Chapter 434: But I Am Not Plum Blossom Sword Saint? (4)
“T-That is…”
“What?”
The Tang Family craftsmen were glaring at Baek Cheon with red eyes, making him flinch even harder.
“N-No, it is only because I am worried. You don’t have to do all this…”
“What does Disciple think of this?”
“Uh? That… sword…”
“It is a cold steel sword! Cold steel! The best! A sword made from ten-thousand-year-old steel!”
“…”
“These are treasured weapons that cannot be gotten anywhere else! And you want us to make it what? Haphazardly?”
“Ah, no, that isn’t what…”
“Get away, get away, right now!”
In the end, Baek Cheon gave up and stepped back. The disciples of Mount Hua, who watched this, came over running.
“What is it?”
“…they told me to bug off?”
“…”
The disciples all turned to the workshop.
‘No, do they have to go this far?’
The Tang Family craftsmen were pouring their souls into making these swords, and they wouldn’t stop. So surely, the disciples would be cheering this on.
But what the Tang Family craftsmen were doing… it didn’t seem right.
“You damned brat! Those petals are not right!”
“Do you not see me here?”
“Ugh! Damn it! That was too hard!”
Everyone holding a hammer and chisel groaned as they hadn’t slept well for ten days. Their eyes were visibly red as they carved out a plum blossom pattern onto the swords.
“…these will just be practical swords, right?”
“Right. Even if they do all of this, isn’t it only for decoration?”
“It is nice that they are pretty, but… is there a reason to do this for something that will only be used to spill blood?”
They couldn’t understand.
“Ughhh!”
“Eh, it is so bothersome that these people keep falling down! Get this guy away right now!”
“Yes!”
Putting their body and soul…
Baek Cheon, who was anxious, looked at Tang Soso,
“Soso, it seems like we are unable to understand the other side, can you tell them for us?”
“Tell them what?”
“That they don’t have to go this far…”
“What?”
“…”
In the end, he was silenced by the way Tang Soso’s eyes shone.
“Sasuk! This is the pride of a craftsman! Just as food is made to look good, even if it will only be eaten later. Anyone can see that these swords will be considered treasures, so shouldn’t they look the part? Sasuk, have you ever seen an ugly divine weapon?”
“…No.”
“No matter what it is, these swords need to look as good as possible! The point is to make the swords different from others! Moreover, it is a sword crafted by our Tang Family. If each sword is even a little different from the others, then the other craftsman families will say that we have lost our touch. Will Sasuk take responsibility for that? Huh?”
“…”
At her raging spirit, Baek Cheon stepped back.
‘No, this kid is changing for the worse each day.’
“This is a matter of pride! The pride of the Tang Family, whose skills are second to none in this world!”
“…Yes, I get it.”
In the end, the disciples gave up on persuading these dedicated craftsmen.
“But what is Chung Myung doing? Originally, if this happened, he would be the first to say no, ‘If I can use my sword technique, then it is fine. Do you think the technique will come out better if you carve a plum blossom on it’?”
“He is over there.”
“Uh?”
“There.”
Baek Cheon turned to where the finger pointed.
And at the end of that finger sat Chung Myung at the table in front of the hall. He sat upright with his legs crossed, his sword drawn upright in his hand.
More serious and…
“Huhuhuhuhu.”
“….”
“Heheheheheheehehee.”
“He looks to be in the best mood…” mumbled Baek Cheon as he saw Chung Myung with a smile so wide that his lips touched his ears.
“He looks to be in the best mood…”
“He wasn’t like this even when he found the Soul Vitality Pill.”
“From an expert’s point of view, this is almost at the level of finding a tower made from gold.”
Baek Cheon licked his lips,
“…that important, huh?”
“…correct.”
Envy.
Jealousy.
Like a musician coveting a good musical instrument, a swordsman wanted a good sword. The disciples from Mount Hua had seen numerous weapons in dealing with the Nine Great Sects, but none of those weapons compared to the one Chung Myung was holding now.
“No, what did that elder do?”
“Right!”
“The elder is so old… Soso! I am wrong, put your fist down, please.”
