The Eunuch Regains His Manhood in the Second Round

26. The Fierce Star of Defying Heaven

“Junior brother, there’s light over there!”

As I walked through the dark passage, I heard my senior brother’s voice.

He was right.

Finally, I saw sunlight in the distance.

My senior brother and I used our lightness skills to run inside the cave.

And finally.

“Huah!”

“Huff, huff.”

After a whole week, I could finally breathe the outside air.

The sunlight in the clear morning sky welcomed us.

The early spring mountain breeze wrapped around my body.

When I looked back, there was a cliff as sharp as a blade.

Rumble!

The cliff shook with a loud noise.

It seemed that the cave had completely collapsed.

“Let’s go to the main base now. I’ll find the way.”

“Okay. I’ll trust you again this time, junior brother.”

My senior brother smiled brightly at my words.

By now, Jeon Young would be searching all over the Joint Mountain for us, who had been missing for a week.

In the records of my past life, it was said that Yoo Jin-hwi continued to wander around the Joint Mountain after he went missing.

—

—

Using the tracking skills I acquired during my early days as a low-level informant, I could trace Jeon Young’s trail.

But it’s a troublesome and tiring task. My body is already exhausted, so it’s better to just go back to the main base and wait for him while resting.

So, as I was returning to the main base of the Gongdong Sect with my senior brother.

“Che, Cheolsu? Is that Hwi behind you?!”

Near the main base, my senior brother and I met our master, Jeon Young.

He seemed to have wandered around the Gongdong Mountain for over a week, as he was wearing a black martial arts uniform covered in dust and dirt. Tears welled up in his eyes as he saw us.

“Where on earth have you been all this time? Do you know how long this master has been waiting for you?”

Tears glistened in the weary eyes of our master, who had grown a stylish beard.

Seeing that, I felt a pang of guilt in a corner of my heart.

Having learned tracking, stealth, and observation techniques during my early days, I could tell.

The already worn-out black martial arts uniform was tattered in places, covered in dust and dirt, with the soles of his shoes completely worn out, his face haggard and eyes sunken. All in all, it was clear that our master had been searching for us for seven days and nights without proper sleep.

I dislike seeing a man cry, but as a human being before a man, I felt a sense of guilt.

“I’m sorry, Master. We got lost on the mountain path at night… It’s all because of my incompetence as the guide. Please punish this unworthy disciple.”

I bowed my head to Jeon Young, expressing my apologies.

Just as Jeon Young was about to say something in response to my words.

“No, Master! Please don’t punish my junior brother! We are one in body and mind, and my junior brother’s fault is also my fault as his senior brother who failed to guide him properly. So please, punish me instead!”

Swoosh.

My senior brother stepped between me and our master.

I saw my senior brother’s back.

Why is he interfering without being asked?

It was my fault. Anyway, he’s such a pushover.

I’m flustered.

“Hahaha…”

Jeon Young laughed as he watched us.

He looked at us and said.

“First, let me ask. Where have you both been for the past week?”

“Well…”

As soon as Jeon Young asked the question, my senior brother began to speak.

He recounted everything we had experienced so far.

How we got lost and accidentally discovered the Gwangseong Danhyul. How we found and consumed the Mita Holy Water and Hongyangtai inside. How we achieved the Beolmo Seisu and reclaimed the lost martial arts of the Gongdong Sect. How we retrieved the Bokma Sword Technique and passed through the Jinbeop to acquire the Ihap Divine Art.

—

—

Jeon-yeong’s eyes wavered upon hearing his senior brother’s words.

Even amidst all this, his senior brother surprisingly did not tell their master about making snake soup with the monster serpent.

To think he kept the secret so faithfully, what a fool.

“…Is everything you just said true?”

“Yes, it’s true, Master.”

I opened my bundle and showed Jeon-yeong the secret manual I had acquired from the cave.

Jeon-yeong received the manual and flipped through the pages with a fluttering sound.

“…There’s no doubt. This manual is entirely genuine.”

After finishing his perusal of the manual, Jeon-yeong grabbed Yu Jin-hwi’s wrist and checked his pulse.

“Indeed, both your Ren and Du meridians are fully open… In that case… It is true that you have inherited the legacy and will of the Honwon Sword Ancestor.”

After the verification, a strange light flickered in Jeon-yeong’s eyes.

“…This is truly a fortuitous encounter, a fortuitous encounter indeed. Hahaha… This too must be the guidance and protection of our sect’s ancestors.”

Tears streamed down Jeon-yeong’s face.

But these were different from before, they were tears of joy.

