Return of the Heavenly Sword

Chapter 8. Azure Sword Sect (1)

Half a day of training and traveling combined.

Thanks to an early start in the morning, around the beginning of the Hour of the Monkey (3-5PM), he arrived in the Immortal Spirit.

It wasn't large enough to be called a city, but compared to his hometown of Heavenly Sun Village or Limhwa, which he had left early in the morning, it was a place where quite a few people lived.

He also thought that because it was a rather large town, bastards like the Iron Dragon Sect had emerged.

Naturally, his thoughts turned to the Iron Dragon Sect.

Starting with the Iron Dragon Sect, he planned to clean up all the unorthodox bastards on the way to Wondrous Ridge Mountain.

And after finding the spiritual medicine on Wondrous Ridge Mountain, he planned to execute all the bastards who would join the Steel Sinew Sect.

He wandered aimlessly through Immortal Spirit, recalling his memories of the Iron Dragon Sect and the Steel Sinew Sect.

It was because he didn't know exactly where in Immortal Spirit the Iron Dragon Sect had set up their base, but he wasn't particularly concerned.

After all, the stench of trash was bound to be noticeable wherever one went.

Just like right now.

“Old man. If you borrow money, you should pay it back. Huh?”

In front of a house on the outskirts of Immortal Spirit.

“You clearly said you'd give me a year! The harvest season hasn't even come yet, how can I possibly repay that money? You bastards!”

Men dressed in tacky black clothes with the character for 'Dragon' embroidered on their backs were swaggering and arguing with an old man.

“Old man. What kind of bullshit are you spouting? You clearly said you'd pay back every month.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

Towards the startled old man, the ruffians shoved a piece of paper.

“See here? Here. Huh? You said you'd pay back every month.”

“Alright, fine. If you really don't have the money, you can pay back the principal after a year, and just pay the interest. We're letting you off easy out of camaraderie as people from the same town.”

“The interest is one silver tael.”

“A-are you people even human! The money I borrowed was one silver tael, and you're telling me to pay one silver tael in interest after just a month!”

At the old man's cry, the man holding the paper smiled wryly.

“Wow. This old man is a complete swindler. The interest rate is clearly written here, and now you're pretending not to know?”

The old man, his face flushed as if he would collapse from a stroke, trembled and shouted.

“I'm illiterate, what good is shoving a paper at me! I've never seen such a paper!”

“Aha. This old man is still bullshitting. If you saw it today, you saw it. Right?”

“That's right, big brother. Hahahaha.”

The men, who burst out laughing as if mocking the old man, soon changed their expressions and approached him.

“Hold him tight. The leader said to get his thumbprint on this.”

“What about the ink pad?”

“Ink pad, my ass. The old man's blood will do just fine.”

The typical loan-sharking method of ruffians.

Instinctively, I started walking towards them, but then I belatedly let out a smirk.

“This damn mysophobia.”

Whenever I saw trash, my body itched to clean it up, so there was nothing I could do.

As if they had heard my monologue, the ruffians who were building up the atmosphere and approaching the old man turned their heads.

“Who's that bastard?”

“I've never seen his face before, big brother.”

“Looks like a kid from somewhere else.”

The three men exchanged words, and the ruffian who was called 'big brother' and held the paper smiled wryly and said.

“Hey, kid. Did you come here because you want to borrow money too?”

“It looks like you're the ones who need to borrow money.”

At my answer, the men's eyes widened.

“Money? What money?”

“You're going to the Yellow Springs, so you should take some travel money. Right?”

Just as I was about to preemptively rush at the ruffians, who had expressions of 'what is this bullshit,' a thunderous roar came from behind.

“You scoundrels!!”

With my hand on the hilt of my sword, I glanced back to see a middle-aged man with a stern impression approaching with three young men.

The middle-aged man shouted again as he ran quickly, performing a movement technique.

“What right do you have to oppress the old man!!”

