Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Walking Together (3)

Dam Ho knelt, his shoulders heaving.

His lungs were fully expanded, drinking in the fresh air, and his heart pounded as though it might burst. He gripped both trembling legs with his hands, trying to still their shaking.

Once his breathing had calmed somewhat, Dam Ho raised his head and looked ahead. He could see the boulder with the circle drawn upon it.

Day after day, he leapt toward that boulder. And leapt again.

His goal was the small circle painted on the stone. He had leapt countless times, striving to drive his fist into it.

At first, not only did his fist fail to reach the circle on the boulder, he repeatedly veered far off the line drawn upon the ground.

To leap properly. To leap straight.

To do that, he had to understand his body's condition with absolute clarity. The angle of his leg's curvature, the movement of his muscles when he pushed off the earth, and the weight they could bear—he had to know it all.

It took nearly a month just to orient himself properly. Only then did he begin to incrementally increase the distance.

That was when the true hell began.

To push off the earth with all his might using a twisted leg—the pain was beyond describing. His entire leg contorted, his muscles tearing as though they might rip apart.

Yet he clenched his teeth and leapt. He tried to grow numb to the pain. And then, from some moment onward, he truly could not feel it. No—he had simply forgotten it.

It took one month to extend the distance to one zhang—three meters—and two more months to double that. And today, Dam Ho at last drove his fist into the circle upon the boulder.

The proof was the blood flowing from his fist. His skin had been torn away upon impact with the stone.

"Ha!"

Dam Ho rose to his feet.

He had only just ascended the first step. Countless steps still remained. He could not sit and rest simply because he had climbed one.

Dam Ho extended the line from the boulder farther still. Another zhang added to the distance.

'Faster. Harder.'

This was not a matter of simply reaching the boulder.

He needed to infuse his fist with force and internal energy powerful enough to shatter that massive stone in a single blow.

Crack!

Dam Ho launched himself toward the boulder once more.

Droplets of his sweat scattered through the air.

Even when night fell, Dam Ho could not rest.

He consumed a Nourishing Essence Pill and cultivated the Heavy Heaven Heart Method. Within his dantian, his internal energy accumulated more with each passing day.

Beside the cultivating Dam Ho sat Sage Hyeon-so.

Before Sage Hyeon-so lay an open book. It was a blank volume, devoid of any writing.

Sage Hyeon-so began to move his brush across its pages. Upon the empty white paper, human figures took form, and words were written.

For the past four months, without a single day's rest, he had discussed martial arts with Dam Ho. As a result, they had crystallized a clear direction and concept.

Now he was in the process of recording their work. Not a single character could be written in vain.

This was a book for Dam Ho. However well he knew it in his mind, however deeply his body had learned it, seeing it written in words was something else entirely.

"Ha!"

At last, Sage Hyeon-so set down his brush.

The volume that had been empty moments ago was now densely filled with illustrations of a person performing martial arts and accompanying small text.

Sage Hyeon-so gazed at the book he had created for a long while. In his eyes, a thousand emotions swirled.

"I do not know if I am doing the right thing."

The martial art inscribed in the volume was steeped in killing intent—so much so that one could hardly believe it had been born within the Daoist Mount Hua Sect.

Perhaps it was because Dam Ho's nature inclined that way, and perhaps it was because Sage Hyeon-so's own heart had been stirred when they first began creating the art.

He had wanted to show something to the Grandmaster and Sage Hyeon-geom, who had dismissed Dam Ho. That was why he had brought forth the Blood Heaven Kick, long kept hidden, and labored to fuse it with other miscellaneous techniques.

They were martial arts unrelated to the Mount Hua Sect, and so he had felt no hesitation. But as time passed and his heart grew calmer, he was able to view everything with cold clarity.

If the martial art in the book were ever completed, it would possess tremendous power. For the art it contained harbored none of the compassion a Daoist school should possess.

"I must have been blinded by rage. To fill a martial art my disciple would learn with such dense killing intent."

Sage Hyeon-so shook his head. But he did not worry overmuch.

It was still only a concept, nothing more. They had established barely a handful of forms, and there was no telling when it would be completed.

At the very least, it would take decades. At worst, it might require another generation. Creating new martial arts was that arduous a task.

