Chapter 255: Emergence of the Divine Dragon

Sima Chunfeng believed that all events followed a grand current. No, to be precise, she claimed that a grand current existed in the world, noticed only by a very small number of geniuses.

And since Sima Chunfeng considered herself an unparalleled beauty belonging to the highest echelons among that small minority, she thought that while everyone else only saw fragments of events, she alone perceived the grand flow.

Thus, she gathered various pieces of information collected during the Murim Conference events and singled out individuals whose whereabouts before the serial murders in Kaifeng Prefecture were quite unclear.

Focusing on the connections between these individuals, she concluded that one group—the entire band of wanderers who had advanced to the main tournament—was extremely suspicious.

Why? Because these poor beggar filth, who had been ecstatic, hopping between cheap taverns day after day drinking themselves silly after qualifying, had suddenly ceased all outside contact, staying secluded within the Murim Alliance, leaving no record of going out.

In truth, Sima Chunfeng was actually intelligent.

The moniker Wise Pouch Intelligent Flower wasn't given lightly; it wasn't some slapdash decision like, "Oh, we need a characteristic for each of the Five Flowers of Murim. Sima family means strategy, right? Let's just go with Intelligent Flower."

A wise flower with an outstanding pouch (of wisdom).

Though the name was a little tacky.

Regardless, at a young age, and as a woman no less, she possessed the capability to handle the duties of a Murim Alliance Vice Assistant Military Advisor, solving her assigned workload with ease and having enough time to focus on other pursuits.

Having accurately grasped the tail of the incident, Sima Chunfeng let out a sly chuckle.

By uncovering the truth of this case, she would take a giant leap toward her grand dream of becoming the first female and youngest-ever Murim Alliance Chief Military Advisor.

And since the group of wanderers had, at some point, started frequenting the cheap taverns again, she had just confirmed this fact with the main gate guard today as well.

"Yes. It was strange from the beginning. Calling them wanderers is just being polite, isn't it? It wouldn't be strange to call them beggars, paupers, gutter trash, rolling dog bones, and so on instead. Is it possible for such rootless individuals to advance so far in the Hidden Dragon Tournament main rounds, and achieve such miraculous results?"

Sima Chunfeng muttered like a madwoman.

Of course, she always muttered to herself, insisting that the process of reasoning aloud was the true mark of an intellectual.

"No. It's impossible. This must involve some hidden faction trying to plant spies within the Orthodox Murim. Therefore, I, the Intelligent Flower, Sima-rang, must uncover this horrifying and despicable conspiracy and make my brilliant mind known to the entire world. Mm. Yes."

Though the intent and process of her deduction were highly impure, Sima Chunfeng had nonetheless pierced through to the precise truth.

Thus, finely dressed and even wearing makeup, she headed out into the marketplace. From outside the cheap eatery labeled "Yuyu Tavern," a raucous, boisterous noise could already be heard.

"Using beauty as a lure is also a noble stratagem, like fate itself for a woman born an intellectual. Let's go, Sima-rang. To illuminate and lead this world overflowing with fools with wisdom, I must endure the disgrace of catering to these lowly beings."

At her grave and solemn monologue, a passing child voiced their impression.

"Mommy, mommy. That big sister. She's muttering to herself."

"Shh," the mother replied. "You mustn't say that. Some people have troubles in their heads. Tsk tsk. Such a pretty young lady, how did she end up like this?"

Regardless, Sima Chunfeng, having steeled her resolve, paused just as she was about to lift the tavern's beaded curtain.

"Wait. How can this be? Strange. Could it be a trap? How, how can people eat in such a shabby place, like a pigsty? This is a restaurant? Isn't this some front business set up by that hidden faction? Suspicious, very suspicious."

Sima Chunfeng hesitated for a moment.

She had heard the unbelievable rumor that the common folk of the Central Plains lived for a month on just a few silver sycee, but even the poorest, dirtiest, most foolish commoners of the Central Plains wouldn't eat in such a hideous place.

"No. I can do it. I must."

For the peace of Murim.

