Hwasan Sect’s Genius Swordsman Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Mu Hwi, are you trying to go outside?”

“…Yes.”

Dokgo Heon, who almost reflexively answered ‘Yes’, mumbled his response. 

Baek Jin examined Dokgo Heon’s complexion and nodded.

“A bit of movement isn’t bad. Just be careful not to aggravate your wounds.”

“Yes.”

Dokgo Heon left the Medical Pavilion and headed to a small pond nearby.

Though the sword wound across his chest throbbed with each movement, this level of pain was nothing new to him, so it wasn’t a problem.

The real problem was something else.

Dokgo Heon was looking at his reflection in the pond water, which was clear enough to see the bottom.

“This is driving me crazy.”

A young face that looked barely past coming of age (弱冠 20 years). With fair skin and well-defined features, it was the typical image of a handsome young man.

It was the complete opposite of Dokgo Heon’s fierce appearance with three sword scars across his face.

Touching his sharp jawline, Dokgo Heon sighed.

“To think there’d come a day when I’d become a Hwasan fool, and not just any disciple but the Senior Disciple?”

It had been seven days and nights since Dokgo Heon woke up in Mu Hwi’s body. But he had spent most of those seven days and nights in dreams.

Sleep kept coming endlessly, and he inevitably dreamed, and those dreams were of Mu Hwi’s life.

Mu Hwi’s twenty-some years of life. All sorts of information and emotions came flooding in like waves. It was enough to make him confused about whether he was Dokgo Heon or Mu Hwi.

Dokgo Heon had to firmly maintain his sense of self to avoid being swept away. In the process, he naturally came to know what kind of life Mu Hwi had lived.

“Foolish one, if you were weak, you should have taken care of yourself first.”

Mu Hwi’s last memory was of himself taking a Black Night Palace demon sword who had invaded the Hwasan Sect to save his priest.

The deep sword wound in his chest was from that.

‘That wound killed this fellow.’

Baek Jin had said his breathing had definitely stopped.

The voice passionately declaring that his stopped heart beating again was surely the Primordial Celestial Lord’s help still rang clearly in his ears.

‘That auspicious light.’

Dokgo Heon recalled the rose-red light he had faintly felt before losing consciousness.

At first, he thought it was an illusion, but the cause of his soul inhabiting Mu Hwi’s body seemed to be that mysterious light, or more precisely, the Plum Blossom Spirit Pearl.

Though there was no definite evidence, Dokgo Heon’s intuition persistently pointed to the Plum Blossom Spirit Pearl.

Otherwise, such a strange occurrence wouldn’t have happened suddenly.

Should this also be called a fateful encounter?

He couldn’t help but laugh wryly at obtaining such a fateful encounter, something he’d never experienced in his life, just before death.

‘Why me, and why this body of all things?’

Through the power of the Plum Blossom Spirit Pearl, he, not his friend, had gained a new life, and the body he would live in from now on was his friend’s disciple – the fate given to him was strange indeed.

Silently staring at his reflection in the pond, Dokgo Heon let out a deep sigh.

‘No matter how bizarre, it doesn’t change the fact that I’ve been given a new chance. I can’t waste this.’

Various emotions wrapped around Dokgo Heon, but he couldn’t remain caught up in them forever.

“I will definitely find you and do to you exactly what you did to us.”

Thinking of the masked man who had ambushed him and Hyeon Jo, his fingers dug into his palms as he clenched his fists.

He had gripped so tightly that his fists had turned white from the loss of blood flow. As he stood there lost in thought, a subtle killing intent swirled in Dokgo Heon’s eyes.

‘That damned mask…’

Though they had only briefly exchanged moves while severely injured, the masked man was in no way inferior to even the Black Night Palace Lord.

A master who would be difficult to face even in perfect condition.

It meant he would need to surpass his previous life as the Sword Devil to tear him apart.

Revenge for his friend and himself.

There was something else he needed to pay attention to besides this.

-Look after my disciple, look after Hwasan. Just occasionally is enough.

-Don’t be afraid, disciples! We must protect the Hwasan Sect.

The last words of Hyeon Jo and the words Mu Hwi had spoken in the dream.

The disciple also cherished the Hwasan Sect just as much. Why did they consider Hwasan so important?

As Dokgo Heon had spent his entire life wandering without belonging anywhere, he couldn’t understand that feeling.

However, he had gained a new chance through the Plum Blossom Spirit Pearl and a new life in the body of a Hwasan disciple.

Though unintended, he had incurred a great debt to Hwasan in many ways.

“I will definitely tear that mask apart and kill him. And I will protect Hwasan. This is the least I can do in return.”

