The Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms
"Focus."
At Namgung Woo's command, the Yang brothers closed their eyes, keenly aware of the palm resting against their lower backs.
"As you breathe, commit the flow of thunder qi to memory."
The brothers offered no reply. Namgung Woo had not expected one. Had they spoken, he would have sharply rebuked them for breaking their concentration.
A thread of his Heaven's Thunder Divine Art slipped through the Mingmen acupoint at the center of their waists, intimately connected to the lower dantian. At first the unfamiliar sensation of the qi made their bodies tremble, but they had grown adept at suppressing their own qi’s resistance and opening their meridians to the invading energy.
"Never forget that the twelve principal meridians are connected as one. Let the thunder qi circulate. From the lower dantian it must race through the twelve meridians and, in an instant, reach the four limbs. That is the starting point of the Lightning Sword."
Namgung Woo had taken the brothers as both subordinates and disciples. What he taught them was none other than the Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms. No art was more suited to those who cultivated the Thunderclap True Art, for in the handling of thunder qi it was an unrivaled masterpiece of the ages.
"Arm and leg are one. When the hand moves, the foot follows. When the foot steps forward, the hand extends in harmony."
The mnemonic verses of the Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms flowed from Namgung Woo’s lips into the world. As he recited them, he used his Heaven's Thunder Divine Art to trace the pathways of qi through their bodies. Like a guide showing travelers the road, the divine art illuminated the route their own Thunderclap qi must follow.
The recitation and qi guidance lasted a long while. The two had only just begun learning the Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms. Moreover, they had never before practiced an advanced art that required proper visualization. That was why Namgung Woo instructed them with painstaking care, beginning from the most fundamental principles.
"I think I’m finally grasping how to circulate the qi," Yang Jeong said after finishing a little earlier than his brother. He exhaled a long breath and voiced his thoughts. "The more I understand, the more I realize how thoughtlessly I’ve been swinging my blade until now."
"It’s strange," Yang Kvae added after a moment. "I’m learning a sword art, yet it feels like my inner energy is growing stronger too."
"That’s exactly how it works. Superior martial arts stimulate one another and accelerate progress. It’s the same principle as why those who practice the orthodox mental cultivation methods see diminished results when they attempt demonic sword arts."
"Come to think of it, it makes sense when I remember how we wandered around looking for arts that matched our inner energy."
No mental cultivation method circulated through every meridian and acupoint in the body. Even the Shaolin Temple’s Yijin Jing, which was said to handle the twelve principal meridians, the eight extraordinary vessels, and all the minor meridians of the entire body, was no exception. Therefore, the meridians and acupoints not covered by one’s primary mental art had to be tempered through other techniques. Superior martial arts overlapped with dynamic cultivation methods in this regard.
"Now then, shall we move on to practical training?"
At Namgung Woo’s smiling words, the Yang brothers gripped their weapons with grim determination, as though the moment they had been waiting for had finally arrived.
"Agh, I can manage up to the third form, but I just can’t break through to the fourth."
Yang Kvae lamented as he replayed his recent sparring session with Namgung Woo in his mind. The brothers’ training was divided into two parts: the theoretical lessons inside the inn, where Namgung Woo performed qi guidance and recited the mnemonics, and the practical sparring sessions that followed, in which the two of them fought Namgung Woo together. Of course, Namgung Woo always won the spars, but over the past few days Yang Kvae had grown increasingly anxious about his stagnant progress.
It was only natural. The difference in skill between Yang Kvae and Yang Jeong had always been minuscule, with the elder twin holding a slight edge. Yet while Yang Kvae remained unable to surpass the fourth form of the Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms, Yang Jeong had already mastered the fifth and was now practicing the sixth.
At his brother’s sulky complaint, Yang Jeong seized the opportunity to chide him.
"That’s why I told you to switch to the sword like me."
Yang Jeong tapped the weapon at his waist. The saber he had originally carried was nowhere to be seen; in its place hung a sword identical to the one Namgung Woo used. As the name suggested, the Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms the brothers were learning was fundamentally a sword art. Naturally, training with a sword yielded faster results. However, it was not exclusively a sword technique; it also encompassed the principles of blade work, so it was not unusable with a saber either. Thus Yang Kvae stubbornly clung to his saber, unlike his brother.
