Chapter 105 : Heavenly Sword Master (3)
Chapter 105: Heavenly Sword Master (3)
The relocation of Suyeon Village had begun.
Though Suyeon Village itself was small, every villager's belongings were equally modest.
It was as though they had always been prepared to relocate at any moment.
After arriving safely at the nearest Azure Sky Society branch without incident, the villagers dispersed and continued their journey separately.
The Clouds assigned to the branch naturally blended into the various groups as escorts.
It seemed they intended to prevent pursuit by other forces.
After the hectic process ended and all the villagers had departed, only two people remained.
A boy in the midst of growing up and a flamboyantly dressed dancer.
“Are you certain you needn't travel together with the villagers?”
“We should trust the Clouds stationed at the branch.
Since they've already made it this far safely, nothing should happen.”
Jang Mu-yeon walked leisurely with both hands clasped behind his head.
His carefree gait, swaying this way and that with pigeon-toed steps, made him look no different from an idle wanderer.
Yet Namgung Jun, walking beside him, did not find Jang Mu-yeon's bearing foolish in the slightest.
‘The directions of his footwork are completely unconstrained.
It feels as though he could extend himself freely in any direction.’
Since his own Infinite Steps Footwork was developing in a similar direction, there was much he could learn from it.
Nor was it only his footwork.
Jang Mu-yeon's presence had been completely erased.
It was exactly the same as when they had first met in Suyeon Village.
There was not the slightest trace of aura or Qi fluctuations, nor even the transcendent presence unique to an absolute master.
Naturally, an absolute master could conceal their strength.
Even so, someone capable of hiding it as perfectly as Jang Mu-yeon was exceedingly rare.
“Sword Master, have you attained Returning to Simplicity?”
“That's right.
After achieving Five Qi Returning to the Origin and becoming an absolute master, the thing I devoted the most effort to was Returning to Simplicity.”
Namgung Jun looked at Jang Mu-yeon with a hint of surprise.
If Jang Mu-yeon had any specialty, it would naturally be his sword dance.
Hadn't his sword dance, free from all formal constraints, even toyed with the principles governing the countless phenomena of nature?
Even now, the dance the Heavenly Sword Master had displayed remained vividly engraved in Namgung Jun's mind.
“Most ordinary people fear martial artists.”
“They naturally would.”
“They fear them all the more if they're experts.
Once I reached a certain level, no matter how thoroughly I concealed my aura, ordinary people would unconsciously avoid me.
They instinctively sensed that I was something different.”
Namgung Jun nodded.
For someone like the Heavenly Sword Master, even if others did not directly feel threatened by his aura or Qi, they would still instinctively perceive that he was something beyond ordinary understanding.
“If people feel even the slightest discomfort, they can't fully enjoy the performance.
What's the use if the performer is exceptionally talented?
The audience won't truly become immersed.”
Listening quietly, Namgung Jun turned his head.
Before he knew it, Jang Mu-yeon's steps had become slightly livelier, as though he could no longer suppress the itch to move.
“Then... did you cultivate Returning to Simplicity so that you could travel the world performing?”
“Of course.
That way I can enjoy sword dances together with ordinary people, be treated to a drink, and chat comfortably with them.”
Jang Mu-yeon playfully moved both arms while half of his face remained hidden behind his mask.
“Whatever else may be true, when it comes to concealing my aura and Qi while pretending to be ordinary, no absolute master can compare to me.
Remember that.”
Jang Mu-yeon paused for a moment before lowering his voice for emphasis.
“The Heavenly Sword Master's Returning to Simplicity is the greatest under heaven.”
The dancer's twisted smile brimmed with mischief.
On the journey back to the Azure Sky Society's main stronghold, Namgung Jun and Jang Mu-yeon visited every village they encountered.
The size of the village did not matter.
As long as there were people with whom they could enjoy a performance, that was enough.
The sky had already turned crimson, as though the sun would soon set, yet neither of them paid it any mind.
The villagers had brightly illuminated the surroundings with torches.
Perhaps because it had been so long since a performance troupe had visited.
The scattered villagers watched Jang Mu-yeon and Namgung Jun with eager anticipation.
