The Sect Master’s Guidance
The sect master finished speaking and vanished without a trace.
As soon as he disappeared, the Mount Hua Sect disciples who had been watching the duel swarmed around me.
“As expected of the North Sea Divine Dragon! Incredible!”
“Please, duel me as well!”
“Hah... I’m afraid I’ve used up all my strength today. My apologies.”
I kept apologizing and managed to slip away from the crowd.
Once things around us quieted down, So-hee spoke up.
“As expected of you, Brother! That was an astounding display of martial prowess!”
“Still, I lost. Something about it feels a little disappointing.”
“That’s exactly why it’s so impressive! The sect master who dueled with Young Master Han is considered one of the strongest among the Nine Great Sects, you know.”
Shin Yu-eun looked at me with admiration and said, as if she truly meant it.
“Is the sect master really that strong?”
“Of course! Some people even say Mount Hua is the strongest of the Nine Great Sects because their sect master is so powerful.”
At the mention of being the strongest among the Nine Great Sects, I found myself thinking once again just how formidable the sect master really was.
The abbot of Shaolin Temple I had met before, the Alliance Leader, and even my father had all been people who represented a sect or a family, but they were relatively old. To see someone so young leading a sect and still possessing such strength made it all the more impressive.
There were a lot of similarities between the forms of my Ice Dragon Sword Dance and the Plum Blossom Sword Art... Maybe I should ask the sect master to teach me?
After sparring with Cheongpung and the sect master, I’d realized that the Ice Dragon Sword Dance and the Plum Blossom Sword Art shared a great deal in common, both in the principles they pursued and in the techniques themselves.
And on top of that, the way the sect master used the Plum Blossom Sword Art was exquisitely graceful. It made me want to learn a sword that moved like that too.
I headed straight for the sect master’s office.
So-hee and Shin Yu-eun seemed to guess what I was thinking, so they excused themselves and said they’d look around Mount Hua on their own.
“Knock, knock.”
“Come in, Han Dae-hyeop.”
He had recognized me from a simple knock at the door.
I opened it and entered before speaking.
“Well... I’d like to learn swordsmanship from the sect master.”
The sect master smiled and looked at me.
“So that means you’d like to enter Mount Hua Sect?”
That question caught me off guard.
“I think... entering the sect would be difficult for me, but... wouldn’t it be possible to ask for a little instruction?”
“A little instruction, you say... Very well. I happen to like you, Han Dae-hyeop, so I’ll teach you a little, specially.”
Hearing that he liked me made me feel oddly pleased.
The sect master then rose from his seat.
He picked up the sword beside him and lightly leapt out through the window.
I followed after him.
The sect master led me to a quiet place.
“Before we begin, there’s something important.”
“Something important? What is it?”
“You must call me Master!”
The sect master tried to strike a dignified pose, but he looked nothing like a stern teacher. If anything, he just looked cute.
“Understood, Master.”
“Good! Then let me tell you what I sensed from our duel first.”
I listened carefully to my master’s words.
“In your case, the subtle principles of your sword are quite unusual.”
“What do you mean by unusual?”
“The principles woven into the forms you displayed are different. There are even a few forms where I couldn’t tell what principle they were following.”
That was true. In the case of my Ice Dragon Sword Dance, I had created each form according to whatever situation it was needed for, drawing on past experience. I had never really thought about the principles those forms pursued.
“For example, the first strike you showed seemed to carry the principles of speed and weight.”
I nodded at my master’s words.
When I created Ice Dragon Draw, I had thought of iaijutsu and shaped it into a swift, single-cut strike, so both of those principles were present.
“But the sword technique you used at the end to redirect my attack seemed to carry the principle of softness. The rest... I’m not so sure.”
As my master said, I had created the fluid sword form by taking inspiration from the sword technique of Jinmu, the Taoist from the Wudang Sect, so it did indeed contain the principle of softness.
“Is it bad for the forms to each have different principles?”
“Not at all. In fact, having a variety of principles means you can use them appropriately in a wider range of situations.”
“Then the more different principles a technique contains, the better?”
“It can be good. But there’s a reason such techniques are rare.”
My master smiled faintly and continued her explanation.
