Chapter 102: The Method of Exchange
Who is it?
It was still early.
What could possibly be so urgent that someone was pounding on my door like that?
I removed the latch and opened it.
Myeongjeon was standing outside.
Judging by how heavily he was breathing, he'd clearly rushed here.
“Martial Uncle Mujin! You were in your room!”
“What happened? Why did you come running like this?”
Myeongjeon swallowed a breath before answering quickly.
“First Elder Jin Gwangung told everyone to gather.”
“Martial Uncle Hyeongwon is already in the Elder's room.”
“Master did?”
“Yes. He said to come immediately.”
What was going on?
I didn't know the reason...
but if Myeongjeon was this urgent, I should probably hurry.
I immediately picked up my sword.
“Let's go.”
“Yes, Martial Uncle!”
When we arrived at Jin Gwangung's room...
Hyeongwon was already inside with him, just as Myeongjeon had said.
And...
there was another unexpected face in the room.
Jinwon.
One of Mount Hua's most promising younger-generation talents.
One of the Five Dragons and Two Phoenixes.
The same man I'd fought at the Dragon-Phoenix Awakening Tournament.
“Taoist Mujin. It's been a while.”
The moment I entered, Jinwon greeted me with a martial salute and a smile.
He seemed to have already forgotten about losing to me at the tournament.
His smile looked completely sincere.
“It's good to see you again, Taoist Jinwon.”
I returned the salute.
Then naturally asked,
“But what brings you to my master's room this early in the morning?”
Jinwon bowed politely.
“Sect Leader Wonmyeong gave me an order.”
“He asked me to escort the honored guests from Kunlun to the training ground.”
He smiled.
“So I've come to accompany you.”
“Escort us to the training ground...?”
I muttered.
Jin Gwangung snorted and answered in Jinwon's place.
“Hmph. What else could it be?”
“Looks like they finally intend to start that ‘exchange’ Sect Leader Wonmyeong was talking about yesterday.”
He grumbled.
“If they're calling us to the training ground, I suppose they want us to cross swords and see who comes out on top.”
Then he jerked his chin toward Jinwon.
“Am I wrong?”
Jinwon smiled.
“The exchange will begin today.”
Then he added,
“However, I don't believe it will be a swordsmanship spar.”
Jin Gwangung tilted his head.
“Not a swordsmanship spar?”
“The Sect Leader will explain the details personally.”
Jin Gwangung narrowed his eyes slightly.
But soon relaxed again.
“Fine.”
He waved a hand.
“Lead the way.”
“Yes, Elder.”
We immediately left the guest residence with Jinwon.
The training ground was some distance away.
As we walked...
I moved closer to Jinwon to satisfy something I'd been curious about since arriving at Mount Hua.
“Taoist Jinwon.”
“Yes, Taoist Mujin?”
I looked at his bright smile.
“There's something I've been wondering about.”
“Do you know much about Elder Hyeoneom?”
Jinwon's smile faded ever so slightly.
He hesitated for a moment...
then answered.
“Elder Hyeoneom has mostly withdrawn from the front lines of the sect.”
“Several years ago, he said he wished to focus quietly on cultivation...”
“and entered the Seclusion Cave.”
I frowned.
“The Seclusion Cave?”
Jinwon nodded.
“It is a place where elderly Mount Hua elders cut themselves off from worldly affairs and devote themselves entirely to cultivation.”
“Cut themselves off from worldly affairs?”
Jinwon considered how to explain it.
Then continued slowly.
“Yes.”
“Entering the Seclusion Cave means completely severing one's ties with the martial world.”
“No involvement in sect affairs.”
“No involvement in outside matters.”
"..."
“Because of that...”
Jinwon continued,
“very few elders throughout Mount Hua's history have actually chosen to enter it.”
“The Seclusion Cave had almost become a place that existed in name only.”
He scratched the side of his head.
“I heard the last person to enter it before Elder Hyeoneom did so around two hundred years ago.”
My eyes narrowed slightly.
Two hundred years.
Jinwon continued,
“So when Elder Hyeoneom announced that he would enter the Seclusion Cave...”
“the entire sect was shaken.”
I asked,
“Then why did someone like that suddenly come back out?”
Jinwon's expression became awkward.
“To be honest...”
“everyone in Mount Hua is wondering the same thing.”
He lowered his voice.
“Elder Hyeoneom is someone who always keeps whatever he says once he says it.”
“No one expected him to ever leave the Seclusion Cave again.”
