The Dance of Silent Illusion
“Young Master. Have you no interest in learning a few techniques of martial arts from me?”
“Martial arts? Why so suddenly…?”
“It would be for your sake as well. Right now, in this place…”
So Biwon had been about to say that the Cheonhwang Paeundae might come, but he hesitated. The thought struck him that it might be better if Yoo Eunhyeon remained unaware of what was to come.
The Thousand-Year Dark Demon intends to send the Cheonhwang Paeundae to destroy this place. If he cannot take the boy with him directly, he will raze it to the ground to force the issue. How could he even conceive of such a thing… Amitabha.
That Sa Unsik had resorted to something like the Cheonhwang Paeundae was startling, yet if he sought the same prize So Biwon himself desired, it was entirely understandable. What a waste it would be for such talent to remain buried in a place like this.
The problem was that the method was pure Demonic Cult Lord. So Biwon had summoned the Jeongeumdae as a precaution, but if they clashed with the Cheonhwang Paeundae, there was no telling what might happen.
At the very least, he wanted to place enough power in Yoo Eunhyeon’s hands for the boy to protect himself.
“Master?”
When So Biwon trailed off mid-sentence, Yoo Eunhyeon asked what was wrong, but the old man simply changed the subject.
“It is nothing. The reason I urge you to learn martial arts is… simply that this old man wishes to teach you once.”
That, at least, was no lie. Like Sa Unsik, So Biwon was deeply impressed by Yoo Eunhyeon’s abilities, and he was curious to see what would become of the young man if he took up martial arts.
“Hmm…”
Having heard that much, Yoo Eunhyeon fell into thought. He had never particularly coveted martial arts, yet when the offer was put to him so earnestly, interest was hard to suppress.
He had already learned an internal energy method; wouldn’t it be useful to acquire martial arts that could put it to work? The internal energy alone had proven surprisingly versatile—how much more might he accomplish with proper techniques?
If I learn from the Master, I won’t have to keep relying on the Lord…
Whether that day would ever come was uncertain, but the mere fact that he would not have to seek out Sa Unsik whenever he wanted to learn martial arts made the proposal thoroughly appealing.
“There is no need to feel burdened. I am not asking you to become my disciple. I will simply teach you a few techniques lightly.”
Hearing that, the lingering worry that even a few lessons might bind him somehow eased considerably.
It was true that receiving something when he had given nothing in return felt awkward, yet since the old man had already given, this much seemed acceptable.
“All right.”
In the end, Yoo Eunhyeon nodded.
The decisive reason he agreed to learn martial arts was that Su Hwa-seon had still not returned.
He had no intention of abandoning the farm and leaving at once, but if she continued to stay away, he would have to go looking for her.
That meant eventually heading out into the Central Plains, and if so, knowing a bit of martial arts might prove useful on the journey.
I should at least be prepared to defend myself.
And so Yoo Eunhyeon decided to learn martial arts from So Biwon.
“The martial art I will teach you is called Mudong Hwanmu—the Dance of Silent Illusion. It is this old man’s unique secret technique.”
“Your unique secret technique? Is it all right to teach that to someone who isn’t even a formal disciple?”
So Biwon had spoken of teaching something ordinary, only to suddenly offer his personal ultimate art; Yoo Eunhyeon’s surprise was only natural.
He had heard that techniques passed down through a school or a family line were never taught to anyone but direct disciples.
“Heh heh. Do not worry. The only martial art this old man has mastered is Mudong Hwanmu, so that is what I will teach… yet without its paired internal energy method, Hwandong Simgong, Mudong Hwanmu cannot display its true power.”
Martial arts with special properties—like flame arts or ice arts—often required a matching internal energy method to cultivate the appropriate energy.
“But I’ve learned a different internal energy method.”
In truth Yoo Eunhyeon himself did not know the name of the method Sa Unsik had taught him, but he was certain it was not this Hwandong Simgong.
“Which is why what I teach will be only a portion.”
“Will I even be able to use it properly? It’s the same with farming—learning something half-baked is worse than not learning it at all. If you mishandle the crops and kill them all, you’re better off leaving them alone so they can grow on their own.”
Even a portion was worthless if it could not be used; Yoo Eunhyeon’s doubt was entirely reasonable.
“Heh heh. You are right, Young Master. Yet what one learns also depends on how one chooses to use it, does it not?”
“That’s true enough.”
If what he learned turned out to be mediocre, he could simply refrain from using it. There was no harm in learning first.
“And of the twelve forms, I will teach only the three foundational ones. The rest cannot be used without Hwandong Simgong even if I were to teach them.”
“Three…”
“But there is no need for concern. With the foundational forms, even if one has cultivated a different internal energy method, steady training may still allow one to reach the level of a first-class martial artist.”
“How long is ‘steady’?”
“Roughly thirty years of training might suffice. Heh heh heh.”
At So Biwon’s laughing words, Yoo Eunhyeon’s face clearly showed he was appalled.
Thirty years was practically a lifetime. With that much training, he could probably reach first-class with almost any martial art that was not utterly third-rate, even without So Biwon’s technique.
In any case, hearing the explanation made the fact that it was a unique secret technique seem far less serious.
Yoo Eunhyeon nodded and listened once more.
