Chapter 292: Path of the Wild Beast (2)
“Father.”
Yeon Wi, who was sweeping the snow piled up in the yard, straightened his back.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes.”
Yeon Wi turned his body.
In his eyes, his neatly dressed second son was seen.
A smile was cast on Yeon Wi’s face.
Because the affairs of the Murim Alliance were busy, he couldn’t even drop by the clan all this time. So to speak, it meant that the Clan Head could not properly handle his work as the Clan Head.
His second son and the family members took charge of all that work instead. Of course, he occasionally exchanged letters and checked the status of the clan, but leading the clan without a final decision-maker must have been very difficult.
“You have grown a lot.”
Yeon Ji-pyeong, whom he saw again after a long time, had matured to the point of being unrecognizable.
Although traces of youth still remained, his distinct features had become even clearer, and his well-defined jawline and upright forehead looked surprisingly mature.
His limbs were also long, developing into an ideal body type for practicing sword techniques, and the muscles hidden by his clothes were also well-honed, retaining strong elasticity.
And he had also grown noticeably taller.
He was slightly lacking compared to himself or his first son, but compared to when he left the clan, he had grown well over half a ruler. With this much, he would hear people say he grew up well wherever he went.
Lastly.
“The Sword-Limit Thought Qi and Iron Sword Great Extension have already reached the state of full maturity. That level of proficiency at your age is an unprecedented achievement.”
Yeon Wi smiled and nodded.
“You have worked hard.”
“……Thank you.”
A small surprise arose on Yeon Ji-pyeong’s face.
‘He has become softer.’
The father Yeon Ji-pyeong remembered was always a strict and cold person. His inner affection was very deep, but he was not someone who revealed it outwardly.
But now?
“Is your body okay?”
“Yes? Ah, yes! I actually don’t have many injured places.”
Yeon Wi shook his head.
“To an internal martial arts expert, Qi is completely different from the Qi perceived by an ordinary person. Because one seeks physical development by controlling Qi with strong intent, if one receives a great blow to the heart, the blow to the physical body can be greater than that of an ordinary person who has not cultivated internal energy.”
“Y-Yes.”
“Make your mind and body strong. Although it might not have been the actual combat you wanted, ultimately, the Murim is such a place. It’s not just the Murim; the world itself is like that. You never know when, where, or what will happen.”
“I have realized it.”
Yeon Wi patted Yeon Ji-pyeong’s shoulder.
“Still, it couldn’t have been easy, but you truly overcame it well. You have really grown up.”
Yeon Ji-pyeong’s eyes wavered.
He didn’t expect this kind of appearance from his father. Perhaps that was why? At his father’s appearance of acknowledging him as an adult with a smiling face, unspeakable emotions seemed to well up.
“Th-Thank you.”
“Right, as long as you shook it off well, it is fine. After I finish sweeping the yard, let’s have breakfast together.”
“Yes? Ah! I-I will do it.”
“It’s fine. Why would a guy who just regained his senses be cleaning? Wait on the side.”
There was no time to stop him. Yeon Wi held the broom and swept the snow piled in the yard.
Swish! Swish!
Every time he swept, the heavily piled snow flew outside the wall like crashing waves.
Seeing that sight, Yeon Ji-pyeong could tell that his father hadn’t tried sweeping the yard just once or twice.
This was also a surprising thing. In the clan, his father was always busy with work and was a person who devoted himself to training by splitting even his sleeping time. He did the cleaning of his office himself, but actually seeing him sweep the yard made him extremely flustered.
Like that, the father swept the snow, and the son paced with a confused face for a long time.
“Um…….”
“Mmm?”
Yeon Ji-pyeong asked in an awkward voice.
“Father, you also had an achievement, right?”
Yeon Wi’s eye glint became sharp.
He spoke without looking back.
“Can you recognize it?”
“Y-Yes. I don’t know exactly but…… I get the feeling that your aura has become much more refined. Like a feeling that your Qi has been well concealed.”
Yeon Wi was inwardly surprised by his son’s discerning eyes.
No matter how much Yeon Ji-pyeong had grown, it was only an outstanding achievement compared to his age, and could not be compared to himself or his eldest child.
