Hwasan Sect’s Genius Swordsman Chapter 19

Chapter 19

As an affiliate sect of the Hwasan sect, Seonhwa Sect, while not as extensive as Hwasan, possessed a considerable number of Taoist scriptures.

This was because many martial arts of the Taoists were created by reinterpreting the principles of Taoist scriptures into martial principles, so deep study of the scriptures directly connected to martial arts achievement.

This was why Buddhist monks and Taoist practitioners never stopped studying Buddhist sutras and Taoist scriptures even while learning martial arts.

Thus, Mu Hwi too was working through the Taoist scriptures one by one.

Even if there wasn’t an immediate gain, enlightenment could come at unexpected moments.

While his eyes were examining scripture passages and his ears following the disciples’ sparring, Mu-cheol, who had been training alone, approached.

“Senior Disciple.”

“What is it?”

“I’m curious about that final move when you killed Red Wolf Sword.”

The final move Mu-cheol mentioned was the one imbued with the principles of the Dokgo Sword Technique.

At this, Mu Hwi took his eyes off the scripture he had been reading and looked at Mu-cheol.

‘I wonder what he saw.’

As he had been glimpsing Mu-cheol’s potential lately, Mu Hwi asked,

“Why?”

“In Senior Disciple’s final move, I thought I saw the sword I’ve been seeking.”

“Hmm…”

Mu Hwi turned his head to look at Mujin and Mu-hwa who were in the midst of sparring.

While those two disciples were walking the path laid down by Hwasan’s ancestors, Mu-cheol was searching for a new direction without straying from that path.

“You’re trying to add strength to Hwasan’s sword.”

“Yes, Senior Disciple.”

Mu Hwi closed the scripture and stood up.

When Mu Hwi drew his sword, Mu-cheol stepped back several paces.

Mu Hwi gripped his sword differently from how he usually did when demonstrating Hwasan Sect Sword Technique.

This was also how Mu-cheol typically held his sword.

Whoosh

The Falling Plum Sword Mu Hwi displayed was different from usual.

As the sword cut through the air it made a heavy sound, and because it focused on powerful, straight techniques with little variation, it wasn’t as diverse.

Mu-cheol’s lips parted slightly as he watched Mu Hwi’s Falling Plum Sword. It was very similar to the Falling Plum Sword he had been practicing.

“I understand what you’re trying to do, but this is meaningless.”

“Why is that?”

“When you try to develop a sword technique that contradicts the sword intent of an already complete technique, the sword intent becomes scattered and the techniques lose their meaning. The harmony is broken.”

“That’s why I tried making temporary adjustments by reducing variations and slightly modifying the techniques.”

But Mu Hwi’s expression was firm.

“As you said, it’s temporary. As your level increases, unstable martial arts will hold you back.”

Mu-cheol fell into troubled thought with a slightly shadowed face. Watching him, Mu Hwi raised his sword again.

“Adding force to a sword doesn’t automatically make it stronger or create superior martial arts. What’s important is removing excess and achieving harmony.”

Swoosh!

With a sound like rising waves, Mu Hwi’s sword cleanly cut through the air.

Unlike the previous Falling Plum Sword, this time Mu Hwi’s sword contained only the principles of weight and strength.

Mu-cheol’s eyes grew serious.

Even at a glance, the Senior Disciple’s sword was heavier and more powerful than his own.

This was proper heavy sword technique, not merely relying on physical strength and weight like he did.

‘How is he doing this? Was there a secret manual in the Hwasan Sect containing principles of heavy sword technique?’

But it seemed too focused on power to be Hwasan Sect martial arts, and it was overtly linear with no variations.

Could this really be called Hwasan Sect’s sword?

Mu Hwi looked at Mu-cheol.

It was usually very difficult to read changes in Mu-cheol’s expression.

But by now, he could somewhat discern changes in his eyes and roughly guess what he was thinking.

“I’ll show you again, so watch carefully.”

Reading Mu-cheol’s eyes, Mu Hwi demonstrated the sword technique again. At this, Mu-cheol again concentrated on following Mu Hwi’s sword.

Mu Hwi’s sword began to be etched into Mu-cheol’s wide-open eyes.

