The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 198

That evening.

Although I wanted to skip the banquet and train, since I couldn't do as I pleased, I had no choice but to attend the banquet.

And there was one more thing that made me look forward to it.

'Selection of the best martial artist!'

Since it was said that the martial artist who fought the best in this competition would be selected at the banquet, I absolutely could not miss it.

To be honest, I am looking forward to it very much.

If I am not chosen in this Taoist-Buddhist Great War, who will be? If they don't give it to me, I feel like I won't be able to sleep because of the injustice.

'Surely they didn't really bring the Great Return Pill as the rumor says, right?'

When I heard it in passing before, it is said that the great master Gak-il had put out the Great Return Pill to give to the best martial artist of this competition.

As I was feeling that the growth of my internal energy was slowing down recently, if I could receive and consume the Great Return Pill, it would probably be a great help.

"Unhwi-ya. Come over here."

While I was having all sorts of thoughts, Senior Brother Un Cheol, who had found me standing blankly at the entrance of the dining hall, called me.

When I approached my senior brother, all our room's senior brothers were sitting there, and there was an empty seat next to Senior Brother Un Cheol.

I sat there naturally and said, "Yes, senior brother. Is that our seat?"

"Yes. But I was having a really foolish thought."

"What foolish thought?"

"Since it's a banquet, I naturally thought of a banquet like the one at the Nangong family. With lots of delicious food and good music. But I didn't think at all that this was the Wudang Sect."

My senior brother, as if he found his own thoughts absurd, let out a small laugh and continued, "Although it's called a banquet, to think that it's a quiet banquet with no alcohol or meat..."

"Because the place we are having a banquet with is not just any other place, but Shaolin. Shaolin actually lives a more ascetic life than us, right? Next time, I'll have to try talking about having a spar competition like this with a martial world family."

"Hoho... rather than that, how about we go outside? No, anyway, we have to leave for Zhejiang Province in a few days, but."

In fact, it seems Senior Brother Un Cheol is also secretly enjoying going outside of the Wudang Sect.

At that time, everyone's attention was focused on the long table placed at the very front.

Because the sect leader had stood up from his seat and spoken.

There, our sect leader and the abbot of Shaolin, the great master Gak-il, were sitting in the middle, and on either side of them, the leaders of each sect were sitting in a line.

"Now. Since it seems everyone has gathered, I will say a word. First of all, I am most happy that this competition has ended safely without anyone being seriously injured. I hope everyone will enjoy this time together."

In fact, it is not that there is no food prepared at all.

The food that the disciples of our Wudang Sect and the monks can eat is very neatly and well prepared.

Since our Wudang Sect is no longer a sect that is short of money, it seemed that they had put a lot of effort into preparing the food.

"May I also say a word?"

"Of course, Abbot."

This time, the great master Gak-il, who had stealthily stood up from his seat, opened his mouth.

"First of all... I would like to congratulate the Wudang Sect on their victory in this spar competition. I convey my congratulations with all my heart."

The great master Gak-il, after putting his palms together, said as he bowed his head.

His voice was filled with sincerity.

Although it is understandable that his heart would be sore at the first defeat in the Taoist-Buddhist Great War, he did not show any such sign at all.

It is said that the heart of a high monk who has cultivated for a long time is like a hard rock, and it seems I am seeing that very sight.

"Actually, I have been waiting for this day for a long time. Because there was a story that I had always heard from my predecessor, and my predecessor from his predecessor's abbot. My predecessor said this. The day we are defeated by the Wudang Sect in the Buddhist-Taoist Great War. That day is the moment when Shaolin can truly develop one step further."

He paused for a moment and then continued, "To be honest, I didn't really understand that statement. To be precise, I thought I understood it. I thought it meant that when our disciples taste defeat, they will take that as an opportunity to train even more diligently, so in the grand scheme of things, that is victory... But after actually experiencing defeat, I finally realized what that statement meant."

The great master Gak-il turned his head and looked at me once, and then looked at the place where Monk Yeong Hwan was.

And he slowly turned his head and looked at the faces of the disciples and then opened his mouth.

"I have been misinterpreting the words 'the development of Shaolin' in my predecessor's words until now. I think that what develops with our defeat is not just our Shaolin, but the development of the martial world, including Wudang. Because our Shaolin is not the entirety of the martial world, but just a part of the martial world."

Why is it that when I listen to the voice of the great master Gak-il, who is speaking calmly, I get goosebumps?

The reason I did not get along with the Shaolin monks in my previous life was because they were too high-handed and considered only themselves to be the best.

Although they did not openly ignore others, it seemed that in the minds of the Shaolin monks, they were right, and the martial world should move in that direction.

But the great master Gak-il's words just now were no different from a story that completely denies the thoughts of Shaolin that have been like that until now.

'Shaolin is all good, but their pride is too high. If they accept the opinions of others, they could develop more...'

'Since they have always only succeeded, they probably don't even think of listening to others' stories. Although that is not the only truth...'

Even in the future, Shaolin will live as closed off as it is now and will gradually reduce its external activities.

Of course, even then, they are sufficiently strong, and their reputation as the number one sect of the orthodox faction is not broken, but it was also a fact that they were gradually hearing bad things from other martial artists.

In the end, when the war with the Demonic Cult broke out, these reasons overlapped and overlapped, and the orthodox martial world could not unite as one and was defeated individually...

'It can be different. It can be sufficiently different.'

My heart begins to swell.

The actions I am taking are gathering and gathering, creating results that are very different from my previous life.

Although it may seem like nothing special, in my previous life, these nothing special things had gathered and brought about the worst results.

