Although Jang Baekseo was a bit petty, he decided to just ask Sohyun directly this ti.
"Sohyun, I have a question."
"Huh? A question?"
Jang Baekseo, who had gently pinched the cheek of the tilting Sohyun, continued with a smile.
"So, a long, long ti ago, a rabbit and a turtle lived together. The rabbit is fine now, but the turtle found out that the rabbit would get sick in the future."
"…Why are a rabbit and a turtle together?"
"Uh, huh?"
As Jang Baekseo was flustered by the unexpected question…
"A rabbit lives on land and a turtle lives in water, right? So why are they together!"
"…W-well, it's like a creative license…"
"License?"
"It ans it's a promise that you just have to accept as it is."
"Ah! I get it, a promise!"
As Sohyun seed to understand, Jang Baekseo continued the story.
"But the turtle was lucky enough to get a dicine that could cure the rabbit!"
"Wow!"
"But unfortunately, the turtle also got hurt in the process of getting that dicine."
"Did its shell crack?"
"Uh, huh? Um, no, not that much…"
Correcting Sohyun's imagination, which was imagining a rather grueso injury, Jang Baekseo continued.
"Originally, the turtle knew another way to get the dicine to cure the rabbit, but when the dicine ca into his hands in a completely unexpected way, he beca worried…"
"Worried?"
"Yes, since there was another way to get the dicine for the rabbit anyway, he was torn between taking the dicine himself, getting cured, and becoming healthier, and giving this dicine to the rabbit even if his own wound would heal a little later…"
"Then shouldn't the turtle just take it?"
Jang Baekseo stroked the head of the tilting Sohyun, who was looking puzzled, and continued.
"Of course, that's true, but when the dicine ca into his hands, the turtle seed to have lost his confidence. He beca anxious that he might not be able to get the dicine through that other thod… what do you think the turtle should do, Sohyun?"
At Jang Baekseo's question, Sohyun answered surprisingly quickly.
"I think the turtle should take it."
"Wh-why?"
"Well…"
The words that ca out of Sohyun's mouth, who had started to speak, were sothing that pierced Jang Baekseo's thoughts.
"The reason the turtle is trying to get the dicine for the rabbit is because the rabbit is precious to the turtle, right?"
"Yes, that's right. To the turtle, the rabbit is a precious existence, like his own family, no, like his own child…"
"Then wouldn't the rabbit also cherish the turtle?"
"What…?"
Jang Baekseo was so taken aback by the answer he hadn't even thought of that he couldn't say anything for a mont.
Jang Baekseo had always thought about how he thought of Sohyun and what he wanted her to beco, but he had not paid much attention to what Sohyun wanted from him and what kind of feelings she had for him.
"The rabbit will surely cherish the turtle too. So he would want him not to be sick. Because I also don't want you to be sick, Senior Brother."
Saying so, Jang Baekseo patted the back of Sohyun, who was digging into his bosom.
Sohyun had been crying and making a fuss when he had first returned, a complete ss.
He had thought she was fine now because he had shown her a fast recovery, but it seed that was not the case.
The experience of a close person being seriously injured at a young age was not sothing that could be easily forgotten.
Even if it was not shown on the outside, it would remain deep in her mory.
Jang Baekseo hardened his resolve.
He would not get hurt so pathetically like this ti and make the people around him worry again.
It wasn't just Sohyun.
Yuhan, Cheongmu, Geum Hyeonah, and many other people who had a relationship with him had worried about his injuries and had felt sorry for him.
Jang Baekseo had decided to change the future anyway.
If he was going to change it, wouldn't it be better to do it perfectly without any injuries?
***
The next day.
Jang Baekseo, who had made up his mind, went to his master, Cheongmu.
"Baekseo, what is it that you have called here separately?"
Cheongmu expressed his question as to why he had called him to the old training ground he usually used, deliberately so that others could not see, when he could have just said what he had to say during the morning training.
At that, Jang Baekseo organized his thoughts for a mont and then opened his mouth.
"I had sothing I wanted to ask of you, Master. But I don't want others to know about that request."
Since he had already guessed to so extent, Cheongmu was not surprised and nodded his head.
"And please take a look at this."
And at what Jang Baekseo took out, indeed, Cheongmu was also surprised.
