Volcanic Age - Chapter 1

I was overcome by a severe sense of exhaustion and lethargy and was unable to open my eyes.

I struggled to open my eyes, but I could only do so partially. No matter what I did, I was unable to further open them.

“Ah…..”

My lips were as parched as sand, and my throat was parched as well. To make any intelligible or coherent sounds, I could hardly move my lips. The only sounds that I could produce were close to faint moans.

“If you….. leave… like… this, Elder”

My vision began to blur, and I lost the ability to see anything. I also had the impression that someone was crying out to me, but my ears were no longer able to hear them clearly since they had begun to go deaf.

“I am…..”

Seo-Cheon Joo. My life began to flash before my sight, and I kept muttering my name. The first distinct memory that came to mind was when I was a young child, playing around at the orphanage and having the good fortune to catch my Master’s attention. He later brought me to become a student of the Mount Hua Sect.

I was quite fortunate that my Master eventually accepted me as a disciple, and before I knew it, I was one of the Mount Hua Sect’s Five Great Elders.

“I was just lucky,”

Being one of the Mount Hua Sect’s Five Great Elders was a title that should not be taken lightly. There was only one position with more power than becoming the Sect Leader because the Mount Hua Sect belonged to one of the Great Factions. It wasn’t simple to become one of the Five Great Elders. And because of this reason, this position attracted a lot of love and adoration from the other disciples inside the Mount Hua Sect.

Having extraordinary martial arts expertise was a requirement, but you also needed to have a lot of intelligence and be well-respected within the sect. Simply put, to earn the sect’s respect, you had to demonstrate to them that you had the necessary talents.

Even while having a good family or a lot of experience was crucial… However, there were always certain “exceptions” made, just as anywhere else in the world 

I was one of those anomalies.

“I never imagined that someone like me would get to the position of one of the Great Elders.”

I was just fortunate enough to enter the Mount Hua Sect. I didn’t have any special abilities, and I didn’t do anything noteworthy. This did not imply that I lacked intelligence or was a complete moron. I was exactly like most other disciples. I was merely an ordinary disciple.

Being a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect is the only goal I have ever really strived for, so anything else has always seemed like an ambitious goal to me. I have never really tested my limits or given my all to a particular task.

Nevertheless, I had never before desired this.

But as an orphan who had the good fortune to be adopted by a Master, I’ve always wanted to show my Master how much I appreciate him. I, therefore took care to never put off finishing my duties or do nothing. But even so, I nevertheless led a relatively “typical” existence.

So how did someone like me end up as one of the Mount Hua Sect’s Five Great Elders?

The answer to that statement is that it was an era filled with distress.

There were countless perilous and violent conflicts for hundreds of years. Because of all the wars, these were appropriately referred to as the “Warring Age.” There were an infinite number of iterations between the beginning of the conflict, the cease-fire, and the eventual end of the conflict.

Numerous disciples of the Mount Hua Sect perished as a result of the sect’s inability to stop this cycle of war. Since three generations of Sect Leaders, two generations of Great Elders, and one generation of Senior Disciples have all died, not even the Sect Leaders, Great Elders, or Senior Disciples were able to avoid this fate.

They were unable to locate candidates to retake the position of the Great Elders once the final war was over. I, Joo Seo-Cheon, was able to inherit the title of a Great Elder since I wasn’t entirely stupid or wholly lacking in any skills.

Being from a wealthy family wasn’t necessary to become one of the Five Great Elders of the Mount Hua Sect, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t significant. There was a lot of hostility and strife inside the cult if you attained Great Elder status through outstanding martial arts ability but lacked experience and hailed from a lower social class. These factors made it inevitable for disciples with affluent families to become the Great Elders. But once more, I stood out and was fortunate enough to land in this position.

Even though I was one of the Great Elders, little changed in my life. Most likely, it was because the Warring Age was over. My life had not been in danger or threatened by any threatening circumstances.

I was able to have a somewhat comfortable existence within the Mount Hua Sect by occasionally only helping the Sect Leader or the other Great Elders.

I did not develop or mentor the junior disciples, although the other Great Elders frequently did so.

I didn’t get my own disciple either.

Everyone was aware that I was ill-equipped to accept and guide a disciple of my own.

“And I’d only just reached the Unrestrained Realm”

Only in the latter stages of my life did I begin to develop a greater interest in martial arts. I became a Great Elder, which is why all of this happened. I had access to and read a lot of martial arts manuals in the Mount Hua Sect because I was a Great Elder.

And for these causes, I was eventually able to ascend to the Unrestrained Realm, but sadly, it was already too late. I most likely felt the urge to train my martial arts seriously because I instinctively sensed that my time was running out.

“At least I didn’t live a completely useless life..”

I had a terribly miserable life, looking back. I was never able to genuinely experience love the way everyone else did. I never really had the opportunity to hold a woman’s hand either because I spent my entire childhood learning the ways of the Sword. I’ve always wanted to establish a name for myself in the Murim World, but I’ve never been able to do that.

I experienced one of the worst periods in the history of the Murim people. As numerous Heroes and Villains rose and fell, numerous legends and myths emerged. However, neither my name nor my identity would appear in these stories.

‘Ah…..’

I questioned whether this was the end because I could feel my strength ebbing away.

I never knew any of the people who were gathered around my deathbed or had any association with me. They merely came out of politeness because I, one of the Five Great Elders, would shortly pass away. They had no particular connection to me except for the fact that we belonged to the same sect.

I had a long and lonely life, and part of me wished I had a family who loved me.

As I began to picture the mighty and brash Heroes during the Warring Age, I started to think about my loving and compassionate Master.

And before I knew it, these magnificent Heroes began to vanish into the distance to the point where I was unable to contact them.

“I guess….. I……”

My consciousness began to dwindle into an endless void.

“I wanted to live my life the same way they did…..”

* * *

Translated – Novelmultiverse

Edited – Beetlesme