Hwasan Sect’s Genius Swordsman Chapter 46

Chapter 46

The Plum Blossom Sword slowly draws its trajectory.

As I channel my inner energy using the Heavenly Containment Heart Technique, a red and white sword energy begins to flow out, different from usual.

The red and white sword energy flowing along the blade did not rise long and straight as it normally would.

Instead, finely fragmented red sword energy scattered along the path of the sword, like falling petals.

This is the Plum Blossom Sword Energy.

The sword energy seemed to blend white and red plum blossoms together in black ink.

Swish!

As the Plum Blossom Sword split the cold winter wind, the space once filled with wind was now filled with the floating Plum Blossom Sword Energy.

The sword energy’s petals bloomed between the bare branches, as if time had suddenly shifted to the midpoint between winter and spring when plum blossoms are in full bloom.

The fragments of white and red sword energy floated through the air, rippling along Mu Hwi sword’s movement.

The Plum Blossom Sword Energy enticed onlookers with its mesmerizing, almost bewitching changes. The dazzling beauty made one instinctively reach out their hand.

The first reason the Hwasan Sword was embodied as a plum blossom.

‘Infinite Variations.’

Infinite Variations (萬變)

The soft, pure white visible from both inside and out, and the deep crimson that draws you in the more you look. This is the white and red plum blossom.

The stark contrast of these colors captivated the viewer’s eyes, and the flower petals scattered by the wind embodied a dazzling transformation, unbound by form or reason.

Hwasan Sect sought to embody this change in their sword, aiming to extend their blade beyond all obstacles in every direction.

Swish!

As the tilted Plum Blossom Sword drew a red diagonal line, the Plum Blossom Sword Energy floating between the trees surged toward the surrounding rocks.

When the petals of the Plum Blossom Sword Energy gently landed on the rocks and then floated back into the air, deep sword marks were left on the rock surfaces.

Extremely sharp and precise.

The second reason the Hwasan Sword was embodied as a plum blossom.

‘Sharpness.’

Sharpness (尖銳).

The Plum Blossom Sword Energy was modeled after the petals of the plum blossom. The petals of the plum blossom are oval-shaped, with pointed tips and hidden serrated edges.

Hidden within the endless splendor was a sharpness akin to a blade, perfectly matching the Hwasan Sect’s sword intent of cutting through anything.

In an instant, the Plum Blossom Sword Energy sliced the rock into dozens of pieces and began to gather around the Plum Blossom Sword, which stood upright in the middle stance.

‘The final reason, Full Fragrance.’

Full Fragrance (滿香)

The distant fragrance of plum blossoms is not confined by space, spreading far beyond Hwasan.

This is the essence of extending in all directions.

“Hoo.”

The Plum Blossom Sword trembled finely, and the tremors began to form dozens, hundreds of lines that painted the sky.

Following these lines, the Plum Blossom Sword Energy danced, and the deep fragrance of plum blossoms began to spread.

Amidst the dancing Plum Blossom Sword Energy and the fragrance filling the courtyard, small flower buds began to bloom.

Plum Blossoms (梅花)

The plum blossoms, blooming with the inner energy of the Heavenly Containment Heart Technique, possessed a vivid vitality, as if they had bloomed naturally.

From this point on, wherever the Plum Blossom Sword Energy touched, plum blossoms began to bloom.

Plum blossoms blooming luxuriantly in the sky.

The bare branches were now richly filled with the plum blossoms brought forth by Mu Hwi.

The night sky was painted with red and white light.

As the number of blooming plum blossoms increased, the surrounding fragrance grew even stronger.

Crash!

The momentary recreation of spring through the Plum Blossom Sword Energy was brief. As Mu Hwi sheathed his sword, the plum blossoms scattered into the air, like a short dream of spring.

But the deep fragrance of plum blossoms still lingered around Mu Hwi, as if to say it was not a dream.

Splendor, transformation, sharpness, and the potential to extend in all directions.

All the sword intent pursued by the Hwasan Sect was contained within a single small plum blossom.

Could there be another flower that could so succinctly embody the Hwasan Sect’s sword techniques as the plum blossom?

Although dozens of other flowers bloom on Hwasan, Mu Hwi could not find a substitute.

This was likely the same for the ancient masters of the Hwasan Sect, which is why it was only natural for their sword techniques to be embodied as plum blossoms.

“Hyeon Jo, I’ve finally made it bloom.”

Mu Hwi inhaled the lingering fragrance of plum blossoms around him and looked up at the sky.

Though the fragrance had dissipated, it still felt soft and somewhat bland.

This was partly due to the lack of mastery in the Heavenly Containment Heart Technique and the Plum Blossom Sword Energy, but Mu Hwi also believed it was because he himself is still lacking.

Among the past Hwasan Sword Saints, those called Sword Gods (劍神) were said to exude an elegant plum blossom fragrance even without the Plum Blossom Sword.

