Hwasan Sect’s Genius Swordsman Chapter 41

Chapter 41

He tried to compare it to a passage from the Tao Te Ching, but no particular passage came to mind.

It seems he is still far from becoming a true Taoist.

‘I’m not cut out to imitate a Taoist.’

Moreover, Mu Hwi wasn’t the type to boast with grandiose words, so it was enough to simply say what the young disciples needed to hear.

“The Sect Leader has taught you the attitude you must uphold as disciples of the Hwasan Sect. Now, I will teach you the attitude you must uphold as martial artists of the Hwasan Sect.”

Mu Hwi drew his sword and, using the techniques of Riding Energy Rushing Technique, leaped into the air. He flipped his body mid-air, positioning his head toward the ground as he descended.

From the sword extending from Mu Hwi’s chest, a red sword energy surged, and the tip of his sword pointed toward the ground of Jade Maiden Pool.

The open area of Jade Maiden Pool was covered with blue stone slabs, each side measuring about five cheok (approximately 150 cm).

Crash!

Mu Hwi began to inscribe characters on the blue stone floor using his sword and sword energy as if they were a brush and ink.

In the brief moment he hovered in the air, Mu Hwi carved sixteen characters into the stone floor, leaving the elders in awe.

“Such clear sword energy! Mu Hwi has indeed reached the pinnacle!”

“Even so, leaving such clear sword marks on blue stone is no easy feat. Impressive.”

Only Baek San, the treasurer, winced every time the sword swung roughly, his face uneasy.

‘Ahem, how much is that worth? Another unnecessary expense…’

Baek San tried to calm himself, repeating that good things are good.

After finishing the characters in one breath, Mu Hwi flipped his body again and landed on the ground, simultaneously stomping his foot.

Thud!

The blue stone floor, split by Mu Hwi’s sword, rose abruptly due to the vibration from his stomp.

The blue stone floor, now standing like a stele, was split into four sections, with the sixteen characters divided among them.

Mu Hwi, now standing on the platform, slowly recited the characters he had written as the young disciples focused on them.

“Roots deep, stem thick.”

Only with deep roots can the stem grow strong.

“Stem straight, branches many.”

Only with a straight stem can many branches spread.

“Branches firm, flowers full.”

Only with firm branches can flowers bloom abundantly.

“Fallen leaves return to the roots.”

Fallen petals return to the roots.

Mu Hwi’s four short phrases, delivered in a clear voice, spread widely across Jade Maiden Pool.

The young disciples alternated their gaze between Mu Hwi and the characters carved into the blue stone, pondering their meaning.

“Hmm. How did he…”

“Impressive.”

The elders’ expressions changed as they listened to Mu Hwi’s speech.

Baek Chun, the Spring Plum Hall Master, had been watching the young disciples with satisfaction and now stared at Mu Hwi with wide eyes.

‘Those words contain the essence of the Hwasan Sect’s martial arts.’

Mu Hwi’s words weren’t a new discovery. They were a realization every Hwasan Sect disciple must eventually attain.

However, Mu Hwi hadn’t even received the Plum Blossom Sword yet.

It was astonishing that this second-generation disciple, who had barely mastered half of the Hwasan Sect’s martial arts, had already grasped and articulated this realization.

‘That child truly sees far.’

Baek Chun realized once again that the Sect Leader’s choice to emphasize the creation of the Plum Blossom Sword was correct.

‘Indeed, since it’s neatly split into four pieces, it wouldn’t be bad to take one and display it on each floor.’

Coincidentally, the Spring Plum Hall had four floors, making it perfect. Baek Chun planned to use Mu Hwi’s words as a teaching method for Spring Plum Hall.

Baek Chun smiled contentedly as he looked at the four steles Mu Hwi had created.

Meanwhile, Mu Hwi continued speaking.

“You are seeds. The Spring Plum Hall is a place solely for growing thick and deep roots. This time of learning basic martial arts will be the beginning and the most important time for you as martial artists.”

After finishing his final words, Mu Hwi bowed to the elders and stepped down from the platform.

‘As expected of the Master.’

Im Sanha, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Mu Hwi the entire time, glanced around at the other children as Mu Hwi descended.

The young disciples couldn’t take their eyes off Mu Hwi.

The vivid display of sword energy and the act of carving characters into the famously hard blue stone with a sword had left a deep impression on them.

Mu Hwi, who had left a short but strong impression on the young disciples, quietly took his seat, and the initiation ceremony concluded smoothly.

“Congratulations once again on joining the Hwasan Sect.”

As the number of young disciples increased, the Hwasan Sect began to regain its vitality.

* * *

‘Damn it.’

Musan’s sword trembled as he assumed a mid-level stance.

His hands shook slightly, and his feet seemed ready to retreat at any moment.

His mouth felt dry, as if his saliva had evaporated, and Musan felt like he might cough for no reason.

‘I need to calm my mind by circulating my internal energy.’

Musan slowly recalled the formula of the Nine Skies Mind Method, trying to calm his mind.

