< Episode 93: Yeonggeom Lodge (4) >
Jeong Myeong-sai of the Hangsan Sect looked around with a surprised face.
‘What is this place?’
Everything is stained black and nothing can be seen.
I’m sure I was seeing something just a moment ago. What’s going on?
This was when she found this strange.
-Sreung!
The sound of a sword being drawn was heard from somewhere.
At this she turned her head towards where the sound came from.
There a calm-looking old man with dark skin and burn marks visible here and there on his face was standing there holding a sword.
Seeing this the eyes of the Jeongmyeong situation in the Hangsan faction widened.
‘Amitabha Buddha. Could it be that the old Lord…. Ah?’
No voice comes out.
It feels like something is ringing in my head like I’m thinking about it alone.
Then rather than wondering about this she couldn’t help but pay attention to the old man in front of her.
After all this old man was definitely him.
It was Gu Cheon-mu the head of the Yeonggeom Mountain Lodge and a member of the Six Heavens said to be the pinnacle of the current martial arts world.
‘How?’
I knew for sure that he hadn’t come out of the workshop yet.
But why is it in front of me?
It was such a puzzling moment.
-Pot!
At that moment Gu Chenmu suddenly swung her sword at her.
This was nothing more than a light sword.
But the moment she saw the sword stabbing in her mind became confused.
‘How can this be?’
This was because a lot of swordsmanship was seen in this simple move.
This was a very shocking sword attack for her who was her only swordsman.
However her surprise was short-lived and she pulled out the sword she was wearing at her waist determined to block the sword coming at her.
-Sreung!
And in order to block this mystical sword she unfolded Yeowon Jishun (餘願止順) the fourth herbal form of the Hengshan Sect’s Byeokwon Chilsikgeom (壁源七式劍).
-Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-chak!
She tried to block the oncoming sword as her sword traced a graceful path.
however
-Chaeang!
Her five-element sword couldn’t withstand the one-element sword and bounced away and before she knew it Gucheonmu’s one sword pierced the center of her chest.
-Poof!
“Turn it off!”
At that moment she stumbled clutching her chest.
“Jeongmyeong incident!”
Someone helped her.
He was none other than Mo Yong-hak the eldest son of the Mo Yong family.
“Mo Moyong’s gift?”
“situation. Are you okay?”
“What the hell is this….”
Her eyes widened.
Before she knew it her surroundings had become brighter and the nine-thousand-mu that had stabbed her had disappeared from before her eyes.
I’m wondering what’s going on
– Thick!
Her heart throbbed and the mysterious will of the sword took over her mind.
At that moment she realized.
What she saw wasn’t real.
Jeongmyeong Saeng’s eyes turned to the large monument in front of the cliff.
“situation?”
“Ahh. Indeed… indeed…”
She let out her repeated exclamations.
Mo Yong-hak asked with an expression that he couldn’t understand her reaction.
“Why are you doing this?”
It was not she who answered this question.
She answered with a look on her face that Gu Woongseong the second son of Gu Jangju was proud of something.
“You took the test of the Lord. “I would say that those who experienced this received his teachings through imagery.”
“Did you say it was a mental image?”
“yes.”
Isn’t imagery literally the world of the mind that one enters when one reaches a trance?
So does that mean that Jeong Myeong saw the writing on that stone tablet and had an image of it?
Mo Yong-hak then stared intently at the kendo sword play engraved on the stone tablet.
My heart felt refreshed as the grand spirit conveyed through the handwriting was conveyed.
But that was it.
‘Why?’
Jeong Myeong-sang said he fell into a mental state when he saw that but why doesn’t anything happen to him?
I was puzzled but Gu Woong-seong smiled and said.
“Hehehe. “It doesn’t work if you stare at it that intently.”
“What?”
“Jangju said that in order to accept the sword intention engraved on the stone tablet one must have the minimum qualifications.”
“Minimum qualifications?”
“Yes it is difficult for me to express this in words due to my low level of enlightenment but I think you must have a high understanding of the sword as a swordsman in order to read the meaning of the sword.”
“….”
-Wow!
Mo Yong-hak gritted his teeth at these words of Gu Woong-seong.
He was a member of the Six Dragons who were called the best later exponents of the Justice League.
He couldn’t help but feel hurt when he was told that his enlightenment which he prided himself on having no rival in his age group was at a level where even the sword’s meaning left on the stone tablet could not be read.
‘You don’t even have qualifications?’
As a blood descendant of a martial arts family competing for sword mastery along with the Namgung family among the seven great generations he was even embarrassed.
