Chapter 102 : Dancer (2)
Chapter 102: Dancer (2)
The sword dance of the dancer standing alone at the center of the performance troupe.
As Namgung Jun watched the blade move in time with the melodies flowing from the various instruments played by the troupe, his eyes gradually widened.
There was no helping it.
“Something is different.”
Namgung Jun's inner thoughts slipped past his lips.
Fortunately, his voice was so quiet that no one around him paid any attention.
Everyone was naturally absorbed in the sword dance.
There was no helping that.
The trajectories displayed by the dancer wearing the comical mask were so mysterious that they irresistibly drew the eye.
Swoosh!
The lavishly decorated curved saber drifted through the air.
Though no particular force was imbued within it, the air gently rippled with each movement of the saber, opening a path before it.
At first, the dancer's movements simply followed the melody.
Gradually, however, they changed beyond recognition.
Little by little, he seized control, until eventually the musicians reached the point where they adjusted their melodies to match the sword dance.
The dancer now displayed a sword dance completely different from the one at the beginning.
The curved saber, moving in accordance with the dancer's lively motions, was astonishingly free and beautiful.
Just when it seemed the curved saber was being swung recklessly, it suddenly traced elegant lines, playfully teasing the welcoming sunlight.
Long rays of sunlight, split apart like strips of silk, wrapped themselves around the gleaming blade.
Perhaps it was because the sword dance was so mysterious.
The sunlight lingering along the blade did not scatter but instead seemed to gather around the dancer.
Beads of light shimmered across the dancer's already splendid attire.
It seemed as though he were drawing the sunlight pouring down upon the square toward himself with the curved saber.
‘How is that possible? The speed of the sword dance isn't even increasing.’
No matter that it was a sword dance, there should still be a fixed form.
Even so, the sword dance unfolding before him easily surpassed all conventional understanding.
Though he had never seen such a sword dance before, there was one thing Namgung Jun knew with certainty.
‘He's simply extending the saber wherever his heart desires.’
Each seemingly meaningless slash became the foothold for the next movement, while his exaggerated body movements, as though intoxicated with excitement, led to even more splendid transformations.
The radiance and trajectories spreading from the sword dance.
The sounds of steel and the blade cutting through the air that enhanced and harmonized with the melody.
The endless transformations that eventually reached the level of infinite variation.
Countless elements mingled around the dancer, giving rise to an entirely new flow.
Whoosh!
As the dancer circled the perimeter of the square while swinging his curved saber, every tiny movement dramatically changed the nature of the sword dance.
Like rain suddenly falling from a cloudless sky.
Like the countless phenomena of nature beyond anything human eyes could ever predict.
Within a single breath, it transformed several times over.
He simply could not look away.
He was completely captivated.
It was enough to make him momentarily stop the breathing cycles of the Heavenly Thunder True Yang Art and the Azure King Pure World Qi, which he habitually maintained.
Thump!
How long had he been watching the sword dance?
Just as he completely lost his awareness of the passage of time—
A tremendous resonance erupted from within Namgung Jun.
His heart pounded violently.
Before he knew it, the villagers reflected in his eyes vanished one by one.
Even the sounds of the many instruments filling his ears disappeared.
The only thing entering Namgung Jun's senses was the dancer performing the sword dance.
No.
To Namgung Jun, it no longer appeared to be a sword dance.
Rather than a mere sword dance, it appeared as one of the countless phenomena of nature brought forth through the curved saber.
“Ah!”
A soft exclamation escaped Namgung Jun's lips.
The breath that accompanied it was thick and burning hot.
His hand, tightly gripping the sword sheath, trembled faintly.
Surprise.
Awe.
Exhilaration.
Admiration.
Curiosity.
The many emotions mixed within that single breath rubbed together until they became one.
‘I want to cross swords with him.’
As the pride and dignity of a swordsman heated his heart—
Namgung Jun's gaze suddenly shifted toward the mask the dancer wore.
The deep eyes visible between the two eyeholes of the mask.
Those lively-looking eyes curved faintly.
At the same time, the saber that had been directed toward Namgung Jun dipped up and down once.
Understanding its meaning, Namgung Jun stepped forward.
Unlike his usual steps, always filled with enough strength to unleash his sword at any moment, this step was incomparably light.
Like a child who did not wish to leave footprints upon a field of snow.
Shing!
At the same moment he stepped forward, Namgung Jun drew his sword and immediately spun his body, slashing outward.
For an instant, the sword and saber seemed about to collide.
Instead, they stopped at the very edge of contact before withdrawing once more.
It was a sudden interruption.
Yet no one in the square attempted to stop them.
Even after Namgung Jun joined in, the sword dance did not lose its harmony.
Instead, it became even richer and more exquisite.
Though they had made no prior arrangement, the curved saber and the Uicheon Sword blended together beautifully as though they had long ago agreed upon every movement.
Swoosh!
Namgung Jun began matching the dancer's rhythm.
Neither of them spoke.
Nor did they exchange glances.
He simply felt the movement of the curved saber before him with his entire body, allowing his own sword to move wherever his instincts guided it.
The two blades fluttered through the air like a pair of butterflies, teasing both the air and the sunlight.
Neither weapon collided with the other.
Each pursued its own individuality.
Trajectories that strengthened one another without disrupting each other's flow.
It was as though two brushes raced through empty space, painting a magnificent landscape together.
The rhythms of the dancer and the swordsman were clearly different, yet neither rejected the other.
Their differing footwork coexisted as though drawing endless circles, while their hands floating through the air only served to accentuate one another.
‘This is...’
Namgung Jun made no attempt to imitate the dancer's sword dance.
Instead, he sought to infuse his own sword with the naturalness of the countless phenomena he had comprehended through watching it.
Change (變化) and Stillness (停滯).
The countless phenomena of nature possessed both qualities.
Before those two unshakable natures, the countless sword paths (劍路), forms (形), and techniques (式) filling Namgung Jun's mind became nothing more than clutter.
‘It is so distant and so vast that there is no end.’
As he continued the sword dance, Namgung Jun emptied the clutter from his mind.
Once the chaos within his heart had been cleared away, the phrase Boundless Horizon (一望無涯), which had remained at the very bottom of his consciousness, drifted away like smoke, brushed against the edge of his mind, and disappeared.
He forgot forms.
He forgot enlightenment.
Then he forgot himself.
Having lost everything, Namgung Jun immersed himself completely in the sword dance.
He swung his sword.
Again and again.
Having forgotten both his consciousness and himself, he attained selflessness.
With nothing to obstruct or hinder him, he attained unhindered freedom.
Yet the boundless vastness flowing through his sword remained endless, and so it became boundlessness.
Within that endless vastness, Namgung Jun quietly raised his sword.
‘Hm?’
A sudden question arose within him.
The farther the sword in his hand extended forward, the fainter it seemed to become.
It was as though the blade itself were melting into empty space.
It was a strange sensation he had never experienced before while wielding a sword.
It was overwhelmingly blissful.
Yet the young man did not reject it.
He simply accepted it.
At this point, he could no longer tell whether he was still holding the sword or had already let it go.
Even so, Namgung Jun expressed his will exactly as his body and heart guided him.
Clang!
A sharp metallic sound suddenly filled his mind.
Only then did Namgung Jun come back to his senses.
“Haa...”
Namgung Jun let out an exhausted breath.
Just how long had he been swinging his sword?
His entire body was drenched in sweat.
As he struggled to steady his breathing and looked around, torches now illuminated every corner of the square with their warm glow.
Before he realized it, night had fallen.
The sword dance that had begun at noon had ended only in the middle of the night.
After surveying his surroundings, Namgung Jun finally looked forward.
The Uicheon Sword was stopped by a curved saber held diagonally before him.
It seemed the metallic sound produced when the sword and saber met had shattered his state of selflessness.
The dancer withdrew his curved saber with a playful gesture.
