The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 169

The day after Yu Seon and I caused a ruckus under the moonlight.

I went down Mount Kunlun with my master, Yu Cheongja, and about a dozen Kunlun martial artists.

Although I had pushed myself a little last night to set an example for Yu Seon, I was fortunately able to recover completely thanks to the basic stamina I had steadily built up and the effectiveness of the Muscle-Tendon Changing Scripture.

"Hey. Unhwi."

As I was walking down the mountain path for a while, Yu Cheongja came up next to me and called me in a suggestive voice.

"Yes?"

"What on earth happened yesterday?"

"Why? Did Yu Seon complain that it was too hard?"

"No, that's not it. Yu Seon usually wakes up at the crack of dawn every morning and starts his activities early. But today, wasn't he sleeping until I went to his room after breakfast? Besides, I thought I was giving him quite a lot of physical training, but he was groaning with muscle pain and couldn't even walk properly."

If you take his words literally, it could be heard as a reprimand for tormenting his disciple like this.

However, his tone was full of amusement.

I said to Yu Cheongja with a face as if he were a very strange person, "It was nothing special. I just made him move every single muscle in his body by dividing them into pieces."

"Hahaha! Is that nothing special? You know, I thought you would be an interesting person from the first time I saw you, but I didn't know it would be to this extent."

"Are you having fun?"

"Of course. It's a rare sight to see Yu Seon, who is always bored and does things easily, in such a state."

"Actually, if you think about it, I just ridiculously increased the training time and intensity."

Although Yu Cheongja had a constant smile on his face, I was still not used to him suddenly acting so friendly towards me, so I spoke a little bluntly.

But Yu Cheongja, as if my feelings were of no concern to him, continued to speak with a smiling face.

"So, I never even thought of ordering him like that. I thought a genius was a being that should be left alone to do what they want, I never thought they were beings that could be pushed around like that. Especially, I wasn't sure if a commoner like me could push a genius like Yu Seon so hard."

He spoke with a more serious attitude than before.

I thought he was just a strange old man, but it seems he has a side that thinks about his disciple.

He started to look a little different to me.

"No matter how outstanding a disciple is... to be more precise, the more outstanding the disciple, isn't it the master's role to guide them so that their talent can bloom to the fullest?"

"That's true, but Yu Seon is so good on his own..."

"Originally, a corner of almost everyone's heart is so weak that even if they think they have done their best, they tend to leave some reserve strength. You have to make them draw out even that reserve strength. In fact, it's not important whether the master's talent is more outstanding or inferior to the disciple's. Just by reminding them that this training is not something you do alone, you can bring out greater strength."

"Ah..."

At my words, Yu Cheongja's eyes widened as if he had realized something, and he looked at my master for a moment, not me, and then said, "To be honest, I never even thought it would be like that... Hyeon Yang's qualities as a teacher were more outstanding than I thought."

For a moment, I almost said that in my case, it was me who was outstanding, separate from my master, but I barely swallowed those words.

Because I thought there was no need to rain on his parade when Yu Cheongja was looking up to my master.

Instead, I nodded my head.

"Yes. He is truly a benefactor to me."

"Tsk. To think I was the only one falling behind without my knowing."

He clicked his tongue once and then, lost in some thought, began to walk a little behind.

Now that there is no one to bother me, my steps seem to have become a little lighter.

Or is it because I feel that the First Sword of Kunlun I met this time will become stronger than the First Sword of Kunlun I knew in my previous life?

In any case, it is certain that both are pleasant things.

***

After crossing the border between Qinghai and Xinjiang, we gathered in one place for a while and started a meeting.

To be honest, it was called a meeting, but it was nothing more than conveying the contents decided by the sect leader of Kunlun, Geuman Jonja, the leaders of Kunlun, and my master to the martial artists who had come with us.

'Anyway, I don't have much information about this matter.'

The role of the information I had experienced or heard in my previous life was very large in the background of my being able to accomplish everything until now.

But, this matter is a new one that I know nothing about.

Because if things go according to my previous life, Senior Uncle Hyeon Cheong must die here.

So this time, I decided not to take the lead in this matter and to thoroughly follow the words of my master and Geuman Jonja.

My master is the person who can best understand Senior Uncle Hyeon Cheong's thoughts and actions, and Geuman Jonja is the person who would have worried about how to save my senior uncle and the martial artists of Kunlun during the period of about a month when Senior Uncle Hyeon Cheong's contact was cut off.

"Currently, there are five unknown branches of the Demonic Cult around Lop Nur, where we are going. These are pieces of information that have been gathered by hiring informants with all the money we had over the past few months."

The first to speak was Yu Cheongja.

He continued with a very serious face, as if he were not the same person who had been grinning earlier.

"Our first goal is to attack those five branches simultaneously and annihilate them."

Then one of the Kunlun martial artists raised his hand and asked Yu Cheongja, "Senior brother. What is the meaning of attacking the Demonic Cult guys' branches now? Are you doing it because you think they might be captured there?"

