Chapter 29
Translator: uly
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: The Martial Arts Otaku Writer - 3
The Nine Sects and One League.
In martial arts, the ten sects with the highest prestige among the righteous faction are called the Nine Sects and One League.
Depending on the martial arts world, the Nine Sects often change according to the setting, except for the One League, which is the Beggar Sect. However, among them, there are two sects that never change.
The Mount Tai and North Dipper of the martial world. The Shaolin Sect in the North is revered, and the Mount Hua Sect in the South is respected. Namely, the Shaolin Temple founded by Bodhidharma and the Mount Hua Sect founded by the Perfected Zhang Sanfeng.
The Mount Hua Sect, located on Mount Hua in northwestern Hubei Province, can be said to be the pride of Taoist sects in martial arts.
However, a single book was about to cause a stir within that very Mount Hua Sect.
"Senior Brother Cheong-un. Can't you show me that book too?"
It started with a junior disciple who had gone to the bookstore with Cheong-un.
For the past few days, Cheong-un's behavior had clearly been strange. He had been continuously reading a book he bought from the bookstore for days. If it were a thick tome or a book for study, that would be understandable. But clearly, that was just a storybook that could be finished in a day.
Moreover, Cheong-un's appearance while reading that book was suspicious.
Whenever Cheong-un read the book he bought from the bookstore, he wore an expression as if he were in a life-or-death duel.
He seemed to be reading from the beginning every day, yet he would get sad at the same part, get angry at the same part, cheer at the same part, and be surprised at the same part.
Seeing that behavior repeatedly, Cheong-un's junior disciple couldn't hold back his curiosity.
"I think I need to read it at least five more times."
Cheong-un answered briefly and, ignoring his junior's words, turned the page.
"Senior Brother. You've been reading only that book for days. Just how interesting is it?"
"Do you think I keep reading it just because it's interesting?"
"I don't know. That's why I'm asking you to show me."
"I have to finish reading it all the way through today, so I don't have time."
If he wanted to finish his tenth reading before bed, time was short. Realizing he had no time to bicker with his junior, Cheong-un decided to ignore him.
"Senior Brother, the truth is, it's a boring book and you don't want to show me, right?"
"Are you saying 'The Record of the Wind and Cloud Chivalrous Heroes' is not interesting?"
Cheong-un turned his head sharply to look at his junior. His pupils were dilated, showing how absurd he found the statement.
"Wow. It's the first time I've seen that expression on you, Senior Brother. It's a bit scary."
"It's because you're talking nonsense."
Cheong-un answered, awkwardly managing his expression.
"Senior Brother! If it's that interesting, let's read it together. If more people read it, we can talk about the story, right?"
"That's true."
"Then lend it to me for a bit. Just how interesting is it? I'll read it and tell you my thoughts."
"......Alright. This book is too good for me to read alone. Fine! I'll lend it to you. But the paper quality isn't good, so if you're careless, the book could get damaged. You must read it carefully."
Cheong-un carefully closed the 'Record of the Wind and Cloud Chivalrous Heroes' he was reading. As if handing over a precious item, he carefully passed the book to his junior with both hands.
"I'll take good care of it! Once I finish, I'll tell you just how interesting it is!"
"That book is for you to evaluate...? Never mind. Go ahead and read it."
Cheong-un was bothered by his junior who lightly took the precious book. Still, wanting to share a good book's content is a reader's heart.
Once he finishes reading, he'll regret treating the book so lightly. Cheong-un imagined his junior sharing the book's content with him after finishing it and suppressed his dissatisfaction.
"Senior Brother, just what is that book?"
A few days later, the junior approached Cheong-un with a shocked expression. Seeing the expected reaction, Cheong-un smiled and opened his mouth.
"So, did it seem like a boring book, as you said?"
"Boring?! I've never seen a storybook like that before."
"For me, such a novel was also a first in my life."
"How can such a book exist? When Un-hyeon smashed the leader of the kids who shunned him, I couldn't help but shout out loud!"
"I heard the other disciples in the same room woke up because of your shout in the middle of the night."
"Haha. I didn't know I'd end up shouting while reading a storybook at night either."
The junior scratched his head, seemingly embarrassed as he recalled the incident of shouting at night.
"Every time I reread that part, I can't express how satisfying it is."
"Exactly! In books like these, when the protagonist suffers hardships, they usually just endure it. They even emphasize filial piety and loyalty, endure until the end, and sometimes even die."
"Right. But in 'The Record of the Wind and Cloud Chivalrous Heroes', whenever hardships are given, a satisfying scene always follows, and after a satisfying scene, hardships come again. It's impossible to catch your breath."
"Sigh. It really felt like my soul was being sucked out."
The junior let out a small sigh. To Cheong-un, the sigh his junior exhaled truly looked like his soul escaping.
"Haha. Right. Any other thoughts?"
"It was interesting, but... having such a cave on a cliff seems too fanciful. People need to eat to live, why would someone seclude themselves in such a cave?"
Falling off a cliff and gaining a fortuitous encounter. The junior found it fascinating but thought the development was far-fetched.
"Are you now denying the arrangements of the 5th Generation Sect Leader and Un-hyeon's fortuitous encounter?"
Suddenly, Cheong-un's expression turned serious and his voice dropped low.
"S-senior Brother?"
"If one is a master at the Sect Leader level, they would naturally be a master in lightness skill as well. To avoid disturbing their training, of course such a place would exist."
"Senior Brother! Breathe and talk. Breathe! Breathe!"
The junior hastily applied the brakes to Cheong-un's sudden outburst.
