Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 355

Nangseon’s Romantic Tale – Part 2, Chapter 64

With a satisfied look, Cheonbeom left the Great Sky Palace, tossing Gong Jeong-gang up and down as he quickened his pace.

“It feels like things are getting more twisted, but there’s no helping it.”

‘First, I’ll give you two *geun* [a traditional Korean unit of weight, roughly equivalent to 600 grams] of Wongeun. And I’ll approve the agenda for the Military Affairs Unit. You never know when spies from the Collapsed Realm or the Four Realms might appear again, and the Minister of Military Affairs might need to protect himself.’

He was a little curious as to why the Great Sky Military Commander would go so far to protect Gon Sabi, but if he put it that way, Cheonbeom was willing to help a little.

‘To learn the Gon family’s secret techniques, Sabi, who has Gon family blood, is also needed.’

It seemed he had no choice but to keep her around.

“You’ve arrived.”

“Yes, the Great Sky Military Commander has permitted it.”

“Ah! Then we must prepare for the establishment of the Military Affairs Unit.”

“Prepare?”

“If we’re in the same unit, we need to combine our accommodations and change our direct reports, so there’s a bit of paperwork to process. Of course, the Minister of Military Affairs must approve it.”

Was it his imagination, or did she seem more excited than him?

‘There might be a time when I need to protect myself, huh.’

He hoped that wouldn’t happen if possible.

You never knew what could happen in the world.

‘I want to focus more on my training.’

The desire to focus on training grew stronger.

He had almost died at the Martial Arts Competition because of Ho Jun-seong.

Because of that, Beom had long mixed Bong-eun’s Tanhan Yeosan with other secret techniques, making himself one with Subong Yeosan.

Thanks to that, Beom possessed even more powerful divine energy and strength….

‘Still not enough.’

The Upper Realm was a place where divine powers and spells he couldn’t even imagine ran rampant.

The Water Realm wouldn’t protect him, and even though the Minister of Military Affairs of the Water Palace was the center of this place, it wasn’t safe.

No matter where he went, as long as he was involved in cultivation, his safety was something he had to protect himself; that was the way of the world.

So, Beom couldn’t help but wish.

‘If I go to Sangseo, I should calmly focus on my training.’

Right now, there was no place to train calmly, either inside or outside.

* * *

After finishing his work, Cheonbeom returned to the Military Affairs Hall and saw Bibi, Joo Gyeol-gyeong, and Gon Sabi waiting for him.

Gon Sabi was wearing the same palace maid outfit as Gyeol-gyeong, and although she still looked young, her appearance had changed so much that he almost didn’t recognize her just by changing her clothes.

Before, she had heavy makeup and flashy decorations as if she were wearing clothes that didn’t fit, but now she looked good in a simple palace maid outfit with her makeup removed.

“You shouldn’t wear makeup. You look better that way.”

“…I apologize.”

Had she finally come to terms with her situation? Her rebellious spirit seemed to have faded a lot.

“Gyeol-gyeong, did anything happen while I was away?”

“Actually, there’s something I need to report….”

Judging by how she was holding back, it seemed like Sabi shouldn’t hear it.

“Sabi, it’s late, so go back to the detached palace and rest first. Gyeol-gyeong, come in for a moment.”

“Yes.”

He went into the inner quarters with Bibi, sat down, and Gyeol-gyeong brought tea and handed it to Beom before sitting down.

“So, what’s going on?”

“There have been some ominous movements.”

“Around the Military Affairs Hall?”

“Yes, it might just be my paranoia, but there have been more people glancing around the Military Affairs Hall than usual.”

They already noticed?

They were acting faster than he thought.

“They’re faster than I thought. But they probably aren’t sure yet.”

Even if it wasn’t because of Gon Sabi, the Minister of Military Affairs, who was gaining popularity, was an easy target for the family’s scrutiny.

If they made a fuss without reason, those guys would bite right away.

“Act as usual. And….”

Beom took out two *geun* of Wongeun and a few books from his pocket and handed them to her.

