The Mount Hua Sect’s Long-Held Wish
I fell silent, buying myself time while I searched for an answer.
Was I too eager?
Come to think of it, it was absurd for an eight-year-old child to read and interpret difficult texts.
If I were a child from a martial family, I could always use my parents as an excuse. I could simply say they had taught me.
But most of Mount Hua’s inner disciples had no family at all.
What use was literacy to children abandoned by their own kin?
So was I.
That was why Mount Hua’s disciples learned to read first, with their master’s help, as soon as they entered the sect.
That was also why Ha Seo-hwa, when she’d come on an errand, had told me to hand the bundle to my master instead of to me.
After all, to children, even a secret manual was nothing more than white paper and black ink.
I’d forgotten that because Master had so naturally glossed over it for me.
That a child like me reading was strange.
But if I had to learn letters too, it would take far too long.
As I racked my brains for some excuse and came up empty, Oh Joo-yup slowly opened his mouth.
“So that’s it...”
“...”
“You were a child of a medical family.”
“Pardon?”
“You don’t need to hide it from me. How heartbreaking it must be to have a kindness you offered in good faith come back to harm you instead.”
Oh Joo-yup said something completely out of the blue.
“Elder Jeok Mu-ha pursued the black-clad bastards who attacked your family. Because they left so few traces, the trail has been difficult to follow, but we’re cooperating with Beggars’ Sect, so they’ll be caught before long. I hope this eases the bitterness in your heart.”
Even as I nodded at Oh Joo-yup, who looked at me with obvious pity, my mind spun furiously.
He definitely said a medical family.
I had no idea why he was linking me to a medical clan.
That was something I’d have to think about later.
For now, the important thing was that the timing of my enrollment matched the time when some medical family had been attacked and vanished.
And there’s no need to think twice about what he said regarding a kindness returned as harm.
Common folk had been the cause, and the black-clad bastards had attacked a medical family because of it.
Had I not, before my regression, once been betrayed by the very commoners I’d risked my life to save?
Once my thoughts reached that point, I bowed my head deeply.
“The truth is... there were a lot of books at home. My parents treated injured people, and I didn’t have anything else to do, so I read.”
Oh Joo-yup nodded.
“A physician who saves lives needs to know many things.”
“Yes. That’s why I wanted to enter the Library. When there are lots of books, it feels like I’ve come home...”
I sniffled for effect, then deliberately let my voice grow wet and unsteady.
“Elder. If it’s not too much to ask, could I help sort books here every day?”
“Hmm...”
“I’m sorry for asking something so unreasonable.”
I lowered my head until it nearly touched the table.
His long pause suggested he was thinking things over.
But he wasn’t thinking about how to gently turn me down.
Elder Oh Joo-yup, Elder Jeok Mu-ha already told you, didn’t he?
That my aptitude for martial arts was anything but ordinary.
And today I’d even used the Falling Blossom Sword Art to defeat Ha Seo-hwa.
The sect leader is probably... no, even if it isn’t the sect leader.
At least a few elders had already set their sights on me.
They had in my previous life, too.
Mount Hua was hungry for talent.
They needed someone extraordinary to carry on the sect’s revival, even without its lost divine arts.
As the sect weakened, gifted people were knocking on the great doors of other sects before Mount Hua’s.
That made me all the more valuable.
Word in the marketplaces already said that Mount Hua only still held its place among the Nine Great Sects by virtue of tradition.
For now, it maintained its dignity by occupying one of the lower seats among the Nine Great Sects.
But if the day ever came when the sect leader, whose name was listed among the Ten Great Martial Artists, retired...
Mount Hua would walk the path to decline slowly, but certainly.
If I were to move between the Library and the sect, growing accustomed to martial arts on my own...
That would be exactly what Mount Hua’s senior figures longed for.
Having spent a lifetime training to become the sect leader, I could also roughly guess at their motives.
Oh Joo-yup asked me, “If you come and go through the Library, you’ll naturally end up seeing the secret manuals. To be honest, I’m afraid of your talent.”
“Afraid, Elder?”
“Because Mount Hua’s sword could end up aimed at commoners. The black-clad bastards destroyed your family, yes, but weren’t the commoners the ones who gave them a reason?”
Oh Joo-yup misunderstood the situation, but his words struck the core of it all the same.
Even if I wasn’t the child of a medical family, I had been betrayed by the people I’d saved with my life on the line.
I laid my heart bare.
“Honestly, I resent them. I miss my father and mother. If I could take revenge, I would.”
“Yes. That’s only natural.”
“But Mount Hua is supposed to protect people like that, isn’t it?”
“Harsh as it sounds, that is righteousness.”
“I’ve heard a lot of stories about righteous heroes. What they often call righteous resolve... if I’m honest, I don’t really understand it.”
Oh Joo-yup murmured his acknowledgments and listened closely as I spoke.
“Given your circumstances, you won’t be able to let go of your resentment so easily.”
