His Martial Talent Was No Small Matter
I stared at Ha Seo-hwa, not understanding what she meant.
I had taken the entrance exam just the day before. What business could she possibly have with me?
Her usual expressionless face made it impossible to guess what she was thinking.
“Did you need me for something?”
“That.”
Ha Seo-hwa pointed at the cloth bundle set beside her.
“It’s yours. Open it.”
It didn’t really sound like an answer so much as an attempt to change the subject.
She didn’t seem inclined to say more, so I untied the bundle without another word. Three sets of Mount Hua martial robes and several manuals were the first things that caught my eye. There were the basics of Mount Hua: the Plum Blossom Fist, Plum Blossom Sword, and Plum Blossom Steps. Along with them was a set of wooden bowls and chopsticks, crudely carved from wood.
“You came on an errand, then.”
“Elder Jin told me to.”
“Thank you for taking the trouble because of me.”
“There’s a small wooden box in there. Make sure you deliver it to your martial uncle.”
“May I open it?”
“Only if you’re just looking.”
The wooden box was tiny, no wider than the length of three joints of a finger.
The moment I opened it, a faint plum fragrance tickled my nose.
Small Plum Pill.
It was the lowest-grade of the elixirs refined by Mount Hua.
A child who took one could gain the internal energy of about half a month’s training, but after that the body would build resistance to it, and it would become little more than a restorative medicine for times of weakness rather than a way to increase internal power.
“It’s an elixir issued for training.”
“Is it mine?”
“Yes. Martial Uncle Yeon-woo will decide when you can take it.”
Mount Hua gave each disciple a Small Plum Pill so they could be taught how to take spiritual medicine and elixirs properly.
I quietly closed the box, feeling the unspoken pressure to put it away carefully.
In any case, it had been issued to me. There was no need to rush.
“I’ve delivered everything, so I’m leaving.”
“Aren’t you going to see Master?”
“I was only sent to bring these things. Please give Martial Uncle my regards for me.”
“I will.”
She must have been sent on an errand while in the middle of training, since she didn’t seem to have been waiting here at all.
That was Ha Seo-hwa, through and through.
The Ha Seo-hwa I remembered was a rare beauty whose elegance suited the word itself. She was severe with herself and denied herself many things. She ate mostly dry medicinal meals that helped training but tasted awful, and she never failed to train for three full shichen each day.
Even now, I could see a piece of that restrained life in her. She must have wanted to hurry back because every moment spent here was a moment stolen from training.
Only when her back had become little more than a dot did I finally take my eyes off her and resume practicing the Plum Blossom Qi Gong.
It was only after the fact that I realized something.
This was the first time I had ever spoken to Ha Seo-hwa for so long.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Mount Hua Sect had many major buildings and halls, including the Medicine Hall, the Library, and the Law Enforcement Hall.
Of course, each of them was essential to the sect’s operation. If even one were missing, things would become difficult, so each hall was managed by an elder serving as its lord.
But there was one building that had no hall lord at all: Seolmaegak, the Snow Plum Pavilion.
No one was treated there, no one was punished there, and no martial manuals were stored there either.
It wasn’t especially grand, nor was it tall; it was just an ordinary building.
And yet Mount Hua’s disciples were reluctant to approach it.
That was because it was the place where Mount Hua’s elders and sect leader gathered to hold meetings.
“Before we begin the meeting, I have something to report regarding a new disciple’s entrance.”
Baek Gun-won looked at Yoo Yeon-woo as he spoke.
A man whose name had been recorded among the Ten Great Martial Artists, those absolute masters beyond even the hundred most famous experts under heaven.
Baek Gun-won, the Sword Sovereign, was the current leader of Mount Hua Sect.
In daily life he was benevolent and, at times, even a little mischievous, but as a martial artist his stature was so lofty that disciples naturally hesitated to stand too close before him.
Yoo Yeon-woo was not much different, but for the sake of his disciple, he still gave a respectful nod.
“Yes.”
“Is there some problem?”
“It concerns the child’s background.”
“Background? Was he some spy trained by the Orthodox Alliance or the Demonic Sect?”
“No, nothing like that. It’s just that the boy seems to have a story behind him...”
If it had been an ordinary matter, he would not have reported it at all.
Yoo Yeon-woo briefly and carefully relayed what he had been able to discern.
“The boy’s manner of speech is unusually composed. I would guess he came from a family that taught their children to read and write.”
“And yet that same child, while on the verge of death, said there was no point in rescuing commoners?”
“Yes. And when we think back to when he first entered the Plum Blossom Qi Gong, it seems he already knew about the pressure points.”
“Are you certain?”
Baek Gun-won’s gaze shifted to Jeok Mu-ha.
Rather than the second-generation disciple’s report, he judged that the man who had watched the entire process would make the more accurate assessment.