"You little brat, this was Father’s keepsake. How could I just throw it away?"
"It’s not exactly a divine weapon, is it?"
Their father had bequeathed his saber to Yang Kvae, the elder son—though they were twins. Yang Jeong held no particular grudge. While it was a high-quality blade forged from decent steel by a skilled craftsman, it was still something one could obtain anywhere. In fact, their father had left Yang Jeong more money so he could acquire his own weapon. Of course, that money had ultimately been converted into funds for purchasing a sword, becoming the stepping stone for his conversion to swordsmanship.
"I suppose the sword was always meant for me. You should try it too, just to test it out."
"Forget it. I’ve already decided to use the saber."
"That stubbornness of yours… If you end up holding back the Captain—ah, I mean the Leader—because of it, I won’t forgive you even if you’re my brother."
"Don’t worry. If it comes to that, I’ll just die and be done with it."
At Yang Kvae’s reply, Yang Jeong shook his head. If only that stubbornness could be directed solely toward improving his martial arts.
"Hey, let’s head out. The Captain’s here."
While the brothers were rapidly advancing their martial prowess under Namgung Woo’s guidance, Namgung Woo himself was receiving lessons in common sense and experience from them in return. If the martial instruction took place in static environments such as inns or campsites within villages, the brothers’ lessons for Namgung Woo occurred in the dynamic setting of travel. The three of them walked on foot instead of riding horses, all for the sake of training the Light Body Technique. Even while moving, they infused their voices with inner energy to ensure clear communication during conversation—an additional form of training. Making cultivation a part of daily life was something martial artists were accustomed to.
"The reason no one helps the Namgung Family is clear. It is because their actions possess legitimacy."
From Yang Jeong’s mouth came at last the answer to the question Namgung Woo had long harbored.
"Legitimate?"
"Yes. You may wonder how slaughtering people and extinguishing a bloodline can be considered legitimate, but the unspoken laws of the martial world justify it."
"Man, you really drag things out. Captain, to put it plainly, the Namgung and Dokgo families publicly declared a blood feud, and the Martial Alliance and Black Lotus pledged not to interfere. Therefore, the Dokgo Family’s order to exterminate the Namgung Family is merely an extension of that blood feud, and the Martial Alliance is simply turning a blind eye."
A blood feud waged with the survival of entire families at stake. Both houses had received the endorsement of the great alliances to which they belonged, and in the end the Dokgo Family emerged victorious.
"Still, the fact that they continue to overlook the extermination order is partly because they fear another great war between the righteous and demonic factions might break out."
"The Namgung Family is already ruined. They probably figured protecting them would bring more harm than good."
"…By the way, isn’t the Dokgo Family currently the number one power in the unorthodox faction?"
"Correct."
"The Black Lotus Lord doesn’t have a family to speak of."
"Then why did the Namgung Family accept the blood feud with the Dokgo Family?"
The Dokgo Family’s reputation was immense. Aside from the Hyeonwon Family, widely regarded as the foremost house even among the orthodox sects, no other family could confidently claim superiority over them. So why had the Namgung Family accepted the blood feud?
The answer was simple.
"They must have believed they would win."
The Namgung Family had been the greatest sword clan under heaven. Amid the great war between orthodox and demonic factions, if they could reduce their enemies using only the Dokgo Family, it would enhance their prestige while minimizing casualties. In the eyes of the world, the Namgung Family’s leadership had apparently judged it so.
"Until the great war between the orthodox and demonic factions, the Dokgo Family was not even considered a martial clan."
"I heard they had some reputation as a military family, though."
The Dokgo Family, virtually unknown in the martial world, versus the Namgung Family, which had contended for the title of the foremost orthodox house alongside the Hyeonwon Family. Common sense dictated that the latter held the advantage.
"The problem was that the previous Family Head, the greatest expert of the Namgung Family, perished while suppressing the Blood Cult’s uprising…"
"And the Family Head who succeeded him was not as powerful as his predecessor."
The previous head, Namgung Jin, had vanished during the war against the Blood Cult. His successor, the Azure Sky Hero Namgung Hyu, lost his life to the Dokgo Family Head during the blood feud. Thus the Namgung Family lost its two pillars in succession and collapsed.
