Wudang Sacred Scriptures

Chapter 180

When the White-Haired Demon Queen returned to the end of the cave, Kwak Yeon was already seated in cultivation.

For a moment she gazed at him, sitting cross-legged in the dim glow.

“......!”

He was merely in circulation, and yet the Hermit Taoist seemed changed.

‘Could it be the subtle working of that Wudang True Realm mental art?’

Even if not, he surely appeared different.

The very fact that he had conceived of mental-image sparring (심상논검) meant his comprehension of mental cultivation was extraordinarily deep.

‘At such a young age, to be capable of that.’

What was remarkable about this Hermit Taoist was not only the height of his martial attainment.

There was a peculiar aura about him that drew those around him.

Even Sa-son Ju Yeoryeong, who had always stood with her guard raised against the world, had softened—clearly because of the Hermit Taoist.

On reflection, she too had been swayed by his presence.

Just now, she had moved despite knowing full well it was his intention. Worse still, she had ended up uttering needless words.

‘To have let that man tell me to call him Sister Hong (홍 누이)...’

There was no denying all these changes stemmed from this Hermit Taoist.

“Because the Hermit Taoist is too good a person.”

The words of Sa-son Ju Yeoryeong echoed in her ears once more.

‘This Hermit Taoist ought to be called not a Phoenix, but a New Dragon (新龍).’

For indeed, only a Phoenix would be a fitting match for a New Dragon.

‘And the Phoenix suited to such a New Dragon?’

Though her disciple Ju Yeoryeong was a gifted woman, she was not the Phoenix that would match that New Dragon.

Since Heaven had sent down a New Dragon into the world, surely it had also bestowed his counterpart, a Phoenix.

Who then might that Phoenix be?

‘What foolish thoughts am I indulging in now...’

Time was pressing.

Setting aside her thoughts, the White-Haired Demon Queen sat opposite Kwak Yeon.

Then she too entered the circulation of the Moon Maiden Mental Discipline (월녀심법).

Mental cultivation was a practice undertaken by following the heart-mind formula, shaping inner vision accordingly. In doing so, one’s internal true qi naturally coursed through the great cycle, accumulating refined skill.

The White-Haired Demon Queen sank endlessly into the depths of inner vision.

She emptied her thoughts one by one.

She even forgot the Hermit Taoist sat before her.

Soon she was alone, in a world all her own.

A world of boundless solitude and sorrow.

There, her self dwindled, shrinking until it vanished into a single point.

Until even its trace was erased, and only that lonely, resentful world remained—she sank ever deeper.

‘......?’

But today was strange.

She should have long since disappeared—and yet still she remained.

Something was clinging stubbornly to her fading self.

As though barring the way, insisting this was not the path. No—scolding her, declaring she was moving in reverse.

Such a thing had never happened before.

‘Could I have missed a line of the heart-mind formula and let my circulation falter?’

No.

There was something other than herself.

In that instant she knew.

‘My inner vision is resonating with the Hermit Taoist’s mental cultivation!’

And she knew whence that something came.

‘The Hermit Taoist is holding the reins as promised, leading me!’

She followed where she was led.

Then, instead of shrinking inward, she began to expand outward; her self, which had dwindled endlessly, now grew vast again.

She suddenly realized:

It was not to vanish into a point within, but to grow outward without limit, dispersing into the infinite, that she was meant to disappear.

Then the dark, lonely world blocked her path.

Where are you going?

Stop!

Once, she would have yielded.

She would have believed this desolate world was all there was.

But now she knew.

That beyond lay the vast world, that a warm and radiant realm was waiting.

The guiding presence was gone.

No—it was not gone.

It remained, transmuted into enlightenment.

The White-Haired Demon Queen emerged from the world of inner vision and opened her eyes. There, she found the Hermit Taoist gazing at her.

Without being asked, she spoke.

“I have seen the path.”

Her tone, her voice, had grown weighty.

Kwak Yeon said softly:

“Thank you for opening your heart.”

The White-Haired Demon Queen suddenly rose and bowed deeply before him.

“Elder, why...?”

Startled, Kwak Yeon tried to stop her, but she declared firmly:

“Receive this bow. It is not to you, but to that venerable patriarch of Wudang whose true transmission you carry.”

At her words, Kwak Yeon understood: she had felt the true trace of Patriarch Jang Sambong.

The one called that venerable elder of Wudang could be none other.

Though heavily burdened, Kwak Yeon received her three bows in the stead of Patriarch Jang Sambong.

When she finished, the White-Haired Demon Queen said:

“So there was reason you named it the Wudang True Realm.”

Kwak Yeon nodded.

“Yes.”

“You must have circumstances that forbid you from openly declaring that you inherit the patriarch’s true line. I shall not pry.”

In that too was a pledge to keep the secret.

“Thank you for understanding my plight.”

“In any case, I have received such immense grace that I cannot help but repay it.”

Kwak Yeon replied:

“Elder, I did not act seeking repayment. I only pointed toward a topic of contemplation.”

The White-Haired Demon Queen shook her head.

“You, of all people, know what it means for a warrior to glimpse the path. With that topic, I have seen the way.”

“......”

Her gaze sharpened gravely as she continued.

“If you refuse again, I shall take it as Wudang’s arts not deeming Moonlight Palace worthy to receive them.”

“Elder, I am infinitely grateful. Only, I worry because I am not of Moonlight Palace’s line.”

