Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 62

Despite the heavy rain, the line of young martial artists heading to the Mount Hua Sect seemed endless.

Some traveled in groups of three or five, while others went alone.

There were middle-aged martial artists leading younger ones, and occasionally, men would flirt with groups of women on their way to Mount Hua.

Arguments sometimes broke out, but Mount Hua experts were stationed to prevent accidents and mediate disputes.

Hwa-rin and Seo Dae-young were leisurely making their way to Mount Hua when they saw some martial artists walking ahead.

“Can Mount Hua even accommodate all these people? I guess it doesn’t matter since it’s a mountain and there’s plenty of land?” Hwa-rin muttered.

Seo Dae-young, walking beside him, replied, “They’re conducting preliminary interviews at the entrance, I heard.”

“Interviews?”

“Wouldn’t that mean they’ll only let those who meet the minimum qualifications inside?”

“Can they figure out someone’s martial arts skill just by looking at their face?”

“They’ll probably use a simple test to distinguish people. Like cutting a log in half with one strike.”

“Surely, Mount Hua wouldn’t conduct such an unfair test, would they?”

“Unfair test?”

“Even someone without real skill could cut a log using the energy imbued in their sword.”

There was some truth to Hwa-rin’s words, but such swords—divine swords, demonic swords, or evil swords—were rare even in the Central Plains [the main setting of the story, often referring to the heartland of Chinese martial arts culture].

“Wouldn’t holding such a sword make someone a master swordsman in itself? A treasure one can’t protect will only become a source of disaster.”

“I suppose so. Still, there’s such a thing as fairness, right?”

“Mount Hua has been holding the Mount Hua Gathering for a long time, so they probably have their own methods. Don’t worry about it, and let’s hurry up the mountain.”

“I guess so.”

“But, Chief.”

“What?”

“Why are you trying to look so careless? This isn’t like you. Do you have some other scheme in mind?”

At Seo Dae-young’s question, Hwa-rin grinned.

“I told you I met and talked with the Namgung family siblings, right?”

“You did.”

“Maybe it’s because they’re still young, or maybe it’s the environment they grew up in, but I got the feeling they subtly look down on people when they speak.”

“So?”

“Let’s say I’m better than them. How much would they hate, envy, and be jealous of me?”

Seo Dae-young wore an incredulous expression at Hwa-rin’s words.

“I don’t think anyone would think that way. Why would they have such feelings toward you, who has no connection to them?”

“You might think so. But watch, it’ll happen just as I said. The so-called privileged class—the Ten Great Families, the Nine Sects, and the children of slightly larger sects and families—won’t let anyone better than them get away with it.”

“If what you say is true, Chief, this place is no different from the imperial palace.”

“Every place where people live is the same.”

As they talked, they ascended Mount Hua and saw people lined up, waiting for something.

“It seems they really are conducting tests at the gates. Look at how long the line is.”

Just then, a man came down from the Mount Hua gates with his head bowed, and Seo Dae-young asked him,

“Excuse me, can I ask you something?”

“You’ll find out when you go up.”

As if knowing what Seo Dae-young was about to ask, he answered curtly and went down the mountain.

“No, how can this be happening!” One person shouted from the gates, seemingly wronged, but he soon lowered his head and turned back down.

“There must be a great master there. To suppress someone with just their aura.”

“Anyone can intimidate people who don’t have inner energy [qi or internal force], though.”

They stood in line and waited for about an hour when Seo Dae-young took the test given by Mount Hua.

“You must cut ten bundles of rice straw with one strike of your sword.”

“Then what’s that?”

“First, you must pass this……”

Whoosh!

Before he could finish speaking, the ten bundles of rice straw were cut diagonally and slid to the side, falling to the ground.

“Is that also a tool used for the test?” Seo Dae-young asked, and the Mount Hua disciple widened his eyes and nodded.

He hadn’t expected the rice straw to be cut so quickly.

“Please explain it to me.”

