Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 116 - Disciple Recruitment Battle (2)

Chapter 116 – Disciple Recruitment Battle (2)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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At this distance, if one loaded sound with true qi, it was hard to determine from what position the speaker had spoken.

Yet astonishingly, Mok Gyeong-un had found her after only two tries.

That brat had only just reached the peak realm, so how could his qi sense be this sharp?

Hang Yeo-ryang, the Sound-Summoning Valley Master, ran her tongue over her lips.

A strong greed welled up within her.

‘How could I ever yield something like this?’

Even if most of the executives were after him as well, she had no intention whatsoever of yielding.

No, in any case, their opinions did not matter.

The point was only one thing.

She simply had to entice Mok Gyeong-un successfully.

Hang Yeo-ryang looked at Mok Gyeong-un and once more sent her voice by loading it with true qi.

-Hehehe. Not bad. To find me at once like that.

At her voice, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed.

He had only looked toward the one at the center of the ripple, because the qi had spread outward like a wave, and his guess had been right.

But just how had she done it?

‘Her lips never moved.’

The sound was ringing right by his ears.

As he found it strange, Hang Yeo-ryang, the Sound-Summoning Valley Master, spoke to Mok Gyeong-un.

-Does it seem wondrous to you?

Rather than wondrous, it was interesting.

The method of using qi to send sound this far looked quite useful.

Should he say it seemed fit for secretly speaking to someone?

-Are you curious how it is done?

There was no way he could not be curious.

Mok Gyeong-un gave a light nod.

Then,

-Shall I teach you?

She was suddenly going to teach him this?

At that, Mok Gyeong-un looked at her with puzzlement.

Mok Gyeong-un believed that everything had a price commensurate with it, so he did not think that woman would teach him something like this out of pure intent.

‘It is rather interesting, but it is not inconvenient not to know it.’

So Mok Gyeong-un gave a short laugh and turned his head away.

At that, Hang Yeo-ryang frowned slightly.

She had been trying to draw out his interest, but she had not expected him to cut it off at once.

‘…He is an interesting one.’

She had not even demanded any price, only said she would teach him, yet this was the first time she had seen someone abandon such visible interest so immediately.

Perhaps because of that, she became even more interested.

So she said,

-The foundation of sound arts is to create vibration in the empty air through sound. This too may be said to work on a similar principle.

‘!?’

What was this?

He had not said he would learn it, yet the moment she began explaining the principle, one of Mok Gyeong-un’s brows rose slightly.

Regardless, Hang Yeo-ryang continued speaking.

-Between the Adam’s apple and the root of the tongue is the Lianquan acupoint. Send true qi there as though you were touching a piece of cotton placed there, and make it vibrate quickly. And then…

Whether he wanted to hear it or not, the sound kept entering his ears, so he had no choice but to understand the method on his own.

Moreover, the method was unexpectedly not very difficult.

-If you are as clever as you seem, then this explanation alone should be enough, should it not?

At her words, Mok Gyeong-un tilted his head slightly.

Then, looking at Hang Yeo-ryang, he tried it once according to what she had taught him, sending true qi to the Lianquan acupoint.

-Like this?

‘Good.’

At the voice that came to her, the corners of Hang Yeo-ryang’s lips rose slightly.

As expected, he was clever.

Even if doing it looked easy, understanding it at once and carrying it out was in fact not so easy.

It meant he possessed the intelligence to absorb the principle that easily.

‘He is a child worth teaching.’

Just then, Mok Gyeong-un asked her,

-It is impressive. What should this method be called?

-The bald monks of Shaolin call it Intent-Joined Voice Transmission, but this Valley Master, and those who study sound arts as well, call it Secret Voice Transmission. For short, it is also simply called voice transmission.

-Voice transmission… Is this a method that others cannot hear?

-Yes. It is a method very suited to secret conversation between you and me. Is it not nice?

-Yes. It is.

It certainly seemed like a useful method.

To create waves with a very faint amount of qi and deliver sound.

He had not particularly wanted to learn it, but since she had taught him of her own accord, it seemed likely to prove useful.

Just then she sent another voice transmission.

-I watched your martial contest, and it was truly splendid.

-Thank you.

-This Valley Master originally came to take only a girl, but that duel changed my mind.

At those words, Mok Gyeong-un laughed inwardly.

She was revealing her true intent openly.

As expected, even teaching him that method had been done with a purpose.

