Thirtieth day.
Smooth.
Glittery.
“…”
Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong’s eyes filled with suspicion as they looked at Hyun Jong.
“Sasuk, that… I don’t know if it is my imagination….”
“…It isn’t just your imagination.”
They were shining.
Although they hadn’t gained weight back, Hyun Jong’s face was clearly showing a shine like never before.
It wasn’t just that their original face color had come back, but their body was white and bright like a newborn child.“Ack! They are dazzling.”
Just then, the sun, which had been hidden behind the clouds, revealed itself, and Hyun Jong’s face looked sun-kissed and radiated bright light. A stranger could easily mistake him for a Buddha rather than a Taoist monk.
“…Is it possible for a person to change this drastically?”
It was truly a world-changing event when a person, who around 10 days ago was all skin and bones, now had the skin of a child in just 10 days.
And it wasn’t just Hyun Jong.
The faces of Hyun Sang and Hyun Young standing next to him were also completely different from before.
“…Did they take something?”
“Is that possible?”
“That’s because it doesn’t make sense at all.”
It wasn’t just about making the face white and shiny. This sense of relaxation appeared on the face that looked tired not too long ago.
‘Just what happened to them?’
It felt like they could hear the giggling of Chung Myung in their ears.
Thirty-fifth day.
“Ughhh! Ohh, this!”
“Hold it there!”
“Haa… this is driving me insane!”
Un Am frowned as he looked at the disciples clinging to the pillar using their hands.
“What?”
“…Sasuk, this thing isn’t moving at all.”
“Haa….”
Un Am sighed in frustration. There was a large crack on the top of the pillar of the hall where the disciples were clinging.
“…This is difficult. If this continues, we cannot do anything but break it down.”
“What is happening?”
“Ah, elder.”
Un Am quickly bowed his head in response to Hyun Young’s question. Hyun Young waved his hand as if annoyed.
“Ugh, forget it. What are you doing having them cling to the pillar?”
“Ah, that…”
Un Am scratched his head and replied.
“Didn’t they expand the area in front of the pavilion to hold the inaugural event?”
“They did.”
When the people of the Tang family repaired the pavilion for the ceremony of the Heavenly Friends Alliance, they found that the pavilion was too low. They didn’t hold its shape, so they added a new pillar to the front.
“But it looks like it couldn’t take the weight.”
“Huh? What do you mean? There’s no way the Tang family couldn’t have expected something like this.”
“If it were as it was, there wouldn’t be any problem, but the pillar was pushed a little.”
“Ah.”
Hyun Young nodded as if he understood. The structure was capable of withstanding the weight of the expansion as long as the pillars were upright. Still, the old ones seemed to have cracked as the pillars twisted and gradually pushed out.
“So, I tried to push the pillar back somehow, but it seemed difficult. Then we have no choice but to dismantle the pavilion and build it again…”
“Wait. What? Dismantle? What?”
“The pillar…”
At that moment, Hyun Young’s eyes shone.
“What nonsense is that! Do you know what a pavilion pillar is like?”
Un Am couldn’t stand tall and sighed.
“Of course, it has traces of our ancestors…”
“Wasn’t it built by the Tang family? Tang family! The Sichuan Tang family didn’t do enough to employ the right craftsmen. So you are dismantling the pavilion built by them? Are you out of your mind right now?”
“…”
Ah… that was the problem.
“That… uh, hmm. I would like to preserve it if possible, but if things continue like this, it will soon collapse. And I was worried that the disciples would get hurt…”
“What do you mean by collapse? All you have to do is put it straight! Get out of the way!”
Hyun Young pushed Un Am aside and approached the disciples clinging to the pillar.
“If you try to push it in, it won’t work! You have to lift it slightly and then push it.”
“Uh?”
“It has space above, so it won’t slide!”
At Hyun Young’s words, the faces of the disciples went pale.
‘He wants to lift it?’
‘This one?’
The weight of the pavilion was entirely concentrated on this one pillar. So, in the end, it was no different from telling them to lift the entire pavilion.
