Chapter 22: I Was Not Lonely

The Dancheon Clan was in an uproar.

It was because both the eldest and second sons of the clan had obtained the alias of a Dragon, an unprecedented achievement in the entire Murim.

To celebrate this exceptional occasion, the Dancheon Clan held a grand feast for all the residents of the nearby villages.

The storehouses of the Dancheon Clan, filled with all sorts of goods, were thrown wide open, and on that day, no one went hungry within a twenty-li radius of the Dancheon Clan.

The virtue of a prestigious clan could be said to be consolidated through generosity.

In the nearly three hundred years since the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly was established, there had never been a case where a single clan or sect produced two Dragons in the same generation, so this feast was by no means an overreaction.

However, there was something I needed to know.

Most of the events held in the clan were solely under the supervision of the woman, Baek Yeo-hae.

It was for the same reason that my marriage matters were entirely managed by my mother, Baek Yeo-hae.

As the saying goes, 'you reap what you sow,' so the gathering of various renowned figures of the Jianghu inevitably became for Dancheon Hak.

“To have raised your sons so well, I almost want to learn the Dancheon Clan’s method of education.”

“Hohoho, you flatter me.”

Leaving behind the woman, Baek Yeo-hae’s joy, I, who had been filling a spot like a folding screen, quietly stood up.

Since most of the attention was on Baek Yeo-hae and Dancheon Hak anyway, it was not difficult to slip away.

It was both a relief and a sad thing.

“Hmm.”

For some reason, I did not feel like going to my desolate quarters today, so my steps naturally led me to the training ground.

It was because the training ground was the place where I had felt the most peace within the Dancheon Clan recently.

I stood in the center of the training ground, fiddling with the hilt of the Dancheon Sword for a moment.

“What are you doing here alone?”

“Uncle.”

At the familiar voice, I turned my head, and there was Uncle Yeo Baek.

“I heard you conquered the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly?”

“Haha. It turned out that way.”

I gave an awkward laugh.

It was a story that had never once come up at the Dancheon Clan's banquet supervised by Baek Yeo-hae.

Bang Yeo-baek stared at me for a moment, then…

“Well done. You worked hard.”

He said, patting my shoulder.

“……”

I wanted to smile and say thank you with a joke, but for some reason, my mouth did not open easily, so I remained silent for a moment.

In a way, it was a trivial act.

But I think it was only now that I became certain that Uncle Yeo Baek was completely on my side.

“Did you obtain some kind of miraculous encounter?”

Uncle Yeo Baek asked me.

His question was reasonable.

The me he knew was not lacking in insight or talent, but not to the extent of taking the First Seat of the Dragons and Phoenixes in such a short period of time.

In the Jianghu Murim, asking about the origins of one’s martial arts was a great taboo, unless it was between parent and child.

That was also why Manbakja, who could not contain his curiosity, had obediently backed down.

However, Bang Yeo-baek, no, Uncle Yeo Baek was my master.

As the ancient sages said, ‘The ruler, master, and father are one,’ so he also had the right.

No.

It would be more correct to say that only he was granted the right to ask me such a question.

“Yes. I had a small encounter.”

I could not lie to Uncle Yeo Baek.

It was just that I could not tell him the whole truth yet.

“It is a great fortune for the clan.”

Since the Jianghu Murim was a world rife with all sorts of eccentrics and miraculous encounters in the first place, Uncle Yeo Baek did not bother to press further.

Silence continued after those words.

It was good that this silence was not uncomfortable.

Uncle Yeo Baek's simple gaze rested on me again.

“Do you still want to become the Clan Head?”

It was the same question he had once asked me.

“Yes.”

“I see. So that’s how it is.”

He did not ask for the reason.

We had become that kind of relationship.

“We will start training from tomorrow.”

That was welcome news.

“You won’t be able to keep up with my training by relying on some miraculous encounter, so be prepared.”

“Yes.”

I was finally going to be initiated into the latter half of the Dancheon Sword Art, which I had not been granted permission for in my past life.

“I’m leaving. Get some rest.”

“Take care, Uncle.”

I saw Uncle Yeo Baek off.