But catching the development of an expert purely through senses across that tremendous gap was extraordinarily amazing. Would someone who just entered the entrance of a mountain be able to see someone who had climbed the eighth ridge?
His son saw that. Rather, at Yeon Wi’s current state, it was normal for a novice to mistakenly think his martial arts had weakened when looking at him.
“It is an amazing sense.”
“Yes? Ah, no.”
“However, that part of yours needs to be fixed.”
“……Yes?”
Yeon Wi spoke in a calm voice.
“You still do not know the true nature of your talent. Accurately seeing through what you yourself possess and what is possible is a part more important than effort.”
“…….”
“You must know how to distinguish what you can do from what you cannot do to be able to judge whether to grow your strengths or erase your weaknesses.”
Paaaak!
Yeon Wi, who completely cleared the snow with his last sweep, set the broom against one wall.
“This is good timing. Seeing your skills now, it seems you have just entered a transitional period. While you are in the Alliance, let’s try to break your own limits.”
Yeon Ji-pyeong hurriedly bowed his head.
“Thank you, Father.”
Yeon Wi shook his head.
“Teaching a son is a matter of course as a father. It is not something worthy of receiving thanks.”
“……Yes.”
“The food at the Alliance’s dining hall is quite decent. Let’s go and eat.”
“Yes!”
Yeon Ji-pyeong, who hurriedly approached Yeon Wi’s side, faltered for a moment.
“By the way, Father, where is Brother……?”
“Are you talking about your brother?”
Yeon Wi chuckled.
“He’s been going around since the break of dawn until the soles of his feet sweat. Together with Bi-ah.”
* * *
“Good work, everyone. Morning training ends with this.”
At Yeon Ho-jeong’s energetic shout, all the members of the Evil-Annihilating Army collapsed where they were and groaned.
“Pant, pant.”
“I’m gonna die, seriously.”
“My joints ache, my joints.”
“That guy, he said his body was smashed up after a long time, so why is his stamina so good.”
While saying so, the breathing of all the soldiers also quickly became stable.
It wasn’t just Yeon Ho-jeong and Muk Bi who were developing day by day. The entirety of the Evil-Annihilating Army was fiercely training every hour.
Since each had differences in talent and effort, their development speeds also varied, but at least not a single one of them was slacking off. That was why they could follow this extreme stamina training.
Yeon Ho-jeong looked at Muk Bi.
“Are you a bit okay?”
Muk Bi shrugged his shoulders.
“This much is no problem.”
“Good.”
“Why? Are you going to do more training?”
“No? I’m telling you to make them do it.”
Muk Bi tilted his head.
“Did something happen?”
“Just, because of this and that.”
“You’re slurring over it suspiciously again.”
“Ahem, isn’t your way of speaking to your superior too nasty?”
“That’s enough. If you’re going, go quickly, Sir Superior.”
Yeon Ho-jeong chuckled.
“How is your heart? You’re managing it well, right?”
Muk Bi nodded.
“Yes. The ability of the Divine Maiden of the Western Regions is definitely not ordinary. Actually, when I wasn’t paying attention to it, I didn’t know at all.”
“She isn’t called a Divine Physician for nothing. Just looking at how all the physicians of the Central Plains joined forces to try and bury her, you can tell what an outstandingly skilled person she is.”
“Hoh.”
“Why?”
Muk Bi’s eyes sparkled.
“You must be thinking of taking her in?”
Yeon Ho-jeong shook his head.
“I am not the one who decides that. The Murim Alliance does.”
“But Young Master Yeon’s mind is also important. Depending on what Young Master Yeon sees and how you move, your father and the Strategist will also think differently.”
She was not wrong.
Looking at it that way, Yeon Ho-jeong’s influence was definitely amazing. His influence as the hidden actual power of the Murim Alliance would be ten times greater than his fame as a rising star who discusses being Number One under Heaven.
Yeon Ho-jeong waved his hand.
“I’ll come back after finishing my business. Look after the guys in the meantime.”
“Got it.”
Zhuge Ah-yeon caught up to the side of Yeon Ho-jeong, who left the training ground like that, before he knew it. Her appearance as she approached while yawning sluggishly looked quite haggard.
Yeon Ho-jeong frowned.
“You have eye boogers.”
“……Ah, damn.”
