Book 1 Chapter 1

Start of reminiscence

"Shake, shake, woof, woof!"

A pendulum was swinging from side to side. No idea when it started……. The threads didn't seem to be connected, just repeating the delicate movements at regular intervals. Upon closer inspection, however, it was clear that the pendulum was connected to Inyoung's arm by a silver, transparent thread. A silver thread so thin and transparent that the killer's eyes could never see it. Attached to the silver thread was not a chu, but a rectangular object that looked like the handle of a pipa, with a delicate and beautiful pattern engraved on it.

The being holding the thread was a boy of exceptional beauty. No, he was too tall to be a boy, and too young to be an adult. He looked about eight to seventeen years old……. Unusually, the boy's wrists were adorned with black bracelets, and his ankles were similarly adorned. The boy's eyes were fixed on a single cypress tree that was now standing alone outside of Wujiang.

Suddenly, the boy's shoulders lifted and his hands reached forward, and the pendulum, which was swinging at the same time, flew at incredible speed toward the pine tree in the boy's line of sight. A pine cone was dangling precariously from the end of the tree's outstretched branches, and it was this pine cone that he wanted to catch.

However, Chu failed to hit the pine cone in question and moved aside. Honestly, from the distance, it was almost a wonder he didn't hit it. But in that split-second, the boy's fingers moved again, this time with a wave-like motion. The pendulum then spun around the pine cone, as if under the boy's control. Then the only lifeline connecting the pinecone to the branch snapped, and the pinecone fell toward the ground. The pendulum, which had been flying, had merely circled around the pinecone. It was a moment that felt like magic. The tip of the pendulum, like a meteor's tail, sliced off the pine cone's tufts with its sharpness. The initial miss had never been a miss at all.

Once again, the boy's index finger flickered, and a pure silver blade emerged from within the thin, rectangular shape of the pendulum in a half-circle. A sharp qi flowed from the blade. The boy's index finger folded inward again, and as if guided by an intangible force, the silver blade of the Bidou pierced through the pine cone's body in a flash of light, then plunged into the ground.

"Phew, that's a success, sir!"

A thin smile tugged at the corners of the boy's mouth, then slowly turned into a deep laugh. After so many years of hardship, so many hours of practice, so many years of unspeakable oppression and persecution, the boy had finally done it. Of course, it was not yet a complete and total success, but compared to his previous accomplishments, it was a quantum leap beyond anything he had ever achieved before. How could he not rejoice? But even as he celebrated his success, a sneering, cynical voice came from behind him. It came from behind the boy's back.

"It's still far, far away! You've only wielded one thunder sword, and you're so excited about it. When will you be able to master the other nine? Do you plan to live for a thousand years and cultivate all the time?"

This time, the wrist and fingers moved together. Suddenly, the bido slipped from the pine cone and naturally returned to the boy's hand. When the boy looked behind him after retrieving the bido, he saw an old man standing there with a bottle of liquor in his hand, staring at him with piercing eyes. The old man had a soft but sharp voice.

"Master, come on, you can at least celebrate your student's first success, you can't be that condescending……."

The boy replied with a fat face. But the old man, who was called Master, raised the tail of his eye to the sky and bellowed.

"You, Ryuyeon, there's nothing you can't say to an old master. Has he done anything to make up for his old age? And after the early morning training, you'll have to hurry to work. Time is gold, gold!"

"Chet, you're taking advantage of your students… are you really a master?

The boy made a fat face and repeated these words over and over again, but he couldn't bring himself to spit them out of his mouth.

"Okay, okay, I'll just go."

After grumbling in frustration, Bi Ryuyeon darted down the mountain at lightning speed, his speed astonishing to the onlookers.

"Hehe, that guy. I can't believe he's already mastered such a sophisticated technique……. It shouldn't be possible with the current level of hollowing, isn't it? By the way, it's been seven years already! Time flies, huhu……."

Looking at the boy, now a mere speck on the ridge, the old man muttered to himself, then lifted his flask to wet his lips in pleasure. A knowing smile spread across his face.