Chapter 235

Chapter 235# Chapter 235: Paths That May Cross

Unlike the life I lived before, in this one I came to know Yin Hu.

He was never my formally acknowledged master, merely a lay disciple, yet I learned more from him than I could ever say.

Take the Ki Cheon Bo, which I’ve wielded so skillfully ever since I created it in my past life—wasn’t it built upon the Ilbo Cheon lightness skill of the Holy Sound Jade Lingering Sect?

*If my master is watching me now, wondering which path his disciple will choose…*

*I understand. You’ve been observing all along, curious which choice I would make, which road I would set my feet upon.*

When a sharp, quick-witted disciple makes his master fear he might foolishly cling only to the easiest paths… then it falls to that disciple to lay those fears to rest and grant his master peace.

“Walk the path of Wu Gong by my side?”

It was spoken in lofty, ornate terms, but his true meaning was clear: stand under his guidance instead of Yin Hu’s. The motive behind his offer was impossible to miss.

“Even Sword Elder—who already counts Hyun Geom among his disciples—must find my talent hard to resist.”

I glanced deliberately at Hyun Geom as I finished speaking. Good heavens, setting everything else aside—being recognized like this feels incredible.

“By its very nature, the bond between master and disciple is showing the road you have already traveled and passing it down to another. I have already been given such a path, and I am walking it now.”

Besides, the path of Wu Gong did not seem so very precious to me in any case. Was it not quite literally the trail worn smooth by a doddering old fool?

“Child, I shall bequeath the Beneficent Sword to you. There is no need to join Wudang as a disciple. You need only say you will walk the same road.”

Wait—the Taiji Beneficent Sword? Wudang’s most revered and closely guarded secret art?

Yin Hu had once told me that, as a lay disciple, he could not pass along the true techniques of the Holy Sound Jade Lingering Sect. I knew little of how matters were arranged within Wudang, but this was a bold, unprecedented declaration that broke every established custom.

Just look at Hyun Geom—who had bypassed generations of hierarchy to become Taiji Sword Elder’s disciple—staring, his eyes wide as saucers.

“Child, you have need of the Beneficent Sword. There is nothing to lose in accepting this old man’s proposal. Simply walk together—that is all I ask.”

At this point, I began to grow suspicious. Offering the Beneficent Sword, yet asking so very little in return—what was truly on his mind?

*Even so, it is a poisoned apple.*

Not poison in the sense of straining my bond with Yin Hu—poison in its truest form. The kind that clouds your judgment, blurs your sight, and leaves you blind to the road stretching ahead.

*I have only one path. If you wish to travel it with me, then come stand beside me.*

“Paths are bound to cross now and then, are they not? We can exchange greetings whenever they do.” Baek Yang-hwi’s voice rang out, clear and bright.

Taiji Sword Elder said nothing in reply, only watched him in silence, his gaze heavy with unspoken thoughts.

—

Taiji Sword Elder’s mind turned to the events that had unfolded just before he set out to meet the Baek Clan’s young heir.

“The Heaven-Covering Sword Dragon has stirred up trouble once more.”

“Humiliating the Young Heir of the Great Namgung Clan so thoroughly—and before such a crowd of onlookers, at that.”

“The Namgung Clan is consumed with rage. They are sharpening their blades, preparing to strike back.”

“The Baek Clan shares deep bonds with the Zhuge and Tang Clans. What might begin as a minor grievance could leave a lasting scar. In truth, this was never something small to begin with.”

“If the rift widens… it could undermine the Great Ancestor’s carefully laid design.”

The Great Namgung Clan believed they had reached a point of no return in their dealings with the Baek Clan, and they were preparing to act—all because of the Baek Clan’s eldest young master, who slipped through events like a loach in clear water, churning everything into mud just as he always had.

“Great Ancestor, give the word, we beg you.”

“If we stand aside and do nothing, disaster will surely follow.”

“We must intervene and take action at once.”

Amid the clamor of his disciples, Taiji Sword Elder remained still, eyes closed, silent.

*Baek Clan’s Yang-hwi. Yang-hwi—light shining forth. A splendid name. A name that cannot be ignored.*

The reason was plain enough.

*Gangseo’s Heaven-Covering Baek Clan. Founded by the Heavenly Sword God. Its roots stretch back to the lineage of Mount Hua.*

Mount Hua—source of so much, and therefore the peak all strive to surpass.

*My master. And my grandmaster.*

He remembered it as clearly as if it had happened moments ago: the day his master, Three Peaks True Man, departed this world.

*Child Sword, forgive me. This is your unworthy master’s final charge: carry forward the lineage, but let your own will guide your steps.*

Once he had been known as Killing Sword. That was the name he had taken amid the bloodshed of battle, and it had become his very identity.

*I could only prove my worth through taking life.* That had been his life, his whole world, all he had ever known. Everything changed when he met his master.

*A boy who draws his blade only in the shadows? You call yourself Killing Sword, and so you have named yourself? From this day, you shall be Yang-hwi—light shining forth. When you strike, stand where the light can find you. So shall Three Peaks name you.*

Three Peaks True Man had given him the name Yang-hwi, yet whenever his spirits were high, he would still call him affectionately “Child Sword.”

*And so the lineage continued—and began anew.*

Trained in Shaanxi by Mount Hua’s Fire Dragon True Man, the boy who had been Sword Sage Yeo Dong-bin raised up Three Peaks, brought blessings to the world, and passed the torch onward. He had taken a boy who knew nothing but slaughter and shaped him into one who raised his sword in the light.

*Therefore, the lineage of the Sword Sage must not merely endure. It must spread far and wide, to bring light to all beneath heaven.*

Most believe Wudang seeks to rule the martial world solely to rival Shaolin—rising above the saying “North reveres Shaolin, South esteems Wudang” to stand supreme alone. That is true, on the surface, and it is certainly one of our aims. But our true purpose lies elsewhere.

