Try Living Well Without Me

The Poison King went inside, leaving Tang Sobaek alone by the railing to breathe in the chilly night air.

“Seriously… Dad’s ridiculous. All this ends up being his own karmic retribution anyway, and he’ll only regret it once he’s dead. Is he only going to realize his mistakes in the afterlife?”

Though close to her father, Tang Sobaek did not love him to the extent that she would actively interfere.

She wasn’t that filial either.

“Hmph, everyone’s responsible for their own actions. Even if I helped, things wouldn’t change.”

To Tang Sobaek, her father, the Poison King, was nothing more than a pitiful human regardless of their familial bond.

Since witnessing the Blood Cult tear apart his wife before his eyes during the Pure Blood War, he had been fixated on the impossible notion of reviving her, creating life anew, and utterly losing control.

Certainly, Tang Sobaek, as a scholar, wasn’t devoid of interest in creating life herself.

“But no matter how long I try, it’s never going to work, starting from the incorrect ratios of the potions he uses. What life is he trying to create anyway?”

At the age of fifteen, Tang Sobaek had already attempted to create life artificially—using incantations and combining human, animal, and spirit elements in her basement, a secret known only to her.

That’s why it held no excitement for her anymore.

She had no desire to meet the long-deceased mother again either.

Interest in the world had waned for Tang Sobaek long ago.

Even when Underworld Judges appeared to warn her to stop immediately after she had created life.

“It’s time I read the Heavenly Qi.”

Setting aside her worries about her father risking his life on futile endeavors, Tang Sobaek looked up at the heavens.

An expansive ocean of stars stretched endlessly above her, with the Milky Way dominating her vision.

Boring and filled with irritation just moments ago, her green eyes now sparkled with intrigue.

Since thirteen years ago, this was the same look her eyes carried every time she gazed at the night sky.

“Here’s the chaos again. It’s been thirteen years and it still persists?”

What Tang Sobaek was observing wasn’t Heavenly Qi, it was Heavenly Records.

Not the will of heaven but the celestial records detailing the events of the world.

Her interest in Heavenly Qi wasn’t always there.

It all changed on that certain day thirteen years ago when the Heavenly Records had suddenly twisted and tangled into chaos.

From then on, Tang Sobaek developed the habit of reading them daily.

As a result, she had become quite adept at deciphering the scrambled records.

“How could someone possibly interfere with Heavenly Qi?”

Heavenly Qi is something beyond human intervention.

How could humans possibly alter the will of heaven?

Unless driven by intent, not even Tang Sobaek herself, nor even someone as powerful as a Tathāgata, could achieve such a feat.

“Still…”

Heavenly Qi had been artificially twisted.

Not by someone wielding immense martial prowess or causing some significant event.

Heavenly Qi exists at a dimension far beyond human interference.

For someone to manipulate it implies that…

“I’m guessing they messed with the time axis. But how exactly, I have no idea.”

Tang Sobaek stared blankly at the heavens.

Her green eyes reflected a Heavenly Qi that had been severely compressed.

A compression so dense that it was almost unfathomable.

“Someone has been rewinding time, over and over again, altering Heaven’s will.”

How this was achieved didn’t concern Tang Sobaek.

It was a problem that would yield no solution to her over-thinking anyway.

Instead, her thoughts moved forward.

Who had rewound the time?

What was their motive for tampering with Heavenly Qi?

It was a revelation she had long been aware of, one she reexamined once more.

“The only person who could accomplish such an absurd feat is the Sword Sage.”

A legendary figure who had transcended the realms of martial arts by defeating the Blood Demon and liberating the martial world.

The hero who, three days after the cease-fire declaration in the Pure Blood War, subdued the Heavenly Demon leading a horde of Devil sect followers with just a few words at Mount Tian.

Up until thirteen years ago, the Heavenly Qi had clearly written “mutual annihilation.”

But from the day it was disrupted, the Qi became twisted to the point of unreadability.

The martial world, destined to perish under Blood Demon and Heavenly Demon, had been saved by the Sword Sage.

“According to those who observed him, the Sword Sage always acted after predicting the future. That fits perfectly.”

With that thought, two questions arose in her mind.

