Enshrinement as a God

Following Agong's guidance, Xi Xichang, who was breaking through the fog of the Hermit's Valley, could not hold back her curiosity about where Agong had learned his martial arts.

Although it was fragmentary, the movements that Agong had shown were clearly those of a supreme martial art.

"Young hero. Thank you so much. I will not forget this kindness."

"Just don't forget. It is said that kindness and resentment should be kept in the deepest part of the heart. So that you can take them out without forgetting at any time."

"Who said such a thing..."

"My second master."

Xi Xichang was about to ask something, but she soon found the tavern that had appeared in front of her and closed her mouth like a clam without realizing it.

"Here we are."

Agong put the cart he had been pulling on one side of the tavern and opened the door without hesitation.

Xi Xichang, who had carefully looked around, could not help but be amazed at the fact that there was really a tavern in a place like this, seeing the sign that said 'Mountain Sea Tavern'.

"Miss, look around here. The fog..."

Come to think of it, the fog that had been filling the Hermit's Valley was not invading the area around the tavern.

An unusual tavern in an unusual place.

"Now, soon, the Ten Thousand Sword Master..."

Could there be a better atmosphere for a reclusive master to live in?

The two of them entered the tavern carefully, hesitating.

"Would you like some tea?"

"Yes? Yes."

"Please wait a moment."

As Agong went into what looked like a kitchen, Liu Yezhi and Xi Xichang stood leaning against the railing.

"It's a truly strange thing. If they have been trading with the escort agency for a long time, doesn't that mean that this place has been here for a very long time?"

"Perhaps that young hero is also an unusual master who surpasses expectations."

Soon, Agong came out with tea and opened his mouth as if he were in trouble.

"But what should I do? It seems Old Ancestor Hongjun is not here right now."

"Old Ancestor Hongjun?"

"He's the owner of this tavern. If you want to know the entrance to the Hermit's Valley, you have to ask the Old Ancestor."

"Then..."

"Once he disappears, he might come today or come back in a few days... Seeing that Master Gongsun has also disappeared, it seems it would be better for you to come back next time."

At Agong's words, Xi Xichang shook her head vigorously.

It was ridiculous. When would she come to this place again?

"That's not possible! What if he's not here again when we come? Besides, we don't have that much time."

"It's not something I can do anything about..."

Although it was irresponsible, it was the best answer for Agong.

"Then we have no choice but to wait."

"What?"

"Miss?"

Liu Yezhi and Agong opened their mouths at the same time. But Xi Xichang seemed to have made up her mind.

"Old Master Chu, please go back for now and assist with the situation of our sect and Xibai. You have been away for too long."

"Miss, if so, then I'd rather..."

"The promise of the sword manual can be kept by the blood relatives of the Xi family, not by Old Master Chu."

"But..."

How could he go back to the Qingcheng Sect, leaving the young sect leader behind?

"This incident with the Black Contemplation Fortress is not something to be taken lightly. It is clear that they are plotting another conspiracy."

'Black Contemplation Fortress?'

Agong, as the Black Contemplation Fortress came out of Xi Xichang's mouth, listened to their conversation with interest.

"But how can I go back, leaving you behind, miss?"

"What threat can there be here? Besides, I have enough ability to protect myself."

Xi Xichang's skills were by no means inferior for her age.

Her skills, which had competed with Wu Qian, the leader of the Red Moon Squad of the Black Contemplation Fortress, were enough to face anyone, as long as they were not a supreme master.

"For now, it's not like there's no way at all..."

"Are you saying there's a way?"

"My masters visit here once in a while. If I ask them, it might be possible."

"Really?"

"Don't get your hopes up too much..."

"Thank you, young hero!"

Seeing the genuinely happy Xi Xichang, Agong's back of the head felt itchy.

"Old Master, don't worry about me. There are also female heroes of my age who travel the martial world alone."

Liu Yezhi, who knew well Xi Xichang's personality of never bending once she had made a decision, had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

"If you want to get out of here, you'll have to get out of the fog before the sun sets completely. And..."

Agong handed over the small stone he had received from Old Ancestor Hongjun to Liu Yezhi.

