I slowly opened my eyes.
But this is not my Master's training ground.
It's an empty space that is all white. I could quickly realize that this place was not reality.
The mont I realized that this place was inside my subconscious.
Suddenly, this space, which was only white, began to be filled with color.
The first of those colors is blue. A blue that is like the sky and also like water.
I rembered when I had seen this blue color.
The sky I saw just before I died from losing too much blood from Mok Hwa-shin's sword.
And the color of the water I saw the mont I opened my eyes again is exactly this color.
When the blue color was filled to so extent, this ti, various other colors are filled.
Green, brown, black, etc... As the colors are filled, they gradually take shape, and they change into a place I know well.
A deep spring lying alone in a forest where all sides are full of trees.
It's the very forest where I opened my eyes.
Near the spring, a boy is staring intently into the water.
He is a boy who is so small and frail that he looks like he would fall over if the wind blew.
But it seed as if the boy was about to jump into the water at any mont, so I hurriedly ran to him and put my hand on his shoulder.
Then the boy turned around, and it was my face.
To be precise, my current face.
When I suddenly looked at my face reflected in the water, I had returned to the old Self-Taught Swordsman Unhwi, not the little Taoist Unhwi.
"My... body's mory?"
I said, not expecting an answer from the boy.
But, unexpectedly, the boy answered.
"No. This is 'our' mory."
"Our?"
The boy pointed his finger at himself and alternately, and then opened his mouth.
"I'm glad. That you ca. You're exactly as I dread you would be."
"What? What are you? No, I an... I know you're Unhwi, but what on earth are you talking about? I can't tell if this is a dream or my subconscious."
The boy who heard my words smiled brightly.
A pure smile without a single blemish.
And he said to , "Please take good care of Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang. Because he is a necessary person in the future you are thinking of."
"Answer my question..."
"Go back. And please take good care of Wudang and the martial world."
The boy Unhwi lightly hit my chest.
I couldn't resist his gesture at all and fell backward.
Of course, in my days as a Self-Taught Swordsman, and even at my current level of training from the beginning, I shouldn't have fallen, but I fell helplessly.
My body plunged towards the spring.
Splash!
With the feeling of falling into the water, I opened my eyes again.
"Heok! Heok, heok..."
I don't know how long I had been holding my breath, but I desperately gasped for air.
As I felt the fresh air filling my lungs to the end, my vision gradually returned.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the place I opened my eyes again was my Master's training ground.
This is definitely reality.
Although it's hard to explain accurately, my senses are screaming that it is.
"What on earth was that just now?"
Although I muttered to myself, there was no one to answer.
My clothes are soaked with sweat and are emitting a foul sll.
When I look out the window, it's dayti, but I can't tell how much ti has passed since I started qi circulation.
Since my senior brothers haven't co to look for yet, it doesn't seem like seven days have passed, but judging from the fact that I'm suddenly starving, it seems that at least two days have passed.
Since I don't know if what I felt just now was my subconscious or sothing else, for now, I took off my clothes and went out of the training ground.
Because there is a well right in front of the training ground, I went there to wash my body first.
As I drew well water and poured it on my body, my mind, which was still a little dazed, seems to be coming back.
But it's a little strange.
Originally, this well was full of water as cold as ice even in the middle of sumr, but although it's cool, I'm not sure if it's as cold as it was then.
Even though I haven't raised my internal energy.
'Ah! Because of the Six Yang Divine Art?'
I suddenly rembered that I had realized the Six Yang Divine Art.
So it seems that I'm not feeling the cold thanks to the yang qi flowing fully in my body.
A long ti ago, I think I heard sowhere that soone who had learned the Six Yang Divine Art had blocked the martial arts of extre yin, that is, the ice art, with his internal energy.
Although I'm not at that level yet since it hasn't been long since I learned it, since it's this much even though I've just realized it, I will beco strong enough in the future.
Now that I have such a strong divine art in my hands, there are only two things left.
Ti and effort.
