TL: Yul
–
After arriving at his destination, Lee Sungmin hopped off of the Pegasus. He looked up at the rugged mountain.
People said 10 years could change mountains, but Wudang Mountain looked the same as when Lee Sungmin first saw it. Lee Sungmin spread out his senses. He was wary of the Sword Saint’s flying sword but felt nothing like that.
[Are you trying to win over the Sword Saint?]
‘Even if I can, it’s not like he can help us physically. He’s in a state where he can’t even leave the mountain,’ Lee Sungmin replied while feeling disappointed. He would gain a powerful ally if the Sword Saint could accompany him to the Forest of the Fairies.
However, the Sword Saint suffered from Qi Deviation and was in a state where he couldn’t take a step out of the mountain. At that thought, Heoju snorted.
[That doesn’t really make sense to me.]
‘What do you mean?’
[I get that suffering from Qi Deviation almost killed him, but how does that correlate with not being able to leave the mountain?]
‘He might have meant that he couldn’t get too far away from the mountain,’ Lee Sungmin said and headed toward the path that led to the mountain. The sun was setting, creating a beautiful mix of red and gold.
The sunset sky died the mountain scenery red. Seeing that, Lee Sungmin remembered what he had told his master a long time ago.
He had asked if he wanted to go to the Wudang with him. He also thought about the letter that Baek Sogo had sent in the past. She had talked about how after the winter, Wudang Mountain is said to be colored golden with bright yellow forsythia in full bloom.
However, it was way past that season. No forsythia was in sight.
‘Maybe one day.’
It was not today. Lee Sungmin walked toward the area where he last met the Sword Saint. Not too long after, though, he sensed someone’s presence coming toward him.
“Chung Myung-nim,” Lee Sungmin said in a low voice. Immediately, a figure clothed in a Dobok (TN: uniform/clothing worn while practicing martial arts) slid out from behind a nearby tree. Chung Myung laughed bitterly and greeted Lee Sungmin.
“It’s been a while.”
Chung Myung looked embarrassed, as he did not think he would have been found so quickly.
Lee Sungmin estimated Chung Myung’s level. 10 years ago, he was also a Transcendent. Now…
‘It’s quite…’
To be honest, it was disappointing. At least, that was what it felt like.
He was on a similar level to the Black Dragon or the Spear King from 10 years ago. There was nothing that could be done about that. The pair had spent 10 years on the Mountain of Mush, placing harsh restrictions on themselves to improve, while Chung Myung had stayed on Wudang Mountain.
Even if he was the sole disciple of the Sword Saint, the ten years spent on this mountain couldn’t be compared to the ten years spent on the Mountain of Mush.
From the beginning, the Black Dragon and the Spear King had reached a higher point than Chung Myung, which meant that it was impossible for Chung Myung to catch up to them in the first place.
“Are you here to meet my master?”
“Yes.”
“Please, follow me,” Chung Myung said. Lee Sungmin quietly followed behind, heading toward the residence of the Sword Saint.
“God of Thunder (雷神), Minor Demonic Emperor (小魔皇), Divine Spear (神槍), Dark Heavenly Storm Demon (黑天第一魔)… which is your favorite title?”
“I don’t like any of them because it feels like they are plating my face in gold,” Lee Sungmin replied honestly.
After he killed the Blood Demon and demolished the Blood Alliance in front of a crowd, wild titles from bystanders began floating around.
Some called him the God of Thunder because thunder clapped and electricity spread in the air every time he used martial arts, and some called him the Minor Demonic Emperor because he was the heir of the Demonic Emperor.
He was also called the Divine Spear as his spearmanship reached the level of a god, and also called the Dark Heavenly Storm Demon as he was the strongest out of the entirety of the Sama Order.
However, he disliked them all. He felt embarrassed to be called these titles.
He had yet to make the Dark Heavenly Lighting Storm Arts his, so being called the God of Thunder and the Minor Demonic Emperor was laughable.
Lee Sungmin knew that his spearmanship was below the level of the Spear King, so he would be laughed at by him if he started calling himself ‘The Divine Spear.’ He felt the same way about the Dark Heavenly Storm Demon.
“Master is waiting inside.”
They had arrived. Lee Sungmin looked around and asked, “Are the Sword Dragon and Jihak still on this mountain?”
“They left a while ago. Jihak went to the Shaolin, while the Sword Dragon returned to the Namgoong Family.
At that, Lee Sungmin felt slightly disappointed. The reason he came to the Wudang was to, if possible, receive the help of Jihak, Namgoong Heewon, and Chung Myung.
If he was able to get them to join him, then he would have the help of every Transcendent he knew personally.
After that, he would try to find and fight either Geniella or the Martial God Mushin.
However, since two of them weren’t here, Chung Myung was the only person he could try to convince.
Lee Sungmin walked into the temple where the Sword Saint resided.
“How is he?”
A voice greeted him as he walked alone deeper into the temple. Lee Sungmin glanced at the closed door, as Chung Myung stood just behind it.
“Are you worried that the child will hear you?”
“A bit.”
“Don’t worry. I already covered this area with a soundproof barrier. But anyway… it seems that you do not have good things to say about him, looking at the fact that you checked if he was listening.”
“Well, he reached a high place if you compare him to his peers. There are many that haven’t even reached the Peak at his age and some that are even older that die before reaching Transcendence.”
“Isn’t he a bit lacking to call the Sword Saint’s disciple?”
The Sword Saint beckoned him forward.
Lee Sungmin slowly came closer.
The smell was different from the time he visited this place years ago. It was a familiar smell.
[There was no point in coming here.]
Heoju muttered.
The Sword Saint was lying on his back. Lee Sungmin saw the Sword Saint’s shadow under the flickering flame above.
The Sword Saint raised his body as he sensed Lee Sungmin getting closer.
