Chapter 185
“For a while, let’s spar together.”
“Ah, that’s a bit...”
“?!”
Seo Mun-Hwarin, who had just raised her chin with a triumphant look, suddenly froze in shock, her shoulders slumping.
It was the same reaction as when someone snatches away the side dish you’d saved to savor later, misunderstanding your intention—surprisingly, this had actually happened before.
But this time, the situation was a little different.
It wasn’t something I said without thinking—it was carefully considered.
“Please calm down, Senior Seo Mun-Hwarin. And let’s go back to our original goal.”
“Now that you've reached the Flowering Stage, is your desire to challenge me growing so strong that you refuse to spar?”
“Where are you even getting that twisted logic from?” “Well, aren’t you at that age when it wouldn’t be strange for you to start thinking that way?”
“I’ve already grown past that age, thank you.”
Still, I understood what she meant.
I was nearing nineteen, so it wasn’t as bad now, but a few years ago, I definitely had mood swings that were outside my control.
Of course, with memories from a past life, I never acted out those emotions fully, but it was still a peculiar experience.
Things like puberty or rebellion, which people say stem from the mind, are really more about physical changes.
For someone like me, whose mental and physical ages are out of sync due to reincarnation, it was a rare insight.
“If it’s not that, then why exactly are you refusing to spar with me? We’ve done it plenty of times before.”
“The issue now is that I can’t properly control my strength, and until I get used to it, I’ll keep wrecking the training grounds. That’s the core problem, isn’t it?”
“That’s true.”
“So obviously, if I spar with you, I’ll end up swinging my full-strength sword force.”
“But I can take it just fine.”
“With equally strong sword force, you mean?”
“That’s...”
“Hm?”
Finally sensing something was off, Seo Mun-Hwarin blinked.
Sure, she could easily withstand my unrefined strikes with her own sword force. But the problem is that her martial arts also rely on overwhelming strength and force.
She could counter my sword force with a stronger one, but the resulting shockwave would definitely destroy the surroundings.
Of course, she knows other techniques too, so she could probably deflect the attack.
But that deflected sword force would end up smashing the area around us.
If it were a normal sword slash, maybe—but I don’t think she’s mastered the kind of subtle technique that can redirect a force-imbued blade without consequences.
Now understanding my reasoning, Seo Mun-Hwarin clenched her tiny fist tightly.
“Unbelievable! Because I’m too strong, I won’t be the first to experience your sword force?!”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“Never in my life have I resented my strength this much—except for twenty-seven times before this!”
“That’s... a lot.”
I replied half-heartedly as she glared at the sky with a tragically aggrieved expression, and beside us, Tang Sowol tilted her head.
“I understand the reason, but then what do you plan to do, Cheon Hwi-da? Should I speak to Father?”
“My father-in-law could certainly dodge my sword force and even poison me through my imperfect immunity. But even in that case, the core problem remains.”
Where would Tang Jinchun’s deflected sword force go? Obviously, into the floor and walls of the training ground.
The area is remote to prevent accidents, and there are likely orders to avoid casual entry, but still...
There’s always the risk that someone could be unlucky enough to get crushed by debris or caught in the resulting fragments.
Using the training ground properly is basically impossible.
“If something has to be destroyed, wouldn’t it be better to swing freely in a place where it doesn’t matter?”
“Such a place exists?”
“Did you know? Winter is the season when more people die than you’d expect. The poor get sick from lack of firewood, and beggars without homes might sleep and never wake again.”
“What’s that supposed to—”
“Isn’t Chengdu, at least, under the Tang Clan’s control? Since we’re in this situation, why not do some good?”
“Ah!”
Tang Sowol, who had been tilting her head, suddenly gasped as if realizing my intent.
“You’re going to chop trees in the mountains, aren’t you?”
“Exactly.”
Not only is it harmless, but the more I chop, the warmer Chengdu’s people can stay this winter.
Plus, the Tang Clan’s reputation will rise. And subtly, through the beggar's union—that is, the Beggars’ Sect—I can leak word that I’ve reached the Flowering Stage.
If my cultivation level were middling, it’d be better to keep it secret, but once you reach this high, publicizing it helps ward off unnecessary trouble.
It was the same at the Sub-Perfection Stage, and even more so at Flowering Stage.
Sure, more people will try to attach themselves to me hoping for gain... but the Tang Clan can handle that.
“If anyone takes a loss from this, it’d be the woodcutters who sell firewood during winter.”
“In that case, we can pay them a daily wage to help transport the wood. I’ll speak to Father right away.”
“He must be busy lately, so I feel a bit bad adding more to his plate.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. Sure, he’s busy negotiating to return the items you brought from the archive to their rightful owners, busy explaining the fall of Thousand Poison Gate, and busy dealing with the suspicion that your actions might count as a bloodbath incident. And now, he’ll also have to procure rare blue steel stone to repair the broken training ground! But! All of that can be handled by the chief steward!”