“Why didn’t the Sword Sage, even after his downfall, rewind time? Even if it was to return hostages or anything else, wouldn’t everything just go back to normal if time was reversed?”

It didn’t make sense, considering the number of overlapping repetitions in the records, which might represent the repeated efforts of the Sage.

“Did he lose the ability to rewind time? Was it because he had already saved the martial world?”

But no matter how hard she thought, since the source of that power was unknown, there were no answers.

Even with her sharp mind, there were limits.

Thus, Tang Sobaek swiftly moved to the next question, as was her usual habit.

“As usual, I’ll just leave it be.”

“Who was behind framing the Sword Sage?”

First suspect that came to mind was the Blood Cult.

Yet, as she continued to reason, the Blood Cult was steadily eliminated from the list of suspects.

Their leaders—Blood Demon and the Twelve Chief Evil Ones—were all dead. Why would they even want to bring down the Sword Sage out of some desire for vengeance?

It was clear the operation must’ve cost an enormous sum of money, given the number of witnesses mysteriously disappearing.

It was inconceivable that such vast riches could’ve survived the destruction of the Blood Cult.

Gradually, Tang Sobaek’s thoughts turned to the person who benefited most from the Sword Sage’s downfall.

“Namgung Bin, the former military strategist of the Wu Lin Alliance.”

This man, seizing the Namgung Clan as soon as the Sword Sage was ousted, wielded immense influence behind the scenes—something not widely known to the public.

Discovered during a financial audit of the Wu Lin Alliance, through multiple layers of money laundering, a significant portion of the budget was siphoned off, indicating that the hidden wealth he possessed must’ve been substantial.

“Assuming Namgung Bin was the mastermind behind it… still, there’s much about his motives that don’t add up.”

Why would Namgung Bin slander the Sword Sage?

The Namgung Family wasn’t valuable enough to warrant antagonizing such a figure.

“There’s something about this situation that I’m missing… I just can’t put my finger on it.”

Many hypotheses came to her mind.

Namgung Bin could’ve been a puppet of the Blood Cult, or perhaps a shadowy figure orchestrating the overthrow of Wu Lin.

However, every theory contained its own inherent contradictions, so once again, Tang Sobaek had no choice but to set it aside.

“I’ll have to suggest Dad investigates further.”

Breaking free from her deep thoughts, Tang Sobaek once more focused her gaze on the sky.

When thoughts get complex, it’s best to decode the Heavenly Record without any further thinking.

More precisely, it’s about deciphering the erased records of the Sword Sage contained within.

“Wow….”

Though her life wouldn’t be enough to finish it all, she read methodically.

She quietly tucked away the questions she couldn’t answer immediately.

“Truly remarkable…”

Tong So-baek couldn’t help but voice her admiration while tracing the footsteps of Jianseong that night.

In those moments, she was regaining the lost sense of righteousness as a righteous knight.

Had it continued like this, it would’ve been perfect, but…

Rustle.

“Hmm?”

Interrupted by a rustling sound beneath her feet, Tang Sobaek lowered her gaze.

There, in her sight, was something small and fluffy.

Not seeing clearly due to the darkness, she bent down to her waist, and only then did it become visible.

Squeak?

“AHHHHHHHH!!!”

Rats!

The creature moving beneath her was none other than a filthy rat.

Squeak!

“IT’S A RAT!! A RAT, A RAT, A RAT!!!! AHHHHHH!!!”

The moment Tang Sobaek saw it, every hair on her body stood on end, and she froze in a state of stone-like paralysis.

The highly complex calculations that had occupied her mind moments before vanished in an instant.

Without attempting to fix her disheveled short hair, she screamed with internalized energy.

“BROOM!!! BRING ME A BROOM AND A MOP!!!”

As a result, the Wudang Sect disciples spent the entire five watches of the night cleaning Tang Sobaek’s residence.

*

With the Qi Hua Competition only three days away…

Sadly, Jin Gayoung was just recently able to move around again.

Given her recovery pace, it seems unlikely she’ll be in any condition to practice martial arts by the start of the Qi Hua Competition.

Crunch!

By the way, chicken legs are truly a wonderful food.

I don’t even need to describe the texture, and they pair well with any seasoning or spices.

I had forgotten about this for a while, but ever since Gayoung gave me a chicken leg at the Hangshan Sword Sect, I’ve been eating them almost daily.

