Wudang Sacred Scriptures

Kwak Yeon had never seen such an open, sweeping metropolis either, and his chest stirred at the sight.

It made him feel again what he had felt when he looked down from the cliff during the final gateway test at the training ground.

Only now, he was not looking down at a small training ground, but at the entire Martial Alliance, as if from the sky.

Directly below the Alliance Leader’s Office stood the Strategists’ Office, and beyond it the inner fortress was packed with halls and towers: the Grand Envoy’s Office, the Jadeite Pavilion, the guest residence where they were staying, and countless others.

Kwak Yeon had heard that a plank road ran along the rear of the cliff below the inner fortress, leading down to the Yangtze River docks, so he briefly turned his gaze northwest.

There, beneath the cliff of Dragon-Quelling Hill, he could see dozens of ships large and small lined up along the Yangtze River.

They had to be the boats that would carry the punitive force against the Demonic Eight Divisions throughout the Central Plains.

He could feel it now.

War in the martial world was near.

The second Eight Desolations Upheaval.

As a mere Taoist, he had no way to stop it, and no particular reason to stop it either.

If the orthodox martial world cleared away one corner of the evil aura blanketing all under heaven, then even if their purpose lay in their own ambitions, it would still be a good thing for the martial world.

Finding and erasing the true body of the evil aura hiding behind the Demonic Eight Divisions was his responsibility, one way or another.

“Become the immortal sword of all under heaven.”

He was striving constantly to fulfill the dying wish of his late master, Unseon Taoist, but he still could not be certain whether he would be able to do it.

Of course, if he reached the Ultimate Void, there would be no need for such doubts.

But as things stood, he had not even crossed the wall of the Entrance-to-Divinity Realm.

Just in time, he had received the Wisdom Sword of Taiji from Martial Uncle Uncheon and gained the first clue to the Entrance-to-Divinity Realm.

That, too, was surely Unseon Taoist’s arrangement.

Kwak Yeon felt as if Unseon Taoist’s spirit was beside him.

“......!”

After staring for a moment at a piece of white cloud floating in the sky, Kwak Yeon lowered his gaze back to the earth.

A disorderly stretch of markets and houses spread outside the outer fortress of Martial Alliance headquarters.

Because of Martial Alliance headquarters, a city of such size had formed there that it surpassed most prefectural cities.

Inside the walls of the outer fortress, however, the view was the complete opposite of the chaotic city beyond the walls.

Broad avenues ran straight north, south, east, and west like a grid, and each square formed by those lines was packed with grand manors.

And above each of those numerous manors, banners of every color and design were flying.

“Brother, what are all those different banners in the outer fortress?”

Hu Gae, who had been licking his lips while looking down at the rows of taverns in the marketplace, answered Kwak Yeon’s question carelessly.

“What else? They’re flags that martial sects and martial families put up so they can brag about how great they are.”

“Ah. You mean they’re the crested banners of the martial sects and martial families?”

“That’s right.”

Hu Gae nodded.

“Any sect or martial family with a name in the martial world keeps a manor in the Martial Alliance. During ordinary times, the sect’s envoys come and stay there with disciples from the area, but when the heads of sects bring their main forces like now, they fly the sect banners like that.”

Kwak Yeon understood now why each manor in the outer fortress had a different banner raised above it.

“For example, the largest yellow banner by the inner fortress gate belongs to Shaolin. The blue one beside it is the Namgung Family. The pale crimson one beside that is the Mount Hua Sect... Ah! Wudang Sect’s white banner is there in the middle too. And...!”

Hu Gae, who had been chattering excitedly, flinched and shut his mouth.

He had seen the red banner of the Jegal Family hanging not far from the manor where Wudang Sect’s white banner had been raised.

The moment Hu Gae saw that banner of the Jegal Family with its red dragon, he thought of the most dangerous man in that family.

And naturally, he remembered the very concern he had felt when he decided to come to the Martial Alliance with Kwak Yeon.

“Anyway, putting that aside, Brother Kwak, what do you plan to do from here?”

Kwak Yeon looked at Hu Gae in disbelief.

“I already told you, didn’t I? I said I would decide after meeting Elder Begs-for-All.”

