Chapter 201
Chapter 201
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 201
Chapter Title: The Road to Wudang
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“There, up to that point,” Hwa-ryeon added a bit late.
“Regarding the Wudang Sect’s martial arts, we talked about them on the way, right?”
“Yeah, we did….”
I let my shoulders droop and trailed off.
You can probably guess why, but once again, it was because a martial art completely different from my expectations had popped up.
“The Five Elements Sword… right?”
“Yes. It’s a swordsmanship that embodies the principles of the five elements. I heard it’s a peerless sword art that can flexibly handle any opponent.”
At Hwa-ryeon’s words, I grumbled inwardly, *Peerless sword art, my foot…*
Sure, there were stories in some wuxia novels where Wudang Taoists used the Five Elements Sword.
There was even the Five Elements Sword Formation as a group technique.
But come on.
If it’s the representative peerless martial art of the Wudang Sect, shouldn’t it be the Taiji Fist and Taiji Radiant Sword?
Especially the Taiji Radiant Sword.
The pinnacle of soft swordplay executed with the Pine Pattern Ancient Sword!
The Wudang Sect’s ultimate technique!
A peerless swordsmanship that deflects any attack from the opponent and sometimes sends it right back at them intact!
That’s the Taiji Radiant Sword.
Yet in the Wudang martial arts Hwa-ryeon described, there wasn’t even a hint of “Taiji.”
Taiji is the foundation of Wudang martial arts, after all.
Did the Yuan Dynasty’s purge of the martial world strip away even Wudang’s roots?
If so, the chances of old martial world records surviving in Wudang were extremely slim.
Ha, seriously. The Yuan Dynasty.
Just as resentment toward Genghis Khan started bubbling up, Hwa-ryeon’s voice pierced my ears.
“That expression again. Something’s not to your liking, huh?”
“…That obvious?”
“Very.”
At her curt reply, I gave a wry smile and shrugged.
“Hmm, the representative Wudang martial arts I know are a bit different.”
“More of those street novel stories?”
“Well…. Something like that.”
If anything, they’re quite different.
I haven’t even properly read novels from this era to begin with.
But I couldn’t exactly explain that to Hwa-ryeon, so I glossed over it and returned to the main topic.
“The representative Wudang martial arts have to be the Taiji Fist and Taiji Radiant Sword.”
From there, I unleashed a torrent of talk about the Taiji Radiant Sword.
After rambling on about how it embodies the principles of Taiji, I suddenly realized Hwa-ryeon was watching me, chin resting on her hands.
Her face cradled in her palms, lips curved in a faint smile.
For Hwa-ryeon, that was practically beaming with joy.
What’s so funny?
I thought I was being pretty serious here.
“…Why are you smiling?”
“Just because. It’s nothing, so keep going.”
Her vague answer left me tilting my head, but I continued the story.
*
“As the saying goes, Taiji is…”
Two people sat by the campfire.
Ja-seong chattering endlessly, Hwa-ryeon listening silently.
Watching them from a short distance away were two pairs of eyes.
Needless to say, it was Dae-un and Seol.
Seol, in particular, tilted her head in confusion at Hwa-ryeon’s faintly smiling lips.
“…Is that interesting?”
Sure, Hwa-ryeon was a martial artist, so she wouldn’t hate hearing about martial arts, but that look was…?
*It’s all soft and squishy.*
A soft and squishy Hwa-ryeon.
To Seol, at least, it felt terribly awkward and unfamiliar.
“Hoo…”
Of course, Dae-un felt the same.
His gaze, fixed on Hwa-ryeon and Ja-seong, landed on the pair of swords resting amicably between the man and woman.
Two identical swords, striking with their deep blue and deep crimson hilts.
Crimson Sun and Azure Moon.
Long ago, they had been commissioned from the finest blacksmith of the era by Zhu Cheon-mu, the previous Tyrant Heaven Fortress Lord and his master.
Naturally, the materials started with millennial cold iron and included all sorts of rare and precious things.
Top-notch materials met supreme craftsmanship.
The result was these two masterwork swords, Crimson Sun and Azure Moon, which could proudly claim to be the best.
Moreover, these two swords weren’t just fine blades—they held special meaning.
*…Though the owner of one sword seems oblivious to that meaning.*
And it wasn’t just the meaning.
From the looks of things, Hwa-ryeon hadn’t even taught him the swords’ names.
*Just how long does she plan to keep it hidden…*
Honestly, watching them was frustrating.
Staring at Ja-seong with *that* face, acting all shy about what?
Anyone could see it was the look of someone gazing at their beloved.
