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[Senior Sister of Fierce Battles]
Little sword Queen Shin Chobin's old nickname was Seol Maehwa (Snow Plum Blossom).
It was because her icy gaze and the way she never revealed her emotions made her exude a chilling aura, as if emanating from millennia-old frozen ice.
Because of that, no one dared to approach her easily.
Her unusually quiet nature also contributed to that impression. So much so that even among her fellow disciples, only a handful had ever had a proper conversation with her.
It wasn't that they looked down on her for being short. Who would dare to look down on the Sword Queen's direct disciple?
It was more that the atmosphere she exuded was so aloof that they couldn't bring themselves to approach her.
Of course, Shin Chobin wanted to be friendly with others, but she was too passive and quiet to do so.
The fact that her lineage had become twisted because the Sword Queen had taken her as a direct disciple also played a part. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in the same generation as elderly men.
In fact, the Sword Queen was of a higher generation than the current Mount Hua Sect Leader. That was because she had entered the sect before the Sect Leader.
That was how Shin Chobin became the Great Senior Sister.
Compared to other sects, the Mount Hua Sect had a more open atmosphere. This was due to the unique tendency of the Mount Hua Sect to not shy away from forming secular families.
Therefore, among the disciples who had just entered the Mount Hua Sect, there were quite a few who, without knowing any better, approached Shin Chobin and greeted her informally. This was because they mistook her for a fellow disciple due to her short stature.
However, Shin Chobin did not immediately accept their greetings. She was pondering how to respond, but others thought that she was very angry.
'Great Senior Sister, you mustn't draw your sword! He's just a child who doesn't know any better, please forgive him.'
'Senior sister, I apologize on his behalf!'
'Senior-nim, you mustn't use force under the guise of sparring!'
'Hng, hng! Great Grandmaster, please don't hit me...!'
After that incident, even the young disciples who had just joined the sect did not dare to attempt to speak to Shin Chobin.
It wasn't that she hadn't tried. She tended to become more talkative in front of people she was somewhat close to, so she confided these concerns to her master, the Sword Queen.
'This happened, what should I do with that child? Should I spar with them?'
However, because her tone was so stiff and serious, the Sword Queen misunderstood that her disciple was trying to harm a newly joined child.
Before she knew it, Shin Chobin had become a ruthless person who was about to mercilessly discipline a young disciple with a wooden sword for a single slip of the tongue.
After that, Shin Chobin stopped confiding her worries to others.
Several years passed like that. Before she knew it, she had become an adult, but Shin Chobin's height remained stuck at around the early to mid-teens.
The children who were originally her peers had grown up long before becoming adults, but only Shin Chobin remained the same as she was at first.
So much so that she even came to misinterpret that the glorious title of Little sword Queen might have been created to make fun of her.
In the end, Shin Chobin relieved these anxieties by meeting children. Not infants. Children of that age would invariably cry in fear when they saw Shin Chobin's expressionless face.
Fortunately, children around the age of five or six liked pretty people, and Shin Chobin was very beautiful. Shin Chobin would relieve her worries by looking at the children who approached her with pure smiles.
Today was one of those days.
She met a pretty and cute child while walking down the street. Was she ten years old? It was a close call, but girls of that age also liked pretty things. Shin Chobin tried to relieve her worries by patting the child, as always.
It was customary to ask if it was okay to pat them, but the children who encountered her blunt and cold tone would invariably become frightened and run away, so she decided to just do it first.
But she was stopped.
By the woman standing next to her.
Shin Chobin's surprised eyes widened. It was a difference so subtle that others wouldn't notice, but Shin Chobin herself thought that her eyes were three times wider than usual.
'I've been caught.'
Although the Mount Hua Sect was famous for its swordsmanship, it wasn't as if they didn't have grappling and hand techniques at all. Shin Chobin had also mastered the Plum Blossom Dispersing Hand and was in the midst of learning the Scattering Flower Shadowless Hand directly from the Sword Queen.
She also had the skills befitting her seniority. It was unbelievable considering her age. It was no exaggeration to say that she was the greatest talent Mount Hua boasted.
And yet, she had been caught.
'A master.'
In that instant, Shin Chobin's eyes sparkled with a different meaning.
'Should I ask her for a spar?'
Shin Chobin originally enjoyed sparring. Because she felt like she was getting closer to them since she was forced to bump into them during sparring.
—You must do your best even in sparring. That is how you will be able to use your skills in real combat.
Thanks to her master, the Sword Queen's teachings, she always did her best even when facing weaker opponents.
The problem was that her best was terrifying to others.
Even though it was just wooden sword sparring, sparring with a skilled martial artist was bound to leave injuries. Shin Chobin always did her best in sparring, so those who faced her always ended up with something broken.
Of course, her fellow disciples did not reveal this fact in front of her. They were afraid that they would get hit even harder if they whimpered.
That was why Shin Chobin still mistakenly believed that she would become closer to her fellow disciples if she sparred with them.
That was also why she had tried to spar with the disciples who had spoken to her informally without knowing any better.
She wanted to become closer to them.
It would have been nice if someone had come and told her, but unfortunately, there was no such opportunity. Within the Mount Hua Sect, no one dared to stand up to the Little sword Queen, and the younger generations of the Jongnam and Wudang sects did not want to cross swords privately.
The only outsider Shin Chobin had ever properly crossed swords with was Mad Sword Namgung Cheonghae.
It was obvious how Shin Chobin, whose interpersonal relationships were shattered, and Namgung Cheonghae, who was obsessed with the sword, would have sparred.
For seven days and nights, they sparred every day, except for eating and sleeping, and they repeated winning and losing. The two became incredibly close.
