Chapter 255

Crash!

Jeok Cheongang sprang to his feet so abruptly that he did not even notice the chair toppling behind him.

All his senses were focused on one person alone: Jongni Chu.

“This is…”

The moment was so brief it could hardly be called an instant, but he had definitely felt it.

The qi wave emanating from Jongni Chu had been so powerful that it had made his eyes fly open.

“Returning to Simplicity… He was hiding his strength.”

Dharma King Hong Dao muttered the words like a groan, his voice filled with pure astonishment.

Returning to Simplicity. It was a realm that allowed someone who had learned martial arts to appear like an ordinary person. The protruding temples flattened, and the person could freely control their aura.

To reach such a realm, one had to set foot beyond Peak.

It was a realm of supreme mastery permitted only to the greatest martial artists.

“That young punk is a Supreme Peak master? Have you all gone mad? How could that possibly make sense?”

At the Thunderbolt Saber King’s barrage of questions, Hong Dao and Jeok Cheongang shook their heads.

“Amitabha. Then, Benefactor Peng, how do you intend to explain this situation?”

“He has reached the realm of Returning to Simplicity. And he deceived even our eyes completely.”

The people seated in the seats of honor had been listening closely to the three men’s conversation. Now they sat with their mouths hanging open.

Jongni Chu had scraped through every round from the preliminaries onward. He had always advanced by the narrowest of margins. That was why people had even given him the mocking nickname Life-Sustaining Sword.

But that was no longer the case.

The qi they had sensed from that lucky young martial artist for that brief moment had been powerful enough to send chills down the spines of even the leaders of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Family Heads of the Five Great Families.

“What in the world…”

The Thunderbolt Saber King could not continue and closed his mouth.

He, too, was a Supreme Peak master and one of the Ten Kings. In his heart, he agreed with Jeok Cheongang and Hong Dao, but he could not bring himself to accept it so easily.

“How can someone who isn’t even thirty years old become a Supreme Peak master?”

As the Thunderbolt Saber King muttered his lament, someone who had been silently observing the situation spoke up.

“It’s possible.”

“What?”

Everyone’s heads turned in the same direction.

As though demanding an explanation, their gazes fixed on Thousand-Faced Fox Song Ho, who added one more sentence.

“If he has Returned to Youth.”

“…”

Leaving the astonishment spreading throughout the crowd behind him, Song Ho leaned back against his chair. His eyes remained fixed on Jongni Chu, sunk deep in thought.

Who are you?

The more the question in his heart grew, the more intense the pain became at the stump where his leg had been severed decades ago.

Song Ho knew now. This was no mere coincidence.

Jongni Chu was closely connected to the day Song Ho had become a one-legged man.

Show me your true face.

At that moment, the judge’s flag shot powerfully toward the sky.

Whoosh!

A red slash swept through the air without hesitation. Cheongpung had been standing in place, merely blinking, and twisted his body too late.

But Jongni Chu’s strike had been faster than he expected.

Slice!

A burning pain spread from his chest. A long cut had opened across the front flap of his robe, and red beads of blood began to well up.

The sharp scent of blood pierced his nose.

“…Ah.”

Cheongpung staggered backward and looked at Jongni Chu with a dazed expression.

His friend—or rather, the man he had thought was his friend—was staring at him with an unbearably calm gaze.

“Too bad. It went in too shallow.”

Just as Jongni Chu had said, the sword wound was shallow. It had merely grazed his skin, leaving no other injury.

But Cheongpung’s wound was not limited to his flesh.

“J-Jongni Chu.”

He was Cheongpung’s first friend in the Murim—or in his entire twenty-two years of life.

The man who had extended his hand first and asked to become friends was now pointing a sword at him. Without a moment’s hesitation, he had swung it and cut Cheongpung across the chest.

“Why…?”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

Jongni Chu casually flicked the blood from his sword.

“Isn’t this the Murim? Surely you didn’t completely trust someone you had just met after exchanging only a few words?”

“…”

Judging by Cheongpung’s expression, it seemed that was exactly what he had done.

Jongni Chu gave a short, incredulous laugh.

“Unbelievable. How have you survived this long with that kind of mind? I heard you were a Disciple of Huashan.”

Jongni Chu glanced at the Heavenly Sword True Person, the Huashan Sect Leader seated in the seats of honor, and clicked his tongue.

“The Sect Leader did a terrible job teaching his Disciple. Pathetic.”

At those words, Cheongpung’s tightly closed lips parted. Unlike before, his voice was low and formal.

“The person who taught me martial arts was my grandfather. Not him.”

“Really? Whoever he is, he must be a senile old man. What’s that old man’s epithet?”

“The Sword Saint.”

“The Sword Saint Mae Jonghak?”

When Cheongpung nodded, astonished exclamations burst from the stands, which had fallen silent.

There was not a single person here who did not know the reputation of Sword Saint Mae Jonghak. His name had long since become a living legend.

And now, after disappearing for decades, the Sword Saint’s Disciple had appeared.

Right here!

Countless people widened their eyes in shock, but Jongni Chu alone was different.

“The Sword Saint’s Disciple…”

Jongni Chu habitually stroked his smooth chin, then let out a quiet laugh.

“Then the Sword Saint must not be much.”

“…”

“A child is still a child no matter how strong he is. You shouldn’t leave one carelessly beside a river. Before you know it, the current will sweep him away.”

Cheongpung suddenly remembered something his grandfather had always said.

Always remember this. The world is vast, and there are many strong people. Your martial arts are not yet complete, so you must always beware those who harbor malicious intent.

At the time, those words had not meant much to him. Huashan had been peaceful, and his days with Mae Jonghak had been happy.

But his curiosity about the outside world had grown with every passing day, until he finally left without his grandfather’s knowledge.

