Chapter 48: Rival Friends Meet on a Narrow Bridge (3)

“Ha....”

“Is something wrong, Master?”

“Yes, Soyak. A problem came up. No—rather than a problem...”

Eunsong searched for a more suitable word.

If he called it a problem, it would sound like an obstacle blocking the road ahead.

But this Roaming Pillar journey could not be called nothing but an obstacle.

If she pulled it off successfully—

If, along the way, she raised her name as a chivalrous hero and made her sword skill shine—

Then at fourteen, she could take on an epithet and become the center of the Nine Provinces’ expectations.

That meant she would become safer.

In truth, her father—the Black Plum Sword Lord—had only lost his head after he insisted on speaking the truth again and again.

That, too, had been because his prestige was deep and high.

When your name rose high in the rivers-and-lakes, it became harder to crush you with authority.

People gathered around you, and a base and influence formed naturally, and your voice gained weight.

And all those intangible assets—

They would become strength for breaking the Sword Sovereign, shattering the Alliance, and overturning this suffocating world.

“Master. Just tell me. I’m listening.”

Unable to stand Eunsong dragging it out, Soyak spoke first.

Eunsong met Soyak’s eyes.

The same as always.

Black, deep, empty pupils.

A bottomless, unrestrained, immeasurable pitch-blackness—like the void between stars.

“Your Roaming Pillar journey has been decided.”

*****

Inside Cheon Soyak’s room.

Eunsong sat huddled together with his disciples.

They were thinking about who to choose as the two companions.

“Isn’t it too dangerous? She’s still too young for a Roaming Pillar journey.”

Cheonjeong voiced his worry first.

It made sense.

They called it Roaming Pillar, but it was wandering without even a single coin.

For a small, thin girl of fourteen, it was dangerous.

Even if she was a master who had reached the Apex Realm.

Cheon Soyak had limits too.

The stamina limit she realized while fighting Namgung Seon.

The limit of seasoned experience that came from still being inexperienced.

And there was also the limit of “social intimidation” that came from her small, delicate appearance.

She couldn’t go around glaring and spewing killing intent of the Heavenly Killing Star at everyone.

And Roaming Pillar wasn’t something you were meant to do like that in the first place.

It was to wander the world and learn from it.

“It’s dangerous. It is dangerous. Still, fortunately, the destination and the time limit have been set.”

“That’s truly fortunate.”

Cheonjeong let out a sigh of relief.

Then, with his fist clenched tight, he spoke.

“I’ll go with her.”

“Cheonjeong. You are the Head Senior of all the Third Generation disciples.”

It was a refusal, but Eunsong’s voice was gentle.

There was even a trace of relief in it.

Cheonjeong was someone he could trust and entrust things to.

Not because his sword skill was good, or because his inner power was deep.

Because his conduct was cautious, his thoughts were deep, and he understood how the world worked.

Of course, if it was only about understanding how the world worked, Cheongu was better.

He was the son of the owner of a merchant house, and he was sharp about the flow of goods and cash.

But in Eunsong’s eyes, Cheongu was not someone fit to lead another.

Soyak was a sword.

And a sword needed someone to hold it properly.

If you simply left it out in the world, it would rust, break down, and shatter.

As proof, ten-year-old Cheon Soyak had been unable to do anything, and had been sold as a maid to the Gwak Family.

“Master.”

“...Yes.”

“This lowly, base disciple Cheonjeong—just this once, I want to be ‘Soyak’s senior brother,’ not ‘the Head Senior of all Third Generation disciples.’”

Cheonjeong bowed his head to Eunsong.

Had Soyak not expected him to go that far?

Soyak’s eyes widened.

Blinking, she kept glancing between Eunsong and Cheonjeong.

“...Must it truly be so?”

“Yes. Just this once, I truly will not turn my heart.”

“Fine. Then pack your things. The other person will be...”

Eunsong looked over the disciples gathered there.

Cheongak, Cheongu, Cheonju, and Cheonhwa remained.

As he said before, it wasn’t Cheongu.

Cheonhwa had collapsed, so she had to be excluded.

Then the remaining candidates were Cheongak and Cheonju.

And among them, someone he could trust—

Cheongak, along with Cheongu, was closer to the mischievous ones among the disciples.

Cheonju, on the other hand, had bowed his head to Eunsong for Cheonhwa’s sake, whatever the circumstances.

It meant he clearly had a heart that cared about his younger junior sister.

And the decisiveness to act on it.

“Cheonju. May I ask you?”

Eunsong chose Cheonju.

After coming under him, as Cheonhwa began to crumble, Cheonju had become more and more mature.

Abandoning your master was a cold choice.

But if its root was the heart that cherished and loved his younger junior sister, how could anyone call it cold?

Cheonju quietly shook his head.

He bowed his head to Eunsong and pleaded.

“I have to take care of Cheonhwa, Master. Please excuse me.”

Eunsong glanced at Cheonhwa.

After her spar with Soyak, Cheonhwa had half-broken.

Not because of anything else.