More importantly than that, for the honor of the Intelligent Flower!

"What operation comes without risk?"

With grand determination, Sima Chunfeng carefully pushed aside the dirty beaded curtain with an iron ruler, cautiously infiltrating the suspicious eatery, careful not to let the curtain touch her body.

Since the wanderer martial artists had already rented out the entire place, the moment the Intelligent Flower entered, all their eyes focused on her at once.

Although, they had all been concentrating and glancing over anyway, wondering who it was whose lower body, hidden by the curtain, was blocking the entrance and hesitating.

And so, when a flower-like beauty appeared—though her eyes were quite fierce, her pupils bean-sized, giving her a somewhat vicious and wicked impression—the wanderers, every last one of them, gaped.

Thoroughly enjoying their gazes, Sima Chunfeng offered a polite greeting.

"Oh my. Aren't you the Young Experts of the Hidden Dragon Tournament, whose renowned reputations... aren't quite resounding yet, but perhaps aren't entirely without potential for future renown... well, not quite experts... hm, not Great Experts either, hm?"

Her attempt at a polite greeting made the wanderer martial artists' expressions turn peculiar.

What is this, is she trying to pick a fight? they thought.

"Excuse me, Young Lady, but...?" one of the wanderers asked.

"Ah," Sima Chunfeng said. "This girl is named Sima Mo. My comrades in the martial world, not being dull, aptly call me the wise flower, Intelligent Flower."

And then, shouts erupted from the wanderers:
"Wise Pouch Intelligent Flower!"
"Sima Chunfeng!"
"Three-Section Beauty!"

The angle of Sima Chunfeng's eyebrows subtly sharpened further.

Among those names, the only words Sima Chunfeng acknowledged were Intelligent Flower, Sima, and Beauty.

Three-Section Beauty was one of Sima Chunfeng's many nicknames. Because Sima Chunfeng had many nicknames.

Three-Section Beauty meant a beauty outstanding in three aspects, and this too was a nickname Sima Chunfeng utterly detested.

Not a Ten-Section Beauty or an All-Section Beauty, perfect in everything, but merely three? Absurd.

Besides, one was her intellect, and the other two were humiliating mockeries she didn't even want to think about.

A few other minor nicknames were called out alongside them, but she deemed them unworthy of response and pretended not to hear.

Sima Chunfeng was originally the type of person who, if she didn't like something, would pretend not to have heard it even if she did.

"You flatter me excessively," she said. "Simply Intelligent Flower is sufficient. Or call me Young Lady Sima."

At that, the eldest brother among the unaffiliated martial artists, the Ground Fist Technique expert Ma Yeongjeon, spoke representatively.

"Hm. Forgive my rudeness, but are you truly her? You seem... somewhat different from what I've heard."

"Yes. You are being quite rude."

Sima Chunfeng sniffed, "Hmph," and continued.

"We'll soon be family within the Orthodox Murim, so what would this Intelligent Flower gain by deceiving you? If you truly doubt me, feel free to visit the Military Affairs Department and request an interview with the Vice Assistant Military Advisor. Of course, I doubt insignificant people like you would dare to do so."

"Hm," Ma Yeongjeon conceded. "Your appearance seems a bit different, but you certainly seem to be the sharp-tongued beauty, Young Lady Sima."

Rumors of her sharp tongue were rampant throughout the land, and indeed, she lived up to them.

Besides, rumors claimed her face was as fierce as her tongue, so her villainess-like beauty was also convincing.

As for her most prominent feature, well, that could be hidden.

"So," Ma Yeongjeon asked, "for what reason have you come to this gathering of lowly Young Experts?"

The wanderers' reactions were far from favorable.

Sima Chunfeng was flustered.

Why? Shouldn't they be ready to kneel before this beauty and lick me like dogs?

Actually, it was all because of Qing.

If they hadn't encountered Qing's heavenly beauty, they might have thought, 'Well, if she's pretty, she can be a bit rude,' and let it slide. But having already befriended an even greater beauty, they had nothing to feel lacking about.

