The Sword Demon Regresses

Chapter 4

Sopyung cleaned the room alone as she thought.

‘What do you mean easy, easy my ass!’

Even though her work experience within the Unorthodox Alliance was not long, she had long been familiar with the rumors about Youngho.

However, the Youngho she met for the first time after officially becoming the Lord’s disciple seemed like a completely different person from the rumors.

Contrary to the rumors that he was timid and cowardly, he had pushed around Nanhyang, one of the most influential among the maids. He did not even show the slightest sign of fear when told it was the Third Young Master’s order.

At first, she wondered if this really was the Fifth Young Master from the rumors. Then, when she asked why he had chosen her instead of another maid, his answer had been something else entirely.

‘Because you’re the easiest.’

It had been truly shocking. Just what about her was easy! Well, her face did look easy to deal with!

She admitted that! But still, was it normal to say something like that so bluntly? She had many complaints, but she could not voice her feelings.

No matter how little influence the Fifth Young Master supposedly had among the Lord’s disciples, the other party was still one of those disciples. With no backing whatsoever, she had no choice but to keep her dissatisfaction buried in her heart.

While cleaning, Sopyung suddenly looked at Youngho, who was diligently training his body.

In Sopyung’s eyes, doubt was still plainly visible as to whether this was really the Fifth Young Master she knew.

Seeing her expression, Youngho let out a small chuckle without realizing it.

‘This is exactly why I chose you.’

The current Sopyung had nothing. She had no backing, nor was she particularly competent.

That was precisely what made her most appealing to Youngho. Having no backing meant she could be made into his ally, and being not especially capable meant she was suitable to be used as a maid without issue.

And above all, she herself looked kind. There were those who said one should not judge people by appearances, but this was not based on appearances—it was Youngho’s intuition.

Youngho had met countless people up until now. Hypocrites of the Orthodox Sect, damned bastards of the Demonic Cult, and those who truly walked the path of the Righteous. Having met so many people, he could tell just by looking into Sopyung’s eyes.

That this child was a good child.

‘Not someone who’ll rise to a high position, but a kid who can live happily in a low one.’

First, he had to make Sopyung completely his own. If she were to be taken by someone else, Youngho would be deeply saddened.

If Sopyung were not someone who assisted him but someone who monitored him, he would have to kill that good child with his own hands.

‘This was definitely when things were the most miserable.’

Before his regression, because of his timid and cowardly personality, he had no choice but to follow Nanhyang’s instructions.

She interfered in everything to the point that even breathing felt obstructed, and Youngho had been irritated.

Of course, at that time, he himself had been young and knew nothing.

The only time he was not interfered with was during martial arts training. Peeking at another’s martial arts training alone was a crime punishable by death, after all.

That was probably why he had continued to spur himself on in training. He trained, and trained, and trained again.

So extreme was his demeanor that he was even called a fanatic among the attendants.

As Youngho did push-ups, he thought.

‘If I want to survive here, I need influence first.’

Otherwise, he would die without a trace. And what kind of influence was there to speak of in this place?

The Unorthodox Faction was the same everywhere. You just had to become strong. And in the Unorthodox Faction, you must never be looked down on. That alone determined whether you lived or died.

That was why Youngho found the current situation all the more displeasing.

Even earlier, when he washed his body, it had been the same. He was, in name, the fifth disciple of the Unorthodox Alliance Lord, yet they gave him cold water instead of warm?

To a kid who had nearly suffered hypothermia because his clothes were already soaked?

“Just wait six months.”

When that time comes, no one will dare look down on me.

Even though sweat poured off him like a waterfall, Youngho continued to move his body. Watching Youngho’s training, which looked almost like torture, Sopyung shuddered without realizing it.

‘Wow, what a fanatic, a total fanatic.’

How could a person have eyes filled with such ferocity?

Sopyung tried her best to focus on her work, but she could not help but watch Youngho pushing himself so cruelly.

At present, Youngho had been moving his body nonstop for two shijin without rest. Of course, this was entirely Sopyung’s subjective perspective.

Youngho continued his training even while resting. Or rather, he knew exactly when to move his body and when not to.

Youngho was a martial artist. Having used his body for decades, he knew how muscles moved and how they needed to rest to recover most effectively.

His breathing, too, remained steady no matter how exhausting it became. No—more precisely, if it were not steady, his body would not be able to endure it.

Youngho’s training was not about brutishly hardening his body, but an efficient method that allowed muscle to build with minimal movement.

However, this alone was not enough. It did not satisfy Youngho at all.

Youngho’s body—no, his mind—was still acting in accordance with the body he had during his time as the Unorthodox Alliance Lord.

With his current body, he could not reproduce those movements, nor even imitate them. He needed to quickly enrich his dantian with an internal energy cultivation method and then train his body.

Only then would his body be able to keep up with the training he had planned.

‘It’s lacking.’

Thus, after training diligently, Youngho finally washed himself and went to sleep once night had deepened.

And then the next day arrived.

As if it had been decided in advance, Youngho woke at the hour of the rabbit and trained his body again.

After some time passed, someone came looking for Youngho.

“Fifth Young Master.”

Looking at the person approaching him with proper etiquette, Youngho said,

“What is it?”

At that moment, the man’s body flinched for an instant. Despite seeing the confusion revealed in the man’s gaze, Youngho let it pass without much thought.

