragrance Mun Bin.
Whereas second-generation disciple Gong Wol had not yet reached that level.
But having to quietly accept insulting words as a Mount Heng Sect disciple was absolutely unacceptable.
Abruptly, Chae Sa-rok drew his sword and sneered once more.
“Oh my, not running? Pah. Fine, let’s have a go. I’ll make you run away pissing yourselves.”
“You’ve gone too far!”
Having shouted, Gong Wol immediately drew his sword and rushed quickly at Chae Sa-rok’s front.
Right hand extended and right foot advancing with bent knee.
The signature frontal thrust stance of Mount Heng Sect.
CLANG-!
Along with the sound of metal.
“Urk!”
Gong Wol let out a groan as he slid backward, scraping! the ground in retreat.
He had been futilely pushed back before the power of Chae Sa-rok’s swift sword strike.
With the crowd on the street’s attention focused, his sense of shame in his heart grew even larger.
“Come on, try again. I’ll give you about ten chances.”
In the moment Chae Sa-rok, with sword resting on one shoulder, sneered like that, one man wearing a bamboo hat approached with plodding steps.
‘Hm?’
As both the Falling Star Sword Sect group and Mount Heng Sect group wore bewildered expressions, the unfamiliar bamboo-hatted man spoke in an indifferent voice.
“You dare look down on Mount Heng Sect?”
“Who are you?”
“Me?”
Simultaneously with the bamboo-hatted man’s counter-question.
CRACK-!
“AAARGH!”
Chae Sa-rok, screaming, flew backward at high speed and slammed CRASH! into the wall of a shop building.
Then.
THUD.
He collapsed limply to the ground, unconscious.
‘ACK!’
In the moment the Falling Star Sword Sect group and Mount Heng Sect group were shocked speechless.
The bamboo-hatted man… No, the bamboo-hat-wearing Cheol Ryu-heun continued in a disinterested voice.
“I’m a lay disciple of Mount Heng Sect.”
At that, Gong Wol and the others blinked their eyes and gazed at him blankly.
Excuse me, who are… You?
A Mount Heng Sect lay disciple who can knock down Chae Sa-rok with one blow… This is the first we’re hearing of it.