Chapter 293: Wudang Sect (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 293: Wudang Sect (2)
Seo-jun fell into thought.
While he was indeed a martial artist of the Transcendent Realm, the position of the Wudang Sect’s Grand Master was not a title to be taken lightly.
Naturally, ignoring titles like "Grand Master" was a daily occurrence for Seo-jun, but he knew the rest of the world didn't share his perspective.
If he marched through the front gates of the Wudang Sect with his head held high, simply securing a meeting with the Grand Master would devolve into a tedious ordeal. When an organization's history runs deep, it inevitably becomes bogged down by useless formalities and rigid etiquette.
"So, let's skip the front gate and go straight to the Grand Master."
"Wh-what...? Is that really okay...?"
Bi-yeon’s face turned pale, but Seo-jun remained completely nonchalant.
Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah, long accustomed to Seo-jun’s antics, were entirely unbothered. Ju Won-jang—who had always been a lunatic in his own right—didn't even bat an eye.
"That sounds like fun."
"Right? Then let's go."
Let’s go.
And that was the full story behind the infamous "Descent of the Wudang Immortal" incident.
* * *
The Grand Master of the Wudang Sect, Taiji Sword Immortal Hyeon-wi.
The title "Mount Tai and Big Dipper" of the Righteous Faction traditionally referred to Shaolin and Wudang. Yet, for the leader of such a prestigious sect, his expression currently looked somewhat... vacant.
"Wait, isn't that wrong? Now that I think about it, why are Shaolin and Wudang the 'Mount Tai and Big Dipper'? Shouldn't it be the Namgung Clan?" Seo-jun asked.
Ju Won-jang shrugged. "It’s a matter of history and tradition."
"I thought the Imperial Family unified the Central Plains."
"Wudang and Shaolin were the pillars of the Righteous Faction long before that."
"Good grief. These guys are calling themselves the 'Mount Tai and Big Dipper' when my father-in-law could wipe them out with a few waves of his hand."
"I consider myself truly lucky to have a friend who can spout such nonsense so casually right in front of the Wudang Grand Master."
"What’s that supposed to mean? You're creeping me out."
As Seo-jun and Ju Won-jang bickered, Taiji Sword Immortal Hyeon-wi finally spoke to his disciples.
"Everyone, withdraw."
His voice, infused with internal energy, wasn't merely loud.
His words carried a profound enlightenment, possessing a mysterious resonance unique to the Tao. Upon hearing that single, short sentence, the disciples felt a jolt akin to a sudden flash of realization. They quietly bowed their heads and retreated.
"Oho."
Of course, that was the official interpretation. Seo-jun had a slightly different impression.
That’s exactly it. A hypnosis app.
The will contained within the Taiji Sword Immortal’s words had directly influenced the hearts of his disciples.
Naturally, it wasn't some heinous martial art that shattered one's personality like a literal mind-control tool. Because the disciples already harbored deep respect for their Grand Master, it was simply a method to dismiss them without causing friction.
Regardless, Seo-jun gratefully copied it.
‘That’s one.’
The Taiji Sword Immortal watched Seo-jun with a peculiar expression.
"Who are you to have come all this way without so much as a word of notice?"
Despite his youthful appearance, the Grand Master's eyes held an unfathomable depth. His presence was truly like that of an immortal. One could easily tell he possessed the profound qualities of a Taoist master just by looking at Bi-yeon, who was staring at him as if completely entranced.
Naturally, Seo-jun didn't care about any of that.
"I'm the Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord. I was thinking about things on my way over, and it started to annoy me. You know, during the war, didn't most of you just stay holed up in your own sects?"
He knew that protecting one's own sect was the top priority.
He also knew that because the leaders of each sect had held their ground, the Transcendent Realm masters of the Evil Sect couldn't recklessly set foot in Righteous Faction territory.
But even so, it rubbed him the wrong way.
While he had been out there suffering on the front lines, hadn't these people just been lying around in some corner of their mountain, scratching their bellies?
In response to Seo-jun’s pointed remark, the Taiji Sword Immortal replied calmly.
"The Tao is eternal and does nothing, yet nothing is left undone (Dao chang wu wei er wu bu wei). The flow of nature must be left as it is, without resistance. To interfere by force is to invite failure; thus, there was no reason to meddle in the flow of the times."
The Tao is always without action, yet there is nothing it does not do.
He was speaking of Wu Wei.
As someone who knew that the first step toward the Profound Realm was discarding the Five Desires and Seven Emotions, Seo-jun understood that Wu Wei was a concept closely linked to that very path.
Seo-jun’s eyebrows twitched for a moment before he spoke.
"Then let me ask you one thing."
"Go ahead."
"If I swing a sword at your neck, is it also the Tao to just let it flow as it will?"
