Seuseuk. Sasasak!
The bushes rustled.
Huuung.
The wind bent the undergrowth.
In an instant, dark shadows appeared like mirages, then vanished. At first glance, they might have looked like mountain beasts, or perhaps a swarm of field mice.
The shadows, having reached the midway point of Da-unsan, blended naturally into the thick fog. At some point, the shadows scattered in various directions, moving according to their assigned teams.
Namgung Cheon, also shrouded in mist, moved quickly through the bushes.
Namgung Cheon belonged to Team Twelve (十二). The team leader, coincidentally, was the third-year student, Jo Gangmin. The same team also included Gwak Cheolju, Song Wongyo, and Baek Rihyang. In addition, it consisted of a total of ten members, combining several third-year and second-year students.
Of all the luck, he was grouped with those itching to tear him apart.
'This is no coincidence, of course.'
Namgung Cheon smirked as he watched the students push through the fog. A rising star of Jo Gangmin's caliber could surely make any demand he wished of the instructors. Since he suspected Jo Gangmin was behind Song Wongyo, this team assignment must have been planned from the start.
He was curious about what plot they had cooked up, but he didn't have time to worry about that now. He had to somehow break away and find his Anga first.
How far had they traveled like this?
The thick fog obscured his surroundings. He could only faintly see the back of the student moving directly in front of him. But gradually, the presence of others around him quieted.
He had gone off course.
'Hm? Are they starting their little scheme already?'
Actually, this was better. If he naturally separated from the group like this, it would be easier to act alone.
Just then, Jo Gangmin, who was leading, stopped abruptly and raised his fist. Everyone halted and sharpened their senses.
Jo Gangmin, after putting on a show of extreme caution, slowly turned around.
"This seems like a good spot. Shall we play here?"
His expression was somewhat excited. Song Wongyo immediately understood the ambiguous words and flashed a vile smile.
"I will follow the senior team leader's words."
"The moment we've been waiting for has finally arrived."
Baek Rihyang replied, a bright smile gracing her lips. The other students also revealed their true colors, wearing somewhat grim smiles.
Song Wongyo twisted his lips into a sneer and turned around.
"Hey, Namgung Cheon. You've been running wild for too long. Today is the day of your death annivers—? Huh? Namgung Cheon?"
Cutting himself off, Song Wongyo looked around in confusion.
Jo Gangmin frowned. "What is it?"
"N-Namgung Cheon…"
"...?"
"He's gone!"
"What do you mean?"
Jo Gangmin replied irritably and instantly released his internal energy in all directions.
Huuuung!
As the wave of Qi spread out, the thick fog dispersed far into the distance.
"Huh? He's really not here?"
"Where did that rat bastard go?"
The third-year students shouted, looking around.
Baek Rihyang frowned. "Could he have noticed already and run away?"
"Even so…"
Jo Gangmin trailed off, his brow furrowed. To slip away so stealthily that even he hadn't noticed…
'Much more interesting than I thought, Namgung Cheon!'
Soon, one corner of Jo Gangmin's mouth twisted up.
"He couldn't have gone far. Let's find him."
The students quickly began to backtrack the way they came.
Namgung Cheon used his Gyeonggong to swiftly scale the cliff.
He should have reached the top in one breath… but that was a story from his prime. His strength giving out midway up the cliff, Namgung Cheon clung precariously to a protruding rock.
'Ah… still a long way to go.'
Still, even this much put his Gyeonggong skills considerably above others his age.
Namgung Cheon believed that Gyeonggong was the foundation of all martial arts. Whether that was true or not didn't matter. In his fugitive days, the most important thing for him had been the ability to flee quickly in any direction. That was why Gyeonggong was the first thing he had focused on training after his reincarnation.
As he was climbing the cliff, he sensed presences below.
'Hoh, they followed already? Not bad.'
Sure enough, Baek Rihyang's clear voice rang out from the bottom of the cliff.
"Ah! Over there!"
"What? When did he climb up there? Hey, Namgung Cheon! Where are you going?"
Song Wongyo roared. Regardless, Namgung Cheon continued climbing.
Finally reaching the top, Namgung Cheon looked down the precipice. Jo Gangmin's group was also beginning to climb. It seemed they were determined to crush him properly today.
