The next morning, I climbed Baiyun Mountain with my father.
Baiyun Mountain was famous for its rugged terrain, steep cliffs, and the mist that surrounded it all year round.
Because of this, it was notorious for the dozens of people who went missing or fell to their deaths every year.
“No wonder even the Green Forest bandits didn’t dare set up a stronghold here.”
This was also why Meng Huo’e, the Green Forest King, had chosen this place to build his secret hideout.
Even after decades, while other places might have been looted, this place was likely still intact.
“First, I’ll get the spirit herbs Meng Huo’e stashed away. With those, I can lay the foundation for the Reverse Heaven Divine Art, which will make things easier for me in the future.”
With that plan in mind, I confidently climbed the mountain.
And after about an hour…
“Ugh… Ugh…”
Sweat poured down my body like rain.
My lungs felt like they were about to burst, and my legs trembled as if they were made of lead.
I wanted to collapse and rest right then and there.
But every time I thought that, the sound of my father clicking his tongue behind me made me grit my teeth.
“Tsk tsk. Already tired?”
Thud.
Thud.
My father poked my back with his teaching rod and nagged.
“See, what did I tell you? With that body of yours, what are you even doing climbing a mountain? You should just turn back now.”
I couldn’t tell if he was worried about me or just mocking me.
Still, it was thanks to him that I had managed to climb this far.
“I can… Ugh… do it…”
Damn this body.
If I couldn’t use internal energy, I should’ve at least been born with a stronger physique.
It’s like both the inside and outside of me are equally pathetic.
Even after over a month of physical training, I was still in this state.
It made me understand why the Heavenly Yin Blocked Meridians were called a curse from the heavens.
‘Just wait! One day, I’ll turn these Heavenly Yin Blocked Meridians into Heavenly Yin Divine Meridians! This is just the first step!’
I climbed the mountain with that determination, but…
Thud.
Eventually, I collapsed onto a flat rock and looked up at the sky.
Was there a sandstorm? The sky was a strange yellowish color.
“Damn it… How long is this going to take?”
Honestly, I was too weak.
How could someone who wanted to become a martial artist be panting like this after just climbing a mountain? If my father hadn’t been with me, I would’ve slipped and fallen to my death several times already.
“But we’re almost there. That peak over there seems to be the one you mentioned.”
My father, who had caught up to me, pointed in a direction with his teaching rod.
A tall peak jutted out above the clouds.
I groaned as I looked up at it.
“Almost there, my foot…”
Sword Dance Peak.
That’s what Meng Huo’e called it.
It was ridiculously high and the terrain was treacherous.
That’s where Meng Huo’e had hidden his spirit herbs.
“Hoo. Let’s rest for a bit.”
“Drink some water first.”
My father handed me a water bottle and clicked his tongue, clearly noticing how pale I looked.
Then, out of nowhere, he said:
“Are you really my son?”
“Cough! Cough cough!”
I spat out the water I was drinking all over him.
Despite the unexpected attack, my father, being a first-rate master, easily dodged it.
After coughing for a while, I wiped my mouth and asked, trying to hide my nervousness.
“Cough! What kind of nonsense are you spouting all of a sudden?”
My father looked at me with a strange expression and scratched his cheek.
“In the past, you would’ve cursed your weak body and resented me… But now, you’re climbing the mountain without a word of complaint. It’s quite admirable.”
…This guy, he really knows how to hit where it hurts.
“And you said you wanted to make money instead of learning martial arts… You never cared about money before, and you didn’t mind teaching martial arts to kids.”
I pretended to think for a moment, then gave the answer I had prepared beforehand.
“After dying and coming back to life, the world looks different to me.”
“How so?”
“While I was lying in bed for almost a month, I thought about it. Why did I want to learn martial arts at the risk of my life?”
“…To become the number one martial artist in the world and roam the martial world, right?”
“That’s what I thought back then.”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead with my sleeve and sighed.
“To be recognized by others, to enjoy wealth and fame, to marry a stunningly beautiful wife…”
“Hmm.”
“But when I thought about it again, those things don’t necessarily require martial arts, do they?”
“You can do it with money?”
I grinned and looked at my father.
“Exactly.”
I don’t know Bai Shulong.
I don’t know how much he wanted to learn martial arts or how frustrated he was that he couldn’t cultivate internal energy.
So instead of making a half-hearted excuse, I decided to just push forward with my own thoughts.
“And,” I continued with a playful smile, “with money, I can fix my dantian and find a way to learn martial arts, right?”
To be honest, that was the biggest reason right now.
To turn the Heavenly Yin Blocked Meridians into Heavenly Yin Divine Meridians and learn the Reverse Heaven Divine Art, I would need an astronomical amount of money.
But the only thing I knew how to do, having spent my entire life learning and teaching martial arts in the Blood Sect, was teaching martial arts.
‘I was wondering how to make that much money…’
Then I heard from Goo Juyeol that “if you become a top-tier instructor, you can rake in the money.”
The next step was a natural conclusion.
‘First, I’ll get a job as an instructor at the Azure Dragon Academy to earn money.
Even if I want to start a business later, I’ll need capital.’
For that reason, I decided to take the Azure Dragon Academy’s entrance exam, which was three months away.
My father stared at me for a while, as if trying to gauge the sincerity of my words, then chuckled and nodded.
“My son, who only knew martial arts, has finally grown up a bit. Alright. Make a lot of money and let your old man live comfortably too.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“This kid?”
Smack!
My father slapped my back with his teaching rod and laughed cheerfully.
“If you’re done resting, let’s get up. We have money to make.”
