Fate -1
"Hah."
The gentleman draws the bow but does not release the arrow.
He stands upon the Middle Way, and those who are able will follow of their own accord.
When a gentleman teaches the art of archery, he shows only how to draw the string — never how to loose the shot. If that teaching follows the true path, those who seek instruction will grasp the art of shooting for themselves.
Understanding the hearts of children was only just beginning, but the elders' efforts held value simply by virtue of being made! The way the elders strove for their sect was unmistakably the righteous path, and merely witnessing those seniors hold to that path while they labored would have been enough for the disciples of the Jeomchang Sect to find enlightenment — so take heart!
That was what I had meant to convey.
But where would I have ever picked up such ink-reeking classical phrasing? I might have scavenged a line or two from reading martial arts novels, but most of the higher-tier insights sitting in the Enlightenment Database were composed of exactly that sort of impressive-sounding verse.
"I knew you'd cause trouble, Senior."
Heukmyo spoke while gazing out beyond the Guest Hall.
"So was this whole affair something you planned, or pure coincidence?"
"I honestly just wanted to boost the elders' morale, nothing more..."
"Why is it so impossible to take anything you say at face value? You spend so much time conning people that nothing out of your mouth carries any weight."
Heukmyo fixed me with a look thick with suspicion, then shook her head.
"Anyway, you understand, right? This is a problem even Wolbokdang's full power couldn't fix."
"I know."
Elder Un-jong would almost certainly enter the Profound Realm. Even if the Jeomchang Sect, out of consideration for me, tried to suppress the news, the matter was far too enormous for any rumor to stay contained. Word that a new master of the Profound Realm had been born was more than enough to set the entire Murim Cheonha ablaze.
And every last person would investigate how Elder Un-jong had ascended. They would claw for even a scrap of the insight that had allowed him to seize that breakthrough.
In that process, my existence coming to light was already a foregone conclusion.
The wandering warrior who granted Elder Un-jong enlightenment also happened to give Yeo Il-ye a breakthrough? And while he was at the Wanderer Inn, there were signs that Tang Do-gyeong invented a new martial art under his influence?
The number of martial artists fixing their attention on me was about to swell dramatically.
Through the Guest Hall's window, the Jeomchang Sect lay in silence. At this hour the soft shouts of training should have been drifting up as usual, but the entire sect was holding its breath so as not to disturb Elder Un-jong's enlightenment.
Looking down, I could see the qi enveloping Elder Un-jong growing steadily denser — as if his whole body were being sheathed in rigid qi. The way he had begun to rise into the air told me the metamorphosis of flesh and bone was about to begin in earnest.
Ascending to the Profound Realm did not always trigger a metamorphosis of flesh and bone... but as an elder of the Jeomchang Sect, he would hardly have been lacking in internal energy.
The metamorphosis of flesh and bone was tied to the quantity of one's internal energy. In theory, anyone who reached a certain threshold of internal energy could undergo it. The problem was that without a matching realm of cultivation, accumulating that much energy was impossible.
In general, only entry into the Profound Realm allowed one to match that volume of energy — so perhaps it amounted to the same thing either way.
Both Heukmyo and I held our breath in that moment and looked down. Where else would one ever get to witness with their own eyes the birth of a Profound Realm martial artist — the very instant of a metamorphosis of flesh and bone?
The transformation was quieter than I had expected. I had braced myself for the sound of bones being remade into tempered steel throughout the body. Instead, Elder Un-jong simply floated in silence, wrapped in a cocoon of rigid qi.
Except for one thing.
A gentle storm of qi, vast enough to seem as if it were embracing the entire Jeomchang Sect, was gathering and surging around that cocoon.
To the eye, the landscape was a static, unchanging scene.
But the landscape felt through qi-sense was the vital energy of Mount Sunam itself moving with Elder Un-jong at its center. The motion of the mountain's entire aura being drawn into the cocoon he had formed — beyond even the grounds of the Jeomchang Sect — was a spectacle that, for anyone who cultivated martial arts, could only be called intoxicating.
"...Incredible."
I nodded absently at Heukmyo's murmur.
The energy gathering was utterly free of roughness — natural and smooth — yet the sheer force of it carried a pressure that weighed down on a person. It was easy enough to imagine what would happen when that power condensed and then burst free.