It was only possible because Namgung Cheonghae was a man obsessed with the sword, but because of that, Shin Chobin became a fervent believer in the omnipotence of sparring.
She sparred countless times with her fellow disciples and junior disciples whom she wanted to become closer to. The first, second, and third-generation disciples of the Mount Hua Sect were helplessly swept away by the Great Senior Sister's sudden tyranny.
The Sect Leader and elders did not stop her either.
It was certain that the disciples' skills were improving, and there were no killing moves at all.
It was also because they had been treated that way by the Sword Queen in the past. It could be said that the disciple was like her master.
However, the difference was that the Sword Queen was very sociable, but Shin Chobin was not, which led to unnecessary misunderstandings.
Back to the current situation.
Shin Chobin looked at her fellow disciples and junior disciples who were tightly holding her arms with a sulky face. Of course, they secretly trembled as they looked at Shin Chobin, who was expressionless on the outside.
'Senior sister, we were all wrong. So please, just bear with it this once.'
'If you cause another disturbance this time, it will really be a big problem!'
Disturbance? She had never caused one. She had only sparred.
The surrounding area had been swept away as a result, but she had never harmed any civilians. How could a Taoist harm others?
Shin Chobin thought that her junior disciples were worrying unnecessarily. She was also worried about how they would live in this harsh world with such kind hearts.
'I should spar with them once later.'
They were admirable, so she could do that much for them.
Seo-yeon ended up getting a meal at the inn established by the Mount Hua Sect's branch. However, it was difficult to swallow the food in such a stifling atmosphere.
That was because Shin Chobin was sitting right in front of her.
'She has no expression.'
It was like a doll in a bad way. She was beautiful, but she exuded a strangely inanimate atmosphere.
She was said to be twenty-three years old. To be honest, she looked much younger than that. She was closer to a girl than an adult woman.
She had apologized for trying to pat Hwa-ryeon out of the blue. However, she didn't do it with words, she bowed her head politely. The Taoists next to her said that she was originally quiet.
'Isn't this more like she's completely mute?'
But she didn't seem like a bad person.
That was because she had bought Candied Fruit and given it to Hwa-ryeon. Seo-yeon clearly saw Shin Chobin's stiff lips relax and lift up when Hwa-ryeon readily accepted the Candied Fruit.
Hwa-ryeon allowed her to pat her head in exchange for a Candied Fruit. As a result, Shin Chobin continued to pat Hwa-ryeon's head with slightly puffy lips.
'She's a unique person.'
Before coming here, she had roughly heard the situation from the other Taoists. The story of Shin Chobin's seniority was one of them.
Seo-yeon guessed inwardly that perhaps she was acting so forceful because of the pressure of being the Great Senior Sister.
Seo-yeon slowly parted her lips.
'I heard that you will be holding a gathering with the Jongnam Sect soon.'
'Ah.'
Shin Chobin nodded slightly.
'That's right.'
'Will Little sword Queen be participating?'
This time, Shin Chobin shook her head briefly.
'I can't participate.'
'Ah.'
This time, Seo-yeon nodded.
If Shin Chobin were to participate, the Jongnam Sect would have to send a disciple of appropriate seniority. That was the proper thing to do.
That meant they would have to send a middle-aged first-generation disciple.
If that happened, it would be a problem even if they won, and it would be a problem if they lost.
If they won, they would be said to have crushed a woman around the age of twenty with their skills, and if they lost, they would be said to have lost to a woman around the age of twenty.
Therefore, there was no way that Jongnam would welcome Shin Chobin's participation.
Shin Chobin's lips puffed up sulkily. It was such a subtle change that only someone with Seo-yeon's keen eye could have noticed.
'She must really want to go.'
Seo-yeon suddenly felt sorry for Shin Chobin. It was a little different from the pity she felt when she saw a poor person. Now that she looked at her, she seemed somehow dazed and spaced out.
If the other Mount Hua Sect Taoists heard that, they would have said that it was nonsense.
Of course, Seo-yeon did not express such thoughts outwardly.
Just as she was about to get up from her seat after finishing her meal, Shin Chobin opened her mouth.
'That.'
She only uttered one word. In that instant, the Mount Hua Sect Taoists around her all widened their eyes.
But unfortunately, Shin Chobin was faster at completing the sentence.
Shin Chobin's gaze was directed at the sword hanging from Seo-yeon's waist.
"Would you mind sparring with me once? It seems like you use a sword."
Seo-yeon suddenly recalled the time when she had stormed the Hoehwa Brothel. At that time, she had roughly estimated her martial aptitude to be at the level of a first-generation disciple.
Coincidentally, Shin Chobin was also a first-generation disciple in terms of seniority.
Of course, Shin Chobin was incomparably younger than the first-generation disciples. No matter how talented she was, she didn't think she would be as strong as the real first-generation disciples who had lived for decades longer.
'But she's still much stronger than me.'
How could the disciple of the Sword Queen, whom Mount Hua boasted, be an ordinary person? Even if she only looked at her aptitude, she would be several times better than herself.
Shin Chobin probably knew that her skills were better as well. Seo-yeon roughly guessed that Shin Chobin was trying to apologize in the way of a martial artist.
This was because sparring with a skilled martial artist was bound to become a guided training session.
'It would be good to refine my swordsmanship as well.'
If she sparred with someone of that skill, she would definitely gain a lot. Seo-yeon decided to accept Shin Chobin's consideration.
Soon, Seo-yeon nodded and opened her mouth.
'Is there a suitable place?'
[TL: I’ve decided to stick with Mount Hua Sect.]