Book1 Chapter 4: Number One In San Dong City(1)
Translator: Hwarang
Editor: Ardastre
Two days had pa.s.sed since I had reincarnated into this life, but there was still no news of my death from the alliance. Over the past two days, I had gotten more accustomed to my current lifestyle while Kw.a.n.g Du taught me different things about the clan. He told me about the different people, their personalities, as well as the customs of the clan. I was able to retain everything he told me after hearing it only once, due to how good my memory had become.
The only thing that I could not get accustomed to was myself. To be more precise, my body. Going from being the Strongest Under the Heaven to being trash was a very tough transition. It was like going from riding on the red hare to riding on a turtle.
(Translator Note: Red Hare is a legendary horse that was said to travel 1,000 li a day. Able to cross the river and climb mountain as if it was on a flat surface.)
I left the house and climbed the closest mountain to train my body. The mountain pa.s.s that I crossed was covered in snow. Even though I was wearing fur clothes I could still sense the coldness to my bones.
As I got to the top I nearly fell a couple of times. This was something that I could not even think of in my previous life. ‘I wonder how many more times I will say this.’
On the top of the mountain there was a cave big enough to fit two or three people. As I entered the cave, I sat myself down in the lotus position. The energy inside of my dantian was only worth five years of acc.u.mulation, but it was the worst of the worst type of energy. Luckily, the cultivation technique that I had mastered in my previous life was considered the best cultivation technique in all of Kang Ho. I was confident that I could convert all of the energy in my dantian to the purest form of energy. So, I started circulating my Heavenly Protection Cultivating Technique. After circulating it for a few breaths’ worth of time, I realized how st.u.r.dy my profound veins were.
Wuuu!
The Heavenly Protection Technique was like a river that had been held back by a dam. After a few breaths, the dam could not hold on any longer and exploded, cleaning out all of the impurities in the body.
As I cycled the energy through my profound vein one, twice, … all the way up to seven times, all of my internal energy transformed into pure energy.
Even though this breakthrough was fast, it was not something that was easily achieved. Only I was able to achieve this sort of result in such a short amount of time, because of all the experience that I had acc.u.mulated as a martial G.o.d. The energy that I had in my dantian was actually five years’ worth of pure energy rather than impure energy. This paled in comparison to my previous life, which had over two hundred years’ worth of cultivation. But, at least, now I could freely use my energy.
Now it was time for me to increase my energy. This was the easy part, because I had completely mastered my Heavenly Protection Cultivation Technique. I could cultivate nonstop, whether it be eating, walking or training. Also, I could cultivate three times as much energy than any ordinary cultivator. By opening both the twelve princ.i.p.al meridians and the eight extraordinary meridians I could raise the rate by five times. By shedding the mortal body, the effect would increase by ten times.
All that was left of me was to strengthen my dantian, so I was planning on cultivating with my divine technique until I fell asleep. The next thing I had to do was to train the body. Even though martial arts used internal energies as the basis, the body was the most important. The body served as the main instrument for the martial artist, so a stronger body meant stronger martial arts.
When I arrived back at my house, Kw.a.n.g Du rushed over to me as if he had something important to say.
“Young master, big trouble.”
I originally thought that the news about my death had finally come.
However, it was something entirely different.
“Master Song came over.”
“Who is that?”
“It is Lady Song’s father, Lord Song Woo Kyung.”
“So what if he came, why are you causing a scene?”
“Because Lady Song came as well.”
Song Hwa Rin was my fiancé, and the Number One Beauty of San Dong City. She was also the one who had tried to kill me a couple of days ago.
It was someone who would make Kw.a.n.g Du make a scene. But my heart was serene.
“They are waiting for you, young master. Where have you been all this time?”
“Why are they looking for me?”
“Why? To get an apology from you.”
“The ones who should apologize should be that side. She almost beat me to death.”
“Well, you were the one who started this whole thing, but this is not the time to be arguing with me. Let’s hurry up and go.”
Kw.a.n.g Du dragged me to the guest pavilion.
When I arrived at the guest pavilion, all the side chatter died out, and everyone was staring at me.
My sight naturally turned toward her, because there was something that made me feel naturally inclined toward her. It was her beauty. The power of her beauty was absolutely domineering. Bright and deep eyes, perfect symmetrical and white face. Plump b.r.e.a.s.t.s, well defined waist, and long slender legs.
If this was everything that she had, she would not be called the Number One Beauty San Dong City. She was graceful, yet platonic. She looked pure and innocent, yet deeply profound. She was very contradictory and very beautiful.
Kw.a.n.g Du was wrong. She was not just the Number One Beauty of the City, but she could have competed to even be the Number One Beauty of all the Central Plains. I could have vouched for her beauty, because I had already met the Number One Beauty in all of the Central Plains. She was more beautiful than any other woman that I had ever met in my life.
Song Hwa Rin was a person who had an aura which made everything around her become a background created just for her. My sight slowly turned toward Song Woo Kyung. Compared to his daughter, he was pretty handsome. No, he was rather scary.