“Even after I helped circulate true energy through him, I could feel his energy the moment he sat down. He even guided it himself, however slightly.”
“Is it possible he had already learned some martial art elsewhere?”
“When Yeon-woo sent true energy through his body, there were no traces of prior martial training. It seems more like he simply knew the relevant information.”
“Then he must be a child from a medical family.”
Only the children of martial families or medical families could identify pressure points at the age of seven.
When the mention of a medical family came up, someone who had been listening in silence finally showed interest.
It was Gu Seon-pung, the Hall Lord of the Medicine Hall.
“Sect Leader, I heard recently that two medical families vanished after attracting the attention of the Black Path in the wrong way.”
“Did you find out why?”
“A physician treated impoverished commoners who were on the brink of death out of sheer goodwill. But not long after, the Black Path began threatening those people, and frightened as they were, they revealed that the physician’s household possessed considerable wealth.”
The Black Path had attacked the medical family under cover of night and stolen their possessions.
It didn’t need to be said what had happened to the people inside that household.
They were shameless wretches who had no sense of gratitude, and so goodwill had only invited disaster.
This was not some forced story being stitched together because Yoo Sung-woon happened to have entered Mount Hua as a child from a medical family.
It was the sort of thing that happened again and again in the jianghu, and still did.
The fact that both families had met the same end only proved it.
“Where were these medical families located?”
“The incidents happened in Tianyang and Zichang about half a month ago.”
“Those places aren’t far.”
They were both regions within Shaanxi.
Gu Seon-pung nodded and continued.
“The child is probably from the Tianyang side.”
“Do you have something to go on?”
“There’s a physician there with the surname Yoo. I heard his household lived not only with his family but with several relatives as well. There must have been many children there too.”
“Then they would have had plenty of wealth as well.”
“If he was a child, I imagine one of them could have hidden away in the chaos.”
Jeok Mu-ha then voiced his own opinion.
“Sect Leader, I’d like to dispatch disciples to each region and pursue the Black Path. If they were brazen enough to attack a medical family, then they must be especially vile even among the Black Path. The nearby commoners will be living in fear.”
“That’s what should be done. Assemble a punitive force with disciples of first-class rank and above. Chase down the Black Path members who attacked the medical family and restore order.”
“Understood.”
“Is there anything else to report?”
Jeok Mu-ha continued.
“As a special note, the child’s martial talent is not ordinary.”
Baek Gun-won replied as if stating the obvious.
“I know that. He had no trace of prior martial training, and yet he collapsed only thirty zhang from the summit on a day of fierce snowfall.”
That was not something just anyone could do.
The Mount Hua entrance exam was not something one could pass merely by being born with a sturdy body.
Mount Hua’s terrain was considered among the harshest of the Five Great Mountains, which meant one needed endurance, perseverance, and diligent effort to get through.
And that day’s weather had been brutal besides.
After hearing the reports from the past two days, Baek Gun-won had been delighted that Mount Hua had found itself a talent.
But Jeok Mu-ha’s expression was so grave that he refused to dismiss the matter lightly.
“So there was something unusual about him, in your view.”
“Yes. Not only did he pass the entrance test, but he also identified the flaws in the Falling Blossom Sword Art that Yeon-woo demonstrated with perfect accuracy.”
“He identified flaws?”
Baek Gun-won’s brow furrowed in surprise.
Climbing a mountain through grit and effort was one thing. Detecting flaws in martial arts was an entirely different matter.
The former meant someone had the bones and aptitude to train in martial arts. The latter meant their understanding of martial arts was exceptional.
Those who showed talent in the latter tended to possess a high degree of mental insight and, as a result, became formidable masters.
“Explain in detail.”
“Yes. Then...”
Under Baek Gun-won’s prompting, Jeok Mu-ha relayed exactly what he had seen and heard.
Yoo Yeon-woo had slowly demonstrated the Falling Blossom Sword Art for Yoo Sung-woon’s benefit.
And in the midst of that demonstration, the boy had instantly pinpointed a minute mistake so subtle that even a martial artist would not easily have noticed it.
At that, not only Baek Gun-won but the other elders were left in stunned silence.
Oh Joo-yup, the Hall Lord of the Library, asked in disbelief, “Is that even possible? Even if he had learned martial arts, how could a seven-year-old child instantly identify a trivial mistake made by an absolute expert?”
A fault off by only a few inches would go unnoticed by most second-generation disciples.
And yet this child, who had never even seen the Falling Blossom Sword Art before, had pointed out a flaw in it at a glance. That was far from ordinary.
“It’s not impossible. If you search through the history of the martial world, there have been a handful of such geniuses. But even Ha Seo-hwa, the most promising of the third-generation disciples, couldn’t do something like that. I’m sorry to compare you with my grand-disciple, Yeong-mae.”
“It’s fine. Brother Jeok is correct.”
