The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#Chapter 191 Scholar Juyul (14) - Bow and Arrow Crossed "When bow and arrow cross, they wait only for the moment to be shot." *** After accepting Juyul as her mentor. Zhang Hualing had transformed to such an extent that those who knew her in the past couldn't help but be amazed. "Sister Zhang! Hello!" "Yes. You're full of energy today as well." "Instructor Zhang! How are you!" "Yes. And you don't need to shout so loudly." First, her attitude toward those around her had changed. Previously, she would look down on others with arrogant gazes and speech regardless of who they were, but recently such behavior had extremely diminished. She exchanged words quite amicably with the academy's children, and when adults who saw this cautiously approached her, she returned greetings that were calm yet considerate, rather than the sharp attitude of before. Her old self would still emerge toward those with malicious intent who tried to harm her or the academy people, but that much couldn't really be considered a fault. Showing mercy and courtesy even to those who point swords at you would be considered a pushover by martial world standards. Unless you're a sage. Her daily life, which had always enjoyed flashy and luxurious things, had become quite frugal, and the habit of spending money like water had disappeared. Only her clothing remained the same as before, but this was unavoidable. Her clothing was made from threads extracted from a spiritual creature called the Crimson Flame Demon Silkworm, which had the property of burning away all filth when energy was channeled through it, and possessed extreme resistance to heat, making it essentially indispensable for Zhang Hualing. If she wore ordinary clothing, it would burn from the heat and flames she constantly emitted, so what choice did she have? "Huh? But Sister Zhang. If that's the reason, couldn't you just remove accessories and such?" "...Soyeon. I didn't particularly prepare this for you, but I happened to have some left over from what I was eating because my mouth was bored, so I'll give it to you." "Wow! The Namgung family's finest sweets!!" The public opinion that she was just maintaining her original appearance because she wanted to look good in front of Juyul disappeared like that. There were endless other changes to list, such as her daily routine becoming regular according to the academy schedule and her greatly increased knowledge, but there were also things that hadn't changed. For instance, the habit of moving her body first when her mind was complicated. On top of a giant rock on the back mountain. As if sparring with an invisible opponent, Zhang Hualing's arms and legs moved ceaselessly. Pow! Pak pak! She stepped forward, threw punches, regulated her breathing, and circulated her energy. Someone with keen insight would have been unable to help but praise the fierce power and domineering aura contained in each strike she casually delivered, but Zhang Hualing's own state of mind was only complicated. '...I wonder if it's really okay for me to keep staying here.' The recent attack incident caused by the Black Blood Sect. The world marveled at her overwhelming performance and praised her martial prowess, but Zhang Hualing herself wasn't happy at all. The Black Blood Sect's target had been Zhang Hualing herself from the beginning. Brushing away sparks that flew her way was natural. She had only done what needed to be done, so what meaning was there in praise or anything else? 'I should never have accumulated resentment. If I couldn't avoid that, I should have at least settled things early.' This current situation arose from forgetting old grudges as if they never existed just because nothing was happening immediately, then hurriedly trying to clean up afterward. If it hadn't been for Juyul's miraculous abilities, if the disciples hadn't all gained special powers, the situation would have spiraled into an uncontrollable tragedy. What frightened Zhang Hualing most of all was that the bad relationships she had built up in the martial world were by no means few. The students involved in this incident were either excited about having taught martial artists a lesson, or were people who had originally suffered from the Black Blood Sect's tyranny, so they laughed off this incident as a pleasant event. But if such things repeated several times, if they continued to suffer harm for reasons that had nothing to do with them, would they still smile at Zhang Hualing unchanged? Especially Juyul. Wouldn't her respected master someday come to find her troublesome? The moment she imagined Juyul's face looking down at her coldly, a chill as if cold water had been poured over her head struck Zhang Hualing. Her breathing and internal energy became unstable, and her hands and feet tangled chaotically. -Whoooosh! The technique that escaped control instantly turned violent, and fire demons extending from her hands struck a tree, burning it down in an instant. Whooom! "Ugh...!?" Zhang Hualing hurriedly rushed to the explosion site and forcibly suppressed the heat trying to spread to the surroundings. The flames that might have burned the entire forest fortunately only turned one tree to ash, and Zhang Hualing, who had almost become an arsonist, breathed a sigh of relief. "Hahaha! I came to see because I heard a Fire Dragon who would leave her name in martial arts history was born, but now I see she's a halfwit who can't even properly control her own flames!" At the sudden sound of laughter, Zhang Hualing's head whipped around instantly. There stood a man leaning against a tree, gulping down liquor from a gourd. He wore a bamboo hat on his head. His clothes were torn and shabby in various places, and his nose was red hot - the perfect image of a drunkard. But Zhang Hualing immediately realized that her opponent was a master of exceptional skill. His languidly drooping limbs possessed the freedom to move in any manner precisely because they were relaxed, and his swaying, staggering movements made it difficult to grasp his center precisely because of that. Zhang Hualing, guessing her opponent's identity, growled out. "I heard there's a scoundrel who, despite being from a prestigious orthodox sect, committed the crime of deceiving teachers and destroying ancestors and was driven to the heretical path, but are you that