Zhuge Ah-yeon hurriedly picked off her eye boogers.
“Hey! Seeing me after a long time and your first word is eye boogers!”
“I say what’s there is there, then should I say two more small eyeballs are currently growing?”
“You’re still the same, you bastard.”
“If you’re tired, sleep more.”
“I’m not tired!”
In fact, after picking off the eye boogers and shaking her neck around a few times to fix and tie her hair, she definitively returned to her usual appearance without any signs of fatigue. It was an amazing technique.
“Did you have a good trip?”
“I did.”
“I heard you got hit quite properly this time?”
“Did you hear everything?”
“I ran off to the Successor of the Beggars’ Gang and bothered him incessantly. Later on, he must have gotten exhausted because he gently blurted it out on his own?”
To be sure, with Zhuge Wen-hu’s personality, there was no way he would tell matters regarding official duties even to his daughter.
Zhuge Ah-yeon’s face immediately became serious.
“I heard even cannons were mobilized?”
“If you heard up to there, you really know practically everything.”
“Cannons are one of the military’s decisive weapons. It’s hard to even dare to touch them with a fair amount of connections.”
“I know.”
“Just how far has this organization called the Medical God Society dug into the government? If the Alliance’s side raises this issue to the Imperial Palace, the entire military will be turned upside down. So to speak, it means they handed over cannons even risking that, and if it’s this much, the Medical God Society is…….”
“They are very wicked bastards.”
“……Is that the end?”
Yeon Ho-jeong smiled.
“Let’s talk about that issue again later. Since the Murim Alliance will move cautiously anyway, it will be hard to turn the government upside down right away.”
Yeon Ho-jeong, who patted Zhuge Ah-yeon’s shoulder, turned his body.
She, who quietly watched Yeon Ho-jeong’s back, shouted.
“Have dinner together later if you have time!”
“Got it! Ji-pyeong came too, so let’s all eat together.”
“Heuk?! What? Pyeong-yi came?”
“You must not have heard that?”
“I didn’t hear! When did he come? Did he grow a lot, Ji-pyeong?”
“He grew immensely. Anyway, see you later!”
“Uh-huh.”
Like that, Yeon Ho-jeong disappeared from sight.
Zhuge Ah-yeon gave a broad smile.
“Hoh, I wonder how much this guy has grown? My younger brother bastard became even more ill-mannered, but Ji-pyeong wouldn’t be like that, right?”
The place Yeon Ho-jeong sought out, even skipping breakfast, was surprisingly the Tang Clan’s residence.
“Interesting.”
Tang Kwan’s voice still had its edge sharply raised.
“To think you would seek me out bright and early in the morning.”
Yeon Ho-jeong smiled.
“Have you been well?”
Tang Kwan frowned.
“What is it?”
“What is what?”
“It is a fact known to those who know that your rudeness has crossed the line. Do not think that I will view you differently just because you show manners now.”
“I do not even wish for such a thing.”
“Then what is it? Do you have something you want from me?”
“Of course. Would I seek out a dreary place like this if I had nothing I wanted?”
Swish..
A bloody wave of Qi bloomed like smoke from Tang Kwan’s body.
As his relationship with Yeon Wi, and his relationship with his daughter improved, he was also in a much calmer state than before. However, even that was of no use in front of Yeon Ho-jeong.
Truly, this damn bastard’s ill manners were enough to make his eyes dizzy the more he faced him. To think his daughter had a close relationship with such a guy, he completely could not understand the mental world of youngsters these days.
“If you intended to ruin my mood from the morning, you completely succeeded.”
“I had no such intention.”
“State your business briefly and leave.”
A strange light emanated from Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes. Although he heard it from his father, he recognized that Tang Kwan had definitely changed.
If so, the conversation would become easier.
“I will speak directly. You asked to arrange a meeting with the Divine Maiden of the Western Regions?”
“……And?”
“Then please grant one request of mine.”
Tang Kwan laughed coldly.
“If there is something going, there must also be something coming?”
“Isn’t that the logic of the world?”
“I like that it’s certain. In that aspect, you are better than your father.”
“Will you make a deal?”
“I will decide after hearing what you demand first.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes sparkled.
“Please step forward as a candidate in the Murim Alliance Leader election.”