The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 302

But the Alliance Leader didn't tell me to sit down, or to go into the room, or say anything.

Instead, he spoke lightly to the empty air.

"Hui-eun."

But there was no response.

Since I couldn't understand why the Alliance Leader was doing that, I just waited quietly.

"It's alright. Show yourself, Hui-eun."

Then a person suddenly appeared as if he had torn through space next to the willow tree.

It was the person who had eaten with the Alliance Leader at the inn.

As expected, that person must have been the Alliance Leader's secret escort.

"Did you call, Alliance Leader?"

"We've already seen each other's faces at the inn, so why are you pretending not to know?"

"That's..."

"Huhu. I see. That must be your heart. Anyway, I have a favor to ask."

"Please speak."

"Go to the fifth gate now, and tell the one guarding it not to let anyone pass for the next three shichen (6 hours), and guard this area."

"I understand. But what should I do if Miss Ha-rin comes back?"

"Tell Ha-rin to go out and come back after three shichen. That kid, who usually doesn't come in until late at night once she goes out, has been coming back early these days, so I think the times will overlap... No. Ha-rin is not a child anymore, and if she has nowhere to go, she can wait in the reception room next to my study. Just tell her that."

"Yes, I understand."

Hui-eun, without any further ado, said he understood and disappeared again.

I was surprised by him in two ways.

The first was that I had no idea Hui-eun was there.

Come to think of it, he must have always been hiding in the shadow of the Alliance Leader even in my past life, but at that time, I didn't even know of his existence.

He seems to be a martial artist who is extremely specialized in stealth.

And the second was his attitude of upholding the Alliance Leader's words.

His actions and attitude, as if a heavenly decree had been given, without a single doubt.

I also thought that if I had a subordinate like Hui-eun, regardless of his martial arts skills, I would feel very reassured.

"Now this place will be safe for three shichen. Go up on that rock and sit in a cross-legged position."

The place the Alliance Leader pointed to was the rock he often sat on.

Since it was a quite wide rock, it was wide enough for two people to sit.

"Although you have learned the Six Yang Divine Art, it may still be difficult to properly neutralize the yin energy of the Hwari's inner core. To what level have you learned the Six Yang Divine Art?"

"Since there is no one to tell me exactly what level it is, I will only tell you what I feel... I think I have learned about the seventh level now."

"Heo... at this age, a seventh-level achievement. Are you a more outstanding talent than I thought? If what you say is true, it might not be that difficult to consume the inner core."

He smiled with satisfaction and continued, "That Hwari's inner core was actually obtained a few years ago, but since there was no martial artist who could consume it, it was just taking up space in a corner of the warehouse. The fact that you, who have learned the Six Yang Divine Art, met me might have been your destiny to obtain this. And the public duel also seems to have been a continuation of that destiny. If I hadn't seen you fighting on the duel stage, I wouldn't have known that you had learned the Six Yang Divine Art."

"I think it's because you, Alliance Leader, thought of me that much, rather than destiny. Thank you."

"Did you perhaps learn to speak like that from Hyeon Yang?"

"Yes. That's right."

"Really? I've never seen Hyeon Yang speak in that tone. Is it a little different in Wudang?"

"No. It's not much different here or in Wudang. My master is a stepping stone for me. I always try to do the opposite of my master's tone."

"Hahaha!"

The Alliance Leader burst out laughing.

Since he knew my master's tone well, the joke I had just made seemed very funny.

"I see. You have a good master."

"Yes. Thanks to him, I was able to see you, Alliance Leader."

He, with a satisfied smile, opened his mouth.

"Yes. Let's stop the chatter here. Time is still flowing."

"Yes, Alliance Leader."

"Consume the inner core and raise the Six Yang Divine Art to the extreme. If you don't feel the cold energy at first and raise it loosely, you will be engulfed in the cold energy in an instant. Originally, cold energy does not cause pain from the beginning like fire. It often starts as if it were nothing, and by the time you come to your senses, you are already engulfed."

The words the Alliance Leader gave me somehow felt like they were not just about taking the Hwari's inner core, but also about how to deal with a martial artist who uses ice techniques.

"If you're ready, eat it."

I, without hesitation, brought the Hwari's inner core to my mouth.

I was nervous because it was an inner core full of cold energy, but when I ate it, it was not as peculiar as I thought.

And it didn't smell like fish either.

Just yesterday, I consumed the Heavenly Transformation Pill, and today, it's the Hwari's inner core.

The opportunity to eat such great elixirs at such a short interval is rare.

Of course, I was a very, very little worried.

Thinking about how I had eaten two Small Return Pills in a row at Shaolin before and couldn't absorb the second one at all and had expelled it from my body.

"Ugh—."

But I soon realized that that thought was a foolish one.

Because a stiff and stuffy energy began to spread from my stomach.

This must be the cold energy of the Hwari's inner core.

"Focus!"

The Alliance Leader, who had sat behind me and placed his hand on my Myeongmun acupoint at some point, shouted, and I immediately raised the Six Yang Divine Art to the extreme.

From that moment on, it was a series of tremendous pain.

When I thought my body was frozen, the Six Yang Divine Art melted it. When I thought the Six Yang Divine Art, which I had raised too strongly, would burn my body, the Hwari's inner core ate up that heat again.

The difference was so severe that I even thought that if the Alliance Leader hadn't held the flow, I would have either frozen to death or burned to death.

