The Festival of the Rooster's Renewal

Silence settled over us.

My master asked.

"So you wish to hear it. The whole truth of it."

"You have likely already wrapped a veil around us, but I ask you to draw one more."

"Very well."

The air around us grew heavy.

I spoke slowly, at length — of what had happened in my past life, of my death, of everything that had unfolded since my regression. And as I told it, I posed my question.

It was clearly because of that necklace my master had once given me. So why was he no longer wearing it?

At that, my master tilted his head, puzzled.

"A necklace? What necklace do you speak of?"

"A plain one, with no gem set in it. You told me it was a relic of yours, and when you handed it to me, you said it would save my life once."

Disbelief crept ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into my master's expression. To any ordinary person it would have looked like utter blankness, but not to me. And precisely because it wasn't blank, even I found it strange.

"...You wear the face of a man who does not understand either."

"...I don't. I had always believed the necklace was the reason for my regression. How can you not know of it?"

"You don't think I'm merely pretending?"

"No."

"...You seem to know me very well."

"I do."

"...Whether the power of fate has interfered, or whether some beings who regard this world as their plaything are looking down on the two of us, I cannot say... but you have traveled back through time. Very well — let that pass for now."

The questions would not vanish, but there was nothing to be done. It was a matter my master did not know and neither did I. Which meant that someday the truth would come to light, and when that day came, I would finally know.

What mattered now was that my master still suspected me. That doubt had to be cleared first.

My master spoke.

"I looked into it separately. You have killed a truly remarkable number of people."

"Yes."

"And all of them weak ones, at that."

Weak ones. By my master's measure, everyone in this world would count as weak. I answered without hesitation.

"That's not it."

"Not it? What do you mean?"

"I did not kill them because they were weak. I killed them because they had to die."

"And yet among those you slew in the Yi Clan, there were those who were hardly more than commoners."

He was surely referring to the managers.

"I have no regrets. They did deeds deserving of death, so I dealt it to them."

I offered no excuses — no wretched tales of being scorned by them from the very start, of how the Chief Manager and every manager beneath him, even the porters, had all disregarded and cast me out. None of it.

They deserved to die, so they died. Had they never crossed the line, I would never have wished for their deaths. I had intended to leave the grievances of the past behind me, but time and again, they crossed it. In the end, they thrashed and begged for death, and so I granted it.

"And if they had been masters of the Realm of Harmony?"

"Nothing would have changed."

I stood unashamed.

"Whether my realm is Jucheon and theirs is Harmony, or Entering Divinity, or even Myth — if they earned death, I would have swung my blade. And if my strength fell short, I would have plotted and maneuvered, shaped the circumstances, and repaid the debt of grievance one way or another."

"A meaningless act. How is that any different from throwing your life away?"

"It is different."

"Then tell me — how?"

"Because I would carry no regrets."

"..."

"I refuse to live with regret. If I were to lay down my sword merely because someone stood above me in realm, the shame would keep me from ever lifting my head again — and a man like that might as well walk into some nameless mountain and end himself. Rather than that, I would sooner die than stop swinging my sword."

"And that is the difference?"

"Yes. I resolved to live without regret, and to act only in ways I can hold my head high for."

A gentle smile spread across my master's lips. The smile I had longed to see for so long. The smile I had ached for.

"...Now I understand. Why it was that I took you as my disciple."

"May I ask my own questions now?"

"Ask."

"Who exactly is your 'enemy,' Master?"

"..."

"In the past — or from where we stand now, in the future — for those ten years, you were rarely home in the An Family. You wandered somewhere else every single day, and you always returned wounded. When I asked what was happening, you never once answered."

"If I did not tell you, there was surely a reason."

"I want to know."

My master studied me for a long moment, then shook his head.

"To begin a bond with such demands is poor manners — and to press into matters I do not know is equally poor manners. But given that you have crossed back through time... I suppose I understand."

"..."

"And that is precisely why I cannot tell you."

"...Do you understand it, Master?"

"Understand what?"

"Why the you of my past life never told me about 'them.'"

"I do."

"..."

"It seems the me who raised you cherished you a great deal."

"That much I know."

"Then surely the right thing is to ask no further."