Because she had firmly believed that the moment she lost, her senior brother Cheonju would be murdered horribly.

There had been no time to tell Cheonhwa about the wager in advance.

No—he must not do that.

It would be trampling the pride Cheonhwa had as a martial artist.

Wouldn’t it mean telling her to lose if she wanted to profit and survive?

But this outcome was something neither Eunsong nor Cheonju had expected.

Cheonju being alive—and having come under Eunsong—had made it a little better, but...

Even now, Cheonhwa was guarding against everything around her.

Because she knew exactly what kind of people Eun Byeok and Myungjeok were.

That they were the sort who could harm you anywhere, in any way, if they wanted to.

She was captured by that fear and could not shake it off.

At this rate, falling into deviation would take only an instant.

“...Right. Of course. Take good care of Cheonhwa.”

“Thank you.”

“Then...”

That left only Cheongak.

He was a little mischievous...

But his nature was upright and kind, and he wasn’t the sort to do what he was told not to do, no matter what.

Not entirely reassuring.

But also hard to say he was truly unreliable.

More than anything, his sword skill was good, and the fact that he was the most “age-appropriate” was also an advantage.

Soyak sometimes had a chilling feeling you sensed from a child who didn’t feel like a child.

“Cheongak.”

“YAHOO!”

There was no need to say anything more.

Eunsong flicked Cheongak square on the top of the head with a majestic chestnut.

He didn’t change the decision, though.

*****

THUD— THUD— THUD—.

Someone was knocking on Mount Hua’s front gate.

A massive, thick door built from white-birch wood.

And a door knocker made of Black Iron.

The collision of the two materials made a sound that was practically a small bell.

Soon, the gate slowly opened.

The men guarding it looked at the one who had knocked, then flinched in shock.

Because it was Flame-Saber Lord Ak Jupae.

“Ah—no, Flame-Saber Lord Ak... elder brother, what brings you to Mount Hua Sect...”

“Has Jegal Yeon come here?”

“If you mean Lady Jegal Yeon, she is in the Second Detached Quarters.”

“May I go in?”

The two men looked at each other, then bowed at the waist like wind.

They couldn’t just tell him to enter immediately.

They didn’t know whether he was a guest or not.

But they also couldn’t drive him off.

Wasn’t he the Flame-Saber Lord—one of the Three Emperors among the One Sovereign, Three Emperors, and Seven Lords?

“Could you wait just a moment? That one will go ask and return at once.”

Ak Jupae nodded instead of answering.

The man on the right ran off like wind, rushing up Mount Hua.

Since he wasn’t using Hidden Fragrance Drift, he wasn’t a mainline Mount Hua disciple.

He was probably one of the Branch Family disciples who hadn’t returned to secular life yet.

Or someone who, even if he returned to secular life, had nowhere to go.

“...If it’s not too presumptuous, may I ask just one thing?”

“Ask.”

“By what I know, Flame-Saber Lord Ak elder brother is a Unit Captain of the Heaven-Net Platform... so what brings you to Mount Hua Sect...”

When he appeared, a sect was destroyed.

Of course, it wasn’t the Nine Great Sects or the Five Great Clans.

There also weren’t sects on that level.

But he was a powerhouse who could erase a decent mid-tier sect from the map on his own.

That was what a master of the Transformation Realm was.

And more than anything, the fact that a Unit Captain of the Heaven-Net Platform was here meant—

Didn’t it mean the Heaven-Net Platform operatives had come with him too?

Surely that couldn’t be the case, but...

If Mount Hua Sect and the Heaven-Net Platform went to all-out war—

If the Heaven-Net Platform declared it would topple Mount Hua Sect for the crime of impiety—

Cold sweat beaded and ran down the man’s neck.

He looked like he’d seen a reaper.

“Your complexion is quite bad.”

“I had an unpleasant thought...”

“On the way here, I resigned the post of Unit Captain of the Heaven-Net Platform with my own hands. So there will be nothing for you to worry about.”

The man’s face relaxed in an instant.

He even let out a sigh of relief.

“Ah... thank you for telling me. I’m sorry for my rude worry.”

“...No. It’s fine.”

Ak Jupae waved it off bitterly.

With his usual temperament, the man would have been hit and slammed into a wall.

Had his son’s death made him look back at himself?

That he was feared by the entire world...

Meant he had killed that many people without even asking questions.

Only now did it feel like he could see that karma a °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° little.

But—

Even so, he still could not set revenge down.

He would leave it as his last murder.

“Right. Around now, wouldn’t the One-Branch Gathering be in full swing. Is it going well?”

It was only a polite question.

Ak Jupae knew the One-Branch Gathering existed.

Wasn’t it the sparring stage where all of Mount Hua’s late-generation prodigies-in-waiting were vetted in advance?

“It’s still a bit early for news to spread. Something incredible happened.”

“Something incredible?”

“Yes. A young girl disciple named Cheon Soyak—she’s only been here a month—won, and she even defeated the Namgung Clan’s young clan lord.”