Jo Gul, who was almost hit by his sajae, stepped back and flinched.
The disciples all approached Chung Myung silently.
“…Chung Myung.”
“Uh?”
Chung Myung shook his head.
“…can we touch it just once?”
“No.”
“I won’t swing it, just touch…”
Slap!
Chung Myung hit the hand of Baek Cheon, which had been inching closer.
“How dare you touch this precious thing with that hand of yours! Leave!”
“*Ah-*I didn’t even touch it!”
“Go away!”
Chung Myung was like a cat in the way he defended his sword. It was like he would never give it up, so Baek Cheon and the others began to curse at him.
“You greedy bastard!”
“For real!”
Even if they were called dirty, their greed to see the sword wouldn’t fade. But with the sword under surveillance every second of the day… even then, they wanted to get a good look at it.
The sword’s sheath also looked pretty good, and the sword itself seemed heavy once it was pulled from its’ sheath.
“This is why one uses a divine weapon.”
“With that much, he will not let go of that sword.”
“I will steal it!”
Just as everyone was drooling over this one sword,
“It is finished.”
“Ahhhh! It has ended!”
Finally, the long-awaited cheers came, and everyone turned back toward the workshop.
In ten days, the craftsman (whose skin and bones had begun to stick together) walked out with dozens of swords in their hands and a certain light burning in their eyes.
“Silk! Silk! Put down the silk!”
“Yes!”
A silk cloth was spread out, and on top of it, the swords were placed in a neat row.
‘To place swords on silk.’
‘I cannot believe there are such high-level swords in the world.’
Their excitement began to rise in the face of these high-grade weapons.
“Where…”
Tang Gunak walked out, picked up one of the swords lying on the silk, and drew it,
Srrng!
With a clear ring, it was pulled from its’ sheath, showing off the sword’s silver body.
“Feels nice.”
Tang Gunak smiled. Seeing the swords come out so perfectly was exciting.
“Bring me the anvil!”
“Yes!”
At the command of Tang Gunak, some men ran into the forge, and groaning, they brought out an anvil.
“Here, my Lord!”
“Properly set it down.”
Setting it down, they retreated as Tang Gunak lightly swung the sword at this anvil.
Shhh!
There was no noise at all. A large cast iron anvil was just split in half.
“Huh?”
Even Tang Gunak was surprised by this.
“Iron is not tofu.”
This time he infused qi into the sword as he raised it up high. He wielded it properly despite not being a trained swordsman. If a non-swordsman could wield it this well, how perfectly could the sword be wielded in the hands of an actual swordsman?
“Okay. It seems like it is a lot better than I…”
“Right…”
“Uh?”
Tang Gunak, who was mumbling, flinched as he looked back. The disciples of Mount Hua were drooling right behind him.
“Ha, can I swing it once?”
“… I guess so.”
“Thank you. The Head of the Family is such a good person.”
“…”
Was this enough to be considered a good person?
The disciples of Mount Hua quickly picked up the lying swords. Not wasting a moment, they pulled them out of their sheaths and began to swing them around.
“It is light, Sasuk!”
“How can a sword be swung this lightly and yet be this strong? How…”
“Wow. This is why one uses a good sword.”
“All the swords I have used till now feel like trash.”
“Right!”
Tang Gunak smiled at their genuine reactions.
‘The others you used before were also made by the Tang Family.’
At least think before you talk, you idiots!
Tang Gunak bitterly licked his lips. But that reaction could be understood, he was surprised by the quality of the swords, so why wouldn’t they be?
“Thank you very much. Thank you.”
Baek Cheon and the other disciples ran to him and bowed till their heads touched the ground.
“Huhu, you don’t have to do this.”
“No! We really didn’t think such swords would come. Thank you!”
“Thank you so much! I will give you one big glass of alcohol!”
“Euh. I heard that you are a member of a merchant’s union, if so, we would greatly appreciate that.”
“Of course! I will take you right there!”
“Hahaha. It is alright.”
All the craftsmen smiled.
‘These people are so strange.’
