Hwasan Sect’s Genius Swordsman Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The dining hall used by Hwasan Sect disciples was noisier than usual.

Mu-hwa, a beauty with pure charm and the only female among the second-generation disciples, as well as the youngest, quickly poked her head in and spoke.

“What’s really going on with Senior Disciple?”

“I thought he was a completely different person.”

“Come to think of it, Senior Disciple didn’t stutter at all today, did he?”

Once Mu-hwa broke the ice, the second-generation disciples began talking about how Mu Hwi had changed.

“I’m curious to see how Senior Disciple will act from now on. He was always someone who stayed in the background.”

“He was quite cool today. Should I say it’s the first time Senior Disciple actually felt like a Senior Disciple?”

Mu-hwa’s large eyes sparkled as she spoke excitedly, then looked at Mu-cheol who was eating silently.

“Senior Disciple Mu-cheol, didn’t you talk about anything when you went to get Senior Disciple today?”

At Mu-hwa’s question, all the second-generation disciples’ eyes turned to Mu-cheol. Nevertheless, Mu-cheol just silently extended his chopsticks.

“Senior Disciple Mu-cheol…”

Only when Mu-hwa’s expression turned sulky, with her lips protruding, did Mu-cheol finally speak.

“No.”

At Mu-cheol’s short answer, the fellow disciples desperately held back their laughter to prevent rice from spilling out of their mouths.

“Mu-hwa. You should ask someone who actually talks.”

“That’s true. What was I thinking asking Senior Disciple Mu-cheol, who considers ten words a day to be talkative?”

Mu-hwa smiled self-deprecatingly, and the other fellow disciples burst out laughing.

“Those guys, what’s so amusing?”

“Indeed.”

While some fellow disciples viewed Mu Hwi’s change with interest, others disapproved.

These were the disciples who usually followed Mujin.

Compared to the opposite table where the conversation never ceased, the table where they sat was utterly gloomy.

“Senior Disciple Mujin didn’t even come for meals.”

“Hmm, he must have been quite shocked.”

“It’s understandable he’d be confused with Senior Disciple suddenly acting like this.”

Muryun, who had been quietly listening to the disciples’ continued complaints, put down his chopsticks and said.

“Though Senior Disciple says he’ll take back his role, I wonder if it’ll be easy with his skills and personality?”

“Ah…”

“Now that I think about it, you’re right.”

The disciples who immediately understood what he meant followed Muryun in smirking.

“Even so, I think we should try speaking to Senior Disciple first.”

When Muryun smiled slyly, the disciples nodded.

“We’ll go.”

“Do that.”

* * *

Around Mu Hwi’s thatched cottage, plum blossoms bloomed nearby, playfully dropping petals one by one.

In the middle of the dancing petals in the air, Mu Hwi held a wooden sword.

Originally, his hands had been itching to practice as soon as he regained consciousness, but he had to be careful because of the sword wound on his chest. Until now, he had focused only on recovery to avoid reopening the wound by rushing.

The wooden sword fit perfectly in his hands as he gripped it gently.

“This is the feeling.”

Mu Hwi’s spirit always lifted when he held a sword.

The corners of his mouth lifted as he felt the weight of the wooden sword. Though not a real sword, it was still a sword nonetheless.

Made of ironwood, its strength and weight were not inferior to a real sword, and its balance is satisfactory.

Recalling his previous life when he had trained with a blunt wooden stick, Mu Hwi smirked and brought the wooden sword to middle position.

As his knees bent while relaxing, his center of gravity gradually moved to his lower body, and his feet planted firmly on the ground as if taking root.

In contrast, his upper body maintained flexibility by appropriately relaxing, ready to extend the sword in any direction.

Mu Hwi’s eyes, gazing into the air, were calm yet carried a cold fighting spirit.

The wooden sword drew a vertical line.

After creating an elegant line, the wooden sword extended from left to right, slicing through the air.

Thus, Mu Hwi slowly demonstrated the Six Harmonies Sword.

The subtle flow of air created by the continuous, unbroken sword movements.

The falling plum blossoms gradually gathered around Mu Hwi, riding this flow one by one.

‘Six Harmonies…’

Front and back, left and right, up and down.

Together, these make up the Six Harmonies (六合).

The Six Harmonies Sword encompasses heaven and earth and the four directions in one sword. The foundation of Hwasan Sect’s martial arts.

Though Hwasan Sect is famous for plum blossoms, strictly speaking, Six Harmonies was its supporting root.

