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Taiji Plum Blossom.
A secret society formed by those who praise the beauty of the Taiji Flower, who rose to become the White Path's Number One Flower at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering. The organization's purpose is to spread her beauty far and wide.
- The Taiji Flower? Isn't her face less pretty than the Little Princess?
- You bastard, duel me!
Though there are some radical elements mixed in who secretly "deal with" those who slander the Taiji Flower, they are fundamentally a gathering of those who love and support her.
Drawing pictures of the Taiji Flower they saw from afar and collecting them.
Writing novels about the friendship between the Taiji Flower and the Demonic Cult's Little Princess.
Secretly sharing the experience of sparring with the Taiji Flower at Wudang.
This secret group, spread widely across Hubei and Henan, naturally exists in Shaanxi as well. No matter how much Shaanxi prioritizes Mount Hua, there was no reason not to praise the White Path's Number One Flower, who rivals the Nine Dragons—in truth, surpasses them.
"Haa, haa. Lady Taiji Flower..."
Plum Blossom Swordwoman Seon Ju-hee had been afflicted with this sickness from the moment she saw the Taiji Flower at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
The skill to freely wield a sword, the elegant movements, a figure so grand and beautiful it inspired awe rather than jealousy in another woman, and a ferocious will to win that cared nothing for its size.
And on top of that, the way she stood perfectly still, manipulating two swords with the Sword Control Art to pressure her opponent, had set Seon Ju-hee's heart ablaze.
I want to become like that.
While others were jealous, envious, and saw the White Path's Number One Flower as a target to be defeated someday, Seon Ju-hee harbored admiration and eagerly awaited the day she would meet her.
No one else knew, but Seon Ju-hee had seen it clearly with her own eyes.
The face of the White Path's Number One Flower was a Human Skin Mask!
After the duel with the Little Princess, she saw a beauty wearing the Taiji Flower's clothes rush to the clinic where Physician Mubung was. At first she thought it was a mistake, but it turned out to be the Taiji Flower herself.
She glimpsed her with the Human Skin Mask removed, waiting for someone with a crestfallen face. It was a flash, and since the Taiji Flower covered her face again immediately, no one else saw. But for one fleeting instant, Seon Ju-hee had laid eyes on it.
"Ahh, sis..."
Who said the White Path's Number One Flower's face was inferior to the Demonic Cult's Little Princess?! The only thing she was relatively outmatched in was eye level, and their martial arts were nearly even.
Some might say the Little Princess is stronger once she reaches the stage of wielding a killing sword, but Seon Ju-hee believed without a doubt that the Taiji Flower was stronger.
My idol.
My goal.
And these thoughts had at some point escalated into a wicked delusion.
- Sis, today I will finally claim victory!
- Ju-hee. Come in. I've been waiting.
As a representative of Mount Hua, she would spar with the Taiji Flower again, be acknowledged as her rival, develop a bond of sharing drinks together, and in a beautiful garden, gaze softly at each other while admiring the scenery—
Bang, bang, bang!
Seon Ju-hee buried her face in her pillow. It was embarrassing for the sect, but right now she was going mad with the urge to see the Taiji Flower.
If there was such a thing as a qi deviation of lust, this would be it. The real face of the Taiji Flower kept circling in her head, and her body began to heat up.
"Sis... haa."
It wasn't a matter of sexual preference. It was merely respect for someone she admired. How could a woman love another woman?
"Mmn..."
...Surely that was the case. Seon Ju-hee swore to herself again and again, but she couldn't bear the heart sickness that flared up as a result.
She was afraid that acknowledging it would destroy the Seon Ju-hee she had built up until now as the Plum Blossom Swordwoman. Not only would she cause trouble for her sect, but she was terrified that the Taiji Flower might scorn her.
- Uh... I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't think that's right for two women.
"Ugh...!"
This was her 459th rejection. Rejected hundreds of times already in her delusions alone, Seon Ju-hee bit her pillow and endured the sorrow. To meet the Taiji Flower, she had to overcome this sickness and rise, but the sickness of the heart was so deep she couldn't easily get up.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Ju-hee, are you there."
"...Yes, Sect Leader."
Seon Ju-hee wiped her tears with the back of her hand and got up. The Sect Leader, who would not enter a woman's room recklessly, carefully opened their mouth from outside the door.
"A guest has arrived from Wudang. They said they wished to have a friendly spar with the Maehwa Swordwomen, so Jawooyang and Ja Cheong-ha are currently facing them. Will you join?"
"From Wudang? Did an elder come or something?"
"...Do not be startled when you hear this. For the person you have so desperately wished to meet has come to the training grounds."
"......Pardon?"
Seon Ju-hee wondered momentarily if her ears were playing tricks on her. But no matter how she thought about it, the Sect Leader was not someone who joked around like this or misspoke.
"You should be truly grateful to your master. About ten days ago, a matchmaker sent me a letter asking if they could stop by Mount Hua. ...They arrived last night."
