Chapter 258: Advent of the Divine Dragon (14)

Large teardrops began to form in Gongson Yoye’s deer-like eyes.

Just as they seemed about to cling without falling, they finally rolled down the curves of her face.

And then, she burst into heavy tears, pouring out like a sudden downpour.

“Sometimes. No, almost all the time I wanted to throw everything away and just live like ordinary women, sniff, but I endured for the clan’s wish, I endured, and yet, how could you. Trample on it so mercilessly…”

It seems I’ve thoroughly touched a sore spot.

Reverse scale means a scale growing backwards, and it’s said dragons have one such scale on their chin growing in the opposite direction.

Even a dragon with patience honed to the extreme through thousands or tens of thousands of years of practice as an imugi, the moment its reverse scale is touched, it reaches extreme anger unable to control its rage. It becomes a mortal enemy to be killed even at the cost of falling and reverting back to an imugi.

This is the meaning of touching someone’s reverse scale.

And Gongson Yoye’s reverse scale was being disrespected as a martial artist.

Gongson Yoye’s life was composed only of time forged as a martial artist.

So being looked down on as a martial artist perfectly matched disregarding Gongson Yoye’s entire life.

Qing was greatly flustered.

Why, why are you crying? Is this something to cry about?

“Ye. Wait a moment. Let’s calm down for a bit, okay? Should we take some deep breaths?”

“That-“

“Here! This!”

Qing first shouted loudly to cut off Gongson Yoye who was about to explode again.

Then she thrust a box into her hand.

“Stop. Stop crying. Here, this. They say it’s good to take elixirs when Innate True Qi is damaged. I specially brought this to give to you?”

“I don’t need this-“

“Oh my. That’s a Great Return Pill, you know? Shaolin’s Great Return Pill. You know it, right? It’s not ‘this’.”

At this, Gongson Yoye froze.

Of course, since she had been crying hard, she still hiccuped reflexively.

“A Great Return Pill? Are, are you mocking me? Or is it really, hic, a Great Return Pill?”

“It’s a real Great Return Pill. Wuxue Dashi personally gave it to me.”

“Why would Wuxue Dashi…”

“I said I had a friend whose Innate True Qi was damaged and he readily gave it to me. I didn’t get it through any difficult means either, so don’t feel too burdened.”

At this, Gongson Yoye’s mind cleared.

It felt like being doused with cold water.

“You’re, you’re giving this to me? Such a precious, precious beyond words…”

“I received it to give to you in the first place?”

At this, Gongson Yoye had a great realization.

To this person, not only the martial arts competition, but all the wealth and honor in the world are nothing.

A Great Return Pill is considered a treasure worth an extra life, so precious that just having it known could threaten one’s life.

She’s someone who can casually take out and hand over such a treasure. Because a mere friend’s lifespan, Innate True Qi, is more precious than such a treasure.

The martial arts competition probably wasn’t even on her mind in the first place, so how pitiful it must have sounded to hear about using Innate True Qi for a mere martial arts competition.

So Gongson Yoye’s anger that exploded grandly like ignited gunpowder ended up just blowing up her own house.

And then came an endless flood of embarrassment.

“Um, that. Miss Ximen? I’m sorry. I, I said harsh things. What should I do, I, I guess I never had the qualifications to be a friend in the first place. Miss Ximen cares for me like this, but I doubted you, how can I call myself a friend, someone like me doesn’t deserve friends in the first place-“

“Come now, friends often fight sometimes, you know. Hmm. Actually, I did think you were pitiful. But that’s not why we became friends. If that were the case, wouldn’t I be friends with every pitiful person in the world?”

“No I’m like this so of course I have no friends I’m sorry I’m sorry…”

“No, it’s okay, I said.”

Qing continued to comfort Gongson Yoye who kept trying to burrow into the ground afterwards.

In fact, this was Gongson Yoye’s third explosion. She’s the type who’s usually quiet but once her temper flares up, she bursts out.

