Hyeonhwang Blacksmith (2)
"So it's impossible, then."
When Cheonhwa could not hide his disappointment, Gu Un-cheol hastily waved both hands and pressed on.
"No, no. I only mean I'm mid-job and don't have the spare hands. Besides, delicate work like this is my son's specialty! Cheol-mun, get over here!"
At Gu Un-cheol's call, a clean-featured young man approached. Cheonhwa was startled once more by the aura rolling off him.
This one is a first-class martial artist too?
What kind of forge was this, that every blacksmith practiced martial arts? While Cheonhwa's puzzlement deepened, the youth introduced himself.
"I am Gu Cheol-mun, vice-owner of the Hyeonhwang Blacksmith."
"Cheol-mun, we've got a commission. He wants a wooden sword made from this."
"I've never seen material like this before."
Even at his age he was every inch a smith. Gu Cheol-mun's eyes lit up the moment he saw the branch of sinking-weight wood.
"Ordinary tools won't cut it if we're carving a wooden sword from this."
"Use special tools if you have to."
"Understood. Who will be using the sword?"
"That young friend there."
Gu Un-cheol pointed to Cheonhwa.
"Daoist Cheonhwa, was it? Please come this way."
Cheonhwa glanced at Inwol for permission; Inwol nodded that it was fine. The room Gu Cheol-mun led him into was lined with every sort of weapon on display.
"These are our sample arms. Wooden swords come in many shapes—choose whichever you prefer."
"May I handle them?"
"Of course."
Given leave, Cheonhwa swung the wooden swords laid out before him and settled on the one he liked best. It was a plain, unadorned form—closest to the practice swords used in the Zhongnan Sect.
"This one."
"Very well. May I have it?"
Gu Cheol-mun examined the chosen wooden sword with care, then brought the branch of sinking-weight wood over and turned it this way and that. Next he fetched charcoal, marked the wood in several places, and laid out his tools.
Those tools were anything but ordinary. They were so keen they sent a chill through anyone who looked at them—clearly different from common iron implements.
"Those tools… what exactly are they? They don't seem ordinary."
"You have a good eye. They're made of cold iron."
Cold iron. A metal steeped in yin energy, mined mainly in the Northern Sea and rare in the Central Plains. It was notoriously difficult to work, yet weapons forged from it were said to rank among divine arms.
"Don't tell me the entire tool is pure cold iron?"
"Not quite. Strictly speaking, it's an alloy with a small amount of cold iron mixed in. It may fall short of pure cold iron, but these are still the sharpest and most durable tools in our forge."
With that, Gu Cheol-mun sank into his work. At the same time Cheonhwa caught the clear sight of true qi seeping into the tools—unmistakably the method of infusing qi into the blade. The aura he had sensed earlier had not been wrong.
Gu Cheol-mun moved the tools without hesitation, shearing away every twig and spur. Watching wood harder than most iron part so effortlessly was wondrous even from the side. With each pass of the tool the shape of a wooden sword emerged, as if he were simply revealing the sword that had always been hidden inside the branch. In moments Gu Cheol-mun had transformed the raw limb into a finished form.
"The shaping is done."
"Already?"
"This is only the first stage. Next come the refining and oiling, and those take time."
He said the remaining work would continue into the next day and set the tools down. The true qi that had filled them scattered at once.
"That was the qi-infusion technique just now, wasn't it?"
"Yes. You seem surprised—that a first-class martial artist does blacksmith work."
"I must have shown it plainly. Forgive me."
"Not at all. Quite a few first-time visitors to our forge are as startled as you, Daoist Cheonhwa."
Gu Cheol-mun waved off the apology with an easy hand.
"It has to do with the history of our forge. The story is public knowledge, and your Zhongnan Sect is involved as well."
"The Zhongnan Sect?"
Gu Cheol-mun explained why the smiths of the Hyeonhwang Blacksmith all learned martial arts.
"Our founder felt ordinary blacksmithing had its limits. So he asked a grandmaster of the Zhongnan Sect—with whom he shared a connection—to create a martial art that would aid the forge."
"Does that mean the Hyeonhwang Blacksmith is a lay branch that trains in Zhongnan arts?"
