The Meaning of the Sword
He answered.
19
***
He had let his guard down.
That was why Qingcheng had ended up with his throat slit by Soyeong.
She was two whole realms below him.
She looked delicate and harmless.
And the attack had been a sneak attack, to boot.
But even if you included all of that, the incident would still be summarized in the end like this:
Qingcheng Sect’s elder looked down on the Tang family’s daughter and lost his head for it.
That was the shape of it.
“What in heaven’s name is the meaning of this, young lady?”
Master Jeonghyeon barked the words out.
They hadn’t even formally begun the duel yet, and she had attacked.
With a real sword, no less, and she had aimed for the throat.
That was not the sort of thing that could be brushed off lightly.
“What do you mean, what in heaven’s name?”
Soyeong’s face hardened.
They were the ones playing tricks first, and now they were the ones getting angry?
There was shamelessness, and then there was shamelessness.
“I’m fine, Master Jeonghyeon.”
It was Qingcheng who stopped the atmosphere from turning uglier.
By now, the wound had already been sealed shut; no blood was flowing from it.
He had used his internal energy to stop the bleeding.
“Though I was caught by surprise, that was more than enough to see this young lady’s skill.”
“Then may I leave now?”
“However.”
Qingcheng drew the sword at his waist.
Qingcheng Sect was a sect of swords.
Even though it was a Daoist school, it gave off the impression of a school mad for the sword.
Mount Wudang, Mount Hua, and Zhongnan all used swords, too, but if there was a Daoist sect most obsessed with them, it would be Qingcheng.
That was why Qingcheng’s swordsmanship was said to touch the very essence of the sword itself.
“It seems the young lady is interested in the sword as well. Would you not care to witness Qingcheng’s swordsmanship firsthand?”
In other words: Shall we pretend the earlier business never happened and go another round?
And this time, he meant to be serious.
“Master Qingcheng.”
“Do not interrupt. From here on, this is for the young lady to decide.”
Qingcheng cut off Sunhyeon, who had tried to step in.
To have things reach this point was already a tremendous disgrace.
Because of that, he had to achieve at least his original purpose.
Namely, to crush her spirit with his overwhelming aura.
“Nope.”
Unfortunately for him, Soyeong was not such an easy opponent.
“...What did you say?”
“I’m not interested in Qingcheng’s sword.”
Soyeong’s expression was utterly sincere.
She knew Qingcheng’s sword well. She had experienced it thoroughly in her previous life.
From Qingfeng Sword Art to Pine-Wind Sword Art, Rising-Wind Sword Art—the Three Wind Swords—and even Great Luo Sword Art and Upper Pure Sword Art.
She even knew the ultimate techniques, the Seventy-Two Wave Sword and the Azure Cloud and Scarlet Rosy Sword Art.
It was neither as supple as Taiji Sword, nor as gorgeous as Plum Blossom Sword, nor as heavy as Heaven-Sword. It was a sword that couldn’t quite decide what it wanted to be.
It gave the impression of a sect that had been crazy about swords, tried every possible thing with them, and somehow ended up in a gray, ambiguous middle ground.
Well, that said, it was still an exceptional martial art in terms of potential.
But looking at Qingcheng standing before her right now, it didn’t seem as if he had brought that potential fully to flower.
“You… are you belittling Qingcheng’s sword?”
Qingcheng’s face flushed red.
Being mad for the sword meant being proud of the sword, too.
What mattered was that the one insulting Qingcheng’s sword was not Wudang, Mount Hua, or Zhongnan, and not even Namgung or Moyong, but the Tang family of Sichuan.
What did those fools who did nothing but hurl poison and hidden weapons know about swords?
“This is an insult to my sect. I request a formal apology, young lady.”
“You really are full of shit, aren’t you?”
“Did you just say full of shit?”
“I heard myself just fine. If what you’re doing isn’t full of shit, then what is it?”
He had suddenly come over, asked to see her skill, then after she refused his demand to redo the whole thing, he had flown into a rage and called it an insult.
“Honestly, I can’t tell whether the adult or the child is which here.”
There was a flaw in Soyeong’s words.
True, she was now a young girl far younger than Qingcheng.
But inside, she had an old man so seasoned that Qingcheng himself probably looked like a brat by comparison.
Of course, there was no one in this room who could possibly know that.
“...The young lady’s arrogance reaches the heavens!”
Even as he raged, Qingcheng could do nothing but grind his teeth.
For all his fury, Soyeong was not wrong.
In fact, he was the one making an unreasonable fuss.
Amitabha. The goal has already slipped through our fingers.
Master Jeonghyeon, standing beside him, had already given up.
The little girl had already seized control of the atmosphere.
