-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: A New Path
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It had been eight years since the Namgung family began searching for the child.
She had been raised by Hyeolma since she was five, making her thirteen now.
For reasons unknown, she seemed to have returned to her thirteen-year-old past.
‘A regression after death.’
Was it the influence of some grand technique? Or a spell?
The possibilities of the grand techniques developed by the Hyeolgyo were infinite, so it might not be entirely impossible.
Hyeolma had ceaselessly researched to achieve immortality, so one of his attempts might have succeeded.
Though she didn’t know why she had returned.
‘Whatever the reason, what matters is that I’ve returned to the past.’
Returning to her room, Ilhwa packed her belongings.
In truth, there wasn’t much to pack. All she had was a single sword and a coin purse holding a few copper coins.
Ilhwa paused, her packed belongings in hand, lost in thought.
At this time, Hyeolma was operating a tavern called Hwaoru in Yunnan.
While ostensibly an inn and tavern, it was in fact a stronghold for the Hyeolgyo, which was silently expanding its power, preparing to swallow Jungwon whole.
‘I can’t go back to Hwaoru.’
Now that she knew she was a member of the Namgung family, she couldn’t repeat the foolish act of destroying her own clan with her own hands.
That left the Namgung family as her only option.
Ilhwa gazed down at her small hands.
She still couldn’t believe it.
That she was a member of the Namgung family.
In her previous life, she had spent her entire existence trying to bring down the Namgung family.
‘I… I was a Namgung!’
She clenched her fist tightly.
‘Five more years.’
That was the time when the Hyeolgyo, hidden in the shadows, would emerge into Jungwon under the name of Daesura Hyeolgyo and ignite the Hyeolgyo Rebellion.
Five years remained until then.
‘I don’t want to be a puppet in Hyeolma’s hands anymore.’
Since she had returned to the past, she couldn’t repeat her previous life. So.
‘I must go back.’
Go back and cultivate power.
She would cultivate the Namgung family’s power, preventing them from being annihilated as they were in her previous life, and also thwart Hyeolma’s grand scheme to conquer Jungwon.
With the memories of her previous life, nothing was impossible.
Five years was short, but it was enough time to prepare.
So…
“I’m going back.”
To the Namgung family.
To my homeland, which I destroyed with my own hands.
***
Now that she had decided to return, she wanted to go to the Namgung family immediately, but there was one problem.
Ilhwa circulated the internal energy flowing within her body.
Dark red and murky internal energy surged from her dantian.
Her cultivation realm right before death was Hwagyeong.
‘Now… it’s merely Jeoljeong.’
No, it was rather fortunate that it was merely Jeoljeong.
The Hyeolgyo’s martial arts were based on blood.
Instead of gradually building from the foundation, most of their martial arts involved plundering and absorbing others’ blood or true qi to claim as their own.
Therefore, while they achieved rapid and explosive growth, their internal energy was turbid and had severe side effects.
The problem was that if she returned to the Namgung family with such internal energy, she might be killed before even being accepted as a member.
‘Cheonryonggeomhwang Namgung Mucheon.’
Ilhwa’s grandfather and the patriarch of the Namgung Sega, Namgung Mucheon.
He was renowned as one of the ten greatest masters of the martial world, famous for his intense hatred of the Heukdo.
He particularly disdained those who cultivated sinister internal energy, and rumors claimed he would kill them without mercy.
Therefore, before going to the Namgung family, she first needed to eliminate the turbid blood energy that Hyeolma had forced into her body.
***
“Thousands have already visited the Namgung family, they say. Even if someone just has a birthmark-like spot on their neck, they push their way in.”
“Some even brought their own children, didn’t they? Aren’t they just blinded by money, trying to sell their kids?”
“No, the Namgung family isn’t foolish… Surely they can tell their own child from someone else’s?”
Stepping out of the inn, the streets were also abuzz with talk about the Namgung family’s lost child.
Ilhwa, the subject of these conversations, pondered in front of a stall.
“Hey kid, are you buying or not? If not, move aside! Other customers have been waiting!”
Ilhwa looked up at the stall owner. Even though she merely looked, the chill in her eyes made the owner involuntarily shrink back and hesitate.
“Wh-why are you looking at me like that?”
“Is this delicious?”
The stall owner’s gaze shifted to his display.
Arranged neatly across the front of the stall were various fruit Tanghuru.
“…Have you never eaten one before? Didn’t your mother ever buy you one?”
“I don’t have a mother.”
“...!”
The stall owner’s face quickly paled.
Seeing his rigid expression, Ilhwa tilted her head, not understanding.
Crunch. Crackle.
‘What a strange person.’
He then asked about her father, after her mother, and handed her a Tanghuru.
She tried to pay, but he wouldn’t take the money.
He even teared up and patted her head.
Even though her emotions weren't completely gone thanks to her return to childhood, she couldn't understand the stall owner's actions.
‘Is it because I lived so long without feeling emotions?’
She couldn’t recall what emotions were, how they felt, or what sensations they brought.