The warm internal energy, wriggling in his dantian, gently caressed the meridians throughout his body.

The chilling killing intent that had been binding his entire body seemed to loosen slightly.

Along with that, his vision widened, and he could see the person radiating terrifying killing intent.

‘Senior Disciple…’

Mu Hwi’s entire body was surging with killing intent, rising like flames

Mu Hwi’s eyes were pouring out a fierce light, as if they were about to tear his entire body apart.

He really didn’t want to go forward.

Even though he knew that the killing intent was coming from his Senior Disciple, getting closer felt like death.

But if he stopped here, it felt like everything would stop. That was even scarier.

“Huaap!”

Shaking off the skin-piercing killing intent, Mu-san leaped forward.

The first step was utterly clumsy.

The third step was a bit calmer.

By the fifth step, Musan had regained his original stride.

Then, the blade in Mu Hwi’s right hand flashed and emitted light.

A sword that curved like a snake. How could a sword appear to bend like that when swung?

*Clang!*

With a sharp metallic sound, Musan stopped.

He had to hastily pull back his sword to block the curved sword strike aimed at his throat.

Following that, Mu Hwi’s sword strikes aimed at vital points all over his body.

In response, Musan also unfolded the Falling Plum Sword and countered.

Following Musan’s sword, which crossed the training ground with the Ten Thousand Fragrance Sword, sword shadows continued to multiply.

A total of twelve sword shadows.

The surging sword shadows covered Mu Hwi’s entire body, but Mu Hwi severed all of them with a single diagonal slash.

Through the gaps in the split sword shadows, Mu Hwi’s sword burst forth like the intense sunlight of a summer day.

“Hup!”

Musan hastily placed his palm on the flat of his sword to block Mu Hwi’s thrust.

Clang!

As the impact caused Musan’s shoulder to jerk, Mu Hwi had already leaped to the upper left and was slashing diagonally downward.

“Huff!”

Musan struggled to control his breathing under Mu Hwi’s relentless onslaught.

Mu Hwi and Musan’s feet crossed each other, moving so fast that they kicked up dust in the training ground.

Clash!

The two men continued their fierce and blatant fight, reminiscent of a life-and-death struggle.

Currently, Mu Hwi is subtly mixing the sword techniques of the Hwasan Sect with those of the evil sect. He deliberately chose techniques that were thick with killing intent and vicious.

Because of this, the flow of the sword occasionally broke off abruptly, but it wasn’t a big problem when facing disciples. Since he mixed the techniques, disciples with limited knowledge couldn’t detect the Evil Sword techniques mixed into Mu Hwi’s moves.

Musan was barely able to counter the practical sword strikes aimed solely at vital points, sweating profusely.

That wasn’t all. Mu Hwi was generously displaying the despicable techniques that the evil sect wouldn’t hesitate to use for victory.

Ting!

A Go stone flew out from Mu Hwi’s fluttering sleeve, exploiting the gaps in Musan’s technique. Its trajectory was as cunning as a hidden weapon.

“Hup!”

Musan hastily retracted his sword and split the Go stone aimed at his waist in two. Because of this, Mu-san completely lost his rhythm to Mu Hwi.

‘Oops, I should have used the empty left hand at times like this.’

Clash!

Heart, brow, solar plexus, and dantian.

Musan continued to retreat under Mu Hwi’s deadly sword strikes aimed at various vital points.

The sword shadows of the Falling Plum Sword multiplied and blocked the way, but Mu Hwi simply cut through them and pressed Musan.

“Ugh!”

His body, stiff from the killing intent, hadn’t even fully relaxed yet, and with the relentless barrage of killing techniques, Musan’s hard-earned composure was shaking again.

‘What should I do?’

Musan’s eyes, holding his throbbing wrist, were trembling slightly.

Normally, Mu Hwi would give advice even during sparring. But not now.

It was as if they were in a real battle, radiating killing intent and unleashing deadly techniques.

Musan had to navigate the situation before him solely based on his own judgment.

‘Delaying time against the Senior Disciple is like strangling myself. A quick decisive battle.’

Musan, who had unfolded the Fragrant Step Technique to its extreme, closed the distance and launched a surprise sword wind.

Two streams of sword wind crossed and flew in, but they were instantly scattered into the air by Mu Hwi’s vertical slash.

At that moment, Musan was flying through the air.

It was to escape Mu Hwi’s line of sight, but Mu Hwi didn’t miss Musan’s movement.

Whoosh!

Musan’s sword energy filled the air.

A highly refined technique that asserted he hadn’t been idle while the Hwasan Four Flowers was wandering the martial arts world.

But Mu Hwi, with an expressionless face, swung his sword upward. With just two sword movements, Mu Hwi dismantled Musan’s technique.

“Kuhuk!”

Musan twisted his entire body to barely dodge Mu Hwi’s sword aimed at his shoulder.

Musan landed on the ground in an unstable posture, and above his head, a sword was already descending.

‘Oh no.’

With one knee on the ground and his body tilted, it was too late to move and dodge.

