The Sacred Artifact Of The Wudang Sect. (3)

Yin Monster was stepping into the hidden cave of the Wind Wall.

And Gwang Neung Jin-in maintained a certain distance, following behind.

At the sight, the elders of the Wudang Sect could only stamp their feet, helpless.

“Serves them right. They strutted around as if they were a prestigious Justice Faction.”

Yu Jinsan, who guarded the cave entrance, wore an expression of satisfaction.

As far as he knew, among the nine great sects, the most arrogant force was the Wudang Sect.

Seeing their humbled faces made him laugh involuntarily.

He was laughing quietly like that.

“Y- Yang Monster, Great Hero.”

The leading elder of the Wudang Sect approached with a grim face.

Judging by his voice and expression, the elders must have given him some orders.

“Earlier you called us rascals; why call me Great Hero now?”

“S-sorry about a moment ago. Please consider our position.”

The leading elder of the Wudang Sect was one of the greatest figures in the martial world.

That he was now groveling before the Yang Monster was a sight that would astonish everyone in the jianghu if it became known.

That showed how seriously the Wudang Sect regarded the current situation.

“What do you want to tell me?”

The leading elder hesitated for a moment and answered in a faltering voice.

“Within the cave are the remains of the Venerable Master. Please, Yin Monster Great Hero, make sure they are not damaged.”

Yu Jinsan looked into the distance and said indifferently.

“Why should I do that?”

“The Venerable Master was such a man that even those of the Evil factions who had benevolence would count as his friends. He did not distinguish between Justice Faction and Evil factions and was respected by all.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“It is the Yin Yang Twin Monster Great Heroes who are the pillars of the Evil factions. As representatives of the Evil factions, consider the Venerable Master’s friendship and at least let his remains be preserved.”

Since when had he and his granddaughter become representatives of the Evil factions?

He was so dumbfounded that he let out a hollow laugh.

In any case, in Yu Jinsan’s standards, the person Jang Sam-bong was someone deserving of respect.

Moreover, it wasn’t a particularly difficult request.

“I’ll take a look.”

Having finished speaking, Yu Jinsan turned and walked into the cave.

The chill-hinted cave looked quite deep.

He was walking while briefly scanning the surroundings.

The leading elder who had been watching from behind hurriedly followed and matched his pace at his side.

It seemed he had something to say.

“E-excuse me, Yang Monster Great Hero.”

“What more do you want to say?”

The leading elder eyed Yu Jinsan cautiously and then opened his mouth carefully.

“Could you… return the Taiji Token and the Blue Sky Sword?”

“If that’s what this is about, I have little to say. I don’t feel the need to do so either.”

If it hadn’t been Yu Seol, those items would never have seen the light of day again.

Besides, didn’t the Wudang Sect’s seniormost elder publicly permit taking the Wind Wall’s treasures? There was no issue of principle.

But it seemed the leading elder couldn’t give up that easily.

“Those are relics that are like the heart of our Wudang Sect. Of course returning them to their original owner is the jianghu’s duty, isn’t it?”

“Duty… If the Murim Alliance knew duty, this situation wouldn’t have come to pass. Isn’t that so?”

That question was loaded with multiple implications.

The leading elder sighed heavily, sounding exasperated.

“Sigh… Those items are of no use to you. What do you truly want? If you return them, I will grant anything.”

He was proposing negotiations over the sacred relics.

Seeing the Wudang leading elder begging made Yu Jinsan feel oddly amused.

For some reason, he felt relieved.

“In any case, I don’t have the authority to decide, so try speaking directly with the owner of the treasures.”

“How can we possibly retrieve the relics from Yin Monster Great Hero?”

Yu Jinsan’s face bore a meaningful smile.

He knew his granddaughter’s obsession with the treasures better than anyone. If she refused, there was no way to take them by force.

And one more thing.

She was a granddaughter who, at times, acted according to her mood and had a heart purer than anyone else in the world.

“Hmm. Honestly, I don’t know.”

“Please help us, Yang Monster Great Hero.”

For the leading elder of a prestigious Justice Faction, who lives by face and honor, to resort to ‘please’? Seeing his earnestness, he even felt pity.

And at that moment, a good idea popped into Yu Jinsan’s mind.

‘Perhaps I can use the proud Wudang Sect.’

Yu Jinsan, looking into the distant future, was secretly plotting a big plan.

A secret plan he hadn’t told even to Eun Hwa-rin of the Black Night Clan.

It was also the reason he had shown more mercy than necessary earlier at the Southern Edge Sect and the Tang Family of Sichuan.

He was now devising to add the Wudang Sect to that scheme.

“I intended to ignore it, but out of respect for your face, Leading Elder, I’ll give one piece of advice.”

“Thank you, Yang Monster Great Hero. If we get the relics back, we will surely repay you.”

Yu Jinsan gazed deep into the cave and replied softly.

“Although Yin Monster possesses peerless martial skill, his heart has the purity of a child. So try to tailor your approach to his mood.”

“W-what do you mean by that?”

“It means that if he’s in a good mood, he might just give it. But in the opposite case, even a fortune won’t get it back.”

That meant there was at least a glimmer of hope.

The previously sullen countenance finally brightened a little.

Now the only question was how to coax the Yin Monster.

“Thank you. Truly, thank you.”

As the leading elder repeatedly expressed his gratitude.

Before they knew it, their steps had reached the deepest part of the cave.

Surprisingly, there was a mummified corpse sitting in lotus position.

‘Did he enter nirvana in that state? Amazing. His corpse still maintains its original form even now.’

One couldn’t even imagine how formidable his martial arts were in life.

And in front of him, Yu Seol stood motionless, and behind her elder Gwang Neung stood upright like a bodyguard.

“Did you find anything?”

In response to her grandfather’s question, Yu Seol pointed with her index finger at the area around Jang Sam-bong’s dantian.

“That’s all that’s inside.”

“What’s there?”

“Hmm. There’s a small bead.”

It was presumably a śarīra—the relics said to be found in the remains of deeply attained monks.

Depending on the type, they can be sold for high prices, and some purportedly enhance internal qi.

By the aura felt, it seemed lower grade than the immortal relic they obtained from the Ami Sect.

“I’ve never heard of a Taoist having śarīra, not even a monk.”

“Exactly. But it’s much smaller than what Grandpa ate before. Still, it’ll be valuable, right?”

The Wudang leading elder, who had been quietly eavesdropping on the grandparent-grandchild conversation, shouted with a pale face.

“If you extract the śarīra, the Venerable Master’s remains will be damaged! Isn’t that too much?”

Yu Seol asked him with an incredulous expression.

“Who said we’d take it out? How are you looking at me right now?”

“Th-that…”

The leading elder seemed relieved yet somewhat embarrassed.

And Yu Jinsan could not hold back his laughter at his granddaughter’s serious face.

“You’re worried because I looked at you properly. Haven’t you found anything else?”

“Not yet. But something else is definitely hidden in here.”

“How do you know?”

Yu Seol glanced sidelong at the leading elder’s face.

He quietly rolled his eyes, appearing restless.

“This man is nervous right now. Afraid I’ll catch it.”

The Wudang leading elder flinched and objected.

“What do you mean? This is where we performed rites; there couldn’t be such a thing here.”

“You can’t fool my eyes. Want to bet me?”

“Th-that is…”

At that moment, Yu Seol snickered and said.

“Found it. I knew it.”

“W-what are you talking about?”

Yin Monster’s gaze turned to Jang Sam-bong’s hands folded on his knees.

The hands forming hand-seals seemed to be pointing somewhere.

And as they turned their heads toward the direction the fingertips pointed.

The leading elder hurried up and blocked their view.

“Step aside. You’ve already seen it.”

“You cannot! This is something that must never be seen unless one is a Wudang practitioner!”

Yu Seol’s left hand, gripping the Taiji Token, spun half a turn and lunged like lightning toward the leading elder’s waist.

Thud-!!

“Ugh!”

When the leading elder staggered sideways from the heavy impact, something finely inscribed on one wall was revealed.

At a glance it was the hand-seal formulas of a sword technique.

“I’m not interested in the sword technique. I’m just curious, taking a quick look.”

The leading elder, clutching his side, said reluctantly.

“Keep your promise of ‘just a moment’.”

The hand-seal formulas of martial arts can’t be understood by seeing them once or twice. Thus, he thought a brief glance wouldn’t matter.

But who was Yin Monster? He had a constitution that never forgot what he saw.

Not only that, he was a prodigy of unparalleled talent in the history of the martial world.

A moment had passed while he silently examined it.

“The harmony of heaven and earth is the Taiji. If you take Taiji into yourself and put it into the sword, heaven and earth will respond.”

Yu Jinsan approached with a curious expression and asked.

“What do you mean by that?”

“That’s the essence of this sword technique. Its principle is similar to the Wind-Heart Fist left by Grandpa Peanut. Ultimately, the supreme martial art unfolds from the heart as its foundation.”

At that moment, the Wudang Sect’s leading elder who had been watching in a daze trembled and said.

“That was exactly what the Venerable Master said before entering nirvana after attaining enlightenment. How could you grasp it at once…?”

“Heh heh. It was me, Yin Monster.”

After a brief thought, the leading elder changed his strategy.

Suddenly his demeanor and tone became much softer than before.

“Truly remarkable. If the Venerable Master were alive, he would surely have wanted to be friends with Yin Monster Great Hero.”

No one feels bad receiving praise.

At the leading elder’s high praise, Yu Seol’s face gradually began to smile.

“Hehe. But doesn’t something seem a bit off?”

“What is it?”

Yu Seol’s gaze turned to elder Gwang Neung standing behind.

“It’s similar to the sword technique this old man displayed earlier, but definitely different.”

“That can’t be. The sword technique Master Sa-baek learned is also surely the Venerable Master’s Taiji Heart Sword.”

That was something the Wudang elders had acknowledged first.

But Yu Seol seemed to think otherwise.

Yu Seol, scanning the wall once more, snorted softly.

“Now I know the secret. Why this old man practiced a half-finished sword technique. And why he became so pitiful.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“The hand-seal formulas written here aren’t perfect. They follow Taiji principles, but the yin and yang aren’t in harmony.”

“I can’t understand it. Imperfect hand-seal formulas…?”

Yu Seol pointed to the wall with the Blue Sky Sword held in her right hand and said.

“The nature of this sword technique is that the yin energy is stronger than yang. But if you add the yang energy that this Blue Sky Sword possesses into the technique? Yin and yang will achieve perfect harmony.”

“So you’re saying the Taiji Heart Sword left by the Venerable Master can only be practiced and manifested with the Blue Sky Sword?”

“Exactly. If you force this technique without the Blue Sky Sword, the imbalance will cause the qi and blood to flow counter to their course.”

“How could that be…?”

The leading elder was speechless.

How could she infer such an enormous truth from a single glance?

He couldn’t decide whether to trust the Yin Monster’s words.

At that moment, the Wudang Sect’s elders began approaching from the cave entrance.

“Everything she says is correct. They said she was the Heterodox factions’ supreme, and indeed the reputation doesn’t deceive.”

Yu Seol answered with a haughty expression, chin raised.

“These things are basic for a treasure hunter. I know it all.”

Among the three elders, the one in the middle, Gwang Cheon, shuddered and asked.

“Then perhaps… do you also know a way to restore our master’s spirit?”