Infinity Within Infinity (1)
“That’s a long line~”
“In a major city like this, they have to be thorough with inspections.”
Given that the Wuxia Alliance Headquarters was located in Wuhan, any slip-up that led to an incident would cost more than a few people their positions. So it was only natural that the guards here took their duties seriously.
After all, if a spy from the Demonic Cult or the Evil Factions slipped through lax security and caused trouble, no one would escape blame. In the worst case, the sentries’ heads could end up hanging in the public square and no one would find it strange.
Neither the government officials nor the Wuxia Alliance wanted that kind of disaster, so stricter checkpoints here were simply inevitable. That was why we waited our turn without a single complaint.
“We walked for ages to get here, and now we have to stand for ages too~ Still, we’re from one of the Nine Great Sects. Isn’t there some way we can skip ahead… ow!”
“Ha-gyeong. Stop talking nonsense and stay quiet.”
“Yeees…”
Ha-jin sighed as he rapped Ha-gyeong on the crown of his head, then turned his gaze forward again. For a disciple of a prestigious orthodox sect to say something like that and only get a light smack on the head was already a mercy.
Among the disciples of the Hainan Sword Sect, Ha-gyeong was particularly frivolous. He grumbled, “It was just a joke, no need to overreact…” He looked like he might get another smack any second.
If he’d just stayed quiet like Mu-gwang or Geon-sam, he would’ve been fine.
“Since the Wuxia Alliance gathers warriors from all the Nine Great Sects, we’ll have a chance to observe their sword techniques. Aren’t you looking forward to it, Sir Wi?”
“Sword techniques, huh. Yeah, I am.”
At Mu-gwang’s words, I recalled the orthodox sword arts from the wuxia novels and nodded.
The Plum Blossom Twenty-Four Sword Technique.
The Taiji Wisdom Sword.
The Demon-Subduing Sword.
The Blue Cloud Crimson Sunset Sword.
Getting to see the sword arts of the Nine Great Sects with my own eyes was a tremendous opportunity.
A chance to experience a wide variety of styles and sharpen myself against them.
In the end, to break through a wall, you needed a vast amount of experience. So it was important to cross blades with as many opponents as possible.
I just hoped my luck in drawing strong opponents would be good.
Asking for sparring matches one by one would look a bit unseemly, after all.
“Mister, look over there. It’s someone from the Qingcheng Sect.”
At Hye-ryeong’s words, I turned my head. In the distance, a group wearing green robes was walking toward the back of our line, apparently to wait their turn.
“Qingcheng Sect…”
They were famous for the Blue Cloud Crimson Sunset Sword, right?
To be honest, I didn’t know much about what kind of sect Qingcheng actually was.
In wuxia novels, they had about as little presence as the Wudang or Kunlun sects, so there wasn’t much information available. Even in the original story, their total screen time across two hundred chapters probably didn’t add up to more than a thousand characters.
So there was no real need to pay them much attention.
“Ah, the Qingcheng Sect is famous for the Blue Cloud Crimson Sunset Sword and their Circling Stream Steps!”
“Circling Stream Steps?”
“Yes! It’s a footwork technique famous for moving as freely as if riding the wind!”
…Even hearing that, I still didn’t really get it.
At least I understood that they were a sect renowned for superior movement arts.
“Seeing the warriors of the Qingcheng Sect really makes me feel like we’ve finally arrived in Wuhan.”
Hye-ryeong’s eyes sparkled with childlike delight. No matter what, she really did have an innocent side. I casually shifted my body to block the view beside her and folded my arms.
What are you staring at?
You’ve never seen a woman before?
“Hehe…”
A happy little laugh tickled my ears from behind. Maybe she was more aware of the men’s gazes than she let on.
I’d thought she’d be used to it, being the kind of beauty who drew every eye wherever she went.
“Haha…”
We continued chatting casually as we waited for our turn.
It was about half an hour later when we finally stood before the guards at the inspection post. They scrutinized us carefully, then looked up with surprised expressions.
“Are you swordsmen from the Hainan Sword Sect?”
As expected, the holy land of the martial world really was different.
The moment they identified us, the guards clasped their fists in respect and gave us friendly looks. This was a first.
It wasn’t that the public had a particularly good impression of martial artists.
No matter what flowery titles they carried, martial artists were ultimately people who wielded unauthorized force. No matter how polite or virtuous someone might be, anyone who carried a sword inevitably inspired fear.
The law was far away, but the sword was always close at hand.
