Chapter 100. The Entire World is My Home (21)
Unfortunately for Woo-Moon, those who had heard the conversation between Choo Moon-Hwi, Yu Cho, and Hyeon Mu-Cheol now judged Woo-Moon solely based on that small part of the story.
“They seem... angry for some reason?” Jeong-Woo said, his gaze growing cold. He could sense the strange mood in the room as well.
Even Namgoong Sung and Baekri Yeong-Woon had stiff expressions from the clear hostility of those around them. In particular, the impatient and proud Baekri Yeong-Woon was on the verge of snapping out at them.
In any case, Woo-Moon reminded himself that he was here as the representative of the Three Great Sword Families and controlled his rage.
“Drop it. Let’s just go back,” he said after confirming that Palan Shin-Tong and the two Martial Ministers had left.
Sadly, just because he wanted to let it slide did not mean others would.
“Haha, It’s been a while, Song Woo-Moon,” Choo Moon-Hwi said, suddenly appearing out of nowhere and acting as if he was chummy with Woo-Moon.
Already in a bad mood, Woo-Moon frowned and looked closely at Choo Moon-Hwi.
“Who the hell are you to talk to me like that? Do I know you from somewhere?”
Choo Moon-Hwi’s expression grew ugly when he realized that Woo-Moon didn’t even recognize him.
“You don’t remember me? And here I thought we were close when we were younger. It’s me, Choo Moon-Hwi.”
Only then did Woo-Moon remember who this bastard was.
“Oh, that’s right, Hook Nose. Yeah, it’s been a while,” Woo-Moon responded half-heartedly.
He tried to pass by and leave the hall, but Choo Moon-Hwi stopped him, clearly offended at being called Hook Nose.
“Just a second. Don’t you think you’re being too cold to a friend you haven’t seen in a long time?”
But did Woo-Moon really have any good memories with Choo Moon-Hwi? Did he think of him as a friend?
No, not at all.
Moreover, it wasn’t as if Choo Moon-Hwi had ever considered Woo-Moon a friend, either. He just thought of Woo-Moon as a pushover he had bullied throughout childhood.
‘I’m going to make sure everyone knows what trash you really are,’ Choo Moon-Hwi thought as he sneered.
On the other hand, Woo-Moon was in a pretty foul mood.
Even without all these constant reminders, Woo-Moon still could not distance himself from the issues he had in childhood, particularly when he was so infatuated with the landscape painting that he turned into a fool. He would get so angry that his blood would boil whenever he remembered how the other kids in the village—among whom, he now remembered, Choo Moon-Hwi—would bully him back then. So, seeing Choo Moon-Hwi in person almost pushed him over the edge.
“I’m busy, so get out of my way. Stop bothering people.”
Choo Moon-Hwi was flustered by Woo-Moon acting in a completely different way than he had expected. He had assumed that Woo-Moon was going to timidly apologize like when they were young, just begging not to be beaten.
He could feel the gazes of the other talents shifting to him. He thought back to when he had made such a big fuss about Woo-Moon being an idiot who only got to where he was because of his grandfather’s reputation. Therefore, he knew he would lose all face if he were to show weakness right now and back down in the face of said idiot.
Moreover, when he saw how Woo-Moon, who hadn’t been able to even look in his direction when they were younger, behaved so arrogantly, he felt his blood boil.
As he was still young, his emotions were stronger than his common sense. In fact, they were strong enough that he forgot he should be careful with his words around the Three Great Sword Families.
“No, I don’t want to. What are you going to do about it? And who do you think you’re glaring at? What, you want to hit me? Do you really dare?”
“I can do more than that.”
“Ha! So it seems that our dear little idiot grew some balls after finding out his grandfather is the Palm Martial Emperor, hasn’t he?”
Woo-Moon froze.
‘You just won’t cut it off with that idiot thing, will you? Alright.’
“Have you said everything you wanted to, Choo Moon-Hwi?”
“And? What are you going to do about it?”
Choo Moon-Hwi was being so ridiculous right now that Woo-Moon had to suppress a laugh.
“Can I take your actions as you acting as a representative of the Mount Heng Sect?”
Choo Moon-Hwi did a double take at Woo-Moon’s words.
“No. I’m not acting as the representative of the Mount Heng Sect right now. These are just my personal feelings.”
“Oh, really? That’s a relief. Then, I’ll also deal with you as Song Woo-Moon, and not as the representative of the Three Great Sword Families. Now, instead of wasting time slinging insults, how about we just spar and get it over with?”
The representative of the Three Great Sword Families!
The other talents were shocked, as they hadn’t known that the Three Great Sword Families had even decided to elect a representative, let alone that Woo-Moon was the one to be represented.
It was easy to assume that he had become the representative of the Baek Family through the backing of the Palm Martial Emperor and not his ability. But then...how great was that backing? Was it enough to cause the Namgoong and Baekri Families to step back and let a weakling represent them as well? Not a chance.
