NOVEL NEXT Chapter 26
26th Chapter: The Ominous Star of Reversal
“Disciple, look! It’s light!”
I heard my senior’s voice as I walked through the dark corridor.
He was right.
At last, I could see sunlight far away.
Using the Minor Yang Step, my senior and I dashed through the cave.
And finally.
“Whoa!”
“Whew, huff.”
After a long week, I could finally breathe in the outside air.
The bright morning sun welcomed us under the clear sky.
The spring mountain breeze wrapped around my body.
When I turned back, I saw a knife-like cliff.
Kugugugung!
The cliff shook, emitting a loud noise.
The Secret Cave seemed to have completely collapsed.
“Let’s head to the Main Base now. I’ll find the way.”
“Okay. I’ll trust you this time, Master.”
My senior laughed at my words.
Jeonyeong was probably searching all over Gongdong Mountain for our whereabouts after we went missing for a week.
The records of my past life mentioned that Yujinhwi kept roaming Gongdong Mountain after going missing.
I could track Jeonyeong using the tracking skills I learned during my time as an informant, but it was a tedious and exhausting task. My body was tired, so it would be better to just head to the Main Base and rest while waiting for him.
As I was returning to the Gongdong Sect Main Base with my senior at that moment.
“Wha-what? Is it a withdrawal? Are there Huiaos behind you?!”
Near the Main Base, my senior and I ran into our Master Jeonyeong.
He looked as if he had been searching the enormous Gongdong Mountain for us, wearing a black martial outfit covered in dust.
“M-Master, do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you?!”
Jeonyeong’s handsomely groomed mustache framed his haggard eyes filled with tears.
Seeing that made me feel a twinge of guilt.
Since I had learned tracking and observation skills during my informant days, I could see it all clearly.
The torn black martial outfit, the dust all over, the worn-out shoes, his haggard face, and sunken eyes told me that he had truly spent those nights searching for us without proper sleep.
I don’t like tears from men, but as a fellow human, I felt a sense of indebtedness.
“I’m sorry, Master. I got lost on the mountain paths at night… It’s all due to this unworthy disciple’s inadequacies. Please punish me instead.”
I bowed towards Jeonyeong, expressing my remorse.
Just then, before Jeonyeong could say anything,
“No! Master! Don’t punish my disciple! We are one entity, and his mistake is also my fault in guiding him. So punish me instead!”
Swish!
My senior stepped in between me and Jeonyeong.
I could see the back of my senior.
Why’s he butting in without being asked?
I’m the one at fault. Definitely a push-over.
This was awkward.
“Hahaha…”
Seeing that, Jeonyeong let out a hearty laugh.
He looked at us and said, “First of all, let me ask. Where exactly were both of you for the whole week?”
“Well…”
The moment Jeonyeong asked, my senior started talking first.
He shared all the events we had experienced, from getting lost to discovering the Gwangseong Elixir Point. He mentioned finding and consuming the Mita Sacred Water and Hongyang Platform within, reforming the lost martial arts of the Gongdong Sect, rediscovering the Demon Sword Technique, and finally learning the Ihap Sin-gong after passing through the formation.
Jeonyeong’s eyes shook as he listened to my senior’s account.
Despite everything, my senior unexpectedly did not mention how he had feasted on the Life-Death Soup made from a monstrous snake.
Keeping secrets like that? Quite the pushover, indeed.
“…Was everything you said just now true?”
“Yes, it’s the truth, Master.”
I opened my bag and showed Jeonyeong the secret manual I obtained from the Secret Cave.
Receiving the manual, Jeonyeong flipped through the pages with a flap flap sound.
“There’s no doubt, this secret manual is genuine.”
After finishing reading the manual, Jeonyeong grabbed Yujinhwi’s wrist to check his pulse.
“The natural veins are all present… Then that means… you both have truly inherited the arrangements of the Primordial Sword Technique ancestor and retained the legacy.”
Once the verification was complete, a look of wonder danced in Jeonyeong’s eyes.
“…What a fortuitous event! Hahaha… This must also mean our ancestors have guided and protected you.”
Creak, creak.
Tears streamed down Jeonyeong’s face.
These were tears of joy, not like before.
According to records, Jeonyeong was a martial artist who considered the mission of reconstructing the Gongdong Sect as destiny, living for the sake of the sect rather than himself.