Where Mount Hua gave the world so much yet could not sustain itself, we would plant the will of the Sword Sage lineage across the land, for the good of all. If one person’s strength is not enough, we shall join many hands together. This was the path of Wu Gong that Sword Elder longed to walk.

*The Baek Clan’s Yang-hwi. Of all names, Yang-hwi; of all houses, the Baek Clan.*

Could Mount Hua’s indomitable lineage, so close to fading away, bloom anew beyond its borders? A boy born to shine in the brightness of day.

He thought of his own disciple, Hyun Geom. He had hoped Hyun Geom would shine brilliantly, yet in the end, the young man’s roots had anchored themselves firmly within Mount Hua’s lineage.

“Silence. I shall go and meet this boy myself.”

The Wudang disciples fell silent in shock. The revered leader they had held up as their guiding light was going forth in person—an extraordinary turn of events.

“We shall assess the situation afterward. I will see him with my own eyes.”

Taiji Sword Elder set out, accompanied only by Hyun Geom—the disciple he had hoped would shine so brightly. And so he came face to face with Baek Yang-hwi.

*So you are Yang-hwi. Perhaps…*

An extraordinary young man. Fearless enough to speak plainly even to the world’s most renowned masters, his cultivation deep and refined, almost impossible to discern at his age. And that was not all. He had rescued the Zhuge Clan’s daughter from a fate worse than death and entrusted her to Yin Hu. He had loosened the Tang Clan’s choking bonds and kept them from slipping into darkness.

*You may well be the one. If you are destined to shine. If you truly are Yang-hwi—light made flesh.*

People are drawn to those who glow, as moths to a flame. And so the one who shines must have the strength to gather them close.

*To be the sword wielded by the light—that was the hope. Yet you are also my precious light, and so I shall not command you. Choose this path of your own free will, and that shall be enough—if such is the wish of my disciple, my heir.*

This was the decree handed down through the lineage of the Sword Sage: the one who shines shall appear, and all shall stand together to banish the darkness. It was written in the ancestral inscriptions as well.

*Are you truly the one? Or shall the light pass from me to another?*

He could not be certain. In truth, none of them had been born to a name. The Killing Sword of the battlefield, the orphan boy from the beggar quarters—none had known who they were at first. He himself, Hyun Geom, and even the child from the mountain village who had lost everything to raiders—all had started nameless or had their names taken from them. And so fate had slipped through their fingers; perhaps they walked beyond it altogether.

*Exert every effort, and await heaven’s will.*

Until heaven’s purpose is clear, we press forward. That is the way of things, and the way of Wu Gong. Reflecting on his own long journey, Sword Elder made his offer.

“This is the way of Wudang: through striving, all may flourish together. And so I ask you—will you not walk the Dao of Wu Gong at this old man’s side?”

After a long silence, Yang-hwi broke into a grin.

“A disciple’s duty is to bring peace to the master who watches over him.”

Simple words, yet they struck straight to his heart.

“Child, you shall have need of the Beneficent Sword. Accepting my offer will bring you no harm at all. We need only walk together—that is all.”

If this was truly the one destined to stand in the light, he would need such a blade—forged from wisdom to fill every gap and heal every wound. But Yang-hwi’s answer came clearly and without hesitation.

“Paths cross sometimes, don’t they? We can greet each other whenever they do.”

Perhaps, deep down, he had already known. *Whether you are the chosen one or not… you have a gift for touching hearts. You shine, in your own way.*

*And yet I too am Yang-hwi. I will stand in the light, and I will draw my sword.*

—

The conversation with Taiji Sword Elder had not been long, yet it had drained him completely.

“Whew. Worn out just from talking? That is certainly new.”

“Says the one who spoke his mind freely right to Sword Elder’s face. Am I not right, brother?”

“Younger or not, I am still your senior.”

“If we are counting years, we are the same age. I only started calling you senior brother after I lost that bet, remember?”

*Did I? Perhaps my memory is beginning to fail me…*

That was when it happened.

“Brother… you called him brother.”

The voice was not Yang-hwi’s. Both men turned, startled.

“It has been too long, daughter. And you too, Yang-hwi.”

A middle-aged man stood before them, his smile sharp and dangerous. This was Zhuge Seon—Young Heir of the Zhuge Clan, one of the Five Great Clans. Known as the Peerless Dragon Warrior for his fiery temper, and known privately as Zhuge Seol-ha’s father.

*I must be truly exhausted to miss someone approaching so close and so fiercely.*

“The tales about you have been most entertaining—all this talk of who is whose wife.”

“Ah, Uncle, there is an explanation. Seol-ha told you, did she not?”

“Wife? *Wife?*”

Zhuge Seon was in no mood to listen to explanations. If he had been told beforehand, he would never have arrived in such a state.

“Seol-ha?”

Zhuge Seol-ha stuck out her tongue playfully.

“Uncle didn’t know? We only pretended to be married because it was convenient.”

“I kept putting off telling him, and then I simply forgot.”

Yang-hwi smiled uneasily as he faced Zhuge Seon.

“Your arrival means the Great Clans are sending their most influential representatives, does it not? You have come at just the right moment—I have matters I wish to discuss—”

Zhuge Seon lunged, seized Yang-hwi by the collar, and lifted him clean off the ground.

“Baek Yang-hwiiiiii!”

“It was your daughter’s idea in the first place!”

“Save your excuses!”

“Please—have mercy!”

A father’s fury, burning hotter than the fires of Mount Hua itself, erupted—his precious daughter, the light of his life, spoken of as someone’s wife!

“Die!”

“I surrender!”