Chapter 126 Journey (4)

Chapter 126 Journey (4)

Several mornings after that day, Gu Yangji decided to ask Wuming about something that puzzled him.

“Why does a martial artist of your caliber choose to seclude yourself here instead of venturing into the martial world?”

“Because it’s bothersome.”

Simple and clear, yet a response true to Wuming’s nature.

Still, he couldn’t shake a strange feeling.

If the Tianwufeng sect possessed such formidable martial arts, it would surely have stirred up countless topics of discussion in the martial world.

Yet, not only was Wuming unknown, but even his supposed master remained entirely unheard of.

Just a Taoist sect in Hoguang.

When Gu Yangji found this odd and asked again, Wuming gave him a surprised look.

“I thought you were a fool who hadn’t learned his manners, but you’re quite sharp, aren’t you?”

Wuming chuckled and continued.

“At our Tianwufeng… once one receives the inner energy transmission from the master, they are forced into seclusion.”

“What?”

Completely taken aback by this unexpected statement, Gu Yangji asked in shock.

He stared intently at Moo-myeong, wondering if it was a joke, but it wasn’t.

A faint, mocking smile had settled on Moo-myeong’s face.

“It must sound absurd, right? To possess such formidable martial arts yet be stuck living here.”

Gu Yang-jeok silently agreed with those words, and a sigh of resignation settled into Moo-myeong’s voice.

“Our Tianwufeng lineage has been like this for at least two hundred years, as far as we can confirm. We don’t even know the founding patriarch. There’s only a rule that says we must descend when the time comes.”

“When the time comes? Who knows when that is, or how?”

“I said!”

As if suddenly overcome by irritation, Nameless swung his fist upward.

CRASH!

With a single strike, the massive boulder beside Nameless split apart and collapsed to the ground.

Yet Nameless’s expression showed not the slightest change.

He himself had revealed his cultivation spanned eighty years.

It was accumulated through generations of five predecessors passing it down to their successors.

Gou Yangji, watching the rock collapse, asked.

“So that’s the rule, but couldn’t you just descend whenever you pleased?”

“They say there was someone in the past who thought that way.”

At the nameless man’s words, Gu Yangji immediately understood.

He had said the confirmed history of Tianwufeng spanned two hundred years.

Yet only eighty years of internal energy cultivation had been passed down…

As Gu Yangji’s eyes narrowed, the nameless man gave a faint smile in affirmation.

“There was a break in the middle. If not for that bastard, I probably would have either exploded or become an immortal.”

“Still, it’s remarkable.”

Without seeking permission, Gu Yangji moved his hand toward Wuming’s lower abdomen.

“It’s common knowledge among martial artists that passing down three generations of inner strength is impossible. How could eighty years of cultivation be passed down through five generations?”

While the history of Tianwufeng was significant, their martial arts possessed something truly special.

To verify this, Gu Yangjie concentrated his true energy into his fingertips.

Yet, he sensed a familiar energy residing in the nameless man’s lower dantian.

A pure and clear energy, based on the orthodox Taoist method of earth absorption.

‘Come to think of it, if it’s at least two hundred years ago… wouldn’t that be when Wang Zhongyang and the Seven Masters of the East were roaming the martial world?’

This overlapped with the era when Huatong, the founding patriarch of the Huashan School, was active.

Under normal circumstances, he would have simply let it pass.

But learning that this place, brought by Mantongzi, held such history, he couldn’t help but be startled.

Above all, it was suspicious.

Just as Gu Yangji’s eyes gradually widened.

The nameless man bared his fangs.

“Wait, what? How dare you lay a hand on the elder?”

When Wuming whipped his right hand like a lash, aiming to seal the acupoints, Gu Yangjie easily dodged it by merely twisting his upper body halfway.

This was only possible because Wuming wasn’t serious, but that didn’t mean Gu Yangjie’s reaction was slow.

“…Brat, you dodged.”

Wuming watched Gu Yangjie, who had grown dazzlingly over the past few days, with a satisfied gaze.

As if climbing a mountain he had always known, Gu Yangjie’s five senses far surpassed Wuming’s expectations.

