The Mending Studio - Chapter 26

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 26
“Send the urgent letter at once.”
“What should it say?”
“Exactly what we see.”

The spy clenched his teeth.

“A Heavenly and Earthly Anomaly has occurred on Jedo in the very moment the Golden Immortal Statue was revealed at Jang Cheong Temple.”

Similar orders fell from multiple quarters at once. Standing before the main hall at that very hour, Yeon Yang-nyeon could not tear his gaze from the sky.
Tao Essence pouring from the Golden Immortal Statue.
Five-Colored Heavenly Light piercing through Dongsan.
Auspicious Clouds spreading above the Imperial Palace.
Phenomena that each alone would merit the name of miracle were unfolding in layered succession.
He found himself recalling the words of Yeon Cheon-san.
A man who felt himself insufficient even to discourse on the Sword Dao.
A man who had transformed Yeon Bing-sim’s Spiritual Root and asked nothing in return.
A man whom Yu Jang-ha had judged to be a peerless figure.
Only now did Yeon Yang-nyeon begin to feel the truth of those words.

“Your Majesty.”

A minister spoke, his face drained of all sense.

“If this is the measure of it, then truly the National Destiny of Daeha…….”

The words never finished.
Boom-boom-boom!
Thunder erupted across the sky above Jedo.
The clouds thickened in an instant.
Between the dark clouds, golden beams of light began to fall one after another.
The first.
The second.
The third.
In mere moments, dozens of golden strands connected sky to Jedo.
From within them, the faint silhouette of a human figure emerged.
One held a Go Board in their hands.
Black and white Yin-Yang Runes revolved around them, and with each stone placed, ripples like waves spread through empty space.
Another silhouette held a brush.
As a single stroke cut through the air, an unseen scroll unfurled, and countless threads of Tao Essence scattered like falling snow.
Yet another figure had a stringed instrument resting upon their lap.
With each movement of the fingers, sounds like water running through a mountain gorge rang out, then shifted again to resemble the crash of rough waves.
At last, a figure stood firm in the void with a sword strapped to their back.
They were poised upon an Immortal Sword.
Long hair and flowing robes danced in the wind.
All of Jedo fell silent.
No one dared speak easily.
Even those who had harbored doubts about the shrine’s establishment until moments before now lost their voices before the sight unfolding before their eyes.
Yeon Yang-nyeon was no different.
Born an emperor, he had witnessed countless rare mystical arts and Heavenly and Earthly Anomalies.
Yet never had he beheld a spectacle like this. He drew a slow breath.
Then, from behind him, someone knelt.

“Your Majesty, Heaven has sent down an auspicious omen upon Daeha!”

Following this, the other ministers bowed their heads in succession.

“A sign that the National Destiny of Daeha shall greatly ascend!”
“Immortals manifest themselves to add to our National Destiny!”

Congratulations and flattery poured down upon him all at once.
Yeon Yang-nyeon did not answer. He simply gazed upward at the countless forms of Immortals floating in the sky.
And for the first time, he thought with absolute clarity.
The origin of this Heavenly and Earthly Anomaly was not the Imperial Palace.
Nor was it Jang Cheong Temple.
It had all begun with a single person.
Yeop Jang-cheong.

“Your Majesty, Daeyon may well unify Jungju within a century.”

Someone spoke in an excited voice.

“With a National Destiny of this magnitude, even the impossible becomes possible.”

Yeon Yang-nyeon’s eyes flickered ever so slightly.
The unification of Jungju.
No emperor of the Four Great Kingdoms could fail to dream of such a thing at least once.
Successive rulers had attempted it countless times, and paid in equally countless blood.
It was not as though Yeon Yang-nyeon harbored no ambitions of his own.
To make Daeyon the strongest realm.
To etch his name into history itself—it would have been a lie to claim he had never entertained such thoughts.
Yet today, he could not nod his head so easily.
He gazed at the forms of Immortals within the golden radiance.

‘This is not a power I have earned.’

