The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 122

As I shed tears ungracefully, Nangong Sang-hyeon held me as if I were his grandchild.

"How hard it must have been for a young one to reach this level."

Although he was not very large, his embrace was quite wide.

I shed quite a few tears as if I had really become a fifteen-year-old child, but I didn't just shed tears as Unhwi of the Wudang Sect.

'Self-Taught Sword Master. Your method was not wrong.'

Because the method of the Self-Taught Sword Master, Unhwi, was acknowledged by Nangong Sang-hyeon, the strongest in the current martial world.

In my previous life, every day was a life of proving myself.

In order not to be pushed around by the giant sects and martial families, I always took on the most dangerous missions, and I always succeeded.

So as my status and fame grew, there were people who acknowledged me, but there were also many people who were wary of me.

They were afraid that I would destroy their vested interests.

Although there were some martial artists who had a favorable relationship with me, apart from them, I was always an outsider, a stranger.

But feeling as if that past was being acknowledged, my emotions exploded without my realizing it.

'Ugh, what kind of disgrace is this.'

A little while later.

I came to my senses and gently moved away from Nangong Sang-hyeon.

Nangong Sang-hyeon laughed like a real grandfather and patted my shoulder, saying, "But when on earth did you start training in martial arts?"

"Yes? It's been about... two years?"

"Two years?!"

I didn't know how to answer, so I just told him the time I had trained at the Wudang Sect, and Nangong Sang-hyeon's eyes widened as if they were about to pop out.

"Two years! You created this level of Dynamic Qigong in just two years?"

"Th... that's how it is."

"That's ridiculous. I was actually thinking that you might have learned this training method from someone. In my opinion, I thought it was a Dynamic Qigong that could only be obtained by constantly moving your body and striving to become stronger for at least twenty years! Two years. What on earth...!"

He suddenly got excited and started talking as if he were speaking in tongues.

In fact, I was surprised by the strangely specific number of twenty years that he mentioned, but I answered as if it were nothing.

"I-I must have been lucky."

"Luck? No. This is a realm that cannot be called luck. Great Master! You have the disposition of a Great Master!"

He suddenly said excitedly.

It's good to be praised, but my conscience pricked me, so I said to him, "I don't think I deserve to hear such words. I'm grateful that you see me in a good light."

"Usually, when a young martial artist like you achieves such results, they become arrogant and not humble, but you have already acquired humility. Hahaha!"

He didn't seem to have any intention of listening to me.

"Haha! I am originally very interested in nurturing the next generation. Because I believe that I cannot develop our family, our martial world, by becoming strong alone."

For a moment, I felt my heart sink.

Because it was almost identical to the theory I usually had in mind.

"To be honest, I wanted to have my Gold Basin Hand-Washing ceremony quietly, not so loudly like this. But do you know why I gathered martial artists from all over the Central Plains under the pretext of my retirement banquet? It's because I wanted to meet the rising stars of each sect and family and pass on my enlightenment. You are one of them."

"Then... may I understand that you will teach me something more?"

He smiled benevolently and looked at me, answering, "I see you are a talented person full of ambition. That's right. I don't know if my enlightenment will be helpful, but if possible, I want to share it. Of course, that doesn't mean I can share the family's secret techniques or martial arts... that's because of our family's circumstances."

Seeing my disappointment, he winked and continued, "A week later, right before I perform my Gold Basin Hand-Washing, I have prepared a sword dance that contains my enlightenment so far. Well. You could say it's a kind of congratulatory performance, right? I have a feeling that you... will be able to realize many things from that sword dance."

His voice contained a strong conviction and a kind of wish.

He truly wants our future generations to inherit his enlightenment.

"I will do my best. To inherit as much of your enlightenment as possible, Great Hero."

"Good. Good. There's no law that says the child who inherits my legacy must be in our Nangong family. Who knows? Maybe you will inherit my enlightenment and become the next generation's Sword Emperor?"

He looked at me with a pleased expression.

It was such a warm expression that I felt the illusion that I had become his real grandson.

Most of the adults in the martial world I met in my previous life were so rigid and stiff that I thought they were old fogies, but the adults I met after becoming Unhwi of the Wudang Sect have a very different feeling.

'Why did I rarely meet people like this in my previous life?'

Because I had no background? Because the martial arts I had were shabby?

I had thought so until now. But after meeting and talking with Nangong Sang-hyeon, there is one thing I have newly felt.

'If I had tried, I could have made such connections, but I had no room to spare.'

At that time, I was so focused on looking only ahead and becoming stronger that I couldn't afford to have any room to spare. I trained every day, fought, and tried to be acknowledged somehow.

Wasn't it me who had put up thorns with a sense of inferiority and impatience and didn't look back at others?

"Thank you so much for today. I will make the martial art you organized for me just now my own as quickly as possible. And, I will not keep it to myself, but I will share it as much as possible with those I know. So that we can all become stronger."

"I would be grateful if you did that. As a senior in the martial world, I am grateful to my junior. I also feel sorry for making you bear the future of this martial world."

For a moment, I even thought that he might know the future, but I thought it was a customary worry that old people have, and I just answered by nodding my head.

"Continue to strive. And don't forget that you are not alone in the martial world."

"Yes. I will keep that in mind."

"Then let's stop here for today. In fact, after meeting you, I thought of a place where I need to revise my sword dance. I'm so eager to revise it now that my body is itching."

He said to me with a mischievous look in his eyes.

Although he said it very politely, in the end, it was an order to leave.

"Yes. Thank you so much for today. I will be on my way back now."

"See you next time. My granddaughter will take you back again."

I bowed to him and left the room.

Then, as if she had been waiting, Nangong Yu-hwa was waiting for me outside the door.

