Chapter 92: The Faraway Bridge

Adept Heo Do’s reaction was intense.

‘I don’t know if the building will get destroyed at this rate.’

I had guessed he would react somewhat like this.

So I felt even more apologetic.

[Jackpot!]

‘…It can’t be helped, since he likes it so much.’

Still, seeing Master Zhang Sanfeng so happy made me feel a bit more relaxed. Thanks to that, I could watch the deeply excited Adept Heo Do with a more comfortable mind.

‘Wait. But how do I unravel this?’

Then, I suddenly discovered a serious problem.

In the case of the Divine Monk, there was a medium called the Heavy Earth Divine Art. Through the act of interpreting the Heavy Earth Divine Art, I was able to convey Master Bodhidharma’s martial intent.

But for Adept Heo Do, there was no such medium.

A novice who had never even held a sword would not receive good feedback if he stepped forward to show a move to someone ranked among the top ten swordsmen under heaven. It would be a relief if it didn’t just justify his expulsion from the Wudang Sect.

“Then, how far have you learned the Wudang Sect’s martial arts?”

Fortunately, Adept Heo Do, who quickly composed himself as if to prove his deep cultivation, provided a way.

“I was unable to hold a sword in the Wudang Sect.”

“Pardon?! With your talent?”

“There were… several stories behind it.”

At Adept Heo Do’s words, I subtly mentioned what had happened in the Wudang Sect once again.

Thanks to that, Adept Heo Do’s brow twitched once more.

“Indeed… there must have been some story. Enough for an unusual expulsion incident to happen in the Wudang Sect… *Grit!*”

‘This person thought my talent was quite good.’

Considering that I had struggled because I couldn’t even master Tai Chi Chuan properly, I wondered if it was an absurd evaluation, but looking at my current achievements, it seemed I wasn’t a useless slow-learner either.

In fact, looking at the achievements I had gained while learning martial arts from my masters in heaven, it proved that my talent was not completely terrible.

“If you are willing to learn, I will teach you.”

Adept Heo Do gave me the option.

He probably thought that since I had already deeply learned Shaolin’s martial arts and harbored bad feelings toward the Wudang Sect, I might reject it.

I eagerly bit the considerate offer.

“I want to learn.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, learning Wudang’s sword… was once my dream, after all.”

Perhaps because I was reviving the emotions from when I was a lay disciple of the Wudang Sect after a long time, the words buried deep inside me poured out on their own.

“A dream… Haha.”

That seemed to have stimulated Adept Heo Do’s emotions again.

A genius who had already shaken the world empty-handed was saying he wanted to learn the sword.

Once again, Adept Heo Do’s brow twitched.

‘I keep poking him.’

I was sorry for repeatedly poking a good person’s sore spot, but thinking that this would return several-fold to those two piles of dung in the Wudang Sect, I decided to look at it positively.

It wouldn’t do any good for the Wudang Sect to keep harboring such piles of dung anyway.

“Follow me.”

Turning around so sharply that the hem of his Taoist robe fluttered, Adept Heo Do strode forward.

***

I was not the only one following Adept Heo Do.

“Wow! Wudang’s Number One Sword… is this for real…”

Unable to stop his dazed muttering, Baek Mu-ho also followed along.

He wasn’t exactly a direct disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, but he had a casual connection, and upon hearing he was my friend, Adept Heo Do permitted him to come along, saying he was a member of the Nine Sects.

[Seeing that he allowed Baek Mu-ho to tag along, it seems he intends to teach you the basics of the sword for now.]

I also agreed with Master Zhang Sanfeng’s thoughts.

Strictly speaking, I was currently an outsider, so teaching Wudang’s secret techniques was against the rules.

But he wouldn’t teach me something meaningless, so he probably intended to teach only within the scope that could help my future growth.

[Actually, that is the right thing to do. There is no point in teaching something difficult as a secret technique to a chick whose basics are not properly established.]

‘I suppose so.’

He had said that he worked behind the scenes to keep my background hidden out of fear that excessive backing would harm my growth, and it seemed he wasn’t just making excuses or empty talk.

Arriving at a quiet spot, Adept Heo Do asked.

“Do you know the grip method of the Wudang Sect’s sword arts?”

“No.”

“Then let us start with that. Since the way you unfold the sword changes depending on the grip method, it differs slightly for each sect.”

As if he really intended to teach from the basics, he started with how to hold a sword.

He taught me while inspecting me very meticulously.

Once the basic preparation was somewhat complete, Adept Heo Do spoke with a bitter expression.

“Teaching Wudang’s sword to you, who has deep ties with Shaolin, is a nuisance in many ways. Personally, it is a shame to you and your dream that was dashed before it could sprout. Publicly, I feel ashamed toward Shaolin.”

[He is diligent and considerate.]

Master Zhang Sanfeng liked Adept Heo Do very much.

[If you give him a task, he will stubbornly do it well. Good, very good. Hehehe.]

“…”

It was a compliment. It was definitely a compliment.

Let’s not make strange misunderstandings.

‘Good thoughts. Good thoughts.’

“Martial arts are like a huge pool. The more you build it up, the more it embraces. That is why there is the saying that ten thousand streams return to the source. Therefore, I hope what you see from now on will also become nourishment for your growth in the future.”

With those words, Adept Heo Do unfolded a sword technique.

It was slow yet fast.

Slow when it should be slow, and fast when it should be fast.

However, I could clearly understand what that sword was trying to express.

