Hwasan Sect’s Genius Swordsman Chapter 95

Chapter 95

The Martial Alliance at midnight.

Torches and lanterns placed at regular intervals illuminated the surroundings, but as the light mixed with the darkness, a peculiar atmosphere emerged.

Musicians could be heard playing instruments like the zither and lute, their gentle melodies drifting through the air.

In the boundary where light and darkness blended, all sorts of people gathered, enjoying the lively atmosphere.

“Brother Mu Hwi, by the way, what was the elixir in Frost Sound Demon King’s box?”

“It’s quite a precious elixir. But since I’ve already received the Great Rejuvenation Pill, there’s no need to take it right away, so I’ll keep it for now.”

“It’s not a bad idea to carry it around as a life-saving medicine for emergencies.”

The temporary food stalls set up along the Martial Alliance’s streets, resembling a market, were filled with all kinds of delicious-smelling food.

“There’s so much variety here.”

“I told you, all the famous places around here have set up shop.”

The fragrant smells that continuously stimulated his nose made Mu Hwi, who hadn’t been thinking about food, feel his hunger rising.

Along with the smells, the sounds of frying, boiling, and sizzling filled the air, making his mouth water.

Xian Zhu, seeing Mu Hwi’s eyes glued to the food stalls, covered her mouth and laughed.

“Shall we eat something? The Sect Leader gave me plenty of money, so I’ll treat you as a special celebration for your victory.”

Xian Zhu lightly tossed a bulging money pouch in her hand, and Mu Hwi also smiled.

“Then let’s try that fried noodles over there.”

“And that one next to it. Normally, you’d have to wait in line at that chef’s inn.”

Mu Hwi glanced over and saw that Xian Zhu was pointing at glutinous rice meatballs.

The sticky rice meatballs had rice grains on the outside, but the inside was filled with meat.

The rice grains, seasoned with vinegar and salt, enhanced the flavor of the richly seasoned meat inside, making each bite more delicious.

“Tasty, right?”

“It’s worth its reputation.”

As Mu Hwi slurped the noodles and picked up the meatballs one by one, his hunger quickly disappeared.

Xian Zhu, with one cheek stuffed, kept looking around and quickly moved whenever she found something she wanted to eat.

“Brother Mu Hwi, try this too.”

Xian Zhu kept bringing food to Mu Hwi, trying to feed him. As a result, the speed at which Mu Hwi chewed gradually slowed.

“I think I’ve had enough.”

As Mu Hwi tried to put down his chopsticks, Xian Zhu’s chopsticks shot toward him like an arrow.

Mu Hwi lightly tilted his chopsticks to block Xian Zhu’s sneak attack.

Clack!

“You said you’ve been starving all day, what nonsense is that? Just because your martial arts are strong doesn’t mean you can skip meals.”

Seeing Xian Zhu’s cold gaze as if they were crossing swords, Mu Hwi had no choice but to chew and swallow diligently.

After filling their stomachs at the table outside, the two walked through the Martial Alliance’s night streets.

“Facing us while protecting them alone? It won’t be easy, will it?”

“Since I picked up the sword and entered the martial arts world, nothing has been easy. Unfortunately.”

“Haha! It’s been a while since a hero like you appeared in this martial arts world!”

On the streets, an opera was being performed.

A man, with a child and a woman behind him, stood alone against villains.

His exaggerated speech and actions drew the eyes and feet of passersby.

It seemed to be a dramatization of a hero’s story, and it was quite entertaining.

“Brother Mu Hwi, do you know? That opera is said to be about the Alliance Leader’s youth.”

“What? Really?”

“It’s true. It’s about how he alone protected a small village from evil martial artists.”

The heroic deeds of Kang Ho-baek, who was once called the Great Hero, were widely known in the martial arts world, and some of his stories were still talked about even after so much time had passed.

For rising stars making their first appearance in the martial arts world, Kang Ho-baek’s tales were enough to ignite their hearts.

“A story from the Great Hero’s youth…”

Hearing that it was a story from Kang Ho-baek’s youth, Mu Hwi became more engrossed in the opera.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

When the man playing Kang Ho-baek engaged in a flashy sword fight with the villains, Mu Hwi subtly stepped on a hidden fragrance marker for Xian Zhu, who was deeply immersed in the opera.

