What the Third Realm Yielded - 3
The disciples had gathered.
Unlike last time, there was nothing sudden about it—everyone had loosened up and finished their preparations. As a faint tension settled over the ground before the secret realm, Geomseong looked around at her disciples and spoke.
"You all remember, don't you?"
"Yes, Master!!"
"We do!"
This secret realm, too, was one they had only been able to find because Sa Yun's 'Uncle' had told her of it. And so, when Geomseong proposed leaving whatever reward this place held in Sa Yun's hands, the disciples all agreed with smiles.
At their reaction, Sa Yun ducked her head, flustered beyond words, and Yu Hui—the one closest to her—gave her hand a firm squeeze.
"'Uncle' must have his reasons for telling you where these realms are. So don't feel so guilty about it."
"Yes... senior sister. Sniff."
To the deeply moved girl, the other senior sisters each offered a word of their own. Every one of them sincerely wished for Sa Yun's growth—their youngest's growth.
Watching them, Geomseong shivered.
"They're all such good children..."
"We should head in soon."
Even the taciturn Hyeon Hwi said this as she dabbed at the corner of one eye, and Geomseong nodded.
It wasn't as if she had no doubts—could she truly lead them well? Even so, this was never a question of could or couldn't.
It was something she had to do.
"I will enter first, so all of you follow close and stay alert. Hong Ryeon, will you take the rear with Ryu Hyeon?"
"Understood."
"Is everyone ready?"
"Yes!!"
"Good. I like the spirit in those voices. Now then—shall we?"
And so the Hongseong Sect disciples' conquest of the secret realm began.
The moment they stepped inside, what greeted them was a heavy, pressing tension. While the others were startled by a sensation they had never felt in the last realm, Geomseong fixed her gaze on the passage ahead.
What flowed out from it was a crimson energy. And it was stirring the Hongseong Divine Art.
"Keep your internal energy circulating."
Among secret realms, there were those that reacted to inner energy and kept intruders from performing at their full strength. Taoists wove talismans to counter such places, but there was no chance anyone here carried one. And so Geomseong gave the order—and as her disciples obeyed, setting the Hongseong Divine Art in motion, a few of them tilted their heads.
"Huh? Master, the Hongseong Divine Art is reacting more strongly than usual?"
"The energy within this realm is what stirs the Hongseong Divine Art. Take care that the flow of your internal energy is not swept up in it."
"Understood."
Of course, with her present, nothing serious was likely to happen—but several disciples had gained insights in the previous realm. If so, it would be best for her to keep her interference to a minimum. Thinking this, Geomseong walked a few paces and came upon mechanisms set into the passage.
"...Meteor Steps, is it? Hmm."
"So we have to unfold the footwork while holding our internal energy in check, so the Hongseong Divine Art doesn't answer the realm's energy?"
"That's right."
Geomseong nodded at Sa Yun's deduction. "You might call this secret realm a training ground for controlling the Divine Art as much as one's inner energy. Focusing on both at once will not be easy, but this too is essential to mastering the martial arts. Once your skill rises past a certain point, the handling of your inner energy must become second nature. Just as breathing feels unnatural the instant you grow conscious of it, so too will executing your techniques become vastly easier once the movement and control of your internal energy are perfectly ingrained."
To Geomseong it was long since second nature, but among the disciples there were some who could not yet manage it—especially one like Sa Yun, whose command of the Hongseong Divine Art was still shallow. Geomseong stroked her head, then moved lightly on ahead.
"Whoa..."
As if to prove the saying true—that in all else she might falter, but in the martial arts she could be trusted—Geomseong's movements were perfection itself. Her footwork carried her through the passage like flowing water, and on the far side she raised a hand with easy composure.
Ready to act the instant anything went wrong, she watched her disciples; Hyeon Hwi gave Sa Yun's back a light tap.
"Want to go first? Or should we send the others ahead of you?"
"Oh! May I really go first?"
"What difference does it make who goes first? Everyone has to try it sooner or later."
"Yes! Then—Sa Yun of the Hongseong Sect, setting out!"
Having shouted her declaration with plenty of spirit, Sa Yun drew a deep breath. The Hongseong Divine Art was seething within her, whipped up by the crimson energy of the realm. She would have to rein it in while unfolding the Meteor Steps built upon that very art. For a Sa Yun still so green, it was no easy task.
Even so, she put her foot forward.
Ever since her visit to Changungwan, her thoughts had deepened. Chivalry—something she had only ever held as a vague notion—was stirring something deep inside her.
What did it take to perform a chivalrous deed? A righteous heart could certainly not be left out of it, but the strength to carry that righteousness out was indispensable.
I have to do this.
So many people had given to her. So many people were cheering her on. She did not feel that expectation as a weight upon her shoulders. She simply believed it was what she ought to do—nothing more, nothing less.
"Ooh..."
Reining in the ferocious Hongseong Divine Art, her outstretched foot slid smoothly into the rhythm of the Meteor Steps. From the pattern beneath her left foot, a soft light welled up as if to bless her stride. She pressed it and moved to the next, and the next, and the next.
Like stars wheeling across the night sky, Sa Yun's steps grew faster and more dazzling. A little quicker, a little more precise. And a little steadier. As she unfolded the Meteor Steps with all three held in mind at once, one thought gradually dyed Sa Yun's mind its sole color.
I have to see it through.
And as she focused like that, the moment her control of the rampaging Hongseong Divine Art grew as natural as breathing—
Sa Yun realized she had been gathered into someone's arms.
"Ah."
"You've caught the first thread of enlightenment."
She had unfolded the Meteor Steps lost in self-oblivion—and touched the edge of enlightenment? As Sa Yun stared up blankly, Geomseong gazed down at her with warm eyes.
