130. Shijiazhuang (4)
Shijiazhuang (4)
130. Shijiazhuang (4)
"Youngest! That friend looks quite drunk. We know nothing about martial arts, so you go calm him down."
At the Wine Immortal Sect Leader's words, I was finally able to return to my senses.
"Heh... Elder Brother. Well, that man... I think he may have attained enlightenment."
"Huh? Enlightenment? What kind of enlightenment comes in the middle of drinking? Then wouldn't that make us invincible?"
The old men laughed cheerfully. They probably thought that both Drunken Beggar and I were completely wasted. But Drunken Beggar stiffened his face and asked me seriously.
"Hey. Was that not the Wuji Sword just now? Was your martial art not based on Extreme Yang Qi? And that Wuji Sword seemed a little different from the Wudang Sect Leader's too. Does Limitless biased toward yang even make sense?"
"Your information is slow. The swords I control through Qi-Guided Sword each contain a different martial art. Since we're drinking companions, I'll tell you specially: right before I attacked Heavenly Wolf Sect, I obtained the legacy of the Four Heroes of Dong-o. Among them was a secret manual left by Reverend Heo San, a third-generation disciple of Wudang."
"The Four Heroes of Dong-o? That's absurd! I don't know about the other heroes, but Reverend Heo San was a Wudang man! Would you take your sect's precious secret manual to a fight to the death?"
The Drunken Beggar was right. His words contained the reason legacies were rarely found in the Martial World. Even if I made every allowance, the Flame Emperor or Moon Immortal, who had no sect, might always have carried their secret manuals. But for a martial artist with a sect, like Heosan or Geo Am, to take such a manual into a battle to the death? If they were defeated, their sect's martial arts would fall straight into the enemy's hands.
"If you don't want to believe it, that's fine. The fact is, I have mastered the Wuji Sword."
There was no way to prove it anyway. Since the result already existed, I only had to insist. Honestly, I found it absurd too. Until then, I'd tried every method I could think of to suppress my yang energy and balance it in order to manifest Limitless. But that had been the mistake. Whether yin energy or yang energy, I could just entrust it all to the sword. Nature was contained within Limitless to begin with. Even that enormous sun was only an extremely tiny part of nature, so Limitless was a sword that could contain anything, whether Extreme Yin Qi or Extreme Yang Qi.
"The Wudang Sect Leader would faint dead away if he saw this. But let me ask one thing. Have you decided to conceal your internal energy now?"
"Huh?"
"Until just a moment ago, you were wafting out second-rate internal energy everywhere, but now you've completely stowed it away. Have you decided to stop pretending to be a second-rate martial artist and picking fights with everyone around you?"
Ah... The enlightenment wasn't just the completion of Wuji. The fact that he, clearly a first-class master, couldn't feel my internal energy meant that I had finally entered the ranks of first-class masters.
—At last, you will be able to use Flame Aura.—
—Congratulations, Reverend. Now I will train you with the Moonlit Divine Sword again as before. Since we can both use Martial Aura, I will face you with Martial Aura as well.—
—It was perfect Limitless. Though you are not a martial artist of Wudang, a Taoist reaching Limitless was the long-cherished wish of our Wudang and what Grandmaster Zhang Sanfeng had hoped for.—
—You Taoists are amusing. Reaching a new realm in the middle of drinking.—
The congratulations of the Four Heroes reached my ears. Now I could truly produce Martial Aura myself.
"Congratulations."
The Wine Immortal Sect Leader also congratulated me, his voice slurred.
"You are the first to succeed in our Drinking Ceremony. You are now qualified to inherit the secrets of Wine Immortal Sect."
"The secrets of Wine Immortal Sect? Is it something like Drunken Fist?"
"Bah! Good heavens, man! You looked dangerous earlier too. A man drinking and brawling is serious trouble! What martial arts would Wine Immortal Sect have? Seeing you swing a sword while drunk, you seem terribly eager to learn martial arts. If it's martial arts you want, ask our youngest brother. Among those who love liquor, there are no bad people. Since he is an elder of the Beggars' Sect, if you plead earnestly, he'll teach you a move."
Drunken Beggar looked dumbfounded at the Sect Leader's words.
"Hyung. This bastard is stronger than me."
"Is that so? You're weaker than you look, then.
"Here, young friend. Take this. It is our treasure containing everything of Wine Immortal Sect—the Wine Immortal Scripture. As you saw, this is the end for us. Yeongsan sprouted splendidly amid hardship, but we could not. Yet the study of the Dao turns and returns. The Wine Immortal Scripture will now take root in Yeongsan and continue there."
