Returning to the Dark Moon

Chapter 19 : Shall We Get Started Now?

Chapter 19: Shall We Get Started Now?

Me, losing to Matchless in a Single Strike? In truth, it was as expected, so it was not particularly surprising. I walked down from the sparring stage with the mindset of a loser and went to where the award ceremony was being held.

Standing on the platform and receiving the Lesser Returning Pill from Beom Cheon, my gloomy feelings grew even larger. It was because my gaze went to Matchless in a Single Strike, who was receiving an award on a platform slightly higher than mine.

She gets the Great Returning Pill.

In the first place, does it make sense for an old monster hundreds of years old to come to a sparring competition where kids play? Come to think of it, my soul was also that of an eighty-year-old man, so I was not in a position to point fingers.

Third place in the competition was Beom Gak. The guy was grinning widely after receiving the energy of a supernatural entity.

Among the ingredients for spirit medicines like the Lesser Returning Pill, the energy of a supernatural entity was included, so I was not particularly envious. They say a better spirit medicine comes out the better an alchemist performs, but this was the Shaolin Under Heaven.

Actually, there were sometimes cases where small and medium sects fought just to obtain a good alchemist. What need do those who don't even have spirit pills have for an alchemist?

After receiving the award and coming down from the stage, I saw my bald disciples. I approached them with my arms wide open. As expected, a teacher’s love is for the disciples. If one has received grace, one should repay it like a magpie.

The disciples, who came running at full speed, passed me by lightly. With a boisterous sound, they were lifting up Beom Gak’s giant body and making a fuss.

Even if I treated them a bit harshly, was this not too much? I wondered if the saying that raising children is completely useless was meant for times like this.

When the foolish disciples disappeared, Hwa Pyeong came into view with a curled lip. As expected, one did not need things like disciples; the way of the world was that making just one good friend was enough.

“I only have you!"

However, Hwa Pyeong also passed me by. When I turned my head, Matchless in a Single Strike and the fraudulent gambler were sharing a joyful reunion.

I sat down with the feeling of a farmer who had ruined a year's crop. It was a given that Beom Cheon, who had approached my side before I knew it, tossed in a remark.

[Do not be too disappointed. This old monk felt the same way when sending disciples away to lay families. Ah, of course, I have never been ignored by my disciples.]

"……."

[Pathetic bastard.]

Beom Cheon, who had flat out poured oil on a burning house, disappeared in an instant. It was with a feeling as if he were slowly toying with the space-time of the area. The voices of the pilgrims chanting "Younghwa," the pseudonym of Matchless in a Single Strike, were heard in fragments.

Then, in an instant, time began to flow properly. The Hundred and Eight Arhats Formation is a joint attack formation so powerful it has rarely been broken even during Shaolin’s thousand-year history, so what realm must the martial arts of Beom Cheon, who enjoys that function entirely alone, have reached?

In my past life, it was correct to assume he had hidden his strength. Even if not as much as Baek Cheon, he likely possessed immense martial prowess.

I erased useless thoughts from my head right now. What was the point of me being curious about a baldie’s martial arts? I turned my head and looked at Matchless in a Single Strike and Hwa Pyeong.

What kind of relationship did those two have? I approached them and started to butt in.

"You two look like you're getting along well huh?"

Matchless in a Single Strike looked back and forth between me and Hwa Pyeong before opening her mouth.

"Are you two perhaps friends?"

I nodded my head.

"Of course. In the first place, without me, how would he have participated in the competition? Use your brain a bit. That is always your problem."

"This lady is innocent. Do not pick on me."

"Change that way of speaking."

It was then that Hwa Pyeong interjected into our banter.

"What, did you two know each other?"

Matchless in a Single Strike lightly ignored Hwa Pyeong’s words and spoke.

"Nice timing. It is right that you take the role."

"What role?"

"The notary for the master-disciple relationship."