Whether this was due to reaching the pinnacle of martial arts or attaining the realm of the Heart Sword (心劍), Mu Hwi could not say for sure.

The conclusion was that this was just the beginning, and there was still a long way to go.

Having reached this conclusion, Mu Hwi looked up at the starry night sky and asked,

“Hyeon Jo, am I right?”

The night sky, as always, simply shone its light, but Mu Hwi smiled as he looked at it.

“If it were easy, it wouldn’t be fun.”

Mu Hwi drew the Plum Blossom Sword again and began to unleash the Plum Blossom Sword Energy.

“I will bloom a more profound fragrance, a more radiant plum blossom than yours.”

The stars in the night sky twinkled brightly, as if watching Mu Hwi wield his sword alone.

***

Hwasan is filled with towering rock formations that pierced through the clouds, as if divine swords had been planted there. However, there were also many modestly sized rock formations, about the height of a building.

On these rock formations, disciples of the sect stood and they weren’t just standing there idly.

They wore specially crafted iron rings made by the Three Great Iron Workshop on various parts of their bodies, and in each hand, they held a rock that they had personally and beautifully carved.

The disciple, with their knees bent, assumed a stance resembling the character for great (大) and moved the rocks in their hands as if dancing.

“Gah!”

“Ugh!”

Groans, almost like screams, escaped from the mouths of the disciples. These sounds echoed throughout Hwasan like a chorus.

The disciples wanted to throw down the rocks and lie down immediately, but they couldn’t.

The tops of the rock formations they stood on were so narrow that they could barely fit both feet.

If their stance faltered, they would inevitably fall from the rock formations.

It was truly a life-or-death external training.

“Ah, I’m really going to die!”

Musan, flailing his arms like willow branches, shouted as if having a fit.

Startled, Muryun stumbled and bit his lip. Not only that, but the surrounding Senior Disciples were glaring at Musan.

“Disciple Musan, I almost dropped the rock because of you. Be quiet.”

“I’m sorry, Senior Disciple Muryun.”

Following that, Mu Hwi’s voice was also carried up from below on the wind.

“Musan, if you lose at the Six Harmonies Sword Meeting a month from now, I’ll show you what it means to die.”

“I will definitely win, Senior Disciple!”

Mu Hwi’s external training pushed the disciples to their limits.

Though the disciples wanted to complain about the difficulty of the training, seeing their bodies visibly improving kept them silent.

The Senior Disciple’s training was always harsh, but its effectiveness was undeniable. So, despite their trembling, they had no choice but to follow.

Sitting under the shade of a tree, Mu Hwi, who had been reading the secret manual left by Hyeon Jo, looked up and observed the disciples training on the rock formations.

‘It’s truly chilling.’

Mu Hwi was applying a new external training method left by the Iron Mountain Fist King in a letter.

When Mu Hwi first read the letter, he thought it might be more of an ordeal than training. However, after testing it on the disciples, the results were astonishing.

The bodies of the disciples, who had no curves except for their ribs sticking to their chests, were gradually developing muscles.

“Hmm. The effectiveness is clear.”

Mu Hwi took out a book from his pocket and began to write something. He was meticulously recording the disciples’ training progress.

The Iron Mountain Fist King’s external training method was effective, but it was also bizarre and unnecessarily strenuous.

Therefore, Mu Hwi planned to continue modifying the external training method to better suit the Hwasan Sect, based on these records.

The goal was to improve it into a more universal training method that all disciples of the Hwasan Sect could perform.

So that the disciples could do it on their own without him having to force them.

In front of Mu Hwi, the disciples of the Hwasan Sect each held a Plum Blossom Sword and assumed the middle stance.

The disciples, as still as statues, stared at the Plum Blossom Sword with red faces.

Around these disciples, energy waves continuously poured out.

“Hmm?”

Mu Hwi, who had been writing with a brush, sensed the energy waves from the disciples becoming disordered and sharply turned his head.

“Mu-hwa, focus.”

Mu-hwa, who had momentarily lost focus, stuck out her tongue.

“Senior Disciple, why are we doing this training to create vibrations in the sword? It doesn’t seem like it’s just to get used to the inner energy circulation of the Heavenly Containment Heart Method.”

Mu Hwi’s philosophy was that the heart method wasn’t just about circulating energy a lot, but rather about constantly using energy to empty the dantian, then circulating energy to fill it, and repeating this process to achieve faster progress.

Following this, they were training to infuse the Plum Blossom Sword with the inner energy of the Heavenly Containment Heart Method. However, Mu-hwa suddenly felt there might be something more to it.

At Mu-hwa’s question, Mu Hwi raised the corner of his mouth.

Mu-hwa often hit the nail on the head like this.

“I was going to tell you once you succeeded in creating vibrations in the sword.”

