Soyeon exclaimed with exaggerated gestures, looking up at Mount Song.
“So this… is Mount Song.”
Even the calm Dojin said, his eyes wide as he gazed up at the mountain.
“How is it? Can you feel the energy of Mount Song?”
When Great Monk Hyeon-u asked with a smile, Dojin nodded.
Great Monk Hyeon-u looked down with a smiling face at Dojin, who still couldn’t take his eyes off the mountain.
Seeing his two younger siblings, Mujin felt that coming here had been the right decision.
After all, though they were young, these two children had spent their entire lives cooped up in Seochang.
Giving them a chance to see the wide world with their own eyes would broaden their horizons and be a catalyst for their growth into greater people.
“It’s still early, but there are so many worshippers.”
Mujin said, looking at the many people ascending Mount Song.
“It’s not usually this crowded. They’ve likely all come to see the tournament brackets for the Orthodox Grand Tournament finals, which start tomorrow.”
Mujin couldn’t understand why people would climb one of the Five Great Mountains so early in the morning just to check the brackets, not even for the tournament itself.
But he didn’t voice this thought.
“Let’s go up.”
And so, the group began their slow ascent, matching the pace of the worshippers.
After climbing for a while, Dojin and Soyeon’s breathing grew increasingly ragged.
“Are you tired?”
The two children shook their heads at Mujin’s question.
“Your breathing is ragged. This is why you learned lightness techniques. It’s not just for leaping gracefully through the air. Maintain the breathing of the lightness technique and adapt your footwork to the terrain.”
At Mujin’s words, the two children grinned as if it sounded fun and quickly did as they were told.
Their ragged breathing stabilized, and the two children ascended the mountain with light steps.
“Too fast. There are people ahead of you, so slow down.”
“Okay!”
“Yes!”
Great Monk Hyeon-u and Abbess Jinhwa smiled as they watched the two children excitedly run ahead.
Seeing eight-year-old children climb one of the Five Great Mountains so easily made it clear how well-established their foundations were.
The two masters had only passed on their secret arts; they hadn’t been able to pay any mind to the children’s basic training or other practices.
After all, the two children were direct descendants of the Yeomhwa Family.
But seeing their well-grounded lower bodies even while climbing Mount Song made it obvious how diligently the children had practiced their basic training, which pleased them.
‘They are Family Head Hwa’s siblings, so of course they’d be exceptional.’
‘They say you can see a family’s foundation by looking at its eldest son. It’s true indeed.’
As they ascended Mount Song, the gates of the Shaolin Temple came into view.
Numerous monks were out receiving guest logs, busy because of the Orthodox Grand Tournament.
As Great Monk Hyeon-u approached the monks who were collecting logs from every single worshipper, one of the busy monks recognized him and ran over.
“G-Granduncle Master! You’ve returned!”
Despite being busy, the young monk’s face lit up with joy at the return of a sect elder who had been away in the secular world for a long time.
“I have guests.”
At Great Monk Hyeon-u’s words, the monk glanced at the people behind him and asked.
“How should I record the members of the Emei Sect and the others?”
“They are from the Yeomhwa Family.”
At the mention of the Yeomhwa Family, the young monk tilted his head slightly.
He was unaware that Great Monk Hyeon-u had been staying with the Yeomhwa Family and had taken a disciple to inherit his insights.
Since Hyeon-u had a habit of wandering and never contacted the temple once he left, the monk simply nodded.
In Sichuan, everyone knew of Hwa Mujin and the Yeomhwa Family, but their fame had not yet reached Mount Song in Henan.
Great Monk Hyeon-u shifted his gaze from the monk who was hastily writing in the guest log and spoke to Mujin.
“Please, enter.”
As the group followed Great Monk Hyeon-u inside, the young monk added a word.
“Ah! The members from the Emei Sect are staying at Hyeonam Pavilion.”
“Thank you for letting me know.”
One of Abbess Jinhwa’s disciples cupped her fist lightly at the monk’s words.
Upon entering the Shaolin Temple, a series of magnificent halls stretched out before them.
‘It’s changed quite a bit.’
Mujin smiled as he looked around at the Shaolin Temple’s buildings, which were much larger than when he had last visited.
In the past, when he came to Shaolin, thirty percent of its halls had been destroyed.
On that day, when countless monks and arhats had stepped forward to stop him.
Shaolin had ultimately failed to stop the Divine Demon.
As they entered the temple grounds, Abbess Jinhwa was the first to speak.
“We must see our sect members, so we will have to part ways here.”
Mujin nodded at her words.
“Yes. Once you have reunited with them, I will send word of our lodgings as soon as they are arranged.”
“Yes. In that case… Soyeon. This is a sacred place, so you must mind your words and actions.”
