The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 59

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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59
Woo Geom-san’s Battle for Supremacy
In the end, all the village youths were able to return safely to the village.
The villagers, who had been waiting with bated breath, rejoiced and threw a feast.
Not only had they made a massive profit this time as well, but everyone had also returned unharmed.
Now, as long as they harvested the rice safely, they would be able to pass this winter without any trouble.
“You all went through a lot.”
“Don’t do any work for a few days, just rest up at home.”
The village elders patted the youths on the back and served them plenty of food.
Woo Geom-san sat among them, eagerly accepting and eating the food the elders handed him.
On Woo Geom-san’s face, not a trace of agony or darkness could be found.
Just like the other youths, he laughed, chatted, and acted as if nothing were wrong.
No matter what he felt inside, he didn’t want to show it in front of others.
Woo Geom-san laughed and chatted with his usual expression, then quietly slipped away around the time the feast was winding down.
The place he headed to was none other than the house where Baek Ho-yang was staying.
In Baek Ho-yang’s room, an oil lamp cast a dim light.
Even though it was late at night, he was still reading books.
Woo Geom-san adjusted his clothes and spoke.
“Grandfather! I’m back.”
“You’re back?”
The room door opened, and Baek Ho-yang leaned his upper body out.
“The night is deep, yet you’re still reading books?”
“What does day or night matter when it comes to reading?”
“Ayy! If you read under such a dim light, your eyesight will go bad.”
“It can’t get any worse than this. But why does your face look like that?”
“Pardon?”
Woo Geom-san wore a puzzled expression.
This was because he thought he had managed his facial expressions well enough that even the village elders wouldn’t notice.
However, it seemed he couldn’t deceive Baek Ho-yang’s eyes. He looked intently at Woo Geom-san’s face and spoke.
“With that long face, you look as if you’re about to shed tears at any moment. Did something happen?”
“Why would I cry?”
“Deceiving this grandfather of yours is a hundred years too early. Tell me. What did you experience?”
“Grandfather?”
“Hurry and come into the room, then tell me everything that happened.”
Since Baek Ho-yang pressed him like this, Woo Geom-san could no longer evade it.
Woo Geom-san carefully stepped into the room and sat at the table.
Baek Ho-yang quietly began to brew tea.
As he placed the tea leaves into the teapot and poured boiling water, a fragrant aroma spread throughout the room.
Once the tea had steeped sufficiently, Baek Ho-yang poured the tea into a teacup and handed it to Woo Geom-san.
Woo Geom-san held the teacup with both hands and took a deep breath of the tea’s aroma.
Just smelling the tea made his mind and body feel settled.
Seeing Woo Geom-san’s slightly eased expression, Baek Ho-yang also drank his tea.
After a moment, Woo Geom-san opened his mouth.
“Actually, on the way up…”
Woo Geom-san honestly recounted the fierce battle after encountering Pa Gung and his subordinates, hiding nothing.
He poured out everything, from the fact that twenty lives had vanished by his hands, to the emotions he felt at that moment, and even his guilt.
Baek Ho-yang, who listened silently and intently to Woo Geom-san’s story, closed his eyes gently.
The mental anguish Woo Geom-san must have suffered was vividly felt.
Because he himself had suffered the exact same pain during the war with the Cheonmyeong Association, he understood Woo Geom-san’s current feelings.
He was someone who had spent his entire life deep in the mountains, learning only the teachings and martial arts of the Quanzhen Sect.
When he committed murder for the first time, it truly felt as if the heavens were collapsing, and everything he had built up until then was being denied.
His heart, which he had prided as being firmer than anyone else’s, shook mercilessly in front of his first kill.
Because of that, memories of him losing his mind for a while and wandering aimlessly came to mind.
It was also the reason why he had wandered the Jianghu without properly treating his wounds after killing the Cheonmyeong Association Chief, Zha Mu-wol.
Therefore, he knew the mental anguish Woo Geom-san must be feeling right now better than anyone else.
Baek Ho-yang opened his mouth with difficulty.
“It must have been… hard on you.”
Drip!
In an instant, thick teardrops rolled down from Woo Geom-san’s eyes.
This was because Baek Ho-yang’s brief sentence brought him immense comfort.
Woo Geom-san, who caught his breath for a moment, bared his inner thoughts.
“While fighting them, I felt like I was sinking into a swamp. It felt as if unseen hands within the swamp were dragging me down into the depths.”
