The Legend of Red Cloud - Chapter 54

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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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Chapter 54. Childhood Companions
The Huashan Sect.
A traditional Daoist martial school nestled on Huashan, tilted toward the border between Shaanxi and Henan provinces.
Once it had held itself as the supreme arbiter of sword arts in the Central Plains, pronouncing judgment on all under heaven—but it had been nearly three centuries since it produced the strongest master in the realm.
To this faded Huashan, a letter bearing the seal of Gunmarim and Rim Ju arrived barely a full day after the Ambition Arena had concluded.
The Huashan council convened before that letter was grave indeed.
“Remarkably blunt,” the Huashan Sect Leader observed.
Every elder present nodded in unison at his words.
The letter contained no explicit mention of Ja Jeon Geom Wang’s ascension to the Sinhwagyeong—yet it made abundantly clear that Rim Ju already knew this fact.
And how could it be otherwise? Already rumors had swept through all the Kangho that Tae Geuk Geom Wang wielded the Geomtan.
Since the Geomtan was the exclusive domain of masters who had reached the Sinhwagyeong, what it implied was singular and unmistakable.
Tae Geuk Geom Wang had ascended to what was commonly called the Hwagyeong—the Sinhwagyeong.
There was no way Rim Ju could fail to understand that.
Yet he had nonetheless issued an order to Ja Jeon Geom Wang to advance with the Hyeol Gwi Dae and suppress Tae Geuk Geom Wang.
To knowingly send the lesser to overcome the greater was, even for Gunmarim—which disposed of its subordinates as consumables—contemptible.
It was something even Rim Ju could not bring himself to do.
To do so would cost him not merely his subordinates’ respect, but their trust.
If Rim Ju—who understood this better than anyone—had ordered Ja Jeon Geom Wang to hold back Tae Geuk Geom Wang, then it meant only one thing.
Rim Ju already knew that Ja Jeon Geom Wang had ascended to the Sinhwagyeong.
That was what astonished Huashan.
The truth was, Ja Jeon Geom Wang’s ascent to the Hwagyeong had not been long ago.
Merely a fortnight past.
No public announcement had been made, and most of the disciples stationed within the sect were kept so firmly in the dark that they remained ignorant of the fact entirely.
Huashan’s leadership had intended to wait until Ja Jeon Geom Wang’s realm matured further and solidified into complete mastery before proclaiming it to the world.
They had planned to begin their struggle for power against Hyeol Yeong Ma Jon, who commanded Gunmarim, only then.
But with the letter Rim Ju had sent, all those plans now threatened to crumble to dust.
Yet neither could they refuse.
The figure Rim Ju had named for them to oppose was a master of Wudang.
The feud between Huashan and Wudang—rivals locked in eternal struggle for the honor of supreme authority over Central Plains swordcraft—was famous throughout the world.
For Huashan to shrink from confrontation with Wudang?
That was……
Unthinkable.
Huashan’s pride would not permit it.
So long as Wudang’s name stood alongside Huashan’s, refusal was impossible.
At last the Sect Leader’s gaze turned toward the elderly man seated beside him, eyes closed.
“What are your thoughts on this matter?” he asked quietly.
Ja Jeon Geom Wang, who held the position of Grand Elder of the Huashan Sect, stood a rank above both the current Sect Leader and the other elders.
Remarkably, he even held the nominal title of Deputy Commander of Gunmarim—a position that was scarcely more than honorary.
Though in truth he possessed no real authority there, and remained permanently stationed at Huashan rather than Gunmarim, his name on the register meant something.
At the Sect Leader’s question, Ja Jeon Geom Wang opened the eyes he had been keeping closed.
“I suspect my thoughts matter little in this affair,” he said.
In his voice lay an undercurrent of reluctance.
It was understandable enough—unlike the ancient enmity between Huashan and Wudang, there existed considerable personal history between Tae Geuk Geom Wang and Ja Jeon Geom Wang.
The Sect Leader broached this matter with some delicacy.
“I regret to ask this of you, but in the present circumstances, we cannot afford to let personal ties cloud our judgment……”
“I understand,” Ja Jeon Geom Wang replied.
He nodded slowly as the Sect Leader continued.
“I must ask your assistance in this.”
A request in word, perhaps—but from the Sect Leader’s lips it was as good as a command.
Ja Jeon Geom Wang nodded once more.
“If it cannot be avoided, then it must be embraced. I accept.”
The Huashan sect’s temperament was unusually sharp for a Daoist school.
This sharpness had seeped in from the mundane world—specifically from the influence of Demon arts.
Yet not all of the sect’s martial techniques harbored hidden demonic energy.
The traditional Daoist meditation arts of Huashan had completely purged the demonic taint.
Of these purified techniques, the most famous was the Jahasimgong.
Though it originated in Demon arts, the Jahasimgong had been perfected through fusion with Huashan’s Daoist meditation techniques, and was recognized by all as a supreme Daoist art.