'Seriously, they go to such lengths just to torment me.'
It occurred to him that tormenting someone required considerable dedication. Albeit, a moronic kind of dedication.
"Why are you so obsessed with me? You should be focusing on your assigned mission."
As Namgung Cheon taunted them, Song Wongyo shouted back while climbing.
"You're the one who isn't loyal to the mission, deserting the ranks! Are you sane? Even if you've gotten stronger, do you think such arbitrary actions will be tolerated? We just came looking for you because you deserted!"
"I'm just going to take care of some business, so don't mind me and carry on. I'll make sure not to cause you any trouble."
"Talk sense!"
Geez, they'll only suffer if they follow. It seemed they were determined to chase him to the end.
Namgung Cheon shrugged and turned away.
Well, let them do what they want. People rarely listened to good advice anyway. They usually had to taste the shit for themselves before regretting their moronic actions.
Namgung Cheon ignored the curses coming from behind him and walked on. There was no need to hurry. In fact, from here on, he needed to be cautious.
A forest spread out before him. But it wasn't an ordinary forest. It contained various formations and advanced mechanical devices… well, not quite. But the various formations were real.
It was time to add one more fact: because of his history as a fugitive in his past life, Namgung Cheon was knowledgeable about all sorts of formations. There was nothing more useful than formations for hiding from or ditching someone. He had even gone to the Jegalmun Sect, famed for Gimundungap (Mysterious Gate Escaping Techniques), disguised his identity, and learned from them. Of course, when the Jegalmun later realized his true identity, they had been furious and threatened to kill him immediately, but by then, Namgung Cheon had already departed leisurely.
'Come to think of it, those Jegal Family bastards weren't that smart either.'
Well, just because their ancestor was a genius didn't guarantee all his descendants would be. Maybe they were all just desperately pretending to be geniuses so as not to tarnish their ancestor's name.
Come to think of it, humans are beings who enjoy being bound by something, restricting their own freedom.
Ah, another deep realization. Why am I so insightful?
Namgung Cheon shook his head and walked briskly.
Step, step. It looked like random walking, but it followed a precise footwork pattern. One wrong step could send him plummeting off the cliff again, or trap him walking in circles all day. He could have installed mechanisms to shoot hidden weapons or traps to impale victims on spikes, but wouldn't that be too cruel?
See how humane I am? Of course, those quick-witted Gwiwangchae bastards had argued that he just didn't want to spend the money, but surely it was because there was a humane side somewhere in his heart.
Anyway, after moving for about half a gak (approx. 7.5 minutes), the Saengno (Path of Life) finally appeared. A place beautifully lined with maple trees on both sides.
Ignoring the main path straight ahead that anyone would naturally take, Namgung Cheon slipped onto a side path next to the maple trees. Instantly, the surrounding scenery changed.
Swaaaaaaa!
A waterfall cascaded coolly down one side of a cliff. Straight ahead, a Mook (thatched hut) sat picturesquely. The hut, nestled beneath the cliff and intertwined with vines, looked so hidden one might easily pass it by.
The corners of Namgung Cheon's mouth curled up.
"It's been a while! My home!"
From here on, there was no need to be particularly careful.
Namgung Cheon opened the shabby door and went inside. A worn bed, a table, and a storage cabinet came into view. The interior was relatively spacious, but the furnishings were sparse. This was because he had mostly just slept and trained martial arts here.
"Hoh, surprisingly clean. Did these guys manage it until recently?"
They were more diligent than he thought.
Namgung Cheon pushed the bed aside and pried up the floorboards beneath it, revealing a box about the size of an adult torso.
"There it is!"
Humming a tune, he opened the box lid. Inside were five horse figurines of different colors and a wooden box emitting a faint medicinal fragrance.
"Ooh, they're still here! My babies! Hehehe!"
Laughter escaped him naturally. The Osaekpungmasang (Five-Colored Wind Horse Statues) and the Guryongcheolsimdan (Nine Dragons Iron Heart Pills)!
He opened the wooden box lid, and a fragrant medicinal scent filled the room.
Ah, how long had it been since he smelled this nostalgic scent?
