Beyond the Wall
“I shall make you four brothers and sisters feel yet another wall.”
An arrogant declaration without equal.
“…What?”
For a moment Steel Dragon Fang Baek Cheong’s face went blank—then a string of curses burst from his lips.
“…You insane bastard!”
How dare he.
And not some nobody either.
To claim he would face two masters of the great Wudang Sect at the same time?
“Trash like you is more than enough for me alone!”
As expected, it was the younger Baek Cheong who first took the Eldest Young Master’s bait.
And Baek Cho Jin-in had no intention of stopping him.
Hear me, first-generation disciples.
Like a swallow skimming the surface of a lake, Baek Cheong shot forward. Beyond him, Baek Cho Jin-in’s transmission reached every first-generation disciple of the Wudang Sect.
Throw everything you have into holding Cheonui Mubong.
“We receive your command.”
Superior orders, absolute obedience.
The iron hierarchy of Mount Wudang.
Their hesitation was astonishingly slight.
I will finish the Eldest Young Master quickly. Hold on.
In place of any answer came a laugh so bright it grated on Cheonui Mubong Yeon Seo-rin’s ears.
“Hahaha! Excellent!”
She collided with the first-generation disciples who rushed her as one, laughing with clear satisfaction.
“So this is the spirit of Wudang, ready to stake their lives!”
Leaving them behind, Baek Cho Jin-in raised his sword in a lofty stance.
“…….”
Perhaps it was a foolish judgment that would only increase his disciples’ casualties.
Yet he could not endure it.
“…That brat.”
How long had he cultivated, soiling his hands in the darkness of Wudang?
How many enemies of the sect had died by his hand?
And among them, how many true masters?
He had lived in the shadows of the rugged Mount Wudang and the harsh underbelly of Jianghu since before the Eldest Young Master was born—no, since before the Eldest Young Master’s mother was born.
And what of the Eldest Young Master?
Barely past youth.
Hands and face without a single scar.
Born into a house that had never known true hardship.
The provocation was more than enough to ignite the cold fury of Baek Cho Jin-in.
The large and small scars on his face flushed a deep red, asserting their presence.
“You will not die cleanly.”
“Eldest Young Master!”
Steel Dragon Fang Baek Cheong roared as he unleashed lightning from his blade.
“I will cut off that precious head of yours and offer it in sacrifice to the founding masters of Wudang!”
Wudang Sect.
Taiqing Sword Art.
Eight Trigrams, Eight Gates Sealing the Earth.
“Hah…!”
The Eldest Young Master gave a short snort of laughter.
Without even unclasping his hands behind his back, he drew the Taiji with one hand and one foot, catching the flat of the blade with the back of his bare hand and letting it slide past.
It was a feat that deserved to be called artistry rather than mere acrobatics.
KWA-DDEUK!
“A pity.”
Ignoring the way Baek Cheong’s diverted sword stroke flipped roof tiles like pages of a book, the Eldest Young Master smiled at his leisure.
“Your head is not worth that much. We could never use it for our clan’s ancestral rites.”
A sword stroke defeated so easily it felt hollow.
Yet in Baek Cheong’s eyes there was not the slightest trace of impatience or shock.
It doesn’t matter…!
From the beginning the Eight Gates Sealing the Earth of the Taiqing Sword Art was meant to bind the opponent’s feet.
That the arrogant Eldest Young Master had stayed in place to show off his skill was nothing more than walking straight into the trap.
“Sssseup—!”
The long breath he had been drawing since the first stroke left the tip of his sword reached its peak.
Steel Dragon Fang Baek Cheong felt his lungs fill for an instant with the qi of the Great Nature itself, then locked the breath away.
Jiiiiing—.
Every color vanished from his vision; time stretched as if frozen.
One Origin.
Power returned to the sword the Eldest Young Master had diverted.
Two Poles.
In the middle dantian the qi of the Great Nature and his own energy harmonized.
Three Powers.
Centered on himself (Man), his stance foot pressed the earth (Earth) while his sword pointed to the night sky (Heaven).
Four Symbols.
Greater Yin Sword, Greater Yang Art, Lesser Yin Seat, Lesser Yang Cycle.
The four roots that form the foundation of all Wudang training wove together and became the sun, moon, and stars.
Five Elements.
Within them five energies were born, endlessly generating and overcoming one another.
Six Lines.
From the Three Powers they surged into Heaven-Yin, Heaven-Yang, Earth-Yin, Earth-Yang, Man-Yin, Man-Yang.
Seven Stars.
Receiving the power of Tian Shu, Tian Xuan, Tian Ji, Tian Quan, Yu Heng, Kai Yang, and Yao Guang, the force grew mighty.
Eight Trigrams.
The Earlier Heaven and Later Heaven arrangements circled in opposite directions until they reached perfect balance.
Nine Palaces.
Reaching the extreme of ten thousand changes, every direction stood in its proper place.
Only one who attained that final enlightenment was chosen to inherit the ultimate sword of Wudang.
Wudang Sect.
Never taught to the unworthy.
Never taken beyond the gates.
“----!”
With a low, unintelligible shout, time that had stopped seemed to reverse. Steel Dragon Fang Baek Cheong’s sword returned to its place—
—and the sword that had only seemed to return to its place then split every raindrop hanging in the air as if cleaving the myriad phenomena of the cosmos, thrusting straight forward.
That was the ultimate sword formula of Wudang, transmitted from the founding ancestor Zhang Sanfeng himself.
The ultimate sword of Wudang, embodying the harmony of Taiji.
Paaat—!
Perfect posture, perfect realization.
A single sword more complete than any he had ever performed.
A faint smile touched the corner of Steel Dragon Fang Baek Cheong’s mouth.