“This is….”

“The books are from the Gon family. They’re more basic than other secret arts, so it wouldn’t hurt to give them to her now to learn. I want to teach her, but as you know, I’m in a difficult position to make time, and Sabi doesn’t have a good impression of me.”

He was also annoyed.

“It’s better for you to give them to her than me. And keep this Wongeun in case you need it, use it if you have to.”

The person she spent more than half the day with was Joo Gyeol-gyeong.

She was more suitable than him.

“You can buy *Seondan* [elixir pills] with it and take it together, or buy rare items or *Seoncho* [spiritual herbs] needed for training.”

Joo Gyeol-gyeong might look like that, but she was a High Immortal.

She could give good teachings to the Lesser Immortal Gon Sabi.

“Rather than me, the Minister of Military Affairs….”

“I will also oversee the training as I have time, so can you do that?”

Joo Gyeol-gyeong hesitated before bowing her head and agreeing.

Only then did Cheonbeom nod and pat her shoulder.

“I’ll have to spend busier days from now on. There will be many things that will prevent me from paying attention to the Military Affairs Hall. You are also on the Great Sky Military Commander’s side, so you must think that helping me is helping him, right?”

“Of course.”

“I’ve said everything I need to say. Do you have anything else to say?”

“I’ll step down.”

After she stepped down, Beom took out a brush and inkstone and wrote something down.

Hwaran slyly appeared, hugged his knees, and leisurely watched him.

Under the candlelight, Beom’s appearance as he picked up the brush and wrote down the letters was so solemn that it naturally made her lips curve into a smile.

What he was writing were secret arts and traditions related to the Gon family.

He was unraveling the things that were clumped together in his head one by one and writing them down.

He was trying to take care of things he had been putting off all along while he remembered.

She thought about teasing him because she was bored, but she just quietly watched him because of his serious appearance.

She fell asleep and woke up to find herself resting on Beom’s legs.

“You’re awake.”

He was still holding the brush.

“I’m not awake.”

She was just being coy, so Beom put down the brush and patted Ran’s back.

“Mountain Lord.”

“Why.”

He could feel her hesitation.

Beom quietly waited for her to open her mouth.

“I thought it would be different if I ascended to immortality.”

Those words contained a lot of meaning.

“I thought so too.”

But it wasn’t.

This place was the same too.

“It’s just a world under the sky where we have to live fiercely.”

Whether it was the Lower Realm or the Upper Realm, anything under the sky was the same.

The beings under it always had to survive fiercely, and they had to crave something in that fierce life.

Whether that was affection, happiness, or something else, it was up to each individual.

“So, do you regret it?”

Ascending to immortality.

“Is there anything to regret? I was just by the Mountain Lord’s side.”

“Then, do you miss Mount Baek?”

“I miss it. There were good times in those days too. Even though I was a *Changui* [a type of mountain spirit], I liked it back then too.”

“Then what about now?”

She hesitated for a moment before answering.

“I like it now too.”

“Really?”

“Yes, because I can be by your side.”

Beom’s hand stopped at Hwaran’s sincere answer as she spoke while resting on his legs.

It caused a small ripple in his heart like a calm wave.

There was no overwhelming shock or fullness like a strong wave, but that was why.

Beom liked that calmness.

And he vowed to protect this calmness no matter what.

* * *

Time flowed like water, and a month had already passed since he was appointed as the Minister of Military Affairs.

A month had passed.

The Military Affairs Palace had been more bustling than ever for the past month.

The adjutants here, Peng Ga-yeon and Woo-myeong, were talented individuals, so they taught the lower officials and found work on their own without being specifically instructed.

Peng Ga-yeon had many cynical aspects, but she had a tenacity to pursue and find practicality, and Woo-myeong had a talent for finding the minor details that Peng Ga-yeon missed.

Therefore, the two filled each other’s shortcomings and contributed greatly to the transmission of teachings as adjutants of the Military Affairs Unit, becoming the hands and feet of the Minister of Military Affairs.