“But while I train, I’d like to understand it little by little. Most of the people who came to our clinic thanked us after being treated, and later they even brought food.”
“Good. The evil in this world is not limited to demonic sects and heresy.”
Oh Joo-yup added that common people, too, were divided between the good and the wicked.
While he spoke, I only nodded, holding his gaze.
“Let me ask you one thing. If someone were in trouble right in front of you, what would you do?”
“I’d help them.”
“Anyone in need of a martial artist’s help is usually a commoner. Even if commoners were the ones who ruined your family?”
“But that doesn’t make those people guilty.”
“That mindset will do. Of course, it may not be as good as the home you lived in before, but I hope you’ll think of Mount Hua as your home from now on.”
It was something I’d heard in my previous life, too.
Take the sect as your home, and the master as your parent.
Take your fellow disciples as blood brothers, and respect the elders as if they were your own ancestors.
When I nodded, Oh Joo-yup smiled.
“I’ve gone on too long. It wasn’t proper, but I’ll seek the sect leader’s permission so you can enter the Library.”
“Really?”
“On one condition: after your training is done. Training mustn’t be pushed aside. And sorting the books isn’t necessary. There’s an unused space in a corner. Read the manuals there.”
“Of course. I’ll keep it in mind!”
Oh Joo-yup, as though concluding the conversation, served me tea.
So my suffering up to now has finally borne fruit.
After drinking the tea, I needed to head back at once.
If I stayed any longer, I’d lose my training time, and Master would worry if I was late.
“Come tomorrow, once training is over. Let’s help your talent bloom.”
“Yes. I’ll see you tomorrow, Elder.”
I saluted with cupped fists and left the Library.
Just getting permission to enter the Library meant I’d already succeeded halfway.
From here on out, it’s only a matter of time.
I’d already finished thinking through how to hand over Violet Mist Divine Art.
But I couldn’t just suddenly claim I’d restored it and hand over a written manual out of nowhere.
At the very least, it would take half a year of steady, careful steps.
As I headed back toward Master’s quarters, I heard—
“Huh...?”
At the entrance to the Library, I ran into a familiar figure.
It was Ha Seo-hwa, clutching a bundle in her arms.
“We meet again, Senior Sister.”
She asked, looking as though she couldn’t believe it. “Why are you here?”
“I had tea with Elder Oh for a bit.”
“Inside the Library?”
“Yes.”
“...Really?”
“I should be going now. Master will worry if I’m late.”
“Wait.”
Ha Seo-hwa stopped me.
She worked her lips as if she wanted to say something, then finally shook her head.
“...No. Be careful with your wrist.”
“Yes. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Feeling Ha Seo-hwa’s gaze boring into the back of my head, I hurried off.
And the moment I returned to Master’s quarters, I was stunned.
Because the place that had once been quiet beyond measure, even in my previous life, was now packed with second-generation disciples crowded around Master.
If I get caught, I’ll be talking for ages.
I thought about taking a longer route and slipping around to the back of the quarters instead, but just then—
Master met my eyes and looked as though he’d seen a Bodhisattva in hell.
“Sung-woon is here. You’d be better off asking that child your questions.”
“Master?”
At Master’s betrayal, all the guests’ attention swept toward me at once.
* * *
Baek Gun-won’s quarters.
“...And so I’d like to request permission for Yoo Sung-woon to enter the Library, Sect Leader.”
Oh Joo-yup gauged the mood as he looked at Baek Gun-won.
His eyes were calm and deep.
It felt as if he were standing inside the mind of a martial artist who had reached the ultimate realm of Profound Realm.
“You’re generous in your assessment of that child, too.”
In all the years that third-generation disciples had been allowed into the Library, only the grand-disciples of elders had ever done so.
Besides Jin Young-mae, the other elders also had disciples and grand-disciples.
With the exception of Ha Seo-hwa, the grand-disciples of the other elders were barred from entering the Library, on the grounds that they might cause a commotion inside.
So in this generation, there was only Ha Seo-hwa.
“And yet you came first to ask permission. What is Yoo Sung-woon like, in your eyes?”
“I haven’t personally confirmed his aptitude, so I can’t say. But would my eyes be better than Elder Jeok’s?”
Baek Gun-won let out a quiet snort.
“Fair enough.”
“All I discovered was that the child is unusually sharp for his age.”
“He won’t interfere with the Library’s operation, will he?”
“No. I plan to give him a corner seat and let him read the manuals third-generation disciples are allowed to learn.”
Oh Joo-yup added that if the child could ease the sense of loss from losing his family through books, then that was something he ought to do willingly.
Besides, it would not only soothe the child but also naturally acquaint him with martial arts.
“The child is quite precocious. When he acted spoiled and said he wanted into the Library, he looked just like an ordinary child his age. But... how bright can a child who lost his parents really be?”
“The inside is probably rotting black by now.”
Baek Gun-won wore a regretful expression, moved by pity.