***
I also washed my clothes, which were dirty with sweat and waste, clean in the well, and then blew away the moisture with my internal energy.
This process of evaporating the water with internal energy was also much easier than before.
It feels like the yang qi of the Six Yang Divine Art is useful in many ways.
Although I haven't properly circulated my internal energy and drawn my sword, I had a thought that it would probably be possible to materialize fire on my sword if I set my mind to it.
And finally, I returned to the Yuyeop Hall.
Since it's individual training ti now, the familiar sounds of 'haap!' and 'keu-aak!' are echoing irregularly from all over the training ground.
When I looked for my senior brothers in the training ground, fortunately, I saw a welco face.
I approached him and struck up a conversation.
"Senior Brother Unsik!"
"Huh! Hwi-ya. When did you co?"
"Just now. How long have I been up there?"
"Five days have passed. If you hadn't co by tomorrow, I was going to go look for you."
"Five days? No wonder I was hungry. So I've been doing qi circulation for five days. ."
"What? So you've been doing nothing but qi circulation until now? Then let's go to the dining hall first. You'll collapse if you don't eat sothing."
"No. It's not alti now anyway."
"Although it's not alti now, since it's the great senior brother's room's turn for this al, if you ask him nicely, you'll be able to get sothing to eat."
"The great senior brother is on duty? Great!"
I happily moved my steps to the dining hall, and my senior brother, who was following , stopped and said, "But Hwi-ya."
"Yes?"
"Co here for a mont."
When I approached him, Senior Brother Unsik asured my height and his with his eyes and said, "You seem to have grown a little taller in the past few days."
"My height? Eh. No way."
"No. It's true. You originally only ca up to my chin, but now you seem to co up to my eyes."
"Really?"
Co to think of it, I had a strange feeling that my pants and sleeves were a little short, but it seems that it wasn't just a feeling.
Perhaps it was because I had received the energy of the Six Yang Divine Art and had a similar effect to bone-marrow cleansing, and since I had done bone-marrow cleansing, it was no different from having a similar effect to body transformation.
"I guess I really have grown a little taller."
"How...?"
"If you train in martial arts as hard as I do, you'll grow taller."
Perhaps because he had given up on understanding, my senior brother nodded his head and headed to the dining hall with .
As we walked side by side, I asked my senior brother, "What about the other senior brothers?"
"Everyone has been busy for the few days you were gone. Senior Brother Uncheol has been sparring with Senior Brother Unjihak whenever he has a chance."
"Now Senior Brother Uncheol will have the upper hand."
"That's right. But Senior Brother Jihak is also amazing. He tries to fight on equal terms with Senior Brother Uncheol sohow."
"So if Senior Brother Jihak wins, then Senior Brother Uncheol will try a little harder next ti, and so on. It's okay to keep them together."
"That's right. Although I knew that both senior brothers were amazing, since they started to work together in earnest, their growth seems to be extraordinary."
Senior Brother Unsik said with his eyes shining and a voice full of interest.
Although it's not his own business, the fact that they are stimulating each other and growing seems to be very encouraging to him.
"And Unmi rarely cos out to the training ground, and he's been constantly repeating his physical training and basic skills training in the small open space right next to our room."
"Oh-ho... really?"
"Yes. He said that after coming back from the Eungnam rchant Guild this ti, he keenly realized that he lacked basic skills more than anything else. He said he wanted to do only that until he had laid the foundation for a while. To be precise, until you say it's okay."
"That's surprising. I didn't know Senior Brother Unmi would co to such a correct conclusion."
"Right? To be honest, I was also surprised."
But I realized one strange thing.
If Senior Brother Uncheol's story ca out, it would be natural for Senior Brother Unjeong's story to co out next, but he skipped him and the story of Senior Brother Unmi ca out.
"What about Senior Brother Unjeong?"
When I brought up the story of Unjeong, Senior Brother Unsik's expression beca a little bad.
"Why? Is sothing wrong?"
