Silver Dragon Chronicles, Episode 21
The fortunate thing was that the old man before them did not seem to harbor such great hostility.
Sawollin rose from her seat and performed a cupped-fist salute toward the old man.
“I am Sawollin of the Heavenly Demon Cult.”
“Hoh! I never would have imagined, even in my dreams, that you were the Cult Lord's daughter.”
The old man looked at Sawollin with an expression of interest, muttering, then turned to Jehwa and furrowed his brows strangely.
“What in the world are you?”
He could not fathom the identity of the boy before him at all.
In some ways, he resembled someone from the North Sea Ice Palace, but that was not it. He was chillingly cold to a degree incomparable with the nature of the internal energy of the North Sea Ice Palace.
He had even considered whether the boy might be a master of Rejuvenation, but that was not it either. Because not a single characteristic of Rejuvenation could be seen.
And more than anything, there was something that made the boy's identity impossible to know, and that was…….
“You… are you truly human?”
The old man asked Jehwa carefully, breaking out in a cold sweat.
What greatly surprised the old man now was precisely Jehwa's immeasurably profound and deep internal power.
How could a human possibly contain such vast power? The old man sensed something that even Jehwa himself did not know.
The old man, who had been looking at Jehwa for a moment, smirked and spoke.
“You have clear eyes.”
The old man set aside his doubts upon seeing Jehwa's clear eyes. Looking at those clear and pure eyes, he did not seem to be such a dangerous figure.
At the old man's words, Jehwa and Sawollin looked at each other and tilted their heads.
“This old man's name is Yun Yuannan.”
The old man introduced himself with a slight smile, and Jehwa, who did not know that name, put on a nonchalant expression.
But Sawollin absolutely could not show a reaction like Jehwa's.
“Th-the Taiqing Great Sword, Y-Yun Yuannan?”
At that reaction, the old man, Yun Yuannan, smiled slightly and nodded, and Sawollin gasped in shock.
About one hundred years ago from now, Sahyeok, the former Supreme Cult Lord of the Heavenly Demon Cult and great-great-grandfather of Sawollin, had gone out to wander the martial world in his youth, and at that time had once fought a duel with a righteous faction expert.
The martial might of former Supreme Cult Lord Sahyeok was powerful enough to be counted within the top five of all the Cult Lords in the history of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
But the result was Sahyeok's defeat.
Of course, at that time Sahyeok was a young vice cult lord in his mid-twenties, and the one who fought him was an expert in his mid-thirties.
Still, the defeat of Sahyeok, considered the greatest prodigy in history, was quite shocking.
And the one who dealt Sahyeok that defeat was precisely the Taiqing Great Sword of the Kunlun Sect.
In other words, the Yun Yuannan before them was one of the most senior predecessors in the martial world, with a past record of having once broken the sword of a Cult Lord of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
He was none other than Yun Yuannan, one of the Sanren Maotian, acclaimed as the strongest among the known experts of the current age, and the greatest expert of the righteous faction martial world.
For reference, the remaining two of the Sanren Maotian were Mataeak, the Heuksadaedo and supreme expert of the unorthodox faction who was of the same previous generation as Yun Yuannan, and Macheon Sahyeok, the former Supreme Cult Lord of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Jehwa looked at Sawollin, who was stammering in shock, tilted his head, and asked with a puzzled expression.
“Why are you like this all of a sudden?”
At Jehwa's question, Sawollin shrieked.
“You idiot! That person is one of the three strongest people in the world! It's natural to show this kind of reaction! You're the weird one for not reacting at all!”
Moreover, he was the one who had defeated her great-great-grandfather in his youth.
At Sawollin's words, Jehwa made an expression as if he understood and nodded.
“No wonder that old man was so ridiculously strong. He was one of the three strongest people in the world?”
“Act a little surprised!”
Seeing Jehwa exclaim in admiration, Sawollin shrieked once again.
Jehwa made a fierce expression at Sawollin and directly kicked her head with his foot.
Smack!
“Urk!”
“Noisy.”
He couldn't swing his fists recklessly, but he still had his feet left!
And so Jehwa simply silenced Sawollin, who had been making a racket in front of him, with a kick.
“Puhahahaha!”
As Yun Yuannan burst into laughter watching the cheerful(?) pair, Iseolhye got up rubbing her head.
“Uyi, sir! It hurts….”
“I hit you so you'd hurt, you brat!”
At those words, Iseolhye flared up.
“What did I do wrong!”
“Want another hit?”
“I'm just a bad wench. Master, you know I'm bad.”
She was truly desperate, her whole body screaming that it was all her fault.
To avoid getting hit by her master! To protect her head, which was already feeling tremendous pain, she struggled desperately.
Honestly, Iseolhye still didn't know what she had done wrong, but she had no choice but to beg like this if she didn't want to get hit.
