AD Chapter 6

Jeong Cha-ryeon^[1] opened her eyes to fate’s whisper that today would begin a new life.

A familiar room scene unfolded before her. The morning sunlight, sharp as a sword’s energy, cleanly cut through the night’s stale air.

She turned toward the window.

The busy footsteps of servants starting their morning and chirping larks could be heard. It was a morning like any other.

She vaguely remembered her dream.

She dreamed of becoming a Paired Winged Bird^[2] and flying through the sky. The Paired Winged Bird was a legendary bird with only one wing, requiring male and female to join together to fly. Such a strange dream was a first for her.

The male she flew with – just as she tried to recall his face, the dream washed away like sand swept by ocean waves.

“Phew–“

Cha-ryeon rose from her bed and stretched.

Her sweat-soaked clothes clung to her body, revealing her slender figure. Below her firm breasts curved a narrow waist.

With snow-white skin on a perfect eight-head-tall figure, topped with an innocent face that completely contrasted her well-proportioned body, she exuded explosive beauty. She was known as the most beautiful woman in Wuhan, Hubei.

Wuhan’s First Beauty Cha-ryeon, the incarnation of innocent beauty.

Men would travel from other regions just to catch a glimpse of her. Though they came boldly, none dared knock on her family’s gate.

The Righteous Sword Sect^[3].

She was the second of three daughters there.

The Righteous Sword Sect was a traditional martial arts family in Wuhan^[4], Hubei. The sect leader Jeong Lee-chu^[5] had achieved the ninth level of the Crimson Thread Sword Arts^[6] and was a renowned master.

Of course, the sect’s prestige had greatly diminished compared to before the Orthodox-Demonic War. When her grandfather Jeong Sang-kwon^[7] died participating in the war, the family fortunes severely declined.

When Jeong Sang-kwon died, Jeong Lee-chu hadn’t fully inherited the essence of the Crimson Thread Sword Arts. Consequently, even after twenty years to the present day, Jeong Lee-chu hadn’t fully mastered it. Still, the Righteous Sword Sect remained a traditional martial arts family of Wuhan.

After washing up, Cha-ryeon donned white martial arts attire. Her tightly bound long hair and elegant face matched perfectly with the white uniform. She loved wearing white martial arts clothes, enough to ignore the drawback of having to change them frequently.

Leaving her room, she headed to her personal training ground.

Her daily routine began with loosening up her body at the training ground.

The Crimson Thread Sword Arts was a swordplay with diverse and irregular form changes. Thus, agile footwork and bodily flexibility were essential elements.

After warming up, she would perform the continuous form sequence from the first through seventy-seventh forms of the Crimson Thread Sword Arts.

Father always emphasized consistent practice. He said if you perfectly master even one form, you can handle any martial art. Cha-ryeon always tried to keep that teaching close to her heart and never forget it.

She had reached the seventh level of the Crimson Thread Sword Arts.

At just eighteen years old.

Considering her father Jeong Lee-chu had reached the seventh level after turning thirty, it was a remarkable achievement. But her martial arts ambition wasn’t satisfied with this.

She practiced martial arts every day without fail, rain or snow. But after hitting the seventh level, there was no further progress.

Jeong Lee-chu greatly rejoiced in his daughter’s achievement while feeling anxious about being unable to help her advance further. The insight he gained when breaking through to the eighth level wasn’t helpful for Cha-ryeon. He could sense that even with the same martial art, the nature and meaning of limitations varied depending on the practitioner.

“Haah–“

With a long kiai, Cha-ryeon slowly withdrew her sword after completing the seventy-seventh sword form.

Then she sat down and regulated her breathing.

Her body was drenched in sweat as she carefully circulated her vital energy through the meridians.

Her entire body was telling her this was the right training. This refreshing, invigorating feeling.

Then why can’t I break through the seventh level?

As she stood up, someone immediately approached as if they’d been waiting.

“Young Miss, well done!”

It was Hyang-yi, who was more like a sister than a maid, they were so close. As always, a clean towel hung from her arm.

Cha-ryeon took the offered towel and wiped her sweat. It was the most pleasant moment of her day.

“You haven’t…”

“Don’t worry! I know never to watch other martial artists training!”

She’d been sharp and clever since childhood. But Cha-ryeon emphasized this point again and again.

“They say three years as a martial family’s maid lets you wield the Three Talent Sword technique!”

Hyang-yi giggled at her own cold joke.

She was a bright, good child. The reason Cha-ryeon repeatedly cautioned her was simple.

