[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith":3,"chapter-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-17":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Childhood Friend of the Zenith",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1239943,1667,"Chapter 16: Necessity (1)","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-17",17,"\u003Cp>༺ Necessity (1) ༻\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s been three days since we returned from the Nine Dragons Ceremony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s also been three days since I realized I could use the demonic arts granted to me by the Heavenly Demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’ve already circulated fire Qi throughout my body numerous times to feel any traces of demonic Qi but have failed so far.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While it was definitely a good sign, I didn’t want to let my guard down too quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They make me go through all this trouble even after death, those bastards.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The temperature of the training grounds quickly rose as sweltering heat radiated from my body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The heat, while stifling, shouldn’t be too dangerous considering that I was only in the second realm of flame arts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Still far from reaching the third realm, huh.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My understanding of the art was more than enough, but my physique and the amount of Qi I could muster didn’t meet the requirements for me to ascend to the next level.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, all I’ve been doing is just training non-stop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My muscles were screaming in agony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had to get out of this sauna of a training area lest I roast myself to death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cool breeze burst through the open crevice as I opened the door, sending refreshing tingles against my skin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey! There’s still dust over there!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hahaha…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Hm?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What’s going on here?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I got closer, faint outlines became more recognizable. A tall, imposing figure stood next to the Sword Emperor, monitoring him as he diligently swept the floors. It was a familiar figure, one with broad shoulders, over eight feet tall and an unruly mane of white hair – a sign of his age that seemed to serve no purpose other than to show a wild contrast to his comically large muscles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was none other than the Second Elder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oi! Sweep with more care! Over here, there’s still dust everywhere!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…What’s this crazy old man doing?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Elder, who had seemed so imposing from a distance, was manically pointing at the Sword Emperor and ordering him around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I never thought I would see the day when the great Sword Emperor got in trouble for something so mundane as poor cleaning technique.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Look at this. It’s as though you’ve never touched a broom your whole life!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The specks of dust still lying around were so sparse that one could barely see it even after enhancing their vision with Qi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…Well, this is certainly something I wish I hadn’t stumbled upon.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both the Second Elder and the Sword Emperor were active at around the same era.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They definitely knew each other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So what is this farce that I’ve stumbled across?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you doing here, Lord Second Elder?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh! You are here, Yangcheon.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Did you come here just to bully an elderly man?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sword Emperor may have asked me to call him by his name, but knowing his true identity, I couldn’t possibly bring myself to do it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I mean, this old man can’t even sweep correctly. Tsk tsk, he shouldn’t be paid at all if he always works like this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But…I don’t see any dust, though?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Isn’t it clean enough…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Absolutely not! If this is the standard you hold, it’s no wonder this place is always so dirty!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was he on about?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To a normal human being, this place would look completely spotless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The servants and even Wi Seol-Ah worked hard to keep it this way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So what was with this strange behavior? Was he purposefully trying to get on the Sword Emperor’s nerves?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No… Surely a respected elder of a reputable clan wouldn’t do such a petty thing. Surely… Right?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…Is the Sword Emperor fine with this?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sword Emperor, who had a smile on his face as he always had, didn’t pay any attention to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He just kept sweeping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hahaha…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, a person that got the title of “Sword Emperor” wouldn’t get pissed at such-\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hahaha!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Nevermind, he’s fuming.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When I looked closely, I saw veins starting to form on his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I tried to get some distance from the ticking time bomb, I was caught by the Second Elder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Have you just finished your training?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes Senior, as you can see.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s the matter, sir?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nothing. Your escort was waiting for you over there, by the way.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Elder pointed to the entrance of my house.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Muyeon?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had he been waiting outside for me?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I thought I told him to come inside if he needed to tell me something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, Senior. I’ll be leaving.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You are leaving…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was going to make my way towards Muyeon, but the Second Elder stopped me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you hungry by any chance, Yangcheon? This old man brought something really delicious-“\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Young Master had already finished his meal earlier.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Elder was unceremoniously cut off by the Sword Emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh! You have some nerve to dare to interrupt the conversation between two members of the prestigious Gu Clan!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why are you acting like this, Second Elder-“\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stopped in the middle of my sentence as I felt the temperature drop a few degrees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘What’s with this sudden bad premonition that I feel…?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My honed instincts were screaming at me to get out of there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The unsettling feeling came from the Sword Emperor, who was still sweeping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…Hm.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wasn’t sure, but it seemed the Sword Emperor was signaling for me to leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If that’s the case, I’ll gladly heed your warning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lord Second Elder, I have something urgent that needs to be taken care of.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then this old man will also-“\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Take care, Senior.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t stop to hear what he said after that. If I stayed there any longer, I’d definitely get caught up in something bad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I quickly fled, running away from the Second Elder, who was still trying to stop me from leaving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>* * * *\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Gu Yangcheon left, the Second Elder and the Sword Emperor stood in awkward silence outside the training area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Elder’s eyes darted across the perimeter nervously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘There are too many trees in front of the wall… Do I have to jump over the roof?