Yu Cheongja shook his head and answered him, "No. Rather, the greatest significance is in drawing the enemy's attention."

"Drawing their attention?"

"The decision that the sect leader made after long deliberation is that the reason why Hyeon Cheong, Man Cheong, and our martial artists have not yet escaped is because the Demonic Cult guys' encirclement is too tight. So we will smash the five places at once and reduce the number of enemies. However, there is one thing that is most important here."

"What is it?"

"Let at least one and at most three martial artists escape alive."

"Why...?"

When everyone made a curious face, Yu Cheongja said as if he were frustrated, "I said our purpose is to disperse the enemies, but if we annihilate them all, won't the Demonic Cult guys find out that their branches have been destroyed too late? So we need people to deliver this news. The reason I specified a maximum of three is because if too many people run away, they themselves can become another force."

The martial artists selected for the search party seemed to have been chosen only from the intelligent ones, and even after hearing this much, they all seemed to understand this operation.

But another martial artist asked Yu Cheongja.

He was the oldest-looking martial artist among the group that had come down together, a Taoist with a long black beard that came down to his neck.

"Yu Cheong-ah. I also have something I'm curious about. The reason why we haven't been able to attack the Demonic Cult's branches here even though we knew they were here is because the Demonic Cult guys' main force might be nearby, isn't it?"

"That's right, senior uncle."

"But how can you act so boldly this time?"

"I will speak first about that, Taoist Gu-ma."

"Yes, Hyeon Yang. Go ahead."

"According to the information I separately obtained from the Beggars' Sect this time, a large number of people recently passed the border of Tibet and Sichuan Province, reached Yunnan Province, and seemed to be heading for Guangxi or Guangdong Province."

"And?"

"The Beggars' Sect speculates that they might be the main force of the Demonic Cult. Of course, it's not certain, but it seems to be worth a try."

"Hmm..."

The middle-aged man called Taoist Gu-ma let out a groan and stroked his beard.

At that time, Yu Cheongja quickly intervened and said, "So, in the bundle we brought, there is a black martial arts uniform, not a Taoist robe, for each of us, isn't there? From now on, we will be active wearing that. After destroying the branches, you just have to run away to the promised place as quickly as possible. Then even if there are witnesses, they will not be able to recognize that we are the Taoists of Kunlun."

While Yu Cheongja was speaking, my master turned his head to me, met my eyes, and nodded his head slightly.

The idea of wearing different martial arts uniforms that he had just mentioned. It seems he was following what I had done when I was running around trying to save the Shi-yue Pavilion in Wuhan.

But when they heard the words about changing clothes, astonishment was engraved in the eyes of the Kunlun martial artists.

The orthodox martial artists have a side that is so rigid that it is incomprehensible, so they don't even think of wearing different clothes when they fight.

"We are not assassins, so how can we...!"

"Senior uncle. Now is not the time to worry about face. We have to rescue our martial artists first, don't we?"

"That's... true, but..."

So a commotion broke out, but in the end, everyone agreed and decided to accept it.

It's a matter of saving people's lives, so what's the big deal about changing clothes?

Anyway, Yu Cheongja, who had barely sorted out the situation, was finally able to speak again.

He spoke to everyone informally for convenience.

"So, for now, I've divided the personnel, but it's a little ambiguous. The other four branches are quite large, but only one place has an ambiguous scale of between twenty and thirty people, so it seems I'll have to go alone without support. Anyone want to volunteer?"

Only two people raised their hands at the difficult order to destroy one branch alone.

It was my master and me.

"Unhwi-ya. I know well that your skills have improved by leaps and bounds, but it is a very dangerous task."

"I'll try it first, and if it doesn't work, I'll run away. You know I'm good at running away, don't you?"

"Still, a one-on-many fight... well, you must be used to it."

My master seemed to have been about to say that there are too many variables if you don't have experience.

The moment he was about to say that, he trailed off, realizing that I have quite a bit of experience of raiding somewhere on my own until now.

"If it's because of experience, there's probably no one here with as much experience as me."

"Well. That's true."

While the two of us were talking as if it were nothing, Yu Cheongja was surprised and said to my master, "No, Hyeon Yang. No matter how small the branch is, all the people inside are martial artists who have learned powerful martial arts. Are you saying you're sending your disciple to such a place?"

"Yes. Are you still underestimating Hwi's power?"

"That's not it, but..."

My master, who turned his eyes away from the trailing Yu Cheongja and looked at me.

He put strength into his voice and asked me, "I'll ask you one last time. Are you not confident?"

"No. I am confident."

"Good. Show the power of the Wudang Sect properly to the Kunlun Taoists and the dregs of the Demonic Cult. You don't have to leave one person alive. Completely destroy them and come back."

My master's eyes were so full of trust in me that I even had the illusion that they were overflowing.

(End of Chapter)