Chapter 111

Chapter 111

Hundreds of years of accumulation had kept them apart, and the distance between them had made them wary of each other.
“Who is the strongest?”
He had become sensitive to the words of the patrons.
“Shaolin, of course.”
“Yeki, the shaman, the Namzon shaman, haven’t you heard of him?”
“That’s an old story, people, haven’t you heard of the Sixth Dynasty?”
“If the Sixth Prince is the best, then the Namgung family is the best. Namgung Mu Baek, the Changchun Divine Sword, he is the best swordsman!”
“Uh-huh, there’s a teacher who can read the heavens and earth, who knows who!”
“I’m done. Enough, enough.”
So many intertwined interests.
The Nine Sects and the Six Great Families are at odds with each other.
A force that could not unite between the Nine Families and the Six Great Families.
That was the reality of the current Zhengfa Clan, the Hundred Swords Clan, and those who walk the path. How can we bring the Fengyun Branch Conference to a positive conclusion, I wondered, as I stood beside myself,
“You said that Kunlun and Mo Yongse have not yet arrived.”
“Yes.”
I answered my host’s question. As if in answer to his words, the majority of those who had arrived safely had taken up their positions and established themselves in various parts of Anhui. The preparations for the Pungwoonjihoe were nearing their end, in order to await the arrival of the distant Kunlun and Mo Yongse, and to begin in good time.
“But where are you going?”
“I’m going to have a word with them, they’ve had a hard time. Don’t stay where you are, move around a bit, and don’t get in trouble for approaching the nanny’s side.”
At my words, the uncle put down the bottle he had been clinking, and he looked as if he was full of energy. I made my move without listening to what he was about to say.
“You’ve had a long day,” he said, ”and now I hope you’ll enjoy the cool breeze.”
“My dear Archduke, why do you stoop so low to such worthless mortals?”
“What do you mean. I know you came at the first of the month and rolled up your sleeves to help us, so how can I not thank you.”
“Haha, I’m so sorry. It’s amazing to think of the old Grand Duke.”
I thanked them, feeling proud that the laborers had toiled to raise the structures on time and created a comfortable place to rest and an ante-chamber.
“I’ve cooked you a hot meal, please eat it first. Did the nanny not deliver it to you, for I am sure you asked her to do so.”
I found them, with their servants, maids, and distinguished attendants, bending at the waist to prepare meals for hundreds of people every day.
“I have heard from the nursemaid, my lord,” they said, ”but how can we do it?”
“Only if you eat well can the Fengyun Jiekai be held safely, so don’t fill your stomachs with snowflakes, but with freshly cooked rice and yogurt.”
At my words, they all pursed their lips with the same expression as the laborers.
“If ……Ma’am saw that, she would have shed tears.”
“Hmph. Black, black.”
Embarrassed by their tears, I offer a few words of comfort and then walk away. It was hard to find the right words to say to each of them, knowing that the mere sight of my face would bring them to tears.
“It’s no wonder you’re so upset when you think back to the days when you were …… a wretch. How unjust it must be for all these years.”
I can’t believe I said that.
Just as I was about to shake my head in disbelief that she would dare to follow me and shout at me for what I had said, she added another word.
“So, are the preparations for the Pungwoonjihoe ready?”
“As I said before, we only need to wait for Kunlun and Mo Yong to arrive.”
“I don’t mean the preparations. I mean whether you’re ready to fulfill the Fengyun Sect’s wishes.”
Seeing the expression on his face, I shook my head and opened my mouth.
“There will be many gaps, and we may not be united immediately, but it will be important to break them down and move forward as one.”
“Arthur, that would be greedy. If the factions could change at the mere mention of unity, they would have done so long ago.”
“Then we can fill in the gaps after the Fengyun Sect has begun.”
The aunt said that was not enough. He told me that it was not enough to fill the gap with such a mindset.
“Time has passed, much time has passed.”
I wondered what he wanted to say.
“It is plausible. The idea of uniting in a martial arts tournament called the Pungwoonjihoe, especially with the Huang Family themselves breaking the seal and gaining dramatic support, would be the best move.”
The Fengyun Circle.
A gathering of heroes and heroines to share stories,
where the heroes and heroines gather to tell their stories.
“So what’s the problem?”
“The question of whether or not to wear a cuirass.”
I raised my eyebrows at that.
“I can’t believe that people in the Fengyun Circle still care about such things.”
“That’s fine, unity, and it’s where we can see and gauge how far we’ve come and how far we’ve grown. When such an occasion is formally held, would you not participate?”
I clicked my tongue. If he really meant it, wouldn’t it defeat the purpose of unity and the will to unify the entire sect?
