At Last, That Bastard Is Back
So Cheong-ha stood before the sea and spoke, slowly.
"No sect stakes every hope it has on a single disciple. But you are different."
Yi Yeok smiled at that and simply looked at him. For the sake of their bargain, So Cheong-ha had no choice but to give him nothing less than the truth.
Over the next dozen days and more, Yi Yeok received the Blue Wave True Art and worked it finer, stroke by stroke.
"The Blue Wave True Art is a martial art that prizes the harmony of speed and force. But you are too fast. Remember this—that very swiftness can bleed the strength right out of you."
Yi Yeok nodded.
"A wave is raised by the wind, yet there is also a power that comes up out of the deep sea. Only when those two forces join does a truly vast wave take shape."
Yi Yeok listened, watching the water. In the rhythm of the waves rushing in and drawing away again, the principles of the Blue Wave True Art grew clearer to him, little by little.
"You have already reached the realm where you can unleash that power. The question is how to draw it up to its limit, and forge it into one heavier blow."
As the transmission neared its end, Yi Yeok's eyes brightened, and he asked, "Elder, if one person enters a middle-rank sect, what reward does our sect receive?"
So Cheong-ha's eyes went wide. Then he laughed. "You greedy little wretch."
Yi Yeok laughed with him. "I'm only curious. If not for that, why would anyone train so hard?"
So Cheong-ha considered for a moment, then began to explain. "Hm. Beyond the fixed rewards, should someone be chosen by a middle-rank sect, we receive a hundred spirit stones, a hundred high-grade spirit pills, and ten supreme-grade spirit pills."
"That's enormous!"
A single spirit stone commanded several thousand taels of silver. High-grade and supreme-grade spirit pills were treasures beyond any price at all.
"Of course. A reward of that size exists because the sect invests heavily to raise talents like you. But before you dream of the prize, refine your skill."
"I'll claim that reward. Count on it."
"Good. With a mind like that, it is entirely possible—so long as you grit your teeth and do nothing but train, all the way to the end."
So Cheong-ha laughed outright at the brazen answer. "And if you place within the top three, still more follows the reward I just named. The spirit stones and spirit pills double, and a low-grade spirit artifact is granted as well."
Yi Yeok's eyes glittered. Just as So Cheong-ha had expected.
"And if I do even better than that?"
So Cheong-ha nodded and went on. "If your showing is so outstanding that a high sect such as the Seongdo Immortal Sect takes notice of you beforehand, the reward increases fivefold, and you receive a supreme-grade spirit artifact. You are also given one immortal pill. More than that—you earn the right to choose a martial art for yourself from the Scripture Pavilion of the Seongdo Immortal Sect."
Yi Yeok could not hide his astonishment. A martial art, handed over outright?
To any power, martial arts were the foundation of the sect. Creating one was a labor beyond imagining, and every art passed down through the generations was something the sages of old had spent a lifetime forging in bitter thought. The old arts had endured because, after their founding, countless people had trained them and proved their worth. Refined and completed across hundreds of years, even thousands, they were a sect's treasure in themselves, and the wellspring of its strength.
And if the art belonged to a paramount sect like the Seongdo Immortal Sect, how great would that power be? He could not say. It would surely exceed anything he could picture.
So Cheong-ha smiled at the light in his eyes. "Don't get carried away. The talents a high sect deigns to notice are vanishingly few. Their standards are far stricter, and far higher, than you think."
Yi Yeok answered with shameless ease. "A man ought to dream big. Who's to say it won't actually come true?"
"Yes. That spirit is good. What matters most in this world is the faith you can place in yourself—just as you are already beginning to understand."
So Cheong-ha paused, studied his reaction, and continued. "If you truly bring your ability to bear, you could do a great service for the Daoist orders. The Buddhist Gate's power has been swelling of late, and our Daoist orders stand in grave crisis. The younger generation must rise."
"The Buddhist Gate? I hardly know a thing about them. I've never even met one."
