Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: The Essence of Sword Fragrance
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Moments later, Hyeondo emerged and watched the Plum Blossom Sword Guards holding their horse stances in a neat line across the drill ground, a proud smile spreading across his face.
"Looks good."
He soon whispered to Cheonhwi at his side.
"Did you teach them that?"
"Yes."
Cheonhwi scanned the Sword Guards, who were sweating profusely as they reached their limits.
"Their basics were a mess."
"Haha. That's how it is for everyone."
Hyeondo murmured softly.
He had been the same way himself.
Once one learned advanced breathing techniques and martial arts, it was natural to slack off on basic training.
Visible sword qi.
Invisible foundational stamina.
People naturally focused on the visible results.
"Martial Uncle."
The Sword Guards, spotting Hyeondo belatedly, began to fidget as if to greet him.
"Not even an hour has passed yet."
Cheonhwi blocked their movements.
"Listen to Cheonhwi."
Hyeondo drove the point home.
The Sword Guards, who had been scheming to sneak a break from their horse stances, paled.
Hyeondo looked at them and spoke.
"How long have you been at it?"
"One hour."
The Sword Guards gazed at Hyeondo.
Seeing their pleading eyes begging for mercy, Hyeondo feigned surprise.
"Why so short?"
The Sword Guards' mouths fell open.
'Martial Uncle! That's not it!'
'One hour is short?!'
Who held a horse stance for a full hour?
They thought no one was harsher than Cheonhwi, but here he was right in front of them.
But they fell silent at Hyeondo's next words.
"Didn't you have Seollan and Jeokgeom hold it for at least half a day?"
"They had no basics at all, so we had no choice."
Those two back then were different from the Sword Guards from the start.
"And we're about to wrap up the horse stance training anyway. We can't just keep doing horse stances forever."
The Sword Guards inwardly cheered at Cheonhwi's words.
"Hm. Already?"
"I'm not going to be here forever. I need to teach them some proper martial arts."
At that moment.
Thud!
The Sword Guards collapsed to the ground.
"Huff, huff."
"It's... finally over!"
Cheonhwi looked down at Cheonyu, sprawled out flat on his back.
"Eldest Senior Brother."
Cheonyu looked up at Cheonhwi, whose hair cascaded down, with a troubled expression.
"Haha, Junior Brother. I want to rest a bit."
"I was about to teach you some palm techniques. But if you don't want to..."
"What? Palm techniques?"
Cheonyu shot up.
Cheonhwi eyed him coolly, and Cheonyu's expression turned awkward.
"Ha, haha. I mean..."
"Anyway."
Cheonhwi cut him off and raised his hand.
"This is the palm technique you'll learn, so watch closely."
As soon as he spoke, a violet energy began swirling around his wide-open white palm.
"Purple霞 Divine Art...?"
Cheonyu rubbed his eyes in confusion.
But the energy blooming in Cheonhwi's palm was exactly the same as before.
In that instant, an indescribably intense energy surged from Cheonhwi's palm, crushing the space around it.
Bam!
The air exploded, cratering the ground.
Even now, after everything had settled, violet energy still seeped from the distinct palm print three inches deep in the earth.
'It... it was just like the Purple霞 Sword Arts...'
Cheonyu alternated between staring blankly at Cheonhwi and the palm print, swallowing hard.
"Wh-what kind of palm technique is this?"
"What kind?"
Cheonhwi paused briefly.
This palm technique had been created specifically to maximize Cheonyu's Purple霞 Divine Art.
Thus, it had no official name.
'Might as well make one up.'
He spat out the name that came to mind.
"Purple霞 Divine Palm."
"Purple霞 Divine Palm?"
Cheonyu's eyes wavered.
"Was there a palm technique for the Purple霞 Divine Art?"
"I'll recite the incantation."
"W-wait."
Cheonyu memorized Cheonhwi's voice reciting the incantation without a moment to think.
"Has Cheonhwi seen the Purple霞 Sword Arts?"
Hyeondo's eyes gleamed as he watched the palm technique Cheonhwi had demonstrated from afar.
The technique Cheonhwi had just used was identical to the Purple霞 Sword Arts.
"Was it from the Ten Thousand Scriptures Pavilion? Or did Cheonhwi invent it himself?"
Hyeondo shook his head.
Whether it was from the pavilion or invented didn't matter.
Cheonhwi was a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect.
"He is our sect's great fortune."
As Hyeondo smiled, Cheonhwi went around teaching each Sword Guard a martial art suited to them one by one, including Cheonyu.
Sword arts, saber arts, palm techniques, kick techniques, footwork...
There were far more than one or two techniques Cheonhwi demonstrated and taught.
'If they master even those he's taught, they'll have few equals in the world.'
After teaching everyone, he finally approached Cheongeuk.
"Senior Brother, you have something you want to ask me, right?"
Cheongeuk's eyes widened.
"How did you know?"
"You've been fidgeting like you wanted to say something."
"Lately, I've been able to produce sword fragrance."
"That's impressive progress."
Despite his calm expression, Cheonhwi was slightly surprised.
Until recently, Cheongeuk couldn't even properly perform the Plum Blossom Sword Art, let alone produce sword fragrance.
Yet in the few days since returning from the long river, he had managed sword fragrance.
