Chapter 159: Change (3)

While watching Mu Iso run away with his face flushed in excitement, someone approached me.

“May I ask you something?”

Turning my body, I looked at the man who spoke.

He wasn’t particularly handsome like Pang Giyok or Namgung Soomyung, but there was something about him that felt strangely similar to myself.

‘Well, I guess he’s decent looking.’

I was out in the training ground teaching martial arts to Mu Iso. The Namgung Clan’s training ground was directly connected to the front gate, so the visitor must have mistaken me for a member of the Namgung Clan.

“What is it?”

“Could you tell me where Lady Jegal is staying?”

I casually glanced up and down at the man.

Passing through the front gate of the Namgung Clan meant that his identity had already been verified.

Moreover, judging by the five escorts standing behind him, he was definitely from a martial family.

His actions were polite, but his tone carried arrogance.

That arrogance likely stemmed from the confidence in his martial arts and the pride of his background.

“By Lady Jegal, do you mean Lady Jegal Yohye? Or Lady Jegal Cheongyeong?”

There were two women from the Jegal Clan currently staying in the Namgung Clan.

The man silently stared at me, seemingly curious that I spoke of the Jegal Clan members so casually.

“Forgive me, but may I ask for your name?”

The man spoke politely.

Since he asked so courteously, there was no need for me to hide my name.

“I am Yong Hwarin of the Heavenly Central Sect.”

The man showed a faintly surprised expression and cupped his fists.

“So, you are none other than the Sword Hero of the Heavenly Central Sect, Yong Hwarin, who has recently gained the most fame in the martial world.”

“And you are?”

As I tried to ask for his name, the man suddenly cut me off.

“I would like to challenge you to a duel.”

“Well, now.”

I stared at the man, feeling slightly dumbfounded.

‘Where did you pick up the habit of challenging someone to a duel the moment you meet them?’

I barely swallowed back the words that had risen to my throat.

Judging by the fact that he was looking for someone from the Jegal Clan, it seemed likely that he was acquainted with them.

However, from his uniform and insignia, I couldn’t tell where they were from.

They were all dressed in plain blue martial robes without any insignia, commonly worn by martial artists.

“A duel, out of nowhere?”

“I believe a martial artist may challenge another they wish to compete with, even if it is their first meeting.”

“Well, now.”

His manner of speaking was polite, yet dripping with arrogance.

All the more reason for me to want to crush his pride and teach him a lesson about the fear of the world.

‘He challenged me even after hearing my name, which means he must be quite confident in his martial arts.’

I asked again for his name.

“What is your name?”

Just as I asked, the man cut me off once more.

“Forgive me, but may I answer that after our duel?”

I let out a small laugh.

‘How arrogant. He appears polite, yet there is no real courtesy in him.’

That only made me more eager to humble this brat.

I thought he was just another cocky rookie who had learned nothing but bad habits.

“Very well, have it your way.”

When I accepted the duel, the man once again cupped his fists, emphasizing his fake courtesy.

Since I intended to properly teach this arrogant brat a lesson about the way of the world, I had no intention of holding back.

“Come. Since you requested the duel, I’ll grant you the first move.”

As I spoke, the man didn’t refuse and immediately launched his attack.

The way he drew his sword and dashed forward in a single breath was so clean that I couldn’t help but let out a small exclamation.

“Not bad!”

From that moment, the man’s sword began to slash wildly as if to tear my body apart.

However, I dodged all of his sharp strikes with ease.

Seeing that I wasn’t even drawing my sword while avoiding his attacks, the man’s frustration quickly turned into hostility.

“Tch!”

Pouring all of his internal energy into his sword, a sharp metallic ring echoed.

‘Looks like he’s fully provoked now.’

Yet, I still wanted to break his arrogance.

I had already entered the realm of Flowing Harmony, a state that only true masters who had transcended could glimpse.

As impressive as his swordsmanship was, it didn’t measure up to Pang Giyok or Namgung Soomyung.

