The Mending Studio - Chapter 9

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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 9
No one yet knew how far the contents within would transform his Sword Way.
Perhaps because of this awareness of possibility, even the air inside the Sword Hall grew heavier and more oppressive. No one dared speak first.
Click.
With a soft sound, the wooden box’s lid opened.
The moment Won Geomjin-in held the modest box in his hands, refined Wood-Attribute Spiritual Energy seeped out faintly. He froze at the very sight, astonished that such an aura emanated from a single box.
Yuk Musang carefully drew out the Calligraphy Scroll from within.

“Master, this is what I spoke of.”

The moment Won Geomjin-in saw the Calligraphy Scroll rolled neatly inside, he swallowed his breath without thinking.
On the surface, it appeared to be ordinary paper.
But after hearing Yuk Musang’s explanation, he could not view it that way.
The Calligraphy Scroll before his eyes might well be among the greatest treasures in this world.
Won Geomjin-in withdrew the Calligraphy Scroll with both hands.

“Master, be careful.”
“I know.”

His answer was measured, but his fingertips trembled slightly. He unrolled the Calligraphy Scroll with agonizing slowness, and the first character came into view.
Dusk.
In that instant.
Whoooosh!
As a colossal Sword Intent engulfed the entire Sword Hall, Won Geomjin-in’s eyes shook violently. Only a single character had been revealed.
Even the old man’s two arms trembled faintly. Across his weathered face swept surprise, exhilaration, and awe all at once.
It was majestic, as though an entire mountain bore down upon the earth—yet within that single character lay also a Death Energy both desolate and profound, as if all vitality drained from the world after sunset.
Just one character, and already this.
Won Geomjin-in steadied his breath, but trembling still lingered in his hands as he carefully unrolled the Calligraphy Scroll bit by bit. His gaze never left the characters.
The second character.
Rain.
The Sword Intent that came forth from the second character was utterly unlike the first.
Like raindrops endlessly pouring down, the Sword Intent was fine yet infinitely sharp, seeming to split flesh and bone with merely a graze.
Each strand of it possessed the ferocity to rend an enemy’s flesh and cleave their very bones.
The third character.
Scattered.
Between the dispersed strokes, the divided Sword Force appeared scattered at first glance, yet Killing Intent lay hidden in every crevice—so that one misstep would render unclear from which direction the blade might come, like a maze of swords.
Won Geomjin-in’s breathing grew progressively slower.
Dusk, Rain, Scattered, Frugal, Authority, Ascend, Mist, Insert, Remaining, Autumn.
Ten characters in all.
Yet not a single one carried the same Sword Intent as any other.
The characters that followed were no different.
Just when he thought he had grasped one, the moment he beheld the next character, an entirely different Sword Intent emerged.
When Won Geomjin-in tried to forcibly align one of the Sword Formulas he had spent a lifetime mastering, it felt instead as though he were constraining the characters before his eyes. He ceased chasing interpretations further.
Won Geomjin-in steadied his breathing and unrolled the Calligraphy Scroll fully.
At the moment the final character lay revealed, the landscape of the Sword Hall blurred.
Won Geomjin-in’s consciousness was being drawn into the Conceptual Realm that the characters had opened.
Within that realm, a thin evening rain now fell.
Sparse rain-streaked leaves scattered on the wind, and cool air brushed across his face.
Within that quiet landscape, the ten distinct Sword Intents he had felt moments before now appeared in succession. The vast Intent and the fierce Intent, the scattered Killing Intent and all its manifold variations existed together within a single scroll-painting, each consuming none of the others.
Won Geomjin-in could not tear his eyes away.
He could not claim that he had fully understood anything.
Rather, the more he gazed, the more mysteries multiplied.
And yet the sensation was unmistakable—somewhere within the long-sealed barrier of his Cultivation Realm, something stirred.
Hummmmm!
The Ancient Sword hovering behind him resonated of its own accord.
The old man’s whiskers and long robe rippled without any wind. The form of the aged Ancient Sword behind him grew distinct.
In that moment, ten thousand rays of twilight-hued radiance swept through every corner of the hall. From the floor of the Sword Hall, scores and hundreds of golden threads of Sword Energy sprouted forth, wreathed in the weighty aura of Magical Power and Heavenly Law, and surrounded him from all directions.
From a distance, it truly appeared as though a Sword Immortal stood at the center of the hall.
Yuk Musang instinctively stepped back several paces. Even to her eyes, the clear signs of Breakthrough were manifesting in her master, who had long remained fixed at this Cultivation Realm.