“I know that feeling too. That devastating feeling that makes you think you can never escape.”
“Yes! It was exactly like that. And I felt angry. If my heart had been stronger and firmer, I could have subdued them without killing them. Driven by impatience and guilt, I lost myself.”
Woo Geom-san was someone who had learned four stances of the Choyen Sword Technique.
If judged purely by his martial arts level, he should have easily subdued Pa Gung and his subordinates. The reason he couldn’t was because he overestimated his opponents and underestimated his own abilities.
Everything was a matter of the heart.
His body belonged to that of a martial artist, but his heart had not yet caught up to his physique.
Baek Ho-yang let out a sigh and spoke.
“A Heart Demon has come to you as well.”
“A Heart Demon?”
“Yes! When cultivating martial arts, a crisis comes to everyone. It comes most frequently to those whose path to the higher realms is blocked by a wall, and sometimes it also comes to those who lack harmony because their flesh cannot follow their enlightenment. In this way, a Heart Demon appears suddenly, regardless of the person or situation. In your case, it seems to be caused by your martial arts rising too rapidly in a short period of time. Just as your martial arts progressed, your heart and mind should have grown too, but the gap widened instead. However, this is not your fault. It’s my fault for not looking into it beforehand. Even though I went through the same process, I failed to caution you in advance.”
“What exactly is a Heart Demon?”
“It’s a heart that doubts itself. A Heart Demon is precisely when the seed of doubt grows in size, making you unable to believe in yourself.”
Baek Ho-yang had also gone through this process at a late age.
It was precisely while fighting the war with the Cheonmyeong Association.
When he only practiced martial arts like an immortal in the mountains, there was no reason to fall into a Heart Demon.
There was no reason to have doubts.
This was because he had a well-paved road before him.
The martial arts of the Quanzhen Sect, built over many years, perfectly harmonized the mind and body, leaving no room for a Heart Demon to creep in.
Baek Ho-yang had also never doubted himself even once until achieving grand completion in the martial arts of the Quanzhen Sect.
Since his youth, the one who broke every wall blocking his front and reached the ultimate peak of martial arts was precisely Baek Ho-yang.
Therefore, Baek Ho-yang also thought a Heart Demon would never come to him. But he realized during the war with the Cheonmyeong Association just how great of an arrogance that was.
It was simply that because he cultivated alone in the mountains without getting entangled in the complex affairs of the world, there was no room for a Heart Demon to creep in.
A Heart Demon arises and takes root in the heart when one gets entangled with others, and when one’s will clashes with others.
If he had experienced a Heart Demon at a young age, it would have been easier to overcome. However, the Heart Demon that arrived at a late age gnawed at his heart like a plague.
He suffered because the justice he had believed in up until then wasn’t true justice, and it ultimately led to a Heart Demon.
Woo Geom-san asked cautiously.
“Then, Grandfather, how did you overcome the Heart Demon?”
“I overcame it thanks to you.”
“Me?”
“Yes! While teaching you, I returned to the initial mindset from when I first learned martial arts, and I forged my heart firmly once again. As I spent my days like that, I could no longer hear the evil voice that used to torment me.”
Baek Ho-yang looked at Woo Geom-san with warm eyes.
If he hadn’t met Woo Geom-san, he might have died in a foreign land without overcoming the Heart Demon that gnawed at him.
This was because, at that time, he had neglected the wounds he received from the Cheonmyeong Association Chief, Zha Mu-wol.
Because it wasn’t treated in time, it still hadn’t fully healed even now.
Even so, his heart was more at ease than ever before.
“Geom-san!”
“Yes! Grandfather.”
“Killing a person is definitely a wrong thing. However, you will experience such things countless times in the future.”
“Even if I stay here continuously?”
“You are different from me. I have roots here, but your roots are not here. Destiny will surely lead you into the world, and you will gain countless experiences. In that process, situations where you are forced to kill people will also arise.”
“Then what should I do?”
“You must set a standard and discipline your heart.”
Baek Ho-yang stroked Woo Geom-san’s head.
He was a child more commendable than anyone else.
Though not a single drop of blood was shared, he was a child who made him feel an affection greater than that for his own flesh and blood.
Thanks to Woo Geom-san, he realized what he had been missing up until now.
It was precisely that all Dao lies within humanity.
Because humans exist, the concept of Dao can arise and be established; it wasn’t that humans were made because Dao existed.