While orthodox sect warriors were usually treated with caution, the countless lowlifes among the Evil Factions were seen as nothing but dangerous elements. So it was hard to say the general perception was positive.
The Hainan Sword Sect was a different story, of course, since they essentially maintained public order on Hainan Island.
“What brings you here?”
“We have business at the Wuxia Alliance.”
“I see… Is the man wearing the bamboo hat also with you?”
The guards’ eyes turned toward me. I lifted my hat slightly, clasped my fists, and spoke.
“My name is William Marshall. In the world, I am known as the Blue-Eyed Lion.”
“…Ah, the Blue-Eyed Lion. I’ve heard of you.”
“I heard he’s the foreigner who defeated the Iron Wind Fist in a single move.”
“That’s an exaggeration. We exchanged quite a few moves.”
After giving a suitably humble reply, the guard nodded and stepped aside with his comrades.
“Then I hope you enjoy your stay today.”
We were able to pass through the checkpoint without any troublesome inspection. This was exactly why you needed powerful backing.
Warriors without connections got their identities scrutinized to the inch, but the moment they saw we were from the Hainan Sword Sect, it was a free pass.
“Whoa… Mister, look over there! The buildings are incredibly tall!”
“…Wow, five-story buildings?”
Five-story buildings in the Middle Ages?
The scale was seriously impressive. And it wasn’t just one or two—my eyes picked out at least three prominent ones. It seemed the claim that this was the most prosperous city in Hubei Province wasn’t empty talk.
“So this is Wuhan…”
Mu-gwang’s voice brushed past my ear.
When I glanced around, the others were reacting much the same way.
When I thought about it, it was only natural.
In the remote backwater of Hainan Island, the farthest we’d gone was Seomun Prefecture. While that was a fairly prosperous port town, it couldn’t compare to a city of this scale.
Even in the West, there weren’t many cities this large.
Constantinople had been huge, but… the atmosphere there just didn’t sit right with me. Maybe because I’d been an East Asian before my possession.
As for Jerusalem, despite being called the Holy City, it was practically half in ruins. It was far from majestic.
I never understood why they kept fighting wars over the place.
Though I suppose that was how all religious wars tended to go.
“Haha, stop looking around and follow me. With so many people, it’s easy to get lost.”
“Hehe, did you hear that, mister?”
Why does she sound so smug?
I took the hand Hye-ryeong held out as if demanding I grab it immediately. The moment I did, she squeezed it tightly, as if she would never let go.
“How is it? Does your heart race?”
“I get it, so just watch where you’re going.”
“Tsk.”
What’s with that tsk? I held Hye-ryeong’s hand like a parent dragging a child along and continued down the street.
We stayed grouped together as we headed toward the Wuxia Alliance.
The city was so vast that it took us another half hour just to reach the gate leading into the alliance grounds.
From the checkpoint to the Wuxia Alliance took a full hour.
The Central Plains really were inconvenient to travel if you didn’t learn light footwork.
Once we received lodging from the alliance, I’d have to train my movement arts while searching for the protagonist.
“Mister, look! It’s the Wuxia Alliance!”
Even though she said that, all I could see was an absurdly long wall.
I scanned the relatively quiet entrance to the Wuxia Alliance compared to the rest of the city. The guards looked like fairly skilled martial artists. As expected of the heart of the orthodox factions—the sentries alone were on another level.
They looked like veterans at the very least.
We walked straight up to the guards. One of them, who had been looking ahead, spotted us and reacted with surprise before offering a fist salute.
“Aren’t you the swordsmen of the Hainan Sword Sect? Have you come for the sparring tournament?”
“That’s right.”
“Welcome to the Wuxia Alliance.”
With a voice overflowing with pride, he welcomed us and stepped aside, pushing open the gate.
At last, the massive doors swung open, revealing the interior of the Wuxia Alliance.
“Whoa…”
Gasps of awe rose from all around. I found myself joining them, mouth hanging open in the same way.
Just from the sight beyond the gate, it was clear that the scale of the Wuxia Alliance surpassed all imagination.
“So this is the Wuxia Alliance… the place where every sword of the orthodox path gathers…”
“Haha, it’s still too early to be impressed.”
“Really?”
Hye-ryeong looked up at Elder Baek with an excited voice. He smiled warmly and nodded.
“What you see from here is nothing but a drop in the ocean.”
“Haha, everyone who visits the Wuxia Alliance says there is another infinity inside Wuhan.”
…That kind of remark made sense.
Even the space visible beyond the gate seemed to stretch on forever.
“Then let’s go inside.”
We followed Elder Baek into the Wuxia Alliance.