Preparations
The scenery of the main mountain, returned to after so long, was little different from when they had left.
A few months at most had passed, so barring some major upheaval, the lack of change was only natural. It simply meant the density of time they had felt while carrying out this mission had been that high. At the same time, the unchanging landscape brought a sense of stability and the solid feeling of having truly come home.
To report on the mission, Cheonhwa headed for Sanggyun Hall together with Yeonhwa and Jeokhwa. Muwol, the second-generation disciple who happened to be waiting there, welcomed the party.
“Welcome back. Your return took longer than I expected.”
“We had places to stop along the way. Would it be all right if we give the detailed report later?”
“Yes. I’ll hear the details after you’ve rested from the journey. Did you bring back the items you reported?”
“Yes, here they are.”
So saying, Cheonhwa took out the items he had carefully stored in his robes.
Martial manuals of demonic arts. The fundamental reason the party had headed for the Geon-gon Gate in Baoji, and evidence that revealed the existence of the shadowy forces.
Yeonhwa and Jeokhwa also produced the martial manuals they had kept in their robes. Muwol recovered the three manuals. They would be handed over to the Zhongnan Sect’s martial scholars for analysis and to devise methods of countering them. With the demonic manuals safely delivered, the three’s mission was complete.
As the three turned to head back to their lodgings to rest, Muwol called them to a halt.
“Before you return to your lodgings, there is one piece of news I must pass on to you.”
“What is it?”
“While you were out on your mission, word came that the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering will be held.”
The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering. A martial contest where young martial artists of the righteous path who had not yet reached the age of thirty gathered in one place to discuss martial arts through combat. From ancient times, outstanding talents had been compared to dragons and phoenixes; those who showed exceptional results there were called the rising stars of the new generation—the outstanding talents of the coming age. It was a tournament that any righteous martial artist wishing to make a name for himself or elevate his sect’s honor could not help but take interest in.
“If you wish, I will put your names on the list of those hoping to participate in the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.”
The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering was an event in which the great righteous sects also took part, and the Zhongnan Sect, counted among the Nine Great Sects, was scheduled to participate as well. To that end, they planned to select the most skilled among the disciples who wished to join.
If it’s the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, will the people I know take part as well?
Heogong of the Wudang Sect, Cheong-ha of the Huashan Sect, Iryeop of the Kongtong Sect, and others. Cheonhwa recalled the faces of the various righteous martial artists he had met so far.
Just as I have grown compared to before, the others will have grown as well.
If he could meet them at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering and test how much each had progressed, that would make for a fine experience.
“I will participate.”
“I’ll take part.”
“I’ll participate as well.”
When Cheonhwa declared his intent to join, Yeonhwa followed suit, and Jeokhwa, not to be outdone, joined in right after.
“Where and when will this Dragon-Phoenix Gathering be held?”
“The venue this time is Sichuan. It is scheduled for next spring.”
Sichuan—a name he had heard before. Wasn’t that the region where Myeonghwa’s father, Jang Son-pyeong, head of the Cheongun Merchant Group, had traveled personally for trade?
Sichuan’s location is clearly at the edge of the Central Plains.
Sichuan Province was an outlying region called the frontier of the Central Plains. Even Shaanxi Province, which bordered it, required considerable travel, so the generous schedule for the opening had taken that into account.
If it’s until spring, there should be enough time to train before we depart.
It had only been a few months, yet by traveling many places he had gained experience and his own insights. He needed time to fully make those insights his own, and now time to train had been granted until the participants for the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering were selected.
“We will take our leave and rest.”
After saluting Muwol, the party headed straight for their lodgings. Upon arriving, the other third-generation disciples welcomed their return.
“Cheonhwa and Junior Sister Yeonhwa, Junior Sister Jeokhwa are back!”
“This outing was longer than expected.”
“I heard you went all the way to the edge of Shaanxi—how did that happen?”
Third-generation disciples gathered in twos and threes, pouring out questions. In an instant the inside of the lodgings grew noisy, and the party was simply flustered, not knowing which question to answer first. Then a familiar voice cut in and calmed the flocking disciples.
