Chapter 8

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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They were the unit leaders of the True Martial Pavilion’s combat units.

“···It seems it’s already over.”

The moment Myeong-hun muttered in a low voice, a slender and classically beautiful woman among the unit leaders stepped forward, her long hair fluttering.

“Yeon Baek-jung. I heard you are Senior Brother Gangwon’s disciple?”

The fact that she called my master “Senior Brother” meant that her generation rank was higher than she appeared.

“That is correct, Martial Aunt.”

I politely clasped my hands. She smiled with satisfaction and spoke.

“You probably know that there are several combat units in the True Martial Pavilion?”

“Yes, I am aware.”

No sooner had I answered her than a middle-aged Taoist with the appearance of a bandit stepped forward.

“Then our conversation will be quick. Did you happen to have a unit you wished to join?”

I pondered for a moment at the straightforward question. Then, what Senior Brother Myeong-hun had said suddenly came to mind.

—I really hope you join our unit.

Following that, my master’s advice also came to mind.

—The minimum requirement to learn the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition is entering the True Martial Pavilion.

I briefly agonized over which of the two conditions to prioritize, but it did not last long.

‘Tai Chi Diagram Exposition.’

My direct purpose for entering the True Martial Pavilion was to formally initiate myself into the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition.

‘A day will come when I can repay my debt to Senior Brother Myeong-hun.’

With that thought, I opened my mouth.

“By any chance, may I ask which unit would be best to join in order to learn the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition?”

At my question, the unit leaders’ expressions went blank for a moment.

“The Tai Chi… Diagram Exposition?”

“You want to learn the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition?”

“Why? Of all things?”

“Do you know what kind of study the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition is, to say such a thing?”

The gazes of the questioning unit leaders naturally shifted toward a middle-aged female Taoist.

Even though she did not have a large build and had not stepped forward actively like the other unit leaders, she possessed a presence that dominated the atmosphere of the training ground.

In contrast to that atmosphere, the female Taoist with a warm expression looked at me and slowly opened her mouth.

“Child, did you say the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition?”

“Yes.”

I answered while recalling the Tai Chi Chuan that I had not yet completed, and the female Taoist nodded.

“And do you know that the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition is a difficult art?”

“I heard it from my master. I also heard that even my master could not master it. The reason I entered the True Martial Pavilion is because I was told one must enter it to initiate oneself into the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition.”

At my answer, she nodded.

“Indeed. Unless you are a disciple of Taoist studies, you must enter the True Martial Pavilion to learn the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition.”

She looked around at the unit leaders who had come with her and spoke.

“I will take this child into the Greedy Wolf Unit. Any objections?”

At her question, all the other unit leaders wore awkward expressions. Even so, none of them directly expressed dissatisfaction.

At that, the female Taoist, the Greedy Wolf Unit Leader, turned her gaze back to me and smiled softly.

**

The Greedy Wolf Unit Leader, Hye-won, visited the office of Immortal Gangwon at the Sea Fog Pavilion.

Inside the tea bowl brought out by Immortal Gangwon, the tea leaves rolling in the hot water seemed to resemble her own feelings, causing Hye-won to smile faintly.

“Will that disciple fellow adapt well?”

At Gangwon’s question, Hye-won set down her teacup and nodded.

“He was a child whose foundations were well-established. His character also seemed pure. It appeared he had already become close with Myeong-hun, with whom he had exchanged blows quite roughly.”

She did not miss the corners of Immortal Gangwon’s mouth twitching minutely.

“He resembled you, Senior Brother. Both in his martial execution and in his eye for martial arts.”

At her words, Immortal Gangwon replied, the corners of his mouth twitching a bit more noticeably.

“What do you mean, resembled me?”

Then, he spoke while sipping his tea.

“He is a child twice as good as me.”

With just that, Hye-won could tell.

How much Gangwon cherished Yeon Baek-jung.

Avoiding her eyes under Hye-won’s meaningful look, Gangwon cleared his throat deliberately and spoke.

“Even so, do not praise him too openly. The fellow’s cultivation is still lacking, so he might easily lose his attitude of diligent devotion.”

“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”

“But what brings you here? Do you have something you are curious about regarding the fellow?”

At Gangwon’s suggestive tone, Hye-won looked at Gangwon with a strange gaze and spoke.

Since this much small talk was enough, it was now time to get to the main point.

“That child asked me to teach him the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition.”

At her words, Immortal Gangwon sipped his tea silently.

Hye-won watched Immortal Gangwon in silence before suddenly throwing out a question.

“Did you tell him, Senior Brother?”

At Hye-won’s question, Gangwon nodded silently.