It sounded easy, but how would one lift a pillar and push it?
“Ah, it doesn’t seem like it would work.”
“It will.”
“E-elder, I really don’t think it will work.”
“Tsk, tsk. Fine. Fine now, try again!”
“This isn’t realistic….”
“They say it is reality and shit. Is there anything in the world that cannot be done? Do not hesitate and just do it with me!”
There were two types of people in the world: people who could be talked to and people who could not be talked to.
And anyone would say Hyun Young belonged to the latter group.
“Ughh.”
“Euk.”
The disciples clung to the pillars, holding back their tears. Hyun Young watched them and gave the command.
“Now! One, two! Three!”
“Ahhhh!”
“Ughhhhh!”
“More! More! Give me more strength! Push properly!”
“Ahhhh!”
The disciples all had veins bulging on their foreheads. They pulled out every bit of internal qi they had, but the pillar didn’t even move from where it was.
“More! More! Aren’t you all eating blood sausages! How can you all be called warriors if you have little strength? Everyone push! Push!”
“Ahhhhh!”
“Stop!”
Thud! Thud!
The disciples had used so much strength that as soon as they let go of the pillar, they collapsed on the ground.
“Oh my…”
“T-this won’t do…”
“Tsk! It is because young people have no drive! You come and watch!”
“Uh?”
“Get out of my way!”
Hyun Young grabbed one of the people sitting next to the pillar and pulled him aside. Then he grabbed the pillar with his own hand.
“Now, join us again!”
“E-Elder! You cannot overdo it!”
“Get out of my way if you won’t do it.”
“Stop speaking nonsense, and come here!”
The disciples of Mount Hua all had worried eyes as they watched him stick himself to the pillar again.
“Now. Push on the count. One, two!”
It was that moment.
Kuak! Crack! Kuak!
The pillar, which had moved a millimeter when they were close and pushing, began to move little by little.
“Give more strength! Strength! Uhhhhhh!”
“Kuaaaakkkk!”
“Ahhhhhh!”
Un Am’s eyes, which were watching him, widened.
‘What is with him?’
The muscles on Hyun Young’s arms were trembling like worms as he held onto the pillar with his sleeves rolled up. The pillar, the size of a cedar tree, was slowly rising. The building, which had been tilted, was raised and regained its original shape.
“That… that…?”
Un Am, who was just staring blankly with an open mouth, ran to them and shouted.
“To the inside! Move it now. Inside! Slowly, slowly! Never move it in a hurry; just one step at a time!”
The pillar slowly moved ahead.
“Just a little more, a little more! Done! Ah, you have to put it down slowly!”
Grrrrrkk!
Finally, a sound came as the pillar was lowered, and at the same time, the disciples fell back.
“Oh my, I almost died.”
“My… my arms might fall off now.”
But Hyun Young just looked back as if he hadn’t done anything great, checked if the pillar was standing right, and then clicked his tongue.
“Tsk tsk. It is because young people have no strength! Isn’t it all because you neglected your training?”
The disciples, who were speechless, looked up at Hyun Young blankly. Hyun Young asked Un Am, shaking the dust off his sleeves.
“Done, right?”
“Uh? Ah… yes! Elder! This is it.”
“I’ll leave then. If you do it this way, there is no need to dismantle it. Tsk tsk.”
Hyun Young cleared his throat and then moved away. One of the disciples, who was looking at him in fascination, mumbled.
“… What just happened?”
Un Am tilted his head and asked.
“What is with this?”
“N-No. I tried my best like before, but it didn’t budge at all.”
“Isn’t that because the elder has a knack for it?”
“… He has a knack for lifting those things?”
“…”
“And that wasn’t something which could happen.”
“Right. I tried to push, but the moment the elder stood next to me and shouted, the pillar rose suddenly…”
“Forget ghosts, this is like weeping…”
Un Am glanced back at Hyun Young with a surprised face.
He was walking in his usual manner.
“… Just how…”
Fortieth day.
Wriggle.
Wiggle.
Bulge.
The three people standing side by side slightly bent their necks.
Bulge!