After briefly explaining the two former heads, Yang Jeong cast a subtly meaningful glance at Namgung Woo.
"Rumor has it that the Family Head secretly helped a child escape…"
The implication at the end of his trailing words was blatant. The Namgung Family that had fallen twenty years ago. The persistent rumors of the Namgung Family Head’s child escaping in secret. And the twenty-something-year-old survivor of the Namgung bloodline standing right before them. Even Namgung Woo had to admit that the Yang brothers harboring such suspicions was only natural.
"I’m twenty-three, remember."
"I didn’t say a word, Captain."
Yang Jeong glared at Yang Kvae, who had abruptly feigned ignorance, as though looking at a traitor.
Namgung Woo filed away the deeds of the nameless Namgung Family heads in his mind and asked again.
"Then why did the imperial court turn a blind eye? I heard the imperial family intervened to end the great war between the orthodox and demonic factions."
"That’s… a bit complicated."
"It’s because the Dokgo Family were loyal subjects of the imperial court."
"The Dokgo Family?"
"You just said they had some reputation as a military family. Originally, they were a house with roots in the government."
This was unexpected. Were those of the unorthodox faction not generally those who defied the imperial court’s policies? Namgung Woo could not reconcile the contradictory concepts of loyal imperial subjects and unorthodox martial artists.
This time Yang Kvae took over the explanation in place of Yang Jeong.
"You probably know about the complicated succession struggles within the imperial family as well, Captain."
The recent Ming imperial court had been turbulent. When the original emperor, the Zhengtong Emperor Zhu Qizhen, was taken prisoner during the Tumu Crisis, his younger brother Zhu Qiyu became the Jingtai Emperor. Then, taking advantage of Zhu Qiyu falling ill after the death of his heir, the Duomen Incident occurred, allowing Zhu Qizhen to reclaim the throne and become the Tianshun Emperor.
"The Dokgo Family had been part of the military until the Tumu Crisis. Because they were supporters of the Zhengtong Emperor, they were expelled by the Jingtai Emperor’s faction. Disillusioned, they threw themselves into the martial world."
"Even after the Zhengtong Emperor was restored as the Tianshun Emperor, they remained in the martial world. Since the current emperor is the legitimate successor of the Tianshun Emperor, he tends to turn a blind eye to the Dokgo Family’s overreach to some extent."
A general’s family that had remained loyal to the father who had been dethroned. The emperor felt compassion for the Dokgo Family, who had been driven into the martial world while trying to protect the previous emperor.
"Besides, unless the Dokgo Family openly violates the Great Ming Code, aside from the extermination order they still comply with imperial policy."
"And they’re quite active too—dispatching troops diligently to subjugate martial world criminals and Ghost Gates… If things go wrong, those guys might become the extermination force themselves? They’re a vicious bunch."
"It seems most of their retainers also came from the military, so their character is closer to that of a military house than a typical martial clan."
This was the extent of the knowledge the brothers possessed about the Dokgo Family. Such information was easily obtainable by simply paying attention to rumors and worldly affairs, but if one wished to learn more detailed secrets, separate sources would be required.
"The Beggar’s Union, Haomun, and the Nine Dragons Society… The major organizations handling information in the jianghu are largely divided into these three."
They represented the orthodox, neutral, and unorthodox factions respectively.
"The easiest route is Haomun. Those fellows will sell any information as long as you pay them."
"But the quality of their information is the lowest. They don’t even operate an organization dedicated to gathering intelligence; they’re merely middlemen."
"Still, it’s better than nothing."
Their tasks in Beijing had been decided. From then on, the three of them continued teaching one another as they leisurely made their way toward the capital.
That was why they never encountered the Paeng Family members who were rushing toward the capital at top speed in search of Namgung Woo. Paeng Ha-ryeong, who had stormed out with the sole thought of meeting Namgung Woo as quickly as possible, could never have imagined that Namgung Woo was actually trailing behind them, stopping at inns for proper rest and enjoying three full meals a day while traveling to Beijing.
Time passed in this manner.
"We’ve finally arrived."
"That’s Beijing over there, Captain."
Namgung Woo had reached Beijing.