The Return of the Sw Chapter 5 : Different, Different. -01

Chapter 5: Different, Different. -01

“Perhaps you already knew. And not just Father, I should also let Oppa know. Just because he is in secluded cultivation doesn’t an he is completely unreachable.”

“Understood.”

The masked man in black read the room and stepped outside.

It was not proper to remain too long in a room where a woman was alone.

“A Shaolin unregistered disciple who learned the Three Dharma Swords. And on top of that, he easily subdued Namgung Gwang, the top groom candidate.”

Tang Seorin toyed with her lips.

Defeating Namgung Gwang, who was called the greatest of the rising juniors, was certainly an incredible feat.

Because Namgung Gwang seed like soone who would never lose, the shock felt by the rising juniors who watched was imnse.

However, Tang Seorin did not focus solely on victory or defeat.

“He didn’t move a single step from his spot.”

While others focused on the outco, Tang Seorin saw sothing else.

She was talking about Ban Hojin, who never once changed his position even in such a fierce sparring match.

Moreover, unlike Namgung Gwang, whose expression grew increasingly urgent, Ban Hojin remained relaxed from start to finish.

As if he could see through every one of his sword strikes.

“He’s several moves above Young Master Namgung.”

She did not know much about swords, but even so, there was one thing Tang Seorin felt clearly.

At least when it ca to swordsmanship, Ban Hojin was several moves above Namgung Gwang.

There was a reason Namgung Gwang switched from the Thirteen Lightning Sword Thunders to the Azure Vault Unfettered Sword Technique.

And even after drawing out his sword force, Namgung Gwang admitted defeat.

“That ans his inner energy isn’t lacking either.”

If he had been inferior in inner energy, if they had not been at the sa realm, no matter how outstanding his swordsmanship was, enduring sword force would have been impossible.

Even sword energy could easily cut through a finely tempered blue steel sword, so with sword force there was no need to even ntion it.

Yet Ban Hojin’s sword, which received Namgung Gwang’s sword force head-on, did not gain so much as a scratch.

“Shaolin is Shaolin, after all.”

Tang Seorin let out a soft chuckle.

She had never imagined they would keep a rising junior like Ban Hojin hidden so tightly.

While the nas of Namgung Gwang and the Four Dragons were shaking the Central Plains, what had Shaolin been thinking?

“They probably thought the sa as us.”

A aningful smile ford at the corner of Tang Seorin’s lips.

Certainly, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Namgung Gwang was the greatest of the rising juniors at present.

More precisely, until yesterday.

Now he had beco second, and no one knew how long he could hold onto even that position.

Completely unaware that all the rising juniors who had co to Shaolin were investigating him, Ban Hojin was, as always, training in the front courtyard of his quarters.

Jeong Hyeon said these days that he was loafing around too much, but the reality was different.

No matter how sick one grew of repetitive training, habits did not simply disappear.

Moreover, since the unity of mind and body was not yet complete, Ban Hojin trained every single day.

Swoosh. Swish.

It was just that others could not see it.

In addition, Ban Hojin had one more thing to worry about besides the unity of mind and body.

“His stamina is definitely good. It’s really different.”

At this ti, Ban Hojin was learning the basic lightness skill taught to lay disciples.

But with just this, reaching a higher realm was a distant prospect.

More accurately, it did not suit the Three Dharma Swords.

So people said that as long as swordsmanship was excellent, footwork or movent techniques did not matter, but that was knowing one thing and not knowing two.

Swordsmanship could be unfolded from one’s spot.

But in duels, sparring matches, and real combat, it was absolutely impossible to fight without moving.

Especially in life-or-death, do-or-die situations, footwork was more important than anything else.

Blocking, deflecting, and attacking were done by the sword, but evading and charging in were done by the feet.

“My inner energy is lacking, but that can’t be helped. Still, I’ve got prior experience, so at this level it’s improving quickly.”

Separate from his overflowing stamina, his inner energy was so insufficient it made one sigh.

The one fortunate thing was that engraving the Golden Light Divine Steps into his body, a movent technique he had personally created, required stamina more than inner energy.

Of course, after mastering the basic routes, he would need to use inner energy to engrave it once more into his ridians, but that was a matter for later.

And by then, his inner energy would likely be sufficient as well.

“Well, even without inner energy, the realm I previously achieved doesn’t disappear. It’s just that the maintenance ti is short. But this is really boring.”

His head understood, but his body did not.

That was why he had to endlessly repeat simple actions.

Ban Hojin found that extrely exhausting.

In the past, even with his eyes closed—no, without thinking at all—his body would have unfolded the Golden Light Divine Steps on its own, but now he had to pay attention to everything.

“Ugh.”

Stride length and posture, body balance, distribution of strength—he had to pay attention to every single detail from one to ten.

And the problem was that this was only the basic form.

Since adapting even the applications into his body ant a long road ahead, a sigh naturally escaped Ban Hojin.

But even so, he could not not do it.

Peak skill ca from a perfect bodily state, so no matter how tedious and boring it was, he had no choice but to continue repeating it.

He had said he would live this life loosely and casually, but that did not an he wanted to die young.

“Amitabha.”

Though his face was full of weariness, each step was filled with seriousness.

Ban Hojin continued the tedious repetitive training.

Then, at that mont, a familiar Buddhist invocation sounded from one side of the front courtyard.

“You have arrived.”

“You knew I was coming?”

An old monk with a string of one hundred and eight prayer beads hanging from his neck, his appearance heavy with the passage of years, showed a slightly surprised expression.

From the look of it, Ban Hojin seed to have known even before he revealed his presence.

“I knew you were watching.”

“Hoh.”

At Ban Hojin’s calm reply, Damhyeon—his master and the abbot of Shaolin—showed a faintly surprised expression.

