017
017
Nature does not belong to humankind.
Though it is said that all the vast lands of the Central Plains belong to the Son of Heaven, even the Son of Heaven will eventually turn into a handful of soil and vanish into nature upon death.
Nature is simply a place where humans briefly sojourn.
Therefore, no river, sea, or mountain belongs to any specific person.
A deed can claim ownership of a man-made house, but as for the land itself, it's merely an agreement among humans declaring, 'This place is my land.'
'So, there's no problem with me climbing Wudang Mountain.'
Even if a plague spread across Wudang Mountain and access was sealed off, that was none of my concern.
A mountain is just a mountain, and there was no one to restrain me. They wouldn't even know I'd entered and left the mountain in the first place.
'Not even a plague can stop me.'
I wasn't someone who would succumb to Cheonhwa. After filtering the air with my mask and rousing my Yang Energy to exterminate the germs, I could breathe without catching the disease.
'The problem is the passing Taoists.'
"......Brother, I have a question."
No matter how undetectable I was, caution couldn't hurt.
Sensing people approaching in the distance, I hid in the shade of a tree. Warriors of the Wudang Sect, likely on perimeter patrol, were carrying torches and scanning the area.
"...This is insane. When will the blockade be lifted?"
"It can't be lifted when more than a few are afflicted with Cheonhwa. If we descend without reason, we risk spreading the Cheonhwa."
"Senior Brother, what if we catch it ourselves?"
"Let us trust the Elders. They will surely find a solution. ...Who's there?!"
The warriors drew their swords and began scanning their surroundings. My heart sank, thinking they'd somehow spotted me even though I hadn't moved.
'The Shadow Concealment Technique, exposed by mere second-rate warriors? That would be the height of annoyance.'
The legendary assassin Dark King, who killed Chu So-gwang by stabbing him twice, possessed a unique martial art, the Shadow Concealment Technique, which conceals the body perfectly by blending with the surrounding environment and shadows.
I was baffled that Wudang warriors could detect a technique even high-level Peak Realm experts couldn't easily notice, but the reason soon became clear.
"Uwaaaah!!"
Not far from where I was hiding, there was a rustic-looking man dressed like a scholar. He wore silk clothes torn and shredded by trees, and he didn't seem particularly versed in martial arts.
"Ah! It's an escapee!"
"After him! He must not be allowed to descend the mountain and spread the Cheonhwa!!"
The warriors chased after the man who was fleeing for his life. Hidden in the shadows, I'd gotten tense for nothing, thinking I'd been caught.
'That's more like it. You'd have to be at least the Wudang Sect Leader to spot this.'
If a mere second-rate warrior could detect the Shadow Concealment Technique, I would have owed the Dark King—who in the future would be dragged out of the shadows and torn limb from limb—an abject apology, likely prostrating myself and headbutting the ground. Or I'd have to stop using it out of sheer shame.
"......Phew."
About an hour later, I'd held my breath and waited until the warriors were completely gone. They'd been thoroughly distracted by the chase, so I turned back and resumed climbing the mountain slowly.
Jjaek, jjaek.
The chirping of mountain birds delighted my ears. A good while passed as I hummed a tune and climbed, and human presence was all but absent.
'Isn't there any spirit medicine around here?'
My primary reason for coming to Wudang was to enjoy its flowers with my eyes and body, but while I was here, it seemed wise to collect not only flowers but all sorts of spirit medicines like ginseng and herbs.
I could chew up anything beneficial for myself on the spot, and anything that could fetch a decent amount of silver could simply be sold to apothecaries or other sects.
'Those guys who get stronger with Inner Energy from obtaining spirit medicine are just destined to find more later anyway.'
There will certainly be many who claim to have grown stronger thanks to spirit medicine in the future Great Righteous-Demonic War. Even if I took all the spirit medicine they were meant to eat, they would likely find and consume other spirit medicines as if by fate.
Nature has no owner.
Likewise, spirit medicine has no owner.
The Human-shaped Snow Ginseng I ate helped a descendant of the Namgung Clan later kill a slaughtering fiend who became a public enemy of the Murim, but even if that ginseng no longer exists, someone else will kill the slaughtering fiend in that Namgung descendant's place.
"Burp."
The heat from the chicken soup I had at lunch simmered inside me. Thanks to eating a ton of ginseng, my stomach burned as if flames were blazing up.
"Ugh, this damned Yang Energy."
I couldn't suppress the heat filling my body. I tried to fight fire with fire to control the heat and my vigor, but it was useless.
'It's absurd to try and suppress a young man's vigor in the first place.'
Although I'd become an adult, my ideal physique was not yet complete.