‘Ah! It’s truly free-spirited!’

While the sword techniques had no variations and were rough, the paths they took were different.

Unformalized, raw paths.

It was impossible to predict where they would extend to.

Seen another way, this represented the possibility of infinite changes.

‘Wait, if it means you can’t tell where it will extend, doesn’t that mean it could go anywhere?’

That free directionality.

This is the Six Harmonies (六合).

‘I understand why Senior Disciple showed me this.’

Mu Hwi demonstrated it in person so we’d not be constrained by Hwasan Sect’s magnificent sword techniques of illusions and variations.

Mu-cheol recalled what Senior Disciple had told the disciples in the training ground.

‘The foundation of Hwasan Sect is the Six Harmonies. The plum blossom way and flashy variations are just branches of the Six Harmonies. Then couldn’t we see other things through the Six Harmonies?’

As if having gained a clue to enlightenment, Mu-cheol stood blankly before suddenly sitting cross-legged and falling into meditation.

While standing guard over Mu-cheol, Mu Hwi fell into thought.

If Mu Hwi were to leave Dokgo’s seed at Hwasan, Mu-cheol had the greatest potential to properly germinate it.

Mu Hwi had roughly decided the future direction of the Dokgo Sword Technique.

For now, Mu Hwi planned to create two sword techniques from the Dokgo Sword Technique.

The first is a technique that took the Six Harmonies as its fundamental sword intent and added the essence of the Dokgo Sword Technique.

The second is a technique that further developed the existing Dokgo Sword Technique from the perspective of a Sword Devil rather than a Hwasan Sect disciple.

Dokgo Sword Technique was completed based on his previous life’s realm as a Sword Devil.

If one surpassed the realm of his previous life, naturally the flaws in the completed Dokgo Sword Technique would become visible and development would be possible.

He planned to pass the first technique to Mu-cheol, and if fate allowed, the second technique to a disciple from his Sword Devil days.

‘And…’

Lost in thought, Mu Hwi’s gaze grew serious.

The final secret manual Hyeon Jo left behind.

And the new sword technique he was developing as a Sword Devil for his wager with Hyeon Jo.

When the time came, he would need to examine these too.

While Mu Hwi was deeply contemplating sword techniques, Mu-cheol opened his eyes as if his meditation had ended.

“Did you realize something?”

At Mu Hwi’s words, Mu-cheol shook his head.

“I only realized that I’ve been walking in the wrong direction until now.”

Originally, when one’s level is low, their perspective is low and narrow, so a master should properly guide them, but Mu-cheol’s master never returned from the Shaanxi Bloodshed Incident.

Thus, Mu-cheol had no choice but to walk alone in the direction he thought was right.

“Now that you know what was wrong, you should know the right direction. That’s enough.”

Looking at his Senior Disciple who spoke as if it were nothing, Mu-cheol bowed his head.

Though he had lost his master, he felt certain that with Senior Disciple’s guidance, he could continuously progress in the right direction.

“For now, don’t do anything strange and train the sword technique in its original form.”

“Yes.”

“And I’ll teach you the principles of heavy sword technique, so train that separately.”

At this, Mu-cheol asked what he had been curious about when he first saw Mu Hwi’s demonstration.

“How do you know this, Senior Disciple? I thought Hwasan Sect didn’t have such martial arts.”

Mu-cheol was right. Hwasan Sect had no martial arts that delved into weight and strength.

It was natural for Mu-cheol to be puzzled.

“Before passing away, Master was in the process of creating several new sword techniques.”

At this, not only Mu-cheol but also Mu-hwa and Mujin, who had finished sparring and were standing guard nearby, widened their eyes.

“Senior Disciple, really?”

“Master Hyeon Jo…”

Mu Hwi nodded seeing his fellow disciples’ reactions. Only the Sect Leader knew that Hyeon Jo was creating new sword techniques.

Having given this hint beforehand, later when any martial arts appeared, no one in Hwasan Sect would be puzzled.

Even Mu-cheol must have been quite surprised, as his shoulders trembled slightly.

“Then Senior Disciple, that sword technique you showed me earlier?”

“Yes, it’s not yet a complete technique as I’m still organizing the secret manual Master left behind.”

“Does the technique have a name?”