Seeing him like this Gu Woong-seong laughed inwardly.
In fact he talked about qualifications and all but it was not something for Mo Yong-hak to be ashamed of.
To reach a level where one can fall into a mental state when looking at the writing engraved by his father one must have reached a considerable level as a swordsman.
Even though Mo Yong-hak had outstanding military skills to the point of being called the Six Dragons there was no way he could have reached the level of the Jeongmyeong incident that reached the level of an elder of a sect.
‘Don’t feel entitled. Among the people sitting here there are not many who have reached mental state.’
Probably only less than half.
Like Mo Yong-hak these people too had their pride shattered and were just sitting there trying to gain even a little bit of enlightenment.
Of course only a very small number of people will get a glimpse of it.
Then the Jeongmyeong incident opened its mouth.
“Amitabha Buddha. It is truly a masterpiece. “It reminds me once again that the old Lord Jang’s mastery of the sword is close to the best in the world.”
“I’m just grateful that you said that.”
“It has reached a level that the poor monk cannot dare to touch.”
Jeong Myeong-sang expressed his honest feelings.
Although she had a passion for martial arts she had no desire as a Buddhist so she had no desire to challenge swordsmanship but through this she gained several enlightenments.
So I understood why so many people were hanging in front of that stone slab.
Even a little understanding of the sword’s will was enough but a person who fully realized it would be no different from receiving enlightenment from one of the Six Heavenly Ones.
‘It’s a good thing. Seonjae. ‘I can’t believe I left behind this realization.’
Even if it was aimed at kendo and swordplay it could be said to be a great distribution.
Although she did not intend to do so she was satisfied that she too had gained a clue to enlightenment.
“ah!”
She was so moved by her swordsmanship that she had forgotten what she was doing but suddenly remembered the reason they had come here.
She went to Jieu and Gok Oh to get advice.
She asked Guungsheng soon after she had practically never seen them.
“Gu Siju. “Where are Ji-oe and Gok-oh?”
They must have been among those in front of the stone slab but it was difficult to tell who it was just by feeling whether they were all meditating.
In response to this question about the Jeongmyeong situation Gu Woong-seong tried to inform us of this.
“iced coffee. “The two seniors are over there…”
Then someone in front of the stone slab stood up.
-widely!
The person who stood up like that suddenly burst into laughter like crazy.
“Hahahahahahaha.”
The laughter resonated so loudly that most of those who were sitting still woke up from their thoughts and raised their heads.
As the Jeongmyeong situation also looked at him with puzzlement Goo Woong-seong spoke.
“It’s quite a coincidence.”
“Is it elaborate?”
“This is senior Jie Oe.”
“ah!”
He was an older man who appeared to be in his mid-fifties. Unusually he had black hair but gray beard and eyebrows.
“The person next to me wearing a graduation cap is senior Gok-oh.”
Next to Jieu who was bursting into laughter there was someone wearing a graduation cap shaking his head.
Only her back was visible so when I looked at her profile she seemed to be about the same age as Ji-e-oe but her lower abdomen was slightly protruding.
As a result I thought that the Jeongmyeong situation was going well so I tried to call the two people.
“ji….”
But that was before I even called him.
“I will break your sword this time. Gu Zhuangzhu!”
-Pot!
Jieu suddenly flew his new form upward and immediately swung his sword towards the cliff beyond the stone slab.
-Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-chak!
Sword energy arose from his sword and created sword marks on the wall of the cliff.
The sword marks left behind letters that looked like strokes.
Kendo (kendo)
The writing continued until then.
This was identical to the writing engraved on the stone tablet.
Jioe who had even engraved the sword then engraved the sword (劍) and attempted to write the remaining character Geuk (極).
-Okay!
However as soon as he drew a single stroke on the side of the character mok (木) his new form lost all its strength and fell to the bottom.
-Park!
The foreigner’s expression became horribly distorted.
‘Ahhhh.’
Jeong Myeong-sae sighed internally without saying it out loud.
The moment he carved words on the cliff with his sword I couldn’t help but be amazed.
This was because it contained a mysterious will to the sword that was almost equivalent to the will of the sword left behind by Gu Cheonmu Jangju.
I was so excited about what would happen once it was completed.
But it was never completed.
‘It’s a shame. If I had completed that sword my swordsmanship would have been equal to or greater than that of the former Zhou.’
But it didn’t seem easy.
The fact that the last letter was only one stroke meant that there was still a gap.
-Gurgling!
Blood flowed from the corner of Jieu’s mouth.
He slammed the sword he was holding on the floor as if he was angry.
-Poof!