"Ah, ah...!"
Seon Ju-hee shot upright.
"W-why didn't you tell me?!"
"...I came up as soon as I received the letter, and if I had told you beforehand, you would have left Mount Hua to go meet them, would you not."
"Th-that is true, but!"
Clattering. Seon Ju-hee hurriedly got to her feet. With disheveled hair and a tear-streaked face, she shouted toward the Sect Leader.
"Where are they now?!"
"In the training ground reserved for the Maehwa Swordwomen."
Bang! Seon Ju-hee threw open the door and dashed toward the training ground. The thought of tidying her unkempt clothes or hair never crossed her mind.
Only the news that the Taiji Flower had come, and the thought that she must see the Taiji Flower's face even from afar, dominated her.
Clang, clatter!
The sound of swords rang out from the training ground. The sparring seemed to have already begun, and the sounds of blades clashing noisily echoed through the arena.
Who was she sparring with? Jawooyang? Or Ja Cheong-ha?
"Wow..."
It was both. The Taiji Flower stood still holding only one sword, wielding two blades separately with the Sword Control Art, simultaneously facing the two successors of Mount Hua.
"That's... the Taiji Wisdom Sword...!"
She had seen it before, but it seemed even more refined and beautiful than before. Amid the brilliantly blooming plum blossoms, it was as if the Taiji Flower, split into black and white, was swinging two swords separately.
Mount Hua's sword is a Chaotic Sword.
Just as they say to hide a tree in a forest, it's a vulgar technique that scatters countless feints and slips the true strike amongst them to cut the enemy.
So goes the scornful criticism of Mount Hua's martial arts, dripping with the so-called "bluster" of the Demonic Cult.
- If you're going to kill them, just stab them. I don't know why they flail around everywhere.
The goal of defeating an opponent with martial arts isn't to dazzle their eyes and make them fall—it's to land a sword strike on them.
- Isn't it no different from missing the hole when you're fucking and just prodding around it! Haha!
Similarly, Mount Hua's sword takes too long to land the thrust.
What makes the Dugu Nine Swords claim supremacy over the world?
It's because of its concise process: specialized for real combat, it forces the enemy's weak point open and cuts or stabs. Feinting with patterns like up-down-up-up-down-left-right-up, with only one real thrust among them, only depletes your own strength.
That is the weakness of ordinary first-rate or peak-level Mount Hua swordsmen.
But what happens when one reaches the Transcendent Peak or the Harmony Realm?
- Fuck, I thought that was a feint...
From this point on, no matter how ill-disposed one may be toward Mount Hua, they cannot denounce it as a chaotic sword.
Only when Mount Hua's sword surpasses the Transcendent Peak does it truly become an Illusion Sword.
You can't tell what's real, you can't tell what's fake, and before you know it, just as your clothes get soaked in a drizzle, you become drenched in the Plum Blossom Fragrance. That is Mount Hua's sword.
And.
The moment that power reaches the Harmony Realm or Profound Realm.
Mount Hua's sword moves beyond being an Illusion Sword and gains the power to make the illusion reality.
Clang!
Sparks flew from the Sword Aura coating the Silver Rainbow Sword. A sword I'd thought was an illusion suddenly had substance as it aimed for my throat, forcing me to deflect every phantom with my blade.
"Gahaha, good, excellent!"
The Sword Immortal, utterly delighted, pressed me. No sooner had I deflected a strike aiming for my thigh and shoulder simultaneously than he thrust again, this time as if to slash my throat and abdomen.
Blocking the sword path was meaningless. The moment I tried to preemptively break the flow of his sword, I'd be stabbing an illusion and leaving myself open to attack.
"Just blocking is useless!"
"Softness overcomes hardness, you old taoist!"
I deflected the Flying Smoke Sword in a wide circle. The silver blade and violet blade clashed fiercely, Sword Aura scattering as I retreated, continuously drawing a circle with my sword.
"Hoo-haha! The Taiji Wisdom Sword! To think I'd face the Taiji Wisdom Sword before my ascension—what heavenly luck!"
The Sword Immortal, as joyful as a child, thrust his sword. The plum blossom fragrance wafting from the tip of his blade seemed to numb my nose.
'One sword is not enough!'
The Taiji Wisdom Sword of the Taiji Sword Empress is fundamentally based on wielding four swords simultaneously. No matter how exceptional the Silver Rainbow Sword is, one blade cannot fully reveal the martial arts of the Sword Empress.
"You endure well! But for how long can you hold on with such unstable power?!"
"Shut up! Save the lectures for after you land a hit!"
I still had no wounds. The Sword Immortal had already attacked me with hundreds of phantom blades, but I blocked every attack with a single sword.
Even if the Taiji Wisdom Sword is specialized for the Sword Control Art, its foundation is a hand-wielded sword art. It contains forms meant for one hand.
"If you try to kill me, your attacks can never succeed!"