That was why the clan lord and the elder had simply been watching Soyeong’s behavior all this time.
At this point, if they grew any angrier, it would only become a story about grown men barging into someone else’s home and yelling at a child.
They would fail to achieve anything and return home drenched only in humiliation.
The only blessing is that this monk kept himself back.
Fortunately, Qingcheng was the one leading the mess, and Jeonghyeon had done nothing more than observe from the rear.
Even if the story spread, at most it would become, “A Qingcheng elder was humiliated by a Tang family daughter, and an Amipa nun was there beside him.”
In time, they might even be able to wedge in a weak excuse like, “I was trying to stop him.”
“Well, if that’s what the Daoist wants, I don’t mind giving it to him.”
Jeonghyeon’s resignation shattered at Soyeong’s next line.
“What do you mean by that?”
At Qingcheng’s question, Soyeong smiled.
It was a somewhat arrogant smile, but a smile all the same.
“If the Daoist shows some sincerity, I’ll consider accepting the duel.”
Sincerity.
In other words, not some empty talk like “I’ll graciously show you the wonders of your senior’s martial arts,” but something tangible.
It was the sort of thing you might say to a Daoist who had supposedly transcended the dust of the world, but still—
“That’s fine. You mean if I show sincerity, then that’s enough?”
Qingcheng was in no position to be picky about warm rice versus cold rice.
He reached into his robes and drew out a pill wrapped in paper.
Seeing it, Master Jeonghyeon cried out, “Azure Cloud Pill!”
The Azure Cloud Pill was one of Qingcheng Sect’s spiritual medicines, one that any elder or higher carried as an emergency measure.
If Soyeong took it now, she would gain roughly ten years’ worth of internal force.
“The young lady will know about the Azure Cloud Pill as well. Once the duel is over, I’ll give it to you as your reward.”
“Well, that’s plenty.”
Soyeong was satisfied with Qingcheng’s “sincerity.”
She also liked that he had the sense not to say something stupid like, “I’ll give it to you if you win,” and instead said, “I’ll give it to you when it’s over.”
The more spiritual medicines, the better.
Strictly speaking, the more variety of spiritual medicines, the better.
After all, medicine was still medicine; the more of it you took, the more resistance you built up, and the less effective it became. That much was only natural.
If you kept eating the same spiritual medicine over and over, eventually it would become nothing more than a bitter little pellet in your mouth.
“There’s one more condition.”
“And what might that be? If it’s about controlling my strength...”
“No, not that.”
Soyeong sheathed her sword and spread both arms wide.
“This time, I’ll give you ten chances. If you can even touch my collar within that, I’ll count you as the winner.”
“...What?”
Qingcheng thought he must have misheard.
What Soyeong had just displayed was arrogance at its absolute peak.
This was the kind of method a master might use when testing a lesser opponent—
and she was using it on Qingcheng?
What made Qingcheng’s mind even more unsettled was Soyeong’s final remark.
“You’re the challenger.”
“...Ha!”
Qingcheng’s momentum changed.
That tightly reined-in internal force, which had been held back until now, exploded out all at once.
“Clan Lord, shouldn’t we intervene?”
“...Let us watch a little longer.”
The clan lord set aside Sunhyeon’s suggestion for the moment.
By all appearances, there was no way Soyeong could endure ten of Qingcheng’s attacks.
And yet, for some reason, Tang Cheon-ak felt a strange certainty.
Qingcheng’s sword will not even touch Soyeong’s collar.
It was a kind of premonition felt only by a master whose name had entered murim history, one who had surpassed the Peak Realm and reached the Transcendent Realm.
The intuition of a true expert.
“I’ll intervene myself if it gets dangerous.”
“Understood.”
With that, the preparations were complete.
From this distance, Tang Cheon-ak could step in at any time.
All that remained was to watch Soyeong’s choice.
Qingcheng also gathered himself.
No matter the gap between them, agitation was not a proper attitude for a warrior.
“Do not blame me if my hand is too fierce.”
Still, it was impossible to keep from putting some force into it.
Once Qingcheng had settled into his stance, Soyeong crooked a finger at him, beckoning him in.
That, too, was a kind of provocation.
Qingcheng swallowed down his temper and charged at her.
He would stain that arrogant face with bruises and tears!
He would carve the lesson of pain into her body so deeply that from this day on, merely seeing a Qingcheng sect robe would make her tremble in fear.
The first strike was Qingfeng Sword Art.
A swift sword, like the wind itself, slashed toward Soyeong’s left shoulder.
But it missed.
By exactly half a step.
Narrowly twisting her body to evade the blade, Soyeong whispered into Qingcheng’s ear, “One.”
