<Chapter 5>
Woon-young awoke to a warm, cozy sensation. The sweet scent of fragrant osmanthus softly lingered in the air.
Every year, when the osmanthus bloomed, her nanny would carefully pick and dry the flowers. The dried blossoms were made into sachets and kept around Woon-young all year round.
The flower was known as “Manrihyang” (萬里香)—the flower whose scent traveled ten thousand miles.
To Woon-young, this scent was a reminder of childhood memories, but also fragments of a cursed past.
But now, it was also the scent that reminded her she was back at the Seol household.
‘As expected, I’m still ten years old today…’
Before opening her eyes, she first sharpened her senses. The surroundings were quiet. No presence was detected.
“Alright, let’s begin. I need to finish before the nanny comes.”
She got up from bed, flung the window wide open, and sat cross-legged on the floor.
Straightening her spine, tucking in her chin, and fixing her gaze to the tip of her nose, she confirmed her posture and closed her eyes.
All things in nature carried their own energy.
The sun (日), just about to rise, the moon (月), still lingering in the sky, and the wind (風) brushing her cheeks through the open window—all released their unique energies.
Through slow, steady breathing, Woon-young began to sense that energy bit by bit.
The fire (火) warming the room, the cauldron (金) boiling water, the ground (土) and stones (石) supporting her quarters, the trees (木) deeply rooted outside, and even the dew (氷) glistening on the leaves.
Woon-young focused and drew in that external energy. Gently, she guided it into her body.
With heaven and earth above and below, and oneself standing between, one is human (人). All elements of nature come together to form harmony (造化). And that harmony was what Woon-young sought.
The energy that entered her body began to circulate under her guidance, and in an instant—it burst forth.
A microcosm (小宇宙) containing the energy of all things was formed. The internal energy (內氣) that gathered began to settle within her body.
‘No, I can’t form a danjeon (energy core) right now. I only meant to sense it, nothing more.’
It was already astonishing to feel external energy on her first attempt. The fact that she could even form a danjeon right away would shock any martial artist. But Woon-young couldn’t do that yet.
If the Seol family were an ordinary merchant house, maybe she could’ve created a danjeon in secret without being noticed.
But the Seol household wasn’t so simple.
‘Nope, no way. Grandfather and Father would surely notice.’
If it had been before she fell ill, maybe she could’ve pulled it off. But not now.
With physicians constantly checking her pulse and Seol Jadan always watching over her, forming a danjeon was far too risky.
‘I need to proceed step by step. No matter what, I’m not stupid enough to be reckless.’
Woon-young refocused and slowly guided the energy.
She began to observe her inner state.
This was the reason she forced herself to cultivate—to assess her current condition precisely.
‘As I thought… full of poison. Tsk. Still, it’s manageable for now. I’m okay.’
If someone else examined her, the refined poison within her blood flow might be mistaken for impure energy.
She wanted to gather that poison and turn it into internal energy, but she held herself back.
‘I need to show gradual improvement. If I recover too suddenly, it’ll be suspicious.’
This was the conclusion she reached after days of lying in bed.
She would say she wanted to learn martial arts once she began to recover. If she formed a danjeon during that training, it wouldn’t seem odd.
Then, as she absorbed more energy over time, it would look like her illness was slowly being cured.
‘Ah, if only I could show this to that nagging know-it-all Zhuge who always scolded me for being impulsive…’
Zhuge Dam, the strategist of the Martial Alliance who used to clean up after her messes in the past, would surely have smacked his forehead hearing this plan—but Woon-young was unfazed.
‘My innate true energy (先天眞氣)… It really has helped this fragile body hold up. Just a little longer.’
Slowly dispersing the gathered energy from her body, Woon-young ended her meditation.
From afar, the faint tapping of small footsteps could be heard. It was the nanny.
Woon-young lay back on the bed.
“Huh? Why is the window open?”
The nanny muttered softly as she entered and saw the open window.
“I opened it, Nanny.”
“Oh my, young miss. The sun isn’t even up yet—are you already awake?”
“Yeah. I woke up early.”
“How’s your body? Anything hurting?”
