The Plum Blossom Swordplay's Hidden Price
Baek-il’s eyes sharpened at the reply. “Arrogant. Just like a user of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.”
Even so, Hwa-ryeong merely smiled. “So you won’t look?”
“Why would I refuse when you’re offering to show it? Don’t take me for that much of a fool.”
Baek-il wasn’t the only one puzzled by Hwa-ryeong’s actions. Ha-rin felt the same. Information hoarding was common in Hwaryong Muin. After all, in this game, information was power. Monopolizing an advanced cultivation method let you grow stronger faster than others. Possessing superior martial arts gave you greater strength even at the same level. Controlling connections granted more opportunities than anyone else.
Now that the game had been out long enough for most things to be widely known, the effects weren’t as noticeable, but in the early days of Hwaryong Muin, such monopolies had caused serious problems. Even now, information was still hoarded in subtle ways. Each top sect among the players kept a few exclusive pieces of knowledge to themselves.
To Ha-rin, the Plum Blossom Swordplay Hwa-ryeong had obtained was worth monopolizing. Whether the art itself was strong or weak didn’t matter. What mattered was its symbolic value. How many people in Hwaryong Muin had once dreamed of learning the Plum Blossom Swordplay? If you could keep it to yourself, you would surely profit one way or another.
Yet she intended to share it with everyone for free.
Wait. Hold on.
“Hwa-ryeong-nim, you’re still streaming, right?”
“I am.”
“So you’re going to show this to the viewers too?”
“Of course. You have no idea how much the kids watching right now are begging me to reveal it.”
The viewer count had already been in the thousands before they entered the game. At this rate, the Plum Blossom Swordplay would spread across all of Hwaryong Muin by the end of the day. In other words, the value of that manual would vanish today.
Ha-rin found it regrettable, but she didn’t try to stop Hwa-ryeong. If one weighed right and wrong, sharing the information was the correct choice.
When Hwa-ryeong opened the book, everyone in the tavern gathered around. Every passage inside described plum blossoms. After verses depicting their blooming came descriptions of their various characteristics. Nowhere did it explain how to swing a sword.
Could this even be called a sword art?
Whether because she failed to understand the text or for some other reason, no message appeared telling Ha-rin she had learned a martial art even after she finished reading. What on earth was this?
Ha-rin looked up, curious, and studied the others’ expressions. She wanted to know if she was the only one who didn’t understand. The other player, Murim’s Strongest, wore a similar look of confusion. He had always talked about wanting to master the Plum Blossom Swordplay, so he tried his best to comprehend it, yet the longer he read, the deeper the doubt etched into his face.
Finally, he sighed and turned to Baek-il with a voice close to lament. “Elder, do you understand this?”
“A little.”
“Then please explain what you understood. I don’t get a single thing.”
“I understood that I cannot comprehend this art.”
“What kind of answer is that?!”
Even Baek-il, considered a master among NPCs, could not grasp the contents. There was no point asking the Hwaeum magistrate, who was drunk, or Baru, who had little interest in martial arts. Ha-rin finally turned her gaze to Hwa-ryeong. If anyone could make sense of it, it would be her, given all her eccentricities.
Hwa-ryeong, who had been reading, looked up and tilted her head at the stares directed at her. “What is it?”
“Hwa-ryeong-nim, can you understand the text written in the manual?”
“Yes. It’s quite an interesting sword art.”
“You actually understood it?”
Baek-il cut in, his eyes filled with suspicion. “I may not know for certain, but this art is written so that only those familiar with Mount Hua’s martial arts can comprehend it. Are you saying you, who practices the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, understood it?”
“I would prefer you not judge me by your own common sense.”
“If you’re so confident, show me proof.”
“Very well.”
Hwa-ryeong rose as if she had been waiting for this and stepped outside the tavern, drawing the sword at her waist. When she swung it lightly, something scattered along the blade’s trajectory. It was not flower petals. It was something sinister, blood-red and chilling. What made the sight even more bizarre was the faint scent of plum blossoms rising from that dreadful thing.
Ha-rin felt cold sweat run down her spine at the sight of two utterly incompatible elements fused together.
“As expected, this art does not suit me.”
“Hwa-ryeong-nim, what was that just now?”
“The Plum Blossom Swordplay.”
