The volcano had not changed at all.
The wind blowing was the same, and the ancient halls remained unchanged.
The only thing that had changed was not the volcano, but the people.
"Whoosh!" Jo Geol threw off his training clothes.
As he grabbed the discarded garments, sweat poured down his body.
After training his strength since dawn, his entire body was drenched in sweat, making it unbearable to continue without changing clothes.
"Ah, today’s training was really tough."
"Do we really have to do this much from dawn? Seriously."
Hearing the murmurs around him, Jo Geol forced a smile.
Surrounding him were fellow disciples, all equally soaked and washing their clothes.
Together, they washed their bodies in the icy river water and cleaned their sweat-soaked training outfits.
Jo Geol put on the new clothes he had prepared and neatly packed away the washed garments.
"Let’s head up slowly."
"Yes, Senior Brother."
The disciples picked up their washed clothes and began to ascend the volcano.
Watching them from behind, Jo Geol couldn’t help but think various thoughts.
'Things have really changed a lot.' In the past, he would never have dreamed of such a scene.
Although the disciples were the gatekeepers of the volcano, they were not passionate about learning martial arts.
Even the senior brother Yoon Jong and Jo Geol himself were the same.
But now, everyone voluntarily came out to train from dawn.
They complained endlessly, yet none of them rebelled against it.
What could this scene be called? 'It really looks like a martial arts sect.' Jo Geol chuckled to himself.
To think that he would see the three great disciples of the volcano and feel they finally resembled a martial arts sect.
Did that mean the volcano had not been a proper sect until now?
"Why are you laughing like that?" A voice from beside him made Jo Geol turn his head slightly.
Senior Brother Yoon Jong was using lightness skills to look back at him.
"Oh, Senior Brother... It’s a bit embarrassing to say, but I just thought everyone finally looks like they have the appearance of a martial arts sect."
"Is that so?"
"It’s a bit of a strange thought, though."
"Not at all. I was just thinking the same thing."
"Haha..."
Jo Geol couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Until recently, he had never imagined sweating through training at the volcano.
He had completed all the training assigned by Baekmaegwan, but that was more about fulfilling a quota than any real effort.
His goal had been to kill time until he could descend the mountain and return home.
No, it wasn’t just Jo Geol; it was likely the goal of everyone else too.
So how could there be any passion? But recently, he felt something was changing.
Moreover, the gazes of the other senior brothers had changed significantly from before.
'This must all be because of that guy.' Jo Geol’s expression slightly twisted at the thought of Cheongmyeong.
Cheongmyeong was transforming the volcano.
Right now, it was merely a small breeze, but whether this breeze would end as a gentle wind or become a massive storm that shook the entire volcano was something no one could predict.
However, in the distant future, the effects would surely manifest.
As Jo Geol climbed up and entered the mountain gate of the volcano, he straightened his shoulders.
A sense of pride swelled in his chest.
But that pride quickly soared away into the sky.
"Hey! You can’t grab that there!"
"Fly! Fly! First, push all the materials inside, and then we’ll start! Are you deaf?"
"There! If that breaks, you won’t get paid for a month! Climbing up here was hard enough, what are you doing?"
Jo Geol stared blankly at the scene unfolding before him at the volcano.
It was bustling and chaotic beyond measure.
His gaze moved from left to right. 'What is this? Who are these people?'
There were unfamiliar faces coming and going at the mountain gate.
Everyone was holding tools and materials he had never seen before.
"Over there. No, not there! Over there!"
At least it was a comfort that he recognized someone among them.
Unam was standing among the people, urgently giving instructions.
"Senior Brother?" Yoon Jong, who caught Jo Geol’s gaze, walked over to Unam with a blank expression.
"Master Unam."
"Mm? Is that you, Yoon Jong?"
"What’s going on here?"
"Ah."
Unam smiled broadly.
Normally, he wouldn’t have explained everything to Yoon Jong, who was merely one of the three great disciples, but today Unam was in a very good mood.
So, there was no reason not to explain.
"They are workers."
"Workers?"
"Yes. As you know, the halls have become quite old, haven’t they?"
"That’s true."
They were not just old; they were nearly crumbling.
If the wind blew, something would break and be swept away.
Fortunately, the places where the disciples lived and trained had been somewhat maintained, but most of the halls had been neglected due to a lack of manpower for even minimal maintenance.
"I plan to do a major renovation this time. We’ll rebuild the mountain gate as well."
"Yes?"
"Don’t just stand there; go carry the materials. It seems the workers have had a hard time bringing them all the way here. While most of the wood can be cut and made nearby, it seems there are some woods that don’t grow around here."
"Yes?"
"Move quickly! Hurry!"
Seeing Unam smiling and shouting, Jo Geol wore a blank expression.
Perhaps change was coming faster than he had thought.
"What is going on?" Jo Geol looked at the table in disbelief.
Thanks to carrying materials, his hunger had risen to his throat.
But when he looked at the food laid out on the table, disbelief overwhelmed his hunger.
"What is this?"
"…Am I dreaming?"
"No matter how I look at it, this seems to be that 'meat' they talk about?"