"Not exactly. The Hyeonhwang Ironheart Art was created independently by that grandmaster."
In other words, the Hyeonhwang Blacksmith was the line of an unnamed personal disciple—never entered on the Zhongnan rolls—whom a Zhongnan grandmaster had taught in private.
"Even so, our founder never forgot the debt. He took the art's name for the forge itself and always gave Zhongnan commissions first priority."
That bond had endured through the years into the close alliance between the present Zhongnan Sect and the Hyeonhwang Blacksmith.
"Learning martial arts for the sake of smithing… it's a strange thought to me."
"To martial artists like you, Daoist Cheonhwa, who make a profession of the arts, it naturally feels odd. But people who study martial arts for other purposes are more common than you might think."
Officials and local gentry who practiced cultivation methods simply for health were the classic example.
"The Hyeonhwang Ironheart Art is a body-refining technique. It forges a frame that can endure any labor and grants resistance to heat. Once you reach a higher realm, as I have, you can also pour energy into your tools and raise efficiency."
"So every smith in the forge learns martial arts?"
"Yes. That is our basic rule."
"Isn't there a risk of the secret formulas leaking?"
To any sect, martial formulas were treasures that had to be guarded. If they fell into an enemy sect's hands, counter-forms could be devised. Leakage was treated as a crime against the entire school, the culprit declared a public enemy and punished without mercy.
Gu Cheol-mun's reaction was light.
"Even if it leaks, it doesn't matter."
"Pardon?"
"The Hyeonhwang Ironheart Art is only half a martial art. It may be better than the basic arts peddled in the marketplace, but all it does is help with smithing."
"Still—if someone steals it and opens a forge elsewhere, wouldn't that be a problem?"
"It has happened. Every one of them collapsed without a sound."
The reason for the difference was simple.
"To us, martial arts are only a support. What matters most is skill and craft as a smith. Without those, a hundred years of training the art would still be useless."
Unmistakable pride colored Gu Cheol-mun's answer—the confidence that merely pilfering one martial art could never topple one of Shaanxi's two great forges. The Hyeonhwang Blacksmith had held its place for generations and proved the claim. In that pride it resembled a martial artist who took honor in his own sect.
Ten days had passed since Cheonhwa arrived at the Hyeonhwang Blacksmith with Inwol. Throughout that time he had shown his face at the forge and watched the work progress. As the wooden sword neared completion its color shifted of its own accord—no dye had been applied—until, finished, it shone a pure cyan-jade green.
"How did this happen?"
"I don't know either. There was nothing unusual in the process itself, so I can only assume it's a property of the material."
Fortunately, aside from taking on that cyan-jade hue, the wooden sword showed no other abnormality.
"The sword itself is finished. Only one task remains."
"What is that?"
"Giving it a name."
This was no mass-produced weapon anyone could use; it had been forged from special material for a single person. Even if it was only a wooden sword, naming it was proper courtesy. Gu Cheol-mun explained the point with such fervor that Cheonhwa found himself nodding before he knew it.
"We have a little free time until Martial Uncle Inwol returns. Let's think of a name for the wooden sword in the meantime."
Inwol was presently out with Gu Un-cheol at the Blue Cloud Trading Company. Inwol had gone to inspect materials that had finally arrived; Gu Un-cheol had accompanied him to check the condition of supplies for the forge.
"Vice-Owner, how does one usually choose a name in cases like this?"
"There is no fixed rule. Sometimes the name follows the weapon's unique traits; sometimes it is taken from the purpose for which it was made."
"A difficult problem."
While Cheonhwa and Gu Cheol-mun stood over the wooden sword laid on the table, wrestling with names, a commotion rose outside.
"Sir, that is the workshop! You cannot simply walk in!"
Footsteps came straight and unhesitating toward the inner room. Then the uninvited guest's face appeared.
"Come out! I heard the vice-owner is here, so I have come!"
He looked to be in his mid-twenties. To barge about so willfully past the age of twenty was childish in the extreme. One might have expected Gu Cheol-mun to be flustered by the hot-blooded youth who refused to act his age, yet the vice-owner simply offered a practiced, polite greeting.
"I am Gu Cheol-mun, the vice-owner. What business brings the young master here?"