The second time was when Qing gave her the hairpin.

This is the third time.

And before Qing came, the first time at the Dragon Phoenix Assembly when she gave a sharp rebuke to the Phoenix Association members who were just playing at being girls.

Saying “Is this a martial artists’ exchange or a gathering of courtesans? I can’t tell with all this pathetic dressing up and talk of seducing men, you pitiful women!”

The Phoenix Association members didn’t treat Gongson Yoye as a non-existent person out of mere territorialism.

Anyway, Gongson Yoye was thoroughly broken with sorry feelings, embarrassment, and fear.

It took quite some time for Gongson Yoye, who was begging for forgiveness almost like a great criminal, to calm down.

“I can’t accept this. I’m grateful for your feelings, but it’s not a treasure I can handle. You know too, right Miss Ximen? They say treasures you can’t handle bring blood.”

“Then, why don’t you eat it now?”

At this, Gongson Yoye smiled faintly.

Of course, her eyes were very swollen so it didn’t look quite right.

“When I reach the Transcendent Realm I’ll undergo body reconstruction so it’s okay. And my clan has prepared elixirs too. We don’t use Innate True Qi without measures in place.”

“Ah. That, that makes sense. But if you keep it and use it later in an emergency-“

“No. I can’t accept it.”

Then she held Qing’s hand tightly and said seriously:

“I want Miss Ximen to do your best in the finals.”

“How can I use my sword on you when you’re using up your lifespan?”

“Miss Ximen. I was really looking forward to the martial arts competition finals. I really wanted to cross swords with Miss Ximen with all my strength. You don’t know how much I’ve been anticipating it. I got angry because you said you would go easy on me.”

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

At this, Gongson Yoye looked straight into Qing’s eyes. Since Gongson Yoye usually couldn’t make eye contact well, it could be felt that she was truly sincere.

Of course, her eyelids were bright red so the picture became slightly subtle.

“Would you do that for me? Think of it as, though it’s been a short lifetime, I lived for this. Please, share with me the moment I’ve been looking forward to most in my life. Okay?”

At that earnestness, Qing had no choice but to nod.

Qing is not from the Central Plains.

And she’s also someone who suddenly fell into a strange place after living in a world where the value of community, which is called roots by origin, is far below the individual.

So to Qing, Gongson Yoye’s explosion was just a sudden outburst.

But objectively speaking, Qing was wrong.

It was a mistake to the degree that if Ximen Surin had heard this conversation, she would have inflicted harsh nuclear retaliation to the point of tears streaming down.

What Qing said was roughly this:

Why risk your life for just a martial arts competition anyway.

Don’t think about using your precious life with such tricks, I’ll lose for you instead.

But Gongson Yoye really staked her life.

All her past life and closed-door training with the same meaning were preparation for such a time.

So, Qing completely denied Gongson Yoye’s entire life.

Moreover, it was an even more painful betrayal because she firmly believed and relied on Qing as her only friend.

To the point where if it hadn’t been a treasure like a Great Return Pill, she wouldn’t have even considered Qing’s true intentions.

That’s how painful and bitter a betrayal it was.

However, Qing still can’t understand.

What’s the big deal about a martial arts competition, no, more fundamentally, what’s the big deal about a clan?

Why on earth are they so desperate to use up precious lives for the clan?

What’s a clan in the first place.

Shouldn’t clans exist for people? Why should people be ground up for clans?

Even if the Gongson clan had fallen into ruin or was in a collapsing shantytown, I could understand.

They’re just not among the Ten Great Clans of the Central Plains, but they’re still a famous and large martial arts family that everyone knows.

Anyway, though officially it’s the single-character surname Gong, in reality everyone calls them Gongson as long as no one particularly picks a fight about it, right?

In fact, this was the same even if it was a sect rather than a clan, so Qing’s fundamental way of thinking itself was different from the people of the Central Plains.

And Qing felt this deeply.