It was the first time the Sect Leader had spoken so seriously since I'd come to Wine Immortal Sect. My heart grew a little heavy. In truth, I had known from the first meeting that Wine Immortal Sect was finished, at the point where even the youngest junior brother was seventy-two with not a single disciple. Today in the Martial World, hundreds of sects are founded, and hundreds of sects are annihilated. From a Taoist's perspective, this too was a natural rise and fall, but the fact that this small paradise of a sect, made by such cheerful and good old men, was speaking of its end weighed on my heart.
"The Wine Immortal Scripture? Hyung, what is that?"
Drunken Beggar tilted his head, looking at the secret manual the Sect Leader handed me.
"The manufacturing methods for over fifty kinds of liquor. The manufacturing method for the Guest Immortal Wine you're drinking now is also preserved there. Even if we die and disappear, the fate of liquor must not be severed."
Drunken Beggar jumped in surprise at the Sect Leader's words.
"What! Hyung? Then give one to me too! I will carry on this liquor as well!"
"Carry on what? You're a sixty-year-old man yourself. You may live long because your martial arts are profound, but as a man of the Martial World who lives by the blade, you might die before us. Besides, you belong to the Beggars' Sect. Where in a beggars' den would you brew liquor? Yeongsan Sect has female disciples. They'll probably brew much tastier liquor than old men like us.
"You still have one whole jar left to drink. You shouldn't grow greedy while liquor is right before you."
At times, the Sect Leader's words carried incredible wisdom. Drunken Beggar nodded at his words and said.
"Now that I think of it, you're right. What kind of liquor would beggars brew? Even if I hid it in my quarters, they'd sniff it out like ghosts and steal it. I heard Yeongsan Sect has a female disciple called Medicine Immortal who's an expert in cooking and medicine. I suppose I'll have to go beg for liquor at Yeongsan in a few years when it's aged."
All bad feelings with Drunken Beggar had long since vanished. Although I had been the first to flee that battlefield, he alone was the man who could remember and respect my harrowing battle.
"Yeongsan Sect won't be the same as it is now by then. Whether it's a tavern or a Pleasure House, I'll treat you wherever you wish. But, Elder. Don't worry about years from now, you need to empty the jar in front of you first. The Beggars' Sect might be in an uproar right now over the missing elder case."
The old men burst into hearty laughter at those words.
"Now that you mention it, I got so distracted by the liquor that I ended up giving this far too late. My master told me to pass this on."
Foolish me, taking out the gift only when it was time to leave. Inside the prettily wrapped bundle were liver-tonifying medicinal pills brewed by Lee Eun-ha and fifty gold coins. It was repayment to them for lending us ten silver taels five times over back when Yeongsan Sect was struggling.
"Eh? What's this? Why is there so much money?"
The Sect Leader untied the bundle right there and frowned.
"Hyung. Yeongsan Sect is a genuinely successful sect now. They've even beaten the Hebei Peng Clan and have three subordinate forces."
"Really? Well, that is a relief. A real relief. Then I'll accept it gratefully. Truth is, there's a new liquor I've been wanting to brew, but the ingredient costs were so high I couldn't bring myself to do it."
The Sect Leader laughed cheerfully to the very end as he gave his thanks. Wine Immortal Sect was a truly good sect.
"You're heading back to Shijiazhuang now, right? Next will be Shanxi. I'm telling you just in case, but Shanxi is a place where the Unorthodox Faction is strong. Hebei has the Peng Clan, the Eon Clan, the Gongsun Clan, and our Beggars' Sect. Henan has Shaolin Temple and the Martial Alliance. Shaanxi has Mount Hua and Zhongnan. So the unorthodox sects are all crowded into Shanxi. The Gunjo Sect, the Sangjo Sect, Great Sun Association. Three of the Ten Great Evil Factions are gathered there. If it's there, you can rampage to your heart's content as is your nature, so stop tormenting innocent beggars and go crush some unorthodox sects instead."
Drunken Beggar spoke earnestly to me, who was leaving, one last time.
"Are we some kind of Martial Alliance strike force? With only six people, how could we possibly stir up that place?"
"You fought the Peng Clan with only six. Telling you to crush the unorthodox sects is a joke, but if you really end up clashing with them, contact us. When it comes to crushing the unorthodox sects, we can be of help too."
"That won't happen. Well, I'll be off now. I'll find time to visit again. May you all be healthy, elders."
"We're confident in that. The Wine Immortal Scripture may not grant eternal life, but it does contain the secrets of longevity. Look at us. Are we not convincing?"
