The River of Stars
After a round of negotiations, we’d agreed to have another duel, but in the end, Hong Si-yeon lost.
She’d sunk into the first stage of gloom, her face completely dazed and hollow.
I turned my head slightly and glanced toward the side where Geukseon and Geumran were standing, and just as I’d expected, Geumran looked every bit as deflated as Hong Si-yeon.
Geukseon, on the other hand, was practically glowing with quiet triumph.
Her expression was still cold as ever, but anyone could see she was delighted.
What an interesting woman. Her too.
Geumran might flare up again and demand a rematch, but right now, it didn’t seem likely.
It was me who’d asked her to teach me the Purple Sunset Divine Art as the price of a rematch in the first place.
But if she went through with another rematch here? She probably wouldn’t even know what to ask for in return.
Besides, even if she did fight me again and somehow won, there’d be nothing left to gain. One win, two losses. What was the point in that? It would be a victory with nothing but wounds left behind.
I bowed politely toward Hong Si-yeon.
She still seemed unable to believe her defeat, but when I greeted her, she returned the bow with equal courtesy.
Seeing things like that, orthodox sects really did have their merits. At the very least, they knew basic manners.
Hong Si-yeon was surely bitter beyond words. She probably knew it herself too — that she was stronger than me.
My win had been nothing but a one-time thing.
I’d barely scraped by by piling surprise on top of surprise.
It was not something I could do twice. By now, all my tricks had been exposed.
Anyway, I picked up Hanjunggeom again and slid it back into its scabbard.
Then I walked over to where Geukseon and Geumran were standing. Slowly. Taking my time to savor the victory.
As I drew near, Geumran made a face that said she had no choice.
She let out a sigh and spoke with obvious reluctance.
“Very well. A promise is a promise…. Haa. I may not be a man, but I do know the weight of a word once it has been spoken. Fine. Come along.”
Geumran had moved past gloom and reached full acceptance.
Yes, there was no point in stubbornly dragging this out any further. It would only cost her more.
She knew what saving face meant. She also knew this was the best way to wrap things up.
“Wait a moment.”
But then Geukseon cut in.
Geumran looked at her as if asking what she was interrupting for now.
Hong Si-yeon, who had followed behind me and was now standing off to the side, watched the two of them with a slightly uneasy expression.
“Keep your promise to this child a little later. I have some business of my own first.”
“Why should I have to follow that?”
Geumran sounded a little sharp, but Geukseon simply looked back at her in silence.
Her expression said, Go on, then. Try saying more. She practically radiated cold.
Geukseon should have learned the Ice Soul Divine Art. The effect would’ve tripled.
But then would she still be Geukseon, or would she become something like Ice Immortal? That was a little much. Ice Empress? No, that sounded off too.
The problem was the character ice. No matter what you added to it, it sounded strange.
“Haaah. Fine. We lost, so I suppose I have to do as I’m told. I’ll be inside the alliance, so once you’re done, ask the host hall lord and come find me. Si-yeon, let’s go.”
With that, Geumran led Hong Si-yeon out of the training grounds again.
Their backs looked rather forlorn. So much so that it was hard not to feel sorry for them.
But why had Geukseon told me to wait? Did she have something to tell me first?
“Jin-ah, you should rest for a while too. I have something urgent to say to this child.”
“Yes, Senior Sister.”
After Baek Jin-ah also left, Geukseon turned and started walking.
The room Geukseon took me to was her own private quarters.
It looked three times nicer than the room I was staying in.
As expected, reputation mattered. The treatment changed completely.
“Sit.”
I obediently sat down as told. Geukseon wouldn’t do anything that would hurt me, anyway.
“You said you memorize everything after hearing a verse once, didn’t you?”
“Not everything, no.”
A proper verse had to be heard and then registered in the skill window.
If even one character was wrong, it wouldn’t register, so I couldn’t just pretend I’d memorized it after one listen.
Well, that at least meant I could verify whether a verse was genuine, so it wasn’t entirely a bad thing.
“Then open your ears and listen well. I’ll recite the verses of the River of Stars Divine Art for you.”
“What? The River of Stars Divine Art…?”
“It is the internal method I cultivate. Even within Zhongnan, it is not something taught to just anyone.”
“How can you….”
I was about to say more when I suddenly realized something.
Ah. Geukseon doesn’t like the fact that I’m learning the Purple Sunset Divine Art first, does she?
Geukseon had taught me the verses of the Yinyang Ultimate Sword Art, but she hadn’t taught me any internal method separately.
She must not have liked that.
She wanted to take me in almost like a disciple, but then I’d go and learn Mount Hua’s Purple Sunset Divine Art first?
That was probably something she simply couldn’t accept.
So she was offering me one of the sect’s own secret arts instead.
“...Understood, Senior Sister.”
That was why I didn’t argue and agreed at once.
There was no reason to refuse something she was giving me. Besides, it was obvious how Geukseon saw me.
And this could also be seen as my repayment for giving her face by defeating Geumran’s disciple.
So yes, I should accept it without protest. For now.
At my response, Geukseon took a deep breath in and let it out, then spoke quietly.