According to records, Jeon-yeong had always considered the mission of rebuilding the sect left by his master as his destiny, living more for the sect than for himself.

After shedding tears, he bowed twice in the direction of the main mountain and stood up.

“Your unauthorized departure is indeed a fault. However, you have also made a significant contribution by retrieving our sect’s lost martial arts. If we weigh the merits and demerits of this incident, the merits far outweigh the demerits. Therefore, as the head of the sect, I will overlook this unauthorized departure. However, even if I do not hold you accountable, a fault is still a fault. Both of you must ensure this does not happen again. Hui-ah, you will take responsibility and guide Cheol-su. Without the master, you, as the senior disciple, are the head of our sect.”

Jeon-yeong scolded us in a deliberately stern voice.

“Understood, Master!”

“Understood, Master.”

My senior brother and I nodded at our master’s words.

We had anticipated that he would overlook it, so it wasn’t particularly surprising.

Considering the fortuitous encounter we had, it would be stranger if we were punished for such a trivial matter.

There were no records in my past life of Yu Jin-hwi being punished after acquiring the fortuitous encounter either.

Our master laughed heartily at our response.

He spread his arms and embraced both of us.

Are we being hugged again?

I flinched, but in this reconciliatory mood, there was no way to avoid the hug.

Damn it.

—

—

There was no other choice.

I resigned myself and accepted Jeon-yeong’s embrace.

“Welcome back. Hui-ah, Cheol-su. Both of you have worked hard.”

Jeon-yeong said to us, slightly sobbing.

With those words, the grand adventure of finding opportunities with my senior brother came to an end.

*

Upon returning to the main mountain, my senior brother and I, along with our master, created the secret manual of the Bokma Sword Technique at Hyeoncheongung.

The process involved my senior brother orally dictating the mnemonic verses of the Bokma Sword Technique, while our master transcribed them into the book with a brush.

Given that my external achievements in classical Chinese had just reached the level of completing the Thousand Character Classic and beginning the Four Books and Five Classics, I was assigned menial tasks such as grinding ink on an inkstone during the restoration work.

The process of creating the secret manual of the Bokma Sword Technique, which lasted about two hours, concluded with our master writing the words “Bokma Sword Technique” on the cover of the book in an antique style.

“Haha, for the Bokma Sword Technique to return to our sect, it is truly a great blessing for our sect. I never thought such a day would come in my lifetime. Now I can face our late master with pride. Hahaha.”

Our master laughed heartily as he looked at the restored secret manual of the Bokma Sword Technique.

I cleared my throat as I watched him.

“Master, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

Jeon-yeong asked me in a gentle voice.

He seemed to be in a good mood after retrieving the Bokma Sword Technique.

After all, the Bokma Sword Technique is the representative treasure of the Gongdong Sect. Without the Bokma Sword Technique, the Gongdong Sect is like a magpie without its nest, or a man without his manhood.

But now that the Gongdong Sect has regained the Bokma Sword Technique, Jeon-yeong, who bears the mission of rebuilding the sect, must be feeling the utmost pleasure, just like me who has returned and retrieved a great treasure.

In fact, his face showed an expression of excitement, as if he had encountered the ultimate pleasure.

I didn’t really want to see such an expression on a middle-aged man’s face.

Damn it.

Suppressing my nausea with superhuman patience, I looked at him and said,

“I think it would be best to keep the Ihap Divine Art and the Night Pearl hidden from the world for the time being.”

“Why is that?”

Jeon-yeong asked me back.

We must hide the Ihap Divine Art and the Night Pearl.

This conclusion had been in my mind ever since we escaped from Bidong, or rather, ever since I heard the last words of the Honwon Swordmaster.

The Honwon Swordmaster’s final, meaningful words.

I still remember them: The darkness of the world has not yet disappeared, and the ominous star of rebellion will surely rise again.

—

He didn’t specify, saying it was against the will of heaven or something, but the darkness of the world he referred to must undoubtedly mean the Blood Sect that rampaged 300 years ago, and the ominous star of defiance must refer to the leader of the Blood Sect.

‘To be precise, it must be the descendant of the Blood Demon.’

The Blood Demon.

The one who led the Blood Sect and caused the Great Bloodshed that washed the world in blood during the chaos at the end of the Yuan Dynasty 300 years ago.

The Blood Demon and the Blood Sect, who raised the banner of a new heaven, set out from the Ten Thousand Mountains of Guangdong, annihilated the Sword Pavilion of the South Sea, and massacred countless innocent people.