Even after so many days, how come I’m not tired of them? Every time I eat, it’s a new experience, so it keeps getting better.

“Would you like another chicken leg, sir?”

“Would you like one too, Miss?”

“No, please have another, sir. By the way, did you hear they’ve already drawn the match-ups? I heard the Heavenly Lord drew them.”

“Is that so? Who will you be facing first, miss?”

“The draw won’t be revealed until the day of the competition. But as I don’t know either, it’s fine by me.”

Indeed, for someone like Gayoung who can’t even practice, this turn of events is fortunate.

Still… What’s this presence I’m sensing?

Since yesterday when I unexpectedly reunited with So-eun Yu, I’ve been keeping a subtle Qi alert around me even while sleeping.

There’s a presence I detect on the edges of this alert.

It belongs to a fairly strong martial artist.

We have guests, it seems.

“Guests? Who, who could it be? Could it be Jade Flower?”

Hm, in terms of aura size, she’s not inferior to Jade Flower by any stretch, but their natures are different.

Instead of Jade Flower’s sharp, blade-filled Qi that reeks of killing intent, this Qi is soft and comfortable.

“No, it’s the Heavenly Lord.”

“Heavenly Lord? The Heavenly Lord is here?”

“Yes, likely due to that ‘promise’ from last time.”

When I first came to Wudang Mountain, he challenged me to a sparring match.

Honestly, there wasn’t much in it for me, but I accepted because I didn’t want to refuse.

– You know why I accepted, don’t you? Because you were behaving more and more aggressively.

‘How unexpected, you shouldn’t just blurt things out like that.’

– Tsk, so what? Do you still have any intention of fighting now? Is your mind still set on the sparring?

‘Since a gentleman’s word is worth a thousand pieces of gold, how could I possibly go against what I’ve already said?’

At that moment, we heard the deep, aged voice of Heavenly Lord from outside the door.

“White Blade Wanderer, are you there?”

I once wished to have that kind of voice when I grow old, but without drinking the Spirit Dew of Immortality, that dream is no longer attainable.

“Enter, Heavenly Lord.”

Creak.

“Hmph, have you been well?”

“Thanks to Wudang’s care, I’ve lived here as if it were my own home.”

An old man with a white beard cascading down to his toes entered with respect.

He was none other than Heavenly Lord, the grandmaster of Wudang Sect.

He was also one of the few individuals who knew my face, hence I had already prepared the White Blade Wanderer mask.

“Is there anything troubling you? I heard that last night in the Tang residence, a rat caused Great Poison Flower quite a bit of distress.”

“Not at all. I don’t pay attention to those kinds of things.”

“Ah, you have the grace of a grand man. Then… shall we commence?”

“…Because we’ve made a promise.”

“You two will be sparring? Can I watch as well?”

“Sword Flower, of course, you are welcome to watch.”

Honestly, I have no desire to do this. There is nothing for me to gain by sparring with Heavenly Lord, and regardless of my respect for him, his martial prowess is far below mine.

It’s bound to be dull and uninteresting, so why would I want to?

– Bothered by it?

‘What an uncouth word to use when someone is waiting anxiously. Bothered? Indeed.’

– Hmm, you’re not outright rejecting it.

‘…What? Are you going to fight in my place?’

– Not that I wasn’t thinking about it.

‘What? Are you seriously asking that?’

– Yes, I have the intention to fight on your behalf. Borrowing my son-in-law’s body for a fight. Since all our descendants will be watching, this is the right time to show the fundamentals of the Chen Tianbing Flame Moon technique. I’ve also developed an interest in this Heavenly Lord youth.

‘Can you actually do that? You can possess a body?’

If true, this is not something to take lightly.

It might even be necessary to annihilate him immediately…

– Aren’t you scared! Withdraw the killing intent immediately! This kind of thing won’t happen, so calm down!

‘Are you sure about that?’

– If you don’t step aside and let me in, I can’t take over. It’s not as simple as forcefully taking over.

‘Can I trust you?’

– This isn’t an issue of trust. How can I expel your soul’s power to take over your body?

His voice returning to his usual audacity, it seemed likely that he was telling the truth.

