Hwasan Sect’s Genius Swordsman Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The plum blossoms of Hongrim were casting cool shadows.

The bright sunlight that occasionally pushed through the thick petals made the surrounding plum blossoms stand out.

‘Still, my sense has improved compared to before.’

For a martial artist, internal energy and martial arts weren’t the only important things. Sense was just as important.

Although it’s said that as internal energy grows and realm increases, senses naturally sharpen, the gap was very large depending on whether one trained their senses or not.

Mu Hwi leisurely examined various parts of Hongrim. When he first opened his eyes in Mu Hwi’s body and entered Hongrim, he couldn’t feel anything. However, now he was feeling a strange sense of incongruity.

It was thanks to his continuous efforts to hone his senses to the level of his previous life’s Sword Devil, beyond simply adapting to the new body. As he continued moving toward the inside of Hongrim, a fork in the road appeared.

Hongrim is located at an intermediate pathway leading to important facilities like not only the Scripture Pavilion but also training halls and treasury warehouses, so there were not only martial artists but also battle formations deployed.

This was why Mu Hwi felt a sense of incongruity. Though his current body’s realm is still low so he couldn’t accurately distinguish presences and could only feel something was off.

‘Next time I come, I’ll find all the presences.’

Even now it felt like there were gazes following him around, but Mu Hwi pretended not to notice as he crossed Hongrim.

As he emerged from the north of Hongrim, he saw a massive hall behind a cliff that looked like an upside-down sword had been stuck into it.

The Scripture Pavilion – boasted a size four to five times larger than the normal halls of the Hwasan Sect.

Looking closely, the depth of years felt from various parts of the hall was different – it seemed when they ran out of space to store secret manuals over time, they built new halls and connected them.

The Scripture Pavilion must have reached this scale through such processes.

That massive hall being completely filled with secret manuals was a glimpse into just how long the history of the Hwasan Sect was.

“Hm? It’s Mu Hwi. What brings you here?”

As the Scripture Pavilion Master Baek Soon was away, Hyeon-gak who assisted with work under him greeted Mu Hwi.

“I came to return the secret manuals I borrowed before, and thought I’d look at some other ones while I’m here.”

“Ah.”

Hyeon-gak’s eyes went to the three secret manual books tucked at Mu Hwi’s side.

“I’ll organize the manuals, you go about your business.”

“Thank you, Uncle Hyeon-gak.”

As Mu Hwi put down the manuals on the desk, Hyeon-gak spoke.

“My disciple was indebted to you.”

At the word ‘disciple’, Mu Hwi slightly narrowed his eyes.

Only after going through his memories did he realize Hyeon-gak’s disciple was Musan.

‘Did he get angry because his disciple got beaten up out of nowhere at night?’

Contrary to expectations, Hyeon-gak lightly patted Mu Hwi’s shoulder.

“I heard what happened. That Musan did something deserving of punishment. Such a thing would never have happened in my time.”

“I heard that my master also challenged the uncles a lot during his later disciple days.”

At Mu Hwi’s words, Hyeon-gak’s eyes grew distant for a moment. Perhaps remembering those times.

“Haha… That’s right. It wasn’t just once or twice that we had fights disguised as martial demonstrations. Being the youngest, he was quite bold.”

That youngest disciple was now gone. Leaving behind just one lonely disciple.

“From what I heard from Musan, it doesn’t seem like he just got beaten up.”

“Is that so? I felt bad for beating your disciple too harshly, so I gave him some advice to console him.”

At Mu Hwi’s words, Hyeon-gak’s eyes widened slightly.

“Right. As the Senior Disciple, you should take good care of the junior disciples. Go on now. I’ve kept you too long.”

Hyeon-gak watched with curiosity as Mu Hwi’s back disappeared between the bookshelves.

“He really has changed. Mu Hwi wasn’t this kind of person.”

Though there were many differences from the Mu Hwi in his memories, Hyeon-gak welcomed this strange change.

It wouldn’t have been strange if he had shown twisted behavior after losing his master and being left alone. But seeing him change like this made him proud as an uncle.

“Hyeon Jo… It seems Mu Hwi is doing well.”

Hyeon-gak gently stroked the secret manuals Mu Hwi had returned.