Then he glanced at me.
“Because of what happened yesterday...”
“the people of Mount Hua have become even more interested in you, Taoist Mujin.”
I blinked.
“Because of yesterday?”
“Yes.”
Jinwon smiled strangely.
“Didn't Elder Hyeoneom personally come all the way to the mountain gate because he wanted to take you away himself?”
"..."
“He declared that he was cutting off all ties with the secular world...”
Jinwon continued,
“and he only left the Seclusion Cave recently.”
“Yet immediately afterward, he began searching for a young Taoist from Kunlun.”
He looked at me.
“Naturally, everyone is curious.”
Jinwon gave me another meaningful smile.
But he didn't ask any further questions.
Before long...
we arrived at the training ground.
Seats had already been arranged around it.
And many members of Mount Hua were already seated there.
Sect Leader Wonmyeong and Taoist Wonho sat in the front row.
Behind them sat a line of middle-aged Taoists.
Judging from the presence they gave off...
every one of them was clearly a considerable master.
At least Hall Master level.
A group of younger Taoists stood behind them.
I recognized quite a few faces from the Dragon-Phoenix Awakening Tournament.
If Jin Gwangung was right and today's exchange involved sparring...
we would probably be facing them.
But there was one person who caught my attention more than anyone else.
Elder Hyeoneom.
He was seated beside Sect Leader Wonmyeong.
Hyeoneom glanced at me once...
then turned his head away as though nothing had happened.
He stared blankly into the distance with an expressionless face...
pretending last night's meeting had never taken place.
Sect Leader Wonmyeong rose and approached Jin Gwangung.
“Elder Jin.”
He smiled.
“Did you manage to recover from your journey last night?”
Jin Gwangung gave a polite martial salute.
“Thanks to your hospitality, I rested comfortably.”
Then, as usual...
he went straight to the point.
“So why have you summoned us here?”
Wonmyeong laughed.
“Haha. I thought we might begin the ‘exchange’ between our two sects today.”
Jin Gwangung glanced toward the younger Mount Hua disciples standing behind Wonmyeong.
“An exchange....”
Then he asked,
“Are you planning to have the disciples spar against each other?”
“Like the Dragon-Phoenix Awakening Tournament?”
Wonmyeong shook his head.
“No.”
“I don't want this to end with nothing more than sparring.”
Jin Gwangung narrowed his eyes.
“Not merely sparring?”
“I want this to become a place where Mount Hua and Kunlun can learn from one another.”
Wonmyeong smiled.
“Something like Kunlun's Elders' Lecture Gathering.”
Jin Gwangung's expression sharpened.
“Like the Elders' Lecture Gathering...?”
Wonmyeong raised one arm.
A middle-aged Taoist immediately stepped forward.
“I am Cheongbaek, head of the Martial Training Institute.”
Wonmyeong looked toward him.
“The Martial Training Institute organizes the sect's martial arts...”
“studies how they should be applied...”
“and refines the techniques that will later be passed on to our disciples.”
I nodded inwardly.
So Mount Hua had its own place for martial arts research...
something comparable to Kunlun's Abandoned Martial Hall.
Though the direction seemed quite different.
The Abandoned Martial Hall mostly stored failed and discarded martial arts.
The Martial Training Institute, on the other hand...
seemed to actively refine techniques into forms that could be practically taught to disciples.
Jin Gwangung looked at Wonmyeong.
“And why did you bring the head of the Martial Training Institute here?”
At that question...
Wonmyeong looked toward Cheongbaek.
Cheongbaek reached into his robes and took out a scroll.
Then handed it to the Sect Leader.
Wonmyeong immediately unfurled it before us.
Fwoosh!
The moment I saw what was written on the scroll...
my eyes narrowed.
Five-Step Sword Art?
The title written along the edge immediately caught my attention.
“...What is this?”
Jin Gwangung tilted his head.
Wonmyeong smiled.
“Yes.”
“The Five-Step Sword Art.”
Five-Step Sword Art.
It was an introductory sword art that could be learned even at some rural martial school.
A few coins were enough to buy a copy.
In truth...
it was such a low-level third-rate martial art that even calling it a sword art felt generous.
It contained only the most basic principles of handling a sword.
Everyone here could probably recite it with their eyes closed.
But...
Interesting.
The contents written on the scroll looked different from the Five-Step Sword Art I knew.
Jin Gwangung seemed to have noticed the same thing.