Nor was it Yeon Cheon-san’s strength.
It was not something Daeyon had obtained through its own national power accumulated over thousands of years.
This transformation had begun with Yeop Jang-cheong’s favor. The moment he acknowledged this fact, a strange oppression settled in his chest.
If Daeyon truly could, with this power at its back, devour all of Jungju, would he be justified in making even that decision?
Yeon Yang-nyeon thought not.
With a single word from Yeop Jang-cheong, Daeyon could ascend.
Conversely, if he withdrew his favor, everything could vanish in a single night.
It was a form of powerlessness he had never felt before in the seat of emperor.
Yeon Yang-nyeon swallowed a long sigh deep within himself.

‘If I am to become someone else’s game piece…… I would rather remain as Daeyon is now.’

It was not for want of ambition.
A unification in which even he was not the master was something he could not accept.
Yeon Yang-nyeon, looking at the ministers with their heads bowed, allowed a composed smile to cross his face.
And as though nothing at all had happened, he simply gave a light nod.
His outward response extended no further than that.
Though his exterior appeared tranquil, the tangled thoughts from moments before lingered stubbornly within him.
At that moment, a figure came hurrying up from the foot of the mountain.
It was an elderly man clad in the robes of Gi Sa Bu. Breaking through the barrier of Geum O Wei, he approached and threw himself to his knees without pausing to catch his breath.

“Your Majesty!”

Yeon Yang-nyeon’s expression hardened.

“What is the matter?”
“The Heavenly State deep within the Imperial Palace has been greatly disturbed.”

The old man’s voice carried an unmistakable note of excitement.

“The essence of the Great Dao is tangling, and Spiritual Energy is gathering. From the circumstances……”

He swallowed once more.

“Your Majesty appears to be on the verge of achieving Pa-gyeong.”

Yeon Yang-nyeon’s eyes snapped open.

“The Emperor?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The tangle of emotions that had bound them suddenly shattered.
Yeon Cheon-san had remained at the same cultivation level for thousands of years.
The entire imperial household had waited, but it was a barrier he had never crossed.
Now, at last, that barrier was beginning to crack.
Yeon Bing-sim’s eyes widened as well.
Just days ago, the Emperor had spoken with her, shared tea, discussed affairs of the realm.
His decision to pursue Pa-gyeong had sprung from the very insight he’d gained witnessing Yeop Jang-cheong’s Calligraphy.
Yeon Yang-nyeon hesitated no longer.

“We return to the Palace.”

He strode toward the staircase, moving with sudden purpose.
The Geum O Wei moved into formation at once.
Above Dongsan, the Five-Colored Heavenly Light continued to pour down without cease.
The silhouette of an Immortal had not vanished from the sky above Jedo. And amid all this, the Emperor himself stood on the threshold of Pa-gyeong—a breakthrough he had pursued for thousands of years.
It was a transformation that defied belief had occurred in the span of a single day.
And this news too did not linger long within Jedo’s walls.
Before the sun had fully set, multiple Urgent Letters departed Jedo, carried swiftly toward distant shores.
Their contents were all much the same.
Reports stating that when the Golden Immortal Statue of Jang Cheong Temple was unveiled, a Heavenly and Earthly Anomaly had occurred, and immediately after, the Emperor of the Daeha Kingdom showed signs of imminent Pa-gyeong.
Not long thereafter.
The Gojin Kingdom, the Daeha Kingdom, and the various cultivation sects scattered throughout Jungju all received the same intelligence.
The suspicion that had first taken root when the name Yeop Jang-cheong was heard now carried an entirely different weight.
None could any longer dismiss the Daeha Emperor as a man swayed by empty rumor and hearsay.
The eyes of Jungju turned once more toward Daeha—more intently than ever before.
The second report from Daeha transformed the atmosphere across the nations of Jungju entirely.
At first, all had doubted Yeon Yang-nyeon’s intentions.
It could have been a political smokescreen, advancing the name Yeop Jang-cheong as cover.
Some analysts suggested it was a ruse to conceal the true state of Yeon Cheon-san’s cultivation.
But when word came simultaneously of both the Heavenly and Earthly Anomaly at Jang Cheong Temple and the signs of Pa-gyeong appearing in Yeon Cheon-san, such speculation lost all credibility.
The study in the Imperial Palace of Gojin filled once more with courtiers and generals.
The Emperor of Gojin read through the Urgent Letter to its end, then fell silent for a long while.
His fingers tapped against the table, an unconscious rhythm.

