Chapter 137
I have spoken before of Grandmasters — of those who, blessed with heaven-sent talent and tempered by painstaking effort, walked roads entirely their own and created divine arts destined to flow on unbroken, generation after generation.
In the history of the jianghu and murim — a history whose written record alone stretches well past a thousand years — countless Grandmasters were born and met their ends. Yet among them, inevitably, were those who left footprints of singular depth. Such men were called Giants.
By the accepted wisdom of the jianghu, one could name the likes of Lü Dongbin, Bodhidharma, and Zhang Sanfeng.
It is a genuinely regrettable tale, but Yakseon never reached where they stood. Naturally, that is not my own judgment — I am merely relaying the jianghu's consensus. Still, so it stands.
Trace the line of the Giants, and footprints of true greatness emerge.
The Sword Immortal Dongbin.
He was the man who revealed that a human being could ascend to the heavens on mortal strength alone — a figure lacking nothing should one call him the progenitor of all Grandmasters. The new horizon he opened was the realm of ultimate attainment, known as the path of feathered ascension to immortality, and it would be right to say he authored the very destination toward which all martial arts aspire.
The Great Master Bodhidharma.
Call him the figure best embodied by Shaolin's Seventy-Two Ultimate Arts. I am well aware that Bodhidharma did not invent martial arts as such — the Sword Immortal Dongbin alone predates him by an entire era, so this much goes without saying. But Bodhidharma gathered the martial arts of the world into a single whole, distilled them into the Seventy-Two Ultimate Arts, and then shared them back out with the jianghu and murim. Thanks to him, the martial arts of the jianghu took a great stride forward. That is why to say all martial arts under heaven flow from Shaolin is never a wrong thing to say.
The point worth noting is the legend that Bodhidharma wielded all Seventy-Two Ultimate Arts — arts so profound that mastering even one earns a man the name of genius. He must rightly be judged a figure who revealed the magnificent potential of humankind, and a martial artist who gave those who walk the Buddha's path a destination of their own.
Sambong Jinin.
The legends told in his honor are beyond counting, yet I know them for what they are: mere embellishments.
Taiji. It would be no stretch to call that both the beginning and the end of Sambong Jinin. The Taiji Fist, the Taiji Sword, and the Taiji Wisdom Sword that built the Wudang of today are all said to have sprung from him. Even the Liangyi — the Two Polarities that might be called Wudang's very essence — are merely a development and transformation of the Taiji, so no one alive would deny that he was the sect's wellspring.
Some might sneer, only the Taiji. But the Taiji was, from the start, said to be the root of all creation. Sambong must rightly be judged a Giant who carved out a new horizon in the communion between the cosmos and humankind.
Hyeoncheon — the Mysterious Heaven. Such was the name given to the work in which Sambong Jinin, having devoted his whole life to the Taiji and the Liangyi, set down his hard-won insights in his final years.
Right now. The insights of a Giant, never before made known to the world, had manifested into reality.
"……It must be Sambong Jinin's, without a doubt."
It was the bold declaration of Mugeuk Jinin — reputed to be the man who had come closest to Sambong Jinin in this age — so it could not be wrong.
I had discovered Sambong Jinin's legacy. I knew full well the worth and the aftershocks packed into that one plain sentence. It was a discovery for which even the great find of the century would be no exaggeration. If one insisted on a comparison, it would be no stretch to relegate the Garden of Delight I had once uncovered to the category of 'a mere trifle.'
Naturally, a great many things happened to me afterward. So many, in fact, that the only way to tell it all was to boil it down. Condensed as far as words allow, it went like this:
"I wished to be certain I told you this myself: thank you. In my name — Taecheong's name, that is."
"That is too generous an assessment."
At my show of humility, Sect Leader Taecheong Jinin shook his head.
"No. It is not generous in the least. Were it not for the weight of being Wudang's Sect Leader, I might well have knelt and pressed my forehead to the floor before you."
"Even if the Sect Leader knelt and prostrated himself this very instant, no one could call it excessive."
It was Mugeuk Jinin, standing at his side, who felt obliged to add that — and at the words, Taecheong Jinin moved to rise from his seat.
"Please, don't."
I dissuaded him, yet Taecheong Jinin still looked torn.
"I beg you."
Only after I had finally made the plea did he settle back into his seat.
"Should you ever desire my knees, you need only say so."
"……I have no need of them."
