Chapter 69

What Happened at Soho Pavilion (4)

Without bothering to wait for Nangwang's group, Cheon Muyang finished his meal and headed to the special room.

"Hm. As expected."

As expected, the special room was nice.

The softness looked even better than the bed of the Cheon Clan household.

"When will they come."

Sleep did not come, so Cheon Muyang circulated his qi and regulated his breathing while waiting for those who would, by now, be swinging their swords in earnest.

'The sword of the Namgung Clan. The blade of the Hebei Paeng Clan.'

There were many new things he had seen and learned.

In particular, the sword shown by the Sword King opened a new horizon of swordsmanship.

'I have to make it my own.'

A world where nothing existed.

Cheon Muyang alone contemplated countless paths of the sword.

It was just as he reached a state of selflessness.

Creeeak!

The sound of the door opening rang out.

At that, Cheon Muyang gathered his inner energy.

"You're here."

Opening his eyes while feeling the flow of inner energy fully charged throughout his body, Cheon Muyang faced three people who looked somewhat exhausted.

"Did you come back safely?"

"Huff, huff!"

The three let out rough breaths.

They still looked dazed.

"It was absolutely terrible."

Nangwang's harsh criticism poured out.

From the mindset of holding the sword to posture and this and that, his nagging swept over them like a storm.

Facing Nangwang's scathing remarks, as if dealing with those who had lost, Cheon Muyang asked,

"So then, what was the result?"

"Total victory."

"What?"

"We won all of them."

Wolyeong took out a large money pouch from her bosom.

"Here's the proof."

"What the heck. Just how much did you fight?"

To the question of how much they fought, Nangwang answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

"To the limit of what one can fight in a day."

Cheon Muyang took the money pouch Wolyeong handed him and was startled by the heavy weight filling his hand.

"We bet everything on our wins."

"Oh ho."

They kept betting the money they won again and again, and as a result, the stakes had grown this large.

Yet, despite having earned a large sum, their expressions were far from bright.

As Nangwang's harsh evaluation suggested, they themselves felt their shortcomings.

"Looks like it was a mess."

"Yeah. We only won by force. So, if tomorrow you pull the same disgraceful display as today...."

"...."

"You'll surely meet with disaster as soon as tomorrow."

Even though Nangwang had already unleashed a round of nagging, he still seemed to have much more to say.

"So when you train, do it properly...."

"Let's sleep first. I'm tired after all that."

At those words, Nangwang asked with a deliberately gentle smile,

"I hear you beat up the Paeng Clan's second young master?"

"He dared to act like a thug in front of me, so I went and proved who the real thug was."

Nangwang looked at the unfamiliar great blade lying alone in the room.

He guessed it was the great blade belonging to some Paeng Clan nobody that Cheon Muyang had beaten up.

"Heh heh heh. Anyway, you bastard really do carry a storm around with you. There won't be a peaceful day."

Cheon Muyang shrugged.

"Well, since when was the Jianghu ever quiet? Isn't the Jianghu and the Martial World always without a calm day?"

"That's true."

Nangwang agreed.

That was precisely why Nangwang himself could not leave the Jianghu and instead stayed by Cheon Muyang's side.

"Anyway, things will get more interesting from here on out, so you can look forward to it."

"...?"

"It means those Paeng Clan bastards won't stay quiet."

"I wondered what you were getting at."

Had Cheon Muyang not seen it?

The stubborn look of Paeng Dohyeok, who would fear yet never bend.

"I welcome it."

The Paeng Clan's blade was a masterpiece.

So how could he possibly refuse a chance to appraise such a masterpiece blade?

"I'm confident I won't lose when it comes to stubbornness either."

"Is that so? Well now, now. A gambling king, a gambling demon, and now even the Paeng Clan are clinging to you."

Nangwang laughed.

He himself was a madman obsessed with martial arts, but could he really compare to Cheon Muyang?

'It really is fun.'

An insatiable drive for improvement.

Even now, Cheon Muyang's hunger for martial arts could be felt.

He would never settle.

Nangwang was simply curious.

'I'll watch and see just how strong you can become.'

At some point, watching Cheon Muyang's path had become just as enjoyable to Nangwang as perfecting his own dao.

"Let's sleep first."

"Let's do that."