The wooden sword thrust in various directions in sequence, and the petals floated up as if dancing in response.

The wooden sword drawing elegant lines and the petals created perfect harmony, producing a small masterpiece. The wooden sword playing among the petals suddenly demonstrated the final form of the Six Harmonies Sword.

Using his right foot as the central axis, he drew a large circle in all directions, causing the floating petals around him to scatter in all directions.

Though he hadn’t used sword energy, the sight resembled the demonstration of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique.

If it weren’t a Hwasan Sect disciple watching, other martial artists wouldn’t have thought this was merely the entry-level Six Harmonies Sword.

The Plum Blossom Sword technique had its roots in the Six Harmonies, and this is a sight that could only be shown because Mu Hwi properly understood these Six Harmonies.

“Hmm…”

Despite displaying a scene that would have made the elder and first-generation disciples’ eyes go wide, Mu Hwi wore an unsatisfied expression.

While the previous Mu Hwi wasn’t lazy in training, it wasn’t to a satisfactory level.

Even with the Sword Devil’s experience and memories remaining, it would be useless if the body, which is the vessel containing martial arts, wasn’t properly developed.

As Mu Hwi swung his sword while closely examining his body’s condition, he began to recall the training he needed to do.

‘Evil sect martial arts could also be helpful if used appropriately in training.’

As Mu Hwi organized his thoughts, his lips curved into an arc.

“I need to really get moving.”

Although he had to start from the beginning again, Mu Hwi is burning with enthusiasm.

This was the path of martial arts he had already walked once before.

Therefore, Mu Hwi knew the efficient and precise methods. If he made good use of his previous life’s experience, he could achieve even more concentrated growth.

The First Sword of the Evil Sect. The Sword Devil.

It was a proud achievement and limitation that he had accomplished alone from the bottom.

With the Sword Devil’s sword, he couldn’t be called the Evil Sect’s First or the World’s First Swordsman.

Therefore, Mu Hwi made a pledge.

He would forge and hone a new blade to cut down what he couldn’t cut in his previous life.

Among those who would have to face that blade, the masked man was naturally included.

After renewing his determination, Mu Hwi regulated his breathing and began swinging the wooden sword. This time, clear energy began to rise from his dantian and spread through his meridians.

Whoosh

As the wooden sword powerfully cut through the air, the sound of splitting air began to rise.

As he moved his internal energy according to the Six Harmonies Sword’s internal energy usage, a different power began to fill the wooden sword compared to before.

And so Mu Hwi continued swinging the wooden sword without rest.

Like a ghost obsessed with the sword.

* * *

‘Rather than passing through the Zhongfu, Zanzhong, and Jue points, it would be better to circulate energy through Tianjing, Qimen, and Tianchu points. Then, if I use Hong Yu Gong’s verses in this section, I can deploy internal energy more quickly and explosively.’

Hong Yu Gong was one of the many evil sect martial arts that Mu Hwi knew.

Having finished his daytime training and while circulating his energy, Mu Hwi gained a small insight and was accordingly adjusting the Nine Skies Mind Method.

As a Taoist martial art, the Nine Skies Mind Method is excelled in the purity of internal energy and had high stability.

Its weakness was that energy accumulation was slow and power was low, but Mu Hwi was modifying the verses and energy circulation paths by combining them with evil sect mental cultivation method verses.

It was a dangerous task where one wrong step could immediately lead to qi deviation, but Mu Hwi unhesitatingly immersed himself in the mental cultivation method.

This was because in his previous life, the Sword Devil, who couldn’t obtain higher-level martial arts, raised his level by reorganizing various martial arts in this way.

While Mu Hwi was doing it naturally, it was impossible without innate talent. Even Hyeon-jo didn’t dare to attempt this.

-If you had been a disciple of a renowned sect, you could have fully displayed this talent, what a shame.

These were Hyeon-jo’s words of admiration when Dokgo Heon created a new mental cultivation method by combining three different methods.

‘But I really did become a disciple of a renowned sect.’

Mu Hwi boldly adjusted the Nine Skies Mind Method.

Since this martial art wouldn’t be passed on to others and would only be used until obtaining the Purple Sunset Heart Method, he focused solely on reorganizing the method efficiently to suit his own taste.

When warm sunlight, red sunset, and finally cold moonlight embraced his shoulders, Mu Hwi finally opened his eyes.

“Not bad.”

The Nine Skies Mind Method now settled in Mu Hwi’s dantian had become quite different from the original.

