Chapter 57 – Dragon Peak Gathering (2)
It was good to have arrived at the headquarters of the martial arts alliance, but the Dragon Peak Gathering was not starting right away. It was going to start in a few weeks.
In an era where transportation was not yet well developed, such events had to be held at considerable intervals.
Standing at the end of the long line of applicants, he said, “Let’s first apply for participation and find a place to stay while we wait. …I don’t know if there are any rooms left.”
People who came to participate in the Dragon Peak Gathering, people who came to watch, and people who came for other reasons.
There were an enormous number of people gathered around the headquarters of the martial arts alliance, but were there any rooms left?
“I’m sorry, Jin Ga-ga… There is a mansion owned by the Peng family here, but…”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. I went through all that trouble to escape from Ha Buk-seong, so I can’t just walk in now.”
“That’s right. Perhaps there might be a room left in some outlying area.”
“Why are you apologizing so much? The matter has already been settled. Don’t be like that.”
He had already accepted the risks and run away from Ha Buk-seong, even offering rewards. However, Peng Soso was still apologizing as if there were problems due to her running away.
Peng Soso blushed as if she were being comforted like a child, “Um… Jin Ga-ga? There are a lot of people here…”
“Oh, sorry.”
It was an act done without much thought, but it was quite embarrassing in this conservative world.
As he was reflecting on it inwardly, Peng Soso, who had stuck to his side, whispered in his ear, blushing, “No, that’s not it. I meant don’t make me have dirty thoughts in such a crowded place.”
“Oh, um, yeah. Okay.”
How did it come to this? She had definitely felt like a well-raised young lady at first.
As he was reminiscing about the past for a moment, Hong Yeon-hwa, who seemed to have read his thoughts, poked his side and said, “What are you pretending not to know? You’re the one who made all of this happen.”
“What did I do…”
The memory of the incident at Nak-yang suddenly came to mind. Wait, was it my fault? It seems like it might be.
He shook his head to dispel the flesh-colored image that had come to mind and brought up a slightly different topic.
“Come to think of it, it’s been quite a while since we first met, Yeon-hwa. How much have you recovered?”
“Beating around the bush… Well, if it’s about my martial arts skills, I’d say it’s about six out of ten. I won’t be able to fight for long with this level, but I can show my full power when necessary.”
“Oh… That’s reassuring. But still, you shouldn’t reveal your full power, right?”
With Hong Yeon-hwa’s skills, she could fight while hiding her magic to some extent, but if she revealed her full power, she wouldn’t be able to do that.
After listening to my story, Hong Yeon-hwa tilted her head.
“Even though the Dragon Peak Gathering is grand, it’s just a competition among the postscript disciples. I don’t think there’s anyone you need to be wary of…?”
“No, be careful of the other martial arts experts who come to watch.”
“Hmm. I’ll have to be careful about that. But don’t worry too much. I haven’t lost my level of martial arts.”
She had reached the level of Hyeon-gyeong, even if it wasn’t perfect.
In fact, even if you look at the history of martial arts, very few martial artists have reached Hyeon-gyeong. Only the martial artists who left a big name in the martial arts world had reached Hyeon-gyeong.
It was just a story among the monks, but in the life and death realm beyond Hyeon-gyeong, it was said that one could become a god beyond human.
For example, Jang Sam-bong became a Wu-sen, a martial arts immortal, and left for the Daoist paradise in his last years. No matter how much I think about it, it seems like he was trying to overthrow the Daoist religion, so I can’t believe it easily.
However, even in Buddhism, there are stories of Sun Wukong or Dalma Dae-sa becoming Buddhas at the end of their martial arts training.
The content was that anyone who achieved enlightenment could become a Buddha, but it was up to you to believe it or not, like when wandering Taoist beggars asked for rice wine.
Well, I just shared some interesting stories, but the content was different from what I heard in my past life.
Anyway, to summarize roughly, Hyeon-gyeong was their claim to be the highest level that humans could reach.
I don’t know if it’s true or not, but the number of martial artists who reached Hyeon-gyeong is very small compared to those who reached Hwa-gyeong.
At least in the present day, there are no officially recognized martial artists who have reached Hyeon-gyeong.
In other words, Hong Yeon-hwa, who had stepped on the level of Hyeon-gyeong, was practically the strongest in the current martial arts world.