Well aware of Soyeon’s audacious side, Abbess Jinhwa spoke out of concern before turning away with her disciples.
She headed towards Hyeonam Pavilion without a guide, as if she had visited the Shaolin Temple quite a few times before.
As they passed by many worshippers, the two children looked around, taking in the scenery of the Shaolin Temple.
“Wow. Brother! Look at that pagoda!”
At Soyeon’s words, Mujin looked up at the stone pagoda.
‘They rebuilt that too. I smashed it with the head of a monk who practiced the Iron Head Art…’
“Brother! They say the Great Dharma Hall was completely rebuilt.”
‘Ah. It completely collapsed back then. They would have had to rebuild it.’
While Masok and the children, excited by the vast scenery of Shaolin, were engrossed in sightseeing, No-sak looked quite uncomfortable.
-Are you very uncomfortable?
No-sak shook his head slightly at Mujin’s telepathic message.
-It’s not that severe. But I do feel strangely intimidated.
Mujin nodded at his honest reply.
-Since you possess demonic energy, you’re bound to feel suppressed. Still, at your level, it shouldn’t be overwhelming, so you’ll be fine for now. Do not, under any circumstances, get excited and reveal your demonic energy. It could cause a major incident.
-Yes.
After passing the halls that stretched out from the main gate, a high wall greeted the group.
“This is the true Shaolin, starting from inside here.”
After saying this, Great Monk Hyeon-u gestured to the monks guarding the gate, and they hurriedly opened the tightly shut red doors.
There, instead of worshippers, were countless martial artists.
“Whoa…”
A wide-open training ground, and the halls built around it as if to embrace it.
In particular, the sight of the main hall’s roofline perfectly aligning with the peaks of Mount Song behind it was truly a magnificent spectacle.
“I must go see the Abbot. From here, this young one will guide you. Please rest well today and recover from your journey. This area is open to all, so feel free to look around anywhere. However… the path behind the main hall leading to the Cave of Repentance is strictly off-limits to outsiders, so please refrain from going there, no matter how curious you are.”
“Yes, we’ll be careful.”
As Mujin nodded, Great Monk Hyeon-u smiled and turned away.
A young monk, who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen and had followed them through the red gates, stood before the group, pressing his palms together and bowing his head.
“I will guide you to the guest quarters first.”
“Please do.”
The monk led Mujin and his group to the largest room in the guest quarters.
It was the largest room in the guest quarters, with a main hall and four smaller rooms attached.
The monk guided them as instructed by Great Monk Hyeon-u, the head of the Arhat Hall and his granduncle master, through a telepathic message.
“Please rest comfortably. If you need anything or are uncomfortable, there are people on standby in the inner court of the guest quarters, so please let them know.”
With those words, the monk pressed his palms together and hurried off again.
Watching his retreating back, No-sak spoke.
“He looks young, but his external arts are quite impressive.”
Mujin smiled at No-sak, who had lowered his voice.
“It seems your eyes are starting to open. Good job noticing.”
“It’s because Brother Cheol-muk always trains in external arts as well. He’s no match for Brother Cheol-muk, but considering his age, it’s what you’d expect from Shaolin.”
“Shaolin is Shaolin.”
With that, Mujin intended to go into his room and take a nap for the first time in a while.
He had no interest in the scenery of Shaolin anyway, and he couldn’t exactly swing his sword and train in the guest quarters, so he figured he might as well get some proper sleep.
“Brother! Can we go out and look around?”
“Yes. But not just the two of you… Go with Masok and No-sak.”
“Okay!”
As the four of them stepped outside, there were people watching them from a distance with unfriendly eyes.
“Are those them?”
A warrior who looked to be past thirty nodded at the words of a man in luxurious clothes who appeared to have just passed his twentieth year.
“That’s right. They definitely came through the mountain gates with Great Monk Hyeon-u, so there’s no mistake.”
“Tsk, tsk. Look at how they’re dressed. To think they gave the largest room in the guest quarters to riffraff like them. They must have really sweet-talked that old wandering monk.”
“Young Master. There are many ears listening.”
“What does it matter? I’ve put up a sound barrier, haven’t I? More importantly, are those two children his siblings?”
The warrior replied to the man’s question.
“Yes. Rumor has it that the boy defeated a secular disciple of the Diancang Sect at the Young Dragon Ascension Tournament. With a sword.”
“The Flame Emperor’s ultimate techniques are clearly unarmed combat. Both the eldest and second son have learned some rootless sword art from who knows where. Tsk, tsk, tsk. It wouldn’t look good for me to step in against a child… Setting Dong-ho on him should be fine.”
“Things could get out of hand.”