‘Could he be lying?’
Hoping that Woo-Moon was lying, Choo Moon-Hwi looked behind Woo-Moon to Namgoong Sung and Baekri Yeong-Woon. However, instead of finding unpleasant or irritated expressions, he only saw the two nodding their heads as if they completely agreed with Woo-Moon.
He couldn’t understand it. Something was wrong.
‘What sort of bullshit is this...’
Seeing Choo Moon-Hwi struggle to respond, Woo-Moon smiled.
“What, cat ate your tongue? You’re not worried about losing to an idiot, are you? You seemed to be raring to go at it earlier, where’d that courage go?”
Woo-Moon’s sarcasm sparked a fire in Choo Moon-Hwi’s gaze.
“Fine, we’ll do as you want. Let’s spar!”
Woo-Moon burst out laughing.
“As I want? Wait, you think I want to spar with you? How could sparring with a loser like you be on my wish list? Aren’t you a little delusional?”
Crack.
Realizing he couldn’t beat Woo-Moon in a battle of words, Choo Moon-Hwi gritted his teeth and stayed silent in order not to lose any more face.
“I saw a sparring ground on the way here. Let’s go there,” Woo-Moon said, leading the way.
Following behind him, the other talents of the Three Great Sword Families finally couldn’t hold back their laughter any longer and started to chuckle.
‘As expected from Uncle!’
‘Kekeke. You really dared to provoke my hyung-nim. Choo Moon-Hwi, you’re really going to regret this.’
***
Although the Sword Emperor was walking slowly, quite a far distance away from the ceremony hall, he could still hear the conversations and see what was going on between the talents as if he was standing right next to them.
‘That little brat is just like his grandfather. Hohoho.’
As he walked, he suddenly ran into a swordsman in his late fifties. It was Jeong Yu-Pung, an elder of the Mount Heng Sect.
“Lord Chief Commander Emeritus, have you been well?”
“Oh, good to see you. I’m fine, thanks for asking, but is it really okay for you to be strolling around here so casually? Your strongest talent may have gotten himself into a bit of a predicament.”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
“It seems as though the Palm Martial Emperor’s grandson and that boy named Choo Moon-Hwi from your Mount Heng have a lot to talk about. It seems they plan to spar. I have to say, the grandson is an exact copy of his grandfather.”
The Sword Emperor continued walking after saying his piece. Then, one of the two swordsmen following him, the Wudang Sect’s Myriad Shadow Sword Hyeon Woon, spoke up as well.
“A fair warning: when he said that child is an exact copy of the Palm Martial Emperor, he meant that in terms of both personality and martial talent.”
“Huh?”
Jeong Yu-Pung suddenly felt the hair on the back of his head rise.
‘Shit, I have to stop him!’
The Palm Martial Emperor Baek Sang-Woon.
Was it even possible to quantify how much trouble he caused and how many people he beat up? Many of those he “taught a lesson” bore permanent marks of these lessons.
He was an absolute calamity, to the extent that even though he was a member of the Baek Family, the entire Justice Coalition would tremble in fear at the thought of pissing him off.
‘And his grandson is just like him?!?!’
Although Choo Moon-Hwi had an odd personality, he was still an incredible talent and was the strongest of the younger generation talents of Mount Heng. It was absolutely crucial that Jeong Yu-Pung prevented him from fighting with this little Palm Martial Emperor or whatever.
‘Choo Moon-Hwi, you idiot, people like the Palm Martial Emperor are natural disasters! You can’t provoke them!’
Jeong Yu-Pung used his movement technique with the greatest desperation he had ever felt in his life. He sprinted toward the direction the Sword Emperor glanced in.
***
“What’s with all this talking? Shut up and let’s go at it. You talk so much you’re making me think all your brainpower is used to move your jaw up and down.”
Choo Moon-Hwi was so infuriated by Woo-Moon’s grating words that he let out a scream. However, before he could throw the first punch, his entire body froze as an overwhelming pressure enveloped him.
‘Wha-what is this?’
Cold sweat began to run down his back as his limbs refused to listen to him.
Moreover...
Woo-Moon suddenly appeared impossibly large in his view.
Choo Moon-Hwi felt a strong shock run down his spine, as if gravity had suddenly increased tenfold.
‘Am I being pushed down by just the pressure of his aura? There isn’t a single opening for me to attack. He just looks so large and impossible to approach! Just how the hell is this happening?’
He hated to admit it, but Woo-Moon felt larger than life.
Although Woo-Moon had touched the threshold of the Absolute, he wasn’t yet able to display the pressure of an Absolute Master. Still, he could do something similar; by circulating his qi and exuding bloodlust, he could unleash an intangible fighting spirit that could directly suppress the will of those of a lower cultivation than himself.