"Ah, Miss Nangong."

"Did you... have a good conversation?"

"Yes. Thanks to you, it was a good time. In fact, I was surprised because I didn't expect to see the Sovereign Sword Emperor."

As I said with a dejected laugh, she stared at my face.

I touched my face and asked, "Is there something on my face?"

"Ah, no. It's just... I was wondering what kind of person you were to have talked with my grandfather for so long..."

"Did I talk for a long time?"

"Yes. In fact, although my grandfather seems to be a very nice person... he is ruthless to those who don't show talent. The fact that you talked for so long is no different from him acknowledging your talent tremendously. Besides, his laughter was so loud that it leaked out of the door. That's a rare occurrence."

I was so happy to hear that that the corners of my mouth went up on their own.

But then, her complexion darkened slightly, and she muttered a word as if to herself.

"He's only laughed like that to me or my older brother a handful of times."

"Ah, I see."

Then her face turned a very slight shade of red, and she answered, "I'm sorry. I said something useless. I will escort you to your lodgings. Please follow me."

And she started walking ahead, and this time I followed her.

As I quietly followed her, I thought about what she had said a little while ago.

'Nangong Yu-hwa's older brothers... Changcheon Ilgeom Nangong Ryu-jin and Geomryong Nangong Mu-jin.'

Not only Nangong Yu-hwa, but also Nangong Ryu-jin and Nangong Mu-jin are already famous rising stars in the martial world.

But I can't quite accept the fact that Nangong Sang-hyeon doesn't acknowledge them.

Nangong Mu-jin, like Nangong Yu-hwa, showed a good performance at the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly and was given the title of Sword Dragon.

He is also a person who is mentioned as the next head of the Nangong family because his manly appearance and fighting style are all just like the current head of the Nangong family.

Nangong Ryu-jin is a slightly different type of martial artist from him.

He has a much more slender body and a handsome appearance, perhaps because he resembles his mother more than his father.

An appearance that is often said to look like a gisaeng orabeoni. In other words, it means he has an appearance that would make many women cry.

"I will be on my way back now. Please go in carefully."

While I was thinking about this and that, we had already reached a place where my lodgings were visible.

Nangong Yu-hwa bowed her head and then turned around and left without looking back.

As I watched her go, I had this thought.

'It seems there is some story in the Nangong family that I didn't know about.'

For now, I decided to think only this far and not think too deeply.

I'm not some kind of problem solver, and I don't need to listen to stories and solve problems wherever I go, do I?

The Nangong family is a family that will do well in the future even without me.

I shook off my thoughts and returned to my lodgings.

I'm not going to sleep at all tonight.

It seems that the night will not be enough to organize the Dynamic Qigong that the Sovereign Sword Emperor organized for me earlier.

***

If you go down a little south from Hefei, where the Nangong family is located, there is a lake called Chaohu.

But the size of this lake is so large that it cannot simply be called a lake.

Although it is clearly a lake, it is to the point where there are even waves, and the end is not visible, so the horizon is visible.

There are so many large and small islands in the lake that even if you were a body being chased by the government troops for committing a crime, if you hid on an uninhabited island in Chaohu, it would be difficult to find you easily.

And on one of the islands in the deepest part, a man with a huge body was making a fire and cooking meat on a skewer.

From head to toe, he was full of bulging muscles, and if it weren't for his white hair and beard, it would have been difficult to guess his age.

"Yeom-jong, do you have something to say?"

Next to him was another man who was prostrated on the ground, and from their posture, it seemed to be a kind of master-servant relationship.

The man called Yeom-jong opened his mouth to the man who was grilling the meat.

"My lord. It is said that martial artists are gathering one after another at the Nangong family. The pretext is... as you said before, Nangong Sang-hyeon's retirement banquet... but there is one more piece of news."

"News? Tell me."

"That is... not only a retirement banquet, but also a Gold Basin Hand-Washing ceremony is being prepared."

The man, who was about to take a bite of the cooked meat, stopped what he was doing and flashed his eyes at his subordinate.

But, there was only one of the two beams of light that should have been there. He was covering one eye with an eyepatch.

"Gold Basin Hand-Washing? The Sovereign Sword Emperor of the world, Nangong Sang-hyeon, is having a Gold Basin Hand-Washing ceremony? Is that true?"

"Yes. It is accurate information. Nangong Sang-hyeon is scheduled to retire from the martial world at the end of this birthday party."

"Retire? That greedy old man? Hahaha! That's a funny thing!"

He burst into a loud laugh.

He just laughed, but the surrounding trees and grass trembled, and even strong waves rose from the water's edge.

It was truly an incredible amount of internal energy.

After laughing for a long time, he stopped laughing and said to his subordinate, "Didn't they send me an invitation?"

"Th... yes. There was no separate invitation."

He let out a small laugh.

It seemed to contain an expression of 'of course'.

U-jeok—!

He took a bite of the grilled meat.

But he not only ate the meat, but also crunched and chewed the bone attached to the meat.

After swallowing the chewed bone and meat, he looked at Yeom-jong and said, "The date?"

"It is said to be seven days from now."

"Then send a letter. That I will also go to congratulate him on his Gold Basin Hand-Washing ceremony."

"B-But my lord...! Your body's condition..."

"Shut up. Have I ever gone back on my word?"

He looked at Yeom-jong, who was looking at him like a mute who had eaten honey, and took another bite of the meat he was holding, crunching it, and said, "Tell them clearly. That I, Ho Baek-gwi, the leader of the Changjiang Water Fortress, will go to congratulate the Sovereign Sword Emperor on his Gold Basin Hand-Washing ceremony.”

(End of Chapter)