“All right, all right, everyone settle down. The three of them just arrived and must be tired. Let’s let them rest for now.”
The owner of the voice was Myeonghwa, who had been in closed-door training until just before their departure. It seemed he had finished his training and come out while the party was roaming outside on their mission. At Myeonghwa’s mediation the gathered third-generation disciples scattered in all directions. Having finally found some breathing room, Cheonhwa greeted him.
“It’s been a while, Senior Brother Myeonghwa.”
“Welcome back, Junior Brother Cheonhwa. Looks like you did well outside. Your qi has grown denser.”
“Senior Brother Myeonghwa has grown as well compared to before you entered closed-door training.”
“I had some modest achievements. Though compared to Junior Brother Cheonhwa they’re a drop in the bucket.”
Myeonghwa chuckled as he walked alongside Cheonhwa and told them what had happened in the Zhongnan Sect while they were out on their mission.
“You’ve heard about the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, right? Because of that everyone’s throwing themselves into training. The elders have taken that into account and are trying not to assign missions to third-generation disciples if possible.”
“In Senior Brother Myeonghwa’s view, has anyone recently stood out?”
“Probably Junior Brother Yeobhwa? After finishing closed-door training he’s changed a lot in many ways. You’ll be quite surprised when you see him yourself.”
Myeonghwa said with a meaningful smile. Cheonhwa tilted his head, wondering just how he had changed to warrant that. Before long he sensed a presence approaching this way—and that presence was larger than expected. It felt like a giant on the scale of the Green Forest King was approaching. But as far as Cheonhwa knew, there was no one in the Zhongnan Sect with a build that large. Wondering who it could be, he turned his gaze toward the source of the presence. There stood a giant who stood over six chi.
“You’ve returned, Junior Brother Cheonhwa.”
The voice and speech coming from the giant were quite familiar, and the giant’s appearance was also quite familiar.
“Senior Brother Yeobhwa?”
Even as he said it himself Cheonhwa could hardly believe it, but it seemed that giant really was Yeobhwa. At the dazed reply, Myeonghwa laughed heartily as if he had been waiting for that reaction.
“Surprised, right? I was shocked the first time I saw him too. Who would have thought he’d come out of closed-door training looking like that.”
Yeobhwa had always been sturdy-boned and large-framed, but after finishing closed-door training his body had grown greatly; his height was a full six and a half chi. And even that was still mid-growth, so he might well reach seven chi.
“There’s nothing wrong with your body, is there?”
“I had it checked at the Medical Hall, and they said I’m so healthy it’s almost a crime.”
“No discomfort anywhere?”
“My head keeps nearly brushing the ceiling of the lodging—that’s a bit of a bother—but other than that there’s no problem. On the contrary, being this big has widened my reach, which is advantageous for unfolding fist arts.”
A satisfied smile hung on Yeobhwa’s lips. Seeing that, Cheonhwa decided not to ask any further. If he himself was satisfied, there was no need to quibble further.
Looking at it this way, the main mountain hasn’t gone completely unchanged either.
The scenery of Zhongnan Mountain might not have changed, but the disciples of the Zhongnan Sect who lived there were different. Just as Cheonhwa had grown through various experiences outside, the other disciples were also changing and growing—this was a moment when he realized that anew.
The elders’ council where the Sect Leader and elders of the Zhongnan Sect, including the leadership, had gathered. The topic of this elders’ council was the demonic martial manuals brought by Cheonhwa’s party.
“I heard the Martial Pavilion is currently examining them—how long do you think it will take?”
“Creating counter-formulas will require considerable time, but revealing the dangers of the demonic arts should take as little as half a month, or a month at most.”
“Understood. I’ll allocate a generous budget, so the Pavilion Master should pour his heart into the research.”
“I will do my utmost.”
“Thanks to them bringing back the actual demonic manuals, we can breathe a little easier.”