And then…

Ah. So this was what he meant.

Only now did he feel that he understood those words.

It hurt, though, that he had realized their meaning only after bleeding from the sword of the first friend he had ever made.

Grandpa.

Cheongpung tightened his grip on the sword hilt. The scent of blood lingering at the tip of his nose faded, and his mind cleared.

Ssshing.

With a sound that made his hair stand on end, a pure white blade emerged from its sheath.

At the same time, the internal energy coiled in his dantian rose like a cloud, covering his acupoints and spreading in billowing waves.

Tzzzzzz!

The distinctive purple qi of the Zaha Divine Technique rose from Cheongpung’s entire body. His eyes, filled with the colors of the setting sun, turned toward Jongni Chu.

“You’ll regret this.”

“Then let’s see…”

Jongni Chu rested the sword he had been holding loosely across his shoulder.

“Let’s see what you can do.”

Whoosh!

Cheongpung threw his head back. Jongni Chu’s sword passed within a paper’s width of the bridge of his nose. Instead of Sword Energy, the blade was thickly coated in reddish rust.

Fast!

Cheongpung had mastered an ultimate eye technique in accordance with his grandfather’s teachings, but Jongni Chu’s movements surpassed even that.

The moment the warning bell rang in his head, a wave of sword attacks followed.

Whoosh! Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!

The blade that had been about to cleave his chest bent in midair.

It seemed to thrust, but then it slashed. It seemed to slash, but then an unexpected palm strike flew toward his shoulder.

Boom!

“Urgh!”

The unexpected strike slammed into Cheongpung’s shoulder, sending him flying more than ten zhang.

His body spun like a top through the air. The instant his feet touched the ground—

Boom!

The bluestone covering the dueling platform shattered into powder.

Cheongpung surged toward Jongni Chu even faster than he had been thrown away.

The sword streaming purple Sword Energy danced gracefully and caused flowers to bloom in the air.

Ssshhh!

The Thirty-Six Plum Blossom Swords, executed with eight-tenths mastery, scattered in all directions around Jongni Chu.

Surrounded by purple Sword Energy, Jongni Chu suddenly raised the corners of his mouth. It was a smile wholly unsuited to a life-or-death situation.

“This is more than I expected.”

Before he had finished speaking, the sword in his hand moved.

A blinding flash and a deafening roar erupted, so intense that the spectators could not even open their eyes properly.

Boom! Krrrraaaash!

Exploding Sword Energy and flying fragments filled the air.

The thick cloud of dust billowed upward, then split apart to reveal a single figure.

Cheongpung’s eyes widened as far as they could when he saw Jongni Chu coughing softly behind one hand.

This man…

This time, he had seen it clearly.

He had seen Jongni Chu’s movements as he deflected every last strand of Sword Energy.

The dozens of Sword Energy attacks capable of piercing steel had been countered by none other than his rusted sword.

The blade did not even carry Sword Energy, yet it had let everything slide away. It had done so as smoothly as flowing water, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

How is that possible?

Cheongpung was seized by astonishment—and by a strange emotion he had never felt before.

The sound of his heartbeat thundered in his ears, and his hand gripping the sword hilt refused to move.

A bead of sweat that had formed on his forehead rolled down the bridge of his nose and dropped.

“Are you afraid?”

Jongni Chu walked toward him at an unhurried pace, as though he were taking a stroll. At his deep, chilly gaze, Cheongpung’s heart lurched.

Then he realized that the word Jongni Chu had just used was the name of this strange emotion.

“…Afraid?”

It was an emotion Cheongpung had never experienced before.

Fear was a foreign feeling he had only ever heard about from his grandfather. Now it was tightening around both his body and his heart.

Pung. Do you know fear?

Fear? What’s that?

It hides deep in everyone’s heart. Not knowing that fear is your greatest weakness.

Sword Saint Mae Jonghak had loved his grandson deeply, despite their lack of a blood relation. He had always looked at him warmly and cared for him day and night.

Just as pretty flowers bloomed in good soil, Cheongpung had grown into a lovable child.

This old man is at fault. I shouldn’t have done that…

He had grown up receiving nothing but unconditional love, and so he knew only how to love.

On the mountain where the harmonious grandfather and grandson lived together, there was none of the pride, greed, jealousy, or anger that overflowed in the outside world. The child grew steadily without ever learning how frightening human malice could be or what fear truly was.

If such a day ever comes, don’t let fear devour you. That is all I can tell you.

Those were the words Cheongpung had heard the day before he secretly left Lotus Peak.

Perhaps his grandfather had known this would happen.

But after encountering a powerful person unlike anyone he had ever met, Cheongpung found himself backing away without even realizing it.

Grandpa, what do I do?

Step.

When Jongni Chu took one step forward, Cheongpung retreated.

Then another step.

And another.

From the five-zhang distance that refused to narrow, Jongni Chu raised his sword.

“This is endless. I expected more from the Sword Saint’s Disciple. Is this all you amount to?”

“I-I…”

“You do know what losing in the Murim means, don’t you?”

Ssshhh.

A ghostlike movement.

Cheongpung, trapped in fear, could not react. In a world that had slowed to a crawl, Jongni Chu was the only thing that seemed alive.

With a single step, he erased the distance that had refused to close, and his sword glided forward.

The moment the rusted blade was about to pierce Cheongpung’s throat—

Swoooosh! Boom!

A terrifying sound split the air, followed by a boom loud enough to leave his ears ringing.

Jongni Chu twisted his sword at the last instant and blocked the attack. Then he gave a sharp grin at the sight of the transparent spearhead.

“As expected, you’ve got a good friend.”

“He’s not a friend. He’s my Benefactor. But…”

Jin Taekyung spat out a wad of phlegm and continued,

“What the fuck are you?”