How long did we stand there, lost in contemplation of that flow of qi?
Shaaaaa.
Wind rose with Elder Un-jong at its center. The cocoon that had sealed him off from the outside world unraveled, and his form was revealed.
Outwardly, little seemed changed beyond skin that looked a touch smoother — but what had transformed was not his appearance. It was the qi settled within him. Quietly gathered and restrained... yet great things radiate presence by the mere fact of their existence.
Just as a crouching elephant never looks small, Elder Un-jong — who had pioneered the supreme realm of the Profound — now displayed an aura utterly unlike anything he had possessed before.
"Congratulations on your achievement."
"Congratulations on your achievement."
"...My thanks, all of you."
Elder Yeong-ul voiced the question on everyone's mind.
"Have you reached the Profound Realm?"
Elder Un-jong raised a hand without a word. A sword rose into the air of its own accord.
Igi-eogeom — the blade rises free of any hand, answering only to the will of qi.
Energy began to bloom upon it, little by little. The rigid qi that had once risen from the bowls the elders had pointed to now slowly coated the floating sword.
"Ohh..."
With the sword as its vessel — the Qi-Controlled Rigid Sword. Beyond merely projecting outer qi, the power to forge rigid energy even where no hand can reach: the proof of the Profound Realm.
Elder Un-jong had demonstrated, beyond any doubt, that he had stepped into the Profound Realm.
"We find ourselves once again indebted to you, wandering warrior."
Three people sat before me.
Elder Cheongheo, who until yesterday had been the Jeomchang Sect's sole Profound Realm master — now one of two. Sect Leader Sagong Myeong. And last, Elder Un-jong, who had ascended to the Profound Realm this very day.
"First Il-ye, and now Elder Un-jong as well — you have bestowed enlightenment upon them both. I no longer know how this grace can possibly be repaid."
"Hah... it was nothing more than a chain of coincidences."
"Of course you would say so. This world is vast, and gifted eccentrics are many — but can there truly be anyone with the ability to transmit enlightenment to another?"
At Sagong Myeong's words, I swallowed dryly.
"It is merely the warp of fortune and the weft of destiny interlacing to form a single pattern. Heaven's design has bound you, fellow wanderer, to the Jeomchang Sect. There is no need for you to feel burdened or to be so modest. What does it matter whether it was chance or necessity?"
"The Jeomchang Sect has received enlightenment from you twice over, and we simply wish to express our gratitude. And so... is there anything you desire?"
Sagong Myeong's words set my thoughts spinning. In other words — even if he believed I possessed the ability to transmit enlightenment, he was offering to look the other way?
"Ahem. Should the excessive attention that will fall upon you prove burdensome, I for one have little interest in concerning myself with outside affairs."
Elder Un-jong's remark brought the picture into clearer focus.
Possessing two Profound Realm masters was a monumental event that would instantly transform a sect's standing. Even among the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Clans, several currently had no Profound Realm expert at all. In that climate, if the Jeomchang Sect came to hold two? It would claim an unrivaled position among the Nine Great Sects.
And the Jeomchang Sect was saying it would forgo that advantage to accommodate my wishes.
"...Are you truly certain?"
"Huhu. Of course. If Il-ye and Un-jong attaining enlightenment is the fate born of the bond between the Jeomchang Sect and yourself, then the difficulties you will face as a result are also fate. That the Jeomchang Sect should walk that path alongside you is only natural."
Was I being a little shameless about this?
To speak plainly, the truth was that Elder Un-jong had reached the Profound Realm because I had spilled enlightenment. Unintentional as it was, I had delivered a Profound Realm master into the sect's hands — an enormous gain for the Jeomchang Sect by any measure.
"For now, would it be possible to adjust the length of my stay at the Jeomchang Sect?"
"Of course. If you wish, you may remain for the rest of your life."
Refreshingly direct.
"And as for the news that Elder Un-jong has ascended to the Profound Realm... I would ask that you make the official announcement only after I have left."
Sagong Myeong nodded readily on that point as well.
While I was at it, should I ask about elixirs too? I had obtained a water-attribute inner core while refining the Hundred-Year Fire Carp in the underwater cave, purchased a wood-attribute elixir with money, and secured a yin-attribute elixir and a metal-attribute pill from the Golden Family's warehouse after Sama Yeom confiscated it.