“Yes, yes…”
I sighed deeply, grabbed my trembling knees, and stood up.
We climbed Sword Dance Peak, sometimes leading, sometimes following.
Aside from a few times when I was foaming at the mouth, nothing major happened.
“Ugh… Ugh…”
“We’re almost there! Just a little more!”
Honestly, I felt a bit sorry for this body’s father, Bai Mooheun.
It wasn’t like I had chosen to take over his son’s body, but here I was, pretending to be his son.
‘But I can’t tell him the truth.’
Still, since they were the parents who gave birth to “this body,” I planned to do my duty by them someday.
“Ugh… Ugh! We’re here! Huff! Huff!”
Finally reaching the top of Sword Dance Peak, I panted as I looked around.
Whoosh.
Thick mist covered everything, limiting my vision.
My father, who was keeping an eye on our surroundings, asked me:
“I can feel a strange energy, but are there really spirit herbs here?”
“Huff… Huff… Over there.”
In the midst of the white mist, I searched for the rock with tiger teeth carved into it, just as Meng Huo’e had told me.
‘There it is.’
That rock was the starting point of the formation.
As we approached, the mist around the rock began to disperse and gather, changing shape.
Seeing that, I felt relieved.
‘Since the formation is still intact, the spirit herbs are probably still here too.’
“Follow me closely.”
I glanced back as I spoke, and my father looked utterly bewildered.
He must have sensed the unusual flow of energy around us.
“I thought we’d been scammed by some wandering medicine seller again… Are there really spirit herbs here?”
“You’ve been scammed too many times. It’s real.”
Bai Shulong had been so obsessed with learning martial arts that he had done all sorts of crazy things (like searching for martial arts manuals).
So when I suggested coming to Baiyun Mountain to find spirit herbs, my father had followed me with a look that said, “Here we go again.”
Even though he complained, he was still a father who was weak to his sickly son.
“If you don’t want to get lost, stay focused and follow me.”
“…This feels like being possessed by a ghost.”
Fortunately, the formation itself wasn’t too difficult to break.
It was designed to disorient people and make them lose their way, but I easily found the entrance as Meng Huo’e had described.
‘I’ll make good use of the spirit herbs Master Meng left behind.’
As I moved deeper into the formation, I recalled Meng Huo’e’s bearded face.
- Hehe.
I’ve hidden my secret hideouts all over the world.
Do you know how many thieves there are in the Green Forest? After I disappeared, they probably all tried to steal my treasures… Hehe.
But I hid the most valuable things away first.
Despite his bear-like size, Meng Huo’e was a clever and intelligent man.
After all, you couldn’t become a peerless master by being stupid.
Meng Huo’e had one grand goal.
- To make the Green Forest a prestigious sect on par with the Nine Great Sects!
Everyone dismissed it as nonsense.
If it weren’t for the fact that he had become the youngest leader of one of the Green Forest’s seventy-two strongholds at sixteen with his innate divine strength, and unified the Green Forest at twenty-five to earn the title of Green Forest King, many would have laughed in his face.
In fact, many masters from the orthodox sects, displeased by Meng Huo’e’s declaration, had sent him challenge letters to teach him a lesson.
- Hmph.
I let them all live.
I showed them the difference in our strength and let them experience my mercy.
But contrary to his expectations, the Green Forest King’s infamy only grew.
Instead of killing his challengers, he broke one of their limbs, leaving them crippled.
- Why? So they couldn’t go around spreading rumors that they had won.
I had to leave clear evidence that I had defeated them.
It was around that time that the title “One of the Ten Great Masters of the World” began to be attached to the Green Forest King.
When I mentioned that, Meng Huo’e scratched his ear and said:
- One of the Ten Great Masters? I think one of the guys who ran away after I beat the crap out of him was called that.
If he hadn’t been betrayed by his trusted subordinate, Meng Huo’e might have eventually come down from the mountain and established the Green Forest Sect.
If he hadn’t been imprisoned in the Blood Sect’s dungeon, that is.
- Hey, kid.
Meng Huo’e called me “kid.”
- What is it, Master Meng?
I called him Master Meng.
It wasn’t just him.
I called all four of the peerless masters “Master.”
Of course, it wasn’t a typical master-disciple relationship.
‘It was a temporary alliance formed to escape the Blood Sect together.’
There was a contract between me and them, and because of that contract, they taught me all their martial arts without holding back.
That period lasted ten years.
For ten years, I listened to the stories of their lives.
In the dungeon, the only people they had to talk to were each other and me.
- …If, just if, I die and you’re the only one who escapes from here…
One day, Meng Huo’e called me and told me about the secret hideouts he had built in various mountains across the Central Plains.
I asked bluntly:
- Why are you suddenly telling me this?
- Hehe.
Isn’t it better for you to have it than for it to go to waste?
- Hmm.
Is this all the meat we’re having today?
- You little brat! Do you think I’m asking for more meat?
- Now that I think about it, there might be a bit more meat…
- Should I tell you one more?
“It’s a hut.”
My father’s surprised voice pulled me back to reality.
Emerging from the thick mist, we found an old hut that looked like it could collapse at any moment.
Next to the hut was a small hot spring emitting steam.
“The spirit herbs are hidden somewhere around here…”
“I really don’t know what’s going on. To think that the rumors from a wandering medicine seller were true…”
My father shook his head, drew his sword, and stepped forward.
He cautiously approached the hut, keeping an eye on our surroundings.
“In the martial world, you can never let your guard down until the very end. There might be traps.”
“There are no traps. But…”
Before I could finish, a deafening roar shook the mountains, and a massive shadow lunged at us.