"Ah! I momentarily lost my state of serene reflection."
"Come to think of it, there could be a cave on a cliff. It would be perfect for training there!"
Lately, the junior kept being surprised by Cheong-un's new behavior. To change like this just because of a book... Still, how many years had he been Cheong-un's junior disciple?
After several years as a junior disciple, one learns to pick up on things. The junior immediately retracted his opinion.
"Right. Such a place is perfectly plausible. I'm satisfied that I could help my junior's understanding."
Cheong-un didn't realize his junior had been coerced into understanding, not that he understood.
"Haha. Thanks to Senior Brother, I feel my discernment is broadening."
How many times had he been caught by his senior brother while looking at spring pictures at the bookstore? Since he was always covered for, the junior thought it was okay to just understand him this time.
"Right. Any other points that left a deep impression?"
The joy of sharing a story known only to oneself with others. Cheong-un wanted to keep feeling that.
"Senior Brother... Good Karma. Is it real?"
The junior, who usually spoke lightly, asked in a serious tone.
"I'm not sure. That part was so shocking to me too that I can't speak lightly of it. I thought one should live righteously while cultivating the Way, but 'Good Karma'..."
"But Un-hyeon believes those words and, inheriting the will of the 5th Generation Sect Leader, ventures into the martial world."
"Right. Wielding a sword art that belongs to Mount Hua, yet does not belong to Mount Hua."
"The Eight Trigrams Sword Art created by the 5th Generation Sect Leader. Who would have thought he created and left behind such a sword art for the sake of secular people?"
"It's not a real sword art, is it? It's probably a swordsmanship created by the writer."
Cheong-un's guess was correct.
In this world too, there were Mount Hua sword arts like the Plum Blossom Sword Art. Kang Yun-ho, who had never properly written a martial arts novel before, didn't want to be criticized for historical inaccuracies if possible. But he couldn't use a completely nonsensical swordsmanship either.
What he came up with after much thought was the Eight Trigrams Sword Art.
The Eight Trigrams, often mentioned in pairs with the concept of Taiji. In novels featuring a Mount Hua Sect protagonist, while fist arts are the main focus, the Eight Trigrams Fist is sometimes mentioned.
What if he made a sword art based on the Eight Trigrams?
The setting could be made up as needed. Kang Yun-ho breathed life into the setting for the Eight Trigrams Sword Art.
A swordsmanship said to have been created by the 5th Generation Sect Leader, as Taiji was close to the Way but too distant from the secular world.
It was a sword art that slightly deviated from the harmony and softness pursued by Mount Hua, instead pursuing infinite variation.
"Could it actually be a real sword art? This book knows too much about Mount Hua. No matter how I think about it, I'm suspicious."
"I also keep having that thought swirling in my head while reading this book. Perhaps it's a book written by someone related to Mount Hua?"
A book left almost discarded, untouched by anyone. It had circulated and ended up in his hands.
Could it have been arranged by someone related to Mount Hua? The more he read, the more that thought troubled Cheong-un's mind.
"It doesn't seem like a book you can simply call interesting. It's a rare book. A rare book."
"I think so too. By the way, where is the book?"
While discussing the content of 'The Record of the Wind and Cloud Chivalrous Heroes', they hadn't noticed, but the junior wasn't holding the book.
"Well... haha."
The junior laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.
"???"
Cheong-un also hadn't anticipated at all what action his junior, who had been so impressed by the book, would take afterward.
"Junior Disciple Cheong-un!!"
Ten days later, a senior master with a bushy beard came looking for Cheong-un.
"What is the matter?"
"Lately, there's been a rumor among the Mount Hua Sect disciples that a rare book is circulating. I heard the rumor that it started from you."
"Ah, that..."
As soon as he heard his senior's words, Cheong-un felt a headache coming on.
It was true that he wanted to share the story of 'The Record of the Wind and Cloud Chivalrous Heroes' with his junior. But who would have thought his junior would want to share it with other disciples too?
Since it wasn't a simple book, it could become a problem. With that thought, Cheong-un tracked down the whereabouts of the circulating 'Record of the Wind and Cloud Chivalrous Heroes' among the disciples and confiscated it.
But the situation had already escalated beyond Cheong-un's control.
'I knew you'd do that, Senior Brother, so I already made a handwritten copy!'
'Among the disciples, copying "The Record of the Wind and Cloud Chivalrous Heroes" by hand during study time is popular!'
Handwritten copies of 'The Record of the Wind and Cloud Chivalrous Heroes' were circulating within the Mount Hua Sect. At this very moment while talking with his senior master, someone might be copying it by hand.
"If you say the book's content is problematic, I will immediately pressure the disciples to confiscate it."
The senior master before his eyes was famous for being very strict.
Some secular disciples had brought spring pictures to Mount Hua and were passing them around among the disciples when they were caught by the senior master. Seeing this, the senior master mercilessly punished the disciples and confined them to the Punishment Hall for a month.
Moreover, he raised an issue with the secular disciple who brought the spring pictures and ultimately had them expelled from the sect. One of them was the child of a tycoon who donated a lot to the Mount Hua Sect.
For such a senior master to come to him...
Cheong-un couldn't help but be tense.
"That's not the reason I came."
Cheong-un's senior master waved his hands dismissively at Cheong-un's misunderstanding.
"Then what brings you here?"
"Well... Ahem."
Cheong-un's senior master smiled differently than usual, but it was awkward somehow. He tried to say something but then closed his mouth again.
"Why are you like this?"
"Well... Do you happen to have Volume 2 of 'The Record of the Wind and Cloud Chivalrous Heroes'?"
"......What?"