A hundred out of a hundred would notice…
“Maybe the young lady doesn’t want to hear it but is forcing herself to listen? I’ll go rescue her.”
“…Don’t butt in unnecessarily. Just leave them be.”
There was someone completely oblivious right next to him.
Dae-un shook his head with a quiet sigh, wondering, *Is this my fault for raising her?*
*
After my conversation with Hwa-ryeon (though it felt more like I was the only one talking) ended and everyone had gone to bed.
“Whew…”
I sat cross-legged, drawing in a low, long breath as I sank deep into meditation.
The energy rising from my dantian surged fiercely through my meridians, devouring bit by bit the lingering energy of the Yellow Dragon Divine Pill scattered throughout my body.
That grown energy circulated through my meridians for a good while before settling back in my dantian.
Compared to when I first took the Yellow Dragon Divine Pill, my dantian—now vastly expanded—accommodated the much larger energy without issue.
Feeling a pleasant sense of fullness, I opened my eyes and gauged the amount of my now fully assimilated internal energy.
“…Around forty years’ worth?”
Ten years from five years of training with the improved Three Disasters Heart Technique, plus twenty from the Yellow Dragon Divine Pill.
Finally, ten more refined piecemeal through meditation since starting our journey.
Thinking that a total of forty years’ worth of internal energy now filled my dantian made my facial muscles twitch uncontrollably.
And there was still about thirty years’ worth left in my body.
If I fully refined that, I’d have over a full jiazi of internal energy.
“Keheuk, kuhk.”
To avoid waking the others who had already gone to sleep after their own sessions, I clamped my mouth shut to stifle the laughter.
A full jiazi of internal energy was enough to make my heart race like this.
And rightly so—a typical jiazi’s worth was the level of internal energy an elder master of advanced age might possess.
Yet thanks to the peerless elixir Yellow Dragon Divine Pill, I—a man in my mid-twenties—had attained that much.
How could I not be thrilled?
Plus, with the “gift” from Elder Gok, future meditation would be even easier, speeding up my energy absorption.
“I’ll have to thank Elder Gok properly if I see him again.”
Muttering to myself, I glanced at the small pagoda placed next to me—precisely, at the center of our campsite.
This pagoda was called the Empty Hidden Treasure Pagoda.
As mentioned before, it was a gift from Elder Gok: a treasure that, when planted in the ground, perfectly concealed a ten-zhang radius.
When I first heard its effect, I doubted my ears.
Elder Yeon’s Antidote Wine had been astonishing, but this Empty Hidden Treasure Pagoda took it to another level.
Just stick it in the ground, and it hides a set space from the surroundings.
Moreover, it didn’t just hide—it made any passing creature instinctively avoid entering.
Practically a portable formation array.
Thanks to it, we no longer needed night watches during camp and could all sleep soundly.
I stood up and peeked into the carriage at Hwa-ryeon sleeping peacefully, a smile tugging at my lips.
That naturally brought to mind another gift.
-You’ll probably like this one even more, young hero.
“……”
Recalling Elder Gok’s words tinged with amusement, I reached into my bosom and pulled out the second gift.
Under the faint moonlight appeared a box small enough to fit entirely in my palm.
I fiddled with it for a moment, glancing between it and Hwa-ryeon.
Truth be told, I should’ve given it to her ages ago, but I’d hemmed and hawed and still hadn’t.
With how it looked, it just didn’t feel right to hand it over casually—call it a gut feeling.
“…Later. There’ll be a right moment eventually.”
In the end, I tucked the box back into my bosom and lay down to sleep.
Then I spent a good while pondering how to give it to her before drifting off.
*
The next day.
We pressed on diligently and arrived at Goseong County, between Gyun County—where Mount Wudang lay—and Yangyang.
But the atmosphere in the county was strangely bustling.
-Is that really true?
-Of course! Everyone’s saying the same thing.
-Hoo…! What in the world…
People gathered here and there, murmuring.
Their uniformly grave expressions suggested it wasn’t good news.
“…What’s going on?”
“No idea.”
Even Hwa-ryeon, who had donned a conical hat upon entering the village, sensed the odd air and asked me, but what would I know?
The best I could do was eavesdrop maximally with my Earth-Cleansing Technique.
My enhanced hearing made the hubbub sound like roaring screams.
Frowning slightly, I kept focusing until I finally caught a meaningful conversation.
-Such a thing happened on Mount Wudang?!
-Isn’t it that the Primordial Heavenly Venerable is angry?
-What would make the Primordial Heavenly Venerable angry?
-Well… I don’t know either.
“…Mount Wudang?”
“Yes?”
What on earth had happened for talk of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable’s anger to spread?