Flutter. Flutter.

The sound of light footsteps stepping on grass spread like a song across the quiet mountainside.

“Hmm.”

Hyun Jong took a deep breath of the clean early morning air and hummed.

‘This feels so nice.’

Waking up early in the morning is difficult for anyone. The same was true even if you were a Kangho person with a trained body.

However, if one somehow managed to get their body up, wash their face, and refine their clothes, all the difficulties would disappear, and they would naturally feel better.

Especially when they went out to train at a time like now when others weren’t awake…

At that moment, Hyun Jong looked ahead with a relaxed expression.

‘Ugh. Seems like I am late.’

Pat!

A sword moved gracefully through the air.

The early morning moon was shining faintly behind Yu Yiseol, who was rising into the air and shaking the sword.

Hyun Jong watched Yu Yiseol in silence.

She stepped on the ground and tilted her head.

After swinging the sword a couple of times, she nodded and took her stance again.

‘Since when was that child…’

This was a child who couldn’t even shed a tear in front of her father’s grave. He still remembered the day when she entered Mount Hua holding his little hand, with her small trembling hand, but she was now so big that she could swing her sword.

‘It is nice.’

In the past, Yu Yiseol was always lonely.

There were many sahyungs-sajaes in Mount Hua, but Yu Yiseol couldn’t mingle with them. As always, she swung her sword alone and chased after something alone. She stubbornly walked alone on the path that no one in Mount Hua would walk.

A smile formed on Hyun Jong’s lips.

But now Yu Yiseol had people watching over her. There was Tang Soso, Chung Myung, Baek Cheon, Jo Gul, and Yoon Jong.

Perhaps that’s why Yu Yiseol, who was now wielding the sword, no longer seemed as lonely as she did back then.

Hyun Jong shifted his gaze to the moon shining behind her.

‘Are you watching?’

“Now close your eyes comfortably. Everything you wanted will come true now.”

Hyun Jong, who had been watching Yu Yiseol practice with warm eyes, quietly turned away.

“Let’s see… then the next place to…”

Hyun Jong sighed as he looked at the peak on the other side. It seemed like he had to move down a little and then go up.

“…”

Hyun Jong’s eyebrows twitched.

“Haa!”

Paaang!

With a powerful sound of slashes, the sword cut through the air with swift sharpness.

“Aoh. Shit! Why doesn’t this work? It was easy when Chung Myung did it!”

The person who swung the sword back and forth squatted down, rested his chin on his hand, and began to mumble something.

“Have they distributed the qi incorrectly? It cannot be… then it wouldn’t be like this. Ah, no. Did I apply too much force on the wrist? Ugh… that doesn’t seem like the case either.”

While pondering and drawing a line on the ground with his finger, he suddenly got up.

“I don’t know anything anymore! If it unfolds a hundred or thousand times, I should understand! Isn’t martial arts originally something you learn with your body?”

‘No!’

That was not it! You had to understand to do it!

“Ughhh!”

He drew the sword horizontally and vertically, repeating the same movement over and over again. Hyun Jong was so saddened that he wondered if he could help that person. But then.

“Done!”

Uh?

“Uhahahah! So this is it! The knee, it was the knee!”

… done?

The person who jumped up on the spot burst into laughter.

“This is alright! I-I should have tried it sooner!”

Hyun Jong closed his eyes, but after trying to explain what he was saying, he shook his head.

Right. It would be great if it got resolved. What did it matter anyway?

“Now, next!”

The sword began moving quickly through the air once again.

Hyun Jong, who was watching the scene from behind the thick bushes, smiled.

‘That guy, too.’

Seeing Jo Gul with a bright smile made him happy.

At one time, Jo Gul was wandering around without any connection to the martial arts. But now, he is so devoted to martial arts that he trains alone from the very morning.

He was not willing to do it just because he was training hard.

A person didn’t live twice.

You only lived once, and if you lived it to the best of your ability, no matter what, you could praise it as much as you wanted.

‘But it is surprising.’