"The eastern half of the Heaven-Center Immortal Realm is held by the Daoist orders, but the west has been all but seized by the Buddhist Gate. They are exceedingly skilled at spreading their law through the world. In their domain they raise temples, enshrine images of the Buddha, and a great many people believe and follow."
Yi Yeok listened as if it hardly concerned him. So Cheong-ha's voice turned grave again. "You are one of the Daoist orders. If you have the ability, you ought to step forward and do your duty for them. Spread the Dao, and help us build our strength again."
Yi Yeok smiled. "I don't have grand ambitions like that, and I don't keep any ideals on the side. Daoist or Buddhist—what does any of it have to do with me?"
So Cheong-ha started to speak, then stopped. He had hoped the boy would look toward a greater road. Becoming the strongest as a thief was not a thing to wish for. Far more possibilities lay open to him.
"A person meets many decisive choices in a life. Those choices determine the road we walk."
He tried, carefully, to wake him to it. Yi Yeok only smiled, lightly.
"I'll live the way I want. No matter what anyone says. Exactly as I please."
So Cheong-ha sighed at the stubbornness, but he said no more. "I believe I have passed on all I have to give you of the Blue Wave True Art. From here, you must train on your own and reach a deeper understanding."
Yi Yeok realized at last that it was time to go, and he stretched long and hard. The grinding labor of the training seemed to fall away in an instant.
"When you return to the sect, have you no thought of entering the inner sect?"
"The inner sect? What's the good of it if I do?"
So Cheong-ha let out a short laugh and chided him lightly. "You have already received a martial art in person from me, the Supreme Elder. Are you still hoping for something more?"
"Good things are good, Elder. If there are more benefits, I've no reason to turn them down. If there aren't, I don't particularly want to go in."
So Cheong-ha shook his head, as if there was nothing to be done. "If you entered the inner sect, you could play a greater role for the sect."
"I hate being bound. I want to live free. That matters more to me."
"Very well. If freedom is what you want, I will not force you. Only do not forget the Immortal Selection next year. If you are not properly prepared by then, you will have to wait until the year after."
Yi Yeok smiled, perfectly at ease. "Don't worry, Elder. Getting into a place like Hyeonrim Sect won't be difficult."
"You haven't forgotten what you promised, have you?"
"You mean that shriveled old branch? You called it the Origin Wood, didn't you? What in the world is it even for?"
So Cheong-ha's expression darkened. After a long while, he said quietly, "To reclaim what was lost. It is an important key to taking back the place where Nokhyeon Sect once stood."
Yi Yeok shook his head. "Why does everyone live so exhaustingly? With skill like yours, Elder, couldn't you simply live as you please? I don't want to spend my life tangled up in things like that."
"Yes. If that is your choice, I will respect it. Everyone walks their own road."
Yi Yeok waved a hand. "Enough of these heavy talks, Elder. Let's go back. I've learned the art, and I've seen more than enough of the sea."
By the time Yi Yeok returned to Nokhyeon Sect, a full month had already passed.
In that time the sect had changed a great deal. Yeogwi's extraordinary swordsmanship had been recognized, and he had been admitted to the inner sect in a breach of ordinary custom. A man with an uncommon love for the blade, he received the special favor of Sect Master So Cheon-jeon and trained his swordsmanship to a deeper level.
Mo Yeong, too, thanks to her family's unstinting support and her own outstanding talent, had become the personal disciple of one of the inner-sect elders. A personal disciple enjoyed a standing set apart even within the sect, receiving every benefit first and being taught the core martial arts. That was precisely why she had not appeared when Yi Yeok was raising a commotion.
Once word spread that Yi Yeok had returned, the air inside the sect tightened with tension once more.
In a quiet detached residence of the inner sect, an urgent voice rang out.
"Senior Brother Mok, Senior Sister Jam! At last, our chance for revenge is here!"
The inner disciples who had gathered looked at one another, their faces set. This time, they would not let Yi Yeok off.