No one around, including Xian Zhu, noticed that Mu Hwi had suddenly disappeared.

When Mu Hwi’s figure reappeared, he held a piece of candy in each hand.

As the sweet smell wafted up, Xian Zhu looked down and smiled brightly at the offered candy.

“Oh, is this for me?”

“Hmm.”

Mu Hwi didn’t answer but handed her the candy, and Xian Zhu smiled sweetly as she accepted it.

“It reminds me of the candy we ate together.”

“Yeah.”

The two of them watched the opera while munching on the candy.

At one point, Mu Hwi suddenly looked around.

The name YongDong Banquet wasn’t for nothing, as many men and women were paired up, watching the opera together.

Thinking that he and Xian Zhu were also part of this flow, Mu Hwi found the situation unfamiliar.

‘I’ve never spent time so leisurely like this. Even when I had free time, it was just me brewing good wine alone.’

Mu Hwi was watching the opera, but the scene before his eyes was different. It was the memories of his past life.

He just swung his sword and collected martial arts. Using the collected martial arts, he created new techniques, and with the power he gained, he pursued higher realms.

The Sword Devil, who had picked up a dull blade to survive, had unknowingly trained in martial arts to become stronger and to escape loneliness.

But because of that, the Sword Devil became lonelier and had to live an even drier life.

Thus, such leisure was naturally distant from the Sword Devil.

‘Compared to my past life, I’m living a completely different life.’

Although he had vowed to live a new life as Mu Hwi and not as the Sword Devil, the environment around him, including the Hwasan Sect, must have had a significant influence.

If he had lived the same life as his past, he wouldn’t have experienced a woman looking at him with sparkling eyes like now, nor would he have enjoyed watching an opera while eating candy.

“It’s really awkward… But not bad.”

At Mu Hwi’s muttering, Xian Zhu looked up and stared at his face.

“What is it? The man playing the Alliance Leader? He’s doing well, isn’t he?”

Xian Zhu, who had fox-like eyes, looked utterly innocent as she blinked at Mu Hwi.

“Is that so?”

Mu Hwi smiled calmly.

At that moment, the crowd surged, and Xian Zhu’s shoulder was bumped by a man passing by, causing her to stumble.

Xian Zhu, pushed to the side, grabbed Mu Hwi’s sleeve to regain her balance.

As a result, the distance between Mu Hwi and Xian Zhu, who had been two steps apart, closed in tightly.

With their arms touching as she held his sleeve, Xian Zhu’s cheeks flushed slightly.

“Brother Mu Hwi, I’m sorry. The crowd suddenly…”

“It’s fine. Just stay like this.”

At Mu Hwi’s words, Xian Zhu didn’t let go of his sleeve and fiddled with the embroidered plum blossoms.

And so, Mu Hwi and Xian Zhu stood close together, watching the opera like the other couples at the YongDong Banquet.

The opera, reaching its climax, was incredibly lively, and the half-eaten candy seemed to taste even sweeter.

“Sweet.”

Xian Zhu’s lips curved softly.

‘Just as planned.’

The shoulder bump from the crowd was a coincidence, but her stumbling wasn’t.

She was confident she could handle even the full-force attack of a peak martial artist with ease.

It wasn’t like Xian Zhu to lose her balance from a mere shoulder bump.

‘It was worth waiting for hours beside him. Hehe.’

Xian Zhu, who had cleverly used the opportunity disguised as a coincidence, smiled contentedly while watching the opera.

But what Xian Zhu overlooked was that Mu Hwi had seen through everything.

Mu Hwi pretended not to notice and raised the corner of his mouth.

‘She does have a cute side.’

When Mu Hwi turned his head again, the man playing the Great Hero was walking away alone, as if marking the end of his heroic deeds.

***

The Martial Alliance’s founding ceremony concluded successfully, and the Martial Alliance began to move in earnest.

Just because the founding ceremony ended didn’t mean the crowds that had visited the Martial Alliance left immediately.

“Then, the first-generation disciple will stay for a while, I suppose.”

“Yes. I think it’s a good opportunity for the disciples.”

Baek Yu nodded at Mu Hwi’s words.

The Martial Alliance was a massive organization, and although it was systematized, it would take time to fully settle in.