It wouldn’t be shocking if it was Yoon Jong, but he didn’t expect Jo Gul to start training early in the morning.

Well…

In a way, it was Jo Gul who was showing the fastest pace of development among the disciples.

‘If he hadn’t practiced hard in secret, he couldn’t have achieved the results we see now.’

It was so obvious, but if one looked at the words and actions of Jo Gul daily, one would miss this fact.

‘Work hard.’

Hyun Jong turned around, cheering in his heart.

“But…”

His face looked a little sad as he turned to the other side.

‘Where should I go again?’

They were extremely diligent.

Wonderful people.

“Hmm. There is no way this wouldn’t work. Let us try again.”

Right. Baek Cheon.

He was working so hard, and his sect leader was very happy with this.

Swish! Swish!

Tap!

Soso.

Why was she throwing a needle instead of swinging the sword?

Right, okay… of course, Mount Hua was a sect that wasn’t so hell-bent on making everyone follow the same martial arts… even so, shouldn’t she use a sword to train?

Tang Soso rushed over, pulled out the needles stuck in the rock, and pulled them back. Then, she went back to her original place, swung the sword again, and spun around, firing them again.

“Ah, shit! Why do I keep going for the needles? I should train with the sword!”

Uh… maybe she wasn’t throwing needles on purpose.

Uh…

What was that again?

Hyun Jong trembled a bit.

Yoon Jong, holding his sword, didn’t move. Hyun Jong waited to see if he was in deep thought, and he stayed in the same position the entire time. Yoon Jong didn’t move an inch.

‘Is he sleeping?’

No, no.

It could be anyone else, but Yoon Jong cannot sleep with the sword in hand.

Then what…

After a long time in the same form, Yoon Jong slowly lowered the sword.

“Well, this is how it goes.”

What?

What was it, brat? He was just standing there holding the sword. What did that mean?

“Then this…”

Yoon Jong took the form of swinging the sword to the side. But the swinging sword seemed to stop in the air, and Yoon Jong once again became frozen like a stone statue and didn’t move.

Hyun Jong, who was watching this, shook his head.

‘I don’t know anymore.’

Well… there was a method that worked well for everyone.

Hehe. Hehehe.

“Ughhh!”

Baek Sang, he should just focus on rebuilding the Finance Hall.

“Ohhhh!”

Jung Ho.

Right. Yoon Jong and Jo Gul aren’t the only ones among the Chung disciples. Right.

“Ummmm!”

Un Am?

Uh? Un Am? Since when has he been training like that? Not Un Geom but Un Am?

Since there were people everywhere he went, Hyun Jong turned back with a sad look.

At this point, this could not be called training. Weren’t they all occupying the entire mountain peak?

‘It is good that Mount Hua has a bright future.’

Where should he go then, where…

It had been half an hour since he left the residence. He set out to train early in the morning, but what happened was this…

“Right. Let’s just head down.”

Since the upper part of the mountains was taken by the young ones, he had no choice but to go to the middle hill.

Hyun Jong, who had climbed down the mountain, looked for any presence around him. A blush on his face.

“Not here….”

“No! I said no!”

Flinch.

Hearing the shout that came from a short distance, Hyun Jong looked around.

‘They are here too.’

“If you are going to do this, just gather at the training and do it, you brats! Why bother coming here!”

But even though he knew there were people around, he didn’t turn around right away. The voice he just heard was so very familiar.

Of course, the voices of the Mount Hua disciples were all familiar, but the voices from before were very different.

“No, didn’t I do like you asked me to!”

“A bit more strength! Okay! Not much, just a bit!”

“Damn it! How will I know the difference between a bit more strength and just a bit!”

“You! Seriously!”

Hyun Jong, who was listening to this bickering, quietly approached them and stuck his head out of the bushes. Then, two people screamed in shock.

“Oh my! You shocked me!”

“Ugh! Say something when you come, say something!”

Hyun Jong slightly tilted his head to the side as he looked at Hyun Young and Hyun Sang, standing awkwardly holding their swords.