Not to mention, compared to Jegal Cheongyeong, his skills were still lacking, so I saw no need to draw my sword.

In fact, in a duel, facing an opponent barehanded was considered disrespectful, regardless of how low their skill level might be.

Facing them with a sword, even if they were inferior, was proper etiquette.

But I couldn’t stand the arrogance and rudeness this man displayed, so I decided to crush him in this duel.

The man gathered all his energy into his sword and executed the Falling Star Crushing Earth technique.

A sword strike, swift as lightning and imbued with blue energy, fell from above. Though it looked like a single move, the strike shifted five times, slashing diagonally toward my shoulder.

Seeing me standing motionless without reading his technique, the man sneered inwardly.

‘You dare mock me? Let’s see if you’ll continue refusing to draw your sword.’

Just as his blade was about to touch my shoulder, I struck the blade with my finger, imbued with the power of the Tai Chi Dantian I had recently mastered.

Clang!

I had poured the power of a single cycle of internal energy into my finger and struck the blade. Anyone would have called me insane for doing such a thing.

‘Madman! Has he lost his mind and wants to die?’

The man mocked me inwardly.

But then, something gleamed in the air and fell to the side.

It was a broken piece of a sword—something I had seen countless times before.

The man looked at the sword in his hand.

“This… this can’t be!”

His sword had been severed in half.

It was a renowned sword, a custom-made masterpiece gifted by his father for his twentieth birthday.

He had fought in countless battles, yet the blade had never suffered a single scratch, forged from the purest refined steel.

No one would believe that such a blade had been snapped with nothing but a finger.

Furious, the man swung the broken blade downward once more.

At that moment, I struck the sword again with the power of the Dragon Scale Finger.

Clang!

The already half-broken sword split once more, turning into nothing more than a dagger-sized piece.

This time, as the true energy of the Tai Chi Dantian penetrated the man’s body, he could no longer maintain his stance.

He never imagined there would be such an overwhelming gap between our abilities.

From the beginning, the man had been confident he could defeat me.

Anyone would agree that I didn’t exactly look like a master.

With my scholar-like appearance and seemingly frail build, I hardly appeared to be a martial arts expert.

That was why he had underestimated me and, like many other late-stage martial artists of our generation, challenged me to gain fame.

“Do you still wish to continue?”

People had already started to gather out of curiosity, and sensing that pushing any further would only lead to public humiliation, he cupped his fists and spoke.

“No. I admit my defeat. The rumors of the Sword Hero of the Heavenly Central Sect are certainly not exaggerated. Thank you for granting me this lesson.”

As the gathered crowd realized the duel had ended after just a few exchanges, they quickly lost interest and dispersed.

Because I hadn’t even drawn my sword, they didn’t really consider it a proper duel.

“What is your name?”

I asked again since he had promised to reveal it after the duel.

“I apologize for my earlier rudeness. I am Cheong Geonmin of the Muho Sect in Hubei.”

Hearing his words, my eyes narrowed.

‘Him? Cheong Geonmin? I didn’t expect to meet him here.’

Cheong Geonmin was the man who, in my previous life, married Jegal Cheongyeong.

“It seems I have shown great discourtesy to you, Lord Yong. I couldn’t help but feel competitive when I saw someone like you, so I rashly requested a duel. As we are both members of the Namwoong Alliance, please forgive my rudeness.”

‘What a shameless man. Truly brazen.’

Compared to sly individuals like Shangguan Joyoung or Seomun Yuwon, this man was on another level of audacity.

‘So this guy held a grudge knowing I was once engaged to Young Lady Jegal. That must be why he charged in for a duel as soon as he saw me. And now that things didn’t go his way, he’s backing off with his tail between his legs. He’s nothing special after all.’

I still couldn’t understand why Jegal Cheongyeong would marry someone like him.

‘It must have been because of the scandal involving the Black Killing Sword, Wonho, in our previous life. She probably married him out of responsibility.’

That made sense, since Jegal Cheongyeong wasn’t the type to fall for someone like him.

“Brother Geonmin!”