“Damn it!”
Gogo said looking at him spitting out harsh words.
“Brother Ji. “You’re too hasty.”
“What do you mean by hasty?”
“How can you be so hasty in challenging the former lord with an unfinished sword?”
“Hmm.”
Hearing his scolding Jiue cleared her throat as if she was embarrassed.
Although Jieu had nothing to say he was so impatient that when he got the slightest hint of enlightenment he could not bear it and challenged him.
“It won’t be long. “By the time I complete my Fourteen Swords I will surpass that Sword Master.”
“phew. “Isn’t it too careless to use one sword two swords and three swords every time you complete one chosik?”
“What do you mean by insincerity? What is important is the will of the sword. There is no point in giving it a grandiose herbivorous name.”
“That’s why swordplay isn’t monotonous.”
“Didn’t you say that complexity isn’t good?”
Before they knew it the two were arguing about the type of kendo they were pursuing.
The inspectors around him looked at the tombstone again as if they were familiar with it and tried to get into their minds.
Gu Woongseong shrugged his shoulders and said.
“It happens often. “The two of you have been here for such a long time that you’re in a difficult position.”
“Amitabha Buddha. Yes it seems. “Anyway I apologize to my two seniors but I guess I’ll have to step in to get help.”
“Please do so.”
“Confucius Moyong please go….”
-Shudder!
At that time Jeongmyeong frowned without speaking.
Mo Yong-hak was puzzled by her attitude and called out.
“Jeongmyeong incident?”
In response to the call Jeongmyeong Saeng extended her hand and indicated to wait a moment then she asked Gu Unseong.
“Gu Siju… I’m sorry but who is this person?”
“You mean it’s him?”
Gu Woong-seong looked puzzled at that question and turned her gaze in the direction she was looking at.
The place she was looking at was where her headstone was.
In front of them Ji-e and Gok-o were arguing loudly and before they knew it someone with an unfamiliar appearance was approaching them.
‘uh?’
Although I couldn’t see his face because of his back the reason why Gu Woong-seong seemed unfamiliar was simple.
That was because the stranger was wearing a sword on his waist.
‘Dorani?’
In any other place it would not have been strange to have a Tao.
But this place is Geogok.
It was a place called the Holy Land of the Sword.
The only people allowed here were inspectors who had permission.
‘what? ‘How on earth did they get in?’
Ji-e and Gok-oh who were puzzled and arguing soon stopped and naturally turned their heads to the side.
When they turned their heads their expressions became strange.
‘no?’
‘What about interest?’
The reason they made such facial expressions was because no one noticed him while he was approaching.
Ji-oe and Gok-o were great swordsmen who were confident that no one in Yeonggeom Lodge could be their opponent except Gok-ju.
From their perspective it was naturally surprising.
Then the unknown person opened his mouth.
“How dare you discuss the extremes of something like a sword.”
Jieu was dumbfounded by his arrogant tone of voice.
Even if it was true that he approached without warning what on earth is this guy saying such arrogant things?
‘huh? do?’
Then he discovered the sword worn on the waist of an unknown person.
What the hell is this guy?
How did you get here with the Tao?
I was just about to ask this out of curiosity.
“Bo…”
-Shudder!
At that moment Ji-e and Gok-o both threw themselves backwards at the same time due to an eerily sharp anticipation.
At the same time
-Okay!
The sound of cutting something was heard.
The two swordsmen’s heads turned to the side after avoiding the sharp energy.
Their eyes were shaking like crazy.
-Blah blah blah! thud!
In front of them the monument to Kendo Sword Geuk which symbolizes the sacred place of the sword was split in half and split apart.
At that sight all the swordsmen sitting in front of the monument couldn’t help but stand up in shock.
Their eyes which were initially shocked soon turned into anger.
This was the same for Ji-oe and Gok-o.
Gogo said with anger in his voice as he drew his sword and aimed it at him.
-Sreung!
“What on earth are you? “How could you come in here and commit such an outrageous act?”
“I give credit for cutting down a tombstone with this level of swordsmanship engraved on it… It’s ridiculous.”
“What?”
-Chaeang!
It was before Gok-oh could say anything.
With a flash of light his sword split apart and fell to the floor.
-Changerang!
Gok-Oh’s eyes were shaking like crazy at the enormous strike.
‘…This can’t be right.’
He had never even been seen wielding a sword.
Looking at him a man with dark eyebrows and a strong look said with a sneer.
“Only the sword can discuss the extreme.”
< Episode 93: Yeonggeom Lodge (4) > end
ⓒ Hanzhongwolya