"Just in case... take this with you."

In any case, Hongjun, who had given this stone to Agong, had also picked up a pebble rolling around the tavern and had given it to Agong.

Liu Yezhi expressed his gratitude for Agong's consideration.

"Young hero. Please take good care of the young lady."

"I'm not a young hero, I'm a waiter here."

"Then, miss, I will hurry back to our sect."

"Please do, Old Master Chu."

Liu Yezhi cupped his fists and left the tavern.

"Although it's a tavern... since no customers come, there are many rooms, so you can rest in a place you like."

Xi Xichang nodded.

"Aren't you going in to check the room?"

"No, I'll stay here."

"Yes, please do."

Agong thought that Xi Xichang was unusually stubborn, unlike her delicate appearance.

Agong, ignoring her, diligently lifted and moved the items that were on the cart.

After busily moving the items, the tavern was full of dust.

Agong sighed and began to sweep the dirty tavern.

'Really... is he a waiter?'

Watching Agong, who was moving the goods to the tavern and starting to clean, Xi Xichang could not hide her bewilderment at his skilled and natural appearance.

Sweep, sweep!

Agong, as usual, whistled and swept.

Swoosh- swoosh-

The sweeping that cut through the wind seemed like a simple repetitive action at a glance, but it gradually became regular and caused a small change.

The dust swirled and moved here and there, following the tips of Agong's feet.

And in the eyes of Xi Xichang, who was watching the scene, a strange light appeared.

'That's... footwork?'

Although her knowledge was short, she had a very high level of insight, as she was in charge of the sect leader position of Qingcheng.

'It's definitely the footwork of a supreme martial art. He wasn't just a simple waiter after all.'

Although it was a footwork that he was taking while simply cleaning, a sense of ever-changingness was in his foot movements.

Xi Xichang imagined what direction she would have to attack from if she were standing in front of Agong now, and what kind of move she would have to use to defend if a counterattack was displayed.

Even if it was the same martial art, its capacity and nature were clearly divided depending on the person who handled it.

Xi Xichang, after competing with the virtual Agong for about thirty seconds, lightly wiped the sweat from her forehead.

'Indeed...'

Although she had displayed her moves, chasing Agong for about thirty seconds, she could not easily attack Agong's opening.

Xi Xichang was genuinely impressed.

Although she had met many skilled young masters and female heroes of her age, she had never met a person whose martial arts were so melted into his daily life as Agong was now.

It was not something that could be achieved with one or two days of study, and it also required effort.

Moreover, she couldn't even guess his true skills, could she?

"Why are you trying to enter the Hermit's Valley so much?"

"What?"

Xi Xichang, who had been staring at Agong's appearance, absent-mindedly, asked back without realizing it at Agong's sudden question.

"No... you were just so desperate."

Xi Xichang thought for a moment.

Although she didn't feel the need to tell this story to Agong, in any case, Agong was also a martial artist who had learned martial arts.

Was there a need to say something that could be called greed in front of him?

Swoosh! Snap!

As the broom that had been sweeping the floor for a long time broke powerlessly, Agong let out a low curse.

He had already broken three brooms since he had come out of the prison.

In the end, since he was the one who made the brooms, his work had increased again.

"It's okay if it's a secret."

As Xi Xichang did not speak easily, Agong said it nonchalantly. Although he was curious, he had no intention of listening to something that Xi Xichang was having a hard time saying out loud.

"It's not necessarily like that."

Xi Xichang paused for a moment and then opened her mouth.

"Young hero, you must have heard of the Ten Thousand Sword Adjustment of the Ten Thousand Sword Master, the number one sword in the world?"

"Ten Thousand Sword Adjustment?"

Although Xi Xichang had said it, thinking that he would naturally know, it was unlikely that Agong would know about the Ten Thousand Sword Master or the martial arts he had used.

Although he had had the opportunity to come into contact with martial arts under his masters, he had not had the opportunity or time to come into contact with other martial arts.

"I don't know it well."

As Agong showed an expression of hearing it for the first time, Xi Xichang was surprised, but she continued her explanation as if it were a good thing.