Mu Hwi stood up and drew the Plum Blossom Sword. The disciples’ eyes twitched at this.

Even when they focused all their energy on the sword and poured all their inner energy into it, the Plum Blossom Sword didn’t budge.

But as soon as the Senior Disciple lightly drew the sword, he made the blade tremble finely.

“Creating vibrations in the sword by generating inner energy has various applications in martial arts. Let me give you an example using the Hwasan Sect’s martial arts.”

Mu Hwi lightly flicked his wrist and swung the Plum Blossom Sword. The tip of the sword then split into five branches.

“Just like before, I’ll just create vibrations in the sword and thrust it.”

Swish!

The disciples’ eyes widened as they followed Mu Hwi’s sword.

Everything is the same. Only the sword trembled finely as it was thrust.

Mu Hwi’s sword split into twenty branches and sliced through the long grass around them into dozens of pieces in an instant.

“Depending on the intensity of the vibration, you can control the sword’s transformation, and with subtle wrist movements, you can confirm the opening against a master. You can also use the combination of vibration and wrist movements to create a feint.”

The martial principles Mu Hwi taught were crucial for the Hwasan Sect’s disciples, who valued transformation.

The training Mu Hwi had been having the disciples do was not only to improve their mastery of the Heavenly Containment Heart Method but also to grasp the principles of vibration.

“Break time is over. Let’s start again.”

“Ah. Aww, Senior Disciple.”

“Start.”

Mu-hwa, who had tried to buy time by asking questions, made a sad face and began to infuse the Plum Blossom Sword with inner energy again.

Mu Hwi also observed Mujin and Mu-cheol.

Judging by the energy waves he felt, Mujin seemed to be gradually getting the hang of it, while Mu-cheol, sweating profusely, looked like he was struggling quite a bit.

Mu-cheol’s Plum Blossom Sword was significantly larger than the others, so he had to infuse more inner energy into it.

“Remember the overlapping principles I taught you when using your inner energy. Just because the sword’s surface area is larger doesn’t mean you need to pour in more inner energy.”

“Yes.”

Feeling the disciples’ energy waves harmonizing again, Mu Hwi took out the secret manual once more.

***

The terrain of Hwasan was so treacherous that it was more fitting to call it a steep cliff than a path.

Mu Hwi was climbing Luoyan Peak (落雁峯) using the newly learned Phantom Ring Mirage Step (幻環迷踪步).

Leaping across various rock formations, Mu Hwi suddenly saw something and flipped mid-air to change direction.

“I’ve found it.”

In front of Mu Hwi was a well-kept tomb with a stone monument.

The Tomb of Hwasan Sword Saint Hyeon Jo (華山劍聖 賢早之墓).

After confirming the inscription on the monument, Mu Hwi generously poured the prepared wine over Hyeon Jo’s tomb.

“Don’t scold me for coming late. I’ve had a lot on my mind.”

He had thought there was only a memorial tablet in the shrine, but Mu Hwi had only recently learned that there was a separate tomb for Hyeon Jo.

It seemed the Hwasan Sect had somehow managed to recover Hyeon Jo’s remains.

Mu Hwi carefully stroked the stone monument. There were many things he wanted to say, but he didn’t know where to start.

After silently staring at the monument for a long time, Mu Hwi suddenly drew the Plum Blossom Sword.

“Well, between us, the sword speaks better than words.”

Sword energy blossomed from Mu Hwi’s Plum Blossom Sword, and soon, plum blossoms began to bloom.

Hyeon Jo’s tomb was located at the edge of a cliff overlooking the Hwasan Sect, making the surroundings quite desolate.

Mu Hwi began to fill that desolation with his plum blossoms.

The rich fragrance of plum blossoms spread throughout Luoyan Peak, and dozens of plum blossoms disappeared and bloomed again in a cycle.

Mu Hwi, wielding his sword not to cut down enemies but to comfort a friend, looked as if he were performing a sword dance.

The scene was both lonely and poignant.

Swish!

The faint sound of grass being swept. Mu Hwi’s ears twitched.

As Mu Hwi gently extended the Plum Blossom Sword, a sharp chill began to form in his energy.

Mu Hwi widened his stance and twisted his waist sharply.

The fierce Plum Blossom Sword, cutting through the wind, flashed with a brilliant light.

Clang!

Mu Hwi’s Plum Blossom Sword, which had slashed from behind, was blocked. What blocked Mu Hwi’s sword was a rusted Plum Blossom Sword.

“What is this…”

Mu Hwi’s eyes twitched as he looked at the person holding the rusted Plum Blossom Sword.

Mu Hwi, who rarely lost his composure in any situation, felt a slight stir in his calmness.

In Mu Hwi’s eyes, he saw hair that seemed dyed in darkness, yet emitted a mysterious purple hue.

< I will bloom an even more fragrant, radiant plum blossom. (Paid content begins.) > End

< That movement, I like it. >