Regardless of my giving up on the plausibility of life and trying to accept the strange phenomena that happened to me as a privilege of being possessed, to the adults in the sect, I soon became a child who “unexpectedly had great talent that we didn’t know about.”

Even for the Six Harmonies Sword, I performed it from beginning to end after seeing just one demonstration, and it was none other than the Huashan’s First Sword who praised it as excellent. The story spread in an instant.

‘Is this really okay?’

Of course, I was bewildered, but once a story spreads, it can’t be erased.

Moreover, since even my master was not one to add comments to such rumors, although it wasn’t his intention, the story spread without anyone to correct it and was soon becoming established as fact.

They say there are occasionally people who, even if they don’t look physically gifted, have exceptional talent, and after the story about me spread throughout the sect, everyone became convinced that I was such a case.

As a result, I… suddenly became Huashan’s idol.

‘Huashan and idol.’

It seems like words that shouldn’t go together, but there was no other way to explain it appropriately.

I even heard that Elder Jin Neung, who would become my great master, was going around proudly saying, “Didn’t I tell you? Children with calm temperaments excel at everything.”

I felt a bit uneasy, but I had already decided to take things as they come, so this time too, I let it pass with the thought that what’s good is good.

To be blunt, if the original ‘Ha Heun’ had been of a carefree personality that didn’t care about others’ words or gazes, he wouldn’t have become sharp-tempered or felt inferior to his disciple, and would have lived a much more peaceful life, wouldn’t he?

‘…Of course, I know it wouldn’t have been easy for a child who lost their family overnight and had only their master as a guardian to pursue such an attitude towards life.’

Children can be very sensitive at times.

And to be honest, I wasn’t entirely nonchalant about it either.

Unlike the original story where slight displeasure and worry were the basis, the current situation, based on curiosity and goodwill, was equally burdensome.

‘I didn’t anticipate this either.’

In the current Huashan sect, before accepting the three great disciples, I was the youngest. A child half the size of adults stands out wherever they go in Huashan.

And what if that noticeable child is also the disciple of Huashan’s First Sword?

‘It’s true that things feel a bit overheated right now, but I’ll probably remain the center of attention at least until the three great disciples arrive.’

It seemed like everyone was too excited about the new point of interest, perhaps because they had been bored living secluded on this treacherous mountain.

‘On top of that, those who envy my luck remain unchanged.’

Even if many people show curiosity and goodwill, not everyone is like that.

The senior disciple I met last time was like that, and there are a few others. They’re probably the ones who would have been at the forefront of disapproving of my existence in the original story.

‘…Well, anyway.’

Just because the situation is chaotic doesn’t mean I should get caught up in it. I muttered to myself as if reminding myself.

‘I shouldn’t care about others. That’s the easiest path.’

Letting things flow as they will, that’s the way of the Dao. I’m a Taoist, so I should let everything happen naturally.

I followed the path of the Dao, composing myself in this way.

In other words, I pretended to only see the sword and consistently focused on training.

Since my master was originally someone who lived that way, our master-disciple relationship was unexpectedly creating a very peaceful daily life.

‘I hope it stays this peaceful.’

Arriving at the training ground, greeting my master, and picking up the wooden sword, I felt a renewed sense of tranquility in my current daily life.

* * *

…Or so I thought.

My daily life was about to be disrupted. Is this some kind of rule? The moment you hope things will stay peaceful, something happens?

Fortunately, it wasn’t a serious or major problem, but…

“Beijing?”

“Yes. It seems there’s been an issue among the secular sects there.”

That’s right. My master had business to attend to in Beijing. It was due to an order from the sect leader.

‘Beijing… I heard it’s been noisy lately.’

I knew a little about the background of this mission, having picked up bits and pieces.

It wasn’t the people of the sect who told me. Taoists don’t tell children like me about the harsh realities of the world. I heard it from the porter who climbs Huashan every three days to deliver various necessities to the mountain gate.

He was absolutely right. Thank you, mister.

According to him, the Central Plains are currently in turmoil due to a struggle for the imperial throne. The current emperor is in critical condition, possibly dying any day, but he has too many children and hasn’t even designated a crown prince.

The reason why there was no crown prince until the emperor was on his deathbed was also ridiculous.

‘The emperor pitted his children against each other to keep them in check, didn’t he?’

