Chapter 258: Emergence of the Divine Dragon

Large, glistening teardrops began to well up in Gongson Yoye’s doe-like eyes, gathering like oversized beads.

They clung precariously for a moment before finally succumbing to gravity, tracing paths down the curves of her face.

Then, like a sudden downpour, thick drops splashed forth as she burst into tears.

“Sometimes… No, almost all the time, I wanted to throw everything away and just live like an ordinary woman, hic, live like that, but I endured, endured for the sake of our clan’s long-cherished wish, and yet, how could you… trample on it so cruelly…”

It seemed Qing had definitely struck a raw nerve.

Yeokrin, the reverse scale. It’s said that among a dragon’s scales, there is just one under its chin that grows in the opposite direction. Even a dragon, having cultivated patience to its limit through millennia as an lesser dragon, cannot contain its fury the moment this reverse scale is touched. It erupts in uncontrollable rage, becoming a mortal enemy willing to kill even if it means degenerating back into an lesser dragon.

That’s what ‘touching the reverse scale’ means.

And for Gongson Yoye, being disregarded as a martial artist was her reverse scale.

Gongson Yoye’s life had been forged solely through the trials of a martial artist.

Therefore, being looked down upon as one was perfectly equivalent to dismissing her entire existence.

Qing was utterly flustered.

Why, why is she crying? Is it something to cry about?

“Yoye. Wait a moment. Just calm down for a second. Okay? Should we take a few deep breaths?” Qing asked.

“That kind of—” Gongson Yoye started.

“Here! Take this!” Qing cut her off with a loud shout.

Then, she thrust the box into Gongson Yoye's hand.

“Stop. Stop crying. Here, this. They say it’s good to take elixirs when your Innate True Qi is damaged. I brought this especially for you, Yoye.”

“I don’t need this kind of—” Gongson Yoye protested.

“Whoa there. That’s a Great Restoration Pill, you know? From Shaolin. The Great Restoration Pill. You know it, right? It’s not just ‘this kind of thing’,” Qing insisted.

At that, Gongson Yoye froze.

Of course, since she was still sobbing, a reflexive, hiccuping gasp escaped her.

“A Great Restoration Pill?” she asked. “A-Are you mocking me? Or is it really, hic, a Great Restoration Pill?”

“It’s really a Great Restoration Pill. Venerable Monk Muhak gave it to me himself.”

“Why would Venerable Monk Muhak…”

“I told him I had a friend whose Innate True Qi was damaged, and he readily gave it to me. It wasn’t hard for me to get or anything. So don’t feel too burdened.”

Gongson Yoye’s mind snapped back to clarity.

It felt like being doused with cold water.

“You’re… you’re giving this to me?” she stammered. “Such a precious… something beyond precious…”

“I got it intending to give it to you from the start,” Qing replied simply.

A profound realization dawned on Gongson Yoye.

This person… to this person, not only the tournament but all the wealth and honor in the world mean nothing.

A Great Restoration Pill was a treasure considered an extra life; merely possessing it could put one’s life in danger if known.

Yet, this person could casually pull it out and hand it over. Because, to her, a mere friend’s lifespan, their Innate True Qi, was more regrettable than such a treasure.

The tournament must have barely registered in her priorities from the beginning, so how pitiful must the idea of using Innate True Qi for such a thing have sounded?

Thus, Gongson Yoye’s fury, which had erupted like ignited gunpowder, ended up only blowing up her own house.

And then came the overwhelming wave of shame.

“Uh, um. Qing?” Gongson Yoye began, “I’m sorry. I, I said terrible things. What should I do? I, I guess I wasn’t qualified to be a friend in the first place. You care for me like this, Qing, but I just doubted you… How can I call myself a friend like this? A wench like me doesn’t deserve friends in the first place—”

“Hey, hey, friends fight sometimes, what’s the big deal?” Qing interrupted gently. “Hmm. Honestly, I did think you were pitiful. But that’s not why we became friends. If it were, would I become friends with every pitiful person in the world?”

“No, it’s because I’m like this that I don’t have friends, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” Gongson Yoye mumbled.

“No, it’s really okay,” Qing reassured her.

Qing continued to soothe Gongson Yoye, who seemed determined to burrow into the ground.