Soon, my own footsteps headed towards my quarters.

During my time as Myeong-gae, even though I was always with numerous beggars, I think I was always lonely.

But now, it was okay.

Now, I was not lonely.

***

It was just that it did not become much of a topic within the clan because everyone was wary of the woman Baek Yeo-hae’s mood, but after the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly ended, a big change came to my daily life.

“Did all of this come for me?”

“So it seems.”

The woman Baek Yeo-hae, who had come to my quarters, answered with a sour expression.

“Take it.”

She handed me several sheets of old-fashioned paper.

I unfolded one of them.

Only after cutting through the flowery words full of ostentation between prestigious clans could I confirm the main point.

[It is none other than that there is a daughter of a similar age to your clan's 'second son' in our family, so if he does not have a designated partner, how about promoting a marriage…?]

After asking for my mother Baek Yeo-hae’s understanding, I unfolded the other papers as well.

Having eaten the alms of the Beggar’s Gang for over ten years, it was not difficult to extract the key information written on the thick paper.

To summarize, only the flowery words were different; the content was all the same.

It was the astounding news that matchmakers from prestigious clans all over the Central Plains coveted me.

Specifically pointing out the second son of the Dancheon Clan, not the eldest.

“By any chance, is there more?”

“I’ve only selected the decent ones among them.”

Indeed, her words were not wrong; the names of the clans written at the end of the letters were all places that boasted illustrious reputations.

From the Seok Stronghold of Shandong and the Shandong Ak Clan, the Jinju Eon Clan of Hebei, the Sinchang Mok Clan of Shanxi, the Dokgo Clan of Jiangxi…

Starting with prestigious clans that were quite well-known in their regions.

Even the five great clans that held sway over the entire Central Plains, such as the Hebei Peng Clan, the Sichuan Tang Clan, and the Hwangbo Clan, were included in the list.

However, I guessed that Baek Yeo-hae’s actions were not for my sake.

If she were to marry off the second son who had obtained a Dragon's alias to a humble family, her intentions and capabilities would be questioned, so I thought this was also for her own sake.

I could surmise two reasons why so many messages had come to me.

The first would be that the prestige and martial prowess of the First Seat, demonstrated at the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, had already been widely spread in the Jianghu by the beggars of the Beggar’s Gang.

The second would be that I was the second son of the clan.

[Your clan’s second son to our clan…]

This was a phrase included in every single message.

To our clan.

It was not about a bride coming, but about me getting married into their family.

It meant that all the prestigious clans were trying to bring me into their families under the pretext of marriage.

That was the difference between the eldest son and the second son.

“What will you do?”

Baek Yeo-hae asked me in a voice filled with subtle expectation.

In a way, one could say that their interests and Baek Yeo-hae’s aligned.

“I will think about it.”

“Alright. Choose among them.”

She was subtly excluding the option of ‘not choosing.’

It might have been a trick that would work on the eighteen-year-old Dancheon Myeong, but for the me of today, it was out of the question.

“I shall take my leave now.”

It was when Baek Yeo-hae, having finished her business, was about to leave.

“You!”

Yang Su-rin, who came in shouting, ran into Baek Yeo-hae.

“Oh my, hello?”

Upon confirming Baek Yeo-hae’s presence, Yang Su-rin quickly corrected her attitude and greeted her with a smiling-eyed expression.

As befits a capable merchant, her social grace was swift and precise.

However, Yang Su-rin’s mouth, which was forming a sociable smile, was not smiling.

Glare.

“Hmph.”

The woman Baek Yeo-hae glared at Yang Su-rin, then turned on her heel and disappeared.

One could say that the relationship between the two was clearly fractured, which I would describe as a truly heartwarming sight.

***

“What is all that?”

Yang Su-rin’s attention turned to the bundle of papers in my hand.

“They are love letters sent by matchmakers.”

I told her the truth plainly.

“How can you receive something like that?”

Yang Su-rin’s expression was filled with shock.

She looked as if she had just witnessed her husband cheating on her.

“What’s wrong with it?”

She was a candidate for my fiancée, not my fiancée.

There was no room for her to interfere.