I needed to settle down somewhere and mold my body until my bones and muscles finished growing as much as possible and my frame became sturdily compact. I was far from perfect in many ways—just as right now, when I felt someone's gaze watching me.
"......."
I felt a subtle gaze on my back. It was like a wild beast watching, or perhaps a slaughtering fiend sizing me up from behind.
Either way, the fact remained that it was targeting me. I spun around and delivered a knife-hand strike.
Swoooosh!!
The tree opposite me was cleaved in half by the single strike. I pivoted with perfect form and rushed to the split tree in a single step.
'One.'
A numbing energy sprang up along my spine. Clear hostility began pricking my skin.
The clear birdsong that had tickled my ears while climbing the mountain vanished, and only a silent, chilling energy settled heavily over the forest.
Rustle.
A single leaf brushed past my eyes. I kicked off the ground and leaped back to widen the distance.
"You!"
Just as expected. A clean sword mark appeared where I had stood. The middle-aged Taoist who attacked me openly frowned, seeing his first strike had been in vain.
"Isn't that greeting a bit too excessive?"
"Shut your mouth! Why have you come to Wudang?!"
"I came to Wudang Mountain, not to the Wudang Sect."
"You insolent cur!"
The Taoist cursed me and leveled his sword. Seeing the faint blue Sword Qi rising from it, I sighed involuntarily.
"A sad premonition never misses its mark."
Perhaps it was fate that the slightest misunderstanding with an Orthodox Faction martial artist would immediately lead to a sword fight. I was merely a plant collector touring the famous mountains, yet this middle-aged man's attitude toward me was intensely hostile.
"Taoist. How can you threaten an innocent civilian with a sword? Is this truly the conduct of a Wudang martial artist?"
"How can one who uses Demonic Cult martial arts and dodges the Taiji Sword's starting form call himself a civilian? I will ask again. Why have you come to Wudang?"
"......You recognized that?"
I tapped the ground with my foot.
Dark King, master of the Shadow Concealment Technique, did belong to the Demonic Cult. The question was whether his existence was public knowledge at this point—and I could say with certainty that it was not. Dark King only emerged during the Great Righteous-Demonic War.
"You fiend, what is your identity?"
"Don't answer a question with a question!"
"No, I must ask. How did you know this is a Demonic Cult demonic art?"
"What?"
The tables had turned. The Taoist had tried to uncover my identity, but now it was my turn to uncover his. I drew my sword and aimed it at him.
"You bastard, so you were a Demonic Cult spy!"
"What?! You, you madman!! You're the one using demonic arts, why would I be a spy?!"
"If you can recognize it's demonic arts, you're naturally connected to the Demonic Cult!"
The Taoist's face reddened as he pointed his sword at me.
"Stop talking nonsense! Anyone can see it's a move of those Demonic Cult bastards, so it's obviously demonic arts—did you think it would be an Orthodox Faction martial art?!"
"This is why thick-headed Taoists like you are the problem! With such a narrow-minded way of thinking, you can't reach the realm of a Half-Immortal and end up just boozing around the secular world! Open your eyes and see clearly whether this is demonic arts or not!"
Although it was demonic arts, I lunged forward in a flash. When I took three steps right up to the Taoist and slashed horizontally, he stumbled back in alarm.
"The Three Calamities Sword Art?! You rotten bastard?!"
"Don't look down on the Three Calamities Sword Art! It's the Fate-Determining Technique!"
Dark King's ultimate move.
Slash horizontally, slash vertically, then thrust the sword toward where the cross intersects. It's an extremely simple form, but when combined with extreme speed, it becomes a peerless sword art matching any other martial art. I divided my breathing and thrust a quick sword in succession just as Dark King did.
"Hut, two, set! Hut, two, set!"
Slash, slash, thrust. Slash, slash, thrust again. The process of swinging the sword three times took less than a second, and as my body heated up, the speed of my sword swings naturally quickened.
"Keuk?!"
The Taoist angled the flat of his blade to deflect the sword off to the side. He parried at an angle to divert the attack while seeking an opening to seize the initiative for a counterattack, but I relentlessly pressed him to prevent any retaliation.
"Hut-two-set, hut-two-set!"
"Stop making those weird sounds!"
"Don't pick a fight with me!"
He took the bait. Just as I shouted 'Set!,' the Taoist twisted his body to thrust his sword. The tip was aimed precisely at my heart, and murderous intent to kill me flickered in his eyes.
Cla-ang!
But his attack didn't land. Instead, my counter, which deflected his blade up at an angle, cleanly slipped inside. When my attacks, which had been purely horizontal, vertical, and thrusting, suddenly mixed in semicircular arcs, the Taoist panicked, dropped his sword, and fluttered his robe widely.