And the Sword Empress's sword is specialized for receiving killing blows. The Sword Empress's Taiji Wisdom Sword, like the Dugu Nine Swords, is a martial art meant to lead Wudang, while also being trained and refined to survive the Blood Calamity.
In other words, there is no sword better than the Taiji Wisdom Sword at blocking an opponent's killing sword.
"Haa, damn. I thought the Twenty-four Forms Plum Blossom Sword was a martial art only learned by disciples."
"Haha. They say a master doesn't pick their tools. A technique used by a martial artist of the highest order becomes itself a martial art of the highest order."
"You're right, so why does it piss me off? Damn."
I shifted my starting stance. If I couldn't fully draw out the Sword Empress's power, I had no choice but to use another method.
The Heavenly Dragon Emperor Sword.
Sword Aura extended from my empty hand, coalescing into the exact same shape as the Silver Rainbow Sword.
"Twin swords! The Sword Venerable once roamed the world with twin swords. Is this his martial art now?"
"Sorry, but it's not the Sword Venerable, it's Geom-je. Named the Dragon Emperor Sword!"
I kicked off the ground and dashed forward. The Dragon Emperor Sword possessed the nature of a Dominion Sword, crushing enemies with overwhelming power, making it perfect for gaining the upper hand against an Illusion Sword.
Claaaaang!!
Horizontal with Silver Rainbow, vertical with Sword Aura. Every plum blossom blooming chaotically was sliced apart and destroyed in one stroke. I simply cut down the space itself with overwhelming power so he couldn't even unleash feints or draw a sword path.
"Hohoho! Magnificent! I can't tell how many martial arts reside in one body! However!"
The plum blossom fragrance vanished in an instant. I dropped my swords to my left and right and spun my body in place.
"Twin Dragons Ascending to Heaven!"
Two crouching dragons coiled within the swords soared vertically. In the storm of Sword Qi, the Sword Immortal had already leaped high into the sky, violet energy rippling over his body just like the Flying Smoke Sword.
"To think."
Violet Mist Divine Art.
It was no exaggeration to say it rivaled Wudang's Taiji Divine Art—the supreme internal energy art of Mount Hua had been imbued into the Sword Immortal's body.
"Haha! You're strong!"
The Sword Immortal hefted his blade over his shoulder, aiming at the storm of Sword Qi. His eyes, glinting with the unique energy of the Violet Mist Divine Art, read every single ascending strike of the Heavenly Dragon Emperor Sword.
"Excellent, excellent!"
Falling Plum Blossom Rain.
The Flying Smoke Sword poured down like rain, plum blossoms exploding from its tip. Swift as light, the Sword Immortal's falling blade pressed down from above on the dragons trying to ascend to heaven.
I had raised Geom-je's power to the extreme, but the Sword Immortal's power was greater. His Twenty-four Forms Plum Blossom Sword, unleashed mid-air with the sun at his back while fueling the Violet Mist Divine Art, was mightier than any other technique on Mount Hua.
"You are strong. I have never seen a sword of such mighty energy."
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, the Sword Immortal was still smiling like a child.
"Fighting you is like fighting every swordsman under heaven!"
"I'm thrilled to death."
"Of course I am! To the point I'd have no regrets dying in this fight! Besides, aren't you intentionally 'testing' this and that against me!"
Busted. I felt irritated.
"This is why I hate immortals."
"Hoo-ha-ha. An immortal? I am simply one whose epithet was merely Sword Immortal. I merely have no interest in worldly affairs... unless the whole world is stained with blood, that is."
"......."
I shifted my starting stance. The Silver Rainbow Sword, thankfully, had been accurately following my ever-changing Sword Qi.
"What sword will it be this time? Diancang? Or Zhongnan? Is the sword of the Sword Demon also possible?"
"Isn't this where you should be curious about my identity?"
"Hahaha! Since you won't tell me anyway, there's no reason to be curious! The conversation we share through our swords is far more important than that!"
"Damn, that's annoyingly irritating."
If he'd been curious about my identity and it clouded his mind, I might've found a weakness, but the Sword Immortal was only mad about the sword and cared for nothing else.
"The Sword Demon is too weak. I'll answer with the Ice White Divine Sword instead."
"Ohhh...!! Magnificent!"
Crackle, crack.
The spring froze over, and the plum blossom petals also froze and began to crumble. My hair, reflected in the blade, was turning white.
"Using any sword is useless. Why? I may not be the best under heaven... but the greatest sword under heaven is Mount Hua's."
"Mount Hua bastards really are all arrogant, aren't they. With so many sword arts in the Central Plains, they're convinced Mount Hua is the supreme."
"That is Mount Hua. Then prove it. Prove that there is a sword that surpasses Mount Hua. If you cannot prove it, Mount Hua is the greatest sword under heaven."
"No, that's not it."
Clank.
I leveled my sword again.
"The sword used by the strongest under heaven is the greatest sword under heaven."