In truth, this was already Gongson Yoye’s third outburst. Normally demure, she was the type to flare up and explode when her temper was pushed.

The second time was when Qing had given her the hairpin.

This was the third.

And the first had been before Qing arrived, at the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly, where she had delivered a stinging rebuke to the Phoenix Association members who were acting like silly girls, saying:

“All you talk about is dressing up pathetically and seducing men. I honestly can’t tell if this is a gathering for martial artists or a meeting of courtesans, you pathetic wenches!”

The Phoenix Association members hadn’t ignored Gongson Yoye just because of some petty territorialism.

Anyway, Gongson Yoye was thoroughly broken by apologies, embarrassment, and fear.

It took quite some time for Gongson Yoye, who was begging for forgiveness almost like a traitor guilty of high treason, to finally calm down.

“I can’t accept this,” she said finally. “I appreciate the sentiment, but this is not a treasure I can handle. You know too, right, Qing? A treasure one cannot handle invites bloodshed.”

“Then, why not just eat it now?” Qing suggested.

Gongson Yoye managed a faint smile.

Her eyes were so swollen that her appearance was quite ruined.

“It’ll be fine once I reach the Transcendent Realm and undergo Overhaul Rebirth. Besides, my clan has prepared elixirs too. I wouldn’t draw upon my Innate True Qi without any countermeasures.”

“Ah. Right, that makes sense,” Qing conceded. “Still, you could keep it and use it later in an emergency—”

“No. I can’t accept it.”

Then, Gongson Yoye grasped Qing’s hands firmly and spoke seriously.

“I… I want you to give your absolute best in the finals, Qing.”

“If you’re going to burn through your lifespan, how can I possibly swing my sword at you?” Qing asked, distressed.

“Qing. I was truly looking forward to the tournament finals. Truly. I wanted to cross swords with you with all my strength. You don’t know how much I anticipated it. I got angry because you said you’d let me win.”

“But how can I do that when I know you’re burning your life force?”

Gongson Yoye looked directly into Qing’s eyes. Since Gongson Yoye usually avoided eye contact, Qing could feel her utter sincerity.

Of course, the bright red swelling around her eyes made the picture slightly awkward.

“Will you do that for me?” Gongson Yoye pleaded. “Though my life may be short, I’ll feel like I lived for that moment. Please, join me in the moment I anticipate most in my life. Please?”

Faced with such desperation, Qing could only nod reluctantly.

Qing wasn’t from the Central Plains.

Moreover, she was someone who had lived in a world where the value of the community, the so-called roots of one’s origin, was placed far below the individual, before being abruptly dropped into this unfamiliar place.

So, to Qing, Gongson Yoye’s explosion was merely an overreaction.

However, objectively speaking, Qing was in the wrong.

It was a mistake so grave that if Ximen Surin had heard the conversation, she would have inflicted brutal retribution severe enough to bring tears streaming down Qing’s face.

What Qing had said amounted to this:

Why risk your life for a mere tournament anyway?
Don’t use such cheap tricks and waste your precious life; I’ll just lose for you instead.

But Gongson Yoye truly had risked her life.

Her entire past life, her secluded training which was synonymous with her existence, had all been preparation for such a time.

Therefore, Qing had utterly negated Gongson Yoye’s entire life.

Furthermore, because Gongson Yoye had firmly believed in and relied on Qing as her only friend, the betrayal cut even deeper.

So deep that if it hadn’t been for a treasure like the Great Restoration Pill, she might never have reconsidered Qing’s true intentions.

That’s how painful and bitter the betrayal had been.

Yet, Qing still couldn’t understand.

What the hell is this tournament? No, more fundamentally, what the hell is a clan?

Why on earth are they so desperate to sacrifice precious lives for their clan?

What is a clan anyway?

Shouldn’t the clan exist for the people? Why should people be ground down for the sake of the clan?

It might be different if the Gong Clan was declining or living in some dilapidated shantytown ruins.

But they were a famous and large martial family known to everyone, even if they weren’t counted among the Ten Great Clans of the Central Plains.

And although their official surname was the single character ‘Gong,’ didn’t everyone actually call them ‘Gongson’ unless they deliberately wanted to pick a fight?

In fact, this applied even if it were a sect rather than a clan; Qing’s fundamental way of thinking was simply different from that of the people of the Central Plains.