Because of that, she often found it difficult to understand other people’s actions, but she felt no regret.
‘Emotions only hinder judgment.’
There was no need to restore something that had dulled.
Ilhwa crunched on the Tanghuru she’d gotten for free, looking around.
‘Is this Raknamhyeon?’
The place where Ilhwa had opened her eyes was Raknamhyeon in Shaanxi Province.
It was located south of Hwaeumhyeon, which was home to the famous Hwasanpa.
Ilhwa had only been to Raknamhyeon once in her childhood.
‘It was when Hwasanpa and Shaolin Temple were secretly trading an item, and I had to intercept it.’
The transaction between Hwasanpa and Shaolin Temple was conducted in utmost secrecy. As it was top-secret, the item being traded was also extraordinary.
It was none other than the Shaolin Temple’s spiritual elixir, the Daehwandan.
The Daehwandan, hailed as the ‘Sacred Elixir of Illusion,’ was one of the most coveted spiritual elixirs in the martial world, virtually impossible to acquire.
Upon hearing that such a precious elixir was leaving the Shaolin Temple, Hyeolma ordered a Heukdo group called the Heugunbang to retrieve the item.
‘He had threatened to capture all the Heugunbang members and sever their limbs if they failed to bring it, hadn’t he?’
As Hwaoru was infamous among the Heukdo, the Heugunbang reluctantly complied with Hyeolma’s demands.
Ilhwa’s mission was to deliver the stolen item to her master.
“Hmm…”
Ilhwa rested her chin in her hand, deep in thought.
A Daehwandan would be an unparalleled ingredient for expelling her current internal energy. Since there was no other way to obtain such a spiritual elixir right now, it was also a good opportunity.
For some reason, neither Shaolin Temple nor Hwasanpa had publicly raised an issue about this matter.
‘I’ll intercept it.’
Ilhwa looked up at the sun, which was beginning to set.
The time for receiving the item from the Heugunbang was the Hour of You (5 to 7 PM).
“It’s about time to go.”
Ilhwa discarded the Tanghuru stick she had finished and bounced a few times in place.
Although the diminished internal energy after returning to her childhood felt a bit unfamiliar, her body was definitely lighter, perhaps due to her young age.
Her flexibility, even without stretching, showed she had diligently trained as usual.
‘Good.’
She bounced a few more times in place, as if warming up lightly.
Swoosh!
In an instant, Ilhwa’s body shot into the air.
She instantly ascended to a height where Raknamhyeon could be seen at a glance.
Soon, she landed on the roof of the tallest building in Raknamhyeon and began to race across the rooftops at high speed.
Her speed was such that an ordinary person couldn’t follow her with their eyes.
Reaching the outskirts of Raknamhyeon in a flash, she leaped high again from the last rooftop.
As if diving into the vast sunset.
Suspended in mid-air, Ilhwa looked down at the dense forest spread out before her.
Soon, she vanished into the forest.
***
Thump. Thump. Thump!
In front of a large black gate, devoid of any markings.
Ilhwa knocked hard on the gate, putting her strength into it.
A moment later, a palm-sized slit opened at the top of the gate, revealing a pair of chilling eyes. After scanning the surroundings, the eyes sensed something amiss and looked down.
A child stood before the gate.
Seemingly just barely past ten years old.
“…Did you knock?”
At the child’s nod, the man’s thick eyebrows twitched.
But his opponent was a mere child, not even half his height. The man decided to be magnanimous.
“Go back. This is no place for a little tyke like you.”
“I have an appointment with your leader.”
“What? Is this brat asking to die? Do you think our leader is someone you can meet just because you want to? If you don’t turn back right now, you’ll be in my hands…”
CRASH—!
The Heugunbang’s thick gate fell off with a resounding crash.
A cloud of dust slowly settled.
Ilhwa looked past it at the Heugunbang subordinates who had gathered.
The grim-faced Heugunbang members all held weapons like swords and axes in their hands.
‘Still the same here.’
In her previous life, she had killed them all and passed through.
There was no need to do that now.
‘I should reduce unnecessary killing. I’m an orthodox faction member now.’
Ilhwa calmly stepped inside the Heugunbang compound.
As she stepped on the fallen gate, a creaking sound came from below.
The Heugunbang members, startled by the approaching child’s detached demeanor, hesitated and retreated.
Not one of them dared to rush at her.
‘What kind of killing intent is that, coming from a child…?’
‘If we attack carelessly, we’ll d-die.’
The killing intent emanating from her small body was so potent it made their skin tingle.
It was almost as if a blood-red aura thickly enveloped the child.
As Ilhwa walked, the Heugunbang members slowly backed away.
It was then, as she had crossed about half of the compound.
A man wearing a black hood stood opposite her.
The man, standing as if to greet her, respectfully performed a Pokwon towards Ilhwa.
“Are you the Soruju of Hwaoru?”
Ilhwa nodded.
“Please follow me. Our leader is waiting.”