“Kh!”
The second and third attacks were Pine-Wind Sword Art. The sword swept through the air like a dense wind, sealing off both Soyeong’s path forward and her retreat.
But once again, with a half-step’s margin, she turned her body and slipped away with ease.
“Two, three.”
Soyeong’s steps were not hurried.
They were leisurely, despite the razor-thin evasion by only half a step.
That was only natural.
Just by looking at his posture, she could tell what the attack would be.
Even by meeting his eyes, she could see where he would swing.
If you knew what kind of strike was coming and where it was headed, then avoiding it was possible even with your eyes closed.
“Six.”
And so she closed her eyes and evaded three more attacks.
The strike just now had been Upper Pure Sword Art, a technique defined by three consecutive linked blows.
What on earth is happening?
Qingcheng could not understand the situation before him.
Every time it seemed the blade had touched her, she twisted her body and slipped away.
Was he lacking speed?
Not a chance!
At first he had been holding back to some degree, but not anymore.
Yes.
Right now, Soyeong was toying with the sword of a Transcendent Realm master who was using his full strength!
“Eight.”
Two more swings.
And, as before, a half-step’s evasion.
Qingcheng, who had been pressing the attack without pause until now, finally gave ground and opened the distance for the first time.
“Haah… haah…”
He sucked in ragged breaths.
The girl before him was clearly a younger disciple far below his level, yet for some reason it felt as though he were fighting some old master far above him.
“Two more to go.”
“...Kh!”
At Soyeong’s calm provocation, Qingcheng’s grip tightened on the sword.
It no longer mattered whether the opponent before him was a junior disciple or the Tang family’s daughter.
This was about a warrior’s pride.
And so Qingcheng decided to unleash the sword that held his life within it.
“That’s...”
Sensing the change in Qingcheng’s aura, Sunhyeon quickly moved to intervene in the duel.
“Wait.”
“Clan Lord...!”
“Just... wait a moment...”
Seeing Tang Cheon-ak’s eyes, Sunhyeon decided to obey his meaning.
It had been a long time since the clan lord’s eyes had shone like this.
“Haaah!”
Qingcheng’s sword flashed.
The ninth form was Azure Cloud and Scarlet Rosy Sword, one of Qingcheng Sect’s ultimate techniques.
Qingcheng’s qi formed blue clouds, and those clouds surged down upon Soyeong.
Clouds always move with the wind; therefore, they cannot be avoided.
“Nine.”
And yet she avoided it by half a step.
She was a genius capable of reading even the wind’s direction itself.
And because of that, the final strike would not be avoided.
Azure Cloud and Scarlet Rosy Sword leads into the Azure Cloud Sword and the Scarlet Rosy Sword.
Once the blue clouds pass, the red sunset falls.
The killing blow that takes the opponent’s head.
“Ten.”
And yet, as a matter of course.
To Qingcheng’s misery.
To the astonishment of everyone else.
Soyeong avoided that as well by half a step.
“How...”
His sect’s ultimate technique.
Realizing that even the ultimate sword art of his own school would not work, Qingcheng muttered in a choked whisper, almost like a sob.
“Why won’t it reach?”
He wasn’t asking for an answer.
He was simply crying out to heaven.
Why was this child so dazzling, so radiant, so bright?
“Why won’t it reach?”
And so Soyeong answered.
She drew the sword at her waist.
The duel was over.
Who was the master and who was the inferior had been made plain.
So what remained now was instruction.
“Qingcheng’s sword is more fundamental than other martial arts. That is why it is fast.”
Soyeong swung her sword swiftly.
Qingfeng Sword Art.
“It is precise, and heavy.”
Pine-Wind Sword Art.Rising-Wind Sword Art.
“It isn’t outstanding, and because of that, it is free.”
Free.
Qingcheng’s sword was freedom.
Soyeong’s blade swept toward Qingcheng again.
Qingcheng did not dodge.
He knew it would not reach him.
Even though the blade was before his eyes, what he felt was not fear but awe.
The sword was swung like blue clouds, and within those clouds it aimed at vital points like a scarlet sunset.
Again and again, the attack continued.
Clouds fly, sunsets fall, and it repeats forever.
That was why Qingcheng’s sword, too, had to continue onward.
More freely.
That was the true essence of Qingcheng’s martial arts—the very thing Qingcheng himself, and Qingcheng Sect, had failed to grasp.
“Ah...”
The sword, which had been flashing without end, suddenly came to rest before Qingcheng.
Only now did Qingcheng understand what the girl before him truly was.
He had begged heaven for a lesson in martial arts.
“Do you understand now?”
Heaven.
It answered his question.
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