drunkard called Drunken Dreamer or whatever?" The relationship between master and disciple in martial sects is truly strict. This is especially severe the deeper the sect's history and the larger its scale, where even disciples of the same sect were clearly distinguished in hierarchical relationships according to their generation. But one day, a dispute arose between a young disciple of an orthodox sect and his senior martial brother. The senior brother, who was jealous of the young disciple who usually showed overwhelming achievements with his exceptional talent, found fault with this and that. Normally the young disciple would have yielded and let it pass, but the young disciple didn't yield, and instead beat his senior brother like a dog on a hot summer day during sparring time. Other senior brothers who saw this requested the masters of higher generations to punish the young disciple, and this request was accepted, resulting in punishment being imposed on the young disciple. The young disciple protested, asking why he should be punished when it was the senior brother who picked the fight first, but the masters, worried about the sect's hierarchical order being disrupted, ignored the young disciple's protests. And the young disciple declared that he was disgusted with such a sect and wouldn't attend it anymore, then beat up everyone indiscriminately - senior brothers, martial uncles, and masters alike - before boldly storming out of the sect. Some orthodox martial artists who heard this news of deceiving teachers and destroying ancestors tried to capture the young disciple, but the orthodox sects at the time were suffering from the aftereffects of the Orthodox-Heretical Great War, and the young disciple's skills were so exceptional that no one could catch him. (E/N: If that's the worst thing he did, I would say he is ok in my eyes) Thus was born a drunkard who, despite being from an orthodox sect, openly lived like a vagrant in heretical territory - this was why the fame and infamy of Drunken Dreamer Yayul Jae became widely known. When Zhang Hualing showed wariness before one of the Seven Hegemons considered her equal, Drunken Dreamer chuckled and wiped the liquor from his lips with his sleeve. "Yes, this drunkard who bears the empty name of Drunken Dreamer is indeed me. But calling me a scoundrel is a bit much. That word would suit you better, Lady of Trampling Fire." "Stop spouting nonsense and state your business." "I already told you. I came because I heard rumors of a new dragon's birth. And while I was at it, I heard there was a capable scholar who succeeded in taming a tomboy, so I wanted to see his face too. But... tsk. The rumors here are just rumors." Drunken Dreamer shrugged his shoulders and shook his head from side to side. "How could someone who can't even control her own flames as she wishes be a Fire Dragon, and even if she has a master, how great could such a person be?" Crack. That was as far as Zhang Hualing's patience could endure. A situation where Juyul was being insulted because of her own immaturity. Karmic fire that seemed to fully reveal her state of mind exploded throughout the surrounding area. *** "─First, I would like to express my gratitude." The Hao Sect leader. Oh Ga-myeong, the Hero Among the Filthy, bowed his head deeply. "For accepting Zhang Oh of our Hao Sect without question. And for generously bestowing supreme learning that could be called divine martial arts without exaggeration. As the leader who guides the sect, I don't know how I should repay you." "You speak too highly. As the scholar who leads the academy, I merely did what needed to be done, so how could we speak of repayment? Rather, if anyone should speak of gratitude, it should be me." At Oh Ga-myeong's greeting, Juyul showed humility and likewise bowed his head. "Because Zhang Oh freely provided information about the Black Blood Sect, it was possible to defeat them efficiently. This would have been possible because the Hao Sect leader gave permission, so broadly speaking, I have incurred a debt to the sect leader." "Hehe, if you insist on that, then we can consider it that we helped each other." "Indeed. It truly cannot be anything but a beautiful thing." While gentle and harmonious words were exchanged, Oh Ga-myeong's gaze was continuously examining Juyul. And he reached the conclusion. 'I cannot fathom his depths.' If we simply discuss the level of martial arts, the scholar before him was probably around the end of the transcendent peak level. Since he was hiding most of his abilities, ordinary masters wouldn't know, but Oh Ga-myeong, the Hao Sect leader, was exceptional in 'insight' even among various masters, so he could see through this. But at the same time, that insight was telling him. If the scholar before him and Oh Ga-myeong were to clash, Oh Ga-myeong would absolutely never be able to win. Considering that Oh Ga-myeong's level was the same transcendent peak as the scholar, it was truly a strange conclusion. 'Of course, martial realms aren't as absolute as people think...' For example, the criterion for distinguishing between peak masters and transcendent peak masters is the presence or absence of Sword Force. However, when a peak master faces a transcendent peak master, if you ask whether the latter necessarily wins, that's not always the case. This is because factors like the precision of technique, physical strength, deception and psychological warfare that peak masters possess are difficult to reflect in realm classifications. While differences in rank provide overwhelming advantages, they cannot determine victory or defeat itself. And in Oh Ga-myeong's view, the scholar before him was someone whose 'non-rank aspects' were vastly superior. 'But how strange. He doesn't seem that old, yet is it truly possible to have such exceptional skills, master various scholarly pursuits, and even excel at teaching others?' He was wondering if he really might be an immortal rather than human when Oh Ga-myeong was about to speak again. "Gasp!" "Hmm." An unusual energy caught the spiritual sense of the two masters. The center where burning-like intense energy and energy where turbidity and freedom coexisted were colliding was none other than the back mountain area of this building. "It seems we'll have to postpone our conversation a bit." At Juyul's words, Oh Ga-myeong nodded and stood up.