“Ughhh.”

Chung Myung stood up and stretched, blinking in his place. Then, he looked at the sunlight streaming through the window with wide eyes.

“W-what is this?”

Morning? It can’t be!

But no matter how much he tried to deny it, the sunlight pouring in didn’t vanish.

As the sun gently warmed the blanket, it felt so cozy that he could go back to sleep again…

Ah, no! It shouldn’t be like this!

Chung Myung opened his mouth at this absurdity.

‘Did I oversleep?’

Who was he? Chung Myung, the Plum Blossom Sword Saint.

Of course, it wasn’t like he was proud to say that he achieved the title of Plum Blossom Sword Saint through hard work and not just talent. No matter how clear it was, it didn’t go that far. Since he had natural talent, it was true that his real and utmost efforts were enough.

But, well, he had never been lazy since the day he first picked up the sword to turn his talent into skills.

But…

“I overslept?”

Him? He did?

Chung Myung’s eyes shook.

“I-I….”

Being lazy was a sin, the gravest sin of all.

And he, not someone else, had overslept!

“Ughhhh!”

Chung Myung grabbed his head and began to search.

“They say people get lazy when their stomachs are filled to the rim! Oh heavens! How can this happen?”

In the past, this was something he wouldn’t even imagine.

Even during the war, when he had to clearly feel the limitations of the body, he never overslept like this. Why did he have to oversleep now when his body was so full of qi?

Chung Myung jumped up from his place and pushed the window wide open.

The sun wasn’t just up; it was almost in the middle of the sky.

“Eikk!”

Whatever was wrong, it was clearly wrong. Chung Myung began to get dressed hastily.

“Damn it! Even sahyung also appeared in my dream! After seeing that face, how can anything good even happen!”

-What did you say, you bastard!

“No! I don’t have the time to do this now!”

Chung Myung threw on his clothes, ignoring his hallucinations. Normally, he would have freshened up and then left, but now he didn’t even have time to wash his face.

“Ughh!”

He used his internal qi to expel the toxic materials from his body and the dust on him then ran out as quickly as he could.

In the training hall, all of Mount Hua’s disciples were already training. Even the first-class disciples were on one side, swinging their swords and sweating profusely.

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

‘I feel guilty….’

As a result, Chung Myung realized the shocking fact that there was something left in his heart that could be called a conscience.

“You are here?”

“…”

“Where were you? I didn’t see you the entire day.”

“…..”

“Chung Myung, do some training. If you went out early in the morning and practiced like that, would your body be able to handle it? How much did you train to come this late?”

“… ugh?”

“Tsk tsk.”

Yoon Jong clicked his tongue, looking worried. As he gazed at Chung Myung with sad eyes, it felt like a needle was being poked right into his heart.

“The strongest one trains the most, so the rest are burdened that they cannot even take a rest!”

As Jo Gul said it bluntly, Chung Myung felt a pang in his side.

‘No, no, why today of all days…’

If he had heard such things regularly, he would have pointed his finger at him and given him a round of shouting. But now, he was the thief who got caught, and even if tens of mouths spoke such things, he had nothing to say.

“Everyone… everyone came out early, huh?”

“Hmm… usually if you go down to train at dawn, then everyone will come out to train around 30-40 minutes after you.”

“… 30 minutes?”

“It is as such.”

Chung Myung looked at those training with shivering eyes.

Chaak!

Every time the swords clashed, sweat droplets rose into the air from those tightly formed, muscular bodies and then fell onto the training ground. So much sweat had soaked into the floor that its color had changed.

Normally, he would have loved seeing such a sight, but now every drop of sweat felt like daggers coming at him.

No.

Actually, the back of his neck was already wet with cold sweat.

‘I need to die.’

Not only the sahyungs but even the sasuks were all out of their dorms, training, sweating excessively while he had been sleeping until the sun rose high in the sky.

-Hahahah! You are worthless!

“Kuak! Shut up!”

“Uh? What?”

“… Ah, nothing.”

Chung Myung spoke awkwardly, then tilted his head slightly.

“But it seems like everyone is a little more strained than usual?”

“Rather than strained, they are working hard. More than usual.”

“Uh?”

Just as Chung Myung was about to ask, Baek Cheon put his sword down and approached them while wiping the sweat off.

“Woahh!”

“….”

Looking at the sweat on his face, he could see how sincerely they had been practicing.

“The event has just ended, so why are you all being this hard on yourselves?”

“It is because of that.”

“Uh?”

Baek Cheon looked at Chung Myung and said,

“Now, there is no longer a blind eye to the Heavenly Friends Alliance, and the status of Mount Hua has changed from before.”

“…”

“So, as you said before, those we have to deal with have become stronger. And we don’t even have to mention Jang Ilso and the Ten Thousand People clan.”

Chung Myung nodded.

“If we remain the same and the opponents keep getting stronger, isn’t the result obvious? That means we need to become stronger.”

Hearing those words from Baek Cheon, Chung Myung looked at the training hall.

He gave no instructions to them.

In the past, Un Geom had to use harsh methods to train, and later, Chung Myung would beat them all up and make them train. But now, everyone in the training hall was practicing on their own without anyone guiding them.

As he looked at the extremely serious expressions on their faces, he felt his fingers tingle.

“And….”

At that moment, Baek Cheon distorted his face and glared at Chung Myung.

“You train like that, and if we train less than you, we won’t be able to catch up even if we go through our entire lives!”