It sounded utterly sincere — which made it all the more terrifying a thing to hear.
"Is there anything you require? Only speak. I cannot promise to grant your every wish, but if a matter lies within Wudang's power, I will help with anything at all."
"I-I will give it thought."
"Say the word whenever you like."
That's right. I had been granted a private audience with the Sect Leader of Great Wudang. The leader of the great and revered Wudang of the south had carved precious time out of his day for me alone. As for the fact that he had moved to kneel before me — that was best left buried in silence.
"I am Hyeonwon. It is an honor to behold the Great Hero Dancheon Divine Dragon, whose mighty name resounds across the land. I am nothing more than an old man bearing the hollow title of Head Elder, yet I come to offer Wudang's gratitude."
"I am Hyeonsang. I shall repay the grace Wudang has received even if it costs me this life. Should a task ever demand my martial arts, send word at any hour. I will take up my sword for the Great Hero, unconditionally and without question."
"I am Hyeonyeong. I may be a mere elder now, but I once held the post of Finance Pavilion Master, and these hands can still move Wudang's gold. I will be sure to instruct the Finance Pavilion Master to repay you in grand fashion."
"I am Hyeoncheong. Wudang has received a truly immense grace. Others fixate on the Hyeoncheon Jingyeol alone, but this Daoist has not forgotten that you also recovered the Taecheong-dan. I, too, hold strength that can be employed through the Medicine Pavilion, so should you need anything, only say the word."
"……It is quite all right. I did not do it in hopes of reward."
"Oooo. A true gentleman, through and through. In your deeds, I feel I have glimpsed the Dao itself."
As for me……
I was hauled off to the Hall of Elders and made to exchange greetings with every elder there. The Head Elder above all, along with the elders who had come up through the Martial, Finance, and Medicine Pavilions, showered me with warmth. An elder, by nature, is both a pillar of the sect and a man who could be called a luminary of the jianghu and murim. Pile the name of Wudang on top of that, and their prestige draws near the word omnipotent — a fact I knew well.
And yet, in defiance of the unwritten rule that the junior party offers greetings first, the many elders competed over the order, falling over themselves to introduce themselves to me. Calling me "Great Hero" with every breath, no less.
"To be granted an audience with so many elders at once — the honor is mine."
"Ohh. The peerless genius of the ages, and courteous and virtuous besides — truly a great fortune for the jianghu."
Our conversation was, in a word, heartwarming. Thanks to a nimble mind and the hard-earned experience of my days as the Famous Beggar, I committed every face and name to memory — though a man of lesser mettle might have struggled to hold on to even the names. Each and every elder of Great Wudang was a wellspring of strength in his own right; this was not something to be done half-heartedly.
I also found myself meeting, in great number, the retired masters of Wudang's previous generation — the ones said to be impossible to locate in ordinary times.
"Oooo. So this is the lad?"
"'Lad,' he says. What a foul tongue you have before our benefactor, old man. 'Great Hero' is what you ought to call him."
"It's quite all right."
"So, Sambong Jinin's legacy has been discovered."
"Oh ho, the tragedy of it! How can such a thing come to pass only after I have withdrawn from the world!"
"What? Too old and withered now to take up new studies, are you?"
"What was that? I am five years your junior, you old relic!"
"What does a birth date matter on the martial path? What matters is the age of the heart."
"Then my heart must be a good ten years younger than yours!"
"Then prove it."
"Hmph! I shall prove it with the sword!"
……
Honestly speaking, I could only judge them a far more disorderly crowd than the elders had been.
"We really ought to siphon off a share of that lad's energy for ourselves!"
"Keep your hands off him, you old relics. His is a precious body."
Had Mugeuk Jinin not stepped in to restrain them, they looked genuinely ready to attempt the Star-Absorbing Great Method. The retired masters of Great Wudang would never have learned such a sinister art, of course — but the spirit was certainly there.
"Hmph. So you achieved your Youthful Reversion, is that it? The day I achieve mine, you and I settle our score once and for all!"
"You never once beat me in your prime, nor in all your years of retirement. Have you?"
"Ahem."
It seemed the pinnacle of the previous Mu-generation had indeed been Mugeuk Jinin. But even for a Mugeuk Jinin, there is always a heaven beyond the heavens.
"Mugeuk."
"Yes, Martial Uncle."
"You have toiled hard."
"It was not I who did the work — it was that fellow there."
