6 – 01# Nine Deaths, One Life (6)

What followed happened swiftly. Murong Hyun first repeatedly apologized for the discourtesy Murong Sua had committed. He seemed to consider it his responsibility as her brother for not stopping it.

While asking me to take care of Sua, he entrusted me with a considerable sum of wealth and departed once more. Setting aside the rest, it’s certain that the Murong Clan is not normal right now.

If everything was flowing smoothly, there would be no reason for Murong Hyun, even if I was the savior of his life, to entrust his young blood relative to someone who is pretty much a stranger.

In the first place, the reason I met Murong Hyun was because I saved him from being attacked by assassins. I don’t know the details, but it’s clear that something is happening.

And, in a position where I want to maintain ties with the Murong Clan as much as possible, there is no way I can refuse the request of someone who is even the young head of the Murong Clan. My talent is not that high.

At best, mid-to-low tier. If I was someone born with immense talent, like the protagonists in martial arts novels, I would have already reached the Zenith in the Three Calamities Sword Technique or the Demonic Divine Art.

However, that doesn’t mean I have given up on my path. From 25 years ago, from the moment I was taught the Three Calamities Sword Technique by the old man who saved me. I vowed to perfectly master the Three Calamities.

‘There is no regret in the path already chosen. I will simply move forward with all my strength, without wavering.’

That resolve remains unchanged even now. But why foolishly dig only one well? If possible, learning other martial arts for reference would certainly be helpful in my training.

So, I found myself trying to keep a thread tied to the House of Moryong. Not just some jumped-up, fly-by-night sect, no, this was Moryong, a pillar of the Righteous Alliance and one of the Five Great Houses.

Not to mention the secret martial arts passed down through generations in sects and Houses. Even the less important techniques were never, ever taught to outsiders. That’s just how the martial world operated.

‘Better to create a debt now and cash it in later. Couldn’t hurt too bad, right?’

Up to that point, it wasn’t so bad. But an unforeseen problem then decided to trip me right up. See, for twenty-five years, I had honed only the Three Calamities Sword.

Which meant I knew diddly-squat about any other martial art. Hadn’t even had the chance to learn. The Old Man was supposed to teach me more when the time came.

But he up and died, just two years after I started training. Sure, the knowledge was, in a sense, up here somewhere. The Azure Sky Sword of the Namgung House, the Plum Blossom Sword of the Hwasan Sect, things like that.

But all I knew was that they *existed*. Didn’t mean I could actually execute a single move from them. Truth be told, I’d tried before.

Alas, I failed miserably every single time. I mean, even if the names were the same, every novel described the techniques completely differently. I tried to feign at least some semblance of the forms

But I hadn’t a clue where to even begin with what, or how. Long story cut short, I had to try and train Moryong Sua with just the Three Calamities Sword.

Could I possibly hope to satisfy this precious daughter of Moryong, who had been privy to only the best techniques, with just the Three Calamities Sword? But to my surprise, my worries were all for naught.

“Let me be absolutely clear. I have no intention of taking you on as a master.”

It was all thanks to Moryong Sua declaring this, right as Moryong Hyun turned tail to return to his House, launching a direct declaration of war, so to speak. A bit of a shock, admittedly, but I had no reason to refuse.

In the first place, all I knew was the Three Calamities Sword. Forcing it upon her would only reveal my own shallowness. I fought tooth and nail to suppress a laugh.

“As you wish.”

“…Is that all?”

“Learning is, in the end, up to oneself. Forcing it will only result in nothing gained and a waste of both our time.”

Blast, was it too eager of a acceptance? Moryong Sua started looking at me with suspicion. I squeezed my brain for every last drop of knowledge, spitting out reasonable-sounding words to finally soothe her doubts.

Not that I had any reason to be ashamed, but it wasn’t exactly something I wanted to advertise either. If only I’d reached the Transcendent realm, or at least the Pinnacle, with my Three Calamities Sword.

Then maybe, just maybe, I’d have had a little bit of proud grandstanding. In any case, luckily, she seemed to have fallen for my flowery words. Relieved of her suspicions, Moryong Sua bowed her head to me.

“Thank you for understanding.”

“It’s nothing. Everyone has their circumstances.”

“Instead, while I am here, I will endeavor to die by your hand.”

“…Excuse me?”

For a moment, I thought I might have misheard. Especially since Moryong Sua’s tone had softened so much, thanks to my silver tongue. But no.

“A warrior who fails in a battle fought with all their strength is not worthy of life, is that not so? If I cannot defeat you, Elder, while I am here, then I ask that you personally end my life.”

What I heard at first was indeed, true.

“What nonsense are you spouting? Who taught you to say such a thing?”