Okwon Jinin let out a sigh of relief and recalled what had happened a few months ago. The timing was around when Cheonhwa’s party had left for Baoji to resolve the Geon-gon Gate matter. At the time, the Zhongnan Sect had been cooperating with the Beggar’s Union, Hao Clan, Green Forest, and Muksang Sect, and had been moving to seek cooperation from the Maoshan Sect in Jiangsu Province in order to lift the soul-seizing art cast on Seo Mun-il. Fortunately the Maoshan Sect had agreed to cooperate, and they had been transferring Seo Mun-il when…
Who would have thought the Maoshan Sect would be annihilated in the meantime.
The Maoshan Sect. Also called the Shangqing Sect. A sect of spell-casters who handled occult arts. Though classified as righteous, it was a closed place that rarely showed its face in the murim, and a unique sect that did not involve itself in worldly affairs unless commissioned.
Though its prosperity is not what it once was due to the decline of spell arts, it is by no means a sect that would vanish overnight.
The great formation protecting the entire Maoshan Sect, the Heavenly Escape Bewildering Array, was a powerful formation difficult to break through by ordinary means. Because of it, outsiders could never enter unless permission was granted from within the Maoshan Sect.
The formation guarding Maoshan was dismantled, and the interior of the sect was filled with traces of battle and bloodstains, yet not a single corpse remained.
Moreover, the buildings of the Maoshan Sect had all burned down in a great fire. With no survivors to be found, the Maoshan Sect’s lineage was effectively severed.
Since we could no longer obtain the Maoshan Sect’s cooperation, we would have had to find another way…
The places that might know of spell arts were the Jegal Family and the Kunlun Sect. They had sent letters seeking cooperation, but before replies arrived, another incident occurred. Seo Mun-il had died as well. It was not that they had been lax in their vigilance. The Zhongnan Sect had dispatched their absolute elites, the Taiyi Swordsmen. Five great sects had taken turns standing guard.
And yet he was murdered without so much as a whisper.
When they later examined the cause of death, it was determined to be poisoning. The physician who examined the corpse said that, judging by a nature never seen or heard of before, it was highly likely a poison originating from outside the Central Plains. Nine times out of ten it was the work of the shadowy forces that had cast the soul-seizing art on Seo Mun-il, silencing him. Seo Mun-il had been a crucial witness who could reveal information about the shadowy forces. His death meant everything up to now had come to nothing, so on that day everyone, without distinction of righteous or evil, could not help but be enraged. Soon the rage turned to suspicion, and suspicion spread into a contest of blame. Just as cracks were forming in the cooperative system, a letter arrived saying that Cheonhwa’s party had obtained demonic martial manuals.
We had only dispatched them to help a secular branch sect, yet the children have accomplished something truly great.
Moreover, the fact that it was Cheonhwa who had done it was also significant. The Green Forest King acknowledged Cheonhwa, the Hao Clan showed him extreme goodwill, and even the Muksang Sect Leader, though he might express dissatisfaction, had his eye on the boy. The gloomy atmosphere had regained its vitality thanks to Cheonhwa, and thereafter Cheonhwa’s investigation had also progressed swiftly. An unidentified merchant impersonating the Muksang Sect, demonic arts spreading along that merchant’s travel routes. Unfortunately the mastermind who had sown the chaos had fled, but new information had been obtained.
They were kidnapping people and using them for jiangshi research…
Jiangshi. Corpses moved through spell arts and talismans. Created to bury the dead in their hometowns, the art had fallen into disuse due to the decline of spell arts and the discomfort of moving corpses. Thus the sects that could handle this art were extremely few, including the Maoshan Sect.
The annihilated Maoshan Sect and the traces of jiangshi research discovered on the Shaanxi frontier. There is clearly some point of contact between the two.
Perhaps the spread of demonic arts was nothing more than a smokescreen. Such a suspicion circled in Okwon Jinin’s mind. It felt as if he were playing go against an invisible opponent. The shadowy forces had blocked the investigation through Seo Mun-il with assassination. The demonic arts spreading in Shaanxi and the jiangshi research had been blocked by Cheonhwa’s intervention. They had traded blows in a series of advances and retreats. He could not know how the result of this grand game would unfold, but he could only do his best to place the next move.
Publicize the existence of the demonic arts through the Martial Alliance.
To expound the dangers of the demonic arts and unite the righteous path as one. That was the next move Okwon Jinin had conceived.