“What did you do wrong?”
“I don't know…. How would I know tha— Hup!”
Smack!
“Aaargh!”
Iseolhye, who had been answering Yun Yuannan's sudden question nonchalantly, flinched for a moment, and taking that opening, his sword once again struck her head heavily.
Yun Yuannan ignored Iseolhye, who once again clutched her head and writhed in pain.
Just then, Sawollin, who had collapsed after being hit by Jehwa's foot, regained her senses and started squawking at him again before getting hit and collapsing once more.
What a pair!
“That aside…. No matter that the righteous faction and the Heavenly Demon Cult are in a truce because of the Blood Cult, the Kunlun Sect and the Heavenly Demon Cult have not been on good terms for a long time. It is true that there is no problem, but the fact that the relationship is awkward remains unchanged; why on earth have you come to the Kunlun Sect?”
“…….”
At Yun Yuannan's words, Sawollin, who had just been about to pounce on Jehwa before getting up at some point, put on a troubled expression.
From the Kunlun Sect's standpoint, this was a very sensitive topic.
A spy of the Blood Cult was hidden within their sect, and the Kunlun Sect was unaware of it.
Moreover, even if there were spies from the Blood Cult, this was a matter of the righteous faction sects… They had no justification to interfere.
Just as Sawollin worried in this situation that could wound the pride of the Kunlun Sect, Jehwa spoke confidently.
“We came to crush the Blood Cult!”
'You idiot! I told you to think before you speak!'
Along with Jehwa's words, Sawollin inwardly shrieked, while on the other hand, Yun Yuannan made a puzzled expression.
“You came to crush the Blood Cult?”
“Th-that is….”
“There are Blood Cult spies in the Kunlun Sect!”
'Aaaaack!'
As expected, Sawollin inwardly let out a scream.
But contrary to Sawollin's worries, Yun Yuannan simply put on a serious expression.
“Is that so? Spies in the Kunlun Sect….”
'Huh?'
At Yun Yuannan's unexpected reaction, Sawollin made a bewildered expression, and Yun Yuannan, reading her expression, smiled warmly and spoke.
“At my age, one begins to worry about the safety of the martial world rather than the strife between orthodox and unorthodox. Why would I get angry over something as trivial as a sect's pride? The sect's safety is more important than that. Moreover, if the information comes from the Heavenly Demon Cult, shouldn't it be considered almost certain?”
“That may be true, but….”
As Sawollin made a complicated expression, Yun Yuannan spoke again with a smile.
“I'm sure my friends Sahyeok and Mataeak feel the same way.”
Sahyeok was Sawollin's great-great-grandfather.
When she was young, she had believed her great-great-grandfather was the strongest in the world.
Even her fearsome grandfather would just cringe and step back before her great-great-grandfather.
The one who first placed a sword in her hand and taught her the sword was also her great-great-grandfather.
Then one day, the words her great-great-grandfather spoke were a shock.
“This old man, in his youth, once had a martial duel with Yun Yuannan, the Taiqing Great Sword of the Kunlun Sect.”
Sawollin had said with sparkling eyes in her young heart.
“Of course Grandfather won, right?”
To that question, Sahyeok smiled pleasantly and shook his head.
“I lost.”
“Eeeek!”
At Sahyeok's words, Sawollin made a shocked expression.
Her great-great-grandfather had always been the best.
So Sawollin got angry in her great-great-grandfather's stead, and Sahyeok smiled pleasantly watching Sawollin, who was indignant and angry on his behalf.
Sawollin, reminded of that time all of a sudden, gave a bitter smile.
She now finally knew why her great-great-grandfather had smiled that day. Sahyeok, the former Supreme Cult Lord of the Heavenly Demon Cult, had enjoyed that duel at that time.
That was why he had smiled like that.
'Did I have such a narrow field of view?'
It seemed she had kept that story in her heart ever since she heard it as a child.
She had been dividing sides without realizing it.
And she had insolently ranked her great-great-grandfather and countless other experts within those divided sides.
In that moment, Sawollin rose from her seat and performed a cupped-fist salute.
“Thank you for broadening my narrow horizons.”
“Hm? No, you are the amazing one for understanding that at your age. Truly remarkable. Usually there are many who get angry upon hearing these words because of childish thoughts even as they grow old… In the end, the destination is one, yet they do so. I only realized it after I grew old. Hahaha!”
Yun Yuannan burst into laughter with an expression of pride.
Yun Yuannan's eyes truly looked like those of someone seeing a promising junior of the martial world. A gaze that paid no mind to righteous faction or unorthodox faction… or even the demonic path.
Feeling that gaze, Sawollin felt ashamed once more.
And so, Sawollin, the daughter of the Heavenly Demon Cult Lord, grew one step further.