Childhood Friend of the Zenith

In the early morning, with the scent of midnight still lingering, a monstrous sound echoed repeatedly through a training room large enough to hold dozens of people.

Moreover, the students watching in the back all wore horrified expressions on their faces.

Slam!

Pe Woo Cheol’s massive body hit the floor with a series of heavy thuds.

Each time he fell, dust rose from the ground, kicked up by the sheer weight of his body.

And It wasn’t just dust.

The students were left speechless, overwhelmed by the dense Qi that filled the room.

Pe Woocheol quickly tried to get back on his feet, but before he could, a hand appeared in his field of vision.

The hand then pushed onto Pe Woocheol’s forehead, forcing him to lose his stance once again.

It was a simple movement.

Even without using much force, his opponent easily sent Pe WooCheol crashing back to the ground.

“If you’re just going to keep falling, you might as well stay down.”

At those words, Pe Woocheol lay flat down on the ground.

It seemed like his stamina reached its limit.

“Huff… Huff…”

“You started off calculating your moves, but halfway through, you got reckless. It’s like you were begging me to hit you. Your body may be as big as a mountain, but it feels like I’m hitting tofu.”

He was as cruel as ever.

Even the bystanders flinched at his words.

Was there anyone who could outdo Pe Woo Cheol verbally, considering his notoriously bad attitude?

Probably not.

Even if there was, they wouldn’t be nearly as terrifying as the one who was currently dismantling him.

“Pe Woocheol… was being thrown everywhere like a toy.”

“He ripped Pe Woocheol’s Qi with his hands… how is such a thing even possible?”

The students watched in shock.

It made sense—Pe Woo Cheol’s opponent was barely half his size and younger than many of the other students at Heavenly Dragon Academy, yet he was toying with him.

However, his talents and martial strength were so well-known that no one was truly surprised.

One of the students watching, whispered.

“…The True Dragon rips people apart.”

Just as everyone was about to nod in agreement,

“I don’t, you crazy bastards!”

“Eek!”

The True Dragon shouted back upon hearing the whisper.

Apparently, he had sharp hearing too.

As the students hurried away from his roar, the True Dragon sighed deeply.

“…This is why I don’t come here often.”

Especially on days without morning drills.

Martial artists were bound to train by themselves if there weren’t group training.

Days like this always brought everyone to the training room.

I wasn’t sure why I was bothering with this big bastard.

I scratched my head, staring down at Pe Woocheol.

Maybe he’s better?

At least Pe Woocheol had the perseverance.

He was better than that bastard passed out in the corner.

That bastard being none other than Gu Jeolyub.

“Haha…”

In front of him stood someone smiling awkwardly.

The students might have been here because of me, but it was more likely because of that handsome bastard over there.

The one standing over Gu Jeolyub was Mount Hua’s greatest prodigy, the genius who earned the title Sword Dragon, surpassing even the Namgung Clan and Wudang Sect.

Sword Dragon, Yung Pung.

Glancing at Gu Jeolyub, Yung Pung asked awkwardly,

“…What should we do about Young Expert Gu?”

“What do you mean, ‘What should we do?’ Just leave him there. Ugh, I can’t show my face anywhere because of how embarrassing he is.”

I felt ashamed to share the same surname as him.

He begged so hard, yet it only took a single strike…!

The reason why Gu Jeolyub fainted effortlessly was because he was knocked out in a single blow from Yung Pung in a spar.

Yes, just a single strike.

He couldn’t even endure that much.

“Ugh…”

Just staring at his embarrassing body made me want to hide my face.

Yung Pung was undoubtedly one of the greatest geniuses of our generation, but Gu Jeolyub wasn’t weak enough to lose in such a pathetic way.

I made him work so much, yet he went down with just a single blow.

“Haha… He uh… must’ve been nervous.”

“…You still want to sugarcoat him?”

“There had to be a reason, you know.”

“The reason is simple. He lost because he’s weak.”

Try making excuses like that in a real-life battle.

You’d be saying it with your head already sliced off.

“Sigh.”

More than anything, I felt a little guilty toward Yung Pung.

He came to me for training, but I left him with Gu Jeolyub instead.

“I’m sorry, Master Yung Pung.”

“No problem at all. I’m fine with it as it was an experience.”

Yung Pung didn’t have his arrogance like last time.