Immediately after, she let out a sigh.

“What do you intend to do?”

“What is wrong with learning the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition?”

To Gangwon’s counter-question, Hye-won replied.

“Don’t you know what kind of study the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition is? It is a study that deals with the upper dantian.”

The upper dantian.

Even with the knowledge of modern martial studies, it was still a domain full of mysteries.

“Don’t you know very well that not just one or two disciples have suffered mishaps while dealing with the upper dantian? Even so, are you trying to teach the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition to a disciple who has not even reached capping age?”

She knew, and Immortal Gangwon also knew.

That there had been disciples who became brain-dead, or even met their deaths, while practicing the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition incorrectly.

Those who had suffered mishaps were even internal masters possessing profound internal energy. Even so, problems arose.

Therefore, from Hye-won’s perspective, she had no choice but to voice her concerns.

“In addition, increasing one’s sensitivity by learning the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition is not necessarily a good thing for a disciple. This is because seeing too much is not always helpful for devoting oneself to martial studies.”

Just as she said, even if the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition had inherent risks in its training process, a significant number of Wudang disciples would have already learned it if it were of great help in achieving martial arts. However, there were cases where a large number of disciples learned the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition, only to fall into inner demons or have their martial arts stagnated instead.

Thus, the elders of Wudang came to know.

That is, in a state where one’s understanding of martial studies did not support it, the excessive development of sensitivity did not help in martial arts training.

However, there was no way Gangwon was ignorant of what Hye-won knew.

“Did you not see it as well? What kind of child my disciple is.”

“Yes, I saw it. His talent was not ordinary. He was a talent with no lack to be a pillar of Wudang. That is why I oppose it even more.”

Yeon Baek-jung subdued his opponent in the admission sparring in just two exchanges and passed.

Even for the experts and elders of prestigious orthodox sects, judging martial arts with just two exchanges and two stances was a difficult task. Simply marveling, ‘He is incredibly outstanding!’ was all they could do.

However, Hye-won was different.

Among the Won generation, she was a master of sensitivity with the deepest study of the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition.

This meant she had the eye to see through Yeon Baek-jung’s martial principles even in a very brief exchange.

Therefore, weight was added to the words she spoke. Despite such opposition from Hye-won, Immortal Gangwon asked calmly without any change in his expression.

“What I mean is, I am asking if you ‘properly’ saw the Tai Chi Chuan that child displayed.”

Hye-won hesitated momentarily at Immortal Gangwon’s slightly strange words. This was because her senior brother was not one to talk nonsense.

She began to analyze the duel between Yeon Baek-jung and Myeong-hun that had taken place during the day through the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition. The fist forms and the flow of true energy that Yeon Baek-jung had deployed against Myeong-hun were disassembled and reassembled in her mind.

And.

“Could it be… that rapid Tai Chi Chuan was not a coincidence, but a Tai Chi Chuan he modified himself?”

Hearing Hye-won’s trembling voice, Immortal Gangwon answered instead by wetting his lips with his teacup.

Not being ignorant of the fact that silence was confirmation, Hye-won cast aside her usual calm attitude.

“If it is truly so!”

“Yes. It is the talent of a grandmaster.”

One might ask how someone could talk about the talent of a grandmaster just because he modified a fist technique slightly, but Hye-won knew. Tai Chi Chuan was a martial art created by that Immortal Sanfeng for the training of his disciples.

He changed a training martial art into a practical combat form.

It was equivalent to changing a martial art of the same form to have a completely different purpose.

This was no different from creating a new martial art.

If one’s understanding of martial studies was not deep, they might take it lightly, but Hye-won was not that green. She could infer ten things from seeing one.

He had even modified the martial art of the founder who established the Wudang Sect.

It was an impossible task unless backed by immense guts and confidence, as well as a deep understanding and realization of martial studies.

They said that learning the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition without realization of martial studies would rather hinder martial arts training, but what if a deep understanding and realization of martial studies backed it?

She had an intuition that the term ‘grandmaster’s talent’ that Gangwon had just spoken of might not be an exaggeration.

Only then could she understand why Immortal Gangwon was in such a hurry.

“The Tai Chi Diagram Exposition. He must learn it.”

“Indeed.”

What if the insight of the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition was added to the ‘grandmaster’s talent’ shown by Yeon Baek-jung?

Because a martial artist who might surpass even that Sword Immortal could be born.

Her heart, which had rarely raced due to her numerous travels in the Jianghu, began to beat a little faster and hotter at this moment than ever before.

**

With my admission to the True Martial Pavilion and assignment to the Greedy Wolf Unit decided, I packed my things and left the Purple Yang Hermitage.