“It’s amazing self-control that Miss Gongson didn’t draw her sword. Don’t carelessly say such harsh words unless you’re trying to make enemies.”

“Qing’er was wrong this time. Saying that to someone entering the match with such determination is like making them a complete fool. Especially when they’ve worked so hard for their clan’s long-cherished wish.”

“Hmm. Sword Friend, I’m disappointed, I didn’t think you were like this. Isn’t it worth considering demoting you from Sword Friend to Sword Acquaintance?”

These were the reactions of Peng Daesan, Tang Nanah, and Namgung Shinjae respectively.

When she asked curiously if this was really something to get so angry about, they all reacted asking why she spouted such nonsense.

But what’s this about Sword Acquaintance?

Honestly, I don’t understand at all.

Was it really something to get so angry about?

If you really want your clan’s wish, wouldn’t it be better if I naturally lost while putting on a flashy show? Then Ye wouldn’t have to use Innate True Qi.

As a martial artist?

What kind of job is a martial artist that you talk about giving your all as a martial artist?

It’s just doing business with violence while holding a sword, antagonistic to the government yet equal and striding proudly.

Hmm. Isn’t this a cartel?

Anyway.

Will I be able to swing my sword sincerely in the finals?

Even while knowing Ye is clearly shortening her lifespan?

What does it even mean to swing a sword sincerely in the first place?

Aren’t martial arts for cutting down enemies in the first place?

So if it’s not a killing sword to take life, if it’s not a life-or-death duel, how can there be any sincerity or whatever in the first place?

A sword is for cutting.

Self-defense to protect myself.

A barrier to protect people I like.

A means to cut down bad guys and give pleasure.

So how can there be such a thing as a sincere martial arts match?

Does using a killing sword in a match to determine victory and defeat make it sincere? Does not using fatal techniques in sparring make it insincere?

It was a worry I had never had before.

It was also a worry that couldn’t be answered just by thinking about it.

However, Qing has one of her few strengths.

She doesn’t hesitate to ask others because she doesn’t struggle to figure out unknown things on her own.

It’s also a big weakness, so if there’s no one around to tell her, she just puts it off thinking she’ll ask later.

Then she forgets, so there’s no progress in her ignorance.

Anyway, that’s why Qing asked:

“Master, what are martial arts?”

“…? You’re asking this now?”

Ximen Surin was shocked.

Every martial artist lives with their own sword in their heart. Ximen Surin expresses it as a sword because she’s a swordsman, but everyone shapes their martial arts firmly in their heart by defining it.

That’s why martial artists draw the meaning of living by wielding their respective swords, their intentions, in the world.

That’s why it’s study, martial arts, but.

Is this really a question a master who has reached the late stage of the Peak Realm would ask?

Someone who can’t even properly draw their own sword style can’t dare to cross the threshold of the Peak Realm, so it was a question that came too late, even if late.

But it’s truly fortunate and admirable to seek even if late.

And to Ximen Surin, for whom she was still very young, no different from a toddler, it didn’t seem that late.

Ximen Surin’s rose-colored glasses are gradually thickening.

“Since everyone’s martial arts are different, this master can’t carelessly speak and force it on you. But, for what purpose did you cultivate martial arts?”

At this, Qing pondered and answered:

“Hmm. To survive?”

Qing’s martial arts are a means to survive.

And it was still ongoing.

When she reached the late stage of the Peak Realm, she was proud thinking she had become a master, but what’s this, Transcendent Realm masters keep popping up everywhere, and Unrestrained Realm masters appear not infrequently.

“Right. You were from a vagabond background.”

Ximen Surin nodded at this.

“It’s natural that your realm hasn’t risen since you’re like this. I’m truly glad and fortunate that you’ve started to think about it now.”

“Hmm. Is it that important?”

“Of course. It’s important and more. You need to clearly establish what martial arts are to you, why you grasp and swing a sword. Even if you look straight at the goal, aren’t you walking a rough path with your eyes closed?”