‘A circle?’

[Ho?]

Drawing a circle, and drawing another circle.

A martial art made entirely of circles.

‘Contest of Circles.’

Contesting entirely through circles.

The sword’s routine was speaking.

He was shouting it with his whole body.

At a level I dared not evaluate.

Even though I was observing it with listening force and synesthesia, I couldn’t count the flow of circles contained within.

[That child knows what is missing in Wudang’s martial arts.]

‘Oh? Then…’

[That’s why a problem arose.]

I wondered if there was no part for me (Master Zhang Sanfeng) to step in, but it was a needless worry.

Who was my master!

[Obsession is nothing but a shackle. Since he has not reached the realm of compliance, his vision narrowed right before completion.]

To me, the martial art looked completely perfect, but in Master Zhang Sanfeng’s eyes, it seemed otherwise.

Master Zhang Sanfeng let out a strange chuckle and spoke again.

[Shall we practice some routines after a long time, my disciple?]

“Haha…”

My masters in heaven, who could not directly show me how they unfolded their martial arts, taught the routines through words.

Naturally, discrepancies were bound to occur. The moment of catching my breath, the position of my fingertips and toes, the direction of my gaze, the center of my gravity—every single thing was a subject of nagging. They corrected my crooked postures solely with words.

Thanks to that, I could now realize how to move my body just by the master’s instructions.

Of course, it was still by no means an easy task.

[Sword.]

“Yes!”

I had guessed it would lead to this flow anyway.

“Let me borrow your sword.”

“Uh…”

At the point where Adept Heo Do’s sword was gradually coming to a stop, I requested a sword from Baek Mu-ho, who was standing beside me.

This natural genius was staring blankly, as if he was also obtaining something from Adept Heo Do’s sword.

With his gaze still fixed, Baek Mu-ho meekly handed over the sword.

I held it according to the grip method I had just learned.

The sensation of the unfamiliar grip made my palm tickle.

[Left two steps. Lower your center of gravity and look forward. Flow, movement must be natural. Think of riding the sword on that flow and it will be natural.]

And at Master Zhang Sanfeng’s descending instruction.

[Draw a circle.]

I swung the sword.

***

It was not Heo Do’s first time seeing Yeon Cheong-un.

But perhaps because it had been too long. Seeing Yeon Cheong-un after a long time gave a strange feeling.

‘He reminds me of Mu-ae.’

Maybe it was because he resembled his friend’s youth.

Heo Do’s heart was moved by the unknown familiarity he felt while looking at Yeon Cheong-un.

It felt as if he had found ‘a piece lost long ago.’

Therefore, he was even more pleased, resentful, and regretful.

And when he heard that Yeon Cheong-un, who was such an existence, had been persecuted in the Wudang Sect, he had even shown a state of being unable to control himself.

‘How embarrassing.’

Bringing up the story of martial arts without shame was also a manifestation of that.

Fortunately, the conversation went as Heo Do intended(?), giving him a chance to repay his mistake even slightly.

‘Hmm? Already?’

But as if he had realized something, Yeon Cheong-un suddenly stepped forward with a sword.

It was only right not to interfere with enlightenment. Heo Do observed Yeon Cheong-un’s sword and matched its flow.

Watching, observing, and matching Yeon Cheong-un.

They shared their swords, locking together along the flow.

‘What on earth!’

In that process, Heo Do received a shock as if he had been struck hard on the head with a hammer.

‘A circle… It’s a circle…’

Wudang’s martial arts are a Contest of Circles.

It is a martial art that contests as a circle.

But the current martial arts of the Wudang Sect were too harsh.

Rather than flowing the opponent’s power as a circle, it was closer to a curve to wedge oneself in.

It wasn’t that such a martial art was necessarily bad.

That was also the basis and philosophy of an outstanding martial art.

However, there was certainly a distance from the essence of the Wudang Sect that Heo Do thought of.

Feeling something strange in that, he tried to achieve the martial art of circles in his own way, and the crystallization of that was the Great Circular Taiji Sword.

A martial art that sought to draw a circle.

But looking at the sword Yeon Cheong-un was unfolding now, he understood.

‘It was an obsession!’

To contest as a circle, he had tried to express a circle.

That gave birth to unnaturalness.

On the other hand, the trajectory of the sword drawn by Yeon Cheong-un was different.

It was a circle within a circle, and a circle outside a circle. Therefore, even if it did not draw a circle, it was a circle.

Even if it did not try to draw a circle on its own, it created the flow of a circle.

Raw nature itself.

It was as if it was pointing out precisely where his lacking part was.

‘Ah!’

The moment he realized his own unnaturalness, Heo Do felt his vision broaden.

He realized he had a shackle, and the moment he threw off that shackle, his deficient parts finally came into view.

And the moment those lacking parts were filled.

Heo Do’s sword was no longer unnatural.

***

“This is crazy…”

Baek Mu-ho, who was watching everything from start to finish, could tell.

It was becoming complete.

Perhaps to match the level of Yeon Cheong-un, who had suddenly taken up the sword, Adept Heo Do’s sword became much more relaxed than before.

Therefore, he could observe.

Going from a low place to a high place.

From immaturity to completion.

From deficiency to perfection.

The sword was speaking.

Enough to make the chest of Baek Mu-ho, who was just watching from the outside, run cold.

“Contest of Circles.”

Two swords.

Two circles.

The two swords, locking and harmonizing, drew a beautiful circle.