I lost my words for a moment at that remark. I slapped my own cheek three times, but I did not wake from the dream. After hitting it about ten times, my cheek felt tingly, so I decided to stop.

Matchless in a Single Strike had never taken a disciple. Naturally, there was no successor to follow her as the Master of the Heaven Shattering Sect.

However, even so, for the disciple to be Hwa Pyeong?

I thought about Hwa Pyeong as the Master of the Heaven Shattering Sect. No matter how I looked at it, it did not fit.

"Have you perhaps gone senile? Even if your appearance is merely that of the Age of Ambition, your Upper Dantian is at an age where it should be rotted through. If you've lived that long, visiting a physician every day wouldn't be enough. I know a good physician called the Immortal Divine Doctor; shall I introduce you?"

"This lady is still perfectly fine."

"If you're that old and use that way of speaking, you should die. Commoners who have lived busy lives all their lives are allowed to do that. However, you, who have lived with blood on your hands, should not."

"What is this sudden lecturing."

I let out a sigh and said to her.

"What can I do when I am originally this kind of person? I just want to give lectures whenever I see a Jianghu person. In truth, if you truly take Hwa Pyeong as a disciple, I have nothing to say."

In the midst of that, my gaze went to Hwa Pyeong’s hand. He was clutching a wooden box made of red sandalwood. Inside that would be the round Great Returning Pill.

It was safe to view it as something handed over as a token of the master-disciple relationship.

It was also then that he suddenly proffered the wooden box containing the Great Returning Pill to me.

"Just give me the Lesser Returning Pill and take this."

I tilted my head at Hwa Pyeong’s blunt words.

"What do you mean by that? I was going to give you the Lesser Returning Pill in the first place. I am not such a heartless person."

The original objective was to raise Hwa Pyeong to the finals through training to obtain both the Great and Lesser Returning Pills, but that plan had been miserably shattered.

However, he smirked and spoke.

"In the first place, without you, I wouldn't even have obtained the Lesser Returning Pill, right? Although she is a shorty, I even gained a master."

Suddenly, with a smack sound, Hwa Pyeong’s head was lowered. Matchless in a Single Strike had struck his head.

I stared blankly at Hwa Pyeong. Was this guy originally this kind of person? Was he not a pathetic bastard who only engaged in fraudulent gambling?

Hwa Pyeong, who was scratching his head as if embarrassed, personally tucked the Great Returning Pill into my hand and took the Lesser Returning Pill.

"Too much energy only becomes poison anyway. It's right that you take it. For my mother, the Lesser Returning Pill is more than enough."

He was right. A spirit medicine like the Great Returning Pill was an item originally made for the enhancement of inner Qi, so if commoners who had not practiced inner Qi cultivation methods consumed it, their meridians would instead burst. However, even so, to exchange a Great Returning Pill for a Lesser Returning Pill?

I stared into his face for a moment and then turned my body.

"…Thanks."

Was I also not yet a proper human? I felt embarrassed for no reason, so the words did not come out easily.

* * *

The subtle tea scent of Longjing tea and the unique wood scent of Shaolin intertwined to create a strange harmony. A specialty of Dragon Well Mountain at West Lake, Longjing tea was a high-quality tea loved throughout the Central Plains, and it was known that the current Shaolin Abbot also enjoyed drinking it.

The Abbot’s Room in the inner court of Shaolin was peerlessly solitary. The room was surrounded in a circle by the Eight Guardians of the Temple in eight directions.

It was a mysterious place where the Abbot of Shaolin, the practical head of the Nine Sect Alliance, resided. Along with the Pagoda Forest, where a high-ranking supernatural entity was said to have been sealed in the past, it was the most important place on Mount Song.

Some green tree stems were filling the corners of the Abbot’s room. They were "Exotic Flowers and Rare Herbs" that had taken root little by little throughout Shaolin as a type of supernatural entity. If a conflict broke out in Shaolin, they would immediately inform the Abbot of the news.