Despite his pride and competitive nature, he managed to keep his ego in check.

…What a great mind he has.

He had endured Mount Hua’s brutal training while sharpening his mental discipline, elevating his strength far beyond what I’d imagined since last time.

He was now at the pinnacle of the Peak Realm.

It’s way different from my past life.

Back then, I didn’t know much about him, but I had heard he struggled in the Peak Realm for a long time.

The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.

…I only showed him one thing.

I gave him some beating since I wasn’t fond of his arrogance, but he used that as a starting point to becoming who he is now.

Meanwhile, some people have struggled endlessly just to reach this point.

At this rate, it felt like Yung Pung would become the next Sword King.

The Sword King of Mount Hua? He would be called something like that.

I do also have some hope for Muyeon.

He wasn’t very famous in the Central Plains yet, but I knew once he stopped being my escort and started fighting on his own, his name would spread like wildfire.

‘He is also one of the few people who is on my side.

I didn’t fully trust him yet, but after the friends from my past life, Muyeon was the person I trusted the most.

Gu Jeolyub was in that circle too… but maybe I should rethink that after today.

“…My back.”

I hadn’t given him much attention lately, being busy with the Academy, and now here he was in such a pathetic state.

“Woocheol.”

“Y-Yes, brother…”

Pe Woocheol responded as he groaned.

Still struggling to catch his breath.

“Take care of that guy.”

“…Uh… Do I just have to throw him somewhere?”

“Throw him in his room if possible. Leaving him on a random floor is a bit much, you know.”

“Understood.”

Pe Woocheol seemed disappointed for some reason.

Why did this bastard feel so competitive when it came to him?

I had no idea.

Since my training time was nearly up, I stood up.

“Are you leaving now?”

“That’s right.”

“…How unfortunate. I was hoping we’d have some joyful training together for the first time in a while.”

I frowned a little after hearing Yung Pung.

But, I never once found it joyful myself though…?

I thought the same thing last time in Mount Hua. None of the guys obsessed with plum flowers seemed normal at all.

“We shall save it for next time. I will remember this.”

“Oh… Really?”

I only said it out of respect, but Yung Pung’s eyes lit up.

…That was a mistake on my part.

“Uh… actually,”

“I will remember it for sure as well.”

“…Ah, I see.”

It was too late to take back what I’d said.

Yung Pung smiled happily.

Why is he so happy about it?

Hasn’t he had enough training at Mount Hua?

Besides, his relationship with his seniors and juniors didn’t seem that bad the last time I checked.

As I was thinking that, Yung Pung smiled and spoke.

“I have to assume my seniors and juniors must hate training. I always feel lonely when they disappear halfway through.”

“…”

Hmm.

I slightly nodded my head at Yung Pung’s words.

I see.

…Basically, they all ran away from him because they couldn’t endure him.

It wasn’t that the people of Mount Hua were weird, maybe Yung Pung was the odd one after all?

My opinion about Mount Hua just changed a little.

Then,

“Hmm?”

Yung Pung suddenly tilted his head, his gaze on me.

His gaze fixated on my arm.

“…Huh…?”

He stared at my left arm as if something was off.

“What’s wrong?”

I asked, noticing his curious gaze.

Yung Pung quickly took a step back, realizing he was being disrespectful.

“A-Ah, it was nothing. I’m sorry. I just felt a familiar sensation.”

“It’s fine. I’ll be leaving now; I have some business to attend to.”

With that, I left Yung Pung and the training room.

Pe Woocheol will clean up the mess.

As I walked out, I could hear the students inside sighing in relief.

At this point, they were treating me like a demon.

Not that I cared—it wasn’t like I wasn’t used to this in my past life.

The real problem, though, was Yung Pung at the end.

…Did he notice?

He was definitely staring at my left arm.

I quietly rolled up my sleeve.

“…Ugh.”

The pink bandage came into my view.

Yung Pung must have sensed something from my arm.

I had been trying my best to hide it, but it seemed that wasn’t enough to fool a martial artist from Mount Hua.

What do I do about this?

Sigh.

I thought back to that day, letting out a frustrated sigh.

It seemed like I was able to survive thanks to the power of this treasure, when Elder Shin took this item in the secret vault using my body.

From the way Elder Shin used it and the reactions of both the Sword Queen and Yung Pung, it was clear this was a treasure from Mount Hua.

Everything about that was fine.

