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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Bobt
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Possessed by the pain and exhaustion, Joo Seo-cheon found it utterly impossible to open his eyes.
Mustering all his strength, he could barely open them halfway, unable to move any further.
“Ah…”
With his lips as dry as dirt, he could barely muster a sound. All that escaped was a groan-like voice.
“Elder… if you go like this…”
His vision was already clouded like fog, and he couldn’t see properly.
Someone seemed to be calling for him, but his ears were so muffled that he couldn’t hear what they were saying.
“I am…”
Joo Seo-cheon
Muttering his own name, he looked back on his life.
The first memory that came to mind was when he was wandering as an orphan and was fortunate enough to catch the eye of his master, entering the Mount Hua Sect.
It was truly a stroke of heavenly luck.
The Mount Hua Sect was one of the orthodox sects among the Nine Great Sects, renowned for their swordsmanship. For an orphan who had lost his parents, it would be difficult to find anything more fortunate than this.
Since then, he had lived with gratitude to his master as a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, and before he knew it, he had risen to the position of Fifth Elder of Mount Hua.
“I was lucky.”
The title of Fifth Elder of Mount Hua was by no means lightweight. It was a position of high authority within the Mount Hua Sect, one of the major orthodox sects.
As heavy as the name was, it was not a position that could be easily attained, and it commanded respect from other disciples.
Martial arts prowess went without saying, and it required both intellect and importance placed on one’s reputation in the murim.
That meant one needed fame in the murim as well as accomplishments.
It was a position that could never be reached solely based on seniority or experience… but there were always “exceptions” to be found.
And he himself was one such case.
“I never thought someone like me would become an elder.”
He had been lucky to join the Mount Hua Sect, but it wasn’t as if he had displayed any particularly outstanding talent or achieved anything remarkable.
He was neither a prodigy nor exceptionally intelligent. He had lived inconspicuously, much like everyone else.
Of course, he had never even made a bloody effort, so it was a huge ambition to hope for anything more than that.
To begin with, he had never had such a desire in the first place.
Still, out of gratitude to the master who had taken in an orphan like himself, he had not been slothful in order to repay him. It was a truly ordinary life, one of just “getting by”.
Then, how had he been able to become the Fifth Elder of Mount Hua?
The answer lay in a life that had not been “peaceful”.
Over the decades, there had been an unusually large number of wars. So much so that later generations would refer to it as an age of war.
The outbreak of war, armistice, and the end of war had occurred so many times over the decades that it was impossible to keep count.
The Mount Hua Sect was also caught up in the whirlwind of that turmoil, and many disciples lost their lives.
Not only the third-generation disciples who were the sect’s core, but even the second-generation disciples who were elders and the first-generation disciples who were the senior members were affected.
The Fifth Elder of Mount Hua also saw its members frequently replaced due to involvement in conflicts.
And by the time those conflicts came to an end, they could no longer find any suitable candidates to serve as elders.
Although not a dullard, the reason why the ordinary Joo Seo-cheon was able to rise to the position of elder lay here.
While the position of Fifth Elder of Mount Hua could not be attained solely based on seniority, that did not mean seniority was not necessary.
If someone with outstanding martial arts but little experience and low seniority were to be made an elder, it would cause backlash and problems.
So they had no choice but to start with those who were a little lacking but had high seniority, and the fortunate one was none other than himself.
But even after becoming an elder, nothing changed.
As it was around the time when the age of war had come to an end, there was no threat to his life.
He occasionally assisted the sect leader or other elders, but otherwise lived well within the Mount Hua Sect.
While other second-generation disciples put effort into nurturing their juniors, he did not.
He didn’t even take on any disciples.
He thought he wasn’t quite at the level to teach anyone.
And just a few days ago, he had even reached the state of Awakening.
“Always…”
In his old age, he had belatedly found enjoyment in martial arts. It was thanks to being able to peruse various martial arts manuals after becoming an elder.
So he had somehow managed to reach Awakening, but it was too late. Perhaps instinctively sensing his impending death, he had been able to gain enlightenment in a momentary flash of brilliance before the end.
“It wasn’t a particularly meaningful life…”
Looking back, it was a life full of nothing but regrets.
He had never even experienced love, something everyone else had. He had been so overwhelmed just cultivating martial arts that he had never even held a woman’s hand.
He had wanted to make a name for himself in the murim, but he had been lacking.
It was an age of war that would go down as one of the most chaotic in the history of the murim. There had been countless anecdotes, heroes, and villains.
But among them, his name was nowhere to be found.
“Ah…”
His strength was gradually fading.
He thought this was how he would die.
Those who were watching over his final moments were people so unrelated to him that he couldn’t even remember their names.
They had only come out of courtesy because an elder of a major sect was about to enter eternal slumber. Nothing more, nothing less.
He wished he had a family.
He had lived alone for a long time, in loneliness.
He thought of his master, who had been kind but passed away early.
He saw the hero who had shown a reliable back during the age of war.
He saw the unattainable beauties.
“Yes, I…”
His consciousness fell into a bottomless abyss with no end in sight.
“Perhaps I had longed for such a life…”
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