“Hmm.”
He looked at Wonmyeong.
“This Five-Step Sword Art seems somewhat different from the version I know.”
Wonmyeong's eyes deepened.
“Correct.”
“The original Five-Step Sword Art is merely a common third-rate introductory sword art found throughout the Central Plains.”
He opened the scroll a little farther.
“However...”
“this version was revised within Mount Hua.”
He continued,
“The head of the Martial Training Institute and several of our Hall Masters gathered together and supplemented the original Five-Step Sword Art.”
“They corrected and modified it.”
Then he added,
“But it isn't complete.”
“The final portion still needs refinement.”
Jin Gwangung immediately asked,
“Why are you showing this to us?”
Wonmyeong's smile disappeared.
He looked directly at Jin Gwangung with a strong gaze.
“What if we use this?”
Jin Gwangung frowned.
“Use this for what?”
Wonmyeong answered,
“We can use the completion of the Five-Step Sword Art...”
“as a way for Mount Hua and Kunlun to share their teachings.”
His voice spread across the training ground.
“For the next two weeks...”
“the younger Taoists of both sects will put their heads together and complete the final version.”
He paused.
“Then, on the final day...”
“each side will demonstrate the completed final form and compare the ideas behind it.”
The Sect Leader has given them far too difficult a task.
Listening to Sect Leader Wonmyeong and Jin Gwangung...
Cheongbaek sighed inwardly.
The Five-Step Sword Art was a third-rate introductory sword art available anywhere in the Central Plains.
Any swordsman who wandered between martial schools, escort agencies, and third-rate sects had probably handled a copy at least once.
But what was written on that scroll...
was nothing like such a low-level sword art.
Smooth transitions had been added between the crude original movements.
The lacking footwork and breathing had been supplemented with fragments of Mount Hua's own martial principles.
...At this point, it can hardly even be called the Five-Step Sword Art anymore.
Cheongbaek knew that better than anyone.
He knew exactly how much effort Mount Hua's Hall Masters...
including himself...
had poured into creating that draft.
Half a year.
That was how long it had taken them to breathe new life into the Five-Step Sword Art...
and refine it into a martial art of an entirely different level.
They had been even more meticulous because they intended to use the improved Five-Step Sword Art to train Mount Hua's disciples.
And now...
the Sect Leader intended to leave the final step...
to the young disciples of Mount Hua and Kunlun.
In only two weeks.
Cheongbaek almost laughed.
Two weeks?
Quiet whispers came from the young Mount Hua Taoists standing behind him.
“Even the Hall Masters needed half a year....”
“How are we supposed to do it in two weeks?”
Cheongbaek found himself nodding unconsciously.
Their reactions were only natural.
He understood better than anyone how difficult...
how nearly impossible...
the task really was.
An exchange between two sects....
Cheongbaek quietly turned his head and examined the people from Kunlun.
Jin Gwangung.
He had heard that the man was a First Elder of Kunlun...
but Cheongbaek couldn't sense any refined scholarly martial aura from him.
His speech was rough.
His manner was rough.
He didn't feel like an elder of Kunlun at all.
He looked more like some coarse thug one might encounter in the street.
The Kunlun disciples standing behind him seemed little different.
Compared to Mount Hua's disciples...
they appeared lacking in many ways.
Cheongbaek's gaze settled on one of them.
So that's the brat they call Kunlun's Young Hero?
He had heard the rumors about the boy's achievements at the Dragon-Phoenix Awakening Tournament.
But to Cheongbaek...
he simply looked too young.
Defeating someone with a sword and completing a martial arts manual are completely different matters.
He was merely a young martial artist who knew how to swing a sword.
Nothing more.
What a pointless waste of time.
Cheongbaek closed his eyes and sighed.
Then...
“Using two whole weeks to finish something like this seems like a waste of time.”
A young voice rang out from one side of the training ground.
The corner of Cheongbaek's mouth twisted slightly.
What idiot would say something that ridiculous?
Mount Hua's Hall Masters had spent half a year just creating this draft.
And now some brat was spouting such nonsense?
Cheongbaek slowly turned his head.
The voice had indeed come from the Kunlun side.
Sect Leader Wonmyeong looked toward the speaker and asked,
“Then how long do you think it would take?”
The young Taoist standing across from him answered with complete confidence.
“There's no reason to drag it out.”
“I think we should finish it right now.”
The one who spoke so boldly...
was Kunlun's Young Hero.
Han Mujin.