“A child who has lost his parents can no longer truly be called a child. It is the sect’s duty to care for the wounds that forced him to grow up too soon.”
Then he nodded slowly.
“I approve third-generation disciple Yoo Sung-woon’s access to the Library. A disciple of Mount Hua must never turn hostile toward commoners.”
“I’ll have him attend the Library while I observe his character, and I’ll report regularly.”
“Do you really need to report everything?”
“Of course. If his character is not warped, I believe it would be right for you to take him in personally.”
Baek Gun-won covered his forehead with his palm, looking pained.
“So you’re saying that too. Before you came, Elder Gu Seon-pung said something similar and just left.”
“Elder Gu did?”
“Yes. He said Yoo Sung-woon’s bones and sinews were excellent, and if he were trained properly, he’d achieve great things.”
Gu Seon-pung was the Medicine Hall Lord.
He had also been the one who treated Yoo Sung-woon when the boy collapsed after the entrance test.
And he wasn’t the only one. At the earlier council in Seolmaegak, Martial Hall Elder Jeok Mu-ha had also quietly suggested that the boy should be taken in as the sect leader’s disciple.
The reason was simple.
With each passing day, Baek Gun-won grew older, yet he still had not taken a single disciple.
Normally, he would not have even considered a third-generation disciple who had only just entered the sect.
But to properly pass down the teachings and succession of one of the Ten Great Martial Artists, there was no time left to waste.
“He certainly is no ordinary child.”
Not even half a month after entering the sect, and he had already brought three of Mount Hua’s five elders to his side.
Winning hearts was also a necessary virtue for a leader.
With Mount Hua in the middle of a succession crisis, a talent like this was more than welcome.
“But what good is it if the child has no such intention?”
“Any martial artist on the jianghu would want to become a disciple of one of the Ten Great Martial Artists.”
“We shall see.”
Baek Gun-won put on an air of innocence before Oh Joo-yup, who looked at him in frustration.
As Mount Hua Sect’s leader, he knew he should take a genius like Yoo Sung-woon as his disciple.
Besides, the boy’s actions had been nothing short of extraordinary.
He fit the image of the talent Baek Gun-won—and Mount Hua’s senior figures—had long been waiting for.
But as the man Baek Gun-won, not the sect leader, he didn’t want to place such a heavy burden on the child.
The boy was, after all, a Daoist who had learned under Mount Hua’s teachings.
To make a child who had lost his family to commoners shoulder the burden of Mount Hua’s sect leader position was not something he could bring himself to do.
And there was also the uncomfortable feeling that he’d be snatching a disciple from Yoo Yeon-woo halfway through.
There was no shortage of things to feel uneasy about.
Still, whatever else happens, it’s my duty as sect leader to help a talent grow in the right direction.
Recognizing a disciple’s talent and arranging training suited to it—that was what a righteous man ought to do.
“If I find the time, I’ll meet the child myself. While he’s in the Library, keep a close eye on him.”
“Understood, Sect Leader.”
“You may go. It’s late.”
At Baek Gun-won’s waving hand, Oh Joo-yup bowed and left the quarters.
Even after he was gone, Baek Gun-won kept staring at the wavering lamplight on the table.
Then, after a single blink, the flame in the lamp went out as if by magic.
Next, he extended his right arm.
Concentrating his energy toward the corner of the room, he drew a casket of black iron flying into his hand.
Baek Gun-won opened the black-iron casket he had pulled in with telekinetic force.
Inside was an old manual.
The other half of the illustrated copy of Violet Mist Sword Art sealed beneath the Library.
“A talent that can understand and recreate the principles of martial arts just by looking once...”
Ridiculous. However free the mind might be, that was still too absurd to believe.
If it were really possible to create martial arts from a manual alone, to grasp the intent of the person who created it and then achieve greatness through enlightenment, then why would the world need teachers at all?
Baek Gun-won let out a dry laugh.
“I’m old, too.”
He had caught a glimpse of hope in a third-generation disciple who had only just entered the sect yesterday, and it left him laughing at himself bitterly.
The restoration of Violet Mist Divine Art was Mount Hua’s long-held wish.
Countless geniuses had attempted to restore it.
But all they had done was waste time.
Yoo Sung-woon might have unusual talent, but how could he possibly know the lost art’s chant and circulation route?
All that remained was the illustrated copy of Violet Mist Sword Art.
Unless it had been spoken to him directly by immortals in the heavens, it was impossible.
Baek Gun-won carefully sealed the illustrated manual back inside the black-iron casket.
* * *
“Sung-woon, what did you just say...?”
I looked back at Master, who stared at me in shock, and repeated myself.
“To unleash the third form of the Falling Blossom Sword Art with full force, I think you need to draw the energy gathered in the dantian up through the Hwan, Jungjeong, and Jeonjung acupoints, then send it through the arm holding the sword to stimulate the Sorang and Sadok acupoints. Is that right?”