Since the performers had requested nothing more than a meal and a place to stay for the night in exchange for the performance, everyone remained relaxed.
Thump!
The masked Jang Mu-yeon stomped the ground with an exaggerated and comical movement, and the earth itself resounded like a drum.
“Oh!”
“How could a stomp produce a sound like that?”
“It's not something mere strength could accomplish!”
The villagers had already become fascinated simply from hearing the sound of Jang Mu-yeon's footsteps.
“Hyaa!”
There was no helping it.
In a tiny mountain village tucked away in the wilderness, there were few opportunities for entertainment, if any at all.
After stomping the ground two or three more times, Jang Mu-yeon let out another peculiar shout and drew his sword.
At the same time, the ornaments adorning him and the sword and saber in his hands emitted clear metallic chimes.
There were no musicians present to enliven the atmosphere with instruments.
Jang Mu-yeon's shoulders bounced ceaselessly with every lighthearted step.
Swaying his body to the rhythm he created through his footsteps and ornaments, Jang Mu-yeon finally began his dance.
The Uicheon Sword and the curved saber crossed each other brilliantly, captivating the villagers' eyes.
Shrrrk!
The swordplay began amid resounding sounds.
Jang Mu-yeon had not even swung his sword and saber five times before the villagers stood with mouths hanging open.
They needed to see no more.
Even those completely ignorant of martial arts could recognize how beautiful the sword paths Jang Mu-yeon traced truly were.
‘He said this performance itself is his secluded cultivation.’
The Heavenly Sword Master's secluded cultivation differed from ordinary secluded cultivation.
He did not train alone deep within uninhabited mountains or inside a Hidden Cave sealed behind an iron gate.
Instead, he stepped away from the affairs of the Jianghu and performed sword dances.
He staged performances, mingled with ordinary people, and shared laughter and drinks with them.
That was the secluded cultivation chosen by the dancer named Jang Mu-yeon.
Harmonious Reflection Joyous Dance.
It was said to be the Heavenly Sword Master's unique martial art.
Unusually, it combined swordsmanship, footwork, and an internal art into a single whole.
Even Jang Mu-yeon himself, who had created the martial art, admitted that he had no idea how such an art had come into existence.
‘He's circulating his Qi while performing a sword dance.’
Since it was possible to execute sword techniques while circulating Qi, it was difficult to classify it simply as an active cultivation method.
It was the first martial art of its kind that Namgung Jun had ever seen, making it difficult to judge carelessly.
One thing, however, was certain.
His own presence was helping Jang Mu-yeon.
Step.
Namgung Jun did not imitate Jang Mu-yeon's peculiar stomps that produced drumbeats.
Instead, recalling the free-flowing profundity of the Infinite Steps Footwork down to the tips of his toes, he stepped onto Jang Mu-yeon's stage.
Having already drawn his sword, Namgung Jun matched Jang Mu-yeon's rhythm just as he had done in Suyeon Village.
“Waaah!”
“They're getting faster and more complicated, but the blades seem as though they'll touch, yet never do!”
With Namgung Jun's entrance, the speed and brilliance of Jang Mu-yeon's sword and saber gradually increased.
Even so, they remained slow enough for the villagers' ordinary eyesight to follow.
Still, the villagers could only cheer at the sword dance the two men performed together.
‘Is this enough?’
Namgung Jun glanced through the eyeholes of Jang Mu-yeon's mask.
The moment he saw the eyes hidden within, he was inwardly startled.
Jang Mu-yeon's eyes had curved into crescents.
There was no need to look any further.
Jang Mu-yeon was thoroughly enjoying both the performance and the audience's cheers.
“Hoo.”
Namgung Jun quietly exhaled.
He decided not to concern himself with the Heavenly Sword Master's internal injuries, secluded cultivation, or any other trivial matters.
‘Let it all go.’
As the Heavenly Sword Master wished, he decided to simply enjoy the moment.
To enjoy swinging the sword.
That was something deeply familiar to Namgung Jun, even without calling it a sword dance.
At first, there had been a dancer and a swordsman upon the stage.
Now there were simply two dancers displaying their movements together.
Entranced by the sword dance woven together by the two dancers, the villagers completely lost track of time.
