The Undefeated Cheon Muyang
Fortunately, from the next day onward, the sparring opponents who came did not concede defeat before even crossing swords.
"Have you arrived?"
"Yes, Young Master."
They were people like Cha Myeonghak—those who had accumulated grudges against Cheon Muyang in the past.
Most of them thought of Cheon Muyang as arrogant and insolent, someone who ran wild relying solely on his status.
"Shall we begin, then?"
"Yes. Please take care."
He even offered a polite warning.
Thinking it would be his last courtesy, he swung his sword at Cheon Muyang.
Whooong!
A clean, no-frills strike.
Cheon Muyang retreating, dodging, or collapsing onto the ground in fear—
the image was so vivid it was practically visible.
"Careful?"
However, Cheon Muyang did not retreat.
He showed no sign of dodging, nor did he show fear.
'When did he move?'
He didn't know.
He saw a sword soar into the sky.
That sword came crashing down.
Like a bolt of lightning.
"Gah!"
He couldn't help but be startled.
He had moved first, yet it felt as though Cheon Muyang's sword would land first.
Whish!
And so, he made the worst possible choice.
He withdrew his advancing sword and tried to block Cheon Muyang's blade.
Kaaang!
Sword met sword.
But the result was disastrous.
The sword that tried to stop Cheongwang—already riding its momentum—shattered instantly.
Crack!
Cheongwang, which had been falling toward his crown, veered slightly aside and stopped between his shoulder and neck.
Uuuung!
Yet the sharp edge still split the skin.
Blood flowed from the small wound.
"H-how…?"
He couldn't believe the result.
Trembling all over, his eyes fell upon his own sword—shattered beyond recognition.
"You should've been careful. Tsk."
Cheon Muyang withdrew his sword.
The duel was over.
Immediately, Wolyeong hurried over to tend to the wound.
"Just what was that sword...?"
"A downward strike. You saw it and still didn't know?"
"...!"
"Anyway, good work. If we get another chance, let's spar again."
Pat.
Cheon Muyang gave his shoulder a few light taps and headed toward the corner of the training grounds.
Whish!
He swung his sword again.
To continue training.
Faced with this absurd situation, he was left speechless.
"...."
"Are you alright? I applied some basic first aid for now."
"Th-thank you."
"Not at all."
Wolyeong felt a quiet sense of satisfaction that the medicine and bandages she had prepared—just in case Cheon Muyang was injured—had finally been put to use.
"Does he always train like this?"
"Yes. Every single day, without missing one."
"...."
He clenched his fist tightly.
Just a month ago, on a rainy day—
Back when Cheon Muyang only ran around the training grounds.
He had been one of those who'd joined a bet on whether the butcher First Young Master would even come out to train.
'Was the foolish one… me?'
He left the training grounds without a word.
Suddenly, Neung Ryeoun came to mind.
'So there was a reason he suddenly devoted himself to training.'
At some point, Neung Ryeoun had shut himself off from everyone and focused solely on training.
He'd thought it was simply because he'd lost to the butcher First Young Master.
'That wasn't it.'
The same was true for Cha Myeonghwan.
The two weren't close, but they shared something.
'That thing… I think I understand it now.'
The Cheon Clan was a martial family.
As such, there were many training grounds within the estate.
Among them were some so far out on the outskirts that no one ever used them.
Neung Ryeoun and Cha Myeonghak.
At some point, the two of them had begun gathering at one such abandoned training ground to train.
'He might be there.'
As for the one who had lost to Cheon Muyang,he too headed there as if possessed by something.
Wolyeong tilted her head.
'It feels like everyone who gets tangled up with the Young Master ends up changing.'
Hadn't she herself changed as well?
Before she realized it, Wolyeong noticed that she was looking at the First Young Master with warm eyes.
"Do your best."
Wolyeong pulled her rolled-up sleeves back down.
After that, Cheon Muyang's daily routine remained the same.