Qingha Divine Pill!
Although he did not know its na because he had not heard an explanation from Jang Baekseo, he could easily tell that it was an extraordinary elixir.
"H-how did you get sothing like this…?"
"After the incident in Qingcheng was over, Grandmaster Gwangha ca to see separately."
Just by saying that much, Cheongmu could roughly understand the situation.
In other words, it was a reward given to praise Jang Baekseo, who had played a decisive role in catching the traitors of Qingcheng.
"Then that request is…"
Nod!
"I need a safe place to practice safely while I completely digest the energy of the elixir."
At this, Cheongmu contemplated for a mont and then opened his mouth.
"It's a happy thing… but I'm worried that you might be rushing too much…"
It was true.
The Qingha Divine Pill was a great elixir comparable to the Great Returning Pill of Shaolin.
And as it was such a great elixir, the person who took it also had to be soone who was prepared to so extent.
In Cheongmu's opinion, the best ti for Jang Baekseo to take that elixir was when he had at least achieved the first-rate realm.
Whether he knew his master's thoughts or not, Jang Baekseo looked at his master with a face that showed no agitation.
And…
"…!?"
At Jang Baekseo's suddenly changed qi, Cheongmu's eyes widened.
"…First-rate…"
"I'm sorry for hiding it, Master. I was just afraid of my own strangely fast growth, so I couldn't easily bring it up."
Jang Baekseo, who had had the qi of a second-rate until just a mont ago, was showing an appearance befitting the first-rate realm in an instant.
Moreover, according to what he was saying now, he had already reached the first-rate realm long ago and had been hiding it from him?
Cheongmu was a master who had reached the transcendent realm. To be able to deceive the eyes of such a Cheongmu… it was not a matter of level, but in fact, a realm of a feat, no, a divine skill.
But indeed, as he was a master who had reached the transcendent realm himself, Cheongmu was quick to compose his emotions.
"…But it's really surprising. I've lived my whole life in the martial world, but I've never heard of soone reaching the first-rate level at the age of fourteen, except in old stories like myths or legends…"
"…It seems."
"…It seems?"
"That I am a genius."
"…"
'Ah, sh*t… I'm embarrassed even though I said it myself!'
He was embarrassed even though he had said it himself.
But what could he do?
This absurd situation of being at the first-rate level at the age of fourteen.
What other word could explain it other than the fundantal word 'genius'?
At Jang Baekseo's self-defense, Cheongmu, who had made a strange expression that he had never seen before in his life, both before and after his regression, contemplated for a mont, no, for quite a long ti.
He was trying to accept a situation that was beyond his common sense with a very fundantal answer.
'How can he be at the first-rate level at such a young age…'
It was not a completely impossible thing.
In the long history of the martial world, there were also stories of people who had achieved even more absurd achievents at a younger age than the disciple in front of him now. People like the first Heavenly Demon or the founding ancestors of the Nine Great Sects… of course, since the stories of such people belonged to the category of old stories like legends or myths, as ntioned earlier, it was a little difficult to believe them as they were.
Even so, since there were records, it was not a story that could be completely ignored as unbelievable.
But just because there was a precedent, it did not an that it was a common thing.
As a result, although he didn't want to think about it, a suspicion raised its head in Cheongmu's heart.
'Did he perhaps touch sothing he shouldn't have?'
Sothing he shouldn't have touched. There was a technique called a forbidden art, or an unorthodox thod.
Evil techniques that achieved achievents beyond common sense through inhumane acts… but soon, Cheongmu shook his head inwardly and denied his own assumption.
'No, that can't be. There was no way to obtain such knowledge, and if he had used such a strange thod, the influence would not have gone unnoticed…'
Although he was a disciple who had perford a divine feat of hiding his level from him, a transcendent master, this was a different matter.
The influence of gaining power through an inhumane thod was bound to be revealed, whether one liked it or not, and fortunately, there was no such trace in Jang Baekseo.
Cheongmu, who had stepped on and crushed the suspicion that had stealthily raised its head, looked straight into Jang Baekseo's eyes and asked.
"Did you reach it through the right path?"
"Yes."
At Cheongmu's question, Jang Baekseo answered, looking straight into his eyes without any hesitation or reluctance.