Mistakes come from unconsciousness? Not at all! Mistakes most often come from habits.

Walking out of the training ground together, Hyang-yi studied Cha-ryeon’s expression.

“Young Miss.”

From her coquettish tone, Cha-ryeon could guess what she wanted to say.

“If it’s that again, forget it!”

“Please.”

For the past month, Hyang-yi had been pestering about one thing.

To participate in the Dragon Phoenix Banquet[용봉연(龍鳳宴)]].

The Dragon Phoenix Banquet.

The martial world’s largest tournament for young rising talents.

After the Orthodox-Demonic War ended, the martial world was steeped in irreversible defeat and powerlessness.

Various efforts to refresh and overcome the martial world’s despairing atmosphere spontaneously arose across the Central Plains. Among them, martial arts tournaments proved most effective.

Numerous martial tournaments emerged and disappeared. From small-scale tournaments held by local patrons to province-wide martial arts tournaments.

Among them, two largest and most popular tournaments targeted martial artists across the entire Central Plains. These were the Heavenly Dragon Tournament^[8] held in rotation by the World’s Four Hegemons, and the Dragon Phoenix Banquet.

The World’s Four Hegemons^[9] referred to four massive powers that established themselves as the martial world’s strong after the Orthodox-Demonic War ended.

The Northern Heavens Supreme Family^[10] based in Hubei, Henan, and Shanxi; the Southern Peak Alliance^[11] covering Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong; the Wind Cloud City^[12] centered in Shaanxi and Gansu; and the Unorthodox Faction^[13], absolute rulers of Anhui, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu – these were the World’s Four Hegemons.

Northern Heavens Supreme Family.

Southern Peak Alliance.

Wind Cloud City.

Unorthodox Faction.

The greatest beneficiaries of the Orthodox-Demonic War and the new powers writing martial world history. The Heavenly Dragon Tournament and Dragon Phoenix Banquet they hosted worked like this:

The Heavenly Dragon Tournament was simply the world’s greatest martial arts competition. It was a tournament where Central Plains masters bet their sect and personal honor in life-or-death battles. It was truly the martial world’s greatest festival, and winning there was every martial artist’s dream.

Especially since most famous masters had died in the Orthodox-Demonic War, competition was fierce among those seeking to newly emerge as martial world masters.

In contrast, the Dragon Phoenix Banquet was a festival for rising talents. Targeting those twenty and under, it had more characteristics of a martial arts gathering than a fighting tournament.

This was because one couldn’t win the Dragon Phoenix Banquet through martial arts alone. The Dragon Phoenix Banquet consisted of numerous events, with combat being just one among many. Though combat carried significant weight, it alone couldn’t determine the outcome.

The male and female pair with the highest total score across various events were chosen as the Dragon and Phoenix, becoming idols of young people.

The Heavenly Dragon Tournament was held every four years, while the Dragon Phoenix Banquet occurred every two years.

This year’s host was the Northern Heavens Supreme Family.

As this year featured both the Heavenly Dragon Tournament and Dragon Phoenix Banquet, they decided to hold the two tournaments consecutively in one place to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Orthodox-Demonic War’s end. Right here in Wuhan.

Wuhan and all of Hubei’s people were greatly delighted and excited. Countless martial artists would flood into Wuhan and spend enormous sums during the tournament period.

The biggest problem bothering Cha-ryeon was that the most excited person had nothing to do with the tournament – Hyang-yi.

“If Young Miss enters, you’ll definitely win first place! A once-in-a-millennium talent like Young Miss staying cooped up in the training ground is a disaster for the martial world! Ah, when the young heroes of the martial world see Young Miss’s face, they’ll faint on the spot!”

More like you want to faint watching those young heroes.

“No.”

“Why? Why on earth not?”

There was a reason even Hyang-yi, not a martial artist, was so excited about the Dragon Phoenix Banquet.

Beyond targeting young rising talents, the Dragon Phoenix Banquet had another decisive reason for its popularity.

Pairs of one male and one female competed together in the Dragon Phoenix Banquet.

Sometimes siblings entered together, sometimes martial siblings from the same sect participated.

Four years ago, when the senior disciple of the One Blade Sect officially proposed to his martial sister during the Dragon Phoenix Banquet finals, it became huge talk of the martial world.

The entertainment didn’t stop there. With men and women competing together, all sorts of incidents occurred. Duels broke out over women, while two pairs simultaneously became attracted to each other’s partners in an awkward situation. The Dragon Phoenix Banquet was truly a treasure trove of gossip.