“Ahem. Since ancient times, Zhongnan has been called a school of the Dao, yet it has always been a place that preferred to gaze upon the mortal world rather than merely awaken to the Dao. Thus, it delighted in observing the principles, laws, and workings of all things, reading the secrets of heaven and discerning their meaning. Of all such things, what it focused on most was the heavens above. The night sky. Watching the stars that shone steadily within that pitch-black curtain, it studied their brilliance and their motion. Among all that sky, what drew the eye most was the River of Stars. Also called the Heavenly River, or the Cloud River, it brought enlightenment to countless people, and the wisdom gathered from those insights was compiled into a book — the River of Stars Divine Art….”
Her voice was calm and clear.
Geukseon’s voice was mysterious.
At times it sounded like the lecture of a stern professor, and at others like the gentle voice of a grandmother telling old stories to a granddaughter at her bedside before sleep.
It was soft-spoken, yet hazy, like something heard in a dream.
And within that voice was respect, and a quiet tenderness.
The nobility of one who passes down what she knows to the next person.
So I etched every single word of that lesson into my mind.
So I could remember it even if the skill wasn’t registered, and so that whenever the registered skill brought those verses to mind, I would remember this voice too.
Geukseon’s voice went on and on.
Like starlight in the night sky. Like the Milky Way, shining without end.
Before long, her voice came to an end, and a message window appeared before me.
River of Stars Divine Art has been learned.
“Good. Did you memorize all of that after hearing it just once? That’s quite a lot of material for that, though.”
Geukseon looked at me with a face full of expectation.
So I began reciting the verses of the River of Stars Divine Art from the beginning.
Just as Geukseon had done.
The woman watched me recite with a gentle expression, surprise and delight mingling in her eyes as she listened to me memorize it out loud.
I wanted to recite it the way Geukseon had. But it wasn’t that easy. Was it because I was still inexperienced?
Still, I kept reciting, with respect and gratitude in my heart.
When I had finally finished the entire verse, Geukseon smiled at the corners of her mouth and looked at me with deep satisfaction.
“Good child.”
There was so much in that expression.
Maybe that was the highest praise Geukseon could give.
But… ah. It really was a shame. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if she always wore that expression?
Then again, maybe that made it all the more special. After all, I was the only one who got to see it.
“I no longer need to take you as my disciple. So don’t cling too tightly to those words and burden yourself with them.”
Her voice had softened at the end.
I wouldn’t call it gentle exactly, but at least it wasn’t the sort of tone that would wound someone.
“I wouldn’t dare call you my master, Senior Sister, but in my heart, I’ll always think of you that way.”
At my words, Geukseon gave me another warm smile.
Nice. I felt warm too.
After learning the River of Stars Divine Art, I went to find Geumran as Geukseon had told me.
After meeting the host hall lord and following one of the attendants, I was guided to the lodging where Geumran and Hong Si-yeon were resting.
When Geumran saw me, she let out yet another sigh.
“Come in and sit.”
I sat down as told, and Geumran spoke to me through sound transmission.
Do this so that not even the slightest thing leaks out, should the worst happen. Please understand.
“I think it’s only right.”
Hearing my answer, Geumran clicked her tongue softly and began to recite the verses.
Because she was using sound transmission, there was little emotion in her voice.
Maybe it was even more so because I’d just come from hearing Geukseon’s voice.
In any case, Geumran was the kind of person who kept her word.
Once Geumran had finished reciting the verse through sound transmission, a message appeared immediately.
Purple Sunset Divine Art has been learned.
Having the martial art registered meant I hadn’t pulled any pointless tricks. Really… it was amazing. Who would have thought I could obtain something like this so easily?
“Is that enough? Does that even help you with anything?”
“Yes, of course. But… I do have something I’d like to ask.”
“Go on.”
“If I’m learning the Purple Sunset Divine Art, won’t people at Mount Hua misunderstand things later on?”
“...How are you learning the Purple Sunset Divine Art? You truly memorized all of it after hearing it once?”
“Um… yes.”
“Really?”
“I know it sounds hard to believe, but….”
“Gather the rising yang that has passed through the Extreme Heaven Blood Point, cupping it with both hands like sand. What comes after that verse?”
“...Move it three inches below the Chest Center Point, gather even more yang at the Lower Seal Point, and strengthen its momentum….”
“Hah!”
Geumran stared at me with an expression of disbelief. Suspicion filled her eyes.
She asked me several more times after that, and I answered every single one.
After all, once I recalled it, it played back in my head instantly. There was no difficulty at all.
“Good heavens… good heavens. Even Heaven is being indifferent now….”
With a look of utter daze, Geumran stared at me and shook her head.
She really had been shocked. Well, I could understand that. It was exactly that kind of thing.
“Fine. Fine. You may go now. I need to rest a little.”
“Yes. Then… I’ll be going. Thank you.”
I stood to leave, but then Geumran suddenly called out to me.
“Child.”
“Yes?”
“Didn’t you just say a moment ago that if there were any misunderstandings later at Mount Hua, what then?”
“Ah… yes.”
Geumran pulled one of the hairpins from her hair.
Not the large pin holding up her coiffure, but one of the smaller supporting pins tucked to the side.
“Take it. If anyone says anything later, show them this and give them my name. Then even if it’s the sect leader himself, he won’t be able to say a word.”
“Ah. Thank you.”
When I bowed my head in thanks, Geumran let out one more long sigh and said,
“Now go already.”
“Yes, Senior Sister.”
And so I left the room where Geumran was resting.
My mood was light and bright, having gained the Purple Sunset Divine Art as well.