The Return of the Sw Chapter 88 : Rising Stars. -03

Chapter 88: The Rising Stars. -03

Seonwu Bang and Murong Cheok’s performances had been impressive as well, but Oh Jung-geon personally found Seo Jo-woon to be the most astonishing.

Of course, it was said that because he had suffered from the Nine Yang Severed ridians, he had been born with extraordinary talent, but even so, Seo Jo-woon’s rate of growth was beyond description.

Simply having outstanding talent did not an everyone beca a master.

Murong Cheok himself was the very precedent of that.

“It seems he also has talent on the teaching side.”

“Their eyes are burning hot.”

Oh Jung-geon let out a hollow chuckle.

It was because he could see all the rising juniors watching Ban Hojin’s group with nothing but envy in their eyes.

And yet, Oh Jung-geon understood that feeling.

If he himself had been a rising junior, he would have been the sa.

“Isn’t it all a matter of fate?”

“Rather than fate, it feels like Young Hero Ban gathered them all together himself. Still, tonight will be hot in many ways. Just look at the gazes pouring toward those four already.”

“Isn’t this the ti when things are hottest? If it weren’t hot now, that would be stranger. Youth is youth because it is youth.”

Beopmu smiled faintly.

To him, this scene was entirely natural.

Not only now, but it had always been like this.

When young people gathered, it was stranger if things were not heated.

“There are exceptions, though.”

“Hehehe.”

Beopmu let out an awkward laugh.

It was because Oh Jung-geon’s gaze had turned toward Ban Hojin.

All around, things were blazing fiercely, yet Ban Hojin, who stood at the very center, was indifferent.

No, it was as if he alone was in another world, lost in his own thoughts.

“Well, it’s not hard to understand. To Young Hero Ban, that seat must seem trivial.”

Murong Cheok had not said, without reason, that if Ban Hojin wanted to spar with him, he should get past him first.

Among the rising juniors, Ban Hojin’s level was such that calling it beyond extraordinary would not be an exaggeration.

Because everyone acknowledged that, even if they showed displeasure, no one spoke out of turn.

“I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. If he thought it was a waste of ti, he wouldn’t be sitting there like that.”

“When you put it that way, that’s true as well.”

“And even if fellow disciples are the most outstanding now, there’s no guarantee it will still be so one year later, or five years later.”

Beopmu spoke modestly.

But Oh Jung-geon thought differently.

Ban Hojin’s level was far too high to be caught up to in just a year or two.

Though his skills could still increase rapidly, given that he was still in his twenties, even that had its limits.

“I suppose I should work diligently as well. They say the later waves of the Yangtze River push aside the earlier ones, but I’m not ready to be swept away just yet.”

“It seems Junior Beggar Oh has gone too far ahead.”

“I’m just saying that’s how it feels to . It doesn’t an it has actually happened. Hehehe!”

Oh Jung-geon smiled slyly.

Yet, unlike his smiling face, his eyes were serious.

At first, he had thought that a new rising star had appeared, but before he realized it, that rising star had already overtaken him.

No matter how good-natured Oh Jung-geon was, it wasn’t as if he lacked a martial artist’s pride.

“By that logic, I feel much the sa.”

“Co now. Isn’t that a bit weak coming from the next Abbot of Shaolin?”

“Hehehe.”

Beopmu smiled gently.

He wore a strangely aningful smile as he did.

At that sight, Oh Jung-geon blinked.

A single thought had crossed his mind.

‘Could it be…?’

But he soon shook off the thought.

It seed far too implausible.

Instead, Oh Jung-geon looked toward Ban Hojin, who sat as if he were the main character despite this being soone else’s house.

When the second day dawned, the Seventieth Birthday Banquet began in earnest.

Unlike yesterday, when only the rising juniors had gathered, figures who could be called giants began appearing one after another in the Banquet Hall.

The leaders and elders of the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families appeared one by one to fill the seats, and at the highest seat sat Dang Bi, the man who could be called today’s main figure, greeting the guests.

“I think I understand why people say you have to swim in big waters.”

Seo Jo-woon, seated beside Ban Hojin, stared with his mouth agape.