"Ahem. Ahem," Sima Chunfeng cleared her throat. "This Intelligent Flower is naturally direct in speech, so I hope you'll understand with magnanimity. The truth is often bitter, you know."

"Keuhum," someone grunted.

"Now, now, let's not be like this," Sima Chunfeng said. "Didn't this girl come today to congratulate you lowly Young Experts on becoming successful members of the Orthodox Murim? It's truly a case of a dragon rising from a ditch, so surely you won't continue to be lowly in the future, right? Though the probability is low."

Her manner of speaking was utterly deplorable, but since she claimed to have come to congratulate them, it was awkward to give her the cold shoulder.

Besides, if Wise Pouch Intelligent Flower was said to be a strong candidate for the next Murim Alliance Chief Military Advisor, what a great opportunity this was to build connections.

Ma Yeongjeon conveyed this sentiment with his eyes as he scanned his wanderer comrades.

The wanderer comrades agreed with the sentiment.

"We apologize for the humble setting," Ma Yeongjeon said.

"Indeed. It is certainly humble," Sima Chunfeng replied.

"......"

After that, she approached readily anyway and personally poured drinks for everyone.

Though her words were crass, her actions themselves were polite, and her face was beautiful.

A high-status lady approaching first and pouring drinks melted away the initial unfavorable impression.

This is why becoming famous matters, they thought, finally feeling the reality of belonging to the Orthodox Murim.

And so, with the surprisingly ordinary toast, "To all of our success," they drained their cups—

"Oh my!" Sima Chunfeng cried out. "Everyone put down your cups! The liquor is sour, reeks terribly, and tastes dreadful! Drinking dog piss would likely be better than this; it must certainly be poisoned!"

It was impossible for the liquor they had been drinking all along to suddenly contain poison.

"...We apologize. The liquor is cheap," Ma Yeongjeon offered sheepishly.

"Oh my. Goodness. How can this be?" Sima Chunfeng exclaimed. "What sort of miserable life must one lead to be able to drink such liquor—no, this sewage ditch water that is an insult even to call liquor?"

"......"

At that, the wanderers slowly began to regret it.

They should have just refused and said they'd drink among themselves.

However, that regret soon vanished.

"Hah. This won't do," Sima Chunfeng declared. "Today, this Intelligent Flower must properly teach you lowly Young Experts, who don't know the taste of liquor due to your base origins, what proper drink is. First, let's abandon, demolish, or throw out this pigsty, and head to a proper tavern."

Her manner of speaking was completely messed up, but it was nonetheless a bold declaration of "I'm treating."

At that, the wanderers erupted in cheers all at once.

Sima Chunfeng smiled wickedly.

Just as expected, being of lowly birth and ignorant humans, they're so simple-minded.

Well then, now is the time to dig out all the truths related to the incident, she thought.

And Sima Chunfeng achieved her goal.

However, one couldn't blame the wanderers for having loose lips.

In truth, the story they revealed was nine-tenths praise for Qing, already tailored and agreed upon beforehand.

They wanted to shout out their gratitude to Qing in the first place, and now a beauty was asking about it while buying them expensive liquor and food.

It was like being slapped on the cheek when you wanted to cry; they couldn't help but say, "Whew, this is a secret, but..."

<Celestial Pavilion>

Gongson Yoye seemed busy again today.

And Namgung Shinjae and the Peng siblings were never busy, not at all.

Especially when Namgung Shinjae and Peng Choryeo sparred together, the heat of training truly reached its peak. By sunset, Qing was already drenched in sweat.

Tang Nanah, who was generally neither idle nor busy, handed her a cotton cloth and grumbled.

"Ha. She's still doing that. Doesn't she ever go home? Isn't she walking perfectly fine now?"

Murong Juhui was still over there under the wall, head buried between her knees.

Her toenails hadn't fully grown back, but thanks to the Tang Clan's miraculous medicine, they had healed well.

Pulling four molars sounded drastic, but since one was taken from the very back on each side, top and bottom, it wasn't even noticeable.

