Chapter 55
After talking with Baek Cheon-Sang, Baek Mu-Gun left the patriarch-exclusive training hall and immediately headed to his residence.
The servant standing guard at Mu-Gun’s residence was surprised to see Mu-Gun, who had returned after so long.
“Young Patriarch!”
“How have you been?”
“I’ve been well. I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Thanks for worrying about me,” Mu-Gun replied with a chuckle.
“Don’t mention it, sir.”
The servant blushed slightly and shook his head. Mu-Gun had changed beyond recognition after recovering from his qi deviation, and his appearance was becoming an object of envy among the servants. They were already grateful for just seeing Mu-Gun, but he even smiled and thanked them. They became so elated that they were rendered speechless.
Mu-Gun smiled while looking at the servant’s reaction. “I would like to take a bath, so please prepare some warm water.”
“Understood. It will take some time to draw the water. Do you want me to bring you a cup of tea while you wait?”
“I’ll take you up on that offer.”
“What kind of tea would you like me to prepare?”
“Yandang White Cloud Tea would be great.”
“I’ll have it done swiftly and bring it over,” the servant energetically answered, then began to prepare his bath and tea.
After seeing the servant run off, Mu-Gun passed the corridor connected to the main hall and entered his room. Even though he had been away from his room for over two months, it was still so clean it didn’t have even a speck of dust. He could see how much effort the servant put into cleaning it. As he was looking around his room, the servant brought over the tea he had prepared.
“Preparing the bath will take about fifteen minutes.”
“I’m not in a rush, so take your time.”
“Understood.” The servant bid his farewell and left.
Mu-Gun sat at the tea table and drank the Yandang White Cloud Tea, which was the main produce of Mount Yandang. He often enjoyed it on normal days, but he hadn’t been able to drink it recently since he was out on a trip. Hence, it currently tasted even better. By the time he had finished drinking the Yandang White Cloud Tea, the servant had informed Mu-Gun that his bath was ready.
Mu-Gun went to the bathhouse and took a refreshing bath before changing into new clothes. He then left his residence and went to the side building where So Yeon-Hwa was staying at.
“What have you been up to?”
“I took a bath and was drinking tea. Do you want to join me?”
“It’s okay, I already had some back at my residence.”
“Have you met with your father?”
“Yes. If you’re not tired, do you want to go outside?”
“Outside?”
“There is a place here called Shanhai Tavern. It serves delicious food and has a good ambiance. But if you’re too tired, you can just rest.”
“No, I’m not tired at all. Are we leaving now?”
“Don’t you have to get ready?”
“Get ready? Is there anything else I have to prepare?” Yeon-Hwa asked with her eyes wide open.
She was wearing a light blue outfit and didn’t have any makeup at all. Any other woman would’ve put on makeup and changed into something pretty first. They always wanted to dress up even when they were only going out for a while. However, Yeon-Hwa didn’t seem to care about that at all.
“It’s nothing. Do as you please.”
Mu-Gun didn’t really want her to dress up either. She was already pretty enough as she was now, and she didn’t seem to have learned how a woman would normally dress up while growing up in the Putuo Sword Sect. While thinking that he should teach her those ways, Mu-Gun left the side building with Yeon-Hwa. She was pretty enough as she was now, but it wouldn’t hurt to become even prettier.
They departed the Baek Sword Sect and headed toward the Shanhai Tavern in a carriage. The Shanhai Tavern was a restaurant built in a place with Mount Yandang surrounding it like a folding screen in the background, and the coast was spread out in the front. Eating food while enjoying the surrounding scenery was a true work of art that made it very popular not only with the people of Wenzhou but also with tourists visiting Mount Yandang. There were even many instances where people who didn’t make reservations in advance couldn’t eat or had to wait for a long time because there were no seats available in the evening.
However, Mu-Gun could eat at Shanhai Tavern whenever he wanted. It was also free of charge because its owner was none other than the Baek Sword Sect. The Baek Sword Sect owned several stores in downtown Wenzhou, including the Shanhai Tavern. They provided the sect with great profits.
The Baek Sword Sect had three main sources of income. The profits from the Shanhai Tavern and other stores, the taxes from the right to operate the Wenzhou Port, and the profits from the tea plantations they owned in Mount Yandang. Through those sources of income, the Baek Sword Sect made considerable enough profits to finance and operate the five Baek Sword Corps squads.
