The Genius Warrior Who Remembers Everything Chapter 61

Chapter 61. The Black Flame Dragon Who Frolics with Dragons and Phoenixes (3)

“Eldest Senior Brother!”

“Eldest Senior Brother!”

“Brother!”

“Older Brother!”

My junior disciples suddenly came rushing over in a swarm, but I was so out of breath that I could not answer them.

The return journey with Murong Gang had been dreadful.

That damned old man kept whining about one thing and another and ordering me around at every turn.

He suddenly wanted to eat meat.

He wanted me to show him a Footwork Art.

He asked when I had begun learning martial arts.

He asked whether I had perhaps obtained a Fortuitous Encounter.

He bombarded me with all sorts of petty questions until I was on the verge of losing my mind.

I had even seriously wondered whether, if Murong Gang got beaten by someone during his eccentric antics, he would respond as the Wind Earl Sword-Breaker or as an Herb Gatherer.

Still, I had coaxed and placated him somehow, thinking that I would barely make it on time. But when we passed through Hefei and I heard that the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly had already set out in the morning, I lost my mind, left someone like Murong Gang(?) behind, and ran here.

“Older Brother. Here, water, water. Drink this.”

I swallowed the water Wang So-so handed me in great gulps, without even being able to say thank you.

“Phew…….”

Only after I finally caught my breath did Jin Tae-san ask,

“What is this? Why so suddenly……? What on earth……?”

“Father.”

“……Huh?”

“An old man and his grandson will arrive a little later. Please receive them as honored guests.”

“Hm?”

“You must absolutely not look down on him as some worthless old man with a foul temper. You must not disregard him just because he looks like an Herb Gatherer, either. Treat him as though those people from the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly…… no, as though the Alliance Leader of the Murim Alliance had come.”

“What are you talking about……. Hey, you brat!”

Without even hearing my father’s answer, I stepped into the Main Courtyard and offered my greetings to the Sect Leader.

“I am late, Sect Leader.”

“Yes. Did you return safely?”

“Yes. I apologize. I arrived late without even knowing that guests had come.”

“You are here, and that is enough.”

The gazes of the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly upon me were not kind.

Every gaze fixed on me made me feel as though I had become the Uninvited Guest.

Whether they did or not, my own eyes were fixed on only one place.

‘You are still the same.’

Unlike the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, who were full of hostility or mischief, she alone was anxiously fretting over this situation.

She had not changed, either in my previous life or in this one.

“Junior, it is good to offer your greetings, but this does not seem to be the time, does it?”

Jong Byeok-gi, who had been standing behind Hwa Jeong-san, spoke.

“What do you mean?”

“Hah! Are the elders not in the middle of an important conversation? Is that what the Taeul Sect teaches?”

To invoke the teachings of the Taeul Sect while standing inside the Taeul Sect itself—just how arrogant did a person have to be to say something that shameless?

“Senior Jong. If people heard that Diancang’s Flying Cloud Fresh Wind was merely currying favor with a Plum Blossom, the world would laugh.”

“What!”

“!”

“!”

The members of the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly looked shocked by the words that had come from my mouth.

Jong Byeok-gi, who thought he had been insulted, even grabbed his sword hilt and tried to draw.

Only after Il-myeong stopped his hand did Jong Byeok-gi realize that he had been about to draw his sword, and even he looked startled by it.

Il-myeong spoke calmly.

“Young Hero, this does not seem to be a place for you to interfere.”

“I am Jin So-un, Chief Disciple of the Taeul Sect. I know it is discourteous, but I have interfered anyway.”

“If you know that you are committing a discourtesy, why are you committing it?”

“The sages of old said that one should treat even that which is not courteous with courtesy, but this lowly one is narrow-minded and has not yet reached such a state.”

“…….”

At the words that pointedly criticized Hwa Jeong-san’s attitude, Il-myeong’s face hardened.