After bowing twice toward the Main Base with teary eyes, he stood up.
“Your unauthorized exit is indeed a clear fault. Yet, there’s also merit in reclaiming our sect’s martial arts. In assessing the merits and flaws of this incident, the merits vastly outweigh the flaws. Therefore, this matter will not be punished as the leader of the sect. However, though I won’t question the responsibility, a fault is a fault, so make sure this doesn’t happen again. Huiao will be responsible for leading the withdrawal. Without a master, you, the disciple, must now take charge of the sect.”
Jeonyeong lectured us in a seemingly stern voice.
“Understood, Master!”
“Understood, Master!”
My senior and I nodded at our master’s words.
I wasn’t surprised by the conclusion of it not being punished, as I had expected that.
Considering the fortuitous opportunity that fell into our laps, it would be stranger to punish us over something trivial.
In my past life, there were no records of Yujinhwi facing punishment after gaining such an opportunity.
Hearing our replies, our master laughed heartily.
He opened his arms and pulled both of us into an embrace.
Oh no, not another hug?
I flinched at first, but in this reconciliatory atmosphere, I had no way of avoiding the embrace.
Damn it.
It can’t be helped.
I resigned to accepting Jeonyeong’s hug.
“Welcome back, Huiao, Chulsu. You both have worked hard.”
With a hint of tears, Jeonyeong spoke to us.
With that last remark, my senior and my grand adventure to find a fortuitous opportunity concluded.
*
Back at the Main Base, my senior and I worked with Jeonyeong to produce the secret manual for the Demon Sword Technique.
My senior recited the techniques while Jeonyeong transcribed them onto paper with a brush.
My proficiency in literary Han was only at the stage of having just learned the Thousand Character Classic, so I got assigned the menial tasks like grinding ink.
The process of creating the manual continued for about two hours, wrapping up with Jeonyeong writing the title “Demon Sword Technique” in an elegant style on the cover.
“Haha, to have the Demon Sword Technique return to our sect… This truly is a great fortune for us. I never knew a day like this would come in my lifetime. Now I can finally hold my head high before my deceased master. Hahahaha…”
Jeonyeong laughed heartily while looking at the restored secret manual for the Demon Sword Technique.
I cleared my throat as I stared at him.
“Master, I have something to say.”
“What is it?”
Jeonyeong asked softly.
He seemed to be in a good mood after regaining the Demon Sword Technique.
After all, it was the hallmark of the Gongdong Sect. A Gongdong Sect without the Demon Sword Technique is like a sparrow without a nest, or a man without manhood.
Now that we had reclaimed it, Jeonyeong, with the mission of reconstructing the sect, must be reveling in extreme pleasure like I was after regaining something significant.
In reality, he had a look of excitement, like he had just encountered some underground adult film.
I honestly didn’t want to see a middle-aged man express such enthusiasm.
What the hell.
I endured the nausea with superhuman patience as I looked at him and said.
“It would be wise to keep the Ihap Sin-gong and Night Pearl hidden for a while.”
“Why is that?”
Jeonyeong asked me.
I must conceal the Ihap Sin-gong and Night Pearl.
This conclusion had been forming since I escaped from the Secret Cave, or rather since I heard the ominous last words of the Primordial Sword Technique.
The significant final words left by the Primordial Sword Technique.
The darkness of the world has yet to vanish, and the ominous star of reversal will surely rise again; this was still stuck in my memory.
Though I didn’t mention specifics about defying the heavens or anything, the “darkness of the world” he mentioned had to refer to the Blood Sect, which rose up 300 years ago. The “ominous star of reversal” clearly indicated the leader of the Blood Sect.
‘Specifically, it must refer to the descendant of the Blood Tyrant.’
The Blood Tyrant.
Three hundred years ago, during the turmoil of the late Yuan and early Ming eras, the one who led the Blood Sect and sparked a great blood disaster across the realms.
The Blood Tyrant with a new banner for a new heaven swept out of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains in Guangdong, annihilated the Southern Sea Sword Pavilion, and massacred countless innocent lives.
Amidst rebellions by the Han ethnic groups in various regions of the Central Plains, the Yuan Dynasty was already losing its significance, and the Blood Sect’s blood disaster dealt the final blow, forcing the Yuan imperial family to retreat from Beijing to the vast grasslands. Just before the Blood Sect took control of the now-empty Central Plains, the master of the Primordial Sword Technique appeared.
