Chapter 209: Arrival (7)

About seven days into her stay in Qianshan, Soyak ran into yet another unexpected person at a nearby tavern.

“Well, look who it is. Our youngest junior sister.”

“...Brother Cheongak?”

It was Cheongak.

To her surprise, he was wandering around alone.

She certainly hadn’t heard that they had been deliberately sent out separately for their Roaming Pillar Journey.

“Where are the others?”

“Hm? We all decided to go our separate ways.”

“...Is that really all right?”

Cheongak rubbed his nose, then proudly raised a thumb and nodded.

“Not everyone’s first trip into the martial world turns out like yours.”

“What do you mean, ‘like mine’? That’s rather harsh.”

“What else would you call it?”

He wasn’t wrong.

Why were First-Rate martial artists called “First-Rate”?

The term meant essentially the same thing in the martial world as it did anywhere else.

Simply reaching the First-Rate realm meant one had already attained a certain degree of mastery over their martial arts.

But most Mount Hua disciples were now at the very end of First-Rate or had already entered the Apex realm.

At that level, there was less reason to worry about them traveling alone than there was to worry about them beating someone senseless along the way.

“If you’ve come all the way here, Junior Sister, then I guess... you’re entering the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering?”

“That’s right.”

“Then I might as well give up.”

Cheongak gave a crooked grin and dropped into the seat beside Soyak.

Then he casually snatched one of the dumplings she had ordered and popped the whole thing into his mouth.

Soyak let out a long sigh and pushed the rest of the plate toward him.

“Do you really... have to?”

“I worked myself half to death for three years too, but middle-stage Transcendent Apex was about as far as I could get.”

“...Is that why you left on the Roaming Pillar Journey?”

“Pretty much.”

A Daoist needed to understand how the world worked.

Cultivating the Way was not something one could ultimately accomplish alone.

The Way was, in the end, a principle meant to benefit oneself, other people, and beyond them, the world itself.

...Though by now, such things had practically lost their meaning.

Even so, that did not make the Roaming Pillar Journey itself meaningless.

Experiencing the boundary between life and death was a trial anyone who wielded a sword needed to undergo.

No matter how deeply one comprehended martial principles or how diligently one trained with the sword—

if one did not know the sensation of staking one’s life while taking another’s, of repeatedly crossing that boundary between life and death, one could never become complete as a swordsman.

“So? Did you gain anything from it?”

“Nothing much yet. If I expected some great revelation just from chasing off a few bandits, I’d be the thief.”

“That’s true.”

Soyak nodded as she spooned up some wonton broth.

Unlike when Namgung Seon had appeared, no one was trembling as they stared in her direction.

Her Mount Hua martial uniform stood out somewhat, but—

in this place, it was actually rarer to find someone who wasn’t wearing the clothing of some sect or household.

“Oh, right. A friend of mine should be here soon.”

“...You’ve already made a friend?”

“It’s been more than three months since I started the journey. Of course I have. Anyway, he’ll be here soon.”

Soyak stared silently at Cheongak.

Her expression clearly asked what sort of bizarre person he had befriended this time.

“Why are you looking at me like that...?”

“I was wondering what sort of strange person you might have befriended and decided to bring along.”

“What? Have you ever even seen me make friends outside the sect? That’s slander.”

“Have you forgotten Monk Seongeung?”

Cheongak clamped his mouth shut.

Seongeung certainly was a strange one...

Especially the way he talked.

But this time was different.

At least by Cheongak’s standards, his new friend was an exceptionally normal young master from a prestigious household.

And that person was...

“There you are, Cheongak. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Oh, you’re here! Over here, over here. This is the junior sister I kept telling you about—Soyak.”

“Oh...”

A distinctly dark-green martial uniform.

A slight furrow between his brows, but an unmistakably lean and agile build.

Hair pulled tightly back and tied behind his head...

and wide, billowing sleeves that looked perfect for hiding all manner of things.

“Good to meet you. I’m Tang Uwon, the second son of the Tang Family.”

Soyak reflexively extended her hand.

She had never expected to meet the Tang Family’s second son here.

Still less had she imagined that he would somehow become friends with her reckless brother Cheongak.