“I heard you, of course. But my grand-martial uncle isn’t here right now, so I’m asking again.”

“Did you hear that Elder Begs-for-All will be very late?”

“Not exactly, but my grand-martial uncle is so unpredictable that no one ever knows what he’ll do. In any case, I want you to help me a bit in the meantime.”

“Of course I will, but I do not know how I could be useful in Beggar Clan affairs.”

“You’ll be plenty useful, so don’t worry about that. If something comes up like this business with the madmen and I get called all over the place, you can take my place.”

“.......”

“In any case, you promised me you would, so Brother Kwak, you need to stay right at the guest residence so I can find you whenever I need you.”

Kwak Yeon readily nodded.

“I will do that.”

For Kwak Yeon, who needed to train in the Wisdom Sword of Taiji, remaining at the guest residence was something he wanted anyway.

Relieved inwardly by Kwak Yeon’s answer, Hu Gae turned his eyes back toward the outer fortress.

Then, looking at the Jegal Family’s red banner, he made a vow.

No matter what excuse he had to use, he would not let Kwak Yeon take a single step outside the inner fortress.

As long as they don’t run into each other, it’ll be fine.

Causing a disturbance in the inner fortress where the Martial Alliance Leader resided was taboo within the Martial Alliance. No matter how quick-tempered the Fire Dragon of the Jegal Family might be, he would not be able to come all the way into the inner fortress and pick a fight.

Hu Gae knew Kwak Yeon’s realm, but he could not be certain Kwak Yeon would win in a duel against the Fire Dragon of the Jegal Family.

The Jegal Family showed no mercy when it came to revenge for their clan, and he had also heard that the Fire Dragon of the Jegal Family was the strongest master in three generations of the Jegal Family.

Even if Kwak Yeon won, if blood was shed, the result would ultimately be bad for him.

Besides, Kwak Yeon already had the ominous epithet of killing as he pleased with every step attached to him.

As Hu Gae was hardening his resolve to keep Kwak Yeon inside the inner fortress, the main gate of Righteous Heaven Hall suddenly grew busy.

RUMBLE!

The heavy doors of Righteous Heaven Hall opened, and figures dressed as monks, Taoists, and laymen began to come out.

“Brother Kwak, it looks like the senior leaders’ council is finally over.”

*****

When Kwak Yeon and Hu Gae entered Righteous Heaven Hall, the Martial Alliance Leader, the Martial Supreme Venerable Cheol Gun-ak, was standing before a wide-open window and looking down over Martial Alliance headquarters.

The Martial Alliance Leader’s shadow stretched long, making it look like the shadow of a giant.

RUSTLE!

Grand Strategist Sagong Ui lightly waved his crane-feather fan and said, “Alliance Leader, Hu Gae of the Beggar Clan and Taoist Kwak of Mount Wudang have arrived.”

Only then did the Martial Alliance Leader, the Martial Supreme Venerable Cheol Gun-ak, who had been standing like a stone statue, turn around.

“No need for bothersome greetings. Sit comfortably anywhere you like.”

Kwak Yeon could feel the majesty filling that calm voice.

He thought the man was exactly what one would expect of the Martial Alliance Leader, a figure who commanded the martial world from above ten thousand men.

RUSTLE. RUSTLE.

The Martial Alliance Leader Cheol Gun-ak crossed Righteous Heaven Hall with steps so light they seemed to glide, and he did not look like an old man past ninety in the slightest.

If not for the gray hairs at his temples, one could have believed he was middle-aged.

One of the Four Venerables of the martial world, an absolute master who had reached the Entrance-to-Divinity Realm and achieved rejuvenation.

As Kwak Yeon gazed at the Martial Supreme Venerable, his heart began to beat faintly faster.

Together with awe toward an elder master who had crossed the wall, a heroic ambition surged within him.

That was because he was seeing with his own eyes that the Entrance-to-Divinity Realm, which had only felt vague to him, truly existed.

The Martial Alliance Leader Cheol Gun-ak turned around before a golden grand chair supported by two soaring dragons and furrowed his brow.