The Jeomchang Sect had already agreed to refine a single-attribute elixir for me, so I still needed fire-attribute and earth-attribute elixirs.
"And you mentioned needing the Seven Luminaries attribute elixirs, did you not? It seems the Jeomchang Sect should be able to produce a fire-attribute elixir."
"...I am grateful for your generosity."
Even after creating a Profound Realm master for them, rattling off requests as if I meant to pull up the sect's foundation by the roots made my face burn of its own accord. The foundation would not actually be uprooted, of course... but dumping so many demands at once left me inevitably embarrassed.
Still, the Seven Luminaries attribute elixirs did more than simply open the way to the next realm — they smoothed the circulation of my qi itself. With the need to grow stronger as quickly as possible, I had to secure those elixirs without delay.
As for an earth-attribute elixir, no method of obtaining one came to mind just yet... for now, I would have to train while borrowing Heukmyo's and the Jeomchang Sect's information networks.
"In any case, receiving all the elixirs will require you to remain at the Jeomchang Sect for some time. Should anything further occur to you later, please convey it through Hyeok Gi-rin."
"I am grateful for your kindness."
When I stepped out of the Sect Leader's Hall, Heukmyo and Hyeok Gi-rin were waiting.
"Shouldn't you two be training? What are you doing here?"
"Someone just caused a catastrophe of epic proportions — how are we supposed to train in peace?"
At Heukmyo's scolding, I scratched the back of my neck. I told Heukmyo and Hyeok Gi-rin everything that had been discussed in the Sect Leader's Hall.
"Hmm. So we'll be living at the Jeomchang Sect for a while. That works out nicely. I can stick close to Hero Hyeok Gi-rin, and the kids are adorable. Don't you think?"
Heukmyo said this while giving Hyeok Gi-rin a light bump on the shoulder. Hyeok Gi-rin, whose expression had darkened with worry for me, brightened and offered a small smile.
"Yes. For as long as you remain at the Jeomchang Sect, we will keep you safely protected."
In truth, the measures we were taking now amounted to little more than pissing on a frozen foot. Eventually, the fact that I was a walking bag of enlightenment would spread across the entire Central Plains Murim. When that day came, whether my realm was First-rate or Peak would hardly matter much.
It was simply that this was all I could do right now.
Even so, seeing the two of them pleased by the decision to stay long-term at the Jeomchang Sect lightened my heart a little.
"Senior. Don't worry so much."
"Hm?"
Heukmyo tapped my shoulder as she spoke.
"Getting all stiff-faced over a little mistake isn't like you. You've got that scheming brain that wiped out Hwanggeum-seon's whole crew in Sichuan, don't you? They already said they'd protect you for life at the Jeomchang Sect. So loosen up a bit and put that cunning to work."
"Huhu. The phrasing may be a touch crude, but your stratagems in Sichuan left me with nothing but admiration. In the end, you completely netted every culprit behind the Yeoga Manor massacre, Hwanggeum-seon at their head, and brought justice to bear. Until a fine scheme surfaces in your mind, the Jeomchang Sect will keep you under our protection."
"Ha."
Just what did these two take me for?
Even so, their words woke something in me. I had made a serious mistake. If the version of myself from before I had met Yeo Il-ye or Heukmyo had committed the same blunder — what would have become of me? I could not say for certain, but I might well have chosen a desperate flight to Huan or Tibet, trembling with fear.
Looking at the two of them, I recalled the word Sagong Myeong had spoken earlier: fate. Yes — because I was at the Jeomchang Sect, because the elders had been so dejected, I had tried to comfort them and ended up committing the mistake of spilling enlightenment.
Yet Sagong Myeong had simply called the entire situation destiny.
Perhaps he was right. By associating with the Jeomchang Sect I had spilled enlightenment... and because I had associated with the Jeomchang Sect, I could receive its help.
The tangle of warp and weft.
"Come on, Senior. Let's go chew over some ideas over fried rice."
"Yes — though my wits are meager, I shall add what I can."
As the two of them seized my sleeves and dragged me along, I thought: perhaps I had fallen, but I had not hit the ground. Because the tangle called fate had caught me before I could.
Just as these two were firmly bound to me now.
"Hah..."
Being hauled away by the pair of them, I let out a short laugh.
Well. Fine.
We could figure out the solution together from here.