I Kidnapped the Youngest Daughter of the Sichuan Tang Clan Chapter 165

Envy and jealousy were never particularly special emotions for .

In my life, I had far more experience with lacking than possessing.

At one point, I practically lived with jealousy always at my side.

Why does that child still have living parents?

Why was that person born with talent?

Why did that one get lucky and obtain a fateful encounter? And so on.

But, well… those feelings never lasted long.

Because I had pride in what I had built with my own hands,

because I had confidence I could achieve even more in the future,and because a bit of arrogance had taken root within —that I had already surpassed those I once envied.

At so point, the "above" was no longer sothing to look up to, but sothing to climb toward.

And so, there were few things that could make feel envy again, and even if I did, the feeling would fade quickly.

Surely, even this reaction to Gak Myeong, who gained enlightennt mid-sparring, wasn’t a big deal either.

"Tsk."

No, the more I think about it, the more absurd it seems.

How could a Sub-Perfection master gain enlightennt from a single sparring match?

I don’t know what he saw in , but… I wish he’d shown too.

I only briefly watched him, my posture naturally slouching with annoyance.

Despite his size, sitting down brought him nearly eye level with —that amused enough to sheath my sword with a soft chuckle.

Well, what good would envy do anyway?

Enlightennt is rely the trigger. Whether or not you can grasp it depends entirely on the preparations you've made up to that point.

Gak Myeong had been prepared. He would have gained enlightennt sooner or later, with or without .

So there was no need to obsess over the fact that we just happened to be sparring when it happened—

"Namu Amitabha! Brother Gak Myeong has gained enlightennt not once but twice before the end of the year! And it’s all thanks to this good karmic encounter with Benefactor Cheon. I offer my sincere gratitude!"

“Uh, Monk Geum Myeong! Shouldn't you be maintaining protective duty? We’ll help!”

“Haha. Your intentions are admirable, but leave this to .

From what I’ve seen, when soone like Brother Gak Myeong with his level of martial prowess gains enlightennt, he sotis draws in nearby internal energy to its limit. Normally it’s fine, but… if you stay too close, you may suffer internal injury.”

“Ah! Understood! Then we’ll observe from a distance, Monk Geum Myeong!”

The young Shaolin disciples scampered away, and Geum Myeong kept offering his heartfelt thanks to , face glowing with emotion.

But the only phrase echoing in my ears was:

"Twice in one year?"

I had managed to grasp a thread of willpower while facing the Blood Fla Fist Demon, but the last ti I had experienced anything remotely like enlightennt was years ago—back when the Orthodox-Murim Alliance and the Demonic Cult were still in fierce conflict.

In the chaos of battle, where multiple warriors clashed, I had managed to survive by wielding killing intent like a sensory field.

Since then, I’ve only focused on becoming more familiar with what I already have, regaining what I’d lost.

But nothing that could be called true enlightennt.

And yet this Sub-Perfection master had a casual spar and gained enlightennt? For the second ti this year?

Suddenly, my stomach began to ache.

At that mont, Tang Sowol approached with her usual bright smile—and instantly caught on.

“We don’t know who really won, but I suppose you now owe Shaolin a favor!…But what’s with that face? You look like soone forced to leave the training hall because it suddenly rained just after you drew your sword.”

“…Isn’t that a little too specific?”

“Well, it’s because soaked Little Cheon looks just like a drenched puppy—absolutely adorable, you know?”

“…?”

It was a comparison I’d never heard before in my life, and I was honestly at a loss.

But judging by her chuckles, Tang Sowol wasn’t just joking—she ant every word.

“You co trudging along all ssy, and when I get a close look, your face is all sulky.”

“I’ve never done that.”

“But if I shake the water off your head and play with you a bit, you smile and your lips twitch.”

“…So you’ve been playing with this whole ti?”

“Ehay. It’s just a way of speaking. Just words.”

Tang Sowol giggled into her wide sleeve, and I found myself tempted to tug on her round ears peeking through her dark-green hair.

Just then, Seorin narrowed her eyes, watching the golden aura surrounding Gak Myeong, and spoke.

“Well then, how was it, you?”

“What do you an?”

“The spar, of course. You looked like you were really starting to enjoy yourself when it got cut off—and then your opponent got enlightennt on top of it all. No wonder you’re so prickly.”

“I said it’s not like that.”

Ignoring my protest, Seorin poked Seol Lihyang’s shoulder beside her.

“What do you think, Hyang?”

“Hmm… He does seem a little moodier than usual,

but I don’t think he’s that upset.”

“You saw it too? Sa here.”

“Why are you deciding my emotions between the two of you?”

“Isn’t it true?”

“…It’s roughly accurate.”

Though the ending wasn’t quite to my liking, the spar itself had been enjoyable.

For one, I got to experience a Buddhist martial art—sothing that had nearly vanished due to the Heavenly Demon annihilating entire sects before my regression.

The Immovable Wisdom King Steps, especially, were fascinating.

Instead of using the body to control force, it was about using force to control the body.

That immovable upper body, the way force still transferred even when attacks were deflected—it was likely all due to that reversal of principle.

This wasn’t sothing that could be imitated just by moving one’s body the sa way.

It required incredibly complex internal energy manipulation, and a profound internal reservoir to support it.

But I didn’t need to be discouraged.

I had already achieved Divine Sword Unity, perfectly controlling every motion of my body.

A body that didn’t sway even during intense movent wasn’t sothing I considered extraordinary.

Since I’d seen it once, mimicking it to so extent was doable even now.

What truly impressed wasn’t the flawless stance, but the way the impact transferred fully even when deflected.

I didn’t know the exact formulas behind the Immovable Wisdom King Steps or Fist, so I couldn’t copy it exactly.

But the fact that such a thing was possible—that alone ant I could experint with my own thod.