“Nine Skies Mind Method…”

Reminiscing about the time when they were second-generation disciples, reading manuals together and discussing parts they didn’t understand, Hyeon-gak lost himself in the old paper smell of the manual.

That unique smell remained unchanged from then till now.

“I miss it.”

* * *

On a desk in a corner of the Scripture Pavilion, several secret manuals were piled up. In the middle of that wall made of secret manuals was Mu Hwi.

Mu Hwi was mastering Hwasan’s martial arts, starting with the Falling Plum Sword. As a result, secret manuals gradually piled up before his eyes.

The types varied from sword techniques, fist techniques, and stepping techniques, to lightness techniques.

Additionally, even with the same martial art, different martial artists interpret and realize it differently.

There were many interpretation volumes organizing annotations according to that. Just for the Falling Plum Sword alone, there were seven interpretation volumes.

Mu Hwi briefly took his eyes off the manual and looked out the window. Unlike when he came in, outside was pitch black.

‘Has the sun already set?’

Looking around, lamps were lit here and there. It seemed Hyeon-gak had moved quietly in consideration of Mu Hwi who was immersed in the manuals.

Mu Hwi gave a bitter smile at having lost track of time again.

However, it was quite enjoyable to first analyze Hwasan Sect’s sword techniques and then read separate interpretation volumes to compare with his own views. He also gained many additional insights into the process.

‘As expected of a prestigious sect. The martial arts system is well organized.’

The power of time is possessed by prestigious sects.

Beyond simply increasing the depth of martial arts, based on the trial and error of previous generations, they had systematized the order and how to learn the sect’s martial studies.

This way, later generations could learn martial arts more safely and efficiently.

The three sword techniques learned after the Six Harmonies Sword.

The Falling Plum Sword contained the art of Illusion (幻), the Three Leaf Piercing Wind Sword contained the art of Speed (快), and the Ten Thousand Fragrance Sword contained the art of Change (變).

By mastering these three sword techniques and embodying each art in one’s body, one could finally enter into the Plum Blossom Sword Formula (梅花劍訣).

‘Only after learning the Plum Blossom Sword Formula can one learn Hwasan Sect’s signature techniques.’

Seven Supreme Plum Blossom Sword (七絶梅花劍)

Three Transcendent Plum Blossom Sword (三凌梅花劍)

Crystal Clear Plum Blossom Sword (玲瓏梅花劍)

The highest martial arts currently exist in the Hwasan Sect.

The driving force that allowed the Hwasan Sect to be included among the Three Great Sword Sects of the martial world – in fact, the sword saints produced by the Hwasan Sect had learned at least one of the three Plum Blossom Swords.

The Six Harmonies Sword is the root.

The Falling Plum Sword, Three Leaf Piercing Wind Sword, and Ten Thousand Fragrance Sword are the trunk.

The Plum Blossom Sword Formula is the branch.

And these three Plum Blossom Swords became the splendid plum blossoms. In Mu Hwi’s view, this was how the Hwasan Sect’s sword system was structured.

A martial artist who delved completely into Hwasan’s sword ultimately became like a plum tree themselves.

‘As much as I’d like to see the Plum Blossom Sword Formula and what’s beyond it right now.’

In Mu Hwi’s current state, viewing secret manuals above the Plum Blossom Sword Formula was forbidden.

Each sect places restrictions on viewing secret manuals to prevent disciples from recklessly trying to learn advanced martial arts out of excessive ambition.

Distribution, martial arts realm, mountain disciples and secular disciples, direct line and branch line. The criteria for restricting secret manuals varied by sect.

Fortunately, Hwasan Sect was lenient with these restrictions.

The condition for being able to read secret manuals including and above the Plum Blossom Sword Formula was whether one possessed the Plum Sword or not.

The symbol of the Hwasan Sect’s swordsmen. The Plum Sword (梅花劍).

Hwasan Sect disciples are recognized as true Hwasan swordsmen the moment they wear the Plum Sword at their waist.

Currently, the second-generation disciples hadn’t received Plum Swords and were alternating between ordinary real swords and wooden swords received from the Spring Plum Hall.

“Getting a Plum Sword as soon as possible is the top priority.”

