That’s a different story, isn’t it? (4)
A thought suddenly occurred to him.
‘Just how strong is Samae?’
He thought he knew, and in truth, he did.
Yu Iseol was sometimes stronger than Baek Cheon, and sometimes she fell short of him. That was what happened when people who practiced the same martial art pursued the same goal.
They spurred each other on, now one ahead, now the other, advancing without an end. That was how fellow disciples ought to be.
‘But… is it really?’
The reason he had begun to question something he had always taken for granted was simple.
He had hardly ever felt that he was stronger than Yu Iseol. Baek Cheon had even broken through a wall and advanced to a new level. By conventional standards, that meant he had reached the threshold of the Sublime Realm [화경(化境)*], yet even now, he still felt the same.
Step. Step.
Yu Iseol walked towards Heavenly Executioner with her usual, unhurried movements. Even with a truly formidable enemy before her, she seemed not to feel the slightest burden.
“Samae!”
Baek Cheon shouted at the top of his lungs. Contrary to their agreement, Yu Iseol had rushed straight at Heavenly Executioner.
“You….!”
He could not tell whether she meant that she did not need his help, or whether she was rebuking him for still failing to move.
One thing was certain: to keep pace with Yu Iseol, Baek Cheon would have to charge in with everything he had.
As Baek Cheon sprinted at full speed, he saw Yu Iseol fly up to Heavenly Executioner.
Her long robe billowed wide. Boundless lightness. A grace so effortless that the words ‘Flying Swallow [비연(飛燕)]’ naturally sprang to mind. Then Yu Iseol’s sword split into countless sword images, thrusting at every part of Heavenly Executioner’s body.
His hands shrouded in pitch-black demonic energy, Heavenly Executioner contemptuously swept aside the sword images hurtling towards him.
But at that moment.
Krrk.
‘Hm?’
Heavenly Executioner narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Rather than being knocked away, Yu Iseol’s sword was instead cutting through the demonic energy and digging into his flesh.
Only then did Heavenly Executioner see the energy dwelling in Yu Iseol’s sword. A faint, icy blue light showed through the red energy wrapped around the blade.
‘Immortal energy ?’
And immensely powerful immortal energy at that. Even in the last war, he could count on one hand the opponents who had been able to give immortal energy such tangible form. How could a woman so young possess immortal energy that most could barely attain after walking the Path of the Immortals to the end of their lives…
“You blithering fools!”
Heavenly Executioner gritted his teeth and seized Yu Iseol’s sword in one swift motion.
Krrrk!
The blade, coursing with immortal energy, dug into his palm. But what did that matter?
“Just who do you think I am!”
Did they really think he would be frightened into retreating by some paltry energy like this?
Heavenly Executioner drew back his right hand. In an instant, demonic energy swirled around it, and he drove it straight towards Yu Iseol’s side. With a sharp sound that tore through the air, the hem of Yu Iseol’s clothes whipped about as though it might rip apart at any moment.
Clang!
Baek Cheon, who had chased after Yu Iseol with all his strength, thrust out his sword and blocked Heavenly Executioner’s fist. The moment sword and fist met, an irresistible force shoved Baek Cheon’s blade aside. Before his mind could even grasp what was happening, his hard-won understanding of softness [유(柔)] came into play instinctively, guiding Heavenly Executioner’s fist away.
Krrrrk!
It was a minuscule shift of trajectory – barely two chi – yet it succeeded in creating the space Yu Iseol needed to evade the blow.
Enraged by Baek Cheon’s response, Heavenly Executioner sent pitch-black demonic energy towards his head. Or rather, he tried to.
In that instant, Yu Iseol leapt above him as though taking flight. She could never have moved so quickly if she had spared even a thought for the straight punch he would aim at her. Paying no heed to a blow powerful enough to punch a hole through her stomach, Yu Iseol drove her sword down from midair towards Heavenly Executioner’s Baihui point [Hundred Convergence Acupoint – 백회혈(百會穴)].
Whoosh.
It was different from merely scattering sword energy.
Yu Iseol’s sword, filled with immortal energy, came at him with the force of a killing blow, aimed at a vital point every human possessed. Even Heavenly Executioner could not ignore such attack.
He finally withdrew the palm force he had sent towards Baek Cheon and leaned back. He had evaded Yu Iseol’s sword.
Slice.
Yu Iseol’s sword grazed Heavenly Executioner’s cheek by a hair’s breadth, leaving behind a red gash.
