“I had wanted to meet Martial Nephew Kwak someday, and I am truly glad that we have met so soon.”
At Uncheon Zhenren’s warm voice, Kwak Yeon barely managed to hold back the tears threatening to surge up.
“This junior is at a loss before Martial Uncle’s gracious words. And... I am deeply sorry for making Martial Uncle’s journey such a noisy one.”
He had meant to correct Taoist Hyeongong’s wrongdoing, but in the end, he had still caused trouble for Uncheon Zhenren, the commander of this expedition.
“It is a small matter. Do not dwell on it.”
Uncheon Zhenren stroked and straightened his white beard with one hand, then continued.
“If anything, I should be the one apologizing to Martial Nephew Kwak. I left the affairs of the advance party in Taoist Hyeongong’s hands and failed to look into them in detail. That is my fault.”
Uncheon Zhenren let out a low sigh of self-reproach, then spoke again.
“This matter aside, there are many things for which I owe Martial Nephew Kwak an apology.”
“......?”
Kwak Yeon found himself slightly puzzled by the deep remorse in Uncheon Zhenren’s voice.
There was not, in truth, anything for which Uncheon Zhenren especially needed to apologize to him.
“Above all, I am deeply sorry that, while shutting myself away in a training cave playing at being a Martial Immortal, I failed to see Elder Brother Unseon, Palace Lord Unseon, off on his final journey.”
The moment he heard those words, a sharp ache ran through one corner of Kwak Yeon’s chest.
As he had watched his departed master, Unseon Taoist, ascend without a single one of the Seven Palaces of Wudang seeing him off, he had carried that bitterness in his heart as a disciple.
And now that he had heard a sincere apology from Uncheon Zhenren, the Sword of Wudang, it felt as though some small part of that bitterness had eased.
“Before descending the mountain, I went up to Samryeong Peak and paid my respects to Elder Brother Unseon.”
At the words that Uncheon Zhenren had visited the ancestral hall of Samryeong Palace and offered condolences before his departed master’s memorial tablet, Kwak Yeon felt emotion rise in his chest.
And the fact that Uncheon Zhenren kept calling Unseon Taoist, his departed master, Elder Brother moved him all the more deeply.
Kwak Yeon knew that after Unseon Taoist had laid down his position as Wudang’s senior elder brother and ascended to Samryeong Palace, no one had treated him as Elder Brother Unseon any longer.
“Thank you for your profound consideration, Martial Uncle Uncheon.”
When Kwak Yeon bowed in silent respect, Uncheon Zhenren lightly shook his head.
“As a junior brother, it was only right that I go pay my respects to Elder Brother. There is no need for Martial Nephew to thank me. In any case, Elder Brother Unseon rebuked me quite sternly for coming so late.”
Seeing the way Uncheon Zhenren spoke as if he had met his departed master’s spirit, Kwak Yeon could feel that the two of them had shared an unusually close bond.
Even if they did not often interact in life, they must have been the sort who understood one another without words.
Just as Kwak Yeon was picturing Uncheon Zhenren sitting for a long while before Unseon Taoist’s memorial tablet, gazing at it in silence—
“The Palace Lord of Samryeong Palace, Martial Nephew Hyeonhae, is doing well. Great-Granddisciple Cheongmu is... as ever.”
When Uncheon Zhenren passed along word from Samryeong Palace, Kwak Yeon’s chest tightened.
The brief hesitation before mentioning Cheongmu Taoist gave him slight pause, but he assumed it was only because Uncheon Zhenren regretted that a genius like Cheongmu Taoist had ended up that way.
All at once, Kwak Yeon found himself curious about the state of the Wudang Sect.
Since they had so suddenly decided to participate in the martial gathering, he had suspected that some change must have taken place.
“Martial Uncle, has the Sect Master Zhenren recovered?”
Uncheon Zhenren shook his head.
“Elder Brother Sect Master remains the same.”
The faint hope Kwak Yeon had harbored collapsed at once, and inwardly he was disappointed.
Seeing the darkened look on Kwak Yeon’s face, Uncheon Zhenren said quietly,
“You are disappointed.”
“......”
As Kwak Yeon struggled to find an answer, Uncheon Zhenren continued,
“There is no need to search for words. I know well enough how stubborn Grand Elder Unhak is.”
“......?”