“Ah!” Only then did the Mount Hua disciple come to his senses and asked, “Have you cultivated inner energy?”

“Yes, I have.”

“Using your inner energy, strike the lump of Mukgang iron with your sword with all your might.”

As Seo Dae-young circulated the energy in his dantian [energy center in the body, according to traditional Chinese medicine], a strange flow of air appeared around him.

Seeing this, a Mount Hua elder wore a startled expression and hurriedly spoke.

“Stop!”

It wasn’t a loud voice, but Seo Dae-young heard it and stopped the flow of his inner energy.

‘He’s someone who can freely control his inner energy,’ the elder thought.

The Mount Hua elder approached Seo Dae-young with a slightly surprised expression and said, “I am Hwayoung of Mount Hua.”

He was Elder Hwayoung, who had come down from Mount Hua when the Minor Celestial Divine Art appeared in the Shanxi Province and stayed at the Nine Dragons Outpost.

At the time, Seo Dae-young was teaching children at the Sangnam County branch, so he had not met him.

“I am Seo Dae-young.”

“Please come inside.”

Seeing Elder Hwayoung treating Seo Dae-young with such respect, the other martial artists looked at him with envious eyes.

“I must wait for my Chief. I will enter together after a while.”

“Your Chief?”

Seo Dae-young’s head turned toward Hwa-rin behind him, and following his gaze, Elder Hwayoung’s gaze also turned to Hwa-rin.

“Oh, aren’t you the Chief of the Nine Dragons Outpost?”

“Greetings, Elder Hwayoung,” Hwa-rin bowed to Elder Hwayoung, and at the mention that Hwa-rin was the Chief of the Nine Dragons Outpost, people buzzed with excitement.

Recently, the good deeds of the Chief of the Nine Dragons Outpost had been gradually spreading in the Shanxi Province, and many people were curious about who he was.

“I never thought the Chief of the Nine Dragons Outpost would be such a young person.”

“Me neither.”

“And he seems to know Mount Hua well. Elder Hwayoung is one of the strongest experts in Mount Hua.”

As people buzzed, Elder Hwayoung tried to quickly bring Hwa-rin inside Mount Hua.

“Have you come to attend the Mount Hua Gathering?”

“I wanted to see who would be coming and thought it would be good to interact with those of the same age, so I came here.”

“I see. With your martial arts skills, Chief, you should easily pass the Mount Hua test, so please come inside.”

“Thank you, Elder Hwayoung.”

The fact that Elder Hwayoung had acknowledged him and allowed him inside Mount Hua was enough to attract people’s attention.

Hwa-rin and Seo Dae-young, who had crossed the gates of Mount Hua, were guided by a Mount Hua disciple who had been waiting.

“This way, please.”

He took Hwa-rin and Seo Dae-young to the Yeongjeon Hall instead of the Baekun Hall.

The Yeongjeon Hall was a place where honored guests were received, like a detached house in the inner courtyard of a manor, not just a detached house in the outer courtyard.

“This place is…?” Hwa-rin asked, and the Mount Hua disciple guiding them replied, “This is the Yeongjeon Hall. Elder Hwayoung instructed us to bring you here.”

“Are there others besides us?”

“Experts from the Nine Sects, the Ten Great Families, and the Demonic Factions, as well as those selected by Elder Hwayoung’s discerning eye, are staying here.”

“The thought of staying with such great people already fills my heart with excitement,” Hwa-rin said with a hint of sarcasm.

Seo Dae-young shook his head at Hwa-rin’s jesting.

‘What’s he up to?’ he wondered.

He hadn’t known Hwa-rin for long, but he knew that he was a wise and quite reasonable person. But for the past few days, he had been acting vague and frivolous, making it seem like he had some scheme in mind.

The Yeongjeon Hall, which they were guided to, consisted of four two-story buildings forming a square on a large site. Each building had walls around it, allowing for independent use of the space.

In addition, the large training ground for common use was well-maintained, and there were people practicing with swords and others watching.