I shook my head.

"I cherish you just as much. That is exactly why I want to know."

"...Difficult. This is difficult."

My master reached out and gripped my shoulder. Slowly, his hand tightened.

"Then tell me everything now, sparing nothing."

"Yes."

"When you died — how far had your cultivation reached?"

"The Realm of Harmony."

"...Hm?"

"Harmony — though my mastery was nearly indistinguishable from the Realm of Entering Divinity."

It had been a long time since I'd seen it. My master was, for once, genuinely taken aback.

"...My disciple..."

"Yes. I was at so meager a realm."

"...Then you could not have ranked among the top ten in the world."

I shook my head.

"I was one of the Ten Great Masters of the World."

"...Then what realm were the other nine in?"

"Every one of them stood in the Realm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of Myth. Some had touched its very edge, others had only just arrived — but without exception, they were all in Myth."

"...So you mean to say — at the realm of Harmony, you fought six masters who had reached Myth, and killed three of them?"

"Yes."

"How many Qi Rings had you formed?"

"Nine."

At my words, my master recoiled in shock. Even the hand resting on my shoulder dropped away.

"...You were mad."

"...Pardon?"

"You utter fool. Had I been your master, I would have taught you this: in the Realm of Harmony, form no more than four rings. In Entering Divinity, five. In the Realm of Myth, six."

"You... did teach me that. But I was in a hurry."

Astonishment still filled my master's face.

"...Nine rings, at the realm of Harmony? Extraordinary. What astonishes me more is that your body endured it."

"Is that praise?"

"It is praise."

"Thank you."

My master chuckled softly and took a step back, regarding me with an air of fascination.

"Still curious, are you?"

"I was curious until the day I died. I am no less curious now."

A faint smile touched my lips. It felt a little awkward — but a smile was a smile.

"Still, I'm certain you have your reasons for not speaking. I won't press further."

My master looked at me with strange eyes for a moment, then remarked, almost in passing:

"In the Kingdom of Jeok, there is a festival held without fail on the final day of every year, before the new one begins. Do you know of it?"

"Yes, I do. The Gyesin Festival — the Festival of the Rooster's Renewal. They slaughter and eat chickens to shake off the dark energies of the dying year, and prepare to greet the coming one anew. Don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they?"

My master lit his long pipe and continued slowly.

"The keepers of the imperial palace feed their chickens at every hour of the si. Now, what do you suppose the chickens come to believe? Feed descending upon them at every si, without fail — to them, it becomes an absolute truth."

I did not yet grasp where he was going, but I simply listened.

"A chicken that wields the blade, a chicken that wields the sword, a chicken that writes, a chicken that buys and sells — to all the chickens of every kind, the emperor chicken declared: I have discovered the truth that food descends at every si. And the next day, feed rained down from the heavens at the hour of the si. The day after, the same. And the day after that, and the day after that. It hardened into absolute truth — into the very law of the chickens' world."

"..."

"Then comes a day like any other. At the hour of the si, the emperor chicken announces to them all: the si has arrived, the food will soon descend — prepare yourselves. But that day was the year's final day. What descended was not feed, but blades — and every throat in that coop was cut. Not a single one spared."

My master wore an expression of genuine sorrow.

"Do you understand what I am telling you?"

"You are telling me not to be deceived."

My master laughed.

"Sharp as ever. Not the answer I hoped for, but the answer beyond it. Yes — do not be deceived. Walk your own path, and bend your resolve for no one. Do not doubt, and see it through to the end."

"...I would like to hear more."

"That you may not. Beyond this, I cannot speak of it."

"Then may I prove myself instead?"

"Prove?"

"Is the reason you will not tell me the truth not simply that I am too weak?"

"No."

"It is suffocating."

"Even so, it cannot be helped. This is my burden alone, and a task that I alone can carry out."

"..."

"The price of it was to be called the Public Enemy of Murim, left with no place in this world to set my feet. But it is fine. Every soul in this world may remain ignorant of the reason — but you will know it."

"So that you would have no regrets?"

"That is so."

My master's smile was warm.

"Well, now a curiosity of my own arises. What was my end like?"

I closed my eyes. That day was still vivid to me.