“Is the gap in seniority between Great Hero Hwa and our Sect Leader, who is like the father of a sect, not far too great for you to request a Martial Duel with him? Moreover, it was not even done to foster closeness. To one-sidedly request a Martial Duel is not courteous. There is no way Great Hero Hwa did not know that, so does this not mean that he looked down on the entire Taeul Sect?”

Hwa Jeong-san’s face, as well as the faces of the others, began to harden severely.

“However, since you came from afar and were so desperately eager to taste the sword forms of the Taeul Sword Emperor, I stepped forward in his place.”

“……Brat, are you even good enough to receive my sword?”

I snorted.

“Is this not a light Martial Duel? It is only a place to show sword forms and share learning, so why does skill matter?”

Hwa Jeong-san, who had been grinding his teeth while looking at me, suddenly turned to Hong Mun-gi and said,

“Sect Leader, if I defeat this child and then defeat all the disciples you wish me to face, will you give me your instruction?”

Hwa Jeong-san spoke with complete confidence, as though he were launching a sect-breaking challenge.

Even though the anger of the Taeul Sect’s people was gradually rising at Hwa Jeong-san’s blatant attitude, Hwa Jeong-san did not care in the slightest.

“……Very well.”

In the end, Hong Mun-gi nodded heavily.

As Hwa Jeong-san and I moved to the training ground, everyone else shifted positions accordingly.

“By the way, are we really doing this with live blades?”

“Are you afraid now?”

“Is there really a need to stake our lives in a Martial Duel?”

“I will teach you one thing. True skill emerges at the moment one’s life is in greatest danger.”

Those words were already lodged in my memory.

In my previous life, he had said them while beating me to the brink of death under the pretext of Martial Duel practice, when I was serving as Gye Cheol-yeong’s servant.

Thinking of that time made a smile spread across my lips.

“Understood.”

I went up onto the training ground and drew the Black Dragon Sword.

A strange light flickered in Hwa Jeong-san’s eyes at the sight of it, black from blade to hilt.

“A Treasured Sword cannot replace skill.”

“I don’t carry it to replace my skill. A sword suited to my skill simply found its way into my hand.”

“Only your mouth is alive. As expected of a descendant of the Taeul Sword Emperor.”

It was clearly a sarcastic remark, but it did not wound me at all now.

“Thank you.”

“……I will yield three moves.”

“Will you be all right?”

“Hmph. That is the only chance you will be able to use.”

“Understood.”

I looked at my palm. It was a palm hardened with blisters from countless training sessions in this life. In the past, there had never been a day when eczema left my hands because I was washing Hwa Jeong-san’s split-toed socks and underclothes.

“Then the first will be the Minor Heaven Sword Art.”

Thinking of that time, I ground my teeth.

“This fellow is very tired.”

At Murong Gang’s words, Murong Jae-hwa clicked his tongue in exasperation.

“That’s all because of you, Grandfather. Why did you drag the horse into the mountains midway, saying you had to hunt a wild boar?”

“You brat! How can a person live on porridge alone? Sometimes one must eat meat.”

“If we use a Movement Art even now, we can get there quickly.”

“Then our identities will be exposed!”

At Murong Gang’s words, Murong Jae-hwa once again felt the limits of his patience.

He even had the irreverent thought that it would be nice if he were not truly his grandfather—no, if his grandfather were not the Wind Earl Sword-Breaker, an absolute master of the murim.

This period was a rather important one for Murong Jae-hwa.

He had never been interested in the sword of the Murong Clan in the first place, and he had not wanted to take the Murim Regular Exam either, but his father had gone to find the Fire Monkey’s Inner Core for his sake.

Yet his father, whom he had never doubted would avoid anything truly dangerous even if he was not quite on Grandfather’s level, had gone missing, and the household had been thrown into chaos at the danger of losing the Young Clan Head.

His grandfather had immediately led the warriors of the Murong Clan out to search for his father, and Murong Jae-hwa had followed that grandfather as well.

Fortunately, his father had appeared again after a month.

The contents delivered through a Carrier Pigeon Letter said that he had received great help from a chivalrous hero named Jin So-un of the Taeul Sect and had preserved his life.