“Most martial arts have a path they pursue, in other words, a principle. The clearer that goal is, the simpler the training method and combat style become. That means they’re easier to learn. So most martial arts pursue only one principle.”
Then she picked up a small pebble lying on the ground.
“Take this pebble, for example. There are basically two ways to throw it: hurl it blindly, or aim it accurately. If you want to throw it harder, strength training naturally makes your throw stronger. But if you want to throw it accurately, you have to sharpen the sensitivity in your fingertips.”
My master threw the pebble hard once, but it struck the ground almost immediately.
Then she tossed it lightly and hit a tree in the distance.
The explanation was simple enough that I understood easily and nodded.
“But alternating between throwing hard and throwing accurately is more difficult than using just one method. You need both abilities, and you have to keep switching between them.”
My master kept speaking as she tossed the pebble again and again.
“In the end, throwing hard while also throwing accurately is the hardest method of all. You have to use both abilities properly at the same time.”
The pebble she threw after saying that sank deep into the tree.
“So in the end, because it’s so difficult, people don’t prefer that method?”
“Exactly. Swordsmanship is far more intricate than throwing pebbles, and much harder to train. Pursuing a single principle can be achieved to some extent through effort, but using multiple principles simultaneously is nearly impossible through effort alone.”
“Then would it be better to clearly decide the principle I want to pursue right now?”
At my question, my master shook her head.
“It’s nearly impossible, yes, but if you have the talent, it’s certainly possible. At your level of accomplishment, I think you could do more than simply use multiple principles. You might even be able to fuse them into one.”
As she spoke, my master pointed to the pebble embedded in the tree.
“Could a realm like that really exist?”
“Hehe... how would I know?”
My master grinned playfully.
Still, after listening to her this far, I felt like I had finally found the direction I needed to go.
To fuse multiple principles into one, rather than merely using them...
“To combine different principles, I’ll need understanding and mastery of each one, right?”
My master sat down on the ground with a plop and began the lesson in earnest.
I naturally sat down in front of her as well.
“The principles of swordsmanship are endless. Some are famous, but many more are newly created all the time. Representative examples are principles like weight, speed, illusion, and softness.”
My master explained while drawing diagrams on the ground.
“And surprisingly, there are also principles that pair together quite well. It’s like how Mount Hua’s swordsmanship pursues speed and illusion at the same time.”
My master picked up a fallen branch and waved it through the air.
“The most important thing in speed is, naturally, speed. Then what matters most in illusion?”
Something needed for unpredictable swordplay...
“Stamina?”
At my answer, my master snorted softly.
“Stamina is important everywhere as a basic foundation. What matters most in illusion is the head.”
“The head?”
When I made a face that showed I didn’t understand, she continued.
“Unpredictable means a method your opponent can’t foresee. So the basics are reading the opponent’s thoughts and striking where they’re vulnerable. That’s why the ability to think creatively is what matters most.”
“Ah... I see...”
“Maybe that’s why people with a free-spirited nature suit the principle of illusion so well... Mount Hua has plenty of disciples like that too...”
My master said it with a bitter, exasperated look. She was probably talking about Cheongpung.
Cheongpung really is pretty free-spirited...
“Anyway, in conclusion, in your case, Han Dae-hyeop, what’s important is to think about which principles you want to place into your forms, and then consider what elements are most important for each principle. That should be enough explanation for you. It’s nearly time for dinner anyway.”
My master brushed herself off and stood up. I rose with her, still turning her words over in my mind.
Different principles for each form...
Even while eating in the dining hall, I kept thinking about it.
Illusion as a principle...
Until now, I had thought about sword techniques suited to various situations, but I had never considered placing a principle inside each form, and it felt surprisingly difficult.
After finishing my meal in a hurry, I returned to the room I had been given and lay down on the bed, lost in thought.
The first form is speed and weight, and the spinning slash is... illusion and weight? I’m not sure. The third form is ferocity? Could that even be a principle? The fourth form... that’s vague. The fifth form is softness. That one feels right.
Thinking over the principles hidden in the forms of the Ice Dragon Sword Dance I had created so far, I drifted off to sleep.
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