Chapter 396
.jpeg){kind=tracking}
## 396. The Sword of Emptiness and the Dragon-Catching Sword
Son Gae-in was so stunned she couldn’t speak.
Had he been caught selling false information about the exam to his fellow practitioners for money?
It was surprising that someone who had done such a thing in a prestigious sect like the Wudang Sect had not been expelled.
She looked away and pointed to the strange man who was among the women.
“That person you’re talking about, is it the man over there among the women, right?”
Man Hwang-joo nodded.
“No need to be so cautious. In the Palace of the Eight Immortals, no one ignores who Yeon Namcheon is.”
“Really?”
“Only the new practitioners who arrived in spring don’t know; the rest know. Even the masters of the Five Dragons Palace know.”
“Why is he still in the Palace of the Eight Immortals? The Wudang Sect cares about the morals of its disciples.”
Then, Cheong Sang-dong, with an envious expression, said:
“If you knew the story behind that, you’d be amazed by his incredible luck.”
“Luck?”
“In short, he has the fortune of heaven. The best master of the Five Dragons Palace, Cheongbulno, took him as his official disciple just before his ascension. Thanks to that, whatever he does, no one will touch him.”
Man Hwang-joo intervened.
“The disciples of the Palace of the Eight Immortals think Cheongbulno has gone senile with age.”
“Wow…”
Son Gae-in shook her head.
The more she listened, the more incredible the situation seemed.
When Man Hwang-joo and Yeon Namcheon crossed paths, she hurried to finish.
“There are many more indecent stories, but talking about them would only dirty our mouths, so I’ll stop here. I’ll just leave you with a phrase: ‘A person’s nature is reflected in their face.’ Well, that’s all.”
Man Hwang-joo hurried Cheong Sang-dong, who seemed to want to stay a little longer, and they left.
As they left, Son Gae-in took a look at Yeon Namcheon.
Certainly! Seeing his face, it seemed obvious what kind of person he was.
However, why didn’t the best women of the Palace of the Eight Immortals stay away from him?
‘It’s strange. It can’t be that they don’t know…’
She decided that, if she had the chance, she would ask the women about it.
***
For a while now, Yeodongbin’s disciples had been moving around Yeon Jeokha.
It was natural, as the most prominent, Cheong Cheon-seok and Baek Seol-yeon, followed him.
After returning from his charity practice, Yeon Jeokha had ventured not only into mystical techniques and talismans, but also into swordsmanship.
He wanted to learn everything in the Five Dragons Palace before descending.
Without knowing why, Cheong Cheon-seok and Baek Seol-yeon were striving to keep up with him.
———–
**Eastern Garden.**
Master Gwanghae looked around with satisfaction.
For a few days now, there had been a sudden increase in external disciples coming to learn swordsmanship.
The Wudang Sect is famous for its swordsmanship, but the style in the Five Dragons Palace is not combat-oriented, so it didn’t have much popularity.
Swordsmanship is mainly used in rituals or dances.
If it were the swordsmanship of the Sangcheong Palace or the Taehwa Palace, the garden would be full of disciples.
“The basic swordsmanship ended yesterday. From now on, I will teach you the two swordsmanship techniques of the Five Dragons Palace: the Sword of Emptiness and the Dragon-Catching Sword. These two techniques are the culmination of exorcism, so make sure you learn them well.”
At that moment, Lee Doju asked cautiously.
“Master, aren’t talismans and spells better for exorcising? I’d like to know why you consider swordsmanship the supreme technique.”
The other external disciples nodded in agreement with Lee Doju’s words.
In fact, in exorcism, talismans and spells were used more than swordsmanship.
Therefore, it was difficult to accept that swordsmanship was the supreme technique.
“You’ve raised a good point. You said you learned swordsmanship in the Taehwa Palace a while ago, right?”
“Yes.”
“What is the technique that swordsmen use?”
“What do you mean by technique?”
“For example, does it refer to the swordsmanship technique? Or to the simple actions of stabbing, cutting, or hitting?”
“As you mentioned, they mainly focus on stabbing, cutting, and hitting.”
In reality, swordsmanship technique also boils down to stabbing, cutting, and hitting.