“Plum Sword? Do you want to enter the Plum Blossom Sword Formula?”

At the sudden voice, Mu Hwi turned his head behind him.

Seeing Baek Yu appearing between the bookshelves, Mu Hwi quickly stood up and clasped his hands.

“Greetings, Sect Leader.”

“It’s been a while since the lights were on in the Scripture Pavilion this late at night, so I came to check, and it was you, Mu Hwi.”

Baek Yu lightly scanned the secret manuals Mu Hwi had piled up, then stroked his beard with interest.

“Have you read all of these?”

“Yes.”

“Hoho. May I sit for a moment?”

“Of course.”

Pulling out the chair next to him, Baek Yu gestured for Mu Hwi to sit. Then Mu Hwi, who had been standing, sat back down in his chair.

As Baek Yu stared at him without saying anything, Mu Hwi felt unnecessarily uncomfortable.

He had met him a few times in his previous life – he was someone who regarded Dokgo Heon, called the First Sword of the Evil Path and Sword Devil, with unprejudiced eyes.

Actually, Dokgo Heon wasn’t used to such gazes and often found Baek Yu unnecessarily difficult to deal with.

‘Come to think of it, if it weren’t for you, the connection between Hyeon Jo and me might have been cut off long ago.’

It was all possible because of Baek Yu’s permission that Hyeon Jo and Dokgo Heon could continue crossing swords and building friendships, and occasionally Dokgo Heon could climb Hwasan.

Baek Yu looked at Mu Hwi and said.

“Have you shaken off the matter of Hyeon Jo?”

“I’m fine now.”

Even if you shake off emotions, lumps remain in your heart.

Baek Yu didn’t miss this in Mu Hwi’s eyes.

“Life and death are one, the end is just a new beginning, a natural flow. Of course, you know this well.”

It seemed to be a teaching of the Dao school, but Mu Hwi couldn’t think of anything right away so he just nodded.

“I too have lost a master, but I cannot gauge your sorrow. This is because the size of emotions differs for each person.”

Baek Yu looked at Mu Hwi as if remembering someone, and continued speaking with a bitter smile.

“Don’t think of Hyeon Jo’s death as an end. It will help ease your mind if you think of it as a new beginning and consider it as a blessing Hyeon Jo. Hyeon Jo would prefer you bless him rather than grieve for him.”

“A new beginning…”

Hyeon Jo’s death was still weighing down one corner of his heart. The weight of losing his only friend was that heavy.

But listening to Baek Yu’s words, that pressing force seemed to gradually decrease. Recalling Hyeon Jo’s last moments, Mu Hwi nodded.

‘Blessing. Yes, blessing would be better.’

Mu Hwi bowed his head toward Baek Yu.

“Thank you, Sect Leader. It helped.”

At this, Baek Yu also slightly twitched his beard.

“Original Supreme Heaven Lord.”

To this, Mu Hwi also responded by chanting the Daoist title for the first time.

“Original Supreme Heaven Lord.”

After a moment of comfortable silence passed, Baek Yu changed the topic as if trying to change the atmosphere.

“I heard you’re training the Six Harmonies Sword again with the second-generation disciples. You’re now directing the dawn training?”

As expected of Hwasan’s sect leader, he knew everything that happened that day.

“Yes.”

Baek Yu looked curiously at Mu Hwi’s immediate answer.

Wasn’t he used to hesitate and dawdle even with simple questions due to a lack of confidence before?

“The Six Harmonies Sword. Why did you make that choice?”

“I just followed my master’s teaching that the Six Harmonies Sword is the foundation of the Hwasan Sect.”

“That’s right. The Six Harmonies Sword is Hwasan’s foundation.”

Baek Yu, who had been muttering to himself, looked straight at Mu Hwi and asked.

“Clearly what Hwasan pursues is the Six Harmonies, but do you know why its form was realized as plum blossoms?”

Baek Yu’s sudden question.

Mu Hwi thought for a moment before opening his mouth.

“After coming out of the Fire Medicine Pavilion, I’ve been continuously training only the Six Harmonies Sword. Then I had a sudden thought.”

At this, Baek Yu raised his white eyebrows with interest.

“Oh? Tell me.”

< The Dialogue at the Scripture Pavilion > End

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