The reactions of the other senior brothers were similar.
Their gazes were fixed on the table.
An incredible event was unfolding on the table.
Meat had appeared.
"Is there really such a shocking thing?"
"To kill a living being and tear its corpse apart, and that sinful act appears on the sacred table of the Dao?!"
"What a windfall!"
"……."
Jo Geol let out a hollow laugh.
The volcano did not specifically prohibit eating meat.
In the lineage of Hwasan, vegetarianism was encouraged, and meat was forbidden, but by the time it reached the current generation of Hwasan, things had changed a lot.
While they encouraged vegetarianism, they did not prohibit meat.
However, just because they did not prohibit it did not mean that meat would appear on the table.
It had been years since he entered Hwasan, but this was the first time he had seen meat on the Hwasan table.
"Is it okay to eat this?"
"It seems it was put here for us to eat?" Everyone glanced at Yoon Jong.
Since the masters were not present, Yoon Jong was the decision-maker.
Yoon Jong, with a wry smile, nodded his head.
"Let’s eat for now. We’ll get cold."
"Yes."
At Yoon Jong’s words, Jo Geol sat down, only to suddenly feel a burning gaze and looked up.
All the senior brothers were...
No, to be precise, they were sending fiery looks at Yoon Jong, who was sitting next to Jo Geol.
Understanding the intentions of his fellow disciples, Yoon Jong picked up his chopsticks and grabbed a piece of meat.
And the moment that meat entered Yoon Jong’s mouth,
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Chopsticks flew from all directions toward the dishes!
There were even those who used golden needles to catch the meat.
Jo Geol was almost about to shout in disbelief at the sight.
But his body was more honest than his head.
Jo Geol’s chopsticks also flew toward the dishes like lightning.
'If I’m late, I won’t get to eat!'
'Move! That’s my meat!'
'Meat! Meat!'
As he watched the flying pieces of meat scatter everywhere, Yoon Jong squeezed his eyes shut.
Hwasan.
His Hwasan was changing in a strange way.
"Well, it seems living a long life brings surprises."
"Indeed."
"Suddenly starting construction, and meat appearing on the table. Even today, we received two new sets of training clothes, didn’t we?"
"That’s right."
Yoon Jong narrowed his eyes as if he was thinking about something.
Seeing that inscrutable expression, Jo Geol asked,
"What are you thinking?"
"I think money is really good."
"Haha."
Jo Geol couldn’t help but laugh.
It felt a bit strange to hear such words from Yoon Jong.
After all, it was the same for others too.
"Even if money has come, I never thought the higher-ups would change things so quickly."
"Do you think they would prefer to see their disciples suffer in poverty? They had no choice because there was none."
That was true.
It wasn’t that meat didn’t appear due to the rules.
It was because meat was expensive that it hadn’t appeared.
"Things that couldn’t be done because there was no money will be done when money comes. But what’s strange about that?" Jo Geol nodded.
"…Didn’t you see Master Unam unable to control his smile?"
That’s right.
He had seen it.
Jo Geol swore he had never seen Unam smile so brightly.
He had even thought that Unam might be someone who didn’t know how to smile.
To see such a person grinning! One thing was certain: Hwasan had entered a path of change.
"Senior Brother."
"Hm?"
"What do you think will happen now?"
It was a question without context, but Yoon Jong understood what Jo Geol meant.
"Don’t you know? Hwasan is already changing rapidly."
"Yes."
"So we need to prepare ourselves."
"Prepare…"
"It’s not just a financial issue. Didn’t you see that box?"
"Yes. There was a secret technique."
The scene of Jang Mun-in mentioning the name of the martial art and falling backward was still vivid in his mind.
"Hwasan is changing. And it will continue to change. We too cannot avoid change. So we must strengthen our resolve and work hard. Then we might see something different from what we expected, right?"
Jo Geol nodded.
'Is all of this because of that guy?' Jo Geol couldn’t shake off the suspicion that all this was a result of Cheongmyeong’s recent antics.
Thinking of the obvious smoke in his eyes made his brow furrow.
"What did he do?"
"How would I know?"
Though there was no subject, it was clear who Yoon Jong was referring to.
"One thing is certain: that guy is not someone we can predict in advance. It would be wise to stay alert. With a half-hearted resolve, we might get swept away by the storm he creates."
"Don’t worry, Senior Brother. I’m Jo Geol."
"Right. That’s true."
Yoon Jong laughed heartily and headed toward Baekmaegwan.
Following quietly behind him, Jo Geol’s mind lingered on slightly different thoughts.
'He’s someone we can’t predict in advance.'
Jo Geol’s thoughts were a bit different.
Perhaps Cheongmyeong was someone who could overwhelm not just them but also the elders and the master.
Perhaps.
"But."
"Hm?"
"Where is he? I haven’t seen him since morning."
"Didn’t you hear? Today, the master is looking for him. He’s probably at the master’s place right now."
"The master? Why is the master looking for him again?"
"How would I know?" Yoon Jong shrugged, and Jo Geol let out a low sigh.
'It’s really chaotic.'