"Wu Wei is not doing nothing; it is refraining from unnecessary interference. Life, by its very nature, possesses an instinct to survive, and following that instinct is the Tao. In other words, if you raise your sword and disrupt the flow, it is the Tao to correct it."
"So you're saying you'll block it?"
"Indeed."
"Then why didn't you stop the war? Isn't war also something that disrupts the flow?"
"Nature is that which is 'so of itself.' Humans also belong to nature, so there is no reason to interfere in the flow they create."
"If I swing my sword, how will you respond?"
"I shall avoid it if I can, and stop it if I can, but I shall endeavor not to harm life if possible."
"So, in other words, a spar?"
At the seemingly non-sequitur remark, the Taiji Sword Immortal stared at Seo-jun.
But upon second thought, the young man's intention was blatantly obvious.
"Are you saying you wish to spar?"
"Didn't I say so from the start? Let's have a round."
"I do not wish to swing my sword unnecessarily, but it seems you will not leave quietly."
Shring—!
The Taiji Sword Immortal drew the sword from his waist.
Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah’s eyes widened.
They hadn't even realized there was a sword hanging at his waist until this very moment. The Taiji Sword Immortal and his blade were in such perfect, natural harmony—as if they had always been one entity—that it was difficult to even distinguish between the two.
"Straight to the point. I like it."
Unimpressed by the profound display, Seo-jun loosely brandished the sword he had already drawn. Primordial Unity Sun-Moon Astral Qi coated his blade.
It wasn't the true Primordial Unity dwelling within him, but rather the principle he had realized long ago by drawing a Taiji symbol with Yin and Yang.
To put it simply, it was a downgraded version of Primordial Unity.
"Hoh..."
The Taiji Sword Immortal immediately recognized the Taiji residing within Seo-jun’s sword.
"I see. There was a profound reason you sought me out."
"......?"
Not really.
Rolling his eyes, Seo-jun first pointed his sword at the Taiji Sword Immortal.
Then, using Void Object Grasping, he gently lowered Chun-bong, Namgung Su-ah, and Bi-yeon to the ground. The trio retreated to a safe distance to watch the clash.
Without hesitation, Seo-jun kicked off the ground.
Tak—!
His figure naturally folded space as he moved, instantly appearing right in front of the Taiji Sword Immortal.
The Grand Master's eyebrows twitched. With a faint smile playing on his lips, he lightly drew a circle with the tip of his sword.
"A genius, indeed."
Woong—
Accompanied by a mysterious resonance, Seo-jun’s sword strike was naturally diverted.
It wasn't merely the technique of a Transcendent Realm master redirecting force.
The Taiji drawn by the Taiji Sword Immortal’s blade harmonized with Seo-jun’s sword, allowing the destructive power contained within the strike to naturally dissolve into the flow.
Kiiiing—
The patterns within Seo-jun’s pupils began to quietly rotate.
‘Taiji, huh...’
He had seen the swordsmanship of the Wudang Sect before.
During the Yongbong Gathering, Mu-hye—a reputed friend of Namgung Myeong—had been a rising star of the sect. He remembered her using the Taiji Wisdom Sword. It was certainly a powerful martial art worthy of being called a Divine Art, but it hadn't felt nearly as harmonious as the Taiji Sword Immortal’s technique.
Seo-jun noted the vast difference between the two swordsmen and focused on the Taiji Sword Immortal’s next move.
Woong—
The Taiji Sword Immortal’s sword traced a soft curve. He didn't add any strength of his own to the blade, yet he naturally absorbed the power contained in Seo-jun’s swing.
That very same power then erupted outward from the tip of his sword.
Swaaaaaaaaak—!
It was a razor-sharp counter. He was using the absorbed power to cut without a single ounce of wasted energy.
As the blade approached, Seo-jun calmly drew a circle with his own sword.
Woong—
The Taiji drawn by the Primordial Unity Sun-Moon Astral Qi harmoniously accepted the power radiating from the Taiji Sword Immortal’s blade.
It wasn't a method Seo-jun usually employed, but since it was being perfectly demonstrated right in front of him, there was no reason not to copy it.
Wooooooooooong—!
Swords clashed and parted, each combatant drawing their own Taiji.
With every exchange of blows, the power contained within the intersecting circles grew exponentially.
The kinetic energy snowballed until it reached a magnitude that would shock even a Transcendent Realm martial artist. Watching Seo-jun’s sword intently, the Taiji Sword Immortal flashed a strange smile.
"You are a quick learner."
The Taiji Sword Immortal’s sword, which had been drawing simple circles, suddenly broke its trajectory.
Seuuuuu...
His sword began to trace irregular lines. No, it wasn't that he intended to draw them; he simply let the blade flow as it willed.
That flow had no fixed form, yet it was profoundly harmonious. Line after line coexisted, seamlessly boosting each other's energy.