Upon arriving at the Shanhai Tavern, Mu-Gun and Yeon-Hwa were guided to the VIP room located on its highest floor. It had the greatest scenery, and only the patriarch and young patriarch of the Baek Sword Sect could use it.
“Wowww! This is so cool.”
As soon as she entered the VIP room, the scenery beyond the large window impressed Yeon-Hwa. The sun was currently setting over the sea, dyeing both the waters and the skies red. It looked both mystical and beautiful at the same time.
“It is really nice, isn’t it? This is my first time coming here as well. I should visit this place more often from now on.”
“Who do you plan to come here with?”
“You, of course.”
Yeon-Hwa smiled happily at Mu-Gun’s words.
“You look happy. Aren’t you hungry?”
“A little.”
“Let’s order some food first. I heard the seafood special set here is amazing, so let’s have that.”
“Okay.”
Mu-Gun called for the waiter and ordered the seafood special set along with a bottle of bamboo leaf wine. The restaurant required thirty minutes to prepare the food, so they chatted over tea while waiting. After thirty minutes, the seafood special set was served. The dish was made using various seafood freshly caught in the seas of Wenzhou, giving it the best quality. There was normally no way a dish could taste bad when made using excellent ingredients. To make it even better, the chef of the Shanhai Tavern was a former imperial family chef. His skills were extraordinary.
The best ingredients were cooked by a chef with the greatest skills, making the resulting dishes impossible to taste bad. Mu-Gun and Yeon-Hwa ate the seafood special set spread out on the table without leaving any behind. They also drank bamboo leaf wine from time to time, the taste of which wasn’t overpowering but was actually rather light. It complemented the special seafood set, increasing its taste twofold. Thanks to that, they were able to have a satisfying meal after a long time.
“Did you enjoy it?”
“Yes. Very much so. I think I ate too much, though.”
Yeon-Hwa belatedly regretted eating like a pig in front of Mu-Gun.
“It’s fine. It’s a turnoff for me if a woman eats little by little like a bird, acting feminine and coy. It’s much better if you eat lavishly.”
“That’s a relief, then. Anyway, what do you plan to do now?”
“Is there anything you want to do?”
“That’s not what I mean. It’s just a pity to go back like this.”
“Would you like to take a look at the night market, then?”
“The night market?”
“Yes. There’s a big night market near downtown Wenzhou. It offers many items from other nations, so it should be a sight worth seeing.”
“Okay. Let’s go to the night market.”
“Wait here for a moment. There’s something I have to do. I’ll be back.”
“Okay.”
Mu-Gun left Yeon-Hwa in the room and went downstairs.
He then called the manager of the Shantai Tavern and asked, “Did anyone leave a letter for me?”
“Yes. A young lady in her early twenties by the name of Lady Dan did.”
“Could you bring that letter to me?”
“Please wait a moment.”
The Shanhai Tavern’s manager went inside and brought a letter in an envelope.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you. The food was delicious today.”
“Thank you for the compliment. We will do our best to serve you next time too.”
Mu-Gun went up to the VIP room after getting the letter from the manager. He then left the Shanhai Tavern with Yeon-Hwa and headed to the downtown area where the night market was at. The night market boasted a considerable size, and as Mu-Gun mentioned, it had many cultural products from other nations that made it fun to look around.
After wandering around the night market for more than an hour, Mu-Gun and Yeon-Hwa returned to the Baek Sword Sect.
***
The next day, Mu-Gun summoned his six followers to the young patriarch-exclusive training hall, including Nak Il-Bang. The party of six was training at the training grounds provided to ordinary members, and upon Mu-Gun’s call, they visited the training hall with nervous looks on their faces.
Yeon-Hwa was beside Mu-Gun. The six couldn’t take their eyes off her great beauty.
Mu-Gun smiled at them. “You seem unable to see me, the young patriarch, in the presence of a beautiful woman.”
“Apologies.”
Flustered, they asked Mu-Gun for forgiveness.
“I’m just kidding. It’s normal to be attracted to and stare at such beauty without realizing it. Have you all been well while I was away?”
“Yes, we’ve been doing well.”
“Is that so? I wanted you all to train yourselves to the point of death every day and not live comfortably. Did I perhaps expect too much?”