At the news that his father had returned, Murong Jae-hwa thanked the heavens and was about to steel his resolve again, planning to return home and prepare for the exam with all his might.

“What a careless bastard. The Young Clan Head of the Murong Clan got ambushed?”

For some reason, his grandfather, whose mood had thoroughly soured, did not return home and began an eccentric journey.

His grandfather’s eccentric journeys had not happened only once or twice, and just as Murong Jae-hwa was about to ignore him and return home, his grandfather pressed his acupoints, sealed his qi center and blood meridians, and forced him to take part in the eccentric journey.

“I must prepare for the Murim Academy Regular Exam, Grandfather!”

“This experience is more important than the exam you will take!”

After forcing that absurd insistence on him, his grandfather prevented him from wearing the clothes of the Murong Clan, even put a Human-Skin Mask on him, and began the eccentric journey while disguising them as an Herb Gatherer and his grandson.

The journey through the murim that began like that was a continuous trial for Murong Jae-hwa.

“Hey~ Big Brother here is hungry because he has no money, so empty your pockets.”

Having his pockets emptied by lowlifes carrying swords on the road was only the beginning.

“You bastard. Hey! If you hit someone, you are supposed to apologize!”

“Did our shoulders not simply bump into each other?”

He had to get beaten until his eye swelled into a bruised chestnut merely because their shoulders had bumped.

“We need to eat, so clear out.”

He had to be driven from his seat before he had even eaten half his food.

No matter how weak his body was, it was still a body that had learned the martial arts of the Murong Clan.

If he had only had his inner arts, Murong Jae-hwa would never have suffered such harsh things.

Had the lives of commoners who had not learned martial arts truly been this harsh?

As he chewed over that suffering, Murong Jae-hwa arrived at a certain realization.

‘Ah! Grandfather must have given me these trials so that I could realize this. One must know weakness to devote oneself even more deeply to strength!’

Perhaps Murong Jae-hwa’s usual neglect of swordsmanship had also been the reason for this eccentric journey.

Through this realization, Murong Jae-hwa resolved to improve his martial arts even further, and he told his grandfather of that resolve.

“Hm? What are you talking about? Teaching? And what realization?”

“……??”

Murong Gang merely tilted his head, saying he had no idea what Murong Jae-hwa meant, and continued the eccentric journey.

Hoping to at least reduce the beatings he received unjustly, Murong Jae-hwa turned his eyes away from all the ugly, filthy things happening around him.

When he saw lowlifes harassing women, he ignored them. When he saw warriors tormenting farmers who had set up street stalls to sell their goods, he ignored them.

But every time Murong Jae-hwa tried to ignore those things, the one who stepped forward was Murong Gang.

“A man was born with a cock, and harassment is all you can manage? Your mother must have lamented even after giving birth to you and refused to eat so much as meat soup.”

“……???”

“As a rule, when a warrior carrying a sword loses the Dao, he becomes a common street thug. Judging by the state of you bastards, the bastard who taught you martial arts must also have been someone who robbed people of small coins in back alleys.”

“……!!!”

As befitted his nickname, Strange Chivalrous Eccentric, Murong Gang’s tongue was sharp and painful.

When the lowlifes and warriors whose eyes had flipped with rage at Murong Gang’s insults were about to raise their fists and swords, Murong Gang became scared out of his wits and hid behind Murong Jae-hwa.

“I-I am just an old man who does not know him.”

“You look too much alike to say you don’t know each other!”

It seemed this was why he had put similar-looking Human-Skin Masks on them, saying they were playing the roles of grandson and grandfather.

In that way, it became only natural that Murong Gang did the insulting and Murong Jae-hwa took the beating.

Whenever that happened, the grandfather who had avoided the beating stood where Murong Jae-hwa could see him, wearing an expression that said he simply could not hold back his laughter.

By the time things had reached this point, even Murong Jae-hwa’s temperament had begun to twist as far as it could twist.

