Chapter 28 — Winner of the Great Assembly of Elders
At the Sect Leader’s call, I took one step forward.
I felt no tension.
Instead, I felt a slight surge of excitement at the opportunity to have my skills evaluated by Kunlun’s greatest expert.
Sect Leader Cheon Gwang-cheon’s sharp gaze scanned my entire body.
After a brief moment of contemplation, he slowly opened his mouth as if having reached a decision.
“You discovered a sword path that no one else had found within incomplete manuals.”
His voice was low but firm.
“The sword path of the Flowing Flower Sword you displayed was not a clumsy attempt to forcibly connect broken fragments. You accepted the broken parts as they were, changing and reviving the flow. You brought harmony to the reckless, unbalanced momentum and ultimately created a single balanced line.”
“Thank you, Sect Leader.”
I quickly lowered my head with a humble expression.
I had to hide the smile that was trying to creep onto my face.
‘Perfect. The start is very much to my liking.’
At this rate, winning the Great Assembly of Elders was as good as decided.
I thought the Sect Leader’s praise would continue, but that was only my assumption.
“However, the balance line you created is not perfect.”
‘Ah, why is he doing this? He’s making me nervous.’
I swallowed hard and waited for his next words.
“The Flowing Flower Sword path you displayed certainly achieved balance. But whether it is merely a shallow wave that scatters in an instant, or a great river that flows along Kunlun’s mountain range and continues onward, is still difficult to determine.”
My heart sank for a moment.
I even began to worry that the championship might slip away.
The Sect Leader’s following words heightened my anxiety even further.
“Perhaps the side effects of learning the Flowing Flower Sword will appear later. By then, your mind and body may already be completely ruined… It is also true that I am concerned about your recklessness in training the incomplete arts of the Abandoned Martial Hall.”
‘Oh come on, Sect Leader. Please stop worrying.’
Qi deviation will never happen, so you can relax.
I’ve learned the complete and flawless Flowing Flower Sword!
These words rose all the way to my throat, but I held them back.
The Sect Leader’s evaluation was not over yet.
“However, that very recklessness may actually be the true value of your martial arts.”
“…!?”
“Those who only learned conventional Kunlun martial arts would have feared its incompleteness. But you accepted the broken parts as they were and connected the unfinished flow in your own way. Your will has breathed new life into the Flowing Flower Sword that had been sleeping in the Abandoned Martial Hall.”
After a brief silence, the Sect Leader raised his head and looked at all the proxies.
“As I mentioned earlier, the evaluation criteria for this Great Assembly of Elders are as follows. The completion of the martial art is important, but so is the training period and the achievements gained within that time. Myeong-jeon’s movement technique was flashy, Yu Seol-ah’s sword momentum was sharp, and Hyun-kwon’s Decree Spear Art was mature and flawless. However, all of them were the result of long years of accumulation.”
The Sect Leader’s gaze returned to me.
His eyes were intense, as if trying to see through my very thoughts.
“On the other hand, Han Mujin, you drew out a new path from the discarded arts of the Abandoned Martial Hall in a short period of time. Though your training period was brief, the achievement you gained was deep and vast. Among all the proxies here today, you alone chose not the safe path everyone else took, but instead took a risk to pioneer a new one.”
The training ground fell silent. And finally, Sect Leader Cheon Gwang-cheon’s voice rang out like thunder.
“As the Sect Leader of the great Kunlun Sect, I declare: The winner of this Great Assembly of Elders is… the proxy and direct disciple of First Generation Elder Jin Gwang-ung, Han Mujin!”
Suppressed breaths exploded from all directions.
Gasps of admiration and murmurs spread through the crowd like ripples.
Some widened their eyes in shock, while others nodded slowly as if they had expected it.
“An Affairs Hall member becoming the winner of the Great Assembly of Elders…”
“If he inherited the Flowing Flower Sword left behind by the Azure Cloud True Person, winning is only natural.”
“Could he really be a once-in-a-generation talent? To reach that level of mastery with the Flowing Flower Sword after only a few weeks…”
At the intense reactions from the spectators, I finally felt the reality sink in — I had truly become the winner of the Great Assembly of Elders.
‘Everything went exactly as planned.’
Feeling a deep sense of relief, I turned my gaze and observed the expressions of the other proxies.
Their reactions varied.
Myeong-jeon from the Finance Hall already looked resigned. It seemed he had known from the beginning that the championship was out of his reach. He let out a hollow smile and lowered his head.
Hyun-kwon’s expression, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.
He was staring directly at me with burning eyes. His clenched fists were so tight that his knuckles had turned white.
His gaze toward me now held an even stronger competitive spirit than before.
‘Take it easy, kid. Glare all you want. That’s not going to change the fact that you lost, you little brat.’
I sent him a magnanimous, adult-like smile filled with generosity.
And finally, Yu Seol-ah.
Rather than showing any regret over her defeat, she was simply watching me quietly.
There was no jealousy or hostility in her eyes.
‘Interesting. I thought she’d be quite angry after the way she performed earlier.’
Our eyes met for a brief moment.
For a split second, I thought I saw a faint smile cross her lips. Or was it just my imagination?
It was then that I sensed someone’s presence right in front of me.
‘What? When did these two get here?’
I turned my head toward the presence and saw Sect Leader Cheon Gwang-cheon’s face.
In the short moment I had looked away, he had left the head seat and moved directly in front of me.
Beside him stood Jin Gwang-ung.
He was stroking his chin with one hand, staring at me with a strange expression.