I greeted him, “It has been a while. Have you been well?”
“Yes, I have been well.”
Compared to his scary face, he gave a rather prepossessing answer.
After my greeting I looked back at Song Hwa Rin, but she gave me look full of contempt. I did not know how bad of a person this youth was, but this time I was able to relate to this youth. Of course one would go crazy seeing a beauty like that. On top of him being a youth in his twenties, full of life, vigor and arrogance, he also wanted to show off in front of all those people who had come to catch a glance, showcasing that she was his fiancé.
“I apologise for that day.”
Song Hwa Rin nodded once after receiving my apologies, but she stayed silent.
I understood her att.i.tude and her feelings, and how she must have felt hearing all the rumors about me for the past five years, while she was training. We might have been close when we were young, but that was now a thing of the past.
I did not want to stay any longer, so I turned around, ready to leave.
She shouted in a light and clear voice, “Wait!”
After grabbing my attention, she continued, “Now that we are all here, I have something to say.”
“What is it?”
After hesitating for a second she said in a calm voice, “Could you cancel this engagement?”
Everyone was shocked, as if they had all been struck by lightning.
The first one to recover was Song Woo Kyung.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I know that it is something that I should not have said, but please allow me to choose my own husband.”
Hearing her say that, my parents’ expressions became very serious. They were not expecting this. They were not expecting that Song Hwa Rin would want to cancel the engagement. But they could not say anything either, because, looking at their son, they fully understood her.
Song Wu Kyung criticized his daughter with an angry expression, “Hurry up and apologize to them!”
But she was unwavering. “I am really sorry. Since I was young you have considered me your own daughter; however, I do not plan on marrying Sir Byuk. I am really sorry.”
She bowed one more time. Mother and father were standing there, dazed.
Song Wu Kyung said in an angry tone, “What a rude thing to say!”
This time, I also said something, “Can I say something.”
Everyone’s eyes were on me.
“I also want to cancel this engagement.”
Hearing what I had just said, everyone was surprised. They all understood why Song Hwa Rin wanted to cancel our engagement. But they had no idea why I wanted to cancel our engagement.
My mother finally said something.
“What do you mean by that?”
My mother was feeling embarra.s.sed. Even though she felt sorry for Song Hwa Rin, she really wanted to see us married.
“I also want to choose the person that I want to marry.”
After hearing that, Song Hwa Rin’s face grew cold. It was because she took it as the one that I wanted to marry being not her, but someone else.
If my in-laws were not present, my mother would have immediately started saying, ‘You stupid fool! Are you out of your mind?’ with her fist flying at me. But at this moment she was just embarra.s.sed and dazed.
Finally, my father intervened.
“If those are your wishes, then let’s do it.”
Then Song Wu Kyung raised his voice.
“You can’t do that. I cannot allow the cancellation of this engagement.”
My father replied, “Hwa Rin is right. We cannot decide their future for them.”
“I will not allow it! We will leave for today. Let’s go!”
Song Wu Kyung could not reign in his anger towards his daughter. He left in a sour mood.
“Why aren’t you following me?”
Song Hwa Rin left and went to her father’s side after saying her farewell.
When she got to my side she stopped and questioned me.
“Why did your heart change?”
Seeing her this close, she was even more beautiful and she had a very sweet scent.
“Let’s just say your fist was very eye-opening.”
After nodding, she hastened her pace and disappeared behind the door.
My mother looked at me and said, “We need to talk.”
My mother wanted to convince me no matter what.
“I really want you to marry Hwa Rin. Even though your father agreed to cancel your engagement, I know he truly didn’t mean it. “
My father gave me a nod, agreeing with her.
“She is someone that it too good to pa.s.s.”
“I am sorry, mother. But I don’t plan on marrying. Currently, I have something that I must do.”
“If you don’t feel like marrying her, then why did you go to their house and cause a ruckus.?”
“I am sorry.”
I had nothing to say about that, but I had something to say.
“It is said before marriage one has his eyes wide opened, after marriage one closes his eyes.”
Actually this was something that I had told Baek Hyo before his marriage.
“Right now, my eyes are opened wider than ever.”
Confirming that I wanted to go through with it, they both wore frustrated expressions. With a big sigh, my mother said, “What is it that you are currently trying to achieve?”
“Training my martial arts.”
“Is that your true feeling?”
“It is.”
After blankly staring at me for a bit she slowly came to me and wrapped her hands around my face. I could feel her warmth.
“You are not going to do anything stupid, right?”
“Yes.”
After witnessing our conversation, my father told my mother, “Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“It’s been a while. Let’s have a drink.”
Understanding my father’s intent, she let go of my face.
“I will not allow it. Let’s discuss about this later.”
“Yes, mother.”
The two of them left the room.
Looking out the window I could see their silhouettes. They looked very lovely and happy walking side by side. In my heart, I knew that family made a martial artist weak.
Because the family can become hostages? No that’s not what I meant. I was worried that if I understood the feeling of love, I would grow weaker. Because in my previous life, I had watched all true love end up that way.