Whenever an incident happened, his grandfather played the role of a powerless old man and dodged the fists of lowlifes, and Murong Jae-hwa came to resent him so much that it nearly reached hatred.

“Why are you hitting me?! The one who insulted you was my grandfather over there!!”

“…….”

A lowlife with a tattoo on his forearm, whether of a dragon or a snake, stopped swinging his fist and looked back and forth between Murong Jae-hwa and Murong Gang.

“I may belong to the Black Path, but I cannot tolerate shameless trash who sells out his own grandfather! Know that today will become the day of your death anniversary.”

After being beaten until he lost consciousness like that, Murong Jae-hwa could no longer resist lowlifes or murim people.

As the saying went, no strong man could withstand a beating. After being beaten this much, the righteous words that used to surge up whenever his temper flared no longer came out of his throat.

“Heh heh. You call yourself a man, yet after a few blows, you cannot even say what needs to be said?”

“…….”

His grandfather’s provocation made Murong Jae-hwa feel even more furious and wronged.

“Where on earth are you trying to go?! I am going back now!”

“Is that so? I was going because the child who saved your father is said to be a child of the Taeul Sect, so I intended to convey our thanks. If you insist, then go back. It is Sang-won’s fault for having a shameless child who does not know the Life-Saving Grace of the person who saved his only father.”

“…….”

In the end, Murong Jae-hwa had no choice but to shut his mouth tightly and follow Murong Gang.

He only prayed there would be no more causes for quarrels.

But contrary to Murong Jae-hwa’s wish, they met bandits on the road to the Taeul Sect, and this time as well, just as Murong Gang was about to get him beaten by the bandits with remarks like “a man’s balls……” and “because you are bad in bed……,” a benefactor descended from the heavens and saved Murong Jae-hwa.

“I am Jin So-un of the Taeul Sect.”

His identity was none other than the “benefactor” who had saved his father.

Murong Jae-hwa wanted to greet him in delight and show that he knew him, but Murong Gang firmly stopped him.

‘He is the one who saved Father. Acting like this will certainly be discourteous.’

‘Stay still.’

‘If this continues, the honor of the Murong Clan will fall to the ground.’

‘Tsk! I told you to stay still!’

Murong Jae-hwa worried that even Jin So-un might flare up and throw a fist at Murong Gang’s rude behavior, but he was a person of even greater character than Murong Jae-hwa had imagined.

Watching Jin So-un accept every bit of grumbling that would have been hard to tolerate even if one knew he was truly Murong Gang, Murong Jae-hwa thought that this might be the bearing of a truly magnanimous man.

“Seeing Great Hero Jin leave in such a hurry, do you not think something might have happened?”

“What urgent matter do you mean?”

“Perhaps something happened to his sect.”

“Did he not say he was returning because the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly was visiting?”

“Why is the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly visiting such an urgent matter?”

“The Dragon and Phoenix Assembly is originally an oversight organization, but at times, it becomes quite a rude ‘inspection’ organization in order to test the One Hundred Eight Peaks.”

“Yes? What does that mean?”

“Are the members of the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly not people each sect pours all its resources into creating? What do you think happens when such people go to the lower-ranked sects of the One Hundred Eight Peaks and stir things up?”

Murong Jae-hwa’s expression soured.

“You mean the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly does things like that?”

“That is why you should not hold any illusions about the likes of the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.”

“I don’t have any such illusions. In any case, if that is true, then this is not the time to be doing this. If something happens to the Taeul Sect…… This will not do. Grandfather. Please release my acupoints at once.”

“Heh heh. Stop that, you fool. Could you not tell even after seeing that child Jin So-un use his Movement Art a moment ago?”

“…….”

It had certainly looked unusually fast. But even so, what was so remarkable about that? There were more than one or two Movement Arts in the murim that focused only on speed.

“Tsk, tsk. With eyes that poor, what can you hope to see?”

“What do you mean?”

“You did not properly see his Footwork Art when we met those bandits, either, did you?”

“……No.”

“And you say you will take the Murim Academy Regular Exam. Tsk. You must take this Murim Academy Exam alongside monsters like Jin So-un.”