By the time Dam Ho completed this new art, he would likely be well advanced in years. And by then, the fury and killing intent seething in his blood would have subsided to some degree.

"Hah!"

At that moment, Dam Ho, who had been cultivating in silence, finally opened his eyes. A light flickered within them before fading away.

He seemed at last to grasp the true nature of the Heavy Heaven Heart Method.

The energy accumulated through the Heavy Heaven Heart Method was infinitely heavy. Simple, yet weighty. Weighty, yet not sluggish.

Without the aid of the Nourishing Essence Pills, he might never have attained this understanding so quickly.

Dam Ho now understood with certainty why his Master had him cultivate both the Heavy Heaven Heart Method and the Blood Heaven Kick.

The two arts fit together as naturally as if they had always been one. If both were brought to completion and fused into the art they were now creating, the result would be devastating.

Sage Hyeon-so looked at Dam Ho and smiled.

"When you are able to condense that heavy energy into your fist, no one will be able to stand before you."

Dam Ho bowed his head.

Sage Hyeon-so was a single torch burning in the impenetrable darkness before him. It was by his guidance that Dam Ho could find his way and press forward.

"Receive this book."

"What is this?"

"I have recorded the concept we established together. When you encounter difficulty, look upon this book and reflect."

"Thank you."

Dam Ho accepted the volume Sage Hyeon-so held out with both hands. The blank pages far outnumbered those filled.

"We began it together, but completing it is your task. How you develop it from here rests entirely with you."

"I will keep that in mind, Master."

Afterward, Dam Ho and Sage Hyeon-so spoke at length about the martial art recorded in the book.

Dam Ho shared his insights from training, and Sage Hyeon-so drew upon his entire reservoir of martial knowledge to resolve Dam Ho's questions.

A smile graced Dam Ho's lips.

This was still only a concept—there was no knowing what arduous path lay ahead. But Dam Ho cherished this moment.

This moment with his Master.

***

"Hah!"

Mak Gyeong, the Chief Escort of the Northern Road Escort Agency, wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve.

Though the wind was still chill, a fair amount of sweat had broken through. The sun was that fierce.

"Spring must not be far off. The spring blossoms will already be in bloom in the Central Plains."

A smile rose to his lips.

Then a young escort galloped up beside him on horseback. Lim Ho-ryeong, an escort in his early thirties, was a younger brother Mak Gyeong held dear.

"You must already be missing your wife, Brother."

"Wouldn't you be the same? It has been seven months since we set out. I'm dying for a whiff of my wife's scent."

"I feel the same. I want to go home and see my wife and children as soon as possible."

A look of longing crossed Lim Ho-ryeong's face.

This was a trading expedition that had traveled all the way to the Western Regions. The Northern Road Trading Company had blazed a new route and staked their fortunes on this venture.

In truth, seven months could not be considered long. It typically took over a year to make the round trip to the Western Regions. They had hurried and given their all.

As a result, they had forged a trade line with the Western Regions. Now all that remained was to soar ever higher.

The two men looked back.

Hundreds of people and countless carriages followed in their wake. They were the merchants of the Northern Road Trading Company and the escort guards of the Escort Agency. Smiles graced their faces.

Having reaped the rewards they sought, their steps on the road back to the Central Plains were light.

Their current position was Lop Nur Lake in Xinjiang Province. The Jade Gate Pass in Gansu Province, the gateway into the Central Plains, was not far ahead.

If they pressed on diligently, ten days would be sufficient to enter Gansu Province. From there, another month's journey remained to Hubei Province, where the Northern Road Trading Company was headquartered. Yet having nearly reached the Central Plains, their steps could not help but be buoyant.

Mak Gyeong asked:

"Where is the Company Master?"

"He has fallen asleep in his carriage."

"He must be exhausted. How he has worried these past months."

"But now that we have achieved what we wanted, he can rest easy."

Company Master Woo Seung-gyeong of the Northern Road Trading Company was an outer disciple of the renowned Wudang Sect in Hubei Province.

Relying only on the martial arts learned at Wudang and a single sword, he had embarked upon his trading career some thirty years ago. In that time, the Northern Road Trading Company had grown into the foremost trading house in Hubei.

