Sword Formation
A sword formation, as the name suggested, was a battle array centered on sword techniques.
That meant one first had to know a particular sword art in order to learn it.
"The Heavenly Sword Formation, which may be called our sect's fundamental sword array, is based on the first half of the Thirty-Six Swords Under Heaven."
"In other words, half the entry-level disciples who have already learned the Thirty-Six Swords Under Heaven can be put to work training in the formation."
Muwol found Inwol's proposal rather plausible.
Unlike ordinary training, formation practice did not reward individual excellence. What mattered was how well many people could move as one.
"In the process they'll have no choice but to take notice of one another."
Sparring was competition against an opponent.
A sword formation was cooperation among many.
Learning the formation might cool the fever the sparring tournament had whipped up among them.
"Moreover, the Heavenly Sword Formation can be run with as few as six and as many as thirty-six. That allows progressive training."
They would begin with groups of six. Once those were fluent, they would expand to twelve, then twenty-four, and finally thirty-six. Add rotation of members, and the scope of interaction would widen dramatically.
"Sword formations are taught once disciples have reached a certain level in the sword arts anyway, so we have ample justification."
If the entry-level disciples had the right to receive instruction, the second-generation disciples had the right to decide what would be taught. Using formation training as the pretext, they could even suspend the sparring tournament for a time.
"And so that the entry-level disciples can't force an interruption with protests, we'll put the whole plan before the elders' council for formal approval."
Thus the second-generation disciples drafted their plan for sword-formation training. Fortunately the matter passed the elders' council without incident, and they quietly celebrated their success.
Heavy Water Training Ground, third level.
Pressure four times greater than the first floor crushed every inch of his body as Cheonhwa practiced the Nine Palaces Footwork and the Five Elements Fist.
He was not merely tempering himself under massive load. He was studying how he had to move in an environment utterly unlike ordinary ground.
The Nine Palaces Footwork was a martial art that allowed free shifting of the center of gravity, yet even that could not remain the same inside the Heavy Water. With only ordinary natural talent, he needed to accumulate experience through repeated trial and error.
For similar reasons he trained the Five Elements Fist as well—to observe the changes in his Jin Release. In time that work bore fruit.
He executed the five forms of the Five Elements Fist in sequence.
Metal Wall Fist.
Wood Crushing Fist.
Water Piercing Fist.
Fire Cannon Fist.
Earth Sweeping Fist.
Jin power was born with each form's motion; the internal energy flowing through his body underpinned it. Once that would have been the end. Now he took one more step.
I store the rebound of the fist's Jin Release into my internal energy.
It was a technique possible only with a certain level of Jin Release and physical body, plus a certain capacity for qi accumulation and true-qi control. He had possessed everything except sufficient stored qi. That was no longer true.
I load the stored Jin into the release and detonate them together!
A heavy boom rolled through the water. Because he was submerged, the aftershock of the Jin Release was vividly visible. Enormous vibration spread outward in concentric circles.
At last I've completed Stored Jin.
Cheonhwa clenched his fist, flooded with joy. Six months of effort had made possible what had always been impossible. It also meant his foundational art had advanced a full stage.
Balanced Heaven Qi Accumulation Art has entered the Fourth Stage.
The Fourth Stage's function was to link with other heart methods so that any of Zhongnan's cultivation arts could share the same breathing cycle. Since Cheonhwa had not yet learned any other heart method, that particular benefit was useless to him.
Still, it isn't without advantage.
His body, refined beyond its former state, could now withstand Stored Jin without trouble. His total internal energy remained a single cycle, yet he had reached the level where Stored Jin itself was possible.
All thanks to the special Qi Building Pills and the Heavy Water Training Ground. Without both, I never would have advanced this quickly.
Originally he would have scraped into the Fourth Stage only around the time of the third promotion examination. The combined effect of the special pills and the training ground had shortened the period dramatically.
Today the pills' efficacy finally fades, but I can still use the Heavy Water Training Ground. That's a relief.
Two more levels remained below him. For some time yet he would be able to maintain this training efficiency.
I might even complete Balanced Heaven Qi Accumulation Art earlier than the five years I first estimated.
Finished with his session, Cheonhwa left the training ground at once. Outside the cave, the gloomy mountain night met his eyes. Even in darkness so thick he could barely see a step ahead, he moved along the path as if it were broad daylight.
He had always known the mountain trails, but after learning the Six Harmony Sensory Path from Jinhyun his senses had sharpened further, letting him travel the dark with greater ease.
On the way back to his quarters he thought of tomorrow's schedule.
Come to think of it, we start learning the sword formation tomorrow, don't we?
They had declared that while formation training was underway the sparring tournament would not be held. The entry-level disciples had been bitterly disappointed; some had even protested the measure. The protests had collapsed once it was made clear the elders' council had given its blessing.
They said groups of six would be drawn at random.
For someone as socially awkward as Cheonhwa, it was an inconvenient rule.
Becoming friends in a short time will be hard, but training a formation together shouldn't be a problem.
He had been optimistic. When the next day arrived, however, the situation proved worse than he had imagined. He had been placed in the same group as someone whose face he found awkward to meet.
That someone was Daehwa—who had voluntarily entered the Punishment Cave and vanished for a while.
I heard he'd come out of the Punishment Cave, but I never expected to run into him like this.
Cheonhwa stared at Daehwa without a word. Daehwa stared back just as hard. The subtle tension between them made the other entry-level disciples in their group uncomfortable.
