Chapter 240: Been Quiet for a While (3)

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Although I might have thought of it somewhat lightly since I had received two of them, the Supreme Clarity Pill was a spiritual medicine so precious that it was comparable to Shaolin’s Great Returning Pill or Mount Hua’s Purple Mist Pill. It was indeed a rare treasure that the Martial Talent Shop would naturally desire.

I had already consumed both of the pills I previously possessed. Considering that only one or two Supreme Clarity Pills were produced by Wudang every year, it was truly a priceless elixir. If I were to ask for a third, wouldn’t even Sect Leader Cheong-ui furrow his brows?

So, with the mindset of having nothing to lose, I had clung to Hyeon-wol’s robes, and fortunately, my broad-minded grandmaster had given me one.

If he hadn’t, I had even considered going to the Sect Leader’s chamber to ‘borrow’ one, so it was a great relief for both the Wudang Sect and myself.

It was that precious Grade 3 talent. Furthermore, it was the Unity of Body and Sword. It was a talent related to the sword, which I mainly used.

Looking through the shop, there was no talent that surpassed ‘Advanced’ to reach ‘Superlative’ for either sword talent or body arts talent. I could only cautiously guess that the superlative grade of sword talent was probably the Unity of Body and Sword.

“Good.”

I gently stroked the Supreme Clarity Pill. The pill wouldn’t be absorbed into my body, but it would become nourishment in a different sense.

‘Purchase.’

Along with the thought of purchasing it, the Supreme Clarity Pill in my hand vanished. It was a fascinating moment no matter how many times I witnessed it—the sensation of something held tightly in my hand suddenly disappearing.

The Martial Talent Shop was indeed simple. Purchasing the Unity of Body and Sword didn’t cause my body to glow or bring about any miraculous phenomena. I would simply know once I swung my sword.

I slowly drew Bright Elegance and swung it through the air. I couldn’t tell just yet.

I slowly executed the Hunyuan Wuhui Sword. The Hunyuan Wuhui Sword, which I had created by combining the Heavenly Demon Sword Art, the Flowing Cloud Sword Art, and the Nine Nether Asura Sword, was still not fully familiar to my hands.

No matter how many advanced talents I purchased from the Martial Talent Shop, I ultimately had to move and practice to make those talents bear fruit.

I had to become stronger, much stronger. A thirst for strength completely filled my throat. In response, my movements stirred up the wind and dust.

“…This is good.”

The words escaped my lips unconsciously. It was a truly astonishing sensation. It was as if I were looking at the world through the eyes of the sword itself—as if I had become the sword.

I could see the path of the sword. Originally, my intent and the sword moved separately. Usually, once my intent reached a point, the sword would follow and fill the trajectory of that intent. But not now. The intent and the sword were moving simultaneously.

‘So this is the true Unity of Body and Sword.’

The realms of martial arts were truly infinite the higher one climbed. What kind of world did those far stronger than me see? It was a moment that made me curious about the very peak.

The latter part of the Hunyuan Wuhui Sword, which had been somewhat hazy, was now clearly filled in. Seeing it not through my own eyes but through the eyes of the sword allowed me to know exactly where to go.

Before I knew it, I was swinging my sword inside a whirlwind that I had conjured myself. As far as I knew, this hermitage was surrounded by a formation. Wudang Sect’s people wouldn’t be able to see this whirlwind.

How long had I been swinging my sword within that storm? When I finally came to my senses, I was gasping for breath, completely drenched in sweat.

It was a highly satisfying training session. Now, all that was left was to return to the senior brothers…

“You rascal, you’re going to tear down the entire hermitage!”

Grandmaster Hyeon-wol’s voice echoed from somewhere. Looking around, the roof of the hermitage was half-turned, and the household goods were scattered across the yard, making a complete mess of the place.

“Restore it all before you leave!”

“……Yes.”

It seemed it would take some time before I could return to the senior brothers. What awaited me after training was none other than labor.

* * *

Repairing the hermitage didn’t take very long. In any case, it didn’t have a complex architectural structure, just some thatch laid over the roof, so putting it back in place was enough. And the household goods were mostly just teacups, so washing them and turning them upside down was all it took.