Cha-ryeon had never participated in the Dragon Phoenix Banquet even once.

Let alone participate – she hadn’t even gone to watch.

“Sometimes change is necessary!”

“Not interested.”

Actually, she was interested.

She was eighteen this year.

Though she strived to inherit the Righteous Sword Sect’s legacy in place of a non-existent son, how could she not be curious about the Dragon Phoenix Banquet? But Cha-ryeon had to pretend disinterest.

It started when she was twelve.

At a family gathering, she had called the Dragon Phoenix Banquet “one of the World’s Four Hegemons’ policies to stupefy the martial world, a outlet for young people’s desperate desire for attention and a festival of empty-headed fools.” At just twelve years old.

Everyone was shocked by her young words. Her father Jeong Lee-chu especially regarded her with great approval.

In truth, she hadn’t spoken with such consciousness then. Though always drawing attention for her pretty appearance, she was in her rebellious teenage years, sensitive about becoming eye candy for men.

She had simply repeated words heard somewhere, but to her father it made her “my uniquely conscious, clever daughter.”

She had nightmares for months about the original speaker revealing to her father that those weren’t her words. Anyway, after that day the Dragon Phoenix Banquet became an absolutely forbidden tournament in her life.

“I heard Young Master Lim is finally entering this time.”

Cha-ryeon knew the Young Master Lim that Hyang-yi mentioned.

Young Divine Dragon^[14] Lim Ha-gi^[15].

He was the only grandson of Northern Heavens Supreme Family’s leader Lim Cheon-se^[16]. With his handsome looks, outstanding martial arts, and bright future as the Northern Heavens Supreme Family’s legitimate heir, he was the ideal and dream of martial world women.

When rumors spread that he would enter this Dragon Phoenix Banquet, all sorts of talk erupted. He was the heir of the Northern Heavens Supreme Family hosting this tournament.

Various words circulated about fairness issues. But the Northern Heavens Supreme Family didn’t comment on each one. The silence of the powerful always carries weight. Opinion shifted back to believing they would judge more fairly given the martial world’s attention.

Anyway, that was the adults’ talk.

Young martial artists focused their interest on whether he would live up to his reputation and which woman he would pair with to enter.

“Ah, just imagining Young Miss pairing with Young Master Lim at the Dragon Phoenix Banquet! I feel like I might faint just thinking about it!”

Hyang-yi’s excitement continued even through Cha-ryeon’s bath.

Usually that mouth would praise how she dazzled even women’s eyes, but today it spoke of only one thing.

“…Though rumors say Young Master Lim will pair with the daughter of the Four Great Families’ Sima Family, if Young Miss just enters…”

Soaking in the wooden tub, she wasn’t listening to Hyang-yi’s chatter.

Her heart raced again.

That feeling from when she woke this morning.

A feeling that something would definitely happen.

The sensation that fate was taking aim at her, preparing to fly at the speed of a lightning sword. Her heart trembled.

Splash.

Cha-ryeon submerged in the water.

The ceiling above the water wavered.

She recalled what her father had said two years ago when quite drunk:

“I hope you’ll inherit the sword sect.”

Though they had no son, they were always a happy family. Her father had never shown discontent about it.

But as he aged, he began worrying about the sect’s successor. The next day, her father seemed to have forgotten what he’d said.

But since then, she devoted herself even more to martial arts training.

Hyang-yi peered into the tub saying something. She couldn’t hear clearly.

Hyang-yi’s face rippled as she cupped her hands around her mouth and called again.

“Puah!”

Cha-ryeon could hold her breath no longer and emerged.

“The Sect Leader is looking for you!”

Walking down the corridor, Cha-ryeon caught her reflection in a wall mirror. The beauty everyone praised. Men inevitably turned to look when she passed on the street. At first, those gazes weren’t unpleasant.

But after truly immersing herself in martial arts, her beauty became more of a burden. They saw her as Wuhan’s First Beauty rather than martial artist Cha-ryeon.

If I were born male…

She thought she might have mastered the Crimson Thread Sword Arts. She’d grown somewhat depressed lately as her martial arts stagnated.

As if trying to shake off such thoughts, Cha-ryeon let out a sharp “Ha!”

Yes, overcome it.

Work hard and make the Righteous Sword Sect the martial world’s greatest sect!

If you lose because you’re a woman, you’ll also lose for being poor, uneducated, ugly, or lacking background.

The moment you make excuses for losing, losing becomes habit and destiny.