It proved that the vault wasn’t an illusion, and it had saved my life, which was great.

However,

Why can’t I take it off?

I just couldn’t get the thing off my arm.

I’m going to go insane…

I had tried unwrapping it since it was shaped like a bandage, but it wouldn’t come off.

I tried removing it gently at first, then I even used my Qi to force it off.

At one point, I hit my arm out of frustration.

…I probably got a bad bruise from that.

I struggled to get out of bed this morning from how hard I’d hit it, but I had to try something.

In the end though, I couldn’t get it off.

Why won’t this thing let go of me?

It was a hassle whenever I tried to wash, and showing it to others was just embarrassing.

When I showed it to the Sword Queen, she thought for a moment before saying she needed to ask the Celestial Plum Blossom about it, since it was a Mount Hua treasure.

On top of that, she didn’t even get the Stone of Mount Hua she wanted so badly.

I asked the Sword Queen if the thing on my arm was the stone, but how could this be a stone?

Though, when I first grabbed it, it did feel like a stone.

At first, it felt like a large marble.

But why had it taken this form?

The Sword Queen said she’d ask the Celestial Plum Blossom about it, but I didn’t know when that would be, and there was someone else who could give me answers much sooner.

“So please explain it to me.”

However,

But no matter how many times I asked, I got no response.

The hero of Mount Hua, the old man living rent-free in my body, Elder Shin.

He showed up for a moment that day, then vanished again.

…I’m going insane, seriously.

I had no idea what he wanted from me.

He definitely knew what this thing was.

Was he playing with me?

For him to appear and disappear again, just what was he doing?

“Nothing is going well for me, ugh.”

Before the Murim Alliance came to me to interrogate me about the secret vault in the Heavenly Dragon Academy, I wanted to take care of all my business here, but because nothing went according to my plans, I started to become angrier as time went by.

This isn’t even the only thing on my plate right now.

…What was coming up again? A hand-on-training?

I thought about the Academy’s upcoming schedule.

I’d heard it was going to be hands-on training on everything we’d learned so far.

That’s what I heard, but by this point of time,

The bastard should start making his move soon.

I was pretty sure Jang Seonyeon would make his move soon.

If I were him, I’d use the hands-on training as an opportunity to stir something up behind the scenes.

But it also meant I could turn the tables on him.

Would he not know that though?

Of course he knows, considering what I said to him last time in his ears.

I kindly told him that he’d die here.

There was no way Jang Seonyeon didn’t understand that.

That’s why he chose Cheol Jiseon.

How did the bastard find out, I wonder.

The thing that puzzled me was how Jang Seonyeon had information on Cheol Jiseon.

Knowing his real surname, Zhuge, was one thing, but if he approached him, then he likely knew about that ‘power’ too.

But I wondered how he knew about it.

Did he gain that information from the Alliance?

The Beggar’s Sect was part of the Alliance, sure, but this kind of information wasn’t easy to come by.

“It just means he has some support behind his back.”

Though I don’t think it’s anyone ordinary.

Like those bastards I dealt with when I was Wi Seol-Ah that day.

It’s probably related to them.

If that’s true, then Jang Seonyeon is far from being part of the Orthodox Faction.

Does the Harmonic Sword know about this?

I wanted to know if the Alliance Leader also knew about this.

If he knew, I’d know if the whole Murim Alliance was backing Jang Seonyeon.

Even if they weren’t on his side though,

The Alliance couldn’t be trusted. I never had much faith in them anyway.

With that thought, I quietly whispered.

“I won’t give him another chance this time.”

He was my most important target here, and since I was determined to kill him no matter what, I had to make sure I finished the job this time.

I’d made this my goal from the moment I decided to attend the Heavenly Dragon Academy.

As long as the heavens didn’t stop me from it.

I hoped nothing like that would happen, but that evening, I faced an unexpected twist—though it wasn’t as bad as the heavens collapsing.

“…What did you say?”

Right as I was about to put my spoon in my mouth, a bastard eating with me said something strange.

“Repeat it again.”

After I asked him again, Cheol Jiseon repeated his words.

“…The Meteor Sword asked me to help kill you.”

It was such a random confession.

I couldn’t help but be dumbfounded after hearing it.

Because…

I already knew…?

I already knew that he was trying to do so.

I just didn’t expect Cheol Jiseon to tell me outright.