Chapter 5

“Hmph…… hmph…….”
He dropped his sword to the ground and let out a harsh breath.
“Can’t you keep it straight, are you kidding me?”
An old man in a green robe.
His forehead was wrinkle-free and his hair was jet-black.
He was a highly accomplished martial artist.
“Ha!”
I raised my sword again and lunged at the old man, my master, Master Mujin.
I gripped the hilt tightly and slashed diagonally to the right.
KANG!
But Master Mujin easily blocked it, thrusting his hand toward my machete.
Bam!
“Woof!”
I flew backwards, unable to resolve my Qi into the powerful inner force field.
“How many times have I told you that’s not it, there must be a change, a change! Don’t you realize that if you move in a straight line like that, you can easily parry and counterattack even if you’re only a third-rate martial artist, or even a second-rate swordsman?”
With hands that trembled at his master’s tirade, he seized the sword bottle again and rushed forward.
“Ha!”
This time it went in.
The sword pole shook, and the blade bent.
The sword swayed like a kite sword.
A red plum blossom appeared on the hilt, evidence of the Plum Blossom Sword Path.
“Yes, that’s it.”
Master Mu Jin nodded and carefully blocked my sword.
Chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop!
Master Mujin broke all the changes and grabbed my wrist in a golden hand grip, and the sword slipped from my hand and fell to the ground.
“That’s it for today. Stop.”
“Hmph…… hmph…….”
I nodded, too weak to answer, and slumped back in my seat.
“Well, at least you’ve accomplished something today. Five plums, that’s one more than last time.”
Plum blossoms, proof of plum blossom kendo.
The number of plum blossoms that appear when the Plum Blossom Sword is mastered to its full potential is fifteen.
The number of plum blossoms I can currently draw to the best of my ability is five.
That means I’ve mastered about one-third of the plum blade.
“You’ve accomplished this much in just two years.”
I’m not a genius, but I can say that I’m a prodigy.
The amount of time it takes to master a martial art can take a lifetime, some even longer.
I was able to accomplish this in just two years.
I was proud of myself, even if I thought it was a bit extraordinary.
“Woo…… woo…….”
It’s only been two years since I became a direct disciple of Bo Ping.
In such a short period of time, I had accomplished the achievement of the Fourth Stage of the Unauthorized Plum Blossom Sword, which was enough to take a lifetime to master. No matter how intensively I learned the Plum Blossom Sword, this was still a very satisfying achievement in my eyes.
But my joy was short-lived, my muscles screamed at me for working beyond their limits.
I hurriedly set up my kabusatsu and recited the Jahasim.
I breathed in and out, chanting the mantra.
A refreshing energy swirled through my body, half going in and half going out.
After a few repetitions, all the fatigue left my body and I felt refreshed, as if I had just woken up from a good night’s sleep.
To date, I have only learned and practiced the Jahasim method out of the many methods of the Huashan School.
Although I could have learned other excellent methods, such as the Red Heart Method and the Pure Heart Method, I liked the Zaha Method the best.
My master also said that although it is slower to gather Qi than the other methods, it is the most sincere, so he didn’t recommend any other methods, so I only learned the Jia Hai method, which is the method taught to Bo Ping students.
“Huh…….”
I opened my eyes.
Things seemed a little brighter and clearer.
“Your eyes have become brighter and deeper.”
I heard my sensei say.
Before I knew it, I had jumped over a wall.
“When you’ve rested, follow me.”
“Yes.”
I replied and followed Master Mujin as he walked quickly.
A short while later, we arrived at Quyun Rock.
The place I had lived for two years, Master Mujin’s home.
“Prepare the food.”
“Yes.”
Food preparation.
Food preparation had become my daily routine since I became Master Mujin’s immediate apprentice.
Deciding that today’s dish would be made by picking vegetables from the field behind the Quyun Rock, I walked to the field.
“Huh?”
Just then, I saw someone.
“It’s Cheongwoo.”
It was Hong Yanhua, my friend who turned fourteen this year.
“Huh? What’s up?”
I hadn’t seen her much since I became a student, but she was still one of my best friends, the only one, if not the only one, that I consistently saw at least once a month.
There was also Yoo Jung-ho, who I used to be close with, but after I beat up Yoo Sang-pil, he became afraid of me and stayed away.
So Yeon-hwa was my only friend.
Being the only friend, it was rare for her to come to me first, not me to come to her, so I was curious.
“I just wanted to see her. Why, can’t I come?”
Yeonhwa gave me a pouty look.
Oh no, just a little more and she’d pout.
“No, no. How could you?”
I said with a quick wave of my hand, and Yeon-hwa made a face and pulled something out of her sleeve.
“Actually, look at this! Voila!”
A bronze-colored playing card spun before my eyes.
It was pentagonal in shape, with a plum blossom in the center, and the words “Plum Blossom Sword Master” were engraved on the bottom.
“Wow! Plum Blossom Swordsman?!! You’ve passed the Seven Prefectures of Wuyong?”
“Yep. The tactics part was close, but I still passed with an above-average score.”
Yan Hua waved the spinning plum blade in front of my eyes as if to show off.
“Wow, I’m jealous. I’m not there yet…….”
I said enviously.
I hadn’t become a prefect yet.
