The Beginning

The Emptiness Dhuta Sect’s main hall was bustling with preparations for the martial tournament. On the circularly arranged platform lay the plaques of the Five Great Mountain Swords. At the center was the Dragon Gate Sect, to its right the Emptiness Dhuta Sect and Zen Cloud Sword Sect, to its left the Yellow Stone Sect and Eminent Mountain Sect, their banners fluttering. It was not lavish, but dignified and elegant.

The Venerable Elder Jo Yang, head of the Emptiness Dhuta Sect, personally oversaw the preparations today. His beard and hair were silvery white, but aside from that, he had so few wrinkles he could be mistaken for a youth.

“Disciple Baek Hyeongjin greets the sect head.”

Led by Hyeongjin, seven disciples of the Emptiness Dhuta Sect entered the great hall. Jo Yang, who had been waiting, greeted them with a broad, delighted smile.

“So, did you bring our invited guests safely?”

“Yes.”

Hyeongjin briefly reported on the mission he’d been given. Then, sending the juniors back, he carefully informed his master about Jeok-woo.

“As expected, the Taiyi Divine Sect seems to be on the move.”

“I see.”

Jo Yang clicked his tongue and gazed up at the ceiling.

“Another bloody storm may sweep through the martial world.”

“But Master…”

Hyeongjin stepped closer to his master and lowered his voice.

“The Sword Immortal’s disciple was with him.”

“What? How can you be sure?”

“She was carrying the Sword Immortal’s sword, Moon Heart.”

At this, Jo Yang nodded deeply. The Sword Immortal was known for never involving herself in martial world affairs, neither Orthodox nor Unorthodox. Since she stood against no one, it was entirely possible she might side with Jeok-woo depending on circumstance. Still,

“Her appearance in the martial world is unlikely to be good news.”

A chill crept up Jo Yang’s spine. Meeting Hyeongjin’s puzzled look, he forced a smile but secretly sighed.

“Heaven is great for its mysterious silence… its Way is vast and unbounded, and its workings are truly one.”

Each time Jeok-woo recited a formula he claimed was the essence of the Taiyi Divine Sect, Yun-seon grew more confused.

“Earth is great because it stores and preserves. Its Way is effective and complete, and its work is diligence and unity. The Mother Earth holds the divinity, the radiant light, and the seeds of life given by the Father Heaven, and gathers them in boundless greatness.”

“Um, hyung-nim.”

Unable to hold back any longer, Yun-seon cautiously called out to Jeok-woo.

“What is it?”

“Is this truly the fundamental spirit of the Taiyi Divine Sect?”

Guessing what Yun-seon was getting at, Jeok-woo burst out laughing.

“It doesn’t sound like a martial formula to you, does it? That’s right. At the root of our Sect lies the Spirit of the Great One (Taeil). Without basing cultivation on it, one risks falling into qi deviation while training.”

Though Yun-seon was no martial artist, he had traveled the kangho with Ju-un and picked up bits and pieces. Jeok-woo kindly explained, thinking he might understand.

“Ah… yes…”

Yun-seon’s reply was half-hearted, but Jeok-woo chalked it up to youth and continued reciting the formulas. Yun-seon, however, now went beyond suspicion to certainty.

He already knew the inner cultivation method of the Taiyi Divine Sect.

The Commentary on the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra looked outwardly like just another Buddhist scripture. For bookish Yun-seon, it was familiar reading. By the time Jong-yeon lost his arm to Right Shadow, Yun-seon had already memorized the whole text. As he hurried to tuck the book away again, he felt something odd: it was a small, thin volume, yet each page was strangely thick.

“No way…”

Yun-seon took the water gourd at his waist and carefully poured it over the edge of the scripture. At first, nothing happened. But after a moment, the endpapers began to ripple.

“What is this…?”

Hidden between the endpapers was another book. That was the true Commentary on the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra. Until then, Yun-seon had no idea it was connected to a martial method—he had only memorized it because it seemed unusual.

“Man is great for his wisdom and ability. His Way is in choosing well, his work is in harmony. Because humans are honored and exalted for their knowledge, cultivation of the Way depends on their own choices.”

What Jeok-woo was now reciting was exactly the hidden annotations from the first page.

So that’s why the Black Butterfly Shadows wanted the scripture so desperately—to fully master the Taiyi Divine Art.

It was said that Left Shadow had barely entered the second stage. If reckless practice of the art endangered their lives, their obsession with the scripture made sense. Yun-seon remembered Right Shadow’s face, burning his arm and falling into qi deviation, his whole body flushed red as though every vessel burst—like a living demon.

‘But then… why that man?’

He still couldn’t fathom why the man had struck his master. For the Art? No—he had already been more than powerful enough.

“The Great One brings forth water, but water in turn aids the Great One to form Heaven, and Heaven aids it to form Earth. Heaven and Earth help each other to bring forth Divine Spirit, and Spirit with brightness helps form Yin and Yang.”

After each formula, Jeok-woo explained how to apply it through qi. Yun-seon already knew the text by heart, but not how to turn it into internal qi, so Jeok-woo’s interpretations were revelations to him.

“What is the origin of the Taiyi Divine Sect?”