And looking at Jang Baekseo's appearance, Cheongmu smiled faintly and said.
"…My disciple was truly a genius that the world has never seen before…"
…
Cheongmu accepted it surprisingly coolly.
'He's letting it go…'
Honestly, Jang Baekseo had not thought that he would let it go so simply.
'If it were , I would have first checked if he had used so forbidden art or unorthodox thod…'
Forbidden art and unorthodox thod.
In the martial world, martial arts were often divided according to their faction and inclination.
Broadly, it was divided into the demonic arts that the people of the Demonic Cult learned, and the orthodox arts that the people of the Orthodox Faction learned.
The people of the Orthodox Faction called the martial arts that the people of the Demonic Cult learned demonic arts and hated and tabooed them.
So with severe prejudice even said that just by learning demonic arts, one's mind would go crazy and one would beco a bloodthirsty murderer.
'That's ridiculous.'
But the difference between the martial arts of the Orthodox Faction and the martial arts of the Demonic Cult was caused by the difference in regional culture. It was by no ans that all orthodox martial arts were good and clean, and all demonic martial arts were evil and cruel.
For example, in the case of the Four Suns Sword Technique of the Jongnam Sect, its sharpness and cruelty were unparalleled.
Although the technique itself was a sword technique that focused on speed, like the Songfeng Sword of Qingcheng, unlike the Songfeng Sword, which was to supplent the weakness of the continuous sword, the Four Suns Sword Technique was a signature secret technique of Jongnam and was a martial art to break through everything with speed.
As it was a martial art that bet everything on speed, the sword path of the attack itself was a sword technique that blatantly aid for the vital points and acupoints of the human body and had a one-hit kill as its ideal.
If a person who did not know the distinction between orthodox and demonic saw it, the Four Suns Sword Technique was a sword technique whose cruelty was so evident in its moves that they would think, 'Ah, what a cruel and strange sword technique.'
But no one in the world condemned or criticized Jongnam as demonic or unorthodox for that.
In the end, it was not the martial art that was the problem, but their political position that was important.
No matter how cruel and destructive a martial art was, if it was used in the Orthodox Faction, the expression 'sharp' was attached instead of 'cruel', and the word 'powerful' was attached instead of 'destructive'.
'Martial arts are, after all, just martial arts…'
But forbidden arts and unorthodox thods were different.
Forbidden art, a forbidden martial art. Unorthodox thod, a thod that has deviated from the path.
There was a reason why such words were attached, and as the fact that there were people who learned them proved, forbidden arts and unorthodox thods were things that made amazing achievents possible.
Although Jang Baekseo had been worried that his master, Cheongmu, might suspect that he was learning such forbidden arts and unorthodox thods, fortunately, there was no such thing.
"…The reason I'm telling you this secretly is…"
"I know. You want to keep it a secret from others, right?"
Cheongmu, who already knew his disciple's heart, nodded his head.
Just by reaching the second-rate level, Jang Baekseo's na had already spread widely in the Mysterious Profound Sect.
Moreover, this ti, he had even solved the incident in Qingcheng with his brilliant wit.
Of course, the expectations of the sect, especially the Sect Leader, were bound to beco even higher.
In addition to that, if he had reached the first-rate level in that short ti… Jang Baekseo didn't even want to imagine it.
Of course, Cheongmu knew that as well, so he had said that. But…
"Even so, I have to tell the Sect Leader…"
"Can you sohow…"
"Even if you say that, as you know, the most suitable place to digest the elixir in the Mysterious Profound Sect is the closed training ground."
"That's right…"
Jang Baekseo's expression contorted as he could roughly imagine the words that would follow.
"And the closed training ground, in principle, can only be used with the permission of the Sect Leader…"
No matter how much Cheongmu was the best master of the Mysterious Profound Sect now, he could not arbitrarily ignore or violate the rules or regulations of the sect.
And Jang Baekseo also knew that well.
"Then please be careful with your words to the Sect Leader this ti…"
Jang Baekseo was thinking, 'Can I even say this?' and at the sa ti, 'I have to at least say this…' as he was saying it.
Cheongmu, who had understood his disciple's feelings not with words but with his heart, nodded his head firmly.
"Trust this master."
Jang Baekseo decided to trust Cheongmu.
(End of Chapter)
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