Absolute Regression Chapter 260

Episode 260: Your Name.

I had a meal with my father after a long time.

This time is so good. Playing baduk, eating a meal, or just having a quiet, silent conversation with my father.

I usually act like a whiner a lot, but in fact, this moment is when I feel most in touch with my true nature. I’ve lived quietly for almost my entire life.

“Wasn’t training difficult?”

“My body wasn’t tired, but it was hard to endure the boredom of repetition.”

“How did you endure it?”

“Later, I emptied my mind. This repetition would be my lifelong task, and if I were to escape this boredom, another boredom would await me anyway, so I just did it. As I did that, the repetition and the boredom seemed to have become one with me.”

My father smiled. It wasn’t a mocking smile. It was a genuine congratulatory smile, a smile that told me I had found the right path.

I explained to my father in detail how I interpreted the First Precept, what trials and errors I experienced, and how I repeatedly practiced.

He said it as if he was boasting excitedly, but in reality he was giving information to his father.

For your reference.

My father will try to make a better recipe by comparing my interpretation with his. Please do it.

I did not return to become stronger than my father or to defeat him. I came to survive with him.

“Now that we’ve finished eating, let’s go help with digestion.”

I followed my father outside. My father spoke while looking at the peak of Mt. Daecheon in the distance.

“Let’s see who can get there first.”

For some reason, my father suggested a light-air competition.

“You haven’t forgotten that I told you that we should have a go at each other if I achieve great success in the Speed Boat Challenge.”

“How is it? Are you confident?”

“Of course I am confident. For your information, even the Amazons have all fallen to me.”

“You go first!”

“Then you should run while looking only at my back?”

As soon as he finished speaking, I ran out first. This way, even if I won, my father would have something to say.

He ran at a terrifying speed in a speedboat.

The speed of the speedboat that achieved great success was so fast that it made one wonder if even his father could keep up with it.

It was at that moment that I thought I heard a strong wind blowing behind me.

When I turned my head, I saw my father next to me.

My father was flying in the air, his clothes fluttering, standing upright. Speed wasn’t the issue.

‘stylish!’

While I was running around like I was dying, my father was flying high and proudly. The flying technique of the Heavenly Horse, which had achieved great success, seemed to be a light technique just for my father, and it suited him very well.

Yeah, it can’t be cool and it can’t be slow either.

I ran with all my might. I thought I ran as fast as light, but it was my father who reached the top first.

“I lost. I lost in style and speed. Even the God of Wind is no match for Cheonma.”

As I bowed my head, my father spoke.

“Even the express train is fast.”

Although he never acknowledged other martial arts, his father acknowledged only the Pungsin Sabo.

And then unexpected words came out of my father’s mouth.

“If you achieve great success in the art of flying on a horse, you will achieve the same results.”

It was a word of recognition for me, and there was a reason why my father suggested we have a light-hearted competition and why he said those words just now.

“I will teach you the art of flying on a horse.”

I could tell. It was because of what I had told you about the first herb. I learned one, so I should teach you one too. That was the kind of mindset my father never just accepts.

“Thank you, Father.”

I fell flat on my face.

“At your current level, you have realized the extreme of light-heartedness, so it won’t be difficult for you to learn it, and it won’t take long for you to become great. Now, listen carefully from now on.”

My father taught me the secrets of the Cheonma Flying Technique on the spot. After checking several times to see if I had memorized it correctly, he finished teaching me the secrets.

I bowed deeply to my father.

“I am so happy, Father.”

The reason he was so happy was not only because the Heavenly Horse Flying Technique was the best light-weight technique in the martial arts world. Nor was it because of the possibility of combining the Heavenly Horse Flying Technique and the Wind God Sabo to create an even faster light-weight technique.

I was happy because it was the moment when I inherited all of my father’s martial arts. From the Guhwamagong, Cheonmahoshingong, and Cheonmabihaengsul. It was the moment when I learned all of the core martial arts that my father had learned. My heart was full of emotion.

“Just get up.”

“yes.”

I stood side by side with my father on the cliff at the top of Daecheon Mountain.

I could see the entire view of Cheonmasingyo in the distance.

“When I became a junior sect leader, I came up here with my father.”

I looked at my father standing next to me. I thought back to my father’s younger days, and imagined my grandfather standing next to him.