Though he wasn’t sure if these words would reach Hyeon Jo and Mu Hwi, Dokgo Heon muttered as if making a vow.

As his voice rang out like a pledge, only two plum blossoms fell fluttering onto the pond.

Watching the fallen plum blossoms create small ripples in the pond, Dokgo Heon turned away.

“Mu Hwi… So I’m Mu Hwi now.”

A man who lived with only a sword in his heart.

This was the end of the life of the Sword Devil, Dokgo Heon.

From now on, he had to embrace something different from before.

Whether he could really do that, Dokgo Heon, no, Mu Hwi himself didn’t know.

* * *

The Bloodshed of Shaanxi.

The bloody terror caused by demons who suddenly appeared in Shaanxi. The demons called themselves the Black Night Palace.

In three days, over ten small and medium-sized martial arts sects were annihilated indiscriminately, regardless of whether they were righteous or evil.

Due to their fierce momentum, the Hwasan Sect and Jongnam Sect rushed down from their mountains, and even the Guyu Inspection office of the Seven Evil Heavens, who were their sworn enemies, had to lend their strength.

It was a moment when the righteous and evil sides, who had been fighting for a long time, temporarily joined hands.

Though the Shaanxi martial arts world gathered all its strength to end the bloodshed, the damage suffered by the Hwasan Sect, who had led the charge, was devastating.

To recover from that damage, meetings were being held almost daily at the Hwasan Sect.

“Do we need to rebuild a total of eight halls anew?”

“Yes, Sect Leader. During the previous attack on our main mountain, the damage increased because we couldn’t control the fire in time.”

“Huh. I know our finances are already precarious. Baek San, how is it?”

Baek San, the financial hall master responsible for the sect’s finances, had a dark expression.

“We’ve already had significant expenditures recovering from the previous damage, and both future income and visiting pilgrims will likely decrease significantly for the time being.”

It meant they should avoid any major expenses for now.

At Baek San’s report, Baek Yu gave instructions with a bitter smile.

“Let’s restore the important halls sequentially.”

Baek Yu, the Sect Leader of Hwasan Sect, asked Baek Jin.

“Disciple Baek Jin, how are the conditions of the disciples recovering in the Medical Pavilion?”

“Most are recovering stably. There are no more disciples in danger now, so please rest assured.”

“Is Mu Hwi alright? He must have received a great shock from the news about Hyeon Jo.”

When Hyeon Jo’s title was mentioned, the expressions of those gathered hardened.

In the martial arts world, the title of ‘Sword Saint’ had always belonged to the Hwasan Sect. Yet the Hwasan Sect that had been like this hadn’t produced a Sword Saint for nearly a hundred years.

Regarding this, the martial arts world said that the Sword Saint’s energy was running out, or that their power was gradually declining.

There were many different opinions, but it was certain that the reputation of the Hwasan Sect, built up over generations, was slowly eroding.

That’s when Hyeon Jo, the Sword Saint of Hwasan, appeared like a miracle.

It was natural for the atmosphere to become gloomy after losing Hyeon Jo, who had been expected to be the center of the Hwasan Sect’s revival.

“Surprisingly, he accepted it calmly. His wounds have healed quite well, and he left the Medical Pavilion yesterday.”

“Ho ho, that child?”

At Baek Jin’s answer, Baek Yu let out a hollow laugh.

Mu Hwi’s martial talent and enlightenment weren’t that outstanding. Moreover, because of his sensitive nature, many people questioned why Hyeon Jo had taken Mu Hwi as his disciple.

‘I hope he’ll endure well.’

After briefly worrying about Mu Hwi, Baek Yu continued the meeting.

While the meeting continued in the Upper Palace, Mu Hwi was organizing the thatched cottage where Hyeon Jo had lived. More precisely, he was searching through the cottage looking for something.

When he had gone over the fifth stack of martial arts manuals and secret books that reached up to his knees, Mu Hwi found an unnamed secret manual.

“Why did he stash this so far in the corner.”

From Mu Hwi’s memory, he confirmed that Hyeon Jo had always carried this manual around and treasured it.

Opening the manual, he found it densely filled with dots, lines, and numerous verses.

It must be the new sword technique Hyeon Jo had been conceptualizing.

Seeing the firmly pressed handwriting, a past conversation with Hyeon Jo came to mind.

-The current Hwasan Sect is stagnating, no, regressing. They are intoxicated by the illusion of making Plum Blossoms bloom and the false reputation of a sword that has reached the extreme of change.

Can there be perfection in martial arts?

Martial arts become deeper and stronger as they pass through time and the hands of numerous talented people.