The Tao is eternal and does nothing, yet nothing is left undone.
Man follows Earth, Earth follows Heaven, Heaven follows Tao, Tao follows Nature.
That which is "so of itself" is nature; thus, the Tao is achieved naturally without needing to be commanded.
The sword, having reached the Tao by simply flowing without a clear purpose, soon naturally drifted toward Seo-jun.
Saaaaaaaa—!
Countless sword strikes surged forward like a howling gale.
"This is..."
In that strike, Seo-jun felt the absolute principles of nature—a force that entirely transcended human will.
At a glance, all the lines that seemed to flow meaninglessly harmonized to depict a single, flawless ecosystem.
Even if one were to messily tangle those lines, nature would remain harmonious in itself and continue endlessly.
Kiiiing—!
Taking in that entire flow with his eyes, Seo-jun felt a sudden, violent impulse.
He wanted to break that harmony.
He wanted to shatter the sheer arrogance of discussing the absolute laws of nature right in front of him.
And so, he did.
Slowly, amidst the countless sword paths that sought to subdue him by absorbing him as a mere element of nature, Seo-jun raised his sword toward the sky.
He seized all those complex, supposedly unbreakable flows in his grasp and silently denied their very principles.
Kwooooooooong—!!
The series of flows the Taiji Sword Immortal had created instantly deviated from the Tao.
Nature follows Tao, Tao follows Heaven, Heaven follows Earth, Earth follows Man.
Standing tall, nature itself knelt beneath Seo-jun’s feet in imitation of him. Twisted principles gave birth to phenomena that utterly defied common logic.
Eyeballs attached to flower petals captured the image of the Taiji Sword Immortal. The wind became a void and ceased to flow. The earth refused to support man, and the sky refused to embrace him.
Finally, the sword strikes that had been naturally approaching Seo-jun—like water flowing from high to low—were violently repelled.
Tung—!
The water contained in the sea rose toward the sky like rain.
The Taiji Sword Immortal’s eyes widened as he faced his own sword strikes returning toward him.
"What is the name of this martial art?"
The Taiji Sword Immortal’s sword busily drew circles to intercept the barrage.
Seo-jun looked down at him from the center of this distorted nature.
"It's not a martial art. It's a single principle."
"A principle?"
"Yes."
It was the simple principle of Heaven-Defying.
Seo-jun suddenly pondered the relationship between Primordial Unity and Heaven-Defying.
He also questioned the demon in his heart and his title as the sprout of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons.
If, as he vaguely sensed, Primordial Unity was something he naturally harbored within himself, then what was Heaven-Defying?
Why was he so intimately familiar with the Demonic, and why was he called the sprout of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons?
However, pushing those profound questions aside for now, he addressed the Taiji Sword Immortal.
"And your martial art?" Seo-jun asked.
"It is the Sword of Seeking Non-Action."
"I've never heard of it."
"I created it myself and have yet to complete it. No one knows the name 'Sword of Seeking Non-Action' besides you and me."
"The Sword of Seeking Non-Action, huh."
Seo-jun smiled inwardly.
‘That makes two.’
He felt a tiny prick of conscience for stealing an unreleased martial art that someone had worked so hard to create, but Seo-jun’s conscience was already so worn down that it couldn't cause him any real pain.
‘I can just give him something in return later.’
Seo-jun, coolly brushing off that negligible pang of guilt—further proof that Lee Seo-jun was barely human at this point—looked at the Taiji Sword Immortal.
The Grand Master wore a joyful smile as pure internal energy cascaded from his entire body.
The naturally flowing internal energy split into Yin and Yang. As they took on their respective properties, they flowed majestically through two completely different heart methods...
Through the profound wonders of the Divine Art of Two Forms, he simultaneously operated the Pure Yang Small Art and the Pure Yin Mysterious Art, perfectly completing the Taiji Divine Art. Upon Taiji Sword Immortal Hyeon-wi’s sword, an Astral Qi that harmoniously blended black and white in a deeply mysterious manner revealed itself.
‘What’s this? Is he the Giving Tree?’
Kiiiing—
The patterns in Seo-jun’s eyes rotated quietly.
Completely oblivious to the theft occurring right in front of him, the Taiji Sword Immortal simply smiled softly.
"Since an unexpected spar brings me such unanticipated joy, it seems my cultivation is still lacking."
Discarding his lighthearted attitude, the Taiji Sword Immortal’s energy spread out even more densely, swirling heavily around Seo-jun.
Seo-jun also raised his internal energy further and pointed his sword back at the Grand Master.
"I'd be grateful if you'd play along a little while longer."
They called him the "Mount Tai and Big Dipper" of the Righteous Faction for a reason. Indeed, such a premium martial arts buffet was hard to find anywhere else in the Central Plains.
‘Thanks, Wudang!’
Seo-jun smiled brightly.