It was a strange feeling.

He had known that Immortal Spirit was completely under the control of the Iron Dragon Sect.

As he paused in confusion, the ruffians who had encountered the middle-aged man furrowed their brows and spoke.

“Sect Leader Cheong, your words are strange. Of course, we are doing this because that old man borrowed money from us, aren't we?”

“Hmph! Where are you trying to play with words? The old man is clearly saying that the promised period is one year!”

As the middle-aged man called Sect Leader Cheong shouted sternly again, the ruffians sighed.

“Well, let's see how long you can hold out so stubbornly.”

The ruffian who said that to Sect Leader Cheong then shot me a murderous glare.

“Brat. We'll see you again later.”

It seemed he was frustrated that he couldn't forcibly get the old man's thumbprint before Sect Leader Cheong arrived.

“Hmph.”

As Sect Leader Cheong glared at them again and scolded them, the men snorted and retreated.

Sect Leader Cheong, who was watching the departing ruffians, soon turned his head and asked the old man.

“Old man. Why did you borrow money from those men?”

“Then what was I to do, Sect Leader? There's still half a year until the harvest, and there's no money to buy food at home.”

“Even so, to borrow money from those men.”

“Did you think I did it knowingly? I trusted Taehyeong when he said he'd lend it to me. How was I supposed to know he had joined the Iron Dragon Sect?”

“Haa.”

The middle-aged man, who sighed as if his head ached, soon turned his head to look at me.

He performed a clasped hands greeting to me, who was much younger, and offered his respects.

“I am Cheong Daejin, the sect leader of Azure Sword Sect.”

“My name is Jin Yuseong. I am not affiliated with any place.”

“Not affiliated with any place… Might you spare a moment?”

“Yes. That's fine.”

“Then, since it doesn't seem proper to talk while standing on the road like this, let's first go to our Azure Sword Sect together.”

I willingly accepted the Azure Sword Sect leader's invitation. It was to find out about this place called Azure Sword Sect.

From the situation, it seemed they were a force opposing the Iron Dragon Sect, but he couldn't just blindly trust Azure Sword Sect for that.

Just because they opposed unorthodox bastards didn't necessarily mean they were orthodox. It was common for unorthodox bastards to fight among themselves for their own interests.

If these people were also wolves in sheep's clothing, they needed to be cleaned up along with the Iron Dragon Sect.

In that sense, visiting their sect in person was a pretty useful method.

By looking at the speech and actions of those who belonged there, the atmosphere of the manor, and the martial arts they practiced, he could get a rough idea of what kind of people they were.

From the old man's reaction, it seemed like a fairly upright sect, but one never knew.

***

The first thing that caught Jin Yuseong's eye upon entering Azure Sword Sect was the sight of young men sweating and swinging their swords throughout the training ground.

However, their number was very small. At most, seven.

Including the three who had been with the sect leader, there were only ten in total.

“Greetings to the Sect Leader!!”

As the disciples who were swinging their swords showed their respect, the sect leader responded with a gesture and said.

“Focus on your training.”

As if there was no need for further conversation, the sect leader passed through the training ground and entered a hall with Jin Yuseong.

That hall also lacked any special decorations and exuded a clean and simple atmosphere.

‘I would believe it if they said he was an upright official, not the leader of a martial arts sect.’

As Jin Yuseong was having such thoughts, the sect leader handed him a teacup and poured him tea.

Afterward, the sect leader poured tea into his own cup and opened his mouth.

“I will assign a few of my disciples to you, so leave Immortal Spirit quickly as you are.”

It was an unexpected statement, so Jin Yuseong momentarily wore a dazed expression.

“What do you mean? Why are you suddenly telling me to leave?”

“Hoo. I know I'm being nosy. But it's obvious the Iron Dragon Sect bastards will be after you, so how can I just stand by and watch?”

Only then did Jin Yuseong understand what was going on.