"It was a day of rain. Beneath a torrential downpour, you came to the An Family in Yonggwangjin of the Yan Kingdom, your body riddled with wounds."

"Wounds?"

"Yes. Your dantian was shattered. You had lost an arm, four toes on your right foot, and one eye. Reduced to the body of an ordinary man, you shivered in the cold in my arms."

"So that was to be my end."

"For exactly five days from that day, you lived with me in the An Family. And then you passed."

"How was I? Was I smiling?"

"Yes. You said you were content — that yours had been a life without regret. And to me... you told me not to announce your death, and to live hiding the fact that I had ever been your disciple."

A bright smile broke across my master's face.

"So you... truly have been telling me the truth all along."

I was not blind to the fact that my master had continued to doubt me. But that was his right, and I understood it well enough. A stranger appears out of nowhere claiming to have regressed through time — who could simply believe such a thing?

But from the moment I spoke of his end, the 'doubt' drained out of him completely.

"That will do. This meeting with you has been a great help to me. I had grown somewhat weary... but I feel my vitality returning."

My master gazed at me steadily, and I gazed back.

"It is not that I distrust you. But you, and every martial artist in this world — if they were to learn that truth, it would only bring them suffering."

"I see."

"Indeed. And... there is something intriguing nestled in your dantian."

When I explained it was the elixir I had obtained in the Yi Clan, my master was astonished yet again.

"To be honest, one reason I withheld my trust was that very thing in your dantian. But now that I look at it... it is fate."

"Do you know what it is, Master?"

"I do. But I'll say nothing — search for the answer yourself. The pleasure of unraveling it slowly will be reward enough."

I tilted my head.

Somehow I doubted that.

"Let us meet every year, then — on the final day of the year, the day they eat the chicken."

"You will come find me?"

"I will. Wherever you are, I will find you. There is still much I have to tell you."

"And I still have much to learn from you."

"No. As far as I can see, you have nothing left to learn. You have absorbed everything I know. You merely made a few mistakes, like the fool you were."

"..."

"Commit this to memory. Qi Rings: at most four in the Realm of Harmony, five in Entering Divinity, six in the Realm of Myth. Exceed that, and your Upper Dantian will close its door to the world and commune with it no longer — and your growth will stop where it stands."

My master's hand swept gently down my shoulder.

"And ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this also, remember well. Do not make Natural Qi your foundation. You must make Pure Qi your foundation — and only that."

"Why?"

"It concerns the laws of this world."

"..."

"In this false world of limited possibility, the one and only truth is Pure Qi. Never doubt it, and carry it through to the very end. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master."

"And the Asura Heaven-Breaking Five Secrets..."

"I have learned all five stances. I can even manifest their true form."

The smile at my master's lips deepened.

"In nearly six hundred years, only 'two' martial artists ever reached the Limitless Realm."

I nodded. My master tilted his head.

"So you already know."

"Yes. I know."

"One of them was me. And the other was Jeok Mu-je, the founding ancestor of Kunlun."

My master's hand came to rest on my shoulder.

"It seems... a third is about to join them."

Our eyes met. I smiled softly — not the bloodthirsty smile I had worn until now, but a laugh that came from the heart.

In my life, there have been few days I could call rest. But every day I spent with my master had been such a day. Even this brief moment, I was happy.

So was he.

"I hope so."

"Good. Then until next time."

And with that, my master vanished — like smoke on the wind.

I stood there, dazed, for a while.

Then, from the heavens, a voice like thunder rolled across the sky.

The Six Harmonies Voice Transmission — the technique said to be reserved for the absolute pinnacle of masters.

I couldn't help but laugh. My heart felt full.

That was simply the kind of man he was.

He had surely realized by now that I had never performed the Nine Bows Rite on my way here — but he would wave it off with a laugh.

I walked on slowly, still smiling.

My master would tend to my master's affairs, and I would tend to mine.

But someday, as I climbed toward the heavens, even he would find he could no longer bear to keep it from me.

I would see to that.

I had a goal now.

I would make him tell me, no matter what.

Even if I had to beg him.

Only after a full day and night had passed did I finally arrive at the Asura Sword Sect Main Headquarters.