‘My master must have seen something too.’

Joy surged through Yuk Musang’s chest as she witnessed the spectacle.
At the same time, she felt the weight of her own limitations anew. Though the Calligraphy Scroll had helped her breach the sixth barrier of the Golden Origin Sword Scripture, she could not presume to have grasped all the Sword Way and Sword Intent contained within it.
The Sword Intent that Won Geomjin-in was seizing before her eyes differed from what she had realized, which meant that within the same written characters, layer upon layer of different Sword Way and Sword Intent lay hidden. What she had obtained now was merely one thread among them.
How much could truly be held within a single Calligraphy Scroll—each time she thought she understood, a deeper realm revealed itself. And so Yuk Musang, despite her joy, could not approach it recklessly.
Won Geomjin-in’s aura surged powerfully once more.
Now was the time for her to sustain the sensation her master had grasped of her own will. Without lingering further, Yuk Musang quietly withdrew from the Sword Hall and closed the door behind her.
The moment she shut the door, the waiting disciples pressed forward.

“Holy Maiden Yuk.”
“Has something happened to the Master?”
“The Sword Energy inside…”

Yuk Musang raised her hand to silence them.

“The Master appears to be on the verge of a Breakthrough.”
“A Breakthrough?”

Several faces brightened at once.

“Is that truly so?”

Yuk Musang offered no certainty. What she had witnessed were indeed the signs of a Breakthrough, but whether a Cultivation Realm sealed for thousands of years would truly open in a single attempt—no one could guarantee that until her master opened his eyes.

“The signs point to it. So from now on, keep watch around the Sword Hall. Let no one enter until the Master emerges himself.”
“Yes!”

The moment the disciples scattered, a beam of light fell from the sky, and a rushing sound rang out.
As the light faded, the hem of the long robe descended slowly.
Jang Hyun-jin-in descended before the Sword Hall.
The disciples all bowed at once.

“We pay our respects to the Holy Saint.”

Yuk Musang too offered her salutation.

“I, Musang, pay my respects to the Holy Saint.”

Jang Hyun-jin-in gave a slight nod.
His gaze turned toward the closed doors of the Sword Hall.
The Sword Energy leaking from within was extraordinary.

“So your master is attempting a Breakthrough.”
“Yes. That is also what I believe, Holy Saint.”

Jang Hyun-jin-in’s eyes deepened.

“Won Geomjin-in has dwelt long in this Cultivation Realm.”

He looked at Yuk Musang.

“And yet he obtained the catalyst for Breakthrough precisely today.”

Meaning lay thick in those final words—unmistakable to anyone who heard them.
Yuk Musang went rigid for a moment, gazing up at Jang Hyun-jin-in.
Jang Hyun-jin-in smiled.

“Musang.”
“Yes, Holy Saint.”
“Does this Breakthrough have something to do with what you obtained in Soji Town?”

Yuk Musang hesitated for a moment.
Jang Hyun-jin-in had watched her swallow her words several times from outside the Taehyeon Hall, so her reaction alone told him much of what he needed to know.
When he considered, too, that she had been the one responsible for escorting the new disciples from Soji Town, it was difficult to dismiss as mere coincidence.
He flicked his fingers lightly.
A transparent barrier enveloped them both.
It was a Prohibition Barrier that prevented sound from leaking outside.

“There’s no need to be anxious.”

Jang Hyun-jin-in’s tone was gentle.