This is the power of famous sects.

But the Hwasan Sect believed their current sword techniques were the best and had become complacent with them.

While it was important to inherit the teachings of the preceding ancestors, they were merely imitating them.

Though they inherited the old ways, they couldn’t be called complete, and there was no development to make up for this.

A situation where learning new things but reviewing the old to learn the new wasn’t happening.

When the sect’s development stopped, it was natural that they would slowly become obsolete.

This wasn’t something that could be solved by forcefully pushing the disciples. That’s why Hyeon Jo tried to create new sword techniques himself to show the disciples.

To show them the appearance of finding new paths.

That the current Plum Blossom Sword technique was definitely not the end.

-So that’s why you suddenly came up with that strange suggestion to create and compete with sword techniques. Really.

-Haven’t you been raising your level by dissecting and fixing various martial arts until now? I thought it would be possible with you.

Just because one’s martial arts level was high didn’t mean anyone could dissect already established martial arts and reestablish them as ascending martial arts.

This was something only those with special talents among the many geniuses in the martial arts world could do.

Just like the Sword Devil from his previous life.

Recalling the conversation, Mu Hwi let out a bitter smile.

A new sword technique to move the stagnant Hwasan Sect again.

That was the method Hyeon Jo had thought of to protect the Hwasan Sect.

“Really, let me fulfill our promise by continuing to create this sword technique instead.”

Mu Hwi muttered as he closed the manual.

While it was something he would have to do for the Hwasan Sect someday, it wasn’t for right now.

If it were just a new sword technique, he could start right away, but the sword technique to be created now had to be a complete Hwasan sword.

Not simply having similar forms and patterns, but a Hwasan sword that fully contained Hwasan’s intentions and thoughts.

For this, Mu Hwi himself needed to comprehend Hwasan’s teachings and master their martial arts.

“Hwasan’s sword…”

Though Hyeon Jo had called it stagnant, Hwasan’s sword was still counted among the best under heaven.

Additionally, the Sword Devil’s techniques learned in his previous life were evil sect sword techniques. Since Hwasan’s sword was in a completely opposite field, he might gain entirely different insights.

Naturally, this could only raise his excitement.

‘It might be fun to modify various aspects of Hwasan Sect’s martial arts to my taste.’

It meant leaving the Sword Devil’s footprints very deeply in the Hwasan Sect, which had left a long reputation in history as a prestigious sect.

Mu Hwi’s hands were already itching to begin.

Though his body had changed, his obsession with martial arts remained the same. Mu Hwi pulled out another secret manual from his chest.

Six Harmonies Sword

Six Harmonies Mind Method

Nine Skies Mind Method

These were borrowed from visiting the Plum Book Hall. Usually, martial arts secret manuals were absolutely forbidden from being taken outside.

However, these were relatively lenient as they were known to the public as cultivation techniques or were widely spread among the common people.

The Six Harmonies Sword and Six Harmonies Mind Method were the first martial arts learned when the three great disciples entered the sect, and the Nine Skies Mind Method was the mind method currently settled in Mu Hwi’s dantian.

Of course, while there were verses and insights about them in his head, Mu Hwi cleanly erased them.

Even when learning the same martial arts and verses, the insights and interpretations gained could be different, so there was no need to accept others’ understanding as is.

Especially if the subject of those insights was at a lower level than the Sword Devil from his previous life.

Mu Hwi first opened the Six Harmonies Mind Method manual and began reading.

‘The pattern is definitely different.’

Although the verses were relatively easy as they were basic martial arts, it rather gave him more to think about.

This was because he was entering the righteous sect of martial arts not with a blank slate but after mastering the evil sect of martial arts.

‘Being entry-level martial arts doesn’t mean they should be underestimated. The speed of gathering and circulating qi isn’t much inferior to the Autumn Flower Mind Method or Human Ghost Arts, and the stability goes without saying.’

Mu Hwi delved into the Six Harmonies Mind Method from various angles while comparing it with the miscellaneous evil sect martial arts he had learned during his time as the Sword Devil.

‘Combining evil sect martial arts with Hwasan’s martial arts might be quite interesting.’

Mu Hwi repeatedly read the manual’s verses until his eyes became strained, then practiced qi circulation, then read again.

Immersion and concentration in martial arts.

One of the talents that gave birth to the Sword Devil in his previous life.

Thus, only the sound of turning pages could be occasionally heard from the cottage. Just as Mu Hwi was starting to forget the flow of time, an unfamiliar voice was heard from outside.

“Senior Disciple! Are you awake!”

< From Sword Devil to Senior Disciple. > End

< I’m notifying you. Not trying to persuade you. >