“Here.”

“…What is this?”

“These are newly written martial arts books. They will be easy to understand.”

Hyun Jong narrowed his eyes as he looked at what Chung Myung presented to him.

A book titled Purple Cloud Divine Arts and another Plum Blossom Sword Arts. Looking at those clean books now, he couldn’t help but question.

“…What do we do with these books?”

“Ah, that?”

Chung Myung smiled.

“Maybe it’s because it was old, but it fell apart when I began to practice the martial arts. Don’t worry. I knew what would happen, and so I prepared in advance.”

“…Fell apart?”

“Yes.”

Hyun Jong’s eyes trembled.

“Are you saying that the treasure which the ancestor left behind is gone?”

“Eh. What’s so important about that? What’s important is what it contains.”

“…”

“It’s probably alright because the ancestor didn’t really need to leave behind the book itself.”

Ahem, surely it should be all alright. If he didn’t want to die.

He did feel some sorrow when collecting the remains of Chung Jin, but how could people change this easily?

“…You wrote it all down in advance?”

“Yes.”

Chung Myung nodded cheerfully.

But, as bright as Chung Myung’s expression was, Hyun Jong’s mind felt like it was rotting.

“W-wait!”

Hyun Jong, who was at a loss as to what to do about this huge mishap, suddenly realized one thing and then shouted in shock.

“Purple Cloud! What happened to the Purple Cloud Enhanced Qi?”

“Sorry?”

“Why are there only two volumes here? Where did the other one go?”

“Ah, that?”

Chung Myung laughed lightly this time.

“I couldn’t save it.”

“What?”

Hyun Jong’s eyes widened.

“I-I cannot believe it. What… what do… what do you mean…”

“Uh… so the thing is…”

Chung Myung rolled his eyes to the side as if thinking about how he should respond and then smiled.

“After taking a rough look at it, I thought it was something that didn’t need to be left behind, so I didn’t copy it. But it looks like it flew away when the other ones were being done?”

“Flew?”

“Well, it is alright! Because it is better to do things now!”

“R-right now, our ancestor’s vision… you crumbled and made it fly?”

“Uh…”

Hyun Jong’s face instantly became gaunt, as if he had aged years at once. Chung Myung scratched the back of his head without an earnest look.

“Won’t you understand? Have a big heart.”

“Ugh!”

“S-sect leader!”

“Sect leader, get your senses!”

Hyun Jong eventually grabbed the back of his neck and fell back. But Chung Myung just continued to look at him with an indifferent expression.

“It wasn’t such a useful martial art anyway; you are being too angry…”

“What, brat?”

Hyun Jong, who had fallen back, suddenly sprang up and rushed at Chung Myung. Chung Myung said ‘fine’ and dodged to the side.

“Y-You bastard! That thing! What kind of importance does it hold!”

“Eh. That is something that never even existed.”

“Uh?”

Chung Myung spoke with a bit of a serious look on his face.

“What is the problem when something that didn’t originally exist has vanished again? It is just a useless obsession….”

“…”

“A mountain is a mountain. Water is water….”

“Ughh!”

Hyun Jong kicked at Chung Myung, but Chung Myung just avoided it.

“No, listen, I am saying it because it isn’t really important.”

“Even so, that guy! Come here! Why aren’t you coming here?!”

Hyun Young and Hyun Sang grabbed Hyun Jong, who was moving around to get Chung Myung and held him. He looked like a fish wriggling out of water.

“Calm down, sect leader.”

“Let go! Let go of me!”

“Why are you doing that? You know you cannot win.”

“Ughhhhh.”

Hyun Jong, who felt the truth come down, gritted his teeth and looked pale.

“How will I be looked upon by the ancestors when I die? Oh, heavenly Buddha! Oh my, give me peace!”

As expected, the reason the Purple Cloud Divine Arts was exclusively for the sect leaders was to defeat people like Chung Myung in such times.