After one round of practice, Yun-seon asked Jeok-woo a few questions. He felt he had to resolve his doubts to understand his enemies. If his suspicions were correct, the root of the Taiyi Divine Art was the Commentary on the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra. That meant his master surely had ties to the Sect.

“Our Sect Leader was originally from the country of Ryeo. When his homeland fell, he crossed into Gyeongguk with his senior brother and junior sister. All three surpassed any swordsman in the martial world.”

Jeok-woo was always chatty, and his pride in the Sect was immense. Excited by Yun-seon’s question, he rattled on even about the leader’s background without being asked.

“Senior brother and junior sister?”

Yun-seon swallowed hard, dreading what he might hear.

“Though their ideals differed and they made different choices, their devotion to the sword was one. Because of that, no swordsman in the kangho fails to know the three.”

“Then…”

“You’ve surely heard of them—Sword God Kang Yul-cheon and Sword Immortal Yi Mu-yeong. Lady Ju is the Sword Immortal’s only disciple. And my own master is none other than the famed Sword Demon, Seong Gon.”

Jeok-woo shrugged and thumped his chest proudly. Seong Gon had taken him in when he was alone in the world, an unconditional benefactor. To him, Seong Gon was no different from a father, and just thinking of him filled Jeok-woo with reverence.

Yun-seon, on the other hand, took a deep breath to calm his shock. The secret manual his master had fought so hard to protect—so it was a martial art born of Ryeo’s internecine strife. Perhaps even more than that.

“Is there any way to meet the Sect Leader?”

Thinking Yun-seon asked out of desire to heal his arm, Jeok-woo shook his head regretfully.

“The Sword God dwells at Kang Family Manor, the Sword Immortal at Nine Moons Mountain. But the Sect Leader has no fixed abode. It’s a pity, but he’s hard to find for now. Still, fate is strange—you never know when paths cross. If I ever meet him, I’ll be sure to tell him your story.”

Yun-seon was endlessly grateful that Jeok-woo worried for him to the end. Yet he also felt guilty for hiding the truth. Strictly speaking, Jeok-woo was of the same generation as his senior brother, so he might have shared his burden. But without knowing the ties between his master and his martial uncle, Yun-seon couldn’t reveal the manual’s whereabouts so rashly.

From their conversation, it seemed Jeok-woo knew nothing of Kang Family Manor’s tragedy. Better to watch how things unfolded than bring it up.

It took Jeok-woo a full day to pass on the formulas. Just learning to sense qi, gather it in his dantian, and breathe with it left Yun-seon exhausted. Yet curiously, each time he practiced the formulas, the pain in his right arm eased.

“If you circulate qi whenever you have time, you’ll soon control the pain. But never rush your training.”

“Thank you, hyung-nim. I don’t know how I can ever repay this kindness.”

Seeing Yun-seon tear up again, Jeok-woo waved his hands awkwardly.

“From the very first moment, I knew you were someone with whom I could share deep brotherhood. We are brothers now—your thanks only saddens me.”

For days Yun-seon had thought his fate unbearably cruel. But now, with a true confidant worth dying for, he could ask for nothing more.

“I have a mission from the Sect, so we must part here. Take care—twice over.”

Even in farewell, Jeok-woo fretted over Yun-seon’s safety.

Ju-un, arms folded, stood there looking thoroughly unimpressed at their tearful farewell.

“So what will you do now?”

Ju-un asked curtly to Yun-seon, who was blankly staring at Jeok-woo’s departing figure.

“I will go to Dhuta Mountain.”

“They seemed rather arrogant, will you be alright?”

Recalling the Emptiness Dhuta Sect disciples they had met two days earlier, Ju-un frowned deeply. She worried that the naïve and soft-hearted Yun-seon might be bullied by them. Worse, if anyone remembered him being with Jeok-woo, he might even be misunderstood.

“It’s my master’s dying wish.”

Yun-seon smiled brightly, as though the thought had never weighed on him.

“If you find it inconvenient to go there, I won’t press you to come along.”

Yun-seon felt somewhat disappointed but didn’t want to trouble Ju-un. He consoled himself that he could always visit her at Nine Moons Mountain if he wished to see her again—so this wasn’t truly farewell.

“No, I’ll go too.”

Ju-un answered without the slightest hesitation and left the inn. Though she was heading in the same direction as Jeok-woo, her purpose was different.

“Thank you.”

Yun-seon grinned to himself for a while, then suddenly grew curious.

“By the way, Ju-un…”

“What is it?”

Walking ahead, Ju-un replied indifferently. No doubt he was about to ask something pointless again.

“What exactly separates the Unorthodox sects from the Orthodox?”

“What?”

“Think about it—those Orthodox people were rude and arrogant, but Jeok-woo hyung-nim from the Unorthodox sect is loyal and righteous, isn’t he?”

Ju-un suddenly stopped in her tracks. Yun-seon, staring at the ground as he walked, nearly bumped right into her back.

“Ju-un?”

Ju-un slowly turned to face him. She was never very expressive, but now her face was colder and harder than usual.

“To you he may be a benefactor—but to someone else, a living nightmare.”

She let out a long sigh and added:

“Yun-seon, don’t trust people so easily. Not even me.”

단초(端初), The Beginning:
The beginning of something; the very first clue or step from which events unfold.