Even in the long history of Wudang he had been called a genius among geniuses.
That was why he had become a disciple of the previous sect leader and stood equal in rank with the elders.
That was why he had been granted the Taiji Sword.
And that was why, in this very moment—
—he could unfold this sword in absolute perfection—
KAANG—!
A harsh metallic crash, and his sword was knocked away.
“……!”
Steel Dragon Fang Baek Cheong’s eyes flew open as if they would tear. The focus of his pupils shook like a man in convulsions.
“Wh-what…?!”
It had been a perfect Taiji Sword.
The pride and glory of Wudang.
“Tsk.”
The Eldest Young Master clicked his tongue softly.
He stood with one long stride planted deep, sword-finger extended straight as if pouring everything out before him.
“All of those teachings were recorded and passed down to distant later generations…”
“Th-that stance…?”
Amazingly, the posture was—
—exactly the same as Steel Dragon Fang Baek Cheong’s.
“Yet dull descendants could never hope to comprehend the vast enlightenment of the Immortals. How lamentable.”
Every root within Baek Cheong’s inner world began to tremble at once.
“Y-you…?!”
In the midst of chaos and confusion Baek Cheong screamed until his throat tore.
“How the hell do you know Wudang’s Taiji Sword?!”
“In this age,” the Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon answered in a calm voice, “the martial arts rooted in the Daoist schools throughout the Central Plains are countless and varied. Yet originally every one of those studies sprang from a single source.”
“……?”
Baek Cheong could not understand a word of it.
“Among the sword houses of today there remain the old Daoist schools of Diancang, Kongtong, Hengshan, and Zhongnan, while the lesser and middle Daoist schools are too numerous to count.”
“What does that—”
“Therefore,” the Eldest Young Master continued, looking at him, “if one seeks the common points among those countless teachings, traces the great root back to its origin…”
He slowly drew the Taiji in the empty air as he spoke.
Daoist schools that taught the principle of Taiji were beyond number.
When that principle was unfolded as fist with the spirit of Wudang, it became Taiji Fist.
When it was unfolded as sword with the will of Huashan, it became Plum Blossom Willow Sword.
When it was unfolded as staff with the enlightenment of Zhongnan, it became the Eight Linked Flag Forms.
When it was unfolded as footwork with the spirit of Kongtong—
When it was unfolded with the meaning of Hengshan—
When it was unfolded with Diancang’s—
“Just as streams gather into rivers, and rivers gather and flow into the sea…”
The Eldest Young Master’s stance blurred, leaving afterimages as he painted countless Taiji in the air; those Taiji overlapped and finally transformed into the opening posture of the sword-finger thrust.
That was precisely the opening posture of the Taiji Sword.
“They all return to one deep and vast enlightenment.”
“…Bullshit!”
He could not understand it.
He could not accept it.
“Don’t talk nonsense!”
Baek Cheong poured strength into arms still trembling from the shock of the Eldest Young Master’s Taiji Sword and shouted like a man in a fit.
“You great clans always do the same thing! You must have stolen our Wudang teachings somehow!”
His face twisted as he forced his energy to rise.
“Without a doubt you paid some filthy traitor of Wudang a pile of dirty money and bought the secret arts!”
To attain mastery of Wudang martial arts through the teachings of other Daoist schools?
And of the ultimate art of Wudang, the Taiji Sword itself?
He had never heard such absurdity in his life.
He had no intention of listening to such bluster.
“With stolen martial arts…!”
Once more he assumed the opening posture of the Taiji Sword.
“I will show you that you can never surpass the true Taiji Sword!”
“Tsk tsk.”
The Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon clicked his tongue as he watched the man take the same opening posture.
“When something is shown yet still not seen, what should one call such a man? When something is taught yet still not known, what then should one call him?”
“Shut up!”
Even as the agitation of his upper dantian struck him while he drew in the vast qi of nature, forcing him to cough blood—
—with the talent of a genius, from One Origin to Two Poles, to Three Powers; from Four Symbols to Five Elements; through Six Lines past Seven Stars, piercing the Eight Trigrams and arriving at the Nine Palaces—
Steel Dragon Fang Baek Cheong once again succeeded in realizing the Taiji Sword.
But—
“You are wrong.”
Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon began to realize the Taiji Sword from his fingertips in the exact opposite order from Baek Cheong.
“Did I not already tell you?”
Just as streams gather into rivers, and rivers gather and flow into the sea…
From Nine Palaces to Eight Trigrams.
From Eight Trigrams to Seven Stars.
From Seven Stars to Six Lines.
From Six Lines to Five Elements.
From Five Elements to Four Symbols.
From Four Symbols to Three Powers.
Three Powers into Taiji.
And Taiji returns to the single origin—
the vast enlightenment.
That is, the One Source.
“……!”
In that extremely brief instant when heaven and earth turned white-hot, within the cluster of light that began at the Eldest Young Master’s fingertips, the sword slipped from Baek Cheong’s powerless hand.
“…….”
He understood.
No matter how hard he clenched his grip,
no matter how much power he wrung from his entire body,
even if he burned his life and set his will ablaze—
he could never surpass the Eldest Young Master’s single sword.
That is…
The single sword burned itself clearly into his eyes.
The true—
And at that exact moment—
“…….”
From behind the Eldest Young Master who was unfolding the Taiji Sword, a human silhouette suddenly surged up as if leaping out of his own shadow.
On the old man’s face was killing intent refined to the absolute limit.
In the old man’s body was fury compressed to the absolute limit.
And all of it was poured into a single sword that had been polished to the absolute limit.
Kill!
It was the surprise attack of Hyeonhyeon-ja Baek Cho Jin-in, who had hidden his presence until the final moment, waiting for the chance.