He momentarily wondered if he should revert the martial arts to being exclusively for the sect leader. Still, it was too late since Chung Myung had already learned it.

“Ugh… I’d rather die than see this.”

“It is easier if you just give up.”

“…”

One day…

It was Hyung Jong who vowed to defeat that bastard one day.

“Now, now. That is enough. First, look at the martial arts book.”

Hyun Jong tried to speak back, but Hyun Young was slowly getting annoyed and hit Hyun Jong to cover his mouth.

“Is it alright to memorize this?”

“Yes. Start with the recitation of the nine lines. Take your time and do it coolly. If you rush and make a mistake, it will be a problem for you.”

“I get it.”

Hyun Young picked up the book and urged Hyun Jong to do it.

“Instead of dwelling on things that have passed, focus on this. We are already busy with other matters.”

In the end, Hyun Jong, who was grunting, gave up and closed his eyes. Hyun Young wasn’t wrong. Right, so what could be done now? The vision of the ancestor had been lost now.

With a fazed look, he helplessly opened the book.

‘Right, let us move away from regrets.’

He, too, knew how superior the Purple Cloud Divine Arts was compared to the Purple Cloud Enhanced Qi. It was 100 times better than the situation where Purple Cloud Enhanced Qi stayed with Purple Cloud Divine Arts remaining…

Uh?

Hyun Jong, who was reading the book, tilted his head. After a while, his eyes went wide like mountains, and he looked at Chung Myung.

“… Chung Myung.”

“Uh?”

“… I don’t know if this is because of my emotions, but the text here seems different from what I saw before.”

“It has to be your emotions.”

“… Is it really because of that?”

“Hahahah. The sect leader always says something interesting. Do you think I could have changed the technique?”

“…”

“Eh. If I could do that, I would be the Grand General or the Great Military General. How can I change the characters of a martial art which was created by the best? Haha. You are being so funny now. Then it wouldn’t be Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon but Martial God, Mount Hua’s Martial God!”

Hyun Jong looked at the book and then at Chung Myung with a suspicious look.

‘What he says is true, but…’

The Purple Cloud Divine Arts was the best martial art in Mount Hua, focusing on purifying the qi.

No matter how genius-minded he was, Chung Myung’s current strength could not be compared to the ancestors of the past who made it. Wasn’t Mount Hua known to produce people worthy enough to fight for the Greatest Sword title?

So, even if it was Chung Myung, he could not alter this.

It shouldn’t happen… it cannot happen…

‘Then why am I so anxious?’

Hyun Jong’s eyes were turning anxious as they moved around the book.

He was feeling uneasy about the fact that Chung Myung was the one who made such a thing happen. Honestly, how many times has Chung Myung done things far from common sense?

“You didn’t, right?”

“Yes.”

“It isn’t real, right?”

“Eh, are you one to be fooled just because someone tries?”

Hyun Jong’s senses kept telling him something was wrong.

‘This brat is definitely hiding something….’

But probably because he was feeling frustrated with his look, Hyun Young was openly showing irritation.

“Ah, move away if you are going to be like this!”

“…”

“I am so busy as it is! We don’t have time, no time!”

Hyun Jong had a sullen look, but Hyun Young didn’t care and spoke to Chung Myung.

“Then, let me read it first, okay?”

“Yes, yes!”

“Fine.”

Hyun Jong looked at those two, working hand in hand.

If… Chung Myung was doing it; Hyun Young was the kind of guy who would trust him even if stones were boiled instead of leaves.

“But Chung Myung.”

“Uh?”

Hyun Sang, who had been silent until then, quietly opened his mouth.

“Have you learned the Purple Cloud Divine Martial Arts?”

“Yes.”

“How is it?”

Chung Myung looked a bit concerned with the question and said,

“I still don’t know yet.”

After a moment of thought, he added,

“As you know, the new martial arts vary a lot depending on how much one learns it.”

“Right.”