“No. We trained harder than anyone else in the Baek Sword Sect to avoid letting your teachings go to waste, Young Patriarch.”
“That’s right. We focused on training the whole day except for when we ate and slept.”
They rushed to inform Mu-Gun of their efforts.
“Great. Let’s see how hard you’ve all worked, then.”
“Are we sparring with you, Young Patriarch?” Baek San-Kyung asked.
“No. You’ll be sparring with the lady beside me.” Mu-Gun pointed to Yeon-Hwa.
The night before, he asked Yeon-Hwa to spar with them, and she readily accepted. Mu-Gun wanted to more accurately assess his subordinates’ skills by having them deal with an unfamiliar type of swordsmanship. They looked puzzled when Mu-Gun said that they would be sparring with a beautiful woman who looked to be in no more than her early twenties.
“Are you looking down on her because she’s young? If so, then you’ve made a great mistake. She’s a master of her craft, and she can defeat all of you even if you charge at her altogether. You’d better throw away your cheeky attitude of judging others based on their appearance unless you want to die an early death.”
“We’ll keep that in mind.”
“Who wants to go first?”
“I will.” San-Kyung stepped forward.
“I’m So Yeon-Hwa from the Putuo Sword Sect.”
“Ah!” The party of six burst into exclamation upon hearing about Yeon-Hwa’s affiliation. The Putuo Sword Sect was a prestigious sect that the Baek Sword Sect couldn’t be compared to. Their excellent swordsmanship was well recognized throughout murim.
“I’m Baek San-Kyung from the Baek Sword Sect. It’s an honor to be able to go up against the swordsmanship of the renowned Putuo Sword Sect.”
“Now, shall we begin?”
Yeon-Hwa smiled at San-Kyung’s polite words and raised her sword. Being the challenger, San-Kyung charged at Yeon-Hwa first. Using the Soaring Luna Sword Art, which he learned from Mu-Gun, he launched an attack on Yeon-Hwa. Yeon-Hwa easily avoided San-Kyung’s sword force with the Chaotic White Flower’s Shadow Movement Art and immediately counterattacked. Flustered by Yeon-Hwa’s ability to escape from his attack so easily and even counterattack, San-Kyung quickly defended himself.
Their swords clashed for a brief moment, and San-Kyung was pushed back, unable to overcome Yeon-Hwa’s swordsmanship. Instead of immediately going on the offensive, Yeon-Hwa halted her sword and waited until San-Kyung had repositioned himself properly. It was a sight often seen when a master was teaching those inferior to them.
San-Kyung clenched his teeth and fixed his grip on his sword. He wanted to be recognized by Mu-Gun, so he trained with sweat, blood, and tears all this while. He couldn’t just go down like this. Even if he lost, he wanted to show his master his efforts.
“Haiyahh!” With a concentrated shout, San-Kyung dashed toward Yeon-Hwa.
Unlike a while ago, Yeon-Hwa didn’t counter. Instead, she only deflected San-Kyung’s attacks. Winning or losing wasn’t important in this spar, after all. Its true purpose was to assess their skills. Mu-Gun carefully examined San-Kyung’s movements and swordsmanship.
‘That’s pretty good.’
San-Kyung’s movements were agile and well-balanced, and his swordsmanship had the perfect equilibrium between speed, variation, and power. The harmony in his movements and swordsmanship was pretty decent too. A person’s swordsmanship wasn’t determined just by swinging a sword alone. They also had to be capable of moving around without being disoriented while performing their sword techniques.
Achieving harmony between movement and swordsmanship was only possible through constant training. On that note, Mu-Gun could see that San-Kyung had invested a considerable amount of effort into practicing his Soaring Luna Sword Art. As a result, his Soaring Luna Sword Art had reached a pretty high level.
However, it was still far from enough to go up against Yeon-Hwa. Yeon-Hwa was at the Peak Realm. The sword techniques she had mastered were also of a much higher level than the Soaring Luna Sword Art. Above all, the level of her internal energy was incomparably greater. San-Kyung was no match in terms of controlling his internal energy either.
Simply put, those were the aspects San-Kyung proved lacking in and had to provide solutions to if he wanted to become a master.
San-Kyung gave it his all. He unleashed everything in his arsenal, but the match eventually ended without him being able to pose a threat to Yeon-Hwa at all.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel