Chronicles of the Sword That Shook the Heavens

Chapter 5. Jincheon Falling Sword Divine Art

Thump! Thump! Thump!

“I’ll say this in advance.”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

“It’s not because I find you pretty or anything that I accepted you. But a promise is a promise….”

The paddle repeatedly struck the wet laundry. The stable striking rhythm showed signs of long practice.

Clatter, clatter.

“…Didn’t I lose the duel?”

Lee Byeok said, rinsing a plate in the stream.

“No, it was my loss. In the first place, using another weapon in a match of wooden sword versus wooden sword is cheating. Even if it were a real battle, the moment the sword touched my body, I would have been unable to fight.”

“……”

It was unconvincing.

If you look at it that way, not noticing that the opponent had a ‘hidden move’ is also an inexcusable cause of defeat.

Taang!

The end of the paddle pointed at Lee Byeok.

“Why, you got a problem? I’m saying I’m accepting you, so why the complaints? Or do you want to leave now?”

“No. It’s not that.”

“Haa.”

As if she had a headache, Jaegal Somi clutched her forehead.

“So, from now on, you are my junior brother and I am your senior sister. I won’t go as far as to tell you to use honorifics, but watch your mouth.”

“…Understood.”

“Hmph, good.”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Clatter, clatter.

And for a while, the sound of the paddle and the sound of washing dishes continued by the stream.

Glance, Lee Byeok looked at Jaegal Somi. He had a mountain of questions to ask about her or her martial arts.

But he couldn't carelessly bring it up.

Just as Lee Byeok couldn't rashly reveal his past, she too might have her own circumstances.

“Um.”

Glare, a sharp gaze.

“…Senior Sister.”

“Yeah, what is it, kid?”

Senior Sister.

It was the first time he had said the word.

“Is it true that the Sect Leader has no qi center? The Sect Leader clearly used qi right before my eyes. And several times at that….”

“Haa. And I thought it was something important.”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

With an indifferent face, Jaegal Somi’s gaze returned to the pile of laundry.

“Our youngest junior brother’s he… head is a bit lacking. In the first place, he doesn’t have a qi center himself, so he takes in guys similar to him as disciples. Right? If not for that, why would he need discarded bodies like you or me?”

“……”

“But well, I understand. Using martial arts without a qi center, that really doesn’t make sense. But he can do it. That human.”

In Jaegal Somi's tone as she said that, a sense of regret could be felt somehow.

It wasn't a gesture or expression that would come from a seventeen-year-old girl in the prime of her life.

“But from our perspective, it’s like false hope. You probably heard things like genius or prodigy a lot too, but with that level of a neighborhood genius, it’s impossible to even understand that human, let alone follow him.”

“……”

It was still confusing.

At the crossroads, he had decided to follow Lee Jincheon, his savior and a mysterious master.

But that didn't mean he had any vain expectations of regaining his qi center or inner arts.

It was just that he didn't know what else he could do besides the sword, even if he lived his whole life as a third-rate martial artist.

But… perhaps.

In his confused heart, Lee Byeok felt a single, tiny strand of longing stealthily growing.

“Well, whether you like it or not, you’ll soon experience it yourself. After rotting away for a few years in that vain hope, you’ll become so adept at scullery work that it becomes hard to quit.”

Pat, pat, Jaegal Somi patted her lower back. And then she stood up from her seat with a laundry basket on her hip.

“Now, let’s go, kid.”

“……”

Halt, Lee Byeok’s hand holding the plate froze.

“Huh? What? You’re not done with the dishes? No, don’t tell me you’ve only washed that much all this time?”

To one side of where Lee Byeok was sitting, a large pile of unwashed dishes was still stacked.

It was all traces of the ‘initiation ceremony’.

But there was no way Lee Byeok, who had lived as the young master of a clan, had ever done chores like laundry or washing dishes.

Thwack!

The laundry basket was thrown down.

“Aaargh! This is driving me crazy, really! The big bear is at least quick-witted, when am I ever going to make a person out of this one?!”

* * *

Three days later.

Around the time his internal injuries and body condition had improved again, Lee Byeok received a message from Jaegal Somi.

After dinner, escorted by a seemingly expectant Jaegal Somi and Hyuk Dae-woong, Lee Byeok headed to the Sect Leader’s quarters.

“Sect Leader. It is Lee Byeok.”

“Oh, come in.”

Slide, as Lee Byeok opened the door and entered, a stuffy smell immediately hit his nose.

All sorts of medicinal herbs were hanging from the ceiling. On the wall, wooden boxes with the names of medicinal ingredients were packed tightly.

It was a scene more like an apothecary's than the quarters where the master of a martial arts sect resided.

“Heard you had a big fight as soon as you arrived?”

Lee Jincheon was sitting in the middle of the room. He grins as he places a kettle on the brazier.