“…What are you doing here? Right from the morning.”

“That… well, ahem.”

Hyun Young slightly averted his gaze with a humble look on his face. Seeing that his ears were red at the tips, he seemed to be embarrassed.

Hyun Sang smiled and answered.

“I need help because the Plum Blossom Sword technique is tough.”

“Plum Blossom Sword technique?”

Hyun Jong let out a laugh.

“Are you saying you came out this early in the morning to train for that? There is a lot to do every day.”

“Why is there a lot to do? I don’t get it.”

Hyun Young grumbled.

“And even though there is work, does it make sense to train the young ones and let them do it all? If we want to be proud, we need to do our part.”

“Why should we, you bastard?”

“So, does sahyung want to have fun?”

Hyun Jong laughed at this, but at the same time, his eyes turned wet. When he saw the sword in Hyun Young’s hand, he felt proud, too.

‘He was like that too.’

Hyun Young gave up martial arts early on to handle the tasks of Mount Hua. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to learn martial arts but because there was no one else to manage the responsibilities.

It was true that he lacked talent, but never at any time did Hyun Young have any intention of letting go of the sword of Mount Hua, as long as the sect didn’t step into danger.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“No, just… it all feels new.”

“It is surprising.”

Hyun Young kept snapping back at him. But Hyun Jong knew very well that Hyun Young’s reaction didn’t come from malice but from being flustered.

“Well… it might have been like that in the past. Now there is Baek Sang, two kids are helping the hall, and there are people dispatched from the Eunha merchant union too, so we do have enough hands…”

“Haha. True. True.”

“Ugh! Right! So I just train in my spare time! Is that good?”

“Who said anything? Heheheh.”

Hyun Young rolled his eyes as he saw Hyun Jong bursting into laughter.

Uh-oh. If only he wasn’t the sect leader.

“You have been through a lot.”

Hyun Sang shook his head at Hyun Jong’s words.

“Not at all, sect leader.”

Hyun Sang hesitated for a moment and then continued to speak with a faint smile.

“I just feel thankful that this chance has come my way.”

“Thankful?”

“Yes. When the Ten Thousand People clan attacked, didn’t we stand at the forefront to protect our disciples?”

“Of course we did.”

“Yes, sect leader. It is an expected thing. But if the disciples become stronger than us, can we lead them then?”

Hyun Jong, who had been listening in silence, understood what Hyun Sang meant.

“Right. I see what you mean.”

“I don’t want to put the disciples ahead because I lack something. However, I do not want to be a burden to the disciples by stubbornly standing ahead with no strength either. With this skill and sword technique, wouldn’t we be able to protect our disciples for a while?”

Hyun Jong looked at Hyun Sang with sad eyes.

“Hyun Sang.”

“Yes, sect leader?”

“I have no intention of giving up the vanguard to these children for at least 10 years.”

“Same here.”

The two men smiled and looked at each other. But unfortunately, one person had a different look.

“Can I say that too?”

“You are a bit…”

“Eh, that is too…”

Seeing the two with shocked looks, Hyun Young’s face soured, and he shouted.

“If you come to train, then just do that and don’t talk! Teach your sahyung what you were being taught!”

“… Is this how a learner acts?”

“Ah, then try living without money from today!”

“Fine, let’s start right away! Hurry!”

Hyun Jong laughed as he looked at Hyun Sang, who was startled and demonstrated it. But the end of the laughter was a bitter smile.

‘I am glad this chance has come to us.’

Right. Right.

Hyun Jong moved his gaze up.

The morning sun was slowly appearing beyond the tall Mount Hua peak.

‘Right. I am so glad.’

It was truly bright.

Hyun Jong smiled and glanced at the two people before joining in.

“You need to relax there!”

“Do not tell me! I will die no matter what.”

“Let’s see. I will show you.”

“Ah, go away!”

The sound of the three people clapping was heard on the slope of Mount Hua, which shone in the early morning sunlight.