Chapter 101: Two Flowing Flower Kunlun Swords
Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword... what the hell does that mean?
I couldn't help being stunned by Elder Hyeoneom's words.
Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword.
The incomplete sword art left behind by True Immortal Cheongun that I had happened to discover in the Abandoned Martial Hall.
The very martial art that I had only managed to complete through my martial arts analysis ability.
And yet now...
the highest-ranking elder of Mount Hua had spoken that exact name.
Not only had he spoken it.
He had actually demonstrated the martial art.
It had been performed with a staff...
but in truth, it was a sword path.
And that sword path...
reminded me unmistakably of the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword I had learned.
I composed myself and asked again.
“Did you say the martial art you just showed me was called the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword?”
Elder Hyeoneom lowered his eyes.
“What, are your ears already rotting at such a young age?”
He snorted.
“Didn't this old man clearly say it was the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword?”
"..."
For a moment...
I didn't know what to say.
I wasn't shocked simply because the names were identical.
The Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword was a martial art left behind by True Immortal Cheongun two hundred years ago.
It had remained in Kunlun's Abandoned Martial Hall as an incomplete sword art.
Yet an elder of Mount Hua had just demonstrated a martial art with the same name...
and with a strikingly similar essence.
No matter how I thought about it...
the situation made no sense.
Elder Hyeoneom watched my expression and twisted his lips into a grin.
“Well?”
“What did you think of this old man's Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword?”
"..."
“Why are you so quiet?”
He narrowed his eyes.
“I'm asking whether you felt anything from the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword I just showed you.”
It was almost as though he could see straight through my thoughts.
I hid my surprise and answered as calmly as I could.
“I don't know why...”
“but the martial art you demonstrated feels very similar in nature to the one I've learned.”
Elder Hyeoneom's eyes narrowed.
“So...”
He paused.
Then asked as though confirming something.
“Are you saying the sword art this old man just demonstrated...”
“is the same as the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword supposedly left behind by True Immortal Cheongun?”
I shook my head.
“I wouldn't say they're exactly the same.”
I answered honestly.
“But the essence of the forms...”
“and the way the energy flows through them...”
I considered my words carefully.
“They do feel extremely similar to the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword I learned.”
Elder Hyeoneom muttered to himself.
“Similar....”
I looked directly at him.
“Elder, how did you learn that sword...”
I hesitated.
“No. How did you learn the martial art you just demonstrated?”
Instead of answering...
he asked me a question.
“Stop talking and show me yours.”
I blinked.
“Pardon?”
Hyeoneom snapped irritably.
“You keep saying they're similar and this and that without showing me anything.”
He gestured with his staff.
“Demonstrate your Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword.”
I had no reason to refuse.
I wanted to confirm it too.
I wanted to know exactly why this old man had summoned me.
I nodded.
“Understood.”
Shing.
I drew my sword.
Moonlight spread thinly across the blade.
I gathered energy at the tip...
then began the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword.
First Form.
Clear Current Flowing Water.
The sword path unfolded through the air like a raging river.
Countless connected trajectories flowed beneath the blue moonlight.
The sword path left behind by True Immortal Cheongun...
was perfectly reproduced in my hands.
As I performed the art...
I glanced toward Elder Hyeoneom.
He was staring at me intensely.
From his stiff expression and focused eyes...
I could tell just how carefully he was studying my sword path.
“Hoo.”
I completed the final movement of Clear Current Flowing Water...
then lowered the tip of my sword.
I looked at Elder Hyeoneom.
“What did you think?”
"..."
He didn't answer immediately.
He closed his eyes as though deep in thought.
A heavy silence passed.
Then, at last...
Elder Hyeoneom spoke.
“...You were right.”
His voice was low.
“They are certainly similar.”
He continued,
“The essence of your Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword...”
“and the essence of the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword I learned...”
“are not very different.”
A thought immediately flashed through my mind.
Did Elder Hyeoneom learn True Immortal Cheongun's Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword too?
But I quickly rejected it.
The sword art I had learned and the one Elder Hyeoneom had demonstrated clearly shared the same essence.
But that didn't mean they were the exact same martial art.
The visible forms were unquestionably different.
The Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword Hyeoneom had demonstrated contained movements that didn't exist anywhere in mine.
In fact...
the only reason we could even recognize that the two sword paths shared such similar essence...
was probably because we had both learned them ourselves.
It was closer to instinct.
A sensation only someone who had personally trained in the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword could understand.
Which meant...
Elder Hyeoneom's Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword is real too.
What the hell was going on?
How could an elder of Mount Hua have learned the martial art that had been left incomplete in Kunlun's Abandoned Martial Hall?
I don't understand any of this.
Questions tangled together chaotically in my head.
Hyeoneom looked at me.
“You've got a lot on your mind.”
He spoke mockingly.
“You're wondering how this old man can use the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword, aren't you?”
I nodded.
“Honestly...”
“I don't understand.”
I looked at him.
“I'm not even certain the sword art you demonstrated is truly the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword I know.”
Hyeoneom snorted.
“Fair enough.”
“Even this old man wasn't certain until I saw the sword path you just demonstrated.”