Even if he had not concealed his presence, it was not sothing that could be sensed so easily.

Thus, Damhyeon slightly widened his eyes.

At the sa ti, he felt that the rumors circulating within the temple grounds recently were false.

“Shall I offer you so tea?”

“That’s fine. I only ca to take a brief look. Moreover, as a master, I cannot interfere with my disciple’s training.”

The surprise lasted only a mont, and Damhyeon soon smiled gently.

He could not fail to understand the aning of the sweat soaking his entire body.

Furthermore, his disciple had personally proven yesterday that the rumors were false.

“Is this about what happened yesterday?”

“Yes. I heard you sparred with the young lord of the Namgung Family.”

“Yes. He requested a sparring match, so I accepted.”

“You didn’t co to scold . Nor did you co to praise . You simply ca yourself because I hadn’t visited in so long.”

“I rely hesitated because you seed busy.”

Damhyeon let out a dry laugh.

He knew all too well that those words were empty.

At the sa ti, he newly felt just how much ti had passed.

Ban Hojin, who had once been a little brat, had now grown into a proper young man who had co of age.

‘His energy feels strangely different.’

Damhyeon’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

He had recognized Ban Hojin’s talent early on, which was why he brought Ban Hojin—then a child of an ordinary family—to Shaolin.

And the reason he taught him the Three Dharma Swords, which one could not even enter without sufficient ability, was because he evaluated Ban Hojin’s talent that highly.

Even so, he had not expected growth to this extent.

‘They say sotis soone suddenly leaps several stages at once, but this is excessive.’

There was no doubt that Ban Hojin had talent.

He thought it was talent that ranked at least within the top three in Shaolin’s history.

But that did not an growth of this level was natural.

Martial cultivation could progress like climbing stairs, and sotis suddenly draw a steep upward curve, but this was beyond reasonable bounds.

“Do you have sothing weighing on your mind?”

Despite Damhyeon’s expression, which carried complicated emotions, Ban Hojin did not panic.

That was because he knew why his master was like this.

However, since he could not explain it, Ban Hojin had no choice but to gloss over it vaguely.

Even if he spoke, it would be hard to believe.

“There’s always sothing to worry about. You were one of them. But now a different worry has appeared.”

“You may simply see it as it is. There’s nothing strange or wrong about it, is there?”

“You speak as if you went inside my mind and ca back out.”

“If one knows the circumstances before and after, it isn’t that difficult to infer, is it?”

“At the very least, your personality seems to have clearly changed. No—perhaps I should say you’ve returned to how you were before.”

Damhyeon smiled benevolently.

It was the kind of smile that naturally brought to mind the words ‘great rcy and compassion.’

However, to Ban Hojin, it felt chilling.

That was because he knew all too well that the smile was not as benevolent as it appeared.

“Do you dislike it?”

“Not at all. Rather, I like it. People do not change easily, and there is no need to change for the better. A person has an innate nature, and rummaging through it and twisting it is not right. And rather than hiding and concealing it, it is better to reveal it naturally. Right now is a stage where techniques and forms are important, but beyond the peak realm, the head matters more than the body. With suppressed and tightly blocked thinking, there is a limit to growth.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“But strangely enough, you seem to already know this.”

“It’s not necessarily so.”

Facing Damhyeon’s aningful gaze, Ban Hojin broke into a grin.

It was a smile whose depths could not be read.

“In such a short ti, you seem to have grown too much.”

“There will be no matter that brings disgrace upon Shaolin.”

“I am not trying to fault what happened yesterday. I have heard everything and know that you upheld proper etiquette. Rather, the one who committed discourtesy was the young lord of the Namgung Family who rashly requested a sparring match. By principle, all matters have their procedures, and in that sense, what you did yesterday was well done. It is good to let arrogance be broken at least once. The mont one believes oneself to be the best, there is no further growth. In that sense, what is it that you are looking at?”

“I am dreaming of living a healthy and happy life.”

“Hohohoho.”

Damhyeon’s eyes widened.

He was surprised by the completely unexpected answer.

Naturally, he had thought Ban Hojin would speak of becoming the Best Under Heaven or the greatest sword under heaven.

Since he had always gone around saying that if he beca a martial artist, he would aim for the very top.

“I am an adult now as well, am I not. I have turned twenty, so I should act like one.”

“So you have given up the dream of becoming the Best Under Heaven?”

“Of course not. A happy life is a dream that can only be achieved by becoming the Best Under Heaven. At least by my standards.”

“Hahaha!”

Damhyeon burst into hearty laughter.

It went beyond boldness and felt like sheer spirit.

Yet strangely enough, it did not sound like re youthful bravado.

Perhaps not before, but with the Ban Hojin of now, it sohow felt possible.

“I don’t think it will take that long.”

“Your confidence is impressive.”

“And I intend to put in that much effort. Of course, that doesn’t an I plan to stake everything solely on training. A life that is that tightly sealed off seems too painful.”

To be precise, he had lived his previous life that way, and he did not want to live the sa way again.

Though martial training was a chain of repetition, the environnt did not need to be the sa as his past life.

“You have truly grown a great deal ntally as well. Perhaps one could say you have matured. You won’t need to morize the scriptures anymore.”

“Hahaha.”

Ban Hojin made a slightly fed-up expression.

mories surfaced of chanting Buddhist scriptures for years under the pretext of teaching clarity of mind.

At the sa ti, the sight of his master, who seed newly rejuvenated, caught his eye.

As did the realm that Damhyeon had currently attained.

‘Master has been stagnating for over ten years.’

Ban Hojin could see it.

The realm where Damhyeon currently stood.

And so, his heart grew heavy for a mont.

‘Wait a mont. It’s not as if only the rising juniors need to grow stronger, is it?’