When Wuming displayed his palm techniques, Gu Yangjie knew how to transform them into fist techniques.

When Wuming showed the subtleties of the Half-Step Lingbo technique, Gu Yangjie copied it immediately.

There had been a time when he’d shown him the martial arts of the Heavenly Martial Peak on a whim, only to have him imitate it immediately, leaving Myeong-ui utterly stunned.

‘That kid’s eyes are especially strange, you know.’

That keen eye, which seemed to capture every single movement, was by far the sharpest Myeong-ui had ever seen.

Just as Muming was contemplating whether to capture Gu Yangji and take him as a disciple, Gu Yangji’s lips parted.

“Then when did you first meet the Man Tongzi?”

“…Hmm, when I was young and inexperienced. I found myself in danger many times.”

Muming scratched his cheek with his finger.

“Even though I treated them politely, those bastard brats from prestigious families kept picking fights with me. So I beat them up a bit, and then they gave me this nickname, ‘Face-Shattering Demon Fist’. So…”

Gu Yangji had expected Myeong-ui to speak recklessly.

The result was, of course, obvious.

“So you got chased around.”

“That’s right!”

Wuming clapped his hands in agreement.

“Those cowardly bastards kept charging at me, so I beat them to death one by one. One-on-one, eh? I fought fair and square, I tell you!”

Even though it was long over, Wuming still snorted indignantly, as if still furious.

Gu Yangji shot him a look of utter exasperation.

‘What the hell did you expect after beating people to death?’

But he couldn’t very well say that out loud, so Gu Yangji reluctantly nodded.

“Just what kind of bastards were they?”

“Those sons of bitches from the Hebei Pang Clan!”

Fire seemed to flare in Moo-myeong’s eyes. But he quickly turned his head and exhaled sharply, hot breath escaping him.

“Anyway… I nearly died a few times because of those bastards, and every time, Mantongzi saved me. Maybe that’s why I’m both touched and a bit dumbfounded that he’s come looking for me now.”

“……”

At those words, Gu Yangji pressed his lips tightly together.

It wasn’t that Wuming’s words were strange.

Before arriving at Wulingyuan.

When asked if the man here was a barbarian, Mantongzi had said this:

“He’s one of the five strongest men I’ve seen in the martial world so far.”

But the time Wuming was talking about now wasn’t when he was strong at all—it was when he was being chased around by the Hebei Pang family.

It wasn’t a matter of being among the top five.

Gu Yangji wanted to ask Muming if he remembered Man Tongzhe’s words, but he quickly shook his head.

‘Given that guy’s temper, asking would just make him furious. If he starts swinging fists right away, the conversation will end.’

He had no choice but to piece together what he knew and deduce.

Thinking this way, Gu Yang-jeok could form a plausible hypothesis.

‘When he first met Myeong-myeong, didn’t Man Tong-ja already foresee that Myeong-myeong would become one of the top five masters?’

That’s why Man Tong-ja later persuaded Gu Yang-jeok to go to Zhangjiajie, saying Myeong-myeong was an extraordinary martial artist.

As if he had decided on this path from the very beginning.

Gu Yangji’s gaze sharpened.

Considering Mantongzi’s character, only one answer emerged.

‘There was a reason he saved Wuming.’

“…So you only received help from Mantongzi! That’s not it, you know. Later, how I utterly destroyed him…”

Gu Yangji stared at Wuming, who had started boasting about himself earlier, with a deeply contemplative gaze.

Man Tong-ja wasn’t some benevolent person who saved just anyone.

Hadn’t he actually caused all sorts of incidents in Mihyeon to lure him out?

Yet, Man Tong-ja showed no sign of guilt.

He was someone who didn’t value affection in the first place.

‘He valued destiny, deciphered from the heavens, above all else.’

As Gu Yangjeok thought this far, it felt like lightning had struck his mind.

Man Tongja had lived for hundreds of years.

The history of Cheonmubong was at least two hundred years.

‘I don’t know how old Man Tongja is, but they must have overlapped for at least a hundred years!’