“My father’s dream was to unify the martial arts world.”

That was something I didn’t know either.

After a moment, I asked my father.

“What about your father?”

My father didn’t answer. I know. My father dreams of unifying the martial arts world. My father knows that too. I know that.

I brought up the difficult words. Words that had to be said at some point.

“Even if my father achieves the great feat of unifying the martial arts world and receives the praise and respect of everyone in the world… … he will not receive my respect.”

It was something that could have made him angry, but the father said nothing. He knew very well what was in his son’s mind.

We looked silently at the Cheonmasingyo in the distance, and then at the horizon and sky beyond it.

I spoke in a cheerful tone to lighten the heavy atmosphere.

“Father, please give my friends names. I’ve been thinking about some cool names. I was thinking of naming them based on ghosts like Yagwi (夜鬼), Hyeolgwi (血鬼), Baekgwi (白鬼), and Cheongwi (天鬼), but the more I thought about it, the more gloomy they sounded. So I thought of something a little more sophisticated and using the moon as the theme, like Myeongwol (明月), Janwol (殘月), Eunwol (隱月), and Hyewol (暳月), or maybe using colors as the theme… .”

It was then that my father suddenly spoke.

“East, west, south, north.”

I flinched for a moment.

“Are you kidding?”

My father looked at me with a completely unsmiling face.

“It’s not even the plum blossoms or the bright moon, it’s not even the east, west, south, or north?

I couldn’t tell if it was because he wanted us to stop giving demons unnecessary names, because he had mentioned the unification of martial arts world earlier, or because he really thought the East, West, South, and North were good.

“East, west, south, north!”

He spoke again as if confirming something.

What can I do when my father comes out like this?

Oh, I’m sorry, my demons!

“Oh, it’s good to hear it. Donggwi, Seogwi, Namgwi, Bukgwi. They’re easy to remember. It’s perfect. When someone asks, my father named it for me! I brag about it.”

I told you that everything was revealed about my father’s name! But my father didn’t budge at all.

Finally, the names of your demons have been confirmed as East, West, South, and North!

* * *

After coming down from Daecheonsan Mountain, I headed straight to Tongcheon Pavilion.

It was to hear from General Sima Ming what I should do next.

As I entered Tongcheongak, the soldiers I encountered greeted me politely.

They have friendly eyes. Since they know me better than anyone else due to the nature of my work, I need to pay attention to the changes in their eyes.

When I entered the Tongcheon Pavilion operation room after passing through several strict guards, Sima Ming was having a meeting with his soldiers in the conference room.

After the soldier who greeted me told me to leave it alone to tell Sima Ming, I waited in the war room for the meeting to end.

It was really busy there.

Letters continued to arrive through a dozen or so regionally divided holes installed on one wall, and the soldiers sorted them by subject.

Some soldiers were running around holding documents, others were writing something down, and others were moving dozens of colorful flags stuck on the map of the central plains to different places. There was no one who was not busy.

The martial arts world was peaceful, but this place was a battlefield. No, it must be because this place is a battlefield that the martial arts world is peaceful.

After a while, Sima Ming came out of the meeting and was surprised to see me.

“Little Master, when did you come?”

“I arrived a little while ago. I told you not to disturb me and that I would wait until the meeting was over.”

“Please go to my office.”

“Let me tell you something. It’s so great to see the soldiers working. It makes me want to live harder.”

“That’s not something someone who just came out of a closed-door training session should be saying. Please rest now.”

“That’s not something that someone who has so many tasks to hand down to me should say.”

He looked at Sima Ming and smiled.

“How was your training?”

“As soon as I got out, I ran to my father to show him off without even shaving my beard.”

All the results were contained in the word pride.

“I will reduce it.”

“Thanks to you, Commander, for coordinating my external schedule. I must have a lot of work to do, so what should I do first?”

“The first thing you should do is visit Honam and Gangseo. Honam is the place where the first clash occurs when there is a war with the Murim Alliance, and Gangseo is a strategic point for dealing with the Sadomaeng. Therefore, the first thing you should do as the young cult leader is to visit the two regions and meet with their leaders.”

“All right.”

“I will send you the official mission statement tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, I will see you when I get back.”

As I was turning around to leave, Sima Ming said:

“From now on, the new leader will have a great influence on the fate of our church.”