Three hundred years ago, he was the greatest in the world.
The Martial Alliance led by the Primordial Sword Technique fought a great battle with General Zhu Yuanzhang at Payang Lake. The winner of this fierce battle that lasted seven nights was the Primordial Sword Technique.
The Blood Tyrant perished, and the Blood Sect was destroyed.
After the battle at Payang Lake, Zhu Yuanzhang seized the heavenly mandate and founded the Ming Empire. The martial artists of the Central Plains were granted the privilege of inviolability of official affairs by the founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, due to their contributions to the establishment of the Ming Empire.
‘And naturally, the rebel Blood Sect vanished without a trace. The reason the Demon Sect was expelled from the Central Plains to the Xinjiang Tianshan mountain range is that the Blood Sect originated from the extremist faction of the Demon Sect.’
When I concluded that I needed to die to regain my manhood in my past life, I searched for the descendants of the Blood Sect to perform the Rebirth Great Method, but they were disguising themselves as morticians, barely surviving as the wretched lower class.
The state had thoroughly exterminated them. I couldn’t find any shadowy forces amidst my networks of informants from Dongchang and Seochang.
What was paramount to me were my manhood and Cloud and Rain Pleasure, not the darkness of the Martial World. Thus, that sort of information was outside my interest.
Yet now, the Primordial Sword Technique was certain that the descendants of the Blood Sect would definitely appear.
‘But, the Blood Sect hasn’t appeared even fifty years into the future.’
However, in the future I knew, the Blood Sect and the offspring of the Blood Tyrant never showed up.
The reason Yujinhwi gained a reputation as a swordsman was that he defeated the opponents from the Nine Great Houses and the Six Great Families in martial arts contests.
Even when the renowned masters from the Namgung Family, Mount Hua Sect, Qingcheng Sect, and Zhongnan Sect joined forces to disrupt him, Yujinhwi managed to thwart their ambush alone.
‘But I can’t dismiss the Primordial Sword Technique’s claim, which read the signs of heaven and grasped the concept of regression as mere lunacy. Especially since I’m quite bothered by the fact that the Secret Cave fell in my past life.’
My instincts were ringing alarm bells.
In the future I know, even Yujinhwi couldn’t restore the Ihap Sin-gong. It never came to light either. Yet, the Secret Cave still collapsed.
If the one who brought down the Secret Cave was the descendant of the Blood Tyrant? What if they aimed to destroy the Ihap Sin-gong, the Primordial Martial Arts that delivered the last blow to the Blood Tyrant by collapsing the Secret Cave while the Primordial Sword Technique was busy? What if they plotted in a faraway secluded area where my informants could never reach?
In the current situation, where all possibilities must be considered, prematurely declaring I had reclaimed the Ihap Sin-gong would be foolish.
Who knows when their claws might reach for me.
‘And I haven’t even touched a beauty yet or indulged in any Cloud and Rain Pleasure, so there’s no need to poke a hornet’s nest right now.’
Dealing with those shadowy figures could wait until I reached the pinnacle of the Gongdong Sect’s martial arts and acquired absolute potency.
No, by then, it would rather be an honor.
I could emerge as a hero in the Martial World alongside my senior, captivating the hearts of countless beauties while accomplishing the feat of establishing the Three Storey Tea House.
“Oh my! Is that the hero of the Martial World who slayed the offspring of the Blood Tyrant? Truly impressive and admirable!”
“Hahaha! Just like a hero, he has a toned physique! I prefer this manly figure to the slender Yujinhwi!”
“They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I would be happy to be even a concubine of this hero! A night together would suffice! Please accept me!”
Gorgeous women recognizing me as a hero of the Martial World! Their tears flowing as they begged to share a bed for just one night while sneaking into my chamber danced before my eyes.
But that would all have to wait until I am sufficiently strong and have absolute potency.
I am a man who thinks with my reason, not my desires.
I won’t mess up things because of a momentary urge.
Thus, I have to keep the Ihap Sin-gong hidden.
But I can’t just straightforwardly convey this to my master.
I looked at my master and presented the premeditated excuse I had thought out.
Now is the time for the critical showdown.