It was Ja Jeon Geom Wang who had brought this Jahasimgong to perfect mastery after three centuries.
Moreover, he was the first person since the founder to have completely mastered the Plum Blossom Twenty-Four Sword.
In truth, until now, the Plum Blossom Twenty-Four Sword had been practiced only through its first twenty-three forms, with the final twenty-fourth form omitted from use.
The final technique, the Twenty-Fourth Form called Seonjeon Gyeol, had never been mastered by anyone.
The martial secret was simply too abstruse, too difficult to decipher.
Indeed, Seonjeon Gyeol was said to have been created after witnessing plum blossoms scattering as they were parted by wind and lightning falling among them.
Hundreds of years prior, when one of Huashan’s founders first and last employed it, a witness left behind an evaluation shocking in its magnitude.
It was faster than Zhongnan’s Bun Gwang Sword Method, which was called the essence of swift swordplay, and faster than the Demon Spear’s Sa Il Sword Method.
Ja Jeon Geom Wang had been able to reach Hwagyeong through the enlightenment he gained upon perfecting Seonjeon Gyeol.
Following Ja Jeon Geom Wang’s words, the Huashan Sect Leader’s voice continued.
“There is a risk the losses may outweigh the gains.”
Knowing the Huashan Sect Leader’s heart, which harbored worry even as he issued the command, Ja Jeon Geom Wang offered a faint smile.
“What else awaits but death? For a warrior to fear death is shame. Do not ask me to bear such shame.”
With Ja Jeon Geom Wang’s words, Huashan’s decision was made.
That day, Ja Jeon Geom Wang departed Huashan’s gates and ventured into the Kangho.
***
The distance between Huashan and Saja Plain was merely three hundred li.
To one like Ja Jeon Geom Wang, who transcended the bounds of humanity, such a distance was no different from the span of a hand.
Having left Huashan’s gates a mere quarter hour before, Ja Jeon Geom Wang arrived at Saja Plain not at the encampment of the Hyeol Gwi Dae, but at that of the Maeng Ui Dan.
Ryu and Tae Geuk Geom Wang, who had just finished their evening meal and returned to their quarters to rest, suddenly turned their gazes toward the door.
At the sudden reaction of the two men, the eyes of all the Jeok Sa Jo members swiftly fixed upon the entrance.
“Let me see.”
At the voice that came from outside, Tae Geuk Geom Wang’s brows furrowed.
“He’s lost his mind.”
Seeing Ryu’s puzzlement at the words, Tae Geuk Geom Wang spoke.
“Huashan has a foul-tempered bastard. Looks like that one’s arrived.”
The moment Huashan’s name was mentioned, every member of the Jeok Sa Jo save Ryu drew their weapons.
It was because the Huashan Sect, one of the central schools of Gunmarim, had been named.
To them, Tae Geuk Geom Wang spoke.
“Don’t embarrass yourselves. Put your weapons down, all of you.”
Leaving those words behind, Tae Geuk Geom Wang walked slowly forward and opened the door.
There, in the opened doorway, he stood.
Ja Jeon Geom Wang, who stood with leisure at ease, hands clasped behind his back as though he had merely strolled over from a neighbor’s home.
“What brings you here?”
“I see that without so much as a warning to close the door, you resort to curses first. It seems you truly are cut from Wudang’s cloth.”
At Ja Jeon Geom Wang’s words, Tae Geuk Geom Wang’s expression twisted with rage as he stepped forward.
“I’ll tear that mouth of yours to shreds!”
“With your skill?”
As those words left his lips, Ja Jeon Geom Wang’s eyes gleamed with laughter, their color deepening to violet.
Though no outward sign appeared, it meant that the extreme power of Jahasimgong was now being deployed.
Recognizing it, Tae Geuk Geom Wang immediately activated his Taegeuksimgong.
The two inner methods—Jahasimgong and the Taoist dual masters of extreme force—were about to collide at full power, separated by mere inches of space.
In that moment, Ryu intervened.
“Disturbances within the house are unwelcome.”
With merely a single step forward, both the Jahasimgong and Taegeuksimgong faltered.
This meant that Ryu’s inner power was not inferior to either of theirs.
Tae Geuk Geom Wang, already suspecting as much, merely wore a sour expression, but Ja Jeon Geom Wang’s eyes nearly burst from their sockets.
The inner power he had unleashed was eighty percent. Already it had exceeded the threshold that even an Ipshin Gyeong master could withstand.
In other words, one would need to be a Hwagyeong master like himself to endure such pressure.
And to break through it rather than merely endure it…
With eyes bulging like those of a startled rabbit, Ja Jeon Geom Wang stared at Ryu, and the sour expression on Tae Geuk Geom Wang’s face gave way to a smile of triumph.
“Hahaha! How delightful—the look on the face of one who came to boast of his hidden strength, only to be thoroughly exposed!”