Why did Senior Disciple’s sword, which was too fast to be properly perceived, seem so slow at this moment?

The sword showed no intention of stopping. Did Senior Disciple intend to cut him down like this?

With his own movements, there was no way to dodge this sword.

Remembering something, Musan grimaced and leaped forward.

Musan rolled on the ground and narrowly avoided Mu Hwi’s sword.

The disciples watching the sparring were startled.

“Lazy Donkey Rolls!”

Lazy Donkey Rolls (懶驢打滾)

It meant a lazy donkey rolling on the ground in desperation, a term created by martial artists who despised rolling on the ground, valuing face.

Especially in the orthodox sect, and even more so among disciples of prestigious schools, they would rather die than perform the Lazy Donkey Rolls, considering it a great shame.

Mu Hwi was already stepping firmly on Musan’s waist as he rolled on the ground.

Mu Hwi’s eyes, looking down at Musan, were filled with a chilling killing intent.

Thud!

Mu Hwi spun his sword with his fingers and thrust it toward Musan’s neck with a reverse grip.

‘Am I going to die like this?’

The fear of death made him forget everything.

Who he was, what he had been doing until now. The only thing clearly remembered was that death was imminent.

Musan, having forgotten everything, only watched as the sharp light of the sword came extremely close.

“Huff!”

Musan exhaled roughly, as if he was about to vomit.

Because the tip of the sword was just barely touching his Adam’s apple.

Musan trembled all over as if struck by lightning.

“Musan, take deep breaths slowly.”

Mu Hwi held Musan’s pulse point and slowly infused internal energy. Musan quickly regained his complexion.

Only then did Musan wipe the cold sweat from his forehead and look at Mu Hwi.

“Senior Disciple.”

“Well done. This time, you lasted through twenty moves.”

As Mu Hwi smiled, raising the corner of his mouth, Musan weakly smiled back.

“This training is too tough, Senior Disciple.”

“That’s what training is for.”

Normally, Mu Hwi would have scolded him for complaining, but this time, he agreed.

The few disciples Mu Hwi had chosen were engaging in special sparring every day. Though it was called special sparring, it was practically a life-and-death battle.

Mu Hwi openly radiated killing intent and used all sorts of evil sect techniques to corner his disciples.

In this sparring, Mu Hwi acted not as himself but as the Sword Devil.

The ultimate goal was to expose the disciples, who would soon venture into the martial arts world, to the killing intent of a master, unexpected variables, and practical killing techniques, and to help them adapt.

This was a training method only Mu Hwi, who had been the Sword Devil in his past life, could conduct.

No one in the Hwasan Sect could radiate such dense killing intent, nor could anyone skillfully display the numerous killing techniques and methods of the evil sect.

“When you venture into the martial arts world, you won’t even flinch at ordinary opponents.”

When Musan first encountered Mu Hwi’s killing intent, he trembled all over and dropped his sword while standing.

Musan, who had improved this much, showed that the training wasn’t without effect.

“How long do we have to do this training?”

“Until you can last fifty moves.”

By then, they would be able to demonstrate their skills even against formidable masters.

Musan, getting up, blushed and bowed his head to Mu Hwi.

“Senior Disciple, I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For… Performing the Lazy Donkey Rolls in the middle.”

Mu Hwi sighed and spoke firmly.

“Do you plan to die standing while worrying about honor in a real battle?”

Musan closed his mouth at Mu Hwi’s rebuke.

“Even if your face is tarnished by the Lazy Donkey Rolls, you can live to restore it. What’s the use of maintaining honor if you’re dead?”

“Hmm…”

“If you hadn’t performed the Lazy Donkey Rolls and just stood there foolishly, you’d be getting beaten by me right now.”

Mu Hwi also spoke to the disciples listening around them.

“When you venture into the martial arts world and face real battles, remember this. Your opponents won’t treat you with honor and courtesy.”

Advice that only the Sword Devil, who had rolled from the bottom to survive and rise to become the top sword of the evil sect, could give.

The disciples bowed their heads at Mu Hwi’s serious tone.

“We will remember, Senior Disciple!”

* * *

When Hwasan, adorned with the brilliant colors of autumn, entered winter in its pristine white appearance, the snow falling from the sky covered Hwasan in pure white.

The path up the mountain was already treacherous, and with the snow falling in winter, even traveling the path was dangerous, making visitors extremely rare.

But there were sturdy men silently climbing Hwasan in the snow.

Moreover, each man carried a long wooden box on his back.

The beard of the old man leading the way was already white, so even with snow clinging to it, it wasn’t noticeable.

“Hoho, the plum blossoms are about to bloom.”

The old man’s wrinkles deepened as he saw the red color appearing on the snow-covered branches.

“Let’s push a little harder. Seeing the plum blossoms means we’ve almost reached the mountain gate.”

“Yes, Hall Master.”

The men of the Three Great Iron Workshops had arrived at the Hwasan Sect.

< Do you plan to die standing while worrying about honor in a real battle? > End

< None of you have stopped moving. >