“Their uniforms are different, so they must be people from other sects.”

“That’s probably the case. Considering that the Nine Sects and the Ten Great Families are united under the name of the Righteous Alliance, their relationship is a bit ambiguous when it comes to their own interests.”

“Even though you don’t travel the martial world, Chief, you seem to know a lot about it.”

“My military life was tough. Even if I don’t know much about sects or individuals, I know more about the nature of the privileged class than anyone else.”

Hearing the words ‘military life,’ Seo Dae-young nodded involuntarily. He knew that Hwa-rin had been discharged from the Myeongho Special Assault Bloodshed Unit, a place so difficult that people said you couldn’t come back alive.

“This is the place.”

“Can we use any room we want?”

“No. You should use room 201 on the second floor.”

“Ah, well… excuse me, but could you tell me about the people staying here?”

“They are the descendants of prestigious families in the martial world.”

“Families, not clans?”

“That’s right.”

“Thank you.”

As Hwa-rin said thank you, the Mount Hua disciple soon left, and Hwa-rin entered the building and found room 201 on the second floor.

“It’s the furthest corner. A place with nowhere to run if a war breaks out.”

“But isn’t it the safest room?”

“I guess so. Let’s go in and rest for a bit. Mount Hua is built too high up. It’s exhausting just climbing up here.”

Hwa-rin, who had collapsed as soon as he entered the room, closed his eyes and said, “If anyone comes looking for me, tell them I’m practicing martial arts and send them away.”

“Is there anyone who might come looking for you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe the Namgung family siblings will come.”

“I understand. Then I’ll ask where they’re staying and tell them I’ll visit later.”

“Do that. And Seo Sergeant Major, you should rest too.”

“Understood.”

Hwa-rin closed his eyes after hearing Seo Dae-young’s reply.

Soon, a faint and subtle light emanated from Hwa-rin’s body, forming a barrier that was then absorbed back into his body.

Seeing this, Seo Dae-young sat in meditation beside Hwa-rin, as if acting as a protector, and placed his sword on his lap.

‘What would happen if the martial world knew there was a divine art that allowed you to train martial arts while sleeping?’ Seo Dae-young mused.

As it happened, Hwa-rin knew a secret art that allowed him to train martial arts even while sleeping, which was the Dream Wanderer Art, one of the secret arts of the Beggars’ Sect.

This Dream Wanderer Art, which allowed one to train even in dreams, was based on the same principle as a master who had surpassed the realm of martial arts entering a state of selflessness through mental cultivation and training in their own world of mental imagery.

However, the difference between the Dream Wanderer Art and martial arts was that it could be used not only by those who had surpassed the realm but also by those who had reached a certain level through the training of the art, which was different from the world of mental imagery.

“No one will come, so I should do some mental cultivation too,” Seo Dae-young thought.

Seo Dae-young circulated the Howling Sky Art, the mental cultivation method of the Howling Sky Eighteen Swords, which Hwa-rin had taught him.

The Howling Sky Eighteen Swords was a swordsmanship that Hwa-rin had created by adding enlightenment through actual combat to the Myeongho Sword, which he taught in the Myeongho Special Assault Bloodshed Unit. It was a very useful swordsmanship in actual combat.

Whoooo!

As Seo Dae-young circulated the Howling Sky Art, the inner energy that had been quietly dormant in his dantian stirred and soon escaped from his dantian, moving along the meridians according to the guidance of the mental cultivation method.

Seo Dae-young was a martial artist with high martial arts skills, one of the best in the Dongchang [a powerful organization, often involved in espionage or law enforcement], and also a troublemaker.

He, too, had reached a certain level in martial arts, but Hwa-rin’s standards were too high, so he only received nagging.

‘He said I’m a step below Sword Dragon,’ Seo Dae-young recalled what Hwa-rin had said to him in the past and burned with determination.

‘I will surpass him, no matter who the opponent is, as long as it’s not my lord.’