In truth, the Guryongcheolsimdan was an elixir made by Cheondokno, one of the public enemies of the Murim, which Namgung Cheon had secretly stolen. According to Cheondokno, it was on par with Shaolin's Daehwandan (Great Cyclic Pill), but honestly, Namgung Cheon thought it fell quite short. Maybe seventy percent of a Daehwandan?
Still, that was something. If one Daehwandan could grant over half a gapja (30+ years) of internal energy, then the Guryongcheolsimdan would provide about twenty years' worth. Elixirs had been trendy for decades, and these days, every Tom, Dick, and Harry seemed to be popping pills, but elixirs that could grant more than ten years of internal energy at once were still hard to come by.
'Well, excluding Shaolin and the Tang Clan, of course.'
In any case, the internal energy equivalent to at least twenty years of Myeonbyeok-suryeon (wall-gazing meditation) was right before his eyes, so his heart couldn't help but race. If he could properly digest this, he should be able to handle a Jeoljeong-gosu (Peak Expert).
However, his Chogyeon Pagongan wasn't an invincible talent, so he would need another way to become stronger. When facing a Chojeoljeong-gosu (Transcendent Peak Expert), the Chogyeon Pagongan alone often wasn't enough to win. That was why he had failed several times to kill the Alliance Lord in his past life. It could bring him to a similar level, but it couldn't surpass someone who had reached a state of perfect mastery. That was the blind spot of the Chogyeon Pagongan. Someone who had honed a single martial art their entire life would inevitably awaken to its true essence.
'Ultimately, it means I need my own unique martial art…'
In his past life, he was too busy running to properly learn or create martial arts. He had to rely on his Chogyeon Pagongan for Imgi-eungbyeon (improvisation) in each situation. Since his goal was escape, that had been enough.
But things were different now. Once his body was in better condition, he would research a martial art perfectly suited to him, based on his past experiences.
See? I'm just that progressive.
'Alright, shall we get going?'
Namgung Cheon picked up the elixirs, about to leave, but paused.
'Should I just eat them here?'
If he was going to take them anyway, there probably wasn't a better place than here. If he carried these precious elixirs around until he returned to the academy, the scent would waft out, attracting flies.
If the Gwiwangchae bastards suddenly showed up, it might be a problem since they wouldn't recognize him, but they were probably busy dealing with the subjugation squad right now. There was no way they'd come here today.
Okay, let's take them here.
Having made his decision, Namgung Cheon sat cross-legged and immediately tossed the Guryongcheolsimdan into his mouth. After chewing the pills, he immediately felt a heavy energy from within his stomach.
Guuuuuuu.
Good. This is the feeling. The energy surging up from his Danjeon began to race wildly.
It was definitely rough. The elixirs made by Cheondokno weren't smooth like the Daehwandan or Sohwandan (Small Cyclic Pill). It rampaged through the Sibi-gyeongmaek (Twelve Meridians) of his entire body as if it owned the place. Like a colt with its reins cut loose. Among them, nine meridians required special attention. Was that why it was named Guryongcheolsimdan (Nine Dragons Iron Heart)?
In any case, taming this unruly colt required considerable concentration.
'Keut!'
In an instant, the fierce energy reached his Baekhoehyeol (Baihui acupoint) and exploded at the crown of his head with a BANG! Cold sweat trickled down his temples. He had almost lost consciousness.
'Just like Cheondokno, it has a nasty temper.'
However, the Namgung Family's Changgung Daeyeon Shingong was already an excellent Simbeop in itself. Furthermore, perhaps because he inherited his mother's martial talent, his body was holding up better than expected.
Namgung Cheon clenched his fists tightly and continued circulating his energy.
How much time had passed?
He had focused on circulating his energy for quite a long time, and his sense of time had dulled.
Shuuuuuu.
'It's done.'
Namgung Cheon, having successfully stored the Gongnyeok obtained from the pills in his Danjeon, slowly opened his eyes.
"Hm?"
For a moment, Namgung Cheon frowned, staring blankly at the man sitting across from him. A middle-aged man with a rough beard and graying hair. A long scar ran across his cheek, making his already unpleasant face even more menacing.
Gwi… wang (Ghost King)?
The thought had barely formed when the Ghost King's grim face contorted, and he growled.
"Hey, who are you to carelessly eat someone else's stuff? Huh?"
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