Everyone knew of the rivalry between the factions once led by Cheonhwa and Daehwa. To put two virtual enemies together—random grouping or not, there had to be a limit. Everyone watched with anxious hearts, half-expecting a full-blown fight to break out right there.
Cheonhwa spoke first.
"I dislike you. I still regard you as an enemy."
"I feel the same."
"But we also cannot deny that we are martial brothers of the same sect."
"…"
"So even if reconciliation is impossible, let us cooperate in official settings. Senior Brother Daehwa."
"Sound reasoning. I accept. Junior Brother Cheonhwa."
With that exchange both men turned their faces away from each other. The old resentment had not vanished, yet it was not enough to sabotage shared training. Cheonhwa and Daehwa simply pretended the other did not exist and threw themselves into formation practice.
"You two—your breathing is off!"
Because they continued to ignore each other, cooperation proved difficult. From the very first day, Cheonhwa's formation training ran into heavy weather.
First-generation disciple Jinhyun seldom left Jangseogak. The only times he emerged were for meetings or similar official business. Today, however, he stepped out for no particular errand at all. His steps carried him to the martial practice grounds where sword-formation training was in full swing.
Entry-level disciples, formed into groups of six, were executing the formation under an instructor's commands. Matching breath and movement among six people was clearly no easy task; few groups managed any real results.
Of course it's hard. Until now they have never once had to match their stride with anyone else.
Previously it had been enough to pour everything into polishing oneself. In a formation that very habit became a liability. This was the moment they learned why cooperative arts were so difficult.
In arithmetic one plus one is always two. In combat that is not necessarily so.
Two people working in concert might do the work of five—or, if their hands and feet failed to match, less than one.
Jinhyun carefully surveyed the disciples learning the formation and soon spotted Cheonhwa among them.
He's having a rough time of it.
His skill stood out so sharply that, without meaning to, he kept disrupting the formation. He tried to correct himself while watching the others, yet with a rival in the group the whole thing could hardly run smoothly.
Still, he looks better than before.
Once he had been crushed under the pressure of possibly becoming a senior disciple. After the Wudang disciples' visit along the Righteous Path, he seemed considerably lighter.
And the results of his steady foundational training are beginning to show.
His stored qi might lag behind those who cultivated higher heart methods, yet the completeness of his body was exceptional. He might appear to be falling behind while he solidified his base, but later that foundation would prove a splendid asset.
He must be making good use of the Heavy Water Training Ground. Completing the foundational art no longer seems so far off.
Jinhyun allowed himself a faint smile and turned away from the practice grounds. Until the very moment he left, no one realized he had been there.
He was on his way back to Jangseogak when he suddenly halted. He had met someone welcome.
"Gakhyeon, is that you? Did the Martial Alliance business finish well?"
The man Jinhyun greeted was Gakhyeon, the first-generation disciple slated to become the next Sect Leader. Gakhyeon waved a hand as though the greeting were nothing special.
"Even the Martial Alliance is little more than a contact network for the righteous murim, including the Nine Great Sects. When I think of how much trouble this errand caused me, it still makes my blood boil."
"You've had a hard time. If you have a moment, why not stop by Jangseogak for a cup of tea?"
"Conveniently, I have something to discuss myself. Lead the way."
The two of them headed straight for Jangseogak. After they had taken the time for a cup of tea, Gakhyeon stated his business.
"I hear you brought back a boy to take as a disciple. You—who never so much as pretended to listen when people told you to accept a disciple, always saying it wasn't the right time—what changed?"
"There was simply a karmic connection."
"Do you intend to take the child as a direct personal disciple?"
"With that much difference in age, the generational ranks would get tangled and cause trouble, wouldn't they?"
"Stop being coy and speak plainly."
"I merely followed the will of Heaven."
At Jinhyun's answer Gakhyeon frowned. The reply was no empty formality. The intuition of a master who had cultivated martial arts to great depth sometimes glimpsed the future; in Jinhyun's case, having trained the Seven Stars True Secret, he could actually read the heavenly mechanisms. If one had to name the most Taoist among Zhongnan's first-generation disciples, Jinhyun would be the first choice.
"That child had two paths open to him: to follow destiny, or to defy Heaven."
"And your bringing him was following destiny?"
"It was. Had I not brought him, he might have fallen in among the unorthodox or the black paths and become a public enemy of the murim."
"If you can declare it so firmly, his talent must be extraordinary."
"Hardly. The boy's aptitude is ordinary. At least where martial talent is concerned, he is thoroughly commonplace."
Gakhyeon looked puzzled and asked again.
"With talent like that, how could he possibly defy Heaven?"
"Persistent will sometimes works miracles. And miracles themselves know neither good nor evil."
Cheonhwa's aptitude was such that if taught one thing he learned one thing. Yet his steadfast effort and unbending will, meeting the destiny of following Heaven's course, were already surpassing the limits of talent.
"Before long that child will become the foremost master of the Zhongnan Sect. I can guarantee it."
"Strange. Since completing the Seven Stars True Secret, this is the first time I've heard you speak with such certainty."
Jinhyun, who normally kept any talk of the future as vague as possible to avoid leaking heavenly secrets, was speaking otherwise. A sudden thought flashed through Gakhyeon's mind as he felt the dissonance.
There was an old superstition that when a man does what he never does, his time has come. Half-dreading the answer, Gakhyeon asked:
"You… you haven't seen the Death Omen Star, have you?"
"…"
Jinhyun only smiled silently in reply. Silence itself was affirmation.