Turning my head, yellow bedding caught my eye. A blanket and a pillow were all there was. A scene revealing the simple and unconstrained character of the current Shaolin Abbot.

Turning my eyes to the wall, numerous books appeared, including the Lotus Sutra, one of the three major scriptures of Buddhism. From the window beside them, warm sunlight entered in a blurred fashion, showing the daily life of the monks.

[How does it look to you?]

The Mind Voice of Wisdom Light echoed along with an archaic laughter. Fixing my vision forward, I met the eyes of Beom Cheon’s single eye.

"I have no particular impressions."

Beom Cheon spoke while sipping his Longjing tea.

[This monk always wakes up in the morning and looks out the window. When I do, there is at least one scenery that can only be seen from this spot.]

"What scenery?"

[There is a fake monk who wakes up early at dawn and cleans Shaolin with a broom. However, for some reason, he is not visible at all from morning until night. Even if I talk to him, there is no response, and since cleaning is all he does, it is awkward to stop him.]

I realized what he wanted to say, and I got goosebumps all over my body. The fact that Beom Cheon could not see him from morning until night meant he was a master to the point that even his mirror-like vision could not track him.

No matter how much it was the Shaolin Under Heaven, this made no sense. Because the estimated martial prowess of the "Regressor Beom Cheon" I expected was the Life and Death Realm.

The affiliation of the fake monk wielding the broom was not Shaolin. In the first place, if he were a master of that caliber, it was natural for him to remain in the sect's records. If so, that master was…….

[He is definitely a person of the Celestial Palace.]

I nodded quietly at Beom Cheon’s words. If not the three masterminds, there would be no place for a master of that level to come from.

Beom Cheon said.

[Be careful as well. In the world, numerous eccentric masters exist, and the three masterminds are merely a part of them. Always be humble, and don't act flippantly.]

For some reason, the story kept veering off, so I said to him immediately.

"Hand over the Marrow-Washing Scripture. I’m going to enter secluded meditation along with the Great Returning Pill I managed to obtain."

It was also then that Beom Cheon’s only eye snapped open.

[Did you end up obtaining the Great Returning Pill? You are certainly impressive. Your decisiveness is to the point of being hard to imitate. Threatening your own friend to…….]

"No."

[Mmm? Well, that is unexpected.]

What on earth did this bastard think of me? Apart from that, I planned to enter secluded meditation until the Peach Blossom Land arrived and rewrite the Marrow-Washing Scripture to suit my body. In that process, I intended to absorb the Great Returning Pill into my body to further pull up the achievement of Buddhist Power.

Practicing the Marrow-Washing Scripture was tempering Buddhist Power, and there was no spirit medicine like the Great Returning Pill for enhancing Buddhist Power. Also, the increase in the achievement of Buddhist Power meant that the body would become even more solid due to the Marrow-Washing Scripture.

[You truly are relentless.]

With such a hollow laugh, Beom Cheon took an old book from his robe and handed it to me. Naturally, it was the Marrow-Washing Scripture.

I cautiously received the Marrow-Washing Scripture and spoke to Beom Cheon with a smile.

"If I become stronger, it is good for you guys as well, so would it not be better to do well?"

[Why must I be the only one to hand over a treasure like the Marrow-Washing Scripture? It is only right to strip the sacred items from the other regressor bastards as well.]

"I would be grateful if you did that for me."

I left the Abbot’s room while waving my arms wildly with boundless gratitude toward Beom Cheon. Now it was time to do something called secluded meditation for the first time in my life.

To think I have to go to such lengths of struggling just to live. Since it was the first time this had happened, excluding my time as a young beggar before becoming a Beggar Sect member—when I lived starving every day—I let out a sigh and looked at the sky.

It was damnably clear. However, since it was much better than being gloomy, I stretched thoroughly and headed toward the Pagoda Forest of Shaolin.

"Alright, shall we get started now?"