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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: A Challenge
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Nomen's face turned red and then pale.
Bang!
Nomen slammed the table.
Cheongun tried to retort and step forward, but Seolhwa grabbed his hand, stopping him.
"Are you trying to play word games with me right now?!"
"All you need to do is prove that the Mount Hua Sect paid the Shaolin Temple for the Daehwandan. Why are you getting so angry?"
"You truly...!"
With a deep rumble, the entire Un-gaekwon shook.
He had unleashed his immense aura without restraint, meaning the Namgung martial artists would soon flock here.
However, Nomen did not withdraw his aura, as if he didn't care about such things.
"M-Master..."
Yugang tried to stop him, but Yupyo blocked Yugang.
Yugang looked at Seolhwa with uneasy eyes.
Even he, merely sitting by her side, felt his mouth go dry from the oppressive aura, yet she remained defiant.
"As an elder of a sect like Mount Hua, you must know how dangerous it would be if a vital item like the Daehwandan fell into the hands of the Heukdo."
Seolhwa's hair fluttered from the aura Nomen unleashed. The aura was so sharp it felt like it could scratch her skin if it intensified just a little more.
"As I said, I merely took that item from the Heukdo; I didn't steal it from Mount Hua. I covered up Mount Hua's mistake, so shouldn't you be grateful instead?"
"You're exposing Mount Hua's shame to elevate yourself, so you must be trying to humiliate Mount Hua now."
"I'm merely seeking the truth."
Nomen's eyes narrowed.
The aura he sensed from the Namgung child was, at best, that of a second-rate martial artist. It was clear she had only just embarked on the path of martial arts.
Yet, how could she face his aura, unleashed with a full half-cycle of internal energy, head-on, at a mere second-rate level, without showing any fear?
'Is she truly the Sword Emperor's granddaughter?'
"You speak truly. The Daehwandan originally belongs to the Shaolin Temple, and it was indeed a divine fortune that it didn't fall into the Heukdo's hands."
"..."
"However! If one knows who the item originally belonged to, it is only proper to return it to its true owner! Do you intend to return the Daehwandan to the Shaolin Temple?"
If the Daehwandan returned to the Shaolin Temple, the Shaolin Temple would try to hand it back to the Mount Hua Sect.
While the Shaolin Temple wouldn't acknowledge the secret transaction, they would find it equally troublesome if issues arose.
Seolhwa lowered her gaze. After briefly observing the ripples in her teacup, she quietly shook her head.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have the Daehwandan."
"What did you say?"
The faces of the Mount Hua party were tinged with shock.
With a sharp crack, Nomen's teacup shattered into pieces.
"Are you... humiliating this elder right now, despite not even possessing the Daehwandan...?"
His aura intensified further. The aura, filling the room, swirled as if it would devour Seolhwa at any moment.
Seolhwa took out a small box from her sleeve. Instead of answering, she opened the lid of the box.
"..."
Nomen's gaze fell upon the inside of the box Seolhwa had opened.
'That is!'
Nomen recognized the item instantly.
The Geumryongokyeolbo, said to be found only once every few centuries!
The Daehwandan was said to possess a miraculous energy capable of saving even the dying. However, it had no specific effects.
It was more akin to a panacea.
However, the Geumryongokyeolbo was a powerful elixir for detoxification.
'This is what we need right now...!'
Nomen's aura swiftly subsided, as if it had never been unleashed.
His mind grew cold.
'The Geumryongokyeolbo is more than enough to replace the Daehwandan. But that cunning child wouldn't just hand over such a precious item for free.'
Judging by her words and actions so far, the child was no ordinary person. It was difficult to gauge the depths of her schemes; she should by no means be viewed as a mere thirteen-year-old.
She would surely claim that, unlike the Daehwandan, the Geumryongokyeolbo didn't belong to the Shaolin Temple, and thus she couldn't give it away.
Ultimately, to receive it in place of the Daehwandan, he would have to prove the transaction between the Mount Hua Sect and the Shaolin Temple.
In that case.
"Very well. What do you wish for?"
It would be better to grant her wish and receive it as compensation.
'What she wants is as plain as day anyway.'
She'll likely want interaction between the Namgung and Mount Hua Sects, just like that Young Master Namgung. All he needed to do was accommodate her reasonably and obtain what was necessary.
Seolhwa's lips curved faintly. She closed the opened box with a snap.
Nomen's expression furrowed.
"Shouldn't martial artists, as a rule, speak with their martial prowess?"
Nomen's expression furrowed even deeper.
"Are you suggesting a duel with me right now?"
"That would be quite shameless of you."
The Mount Hua Sect's foremost sword and a thirteen-year-old child?
Nomen's hand twitched.