“It’s just a fight between children. What’s there to get out of hand? Isn’t the timing perfect? This is the great Shaolin Temple, and countless martial artists from the Central Plains are gathered here. It’d be a waste to let this chance slip by.”
“…”
“Bring Dong-ho. I’ll take responsibility.”
“Yes.”
At the man’s command, the warrior disappeared somewhere.
The man led the other warriors and followed the people from the Yeomhwa Family from a distance.
The man, dressed in a gray robe over a black undergarment and holding a fan in one hand, muttered.
“I’ll wash away the humiliation from Ssangnyu right here.”
* * *
“So, you’ve finally found a disciple?”
The monk with a white beard that reached his solar plexus, who shot up and clasped Great Monk Hyeon-u’s hands, was Hyeon-gak, the Abbot of the Shaolin Temple.
He was overjoyed to hear that his martial brother, who had wandered the outside world his whole life without taking a formal disciple, had finally taken one.
Shaolin’s lost ultimate technique.
His martial brother had striven his entire life to restore the Hundred-Pace Divine Fist.
Ever since the temple’s seclusion was lifted fifteen years ago, Hyeon-u had personally traveled anywhere in the Central Plains if there was a record of the Hundred-Pace Divine Fist.
Hyeon-gak, who knew better than anyone the hard life his martial brother had led, wandering and bowing his head to other schools, couldn’t help but be happy that he had finally taken a disciple.
“Wonderful! Truly wonderful! The Buddha must have helped. Who is this child? Or is it not a child? Where are they from?”
Among the martial brothers, Great Monk Hyeon-u was the most talented in terms of martial prowess.
It wasn’t for nothing that he was in charge of the Arhat Hall.
Had it not been for him, Hyeon-u was a man who could have easily become the Abbot of Shaolin and mastered the secret arts passed down only to the abbot.
“Please ask one question at a time, Abbot. This junior brother only has one mouth.”
“Haha. Seeing you drag this out and make me anxious, you must have found a remarkable talent.”
“Yes. Do you perhaps remember? Before Granduncle Master Hyegwang passed away, he went to Sichuan and was excited about discovering a Heavenly Martial Body?”
“A Heavenly Martial Body… you mean the eldest son of the Yeomhwa Family?”
“Yes!”
“Then the Mad Duke… no, that’s not it. He’s called the Hidden Dragon of Sichuan now, right? You mean you took him as your disciple?”
Abbot Hyeon-gak asked with a worried expression.
“No. He’s too old, and he’s the eldest son of the Yeomhwa Family. He has young twin siblings.”
“Aha! So you took his siblings as your disciples.”
“Not ‘siblings,’ I took the boy as my disciple.”
“Well done! As the flesh and blood of a Heavenly Martial Body, his martial talent must be excellent, even if not quite at that level.”
“You are mistaken, Abbot. The martial talent of the Heavenly Martial Body was passed down not only to the eldest son but to his siblings as well.”
“…Is that so? Haha. That’s good. Try to raise him well.”
Great Monk Hyeon-u smiled, seeing his senior brother’s mild reaction.
“You don’t believe me. To be fair, I didn’t believe in the Heavenly Martial Body either until I saw it for myself. You will likely be surprised once you see him. He is not called a heaven-sent talent for nothing.”
“I believe you. How could I not believe my own brother’s words? I am just happy to see you finally settling down.”
As a sect of Buddhist disciples, Shaolin forbids marriage.
A natural rule for Buddhist disciples.
Therefore, since they could not have their own children, they often regarded their disciples as their own flesh and blood.
They would grow fond of their disciples, watching them grow as if raising their own children.
But words could not describe how troubled he had felt watching his martial brother wander the world without taking a single formal disciple, even at his current age.
There were countless days when his heart grew heavy just thinking of Hyeon-u, who was growing old without taking a disciple in order to achieve his grand goal of restoring the Hundred-Pace Divine Fist.
But now, seeing his martial brother finally able to enjoy the happiness of raising a disciple, it felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his heart.
“This may be a bit apologetic to you, Abbot, but as he is the second son of a martial family, he will not be able to be registered as a monk. Naturally, he must remain a secular disciple, and I can only apologize for leaving such important insights with a secular disciple.”
Abbot Hyeon-gak shook his head at Great Monk Hyeon-u’s bow.
“No. What does it matter if he is a core disciple or a secular one? He is still a disciple of our Shaolin. Your insights are Shaolin’s insights. There will come a day when they return to us.”
“Thank you for your understanding. Ah, and…”
Great Monk Hyeon-u’s expression darkened as he trailed off.
As his martial brother’s mood turned grim, Abbot Hyeon-gak also asked with a serious expression.