In the meantime, there was a particular shortage of hands, so the Martial Alliance had asked for help from the sects that participated in the founding ceremony.

As a result, many rising stars also stayed, naturally creating a new space for interaction.

And at the center of it was the Small Righteous Assembly, with Mu Hwi as its leader.

The Martial Alliance, short on manpower, assigned simple tasks that rising stars could handle, and the rising stars carried out these tasks to gain experience.

Those in key positions within the Martial Alliance closely observed these rising stars, looking for talent.

“It’s better than leaving for the martial arts world from Shaanxi; you can gain diverse experiences here.”

The elders, who seemed to share Baek Yu’s thoughts, also chimed in.

“With so many other rising stars staying, it’ll be good for mutual improvement. Just today, the kids left early in the morning to challenge the Six Dragons.”

“You can always explore Shaanxi later, so it’s better to let them see a broader martial arts world through the Martial Alliance.”

Baek Yu nodded and said to Mu Hwi,

“With you here, I have no worries. As the Senior Disciple, return at the appropriate time.”

“Thank you, Sect Leader.”

After seeing off the elders who left the Martial Alliance headquarters to return to the Hwasan Sect, Mu Hwi headed straight to the Martial Alliance’s library.

The Martial Alliance’s library, modeled after the Janggyeonggak of Shaolin Temple, was a massive structure with three underground floors and five above ground.

This scale dwarfed even the Hwasan Sect’s Scripture Pavilion.

“It’s Young Hero Mu Hwi. Except for the special-grade books, you can access all the others.”

The library manager, who recognized Mu Hwi even before he signed the guestbook, smiled and spoke.

Having won the Heavenly Martial Competition, Mu Hwi could access all books from the fifth to the first grade, even without any official position in the Martial Alliance.

He had heard that the special-grade books were only accessible to the Alliance Leader, elders, or those with the Alliance Leader’s permission.

‘It’s a shame about the special grade, but it doesn’t matter.’

Mu Hwi hadn’t come to the Martial Alliance’s library to look for a few exceptional secret manuals.

The reason Mu Hwi stayed at the Martial Alliance for a while was not only for the experience and growth of the first-generation disciple but also for his own sake.

The Martial Alliance’s library contained various types of books, including martial arts manuals, but Mu Hwi headed straight for the shelves filled with secret manuals.

Since the library was newly built, most of the martial arts were from orthodox sects.

Among them were also secret manuals entrusted to the Martial Alliance by various sects.

There were martial arts from destroyed sects and even those of evil leaders.

Mu Hwi knew that the secret manuals of the Jeonjin Sect, entrusted to the Martial Alliance by the Hwasan Sect, were classified as special-grade and kept deep within the library.

“Let’s begin.”

Mu Hwi swept up the secret manuals on the first shelf.

In his past life, he had built his martial arts foundation on relatively easy-to-obtain evil sect techniques, and after being called the First Sword of the Evil Path, martial artists from the Seven Evil Heaven sought him out on their own.

They came to take away the title of the First Sword of the Evil Path.

Thanks to that, he had easily broadened his knowledge of evil sect martial arts, but his knowledge of orthodox sect martial arts was lacking in comparison.

Mu Hwi intended to fill that gap through this library.

‘Especially heart techniques and sword formations.’

Mu Hwi aimed to experience various orthodox sect heart techniques and sword formations to broaden his horizons.

Pursuing breadth, not just depth, also played an important role in achieving mastery.

Especially now that the Twenty-Four Hands Plum Blossom Sword Technique had been born, the progress of the sword formation, which had been in development before the sword technique, was accelerating day by day.

In fact, the sword formation’s completion was becoming more refined through the process of subtraction rather than addition, so it seemed he could complete the sword formation while staying at the Martial Alliance.

‘With all the rising stars gathered here, it’ll be good for testing the sword formation too.’

As Mu Hwi flipped through the books, a shadow fell over the pages.

When Mu Hwi looked up, a middle-aged man with a serene demeanor was waiting in front of him.

“Is this the first time we’re meeting alone? The Zhuge Family Head, or rather, here I should introduce myself by my position as the Grand Advisor.”

The Martial Alliance’s Grand Advisor, Zhuge Jin, smiled calmly at Mu Hwi.

< It was worth waiting for hours beside him. > End

< I need your help. >