Volcanic Age - Chapter 20

“It was a miscommunication, fellow brother.”

After a brief moment of irritation, Ju Seo Cheon shook his hands and grinned sourly.

Ju Seo Cheon wasn’t childlike either, while Nak Seo Wol was an exception.

“How am I going to disregard what my elder brother has said? I was merely communicating a message from the teacher.”

Ju Seo Cheon appeared to be attractive in his speech.

“Is that accurate?”

Inquiring with wary eyes, Lee Geon also made sure to remove Ju Seo Cheon’s collar.

 

“Yes, it’s true.”

 

“…..Hmph.”

 

Then he finally relaxed his hold.

Ju Seo Cheon received one glance from Lee Geon before turning around. His actions showed that he was still furious.

 

“He’s so loud.”

 

Since the day he entered, Lee Geon had a negative opinion of Ju Seo Cheon. It was a result of Nak Seo Wol’s interest in Ju Seo Cheon.

 

Since she joined the Mount Hua Sect, Nak Seo Wol has become well known. Her talent played a role, but her attractiveness played a bigger role.

 

She ignited the passions of the male disciples, which led to tougher instruction on restraint and moderation for her.

 

One of those youngsters was Lee Geon. Ju Seo Cheon didn’t appeal to him at all because Lee Geon had fallen in love with Nak Seo Wol. Therefore, each time

 

Nak Seo Wol became aware that Ju Seo Cheon had been speaking with him and began picking fights with Ju Seo Cheon right away.

 

Due to his acts, he occasionally became enraged, but he was able to handle it since Lee Geon didn’t go too far.

 

Like other trainees on Mount Hua, Lee Geon had a dream of becoming a Plum Blossom Sword Examiner.

 

His chances of becoming a Plum Blossom Sword Examiner could be harmed by making a mistake inside the Lotus Peak.

 

He may not have caused any harm directly due to such concern.

 

Ju Seo Cheon would not have put up with it and was prepared to discipline him if he had crossed the line, but he didn’t.

 

Apart from Lee Geon, his interactions with the other Lotus Peak disciples were neither good nor unpleasant. Simply put, he didn’t speak to them.

 

He initially encountered looks of disdain since he had desecrated the sacred space of the testing grounds.

 

But that was only at first; when a year had passed, all of their looks had grown cold.

 

If he hadn’t been able to catch up in the spars, the tale would have been different, but Ju Seo Cheon followed up well, so they didn’t say anything.

 

Lee Geon was the only person who publicly expressed dislike.

 

On the other hand, life at the Lotus

 

The summit was serene. He lived his days without any mishaps.

 

He spent most of his time doing martial arts, and after his daily workout, he would meditate while thinking about the treasure of the Three-Eyed Immoral God.

 

‘There’s not much time left.’

There were two years left now. He had set up his plans diligently until now, and now he only had to put them into action.

 

‘When will it be.’

 

The disciples of the Lotus Peak moved faster than normal disciples in everything. The same went for going out to Kang Ho. 

 

They got to go out before they were even twenty years old.

 

Even if their skills were lacking they would still go out with a guardian by their side in the name of accumulating experience.

 

This was a tradition of the Lotus Peak and a way of education. It was something that would certainly happen.

 

Ju Seo Cheon hoped for that day to come and waited patiently.

 

There was a saying that if you looked in front it would be slow, but fast if you looked back.

 

After getting a hold of himself, one more year had passed.

 

“Ha, there is no one that matches him at least for his internal energy.”

 

Young Jin, one of the Five Elders, finished taking the pulse and got surprised.

 

Ju Seo Cheon was now twelve years old.

 

He accumulated six years of internal energy every time he practiced the Plum Blossom Life 

Arts for one year and thanks to that, the total amount of internal energy he had was fifty-one years worth.

 

In a little while, it would get to sixty years worth of internal energy. No other disciple of the nine factions would be able to show this much progress.