No matter how much they belonged to the Tang Family, they were all craftsmen. They were of a group that wasn’t treated the greatest by the rest of the world. So far, among those who had requested items from the Tang Family, very few had expressed gratitude to the Head but never had anyone directly thanked them.
‘Mount Hua.’
Such a nice place.
It seemed like they knew why the head wanted such a close relationship with them.
“If you are finished, load them up.”
“Uh?”
Chung Myung appeared, standing next to them.
“We need to hurry up and go.”
“So soon?”
“Not right away. We can leave in the morning, you have to bring them all…”
“What do you mean all? Have you lost it?”
“That bastard thinks his sword is better than ours!”
“Treat your sword like a sword!”
Chung Myung flinched in the face of their response, and one of the craftsmen chimed in,
“We have prepared a wooden box to hold your swords, so you can put them in there.”
“Oh!”
Baek Cheon nodded his head and smiled,
“Thank you!”
“…if you put them in boxes… our burden will increase as the weight increases.”
“Shut up, you idiot!”
“That mouth!”
Chung Myung groaned and turned.
‘I am being put through such hardships.’
They were the ones having a hard time…
“You cannot leave it.”
“Uh?”
Chung Myung turned to Tang Gunak at the words.
“Is the problem solved yet?”
“Ah, right. So we will leave tomorrow. In the meantime, I will have a drink tonight.”
“That is not what I meant.”
“Uh?”
Tang Gunak smiled,
“I would be satisfied with just one day, but what about him? He is not the kind to be satisfied unless he drinks for three days straight.”
“Him?”
Who is he talking about…
It was then–
Rumble!
“Uh?”
As if there was an earthquake, the land shook.
“What is this….”
Rumble!
Once again, there came another shock. But then it began to shake consistently.
“Is this an earthquake?”
“N-No, it isn’t one.”
“This way!”
The disciples of Mount Hua ran to the main gate of Mount Hua. And Tang Gunak said to Chung Myung with a smile,
“We should go too.”
“Yes?”
“We need to go greet the guests.”
And so they began to move, while Chung Myung tilted his head as he followed.
“Oh my! Oh my! What is this!”
“What the hell is it?”
The members of the Tang Family all jumped up in shock as they mumbled. The disciples from Mount Hua who had gone over to check waited near the gate.
“Open!”
Tang Gunak shouted, and the gate was widely opened.
“Oh…”
“Wow…”
The disciples of Mount Hua were shocked at what they were witnessing.
Wooong!
An animal the size of a house lifted its long nose and cried out. There was a large tiger, twice the size of a regular one.
To the left and right was white fur with its teeth showing and a beast who had a sharp horn near its nose.
A beast. Another beast and…
Large beasts they had never seen before were walking into the Tang Family.
“O-Oh my! What is that!”
“Shouldn’t we stop them?”
“What is this!”
And…
Paaah!
In the midst of the beats, something like white lightning shone at the Tang Family and shot towards the Mount Hua disciples.
“W-What?!”
“Avoid it!’”
Tak!
Baek Cheon leaned back and saw Chung Myung tilting his hand.
To be precise, the top of Chung Myung’s hand was held out right in front of himself.
“Grrrr!”
A marten with snow-white fur was sitting on Chung Myung’s hand and rubbing its head onto his hand.
“Oh? Baek Ah?”
Baek Ah?
Uh? Then?
“Kuahahahaha!”
Just then, a gigantic, deafening laugh began to move around the Tang Family compound. There were many people in the world, but there was only one who could laugh like this.
Besides, who else could command these countless beasts at once?
“Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon! Where is he? I have come, but he is not to be seen!”
“Seriously, where could he be, where could he be? Here he is!”
“OHHH!”
Among the beasts, a giant, which appeared to be made of steel, stepped out from within the crowd.
“It has been a while, Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon!”
“Haha… I did not expect to see you here in Yunnan, Lord.”
The Nanman Beast Palace Lord, Meng So, laughed and spread his arms wide.
“Nice! This feels nice! Let us have a drink today!”
“You can drink well?”
“I am now good enough to beat you!”
“Oh! What!”
Watching the two giggle and smile, the disciples of Mount Hua sighed.
There were no tornado-free days.
Not a single day without tornadoes.