To protect it, he had established the Northern Road Escort Agency, with Mak Gyeong as its Chief Escort.

"Brother, allow me to congratulate you in advance."

"What do you mean?"

"When we return to Hubei Province, you will become the Head of the Northern Road Escort Agency, will you not? My congratulations."

"You rascal. That is only if we return safely."

Company Master Woo Seung-gyeong had declared that if this expedition concluded without incident, he would grant Mak Gyeong the position of Head of the Northern Road Escort Agency. For an escort who had started from the very bottom, it was an honor beyond measure.

"We are nearly at the Central Plains now. Surely nothing will happen."

Lim Ho-ryeong grinned. Mak Gyeong let out a short laugh in response.

At that moment.

Whoosh!

A sharp whistle of something cutting through the air suddenly echoed across the sky.

"Kyaah!"

A scream erupted from an escort behind them.

The faces of Mak Gyeong and Lim Ho-ryeong changed in an instant.

"What?"

They whipped around. An escort had been struck by an arrow and fallen from his horse.

"An ambush? Who on earth…"

At that instant, figures clad entirely in black cloaks surged into view atop a nearby hill. Their number exceeded a hundred.

"Who are you?!"

Mak Gyeong and Lim Ho-ryeong drew their swords and shouted. Tension was plain upon their faces. The killing intent emanating from the attackers was far from ordinary.

Woo Seung-gyeong, who had been sleeping in his carriage, emerged. He fixed the attackers with a glare and cried out:

"I am Woo Seung-gyeong, Company Master of the Northern Road Trading Company and an outer disciple of Wudang. Who are you, to dare assault the Northern Road Trading Company?"

Woo Seung-gyeong invoked the name of Wudang.

He intended to intimidate the enemy by invoking the Wudang Sect—one of the Nine Great Sects and leader of the Five Sacred Sword Sects. But the reply he received shattered his expectations utterly.

The man who appeared to be the leader of the attackers curled his lip into a twisted smile.

"What of Wudang?"

"To think you would dare look down on Wudang."

Woo Seung-gyeong's rage flared.

He could endure any insult—but the dishonoring of his sect, the Wudang, was something he could not abide.

The leader approached, speaking as he came:

"You possess a great pride in the Wudang Sect. But even so great a Wudang dared not draw a full breath when we were active."

"What did you say?"

As suspicion clouded the faces of Woo Seung-gyeong, Mak Gyeong, and the others, the leader threw off his black cloak. Emblazoned upon his chest was a clearly visible emblem.

A simple, stylized image of a blazing flame. The moment they saw it, the faces of Woo Seung-gyeong and his companions transformed utterly.

"That emblem… the Sacred Flame? Could it be—the Demonic Cult?"

A force said to have perished twenty years ago. The very wellspring of all demonic arts in the world.

That was the Demonic Cult.

At the time, the entire Central Plains had united to drive them out.

After more than three years of brutal warfare, the Central Plains had at last destroyed the Demonic Cult. But the damage sustained by the Central Plains was immense. Numerous sects had lost their strength or been annihilated entirely, and many who had not yet recovered from the aftermath had fallen into decline.

The leader's lip curled upward.

"Now you understand? Why we do not fear the Wudang."

"A-are you truly the Demonic Cult?"

"See for yourself."

The leader gestured with his hand.

In that instant, the martial artists arrayed behind him charged toward the Northern Road Trading Company and its escort guards as one. And a one-sided slaughter began.

Woo Seung-gyeong's face twisted in anguish. He and Mak Gyeong exchanged a glance. Without a word, they understood each other's thoughts.

Mak Gyeong looked to Lim Ho-ryeong.

"Ho-ryeong."

"Yes, Chief Escort."

"You must survive. No matter what."

"What are you saying? I will fight alongside you to the end."

"If they are truly the Demonic Cult, none of us will survive. But someone must live to carry word of their existence to the Central Plains. You are the only one among us who might accomplish that. I am asking you, Ho-ryeong."

"Kuh! Chief Escort."

Lim Ho-ryeong's face contorted in grief.

Woo Seung-gyeong and Mak Gyeong turned their backs on him and walked toward the battlefield. Their faces were filled with solemn resolve.

That day, the Northern Road Trading Company and its escort agency vanished from the world.