What is power? Why does it make one see even their own children as rivals?

Anyway, the result was the current chaotic era, so the emperor had essentially shot himself in the foot.

For this reason, there was currently a bloodbath among those of imperial blood. Two days ago, the Prince of Xian was assassinated, yesterday the Prince of Bai was poisoned, today the Prince of Jing died in an accident… Something like that.

Even a common man living in Huayin County, Shaanxi Province, knew about this state of affairs, so it truly was a remarkable time of chaos.

And in this chaotic period, as my master just mentioned, the secular sects of Huashan, Wudang, Qingcheng, and Diancang located in Beijing had their feelings hurt.

With things already tense these days, if armed martial artists started fighting each other, it could risk offending the imperial court. Even though there’s a separation between government and martial arts world, martial artists are still subjects living under the emperor.

Lines shouldn’t be crossed.

‘…So I guess the sect leader is sending Master, the strongest, from the start to prevent the fight from escalating unnecessarily.’

In peaceful times, they wouldn’t send out Huashan’s First Sword so frequently, but in chaotic times like recently, it’s common to send out the strongest person to handle things quickly.

Come to think of it, when he picked me up, Master was also returning to Huashan after completing some mission. It seems it’s been a chaotic era since the beginning of this year.

I looked up at Master and asked the most important thing first.

“Will it take long?”

“I should be back in about a month and ten days.”

“A month and ten days…”

It sounded long when I heard it, but considering the historical background of this wuxia world, 40 days wasn’t that long for a round trip.

In this era, the only means of transportation were horses, palanquins, carts, or one’s own two feet. Moreover, the area called the Central Plains was incredibly vast.

‘It’s only 40 days because Master is a high-level expert who can travel using qinggong.’

For an ordinary person, it would probably take more than a month just to go from Huayin County to Beijing.

Unlike modern times, the roads weren’t well-developed, wild beasts could attack while crossing mountains, bandits could ambush, and since one couldn’t walk all day, rest stops were needed. There were many things to consider.

“Just because this master isn’t here doesn’t mean you can put down your sword. Though I don’t think you would…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep working hard. You should be careful too, Master.”

In reality, situations where Huashan’s First Sword would be in danger probably wouldn’t occur easily. I just said it to lighten his expression. My intention seemed to get across as Master’s face soon softened into a faint smile, and he added in a slightly brighter voice.

“Alright. Do that. And if I see that you’ve worked hard when I return, I’ll teach you the Jade Maiden Sword and Seven Plum Blossom Sword, so wait patiently.”

“Yes. I’ll do my best.”

With that, Master departed for Beijing.

* * *

After Master left, I, who remained alone, woke up at the usual time, practiced qigong, prepared my own meals, and picked up the wooden sword to train in the Six Harmonies Sword. I had to keep my promise.

Yes, that’s what I did, but…

‘Something feels off.’

Suddenly, a strange feeling without any basis tickled the back of my neck.

And such feelings, even without basis, usually don’t turn out to be wrong.

“Junior Sister Ha Heun.”

Someone called me from behind in a calm voice. I reflexively turned my head to see Senior Brother Liu with a fresh expression.

Senior Brother Liu. His full name is Liu Wihak.

He’s one of the youngest among the second-generation disciples currently. And…

‘Has it finally come?’

Before, when I encountered the second-generation disciples returning from their journey with Master.

He was the one who looked at me with a peculiar gaze at that time.

“Since Yu Un has left, you’re alone. Were you going to train?”

“Yes, Senior Brother.”

Actually, since that day, I’ve accidentally overheard him talking about me. It was full of complaints about me from start to finish, so I pretended not to hear and left the place, and since then, I’ve been trying to avoid encountering Senior Brother Liu as much as possible.

I didn’t expect him to approach me as soon as Master left the mountain gate, making those efforts futile.

Anyway, since he approached first in a friendly manner, I decided to go along with it for now.

“It must be boring to do it alone. Why don’t you come and do it together?”

“But I haven’t been learning for long…”

“I’ve already heard the story that you performed the sword technique to the end the first time you saw it. Besides, we’re all your senior brothers. Surely we wouldn’t ostracize someone over something like that.”

Although his tone was gentle, only a fool wouldn’t notice something hidden beneath his words.

I slightly erased my smile.