The reason why Choo Moon-Hwi was frozen in panic, trembling like a frog before a cobra, was precisely that fighting spirit Woo-Moon was exuding. He panicked, and he knew that he had been defeated before the spar had even started!
However, right before he admitted defeat, he heard a voice call out to save him.
“You brat, what do you think you’re doing?!”
Jeong Yu-Pung had shown up, leaping up onto the sparring ground and scolding Choo Moon-Hwi.
“Martial Uncle!”
Woo-Moon’s fighting spirit dissipated when Jeong Yu-Pung showed up, allowing Choo Moon-Hwi to greet his martial uncle hurriedly.
“What the hell are you doing right now? The tournament to elect the Righteous Warrior Squadron captain is going to begin soon! How could you, the representative of the Mount Heng Sect, act so rashly?!”
Jeong Yu-Pung turned to look at Woo-Moon for a moment before continuing, “You only have to wait one more day to compete with Young Hero Song of the Iron Sword Baek Family, anyway. Now come on, follow me!”
The other talents grew quiet as Jeong Yu-Pung harshly reprimanded Choo Moon-Hwi. Meanwhile, Woo-Moon frowned in irritation, as if he had gone into an outhouse with no cleaning supplies, while the other members of the Three Great Sword Families simultaneously sighed with a hint of regret.
‘He was about to get destroyed in front of everyone. Damn, we were this close to watching a good show....”
In any case, the spar ended in a lackluster manner due to Jeong Yu-Pung’s intrusion. Thus, the remaining talents chatted for a short time before returning to their respective pavilions.
***
As soon as he returned to his lodgings, Woo-Moon called for one of the nearby warriors of the Justice Coalition.
“I heard that the Justice Coalition has its own smithy. May I know where that is?”
“Oh, that place is...”
After listening to the warrior's explanation, Woo-Moon headed to the smithy with Ma-Ra. His sword had broken after taking Ah Hee’s attack, and he needed a new one.
Namgoong Sung, Jeong-Woo, and Baek Ryeong also joined in.
“Uncle! Let us tag along, too.”
“Hyung-nim, please allow me to join you,” Namgoong Sung said.
“Fine, fine. Do as you wish.”
Standing off to the side, Baekri Yeong-Woon hesitated before also walking before Woo-Moon.
“I have something to ask you, Young Hero Song.”
"What is it?"
Baekri Yeong-Woon looked Woo-Moon straight in the eye.
“If you would allow it, I would also like to take you as my hyung-nim!”
Baekri Yeong-Woon’s heart raced as he anxiously waited for Woo-Moon’s answer. He couldn’t even bring himself to look at Woo-Moon’s face properly because he was too flustered, thinking Woo-Moon would find him ridiculous.
Seeing Baekri Yeong-Woon’s normally stoic face turn red, Woo-Moon chuckled inside, but he answered with no hesitation, “Sure. Then call me hyung from now on.”
Baekri Yeong-Woon wondered how many days and nights he had stayed up, nervous about speaking about this with Woo-Moon. He was almost disappointed with how nonchalantly Woo-Moon agreed. It almost seemed... too easy. Of course, Baekri Yeong-Woon was happy, first and foremost, to be welcomed.
“Thank you so much, Young Hero... no, hyung-nim!”
“I’m thinking of going to the smithy, my sword broke and I need a new one. Do you want to come with me? Well, there won’t be much for you to do if you come along.”
Baekri Yeong-Woon glanced sideways at Ma-Ra before nodding vigorously.
“Yes! I’ll come along, too, hyung-nim!” he said, almost painfully loud.
Woo-Moon chuckled and set off.
“Okay. Then, let’s go.”
As they set off for the smithy, Baekri Yeong-Woon suddenly got disappointed as Ma-Ra slipped into the shadows again and disappeared.
***
The smithy was located in the northwest corner of the Justice Coalition Estate.
“What brings you here?” asked one of the smiths while wiping his brow.
The smiths all worked shirtless due to the extremely hot nature of the smithy, and the sweat only served to emphasize their strong muscles.
“Oh my.”
Baek Ryeong blushed.
As Woo-Moon was about to respond, he saw a group of people entering the smithy behind him.
Leading the group was Xiahou Jinxian, the captain of the Wind Sword Squadron—one of the Five Swords of Heavenly Justice—and the most promising talent of the Xiahou Family, and the Sichuan Tang Family’s Poisonous Blood Flower Tang Yu-Ryeon, who was known as one of the Three Peak Flowers of the younger generation.
Following behind them were several talents of the Xiahou Family.
Woo-Moon and Xiahou Jinxian both turned their heads to look at each other the moment they sensed each other’s presence.
"Huh?"
“...?”
The two already had a somewhat... tenuous relationship.
Some time ago, after taking down the Inksmoke Gang, Woo-Moon got into a scuffle with Xiahou Jinxian. As a result, the latter ended up defeated and knocked out.
“You... you, it’s you! That boorish crazy bastard from back then!”