“My father. Or, rather, the House Lord taught me.”

How could such words of terror come from such a young mouth, as if they were nothing at all, and why was she looking at me with such incredulity? Hold on, I know she’s from the Moryong House.

But why does everything she says and does feel like something out of the Demonic Cult?

No, more than that even.

“I am thirty this year.”

I’m not some old geezer.

“…Pardon?”

Moyong Sua’s jaw dropped so low, it seemed like it might actually dislocate. Was it really that shocking?

◇

The law of the jungle.

The weak are devoured by the strong; it is the natural order, and it is only right for man to return to this primal cycle. This was the teaching of Sua’s father, the head of the Moyong Clan.

Martial prowess is power that exists for the sake of this primal cycle and the right path, and the Moyong Clan’s new destiny is to guide the ignorant world towards this righteous path using this enlightenment.

If Moyong Hyun had heard this, he would have been horrified and vehemently opposed, but sadly, Sua was not yet old enough to discern right from wrong. She had been taught this way since she was a child.

If she did as her father commanded, he would look at her and love her as a father should. Having lost her mother early and been all alone, it was a lifeline she could never let go of.

“But keep this secret from the Clan’s people. Now is not the time.”

“If we are doing what is right, why must we lower our heads in fear?”

“Taigong Wang did not take office until he was 70 years old, only studying. Yet he was later noticed by King Wen and appointed, eventually becoming the ruler who founded the Qi state. There is a time for everything.”

Naturally, the Clan Head did not forget to tell her to keep her mouth shut. When the time came, he would use Sua as his sword. But there was an unforeseen variable.

“Uselessly grown branches only suck the nutrients from the mighty tree. Therefore, is it not for the good of the Clan to prune those branches before the tree falls?”

“That’s right, Sua.”

“Father, you’ve arrived!”

“Yes, you must understand your older brother. He is a weakling, after all.”

No matter how much one tries to keep their mouth shut, one’s thoughts and values will eventually manifest in words and actions. Moyong Hyun, sensing the strangeness in Sua’s words and actions, ultimately chose to rebel.

First and foremost, he separated his young sister, Sua, from the Clan Head to protect her. And Sua had only been told to keep it a secret from the Clan’s people.

She had not been told not to tell anyone else. This was because the Moyong Clan was isolated, and they did not expect Sua to encounter other people.

In any case, they would have to create a bloody storm before long. But before that, Moyong Hyun had snatched Sua away and entrusted her to Moomyung, thanks to which, she had ended up blurting everything out, unfiltered.

“A warrior who loses in a fight to the death has no value in living. If I cannot defeat you while I am staying here, then you must personally take my head.”

There was no way she, only a second-rate fighter, could win. Sua herself knew that fact more painfully than anyone else. But Sua had no choice but to say this.

Because that’s what she had been taught.

Because she had been taught that was the right path.

She wasn’t just spouting pretty words. Sua was truly risking her life. But as she was preparing for the life-or-death duel, Sua was greatly taken aback by Moomyung’s reply.

“I am thirty this year.”

“…Yes?”

“It’s true.”

Soo-ah quietly closed her mouth and stared at Moomyung. She could see the white hair and beard, and the deep wrinkles like cliffs, and the large and small scars that crossed those wrinkles.

…No matter how she looked at it, he seemed like an old man who had gone through thick and thin. But as she stared into his unwavering, azure eyes. Soo-ah couldn’t shake the feeling that Moomyung’s words weren’t a lie.

And that fact was enough to turn her confusion into astonishment. Of course, his shocking aged appearance accounted for a good portion, but at most, three tenths. No, maybe only two tenths.

Then the reason for the remaining eight tenths was…

‘He reached the pinnacle at the mere age of thirty?!’

Yes. More shocking than his astonishingly aged appearance was his talent, having reached the pinnacle at thirty. The pinnacle being the apex of all realms, an unwavering and solid state of immovability.

It was a realm that surpassed understanding the subtleties within the initial moves, where one’s own enlightenment became the ultimate essence of the moves. The sharp swordsmanship that could easily cut even a first-rate protective aura was proof of that very pinnacle.

Therefore, pinnacle masters were so few in number that even the Five Great Clans, considered the pillars of the orthodox Murim Alliance, only had one or two at most. And even then, most of them were at least fifty years old.

Of course, there weren’t *no* masters in Murim history who had reached the pinnacle at a younger age. But most of those were martial artists who left a grand mark on Murim’s long history.

And the moment she realized that, Soo-ah realized her head was tilted towards the sky. The insignificant, backroom old man was gone. And in his place stood a towering Mount Tai.

At that sight, like a towering mountain peak.

Soo-ah felt a wall for the very first time in her life.