Hyun Sang nodded in sympathy.

In general, martial arts proficiency levels were classified from one to twelve stars.

In terms of swordsmanship, if one completely memorizes the basic techniques and can execute them, even if clumsily, it could be called One Star.

When one perfectly embodied the sword and made it their own, they were said to have touched the Twelve Star.

Unlike sword techniques, which showed strength from learning one movement, the Divine Arts didn’t show much strength when one learned the basics. But, when it was constantly practiced, the strength it could generate was exceptional.

“But this is a bit serious.”

“Serious?”

Chung Myung scratched his cheek.

“When it comes to the One Star level, it is just… a small river? No, even a stream seems too much. Maybe a puddle? No… water in a cup? No, no. It is water in a spoon…”

… How small could you get, Chung Myung? Could that even be called an art?

“Well, it is nothing. However, as our technique increases, we get equally stronger.”

“Hmm.”

“If it can be done perfectly, it might be possible to create a real purple sunset with the human body.”

Hyun Sang burst into laughter at those words.

“Does that even make sense…?”

“No. It is the truth.”

But then Hyun Jong agreed with Chung Myung’s words and said,

“From what I know, in the history of Mount Hua, there hasn’t been a single person who achieved the 12 stars.”

“Uh?”

Hyun Sang looked at Hyun Jong with a shocked expression.

Even though it was a martial art that could be mastered by the sect leader of Mount Hua alone, there weren’t many people who had mastered it. No one has achieved success yet?

Hyun Jong nodded quietly, understanding why Hyun Sang was puzzled.

“I guess that means it’s a very esoteric piece of martial arts. I heard that even the creator of Purple Cloud Divine Arts was unable to fully master what he created. The sect leaders of the past could only achieve 70%, but even for that, they were considered the best in the world.”

“Ah….”

Chung Myung, who was listening quietly to what Hyun Jong said, glanced at the sky.

“Best in the world…”

-What? What now, you bastard, what?

No, it was just that. Did he even say anything?

Hyun Sang nodded while listening to Hyun Jong’s explanation and gulped.

“Then, if only it can be learned well…”

Although it was vague, Hyun Jong was able to guess what was behind it.

“Right.”

“… okay.”

Hyun Sang’s eyes turned more serious. Hyun Jong also straightened his posture and looked at the book with serious eyes.

Although the person in front of him was a disciple of the youngest admission, learning was learning. He emphasized to the disciples countless times that learning was a must.

Hyun Jong turned to Chung Myung with a calm face and said,

“We all know that there will be bigger waves coming to us in the future and that Mount Hua might face more hardships.”

“…”

“I also know that no matter how much we are respected, it isn’t easy to lead a sect in a situation with just respect. So…!”

Hyun Jong gazed at Chung Myung with eyes full of passion.

“Don’t forget that teaching us harder and more harshly is for our own good! There is no need to hesitate!”

“Uh?”

When Chung Myung asked, looking a bit flustered, Hyun Jong once again emphasized:

“I am the sect leader, and there is no need to look at us favorably because we are elders.”

“…”

“If you have such thoughts, shake them off! And treat us like other disciples…”

“That… sect leader. I am not sure what you are talking about…”

“… uh?”

But Chung Myung kept tilting his head as if he didn’t understand.

“Can you please think of the situation?”

“…”

“Why?”

Hyun Jong, who was speechless, laughed out loud.

‘I forgot for a moment there.’

Looking at the face that showed he didn’t understand the idea of overcoming difficulties and teaching to the best of his ability for the sake of the sect leader and elders, but rather just considered teaching, Hyun Jong became painfully aware of the person he was speaking to.

Hyun Jong, who composed himself, nodded with a firm face.

“Then, Chung Myung.”

“Uh?”

“… be gentle.”

“…”

“As I get older, our bones ache.”

It was a word that contained the sadness of Hyun Jong, who was running ahead with great motivation but whose body couldn’t keep up.