No, it’s strange that Yan Hua started out as a Bo Ping disciple and became a swordsman.
The distribution of the later exponents of the Huashan Sect is as follows…….
Bo Ping disciple. The lowest-ranking disciple who passes on the martial arts to ordinary children who want to learn them, and who usually grows up to establish themselves in a stronghold, founding a sect or leading a country, becoming the backbone of the Huashan Sect in a stronghold.
Vassal Disciples. Disciples from famous families who pay to come in, learn the martial arts, and when they leave, they either join the Huashan School to do business or lead their original schools.
Immediate disciples. Disciples who are the immediate disciples of the elders, who have exceptional qualities in martial arts, or who are the favorite children of the elders.
The status of the latter is divided as follows.
Six-Sighted Swordsman, Six-Sighted Rightsman. As a disciple who has passed through the gateway of the Six Wisdoms, it is only at this point that he or she can learn the true festivals of the Huashan Sect, regardless of whether he or she is a full disciple, a secondary disciple, or an immediate disciple.
I’m learning the Plum Blossom Sword Path because I’m a land swordsman. And as an immediate disciple, you are not learning as a land swordsman, but you are expanding your knowledge by sampling many of the Volcano Sect’s techniques from your master.
Master Swordsman. Students who have passed the gateway to the Seven Wise Men of the Five Elements are given a plum blade by the Elder who oversees the Zen Sword School. They are taught techniques that are superior to those of the land swordsman and land rights master. For example, the Plum Blossom Sword and the Taeul Mirage Sword.
Plum Blossom Swordsman, Plum Blossom Fighter. These are the later masters, just below the elders, and are known as the Plum Blossom Twenty-Four Swordsmen and Plum Blossom Eighteen Swordsmen, and in the stronger schools, along with the Shaolin monks of the Nahan Pavilion and the Five Elemental Swordsmen of the Shaman, they are known as the three great martial organizations of the Old School. Or at least, that’s what they were called. Nowadays, it’s a little bit lower than the Ten Swordsmen of the Southern Sect.
This is the status of the disciples before the elder.
Among them, I am a Land Swordsman. A disciple who has passed the land gateway.
And you, Yan Hua. A disciple who has passed through the gateways of the Five Elements and the Seven Elements.
The majority of the swordsmen are made up of inner disciples and immediate disciples.
This is because most of the Boping disciples are either land swordsmen or the last to descend from land swordsmen.
And since most of them are chosen by their elders to become immediate disciples before ascending to the rank of swordsman, there are very few swordsmen who are from the bopyeong disciples.
However, a woman who started as a boping disciple became a swordsman, and this is almost a major upheaval in the Huashan School.
‘역시…….’
Well, Yeonhwa was honestly a little special.
Not because she was my only friend, but because she didn’t brag about it in front of the elders, but because she worked tirelessly behind the scenes.
I guess she deserved it after all the hard work she put in every day.
“What was your weakness?”
“Um…… the pentatonic part of the seventh string.”
I’m above average in everything else, but I’m very weak in the middle seven strings.
I wonder if the current Master Mujin will give up on the Qin method and try to get me to pass the preliminary examination by excelling in the other parts.
“Really? I can’t help you with the Qin method because it involves understanding the Four Elements, Five Elements, Six Elements, Seven Elements, Eight Elements, Nine Elements, Yin and Yang, and Taijiquan…….”
Yan Hua said with regret.
I was genuinely happy that he wanted to help me.
“That’s okay, that’s okay, I can make up the points on the other side.”
She smiled happily.
We chatted the rest of the way to the field.
We talked about how the other kids were doing, what level they were at, what new students had joined, and so on.
They picked vegetables, cooked rice, and boiled porridge while talking about small things.
After two years of doing this, I was so used to it that I could do other things while cooking.
As I stirred the porridge in the pot, I said to Yeonhwa, who was standing in the back watching.
“So, how long are you going to be here?”
“Oh, I’m free all day today. Elder Wu Ying gave me a special day off.”
Speaking of Elder Wu Ying, he was the elder who became the new master of the Bo Ping disciples after Master Mu Jin became my immediate predecessor.
“Then why don’t you greet Master first, he’ll be here all day, and it’s polite to greet the elders first.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Yan Hua replied and ran over, deploying the Divine Law, Dark Incense Mark, with his drunken rock.
“Wow. That’s amazing.”
Yan Hua’s kung fu was not much better than mine.
Compared to me, who was directly trained by Master Mujin, who had achieved the highest level of cultivation.
That’s the result of hard work, day and night, every day.
Seeing that, I realized how important hard work is.
“Maybe next time I should try bimu?”
It seemed like a good idea.
It would be inferior to the softening that came before, but it would be nice to test each other’s martial arts, win or lose.
“Ah, the porridge is ready.”
When the porridge was done boiling, I scooped it into a bowl and placed it on a wooden board that served as a tray. Then, carrying it with both hands, I walked toward the quarry.
When I arrived at the quarry, I heard cackling laughter and hooting laughter.
It was definitely Yan Hua and Master Mujin’s voices.
Yan Hua knew Master Mujin well.
Of course, as a master, how could he not recognize his disciple’s best friend?
I stood quietly beside them as they chatted and put down my food.