Chapter 28

It is disgraceful that the Murim Alliance changed the attendees list without consent, but the milk was already spilled.

Rather than complaining right away, I might be able to use it later, so I put it aside for now. It wasn’t the list that mattered, but the people themselves.

The people who came to investigate were no different from each other. Except for Jegal Hyun, the other fourteen had very little impact on the original story.

Given that I don’t even remember their names at all, it was safe to say that they were unimportant.

Even Jegal Hyun was a powerless man for a Young Master of a clan. He gave up his seat to another brother five years after he became head of the clan.

Oddly enough, I felt a strange sense of discomfort from the people of the Central Region.

‘What could this be?’

Then, Cheonma tapped my wrist.

“You’re thinking about something else.”

“O-oh, I’m sorry!”

“Correct your posture.”

“Yes!”

I took Baekha with both hands and held him out like a sword. I spread his legs shoulder-width apart and slowly put my right foot forward.

First step, the flowers form a bud.

Second step, soft leaves spread out quietly.

Third step, the flower finally blooms and releases its chill.

After overcoming these three heavy steps, sword intent rose from the end of Baekha

At the same time, silver flowers that rose like stars scattered all over the place and disappeared weakly into thin air.

Baekha’s sword intent was a strong skill. It was how the North Sea Ice Palace became the ruler of the North Sea. With it, one wouldn’t die from any sect, so it was considered one of the most powerful abilities.

But the problem was it was too difficult to use. While walking,I had to move my qi through my meridians accurately and had to control my power consistently during the steps. The movement of swinging the sword, the angle of the tip of the sword, the hand holding the sword, the position of the gaze, etc.

There was nothing I could do without careful movements.

It was crazy difficult, but once I mastered it, could I let out the sword like snow?

The more perfectly mastered, the wider the range and the more sword qi I would have.

It was said that I could even do the martial art where the sword qi turns into flowers and falls from the sky.

… but, at this moment I don’t even have a chance.

Maybe something went wrong, but even though I followed the steps perfectly, the ice flowers didn’t pour out at all.

Almost like Baekha farted, only a cold wind was released.

It was much easier to make ice flowers. It didn’t need headache inducing calculations and only injecting my qi was needed.

It would have been nice if the ice flowers had destructive power like the Baekha sword intent.

I was so frustrated that I asked Cheonma for help, but he replied with,

“Your power has no structure.”

All he could say was that.

When I ask the elders, they say,

“Give me an ice flower and I can help you.”

“Oops!”

I was thinking about miscellaneous things and my posture was disturbed again.I didn’t know it would be this hard to stand still without moving.

“You must have lost your concentration. Let’s call it a day.”

“…I’m sorry, I kept thinking about something else while I was training.”

It’s a great privilege for a master to teach martial arts to someone who’s not even a student. I can’t believe I wasted it like this.

I bowed my head because I was ashamed of myself. Then Cheonma lifted me up and held me in his arms.

“Don’t make that expression.”

“Excuse me?”

“Smile.”

“…now?”

“I want to see it.”

I didn’t do anything well, but when I hesitated because I was a little embarrassed to smile, he smiled beautifully at me.

“Come on.”

No! Dad, don’t smile like that! My heart hurts!

I was possessed by the dazzling beauty of Cheonma and laughed stupidly.

Cheonma’s smile deepened when he saw my appearance, which would have looked foolish to anyone. He said, carefully wiping away the sweat on my forehead.

“Haa, I don’t expect anything from you.”

“… are my skills that bad?”

Cheonma laughed at my careful question.

“You’ve mastered the steps  of the Baekha sword intent. It’s just that your qi doesn’t keep up. Everything else is impeccable. Considering your age, it’s a great achievement.”

“You create expectations when you see a deficiency. You would say ‘I thought I could do better’. But it is not necessary for you. You’re doing well enough.”

“Oh…”

“So be a little lazy. I guess you want to see your father have expectations.”

Surprisingly, Cheonma was a master of praise.

I’ve never been praised so much in my entire life, so my face reddened.

I fiddled with my warm ears.

“I see what you mean. I won’t be impatient.”

Cheonma tapped on my head in silence. Much better than it used to be, but it was still a rough touch.

But why am I so shy?

As my face turned red, Cheonma fanned me, perhaps thinking I was hot.

“It’s hot. Let’s call it a day.”

“Yes, Dad.”

Cheonma began to walk slowly away from the training center.  He loved to walk slowly, holding me in his arms, even though he was a master of air magic.

“It’s been six days since the investigation team came. Was there any problem?”

“At first, I didn’t think they would adjust, but now it’s become a lot better. They eat well and train in the training room.”

“How do you feel about seeing those factionists?”

“To be honest, I’m a little disappointed.”

“Why?”

“They don’t work very much. They were wandering around the palace…and they didn’t seem to be investigating.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Yesterday they asked to meet someone who had gotten rid of the Black Wolf, so I thought they were going to do some work. So they made up their mind to go with the Xi King but…

“They went but what?”

“They threw up.”

“Hmm?”

“Their faces turned blue and I saw them vomit. Did they go drinking all night?”

“I’m just trying to think of it as a cruise, not a team of investigators. Everyone is going to eat with me tonight. I thought we’d have to eat together at least once… Oh, right! I heard they wanted to see the closed training center, can I do that?”

.

“Go ahead.”

Though he said as if my request was insignificant, I knew what kind of privilege this was. No sect would easily reveal their training area.

Of course, in this case, it’s possible because I was only showing them the location briefly.

“It’s just a cave with nothing. What do they want to know?”

“This school’s closed-door training center is famous for its good effect during cultivation. If they are from the murim, they would want to see it at least once”

That’s why the achievement of Aku Ryun was so quick.

I nodded and remembered the sense of unease I felt from one of the investigators.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Hmm?”

“The investigators. Are they real?”

“What do you mean by real?”

“In some cases, someone could pretend to be another person.”

Cheonma grinned.

“It’s not possible for the elders to have not noticed.”

“Oh, really?”

“Why do you ask that?”

I thought maybe someone was impersonating because I felt a sense of unease.

‘But he said that wasn’t the case’

Did I overreact because he was too wary of the investigation team?

I smiled and shook my head.

“No, I must have been mistaken. I’ll keep an eye on them and let you know if I find anything strange.”

“Sure.”

It’s understandable to ask what’s wrong. Not once did Cheonma question my decision.

“If you’re really curious, you can ask. I’ll allow that much between us.”

Cheonma burst into laughter at my arrogant way of speaking.

At that moment, the spring breeze blew and his black clothes and red hair flew in the sky.

Swaaa- The bamboo grove sang a refreshing song.

All of this was as beautiful as a scene in a martial arts movie.

I reached out on a whim. Towards the wildflowers that had grown to the height of his waist.

Cheonma crouched. I picked up white wildflowers that touched my fingertips and put them on top of Cheonma’s ears.

I murmured absentmindedly at the sight of Cheonma, who wore even the most unsightly wildflowers well.

“Father over flowers.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re prettier than flowers.”

Cheonma laughed and took out the flowers from his ear and put them in my ear.

“Adding flowers to a flower, you are the prettiest.”

Argh, don’t say that with that face! I’m embarrassed!

I raised and shook my hand. Cheonma dropped my hand and fanned me with his big hands.

In that cool breeze, I laughed like a fool again.

***