Life is always a battle of will.

Though you can’t always fight winning battles, you must never fight regretful ones.

Clap clap–

Standing alone in the corridor, Cha-ryeon clapped her hands to steel her resolve.

Entering her father’s quarters thus, he wasn’t there. Instead, her elder sister Hwa-ryeon^[17] and brother-in-law Seo Baek^[18] were keeping watch.

Seo Baek waved cheerfully.

“Good morning, sister-in-law.”

He never lost his smile. Often called thoughtless and bland, he always grinned. If everyone lived like brother-in-law, laws truly wouldn’t be needed. He lived at the Righteous Sword Sect with her sister.

In contrast, Hwa-ryeon’s expression was rigid. Studying her sister’s mood, Cha-ryeon joked:

“You should look after your better half’s mood before mine.”

“As you know, my wife’s always low pressure.”

Seo Baek snickered. He was always like this, so they were used to it now.

“Where’s Father?”

“I asked him to step out for a moment.”

Hwa-ryeon answered Cha-ryeon’s question seriously.

“Why?”

“Because it would be awkward if he were here.”

Seriousness showed in Hwa-ryeon’s expression and words. Cha-ryeon tensed inwardly.

“What’s going on?”

“Let’s sit first. Want tea?”

“Just tell me!”

Neither Hwa-ryeon nor Cha-ryeon were the type to beat around the bush.

“Someone came from the Palm Essence Union.”

“Palm Essence Union^[19]? Why them?”

The Palm Essence Union was Wuhan’s greatest sect, famous for the Life-Severing Palm^[20] technique. While the Righteous Sword Sect steadily declined after the Orthodox-Demonic War ended, the Palm Essence Union had grown consistently. Now the Righteous Sword Sect’s scale and power didn’t reach even half of the Palm Essence Union’s.

The Palm Essence Union Leader loved socializing with martial artists and displayed his power by inviting many masters as guests.

There were three representative martial families in Wuhan. The largest was the Palm Essence Union, second was the Righteous Sword Sect, and similar in power to the Righteous Sword Sect was the Dragon Tiger Sect^[21].

The Righteous Sword Sect was a traditional martial family, the Dragon Tiger Sect had developed from a martial arts school, and the Palm Essence Union was closer to a business organization wearing the mask of a martial family. Their natures were completely different, so each maintained their own position. Of course, the Northern Heavens Supreme Family existed above them all.

For such reasons, Cha-ryeon knew there had typically been no interaction between their purely orthodox lineage and the Palm Essence Union.

Hwa-ryeon carefully began:

“You know Jang In-geol^[22]? Their eldest son.”

Of course she knew the name.

She remembered seeing him a few times when following her father to celebrations in childhood.

He’d been unlikeable from first impression – the type she couldn’t warm up to. Even as a child, his gaze toward her was lustfully offensive.

Well, since most men looked at her similarly, she could overlook that much, but he took great pride in being the Palm Essence Union’s heir. Though young, he was authoritarian, violent, and vulgar. In short, someone she absolutely didn’t want to befriend.

As they grew older, naturally there were fewer chances to meet.

Especially during these past few years when Cha-ryeon was absorbed in martial arts training, she rarely went out, only hearing rumors through Hyang-yi. In the rumors, he steadily lived up to the saying that habits at three last until eighty.

One way or another, he occupied the top spot on her list of disliked people.

“Young Master Jang wants to enter the Dragon Phoenix Banquet with you.”

“What?”

It was so absurd she nearly blurted out “Has that bastard lost his mind?” She held back. Such words on this pretty face would terrify her kind-hearted brother-in-law.

Soon Cha-ryeon spoke calmly:

“When has he even seen me?”

“You met several times as children. Don’t you remember? Back then…”

“Enough. Tell him to properly manage his own scandals first.”

With an expression of not even wanting to mention it, Cha-ryeon sat down.

“Did you create such an atmosphere just for this trivial matter?”

As she poured a cup of tea from the table, Cha-ryeon suddenly stopped. She asked with a “surely not” expression:

“What? You didn’t refuse?”

“I said we’d think about it.”

Bang–

Cha-ryeon set down the teapot loudly.

“Are you crazy? What is there to think about?”

“Don’t get excited and listen to me first.”

“How can I not get excited now? So? What’s this about? You want me to enter with that person?”

Hwa-ryeon gave no answer. It meant she hoped so.

Cha-ryeon’s expression instantly turned cold.

“Does Father know about this?”