Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 499 (Part 1)



499 (Part 1)

”’Chapter 500 – Just Give It to Me Once.

Was it called Gwijung (귀정)?

An item obtained from the secret records of the Sinryonggwan in the past.

It was probably the name of the bandage that seemed to be a treasure of the volcano.

It was something that was tied to my left arm in a way that it would never come undone for some reason.

At first I thought what kind of treasure is this?

Aside from its unique reddish-purple color and the faint scent of plum blossoms it emitted it was just an unremovable bandage.

However.

‘But that’s not quite right.’

As Shin Noya awakened I was able to learn the true name of the bandage.

The identity of what I thought was just a trivial bandage turned out to be surprisingly….

‘… This is a sword?’

Gwijung was said to be a treasured sword used by Shin Noya.

She nagged me endlessly about how I was using such a magnificent item as just a bandage to tie my arm.

I could only feel wronged.

‘… Then at least tell me how to use it before you go.’

She just tied it to me and disappeared. How was I supposed to figure out what this was?

Later she would scold me for using it that way.

From my perspective it was utterly ridiculous.

‘So this is a sword?’

How could a bandage be called a sword? I was told that the premise itself was wrong.

[This is not ‘cloth’ in the first place.]

Looking at the form of Gwijung it was natural to think it was cloth.

But according to Noya it was not simply cloth.

Moreover.

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[If you think of it as a sword that is also wrong.]

She told me not to think of it as a sword.

She called it a treasured sword yet told me not to think of it as a sword. What on earth did that mean?

Just as I was starting to get annoyed with the incomprehensible words.

Noya revealed to me the power of the treasure called Gwijung.

[If you think of it as a sword it will become a sword. If you think of something else it will become that. Gwijung is such a thing.]

It would take the form I desired.

Noya spoke of Gwijung in that way.

So how was I supposed to use it?

I understood that it was a treasure and that there was a specific way to use it.

But how was I supposed to use it?

The method of using Gwijung which could be a sword or take the form I wanted was simple.

[Just believe it.]

Simply believing.

Believing that Gwijung would become that.

Ironically that seemingly insignificant statement was everything.

When I actually thought that way Gwijung truly moved according to my will.

It moved as if it had a will of its own grasping something.

And as Noya said it was also possible to use it in the form of a sword.

The only slight disappointment was that it couldn’t change into two forms.

It was impossible to extend the bandage in sword form to grasp something.

That was the extent of the problem.

Even if that was impossible I could still be satisfied handling Gwijung.

That was because the power of Gwijung did not end with merely changing its appearance.

The power of Gwijung was not that simple.

As Shin Noya told me the true power of Gwijung was none other than.

‘It never breaks.’

It cannot be torn or shattered.

It does not crumble.

Gwijung hardened solidly would never break no matter what attack it received.

That was what Noya said was the true power of Gwijung.

‘What an absurd power.’

As soon as I heard it I was utterly dumbfounded.

Even the hardest material in the Central Plains the everlasting iron would eventually break.

Could it really be possible to say it never breaks?

Even if that wasn’t true the durability of Gwijung was indeed solid.

Look at it now.

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Even after being struck by a sword imbued with the power of Gwaeseon it didn’t just block; it held firm.

As the sword was blocked Gwaeseon was momentarily surprised creating a gap.

I took advantage of that gap to loosen Gwijung and bind Gwaeseon’s sword.

In an instant the distance was closed.

I seized the moment and unleashed my flame jade.

As a result.

Whoosh….

Amidst the shattered ground traces of blue flames remained.

I reached out.

Hooosh-!

Then the heat floating in the air and the flames on the ground converged towards me. As the heat returned to my body as if being sucked in.

I felt energy stacking up in my heart.

‘I didn’t use that much.’

Considering I had unleashed flame jade twice and poured out flames I felt I had much more qi left than expected.

Was it because my body had transformed and my energy had increased?

No it was probably because my control over the power had strengthened.

‘The power to withstand compression has increased.’

Compression rotation and emission.

I realized this while listening to the advice of Shin Noya and my father.

What I considered most important in handling qi and flames was that.