“Monsters?”

“When a brat not yet twenty carries a hundred years of time, that is a monster.”

“What on earth do you mean by…….”

“Be silent!”

Murong Jae-hwa had many more questions, but he shut his mouth when he saw Murong Gang begin pretending to be an Herb Gatherer again.

If he disturbed his grandfather during an eccentric journey, there was no telling what kind of punishment he would suffer.

When they entered the Taeul Sect, a large man strode toward them.

Murong Jae-hwa, whose body now stiffened whenever someone merely approached with a frightening face, felt self-loathing at his own shabby state.

The man asked in a rough voice,

“Are you the people who came with that fellow Jin So-un?”

“Oh my……. Yes. That is right.”

“I heard about you from that fellow So-un. I will escort you inside.”

“That is all right. How could you escort rustic folk like us? It is enough for us merely to watch from the side.”

“No. The Taeul Sect has never received guests in such a manner. This way, please.”

At the hospitality he was receiving for the first time while playing an Herb Gatherer, Murong Jae-hwa felt something surge up in his chest.

“Um…… Sen…… no, my lord, may I ask what your relationship is with Great Hero Jin So-un……?”

There was something strangely similar about their faces, so he asked, and the man smiled awkwardly.

“I am that boy’s father. I am Jin Tae-san, and I manage the Outer Hall of the Taeul Sect.”

Seeing him even perform a courteous clasped hands greeting now, Murong Jae-hwa could not help but feel moved.

At that moment, in the middle of the Main Courtyard, Jin So-un was facing off against people who seemed to be from the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.

Murong Jae-hwa spotted Murong Seol among the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, but he could not show that he knew her.

“Since other guests have come to the Taeul Sect right now…… I will escort you farther inside.”

When Jin Tae-san tried to take them inside, Murong Jae-hwa quickly stepped forward and spoke.

“No. May we perhaps gain some insight…… no, watch from here? We have lived in the mountains all our lives, so we have never had the opportunity to see such a rare spectacle.”

After following his grandfather on his eccentric journey, lines like this came out naturally.

Beside him, Murong Gang was nodding with a pleased smile, and the sight was utterly hateful.

“Ah… well, that is not a problem, but it would be best if you stayed some distance away. The aftermath of the Martial Duel may spread.”

“Of course. Of course.”

Murong Jae-hwa did not know what situation this was, but Hwa Jeong-san and Jin So-un seemed to be about to begin a Martial Duel.

“Heh heh. It seems you are slowly beginning to like this wandering too. Lines are coming out naturally.”

“No, I’m not!”

Murong Jae-hwa shouted without realizing it.

“Watch carefully. I came all the way here precisely to show you this.”

“What do you mean by…….”

“The Murim Academy Regular Exam will be full of children like that.”

“…….”

At Murong Gang’s words, Murong Jae-hwa had no choice but to tilt his head.

He had never heard Murong Gang praise such a young warrior this highly.

He was not…… looking down on him, but in any case, was he not a disciple of the Taeul Sect?

‘I will know once I watch the Martial Duel.’

Murong Jae-hwa began to focus on the Martial Duel while cheering for Jin So-un in his heart.

The first move was utterly ordinary.

Jin So-un’s sword did aim for Hwa Jeong-san’s vital points, but such a sword made no great impression on a master of Hwa Jeong-san’s level.

“Hah!”

The second clash.

A slightly altered attack came in, but it still had no sharpness.

It was too slow to be called a swift sword and too light to be called a heavy sword.

“Is this all you have?”

Hwa Jeong-san’s anger slowly began to boil.

“Did you not want to taste the skill of the Taeul Sword Emperor?”

“If the legendary master Taeul Sword Emperor’s skill was this pathetic, then the rumors were indeed hollow.”

“To insult the Taeul Sword Emperor inside the Taeul Sect—you must not value your life.”

The third clash.

SWISH.

Perhaps because he had provoked him, the blade that pierced toward his vital point along with the sound of cutting through the air was rather sharp.