‘He sees me as completely weak.’

His guess was correct.

Sect Leader Cheong Daejin believed that just a moment ago, he had saved not only the village elder but also Jin Yuseong.

‘His chivalrous spirit to help the old man is commendable, but a boy who has only been learning martial arts for a short time is too reckless.’

Although his body was covered by clothes, the outlines that were subtly revealed were enough to tell. It was a weak body that had not yet been properly honed.

Even while walking behind the sect leader, the boy's legs would tremble.

It was the aftermath of Jin Yuseong's relentless training during his journey from Limhwa to Immortal Spirit.

Also, the hand holding the teacup showed traces of blisters that had burst and were healing.

It could be seen as evidence that he had been training hard, but Sect Leader Cheong Daejin thought the opposite.

‘A martial artist who has trained for a long time would have fully formed calluses, and blisters would never form.’

In addition to that, looking at the subtly revealed aura, his internal energy also seemed meager.

In other words, it meant he was a brat who had only recently started learning martial arts.

Although Jin Yuseong noticed the other's misunderstanding, he didn't feel bad.

He wasn't the type to care about such misunderstandings, and it was an understandable one.

His body was still weak, and the countless life-and-death battles and duel experiences he had were of a kind that didn't show on the outside. His special eyes were the same.

Rather, because of this attitude of meddling to protect such a weakling, the scales in his heart tilted even further.

‘In many ways, he seems far from the unorthodox path.’

Gauging Sect Leader Cheong Daejin's character, this time Jin Yuseong asked first.

“By the way, what are those bastards from the Iron Dragon Sect you mentioned earlier?”

When he asked, feigning ignorance, the sect leader replied with a firm expression.

“You don't need to know.”

Jin Yuseong was about to say something, but Sect Leader Cheong Daejin added before he could.

“I saw you trying to help the old man. I acknowledge your chivalrous spirit. However, this is ultimately Immortal Spirit's affair, so there is no need for you, an outsider, to interfere. Leave this place to our Azure Sword Sect and be on your way.”

Noticing that Sect Leader Cheong Daejin was being so firm to protect him, Jin Yuseong sighed inwardly.

It wasn't because of Sect Leader Cheong Daejin's frustratingly upright nature.

‘Haa. Even if I wanted to trust and leave it to him, how can I when it's obvious they'll be ruined?’

In the future he knew, a sect called Azure Sword Sect didn't even exist.

Immortal Spirit was known to be entirely the territory of the Iron Dragon Sect.

Seeing their obvious future of being swept away by the Iron Dragon Sect bastards, he felt like he was going to have a stroke.

‘Right, I should go out and wipe them out right now.’

Just as Jin Yuseong was having that thought, Sect Leader Cheong Daejin opened his mouth.

“So, you should leave Immortal Spirit now. I'll assign a few of my disciples. Leave with them.”

Only then did Jin Yuseong realize that the misunderstanding he had considered irrelevant was, in fact, very relevant.

Sect Leader Cheong Daejin meant to attach them for protection, but from Jin Yuseong's perspective, it was like having watchdogs and baggage tagging along.

As Jin Yuseong wondered what to do, he quickly came up with a simple solution.

If the misunderstanding was the problem, he just had to clear it up.

“Sect Leader. Would you have a duel with me?”

Sect Leader Cheong Daejin, who had furrowed his brow at the sudden request, easily grasped Jin Yuseong's intention.

From his perspective, it could only be seen as a pup, who doesn't know to fear a tiger, acting recklessly.

As Sect Leader Cheong Daejin briefly considered what to do, a thought occurred to him that it might be for the best.

‘He seems to be a boy with a strong competitive spirit, so this might be a good opportunity to show him a little of how vast the world is.’

The sect leader, who liked the boy's chivalrous spirit, thought.

He hoped that this child would not wither away before he could fully bloom by acting recklessly.

“Then, let's go to the training yard.”