“I’m not trying to steal your master’s opportunity. I’m asking because it may concern the Taehyeon Holy Ground as a whole.”

Yuk Musang nodded slowly.

“Yes.”
“What did you see in Soji Town?”

Yuk Musang paused to consider.
She had told her master, but in that moment she hesitated whether she should reveal everything to the Holy Saint as well.
Yet she was a disciple of the Taehyeon Holy Ground before she was a disciple of Yeonggeom Peak. Moreover, Jang Hyun-jin-in was someone who had already watched her swallow her words several times from outside the hall.
To hide things clumsily now would only deepen his suspicion.
Yuk Musang lifted her head at last.

“I’ll tell you from the beginning.”

What followed was nearly an hour of questions from Jang Hyun-jin-in.
From the moment she descended Taehyeon Mountain until she left Soji Town, Yuk Musang explained everything she had seen and experienced without leaving out what she could help.
How all eight children had revealed exceptional Spiritual Roots.
How she had felt an unusually clear Spiritual Energy inside Soji Town.
How she had confirmed the Sword Intent contained in the plaque of the Jang Cheong Miscellaneous Goods Shop and the Heavenly Law that filled the shop’s interior.
How, after viewing a single Calligraphy Scroll, she had entered the sixth stage of the Golden Origin Sword Scripture.
And the fact that the young proprietor who had written that scroll showed no Cultivation Level whatsoever and lived as an ordinary person.
Jang Hyun-jin-in interjected with questions at intervals.

“He called himself an ordinary person directly?”
“Yes.”
“And you couldn’t sense his Cultivation Level even through divine insight?”
“I felt nothing at all.”
“And the price of the Calligraphy Scroll?”

Yuk Musang fell silent for a moment.

“Three copper coins.”

Yuk Musang added that the younger disciple had bought two Wooden Hairpins for three copper coins as well, and explained how she realized from seeing this that she too needed to pay with worldly money.
Jang Hyun-jin-in’s eyebrows shifted.

“……Three coins?”
“Yes.”

He said nothing for a long time.
Then laughter burst forth.

“Ha-ha-ha!”

Yuk Musang watched him with a puzzled expression.

“Holy Master?”
“No. Now I’m almost certain.”

Jang Hyun-jin-in’s face lit with barely contained excitement.
He conceals his Cultivation Level entirely, opening a miscellaneous goods shop in a small town. He displays items imbued with assistance yet spurns the treasures of the Seon-seon Sect, even trading away a Calligraphy Scroll for a handful of mundane coins.
Most tellingly, he told Yuk Musang she was welcome to visit him again.

“Such a being has been dwelling within our Taehyeon Holy Ground all along.”

Even as Jang Hyun-jin-in spoke, he could scarcely contain his excitement. For one who had lived thousands of years, the prospect that a Hidden Immortal of the Age—possibly an entity from a Higher Realm—had been residing at their doorstep and personally opened the doors of instruction to his disciple was no trifling opportunity.
Yuk Musang nodded.

“Yes. He said I was welcome to visit anytime I had questions about the Calligraphy Scroll.”

Jang Hyun-jin-in’s expression grew more guarded. At the very least, this Hidden Immortal had not turned away the disciples of Taehyeon Holy Ground, and he had deliberately left room for his connection with Yuk Musang to continue.
Jang Hyun-jin-in gazed at the several peaks of Taehyeon Mountain for a long while, then smiled slowly. Yet he knew he must be careful in how he interpreted this meaning.
Convinced at least that they harbored no ill intent toward him, Jang Hyun-jin-in called to Yuk Musang first.

“Musang.”
“Yes, sir.”
“If you continue to nurture your connection with that one…….”

Jang Hyun-jin-in paused.
His gaze swept toward the far side of Taehyeon Mountain’s peaks.

“Then our Taehyeon Holy Ground might flourish for another hundred thousand years.”

To Yuk Musang, his words did not sound like exaggeration. While she was thinking much the same, Jang Hyun-jin-in withdrew the Prohibition Barrier.