-Ah, hearing you say that leaves me not knowing what to do with myself.

-Hehehe. Child, I will speak plainly. Become this Valley Master’s disciple. Such an opportunity does not come often.

Hang Yeo-ryang, the Sound-Summoning Valley Master, openly proposed that he become her disciple.

In truth, such a proposal from her was indeed an exceedingly rare thing.

The final gate was not even over yet and the completion ceremony had not been held, so to approach a trainee and urge him to become one’s disciple was something that would not happen unless one truly liked him.

But the problem was that Mok Gyeong-un had not the slightest intention of becoming the Sound-Summoning Valley Master’s disciple.

Mok Gyeong-un sent a voice transmission with a regretful look.

-What should I do? I am truly grateful for the Valley Master’s offer, but I think I need a little more time to consider it.

Since she had taught him something, he spoke tactfully.

In reality, it was no different from a refusal.

At that, Hang Yeo-ryang let out a small snort.

‘Did you really think you could slip away from this Valley Master?’

She had already decided to make Mok Gyeong-un her disciple.

Therefore she intended to use whatever means necessary to make him beg on his own to be accepted as her disciple.

-If you are thinking of the two Kings, then I would say that is a foolish choice.

-A foolish choice?

-The King of the Fate Blade, Son Yun, already has four disciples, and one of them has already been marked as his successor. If you enter among them, do you think you will be able to bring out your talent fully?

-Ah… Is that so?

-Hehehe. From the look of it, you must be considering the Thunderbolt Fist King then. But do you know this?

-What is it that you mean?

-That the Thunderbolt Fist King’s only disciple crippled his right arm while trying to learn his secret ultimate technique.

‘Hmm.’

At her words, Mok Gyeong-un stroked his chin.

In truth, he had not chosen anyone yet.

From the beginning, he had been aiming for Baek Sa-ha, the Annihilation Poison King, but since that man was not in attendance, his original plan had gone awry.

But if what Hang Yeo-ryang, the Sound-Summoning Valley Master, said was true, then becoming the disciple of either of those two Kings might become quite troublesome.

‘Internal competition, or the risk involved in the martial art.’

Either way, it made the choice distasteful.

Neither option was especially appealing.

Still, this information was no more and no less than information Hang Yeo-ryang was giving in order to eliminate those two from consideration.

Thus Mok Gyeong-un regarded it as no more than something to keep in mind.

-Yes. I will remember the Valley Master’s advice.

-……..

At Mok Gyeong-un’s answer, which sounded as though he were drawing a line, she tapped her finger against the chair.

That brat seemed more stubborn than he looked.

If it were not for the circumstances of the final gate and the completion ceremony, she would have wanted to drag him away by force right now and reshape even his state of mind to suit her own taste.

But the most troublesome human of all was right across from her platform.

Son Yun, the King of the Fate Blade.

The man who interfered in her affairs at every turn.

But even that would not last much longer.

Once her Air-rending Sound Resonance Skill reached the seventh level, its utmost peak, then aside from the two among the Five Kings who were said to have reached the realm of transformation, none of the others would be able to stand against her.

Even the King of the Fate Blade would be no exception.

So this time she decided to try changing her method and coaxing Mok Gyeong-un with something else.

-Do you know why this Valley Master said she only wanted to take a girl?

-……..

-Unless it is a truly exceptional case, this Valley has generally accepted only girls as disciples. And that does not stop at disciples. Most of those within this Valley are women.

-……..

-If you become this Valley Master’s disciple, you will enjoy the feeling of being the First Emperor within Epang Palace. Does that not tempt you?

-……..Forgive me.

Mok Gyeong-un rejected even that temptation cleanly.

‘Look at this brat.’

He should have been at the peak of his hot-blooded youth, and yet he was rejecting even such an offer?

At that sight, for Hang Yeo-ryang, the Sound-Summoning Valley Master, it was no longer merely that he was stubborn. She was beginning to grow irritated.

Her nature was so willful that she ordinarily did not bother with persuading or coaxing anyone like this.

If she liked something, she simply took it by force.

‘So you intend to keep coming at me like this.’

Her patience was reaching its limit, but she decided to endure one last time.

-It seems you practice sword arts, so would it not be all the more fitting for you to become this Valley Master’s disciple?

-……..What do you mean by that?

-The King of the Fate Blade and the Shadow Sect Master are masters of blade arts, and the Thunderbolt Fist King is a master of empty-handed fighting, just as his epithet suggests. But judging from the duel, it seems the thing you have trained most is swordsmanship.

Watching the martial contest, she had judged the latter of Mok Gyeong-un’s fist art and sword art to be more complete.

In that sense, she guessed he must chiefly have trained swordsmanship.

At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un said,

-As far as I know, Valley Master, your main specialty is sound arts.

-Hehehe. That is certainly true, but this Valley Master is also a master of the sword, no less than of sound arts. I tell you plainly, if you learn one of this Valley Master’s secret techniques, the Air-rending Sword, you will reach an even higher realm of sword intent.

‘Air-rending Sword?’

Did she also have attainments in swordsmanship?

But there was one thing Hang Yeo-ryang did not know.

Mok Gyeong-un smiled faintly and said,

-I appreciate you saying so, but I do not particularly need it to be swordsmanship.

She did not know it, but Mok Gyeong-un was not devoted solely to the sword.

If he judged something necessary, he intended to learn it no matter what it was.

But Mok Gyeong-un’s answer at last enraged Hang Yeo-ryang.

-Gnash!

‘This Valley Master is making an offer like this, and yet he keeps insolently refusing.’

Then giving him the carrot ended here.

If the carrot did not work, then the whip was the answer.

In fact, that was more comfortable for her anyway.

-Since this Valley Master holds you in such high regard and would take you as a disciple, yet you are so proud, then very well. In that case, I suppose I should take that child called Mok Yu-cheon, who is fighting right now, as one of my subordinates.

‘Mok Yu-cheon?’

At the center of the square, on the training ground, Mok Yu-cheon and the Demon Monk possessing Yeom Ga of Crimson Kill Valley were engaged in fierce combat.

Most of the executives were watching their duel with interest.

-I heard that child is your younger brother, is he not?

Before the martial contest began, after hearing that the two of them shared the same surname Mok, Won Byeong-hak, the Thunderbolt Fist King, had asked whether they might be brothers.

And Yi Ji-yeom, the Corpse Blood Valley Master, must have thought it acceptable to reveal at least that much, for he had answered yes.

So she knew.

-Yes. That is right.

-Indeed. That child also seems quite useful. Does he not?

-……..

-If he is such a useful talent, I should take him in as a subordinate, play with him appropriately, and when I grow bored, kill him.

At her words, Mok Gyeong-un could not suppress a sneer.

Since he had continued to express his refusal, she was now making an overt threat.

Though she had put it indirectly, she was threatening that if he would not become her disciple, she would take his younger brother as her subordinate and kill him.

‘Try refusing once again this time.’

She twitched her lips and stared at Mok Gyeong-un with eyes full of malice.

From the look of it, since both brothers had made it this far, they must have relied on each other while passing the gates.

If so, then their bond should be deep as well.

‘If you do not want your younger brother to be killed, then obediently become this Valley Master’s disci…’

-Do as you please.

‘!?’

At that instant, her cruelly twitching expression froze at the voice transmission that rang in her ear from Mok Gyeong-un.

What did he mean, do as she pleased?

For an instant, she doubted her own hearing.

So Hang Yeo-ryang spoke in a voice laced with anger.

-It seems you believe this Valley Master truly would not do such a thing.

She was the type whose nature meant that if she said she would do something, she did it.

And yet a mere trainee dared to ignore what she said and answer in such a manner?

Very well. Then she really would show him.

-All of this is something you brought upon yourself. Let us see whether you can remain so arrogant even after losing your younger brother.

-Yes, yes. Please, do as you like.

-Ha! You…

-You may kill him if you wish, or play with him and then tear off his limbs and cripple him. That is entirely up to you, Valley Master, since he would belong to you as a subordinate.

-What?

-If my younger brother can at least delight the Valley Master’s mood in that way, then that is truly fortunate.

-Grin.

And with those words, he showed her a smile.

-……..

For a moment, instead of her rage soaring, she simply became dumbfounded.

What in the world was this bastard?

Though there was some distance between them, she had already reached the transcendent peak realm, so she could make out Mok Gyeong-un’s face to a certain degree.

How could he smile and say it was fine if his own younger brother were killed or crippled?

It was not the expression of someone pretending to be calm while scheming.

It truly was the face of someone who meant that he did not care if that happened.

‘…Is that bastard really in his right mind?’