Swallowing the slight unease, I questioned silently.

‘What exactly must I do to let you in?’

-Have your soul leave. Given you’ve attained the level of instant transcendence, this should be possible, right?

‘Not impossible, but after the spar is over, I’ll reclaim my body immediately.’

-Heh. I don’t need it any longer after that. You keep calling me here, so why would I need a body anyway? Just that I’ve developed an interest in that young man Heavenly Lord.

Zhen Wu-yong indicated the Heavenly Lord using mental communication.

To call the venerable Heavenly Lord “young man,” except for the divine monks, it’s rare to see.

For the first time, the sense of him being a legendary figure from ancient martial world has become vivid.

“If he does anything out of order, I will annihilate his soul instantly. He’s better off behaving like me.”

-Understood, you brat. Is there something I imitate you so poorly after living inside you for months?

‘Actually, it’s hard to imagine.’

-Even if I told you…!

I might get to watch a spar between the legendary ancient martial artist Zhen Wu-yong and Heavenly Lord without any trouble, which is a pleasant change, but can I trust this man?

…Let’s trust him. How often in life do you get the chance to witness someone use your body?

‘Alright, please do your best. Remember, I will be watching.’

-Understood, understood. You’re starting to get annoying.

Swish.

The moment my consciousness departed, Zhen Wu-yong swiftly entered my body.

The subtle changes in my body couldn’t escape my observation, though both Heavenly Lord and Zhen Gayoung remained unaware.

Above all, his gaze was what changed most significantly.

Though his speech mimicked me, could that gaze truly be imitated?

“Er… Actually, I have a favor to ask.”

Heavenly Lord cautiously addressed Zhen Wu-yong.

And at that moment, I put aside my worries about how clumsy his impersonation might be.

“Why would you ask that?”

– …Are you truly out of your mind?

The sheer audacity, the natural way this subordinate language spilled forth, gave me a sense of liberation I had long forgotten.

It was as if it had always been this way—he effortlessly spoke down to others.

‘Don’t worry, my condescension is quite natural to those observing and will attract no suspicion.’

– That makes some sense…

Surprisingly, both Zhen Gayoung and Heavenly Lord didn’t question it, naturally letting it slide.

He truly is an extraordinary individual.

“Actually… I have a request for you, White Blade Wanderer.”

“What might that be?”

“To be quite honest, this old man has been stuck at a great barrier. I hoped to use a spar with you to break through. Even though we’re strangers, your energy is profound.”

“Is that so? Hmm…”

Though I was trying to conceal it, I must not have done a good enough concealment job for him to notice.

Anyway, for not noticing the difference in speech, Heavenly Lord’s discernment must be surprisingly lacking.

Or perhaps Zhen Wu-yong just suits the role of a haughty person naturally.

“I reconsidered and thought, why bother trying to ascend to a higher level if this old man will soon return to the soil?”

“Young man, your words cause displeasure for old ears.”

“Therefore… I wish to give the chance for a sparring match to my granddaughter. You wouldn’t know who this old man’s granddaughter might be, right?”

Oh…

I overlooked his considerate nature.

“…? Let me think… If she’s your granddaughter, then you must be referring to Heavenly Flower, correct? Hmm… Can I find much interest sparring with such young talent? You, however, might be a different story.”

Who would have thought, suppressing the martial artist’s ambition that should naturally exist within warriors, he’d pass this opportunity to his granddaughter.

It wouldn’t be a problem for me, but I’m quite concerned whether Zhen Wu-yong would manage to control his strength properly.

Not to mention, with his penchant for speaking his mind, it makes me skeptical.

“Rest assured. This young lady is a prodigy. I believe she will not disappoint. I mean, I wouldn’t say that just because she’s my grandchild.”

“Very well, then. I’ll believe your assurance on this matter, though the Qihua Tournament is just three days away. What if your granddaughter suffers any injury?”

In that case, while I understand giving her this opportunity for sparring to advance her skills, why so imminently before the Qihua Tournament?

“Ho ho. If the Qihua Tournament is but a small shrub before us, and martial arts a towering mountain, how could we let our focus be on the insignificant shrubs and miss this wonderful chance for a match?”

…Ahem…

“You remind me of my son-in-law…”

– That’s far from true.

…

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