Jeong I-ryong was the sa.

Masters who ordinary martial artists might encounter only once in a lifeti—the Ten Great Masters Under Heaven—were everywhere here.

With just a slight turn of the head, they could be seen, and both of them kept letting out exclamations of awe.

“It’s not a common sight.”

“Their presence is overwhelming. You can tell at a glance that they’re the Murim Ten Kings.”

Seo Jo-woon swallowed dryly.

It was because the aura faintly flowing out was trendous.

“But not many people can sense that. And even if they do, the degree varies.”

“Ah!”

“Normally, you should assu they keep it tightly restrained.”

“Like you do, Brother?”

Ban Hojin let out a small chuckle toward Seo Jo-woon, who was looking at him with a aningful gaze.

His bright, sparkling eyes were filled with an excessive amount of admiration.

“What do you an, like ? There’s no need to deliberately reveal one’s aura. Those who know enough will be able to glimpse it.”

“Truly the composure of the strong. I learn sothing again today!”

“You’re certainly thick-skinned.”

“Hehehehe!”

Seeing Seo Jo-woon grow more shaless with each passing day, Ban Hojin shook his head.

At first, there had been a cute, youngest-brother-like charm, but now that was nowhere to be seen.

“At least he doesn’t resemble Cheok.”

“That’s a blessing.”

Though they were the sa age, Jeong I-ryong was blunt.

Murong Cheok’s distinctive self-conceit was sothing even Jeong I-ryong found hard to tolerate.

At the sa ti, he thought that perhaps it was precisely because their dispositions differed that they could beco friends.

“Brother I-ryong. That’s too harsh. No matter what, how could you lump Brother Cheok and

together?”

“That’s why I said it’s fortunate you don’t resemble him.”

“Being lumped together at all is a humiliation to .”

“Hahaha.”

At Seo Jo-woon’s serious expression, Jeong I-ryong let out a soft laugh.

It was a side of Seo Jo-woon that never appeared in front of Ban Hojin.

Even so, he didn’t feel offended.

Knowing what kind of relationship Seo Jo-woon and Ban Hojin had, Jeong I-ryong simply laughed it off.

“I’m here.”

“You arrived early.”

That was when Seonwu Bang approached the group together with his father.

He was carrying the gift box that Seonwu Cheong had prepared.

Of course, the gift box was not for the group, but for Dang Bi, the protagonist of today’s event.

“Yes. You have to co early to secure a good seat.”

“Heh heh heh heh.”

Seonwu Cheong burst into hearty laughter.

On a day like today, a good seat would be sowhere close to where Dang Bi or the head of the Sichuan Tang Family was seated, yet the spot where Ban Hojin’s group was sitting was the complete opposite.

They were seated in the most secluded corner, a place that hardly drew attention, and yet they claid to have secured a good seat—at that, a hollow laugh escaped Seonwu Cheong.

Still, on the other hand, he also thought that it was very much like Ban Hojin.

“In any case, when our turn cos, we’ll have to wait a long ti, won’t we?”

“Won’t Young Master Ban greet him together with the Abbot?”

“I heard that Master and Senior Disciple already t the Supre Family Head separately. I’m planning to offer greetings separately together with I-ryong and Jo-woon.”

“You’re not planning to keep your seat, read the situation, and then quietly slip away, are you?”

Seonwu Cheong asked in a subtly probing tone.

If it were the Ban Hojin he knew, it was more than possible.

What was amusing was that everyone seed to agree with the thought, nodding their heads.

“I’m not that ill-mannered of a person. Since we’ve co all this way, I should at least offer my greetings.”

“Well, true. The Abbot and Great Master Beopmu are here as well.”

Though he had asked in a joking manner, Seonwu Cheong did not actually think Ban Hojin would do such a thing.

He only thought there was a possibility.

“Then it’ll probably be similar to us.”

“There’s a good chance it’ll be even later. There are many waiting.”

Though there was no formal line, one could roughly tell that there was an order.

Because of that, Ban Hojin was confident.

There was still quite a long ti to wait.

Moreover, the gift presentation was not simply about handing over the gifts one had brought, so Ban Hojin settled his mind at ease.