Then Yu Yiseol, who happened to be standing by his side, nodded with her usual blank expression. Chung Myung asked with a puzzled look.

“… is it that important?”

“It is!”

Jo Gul shouted loudly.

“Honestly, you are the best warrior right now at the disciple level, or maybe the best in Mount Hua, so you don’t care about that!”

“….”

“I just need to get a little bit, a little stronger than you! So, if I just snap my fingers in your face, I will climb the final mountain with peace of mind!”

Yoon Jong and Baek Cheon nodded in agreement with Jo Gul’s words.

“I think I will ascend to heaven with my fists extended.”

“If you achieve that level of growth, I think even the first Taoist will come barefoot to greet us.”

“…”

No, these bastards!

“That is a hundred years away!”

“A hundred years isn’t that long.”

“It is worth investing time in.”

“It will take a hundred years to hit that bastard.”

“Right.”

Chung Myung’s eyes shook violently.

‘These people are being serious.’

Their eyes were clearly not joking.

No, what crime did he commit for you all…

“It is a joke.”

“I don’t think so?”

“Well, half serious then.”

As Chung Myung was at a loss for words, Baek Cheon chuckled.

“Everyone knows. We have a lot of work to do in the coming future.”

“….”

“I don’t think you can change anything more by training a little more or putting in effort. But… it would be 100 times better than not doing anything.”

Chung Myung nodded at that.

“I am just doing what I can do best in the current situation. And then we will slowly move ahead, little by little.”

“Watch out for the back of your head!”

“Behave properly, brat!”

Chung Myung’s face went blank as he looked at Jo Gul, who was playing with words, and Tang Soso, who was planning with a needle behind him. The sound of the Mount Hua disciples devoting themselves to training was all around the hall.

Chung Myung’s eyes shook slightly.

-If you run blindly, will you see anyone following you? Do you really think your sajaes do not want to keep up with you?

‘Then what was it in the past?’

Even at that time, the training hall was full of people training.

But the drops of sweat they shed weren’t visible to Chung Myung back then. But now, he could clearly see it.

-It is too late now.

‘Sahyung….’

Was this what he wanted to say?

“…ugh, the nagging…”

“What, brat?”

Chung Myung just chuckled and turned his head. It wasn’t that he was feeling too emotional or something, but for some reason, he didn’t want to show any emotion he was feeling now.

Chung Myung sighed slowly, thinking about his expression, and then looked at the Five Swords of Mount Hua.

“If you practice like this, you will catch up to me! Well done!”

“…this bastard!”

Baek Cheon gritted his teeth.

Shhh!

And he pulled out his sword.

“Oh, okay then! Let’s learn about how to train since it has been so long! If I think about it, it has been so long since I sparred with you!”

“Ho?”

Chung Myung was interested.

“Our Dong-Ryong has been winning a bit lately, and his confidence is touching the sky. How dare you draw your sword in front of me!”

“I am your sasuk, you bastard!”

“Sasuk seems so lively. If it were Sasuk, I would have killed them already.”

“Ohho! Then let us kill each other today!”

Baek Cheon’s eyes were red as he rushed at Chung Myung.

“DIEEEEEE!”

“You want me to die from that?”

The sword qi rose from the two instantly and swept around.

“W-what!”

“Insane!”

The startled disciples, alarmed by the force of qi and violent fighting, ran away to a safer place to avoid getting caught in the sword qi.

And so, only the Five Swords of Mount Hua leaned back and watched the fight with their arms crossed.

“…ugh, bloody.”

“No matter how I look, this doesn’t seem like sparring, right?”

“Is it alright to use such kind of punishment against sahyung and sajae?”

But even amidst the fierce sword qi, Baek Cheon and Chung Myung’s mouths didn’t stop moving.

“Today, I will make sure to sharpen that chin of yours!”

“You dream so big! Do you think anyone can do that?”

Kakakak!

Baek Cheon’s sword was blocked by Chung Myung’s light swings and bounced back.

‘Hmm.’

Chung Myung smiled as his wrist felt slightly cold.

‘You have grown so much.’

It was different in the past. How precious were those who could spar like this and those who desperately followed in his steps?

It was only after he lost it all that he realized.

As his sahyung said, if he had looked back a little more at the sajes, maybe the future would have changed a little.

But…

‘It is in the past now.’

And the past left behind nothing but regret. There was something in front of him he had to protect now.

“Relax those wrists more! The strength isn’t enough!”

“Ahhhh!”

As the attack got blocked again, Baek Cheon ran, gritting his teeth, and Chung Myung smiled.

‘Don’t worry sahyung.’

Chung Myung glanced at all the disciples of Mount Hua, watching their spar, and shouted.

“Because it will be different now!”

His sword made the most beautiful flowers bloom.

The plum blossoms were blooming once again.

“Ah, this feels so nice.”

Chung Myung smiled brightly and wiped his sweaty forehead.

He looked around with the expression of a starving cat, then shrugged his shoulders.

“Now that I’ve moved my body, I feel hungry. And I will start with you first.”

“…”

Chung Myung walked away calmly. His light steps made those who saw him feel good.

But… there was one problem…

Those who were looking at the back of Chung Myung turned their gaze.

“….”

Everyone sighed simultaneously, watching Baek Cheon on the ground, twitching constantly.

“He couldn’t hit him once.”

“… a hundred years might not be enough then.”

“Gul, move sasuk to the physician’s hall.”

“… yes.”

Mount Hua’s disciples once again realized that there was a long way to go.