“They’ve become useful.”

The Military Affairs Immortals that Peng Ga-yeon and Woo-myeong had carefully selected were mostly those who were neither here nor there.

That’s why they had a great desire to join the Military Affairs Palace.

They knew it themselves.

That their skills were neither here nor there.

But that’s why they were excellent for becoming members of the Military Affairs Unit.

“It’s easy to say ‘master of both martial and literary arts’.”

It was too difficult to do it yourself.

Most people didn’t even know one thing in their entire lives, but trying to do two things would make their heads explode.

But the one who had done it was the Minister of Military Affairs, and he was standing right in front of them, so they had no choice but to strengthen their will.

“I thought it would drop to around forty, but there are still about a hundred left.”

The initial number accepted was three hundred.

They all fell off due to intense training and exams, and now there were only a hundred left.

Cheonbeom didn’t remember doing anything special for them. He had never given them special techniques or books, nor had he made *Seondan* for them.

Just.

“I’ve worked them hard enough.”

He had just worked them and worked them.

The number of Military Affairs Unit was one hundred.

The numbers of Literary Immortals and Martial Immortals were roughly the same, so he divided them and had them spar once a day.

One day was literary and martial.

The next day, he had them switch literary and martial arts with the person they had sparred with yesterday.

He repeated that, discussed what was more effective in between, and matched the answers to it.

“Minister, I clearly felt the killing intent earlier and thought I had found the enemy and broken the *Hwanjin* [a type of illusionary formation]… Why did I lose?”

“What you felt was a trace of intentionally spread killing intent. The easiest way to break the *Hwanjin* with martial arts is to feel the killing intent, and because you knew how to use it, you were caught off guard.”

“Ah….”

“It’s not ‘ah’, you have to think about what to do next time.”

“What should I do?”

“Ask your opponent. What do you think would have been an appropriate way to break the *Hwanjin*?”

“I think the weakness of my *Hwanjin* is that it lacks implementation, so it can’t completely immerse the opponent in the illusion. Therefore, if I had given a shock to break the ambiguous illusion that wasn’t properly implemented, it would have been easily broken.”

“That’s what he said. You insisted only on killing intent without understanding the *Hwanjin*, so you lost the sparring match.”

“Ah… I’m such an idiot.”

The Martial Immortal blamed himself, and the people who were listening around him laughed and comforted him.

‘If this continues, their skills will improve rapidly.’

They sometimes used imitations of *Janjan Gyeongjeongdo* [a type of sword technique] or *Janjan Hyeoljeongdo* [another type of sword technique] for training, but they didn’t use them often in the Military Affairs Palace.

His theory was that they had to move their bodies directly.

“Okay, let’s stop here for today.”

“Are you already leaving?”

One of the Military Affairs Immortals said with regret. A month had passed since he took office.

Cheonbeom was taking a vacation and had time to leave the palace for a while.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m also a High Immortal like you. I need to train calmly to have more to teach, right?”

Then the Military Affairs Immortals smiled bitterly.

“I’ll be back in a year anyway, so take good care of the Military Affairs Palace during that time.”

After being seen off by the Military Affairs Unit, he packed his bags in the Military Affairs Hall. He took Bibi, Gon Sabi, and….

“Gyeol-gyeong, where will you be?”

“I will occasionally look after the Military Affairs Hall and mostly be by the Great Sky Military Commander’s side.”

“I see.”

He had packed everything he needed.

After saying goodbye to Gyeol-gyeong and leaving the Water Palace, a prepared carriage greeted him.

It was a carriage supported by the Water Palace for vacationers. It was a magnificent carriage with dragon and phoenix patterns drawn on it.

“I wasn’t very interested in official positions in the past… but now I’m a little attached to it.”

He immediately climbed on with a happy heart.

“You’re not the coachman, so why are you here?”

“Minister, please help our family!”

The guest who had boarded the carriage first was Hu Hae, the youngest son of the Hu family, whom he knew.