“Mudong Hwanmu is fundamentally a weapon art, yet it has no restriction on the type of weapon. In short, it is a peculiar martial art that can be performed with any weapon whatsoever.”
“Then I can’t use it without a weapon?”
Yoo Eunhyeon’s question was the natural next step. So Biwon smiled faintly and answered.
“How could that be? You are not a martial artist, so you may not know, but to those of the martial world, fists, feet, legs—even the head—are excellent weapons. Mudong Hwanmu’s hallmark is its flexibility; it can be used under any conditions, so the absence of a weapon is no problem at all.”
“Even with something like this?”
At So Biwon’s words, Yoo Eunhyeon picked up a nearby axe and sickle. So Biwon nodded as if it were only natural.
“Of course. An axe or a sickle is also a fine weapon.”
“I see.”
“Then what do you suppose is required for something to apply to everything?”
At So Biwon’s question, Yoo Eunhyeon sank into thought.
As far as he knew, martial arts were specialized for particular weapons. Yet So Biwon claimed Mudong Hwanmu was not, which made it truly unusual—and therefore all the more interesting.
“Like water, maybe? If it changes shape to fit wherever it’s placed, the way water does, then it could become anything.”
Water was vital in farming, so Yoo Eunhyeon had reached for the most familiar image. At that answer, the wrinkles at the corners of So Biwon’s eyes twitched slightly.
“Oh-ho, indeed… You are about half right. To put it more precisely: formlessness. Because it has no fixed form, it can transform into anything.”
“So that’s why any weapon works?”
“Strictly speaking, it means any weapon is fine, but for you that explanation will do. Well then—shall we begin?”
When Yoo Eunhyeon nodded, So Biwon stepped back a little and cleared a wide space. Before long a suitably sized tree branch he had picked up nearby was in his hand.
“First, the opening form of the first series: Pokjonghoeng—Explosive Vertical and Horizontal.”
The name was grand, yet So Biwon simply swung the branch once vertically and once horizontally in a leisurely manner.
Yoo Eunhyeon, who had naturally expected something more, stared blankly for a moment before asking,
“That’s all?”
“Heh heh. Just as it was with this old man, the first question of everyone who encounters Pokjonghoeng remains the same even after decades.”
Apparently everyone shared the same doubt. And no wonder—Pokjonghoeng looked far too plain.
“Although Pokjonghoeng is the first form of Mudong Hwanmu, in terms of pure power it is the strongest among the three foundational forms.”
“Is that so?”
He asked, but of course Yoo Eunhyeon had no real knowledge behind the question.
“What I just showed was nothing more than a simple swing. One need not even have learned martial arts to do that much… yet internal energy is essential to martial arts. When internal energy is infused, it becomes like this.”
So saying, So Biwon glanced around, approached a tree of suitable size, and spoke to Yoo Eunhyeon.
“May I fell this tree?”
“If you’re going to cut one, please use that one over there.”
Yoo Eunhyeon immediately realized that without the tree So Biwon had indicated, the afternoon shade would fall too short across the field, and he pointed to another.
So Biwon walked over to the indicated tree and lightly raised the branch.
Then something like heat haze rose from the branch in his hand, and in an instant the branch vanished.
KWAJIJIK!
KUUUNG!
With a sound of crushing wood, the thick tree toppled in a heartbeat.
Yoo Eunhyeon could only stare in blank astonishment.
Even for martial arts, to fell a tree that size with a mere branch?!
It looked less like a clean cut and more as if some enormous hammer had smashed it apart.
After a moment of shock, another thought crossed his mind.
I won’t need an axe for chopping wood anymore.
There had been nothing clear to see, so such a practical evaluation was only natural for him.
Yet when he looked at the stump of the fallen tree and saw it deeply gouged in the shape of a cross, his eyes went wide.
Even with the internal energy he had cultivated, he could not imagine performing such a feat.
“Heh heh. Young Master, after about thirty years of training you too will be able to do this much.”
In other words, So Biwon had shown him the end point he was meant to reach. Of course the person in question was thinking something rather different.
Thirty years? More like three hundred. Even if you gave me a real weapon instead of a branch, I don’t think I could do that.
For a complete novice in martial arts, the thought was only natural. Sensing it, So Biwon raised the branch once more.
“I will show it slowly this time. In a different manner.”
Heat haze began to rise again from the raised branch. So Biwon stood motionless in that pose for a moment, as if telling Yoo Eunhyeon to watch carefully.
And this time Yoo Eunhyeon saw it clearly. The branch in So Biwon’s hand grew hazy and vanished. More precisely, its form had changed, but to eyes still lacking in internal energy it could only be described as disappearing.
This is formlessness… the ability to become anything.
While Yoo Eunhyeon stared intently, So Biwon slowly swung the branch once vertically and once horizontally across a nearby boulder.
Amazingly, the branch left clear traces as it scraped across the rock. After the swings, the tip of the branch pointed toward the center of the boulder.
KWADUK!
“Huh?”
At the intersection of the vertical and horizontal strokes, the rock was deeply cratered as if struck by some tremendous force. As Yoo Eunhyeon stared blankly, So Biwon spoke.
“Do you now understand what it means for a weapon to be meaningless?”