Dark King's secret technique, the Soul-Snatching Strike.
It imprints the trajectories of the three calamities onto the opponent, then suddenly changes the rhythm to thrust the moment an opening appears. The blade hidden within the dark shadows drives into the vital point from a blind spot in their vision.
"Tch!"
But he was a Taoist with real skill behind him.
As his robe obscured his vision, the blade whirled and spun. I stretched one foot far forward and leaned my upper body back. The sword whirled just above my eyes like flowing water drawing a circle, deflecting my blade and lightly slicing a few strands of my forelock.
"Hap!"
With a short exhalation, I dragged my forward foot back along the ground. The Taoist forced himself to grip his sword handle and tried to stab me, but he flinched and stepped back from the Qi of my Internal Energy pushed outward.
"You bastard...."
The Taoist still glared at me, sword in hand. He only glared. Within a short exchange of less than ten moves, he had gauged my level.
"Who in the world are you? Are you one of those masters of Return to Youth I've only heard of?"
"Everyone keeps saying Return to Youth. If that were true, you would have been grossly impolite to a senior, wouldn't you? Huh? Hyeon-ta."
I deliberately taunted him with a flippant tone. The Taoist, whose face had reddened, bowed deeply as if his previous aggression had vanished.
"I apologize, Senior. I failed to recognize you."
"That's a lie."
"...You scoundrel?"
A vein pulsed on the Taoist's forehead. I felt like bursting into laughter and couldn't help myself.
"Ah, so it is you. Keuheuheu. Hyeon-ta, nice to meet you."
This sort of thing was all too common, but I hadn't expected to run into it here.
The <Wudang First Sword> Taoist Hyeonta.
There was a time when he was forcibly demoted to the Wudang Second Sword because of the master of the Taiji Wisdom Sword, but after all the senior Taoists of the earlier generation died in the Great Righteous-Demonic War, he became the Wudang Sect Leader.
Famous for his fiery and crotchety personality, he was openly mocked that he would never attain Ascension.
'He was the one who defended the existence of the Demonic Cult, right?'
He had fervently preached that Murim's darkness (玄) was merely a different (他) entity, but he was deeply shocked by the outbreak of the Great Righteous-Demonic War and became a recluse.
Later, when his seniors were all slaughtered by the Demonic Cult, he played a major role as the Wudang Sect Leader.
He was an opponent I had faced once during my Blood Jiangshi days.
I didn't kill him, though there was no need to. Taoist Hyeonta was a man, and I had my eyes fixated on the master of the Taiji Wisdom Sword, who was with him.
Between a white-haired old man and a woman with a peerless figure, it's only natural for the eyes to go to the woman.
'I came to see the flowers. I have no need for a man.'
I have no interest in the weak. Even less so if it's a man weaker than me.
"Let's wrap this up. Ahh, I can see it now. Just as I thought, your level is obvious at a glance."
The moment our swords clashed, I could roughly gauge his level.
"How dare you cross swords with me when you're only at the Peak level? Know your place."
"......You fiend."
"What? Annoyed? If you're annoyed, why don't you try to land a hit."
I mocked him to my heart's content. At the same time, the moment I realized he was Hyeon-ta, a mischievous thought popped into my head.
He seemed like a strict stickler for principles, but when it came to martial arts, his skill was definitively outstanding. There's nothing to be gained by making an enemy of the man who will become the future Wudang Sect Leader. We'd already crossed swords, but drawing blades over a misunderstanding was common in Murim.
'What should I do here?'
Hyeon-ta had this bizarre conviction that I was some kind of Demonic Cult minion. Though I didn't know how he recognized the Shadow Concealment Technique, resolving his misunderstanding wouldn't be solved by ordinary means.
'Faking a title is the best way, as usual.'
I slowly lowered my sword. I twisted my body sideways, bent my knees, extended the sword forward, and raised my other hand backward into a starting stance.
"Come at me. I will show you the realm of Ascension. It will be a valuable experience you could never get even if you paid a fortune in gold."
"Your insolence pierces the heavens!"
"Second-raters always spout that line before they get beaten."
"Wait... Could that stance be?"
Hyeon-ta's expression was rapidly overtaken by shock. I silently praised him for recognizing my sword art at a glance.
"There's no need to say it with words."
The Taiji Wisdom Sword. The sword of Zhang Sanfeng, acquired by taking the blood and energy of Taiji Sword Empress Sagong Hee.
"Come. I'll show you the Heaven Beyond Heaven."
"......!!"
The moment Hyeon-ta vanished, I gently laid my sword to the side.
Cla---ang!!
Along with a clear, ringing sound, our real duel began.