Any other time, Ja Jeon Geom Wang would have snarled at such words, but now he remained silent.
He simply kept his gaze fixed upon Ryu, unable to wipe the astonishment from his face.
Judging that the clash between the two had been averted, Ryu withdrew his foot and stepped back.
“Since you’ve come as a guest, please do enter.”
At Ryu’s words, Tae Geuk Geom Wang returned to his sour expression, grumbling.
“Bad luck for three years if you let those Huashan dogs into the house.”
Yet even as he said this, he quietly moved aside—clearly with no intention of opposing Ryu’s invitation.
Thus, after a moment’s hesitation in the open doorway, Ja Jeon Geom Wang crossed the threshold.
The members of the Jeok Sa Jo watched him enter with gazes mingling shock and curiosity.
Offering no attention and no glance to the assembled members, Ja Jeon Geom Wang continued to regard Ryu as he spoke.
“Tell me—was this a trap you laid to catch me?”
There was no way to avoid such a misunderstanding.
He had come to meet Tae Geuk Geom Wang, only to find another master of the Sinhwagyeong blocking his path.
At Ja Jeon Geom Wang’s suspicion, Tae Geuk Geom Wang snorted.
“Hmph! Why would I need a trap to catch the likes of you? It’s just coincidence.”
“Coincidence?”
“That’s right. To be honest, we didn’t even know if you’d come running.”
Ja Jeon Geom Wang knew well the character of Tae Geuk Geom Wang, who spoke as if tossing the words away carelessly.
Had Gunmarim and Cheol Hyeol Maeng not split them apart, they could have remained as particularly close friends—such was the nature of their bond.
So he knew better than anyone that this man was not one to speak falsehoods or boast, even in jest.
For that reason, he could not even joke about lies.
Looking at it that way, Ja Jeon Geom Wang had walked willingly into a place of death.
“This is maddening.”
At those words, Tae Geuk Geom Wang let out a small laugh.
“You must be regretting it now, you fool. And to think you clung to the Demonic Path all this time…….”
“A Demonic Path you all unilaterally decided on—what meaning does that hold!”
“Hmph.”
Yi Song, who had been listening to the exchange between Tae Geuk Geom Wang and Ja Jeon Geom Wang as the latter turned away with another snort, asked cautiously.
“Are you… acquainted with one another?”
“Acquainted? Far too well, curse it all.”
Even at Tae Geuk Geom Wang’s response, Yi Song and the others’ curiosity remained unsatisfied.
Noticing this, Tae Geuk Geom Wang continued with an explanation.
“We were childhood friends from the same village. When famine gave way to a horde of Demon Bandits, our village was scattered to the winds. The two of us barely survived that day—he clung to life even after taking a blade to the back. And then…….”
According to what followed from Tae Geuk Geom Wang, the two of them were saved by a wandering Doin who passed through the ruins of the village.
He had discovered the two living souls while burying the dead who lay scattered about.
This Doin, though called a wanderer, was unaffiliated with any sect, and he entrusted Ja Jeon Geom Wang to Huashan and Tae Geuk Geom Wang to Wudang.
Why he had not entrusted them both to the same place, even they did not know.
They only felt grateful for that man, since it was thanks to him that they had survived.
When Tae Geuk Geom Wang’s long explanation ended, the expressions of the Jeok Sa Jo members were peculiar.
It was a shame, certainly, but these were masters of unparalleled skill in their respective domains, so calling it a shame felt almost absurd.
Among the Jeok Sa Jo members, an unexpected question arose.
“That’s all ancient history. You haven’t seen each other until now, have you?”
At Dong Pil’s question, Tae Geuk Geom Wang smiled faintly.
“Even now, thinking back on it makes me laugh. He came at me covered in blood, sword drawn, and it was him of all people.”
It meant they had encountered each other on the battlefield.
After all, the conflict between Gunmarim and Cheol Hyeol Maeng had not lasted merely a day or two.
“Was it fourteen years ago?”
At Tae Geuk Geom Wang’s words recalling the past, Ja Jeon Geom Wang shook his head.
“Fourteen years.”
“Ah! That’s right. How shocked we both were.”
At Tae Geuk Geom Wang’s words, Ja Jeon Geom Wang smiled faintly.
“We were so startled we couldn’t even speak.”
“Speak? We couldn’t even raise our blades against each other.”
Though he spoke as if it were nothing at all, the shock the two must have felt at that moment was difficult to imagine.
“After that, we ran into each other now and then. Why? Do you want to go tattle to your superiors?”
Tae Geuk Geom Wang asked, glaring at Dong Pil as if intimidating him, but Ja Jeon Geom Wang’s reproach cut through.
“Tsk! And here I thought you were supposed to be a Doin, yet you speak like that.”
Tae Geuk Geom Wang’s eyes, glancing at the displeased Ja Jeon Geom Wang, seemed oddly sorrowful.

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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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