Faces that were truly convincing. The Sect Leader had already passed ninety. To live that long in this era, you'd have to be quite the master. As old men do, they even packed a bottle of liquor for the road to the very end, but I thought I wouldn't have the faintest desire for alcohol for a good while. After bidding farewell to them and Drunken Beggar, I left Wine Immortal Sect and unfolded the Flame Blossom Steps.
My body felt light as a lie. Internal energy that felt like it would surge forth infinitely. I stopped my steps for a moment and finally formed Flame Aura, the last stage of Flame Blossom Art, upon my sword. It was Flame Aura that, while utterly shabby compared to Flame Emperor's Martial Aura, could still cut and burn everything it touched. This was probably where my talent would reach its terminus. I had come this far through the Four Heroes' efforts, but I knew well because I had seen their swords countless times up close, closer than anyone. Masters among the Top Hundred Masters like Heuk Cheon-gyeon were truly the domain of the chosen. Among countless second-rate experts, those who could reach first-rate were truly a tiny minority, but surprisingly, the gap between an ordinary first-class master and the Top Hundred Masters was narrow. Since it was said that there were roughly a thousand first-class masters, about one in ten would be among the Top Hundred Masters.
But my martial prowess, built up through an unorthodox path, didn't seem like it could ever become that of a true master. This much was enough. Now that I could even manifest Limitless, it was enough to dispatch the Four Heroes and protect my own body. Training would continue for the time being since my benefactor, the master Flame Emperor, was not yet satisfied, but at this point, I decided to be satisfied to some degree.
I hurried back to Shijiazhuang and told Master what had happened at the Wine Immortal Sect. She was delighted and praised me. It felt odd to be praised for drinking myself senseless, but the ordeal genuinely deserved it. While I was gone, the others had postponed sightseeing and confined themselves to the shopping streets and food befitting the largest city near the capital. Once I rejoined them, we began touring Shijiazhuang properly. Do-hwa had taught me an important lesson: we were country bumpkins, and in an age without tourist offices or guidebooks, we would get nowhere without a local guide. During my absence, they had hired an amiable middle-aged woman and arranged the tour.
According to our guide, if the Yan in “Zhang Fei, a man of Yan” stretched from Liaoning to Chengde, then the Changshan in “Zhao Zilong of Changshan” was this very area. Anji Bridge and Yaoji Pagoda—befitting the greatest city in the capital region, its famous sights were not at all inferior to Beijing's. Though we were Daoists, we visited Yungheung Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in the north, paid our respects to the Buddha, and thoroughly enjoyed being tourists. Buddhism and Daoism had already intermingled so much that fortunately there was no religious conflict. Even in Joseon, the corrupt Buddhism of Goryeo was currently being suppressed under the policy of Revering Confucianism and Suppressing Buddhism. Then again, the war with the Demonic Cult, the war with the Blood Cult, and the rise of the lama monks, including the Goshifa Lama, were all religious conflicts in the broad sense.
"[Holy Mother. This is Yungheung Temple. It's also called the Great Buddha Temple because it houses a large Guanyin statue.]"
At the sound of the Joseon language that came drifting by, Lee Eun-ha and I turned our heads and looked at them. A young woman of considerable beauty and around ten martial artists following her.
Holy Mother? Was there such a position or belief in Joseon? The setting of this world was ambiguous, so even if Catholicism, which was supposed to be transmitted in the late Joseon period, had been transmitted early, it wouldn't be a title bestowed on a human, would it? She wasn't a peerless beauty on the level of Jeong-hyang, but she had a somewhat Western-style face just like a woman from my past life in Korea. She slowly examined the Guanyin statue, then took her sect followers and departed somewhere.
"Senior Sister. She looked like a Joseon person. Do you know who she is?"
"Holy Mother? I've never heard of it either. I don't know about that woman, but I felt considerable internal energy from the martial artists following her."
"Are there martial artists in Joseon too?"
"I'm not sure? I don't know well either. But Joseon and the Central Plains have had exchanges for thousands of years, so it wouldn't be strange if Joseon had martial artists too."
Strangely, there was no information about Joseon martial artists in this world. Even the Four Outer Palaces were the Northern Sea Ice Palace in Primorsky Krai, the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace in Vietnam, the Potala Palace in Tibet of the Western Regions, and, to the east, not Joseon but Japan's Eastern Isles Divine Palace.
Still, as Lee Eun-ha had said, Joseon was currently the country closest to Ming, so it would have been stranger if it had no martial artists.
Touring fifteenth-century China had been enjoyable. Once this entire journey to Henan was over, I wanted to visit Joseon with Lee Eun-ha someday and see early Joseon at least once.