At Mu-cheol’s question, Mu Hwi furrowed his brows.

This sword technique to be passed to Mu-cheol had to be purely Hwasan’s, so it couldn’t be named Dokgo (獨孤).

It was well known in the martial world that the Sword Devil’s signature technique was called the Dokgo Sword Technique.

The name Dokgo (獨孤) should be attached to the technique he would pass to the Sword Devil’s disciple.

‘Then I need to create a new name.’

Since ancient times, a sword technique’s name embodied either the sword’s intent or the ideal that one wished to show through the sword.

Mu Hwi looked at Mu-cheol’s unwavering eyes.

“Mu-cheol, what kind of plum blossom do you want to bloom?”

It was a sudden question, but Mu-cheol had long sought to walk his own martial path.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Mu-cheol answered.

“I don’t wish to bloom many plum blossoms.”

Disciples who haven’t obtained the Plum Blossom Sword dream of learning the Plum Blossom Sword Formula to bloom plum blossoms.

Disciples who have learned the Plum Blossom Sword Formula dream of raising their achievement to bloom more plum blossoms.

Yearning for the martial arts world’s legend that historical Hwasan Sword Saints bloomed hundreds of plum blossoms with a single sword strike.

And Mu Hwi, having directly experienced Hyeon Jo’s sword, knew well this wasn’t a groundless tale.

“A single plum blossom is enough. However, I want to bloom the most solid, unbreakable plum blossom in Hwasan.”

Mu-cheol’s firm answer.

This answer determined how Dokgo’s seed, planted in the soil of the Six Harmonies, would grow.

“Then that plum blossom would be like steel.”

And naturally, the technique’s name was decided.

“Steel Plum Blossom. Cheolmae.”

Cheolmae (鐵梅)

“The technique’s name is the Steel Plum Blossom Sword Technique.”

Steel Plum Blossom Sword Technique (鐵梅劍法)

“Steel Plum Blossom Sword Technique…”

As Mu-cheol rolled the technique’s name over in his mind, his eyes sparkled more brightly than ever before.

It was the moment when the two characters for Steel Plum (鐵梅) were clearly engraved in Mu-cheol’s heart.

* * *

On the third day of visiting Seonhwa Sect.

Clang!

When Mu-cheol’s heavy sword and Mu Hwi’s thin, long sword violently collided, a dull sword sound rang out.

“Kugh!”

From the massive recoil force traveling through his sword, Mu-cheol had to step back several paces.

Mu-cheol looked at his still slightly trembling heavy sword and then at the Senior Disciple’s sword.

Unlike his heavy sword, the Senior Disciple’s sword showed not the slightest tremor.

‘Truly amazing. To be pushed back like this even after changing swords.’

Following Senior Disciple’s advice, he had switched from his original Hwasan Sect sword to a heavy sword with a wider, heavier blade.

However, Mu-cheol was helplessly pushed back by Mu Hwi’s sword.

“You didn’t properly infuse your internal energy. Again.”

“Yes.”

Mu-cheol infused internal energy into his heavy sword as Mu Hwi had taught him. As Mu-cheol infused his energy, the heavy sword gained more weight.

‘This isn’t enough.’

Simply infusing more internal energy didn’t make the sword heavier or more powerful.

Mu-cheol adjusted his internal energy while recalling the principles of heavy sword technique that the Senior Disciple had taught.

‘Like painting the sword densely with internal energy, layering it again and again as if creating another sword within the sword.’

Woong!

As Mu-cheol closed his eyes and concentrated, a subtle sword sound began to rise from the heavy sword in his hand.

Watching this, Mu Hwi nodded.

It wasn’t for nothing that he was called Three Flowers – Mu-cheol was quickly absorbing what Mu Hwi taught.

‘Yes, Mu-cheol. That’s how you do it.’

While watching Mu-cheol’s finely trembling heavy sword, Mu Hwi turned his head outward. It was because he heard Mu-hwa’s urgent footsteps approaching.

“Senior Disciple! Something terrible has happened. A big fight has broken out between Daejeong Sect and Seonhwa Sect!”

< Steel Plum Blossom. Cheolmae (鐵梅). > End

< It’s alright because I’m here. >