Although the sun had set, the mountain path after sunset was nothing more and nothing less than a training ground to me, who had learned the Night-Walking Body Skill, one of the Wudang Sect’s nine ultimate achievements.

As I was moving my steps while hiding my presence by deploying the Concealment Art, I stopped in front of a familiar pavilion.

It was the Library Pavilion.

The unexpected thing was that the inside of the Library Pavilion, which should have been dark at this hour, was brightly lit.

As I poked my head inside slightly, I heard a familiar voice. It was Seon-yang.

“Attain the ultimate emptiness, maintain the utmost tranquility, and all things arise together.”

A phrase from the Tao Te Ching—stating that when the emptiness between heaven and earth reaches its limit and tranquility deepens, all things arise together and come to life—flowed into the ears of his fellow disciples through Seon-yang’s mouth.

“Why does it say that all things suddenly arise when it becomes quiet?”

Hearing Seon-yang’s words, Gye-yang was puzzled but did not take his eyes off the book,

“…Could it mean it is connected to standing upright and centered, and relaxing the mind and energy? Just as the best time to move is when you release tension from your body, it means emptying and stopping makes it the best time to move.”

Bo-yang offered his own interpretation, and

“Attaining the ultimate emptiness is the moment of extinction where all life disappears. Just as autumn leaves fall and return to their roots…”

Je Un-seong, as expected of a child from a prestigious family, seemed well-versed in letters.

“Then to summarize…”

And Seon-yang summarized and organized the opinions presented by the three of them.

‘They are like gears running smoothly.’

The sight of the four of them together was quite admirable.

They were martial nephews who were faithfully following my words that reading in the Library Pavilion would be helpful.

As the distance between the South Rock Palace and the Prince Slope was considerable, it would be difficult to meet often, but they were fellow disciples of the same sect anyway. Thinking that we were merely staying apart for a while, I quietly passed by the Library Pavilion and hurried my steps instead of bidding farewell.

Then, I suddenly recalled the phrase from the Tao Te Ching that my martial nephews had been discussing.

‘Attain the ultimate emptiness, maintain the utmost tranquility, and all things arise together. For some reason, it feels like me.’

I had received attention from several elders of the sect, but had spent years living my own way, as I pleased, weighed down by that interest. While my heart was excited at the thought that my talent had begun to arise together after enduring that long period of emptiness and tranquility, the regret that I would not be able to frequently see the Yang generation martial nephews, with whom I had spent a long time, coexisted; this state of mind felt exactly like a Tai Chi where yin and yang, emptying and filling, intersected.

While walking on, immersed in such strange sentiment, before I knew it, I had climbed to the top of the steep stairs of the South Rock Palace and stood in front of the main gate, the South Heaven Gate.

In front of it stood a young Taoist with a tall, handsome appearance and a hollow gaze.

“Welcome to the Greedy Wolf Unit, Junior Brother.”

Senior Brother Myeong-hun had come out to greet me.

“Senior Brother.”

As I clasped my hands to show respect, Senior Brother patted my shoulder and spoke.

“Why clasp hands between those who have traded blows?”

With that, Senior Brother began to lead the way.

“Did you say your goodbyes to the peers you were close with? Ah, not peers but martial nephews? Still, it must be sad, right? They are friends you grew up with since childhood.”

Senior Brother Myeong-hun was among the youngest of the Myeong generation.

Since he had been the youngest among the True Martial Pavilion disciples until I entered, he understood my feelings more accurately than anyone.

“At the same time, you must also be excited. That is what entering the True Martial Pavilion is like.”

As I nodded in agreement with his words, Senior Brother looked at me and began to explain various things.

Whether it was the reason why the South Rock Palace’s True Martial Pavilion was established, or an anecdote of meeting one of the Eight Disciples of Sanfeng who was known to have ascended to immortality.

Thanks to Senior Brother Myeong-hun’s consideration, which seemed to emphasize excitement instead of the sadness of parting with my fellow disciples, I began to fully accept the new environment, the True Martial Pavilion.

After walking like that, I stood in front of a two-story building inside the spacious South Rock Palace.

“This is the Greedy Wolf Unit building.”

The Greedy Wolf Unit lodging was in the form of a typical quadrangle courtyard, with various weapons arranged around the central training ground.

From the sword that symbolized the Wudang Sect, to the broadsword, spear, lance, staff, cudgel, and even the Heaven and Earth Rings—an exotic weapon used by unorthodox sects or wanderers—were visible.

And in the center of the training ground.

“You have come.”

The Greedy Wolf Unit Leader, Lady Hye-won, was waiting for me.

I could tell intuitively.

That it was finally time to initiate myself into the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition.