“This is why people say to live an honest life.”

“He used all his tricks, and now he has fallen to them.”

“True.”

Chung Myung, who could hear them whispering behind him, eventually had enough and threw a pillow at them.

“ACKKKK! Get out!”

However, the pillow he threw didn’t move that fiercely and just fell to the ground.

Those who stood in the doorway, watching him, giggled.

“He doesn’t even have strength. Heheh.”

“Everyone feels bad.”

“Oh my. Our Chung Myung has gotten old. Ah, is it because he is the Plum Blossom Sword Saint? Hehe. The old….”

“You crazy bastard! I will start with killing you!”

Puak!

Yoon Jong turned to Jo Gul and hit him on the chin, which made the poor guy fall backward, onto the ground, with a shocked expression.

“W-Why! Why did you hit me?!”

“How dare you talk nonsense about the Plum Blossom Sword Saint! We should kill you by frying you in oil!”

“…Ah, right.”

Chung Myung, who had been watching his sahyungs, mumbled as he weakly laid down.

“I’d rather get sick and die.”

I am the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, for real, you brats!

No, I shouldn’t call myself that. Things will only be easy if such things are never said.

Why am I doing all of this and being treated like this? Like this…

“Ugh…”

Chung Myung pulled the blanket up to his neck as his body trembled. This caused his whole body to ache as he did so.

“…he seems down for real.”

“Right, why did he cheat.”

“Didn’t we stop him? Uh?”

Chung Myung just laid there and rolled his eyes. But they were not afraid, rather, they were smug.

Wasn’t it a normal saying how one should play with a tiger whose claws had been pulled out?

But their fun soon came to an end. Unfortunately, the clawless tiger had a scary protector.

“Do not bother the patient and get out!”

“Tch.”

“Ah, man.”

“I wanted to make fun of him a little more…”

“Right now! Get out!”

Tang Soso shouted with angry eyes.

“…”

This caused Baek Cheon and the rest of the disciples to leave the room with pouting faces. They were not afraid of Soso the Sajil, but Soso the Infirmary Doctor, on the other hand…

“Lay down properly, Sahyung.”

“Ugh.”

As Chung Myung laid down without a word, Tang Soso placed a cool, wet towel on his forehead.

“Tell me. Why did you have to do this?”

“I just did what Kid Pyung wanted…!”

Plop!

“…”

The second wet towel was placed on Chung Myung’s face.

“You mean Elder Tang.”

“…Yes. He made me…”

“Tch.”

Tang Soso clicked her tongue and removed the towel from his face.

“Your muscles are quite shocking. Even if you are Sahyung, you cut them down so straight and clean like he wanted.”

And in came the voices from outside,

“The swords he wanted… took him down!”

“Right! The swords! And he would always yell at us! He!”

“Get lost!”

When Tang Soso shook her fist and yelled, the rest ran away.

“Anyway, what I mean is!”

Humans need to know their limits.

She shook her head, looking at Chung Myung.

“So, how is it?”

“…I cannot move my right arm.”

“You moved it too much, tch.”

Tang Soso clicked her tongue.

There would be something wrong if he could cut cold steel and was still able to move his arm after.

‘But you aren’t human.’

No matter how hurt he was now, he was still great.

Tang Jo Pyung did all of this because he believed in the Plum Blossom Sword Saint.

If he had divided the steel into multiple ingots, then the chances of losing the metal or the possibility of not having even distribution would be there. So, the steel was cast this way.

Therefore, in the end, it could be said that the Tang Family member’s success was because of Chung Myung.

‘So we should all be thankful.’

Why are you so… why are you so pathetic…?

It was a great thing to watch someone cut such a strong metal, but his appearance now was too pathetic.

“Your muscles are one thing, but your qi has been exhausted too much. So, you will have to stay still for a while. You realize that, right?”

“…okay.”

When Chung Myung replied obediently, Tang Soso stood up. But instead of leaving the room, she knowingly walked to the corner of the room.

Chung Myung was a bit shocked.

“Uh… that…”

Eventually, Tang Soso searched the cupboard in the back and put a bottle of alcohol in her sleeve.

“I am scared you will pour this over your face!”

“…”

“Now rest!”

When she finally left, Chung Myung collapsed and stared at the ceiling with blank eyes.

“Oh my, my painkillers…”

Suffering today was one thing, but his alcohol had been taken away.

Sect Leader Sahyung…

-What?

“…”

This man also seemed to have gotten a little cold in these recent days.

‘Or is it my mood?’

The next afternoon…

“Ugh. Even if I rest, this doesn’t feel like my body.”

Ah, this was why one should die before getting old… no, wait, I am still young!

Chung Myung patted his waist and frowned as he moved.

Perhaps because of yesterday’s work, despite taking an entire day to cultivate, he couldn’t feel much qi within himself. However, he couldn’t just lie down in that room.

Making a weapon from cold steel was tough, but that was the future of Mount Hua. He couldn’t let them do it on their own.

“Let’s see how it is then. This time, I will pull out the Tang Family’s roots and sow new ones!”

With his eyes shining, Tang Jo Pyung was in the workshop. And he was smiling.

“Look at this! Look at this! It has been a day, and you haven’t even started!”

Lazy people!

The sounds of a hammer weren’t even present.

Oh god!

Not even people!

“Uh?”

…why are people not around? It shouldn’t be like this.

Chung Myung, who was looking around, caught someone passing by.

“Hey.”

“Oh! Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon!”

“I want to ask something, where did all the people go?”

“Ahh. The ingots are finished, and the cubes are all ready. Go all the way to the large hall and turn to the side.”

“Ah, yes, thank you.”

Chung Myung bowed his head and began to move to the large hall slowly.

As he approached, the distant sounds became louder…

Dang! Dang! Dang!

“Right! The sounds of a hammer are nice!”

Daaang!

“… the sound of a hammer being heavy is so good.”

Something was getting louder. It was good that people were working, it meant they were getting things done. The only problem was… the work didn’t seem serious!

“Catch it!”

“Damn it, do not miss!”

“Hit harder! Harder! What are you doing?! I said to hit it!”

“You won’t hit it!”

“…”

Chung Myung tilted his head and headed over.

All this fuss over a sword…

“Oh my…”

Chung Myung’s eyes widened.

A big open space.

The front door of the hall was wide open, and the interior of the hall was equally large, and it was completely filled with Tang Family members hammering away.

‘How many members are there?’

One, two… uh? Ten? Twenty?

That many people were sweating previously in front of the heated brazier, holding hammers.

Chiiik!

One person would take the metal out of the brazier, holding it with tongs, while the other…

“Hit!”

Kaang! Kaang!

In an instant, the hammer began its successive hits onto the bar.

“What kind of metal is this strong?!”

“Damn it, why is it cooling down this fast!”

“I have hit it a hundred times already! Straight it out, damn it!”

The Tang Family members were cursing at the metal now.

“Uh…”

At that, Chung Myung stayed silent.

This was different from what he had thought.

“Ugh!”

“You fearless bastard! How dare you fall?! Switch!”

“Yes!”

One of the hammering men stepped back.

The problem was, despite the man collapsing, the others didn’t show much emotion. As they dragged another out, someone who was already waiting stepped in to fill the open spot.

“Damn it! It is cold already! Heat it back up!”

“…Huh, how long do we have to do this? I have hit it for half a day, but half of it hasn’t even changed.”

“Cold steel needs to be forged for seven days and nights!”

“S-Seven days…”

Seven days?

People were fainting after a half day of work, so how would they manage seven days?

Just then, someone who was walking around inspecting the work came into view,

Tang Jo Pyung.

With his hands behind his back, he was clicking his tongue.

“Eh! You are fed expensive food here! How many times have you used your hammer? In the past, your ancestors would hammer for three days and nights without a single drink!”

“…”

No, he meant they would pass out from not drinking anything!

Well, it could be interpreted that way.

“Uh, uh….”

“Salt! Bring some salt water! He is dehydrated!”

“He is sweating too much.”

Chung Myung’s eyes, which were peering into the workshop, were trembling.

‘Is this a battlefield?’

Why are you making such a fuss over some swords?

“You are here?”

Hearing the voice, Chung Myung turned his head. The other disciples from Mount Hua were approaching him with tired looks on their faces.

So, Chung Myung asked,

“Since when have they been doing this?”

“Before sunrise, around dawn?”

The sun was now in the middle of the sky, so half a day had passed.

“But what is it?”

Chung Myung pointed to the steel ingots being molded. It took more than half a day of beating it for only the tip of the ingot to be shaped.

“It is so hard that it doesn’t mold.”

“Then what can be done?”

“…to beat it until it changes? So about a week or so?”

“…”

Chung Myung was wide-eyed.

‘In this ignorant manner?’

Uh?

The smart Sichuan Tang Family? That one? Just hit it longer? Never in the world would anyone think their technique would be so mindless!