What is known as technique is simply a defined action with additional steps.
Therefore, it’s no wonder that the actions of stabbing, cutting, and hitting are the most common.
“But at a critical moment, you would use the swordsmanship technique, wouldn’t you?”
“That’s right. Ah…”
An exclamation escaped I Do-ju’s lips.
He finally understood what Master Gwanghae was trying to say.
“For example, the Sword of Emptiness and the Dragon-Catching Sword can be considered as the techniques of the Taehwa Palace. Talismans and spells are the basics of exorcism, like stabbing, cutting, or hitting. But if you encounter an evil spirit that doesn’t yield to that, what would you do? Would you stop exorcising and ask the Five Dragons Palace for help? In my case, I would use my supreme technique, which I kept hidden, to eliminate the evil spirit.”
Yeo Hwa-joo interrupted.
“If it’s so effective, why don’t the masters use it? Most seem to end up with talismans and spells.”
“Your comment contains the answer. Since it can be exorcised with talismans and spells, there is no need to learn swordsmanship. Another reason is that the masters don’t like to move.”
Hearing his last sentence, the external disciples nodded, while the masters of the Five Dragons Palace smiled.
Master Gwanghae continued speaking.
“However, from another perspective, swordsmanship is the best option for lazy masters. Why? Think about it. Do talismans fall from the sky? Not at all. It takes herbs, ginger, brushes, oils, and all that is mixed to make a talisman. Why do you think the masters carry bamboo backpacks? To carry exorcism equipment. But if you master swordsmanship properly, you won’t need a backpack.”
Master Gwanghae spoke about the advantages of swordsmanship like a street vendor.
Although others didn’t know, Yeon Jeokha completely agreed.
After carrying a backpack for so long, his mind was enlightened to hear that “you wouldn’t need a backpack.”
A moment later, Master Gwanghae stepped out to the center with a wooden sword.
“Of course, that doesn’t mean you should only deploy swordsmanship. That would be simply a sword dance. Anyone can learn and deploy the Sword of Emptiness and the Dragon-Catching Sword. However, to exorcise, mystical power must back up the technique. That refers to Neidan and faith.”
Curiously, Master Gwanghae didn’t mention ‘Sincere Faith’.
While some external disciples frowned, Master Gwanghae unsheathed the Sword of Emptiness.
Bzzz-.
Every time the sword cut through the air, a strange sound resonated.
It was a phenomenon that was difficult to understand, considering that Master Gwanghae was a master without mystical power.
The sword dance, which seemed about to break, lasted about seven minutes.
The external disciples were more fascinated by the resonant sound than by the sword dance.
They couldn’t understand how that sound, which wasn’t a sword sound, was produced.
The climax came with the last move.
Master Gwanghae placed the sword on his forehead and let it fall vertically.
Bzzz-.
In an instant, a sharp sound vibrated in the air in front of Master Gwanghae.
And suddenly, the air began to tremble, and a powerful wave swept through the place.
If that had been a real attack, there would have been casualties.
However, those in the room only felt a slight tremor.
When Master Gwanghae sheathed the sword, he said:
“This is the technique of the eighteen moves of the Sword of Emptiness. When you face a group of evil spirits, the Sword of Emptiness is the best option. If you were an evil spirit instead of a human, you would have been destroyed by the wave I just generated.”
“……”
The looks of the external disciples and masters were complicated.
It was impressive, but at the same time, there was a sense of uselessness.
Undoubtedly, the phenomena caused by the Sword of Emptiness were amazing.
But that was all.
Scammers can talk endlessly, but most have never seen an evil spirit. So there’s no way to check if they would really be destroyed.
Ban Hwa-seon whispered to Son Yeon-soo, who was beside her.
“Master, but the sound is useful, isn’t it? It seems perfect for showing off.”
Son Yeon-soo nodded slightly.
Certainly.
Even if it didn’t have effectiveness, it would be an excellent way to show off the wonder of mystical techniques.
“But, do you think the master can memorize all those eighteen moves?”
“Ah! That’s true.”
“Anyone would rather practice something else than memorize those difficult moves.”