Moreover, it was strange that Man Tongja had helped the unknown, who was a novice in the martial world, without demanding any reward.

Gu Yangji dug deeper beyond simple deduction.

‘Could the law of Tianwufeng, commanding descent at a certain time… possibly be related to the Eight Palms?’

Gu Yangji looked down at his right hand, which had been stroking Wuming’s lower abdomen.

The energy he sensed in his lower dantian was clearly not simple Taoist energy, but closer to orthodox Taoism.

Truly, no, it was merely a one-in-a-million possibility.

‘Could it be that Yeo Dong-bin, unable to eradicate all the demons, left his final will to the disciples he gathered in his lifetime? That is why Cheonmubong was created.’

Whoever the founding patriarch of Cheonmubong was, he was a figure who restricted the actions of all his successors through internal cultivation methods.

Had he been a virtuous man like Yu Zhangming or Bai Danxian, he would never have done such a thing.

For Taoism, by its very nature, respects other paths.

Gu Yangji found himself breaking out in a cold sweat.

Barely suppressing his shock, he looked at Wuming and asked.

“Wuming, if I may ask, is it too much to ask a question?”

“……Huh? What?”

Only then did Wuming pause, his expression turning displeased.

“Weren’t you even half-listening to my story until now?”

“My apologies.”

“Hmph… Right, an old man’s bragging. Must’ve been unbearably tedious for a youngster like you.”

Mocking Gu Yangji’s attitude, Wuming straightened his chest and said.

“What do you want to know?”

“What’s the name of the heart technique taught at Cheonmubong?”

“What’s so hard about that? Excuse me?”

As if utterly baffled, Moo-myeong scolded Gu Yang-jeok before answering nonchalantly.

“Cheon-dun-sim-yeo-gong (Heavenly Escape Heart Travel Technique).”

“……Heavenly Escape?!”

When Gu Yangji asked in shock, Muming twisted one side of his lip.

“It has absolutely nothing to do with that Ye Dongbin you all worship, so don’t bother questioning it.”

“…….”

“We’re a reclusive sect to begin with, so we never have any business in the martial world anyway? So don’t go spreading it around outside… Hey, are you listening?”

Thump, thump.

Even as Wuming tapped his forearm impatiently, Gu Yangji couldn’t utter a single word.

Should he really consider this a coincidence?

Gu Yangji’s eyebrows knitted together.

“I’m listening. So tone it down.”

“You’re the one who hasn’t been reasonable, you bastard! The elder is speaking, and you’re not listening at all! Do you think you’re more reckless than me?!”

“Still, you seem well aware that you’re the type who acts recklessly, don’t you?”

When Gu Yangji lightly sneered, Moo-myeong burst out laughing, “Ha!”

Then, as if remembering something, he hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Ah, right. You said you were from the Huashan Sect. Then, can I ask just one person’s name?”

“It probably won’t be anything good, but do as you please.”

At that, Muming rolled his eyes as if trying to recall a memory.

“So… the name was… Jin Muwol, right?”

At those words, Gu Yangji let out a deep sigh.

Jin Muwol popping up now of all times!

A curse burst from Gu Yangjeok’s lips.

“Damn it, this is insane… Just when I thought things were starting to make sense.”

“What’s starting to make sense? I mean, is that bastard Jin Muwol still alive?”

“What the hell do I know!”

Gu Yangji, suddenly overcome with irritation, bellowed, and Muming also began to lose his temper.

“What do you mean, ‘what’s it to me,’ you son of a bitch! That mad bastard Jin Muwol suddenly thrust a knife at me and asked if I was human!”

Having said that, Muming grabbed the front of his robe with both hands and tore it apart.

Rip!

Beneath the torn front, a deep, unhealed wound still gaped uglily.

Wuming asked in a rough voice.

“So, is that bastard still alive?”

At those words, Gu Yangji hesitated, unsure if he should truly answer.

But the reply came not from Gu Yangji, but from Mantongzi, who seemed to have just woken from sleep.

“Jin Muwol? He’s dead.”

Man Tong-ja’s face stiffened rigidly, as if he hadn’t anticipated this outcome at all.