Training. And sparring.
Astonishingly, Cheon Muyang did not lose a single time.
Rumors even spread asking whether the First Young Master had been hiding his strength all along.
Of course, Lee Seokgi and a few others still insisted that couldn't be true and slandered it as nonsense,but each time they did, Lee Seokgi's reputation sank further into the ground.
Whooong!
Watching yet another trainee get knocked down today, Wolyeong smiled.
"Come over here. I'll take a look at your injury!"
By now, Wolyeong had grown quite skilled at tending wounds.
"How was it?"
When she asked that, the response was usually one of two things.
"...."
Either silence.
Or—
"Damn it! If I hadn't let my guard down!"
Anger.
Today belonged to the latter.
"Ah, I see. Is that so."
Squeeze!
Whenever she dealt with someone from that second group, Wolyeong deliberately gripped their wound a little harder.
"Ah!"
"Oh my! I'm sorry. I'm still a bit clumsy, I guess!"
"...."
If it was a mistake, what could they do?
Wolyeong muttered at the back of the departing man's head.
"Letting your guard down, my foot. You were serious the whole time. Who are you trying to fool?"
Watching that scene, Cheon Muyang couldn't help but laugh.
"Your mouth's gotten rougher, Wolyeong?"
"They're lying through their teeth. Anyone could see they gave it their all."
"They're probably just embarrassed."
"Even so, if you pick up a sword, you should accept the result. A grown man acting like that—how petty!"
"H-Hey, calm down."
Wolyeong was quite upset.
Lately, there seemed to be more of the second type than the first.
"I swear, everyone coming lately seems to harbor ill will toward you, Young Master."
"Ah, probably."
It seemed Cheon Seonhak was deliberately selecting such people.
He might not even need to bother selecting.
There would be no shortage of volunteers.
"They probably volunteered just to show off."
"Why?"
"I beat the top trainee, didn't I? And I'm still undefeated. If you beat someone like me—"
"Ah! When you put it that way, that makes sense."
Wolyeong nodded.
Come to think of it, Cheon Muyang truly hadn't lost a single time so far.
"He likely picked people who were full of resentment toward me first."
"Are you really okay with that?"
"Of course. This is much better."
Cheon Muyang smiled.
He actually preferred it this way.
If one held a sword, then settling things with a sword was the best way.
The problem lay with those who didn't.
"The thing I asked you about..."
"Oh. I'm still organizing it."
"Alright. I'm counting on you."
Cheon Muyang had asked Wolyeong for one thing.
Records of the misdeeds he had committed in the past.
'It's something I must bear.'
There was a reason Wolyeong was the only personal attendant serving the First Young Master.
Others had either left the clan or been transferred elsewhere, unable to endure Cheon Muyang's tyranny.
After that, the position of the First Young Master's attendant became one everyone avoided.
'That's why, aside from Wolyeong—who stubbornly remained—I never had another attendant assigned.'
Cheon Muyang had left those people with wounds and humiliation that could never be washed away.
Unless those were resolved, Cheon Muyang could not move forward.
"Wolyeong."
"Yes?"
"If there's anything you suffered because of me... don't hide it. Tell me everything."
"...."
"Do you understand?"
"Yes, Young Master."
Wolyeong's complexion darkened.
Cheon Muyang forced himself to continue training.
For some reason, he couldn't focus well today.
The boundary between dawn and morning.
From the window of Cheon Muyang's room, the sun rising in the east was visible.
Circulating and regulating his qi while watching that sunrise was how Cheon Muyang began his day.
The massive medicinal energies—still heavy like huge stones—were blocking the main passage through which they should flow into his dantian: the Governor and Conception vessels.
'Normally, this should be circulating....'
Yang energy should flow from the perineum to the crown.
Yin energy should flow from the crown to the perineum.
That cycle needed to be completed.
However, Cheon Muyang's body could not properly complete that circulation.