He maintained its advantages to the maximum while complementing its weaknesses with evil sect martial arts. Just this alone meant Mu Hwi’s growth had become much faster.

Of course, since he didn’t touch the foundation of the Nine Skies Mind Method, there was no need to worry about anyone noticing.

“It’s already night, this took much longer than expected.”

When he started circulating his energy, the sun had been overhead, but now a yellow crescent moon held its position.

Although it was an entry-level martial art, modifying the mental cultivation method in less than a day was simply marvelous.

Which martial artist in the world would believe someone could accomplish such a thing? Mu Hwi was easily accomplishing something that no one would believe possible.

‘It’s certainly true that when trying to combine orthodox and evil sect martial arts, there are many parts that are disharmonious or conflicting. Still, it was a good experience.’

Otherwise, it wouldn’t have taken this much time. But since the gains were as great as the difficulties, Mu Hwi wore a satisfied smile.

Today’s experience would be of great help when combining higher-level martial arts than the Nine Skies Mind Method.

As he was about to get up and dust himself off, Mu Hwi sensed presence and turned his head toward the forest.

Seeing two figures getting closer, Mu Hwi narrowed his eyes.

“What business brings you here in the dead of night?”

Two men entered the cottage’s yard.

They were Musan and Muho, the martial brothers who had complained about Mu Hwi’s actions with Muryun at the restaurant during the day.

“Senior Disciple, fortunately, you haven’t gone to sleep yet.”

“We have something to tell you.”

“Something that needs to be said at night to avoid prying eyes… I’m curious what it could be?”

When Mu Hwi immediately saw through their reason for moving at this hour, the two men made sour faces. However, they quickly composed their expressions.

“Senior Disciple, please withdraw what you said today.”

“Senior Disciple Mujin withdrew only out of consideration for your face.”

“Interesting. Did Mujin send you?”

Though it was Muryun, not Mujin who sent them, Musan shook his head. There was no benefit in bringing up the Senior Disciples’ protection.

“No. We came on our own.”

“Either way, this isn’t something for you to discuss. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it, so go back. And stop being puppets.”

“Puppets…”

Musan’ face reddened as he raised his voice at Mu Hwi’s turning back.

“If we’re puppets, then what are you, Senior Disciple? Aren’t you just being greedy without having any ability? Aren’t you ashamed!”

“I would prefer not to have someone less capable than me above my head.”

Muho added his words too, and Mu Hwi, who had stopped walking, looked at the two disciples with dry eyes.

“Hwasan’s hierarchy has fallen to the ground.”

At this, Musan and Muho flinched.

Thinking about it clearly, their recent remarks had crossed the line. While they could harbor such thoughts in their hearts, they shouldn’t have voiced them.

Moreover, since the target is Mu Hwi, the Senior Disciple of the second-generation disciples. If the elders of Hwasan knew, they would be shocked.

But the water had already spilled. Since it couldn’t be put back, Musan spoke sharply with a whatever-happens-happens attitude.

“With your skills, Senior Disciple, could you oversee disciples martial arts like Senior Disciple Mujin? You probably just shout technique names during dawn training.”

“Please just stay quiet without any presence like you’ve done until now, Senior Disciple.”

Mu Hwi just quietly listened to the words that the two disciples were pouring out in excitement.

‘To live smoothly with this body, I’ll have to change all the accumulated perceptions myself.’

Having glimpsed Mu Hwi’s life in dreams, there were many times when he felt frustrated and pathetic himself, so he wasn’t completely unable to understand their feelings.

Although Hwasan Sect returns to a vertical hierarchy through rank distribution, these guys were just approaching seventeen or eighteen years old.

At this young age when they’re easily swept up by emotions and their blood is boiling explosively, they can’t just endure their dissatisfaction under rank pressure.

Hadn’t even Hyeon-jo, who was the youngest of the Hyeon rank, often argued and fought with his Senior Disciples during his later period of wisdom in his twenties?

‘Still, it’s really infuriating. These bastards.’

While Mu Hwi understood these two disciples’ feelings, he had no intention of showing mercy. Because an example was needed.

‘You guys will be the first.’

Without any response, Mu Hwi drew the wooden sword at his waist. At this, Musan and Muho looked at Mu Hwi with bewildered eyes.

“Draw your swords. Since you keep talking about ability, let’s see for ourselves. You damn disciples.”

< Let’s see for ourselves. You damn disciples’. > End

< Senior Disciple has become a complete monster. >