For example—

What if I didn’t just contain the energy of a sword strike within the blade itself, but extended it into the sword wind?

Even now, my sword wind was sharp enough to slice flesh,

but not enough to claim a life.

Against soone with properly trained external techniques, it was virtually useless.

And the further the distance, the more its effectiveness diminished exponentially.

In truth, sword wind was little more than a cheap trick for cutting down weaklings.

But if I could fully transfer the power of a strike into the sword wind, its applications would expand dramatically.

A hidden trump card in an unexpected mont… or perhaps—

“Mn. Like this, maybe…”

Focusing on the sensation in my fingertips, I swung a knife-hand through the air.

My hand sliced through the air. And as it cut, it seed to carry so of the space along with it.

As if soone had pushed from behind, the motion felt far smoother than usual.

It was only my hand, and the swing was half-hearted,

but had I used my sword, it would’ve looked like the blade suddenly accelerated mid-motion.

This wasn’t simply swinging a sword filled with inner energy.

It was pushing the sword forward using both the arm and the inner energy together.

With more elents to manage, I could barely execute it once by concentrating fully—and even then, it lacked noticeable effect due to my inexperience.

But once I grew used to it, its power would skyrocket when applied to techniques that valued speed, fluid movent, or explosive impact.

It wasn’t enough to be called enlightennt, but…if I gained even one thing from it, wasn’t that more than enough?

My path is one no one else has walked. So there’s no need to compare or rush.

If I just continue forward one step at a ti…

“Ah.”

I forgot—I had a ti limit. Until the Heavenly Demon’s invasion.

The joy of learning didn’t last long. Still, I wasn’t overco with anxiety—just a tangle of complicated feelings. I sighed briefly.

That’s when Seorin narrowed her eyes again and said,

“What you just did… it’s quite similar.”

“There’s a clear difference in the fundantals.

It only looks similar on the surface. The actual execution will differ greatly.”

Gak Myeong was able to pour everything he had into that unshakable, straightforward fist of the Immovable Wisdom King Fist. But I couldn’t do the sa. At best, I could use it occasionally as support for my sword.

“Still, the fact that you sparred once and already stole sothing from it—isn’t that already remarkable? You grumbled about not gaining enlightennt, but you definitely walked away with sothing.”

“‘Stole’ is kind of a loaded word, isn’t it?”

“Regardless of your intent, that’s how people will see it. Just look over there, for example—at that wide-eyed disciple.”

Following her finger, I saw a young Shaolin monk standing with his mouth agape.

His na… I forgot.

But I rembered his face.

He was the runner-up at the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering and had been granted permission to observe today’s match, so he was likely considered a rising star within Shaolin.

After a brief silence, I spoke.

“If you’d like, I’ll show it to you again.”

His expression twisted bizarrely, like soone who’d just been cruelly deceived.

How unfair.

***

It had only been a short while since my goodwill—sharing what I learned at Shaolin without holding back—was twisted and misinterpreted as a cheap deception.

From ti to ti, bursts of internal energy leaked out from Gak Myeong, and in front of key Shaolin figures, including Abbot Jeong Hyeon and forr Abbot Gakjeong, Gak Myeong finally opened his eyes.

He hadn’t reached the Flowering Stage. That wasn’t sothing one could reach so easily.

He remained a Sub-Perfection master, but his energy had clearly transford.

He had leapt from a level I could cut through with intention

to one I could only barely cut through at full power.

After that…

There was a bit of commotion.

So claid I’d stolen Shaolin martial arts. But I managed to escape the controversy once I explained that what I had shown was only superficially similar, and fundantally different in execution.

Unfortunately, they asked to refrain from joining the second-class disciples' sparring matches.

“I miss the Namgung Clan’s boldness, letting learn whatever I wanted.”

“That’s because the Namgung Clan is a little strange. This kind of reaction is normal. Shaolin’s actually being generous.”

“This is why noble families…”

“You do realize you’re part of a noble family now too, don’t you?”

“Speaking of which, shouldn’t we head to the Tang Clan soon?”

“Mn. We’ve stayed quite a while. We’ve built good relationships and sparred plenty. We shouldn’t leave Little Cheon unattended any longer.”

As we chatted about when to return and how we’d get there—

I suddenly sensed a familiar presence in the distance—along with a familiar puppet.

“Hm?”

“Huh?”

As Tang Sowol and I tilted our heads in sync at the strange familiarity, a middle-aged man in green robes appeared before us in a flash of lightness skill.

Tang Jincheon opened his mouth.

“It’s been a while, Sowol. And you too, son-in-law. What were you talking about?”

“Ah… We were just saying it might be ti to return to the Tang Clan.”

“Hmm. So the conversation we had nearly a month ago still wasn’t settled. In the anti, the Hwangbo Clan has been annihilated, and for so reason, the Namgung Clan sent us a generous gift of gold and rare poisons. I assud everyone had returned ho by now.”

“Ah, well…”

“You see, Father-in-law…”

“Also, I heard Shaolin made the rare decision to allow a woman inside their temple, and not long after, one of the Vajra Warriors gained enlightennt. A month feels longer than it is, doesn’t it? Yet sohow, it still wasn’t enough for you to plan your return.”

Tang Jincheon’s voice made it clear—he’d had enough.

Neither Tang Sowol nor I could say a word.

He gently patted our shoulders and spoke.

“You’ll leave tomorrow. I brought the family’s carriage,

so you need only sit back and rest.”

“Understood, Father-in-law.”

“Yes, Father…”

Thus, the long journey that began at the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering ca to a close with Tang Jincheon’s arrival.

Rumors of the Ghost Shadow Thief’s Hidden Treasure would reach the Tang Clan months later, with a single encrypted letter arriving in their hands.