Don’t Say It Yet. (5)
Fwoooosh!
"Faster!"
Fwoooooosh!
"That’s it!"
Un Geom nodded with an expression of pure satisfaction.
Good!
The effects of the Jaso-dan were truly astonishing.
So this is why they keep going on and on about spirit pills.
The qi carried in the disciples’ swords was on a completely different level from before.
Even martial instructor Un Geom sometimes flinched at the sharpness of that edge, so there was no need to ask how effective it was.
Of course, Un Geom had also taken the Jaso-dan and stepped into a new realm, but it seemed the younger disciples were reaping even greater benefits. Otherwise, how could they be so brimming with vitality?
Wiiiiiiing.
Sword qi?
Un Geom’s eyes practically popped out of his head when he saw sword qi gathering at the tips of several disciples’ swords.
Good heavens…
It wasn’t as though sword qi itself was anything extraordinary.
If this were Baek Cheon, he’d probably be able to draw out not only sword qi but sword force as well.
As for Chung Myung, there was no point even bringing him up.
But for the ordinary disciples here to unconsciously manifest sword qi during training? That was an incredible thing. It meant their level had risen by leaps and bounds.
Hahahahaha. What a blessing for Mount Hua.
Un Geom had a hard time calming his heated heart.
Tonight, he was in the mood to drink a cup of the alcohol he’d abstained from for so long.
And it’s all thanks to that brat Chung Myung.
How ridiculous it had been when Chung Myung first appeared and quietly proposed a trade to him.
He would never forget the feeling of watching that youngest of youngsters, who had only just entered the sect, beat up his senior brothers and forcibly put them through training. Not even until the moment he died.
I made the right choice.
Trusting Chung Myung with the third-generation disciples on what had felt like a gamble was the right answer. That one small choice had brought them all the way here.
Watching the disciples grow stronger day by day and Mount Hua flourish made him feel full even when he hadn’t eaten a thing.
Only…
Un Geom’s face darkened slightly.
There was one problem that weighed on his mind.
Lost in thought as he watched the disciples, Un Geom let out a sigh and spoke.
"Keep training."
"Yes, Hall Leader!"
At the thunderous reply, he gave a small nod and started walking. Where he was headed was, naturally, the Sect Leader’s chambers.
* * *
Un Geom looked at Hyun Jong with a slightly awkward expression.
I really can’t get used to this.
Hyun Jong looked as though he had grown twenty years younger, and it kept making him want to smile for no reason.
Of course, he still remembered how he had looked before, so it wasn’t that unfamiliar…
But somehow, he’s still a little different from then.
Was it not just youth, but that the man himself seemed a little clearer somehow?
In any case, it was a change hard to put into words.
"Yes. What is the matter?"
Hyun Jong looked at Un Geom with a faintly surprised expression.
Unlike Unam, who consulted him on many matters, Un Geom rarely came to see him for anything ordinary. It was only natural, given how busy he was teaching the children and refining his own sword.
And yet this was a request not just to see the Sect Leader, but the other elders as well.
So Hyun Jong couldn’t help but feel a little tense as he waited for Un Geom to speak.
"Sect Leader."
"Yes, Un Geom."
"I have nothing left to teach the children in the way of swordsmanship."
"…"
Hyun Jong frowned.
"What do you mean by that?"
"The children are improving day by day, but there’s simply nothing else to teach them. The second-generation and third-generation disciples have already been instructed in Taeulmirigeom, Subdue the Tiger Sword, and even Chilmaegeom, which we recently recovered."
"…Yes."
"Ordinarily, we should move on to the next step…"
Hyun Jong let out a low sigh.
"I see. There is no next step."
Normally, disciples of a prestigious sect were taught the highest sword arts of the sect before they turned thirty.
But Mount Hua no longer had what came after.
Among the sword arts now being passed down at Mount Hua, Chilmaegeom was the finest. Once, it had merely been a stepping stone before learning the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art.
Un Geom gave a low cough.