"I rented three rooms, so let's use them comfortably."

"Just a few shijin ago, we were worrying about where to stay. Looks like that's no longer necessary."

"Didn't I say there'd be no problem?"

To stay in the special rooms, the three fought as if their lives depended on it, and Cheon Muyang beat up the Paeng Clan's second young master.

It felt as if the cost outweighed the benefit, but Cheon Muyang's words were right.

"Follow me, you lot."

"...?"

"You worked hard, so shouldn't you at least fill your bellies?"

Cheon Muyang nodded.

Thinking about it, he remembered that they had gone to the sparring arena before even eating.

Grrrroowl!

Right on cue, thunder rumbled from Wolyeong's stomach.

At that, Cheon Muyang smiled and handed the money pouch back to Wolyeong.

"There's plenty of money, so eat well."

"Yes...."

Watching Wolyeong clutch her stomach and rush out, Cheon Muyang could only smile.

"Tsk."

Nangwang, Neung Ryeoun, and Cha Myeonghak followed after her.

Left alone once more, Cheon Muyang finally closed his eyes with a relaxed mind.

"Hoo...."

It had been a day with more events than expected.

What was even more anticipated was that the main Yongbong Assembly had not even begun yet.

"The Yongbong Assembly...."

He still did not feel much anticipation.

If Namgung Sanghyeok and Paeng Dohyeok were all there was, that would be why.

"I wonder what the disciples of the Nine Sects will be like."

But if they were disciples of the Nine Sects.

He felt they would be different from Namgung Sanghyeok and Paeng Dohyeok.

"I'll look forward to it."

Since the Beggars' Sect's Hougae was said to be attending, he should show himself by tomorrow.

"No, maybe he's hiding in some corner, peeping again."

Who knew.

He might even have been watching as Paeng Dohyeok got beaten like a dog.

"See you soon."

Cheon Muyang closed his eyes.

He fell asleep faster than expected.

"This bastard. Look at him already sprawled out asleep?"

So deeply that he couldn't even hear Nangwang's grumbling after returning late.

****

A day passed.

He did not wake up naturally.

Boom!

Boom boom!

Because of the commotion outside, Cheon Muyang had no choice but to wake up with a frown.

"Man, it's damn noisy."

Nangwang was nowhere to be seen.

He had probably taken the three out to train early in the morning.

"Honestly, there's not even a speck of etiquette to be found. Tsk."

Clicking his tongue, he got up from his spot.

At that moment, Cheon Muyang's door was smashed to pieces.

"You bastard! Where are you! Won't you come out at once!"

Through the broken doorway, Paeng Dohyeok, covered in bruises, could be seen, and behind him, a group of people filling the narrow corridor to the brim.

So that was why.

Unlike yesterday, Paeng Dohyeok looked brimming with confidence.

"You've got a damn loud voice. I didn't run away."

A yawn escaped Cheon Muyang.

Grrrk!

"Y-You bastard!"

Seeing that, the anger that was already rising to the tip of his chin flared up even more.

"Where is my blade!"

"Your blade? It's right there."

Paeng Dohyeok's blade, left lying around carelessly.

Crack!

Paeng Dohyeok's brow furrowed.

How could it be treated so negligently?

"Do you even know what kind of blade that is, acting like this right now—"

"What kind of blade?"

Cheon Muyang stepped on the blade sprawled carelessly on the floor, as if to show it off.

"It's your blade."

"Y-You bastard!"

Unable to endure it any longer, Paeng Dohyeok charged ferociously like an enraged bull.

"Second Young Master!"

Voices of restraint came from behind him, but he paid them no heed.

How could anyone endure seeing their own blade treated like that?

Paeng Dohyeok's fury was understandable, but his movements were far too linear.

Whoosh!

Even though Cheon Muyang merely sidestepped lightly, Paeng Dohyeok's massive body slammed toward the wall.

"He's no different from a wild boar."

Whistling, Cheon Muyang faced the Paeng Clan warriors lined up outside the door.

A strange light filled Cheon Muyang's eyes.

Each and every one of them was a warrior brimming with fighting spirit.

"Well, would you look at that. Since you can't handle me one-on-one, you're trying to overwhelm me with numbers?"

He spoke casually, but inwardly Cheon Muyang was surprised.