I had worried that it might take longer than the one-day limit I had set to return, but that wasn’t the case.

Although there was quite a distance between the hermitage and the Wudang Sect’s main buildings on the mid-mountain, it was still within the same Wudang Mountain. There was no need to rush. Training would only resume tomorrow anyway.

Looking at the rugged ridges of Wudang Mountain shrouded in the dark, I was suddenly reminded of the time I had tried to run away.

“Heh.”

An involuntary chuckle escaped me. Did I know back then? That I would form such deep ties with the people of the Wudang Sect.

If I had succeeded in running away back then, if Cheong-hwa had let me go… my life would have been entirely different.

Darkness is a wonderful canvas for drawing memories. Walking slowly through the night, I reflected on everything that had happened on Wudang Mountain.

There were times when I thought they were holding me back against my will, and times when I clashed with a few of them, but in the end, what remained were their smiling faces.

“Did they end up hating me?”

My anxiety slipped out of my mouth unconsciously.

It was a sincere feeling that I had suppressed as much as possible in front of others.

Because I believed it was right and correct. But what did being right and correct matter? Even if my actions were right and correct, if I wasn’t by their side in the future, what would it all mean?

“No.”

I shook my head again. This was neither the time nor the age to get lost in sentimentality. Perhaps because my body had grown younger, my mind had also grown a bit younger.

Even though I tried to ignore the magic of the dawn, the image of Myeong-gyeong avoiding my gaze pricked me like a needle in a pocket.

Still, my heart did not waver. As Wudang Sect’s outer walls came into view, I brushed away the good memories in the darkness. It was time to return to an ironclad mindset.

When I arrived at Wudang Sect, looking at the position of the moon, it seemed to be around the third watch. It was a time when the senior brothers should be fast asleep. Having been driven for seven days and nights, they must have practically collapsed.

But why? Right now, I could sense numerous presences throughout the Wudang Sect.

“……What is this?”

I placed my hand on Bright Elegance’s hilt. Could it be enemies targeting Wudang while the Cheong generation disciples were away?

But it felt too sloppy. If they were planning a night raid, shouldn’t they normally conceal their presence? Yet, they didn’t even seem to think of hiding. I thought they might be planning to simply overwhelm us.

I headed to the Bow Hall first. It was because Cheong-hwa was at the Bow Hall. Cheong-hwa might already be on the move, but I had to find him first.

Using my immortal arts to completely conceal my presence, I headed toward the Bow Hall. I could sense a presence behind it.

I crept silently toward the back of the Bow Hall. When I felt I was close enough, I leaped forward like lightning.

“Huh?”

But the face I saw up close was, surprisingly, Myeong-gyeong’s. My limbs got tangled in surprise, and I tumbled head over heels in the direction I had leaped. My body bounced and rolled before finally coming to a stop against a wall. Although I could feel warm blood trickling down my forehead, I asked as calmly as possible to hide my embarrassment.

“Senior Brother, what are you doing here?”

“……Well, uh, you’re bleeding.”

“Ah. This is sweat. My passion is so hot that it must look like blood.”

“First, just sit down.”

Right now, my legs were up in the air and the back of my head was on the ground. The world, along with Myeong-gyeong, was upside down.

“Ha, haha. Shall I?”

Embarrassed, I rolled over and flipped myself upright. Myeong-gyeong placed a hand on his waist with a slightly pitying expression.

“What was that all of a sudden?”

“Um…… I just wanted to surprise you.”

“It seems you were the one who was more surprised, Junior Brother.”

I was left speechless. With blood running down my forehead, I couldn’t exactly deny it.

“Ahem. To be honest, I thought you were an intruder.”

“An intruder? Who would dare intrude upon Wudang?”

“It could happen. I felt a lot of presences, so… I thought everyone was asleep.”

“They’re probably all training.”

“Aren’t you tired? Even though I was the one driving you, you must be extremely exhausted.”

“We have to do it, even if we are tired.”

“Why?”

At my reasonable question, Myeong-gyeong surprisingly shut his mouth. It was a sudden halt in communication.

“Why, Senior Brother?”

“……I don’t really want to say.”

“Pardon?”