When Kwak Yeon lifted his head and looked at him, Uncheon Zhenren gave a bitter smile and said,
“On my way down from Samryeong Peak, I also stopped by the Hall of Heroic Martiality for a while.”
Kwak Yeon could roughly guess what kind of conversation Uncheon Zhenren must have had while sitting face-to-face with Hyeonmun Dojang of the Hall of Heroic Martiality.
There was a reason he had specifically said, I also stopped by the Hall of Heroic Martiality.
Reading the look in Kwak Yeon’s eyes, Uncheon Zhenren nodded.
“That is right. I went because Hyeonmun Dojang seemed to know more about you than anyone else.”
Kwak Yeon found it strange that Uncheon Zhenren had gone to such lengths to learn about him.
Could it be...?
The thought that he scarcely dared entertain quickly turned into certainty.
A cave-dwelling Taoist from Samryeong Palace, a place with no martial lineage to speak of, had suddenly risen into the Flower Realm. It was only natural that the Sword of Wudang would want to understand why.
Kwak Yeon began to feel troubled.
By the will of Patriarch Zhang Sanfeng, he could not speak of the true realm. If Uncheon Zhenren were to ask about it, how was he supposed to answer?
As Kwak Yeon stood there at a loss, Uncheon Zhenren continued in a gentle voice,
“It seems you have suffered greatly all this while. I do not know whether I have the right to say this, but as one of Wudang’s elders, I will apologize. I am sorry.”
At Uncheon Zhenren’s apology, emotion surged in Kwak Yeon’s chest.
Everything from the training ground to Samryeong Palace flashed through his mind like a lantern carousel, then faded away.
Kwak Yeon felt anew just how much comfort could be given by a single sincere sentence.
“I will not tell Martial Nephew Kwak to return to the mountain. Elder Brother Unseon must have had his reasons for sending you back to lay life.”
At those words, Kwak Yeon became certain that Uncheon Zhenren had indeed shared a truly special bond with his departed master, Unseon Taoist.
“And as Wudang stands now, it would only seek to bind you.”
Kwak Yeon realized that Uncheon Zhenren was worried about how the honored elders of Wudang, beginning with Grand Elder Unhak Zhenren, would treat him if he returned to the mountain now.
“Martial Uncle, thank you for considering this junior’s circumstances.”
Uncheon Zhenren gazed steadily at Kwak Yeon, then said quietly,
“You do not need to speak of the true realm either.”
Kwak Yeon stiffened in shock.
For a moment, he doubted his own ears.
But there was no mistake. He had definitely heard the words true realm.
How does Martial Uncle Uncheon know of the true realm...?
When Kwak Yeon looked at him with startled eyes, Uncheon Zhenren asked,
“Did it surprise you that I mentioned the true realm?”
“......Yes.”
Since Uncheon Zhenren already knew, there was no reason for Kwak Yeon to deny it.
“And you are curious how it is that I know of the true realm?”
To hear how Uncheon Zhenren knew of it, Kwak Yeon again had no choice but to admit it plainly.
“Yes.”
As Kwak Yeon looked at him with bright, shining eyes, Uncheon Zhenren said,
“Elder Brother Unseon once spoke to me of the true realm.”
Kwak Yeon was even more shocked.
Unseon Taoist had ordered that it be kept an absolute secret, since it was a secret transmission that could imperil Samryeong Palace, and yet he had spoken of it himself. It was almost impossible to believe.
And yet this was Uncheon Zhenren, the Sword of Wudang. He was not someone who would invent words that had never been spoken, so there was no way not to believe him either.
“Of course, he only told me that the true realm existed. He said nothing of what it was, nor where or how it existed. At the same time, he told me that it was not my fate, and that I was not even to cast my gaze toward Samryeong Peak.”
“......!”
Seeing the distant look in Uncheon Zhenren’s eyes as he paused, Kwak Yeon could tell that he was recalling that time.
How much time passed like that?
When Uncheon Zhenren returned from the past to the present, he turned a pleased smile toward Kwak Yeon and said,
“I have heard so much of Martial Nephew Kwak’s keen intelligence that my ears have nearly worn thin. So you must already have guessed why Elder Brother Unseon came to seek me out, the Sword of Wudang, and spoke to me of the true realm without my even asking.”
Of course Kwak Yeon had guessed.
More than that, his chest was tight, and a watery haze was already gathering in his eyes.