“An Immortal has manifested above Dongsan…….”
“The possibility of exaggeration in the report is low, Your Majesty.”

One of his trusted advisors answered.

“Multiple spies witnessed the same phenomenon. The reports came from positions where they could not have communicated with each other, yet the accounts align almost perfectly.”
“And Yeon Cheon-san’s Pa-gyeong?”
“That also appears certain, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor of Gojin’s expression hardened.

“Fortune smiles upon Yeon Yang-nyeon indeed.”

Thinly veiled displeasure colored his voice.
Daeha and Gojin had long engaged in subtle contests of will and authority along their shared borders.
The absence of open war between the Four Great Kingdoms was an entirely different matter from genuine friendship between any two of them.
Should the balance of power shift, everyone knew which nation would face the first and harshest pressure.
An elderly official ventured to speak with measured caution.

“Your Majesty. If Daeyon’s National Destiny undergoes real change, we must prepare accordingly.”
“How?”
“First, it would be wise to cease friction with Daeha.”

A few officials in the study shifted their eyes.

“This is not the time to divide our strength over border disputes. Daeha has certainly received the same report, so there is a high probability they are also watching Daeyon carefully.”

The Emperor of Gojin nodded slowly.

“Are you speaking of an alliance?”
“At minimum, we must stop watching each other’s backs.”
“What if this man Yeop Jang-cheong intervenes directly in the mortal world?”

As the question fell, silence hung in the air for a moment.
The elder statesman answered.

“Then we have no choice but to petition the Eternal Emperor of Eternal Night whom we serve for divine mandate and confront him.”

It was not a choice to be made lightly. Yet if the opponent was truly a being beyond common sense, we could not respond with ordinary armies and investigations alone.
The Emperor of Gojin released a long breath.

“Very well. Send envoys to Daeha.”
“We hear and obey.”

In Daeha Kingdom, similar discussions were unfolding at much the same hour.
This time, voices first grew concerned with Gojin rather than Daeyon.

“Gojin will not sit idle either.”
“Of course not. They’ll be most anxious if Daeyon grows stronger.”
“It may not be long before they propose we abandon our border conflicts.”

The Emperor of Daeha listened to his ministers’ words and narrowed his brow.

“The critical matter is not Gojin.”

All eyes turned toward him.

“We must learn what this man Yeop Jang-cheong wants.”

He continued slowly.

“If one man can touch a nation’s National Destiny, the board shifts depending solely on which side that man favors.”
“Could it be that he has made Daeyon a game piece?”

Someone spoke.

“There are records that even a hundred thousand years ago, powerful beings moved nations and waged war.”
“Then this is more dangerous still.”

The Emperor of Daeha’s voice dropped.

“Mobilize every spy we have in Daeyon. His origins, his history, his purpose—learn everything you can.”

From that day onward, Jungju began to tighten beneath the surface despite its outward appearance.
The troop deployments along the borders shifted subtly, and urgent letters from each realm crossed day and night.
The Cultivation sects too gathered intelligence. At the center of all these movements stood a single figure whose identity was scarcely known.
Yet he himself knew nothing of this.

* * *

Soji Jin.
The morning at Jang Cheong Miscellaneous Shop was no different from any other.
Yeop Jang-cheong rose from his bed before the sun climbed high.
Nearly a month had passed since Yu Jang-ha and Yeon Bing-sim departed.
After sending the two of them off that day, Jang Hyeon-jin-in and Yuk Mu-ssang had stayed until evening.
Jang Hyeon-jin-in had remained planted before the Go Board, saying he wanted to learn the solution to the Four Dragon Capturing Map formation, while Yuk Mu-ssang had watched from beside him for quite some time.
Even now, when Yeop Jang-cheong recalled that day, a peculiar feeling settled over him.

