Chapter 28: Winner of the Elders' Lecture Gathering
At the Sect Leader's call, I stepped forward.
I wasn't nervous at all.
If anything, I felt a little excited.
I had been given the chance to have my skills evaluated by one of the greatest masters in Kunlun.
Sect Leader Cheon Gwangcheon's sharp gaze slowly swept over me.
He seemed to think for a moment before finally speaking.
“You found a sword path inside an incomplete martial arts manual that no one else had ever discovered.”
His voice was low, but firm.
“The Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword you demonstrated was not some crude imitation made by forcing broken fragments together.”
“You accepted the broken parts for what they were and changed the flow around them.”
“You took sword force that had once been thrown out without any balance between strength and softness, and connected its rises and falls together.”
“In the end, you created a single line of balance.”
“Thank you, Sect Leader.”
I quickly lowered my head with a humble expression.
Mostly because I needed to hide the corners of my mouth from rising on their own.
Good.
This is a very promising start.
If things continued like this, winning the Elders' Lecture Gathering was practically guaranteed.
I expected the Sect Leader's praise to continue.
That assumption lasted all of a few seconds.
“However, the line of balance you created is not perfect.”
...Why are you doing this to me?
You're making me nervous.
I swallowed and waited for him to continue.
“The sword path of your Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword certainly achieved balance.”
“But whether that balance is nothing more than a shallow ripple that will scatter in an instant...”
His eyes narrowed.
“or whether it will become a great river flowing down from the Kunlun Mountains...”
“that is something I cannot yet say.”
My heart sank.
For a moment, I even worried that my victory might be slipping away.
Then the Sect Leader made my anxiety even worse.
“It is also possible that the side effects of practicing the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword have simply not appeared yet.”
“By the time they do, your body and mind may already be completely ruined.”
“The fact that you recklessly practiced an incomplete martial art from the Abandoned Martial Hall is something that genuinely concerns me.”
Sect Leader...
you really don't need to worry.
The qi deviation you're afraid of is never going to happen.
The Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword I learned is already complete.
Perfectly complete.
Those words rose all the way to my throat.
But I swallowed them back down.
His evaluation wasn't over yet.
“However...”
The Sect Leader's tone changed.
“perhaps that very recklessness is also where the true value of your martial path lies.”
"...!?"
“A person who had learned only orthodox Kunlun martial arts would have feared that incompleteness.”
“You did not.”
“You accepted the broken flow as it was and connected what remained in your own way.”
His gaze grew deeper.
“Your will breathed life back into the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword that had been sleeping inside the Abandoned Martial Hall.”
A brief silence passed.
Then the Sect Leader raised his head and looked at all the representatives.
“I already explained the criteria for this Elders' Lecture Gathering.”
“The completeness of the martial art matters.”
“But the length of training and the achievement gained during that time must also be considered.”
He looked toward the others.
“Myeongjeon's movement technique was splendid.”
“Yu Seola's sword force was sharp.”
“Hyeongwon's Martial Discipline Spear Art was mature and highly refined.”
“But all of those achievements were built over many years.”
Then his gaze returned to me.
It was intense enough to feel as though he were trying to see directly into my thoughts.
“Han Mujin.”
“You achieved something different.”
“In an extremely short period of time, you drew out a new path from a discarded martial art in the Abandoned Martial Hall.”
“Your training period was short, yet the achievement you gained was both deep and broad.”
His voice grew heavier.
“Among all the representatives gathered here today...”
“you alone chose not the safe road everyone else followed, but a dangerous path no one else dared to walk.”
The entire training ground went silent.
Then, at last...
Cheon Gwangcheon's voice thundered throughout the area.
“As Sect Leader of the Great Kunlun Sect, I hereby declare...”
“the winner of this Elders' Lecture Gathering is Han Mujin, direct disciple and representative of First Elder Jin Gwangung!”
Breaths that had been held back erupted everywhere at once.
Gasps and murmurs spread through the crowd like ripples.
Some widened their eyes in shock.
Others slowly nodded as though they had already expected this result.
“Someone from the Event Hall actually won the Elders' Lecture Gathering....”
“If he inherited the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword left by True Immortal Cheongun, then winning makes sense.”
“Isn't he actually a genius among geniuses? He only came across the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword a few weeks ago, yet he already achieved this much.”
Only then did it truly sink in.
I had won.
Everything went exactly as planned.
Relief filled my chest.
I turned my attention toward the other representatives.
Each of them reacted differently.
Myeongjeon from the Finance Hall already looked resigned.
He seemed to have known from the beginning that he was far from being the strongest contender.
He lowered his head with a hollow smile.
Hyeongwon, however...
looked completely different.
He stared straight at me with burning eyes.
His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
The competitive fire in his gaze had grown even stronger than before.
Give it a rest.
Staring at me like that isn't going to magically make you the winner, kid.
I gave him a generous smile befitting a mature adult.
Then there was Yu Seola.
Surprisingly...
she didn't seem especially upset by her loss.
She simply watched me quietly.
There was no obvious jealousy or competitiveness in her eyes.
That's unexpected.
Judging by how she acted earlier, I thought she'd be furious.
Our eyes briefly met.
For a second...
I could have sworn I saw a faint smile cross her lips.
Maybe I imagined it.
At that moment...
I sensed someone standing directly in front of me.
What?
When did these two get here?
I turned my head.
Sect Leader Cheon Gwangcheon was standing right before me.
During the short moment I had looked away...
he had already left the viewing seats and approached.
Jin Gwangung stood beside him.
He stroked his chin with one hand while staring at me with a strange expression.
He had threatened me earlier and told me not to embarrass him...
but I doubted even he had expected me to actually win.
Especially not using a martial art from the Abandoned Martial Hall.
Cheon Gwangcheon looked at me with a serious expression.
“Han Mujin.”
“Congratulations on your victory.”
Then his tone grew stern.