And soon, I was in a situation where I couldn't even have distracting thoughts.

My body, freezing and then getting hot, and my mind, feeling as if it were getting farther and farther away.

And so, I half-lost consciousness.

***

The Martial Alliance Leader's granddaughter, Jeong Ha-rin, also went out to the streets of Kaifeng today and came home early.

She originally liked to meet people and go around.

She had been the Martial Alliance Leader's granddaughter since she was very young, and moreover, her beauty was not ordinary.

Everyone had no choice but to treat her well.

Thanks to that, she became the person with the widest network of connections among the next-generation talents.

Outstanding next-generation talents were desperate to get close to her, and she had lived by being friendly with them as if she were doing them a favor.

But... strangely, these days, such things are not fun.

Is it because Seo Mun-jong-tak, Jin Seol-woo, and Ak Sang-cheol, who always hung out together, were forced to return to their respective families?

It's not that that reason is completely absent, but in fact, the three of them were not that significant to her.

It's just that they had been the closest recently, but she was also close to other next-generation talents besides them.

'Miss Jin. Are you free this evening? I've made a small gathering, and it would be an honor if you could attend.'

'Around the beginning of the hour of the dog, there will be a meeting of my academy classmates at the Mayu Inn, would you be able to come?'

Just today, she had been invited to two places.

But, she didn't go to either of them and returned to the Martial Alliance.

But when she was about to pass through the fifth gate.

"Miss. You cannot go inside right now."

"Yes? Why?"

"I don't know the exact reason either. It is the Alliance Leader's order."

"My grandfather?"

"That's right."

"You know my room is inside, right? If you don't let me go home, where am I supposed to go?"

"That... he said you should spend your time as you please, or go to the reception room."

"Who?"

"It is the Alliance Leader's words."

She, while being flustered by the unprecedented event, had no choice but to say she understood.

Because even she could not ignore the words of the Martial Alliance Leader and her grandfather.

"Nothing... is going right..."

She thought of one of the invitations she had received earlier and thought about going there, but for some reason, everything became bothersome, so she just headed to the reception room.

Sitting there and killing time, she thought.

'It wasn't like this until a little while ago, why did it suddenly become like this?'

She began to slowly think about the reason why her state of mind had changed like this.

Then, the face of a man suddenly comes to mind.

'Yes. All of this was after meeting Taoist Unhwi.'

The place where she had first met Unhwi was also here in the Martial Alliance.

He, who had come with the Taoist Hyeon Yang, had shown a particularly cold appearance to her, and she, who had never been treated so coldly before, became stubborn.

So she used Seo Mun-jong-tak to embarrass him...

And she doesn't even want to think about what happened next.

Because of what had happened at the tavern, Hong Sa-ik had left them, and the rest had also scattered to their respective homes.

But what's most frustrating here is that she also knows that Taoist Unhwi has done nothing wrong.

In fact, she had started everything.

Her greed and twisted heart had ruined all relationships.

Because she knew that all too well, she couldn't blame others, so she was frustrated.

'If I could go back to when we first met... could we have built a better relationship?'

She naturally had this thought.

The look in Taoist Unhwi's eyes as he left the tavern on the day of the incident at the tavern is still unforgettable.

Seeing those eyes, she felt ashamed.

The thought that what she had been doing until now was not for the harmony of the next-generation talents, but an act to protect her own vanity and pretense, did not leave her mind.

And so, after spending a few shichen like that.

She headed to the fifth gate again to check if she could go home now.

As her mind is tired, her body also feels tired.

She wanted to quickly go back to her bedroom where she could lie down and rest.

"Can I go in now?"

"Not yet, miss."

"How much time has passed... you're still saying I can't?"

"Yes. The Alliance Leader's order has not yet been given."

"What on earth are you doing inside..."

She, without realizing it, got annoyed.

Of course, she knows best that the martial artist guarding the gate has done nothing wrong.

But still, she can't seem to control her anger.

While thinking that nothing has been going right recently, she is told that she can't even go home, so the emotions she has been holding back are about to explode.

"I won't even go near my grandfather's quarters, I'll just go to my room quietly. Please let me pass."

"I'm sorry, miss. That is not something I can decide."

"Then I'll go in and ask my grandfather. Warrior."

"The three shichen that the Alliance Leader mentioned are almost over, so please wait a little longer."

Since the martial artist had said that much, she couldn't insist on going in any further.

She turned around with a gloomy expression.

She doesn't want to go back to the empty reception room where she had been until now.

And she doesn't want to go to a crowded place either.

In this situation where she can't do this or that, she felt like crying.

It was at that time.

"Miss. You can go in now."

A clear and pure voice.

She was startled and turned around.

Then, from inside the fifth gate, the very Unhwi she had been thinking about until just now is coming out.

"The Alliance Leader said you can let people in now."

"I understand."

"Wh-What is it? Was it because of you, Taoist Unhwi, that my grandfather didn't let anyone in the gate?"

"It turned out that way unintentionally. I apologize."

Unhwi, lightly bowing his head, passed her by.

She, without realizing it, reached out her hand to grab Unhwi, but then stopped her hand.

'Today... no, the atmosphere is so different from when I saw him last time.'

Today's Unhwi is exuding a noble atmosphere that is difficult to approach and get close to.

She, looking at Unhwi's receding back, had no choice but to take a deep breath to calm her pounding heart.

(End of Chapter)