Before they knew it, the sun had already set and the torches shone brightly.
Yet not a single person showed any intention of returning home.
At that moment—
A sudden wind blew from deep within the mountains, brushing gently across the village.
The powerful gust extinguished the torches one after another.
Yet the villagers paid no attention to the torches.
Their eyes remained fixed solely upon the sword dance.
Even the briefest glance away seemed too great a loss.
When darkness had fallen over the surroundings and only a single torch remained lit—
Jang Mu-yeon's body seemed to topple sideways, and the sword extending from his side lightly brushed past the remaining flame.
Before anyone realized it, a flame rested upon the flat of his blade.
He had not cut the wick.
He had simply divided the flame itself and placed it upon the blade, so it should have gone out at any moment.
Yet Jang Mu-yeon did not hurry.
He continued moving his body leisurely as always, playing with the sword while dancing across the stage before lighting the extinguished torches one after another.
By the time the audience finished watching Jang Mu-yeon's sword dance in stunned silence, the stage had become bright once more.
“To witness such a feat!”
“This is the first time I've ever seen someone transfer fire with a sword!”
“He... cut the flame!”
Most of the torches extinguished by the fierce wind had been relit.
Only the final torch remained.
Jang Mu-yeon approached it.
Then, quite suddenly, he turned around and extended his sword toward Namgung Jun.
The flame instantly leaped from one blade to the other.
The fire burning upon the flat of Namgung Jun's lowered sword illuminated his face.
Understanding the meaning behind Jang Mu-yeon's gesture, Namgung Jun immediately stepped forward.
He did not rush.
A careless movement would extinguish the flame immediately.
‘Go with the flow.’
Namgung Jun recalled the enlightenment he had gained while performing the sword dance in Suyeon Village.
The countless phenomena brought forth through the sword.
Even as he slowly extended his sword, countless realizations crossed through his mind.
Before he knew it, Namgung Jun's sword accelerated, brushing past the final torch.
Fwoosh!
For an instant, it seemed he had failed.
Then, before anyone realized it, the final torch burst into flame.
With every torch burning once more, the stage became fully illuminated.
And with that, the performance came to an end.
“Waaah!”
“My eyes have truly been opened after so long!”
“What an extraordinary performance troupe!”
Cheers and thunderous applause erupted from every direction, prompting Namgung Jun to hurriedly respond with a cupped-fist salute.
Watching him, Jang Mu-yeon chuckled before suddenly speaking.
“This was the reason.”
“Pardon?”
“The reason I joined the Azure Sky Society.”
Following Jang Mu-yeon's gaze, Namgung Jun turned his head.
There, he saw ordinary people smiling brightly and enjoying themselves without a single care.
“You can only enjoy performances like this when life isn't unbearably difficult.
But the heretical factions, especially those bastards from the Sun and Moon Demonic Cult, never leave people even the slightest room to enjoy something as simple as a performance.”
Removing his mask, Jang Mu-yeon continued,
“At the very least, people should have enough peace in their lives to smile.”
Without saying a word, Namgung Jun simply nodded.
It felt as though he had glimpsed a part of the chivalry the Heavenly Sword Master carried within his heart.
It took quite a long time to return to the Azure Sky Society's main stronghold.
They had stopped at every village they encountered to give performances.
At last, upon ascending Mount Huang and entering the Azure Sky Society's main stronghold, Jang Mu-yeon patted Namgung Jun on the shoulder before leaping away first.
He said he had to pay his respects to the Society Lord.
As a result, the detailed report regarding everything that had happened in Suyeon Village and during the return journey naturally fell to Namgung Jun.
“Well done.
The Sword Master is so free-spirited that he must have caused you no small amount of trouble, yet you supported him admirably.”
“Not at all.
I learned a great deal myself.”
Just as Ink Lord Yun Gyeong-jong sprang to his feet while praising Namgung Jun—
A scribe from the Bright Lotus Pavilion hurried over carrying a letter.
“Ink Lord.
This is intelligence from Hunan Province.”
“Hm.”
The moment Yun Gyeong-jong examined the report, the wrinkles upon his face deepened slightly.