“Just to ask, how many chief stewards does the Tang Clan have? Three or four?”
“Just one. Though he may collapse soon from overwork and leave us with none.”
“But don’t worry—his salary’s been tripled, and he’s been given a bunch of health elixirs, so he won’t actually collapse!”
...Can I really not worry?
Even before this, there were major incidents: the so-called “kidnapping” during the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, my “runaway” incident, defeating the Bloodflame Fist Demon, slaying the Hwangbo Clan Head...
And just when he wrapped all that up, I dumped more work on him.
“Tsk. Maybe I should’ve put Sama Yuryeon to work for a month before sending her off to the Black Lotus.”
But it’s too late. She’s already joined them and is probably enjoying her honeymoon with the Black Lotus Lord by now.
Well, Tang Jinchun seems to be managing somehow despite the hardships, so I suppose it’s fine.
...Though I do plan to cause even more trouble moving forward.
Now that I’ve reached the Flowering Stage, I’m officially among the ranks of peerless masters.
Meaning, no one in Murim can dismiss my words lightly, and I’ve met the minimum qualification needed to unite the orthodox and unorthodox factions.
Fortunately, the Murim Alliance is already on alert against the Demonic Sect thanks to me and the Ghostblade Duel. The Black Lotus Lord is also fairly favorable toward me.
It’s really doable. I can’t magically forge the alliance overnight, but as long as we join forces before the Heavenly Demon invades, it’ll be enough.
At the very least, I won’t just sit and watch half of the orthodox sects—including the Kunlun Sect—get annihilated like last time.
To do that, I need to be the bridge between orthodox and unorthodox factions.
But how?
The unorthodox side is simple. Beat them into submission and promise profit—that’s all it takes.
The orthodox side is trickier. There’s pride, centuries-old grudges, and factional friction to consider.
Still, they’re the type who rally when the cause is just, so the best path might be to keep alerting them to the Demonic Sect’s threat via the Murim Alliance.
They already know the Demonic Sect isn’t what it used to be, but they don’t yet grasp just how monstrous the Heavenly Demon is.
The best option would be to strike before he gets stronger...
But realistically, there’s no way the major sect leaders would agree to gather their top warriors and march deep into the Ten Thousand Mountains to wipe out the Demonic Sect.
After all, most Demonic Sect members are people wronged by Murim. So far, all they’ve done is send spies to cause a little chaos.
You might call it personal revenge, but it doesn’t justify a holy war.
Like how their attempt on Tang Sowol’s life was between the Tang Clan and the Demonic Sect—not the entire orthodox faction.
Even if I do somehow convince the factions to join forces against the Heavenly Demon, another issue remains:
Can we even win?
Sure, we won’t die so helplessly like last time.
But this is the same Heavenly Demon who defeated nearly ten Flowering Stage warriors combined—and he wasn’t even seriously injured.
Even with twenty on our side, would we stand a chance? I still don’t know.
That’s how overwhelming he was the last time I saw him.
Reaching the Flowering Stage is a great feat... but all it does is earn me the right to stand on the same battlefield as the Heavenly Demon.
What we truly need is power on par with him.
Sigh...
“Mm. I may have exaggerated just now, but you don’t need to worry. The chief steward’s managing just fine.”
“Then that’s good. But my worry is something else entirely.”
“May I ask what it is?”
“I need to become stronger—but it’s not as easy as I hoped.”
Tang Sowol fell silent for a moment. Not just her—even Seo Mun-Hwarin, who had been grumbling, and Seol Lihyang, who’d been calming her, suddenly quieted.
Then they gave me looks like I’d lost my mind and began whispering among themselves.
“Could it be lingering effects of qi deviation?”
“Didn’t he go through an unusual form of body transformation? I had side effects from my rejuvenation, so it’s not impossible.”
“Really? I thought Cheon Hwi was always like this... even at the Peak Stage and Sub-Perfection Stage, he acted like a martial arts nut who kept spouting self-deprecating nonsense.”
“That... makes sense!”
“Yes, it does!”
The three spoke loud enough for me to hear, shamelessly slandering me—but because of the secrecy curse, I couldn’t even properly refute them.
So instead of trying to prove I was sane, I did what I always do—change the subject.
“Well, once I get used to handling qi force by chopping wood, I plan to visit Yunnan for a bit. How about we all go together?”
“Yunnan? What for? Don’t tell me you’re going to admire the ruins of Thousand Poison Gate, the sect you destroyed...!”
I flicked Seol Lihyang on the forehead with a Ttck! and shrugged as she cried out, “Ow!”
“I said toward Yunnan, not to Yunnan. The real destination is Jeomchang Sect.”
“Jeomchang Sect?”
“Yes. There’s something I need to check.”
By the time I grow accustomed to qi force, winter will likely be over and I’ll be nineteen.
And the Heavenly Slayer awakened when I turned twenty.
I need to at least see his face before it’s too late.
As for what I’ll do after that... I’ll figure it out when the time comes.