Jin Gwang-ung had pressured me to do well today, but he probably never imagined I would actually win the championship.
And especially not by using the Abandoned Martial Hall’s martial arts that he himself had dismissed.
A moment later, Sect Leader Cheon Gwang-cheon spoke to me with a solemn expression.
“Han Mujin. Congratulations on your victory. However, do not let today’s glory go to your head. Whether the achievement you showed today is truly your own strength, or merely the fleeting shadow of an accidental enlightenment… that is something you must prove for yourself in the future.”
It was both congratulations and a stern warning.
I bowed my head toward the Sect Leader and replied.
“I will always remember your words and devote myself to training. I will prove that your decision to name me the winner was not a mistake.”
“Good. I will trust you. Never forget the resolve you hold today.”
A faint smile appeared on the Sect Leader’s lips.
It seemed my answer had pleased him.
Sect Leader Cheon Gwang-cheon turned to Jin Gwang-ung beside him.
“Elder Gwang-ung. I must say, I’m quite envious of you today.”
“Why are you speaking so warmly? It doesn’t suit you… And envious? What do you mean?”
“To have gained such a talented and humble disciple. How could I not be envious?”
“Hmm, well, a great father doesn’t raise a weak son. It’s all because I’m so outstanding that my disciple takes after me.”
“….”
Jin Gwang-ung’s answer had not a single ounce of humility.
The Sect Leader shook his head with a helpless laugh, as if he had given up trying to correct him.
Meanwhile, Jin Gwang-ung’s voice transmission reached me.
[What the hell are you? Just a few weeks ago you only knew the Three Absolute Palms, and now you’re using the Flowing Flower Sword? What kind of trick did you pull?]
I replied to him through voice transmission as well.
[You heard what the Sect Leader said earlier, right? Instead of being bound by a fixed perspective, I looked at the Flowing Flower Sword with new eyes, and somehow, by a stroke of heavenly luck—]
[Cut the bullshit. Heavenly luck? If anyone heard you, they’d think you were the reincarnation of the Azure Cloud True Person or something.]
[…]
[Anyway, come see me later. I need to check what this so-called heavenly luck of yours really is.]
[Yes, understood, Master.]
Just gloss over it somehow.
That damn old man is way too suspicious.
As I swallowed my internal grumbling, a repulsive face suddenly squeezed between me and the Sect Leader.
“Congratulations on winning the Great Assembly of Elders, Han Mujin.”
It was that damn perverted murderer, the Blood Physician Butcher, Baek Cheong-woo.
He spoke with a gentle smile, the corners of his mouth softly raised.
“I was truly impressed by the sword forms you displayed. They were magnificent.”
Baek Cheong-woo’s voice trembled slightly as he offered his congratulations, and a faint flush colored his face.
To anyone watching, it would seem like he was genuinely impressed, but I knew better than anyone what lay hidden beneath that face.
‘Look at this perverted bastard. He’s imagining experimenting on me right now.’
That was exactly the expression he made — the same excited face he wore when carving up the internal organs of test subjects with a scalpel.
I barely suppressed the urge to vomit and replied to Baek Cheong-woo.
“You flatter me, White-Clothed Noble Gentleman.”
“Haha, flatter? I simply spoke the truth as I saw it. The sword momentum you displayed earlier was truly beautiful. It was the sword art left behind by the Azure Cloud True Person, the strongest under heaven, wasn’t it? It was incredible. It felt like I was truly witnessing the flow of life itself.”
His voice and words were gentle.
But knowing the speaker was a mad murderer made his words feel disturbingly eerie.
I wanted to draw my sword and cut off his head right then and there.
But now was not the time.
Hiding my true feelings, I smiled brightly and said to Baek Cheong-woo.
“I am grateful that my sword art left such a deep impression on you.”
“I’m already looking forward to the banquet tonight. I’ll be able to talk with you much more then, right?”
“Yes, I feel the same way. I hope night comes quickly.”
“I’m truly glad to hear you feel the same, Mujin. Hahaha.”
Watching Baek Cheong-woo laugh heartily like a saint of the world, I thought to myself:
‘Yeah. Laugh as much as you can while you still can.’
After today, there won’t be many more days left for you to laugh in this world.
And so, the fated evening banquet was drawing near.
***
The Great Assembly of Elders had finally come to an end.
One by one, the spectators, including the Sect Leader, began to leave their seats.
I was about to quietly slip away among them when—
“Where do you think you’re sneaking off to like a rat? Hehehe.”
A mountain-like figure suddenly blocked my path.
It was Jin Gwang-ung.
I quickly hid my flustered expression and said,
“S-Sneaking off? I was actually looking for you, Master.”
“Yes, there’s something important we need to discuss, you and I.”
“Y-Yes… In that case, since we have time, why don’t we sit down and have some tea—”
“Tea? What tea? Trying to pull some trick again, are you?”
Jin Gwang-ung’s massive right hand, like a pot lid, grabbed me by the nape of my neck.
Whoosh.
Once again, I was dangling from his arm and flying through the sky.
The wind whipped past my ears, and from below I heard Sect Leader Cheon Gwang-cheon’s laughter.
“Hahaha, what a close master-disciple pair. It seems you can’t bear to be apart even for a moment.”
Cheon Gwang-cheon waved both arms widely as if greeting us, his face bright with amusement.
Looking at him, I swallowed a sigh inwardly.
‘Sect Leader… You seem to be viewing the world with far too much optimism.’
This is clearly me being kidnapped…
And so, I was once again abducted by Jin Gwang-ung.