"I am Dan Myeong-geuk, young master of the Dan Family Manor in Tianyang County. I have heard that the Hyeonhwang Blacksmith is the most famous forge in all of Shaanxi."
"Yes. Though it shames us to say so, we hold one of the two great forges of Shaanxi."
"Then there must be a famous sword worthy of me. Bring out the finest blade in this place!"
His manner was arrogant past all courtesy; contempt for everyone else sat plain in his eyes. Even so, Gu Cheol-mun answered with the same calm expression as before.
"I am sorry, young master, but if you are seeking a famous sword you have come to the wrong forge."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Our Hyeonhwang Blacksmith specializes in large commissions. Every piece meets a certain standard of quality, which is why so many people seek us out."
"Are you saying you do not make famous swords?"
"Not exactly. If you bring materials and place a special order, that is another matter. But if you are looking for a finished famous sword, I recommend you visit the Jade Plum Blacksmith instead of us."
At Gu Cheol-mun's courteous explanation the uninvited guest twisted his face at having wasted the trip—until his gaze fell on the wooden sword resting on the table and his expression changed. Gu Cheol-mun moved to stop him, but Dan Myeong-geuk was faster. Without so much as asking leave he picked up the wooden sword.
"Heavy. Nearly impossible to hold in one hand. And hard—hard enough that one would never take it for wood. That cyan-jade color, as if carved from jade itself, only adds to the mystery. To think you were hiding such a treasure!"
"That wooden sword was made under a separate commission. It already has an owner."
"I don't care. I'll buy it even if I have to pay extra!"
"I am sorry, but that item cannot be sold."
Until then Cheonhwa had simply watched; now he stepped forward.
"And who are you?"
"The owner of that wooden sword. I am Cheonhwa, an initiate disciple of the Zhongnan Sect."
Dan Myeong-geuk's eyes widened briefly at the name of Zhongnan, then he snorted the moment he heard "initiate disciple."
"Don't make me laugh. An initiate of Zhongnan can't even leave the mountain. If you're going to impersonate someone, at least do a little research."
"I am sorry, but that guest is indeed a disciple of the Zhongnan Sect."
"What?"
When Gu Cheol-mun vouched for him, Dan Myeong-geuk's face twisted again. Then, as if something had dawned on him, he spoke.
"Ha—so the two of you are in cahoots, trying to cheat me. You simply don't want to give up this wooden sword, is that it?"
It was a magnificent delusion, yet the uninvited guest showed no intention of correcting it. As if he could not endure the supposed slight, he laid a hand on the hilt at his waist, ready to draw at any moment. Watching a man refuse to see his own fault and instead turn the blame on others, Cheonhwa felt a flicker of recognition.
Someone from Wudang comes to mind.
The stubborn sulk was exactly like Heosang. Cheonhwa kept every nerve taut, ready to move, and spoke.
"I warn you. If you draw that, words will no longer be enough."
"Hmph! That is my line! A day-old pup that does not know to fear the tiger—standing before a first-class master!"
Dan Myeong-geuk announced his realm as if it were a boast, clearly expecting Cheonhwa to beg forgiveness once he heard it. Instead Cheonhwa merely tilted his head.
"Is a first-class martial artist really so great that he is called a master?"
The question was pure curiosity. The second-generation disciples who served as martial instructors were all at least first-class. The Wudang daoists who had come on their pilgrimage had every one of them been first-class. Even the Night Assassin Pavilion that had attacked the promotion trial had fielded first-class fighters. And the vice-owner of the Hyeonhwang Blacksmith standing right beside him was first-class as well. Having met so many first-class martial artists already, the claim that first-class equaled "master" simply did not land.
"You bastard!"
Dan Myeong-geuk took the honest question as a provocation and flew into a rage, trying to draw. In that instant Cheonhwa moved half a beat faster. With a palm strike of the Metal Wall Fist from the Five Elements Fist he shoved the end of the hilt, blocking the draw; in the same breath the opposite hand unfolded the Metal Wall Fist again and set itself against Dan Myeong-geuk's abdomen. Rather than striking, he drove force charged with his Hocheon qi in a pure push.
"Keuhk!"
Dan Myeong-geuk spat a ragged breath as the palm force hurled him clean out of the forge.