The instant rage flared in Heavenly Executioner’s eyes, Baek Cheon lunged towards his chest and thrust his sword with all his might. His target were Heavenly Executioner’s eyes. The same strike as before.
“You damned mosquitoes!”
Heavenly Executioner roared in fury.
But he could not shake them off as easily as he wanted. Both of them were fighting as though they had already cast aside their lives.
‘Why?’
What Heavenly Executioner could not understand was how he had been drawn into their assault.
A desperate attack meant to take him down with them? He had seen so many of those that he was sick of them. To Heavenly Executioner, who had always been the stronger one, an attempt at mutual destruction could hardly be considered anything special.
Which meant, conversely, that this… could hardly be dismissed as a trivial attempt at mutual destruction.
Rather… yes, a relentless combined assault [합격진(合擊陳)], each strike following the last with an impossible degree of coordination. That described it better.
At that moment, a brilliant blue light shimmered in Baek Cheon’s eyes as well.
‘I understand.’
No, it would be more accurate to say he could feel it.
What Yu Iseol was thinking, how she would attack, where she would stake her life.
Because they knew each other so well? No. It was not that simple.
Looking back, she had always been there. When he first learned Hwasan’s swordsmanship, when he practiced and trained, when he fought with his life on the line, and when he agonized and struggled in pursuit of improving his swordsmanship.
Yu Iseol had always been somewhere close by.
‘Of course. We’re fellow disciples.’
It would have been impossible in a Great Sect like Wudang or Shaolin. To them, the bond between ‘fellow disciples’ was a somewhat broader, more encompassing concept.
But Hwasan was different. Especially when the sect’s fortunes had waned, fellow disciples were no different from blood siblings. They shared more than meals, sleep, and the air they breathed. They lived their whole lives together.
Baek Cheon spread out his senses as far as they would go.
‘Not yet.’
For now, they were merely fighting side by side. He had to support Yu Iseol’s sword – to ensure she could unleash her full potential.
Baek Cheon twisted his body and brought his sword down towards Heavenly Executioner’s head. A strike with all his strength. One made without the slightest thought for the counterattack to come.
He had only one goal. To keep that man’s attention fixed on him.
‘What should I do?’
With skill that fell short, with abilities that were lacking, just how was he supposed to face that man…
– So what if your opponent is strong? If you can’t handle that strength, then just make it so they can’t use it. Isn’t that enough?
Fwoosh!
Baek Cheon’s sword shot forward like a flash of lightning.
The sword that had only ever sought his opponent’s vital points changed course. It reached the path of Heavenly Executioner’s fist before the blow could fly at Yu Iseol and unleashed a fierce surge of energy.
Of course, this would not bring Heavenly Executioner down. It would only keep his fist from going where he intended.
For now, that was enough.
Boom!
Caught by Baek Cheon’s energy, Heavenly Executioner’s fist shifted ever so slightly. At the same time, the palm force he unleashed grazed narrowly past Yu Iseol and erupted in a massive explosion in midair.
Slice!
Yu Iseol seized the opening and swept her sword across Heavenly Executioner’s neck, leaving a red cut behind.
“You….!”
Heavenly Executioner launched three punches at Yu Iseol before she had even managed to land on the ground. Each was a deadly blow that could have crushed her body to a pulp.
But at that moment, Baek Cheon, unable to draw back his sword in time, threw himself at Heavenly Executioner and slammed into his elbow.
Thud!
Heavenly Executioner’s attack went astray once more. And again Yu Iseol’s sword flashed towards Heavenly Executioner’s face like a bolt of lightning.
A relentless series of attacks that could only inspire awe.
But in that instant, Heavenly Executioner’s eyes turned icy cold. Baek Cheon felt a sudden, dreadful chill.
‘Samae?’
Heavenly Executioner’s blackened hand seized Yu Iseol’s incoming sword. The moment her eyes widened, he ignored Baek Cheon and swung his right hand fiercely at the crown of her head.
‘No.’
The moment Baek Cheon realized this, what surfaced in his mind, absurdly enough, was the distant past, long since gone by.
❀ ❀ ❀
“You know….”
“…”
“Hey.”
“…”
“I’m talking to you.”
“Hah…”
Leaning against a tree and taking little sips from his liquor bottle, Chung Myung reluctantly looked at Baek Cheon as though it were the greatest nuisance in the world.
“What. What is it now?”
“What’s with that look? When your Sasuk asks a question, isn’t it your duty as his Sajil to answer him sincerely?”
“It’s the other way around, you moron.”