“Don’t just stand there blankly, come here and sit there. I’ll brew you a cup of tea.”

Bow.

After a nod, Lee Byeok sat down opposite him.

“So, how have the past few days been?”

“…I don’t know.”

If there was one thing Lee Byeok had learned in the past three days, it was that this Falling Sword Sect was by no means a proper martial arts sect.

They merely taught the village children things like the Three Talents Sword or the Six Harmonies Fist, and even taught not martial arts but writing or miscellaneous studies.

It was closer to a village school.

Even then, the Sect Leader did nothing. Everything, including teaching, was the responsibility of Jaegal Somi and Hyuk Dae-woong.

“Tsk tsk, what's there to say? It must be absurd. I talked about a miraculous encounter and told you to follow me, but I don't even show my face.”

“……”

In fact, since Lee Byeok arrived here, this was the first time he had properly faced Lee Jincheon.

Usually, Lee Jincheon acted as the village's only physician, either cooped up in his quarters or out on house calls.

“Well, as you’ve experienced yourself, this is that kind of place. It’s just an ordinary mountain village, and I’m that village’s only physician, medicine peddler, and idler. To me, that is also an important part of life.”

Bubble, bubble, as the water boiled, Lee Jincheon grabbed a handful of tea leaves wrapped in paper and dropped them into the kettle.

“But don't worry. As the Falling Sword Sect Leader, there is only one thing I will pass on to you, and the rest is all something you must achieve on your own.”

This is the main point.

Lee Byeok met his gaze seriously.

“It is called the Jincheon Falling Sword Divine Art.”

“Falling Sword, Jincheon…?”

“The name is very familiar, isn't it? Because it’s a name I made up. It’s a martial art I created too.”

“……”

The act of ‘creating a martial art’.

That was something impossible unless one was a great master whose martial arts realm had truly reached the heavens. But…….

Since coming here, Lee Byeok’s common sense was constantly being denied. He needed to adapt to some extent.

“But there’s no specific chant or anything. There are no forms either. It’s literally just a teaching. So I’m not even sure if it can be called a martial art.”

Scratch, scratch, fiddling with his beard, Lee Jincheon trailed off. Then, with a sudden cough, he changed his tone.

“Lee Byeok, what is inner arts?”

“…It is to gather and refine the energy of all things in the universe and store it within one's own body.”

“Yes, that's right. It's the energy of nature. But then, how does that energy accumulate in the qi center?”

“…What do you mean?”

“The nature of energy is to constantly flow, not to be stagnant in one place. But in the Gate of Vitality acupoint, which is just one of the 365 acupoints in the body, the energy settles as if it has been tamed. We call that the qi center.”

“……”

Lee Byeok fell into silence.

It was a question he had never once thought about while learning the sword.

He takes in energy through breathing, refines it through mental cultivation, and accepts it into the qi center.

There was no question there.

“The answer is circulation.”

Trickle, Lee Jincheon tilted the kettle. Steam rose from the teacup.

“Hot things go up, cold things go down. All energy has its own direction it wants to go. And the qi center is located exactly in the center of the body.”

“……”

“That’s why the energy forms a small circulation within the qi center. Most people don’t realize it, but in fact, the energy in the qi center is endlessly repeating an invisible circulation.”

Seeing Lee Byeok stiffening, Lee Jincheon let out a faint laugh as if he knew it would happen.

“Well, no need to think too hard.”

Saying so, Lee Jincheon held out the teacup. Lee Byeok, who was about to accept it without thinking, doubted his eyes for a moment.

A vortex was forming in the teacup held in Lee Jincheon's hand. The tea water was rotating without a sound.

It was silent. But.

“Doesn’t it look like a small typhoon?”

“……”

Crack!

The next moment, a crack appeared in the teacup.

“Oops. It broke.”

Lee Jincheon lightly brushed off his hands.

Even though it had shattered while in his hand, as expected, not even a light scratch was visible.

“Now, what should we do? The teacup is broken, so can we never drink tea again? Is all the time spent boiling water for nothing?”

It was a question, but he wasn't expecting an answer. Lee Byeok silently waited for the words to follow.

“Of course not.”

Lee Jincheon lightly tapped a brass bowl on the side. Ting! A clear sound rang out.

“If it can contain the circulation, what does it matter what kind of vessel it is, be it a rice bowl or a chamber pot?”

Trickle, Lee Jincheon lifted the kettle again and poured tea into the brass bowl until it was full.

“Drink it all down. Your body will feel clear.”

“…Thank you.”

Lee Byeok accepted the bowl.

As he received it with both hands and drank, a warm energy immediately went down his throat and into his stomach.

This was no ordinary tea. It was something that enveloped his qi and blood, cleanly washing the pathways inside his body—.

Puk.

It was then.

Something struck Lee Byeok’s stomach, and when he looked down, Lee Jincheon’s palm was deeply embedded there.