“It’ll be over soti tonight, right?”

“We can only hope so.”

“But receiving gifts must be work too. You have to exchange words of blessing as well.”

“That’s why they hold the Seventieth Birthday Banquet and the Umbrella Longevity Banquet every ten years. Doing it every year would be physically exhausting.”

“Ugh.”

Seonwu Bang made a sickened expression.

Just imagining holding such a banquet every year was horrifying.

However, Seonwu Cheong beside him seed to think differently.

“I wish my Seventieth Birthday Banquet were like this.”

“Father.”

“It’s just a wish, a wish. It even seems like you might be able to make it happen.”

Seonwu Cheong smiled faintly.

As if to say he hadn’t ant to burden him.

Yet, hearing those words, Seonwu Bang could not help but be filled with thoughts.

“You still have a long ti to go.”

“About twenty-four years remain, so there’s still quite a bit of ti.”

At Ban Hojin’s words, Seonwu Cheong recalled his own age.

It was enough ti for the landscape to change more than twice, so it was by no ans a short span.

“I’ll try my best.”

“If you reach even half of that, I think I’d be happy.”

“Aren’t you putting too much pressure on ?”

“Hahaha.”

Seeing his son complain, Seonwu Cheong smiled gently.

Even while saying it was burdenso, he did not say it was impossible.

Having noticed that difference, Seonwu Cheong smiled.

“Don’t have expectations that are too high. The greater the expectations, the greater the disappointnt.”

“Alright, alright.”

“Hah.”

Despite his words, his father was smiling brightly, and at that, Seonwu Bang shook his head.

At the sa ti, he felt an overwhelming sense of uncertainty.

Originally, his goal had been to make the Seonwu Family one of the Five Great Families, but that had been a lifelong dream and objective.

Now that Seonwu Cheong had set a definite ti limit, the pressure ca rushing in.

“Stay strong.”

“We’re cheering for you.”

“Hyung can do it.”

Perhaps because Seonwu Bang’s shoulders had drooped pitifully,

Ban Hojin, Jeong I-ryong, and Seo Jo-woon each offered a word in turn.

But it was of no help at all.

“Ah, Hojin.”

“What.”

“The Sangguan Family ca yesterday, greeted him, and left right away.”

“Really?”

Seonwu Bang spoke in a lowered voice.

However, Ban Hojin’s reaction was quite different from what he had expected.

He did not look particularly surprised.

“That ans they have sothing to feel guilty about.”

“There’s no need to clash unnecessarily. I had a feeling it would be like that.”

“There’s probably soone passing information about us.”

Seonwu Bang swept the Banquet Hall with a cold gaze.

But since there were more than one or two people watching this way, it was impossible to find soone connected to Sangguan Jeok.

“Then we should first check who has ties with Sangguan Jeok.”

“Seems like we should.”

“Wouldn’t the Beggars’ Sect be well-versed in this kind of thing?”

Seo Jo-woon’s gaze searched for Oh Jung-geon.

Since there had been a banquet yesterday, he thought Oh Jung-geon would be sowhere here today as well.

A beggar would never refuse free food, so he was surely stuffing himself sowhere.

Seonwu Bang, apparently thinking the sa, quickly scanned the surroundings.

“Whom are you looking for so intently?”

“Ah, Family Head.”

“I’m here, Brother!”

“Hello.”

While Seo Jo-woon and Seonwu Bang were scanning the area with sharp eyes, familiar voices were heard.

It was Murong Gung, Murong Cheok, and Murong Heesu approaching.

It seed that they had co straight here as soon as they entered the Banquet Hall, for Murong Cheok, like Seonwu Bang, was also holding a small box wrapped in silk.

“It’s been a long ti, Murong Great Hero.”

“Heh heh heh. It’s been about ten years, hasn’t it?”

“That seems to be the case.”

After finishing greetings with Ban Hojin, Murong Gung also exchanged greetings with Seonwu Cheong.

Perhaps because the children were on good terms, the atmosphere between the two n was not bad either.

To a third party, they even looked quite close.

“As expected, you were here.”

However, Murong Gung was not the last guest.

Others also ca to visit Ban Hojin’s seat.