Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 424

“Did such a thing happen?”

“Yes.”

“That’s quite bold. To utter such harsh words in front of you of all people?”

Tam Gyeong smiled bitterly.

“Looking back, I deserved those harsh words. It had been so long since I’d seen such an outstanding junior, I couldn’t help but be playful.”

Lee Beon clicked his tongue.

“Even so, to speak so harshly to a senior who’s lived seventy years longer than him. I don’t know whether to call it boldness or rudeness.”

“Hahaha, I thought so at first too.”

“Hmm?”

Tam Gyeong smacked his lips.

“We’ve severed ties with the secular world. We live the rest of our lives for one purpose, and our family is only those who remain here.”

“Hmm.”

“We said we wouldn’t get involved in the world, that the world’s standards shouldn’t judge us, so what’s with this talk of junior and respect? If we’re going to be so particular, shouldn’t we live like ordinary people too?”

“……”

“In the end, isn’t it all just going around in circles? If you’re going to talk about rules and laws, you should be part of them. If we’re going to impose our standards on others while living as we please, how are we different from those ruffians of the Black Path [a term for the evil or unorthodox martial arts world]?”

Lee Beon coughed awkwardly.

“Goodness, if you put it that way, what does that make me?”

“I’m just saying. Thinking about it that way, I could understand his reaction.”

“In any case, you agreed to his deal?”

“What else could I do? He looked like he’d really come at me with an axe if I refused. I can’t be brawling with a young junior at my age.”

“Tsk, you should have just run away.”

“I thought that might be better, but then he brought up the Four Symbols [a legendary martial arts concept], so I couldn’t run. How could I ignore my curiosity?”

Even though they had severed ties with the world, both men were renowned masters of the White Path [a term for the righteous or orthodox martial arts world]. For such people to so easily speak of running away.

Indeed, they were far from ordinary. Just their choice of words clearly showed they had left the secular world behind.

Lee Beon’s eyes gleamed.

“What was that child’s name?”

“Yeon Ho-jeong, he said. The eldest son of the Byeoksan Yeon family of Gangdong.”

“The Byeoksan Yeon family… Huhu, it feels like just yesterday that family started to gain fame.”

When Lee Beon was active, the Byeoksan Yeon family was a new martial family.

Of course, the Yeon family itself had existed in the region for a long time. However, it had not been long since they began to show off their powerful martial arts.

“As far as I know, the Yeon family uses orthodox Central Plains swordsmanship, but he has mastered the Four Symbols? Was he from a family connected to the Four Symbols?”

“I don’t know. But as far as we know, the Four Symbols can never be the martial art of one group. It’s likely that it was passed down to him alone.”

“Hmm, that’s true, but…”

Lee Beon’s eyes gleamed.

“It’s fortunate that you saw him. None of us could have examined the traces of the Four Symbols.”

“…Actually, I was very surprised. Surprised, and I couldn’t believe it. I never imagined that the young man who inherited the progress of the person who made me decide to spend my life in Mount Bul would appear before me.”

“Hmm.”

Tam Gyeong looked up at the cave ceiling.

He was looking at the ceiling, but his eyes were chasing the past.

“He was the first of his kind. I had never even imagined that all of Shaolin’s techniques could be broken with a few gestures.”

“……”

“It’s not like he revealed his true energy or crushed me with his aura. It was literally a dismantling. But it didn’t seem like he knew much about Shaolin martial arts.”

Tam Gyeong closed his eyes.

“From the moment I manifested my martial arts, he saw all my weaknesses.”

Lee Beon shook his head.

“I’ve heard this story many times, but I still can’t believe it. Is it really possible to dismantle Shaolin martial arts, especially the pinnacle of martial arts directly used by someone like you, the moment you see it?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that he had that ability.”

“Huh.”

“The eye to see weaknesses… It sounds plausible at first, but if you think about it seriously, it’s an absurd ability. There are often geniuses who can copy even the most complex martial arts after seeing them once, but a person who can immediately figure out how to dismantle that martial art is a talent of the century. Moreover, to immediately implement the dismantling method is impossible without the enlightenment of a master.”

“There’s one thing I want to ask.”

“Please do.”

“What part of him made you think of the Four Symbols? You said you didn’t feel even a trace of ‘that’ mysterious person’s energy.”

“His eyes and aura.”

“Hmm?”

Tam Gyeong smacked his lips.

“It’s hard to explain exactly. But that junior’s piercing gaze was exactly like that mysterious person’s, and his unique aura was also extremely similar, only with a difference in refinement.”

“……Hmm.”

“Besides, I knew it the moment I saw him. That he was that person’s successor. That’s not something you can know by looking at internal energy or stances.”

Lee Beon nodded.

“This is also a kind of fate.”

“Indeed. Seeing that, I wonder if our actions of being stuck here in Mount Bul, trying to find a scene from an old legend, are really right.”

“Come now. Do you have to say it like that? If you say that, what does that make the masters who have spent their lives here and died?”

“Hahaha.”

Tam Gyeong shook his head.

“Anyway, I should get going. If I leave now, I should be on time for the appointment.”

“When you go, correct his manners. My great-grandson said that his reputation is shaking the current martial world. With that level of martial arts at that age, he’s bound to be arrogant.”