Clang!

The bowl fell from Lee Byeok’s hands.

It was the moment he tried to open his mouth. Lee Jincheon’s face was utterly serious. And an incomprehensible qi began to push into his stomach.

Kwoooosh, an energy like a wild horse flowed through Lee Byeok's qi and blood. It rampaged through his broken qi center and meridians, running wild without mercy.

The dizzying pain of his wounds being gouged open. Lee Byeok's consciousness grew dim. But at that moment, Lee Byeok had an intuition.

Transmitting Qi through Acupoints.

The act of blowing one's own inner arts into another's meridians to boost the flow of qi.

Moreover, it wasn't just a simple Transmitting Qi through Acupoints. Like tempering steel, Lee Jincheon's energy relentlessly pounded Lee Byeok's broken qi and blood.

He was reopening the blocked path.

“……”

He must not open his mouth.

He must not lose consciousness.

Lee Byeok closed his eyes. In the pain of his broken qi and blood being forcefully torn apart, he began to desperately observe the inside of his body.

And he realized one fact.

The energy being guided by Lee Jincheon was following the exact chant of the Azure River Flowing Leaf Art.

How on earth? The clan’s martial art?

But the question did not last long. In any case, if he couldn't control this flow himself, Lee Byeok's life could be in danger this time.

If this was some kind of test.

It was a chant he had polished his entire life.

There was no reason he couldn't control it.

Lee Byeok held his breath. Cautiously, like a hunter stalking its prey, but clearly, he followed the trail of the energy.

And the moment the energy once again grazed his broken qi center, Lee Byeok lunged. He threw a bridle on the rampaging horse.

“Keuk.”

A stifled groan escaped from between his closed lips. But Lee Byeok did not lose consciousness.

He hangs on, endures, and suppresses.

He brings it under control by taming it.

Whoooo!

And at some point, the flow finally began to be controlled. The wheels of the carriage began to turn according to Lee Byeok's will.

By then, Lee Jincheon's hand had been removed from Lee Byeok's qi center. But Lee Byeok did not even notice.

A majestically flowing river.

The fullness that filled his body.

What he thought he had lost forever…….

Flash, Lee Byeok's eyes opened.

A bright light flashed. And at the same time, Lee Byeok’s body burst through the door and rushed out.

His body, running out barefoot, grabbed a wooden sword from the training ground rack. And a sword dance began to unfold.

Azure River Sword Style.

Sword-Drawing Form.

Straight, Fast, Strong.

Upright, swift, and powerful.

Azure River Sword Style.

Sword-Withdrawal Form.

Curved, Changing, Soft.

Bending, dazzling, and gentle.

Extending, retracting, the afterimages of the sword tip embroidered the air. The essence of the Azure River Sword Style began to unfold like silk.

In ecstasy, the dreamlike sword dance was repeated over and over again. And at some point, Lee Byeok suddenly thought.

Perhaps, if it's now.

The sword chant he thought he had lost.

The path of the sword, which seemed to continue forever, began to subtly shift. The same yet different, different yet the same.

It was not the Azure River Sword Style.

The direct lineage of the Clan Head, the secret of the Seonwoo Clan.

Azure River Flowing Leaf Sword Style

First Form of Sword Drawing.

Straight Sword.

However.

Psss.

Suddenly, a sound like scattering sand rang in Lee Byeok's ears. And the carriage wheels creaked to a halt.

There is no qi center.

Therefore, not even a speck of dust remains.

The majestically flowing energy escapes all at once from Lee Byeok's entire body, through his breath, his skin.

Thud, thud.

“Ah, ah….”

The wooden sword fell to the ground.

And Lee Byeok’s body collapsed with it. The body, sprawled on the ground, gasped for breath.

“How was it, did you have some fun?”

In front of his eyes were the tips of Lee Jincheon's feet.

“Sorry, but all I can do is reopen the blocked path. It’s up to you to put circulation on top of that. So don’t be too disheartened.”

Only after hearing those words did Lee Byeok realize that tears were flowing from his eyes.

What he had lost seemed within his grasp.

But it scattered like a mirage.

“Lee Byeok, I’ll give you an assignment.”

“……”

“I don’t know how many years it will take. If you don’t want to do it, you can leave at any time, or it’s fine to just settle down in this village for the rest of your life.”

Lee Byeok raised his head. He looked up at Lee Jincheon beyond his blurry vision. A barely perceptible smile hung on his lips.

“But if you wish to see the path of a martial artist through to the end, you’ll have to think carefully about the meaning of those tears right now. Got it?”

“…Yes, Sect Leader.”

“Mm, good. The transmission of the Falling Sword Sect's secret art is complete! From now on, everything depends on your heart. Oh, and now you are also a proper first-generation disciple of our Falling Sword Sect, so you should guide the lay disciples.”

“…Pardon?”