Ding!
The Martial Arts World is a real riot!
The owner of Changbong Hall, a knock-out woman controlling the most important trading hub in Yodong Province, is the one who’ll revitalize the long-dormant Murong Family!
Countless martial artists in the Murong Family worship her, she’s a talent never seen before!
Just two years back, Murong Sang-a was simply a woman who loved martial arts. Tada!
“The Sword of Wu!”
The Sword of Wu points directly at Murong Sang-a.
The clear sky of Mount Wu, heard she’s the same age! A martial artist who can take on the Demonic Cult’s assassins in an instant. Whoosh!
Traveling from the dangerous Yodong Province to Hubei with just a sword? Gotta have some skills for that!
Suddenly, ambition as a martial artist bubbled up in Murong Sang-a’s tired body.
“I want to learn from you!”
What a rare opportunity! She wants to compare swords. Murong Sang-a didn’t refuse.
“Great! Let’s scrutinize each other’s swords!”
After they shared a bow, the swords were drawn at each other.
Slash! Slash!
—
Meteoric Sword Technique!
Murong Family’s sword technique originates from the Yan Dynasty’s royal family.
One must cut more enemy commanders’ heads instead of wasting time showing off skills. The term “chaos” always accompanies the Murong Family, and the most needed martial art in chaos is speed and power!
Over a millennium, while foes shifted from enemy commanders to barbarians, the Meteoric Sword Technique has protected the Murong Family for a thousand years.
Quick Sword and Dread Sword.
Faster! More powerful!
Even if they lost the Sacred Martial Library filled with Murong Family’s essence, their martial ways remain unchanged.
“Let it flow.”
The power of the Meteoric Sword Technique unfolded from Murong Sang-a’s hand.
Murong Family and Mount Wu. The swords that cut through countless enemy bloodlines became tangled under the moonlight.
“Ha!”
In the end, it was the clear sky who stepped back first. He couldn’t help but be flustered by the relentless attacks of the Meteoric Sword Technique.
“Indeed, it’s the Murong Family!”
The clear sky looked at Murong Sang-a with authentic admiration.
“It’s called Meteoric Sword Technique.”
Her sword connected with the Mount Wu’s martial artist. Murong Sang-a introduced her sword with a hint of pride.
“Truly! A fitting name for such an overwhelming swordplay that’s hard to follow with the eyes!”
“Now I’d love to see your Taiji Sword Technique in action!”
Murong Sang-a nodded at the clear sky’s praise and implied it was time to stop the probing game, “Didn’t your Taiji Sword Technique meet my eyes?”
“I’ve seen the Sword of Wu, but not yours.”
The clear sky flinched at Murong Sang-a’s casual remark.
“Did you observe everything this quickly in the dark inn?”
What the clear sky has just faced is indeed the Taiji Sword Technique, which he practiced since childhood, yet it now feels like wearing the wrong outfit every time he uses it.
There exists another sword technique that genuinely feels like one’s body.
“I must have overstepped my bounds. The next technique I’ll display is the Eight Trigrams Swordplay.”
“Murong Family’s Meteoric Sword Technique!”
Both adjusted their grips on their swords again.
The moonlight gleams. A chill breeze blows. The clear sky’s mood shifts in an instant.
Their sword forms danced under the moonlight.
“A snake? No… It feels slippery.”
Murong Sang-a couldn’t help but feel flustered as she divided the swords.
The technique that flowed just moments ago doesn’t work. The sword changes constantly, like a snake gliding through trees, precisely targeting its prey.
Was the Mount Wu’s sword like this?
Even if it doesn’t feel like a snake, it’s peculiar.
“If you’re not coming, then I will.”
For the first time today, the clear sky was the one to make the move.
The tip of his sword jittered. Murong Sang-a’s sword reached out to block the odd blow. The clear sky’s sword flowed forward, striking its target.
Whoosh!
“It’s not a snake… It’s water! Moving freely like a rapid stream.”
Like water freely changing its form, so does the clear sky’s sword.
In the end, this time, it was Murong Sang-a stepping back, not the clear sky.
—
“Indeed, the Sword of Wu.”
She found herself swept away by the rapid current. It felt like stabbing her sword into the river. Murong Sang-a mumbled bitterly about facing her first defeat against someone her age.
“It was just luck. Your blade looks heavier today than when I saw it last! It has made it easier for me to wield the sword.”
The clear sky comforted her while drawing back his blade.
“I see now why they say the Nine Great Sects & One Alliance is famous.”
It was a sword technique that was impossible to predict where it would lead.
No matter how powerful the martial arts family, the Nine Great Sects & One Alliance would always be a tier above in martial studies. Murong Sang-a understood why the world deemed Mount Wu as the pinnacle of the Martial Arts World.
“I now understand why the martial world is so vast.”
The clear sky was equally shocked.
Confidence bubbled as he mastered the Eight Trigrams Swordplay. After defeating countless villains and navigating through the nether world, he believed he had no match in his age group, but…
“I wouldn’t have won with my Taiji Sword Technique.”
Keeping his pride as a Mount Wu martial artist, the clear sky had to maintain his composure.
“…If you wouldn’t mind, may I seek a piece of advice?”
“You mean from Murong Miss?”
The clear sky asked in surprise.