“Ugh…”

As if realizing that fact, the life vanished from Yang Su-rin’s expression.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I have absolutely no thoughts of marriage for the time being.”

I could have teased her a little more, but I decided to tell her the truth.

In any case, wasn’t she the prospective branch lord of the Yang Clan, who would be of great help to my future endeavors?

Perhaps because she gained hope from my words, life instantly returned to Yang Su-rin’s expression.

“Two years. Please wait just two years.”

“For what?”

Surely, she wasn’t going to bring up the engagement story again.

“The money you invested. I will pay it back with interest.”

This was the news I had been waiting for.

Repaying the money meant she would gain financial control of the Yang Clan, and gaining financial control meant she would become the branch lord.

I remembered that in my past life, it took two to three years longer than what she just said.

It meant her plan had gained rapid momentum, a proof that the ten thousand nyang I invested in her was yielding sufficient results.

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

She was a shrewd merchant, so she would rarely be wrong.

***

Speaking of it now, the Healing Sage was a truly unique and mysterious individual.

From the moment he was born, he was a person who had a very different perspective from others.

For the record, this was not a metaphor but a literal meaning.

Because his Baihui point was wide open from birth, the Healing Sage was said to be a person born with what is called ‘spirituality’ already awakened.

His eyes could see what others could not.

They were called spirit eyes.

Normally, he should have received a divine possession and lived the life of a male shaman, but the Healing Sage set his heart on martial arts.

He had judged that cultivating his mind and body through martial arts was the most rational way to reach the state of an immortal.

Born with spirituality, he did not receive divine possession but sought to become a god himself; the Healing Sage could be described as a proactive individual.

Spiritual medicine usually contains spirituality.

The ones with nicknames like supreme or peerless were usually like that.

Therefore, it was said that for the Healing Sage with his spirit eyes, finding all sorts of heaven-sent spiritual medicines was as easy as flipping one's palm.

Saying this, it might seem that Wudang disciples would be the best spiritual medicine hunters, but that was not the case.

The first reason was that it was extremely rare even among Wudang disciples for someone to be born with spirit eyes capable of detecting the spirituality contained in spiritual medicines.

The second reason was that those born with such spirit eyes would have long since walked the path of divine possession in their childhood and would not covet worldly things.

The Healing Sage’s path was truly a rare case unprecedented in the entire history of Murim.

In any case, to walk the path of an immortal, the Healing Sage took numerous spiritual medicines.

No matter how good a spiritual medicine was, one could not achieve anything just by eating it, so the Healing Sage, based on his shrewd insight, prepared the path to becoming an immortal.

That was the Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art.

It could be described as the masterpiece of his life, created by dedicating his entire being to it.

That Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art consisted of a total of six stages.

First Stage: Body Reformation.

By consuming the Immaculate Pomegranate, one changes the inside of the body and lays the foundation for an immortal.

It was also called Furnace Fire Pure Blue.

Second Stage: Golden Body.

By immersing the body in the Azure Scale Elixir, one creates a flawless body like that of an immortal.

The state of being invulnerable to swords was merely a by-product of the flawless body.

Even though it was the body of an immortal, there was no difference from that of a human to the naked eye, so the Healing Sage called this Returning to the Original State.

Third Stage: Impenetrable.

A process of purification through the Vermilion Fruit.

Through the Impenetrable stage, all evil is driven out, and it also serves as a means to maintain the path to immortality by preventing evil from invading the body in the future.

The Healing Sage said that, just like invulnerability to swords, invulnerability to all poisons was also merely a by-product.

The Healing Sage called the Third Stage: Impenetrable, the Path of the Clear Mirror.

Up to this point was called the process of governing one's own body, that is, cultivating the self.

This was the realm I had achieved so far.

The Healing Sage added that up to the realm of cultivating the self, it was literally laying the foundation, so it did not greatly affect one's martial arts.

From my perspective, having conquered the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly with the effects of the third stage, it was true that I still could not comprehend the Healing Sage's standards.

The Fourth Stage of the Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art was called Amplification.

It was the stage where one had to consume a spiritual medicine that held the so-called ‘ten thousand years’ of age.