"Before they took the Jaso-dan, we could manage somehow. Even though the transmission had ended, the children hadn’t yet fully mastered Chilmaegeom. But now…"
He didn’t need to hear the rest to understand.
Children with far stronger bodies would never be satisfied with the same sword arts from the past. It was time for them to grow thirsty for something stronger.
Taking in all of it, Hyun Jong exhaled.
What are we supposed to do?
If this were the Mount Hua of old, there would be no need to think. They would teach the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art.
The Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art was Mount Hua’s essence, its foundation.
It wasn’t, of course, the end of Mount Hua’s sword doctrines, but every disciple of Mount Hua had once aimed to perfect that art.
But the current Mount Hua had lost even the sword doctrines of a comparable level.
"Ugh. This sort of problem…"
"What are we supposed to do about what we don’t have?" Hyun Young muttered irritably.
It was a part they had deliberately tried not to think about. But now the situation had become impossible to ignore.
Hyun Jong fell into serious thought.
"Hmm."
As for sword arts…
Un Geom had only been saying that if the children didn’t get better swords, dissatisfaction would build up. But this was also a matter of sect survival.
In the end, if Mount Hua wanted to restore its former glory, advanced sword doctrine was absolutely necessary. What kind of prestigious sect was a sword sect without sword arts?
"We can’t keep pretending this isn’t an issue. We’ve put it off because of one thing and another, but now we have to find some way."
At Hyun Jong’s words, everyone nodded with grave expressions.
"If you have any ideas, don’t hesitate to speak. No matter how absurd they may seem, it’s fine."
"Yes, Sect Leader."
Everyone began to think seriously.
Unfortunately, it was such a hopeless problem that no one opened their mouth easily.
"Hmm."
The first to offer an opinion was Hyun Sang.
"Sect Leader."
"Yes. Speak."
"This is just my thought, but rather than searching for what we don’t have, why not create a new martial art instead?"
"Create one?"
Hyun Jong frowned.
"Is that even possible?"
"I know it’s difficult, but it should still be much easier than uncovering a lost martial art."
"Heh! Say something that makes sense, Senior Brother!" Hyun Young snorted.
"What’s impossible about it? We restored the Jaso-dan, didn’t we?"
"Did you restore it?"
Hyun Young shot him a glare.
"Don’t make us mistake for one second that Chung Myung’s achievements are ours. Mount Hua didn’t rise on its own—Chung Myung’s the one beating the drum, playing the gong, and kicking the cymbals with his own feet! Why are you looking proud of yourself as if you did anything?"
"Cough, cough."
Hyun Sang had nothing to say and reddened.
"And also! Do you think martial arts just pop out when you say so? Who’s supposed to make them? You, Senior Brother?"
"…"
"Or maybe Un Geom?"
Un Geom quietly looked away.
"Do you think martial arts are child’s play? If we all threw ourselves at it and wracked our brains, do you think we could just make Chilmaegeom? We can’t even produce Yukhap Sword! If something like that were easy, then wouldn’t Shaolin be able to whip up a Plum Blossom Sword Art too?"
Hyun Sang awkwardly lifted his head and coughed.
"I wasn’t saying we should restore the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art. Just something a little better than Chilmaegeom…"
But he trailed off and shut his mouth. The reaction clearly wasn’t good.
Well. That had gone a bit too far.
Then Hyun Young turned his head sharply and looked at Hyun Jong.
"If that’s how it is, let’s call Chung Myung."
"…Huh? Why Chung Myung?"
"That brat falls over while running and uncovers Chilmaegeom. If we hand him a pickaxe and tell him to dig around in a few places, who knows? Maybe we’ll get something even more amazing than the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art!"
The most terrifying part was that he meant it.
Confirming there wasn’t even a trace of joking in Hyun Young’s eyes, Hyun Jong shivered.
He was worried Chung Myung might end up founding Chung Myung Sect and settling in there for good.
"What, is Chung Myung some kind of goblin that he can just whip things up out of nowhere?"
"If a goblin saw Chung Myung, he’d have to call him big brother! And he might actually be a goblin. Look at this time too! We said we needed a ten-thousand-year cold iron cauldron, and he just brought one back like it was nothing. Even a goblin couldn’t do that."
