The Return of the Dark Moon
Chapter 19. Shall We Get Started?
Me, lose to Ilgyeokmujeok?
To be honest, I expected it, so I wasn't particularly surprised.
With the mindset of a loser, I trudged down from the stage.
The award ceremony was underway, so I headed over.
Standing on the platform, my gloomy mood worsened as Beomcheon handed me the Summoning Pill.
My gaze drifted to Ilgyeokmujeok, receiving her prize on a platform slightly higher than mine.
She got the Grand Pill.
I mean, is it right for an old monster who's lived for hundreds of years to show up at a tournament for kids?
Then again, my soul is that of an eighty-year-old man, so I wasn't really in a position to criticize.
Third place in the tournament went to Beomgak.
The guy was grinning from ear to ear after receiving the inner core of a monstrous beast.
I wasn't particularly envious, since the inner cores of such beasts were also ingredients for elixirs like the Summoning Pill.
They say the better the alchemist, the better the elixir, and this was the great Shaolin, after all.
In fact, it wasn't uncommon for minor sects to fight over good alchemists.
As if those fools who don't even have the right ingredients need an alchemist.
After receiving my prize, I stepped down from the stage and saw the bald disciples.
I approached them with my arms wide open. A master's love for his disciples is truly something else.
When you receive kindness, you must repay it.
The disciples came running, only to rush right past me.
With a boisterous cheer, they lifted Beomgak's large frame into the air, making a huge fuss.
I may have treated them a bit harshly, but wasn't this going too far?
I guess this is what people mean when they say raising kids is a waste of time.
Once the foolish disciples were gone, I spotted Hwapyeong, a smirk playing on his lips.
Indeed, the way of the world was that you didn't need disciples; all you needed was one good friend.
“You’re the only one!”
But Hwapyeong also walked right past me.
I turned my head to see Ilgyeokmujeok and the gambling cheat sharing a happy reunion.
I collapsed to the ground, feeling like a farmer whose entire year's harvest had been ruined.
Of course, that was when Beomcheon, who had approached me at some point, chimed in.
[Do not be too disappointed. This old monk felt the same way when sending his disciples off to their secular families. Ah, of course, I have never been ignored by my disciples.]
[You pathetic fool.]
Having poured oil on the fire, Beomcheon vanished in an instant.
It felt as if he were toying with the space-time of the immediate area.
The voices of the pilgrims chanting 'Yeonghwa,' Ilgyeokmujeok's alias, sounded fragmented.
Then, in a flash, time began to flow normally again.
The One Hundred and Eight Arhats Formation was a joint attack formation so powerful that it had rarely been broken in Shaolin's thousand-year history.
To what realm had Beomcheon's martial arts reached, for him to wield its power all by himself?
It's safe to assume he was hiding his power in my past life.
He might not be on Baek Cheon's level, but he must possess immense martial prowess.
I cleared the useless thoughts from my head.
What did I care about some baldy's martial arts?
I turned to look at Ilgyeokmujeok and Hwapyeong.
What was the relationship between those two?
I walked over and decided to butt in.
“You two look close.”
Ilgyeokmujeok glanced back and forth between Hwapyeong and me before speaking.
“Are you two friends?”
I nodded.
“Of course. How could he have even participated in the tournament without me? Use your head. That's always been your problem.”
“The fault is not mine. Do not pester me.”
“You should change the way you talk.”
It was then that Hwapyeong jumped into our banter.
“What's this? You two know each other?”
Ilgyeokmujeok casually ignored Hwapyeong's question and said.
“Perfect. It would be fitting for you to take the role.”
“What role?”
“The witness to our master-disciple relationship.”
For a moment, I was speechless.
I slapped myself three times, but I didn't wake up.
After about the tenth slap, my cheek started to sting, so I decided to stop.
Ilgyeokmujeok had never taken a disciple.
Naturally, that meant there was no successor to inherit her title as the Master of the Heaven-Shattering Sect.
But still, Hwapyeong as her disciple?
I tried to picture Hwapyeong, Master of the Heaven-Shattering Sect.
No matter how I looked at it, it didn't fit at all.
“Have you gone senile? Your appearance may be that of a fifteen-year-old, but your mind must be rotten with age. Having lived that long, you should be visiting a physician every day. I know a good one, the Immortal Divine Doctor. Want an introduction?”
“I am still perfectly fine.”
“An old hag like you using that tone... You should be ashamed enough to die. It's fine for common folk who've lived busy lives. But not for someone like you, who's lived with blood on her hands.”
“What's with the sudden lecture?”
I sighed and said to her.
“What can I do? This is just who I am. I see a martial artist, and I just want to give them unsolicited advice. To be honest, if you're really taking Hwapyeong as your disciple, I have nothing more to say.”
Even so, my eyes were drawn to Hwapyeong's hands.
He was holding a wooden box made of red sandalwood.
Inside, there would be a round Grand Pill.
It was safe to assume she had given it to him as a token of their new master-disciple relationship.
It was then that he suddenly held out the box containing the Grand Pill to me.
“Just give me the Summoning Pill and take this.”
I tilted my head at Hwapyeong's blunt words.
“What are you talking about? I was going to give you the Summoning Pill anyway. I'm not that heartless.”
My original plan was to train Hwapyeong to get him to the finals so we could get both the Grand Pill and the Summoning Pill, but that plan had gone up in flames.
But he just grinned and said.