“I’m fine. Nothing hurts.”
The nanny beamed at her response. Was Woon-young being healthy such a source of joy?
These days, the first thing she saw every morning was the nanny’s smiling face. Woon-young found it both comforting and sorrowful.
She remembered the last sight of her nanny throwing herself between her and an assassin dressed in black. Because of her sacrifice, So-kyo was able to safely escape with Woon-young to Jangju Hall.
But now that Woon-young had returned to the past, that hadn’t happened yet.
Still, could she truly brush off such vivid memories of so many events as things that never happened?
‘I’ve committed so many sins. Not just to my nanny. To my family. To everyone in the Seol household.’
Surviving alone, Woon-young had always wished—
To return to the Seol household. Or perhaps… to die with her family that day instead.
She dreamed of those familiar faces, haunted by regrets.
Longing for her father, she resented the fact she was the only one left behind.
Having survived thanks to the sacrifice of many, she didn’t even feel she deserved to cry.
To someday stand before them all and say she had avenged them—she did everything she could. Whenever she heard the name “Cheongung,” she threw herself into danger without hesitation.
Thus, Seol Woon-young came to be known as Hwayong Geomgwi (花容劍鬼)—the Sword Demon with the Beautiful Face.
“Is anything bothering you?”
Noticing Woon-young’s somber expression, the nanny asked worriedly.
“No, Nanny. I guess I woke up too early. I’m feeling a bit sleepy again.”
“Oh my, then you should sleep more. They say the more you sleep, the faster you recover.”
“Alright, Nanny. I’ll sleep a little more.”
“I’ll be right here by your side, so rest easy.”
Woon-young closed her eyes tightly. A warm hand gently swept over her forehead. She had to protect this warmth.
‘As expected, I have to become stronger.’
Cheongung.
They were vicious.
They gradually weakened the family’s power, and eventually orchestrated a bloodbath to annihilate them.
Before Cheongung’s name became known, Woon-young had wandered the martial world searching for her enemies. She had discovered other noble families that had vanished like the Seol household. But no clear pattern emerged.
They were all families who had quietly protected their domains for generations.
‘The Seol family hides many secrets—there might be more to this. But we won’t go down so easily.’
If Woon-young had returned to the past, then so had her enemies.
There was no way she could coexist under the same sky as Cheongung. If she did nothing, history would repeat itself. So, she had to find a way to stop them.
Start martial arts training now to stop them? Impossible.
Even with the best martial skills, insights from the future, and an extraordinary young body—it wouldn’t be enough.
‘Even if I start training now, five years wouldn’t be enough.’
The best strategy was to strengthen the influence of the Seol family.
She hadn’t paid much attention to family affairs before, but she still knew a lot.
The Seol family’s hidden strength was considerable. If she could build up the Seol household and the Seolwon Trading Company based on that, the enemy wouldn’t be able to strike so easily next time.
The downfall had begun four years later, after Seol Wonpyeong’s sudden death.
Her father, Seol Jadan, had done everything he could—but he couldn’t fend off the attacks from all sides.
‘First… I have to stop Grandfather from dying.’
Woon-young knew that Seol Wonpyeong’s death had been orchestrated by the enemy. So she could prevent it.
‘Right. I just need to turn the Seol household into the most powerful family in the realm. If even Namgung can do it, why can’t we?’
The family that gave birth to the future greatest under heaven didn’t need to hide in the shadows.
‘If the Seol family becomes number one, then I’ll get to see that smug face of Namgung crumble. Hehe. That arrogant look never gets old.’
With the knowledge of what was to come, she could accomplish much more.
‘First, I’ll make Seol the strongest family in the world, buy time, and then—once I become the strongest—I’ll root out Cheongung to the last member.’
This time, she would finish the vengeance she once failed to complete.
‘I’ll burn everything—leave not even the foundation stone behind.’
Crunch. Woon-young clenched her teeth tightly.
A plan no one in the Seol household would support, and one the Five Great Houses would balk at, was gradually taking shape in her mind.
Over and over, the power map of the martial world was redrawn and erased within her thoughts.