'They can't be the Paeng Clan's top elites. And yet they're at this level?'

Even so, the intense aura radiating from each of them made it clear—this truly was the Hebei Paeng Clan.

"Kill him!"

Paeng Dohyeok roared.

At the same time, three warriors standing in the front line drew their blades.

Hooong!

The blade strikes carried a will to smash through every obstacle in their path.

"What a way to start the morning."

Cheon Muyang drew Cheongwang.

Three blades flew toward him, but their target was the same.

'There.'

They overlapped into a single trajectory.

So Cheon Muyang seized the point where the three blades converged.

Kwaaang!

"...!"

The three blades were stopped midair.

The eyes of the three warriors wavered ever so slightly.

'How can it be this perfect…?'

'It can be blocked?'

Then, those in the second line rushed in, aiming for the gaps on either side.

It was like the ambush of a tiger that had spotted an opening.

Swoosh!

Two blades flew in at high speed, targeting his heart and right ankle respectively.

It was a meticulous move that could not be blocked simultaneously.

'You're telling me to dodge?'

There was only one choice.

Retreating backward was all there was.

The three blades that had been blocked head-on would surge forward again, so dodging upward was also not an option.

"Sorry, but I don't fall for such obvious tricks."

Why dodge?

In truth, there was no need to.

They must have thought it was impossible to block—but for Cheon Muyang, it wasn't an unmanageable attack.

Hooong!

A sword was, by nature, an art of drawing lines or points in motion.

That was why some claimed thrusts and slashes were all there was to it.

Cheon Muyang, of course, did not agree in the slightest.

'There's also the sword of the plane.'

Just as a line is a succession of points,

a plane was a succession of lines.

In other words, if one connected lines without interruption, that itself became the sword of the plane.

'With who I am now, it's possible.'

He slashed his sword toward the sky.

That was—cutting through the limits of the sword.

Cheon Muyang's blade, harboring infinite possibilities, did not find the sword of the plane impossible either.

The image in his mind aligned perfectly with the real sword.

All the attacks unleashed by the Paeng Clan warriors became meaningless.

"N-No way…!"

Paeng Dohyeok cried out in shock.

The Paeng Clan warriors in the first and second lines likely did not even realize what had happened to them.

Only Paeng Dohyeok, who had watched Cheon Muyang's movements from the side, could vaguely grasp the intent of that single strike.

No—despite having seen it, even he could not understand it.

It lay far beyond the realm of comprehension he possessed.

Thud.

Before they even realized it, the Paeng Clan warriors were sitting flat on the ground.

"H-How on earth…?"

What, exactly?

Even though he had seen it, he doubted his own eyes.

Still, reality did not change.

"So? Was it decent?"

Cheon Muyang rolled his shoulders from side to side, loosening his stiff body.

"Thanks to you, I got to warm up a bit."

"...."

"Now then, shall we get to the main point?"

Cheon Muyang sheathed Cheongwang and grabbed Paeng Dohyeok's blade, holding it out.

"You heard everything, right?"

"...."

"Hand over the money, punk."

"Ugh!"

Paeng Dohyeok bit his lip.

But no matter how much he thought, no proper solution came to mind.

Left with no choice, he pulled out the money pouch he had brought just in case.

"...."

"You should've done that from the start."

Swiftly taking the pouch, Cheon Muyang cracked it open slightly to check the amount.

"Yeah. This should be enough."

Some would go to the innkeeper.

Half would go to the server.

'The rest I'll count as my labor fee.'

After handing Paeng Dohyeok's blade back without hesitation, Cheon Muyang whistled and moved to step outside.

Halt!

Just as he was about to leave,

the back of his head itched for some reason.

Swoosh.

Cheon Muyang's gaze briefly shifted toward the window, then he shook his head and left the room as it was.

"...."

The Paeng Clan warriors remained silent.

Paeng Dohyeok, too, had lost all fighting spirit.

"W-We're… going back...."

"Yes."

In perfect unison, they departed.

The empty room left behind, with both Cheon Muyang and Paeng Dohyeok gone.

And yet, a voice was heard.

"Heh heh heh. I've already seen everything."

Outside the window where Cheon Muyang's gaze had briefly landed, Hougae was laughing.

"Hee hee hee."