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…He was looking for a way to escape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the almighty Sword Emperor do paltry housework lit a mischievous spark within the Second Elder. Seeing a man as powerful as him simply sweeping the floors was ridiculous, after all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he could admit that he may have gotten a bit too immersed in his teasing. But, of course, it was to be expected of a man whose nature was to act before thinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Elder felt a foreboding sense of danger for the first time in years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…I went too far.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the Sword Emperor Wi Hyogun may appear to be a feeble old man, it was impossible to mistake the bloodlust that emanated from him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘A sword fanatic who immediately slaughters his enemies on sight.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To the Unorthodox Faction, the Sword Emperor was a psychopath who hunted and killed them without mercy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sword Emperor never hesitated to hunt down evil after all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Gu Ryoon.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second elder’s hair prickled as the atmosphere became icy. It was a feeling he hadn’t felt in a while.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ahem… Could it be that you are angry, Senior? I was just being a little playful. With how I treated you, I’m sure Gu Yangcheon wouldn’t notice who you were-“\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That child really is magnificent.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Hmm?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He was different two days ago, he was different yesterday, and today he is different yet again.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Elder, who had been busy searching for an exit, was caught off guard by the comment from the Sword Emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Every day he changes.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the Sword Emperor first met Gu Yangcheon, all he saw was just a son of the Gu Clan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sword Emperor may have been taught not to judge a person based solely on their rumors, but that was all to it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In comparison to other members of the Gu Clan, his fire Qi wasn’t anything to write home about, and his own natural talent seemed to be even less impressive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was just the son of the Gu Clan and only that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the Gu Yangcheon the Sword Emperor knew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘But now?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He recalled Gu Yangcheon’s figure that had just left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His fire Qi hadn’t increased, nor did it get hotter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was stable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Gu Clan’s fire Qi was known to be the most ferocious in the Orthodox Factions, only Peng Clan’s Qi could contend with it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t easy to keep such untamable Qi from fluctuating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It required one to possess both natural talent and to train for many years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Gu Yangcheon was still so young, so he couldn’t have trained for that long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So it had to have been his talent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“While it didn’t feel all that special, fire Qi of that nature is almost impossible to achieve at his age.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I was also surprised when I saw him at the ceremony. It may have been a while since I last saw him, but I didn’t expect that he’d change that much.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Are you telling me he wasn’t like that the last time you saw him?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It was only 3 months ago that he ran away saying that he couldn’t bear to train.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The kid that had acted so immaturely changed had grown up so suddenly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The time he spent training now wasn’t even in the same realm as the meager amount he had spent before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to his servants and escorts, so long as he wasn’t eating or sleeping, he was training.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the training he did was no laughing matter, either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sword Emperor, who always kept an eye on him, knew that Gu Yangcheon never slacked in his training.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What made that child wake up all of a sudden?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was obvious that humans changed over time, but there had to be a reason behind each change – something that drove them to do something different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the law of nature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What caused Gu Yangcheon to change? The Sword Emperor was endlessly curious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re thinking too hard on this one.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Elder clicked his tongue at the Sword Emperor. In his view, old age had left the Sword Emperor with too much time to ponder things over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Something good is still in the realm of being good. Why do things have to be complicated?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the Second Elder, he was just glad that all his previous issues regarding Gu Yangcheon had been resolved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘What would the First Elder think about this?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Elder recalled the conversation he had with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had been worried about introducing the idea of Gu Yangcheon becoming the next lord to the First Elder in fear that he’d be opposed to it. Gu Yangcheon had lacked a good work ethic, and without any talent to compensate, the idea simply hadn’t been feasible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Elder was relieved his biggest worries were left unfounded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Senior, sometimes it’s best to keep things simple. It is what it is.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no way the elder’s words would reach the Sword Emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially since the Sword Emperor’s family was involved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you for the advice.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sword Emperor showed his gratitude regardless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ahem… Well, now that we are done here, I’ll take my leave-“\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Where do you think you’re going?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I mean, I’ve met with both you and Gu Yangcheon, so I have other things to attend to-“\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Gu Ryoon, don’t we still have something important to discuss?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about-“\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Elder paused as he felt the mood shift once again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sword Emperor, who had a languid smile on his face, spoke calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why don’t you keep coaching me on my sweeping? I’m very eager to learn.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Second Elder was suddenly reminded of his past actions. It seems he hadn’t been forgiven that easily after all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘This man who gets easily butthurt…’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The very instant the Sword Emperor took a step towards the elder, the Second Elder jumped over the roof.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had been planning the escape route the whole time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>* * * * *\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>-Thud-Thud!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s going on outside? Why is it so loud?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I heard yesterday that a new building is being built in the clan.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Really? It must be a big project for me to hear it from here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something about that noise felt off, but I shook off the odd feeling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t afford to think about insignificant things like a new building being built right now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I walked towards the entrance, Muyeon seemed to have something important for me since he looked restless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, I couldn’t help but inquire what was up with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his hands was a letter containing the exact message I had been waiting for.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Your request, I’ll accept it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I gave a big smile as I received the news.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t have to ask where this letter was from.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hao Clan has finally contacted me.\u003C\u002Fp>",2179,"2026-06-05T15:09:39.031Z",1,"novelbin.me","d68efda6d0a98cd131099321786f26127956c962071337ee972ec452d6f0819c","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-18","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-16",974,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fchildhood-friend-of-the-zenith-cover.jpg"]