"What were you thinking of?"
"Just... that I have to do it."
"Good. The moment you know what you must do and set your will to doing it, the Hongseong Divine Art will follow your intent. Do not forget that—hold it fast in your memory. And rest a while; let that feeling settle as you gather yourself."
As the other sisters moved to take their turns at the footwork, Geomseong seated Sa Yun down. Sitting cross-legged, the girl watched her senior sisters in a daze, then closed her eyes.
The feeling from moments ago still lingered in her mind—a sensation of drifting weightless, bound up with a fierce will to act. If that was enlightenment. If that was the key to tempering the Hongseong Divine Art one turn further.
Eyes closed, Sa Yun replayed her earlier run of the Meteor Steps in her mind—and smiled.
Uncle. Thank you.
I've grown a little stronger.
"Whew..."
Unlike the realms before it, this one's difficulty was considerable. Not that it was dangerous, of course. It was simply that doing two things at once was no small feat. Unfolding their techniques while constantly reining in a Hongseong Divine Art that kept leaping toward the realm's energy was anything but easy—yet the disciples pressed on stubbornly, step by step.
However much it cost them.
"Are you alright?"
Ryu Hyeon drew up beside the struggling Sa Yun and asked. Of all the disciples, Sa Yun was having the hardest time of it.
"I'm fine. Hehe. What kind of Sword Saint's disciple would I be if I couldn't manage this much?"
When she wiped away a bead of sweat and beamed, Ryu Hyeon could only watch her with worry. At the look in her eyes—shouldn't we stop her here and send her out?—Geomseong shook her head. Then, meeting Sa Yun's gaze squarely, she asked in earnest.
"You can do this, can't you?"
"Of course!"
"Good. Then let's go further."
"Master, is this truly alright?"
"Sa Yun is growing more accustomed to it with every step."
To the control of the Hongseong Divine Art, and to the guiding of her own body. She was struggling, yes—but she knew, precisely, the road she had to walk. If so, then all the rest of them needed to do was steady her so that she never fell.
"The Master has decided. That's the end of it."
Whatever else might be said of her, on matters of the martial arts Geomseong's judgment was never wrong. And once even Hong Ryeon weighed in, Ryu Hyeon could only watch Sa Yun with anxious eyes.
And so, stumbling yet never stopping, they worked their way through the realm until at last they reached the end—the broad chamber where the realm's master awaited. There, Geomseong smiled.
"Two of them this time."
At the center of the chamber stood a Sonachal. But unlike every encounter before, there were two of them, snarling low as they flashed razor claws at the approaching party, itching to tear them apart.
"There is no law that a realm's master must be alone. And you'll have to face both at once... Now then, Sa Yun. Can you do it?"
She pondered a moment, then nodded. It would be a close thing—but not impossible.
At that, Geomseong smiled. "Then go and try."
Her heart soared at her master's leave. It meant that even against two of the very beasts that had once terrified her, she was now judged capable of holding her own.
Her growth was plain to see.
So it was with joy in her chest that Sa Yun descended into the arena—and the Sonachals roared at the sight of her.
—Kreeeeagh!!
—Kyaaargh!!
At those dreadful shrieks, something rose to the surface of her memory. The jiangshi they had met at Changungwan. Back then, the two of them had faced a single one together—but what about now? They had taken something from that battle, and grown further still in the sparring matches with their master after they returned.
Then surely, now, she could bring down those two on her own?
Sa Yun slowly drew her sword—and in that instant, the Sonachals lunged.
Their movements were fast, but not beyond sight. She turned aside the claw strikes hunting for her head and legs with the Gale and Thunder Arc, the sword forms of the Hongseong Divine Art, then drove through the opening with the Meteor Steps. The Sonachals struck back in the exchange—but who falls to an attack they can see coming?
"Hah!!"
With a low battle cry, her sword surged up like lightning—and in the same breath, a Sonachal's arm went spinning away into empty air.
A shriek of agony, and rage came crashing down upon her.
But Sa Yun was not afraid.
Before her shone Uncle's light, and behind her stood a master and senior sisters she could trust with her life.
"Hoo..."
Breathing hard, Sa Yun glanced down at her sword. She had swung it thinking of nothing at all. And now, as the fight wound to a close, a faint glow was rising from the blade.
It felt like Uncle's praise—a quiet congratulations on how far she had come—and before she knew it, Sa Yun was smiling.
"Well done."
"Thank you!"
She had stood her ground against two enemies without yielding a single step—it was, frankly, something to be proud of.
Geomseong patted her shoulder and turned to look behind her. A few of the disciples wore grave expressions, as if Sa Yun's battle had left them with something to chew on.
Fine children, every one of them. Somehow they keep growing, even under a worthless master.
So thinking, Geomseong addressed Hong Ryeon and Ryu Hyeon, who had followed them down.
"Let's start wrapping things up... Ah, that's right. Sa Yun. Go and fetch the reward. I find myself curious what it will be this time."
"Yes, Master!"
When Sa Yun came bounding back from the inner chamber, a small box rested in her hands. As everyone watched, puzzled, she opened it—
and at the sight of what lay within, Geomseong murmured, her voice gone heavy.
"...Astral Cloud Iron."
A lump of iron ore radiating a soft, faint glow. Face to face with a fragment of a star fallen from the heavens, Geomseong let out a long breath.
"The chief material of the Hyeon-ungap... once one of the sacred relics of the Hongseong Sect's leaders, that is."
Recalling the sacred relic that no longer remained with the Hongseong Sect—shattered long ago by an eldest disciple of the past—Geomseong murmured low.