Chapter 578

## Chapter 578: The Lazy Farewell (3)

“I will really try my best. I will be a disciple you won’t be ashamed of. Although, of course, I’ll never reach your level…”

“You’re talking nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense…”

Wei Yanho’s trembling lips moved.

“I’ve thought about it… many times.”

Words he never dared to say.

Thoughts he kept only to himself. But that one day he had to express.

“If it hadn’t been me…”

If it hadn’t been me.

“If someone else had found that cave… if someone better than me had met you and become your disciple…”

Wei Yanho’s wet voice flowed slowly.

“Then your martial legacy would have been transmitted more completely. If I had been a little smarter, a little more diligent…”

Why didn’t he know it then?

How great the legacy he carried was.

If only he had understood it a little earlier.

“I’m sorry, master…”

He didn’t even try to wipe away the falling tears.

“Sorry for being so stubborn. For being so stupid… for not understanding anything. That’s why…”

He only knew it later.

What it was that he had learned.

What it was that had been transmitted to him.

How great the martial artist who was looking at him smiling in front of him was.

He knew nothing.

That’s why he could be so insolent. That’s why he could behave so badly. But now he understands. He knows how stupid his actions were.

Baek Muhan’s legacy should not disappear like this.

Every breath, every movement should be transmitted to future generations without the slightest deviation. His sword was the history of the martial world, the very essence of thousands of years of martial tradition.

And he buried it because of his stubbornness.

And it can never be restored.

Now he understands the magnitude of what he did. He can’t help but know it.

And that’s why he can’t bear the weight of this guilt.

“If it hadn’t been me…”

*Tok.*

Baek Muhan firmly shook Wei Yanho’s head.

“Fool.”

The hand holding his head squeezed tightly.

“Yes, you’re not entirely wrong. It’s true that you are not the most suitable disciple to inherit my martial legacy.”

“…”

“But that’s all.”

Baek Muhan looked at Wei Yanho with a warm expression like no other.

“You are an insufficient disciple to inherit my martial art. But for me, you are the most perfect disciple in the world.”

They were breathtaking words.

“Martial art is only a part of what I am. It’s not all that I am. What I had to transmit was not only the martial art.”

Baek Muhan’s eyes did not show the slightest hesitation.

They were eyes that only spoke truth, without a hint of falsehood. Wei Yanho could feel it with certainty.

“I was wrong too. I shouldn’t have waited for someone to inherit my martial art. I should have looked for someone to inherit me. The moment I decided to hide in that cave waiting for someone to arrive, everything started to go wrong. But you came to me, as if destiny had decided it. Not as the heir to my martial art, but as my disciple.”

“Master…”

“Do you think you are not enough?”

Baek Muhan slowly shook his head.

“No, you were not the insufficient one. It was me. I didn’t know what to teach you, I only wanted to transmit. It was my insufficiency that made you suffer. Forgive this useless master.”

“…Don’t say that.”

“Boy.”

Baek Muhan’s face shone.

Without a trace of regret, that serene expression broke Wei Yanho’s heart.

“Yanho.”

“Yes, master.”

“Don’t cling to that.”

“But…”

“Don’t chase my shadow. If you do, you will only see my shadow for the rest of your life. Forget about surpassing me too. The important thing is that you walk your own path.”

“…My own path.”

“Yes, your path.”

Baek Muhan smiled.

“Life is too precious to waste trying to surpass my achievements. You have too much potential, too many paths ahead.”

“But the situation is not the best to find that.”

“Nothing can be perfect.”

Baek Muhan gently caressed Wei Yanho’s head and smiled.

“Maybe the world is a little cruel to you. The mountains you must climb may be too high. But what does it matter? In the end, they are obstacles that you must overcome.”

“…”

“I believe you can do it.”

“…Really?”

“Of course.”

Firm.

And warm.

That’s why…

That’s why it hurts more.

“Because you are my only disciple.”

Just as Baek Muhan is special to Wei Yanho, or even more so, Wei Yanho is special to Baek Muhan.

There was no one who transcended age and time to understand Baek Muhan as Wei Yanho did.

The First Sword of All Time.

The Radiant Sword.

The Perfector of the Infinity Sword.

Beyond those empty titles, Wei Yanho was the first and the last to see Baek Muhan as a simple human being.

Just as Wei Yanho found comfort in Baek Muhan that he did not find in his parents or siblings, Baek Muhan also received from Wei Yanho a warmth that he had never felt in his life.

*’Only after dying.’*

Baek Muhan smiled bitterly.

If he had understood these feelings, these emotions a little earlier, would anything have changed in his life?

*’Do I regret it?’*

Yes.

Yes, I do.

A little.

But it’s okay. Because his disciple, his other self, will see the world that he could not see, will feel what he could not feel.

“Now it really is the end.”

“Master…”

“Yanho.”

“…Yes.”

“Were you happy?”

“…”

Wei Yanho’s lips trembled.

Happy?

Getting hit every day, being scolded constantly, kicked when he least expected it… how could he have been happy?