“You ignore the Martial Alliance Leader’s order as if it went in one ear and out the other. Are you two acting spirited because you’re young?”

Grand Strategist Sagong Ui quickly spoke.

“These two young heroes are waiting for you to take your seat first, Alliance Leader.”

“Pointless empty courtesy...”

The Martial Alliance Leader Cheol Gun-ak gave a bitter smile and sat in the grand chair.

“Now sit down at once, before I break your legs.”

Kwak Yeon knew the Martial Alliance Leader was being considerate of them, so his rough words did not offend him in the least.

No, if anything, they made him feel more at ease.

CLATTER. THUMP.

After seeing Hu Gae pull out a chair and sit down, Kwak Yeon quietly sat in the seat beside him.

With a long, massive table between them and dozens of chairs standing empty, the two of them ended up sitting there rather forlornly.

“Grand Strategist, why don’t you sit as well?”

At the Martial Alliance Leader’s suggestion, Grand Strategist Sagong Ui gave a bow.

“Alliance Leader, as always, I am more comfortable standing here like this.”

“You and that stubbornness of yours.”

The Martial Alliance Leader Cheol Gun-ak shook his head with a displeased expression, then turned his gaze toward Hu Gae and Kwak Yeon.

“It must be hot inside this hall. Until just a moment ago, nearly twenty people were gathered here, passionately arguing. So I opened the windows, but the heat still hasn’t fully left.”

Hu Gae looked puzzled as he said, “Alliance Leader, it isn’t hotter inside Righteous Heaven Hall than it is outside, though...?”

Of course, Hu Gae knew that a dozen or more people had been gathered inside the tightly shut Righteous Heaven Hall for the senior leaders’ council until just a moment ago.

But it certainly was not enough to require opening the windows wide to let the heat out. In fact, Righteous Heaven Hall was so cool that the air outside felt hotter by comparison.

The Martial Alliance Leader Cheol Gun-ak’s gaze turned toward Kwak Yeon.

“Is that so for you as well, Taoist Kwak?”

At the needle-sharp edge in that gaze, Kwak Yeon felt all the acupoints throughout his body react at once.

Ah! To draw a response from the Honwonmusang Technique with nothing but the sharpness of his gaze.

Kwak Yeon newly understood why the Entrance-to-Divinity Realm was called a state of entering divinity.

And he also understood clearly what the Martial Alliance Leader, the Martial Supreme Venerable, was asking him.

Naturally, he was not asking about the physical heat of the air.

He was asking whether Kwak Yeon could sense the energy of the inner power and true qi left behind by the heads of the martial sects who had attended the senior leaders’ council.

From the moment Kwak Yeon reached the upper extreme of the Flower Realm, he had begun to sense inner power and true qi through his five senses.

At first, the sensation was so faint that he had wondered if he was mistaken.

But the sensation had come often, and whenever an internal master released inner power and true qi, that sensation grew more intense.

Kwak Yeon had suddenly realized he had not been mistaken after all.

In other words, the Martial Alliance Leader, the Martial Supreme Venerable, was asking him whether he could physically feel the heat of inner power and true qi — qi-heat.

By doing so, he was asking Kwak Yeon’s realm.

And the reason the Martial Alliance Leader, the Martial Supreme Venerable, was staring at him with that sharp edge was that he wanted an answer without lies.

Kwak Yeon understood that the Martial Alliance Leader, the Martial Supreme Venerable Cheol Gun-ak, had inevitably called him to Righteous Heaven Hall because he wanted to determine his realm.

Since Kwak Yeon had no reason to lie or anything he needed to conceal, he answered honestly, exactly as he had felt it.

“When I first entered the hall a moment ago, I felt a slight heat. But now, I no longer feel anything of the sort.”

For an instant, a strange light appeared in the Martial Alliance Leader Cheol Gun-ak’s eyes, then disappeared.

“Hah. That is a relief. If even you had said you didn’t feel the hall was hot, Taoist Kwak, then I would have become a senile old fool who can’t even properly distinguish cold from heat.”

A faint brightness seemed to rise across the face of the Martial Alliance Leader Cheol Gun-ak, who had remained expressionless all along.

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