"Ahem, ahem! That was merely an absurd remark that slipped out. So, with whom do you propose to duel?"
Seolhwa looked at one person.
At the end of her gaze was Yupyo, a first-generation disciple of Mount Hua.
He had been glaring with burning eyes throughout the exchange with Nomen. His face twisted even more upon realizing Seolhwa's gaze was directed at him.
Nomen looked at Yupyo and burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! You say I'm shameless, but you, child, are fearless. This one is the elite of the elite of Mount Hua. He is not someone you can contend with."
A mere second-rate martial artist challenging Yupyo, who is at the pinnacle of the Jeoljeong realm?
'No matter how much we need the Geumryongokyeolbo, if news of this duel spreads, Mount Hua's reputation would be ruined.'
"Let's do this then."
Nomen looked at Yugang.
Yugang, who had been quietly observing the verbal sparring, startled and flinched, trembling.
"M-Me? M-Me...?"
Surely not. No, right? Master.
"Yes. Yugang, you shall participate in the duel."
Gasp.
Yugang gasped.
"M-Master... Still, it would be better if Senior Brother Yupyo went..."
"Enough idle talk, you do it."
— There's nothing to fear. Your opponent is merely a second-rate martial artist.
Yugang was shocked twice by Nomen's words and his telepathic message.
Yugang couldn't understand where Nomen saw the child as second-rate.
'Does Master not see the aura filling her body?'
An aura of that magnitude... "Second-rate," my foot! It's clearly far beyond even a first-rate martial artist!
Yugang hastily sent a telepathic message.
— Master, I've already lost to Young Lady Namgung...! Please, could you reconsider?"
— Yugang. Do you not trust your Master?
— But, it's true...
— There must have been a reason then.
Ignoring Yugang's paling face, Nomen spoke to Seolhwa with a benevolent smile.
"This child is also no ordinary person. He can truly be called the future of Mount Hua. In my opinion, he might still be a formidable opponent for you. What do you say? Will it be alright?"
Seolhwa blinked her wide eyes and looked back at Yugang.
Yugang flinched in surprise and desperately avoided her gaze.
Seolhwa's lips curved gently.
"Yes. Of course. That's fine."
The future of Mount Hua, indeed.
"I am also the future of the Namgung."
"Hahaha!"
Nomen couldn't help but laugh.
To call herself the future of the Namgung. And a child who had only just returned to the Namgung, no less!
"Yes, excellent!"
The future of the Namgung is truly bright!
Hahaha!
"Let's see whose martial arts' future shines brighter!"
Hahahaha!
***
The duel was held in the training grounds of Un-gaekwon.
There was no need to go far, nor to delay.
Both Seolhwa and Yugang were ready to wield their swords at any moment.
The Namgung's martial force gathered around Un-gaekwon.
Feeling Nomen's aura and about to rush in, Cheongun barely managed to calm them down by asking the head steward.
"Haa..."
Yugang let out a sigh deep enough to make the ground sink.
Seolhwa tilted her head and looked at him.
"What's wrong? It was your wish, wasn't it? To face Changcheon's sword."
'Let's duel! Sword master against sword master. My wish was to face Changcheon's sword.'
Those were Yugang's words.
Yugang seemed to remember those words as well, as he subtly frowned.
"Back then, it was a worthwhile challenge."
"And not now?"
"Yeah. What in the world did you do to get so strong in that time?"
Oh-ho.
A glint of interest flickered in Seolhwa's eyes.
Indeed, her past self and her current self were completely different.
Back then, her meridians were unstable, and she possessed the aura of a second-rate martial artist, whereas now she had reached the perfect Jeoljeong realm.
"You have good eyes."
"I hear that a lot."
It was the kind of answer only a genius would give.
For the first time, Seolhwa let out a genuine laugh.
Even if the world turned upside down, people didn't change. What was before her eyes proved that very saying.
'Even after returning to this life, he really is...'
"You're consistent, you know."
Blood filled the entire world, and corpses lay strewn about.
In the midst of the pervasive scent of blood.
A man and a woman pointed their swords at each other.
They aimed for death.
"It has been ages since Mount Hua self-destructed and its lineage was severed, yet faded plum blossoms are still embroidered on your sleeve. A twisted old tree certainly clings to life stubbornly."
The man's white martial robe was already dyed crimson with blood. Yet, even the blood that stained the world and his entire body could not stain his pure smile.
"I hear that a lot."
The man gripped his sword with a relaxed expression.
Veins bulged on the hand of the man holding the sword.
"However, as long as even a single plum blossom blooms, no matter how withered and twisted the tree, it still breathes life."
At that moment, the man offered a plum blossom-like smile.
"As long as I live, the plum blossoms will not fall."