Happy…

Wei Yanho covered his face with his hands.

How could he say no?

When everything feels so vivid.

So clear.

When the days with his master remain so warm in his memory, how could he say that he was not happy?

He can’t hold back the tears that burst out.

He can’t speak because he knows that only weak words will come out, how… how could he do it?

“That’s enough.”

It seems he doesn’t need an answer.

“…Master.”

“Mm?”

“Are you really an illusion?”

“Who knows?”

Baek Muhan smiled.

“Aren’t you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is there still some of your energy left in my core? Do you only appear in my dreams because you no longer have the strength?”

“Maybe.”

Baek Muhan avoided giving a clear answer.

But what does it matter?

It doesn’t matter if the Baek Muhan in front of him is real or not. The important thing is that Wei Yanho knows that he cannot deny that he is in front of his master, and that after this, he will never see him again.

*’If I had known this, I would not have strived to be stronger.’*

The Dream Training is a martial art that ends when a certain level is reached. And Wei Yanho reached the level that Baek Muhan originally wanted. What loses its value, disappears.

Now it’s time to wake up from this dream.

“Couldn’t you stay a little longer?”

“…”

“You know this is not enough. The Bishops are one thing, but that Heavenly Demon or whatever is too strong. Letting me out like this is abandoning me.”

“There’s nothing I can do.”

“There must be some way…”

Wei Yanho closed his mouth.

His master’s face, seen through his tears, looked sad.

Then Wei Yanho understood.

The one who is really sad is not him.

Even if Baek Muhan is not there, he can still meet people, talk, live. But for Baek Muhan, this really is the end.

So he shouldn’t complain.

Because this is different from the last farewell.

Unlike the sudden farewell in the past, for which he had no time to prepare and which was clumsy until the end, Wei Yanho knew that this moment would come one day.

He shouldn’t behave like a child who doesn’t want to accept it. It would be like showing his master that he hasn’t changed at all since he left the cave.

And that’s the last thing Baek Muhan would want to see.

“Master.”

At Wei Yanho’s call, Baek Muhan only smiled.

“I… I’ll do well.”

Wei Yanho also forced a smile.

Although his face looked strange, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry.

“I can really do well. After all, I’m your disciple. Do you know how surprised people are when they hear that I’m the disciple of the Sword Emperor Baek Muhan? I’m someone incredible. So… so…”

Wei Yanho puffed out his chest.

“So don’t worry and just watch. I will make your name resonate in the world once again.”

“Enough, boy. Who asked you to do that?”

“…Huh?”

“Don’t worry about nonsense and worry about yourself. Please, be a little less Lazy! Take a bath! Stay clean, you dirty thing!”

“What…?”

Isn’t this supposed to be different?

“And one more thing…”

The master spoke firmly.

“That Heavenly Demon is undoubtedly a formidable opponent. In your current state, you couldn’t beat him.”

“…”

“What should you do then?”

“Become stronger.”

Baek Muhan nodded, satisfied with Wei Yanho’s answer.

“Yes, that’s what you should do.”

“But master, a moment ago you said that I shouldn’t obsess over becoming stronger…”

“That’s another thing!”

Wei Yanho’s cheek puffed up.

*’Until the end, you do what you want.’*

But of course.

That’s how Baek Muhan is. That’s how it has to be…

“Yanho.”

“Yes.”

“Find your way. The same with martial art. Don’t follow me. All the answers are within you. If you look at yourself, you will find the way.”

“…Sounds difficult.”

“Everything that’s worth it is.”

Baek Muhan raised his sword calmly.

“What else are you going to show me?”

Baek Muhan only smiled without answering. Then he dropped the sword to the ground.

“…”

Afterwards, he stared at Wei Yanho.

Wei Yanho thought he understood the meaning of that act.

“Master, I…”

What should he say?

That he will become strong? That he will be a disciple he won’t be ashamed of? That he will win without fail?

No.

No.

That’s not the answer his master expects. What Baek Muhan wants is just…

“Master, I…”

Uncontrollable tears, lips that don’t stop trembling, a body that shakes.

Containing all that, Wei Yanho opened his mouth.

“I will be happy.”

The words burst out like an explosion.

“I will be happier than anyone! Really… more than anyone, so don’t worry about me, master. I… I’ll be fine.”

The master smiled.

Softly, with affection.

And…

as magnificently as he will never see him again.

Wei Yanho did not take his eyes off his master’s gradually blurring figure. Knowing that this would be the last time, his eyes fixed without blinking, as if wanting to engrave every detail of his master in his mind.

An inevitable farewell.

The last one.

So, this time, he must let go of his master.

“…Goodbye.”

Words of farewell.

“Goodbye.”

Words that must be said smiling.

“Goodbye…”

Wei Yanho bowed his head.

As the world around him slowly crumbles, along with a farewell that he cannot complete.

The long Dream Training ends here.

Following the warm memory of a master who is no longer there, Wei Yanho slowly closed his eyes.

“…Goodbye.”