‘Even with all that explanation, he struggled with it.’

At first, he’d thought Jang Hyeon-jin-in was merely feigning difficulty.
But looking at his expression, that wasn’t it.
Even when he’d patiently unraveled the basics step by step, Jang Hyeon-jin-in would get stuck at the same place again and again.
Had it not been for propriety, Yeop Jang-cheong would have wanted to ask outright why he couldn’t grasp even this.
Yuk Mu-ssang, standing nearby, was hardly any better.
For a moment, Yeop Jang-cheong had thought seriously about it.
If only he’d possessed a Spiritual Root, he might have earned the reputation of a genius even in the realm of Cultivation.
Of course, his thoughts went no further than that.
There was no way a missing Spiritual Root could suddenly appear.
That day, Jang Hyeon-jin-in had taken a great liking to the Great Mystery Jang Cheong Diagram.
Yeop Jang-cheong, having already drunk wine with him, simply handed over the painting.
As expected, Jang Hyeon-jin-in didn’t leave empty-handed.
Yet his gifts in return were somewhat peculiar.
An old Wooden Tablet with the character for “Mystery” carved into it.
And a Black Stone the size of an egg.
The Wooden Tablet at least looked serviceable as a decoration.
The Black Stone’s purpose remained a mystery. Yeop Jang-cheong had placed it on his tea table, thinking to use it as decoration at least.
After that, life returned to its ordinary rhythms.
In the mornings, he opened the shop.
When there were no customers, he practiced Calligraphy or painting.
In the afternoons, he set a chair before the door, sipped tea, and basked in the sunlight.
As the sun declined, he played the Qin beneath the willows in the courtyard.
After the Hyeon Bing Orb appeared, a new business opportunity had emerged as well.
Yeop Jang-cheong placed the orb in a small box to keep fruit cool.
At first, he’d made it for his own consumption. But when a passerby bought one, word of mouth spread quickly.
Though it was autumn, the weather remained hot.
Chilled fruit sold especially well.
In just over twenty days, his profits had nearly reached a hundred silver taels.
For Yeop Jang-cheong, it was a most satisfactory turn of events.

‘At this rate, I’ll have no worries preparing for winter.’

If there was anything strange, it lay elsewhere.
Four days after Yu Jang-ha and his companions departed, his sleep had grown unusually deep.
He’d never been one to suffer from insomnia before, but these days, upon waking, his body felt excessively light.
His mind was clear as well.
It was as though all the exhaustion in his body had been washed away without remainder through the night.
Yeop Jang-cheong had been attributing this to a single recurring dream.
In the dream, he was someone entirely different. Or rather, he was closer to a being standing above the world than to a person.
When he raised his hand, the heavens moved. When he shifted his feet, countless masters bowed their heads.
No one could oppose him.
People built a great temple for him.
They fashioned a Golden Immortal Statue and lit incense.
Countless worshippers called his name in reverence. How long such a life continued, he could not say.
Time within the dream stretched strangely.
Then, at some point, everything grew wearisome.
Endless worship, endless conflict, endless elevated station—all became meaningless.
In the end, he withdrew to a small, forgotten place where no one recognized him.
He wanted to live an ordinary life.
The dream ended there.
When Yeop Jang-cheong opened his eyes, the pillow beside his head was wet.
Tears had fallen without his knowing it.

‘What an odd dream that was.’

He dismissed it then without much thought.
But in the days that followed, his body and mind grew steadily better.
It was difficult to explain, but the change was not a bad one. So Yeop Jang-cheong didn’t dwell on it deeply.
He simply thought that things were going well for him lately.
And on that morning, his ordinary assumption wavered for the first time.
Yeop Jang-cheong finished washing and stepped out into the courtyard.
The morning air was clear.
Heuk Hwang lay curled beneath the eaves, sleeping soundly. Inside the shop, the items he’d arranged yesterday remained in neat order.
Yeop Jang-cheong settled before the writing desk with practiced ease.
He ground the ink stick and trimmed the brush tip.
There was nothing in particular he’d decided to write.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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