And Qing felt this difference keenly.

“I’d say Young Lady Gongson showed tremendous self-control by not drawing her sword. Don’t spout such nonsense unless you’re trying to make an enemy,” Peng Daesan told her.

“Qing-ah, you were wrong this time. Saying that to a kid who’s entering the match with that kind of resolve is basically calling her an idiot. Especially when she worked so hard for her clan’s dream,” Tang Nanah added.

“Hmm. Sword Brother, I didn’t expect this from you. Perhaps it’s worth considering demoting you from Sword Brother to Sword Acquaintance,” Namgung Shinjae remarked.

Those were their respective reactions when Qing asked if it was really something to get that angry about. They all reacted as if asking why she’d spewed such bullshit.

And what’s a ‘Sword Acquaintance’ now?

Honestly, she had no clue.

She still didn’t think it was something to get that furious about.

If she really wants her clan’s dream fulfilled, wouldn’t it be better if I just let her win naturally after she dresses up all flashy? Then she wouldn’t have to use her Innate True Qi.

As a martial artist?

What the hell kind of job is a martial artist that they go on about fighting with sincerity?

They’re just people who run businesses using swords and force, hostile to the government yet swaggering around as equals.

Hmm. Isn’t this basically a cartel?

Anyway.

Can I really wield my sword sincerely in the finals?

Knowing full well she’s shaving off her lifespan?

What does wielding a sword sincerely even mean in the first place?

Isn’t the purpose of martial arts fundamentally to cut down enemies?

So unless it’s a Killing Sword meant to take a life, unless it’s a duel to the death, isn’t sincerity out of the question from the start?

A sword is for cutting.

Self-defense to protect myself.

A barrier to protect those I like.

A means to cut down bad guys and bring pleasure.

So how can a ‘sincere match’ possibly exist?

Does using a Killing Sword in a match to determine victory and defeat make it sincere? Does sparring without using killing moves make it insincere?

It was a dilemma she had never faced before.

It was also a dilemma that couldn’t be solved just by thinking about it.

However, Qing had one minor strength.

Since she didn’t stubbornly try to figure out things she didn’t know on her own, she wasn’t hesitant to ask others.

This was also a major weakness; if there was no one around to tell her, she’d just decide to ask later.

Then she’d forget, so her ignorance never improved.

Anyway, Qing decided to ask.

“Master, what are martial arts?”

“…? You’re only asking that now?” Ximen Surin was taken aback.

Every martial artist lives embracing their own sword within their heart. Ximen Surin expressed it as a sword because she was a swordswoman, but everyone defines their martial arts and shapes them upright within their chest.

That is how martial artists draw the meaning of their lives, their will, upon the world by raising their respective swords.

That dedication represents the very study inherent in martial arts.

But was this truly a question befitting an expert who had reached the Late Stage Peak Realm?

One who couldn’t even properly envision their own sword couldn’t possibly cross the threshold of the Peak Realm, so the question was late, incredibly late.

Still, it was fortunate and commendable that she sought the answer, even if belatedly.

And she was still so young, practically a toddler toddling around in Ximen Surin’s eyes, so perhaps it wasn’t that late after all.

Ximen Surin’s rose-tinted glasses were steadily thickening.

“Everyone’s martial arts are different, as numerous as there are people, so this master cannot carelessly speak and impose upon you,” Ximen Surin said. “However, disciple, for what purpose have you cultivated your martial arts?”

Qing pondered for a moment before answering.

“Hmm. To survive?”

Qing’s martial arts were a means of survival.

And that was still ongoing.

When she reached the Late Stage Peak Realm, she had swaggered around, thinking she’d become an expert, but what was this? Transcendent Realm masters kept popping out of nowhere, and even Unrestrained Realm experts appeared once in a blue moon.

“I see. You said you were a Wanderer,” Ximen Surin nodded.

“Seeing you like this, it was only natural your realm wasn’t progressing. That you’ve begun to ponder it now is truly joyful and fortunate.”

“Hmm. Is it really that important?” Qing asked.

“Of course. It is crucial,” Ximen Surin replied firmly. “You must clearly establish what martial arts mean to you, why you grasp and wield your sword. Even if you look straight at your goal, the path is perilous; are you not walking it with your eyes closed?”

<Read at Celestial Pavilion>