CLS-Chapter 129

Chapter 129

“A bloodbath?”

Gong Mu-jin nodded with a heavy expression.

Wi Yeon-ho asked with a face full of doubt.

“Why?”

“The problem is that there are too many people.”

Wi Yeon-ho tilted his head, not understanding Gong Mu-jin’s words.

“Too many people is a problem?”

“That’s right.”

Gong Mu-jin looked around at the others once before continuing.

“The discovery of the Sword Emperor’s legacy is a tremendous thing. That’s why so many people have gathered. But the real problem is that while many people covet the Sword Emperor’s legacy, only one person can actually possess it.”

Lee Seol-hwa nodded.

She didn’t know what form the Sword Emperor’s legacy would take, but it was obvious that it couldn’t be shared among multiple people. Then naturally, a battle for possession would break out.

In the martial world, even the discovery of a decent elixir causes bloodshed. And this was none other than the Sword Emperor’s legacy.

“Won’t the Orthodox Alliance or the Heavenly Alliance control it?”

At Seo Mun Da-yeon’s words, Gong Mu-jin shook his head.

“It’s impossible to control that many people. It might be possible if the Orthodox Alliance emptied their headquarters and all came here. But you know that’s impossible.”

“That’s true.”

“I’m not lacking in martial world experience either, but I’ve never seen such a crowd gather before. With so many people assembled with the same purpose, it would be stranger if incidents didn’t occur.”

Everyone had no choice but to agree with Gong Mu-jin’s words.

But Wi Yeon-ho still had a blank expression.

“…But isn’t that Sword Emperor’s legacy just a secret manual or something like that?”

“That’s right. Nothing else would have any meaning.”

“My master said that no matter how much one tries to contain the true essence in a secret manual, it cannot be contained. It’s just something recorded by those who know the martial art so they don’t forget it. What value does that have that people would flock to it like this?”

Gong Mu-jin’s eyes widened.

“Just who is your master?”

“I keep saying the same thing and I’m sorry, but you really wouldn’t know even if I told you.”

“Hmm, I can guess. To raise someone like you, he must be like a sage.”

“Not a sage, but a ghost.”

“He could be ghost-like…”

“No, I mean a real ghost.”

“Right, right, he’s ghost-like.”

Wi Yeon-ho was frustrated.

Why doesn’t the world believe you when you tell the truth!

You call a ghost a ghost, so why don’t they believe it’s a ghost!

He felt like shouting in the middle of the street, ‘My master is a ghost!’

“Your master’s words are correct. A secret manual is an incomplete means of transmission that cannot fully reproduce its true essence by itself.”

“Exactly.”

“But there’s no need to fully reproduce it, is there?”

“What?”

Gong Mu-jin smiled.

“Think of yourself as a carpenter building a house. If you come back after seeing a beautifully built structure in the next village, you might not know all the internal materials and construction methods, but you could at least use what you already know to build a more elegant structure, couldn’t you?”

Wi Yeon-ho nodded.

“Martial learning is the same. What those coveting the secret manual want to obtain is the principles and realm contained in the Sword Emperor’s martial arts, not to reproduce the Sword Emperor’s martial arts exactly. If they can somehow follow that realm, what does the form matter?”

“You explain things very well.”

“Haha.”

“But without the proper form, you can’t reach the same realm, can you?”

“Would they dare hope for the same realm? This is someone called the greatest swordsman of all time. Even if you followed half of half of such a person’s path, you could aim for being the best under heaven.”

Wi Yeon-ho nodded.

It certainly made sense.

“What? Are you getting interested after hearing this? Are you thinking of joining the battle for possession?”

“No.”

Wi Yeon-ho firmly shook his head.

“Even if you get that secret manual, you’d have to analyze it, agonize over it, and train with it anyway.”

“Of course! How could you embody the martial arts of someone like the Sword Emperor without blood and sweat training!”

“Then why do such a thing? I’d rather wash my feet and go to sleep with that time.”

“…”

Gong Mu-jin sighed.

‘I forgot for a moment.’

He had momentarily forgotten that the human before him was the world’s greatest lazy person.

‘Just who is this guy’s master?’

More precisely, rather than who the master was, he was curious about what kind of person that master was to be able to teach such martial arts to this lazy person.

To put it in terms of preparing food, this wasn’t just about setting the table, but someone who needed food put in their mouth and their jaw pressed to chew before they would barely swallow.

That such a person had been taught martial arts of this level was truly nothing short of a miracle.

If Baek Mu-han had heard this, he would have enlightened him with the simple truth that ‘there’s no match for the rod,’ but unfortunately, Baek Mu-han who could tell him this fact was no longer in this world.

“Well… then you should rest. But listen here.”

“Yes?”

“No matter what, taking even the newly ordered chicken leg is not something a human should do, don’t you think?”

“What?”

Wi Yeon-ho looked down at his bowl. There was a fresh chicken leg sitting there.

Wi Yeon-ho looked at Lee Seol-hwa like a mute who had eaten honey.

But Lee Seol-hwa turned her head away and ordered tea from the waiter, avoiding Wi Yeon-ho’s gaze.

‘Did she learn assassination techniques?’

How could she bring a chicken leg without Wi Yeon-ho even noticing?