Jegal Cheongyeong called out to Cheong Geonmin as she approached from behind.

“Young Lady! It’s been a long time.”

Cheong Geonmin smiled brightly and waved.

Next to Jegal Cheongyeong was Namgung Yoo, who had recently become close friends with Jeong Minji.

Jegal Cheongyeong approached, took in the situation, and seemed to grasp what had happened. Then, she sent me a sound transmission.

-Hwarin, that was too much. You broke his sword. Do you know how much he bragged about that to me?

-Sorry. If I had known he was your man, I would’ve held back a little.

-Huh? What do you mean, my man?

I had spoken carelessly, going too far because I still carried the memories of my previous life.

-Aren’t you two supposed to be engaged? That’s what the rumors say.

I tried to cover it up, but Jegal Cheongyeong let out a helpless laugh.

-What are you talking about?

I couldn’t sense any deep connection between the two yet.

“Lord Yong, we’ve come to greet you as well.”

Namgung Yoo spoke, wanting to formally greet me.

“It’s been a while, young lady.”

No matter the atmosphere, the smiles of the three beautiful women seemed to brighten the surroundings.

Cheong Geonmin twitched his brow as the three of them smiled only at me, not sparing him a single glance.

His gaze toward Jegal Cheongyeong grew so intense that people nearby began to suspect their relationship wasn’t ordinary.

His stare was anything but casual.

“Brother Geonmin, what brings you here? Shouldn’t you be at the Hwangbo Clan?”

Jegal Cheongyeong had two men in her life whom she had known the longest, aside from her family.

One was me, and the other was Cheong Geonmin.

The Sect Leader of Muho Sect, Cheong Yeong, and the Head of the Jegal Clan, Jegal Cheok, were of the same generation. They both operated out of Hubei and had built a close relationship through regular interaction.

Because of this, Cheong Geonmin often visited the Jegal Clan, and Jegal Cheongyeong had visited the Muho Sect as well.

Jegal Cheok had readily accepted the broken engagement with me because Muho Sect held greater influence than the Heavenly Central Sect.

Muho Sect ranked just below the core forces of the Namwoong Alliance: the Wudang Sect, Jegal Clan, Namgung Clan, and Hengshan Sect.

In terms of size and power, the Heavenly Central Sect, tucked away in a corner of Henan, couldn’t even compare.

“I was on my way to Zhengzhou for an urgent matter when I heard you were injured, so I came to check on you. Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Thank goodness.”

“What kind of urgent matter in Zhengzhou?”

Jegal Cheongyeong asked, and Cheong Geonmin awkwardly laughed, avoiding the question.

“It’s nothing serious. Just some business my clan is handling that didn’t go well, so I need to check on it.”

Jegal Cheongyeong sensed that he was hiding something but chose not to press further.

There was no need to dig into the affairs of another sect.

“Is that so? Then you should be leaving soon.”

“Since it’s getting late, I thought I’d stay at the Namgung Clan tonight and leave early tomorrow.”

As Cheong Geonmin went to greet the Namgung Clan leader, Jeong Minji spoke.

“Sister, the way Young Master Cheong looks at you is quite something. What exactly is your relationship?”

“What are you saying, Minji?”

Jegal Cheongyeong looked so serious that Jeong Minji tilted her head.

“Are you really the only one who doesn’t realize? I could tell at a glance that Young Master Cheong has feelings for you.”

“What nonsense.”

“You really don’t know.”

Though Jeong Minji wasn’t particularly experienced in love herself, she wasn’t as oblivious as Jegal Cheongyeong.

Since their younger sister Jeong Daji often bragged about her many relationships, Jeong Minji had naturally picked up on these things.

“No way. We’ve just known each other for a long time.”

Jeong Minji chuckled softly.

“Ha ha ha, maybe you just don’t want to admit what you already know.”

Seeing how Jegal Cheongyeong kept trying to deny it, Jeong Minji didn’t press the issue any further.

It wasn’t that she didn’t know, but rather, she seemed to be pretending not to.

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