“Anything is welcome!”
Murong Sang-a’s voice held an air of longing.
The owner of Changbong Hall — giving advice to a leading woman of a family? Seems overstepping. After some contemplation, the clear sky decided to point out the obvious.
“You tried to block all the currents coming from various directions.”
“What does that mean?”
Murong Sang-a asked the warrior who just handed her an unfamiliar taste of defeat.
“In a quick sword, there are many branches, but it seems you try to manage all situations single-handedly.”
“All situations?”
“Sometimes, it’s better to leave smaller currents be and block them all at once. Either to find a way or to find victory.”
“Sometimes waiting is the answer…”
Murong Sang-a muttered, caught between the familiar and strange.
She knew it very well.
In different aspects, it seemed so obvious. If one addresses every situation, even the swift sword will lose its speed. It loses its impact.
She easily recognized the reason there was a struggle today.
‘Martial Arts is ultimately about heart!’
The owner of Changbong Hall — the seat of authority.
She stepped into a position where she decides all problems, and her mind naturally flows into her swordsmanship.
When she fails to solve a problem instantly, it adds weight to her sword, causing her to falter in facing situations.
Sometimes simply waiting is a solution. Murong Sang-a’s eyebrows twitched.
“Was that thought anything akin to an answer?”
“Can we have another round?”
Waiting patiently, she draws her sword again.
“Please do.”
In the third duel, Murong Sang-a discovered another kind of answer.
—
“What about a relocation?”
The next day, Murong Sang-a shared the answer she found during her night of revelations with the deputy.
“Relocation?”
“Isn’t there land in Joseon we bought beforehand? Let’s relocate my mother-in-law’s grave to a better spot.”
“My lady, I get the sentiment, but that’s a dangerous matter. The women from the Kang family are distant relatives of Master Kang, so it was settled quietly, but the issue with Master Kang’s mother is not so simple. If her grave were to vanish overnight, they would surely come hunting for it in Joseon.”
“I’m not saying to uproot my mother-in-law’s grave.”
Murong Sang-a calmly shook her head at the deputy’s hasty response.
“Then what do you mean?”
“Joseon reveres Confucianism. Even if we perform an exhumation, they would likely follow proper procedures.”
“Yes, probably so.”
Sure, it’s a grave of a traitor’s family, but when graves are excavated, it’s not like they just toss the remains anywhere they please. It’s unacceptable in a nation that honors Confucianism.
“After the exhumation, nobody will care what happens to my mother-in-law’s remains. It’d be possible to pay off the person responsible for the exhumation to relocate it.”
Usually, exhumations lead to cremations, but cremation isn’t common practice in a Confucian country; a specialist usually handles it.
Murong Sang-a meant to bribe such specialists to move her mother-in-law’s grave.
“Hmm… That… Sounds possible.”
“Great! When news of the exhumation reaches Joseon, we act immediately! No matter the price, we must proceed without fail.”
Sometimes, knowing when to wait is just as important.
Martial arts are no different from solving problems.
You can’t avoid exhuming, so relocating the mother-in-law’s grave is the best option. Murong Sang-a discovered this answer during last night’s duel.
Thankful she was forced to face another defeat.
“Rest assured, I’ll make sure it’s carried out.”
“Keep me updated on the progress.”
“Understood!”
Murong Sang-a felt a heavy worry lift from her mind.
—
“I sense that your sword seems lighter compared to a few days ago!”
A few days later, the clear sky remarked in surprise while she drew her sword.
“Thanks to you, I cleared away a major worry.”
With a gentle smile, Murong Sang-a expressed her gratitude to her benefactor.
“Ah… Is that so?”
The clear sky scratched his head awkwardly at her gesture of gratitude.
“…?”
“If it was caused by me, I’d like to apologize.”
The clear sky bowed his head sincerely in remorse to Murong Sang-a.
“Why would you apologize for that?”
Why is the clear sky apologizing? Murong Sang-a asked in confusion.
“I heard the letter from Changbai Mountain disturbed Murong Miss’s heart.”
“…”
Kang Mo. That name, which had already disturbed her heart once, flashed through her mind.
“I heard rumors but couldn’t understand why the person next to you looked displeased that day. I never thought I would have made such a blunder.”
He made a painful mistake. The clear sky could not lift his head.
“It’s not your fault. I wasn’t troubled by that.”
It’s not the clear sky’s blunder.
People refer to her as a Harpy, but they usually don’t care about the underlying details.
To them, all that mattered was the salacious gossip about a woman killing her husband and seizing the family’s fortune.
What significance does her husband’s family name hold to the world? All they think about is just a foreigner being killed.
They merely needed a gossip piece for their drinking escapades. It’s not surprising they didn’t know the facts.
Murong Sang-a forced a smile, trying to appear fine as she raised the clear sky.
Awkward silence!
The clear sky felt even more troubled by her forced smile.
Yikes!
After asking the rough crowd if they knew Master Kang, she ended up stirring the pot too much.
Now what? There is a difference between things one can do with a blunder and those that should be avoided.
Is there a way to make amends for this mistake?
The clear sky desperately wracked his brain and finally conjured an idea.
“Actually, I have a friend from Joseon with the Kang surname.”
He devised a valid reason for why he mentioned the Kang surname so casually.
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