“What are you doing? Come on, pet my head and praise my greatness!”
…I don’t have to worry, right?
I reached out towards Hong Yeon-hwa, who was demanding praise in advance because she was about to win.
As if coming out to greet me, her pink head tilted towards me…
Thunk!
“Meow!”
I lightly tapped her head.
I didn’t hit her hard, but Hong Yeon-hwa, who grabbed her head, looked up at me with a crying face.
And then she screamed with a look that seemed to gather all the injustice and sadness in the world.
“Oppose domestic violence…!”
“Why are you being so extreme?”
I didn’t want to pet her head, but Hong Yeon-hwa seemed to expect it so naturally.
I don’t know if it was because of my subconscious anger or what, but something like a bull’s horn or a frog’s vocal sac popped out of my mind.
“This is all Jin Gagaga’s fault.”
“Soso is right! This is your fault!”
When I honestly explained the reason, Paeng Soso, who had been watching from the side, raised her head, and Hong Yeon-hwa hid behind her and shook her arms.
“I’m sorry.”
This time, I reached out to pet her properly.
“Meow!”
Hong Yeon-hwa growled and failed to let me touch her due to her guard.
Is this the dignity of a supreme master who has reached the Hyeon-gyeong level…?
Well, even if our magic is exposed, we’ll manage somehow. We didn’t do anything wrong.
How many people believe that this innocent girl is an evil madura?
I slowly approached Hong Yeon-hwa, who was giving me a suspicious look, again. This time, I had a candy in my hand.
“Nom nom.”
As she focused on the candy, I gently stroked her chin.
“Phew…”
As she let out a sigh of relief, I began to feel the surrounding gazes. A warm and slightly annoyed feeling mixed with anticipation.
Huh? Anticipation?
When I lifted my head, the last gaze was from Paeng Soso.
“Next is me, right, Jin Gagaga?”
“Uh… Do you want some candy?”
At my question, Paeng Soso smiled bashfully and opened her mouth slightly.
Do you want me to feed you?
***
As we pretended not to notice the increasingly hostile gazes around us and played around, it was our turn before we knew it.
The Muryeong employees, who looked half-dead with no enthusiasm, opened their mouths.
“Are all three of you participating in the Yongbongji Society preliminaries?”
“No. Just the two of us. This person here has a recommendation card.”
After my desperate efforts, Hong Yeon-hwa, who was relieved, took out a silver card from her pocket.
With the recommendation card given to her by Paeng Cheol-jin, she could skip the preliminaries and go straight to the main event.
Originally, I, the recipient, should have used it, but Hong Yeon-hwa and Paeng Soso said that it would be a waste to give up the opportunity to compete with many people.
In the end, we decided that Hong Yeon-hwa would use the recommendation card by process of elimination.
There are ways to sell her, but Paeng Soso becoming my woman meant that Paeng Cheol-jin was no longer just someone else.
If we wanted to participate in the Yongbongji Society, we had to use the recommendation card given to us. At least this way, we would have something to say when we met later.
The employee who received the recommendation card looked at it for a moment.
“Hmm….”
The employee nodded his head and took out a brush.
“Paekho Danju’s recommendation card is valid. May I have your name?”
After writing down Hong Yeon-hwa’s name, the employee explained various instructions and then led us to the testing area with a lack of enthusiasm.
“The two of you can go to the back tent.”
“We’re not applying here?”
“You have to pass a test to prove your skills before participating in the preliminaries. There are too many people who want to participate in the Yongbongji Society, even though they don’t have the skills.”
“Ah…there are a lot of people here.”
The line was so long, and it wasn’t even the only day to apply.
If they accepted all those people, it would become too complicated, and the quality of the Yongbongji Society would suffer.
The employee frowned deeply, as if he had thought of something, and let out a sigh.
“Fortunately, there aren’t any people trying to cheat or cut in line by saying they don’t know who they are today.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a rough voice echoed from behind.
“Even if you don’t have a recommendation card, you have to stand in line like everyone else if you want to participate in the Yongbongji Society with this Gale Sword, Yang So-yu!”
“….Do your best.”
“Y-yes….”
We left the employee, who had turned pale, behind and headed towards the testing area.