Jin Young-mae, who had Ha Seo-hwa as her grand-disciple, shook her head at his apology. She knew he bore her no ill feelings.
While the elders continued to exchange opinions, Baek Gun-won finished sorting his thoughts and voiced his conclusion.
“I understand what concerns you. A child who suffered harm at the hands of commoners would be likely to stray if he learned martial arts.”
“That’s right.”
“Let’s observe him for a while. Children are like bamboo: they grow quickly, but they’re just as easy to break. Yeon-woo, make sure you teach your disciple carefully so he does not wander onto a crooked path.”
“I shall obey the Sect Leader’s command.”
“It is said that a sword in the sack will one day pierce through the cloth. Given time, he’ll reveal his true form on his own.”
The day his talent would show itself.
And whether, apart from talent, his character would walk the righteous path or the evil one—no one could know that yet.
But before he ever strayed, teaching the disciple properly was the sect’s responsibility.
What they did not know was that the day Yoo Sung-woon’s talent would emerge would arrive far sooner than they expected.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Master returned at the Hour of the Monkey, carrying a wooden sword.
“Welcome back, Master.”
“It’s cold today. Why aren’t you staying inside?”
“Senior Sister Seo-hwa came by and brought me what I needed.”
“That Seo-hwa child said that?”
Master looked genuinely surprised.
It made sense. Even at this age, Ha Seo-hwa was a disciple who devoted herself to training rather than socializing with others.
In my previous life, Ha Seo-hwa and I had been among the later generation’s representatives of Mount Hua Sect. There had been so many occasions, large and small, that tied us together that outsiders had always spoken of us as a pair.
In truth, we were never that close.
If Jeok Mu-ha could be said to be consumed by martial arts as a whole, Ha Seo-hwa’s fixation was even more specific: she was obsessed with training itself.
She rarely associated with any of the other disciples, myself included, and even after my regression I still didn’t know all that much about her.
“She said she had been asked by Elder Jin to bring these to me.”
“I see. Elder Jin Young-mae...”
After untying the bundle he had set aside, Master handed me the manuals.
“Did you read these while I was away?”
“Yes. They weren’t too difficult.”
“Still, when one first encounters martial arts, it’s only natural to misread a few things. As we train, I’ll point them out to you one by one. For now, change into your martial robes and come out to the courtyard.”
I followed his order, took the martial robes from the bundle, and changed in my room.
The wooden sword Master had brought was light enough for a young disciple to swing without much trouble.
Still, it’s a little heavy for me.
At this age, I hadn’t eaten enough, so I was skin and bones, and my muscles were barely developed. If my frame had been poor as well, even lifting it would have been difficult.
Still, my stamina was good. If it hadn’t been, I would have frozen to death halfway up Mount Hua during the entrance exam.
After swinging the wooden sword through the air a few times to find its balance, I stood before Master.
“I’m ready.”
Master made a troubled face.
“It’s only natural for a boy to be interested in swords, but first you need to get used to your own body. We’ll start with the Plum Blossom Fist, so put the wooden sword aside for now.”
“...Yes.”
Before the sun set, I trained with Master in the Plum Blossom Fist, Plum Blossom Steps, and Plum Blossom Sword.
My comprehension had already reached the level of Transcendence.
The moment my dantian took shape, I could have brought the Plum Blossom Qi Gong to grand completion in an instant, relying on comprehension alone.
And yet the basic training I had thought would be nothing but a nuisance turned out to be unexpectedly helpful.
Because I had spent so long living a life apart from martial practice, this basic training helped me slowly recover the instincts of a martial artist.
After a week spent on basic training like that, on the eighth day after entering the sect, Master came to my room before I had even gone to greet him and said something unexpected.
“Hwa-yeon Hall?”
“That’s right. Disciples who have entered Mount Hua go there in the mornings for basic training. It may be tedious, but it’s the process of building the body—the foundation—for martial arts.”
I nodded.
After entering Mount Hua Sect, one was required to train at Hwa-yeon Hall for about a year.
But even after that first year passed, the third-generation disciples’ footsteps to Hwa-yeon Hall never stopped.
They always ended with sparring.
Whether it was to show how much their hard training had paid off, or because a male disciple wanted to impress a female disciple he had feelings for, or the other way around, or simply because they wanted to watch disciples test their martial arts against one another—there were all sorts of reasons.
In any case, the disciples’ exchanges took place at Hwa-yeon Hall.
Even if it wasn’t mandatory, it was something one had to attend.
“Of course, it won’t be too late to go after you’ve formed your dantian. If you want to...”
“I want to go!”
I declared my enthusiasm with force, and Master, though taken aback, nodded.
“You do? It starts at the Hour of the Dragon, so let’s go before you’re late. Dress neatly and bring your wooden sword.”
“Yes!”
In the end, only one thing mattered right now.
The stage for the beginning of my plan had arrived far earlier than I expected.