The Dao practiced by oneself in the mountains is not the true Dao.
The true Dao is established within relationships with countless people.
Through his relationship with Woo Geom-san, Baek Ho-yang realized his own Dao in his later years and was able to break free from the Heart Demon.
On the other hand, Woo Geom-san was different from him.
Not only was he young, but his connection to the world was strongly linked.
He was not destined to sit here like himself and leisurely cultivate the Dao. Though he was staying here for now, he would leave one day like a bird soaring into the firmament after leaving the mother bird’s embrace.
Baek Ho-yang gave advice for the sake of Woo Geom-san, who would leave someday.
“Establish clearly when to use the sword and when not to use it. If a situation arises where you must kill a person, be sure to ponder it three times. Ask your heart whether this choice is truly right. If you ask three times and your heart still says you must do so, do not hesitate. And never commit murder out of your own selfish desires. If you must use the sword to kill someone, there must surely be a justifiable reason for it. If you create your own standards like that, you will be able to break free from guilt and the Heart Demon a little.”
He couldn’t bring himself to advise him never to kill anyone and to live quietly.
This was because Woo Geom-san’s destiny was strongly intertwined with the Jianghu.
Whether he wanted it or not, destiny would lead him to the Jianghu.
Getting entangled with Pa Gung was absolutely no coincidence.
In Baek Ho-yang’s eyes, the path of suffering Woo Geom-san would walk was clearly visible.
Woo Geom-san didn’t know, but since returning to Cheonbaeksan, he had somehow become able to catch a small glimpse of the heavenly secret.
With the war against the Cheonmyeong Association ending, the heavenly secret seemed to stabilize. But that was strictly just the appearance on the surface.
Beyond that sea of stars, a rough tidal wave was continuously raging.
A tidal wave that would swallow everything would rise above the surface one day and sweep Under Heaven.
When that time came, a massive blood wind incomparable to the war with the Cheonmyeong Association would blow hard upon the Jianghu.
‘Geom-san, my grandson! For your own sake and for the sake of Under Heaven, you must become strong on your own.’
***
In the early morning, Woo Geom-san left the house.
Chirp!
When Woo Geom-san came outside, Hongbaek, who was sitting atop a withered tree, flapped his wings in greeting.
Normally, he should have sat under the withered tree to practice Choyeon Simgyeol, but Woo Geom-san moved his steps outside the house.
Skipping his dawn cultivation training like that, the place Woo Geom-san headed to was none other than Houyi Peak, the highest mountain peak in the vicinity.
The road that Baek Ho-yang had climbed once before was now being walked by Woo Geom-san.
Step by step, Woo Geom-san silently climbed the rugged mountain path.
Hongbaek followed such a Woo Geom-san by flying along.
Arriving below Houyi Peak, Woo Geom-san deployed Flowing Void Steps and began to climb.
Although he couldn’t climb all at once with the lightness skill of Qi-Sustained Soaring like Baek Ho-yang, he still diligently deployed Flowing Void Steps, using the places protruding all over Houyi Peak as footholds.
In the end, Woo Geom-san was able to arrive at the summit of Houyi Peak in half a Shijin.
The scenery viewed from the summit of Houyi Peak was exceedingly beautiful.
The entire Cheonbaeksan Mountain Range, resembling a dragon’s spine, came into view at a single glance.
Woo Geom-san sat on a rock at the summit of Houyi Peak and stared endlessly at that sight.
By Woo Geom-san’s side, Hongbaek sat quietly with folded wings.
In the far distance, the sun was rising.
As he faced the red, hot sun, his chest, which had been tightly blocked as if he had indigestion, felt as though it were clearing up.
Woo Geom-san recalled Baek Ho-yang’s advice.
“Yes! Let’s firmly establish my own standards. I’ll discipline my heart so that things like a Heart Demon can’t even come near.”
Woo Geom-san took the fully revealed sun into his heart.
Whenever his heart shook, he would recall that sun and steel his resolve.
Woo Geom-san drew his sword and began to display the Choyen Sword Technique.
The summit of Houyi Peak was his training ground, and in that small training ground, Woo Geom-san contained Under Heaven in his chest.
After this day, Woo Geom-san no longer went down to Guangu County.
He trained his body and mind while practicing martial arts, farming, and pioneering the plank road.
Like that, Woo Geom-san’s time passed quickly, and the seasons changed dozens of times.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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