"No, that’s…"
Hyun Jong was about to say something when he flinched.
"Wait a minute…"
In a brief span of time, Hyun Jong’s expression changed several times.
"A ten-thousand-year cold iron cauldron. Right… yes! A ten-thousand-year cold iron cauldron!"
"Huh?"
Hyun Young looked at him, baffled.
"Go and bring Chung Myung to me! Right now!"
"Yes!"
Un Geom rushed out of the room in shock.
"A new martial art?"
"That’s right."
"…"
Chung Myung made a peculiar expression.
So they’re not completely useless after all.
Truthfully, Chung Myung had also been thinking it was about time they needed the next sword art. Judging from this, they had honestly been worrying about the next step as well, hadn’t they?
He had been agonizing over what sort of way he ought to use to pass on the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art, too.
"But why are you telling me this?"
Of course, he couldn’t let that show.
"Chung Myung. Take a pickaxe and go dig around here and there. Who knows, maybe you’ll find something…"
Hyun Sang silently clamped a hand over Hyun Young’s mouth and dragged him away.
"Mmph!"
He subdued the struggling man almost instantly.
Watching that, Chung Myung clicked his tongue in disappointment.
Aw. This could’ve gone smoothly.
That old man was useless.
"So, Chung Myung."
"Yes."
Hyun Jong looked at Chung Myung and asked quietly,
"That ten-thousand-year cold iron cauldron…"
Chung Myung twitched.
Why was that coming up now? Don’t tell me…?
"How did you make it?"
"Huh?"
Chung Myung pretended not to understand the question and asked again, while frantically thinking it through.
How was he supposed to answer this…
"You cut it and bent it, didn’t you?"
"Ah… yes, that’s right!"
Chung Myung nodded vigorously.
If they’d asked where the ten-thousand-year cold iron came from, he would’ve had to spin out an epic tale, so it was at least fortunate they were heading in this direction.
"Then doesn’t that mean you can cut ten-thousand-year cold iron?"
"Hahaha. Why bring that up now, seriously? I’m Chung Myung! Chung Myung!"
Chung Myung no longer even bothered to hide his strength.
After all, the reports that he’d dueled the Tang Family head, beaten Tang Oe to a pulp, and even trashed the Ink-Scaled Blood Python had already spread. What was the point of pretending to be modest now?
He might as well enjoy it…
"Exactly! Yes, ten-thousand-year cold iron! That means you can cut ten-thousand-year cold iron!"
Seeing Hyun Jong brighten, Chung Myung tilted his head.
What is he trying to say?
Hyun Jong continued cheerfully.
"I’ve been keeping this secret from you all, but Mount Hua has a vault used for generations by the sect leaders of the past."
"Huh?"
"There was such a place?"
"Unfortunately, the method to open it has been lost. And since both the door and the entire storehouse are made of ten-thousand-year cold iron, we haven’t been able to touch it until now."
"Such a thing…!"
Hope flickered across everyone’s faces.
They understood what Hyun Jong’s words meant.
If it was a storehouse used by the sect leaders of each generation, it would contain the sect’s important items.
Then there was a high chance it held not only the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art, but also copies of Mount Hua’s own advanced sword doctrines!
"Then all we have to do is open it!"
"Right! Since Chung Myung said he can cut ten-thousand-year cold iron!"
All eyes turned to Chung Myung.
"…"
What they saw, however, was the deathly pale face of Chung Myung.
"Th-the Sect Leader’s… the Sect Leader’s storehouse?"
"Yes!"
"You mean, we’re opening that place and going inside?"
"We’ll cut our way in. Since you can cut ten-thousand-year cold iron!"
"Hah… ha. That’s a really good idea. Wow, that…"
Chung Myung’s face had gone white as paper as his eyes darted wildly around.
Uh…
This is bad.
I cut the floor out of that thing and used it for a cauldron…
And then he smiled with deep contentment.
I’m screwed.
Sect Leader Senior Brother!
Please save me!