“Oh, is it? Anyway.”
Baek Cheon shrugged as though it hardly mattered and went on.
“Why does Hwasan’s swordsmanship take on the form of flower petals?”
“…Huh?”
Chung Myung frowned at Baek Cheon as though he had heard a ghost wail. As if Baek Cheon had asked him why the sky was blue or water was clear.
Baek Cheon frowned too.
“I mean, think about it. It takes more effort, and it isn’t particularly efficient.”
“…”
“I understand that martial arts aren’t merely a way to defeat an enemy, but also a way to give form to an idea. But… even taking that into account, this is just too…”
“Cumbersome?”
Baek Cheon nodded slowly.
“Exactly. It never occurred to me when Hwasan’s martial arts were all I knew, but after coming to understand Wudang’s, I could feel it clearly. Shaolin’s weight and Wudang’s softness are both ways for the weak to face the strong. But Hwasan’s flamboyance, how should I put it… when facing someone stronger, doesn’t it seem rather pointless?”
“Hmm.”
“Huh? Wait, you agree?”
“No. I was just thinking that pathetic fools can see it that way too.”
“You little bastard.”
Chung Myung took another sip of liquor, then gave Baek Cheon a curious look.
“What?”
“You’re probably not entirely wrong, Sasuk.”
“…Really?”
“Confusing your opponent is, in itself, one way for the weak to contend with the strong. But Hwasan’s plum blossoms aren’t really like that. It’s not as if we’re going to scatter flowers to run away.”
“Right? If anything, they only make the opponent focus even more. That’s why I wonder whether it makes sense.”
“Maybe that’s why.”
“Hm?”
When Baek Cheon asked what he meant, Chung Myung snorted.
“If the goal is for me to survive, then Wudang’s way would be right. And if the goal is to uphold the Buddhist path that says enduring is more important than surviving, then Shaolin’s way would be fitting. But Hwasan, well…”
Chung Myung glanced up at the plum tree he was leaning against.
“Maybe its goal is different.”
“And what’s that goal?”
“That’s for you to figure out, Sasuk.”
“What the hell? You made it sound as though you were going to tell me, then left me hanging.”
Chung Myung snickered as though to taunt him, then tipped back his bottle and gulped down the liquor.
“Is it good?”
Irritated, Baek Cheon kicked a stone off the ground, sending it bouncing towards Chung Myung.
❀ ❀ ❀
Fwoooosh!
Baek Cheon’s sword erupted in a burst of plum blossoms.
Countless blossoms, so vivid and dazzling that it was impossible to look away, filled Heavenly Executioner’s vision in an instant.
Then Baek Cheon saw it.
Heavenly Executioner faltered, seemingly bewildered by the plum blossoms that had suddenly filled the world. His hesitation lasted only a brief moment, but for Yu Iseol, it was enough.
Fwoooosh.
Yu Iseol’s sword plunged into the space where thousands of plum blossom petals swirled. Reading the fleeting gaps where countless plum blossoms crossed one another, she drove her sword into the fiend’s shoulder without a moment’s delay.
Crunch.
The sword pierced through Heavenly Executioner’s body and emerged on the other side, red blood spraying from its tip like a burst of fireworks.
________
*Since biga suddenly touched the realms here, quick note for anyone not extremely familiar with it. 삼류[三流] (the full term would be 삼류 무인): 3d rate martial artist; 이류[二流]: 2nd rate; 일류[一流]: 1st rate – beginners.
절정[絕頂]: peak realm (절정 고수 peak realm master for example). Sword qi(energy) is represented like a faint aura around the blade, color varies from person to person. As someone advances from the early peak master to the middle and further – the color of the aura becomes more distinct and vibrant.
초절정[超絕頂]: transcend peak realm. Sword qi extends beyond the blade itself. Can be applied to body protecting techniques like sword curtain 검막(劍幕).
화경[化境]: sublime realm. One can wield 검강(劍罡 – geom-gang) “giving internal energy physical form.”
현경[玄境]: profound realm. One can wield 검환(劍丸 – geom-hwan) (never encountered this in hwagwi). 검환(劍丸) – the full name of it would be 검강압환(劍罡壓丸). It’s an energy that is further compressed (than geom-gang) and can be thrown at an opponent (it makes a big boom).
생사경[生死境]: the realm of life and death, where master surpasses the limitations of human lifespan, transcending life and death. etc.
But in the end this can vary from series to series so this can’t be taken as 100% truth for this novel, since it’s not dipping that much into this aspect.
________
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