“It would be fine if there were a senior from the Celestial City or a senior from the Jiegale Family. What’s to worry about when there are two great seniors?”
“You seem to have lost your steps. You’re talking about something stupid and foolish.”
The elderly woman’s voice was harsh.
“The fact that you have two seniors is a blessing in disguise, but what good is it once they’re gone? What’s the point of putting together a bowl that will break again when they’re gone? What’s the point of having this meeting, thinking that the children will take care of it then?”
I couldn’t help but spit out my words.
The man who was used to simply swinging his sword and focusing on nothingness had a sobering and penetrating gaze.
I was unable to respond to his lucid narrative, so I could only hold my tongue. What could I do then?
“The Fengyun Circle you saw.”
Unsure of how to proceed, I pondered over the question he posed, and then he spoke as if tossing it lightly at me.
“What did you want the Fengyun Fellowship you saw to mean?”
I paused.
“I wanted it to be unity, of course. I wanted it to be the fertilizer that would allow us to stand together as one, to support each other, to help each other, to help each other, and to fight together against the Black Dao and the Demons.”
As I faced Black Dao’s Green Forest King Baekwang, I realized that if it weren’t for Namgung Mu Baek who appeared at the right time, I would have lost my life instantly. Facing his fighting spirit, I realized that we must gather strength from each other through the Fengyun Branch.
When I came face to face with Mado and the apostate Shima Zuoyuan.
I was convinced that we must stand together against her fraudulent energy. The sharp sword of the Southern Palace was engraved with the immobility of Shaolin, the spiritual energy of Kunlun, the eloquence of Fang Family, and the sage wisdom of Jingal.
For me, who remembered escaping the crisis through it, this Fengyun Temple was definitely a necessary place. At my assertion, the old man’s mouth curled into a smile that he hadn’t shown before.
“Then it is concluded, isn’t it?”
Concluded.
I looked up at the words.
“Manure. The manure of the Fengyun Branch, since you started it, you should be responsible for it to the end.”
“How can I be responsible?”
How can I do that.
How can we become united?
“Overwhelming power and possibility. Show them both.”
I stared at him in disbelief, wondering what the conclusion was.
“To be united, we need possibility. The possibility of a future. The possibility that you saw.”
I remember the despair I felt when I faced Zhu Yuanyuan Shima, and even when I was dazzled by the illusion, and how I would not have been here if the Blue Cloud River Sword of the Berserker had not stood in my way, and if Zhuge Linghu had not appeared in time to break the illusion.
Just like I said, I need to let others feel the same way. That together we can get better.
“So you have to show them that it’s possible.”
“How?”
How do I show that it’s possible?
“I told you before, you need overwhelming power.”
How are we talking about power here?
“Have you forgotten that the logic of power goes beyond black and white?”
I shook my head in disbelief. The logic of power goes beyond black and white.
This is what I heard when I first met Huang Bo-gyeom.
“Zhengfa, when did you start putting down your understanding in the name of Zhengfa? If you’re going to argue with a shell of a man, go back to your swarm. Survival of the strongest. The logic of the strong man is that the strongest man has everything.”
With those words, he stamped on me with overwhelming force. I realized that my protestations of justice and injustice were meaningless in the face of his immense power.
I looked at Ye Gong of the Qing Sheng Sect and remembered that he, too, had said that we must abandon the pretense of political affiliation in order to unleash the power of the Supreme Heart.
I remembered those stories. But is it really right?
He who has power has everything.
The powerful overwhelm the weak.
Those who have money press down on those who don’t.
To dismiss the logic of others as meaningless just because you are powerful.
“So you admonish me not to compare myself to the strong, to the logic of power, and to stamp down everything with power rather than this place of harmony.”
It is a wrong world.
“It is a wrong world, not the world I know.”
At the disappointed look in my eyes, my aunt curled the corners of her mouth. He smiled, his eyes twitching as he realized what made him feel good.
“Yes, yes, it is. Simple-mindedness leads to flawed logic.”
Simple dominance.
Faulty logic.
What you’re trying to tell me, then, is that it’s different.
“Open up that possibility with overwhelming power. Show me that you have the sixth Heavenly Qi that Ch’ien Gi spoke of, and become the center of the political faction here, in the Fengyun Branch.”
It’s not about having power, it’s not about having everything.
Being powerful does not mean overpowering the weak.
Nor does being powerful override other logic.
It’s just.
It’s about sticking together.
To shine a light of hope in the midst of the political factions.
So that they can fend off the claws of the black sword.
To summon the strength to stand together and overcome the tide of evil.
That was the need for overwhelming power that the uncle spoke of.