I was practicing maximizing power using a small amount of qi.

Perhaps because compression and rotation put a lot of pressure on the body.

There was a limit to how much I could endure and because of that I had been feeling a sense of regret.

‘… As my body grows stronger the limits have increased.’

As my physical body strengthened the time I could endure also lengthened. Thanks to this the power of compression and rotation became stronger.

‘Is this the result?’

I looked straight ahead.

At the center of the ruined ground a massive pit had been dug.

This was the aftermath of the flame jade I had unleashed.

It seemed I had indeed grown stronger. I had used the same amount of qi as before for the flame jade.

But the aftermath was much more massive.

And from that center.

“Haha….”

Gwaeseon kneeling halfway was laughing.

“I don’t know what to say.”

Gwaeseon was also checking the state of the surroundings and his gaze was filled with disbelief.

I nodded as I observed Gwaeseon.

Fortunately it seemed his body was fine.

‘The recovery in between went well too.’

I had detonated the flame jade but I had controlled it so that Gwaeseon wouldn’t be harmed.

That was only natural.

‘If he had taken it directly…. I would have been in trouble too.’

No matter what my intentions were it would have been problematic if I fought with the intent to kill.

Right away I knew that Gwaeseon had swung his sword without any intent to harm.

‘After all he is Woo-hyeok’s master.’

Since he was none other than Jang-ryong’s master I didn’t want to hurt him.

So I forcibly controlled it to only explode around and ensure Gwaeseon was unharmed.

Because of that I took all the backlash but.

There was no problem with my body. This was also an advantage.

“Haha. I never thought I would lose.”

Gwaeseon said with an awkward laugh. I tilted my head and replied.

“I know you went easy on me.”

He might have been serious for the final blow but I knew that until then Gwaeseon hadn’t fought properly.

‘If he had fought seriously I would have lost.’

I wondered what would have happened if Gwaeseon had come at me with all his might from the start.

If I had also given it my all I might have landed a hit or two.

‘Winning would have been difficult.’

It seemed that victory was quite a stretch.

Just now I had used Gwijung to respond so it was too much to say I had won.

‘I do have a conscience.’

[What?]

‘Be quiet.’

I preemptively stopped Noya from interrupting as she seemed about to say something.

This was something I was serious about.

‘They didn’t even use the Nohya.’

Gwaeseon had only used a regular iron sword. He hadn’t used the treasure Nohya.

Of course.

‘I don’t know if Gwaeseon can use Nohya or not.’

Since he was using the sword of the Mu-dang without employing the martial arts of the Namgung Clan.

I wondered if he could use Nohya which maximizes the power of the qi.

But that was uncertain.

‘What if Gwaeseon had used Nohya?’

If I had fought against Gwaeseon in that state would it have been on a different level?

Just as I was feeling a bit curious and somewhat regretful.

[Using Gwijung….]

A voice came from somewhere in the pit.

It sounded like Namgung Myung. It seemed that Namgung Myung also knew about Gwijung.

[Shin Cheol are you really insane? Handing over Gwijung…!]

[Look at this guy? I’m saying I’ll hand over my own. Why are you making a fuss?]

[Do you think it makes sense to hand over something that symbolizes the volcano to the child of the Ta family?]

[What about you?]

[What…?]

[What are you mumbling about thinking you’re so great? Tsk tsk you can’t even fight. That’s why Namgung is in that state.]

[You bastard!]

He was saying that my words were too harsh but this old man was also not to be underestimated.

“… Sigh.”

I sighed and moved my steps. How many steps would that be in distance?

There was something stuck in the ground and I was heading towards it.

In front of me a dark blue rod was stuck in the ground which looked like Nohya.

It seemed to have fallen from Gwaeseon’s possession during our last clash.

Since I could hear Namgung Myung’s voice from over there it must be correct.

I approached slowly.

Ah I didn’t intend to steal it. I just planned to pick it up and return it.

Gwaeseon was relatively far away due to the wind pressure.

‘I haven’t even had a chance to talk yet.’

Since I hadn’t even had a chance to discuss Nohya yet.

For now I intended to return it to Gwaeseon.

“Wait a second!””’