'At least my meridians have widened.'
A medicinal elixir required constant effort—from the moment it was consumed until it was fully made one's own.
But because he had missed the crucial timing,what should have taken ten units of effort now demanded a hundred—and even that wasn't enough.
'Everything has its time. Missing it is why I'm going through this hell. Tsk.'
Cheon Muyang felt inward regret.
If only he could absorb that medicinal energy filling his dantian—or even move it outside the dantian—he felt he might be able to ride that momentum and attempt to open the Governor and Conception vessels.
'What a shame.'
But it was impossible.
The energy had taken root too deeply;he would either need to slowly melt it down with a heart methodor find something capable of encompassing that enormous medicinal power.
'Unless it's something like Clear Azure Stone Marrow Oil or a Great Reversion Pill.'
Any other medicinal elixir would only end up acting as poison to Cheon Muyang.
Cheon Muyang did not want to cling to impossibilities.
'Entering the Cheonryong Archive and learning an ascended heart method is the top priority.'
He had diligently operated the Cheonyang Divine Art and reached the 7-star level.
'The Cheonyang Divine Art is certainly a good heart method—but that's all it is.'
There were many shortcomings.
It strongly felt as though something essential was missing.
'That missing core is probably what the ascended heart methods make up for.'
That was why he believed that once he entered the Cheonryong Archive, things would become far easier than they were now.
Flash.
Having finished circulating and regulating his qi, Cheon Muyang rose from his spot.
"Phew."
His body felt refreshed.
It was likely due to the impurities expelled during his qi circulation.
"The stench is no joke."
"Young Master, are you up?"
Right on schedule.
Wolyeong entered as if she had been waiting.
"Ah, yeah."
"Oh my, Young Master! It looks like you've lost even more weight!"
Wolyeong fussed excitedly.
"Hmm. Maybe so."
He could definitely feel the difference.
'Well, it wasn't that my looks were bad—just my temperament was butcher-like.'
It wasn't just "not bad."
If he'd had even a shred of decency back then, he might have been called a refined young noble.
'Ugh.'
Of course, the image of Cheon Muyang reciting poetry by a lakeside was impossible to imagine.
"You're heading straight to the training grounds, right?"
"I should wash up first."
"Yes! Oh, and you need to eat breakfast too."
Under the excuse of losing weight,
Cheon Muyang ate strictly according to Wolyeong's meal plan.
"Is it grass again today?"
"Nope. Today I prepared a special meal! Well—only for lunch!"
Twitch.
Cheon Muyang's eyebrow twitched.
"A special meal?"
"Yes. You can look forward to it!"
"Really?"
"Of course! But you have to come back to your room on time, okay? Eating at the training grounds would draw too many stares..."
"Ah, right. Got it."
"Oh, right. Young Master."
"Hm? What is it?"
"The Clan Head is returning today."
"Really?"
"Yes. Everyone else is so busy they're losing their minds right now."
Wasn't it called protocol?
Even if those at the top didn't care much, those below certainly did.
"It must be chaos."
"Yes! And in the middle of all that, I'm planning to secretly prepare the special meal!"
"Ah-ha. I'll look forward to it."
"So then, I won't be able to go to the training grounds this morning, okay?"
"Alright. I'm not a child, after all."
Cheon Muyang undressed and washed himself.
In the meantime, Wolyeong changed the bedding, left behind the breakfast she had prepared herself, and went out.
"Shall we head out again?"
The Clan Head was returning today.
To Cheon Muyang, he was a father.
And to Mu-myeong, he was a benefactor who had taken him in when he had nowhere to go.
'To think I would have to call the Clan Head "Father"... I once dreamed of that, if only briefly.'
Who could have imagined that dream would come true in this way?
He wanted to see him as soon as possible—even a day earlier.
"I hope he comes back soon."
Cheon Muyang headed toward the training grounds.
With the expectation that he would soon meet the Clan Head.