"Haha! The atmosphere is strange because of the old man's unnecessary words. Anyway, this is what I want to say. In the next competition, our Shaolin will definitely win."

"It probably won't be easy. Since our Wudang has just started to gain momentum, there is only more development to come."

"Haha! That's good. The closest day when the disciples of our Shaolin and the disciples of Wudang will face each other will be at the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly. I look forward to the disciples of each sect meeting in the finals and competing once again."

At the words of the great master Gak-il, the expressions of our senior brothers and the Shaolin monks changed.

That's right. We still have the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly left.

The Dragon and Phoenix Assembly is a place where not only the two sects of Shaolin and Wudang, but also the rising stars of all the sects in the Central Plains gather and show off their prowess.

Since it is a place where countless people gather, the preliminaries are held very strictly, and among them, the number of people who eventually advance to the main tournament is only sixty-four.

Those sixty-four people follow the rule of winner-takes-all, where only the winner survives by having a short-term decisive battle, and you can gain a great reputation just by succeeding in advancing to the main tournament.

In my previous life, I always fell in the preliminaries and never even got to go to the main tournament of the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.

Because when I was old enough to go to the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, my martial arts were too weak, and when I became strong enough to advance to the main tournament later, I was old enough to be awkward to go to the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.

'And the petty orthodox faction guys were also all in cahoots with each other.'

Moreover, for nameless martial artists from nameless families like me, the preliminaries are very many and tricky.

Because they only make you take absurd tests like breaking a rock, knocking down a tower made of iron, and having the examiner grab your collar.

In contrast, the preliminary round that the disciples of famous families or the Nine Sects and One Gang receive is very simple.

It is that only those who win by having a spar among themselves can go to the main tournament.

At that time, I thought that they were giving such special treatment because they didn't even want to exchange blows with nameless martial artists.

Although in this life, it is as if I have become the subject of that special treatment.

"Now, then, before we begin the banquet!"

My eyes flashed open.

Because I felt that the moment I had been waiting for had finally come.

"Before we begin the banquet, it seems right to select the best martial artist of this competition. Since the disciples of both Shaolin and Wudang did so well in this competition, it was really difficult to choose who to pick as the best martial artist."

For a moment, the words 'what's so difficult' almost came out of my mouth without my realizing it.

Because of course, the best martial artist of this competition will be me.

Everyone fought with martial artists of a similar level, and I fought with a Yeong generation martial artist.

And it's not just that he's a martial artist with a high generation.

I defeated Monk Yeong Hwan, who is evaluated as having the best talent in the current Shaolin... no, in the martial world, the direct disciple of the abbot of the Shaolin Temple.

If they don't give the position of the best martial artist to someone like me, who else can receive it?

"So, after deep discussion with the abbot of Shaolin. We were able to come to a conclusion. The best martial artist is..."

Even though I knew the result was obvious, I swallowed hard.

The Great Return Pill is a precious item that can easily receive five hundred gold coins if you just exchange it for money.

Of course, this is also a problem that is possible only if there is a seller, and in the first place, since there is no seller, it is absurd to even put a price on it.

"We will not be choosing one. Everyone who participated in the competition today is the best player."

"...?!"

"No...?"

Everyone made a dazed expression at the absurd words that came out of the sect leader's mouth.

To be honest, I am the most dumbfounded. Since the others wouldn't have received it anyway. It's mine!

Although it wasn't actually mine, for some reason, my heart is confused with the feeling that my thing has been taken away.

Although I was looking at the sect leader with a little expectation that he might say that everything he had just said was a joke, unfortunately, such a thing did not happen.

Because the sect leader declared the start of the banquet and then immediately returned to his seat.

"Yes. This competition was so well done that we couldn't pick just one person."

"That's right. The losers and the winners all showed an amazing performance."

"Maybe this is a good ending."

As there was no sign of a reversal, my senior brothers seemed to be trying to forget about the best martial artist by muttering like this.

Although I could never accept that... for now, I had no choice but to just let it go.

Because the monks who I had been close to, like Monk Il-yeong or Monk Il-jik, had come over to our side and I had to introduce them to my senior brothers.

And other Shaolin monks who wanted to build a new friendship after seeing this spar also flocked to me, so I had to spend my time frantically.

***

That night, after the banquet ended.

Although my senior brothers had fallen asleep in their lodgings, I was sitting in the middle of the spar stage and looking at the moon endlessly.

Although I should let go of the past, why is it so sad?

Although it was not originally mine, this sense of loss of having lost my thing.

To the extent that I wonder if there has ever been a time when I was so depressed after becoming Unhwi of the Wudang Sect.

If another person had been chosen as the best martial artist, I would have thought that it was not mine, but since no one was chosen, it really feels like it has disappeared into thin air.

"Tsk tsk... what are you doing with such a pitiful expression under the moonlight?"

As I was looking at the moon and calming my heart, I heard someone's voice.

Since I was lost in thought, I didn't even know someone was approaching, so I was surprised and turned around...

There, the great master Gak-il and our sect leader were standing at the end of the spar stage.

"S-Sect Leader! Abbot?"

"Even though it was never yours, do you feel that your thing has been taken away?"

"Donor Unhwi. I didn't see you like that, but it seems you are quite greedy."

The two of them approached me with chuckling expressions.

As I was at a loss for words in this unexpected situation, the great master Gak-il handed me a wooden box.

This situation. I have experienced it once before.

At that time, the great master Gak-il had given me the Small Return Pill.

But this is a wooden box that is larger than that time.

I, wondering if it was possible, looked at the great master Gak-il, and he said with a smile, "Yes. It's the Great Return Pill. Even if you're not the best martial artist, this was brought for you from the beginning."