“I think we've danced enough. Let us end our first performance here.”
A lively yet refined voice flowed out from behind the mask.
It was slightly higher than one would expect from a man, giving Namgung Jun the feeling that he was probably an excellent singer as well.
‘So there was a master like this.’
For a brief moment, he wondered whether this might actually be the Heavenly Sword Master concealing his identity.
Yet even at such close range, where their breaths practically mingled, he sensed nothing unusual.
Even if someone completely concealed their aura and presence, the transcendence unique to an absolute master could never truly be hidden.
‘The world truly is vast.’
Namgung Jun hurriedly sheathed his sword before offering a respectful salute.
“I have learned a great deal.”
“No, at a time like this, the proper answer is that you enjoyed yourself. Wouldn't you agree? Our first performance was a success, and quite a beautiful one.”
Tilting his masked head slightly, the dancer added,
“It has been a long time since I last enjoyed myself. Even the village chief couldn't keep up with my freely improvised sword dance as you did.”
The dancer exaggeratedly shrugged his shoulders before turning away without hesitation.
It was only regrettable that he never removed his mask, leaving his face unseen until the very end.
Namgung Jun watched the dancer's retreating back for a long time.
Though the lingering impression remained strong, he immediately sat down cross-legged in the middle of the square.
‘That sword dance... It truly was an extraordinary fortuitous opportunity.’
In order to carefully preserve the precious enlightenment he had unexpectedly gained, Namgung Jun immediately entered meditation.
After his chance encounter with the dancer and their shared sword dance, Namgung Jun remained in Suyeon Village for seven days and seven nights.
It was because he hoped they might meet again.
However, whether their paths simply failed to cross or the dancer had left the village to perform elsewhere, they never met again.
‘If I deliberately seek him out, I'd only be imposing.’
The lively square, bustling as always, now felt strangely empty in Namgung Jun's eyes.
Still, to desire anything more here would only be greed.
‘This is enough. Gaining enlightenment into Boundless Horizon alone is already an immense fortuitous opportunity.’
Even now, the insights of Vast Azure Firmament and Boundless Horizon continued to merge and intertwine freely within Namgung Jun's mind.
Sooner or later, he would have to find the time to refine those two insights.
Letting out a sigh mixed with a faint smile, Namgung Jun turned around.
He could not remain in Suyeon Village forever, so he decided to return to the main stronghold.
As he descended the mountain path and prepared to make his way down the steep valley, his footsteps suddenly halted.
A group was climbing upstream against the powerful current flowing through the valley.
Their attire was all too familiar.
‘The Sun and Moon Demonic Cult!’
The demonic cultists also noticed Namgung Jun standing at the end of the valley.
They stopped moving and looked up at him.
‘Is their target Suyeon Village!’
In that brief instant, Namgung Jun's thoughts raced.
There could only be one reason for the demonic cultists to venture this deep into such a remote mountain and struggle their way upstream.
They had finally discovered the hidden location where the Heavenly Sword Master was undergoing secluded cultivation.
‘There's no way to warn Suyeon Village, and no time to evacuate the villagers.’
Having assessed the situation in an instant, Namgung Jun rested his right hand upon the hilt of his sword.
“A martial artist in a place like this? Capture him!”
At the middle-aged demonic cultist's command, the leading cultists, who had been stepping across the rocks, simultaneously employed their Lightness Skill and leaped into the air.
The moment the demonic cultists surrounding Namgung Jun were about to strike with their blades.
Blue lightning continuously burst from Namgung Jun's sword sheath.
Perhaps because he had poured in more internal energy than necessary.
The instant he drew his sword, brilliant blue streaks of light erupted in every direction, while deafening thunder shook the entire valley.
Kwarrrr!
The moment the sword left its sheath, the demonic cultists charging at Namgung Jun were sliced into dozens of pieces before raining down.
Their blood spread through the flowing waters of the valley.
Glancing briefly at the stream, now clouded with blood, Namgung Jun slowly shook his head.
“Don't come any closer. You'll only dirty the water.”