"The Ten Thousand Sword Adjustment is a peerless sword art that a person called the Ten Thousand Sword Master displayed through the Songshan Sword Discussion about a hundred years ago."

"Was there such a thing?"

"It was so much like a story that it was not well known whether it was a fiction or a fact... but the sword manual was passed down to our Qingcheng Sect, which was the sect of the Ten Thousand Sword Master, and it has been kept until my generation."

"But what does that have to do with the Hermit's Valley?"

"The Sichuan martial world, including the Qingcheng Sect, is under a great threat from the rise of the Black Contemplation Fortress."

"Black Contemplation Fortress..."

"If we don't prepare to stop them now, when the Black Contemplation Fortress is having a power struggle over the succession issue, the martial world of the world, including the Sichuan martial world, will be threatened by the Black Contemplation Fortress in the future."

"But if that sword manual is such a great thing, can't you just learn it? Why are you so obsessed with the Hermit's Valley..."

Xi Xichang answered Agong's question bitterly.

"If the sword manual were complete, that would have been a way."

"It's not complete?"

"Yes. The sword manual I have now is a half-martial art. I can learn it, but with this alone, I cannot display the Ten Thousand Sword Adjustment of the Ten Thousand Sword Master."

Agong had heard of so many martial arts that were said to be great, and he had also learned them willingly and unwillingly, so the sword art of the Ten Thousand Sword Master did not really resonate with him.

'Should I ask about it later...'

Since she had said this much, Agong also became curious about how great a martial art the sword art of the Ten Thousand Sword Master was.

"Then is there a way to properly use the half-sword manual in the Hermit's Valley?"

"The Ten Thousand Sword Master is said to have headed to the Hermit's Valley in his later years... so I am pinning my hopes on that."

"What if he's not there? You said he was a master from almost a hundred years ago."

"Since I have been continuously pursued by the Black Contemplation Fortress since I left for this place, if I go back to our sect like this, the Black Contemplation Fortress will surely try to keep me in check even more."

"The Black Contemplation Fortress pursued you?"

"It seems they were trying to take the sword manual."

"Hmm..."

Although he didn't know it well, from what Agong, who was dark about the current situation of the martial world, had heard, the Black Contemplation Fortress did not seem to be a very good group.

'Well, that's why they would have lied without batting an eye even after doing such a thing to me.'

Certainly, thinking of the Black Qilin, Wenzhong, it was understandable that Xi Xichang was afraid of the Black Contemplation Fortress.

Looking back after learning martial arts, the reason he had been able to speak so carelessly even after meeting a master like Wenzhong was the power of recklessness that had come from ignorance.

"Is the Black Contemplation Fortress that great?"

Hearing Agong's question, Xi Xichang thought that perhaps Agong was a disciple of a reclusive master who was staying here in the Hermit's Valley, or that he had learned martial arts, isolated from the martial world for a long time.

"Since it is a force that has unified the divided evil path and is displaying its ambition for the world, centered on the Black Contemplation Fortress Lord, Mo Guangdi, one of the Twelve Honored Ones of the World, the number of places that can be compared to it can be counted on one hand."

"That much..."

"Emei, Qingcheng, and our Qingcheng Sect, and the forces of Yunnan, including the Tang Clan, created the Sichuan Alliance to protect the Sichuan martial world and to stand against a great enemy like the Black Contemplation Fortress, but they have become too accustomed to a long period of peace."

The noble spirit of the Sichuan Alliance at the time of its initial formation had disappeared, and they were only engaged in a dog-eat-dog fight to get on top of each other.

A power struggle is a very difficult and subtle problem.

In particular, it was bound to become more fierce and insidious if people with similar power gathered.

"One fortunate thing is that the internal problems of the Black Contemplation Fortress have not yet been sorted out, and the Black Qilin, one of the masters who represent the Black Contemplation Fortress, has left the Black Contemplation Fortress and has gone into seclusion."

"The Black Qilin... he probably went back to the Black Contemplation Fortress a while ago."

Agong, recalling Wenzhong, said carefully.

"The Black Qilin... went back to the Black Contemplation Fortress?"

(End of Chapter)