“Wow, now I understand why swordsmanship isn’t popular.”
Master Gwanghae scratched his head at the ambiguous reaction of the crowd.
Of course, if he needed a sword dance, he could understand. But he had never used the Sword of Emptiness in an exorcism.
The swordsmanship of the Five Dragons confronts invisible evil spirits.
So it was natural that it was dismissed in reality.
It’s not easy to memorize eighteen moves of a technique that is considered useless.
So most came out of curiosity and left satisfied after learning a few moves.
‘Well, but someday…’
Someone will dedicate themselves to learning exorcism swordsmanship to the end.
As he himself had done in his youth.
“If the Sword of Emptiness is the technique to face a group of evil spirits, the Dragon-Catching Sword is the opposite. It is a technique intended to dominate a single one. The Dragon-Catching Sword is used to trap evil dragons, that is, demons.”
Master Gwanghae deployed the swordsmanship technique again.
“When the eastern mountain spews fire [東山吐焰], it transforms without form [離形歸眞]…”
The tip of Master Gwanghae’s sword pointed east and, in a moment, turned to the front.
At that moment, Yeon Jeokha’s eyebrows moved.
While looking distractedly at the swordsmanship technique, he suddenly felt his internal energy begin to stir.
‘What’s going on?’
Yeon Jeokha pressed the tip of the sword against his temple and recited the spell of the Eye That Penetrates The Heaven.
Immediately, his pupils turned red.
Meanwhile, Master Gwanghae’s Dragon-Catching Sword technique also reached its climax.
“When the mountain is trapped and the water flows [山囚水流], the dragon is captured and the demon is destroyed [捕龍滅魔]!”
The tip of the sword moved smoothly, encompassing the four directions of east, west, south, and north, before heading towards the air.
Master Gwanghae stood still after shouting “Capture the Dragon and Destroy the Demon.”
The external disciples and masters couldn’t take their eyes off the wooden sword.
Right after having seen the Sword of Emptiness, they expected the Dragon-Catching Sword to also have something special.
However, the Dragon-Catching Sword behaved brilliantly, like a sword dance, but offered nothing more than that.
His posture was unusual, if it can be considered unusual.
He was holding the tip of the sword towards the sky and raising his left knee upwards.
It looked like he was about to jump and reach for the sun.
Master Gwanghae held that posture for a while.
Whoever saw him might think he was making a monumental effort.
The image of Master Gwanghae staring intently with the sword was worthy of a clown.
“Pff!”
Finally, Ban Hwa-seon let out a giggle.
Yeo Hwa-gyeong and Son Yeon-soo gave him a light tap on the side, as if reprimanding him.
As he watched the disciples of the Baekhwa Palace laugh, Baek Seol-yeon’s gaze met Yeon Namcheon’s.
He had an expression of surprise, with his mouth open.
Even when they had fought the Asura Demon Lord (수라마존, Suramajon) in Ja-eunsa, Yeon Namcheon had remained impassive.
“Namcheon, what are you looking at with such amazement?”
“Can’t you see that?”
Baek Seol-yeon turned her gaze to where Yeon Jeokha’s finger pointed.
The tip of his finger pointed towards the sky, where Master Gwanghae held his sword.
It was the blue sky of May, clear and bright.
“The clouds?”
“…”
Yeon Jeokha didn’t answer.
From his perspective, something extraordinary was happening.
A blue and sharp energy (영기, Yeong-gi) emanated from the tip of Gwanghae’s wooden sword, forming a vortex at one point in the sky.
It was as if an invisible torrent of energy was spinning endlessly, creating a spiral that absorbed the flow of the environment.
—How can there be something so fierce in a Taoist technique…?
The name Dragon-Catching Sword was common in the Taoist world, but he would never have imagined that it hid such a destructive force.
And what was even more surprising:
That energy wasn’t just spiraling.
It seemed to be attracting something.
Something gigantic.
Something that, though invisible to most, was responding to the sword’s call.
Yeon Jeokha swallowed.
The Dragon-Catching Sword wasn’t simply a swordsmanship technique.
It was a ritual.
An invocation.
And the existence that was being called…
It was something similar to a dragon from the legends.