"Hehe. We are both men who washed our hands in the golden basin and withdrew from the world, so the repayment of this grace must fall to you. Repaying kindness is, after all, none other than the Dao itself. See that you neglect nothing."
"Yes, Martial Uncle."
Most of them had belonged to the previous Mu-generation, yet among them stood masters of the older Jin-generation still — ones before whom even the Sword Emperor Mugeuk Jinin bowed his head.
And before long, the air itself began to tremble.
"My old classmates are arriving one by one. Age has made their footsteps sluggish. I ask your understanding, Great Hero Dancheon."
"……Think nothing of it."
White-browed, white-faced old Daoists, each of them seemingly long past his ninety-ninth year, came kicking off the empty air and flying in fast. It was a scene straight out of the Chronicles of Eccentrics.
That's right. I had become the benefactor of Wudang. The title did not feel so unmerited — because I, too, knew very well the worth of what Grandmaster Sambong Jinin's legacy contained. Even the Pine Gate Ancient Sword and the robes presumed to have been his in life would have been legacy enough to earn the name; uncovering the Hyeoncheon Jingyeol, which held the distilled insights of his final years, had to be called a grace beyond all measure. It was so because, with that manuscript in hand, the martial arts of Great Wudang would clearly leap forward yet another stage.
In truth, I did not consider it a one-sided grace. Had Mugeuk Jinin not taught me the supreme art of Yeongseong Gamgakdo while asking nothing in return, I would never have been able to unearth the mysteries of Muyeong Sintu, the Shadowless Divine Throw. This, precisely, was the Dao — a cycle of goodness, one might call it.
Hoo—
With all those meetings behind me, I was able to take a short rest in the Sword Emperor's hermitage at Nogun-dang.
"What is it you wish to gain?"
Unable to let the silence stand, Mugeuk Jinin had asked, offhand. I owed him a debt of grace, so the honest answer was the proper one.
"Could you obtain the Taecheong-dan for me?"
"Nothing beyond that?"
"That alone is enough."
"Hmm."
There was something extraordinary in Mugeuk Jinin's gaze. He seemed to have filed me away as something like an immortal who had transcended desire — but there was no need to correct the misunderstanding.
"Then I shall have to arrange an occasion."
"Thank you."
Manufacturing a formal occasion was a bother, to be sure, but Mugeuk Jinin was right, and so I raised no objection. The result was this very moment.
"Disciples, hear me!"
"Yes!"
The Grand Arena where the friendly duels of the Sinjin Gyoryuhoe had been held. I stood alone at its center, and every martial artist of Wudang's mountain gate had ringed the arena to its very edges.
"Here, in this place, stands Wudang's great benefactor. I so decree in the name of Hyeoncheon Sangje, Supreme Lord of the Mysterious Heaven: Great Wudang shall hold Dancheon Divine Dragon as its benefactor and remain in friendship with him for as long as the sect endures. Disciples, let none of you forget this principle."
"Yes!"
The crowd was not made up of Wudang's martial artists alone. There was Jinhu of the Peng Clan, laughing heartily at Brother Chunbaek's side, and Tan of the Namgung Clan, sneaking envious glances when he thought no one was watching. They, too, were young elites of the great families — it seemed they had taken advantage of Wudang's open gates to stay on and study. And among them, one pair of eyes left the deepest impression of all: Mu-dam's, Wudang's third-generation disciple, who had crossed blades with me in the arena. Having long since mastered the art of reading the emotions in a person's eyes, I could not fail to recognize that gaze for what it was. Awe.
"Does our benefactor have a wish?"
The Sect Leader of Great Wudang asked with perfect courtesy and deference. Considering the gulf between our standings, it had to be seen as the very height of respect owed to a benefactor.
"I wish to obtain Wudang's hidden treasure, the Taecheong-dan."
I stated my goal plainly.
"You require nothing else?"
"Nothing else."
"Ohh—"
I had insisted, time and again, that it was all I wanted — but the Taecheong-dan was one of the Five Great Pills of the murim. Rare treasure, hidden legacy, pill of heaven's own crafting — not one of those names was wrong. It was a treasure beyond all price. And yet……
"To be so unassuming……"
That someone's muttered words were correct. While I had been racking my brain over how to obtain even that magnificent Taecheong-dan, I had somehow become the gracious benefactor who accepted merely the Taecheong-dan. Perhaps this, too, was what one would call a cycle of goodness.