 

“You are only twelve but are close to what would normally take sixty years to reach. Fate must love you, it looks like you’re quite lucky to have found that miraculous medicine .”

 

There were not many people that were interested in Ju Seo Cheon inside of Mount Hua sect. The elixir maker Young Jin was among those people.

 

Two years ago, Young Jin had raised his hand on accepting Ju Seo Cheon saying that he would observe him.

 

Even if he said that he would observe, there wasn’t anything great about it. It was only checking the state of the body periodically.

 

‘It’s not thanks to the Water Spirit Fruit but the Plum Blossom Life Arts.’

 

Ju Seo Cheon smiled bitterly inwardly. Young Jin saw how Ju Seo Cheon’s internal energy increased exponentially with the passing days and misunderstood that it was thanks to the Water Spirit Fruit.

 

It was obvious as he didn’t know about the secret of the Plum Blossom Qi Arts. The Plum Blossom Life Arts.

 

“For you to have shared that good thing with that weakling. You are so cheap. You should have taken care of the elders of the sect first.”

 

Young Jin regretfully smacked his lips.

 

“He’s not a weakling.”

“Ha, look at how your eyes changed when I brought up your master!”

 

Young Jin’s tone increased.

 

“Stop teasing me. Is it that fun to tease a twelve-year-old kid?”

 

Ju Seo Cheon let out a sigh in a tired manner.

 

“Of course it is! Kukukuk!”

 

Young Jin was the person he had the most interaction with because he visited him to take the pulse periodically. They had become quite close in the past two years.

 

That’s how they were able to exchange jokes like this.

 

“If you have finished taking my pulse I will be taking my leave.”

Said Ju Seo Cheon quite grumpily.

 

“I came with news about your master.”

 

“Elder Young is the number one in Mount Hua.”

 

Ju Seo Cheon was about to stand up when he sat down again. He gathered his knees and placed his hands on top of them.

 

Two years ago, after Yu Jong Mok went out to Kang Ho, he spent most of the time outside of Mount Hua.

 

There was a time he returned but he received another order after a month and descended the mountain once again.

 

Ju Seo Cheon didn’t like that but he couldn’t do anything about it.

 

It was because Yu Jong Mok had all the good conveniences until now because of his weak body and it was now time to repay that debt.

 

“It’s not anything amazing so ease up.”

 

Young Jin relayed about Yu Jong Mok’s situation with a tired expression.

 

It wasn’t anything great.

It was something like what kind of mission he was on and where he was at.

 

As he got close to one of the Five Elders, he was able to hear news regarding his master even before he wrote his master a letter asking.

 

“That much is enough. I’m always grateful to you.”

 

Ju Seo Cheon bowed deeply and expressed his gratitude. Sincerity could be seen in all of his actions.

 

A warm smile grew on his face. That was a cool relationship between master and disciple.

 

“Ah, and you should also start to prepare to go out.”

 

Young Jin wrote down something on a paper and spoke.

 

Ju Seo Cheon’s eyes opened widely.

 

‘Finally!’

 

His heart beat wildly and his breath became faster. Something got released from his brain and released heat.

 

Young Jin didn’t know what kind of reaction Ju Seo Cheon was showing and continued to speak while still looking at the piece of 

paper.

 

“You should also know that you are going out to Kang Ho faster than the other disciples…”

 

Young Jin explained something but he couldn’t hear well.

 

Ju Seo Cheon calmed down his excitement the most he could.

 

‘Finally, the time has come.’

 

There was only one year left until the time limit so he had been anxious. But fortunately, that anxiety came to an end now.

 

Dispatched to Kang Ho. These words filled up Ju Seo Cheon’s heart.

 

Not everyone in Lotus Peak got out to Kang Ho. Only a few selected members did.

 

The priorities were set up with the time they could still spend at Lotus Peak. All the members that hadn’t been able to go out to Kang Ho before they turned fifteen were set up as priorities.

 

After that, it was by recommendation or level of martial arts. In the case of recommendations, one needed their master or an instructor to accompany them and after that the next priority was age.