I smiled and said to him.

“That’s why I want to visit you often, sir.”

* * *

It was when I came out of Tongcheon-gak and was walking to my residence.

A masked man appeared before me on a quiet street. The man who emerged from hiding was Hwi, the leader of the Cheonmajeon escort force.

“mister!”

“Your Majesty.”

“Just call me Geuk-ah, like you did when you were little.”

“That can’t be.”

I was touched to see him after such a long time.

“How long has it been since I last saw you? Your hair has gotten a lot of gray.”

“I’m getting older too.”

“It’s because it’s hard for you to take care of your father. He’s really picky, isn’t he? He keeps harassing you.”

“It’s the most enjoyable thing in my life.”

The Hui I knew was really that kind of person. A person whose only job was escort missions. A person whose father was everything to him.

“You carried me on your back on a snowy day.”

When Hwi smiled, the two eyes under the mask turned like moons.

“Do you remember that?”

“Yes. It was so great back then.”

After exchanging greetings, Hui revealed the reason why he had come to see me.

“This time, when you leave the school, take escorts with you.”

I couldn’t answer right away. I had originally planned to go alone. He had expected this to happen and came to me.

“To be honest, it’s not for the sake of the cult leader. I also know that my skills are such that being an escort can be a burden.”

Hwi didn’t say anything in return.

“It’s for my juniors. If those kids stay with the leader, they’ll grow into great escorts. I’ve been watching the leader’s actions lately. The leader I saw was like an ocean. It was a large ocean that could embrace all my juniors.”

Given his personality, it wouldn’t have been easy for him to come to me and say something like that. That’s how much he cared for the Cheonma Guard and his juniors.

They all died with us that day.

If it’s Hui’s request, who devoted his whole life to his father, then yes, I should take not twelve, but one thousand two hundred people.

“I will go with you.”

Whiga bowed his head politely.

“thank you.”

“No, sir.”

I also bowed my head respectfully to Hwi.

When I raised my head again, Hwi had already disappeared. He was not the type of person to repay a favor with words, so I thought he would try to repay the favor he received today someday.

Mr. Whee, there’s no need for that. You and your juniors have already paid with your lives.

* * *

My escorts were training in the training ground.

I watched them practice for a while and then went inside.

They stopped practicing and greeted each other by giving a round of applause.

“Meet the Young Master!”

There was a sense of pride in the loud greeting.

“Have you been practicing continuously for the past hundred days?”

Jeokyeon came forward and answered.

“Yes, I practiced every day without missing a single day.”

“But why are there only six?”

“Since we never know when we’ll be called on for an escort mission, we live in day and night shifts. And we switch day and night shifts once a month.”

In other words, the night shift meant training from evening to morning. I thought it was really great.

Since it had been a long time since I saw him, I looked into his eyes first.

Knowing that refusing was useless, Jeokyeon obediently took off his blindfold.

He said, looking into my bright red eyes.

“Your ear-piercing skills have gone up a level.”

Then Jeokyeon was surprised.

“That’s right. Did you know that just by looking at the color of my eyes?”

“The color is different than before.”

“Actually, even though I saw Tokyo every day, I couldn’t recognize him.”

The difference was distinguished by the use of Shinan technique.

The reason I keep falling in love with his eyes is also because of the Shinan technique. I learned the Shinan technique for myself, but he learned the Gui An technique for someone else. That other person ended up becoming me.

Although it is all one’s own choice and destiny, sacrificing one’s eyes for others is never easy.

I put my energy into his eyes and ruled him.

“It feels different.”

“how?”

“The pain has been reduced significantly.”

If so, it must be because of the change in my inner strength. It has become much more majestic and pure.

“You will leave the school with me tomorrow. An official mission will arrive from Tongcheon-gak early in the morning.”

The expressions of the Red Smoke and the escort drones brightened. They had finally started their first mission.

I could feel the excitement and joy that I couldn’t hide. I liked it so much, I would have been in big trouble if I had left it behind.

“Thank you for trusting us.”

“Please take good care of me from tomorrow. I will only trust you.”

With a loud reply, the Red Smoke and the escort drones bowed their heads in greeting. Yes, since we are going out, let’s come back after growing more.

The next morning, two carriages left the bridge.

It was the first excommunication by a sect leader who was officially accompanied by an escort.