‘I should have recognized the essence of the Tang Family the moment I met them…’

Here too, were there ignorant martial arts.

At that time, Tang Jo Pyung, who had discovered Chung Myung, rushed over.

“Sword Saint! You are here?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Do not worry, things are going well.”

“…I don’t think so.”

“Hehehe. It is a lot faster than you think!”

“…it seems like we have a different concept of time.”

Chung Myung looked blankly at the old man and asked,

“So, how much longer will it take to finish this?”

“It won’t take much more time.”

“But there has been no progress?”

“Progress will appear as this continues.”

Chung Myung wasn’t sure if he had to express his doubts, but Tang Jo Pyung spoke before he could,

“These children are also artisans of our Tang Family.”

“…”

“A situation where one can handle cold steel doesn’t come easily or often. It looks a bit odd now, but this is the best way for them to understand this. Do not worry, I will use my techniques to train them.”

The eyes of this old man were that of a Tang Family Elder who was looking after his family.

Facing those eyes, Chung Myung no longer doubted him.

“Rather!”

Tang Jo Pyung reached out and pulled Chung Myung away,

“Come this way”

“Uh? Why?”

“Now, now, just come here.”

Chung Myung was being dragged further into the workshop, and after passing a couple of braziers where the heat was blaring, he was brought to the one with the clearest flames.

There was steel placed within, and the light felt clearer than the ones he saw outside.

Chung Myung tilted his head and asked,

“What is this?”

However, Tang Jo Pyung didn’t answer and asked Chung Myung,

“Reach your hand in.”

“My hand, why?”

“Now, now.”

Chung Myung held out his hand in shock, and Tang Jo Pyung suddenly grabbed the knife lying next to the table and cut Chung Myung’s hand.

“Wow, shiii!”

Chung Myung, who had almost kicked Tang Jo Pyung, stopped and was surprised that he had almost kicked an old man with all his might.

“Ah, I, under instinct, end up hitting someone back when they hit me! What is this!”

Chung Myung reacted with a bit of anger, making Tang Jo Pyung flinch, and with a red face, he said,

“But you have to bleed.”

“…bleed?”

Tang Jo Pyung nodded.

“Cut the hand and sprinkle some blood down there. Any amount is fine, but the blood from the right hand, the sword-wielding hand, is better.

“What are you doing?”

When Chung Myung still couldn’t get his question answered, Tang Jo Pyung smiled.

“I cannot be making the Sword Saint a normal sword like the others. I will make yours special.”

“Eh?”

Suddenly making me a sword?

“Why do something I didn’t request?”

When he asked like that, Tang Jo Pyung put on a pitiful expression,

“Seeing how you struggled to cut the cold steel yesterday, I thought that Sword Saint Elder has also aged a lot… no matter how much the body changes with enlightenment, the flow of time cannot be stopped.”

“…”

“When your strength declines, using a good sword is better. It was heartbreaking for me to see you hold an ordinary plum sword. These ingots were specially made so that I could make a good sword, a sword meant only for the Sword Saint.”

“My sword?”

“Yes.”

Tang Jo Pyung nodded,

“It will be the Sword Saint’s sword, not someone else’s. It will become the strongest sword for the strongest of Mount Hua.”

“…can I take it?”

It is for Plum Blossom Sword Saint, but I am not him.

It was odd to put it like that, but it really was something like that…

If it were free alcohol, he would drink, but this wasn’t a comparable situation.

When he saw Chung Myung being confused and unsure, Tang Jo Pyung was stubborn,

“Who else could use the sword made by me if not the Sword Saint? Stop drinking and start pouring your blood. We will make a divine weapon for you.”

“Hmm.”

As Chung Myung continued to drip blood onto the ingot, he noticed that the blood which fell onto the ingot seemed to be strangely soaked into it.

“Nice!”

Tang Jo Pyung sat down in front of the table and put his hand on the brazier.

Wheik!

Somehow, the coal began to burn right away!

“A cold steel sword for the Sword Saint.”

A smile was on his wrinkled face.

“It is said that each person has a role in this world.”

“…”

“I wondered why despite being so old, I wasn’t dead… and it seems like it was my destiny to make this sword for you.”

His voice rang out clearer than ever.

“Look at it, Sword Saint. I will stake my everything to make this sword for you.”

Everyone in the world would stay silent at the spirit which raged in the eyes of this craftsman, a craftsman who had been protecting the Tang Family name for a hundred years.

Dang!

The hammer, carrying the soul of this craftsman, began to strike the ingot containing the blood of Chung Myung.