“Did something happen?”
The rumors of the Hwamyeong Duo’s deaths, which were slowly spreading through the Central Plains, had not yet reached Henan.
“We were attacked by the Hwamyeong Duo of the Moon-Slaying Sword Sect.”
!!!
At the mention of the Hwamyeong Duo, the Abbot’s face contorted.
“Those murderous fiends!!”
“Yes. They weren’t after me, but likely after Family Head Hwa of the Yeomhwa Family.”
“…It must be because of Jeokwol-geom’s death?”
He remembered hearing the rumor about Hwa Mujin killing Jeokwol-geom and earning the title Hidden Dragon of Sichuan.
“It seems so. They appeared to have come with deadly intent. It was the Hwamyeong Duo and thirty first-rate masters.”
“…You did well to fend them off.”
“We did have help from Abbess Jinhwa, but…”
Great Monk Hyeon-u recounted the details of that day’s battle to the Abbot.
Listening to the story, Abbot Hyeon-gak would at times flush with excitement and at others, slam his fist on the table in fury, leaving a hand-shaped hole.
“The Hwamyeong Formation… you’re saying he broke it?”
“I can think of no other explanation. If he hadn’t broken it, there’s no way Family Head Hwa could have dispatched two peak masters like that.”
“In any case, it is a blessing for all living beings that those murderous fiends are no longer of this world. Moreover, for such a great figure to appear in the Orthodox Path, is this not also a great fortune for the martial world of the Central Plains?”
“Indeed. However, we were attacked by them in broad daylight on a public road near Gamnak. We cannot simply let this pass, can we?”
The Abbot furrowed his brow and nodded.
“Of course. We cannot let this pass. I’ve often heard stories of Unorthodox factions spreading throughout the Central Plains and committing evil deeds, but for them to dare commit such a heinous act is to look down on our Shaolin and the Nine Great Sects. As soon as this Orthodox Grand Tournament is over, I will tear these bastards…!”
“Abbot.”
At Great Monk Hyeon-u’s call, palms pressed together, Abbot Hyeon-gak cleared his throat and mirrored the gesture.
“Amitabha. I cannot seem to calm my excitement when I think of those wicked Unorthodox factions. It is a great problem. The time has come to settle things with the Samu-cheon. I must speak to our Granduncle Master.”
At the mention of their Granduncle Master, Great Monk Hyeon-u nodded.
Great Monk Hyemun, now the sole remaining member of the ‘Hye’ generation and the previous head of the Arhat Hall.
He was the greatest elder of Shaolin and a martial artist known as the Fist Emperor, one of the Four Emperors with the highest standing in the Central Plains martial world.
* * *
“So you’re saying you were attacked in the middle of a public road in Sichuan?!”
“That’s right. It’s horrifying to even think what might have happened if Family Head Hwa hadn’t been there.”
“Th… Th… I’ll chew them to death…”
“Sister. Many disciples are listening.”
“Huuu…”
Jinhwa’s martial sister and the head of Emei’s Guro Hall, Jin-hoe, controlled her anger and took several deep breaths.
Not long ago, Myeol-ryeong and the ‘Jeong’ generation disciples were nearly assaulted by a lecher in Gamnak, and now her own senior sister had almost lost her life.
“This is not something we can simply let pass.”
“Of course not. By now, Great Monk Hyeon-u has likely informed Shaolin, so they will probably convene the Righteous Heart Assembly after the Orthodox Grand Tournament ends.”
“Why are the Unorthodox factions running so rampant?”
“Huuu. What can we do? Our Nine Great Sects have lived in seclusion from the secular world for fifteen years.”
“…”
To lighten the heavy atmosphere, Abbess Jinhwa began to talk about Soyeon.
* * *
“H-How can you do this?”
Masok shouted, looking at the boy who was picking a fight, backed by five warriors.
The many martial artists who had flocked to Shaolin for the Orthodox Grand Tournament focused their attention on Masok’s shout.
“I’m telling you to apologize properly for causing such a nuisance. What’s wrong with that?”
The boy, who looked two or three years older than Dojin, spoke nonchalantly, a smirk twisting his lips.
No-sak, gripping his steel staff tightly, would have already rushed forward and smashed the heads of that brat and his warriors if this weren’t the Shaolin Temple.
While No-sak clenched his jaw, exercising superhuman patience, Dojin spoke up.
“I said I was sorry if we inconvenienced you. How else are we supposed to apologize?”
At the calm and serious tone, unbefitting of a child, the brow of the boy who had started the fight furrowed.
“Our Cheol Family is a secular branch of the Kongtong Sect, and my older brother won the Young Dragon Ascension Tournament and is competing in the Orthodox Grand Tournament finals!”