“...Cheon Soyak, third-generation disciple of Mount Hua.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you. They say you defeated the Namgung heir in an instant.”

“Of course she did! Our junior sister is the number one young talent under heaven! Even the Namgung heir with that Heavenly Martial Body of his went down in an instant!”

Cheongak remained utterly incapable of reading the room.

After all...

this place was packed with young talents who had gathered for the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, along with warriors from their respective sects and households.

Naturally, there were Namgung warriors among them as well.

And yet he was still saying things like that.

Tang Uwon, at least, had not shouted.

Cheongak’s voice, on the other hand, rang through the entire tavern.

In an instant, every gaze nearby swung toward Soyak, Cheongak, and Tang Uwon.

Before Soyak could abandon the remaining meatballs and get to her feet...

someone else stood first.

“That is quite an amusing story.”

A blue martial uniform.

On the upper left breast was an embroidered white cloud.

A Namgung warrior.

“The heir spent three years in closed-door training and emerged as a master even I can no longer handle... Do you truly believe things would still end the same way now?”

Beneath the cloud embroidery were four characters identifying the Azure Sky Cloud Sword Unit.

It was one of the Namgung Household’s representative combat units.

Soyak sighed and glanced at the man who had spoken.

Her black eyes settled on his clothing.

There wasn’t so much as a trace of grime along his collar.

Not a single frayed spot marred his sleeves.

Of course, with the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering approaching and crowds flooding into Qianshan, Namgung territory, he might simply have been issued fresh clothing.

But judging by his appearance, he could not have been much past thirty.

Most likely, he was a newcomer to the Azure Sky Cloud Sword Unit.

If so, his martial level was probably somewhere between the middle and very end of the Apex realm.

Even Transcendent Apex martial artists had difficulty gauging a Transformation Realm master who deliberately concealed their presence.

For a man already biased by Soyak’s small, slender appearance, estimating her true level was impossible.

More importantly...

the Cheon Soyak who had defeated the Namgung heir in an instant and slain the Transformation Realm Flame-Saber Lord Ak Jupae—

was supposedly a mighty heroine built like Mount Tai.

“I heard the woman from Mount Hua who defeated the heir was a huge, powerfully built woman whose palm alone could cover an overturned soup bowl! And yet you, who look nothing like her, dare invoke that feat as though it were your own—!”

“I really am that Cheon Soyak, senior.”

Soyak slowly rose from her seat.

Then she simply looked up at him.

“What did you say? I know perfectly well what I heard, and you still insist on lying to my face!”

“...If you’d like, why don’t you take me to the heir yourself?”

“You think the heir is someone you can simply meet whenever you please?”

Now her head was beginning to hurt.

Soyak glanced at Cheongak and promptly kicked him in the shin.

He tried to dodge, but there was no escaping a foot that pursued him with the principles of Lightness Arts woven into its movement.

“Urgh...!”

“Look what you’ve done, Brother. I’ve been dragged into another nuisance because of you.”

“B-But how was I supposed to not brag about my amazing junior sister...?”

Another sigh escaped her.

Meanwhile, the man in front of her seemed to have grown even angrier.

“I am Jang Dugil, a warrior of the Azure Sky Cloud Sword Unit! If you call yourself an upright martial artist of the righteous factions, state your name and affiliation!”

“...Cheon Soyak, third-generation disciple of the Mount Hua Sect.”

“Another lie!”

Soyak truly did not want to become involved with the Namgung Household any more than necessary.

Her ultimate goal was to kill the Namgung Grand Family Head.

The more connections she formed with anyone from that household, the more troublesome matters would become.

But there was simply no avoiding getting dragged into situations like this.

“...What do you want, senior?”

“If you truly defeated the heir, then prove it with your skill!”

Soyak stared blankly at the man’s face.

His brow was drawn into a deep scowl.

His eyes were fixed rigidly on her.

People who wore expressions like that were usually...

idiots.

Soyak did not draw her sword.

Instead, she made a suggestion.

“Let’s go to the Namgung estate. If you tell them I’m here, the heir will come out.”

“Who do you think you are?!”

“Well, if they’re told a Transformation Realm martial artist is standing outside the main gate, surely someone will come out.”