Originally, Ximen Surin had suggested the Murong Clan should know, but Qing opposed it, saying it was Murong Juhui's decision to make.

Everyone has things they don't want to reveal, and sometimes, it's precisely because they are family that things are harder to say.

At that, Ximen Surin had remarked how wonderfully kind and considerate her disciple's heart was, gently stroking her head.

However, Tang Nanah really didn't like it.

Just because you were hurt by harsh torture doesn't mean you can take it out on others. And why pick on the chest, of all places?

Come to think of it, maybe it wasn't just the chest, but because it was the Sword Flower, she took it out on the chest.

Qing laughed awkwardly at that.

"Hm? Young Lady Murong? Don't be like that," Qing said. "Young Lady Murong is hurting."

"Hmph. Why don't you show me that kind of devotion too?" Tang Nanah retorted.

"Nanah, you're already past that stage," Qing replied. "We're old friends, sharing true friendship, aren't we? Are we going to stand on ceremony and act all stern with each other? We've eaten together, hmm? Bathed together, slept together, done everything."

"Keuhum. Well, if you put it that way..."

Tang Nanah turned her head away in embarrassment.

How can she say things like that without even blushing?

Thinking about it, a thought occurred to Qing too.

Tang Nanah is one of the Five Flowers of Murim. So is Murong Juhui.

Young Lady Jin Seol is quite revealing, and Young Lady Seol Iri... I want to get closer, but there's no opportunity...

Then, isn't one missing?

"Hm. Speaking of which," Qing began, "they call them the Five Flowers of Murim. I haven't seen the one called Intelligent Flower. What's she like?"

"Hm? Too much is as bad as too little?" Tang Nanah replied cryptically.

"Too much is as bad as too little? Is that her evaluation? Why?" Qing asked.

"No, that's one of her nicknames," Tang Nanah clarified.

"What on earth is she like? What's overflowing?"

"Breasts, I tell you," Tang Nanah whispered, leaning in. "They say her chest is this big."

Tang Nanah mimed hugging a tree trunk. Her fingers almost touched.

"What? Really?" Qing gasped.

"I've only heard about it too," Tang Nanah admitted. "Apparently, she hates it so much she binds herself up so tightly she can barely breathe. I've only seen her twice, and maybe because of that, her clothes didn't really look...? Like, they didn't stand out much."

Then she continued.

"Three-Section Beauty. The outstanding things are her head, here, and here—three places. They call her Wise Pouch Intelligent Flower, right? Wise Pouch, pouch of wisdom, they say. Pfft. Supposedly holds the wisdom of ten thousand books. She knows it too and detests it, so she always insists on being called just Intelligent Flower, dropping the Wise Pouch part."

"No, seriously, how big are they?" Qing pressed.

Hmm. What kind of scale are we talking about for such talk to even exist?

Hmm. I really want to see them.

I really, really want to see them.

Qing gulped.

Announcement — Release Schedule Update

Hey everyone, just a quick update as we move forward.

We’ve officially caught up to the backlog, so from here on out it’ll all be fresh new chapters. That also means the pace will naturally slow down a little.

On top of that, I’m juggling full-time work and family commitments, and have been translating this in my spare time. To avoid burning out and to make sure each chapter stays polished, I’ll be switching to a more manageable pace of 2–3 chapters a day. I hope this pace will be sustainable, but just in case, please understand that life comes first — if needed, I may slow down further to 1 chapter a day to avoid burnout.

This slower pace will also give me a chance to rebuild a small backlog on weekends, and more importantly, it gives everyone space to enjoy and discuss each chapter. I’ve noticed that when big batches drop, most comments end up on the last chapter — this way, I hope we can have more fun sharing thoughts along the way.

Finally, you might occasionally see small tags like <Celestial Pavilion> in some chapters from now on. These are added to help protect against content scraping and aggregator sites. If you see them, don’t worry — they’re just subtle markers to point readers back to the source. (Shoutout to the commenter who suggested this!)

As always, thank you so much for your support. Seeing your reactions and comments really does make my day and keeps me motivated to continue. Let’s enjoy the next arc together!