It was an inviolable rule: no sect transmitted martial arts to those outside.

She said:

“You raised a fallen pillar. What is a cup of tea in return? Besides, in the greater sense Wudang Mountain and Moonlight Palace both descend from the same Daoist gate.”

Kwak Yeon could no longer decline. He bowed respectfully.

“I shall devote myself to Elder’s teaching, and not bring shame upon Moonlight Palace’s name.”

“Bring shame? ...Merely the fact that a New Dragon learns our arts is honor enough.”

She could not bring herself to say “next peerless under Heaven,” and so changed the word to New Dragon.

For in every age, that supreme seat must be left open for the family of the Martial Sage’s House.

‘But perhaps in this age it may be otherwise...’

Expectation flickered in her eyes as she looked upon Kwak Yeon.

“Tell me what art you wish to learn.”

Kwak Yeon fell into a brief but happy dilemma.

Thirsting always for higher martial skill, it felt like rain after ten years of drought.

Every one of her arts was a supreme mastery.

If he were to unfold her Annihilation Palm (Hanbaek Soul-Scattering Palm) through the yin-cold energy of yin-yang mental art, its power would be immeasurable.

If he learned the Moon-Shadow Divine Steps, under moonlight he would become a ghost, and never again feel lacking in body technique.

Yet, what lingered unceasingly in his mind was the shock of that sharp qi wave he had once felt in Deokseong market.

From fifty jang away, the sudden surge of qi had left him feeling as though stripped of all defenses.

‘Then, without understanding External Spirit Boundary , I was all the more astonished.’

Even so, his fascination with that unfamiliar qi-wave art had only grown.

It seemed it could expand the limits of his own Sword of Energy-Harmonization.

Especially since her qi-wave art was clearly at the pinnacle of the External Spirit Boundary, how could he hesitate?

“To ask merely for transmission of qi-wave martial skill ?”

At his choice she tilted her head.

“It has its uses—probing from afar, or with sonic arts and sound-transmission—but to desire only that is puzzling.”

“I have never had opportunity to learn qi-wave martial skills.”

Though he had other thoughts, it was also truly what he needed.

And for a Flame Realm master to know no qi-wave art and thus be unable to use sound-transmission—was that not laughable?

“Martial cultivation is like a boat upon water. Only by ever balancing as you go do you avoid tilting and sinking.”

As Kwak Yeon recalled the teachings of the Hyunmun Hall, she said:

“Well then, since you need it, I shall transmit it. Its name is Solitary Moon Illumines the Boundless Skill (Gowoljomuaegong).”

〈The lonely moonlight shines where nothing can hinder.〉

At the name, Kwak Yeon felt a sorrow he could not explain.

She spoke gently:

“Our palace, being of women alone, has often suffered oppression. Thus we had to be ever vigilant beforehand.”

‘Ah—so that is why.’

It was for that reason they had developed an art suited to watching the enemy from afar.

“Now I shall recite the formula. Listen well.”

She began to transmit the mnemonic verses by sound-transmission, careful even within the deep cave.

After repeating them three times, she began a fourth, but Kwak Yeon stopped her.

“Elder, I have already memorized them. There is no need for further trouble.”

With his enlightenment in Honwonmusang Technique grown, his Insight (Oseong) too had brightened. Thus even hearing once, he remembered all.

The second hearing he had used to check for omissions, the third to ponder their inner meaning.

He could not allow her to recite them a fourth time.

“You have already memorized them?”

She stared at him in astonishment, then said:

“Then I shall teach the method of circulating qi according to those verses. As you listen, move your true qi accordingly.”

This took nearly a full two hours.

“Elder, I can now circulate as instructed.”

She was even more astonished.

“Ha! That Wudang could neglect to guide such a heaven-sent prodigy in higher arts—truly beyond comprehension.”

Shaking her head repeatedly, she went on:

“In any case, I have now given all there is: verses and circulation method. With your attainment, you shall soon wield it.”

Kwak [N O V E L I G H T] Yeon rose and bowed thrice.

“Elder, I shall not transmit this learning lightly, nor use it wrongly.”

“It is now yours. No need for vows.”

As the time of parting approached, Kwak Yeon spoke carefully.

“Elder, may I presume to offer a word beyond my station?”

She met his deep gaze, then nodded.

“Speak.”

“Thank you for permitting it.”

Bowing formally, Kwak Yeon said:

“My master taught me: the Immortal Way turns inward, the Martial Way turns outward. Later I found the teaching of the True Realm no different.”

She nodded.

“The path I saw was the same. I kept sinking inward and in the end lost my way.”

“Elder, by now you know why it had to be so.”

“......!”

“The Biik Bird (比翼鳥) has but one wing and one eye each. Unless it finds its pair, it cannot fly, and falls without end into the abyss.”

“......!”

“I dared to speak, thinking it might aid you in finding the path.”

Her gaze upon him deepened more than ever.

“Before you leave, be sure to stop at the shrine. And—do not call me Elder. Call me Great Aunt (Daego).”

“......!”

“Of course, only if you feel our bond is of that closeness.”

Kwak Yeon smiled radiantly.

“Great Aunt, before I depart I shall certainly visit Honggajimyo.”

“Now, let us rise. I am quite famished.”

From the faint reflection of light at the cave’s mouth, it seemed the day had already broken bright.