“You aged a lot from before.”
“I should have died a long time ago from age. I’ve lived long enough like this.”
“Did something happen?”
“Nothing happened. Nothing happened… so I turned out like this. This old man was already dying from Qi Deviation and only survived by leaching off of the spirit of the mountain.”
That was why he couldn’t leave the mountain.
The Sword Saint crinkled his wrinkled face and laughed, saying, “Did you come here to say hello after a long time?”
Lee Sungmin slowly shook his head. The Sword Saint laughed.
“I am proud to say that I have raised a disciple that I am not ashamed of. However… he is lacking. He’s been practicing for around 10 years, but he’s still at that level.”
“Don’t you think you’re too greedy?”
“I can only be too greedy. Even if it wasn’t enough to prevent the Apocalypse, I wanted him to grow enough to slow it down. but…haha. Apparently, this old man wasn’t a good teacher.”
“How long do you have left?”
“Hm… Maybe I could die today,” the Sword Saint nodded as he spoke.
Lee Sungmin looked at him with a bitter expression.
“Are you pitying this old man?”
“I don’t think I’m close enough to pity you.”
“Haha!”
At Lee Sungmin’s words, the Sword Saint made a laughing sound.
“It seems that you still have negative feelings for me.”
“You tried to kill me before, remember?”
“This old man wasn’t sure if you were a part of the Apocalypse or not. I still can’t tell even now.”
“Ten years ago, I was… but not anymore.”
“That’s not something that the old man can fathom. but… I know something. This old man cannot kill you now.”
“Because you are weak?”
“I’m not that weak, since I am still alive. Even if I can’t wrap my sense around this entire mountain like before, I am still the Sword Saint…” The Sword Saint stopped speaking and looked into Lee Sungmin’s golden eyes. “Il-Chun has raised his disciple well. Chung Myung… if only that child was as strong as you, I could give my life up without any regr-”
The Sword Saint couldn’t finish speaking.
KWAK!
With a dull sound, the door to the temple was destroyed. Something had broken through the door and was rolling on the floor. Lee Sungmin whipped around, surprised by the sudden incident. His eyes widened at the sight of the thing rolling on the ground.
He couldn’t believe what was happening was real.
The rolling head of Chung Myung came to a stop. His head, which had been violently torn off, had a dazed expression as if he didn’t know what had happened.
In his last moment, he couldn’t even scream. Was that even possible?
Chung Myung, a Transcendent, died that way? He died without even being able to resist and not even knowing what had happened to his body…
“….Uh.”
A sound came from his gaping mouth.
The Sword Saint couldn’t say anything. He couldn’t understand what had happened.
Aside from Chung Myung dying, how did Lee Sungmin and the Sword Saint not notice the existence of the creature that killed him? No matter how much the two of them were concentrating on the conversation, there was no way they wouldn’t have known if something that could kill Chung Myung that brutally was here.
“Huh?”
A voice echoed in the temple. Lee Sungmin’s shoulders trembled at that thin voice.
No way.
Lee Sungmin grasped the spear that he placed down earlier. Behind him, the Sword Saint raised his body.
Geniella looked at the pair while walking over the rubble. She opened her eyes wider as she dropped Chung Myung’s body, which she was holding with one hand, to the side.
Behind her stood Gemini. Just like how Geniella was surprised, which was unlike her normal self, Gemini was the same. She tilted her head and looked at Lee Sungmin.
“Why are you here?” Geniella asked, taking the words right out of Lee Sungmin’s mouth.
He felt chills and goosebumps all over his body. It was only after he faced Geniella’s terrible presence that he felt something pressing against him.
So it didn’t make sense. Lee Sungmin knew very well how heinous Geniella’s presence was, but why did he not notice?
“…Chung Myung…” The Sword Saint muttered.
“Hehe,” Geniella giggled.
“He didn’t seem that strong to play around with, so I killed him. If it was like this, should I have at least listened to his last wishes?”
“How… I didn’t feel your presence…”
“Oh,” Geniella smiled at Lee Sungmin’s muttering. She opened her mouth and pushed her tongue out.
As she licked the blood off of her fingers and hand, she spoke, “I guess you don’t know me that well. I’m a pretty talented witch, so it’s not hard to remove my presence.”
He was unlucky.
There was nothing more to say. He had not predicted the fact that, while talking to the Sword Saint, he would get ambushed by Geniella.
[That’s not the only thing.]
Heoju warned him. As Heoju had also not predicted that Geniella would appear, his voice was stiff.
[It’s night.]
Behind her back…
… the sky was black.
It was different from how he faced her in the past. Every time he met Geniella, it was never in nighttime.
[It’s a relief it’s not the night of the full moon.]
Under the light of the full moon, vampires are at their peak. It was night, but there was no full moon.
Looking at the thin crescent moon, Lee Sungmin gulped. Geniela smiled at Lee Sungmin’s tense expression.
“Are you going to run away again?”
“Why…did you come here?”
“I don’t think there is any reason to explain it to you. Don’t worry, though. Today, my goal isn’t you.”
Geniella’s eyes headed toward the Sword Saint.
He was standing still like a boulder. His lips were pressed against each other as he looked at Chung Myung’s decapitated head.
Today.
Just moments ago, he had never imagined that Chung Myung would die like this. Even if he didn’t imagine it… he was dead now.
That was the truth that would never change.
“…Huuuu….”
The Sword Saint’s mouth opened. He released a long sigh as he raised his head.
“It’s fortunate that this old man’s body is still moving.”
The Sword Saint slowly raised his arm.
—
Hey guys, Yul here. I’m one day late on my promise, but the new now here. The next few chapters are pretty hype, so yeah.
This chapter wasn’t proofread because I wanted to post it today, but when it is proofread, I’ll update it.