That was the Plum Blossom Swordplay? Ha-rin could not believe it. The version she had imagined was far more beautiful—petals scattering with every swing, creating a fantastical scene. Not something that gave off such a terrifying impression.
“In case anyone misunderstands, let me clarify. This is not the proper Plum Blossom Swordplay. It has been ruined by the influence of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art I use.”
“R-right? That’s not how it’s supposed to be, is it?”
Thank goodness. If the Plum Blossom Swordplay had truly been such a frightening art, many people would have been disappointed.
“To wield this art properly, one must first master the Purple Mist Divine Art.”
“So it has a prerequisite.”
Such arts existed from time to time. Some required training in a virgin-boy technique. Others demanded a change in one’s constitution. Still others could not be obtained without mastering a specific cultivation method. It seemed the Plum Blossom Swordplay was one that could only reach its full potential after learning Mount Hua’s divine art, the Purple Mist Divine Art. After all, it would be strange if the art representing Mount Hua in various media had no connection to the sect.
“Baek-il. Does this count as proof?”
“…It does. My apologies. My judgment was lacking.”
After witnessing the art Hwa-ryeong displayed, Baek-il offered no further argument and quietly acknowledged her skill. Since she had demonstrated understanding right before his eyes, denial was impossible.
Watching Baek-il apologize, Ha-rin thought, As expected of Hwa-ryeong-nim! Then a sudden realization struck her.
Was there anyone left in Hwaryong Muin who had mastered the Purple Mist Divine Art?
Ha-rin voiced the question to Murim’s Strongest. “Strongest-nim, are there any Mount Hua players who have learned the Purple Mist Divine Art?”
“There are. A few of us early Mount Hua players, including myself, reached the introductory level.”
“But you can’t use it properly?”
“No. There are still many parts we’re lacking in.”
So there were no players who could properly wield the Purple Mist Divine Art.
“What about among the NPCs?”
“If it were in the past, maybe, but not now.”
The sect leader and elders of Mount Hua were all dead. The Purple Mist Divine Art was Mount Hua’s exclusive divine art. Unless someone had stayed at Mount Hua, the chance of learning it was extremely low. Therefore, it was safe to say no NPCs remained who had mastered it either.
“Then… are there any manuals left regarding the Purple Mist Divine Art?”
“There won’t be. Even if there were, we wouldn’t find them. They were kept in strict secrecy by the elders, and everyone who knew their location has disappeared.”
This was bad. This was really bad. With Mount Hua destroyed, the Plum Blossom Swordplay had become an art that could not be used even if one wanted to.
After dropping Baru off at the rocky mountain, I ended the stream and stepped out onto the veranda instead of going to sleep. It was one in the morning. A quiet hour when most people had already gone to bed. With a pipe in my mouth, I looked up at the sky and reflected on everything that had happened today.
In terms of time, it had been less than a day, yet so much had occurred. I had gone to Mount Hua and seen their corruption. I had witnessed Hyeolgyoju executing his plan and destroyed the creature he created. In return, I received the reward Baru had promised and gained her as a companion. I had also learned the taste of food in Hwaryong Muin.
Damn it. Never in my life had I gotten angry because something tasted too good.
There were other events as well, but if I had to pick the most valuable one, it would be realizing why modern people’s martial arts had ended up in such a sorry state.
Ha-rin had once told me that Hwaryong Muin was the largest martial arts game in existence. If even there they taught movements rather than principles, how could players of other games possibly learn to follow principles? The foundation was wrong from the start. Because the martial world of Hwaryong Muin had gone to ruin, the people of the modern era had gone to ruin as well. When the pillars at the very bottom were shaking, how could a proper building stand on top?
Simply preaching the importance of principles would not be enough to teach modern people what true martial arts were. To pass on proper teachings, the foundation itself had to be rebuilt.
Well, it was rather amusing for me—the root cause of all this—to be saying such things, but what could I do? This was reality. I would not go so far as to tear down the current martial world and build a new one. The me of the past might have, but the current me was not that insane.
Instead, I would build a new building right beside the existing one. I already possessed the ability to construct it, so there was no need to worry about that. What I needed to consider was how to draw people into it.
This time, I had obtained an excellent lure.
The Plum Blossom Swordplay. It seemed this art was quite popular among modern people. If it could be used, then it should be utilized to the fullest.