The Yuan Dynasty, which had already become nominal due to the Han Chinese rebellions in various parts of the Central Plains allied with the martial world, was dealt a decisive blow by the Blood Sect’s bloodshed and retreated from Beijing to the great plains. Just before the Blood Sect took over the Central Plains, which had become a land without an owner, a master appeared – the Mixed Origin Sword Emperor.

He was the best in the world 300 years ago.

The Martial Alliance led by the Mixed Origin Sword Emperor, together with General Zhu Yuanzhang, fought a great battle that split the sky and overturned the land and water at Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province. The victor of the Poyang Lake Battle, which lasted for seven days and nights, was the Mixed Origin Sword Emperor.

The Blood Demon was killed, and the Blood Sect was destroyed.

After the Poyang Lake Battle, Zhu Yuanzhang seized the mandate of heaven and founded the Ming Dynasty. The martial world, which contributed to the founding of the Ming Empire, was directly granted the privilege of non-interference by Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang.

‘And of course, the treacherous Blood Sect was completely eradicated without a trace. The reason the Demon Sect was driven to the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang from the Central Plains was also because the Blood Sect originated from the extreme faction of the Demon Sect.’

When I concluded in my previous life that I had to die to regain my yang energy and sought the descendants of the Blood Sect to perform the ancient Blood Sect’s secret art of reincarnation, they were barely surviving as miserable lower-class people disguised as undertakers.

This was because the state had thoroughly eradicated them. Even with the intelligence networks of the Eastern and Western Bureaus, no dark forces worthy of being called the darkness of the world could be found.

What mattered to me was my yang energy and the pleasures of the flesh, not the darkness of the martial world. Therefore, such information was outside my interest.

But now, the Mixed Origin Sword Emperor was convinced that the descendants of the Blood Sect would inevitably appear.

‘But even 50 years into the future, the Blood Sect hasn’t appeared.’

However, in the future I know, neither the Blood Sect nor the descendants of the Blood Demon appeared.

The reason future Yu Jin-hwi gained the fame of the Sword Saint was because he won all the duels against the Nine Great Schools and the Six Great Families.

Even when the top masters of the Namgung Family, the Mount Hua Sect, the Qingcheng Sect, and the Wudang Sect abandoned their honor and joined forces to hinder his rise to the best in the world, Yu Jin-hwi repelled their surprise joint attack single-handedly.

‘But I can’t simply dismiss the Mixed Origin Sword Emperor’s words, who read the heavenly will and noticed the regression, as mere senility. Especially since the fact that the Mixed Origin Cave collapsed in my previous life is very disturbing.’

My intuition was sounding the alarm.

In the future I know, Yu Jin-hwi couldn’t restore the Combined Origin Art. The Combined Origin Art never appeared in the world. Yet, the cave collapsed.

If the one who collapsed the cave was the descendant of the Blood Demon? If they collapsed the cave to eliminate the Combined Origin Art and the Mixed Origin Martial Arts, the unique martial arts of the Mixed Origin Sword Emperor who delivered the final blow to the Blood Demon? If they were plotting in hiding far beyond the reach of the intelligence networks of the Eastern and Western Bureaus in my previous life?

In the current situation where all possibilities must be kept open, it would be foolish to hastily announce that the Combined Origin Art has been recovered.

Because we never know when their evil hands might reach out.

‘I haven’t even held hands with an absolute beauty yet, nor experienced the pleasures of the flesh, so there’s no need to stir up a hornet’s nest.’

Dealing with those behind the scenes can wait until I reach the pinnacle of the martial arts of the Shaolin Sect and gain absolute vitality.

No, by then, it would be rather welcome.

In the process of defeating them, I could rise as a hero of the martial world alongside my senior brother, capturing the hearts of many beauties and achieving the dream of having three wives and four concubines.

‘Oh my! Is the master the hero of the martial world who defeated the descendant of the Blood Demon? Truly, your spirit is magnificent and your appearance is outstanding!’

—

—

‘Hohohoho! You have a solid build befitting a hero! I prefer a manly figure like yours over the slender Young Master Yu!’

‘They say heroes are fond of beauty. I would even be happy to be your concubine! Or even just for a night of love! Please, accept me!’

The peerless beauties who recognize me as a hero of the martial world! Their tearful faces as they sneak into my bed, begging for just one night, flicker before my eyes.

But that is something to be done only after I become strong enough and gain absolute power.

Now is not the time, as I am not yet prepared.

I am a man who thinks with his brain, not his desires.

I do not let momentary lust ruin my plans.

Therefore, I must hide my martial arts here.

But I cannot tell my master this straightforwardly.

I looked at my master and spoke the excuse I had prepared in advance.

From now on, this is the critical moment.