However, to Hwa Jeong-san, who had received even the Hainan Sect’s swift sword forms, this sort of swift sword was not even a swift sword.

“It is neither a swift sword nor a heavy sword. Just what is this sword art supposed to be?”

“It is a sword art containing the deep will of the Taeul Sword Emperor. It is a basic martial art called the Minor Heaven Sword Art.”

“Is that so? But what will you do? You have already used all three moves.”

“Is this not where it begins?”

“Hmph!”

He had yielded three moves so that the exchange would last at least ten moves.

It would not be interesting if he defeated his opponent before even ten moves had passed.

“If I had known it was this kind of sword art, there would have been no need to see even ten moves.”

Forget ten moves—could this boy even receive a single move?

Hwa Jeong-san immediately unfolded the Plum Blossom Sword Art.

The fragrance of plum blossoms began to spread through the entire training ground.

The Plum Blossom Sword Art had such distinctive traits that one could not fail to recognize it. Exclamations of admiration naturally arose from here and there.

“This…… This is the Plum Blossom Sword Art.”

“It really smells like plum blossoms.”

Soon afterward, plum blossoms formed from sword qi began to scatter down through the air.

They looked beautiful, but each and every one was a terrifying thing aimed at a vital point.

“It is over.”

Hwa Jeong-san had no intention of taking his life or cutting off his arm.

However, he was thinking that he should at least inflict internal injuries on this arrogant junior, who did not know how high the sky was, and correct his manners.

But then—

“Huh……?”

A strange light appeared in the eyes of the people who had been entranced by the bewitching plum blossoms.

Hwa Jeong-san followed their gaze and was soon unable to hide his shock.

SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH-SWISH.

Jin So-un had clearly seemed to swing his sword only once.

Yet over a dozen sword forms appeared in the air and extinguished all the plum blossoms that had been aiming for Jin So-un’s vital acupoints.

Seeing a sword art he had never seen before in his life, Hwa Jeong-san was dazed and muttered without realizing it.

“What is this…….”

“This is the Great Heaven Sword Art.”

“What nonsense……!!”

Hwa Jeong-san, who had been muttering, widened both eyes.

“You discarded the first three moves from the start?”

It was absurd.

A Martial Duel between a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect and a disciple of the Taeul Sect.

Even putting all one’s strength into the first three moves would not have been enough, yet he had discarded those three moves?

Jin So-un, who should have answered, merely smiled with ease.

“You are not in your right mind.”

“Is this the time to worry about me? All these specks of dust disappeared in an instant.”

“Dust……?”

If the word used to mock the Taeul Sect was “Taeul Sword Emperor,” then the word used to mock the Mount Hua Sect was “dust.”

It was a word used to mock them when their achievement in the Plum Blossom Sword Art had not reached Tenth Star, and the shape of plum blossoms had not yet formed.

However, no one spoke such a thing aloud.

Once sword qi had already taken tangible form, each and every one of those shapes was no different from an ultimate technique, and anyone who put that word in their mouth inevitably met death.

“I mean those things flying through the air.”

“……Hah!”

At Jin So-un’s utterly composed attitude, Hwa Jeong-san’s reason finally snapped.

“I intended to go easy on you, but……. You have changed my mind.”

“…….”

“You will regret running your mouth for the rest of your life.”

Hwa Jeong-san’s eyes turned purple, and his martial arts uniform swelled as though it might burst.

Seeing that, someone murmured softly.

“Purple Haze Divine Art…….”

The secret martial art said to be passed down only to the True Disciples of the Mount Hua Sect had begun to activate.

“Let us see if you can properly clear away this dust.”

The training ground was quite large for only two people to stand on.

Above it, plum blossoms formed, covering the sky.

At that illusion-like sight, the people could not help but be astonished.

“……So this is Mount Hua’s plum blossoms.”

“……But if Senior Brother Jin gets hit by that…….”

“No!!”

As though mocking the people’s screams, the plum blossoms flying through the sky began shooting fiercely toward Jin So-un.