But the sound of something being torn apart rang out. Hyun Jong frowned and gently lifted the clothes on his chest. The clothes within were tattered.
“Right. The clothes have gotten small.”
“That is why I changed to a bigger size one.”
“Me too, sahyung.”
Hyun Jong laughed.
“A new size at this age.”
Hyun Jong’s muscles were twitching as he laughed.
It was thought that regaining the body of one’s youth would be difficult since one was this old, but in just over a month, the old man had gained a body that even the young people would applaud. The body below their necks was so sturdy that it didn’t match their face.
“… I never thought this would happen.”
“Right.”
It wasn’t just that their body had improved.
Compared to the internal qi, which was pulsating and moving like the Yangtze River in dantian, the changes in the body visible to the naked eye were minor.
That was it. Their changed body and strength brought them confidence, and the confidence changed Hyun Jong’s expression.
“Chung Myung.”
“Uh?”
“Then what is our level now?”
“Around…”
Chung Myung looked slightly worried and said,
“It has to be around the second star level to three stars. You could say it’s just the beginning…”
“Beginning….”
If this was just the start, how much stronger could they get by reaching the highest level?
“… now, I understand why the Purple Cloud Divine Arts was a martial art that only the sect leader could learn.”
“Ehhh. It’s starting now. Well, not everyone sees the same effect from learning it. The sect leader and elders have been training their internal qi for a long time, so the amount of internal qi itself is large. But it isn’t utilized properly. This time, through your own effort, you have brought together the existing internal qi. Now it is accumulated in the veins, so it will be much easier to train.”
“Right, right!”
Hyun Jong’s eyes looked at Chung Myung with love.
When he said he passed this down, he thought that he would teach them roughly as a formality and focus on other students. But he never would have thought that an entire month would be devoted to teaching the three old men.
During that time, he knew that teaching other disciples would be effective, and that always bothered him. Nevertheless, Hyun Jong couldn’t bear to stop him.
Even though he has now stepped back from the front lines, he and the elders are also warriors. It is impossible not to have the desire to become stronger. He just endured everything because it wasn’t the right situation.
But this time, Chung Myung released that desire which they had been suppressing.
“Thank you.”
“Uh? Why so suddenly?”
Chung Myung tilted his head, and Hyun Jong smiled at that sight.
“It is nothing.”
Chung Myung would simply answer that he did what he had to do.
“You shouldn’t think as if everything has already been achieved. You must continue to train continuously and achieve at least a 5-star level. Only then will true strength emerge.”
“…”
Even now, they felt like they could destroy a mountain with their bare hands, but had they gotten close to the Five Star level?
What was their strength?
“And you have to learn the plum blossom sword technique consistently, too. For every strength, there is a need for a suitable vessel. The 24 Movement Plum Blossom Sword Technique cannot fully contain the strength.”
“Of course. How can we be negligent?”
“And…”
Chung Myung grinned.
“This is the most important thing.”
“Uh?”
That smile turned more evil.
“Looking at it these days, it seems like the sahyung and sasuks have ended up lazing around.”
“…”
“It seems that even Un Geom senior sasuk is reluctant to give advice.”
“Uh-huh!”
“That!”
“Ugh! It cannot be like that!”
An obvious answer came back. Chung Myung grinned and got down to the point.
“So… I was wondering if it would be a good idea for the elders and the Sect leader to personally guide the disciples who will learn the new technique through this chance… what do you think?”
And the three people smiled at the same time.
“If you say so. Ahem!”
“I have no choice but to take some time out. Ahem!”
“As the Martial Hall leader, this is a request I cannot refuse. Ahem!”
They slightly clenched and unclenched their fists.
Anyone who had watched Chung Myung teach the disciples would think of it at least once.
‘Honestly, I want to try it out.’
‘Finally, this day has come!’
‘I will show them hell!’
The three people who received the respect of all Mount Hua’s disciples:
Hyun Jong, Hyun Sang, and Hyun Young.
And now the time had finally come to instill a feeling of ‘reverence.’
In the disciples’ eyes, looking at them.
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