There was no need to go around asking each and every person whether they were surprised that he was different from the rumors. His time was far too precious for that.

“The Lord is calling for you.”

“What time?”

“He says he will give you a little time to prepare.”

“Tell him I’ll wash up a bit and go right away.”

“Understood.”

The man left the courtyard while hiding his emotions as much as possible. However, once he judged that he was no longer within the Fifth Young Master’s sight, he finally relaxed his expression and muttered,

“He’s very different from the rumors.”

He knew that the Lord had taken Youngho as a disciple because he had seen something unusual in him. Still, seeing a Youngho who was completely different from the rumors did give him a sense of unease.

Thinking that things might become more interesting than expected, Cheongsol unconsciously curled his lips into a grin.

Of course, since Youngho knew of Cheongsol’s existence, he could roughly predict what kind of thoughts Cheongsol was having right now.

No—he could even picture exactly what kind of expression he was making.

Youngho let out a soft chuckle and said to Sopyung,

“Sopyung, cold water will be fine, so bring out some water for washing.”

“Yes!”

Youngho washed himself roughly and immediately headed to where Cheonung was.

Along the way, there were people who stole glances at him, but Youngho ignored them all. It was an attitude he could show because he knew there was no need to pay them any mind, and that doing so would only be a waste of time.

The place Youngho was currently heading toward was Cheonung’s private training ground. Before entering the training ground, two guards thoroughly searched Youngho’s body.

After finishing the inspection, the guards nodded and said,

“You may enter.”

“Thank you.”

As he stepped inside the training ground, Youngho felt a mysterious and eerie sensation tickling his body after a long time.

At the center of the training ground, Cheonung was meditating in a cross-legged posture. Youngho slowly approached Cheonung.

“I pay my respects to Master.”

At those words, Cheonung opened his eyes at once.

“You’ve come?”

“Yes.”

“As you know, you are now my disciple. Therefore, you must not show me the sight of being humiliated.”

“I will bear that in mind.”

Thinking that the conversation might last longer than expected, Youngho immediately knelt down.

Between Youngho and Cheonung, there was hardly what could be called affection between master and disciple.

In the master’s words were throwing knives he had not fully concealed, and the disciple diligently avoided those knives.

After briefly reminding Youngho of his status as the Lord’s disciple, Cheonung brushed himself off, stood up, and said,

“Today, I will have you learn my martial arts. Since you can sense external qi, quickly assume your posture. I will transmit a cultivation method to you.”

When Youngho took a cross-legged meditation posture, Cheonung placed his hand on Youngho’s back and said,

“I will assist you with circulation. However, I will only help once. After that, you must manage on your own.”

With those words, Cheonung recited the incantations of the cultivation method. For Youngho, who already knew it, it was a tedious time, but he closed his eyes and pretended to concentrate so as not to give anything away.

Soon, all the incantations of the cultivation method flowed from Cheonung’s mouth, and with the final incantation, Youngho began to slowly draw external qi into his body.

Ssss. Haa.

With each breath, he felt the external qi linger inside his body before flowing out again.

Following exactly the incantations of the Flame Venerable Art taught by Cheonung, he began to slowly gather the external qi into his dantian.

Ssss. Haa.

This time, the drawn-in external qi began to seep little by little into the dantian. The internal energy, which had been far smaller than a grain of rice, gradually grew and soon took on the form of a grain of rice.

Despite the tyrannical energy boiling inside his body, Youngho showed no sign of struggling at all.

Even though an energy that seemed capable of incinerating everything was circulating through his body, it was as if Youngho did not feel the pain rising along his qi and blood.

Seeing this, Cheonung, though maintaining composure on the outside, was extremely shocked on the inside.

‘Remarkable.’

That single word contained many meanings. Originally, when beginning circulation of the Flame Venerable Art for the first time, all disciples until now had tried to resist its energy.

Now, however, one had to add the qualifier—except for one.

Youngho did not resist the energy of the Flame Venerable Art; rather, he accepted it. The Flame Venerable Art possessed a purity so high that it was hard to believe it was a martial art of the Unorthodox Faction.

It was likely similar in purity to foundational cultivation methods of Daoist or Buddhist lineages. Even so, because of its tyrannical nature, beginners usually suffered greatly at first, yet Youngho did not.

It was something not even the eldest disciple, whom Cheonung had considered the most talented among his disciples, had been able to accomplish.

As if yielding, as if following the principles of the world, Youngho merely showed the Flame Venerable Art the path it should take.

As if saying that it could do whatever it wished along the way, so long as it stayed on that path. Perhaps it sensed Youngho’s intent?

The Flame Venerable Art within Youngho surged even more fiercely through his meridians. Its energy was violent and powerful, yet it obeyed Youngho well.

Racing ferociously only in the direction Youngho directed, the energy looked impossible to stop. Even so, Youngho slowly began to calm it.

‘There is still plenty of time. Let’s aim for the next stage.’

Perhaps it recognized Youngho’s gentle will. The Flame Venerable Art gradually heeded his guidance, then completed a single great circulation before coming to a halt in accordance with Youngho’s intent.

Youngho slowly opened his eyes and rose from his place.

“I completed one great circulation.”

“It does seem so. Your talent is greater than I expected.”

“Thank you.”

“From now on, I will teach you the sword. Pick up the wooden sword over there.”

“Yes.”

Youngho picked up the wooden sword without hesitation.