Chapter 107: Immortal Yeonha
...So it really existed....
I'd expected something like this.
But seeing it with my own eyes was still shocking.
Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword.
The sword art supposedly left behind by Kunlun's legendary True Immortal Cheongun before he ascended beyond mortality.
And yet...
there was another martial arts manual with the exact same name.
Inside Mount Hua's Seclusion Cave.
Hidden even deeper within a secret chamber no one was meant to find.
I reached toward the book resting on the altar.
Just as my fingers were about to touch it...
Tap!
“Kugh!”
The back of my hand stung.
Elder Hyeoneom had struck it with the tip of his staff.
“You brat.”
He narrowed his eyes at me.
“Who told you that you could touch it however you pleased?”
I held my hand and protested.
“You told me to check it.”
“I told you to check it.”
Hyeoneom snorted.
“When did this old man say you could grab it however you liked?”
I immediately complained.
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“How am I supposed to know whether that book contains the same Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword I learned unless I read it?”
Hyeoneom's expression sharpened.
“Show some respect first.”
I blinked.
“Respect?”
He glared at me.
“What you're about to read is a martial arts manual containing Mount Hua's teachings.”
“It isn't something an outsider should casually open.”
His voice became solemn.
“If you're going to examine Mount Hua's martial arts...”
“show at least the minimum courtesy.”
I frowned.
“And how exactly am I supposed to do that?”
Hyeoneom answered bluntly.
“Bow.”
"..."
“At least offer one proper bow.”
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
We don't even know whether this Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword really belongs to Mount Hua yet... and he wants me to bow?
Still...
I didn't show my irritation.
There was no point arguing over something so trivial right now.
I wanted only one thing.
To find out whether this martial arts manual was real...
and how it differed from the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword I had learned.
Fine. One bow isn't going to kill me.
I stood properly before the altar.
Steadied my breathing.
Then bowed deeply.
Afterward, I looked toward Hyeoneom.
“Is that enough?”
“Hmph.”
He gave a small nod.
“Normally, I'd demand the Nine Bows of Respect.”
Then he waved a hand.
“But this old man will make an exception this once.”
“...Thank you.”
“Now look.”
His eyes sharpened.
“It's an old manual, so be extremely careful not to damage it.”
I nodded.
Then slowly reached for the book.
This time...
I carefully lifted the cover.
The moment I turned the first page...
a neatly written line appeared in the left margin.
Left by Immortal Yeonha of Mount Hua.
Beneath it was a short sentence.
To keep the promise made that day.
“...Immortal Yeonha?”
The name slipped from my mouth without thinking.
I'd never heard it before.
Who was Immortal Yeonha?
I turned toward Hyeoneom.
“Who was Immortal Yeonha?”
Hyeoneom sighed briefly.
Then answered.
“An elder of Mount Hua from two hundred years ago.”
He continued,
“She was also the first head of the Martial Training Institute.”
I blinked.
“The first head?”
Hyeoneom nodded.
“At the time, she was Mount Hua's strongest martial artist.”
Then he added,
“And the first and only woman ever to hold that position.”
I couldn't help being impressed.
The head of the Martial Training Institute was no minor position within Mount Hua.
And she had been the sect's strongest martial artist as well.
Just hearing that...
she must have been an extraordinary figure.
And yet...
even combining my memories from before the regression and this life...
I had never once heard the name Immortal Yeonha.
Strange.
Someone that powerful should have left a name behind.
Hyeoneom seemed to read my expression.
“Immortal Yeonha had no interest in the empty fame pursued by foolish people of the martial world.”
“That's why her name never spread much beyond Mount Hua.”
“I see....”
He continued,
“She was also the most recent elder before this old man to spend the end of her life in the Seclusion Cave.”
Ah.
So Immortal Yeonha had been that person.
The elder who had last entered the Seclusion Cave two hundred years ago.
I looked around the secret chamber.
“Then this place...?”
Hyeoneom nodded.
“It seems to have been where Immortal Yeonha stayed.”
He tapped his staff against the floor.
“This old man discovered it by chance.”
Then he continued,
“And because of that chance...”
“I found the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword she left behind.”
I looked at him.
“And that's how you learned it.”
“Exactly.”
His answer only raised more questions.
This chamber had clearly been hidden.
Immortal Yeonha had supposedly entered the Seclusion Cave after cutting herself off from the secular world.
Why would someone like that build a secret room?
And why would she hide the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword here?
Hyeoneom raised his voice.
“Now do you understand why this old man said the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword belonged to Mount Hua?”
I looked back at the writing on the first page.
“Because of the inscription in this manual.”
“Exactly.”
Hyeoneom nodded firmly.
“Immortal Yeonha herself left it.”
He pointed toward the page.
“It's written right there.”
After a moment, he continued.
“This old man originally intended to inform Mount Hua that I'd discovered the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword in the Seclusion Cave.”
“After all, it contains the sword intent of one of our past masters.”
His gaze moved over me.
“But around that time...”
“I heard rumors about some brat from Kunlun called Kunlun's Young Hero making a name for himself.”
"..."
“Then I heard that brat had learned a Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword supposedly left behind by True Immortal Cheongun.”
Hyeoneom's eyes sharpened as he stared at me.
“So I persuaded Sect Leader Wonmyeong to bring you here.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Because you suspected something?”
“Exactly.”
He nodded.
“I wanted to confirm whether your Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword and the one this old man learned were the same.”
"..."
“To be honest...”
Hyeoneom continued,
“the words Immortal Yeonha wrote on the first page kept bothering me.”
His gaze shifted toward the inscription.
“‘The promise made that day.’”
He tapped his staff against the floor.