It was remarkable.
'He might have the most talent among them.'
"You've achieved quite fast."
"Haha, it's all thanks to you, Junior Brother."
Cheongeuk smiled faintly.
It was natural for him to be pleased with his own progress.
After all, in just half a month, he had surpassed the gains from three months of prior training.
"So, Junior Brother. When do you think I can produce sword flowers?"
"Pardon?"
Cheonhwi stared piercingly at Cheongeuk.
"You can do it now."
"No, I've never produced one before."
"That can't be."
Cheonhwi frowned mid-sentence.
"Show me the Plum Blossom Sword Art."
Cheongeuk immediately gripped his sword.
And performed the Plum Blossom Sword Art.
In an instant, his internal energy and the sword art adorned the drill ground, a faint plum blossom scent tickling the nose.
"Tch. That's not how you swing it."
Cheongeuk panicked.
"I followed the manual exactly, so if that's not right..."
"Exactly, that's why."
"Huh...?"
"That's what makes it wrong."
"What?"
"Why does performing the Mount Hua Sect's sword art make plum blossoms bloom and release fragrance?"
"Because that's the Mount Hua Sect's sword art..."
Cheonhwi's eyes cooled.
"You don't really think that, do you?"
"......"
"Sigh."
Cheongeuk shrank at the sigh.
"Of course, after accumulating internal energy from the Plum Blossom Mind Method and mastering the Plum Blossom Sword Art to a certain level, you can produce sword fragrance and sword flowers. That's what the art is meant to do."
Cheonhwi shook his head.
Blindly imitating the surface level led to results like this.
"But the key is understanding and executing the technique. Without that, it becomes half-baked, like what you just showed."
"Understanding?"
"Yes."
He raised his sheathed sword.
"Watch closely with wide eyes."
The pitch-black sheath moved smoothly from left to right, enveloping Cheonhwi's body.
It was the first form of the Plum Blossom Sword Art: Plum Blossoms by the Roadside.
"This is just swinging it by the form like you did earlier. Same, right?"
Cheongeuk nodded unconsciously.
"And this..."
The sheath trembled.
The resolute and rigid Plum Blossoms by the Roadside suddenly became endlessly light.
Like petals scattering in the wind.
As he stared blankly at the entrancingly smooth sheath.
'Plum blossoms?'
A thick plum fragrance pierced his nose.
"This is the proper Plum Blossoms by the Roadside."
"H-how without manifesting internal energy or sword fragrance..."
Cheongeuk stammered in shock.
"Because that's how it's supposed to be."
Cheonhwi was nonchalant.
"Our founding patriarch was obsessed with plum blossoms—every technique is related to them. That's why properly performing Mount Hua's sword arts produces sword fragrance."
Cheongeuk was horrified.
Speaking of the founding patriarch like that.
"J-Junior Brother. The founding patriarch..."
"It's the truth."
He didn't know who the Mount Hua Sect's founding patriarch was, but he was surely mad.
Who makes every created technique revolve around plum blossoms?
And it wasn't just mind methods and sword arts.
Palm techniques, footwork—even finger techniques.
You couldn't invent such arts without being utterly obsessed with plum blossoms.
"Anyway."
Cheonhwi continued his interrupted explanation.
"No matter how fragrant the sword seems, it's not real fragrance, and no matter how much sword flowers bloom, they're not real flowers."
"You mean..."
"Presence and absence give birth to each other."
Cheongeuk was puzzled.
As a Taoist, he knew well what "presence and absence give birth to each other" meant.
It was Laozi's philosophy of observing the principles of all things from the opponent's perspective.
'But why bring that up now?'
His doubt was resolved as Cheonhwi raised his sword.
Soon, Cheonhwi swung.
Whoosh—
Plum blossoms adorned the air.
Beautiful and deadly plum blossoms.
"The key is mere presence and absence."
Cheonhwi's sword stopped.
In that moment, the plum blossoms vanished.
"If you can produce false fragrance, how could you not produce false flowers?"
"...!"
Lightning struck Cheongeuk's mind.
He was right.
Sword fragrance and sword flowers—both illusions.
Yet obsessing only over sword flowers.
"The key is presence and absence."
Cheongeuk's aura shifted.
Casting aside his hesitant demeanor, he gripped his sword tightly.
"Oh, you understood right away?"
Surprise flickered in Cheonhwi's eyes.
His internal energy was scant, his body ordinary.
But one thing stood out.
His martial insight—his comprehension—was exceptional.
"Is what you just said true?"
Then Hyeondo came rushing over breathlessly.
"Sword fragrance and sword flowers are the same?"
He too had overheard Cheonhwi's explanation to Cheongeuk and was shocked.
The traditional Mount Hua teaching was that sword flowers bloomed after sword fragrance.
But Cheonhwi's words implied sword fragrance and sword flowers were one and the same from the beginning.
"Yes..."
As Cheonhwi began to reply.
Bang!
The main gate suddenly burst open, and Hyeonjin—who had gone out—rushed in urgently.
Hyeondo unfolded his footwork to meet him.
"What happened..."
But he couldn't finish.
Hyeonjin blurted out something even more shocking first.
"Th-the Jongnam Sword Saint has arrived at the Alliance!"