 

Ju Seo Cheon had requested it from Yu Jong Mok through a letter. Yu Jong Mok seemed to be worried but he agreed unavoidably as his master, who hadn’t acted spoiled until now, pledged to him.

 

He would go out to Kang Ho the moment he was allowed to anyways due to the fact he was in Lotus Peak. There was no need to hurry.

 

In addition, disciples of the Lotus Peak that already had experience in going to Kang Ho naturally got removed from the priorities.

 

There was no need to worry about competition.

 

The members going out to Kang Ho were already set.

 

“Nice to meet you. I am Gu Pung, the one that will be taking care of you starting today.”

 

The Fourteenth Gallant Sword, Gu Pung.

 

He would be the leader and protector dispatched to Kang Ho this time.

 

His skills were preeminent even among the third-generation disciples. He was a pinnacle-ranked expert whose reputation spread even in Kang Ho.

 

It wasn’t only his martial prowess that was high, but his generation in the clan was also high. There was no one among the third-generation disciples that called 

 

Gu Pung as their fellow disciple.

He was also an uncle of Ju Seo 

Cheon.

 

“I will check the members before we go down.”

 

Gu Pung called out the chicks in front of him.

 

“Jang Hong, Jang Seo Eun, Ju Seo Cheon.”

 

“Yes!”

 

The three of them answered at the same time and their voice was filled with strength.

 

Gu Pung smiled bitterly at this and then patted the shoulders of the three people and spoke in a soft tone.

 

“We are not going to die anywhere, there’s no need to be that nervous. We are merely descending Mount Hua.”

 

The hard atmosphere became soft.

 

“Now, let’s go.”

 

Gu Pung took the front and they followed his back.

 

‘Fellow disciple Jang Hong and Jang Seo Eun.’

 

Ju Seo Cheon stood at the back of the line and looked at the boy and girl in front of him. The two of them had faces filled with expectation and nervousness.

 

Jang Hong was fourteen years old and among those his age and generation he was peerless. Jang Seo Eun was thirteen and was also the sister of Jang Hong.

 

Ju Seo Cheon got relieved when he heard that these two brothers would accompany him. Their relationship in the Lotus Peak wasn’t that bad.

 

It didn’t mean that they saw him in a good light,  but they didn’t despise him either. In other words, they were apathetic.

 

Nak Seo Wol had said that she wanted to follow him but she gave up because she was aware of Shim Ok Ryeon, who didn’t see him in a good light.

 

“Senior uncle, I’m curious about something, may I ask about it?”

Ju Seo Cheon asked Gu Pung.

 

“Ask whatever you want.”

 

“What is our destination?”

 

“We will advance southward to cross Chongqing and get to Guizhou.”

 

“Gui… Guizhou?”

Jang Seo Eun asked with a tense face.

 

“Right. That’s the boundary between the Righteous Faction and the Death Faction.”

Guizhou was a place where battles never stopped.

It was because the influences of the forces of the Righteous and Death Faction were split in half.

They battled nonstop to try and increase that force even slightly. Even though they were in a ceasefire, there were dozens of fights.

The area under question was the so-called region. Additionally, there were non-combative battles in Guizhou, so powerful factions sent their followers there to train them.

“I’ve said it before, but don’t worry; you won’t pass away. You won’t get wounded or killed since I’m with you and Guizhou is populated by Righteous Faction professionals even though it’s a dangerous location.”

When a martial artist showed up in Kang Ho, it signified that they would put the skills they had learned so far to use in actual combat and gain experience.

Although it appeared that they had come to sightsee, that was not at all the case.

“Chongqing!”

The fact that Jang Hong and Jang Seo Eun were traveling to Guizhou made them anxious, but Ju Seo Cheon wasn’t.

He placed more importance on Chongqing than on Guizhou.

There was the thing he had been looking for all this time.

The Three-Eyed Immoral God’s Treasury.