There could be only one reason Unseon Taoist had deliberately gone to the Sword of Wudang and told him of the existence of Samryeong Palace’s most secret transmission.
Kwak Yeon had long regretted that Samryeong Palace lacked a proper supreme martial art.
Unseon Taoist had made arrangements to resolve the hardship his disciple carried.
“Elder Brother Unseon told me that if ever a disciple emerged who obtained the true realm, I was to pass on Wudang’s martial arts to that disciple.”
As the rims of Kwak Yeon’s eyes reddened further, Uncheon Zhenren quietly closed his eyes and continued,
“I naturally told him I would do so. And yet, in pursuing only my own attainment, I forgot that promise completely. No! It was my arrogance that made me forget that promise with Elder Brother.”
As Uncheon Zhenren shook his head, his neat white hair fell out of place.
How could there possibly be a true realm in Samryeong Palace? And even if there were, which disciple of Samryeong Palace would ever obtain it? My heart was thinking exactly that.”
Listening to Uncheon Zhenren’s self-reflection, Kwak Yeon felt his chest swell.
“That is why I came to seek you only so late, and why Elder Brother Unseon rebuked me so sternly.”
How could the spirit of the dead truly rebuke the living?
Kwak Yeon understood that Uncheon Zhenren must have knelt in deep repentance before Unseon Taoist’s memorial tablet for a long time, reproaching himself and reflecting.
“One reason I came down the mountain this time was to meet you and uphold that promise I made to Elder Brother.”
As Uncheon Zhenren revealed his intention to pass martial arts on to him, Kwak Yeon hurriedly bowed his head and said,
“Martial Uncle, this junior dares not accept.”
No matter how desperate he was for a supreme martial art, he could not dare covet the martial arts of the Sword of Wudang.
At that, Uncheon Zhenren said in a stern voice,
“Are you daring to reject your master’s dying wish?”
Remembering that this very moment had come to exist because of Unseon Taoist’s arrangement, Kwak Yeon stiffened.
“Martial Uncle, that is not what I mean...”
“I know full well what it is you fear. But for a disciple to reject a master’s dying wish is a sin against heaven. As an elder of the sect, I cannot permit it.”
“......Martial Uncle.”
At Uncheon Zhenren’s unshakable resolve, Kwak Yeon was deeply moved. He wanted to fall prostrate that very instant and beg to be taken as a disciple.
But...
“Martial Uncle, however, I have already returned to lay life and am now a resident Taoist. I am not in a position to receive the sect’s supreme martial arts.”
“That as well is nothing for you to worry about.”
“......?”
“I heard from Martial Nephew Hyeonhae, the Palace Lord of Samryeong Palace, that in accordance with your wishes, your Taoist name was never erased from the register. So I am not seeking to pass martial arts on to Resident Taoist Martial Nephew Kwak, but to Martial Nephew Hyeonmu of Samryeong Palace.”
Uncheon Zhenren paused for a moment, looked at Kwak Yeon, and asked,
“Has your resolve changed in the meantime? If it has, then I need not pass it on to you.”
With his chest burning hot, Kwak Yeon bit down on his lip and answered,
“My resolve to return to Mount Wudang without fail has not changed.”
Uncheon Zhenren looked at Kwak Yeon with pleased eyes, then said in a clear voice,
“I, Uncheon, seventeenth Sword of Wudang, hereby designate Martial Nephew Hyeonmu of Samryeong Palace as the successor-apparent to the Sword of Wudang.”
Kwak Yeon was startled out of his wits.
“Martial Uncle! The successor-apparent to the Sword of Wudang? I ask only to receive martial instruction.”
It was only natural that Kwak Yeon should be so shocked. Uncheon Zhenren had just named him as the next Sword of Wudang.
“Martial Nephew Hyeonmu, those two statements are one and the same.”
“......?”
Kwak Yeon was dumbfounded that Uncheon Zhenren could call two things with plainly different meanings the same.
But when he heard the words that followed, he understood.
And yet he was met with even greater shock.
“For only the successor-apparent to the Sword of Wudang may receive that martial art.”
At those words from Uncheon Zhenren, Kwak Yeon’s eyes grew as wide as lanterns.
“The martial art Martial Uncle intends to pass on, then...?”
Uncheon Zhenren nodded.
“It is the Wisdom Sword of Taiji.”
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