“I didn’t think you were that kind of person.”

“It’s a misunderstanding!”

“You finished everything you ordered before and now you’re coveting a new leg! Excessive gluttony isn’t good!”

“I said it’s a misunderstanding!”

Wi Yeon-ho beat his chest in frustration, but the chicken leg remained silent.

“…”

Coming out in the morning to briefly check his body condition, Gong Mu-jin found Seo Ju-ak beaten to a pulp and was left speechless.

“Did someone beat you again?”

Seo Ju-ak opened his mouth with difficulty.

“Wi, Wi Yeon…”

“That fellow came out specifically to beat you again?”

“So, Sophie…”

Gong Mu-jin could only nod.

So it seemed that Wi Yeon-ho, who had gone to see Sophie last night, saw Seo Ju-ak tied up and got heated again, trampling on him thoroughly before leaving.

“You should have conducted yourself properly. Living as a sex demon, you’d have nothing to say even if your head was cut off.”

Seo Ju-ak felt very wronged.

Of course, from others’ perspective, he had committed acts deserving death. So he had no words to argue with.

The problem was that he couldn’t understand why Wi Yeon-ho was acting this way.

The words he shouted each time he beat him were somewhat strange.

Usually, people who held grudges against him would spew anger about losing a sister’s or lover’s chastity, saying things like “Because of you, my sister…”

But Wi Yeon-ho only spouted strange words like “Give me back my five years” or “Do you know how much I got beaten because of you?”

He seemed to harbor stronger resentment than anyone else, but he couldn’t tell where that resentment came from, which was maddening.

“It’s your own doing.”

Gong Mu-jin clicked his tongue at Seo Ju-ak, who was shedding tears, then turned around and went back.

From the still-warm blood, it seemed Wi Yeon-ho had only recently returned from going outside. So he thought he’d loosen up his body and have a sparring match.

‘I just don’t understand.’

He had already realized through two sparring matches that there was a tremendous difference between his and Wi Yeon-ho’s martial prowess.

Common sense couldn’t understand it.

He was Plum Blossom Sword Ghost Gong Mu-jin.

Of course, the martial world was crawling with old monsters, and if you roughly categorized “these are the really strong ones,” bizarre old freaks who had been holed up in some mountain valley just swinging swords would pop out and beat down existing strongmen frequently.

So accurately assessing one’s position in this martial world was an extremely difficult task.

But even so, he was Plum Blossom Sword Ghost Gong Mu-jin.

No matter how stingily he evaluated himself, he was confident he could comfortably enter the ranks of the world’s top hundred masters.

And here was a young man who defeated such a Gong Mu-jin without giving him any chance to resist.

“A monster.”

Even the word monster wasn’t enough.

Huh?

Don’t prodigies appear in the martial world from time to time?

“I’m a former prodigy myself.”

Gong Mu-jin could only sigh. He too had grown up being called a prodigy in his youth. He had heard he was a talent who would spread Mount Hua’s name far and wide.

And he thought he had lived up to those expectations…

“I can only keep advancing.”

Pushing away the futility creeping into his heart, Gong Mu-jin shook his head.

If he felt insufficient now, he just needed to go further. That was how Gong Mu-jin had lived.

But the reality was too grim to maintain his way of life.

“…Are you sleeping?”

When there was no response after calling for a while, Gong Mu-jin quietly opened Wi Yeon-ho’s door and entered.

‘Is it a monster?’

But what he discovered wasn’t Wi Yeon-ho but a large white mass. Only after staring for a while did Gong Mu-jin realize it was Wi Yeon-ho sleeping wrapped up in blankets, and he held his head.

‘Sleep a bit more nicely.’

He wouldn’t say anything about sleeping.

People have natural dispositions, and he already knew that discussing diligence with a lazy person was useless.

But this wasn’t a matter of laziness, was it?

“Young hero.”

Gong Mu-jin called Wi Yeon-ho politely.

“Mmmmph.”

“Urgh.”

“Young hero, the sun is already at its zenith. Shouldn’t you get up now and start the day? The ancient sages said that two shijin of sleep per day is sufficient, and living each day longer is how to use a short life more fully. So…”

“Arrrgh!”

Wi Yeon-ho squirmed.

He had thought his master’s method of beating him awake was the worst, but Gong Mu-jin’s method of delivering sermons was no less terrible.

“Let a person sleep!”

“The sun is at its zenith.”

Wi Yeon-ho bolted up from his spot and opened the window, pointing outside. The sun was looking at them shyly.

“You don’t not know what zenith means, do you?”

“Hehehe, couldn’t that be called the middle? If you divide the sky into thirds.”

“Grrrr.”

He was someone you couldn’t win against with words.

“Why! Why!”

“The sun has already risen that high, shouldn’t a martial artist start loosening up his body? Martial artists are people who never know when something might happen, and they must always maintain their best physical condition. The easiest way to maintain your body is undoubtedly to move your body directly from early morning…”

“Gaaaah!”

Wi Yeon-ho threw his pillow.

He wasn’t the Plum Blossom Sword Ghost but the Plum Blossom Mouth Ghost. He had to do something about that mouth…

Just then, the door burst open.

Gong Mu-jin’s eyes widened greatly upon discovering an unexpected figure standing outside the door.