"No, it's not that sothing is wrong... Senior Brother Unjeong has been called by Martial Uncle Hyeoncheol now."
"Martial Uncle Hyeoncheol?"
Martial Uncle Hyeoncheol is the great senior brother among the 'Hyeon' generation Martial Uncles.
Although his martial arts skill is not comparable to that of Martial Uncle Hyeon Cheong or our Master, he has a good reputation and is recognized among the Martial Granduncles, and he has beco the disciple of Martial Granduncle Okgoe.
"Yes. I haven't heard why he went, but perhaps... he wants to make him his disciple? Senior Brother Unjeong's martial arts skill has improved greatly after coming back from the Eungnam rchant Guild this ti. It seems he saw my senior brother training in the training ground."
Senior Brother Unsik said in a voice full of disappointnt.
It seems that if you are chosen by a Martial Uncle or a Martial Granduncle and beco a disciple, you often leave the Yuyeop Hall.
And depending on the discretion of your Master or Grandmaster, you can receive enormous support that cannot be compared to that of the Yuyeop Hall.
Until I changed the atmosphere of the Yuyeop Hall, there were many senior brothers whose dream was to beco soone's disciple.
So Senior Brother Unsik is worried that Senior Brother Unjeong will accept Martial Uncle Hyeoncheol's offer and leave our room.
"Well. Now that our room's senior brothers are at this level, it's clear that any Martial Uncle would covet them. And that's the sa for you, Senior Brother Unsik."
"?"
"Yes. If you compare your skill now with a year ago, you'll feel how much stronger you've beco. In my opinion, you're probably stronger now than the strongest senior brother among our 'Un' generation a year ago."
"? I don't really feel it..."
"I can guarantee it. You can probably fight on equal terms with Senior Brother Un Gwang or Senior Brother Unhwang, who are said to be the strongest among us."
"Is my skill really at that level?"
"Of course. Didn't you feel the Unorthodox Faction guys falling to your sword? Those Black Society guys were the ones who ruled the area of Fangxian, Hubei Province. It ans they weren't just a bunch of nobodies."
Although it's not often that I praise soone like this, when I said this, Senior Brother Unsik smiled faintly.
In fact, there is another reason why I rate Senior Brother Unsik so highly.
Although all the other senior brothers are also kind and pure, among them, Senior Brother Unsik is special.
Senior Brother Unsik has a gentleness that the other senior brothers don't have.
It was Senior Brother Unsik who first apologized to after I ca back to life after falling into the water, and it is always Senior Brother Unsik who comforts his senior and junior brothers in the middle.
And at the sa ti, he shows a ruthless side to his enemies.
These people are people who will definitely beco strong 'to protect their precious people'.
"But, Senior Brother. I want to ask you sothing in return."
"What is it?"
"If another Martial Uncle or Martial Granduncle wants to make you his disciple, will you leave our room?"
"...?"
As if he had never thought of such a thing, Senior Brother Unsik even stopped walking and fell into thought.
After a short ti to take a few breaths. Senior Brother Unsik said in a calm voice, "I think I'll stay in our room."
"Why?"
"Um... trying to beco soone's disciple is a way to find a way to beco strong faster, right?"
"That's right."
"But, while I was with you, I learned how to beco strong, and I actually beca strong quickly. I can always see you, Unhwi, up close, and through that, I can look forward to what I will beco when I beco strong in the future, and I can be stimulated... so wouldn't it be okay not to leave our room?"
I said with a bright smile, "If you're like that, wouldn't Senior Brother Unjeong be the sa? I think so."
"Ah...!"
As if he was a little surprised, Senior Brother Unsik soon smiled faintly.
"And even if he goes, there's nothing we can do. We'll just go our own way. I'm hungry. Let's go to the dining hall quickly."
"Okay. Let's go quickly."
My senior brother took big steps and began to walk ahead of .
As if his worries and anxieties had disappeared, his steps were light.
I couldn't help but laugh at that lightness.
(End of Chapter)
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