“He’s rough, but not arrogant. At least, that’s what I think.”

“Is that so? Well, if you say so, then it must be.”

“Anyway, I’ll be back. You and the other brothers should rest for a few days. You must be tired from using your bodies after so long.”

“We’ll take care of ourselves, so you go and come back safe.”

Tam Gyeong smiled and turned around.

Lee Beon, who was quietly watching his back, said one thing.

“Are you still captivated by that mysterious person?”

Tam Gyeong stopped walking.

After standing there for a long time, looking out of the cave, Tam Gyeong burst into laughter.

“Captivated is a bit much, but it will be hard to forget him. You would have been the same, brother.”

Lee Beon nodded.

Indeed, it would have been a hard experience to forget. Where else would you feel the shock of seeing the invincible Shaolin martial arts being dismantled piece by piece?

Moreover, the mysterious person had sat the defeated Tam Gyeong down and spent over two days teaching him a new martial principle and points to improve in his existing martial arts.

Without that experience and teaching, Tam Gyeong would not have been called the strongest Arhat Hall Master in Shaolin history.

When Tam Gyeong was active, his reputation covered the four seas. He was more famous than the abbot of Shaolin at the time.

Behind that was the mysterious person, the successor of the Four Symbols.

“I never thought fate would lead to this. He said that when I raise a disciple in the future, and send that disciple out into the world, I would know. He said that just by looking, I would know that he was the successor of the Four Symbols…”

* * *

“Young Master Yeon.”

“I know.”

Yeon Ho-jeong turned his head.

An old man in rags was walking towards him in the distance. It was Tam Gyeong.

Tam Gyeong smiled.

“Have you been waiting?”

“You’re not late.”

“Of course. I have to keep my promise, if only to avoid being beaten to death by a murderous junior who threatens with an axe.”

“We will depart in a quarter of an hour.”

“Hahaha, unlike before, your tone is quite reasonable now?”

“It’s the least courtesy for a trading partner. And I don’t think it’s time to worry about such trivial things.”

“Trivial… Yes, this is trivial.”

He met that person’s disciple like this, and as he said, things like tone are very trivial.

“Anyway.”

Tam Gyeong turned his head.

There, Muk Bi was looking at him with surprised eyes.

“Oh my, who is this child?”

Muk Bi, who had been staring blankly at Tam Gyeong, was startled and bowed her head.

“Junior Muk Bi greets the senior of the martial world.”

Muk Bi’s voice was trembling faintly.

It was inevitable. She hadn’t realized it when she saw him from afar, but as he got closer, the dense aura emanating from Tam Gyeong’s body overwhelmed her.

‘An incredible powerhouse!’

He was stronger than Yeon Ho-jeong.

No, he was stronger than anyone she had seen in the current Martial Alliance [a term for the collective of martial arts sects]. He was much stronger than So-bang, whom she had faced as an enemy.

This was a matter beyond the difference in internal energy or stances. The old man before her was a master of the generation who had trained for a long time at a level above the realm that Yeon Ho-jeong had currently built.

‘Could it be…!’

Was he a powerhouse of the Saintly Heavens [a high level of martial arts mastery]?

It was then.

“That’s not it.”

He instantly knew what she was thinking from Muk Bi’s expression and aura.

“Although they are juniors, their realm, called the Saintly Heavens, is different from mine. It can’t be helped. They have pursued martial arts for a long time, but I haven’t spent much time immersed in martial arts since I reached this realm.”

Tam Gyeong smiled and continued.

“It’s not humility, but a clear fact. Although I may seem outstanding to you or this friend, I have not reached the Saintly Heavens. And that difference will only deepen over time.”

“……!”

“But you are also amazing. You seem to be about the same age as this young man, but with such martial arts… Huhu, even the next Arhat Hall Master of the main temple would have difficulty handling you.”

Muk Bi bowed her head again.

“Ah, no, I’m not.”

“But do you use archery? That’s unique. Was there a school of archery in the current Central Plains that produced someone as talented as you?”

He knew the name of the Four Symbols, but not the name of Gwanil [Muk Bi’s martial arts school].

Then, Yeon Ho-jeong raised his hand.

“Let’s stop with the useless talk. The last person is coming.”

“Hmm.”

Tam Gyeong turned his head slightly.

His eyes sharpened in an instant.

‘Evil energy?!’

A rather large carriage was approaching.

It was not the coachman driving the carriage, but someone inside the carriage that he felt the evil energy from. Although the amount was extremely small, to the point that it could be missed if one wasn’t paying attention, once he felt it, the density of the energy was as high as Yeon Ho-jeong’s.

Tam Gyeong asked.

“Who are you with?”

“A damn woman who might be helpful in persuading a stubborn official.”

“……Hmm?”

Thud.

The carriage stopped.

Yoon Ho of the Myeolsa Army [Yeon Ho-jeong’s personal army], who had acted as the coachman, got up from the driver’s seat and bowed his head.

“I’m here, Great Leader.”

“Good work. You memorized the way, right?”

“Of course.”

Yeon Ho-jeong said to Tam Gyeong and Muk Bi.

“Let’s get in. We’ll go straight to the Left Garrison Commander’s residence.”