What kind of situation was this? It was the first time Myeong-gyeong was hiding something from me. I was starting to feel a bit hurt.

“What is it? I’m curious.”

“I told you, I don’t want to say.”

“What kind of secret is it?”

“You don’t need to know.”

An meaningless bickering ensued. As the ambiguous questions and answers continued, Myeong-gyeong shut his mouth tight and stopped responding to my words altogether.

“Senior Brother, Senior Brother.”

“……”

“Are you really going to be like this?”

“……”

“If you keep this up, I’ll be really hurt.”

“……”

Myeong-gyeong trembled slightly. When I made eye contact, he quickly looked away.

What I said was half-jest and half-earnest. After all, with the years I had lived, would I truly be hurt over something like this?

But at the word ‘hurt,’ Myeong-gyeong showed his first meaningful reaction. Since it had come to this, I had no choice but to dig deeper.

Although it hadn’t worked on Hyeon-wol, my acting was bound to work on a naive soul like Myeong-gyeong. I might not be good at other kinds of acting, but my act of holding onto a reluctant customer was easily top-tier.

“Senior Brother. I really like you, but it seems you dislike me.”

“……It’s not that.”

“We’ve spent so much time together. How could you be like this?”

“I said, it’s not like that.”

Good, good. Myeong-gyeong was taking the bait and rising to the surface.

When fishing, you have to reel it in quickly. I conjured up some sad memories from my childhood to stimulate my tear ducts. Immediately, the area beneath my eyes grew heavy, and tears welled up.

“U-Uh?”

Myeong-gyeong was visibly flustered. Now was the time. I quickly covered my face with my hand and turned away.

“It’s fine. Well, it is what it is.”

“No, no! Junior Brother!”

Myeong-gyeong’s small hand tightly grabbed mine.

“It’s not like that at all. Alright. I’ll tell you.”

“Really?”

I spoke as I wiped away my forced tears. Hook, line, and sinker. Man, tearful acting was hard.

Myeong-gyeong used his own sleeve to wipe my eyes before he began to speak.

As it turned out, it was related to the whispers they had shared while excluding me. I had thought it was gossip about me, but it was completely the opposite.

“Well, seeing you dedicate your whole body to teach us like that, we felt we had to live up to your expectations. We are tired, but we knew you must be the most exhausted among us.”

“I-Is that so?”

“Yes. We only sparred intermittently, but you kept going continuously. No Martial Uncle has ever trained us like that. Usually, they just set the training and watched us.”

This was actually a bit embarrassing. It turned out that being excluded was merely my own persecution mania. The senior brothers were actually having such thoughtful and precious ideas.

“But since you never showed any sign of fatigue, we couldn’t bring ourselves to tell you to rest. But now it’s the rest day.”

“Yes. And?”

“We decided to let you rest completely, while we train on our own. No matter how tired we are, we won’t be more tired than you.”

“But why hide it?”

“We thought if you found out, you would join us. We wanted you to rest.”

“……Ah.”

Only then did I realize the reason why Myeong-gyeong had tried so hard not to tell me.

When I was worrying if they hated me, they didn’t hate me at all. Rather, they recognized my devotion and cherished me.

“So, pretend you didn’t see me and go back to sleep. If the other senior brothers find out I told you, they’ll give me a really hard time.”

“Still, while you are training, I…”

“This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you. Hurry back inside!”

Myeong-gyeong placed his hands on his hips and pretended to be angry. It was so cute that a chuckle escaped me.

“Alright.”

I ultimately had no choice but to yield to that cuteness. Leaving behind a satisfied, nodding Myeong-gyeong, I returned to my quarters at Bow Hall.

The bedding was neatly laid out. All I had to do was crawl in. Had they prepared this for me too?

For some reason, I pulled the blanket up to my neck with an awkward feeling. Perhaps because I had heard such embarrassing things, my toes twitched.

Still, I gladly accepted the senior brothers’ feelings. Even if my fatigue had been wiped away by Hyeon-wol, going out now would mean rejecting their goodwill.

I closed my eyes. In my clear state of mind, I could sense the presences of those training all over the Wudang Sect.

Those presences shone like stars in my mind, making me feel as if I were floating in a sea of stars.