“When your master emerges, tell him to seek me out at once.”
“Are you leaving, Holy Master?”
“I am.”

A faint luminescence gathered around him as he slowly rose into the air.
Yuk Musang bowed properly from below.
When Jang Hyun-jin-in had ascended some twenty zhang into the sky—
he suddenly stopped and turned around.

“Yuk Musang.”

His voice was far graver than usual.
Yuk Musang looked up.

“Yes, Holy Master?”

Jang Hyun-jin-in spoke with measured precision.

“From this day forth, I name you Holy Maiden of Taehyeon Holy Ground.”
“……Yes?”

Yuk Musang went rigid.
The disciples of Yeonggeom Peak around her did likewise.

“Holy Maiden……?”

Someone murmured the words softly, as though unable to believe them.
Yuk Musang herself could only stare up at Jang Hyun-jin-in in the sky, speechless.
Holy Maiden of Taehyeon Holy Ground.
Those four words lingered in the minds of those gathered at Yeonggeom Peak long after Jang Hyun-jin-in departed.
Yuk Musang felt it too. How could she not be overjoyed?
The position of Holy Maiden was no mere title of honor.
It was a rank that had never existed in all of Taehyeon Holy Ground’s history.
From the moment she received that name, she stood level with the Holy Saint Yi Jang-myeong as a candidate for the next Holy Master.
What gnawed at her was the reason.
Yuk Musang knew well that she possessed a Supreme Grade metal-attribute Spiritual Root and was counted among Yeonggeom Peak’s most promising talents.
It was indeed exceptional aptitude. Yet it wasn’t something that alone should elevate her to Holy Maiden.
By contrast, Yi Jang-myeong had arrived as a Supreme Grade dual-attribute dual-Spiritual Root, causing a stir throughout Taehyeon Holy Ground from the moment of his initiation. The Holy Master himself had taken him as a personal disciple.
Compared to him, she fell short by a degree.

‘And yet the Holy Master still chose me as Holy Maiden.’

The answer narrowed easily to three things: Soji Town, Jang Cheong Miscellaneous Goods Shop, and Yeop Jang-cheong.
The moment his name crossed her mind, Yuk Musang became conscious of the Storage Pouch tucked in her garments, holding a single Calligraphy Scroll.
That scroll had lifted her to a second stage and then shaken her master’s two-thousand-year barrier.
That such a person had called her to return again—surely the Holy Master could not regard that connection lightly.

‘What weight could another Spiritual Root carry?’

With Innate Qi alone, the Spiritual Roots of the children in Soji Town had transformed into Supreme Grade.
If that were so, could she truly say it would be impossible for him, if he set his mind to it, to craft her even a second Spiritual Root?
Dual Spiritual Roots.
Or perhaps more.
The moment the thought reached that far, her heart quickened, and she wanted nothing more than to dash off to Soji Town at once.
But Jang Hyun-jin-in had urged her several times before departing: to wait until after Won Geomjin-in returned to consult with him, and not to visit Soji Town rashly in the meantime.
Yuk Musang swallowed her longing.
That afternoon.
Word that the Holy Master had elevated Yuk Musang to Holy Maiden spread across Taehyeon Mountain in a matter of moments.
At first, many thought they had misheard.

“Holy Maiden?”
“In our Taehyeon Holy Ground?”
“Yuk?”

No one disputed that Yuk Musang possessed a Supreme Grade metal-attribute Spiritual Root and demonstrated exceptional Sword Way talent, counted among the finest at Yeonggeom Peak.
But the rank of Holy Maiden was another matter entirely.

“Still, Yuk has only a single Spiritual Root.”
“While the Holy Saint has a Supreme Grade dual-attribute dual-Spiritual Root.”
“Didn’t the Holy Master decide too hastily?”

The questions soon spiraled into wild rumors.

“Could it be the Holy Master made a mistake while cultivating?”
“You don’t mean to say he’s suffered Deviation into Madness?”
“Hush. Are you insane? Don’t let that reach anyone’s ears.”

—————
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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