“I wouldn't have even gotten the Summoning Pill without you in the first place. And I got a master, even if she is a shorty.”
The next moment, with a sharp thwack, Hwapyeong's head snapped down.
Ilgyeokmujeok had smacked him on the head.
I stared blankly at Hwapyeong.
Was this who he'd always been?
Wasn't he just a pathetic gambling cheat?
Looking embarrassed, Hwapyeong scratched his head, placed the Grand Pill directly into my hand, and took the Summoning Pill.
“Besides, too much energy would just be poison for me. You should be the one to take it. The Summoning Pill is more than enough for my mother.”
He wasn’t wrong.
An elixir like the Grand Pill was created to enhance internal energy, so if a commoner who hadn't trained in an internal energy art consumed it, their ki and blood vessels would burst.
But even so, to trade a Grand Pill for a Summoning Pill?
I stared at his face for a moment, then turned away.
“…Thanks.”
Have I still not become a decent person yet?
I felt strangely embarrassed, and the words didn't come out easily.
The deep aroma of Dragon Well tea and the distinctive woody scent of Shaolin intertwined, creating a strange harmony.
Dragon Well tea, a specialty of West Lake's Dragon Well Mountain, was a high-quality tea beloved throughout the Central Plains, and the current abbot of Shaolin was also known to enjoy it.
The Abbot's Quarters in Shaolin's inner court were utterly serene.
The Abbot's Quarters, encircled on all eight sides by the Eight Great Guardians.
It was the sacred place where the abbot of Shaolin, the de facto leader of the Nine Great Sects and One Union, resided.
Along with the Pagoda Forest, where a high-level monstrous beast was said to have been sealed long ago, it was the most important place on Mount Song.
Greenish vines filled a corner of the Abbot's Quarters.
They were a type of rare and wondrous flora, a kind of monstrous plant, that had taken root throughout Shaolin.
It was said they would immediately inform the abbot if any conflict arose within Shaolin.
Turning my head, I noticed yellow bedding.
Just a blanket and a pillow.
A scene that revealed the humble nature of the current Shaolin abbot.
Looking toward the wall, I saw countless books, including the Lotus Sutra, one of the three great scriptures of Buddhism.
By the window next to it, warm sunlight streamed in as if melting, revealing the daily lives of the monks.
[What do you think?]
The telepathic message echoed with an old-fashioned laugh. I fixed my gaze forward and met Beomcheon's single eye.
“Nothing, really. No particular impression.”
Beomcheon took a sip of his Dragon Well tea and spoke.
[This monk always wakes in the morning and looks out the window. When I do, there is a sight that can only be seen from this spot.]
“What sight?”
[There is a blind monk who wakes at dawn, takes up a broom, and cleans Shaolin. But for some reason, he is nowhere to be seen from morning till night. He doesn't respond when spoken to, and since all he does is clean, it's difficult to stop him.]
I realized what he was trying to say, and goosebumps broke out all over my body.
The fact that Beomcheon couldn't see him from morning till night meant this person was a master so skilled that even Beomcheon's divine sense couldn't track him.
Even for the great Shaolin, this made no sense.
Because my estimate of 'Regressor Beomcheon's' martial prowess was the Realm of Life and Death.
The sweeping monk didn't belong to Shaolin.
A master of that caliber would surely have been recorded in the sect's annals.
In that case, that master was...
[He is certainly from the Heavenly Palace.]
At Beomcheon's words, I quietly nodded.
If not from one of the three shadow organizations, where else would a master of that level come from?
Beomcheon continued,
[You should be careful as well. The world is full of extraordinary individuals, and the three shadow organizations are but a part of them. Always be humble, and don't get cocky.]
Feeling like the conversation was getting sidetracked, I said to him directly.
“Just hand over the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Art. I need to enter secluded training with the Grand Pill I went to all this trouble to get.”
It was then that Beomcheon's single eye flashed open.
[So you managed to obtain the Grand Pill after all? Truly remarkable. Your decisiveness is difficult to imitate. To think you'd threaten your own friend...]
“It wasn't like that.”
[Hm? That is unexpected.]
What in the world does this guy think of me?
Regardless, I planned to enter secluded training until the Peach Blossom Spring arrived, modifying the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Art to suit my body.
In the process, I would absorb the Grand Pill to further elevate my mastery of Dharma power…
That was the plan.
Mastering the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Art was the same as cultivating Dharma power, and there was no elixir better than the Grand Pill for enhancing it.
Furthermore, an increase in my mastery of Dharma power meant that my body would become even tougher thanks to the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Art.
[You truly are relentless.]
With a hollow laugh, Beomcheon took a worn-out book from his robes and handed it to me.
It was, of course, the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Art.
I carefully took the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Art and said to Beomcheon with a smile.
"It's good for you all if I get stronger, so wouldn't it be best to play along?"
[Why must I be the only one to give up a treasure like the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Art? It's only right to tear the divine artifacts from those other regressors too.]
"I'd be grateful if you did."
Expressing my boundless gratitude to Beomcheon by waving my arms wildly, I left the abbot's chamber.
It was now time for the first closed-door training session of my life.
To think I have to struggle this hard just to survive.
It was the first time since my days as a young, starving beggar, before I joined the Beggars' Sect.
I sighed and looked up at the sky.
It was damn clear.
But since it was much better than being gloomy, I stretched my arms wide and headed toward Shaolin's Pagoda Forest.
"Alright, shall we slowly get started?"
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