The Woo Sword Vies for Supremacy
Baek Ho-yang stopped walking and glanced over his shoulder.
He could see Woo Geom-san pouring with sweat, doing his best to follow.
Though his speed could not compare to Baek Ho-yang's, his walking form was now roughly similar to the old man's.
'He has firmly grasped the feeling of Following the Flow.'
Not resisting, but riding the current—that was the heart of Following the Flow.
The essence of Following the Flow was not difficult in itself.
The challenge lay in sensing the flow and adapting the body to it.
Sensing was the domain of perception.
One had to awaken to it and internalize it on one's own. That was what made it so difficult.
Many masters had inscribed their names in the Quanzhen Sect's long history.
Among them were even absolute masters who had shaken the world. But not all of them had completed the Flowing Void Steps.
Learning the Flowing Void Steps required a special kind of perception.
Fortunately, Woo Geom-san appeared to possess just that.
If he continued to train Following the Flow as he was doing, he would complete it without issue. However long it took.
The problem was Treading the Void.
Mastering Following the Flow did not mean one could easily master Treading the Void.
Treading the Void was a discipline on an entirely different plane from Following the Flow.
Entering its gates demanded bone-grinding effort and a great deal of time.
The road was long.
Just how far they had to go, even Baek Ho-yang could not say for certain.
Just then.
"What are you thinking so hard about?"
Woo Geom-san had drawn up beside Baek Ho-yang before he knew it, looking at him with a curious expression.
Baek Ho-yang smiled gently and said.
"Is it hard?"
"It's hard, sure. But it's fun."
"Is that so?"
"Yes! The feeling changes every hour as I walk. Isn't that amazing? It's just walking properly, and yet it can feel so different."
"Following the Flow does give that kind of enjoyment."
"Yes! That's why I don't even notice how tired I am."
"I am glad to hear it."
Baek Ho-yang's smile deepened.
Woo Geom-san's face was flushed red from keeping up.
And no wonder—he had only grasped the feeling of Following the Flow, without the strength to support it.
Following along on nothing but the power of his body, with no inner force to back him up, was inevitably exhausting.
"Listen as you walk. I am going to teach you how to breathe properly."
"Pardon?"
"If you breathe properly, walking will become less tiring."
"Ah!"
Woo Geom-san gasped.
It was the moment he had been waiting for with all his heart.
"Non-action in accordance with nature; an empty mind is itself the Dao. From now on, you must commit these eight characters to memory. They contain the entire essence of breathing properly."
"Non-action in accordance with nature, an empty mind is itself the Dao?"
"Yes. Empty your heart and sever attachment. Do not strive to gain; when you set down your own desires, the Dao follows you. Of these, the words you must attend to now are 'non-action.' Do not force your strength. Do not go against the natural order—follow the flow. If you do, the qi of heaven will settle within you. This is one and the same with walking properly, and when you awaken to it, you will walk with far greater ease."
What Baek Ho-yang was now teaching Woo Geom-san was the opening passage of the Transcendent Heart Formula—the Quanzhen Sect's supreme art.
The Transcendent Heart Formula was a mental cultivation art that distilled centuries of Quanzhen knowledge.
Ordinarily, one would first master the Quanzhen Sect's other martial arts and only then enter this most exalted technique as the final study.
To learn the Transcendent Heart Formula, one had to erase everything learned and practiced until that point.
Just as one must empty before one can fill, the Transcendent Heart Formula followed the same principle.
Had Woo Geom-san's body been whole, Baek Ho-yang would naturally have followed the same progression.
But Woo Geom-san's body was in the worst possible condition—one where filling anything at all was nearly impossible.
His damaged qi center was not sturdy enough to hold inner arts. If anything, it was so precarious that it might tear apart at any moment.
Trying to fill it completely in this state could take an unknowable length of time, and even if fortune smiled and he managed to fill it, there was no telling when it would shatter.
Rather than risk that, Baek Ho-yang had decided it was better to teach the foundations of the Transcendent Heart Formula now, while the vessel was completely empty.
Because he was starting from a state of absolute nothing, there was no telling when it would be completed—but it still seemed wiser than taking the long way around.
Baek Ho-yang pointed to Woo Geom-san's qi center and spoke.
"Qi follows nature—qi must not be forced, but allowed to flow as naturally as nature itself. It seeps like wind and runs like water. You must never try to hold it inside."
"If I do not hold it inside, how can I use it?"
"You already know the answer."
"Pardon?"
"The answer lies in walking properly. Find it through your own contemplation."
Baek Ho-yang shared several passages of the Transcendent Heart Formula with Woo Geom-san.
The passages he recited were as elusive and intangible as grasping at clouds. But Woo Geom-san did not doubt Baek Ho-yang's words for a moment.
His faith in Baek Ho-yang was already unshakable.
"As you walk properly and breathe properly, one day you will awaken to what I have told you."
"Then I will have to keep walking?"
"And you must keep rolling the iron ball in your right hand. Doing all three simultaneously is by no means easy. Endure the pain and continue, and in time your body will awaken to it naturally."
"I will work my hardest."
Woo Geom-san answered with a resolute expression.
Baek Ho-yang gazed quietly at Woo Geom-san's face and smiled. His warm smile gave Woo Geom-san strength.
Though Baek Ho-yang was not his flesh and blood, Woo Geom-san felt something deeper than family. That was why the old man felt like a true grandfather.
If only to live up to that trust, he had to try harder.
Baek Ho-yang patted Woo Geom-san's shoulder and said.
"Let us go. You may walk more slowly if you wish—just focus on breathing properly as you walk."
"Yes!"
With his answer, Woo Geom-san began to walk.
Walking properly, at least, was no longer a problem, since he had grasped the feeling.
Rolling a single iron ball in his damaged right hand was manageable too. No matter how ruined his nerves were, he could at least manage one iron ball.
The problem was breathing properly.
Unlike other mental cultivation arts, where one sat still and focused the mind, this had to be practiced while walking properly.
'If what Grandfather says is true, then walking properly and breathing properly are one and the same discipline. I must learn them together.'
Woo Geom-san recalled the passages Baek Ho-yang had taught him and tried to breathe accordingly. But there was no chance of a foreign breathing technique working on the first attempt.
Just like walking properly, the breathing method Baek Ho-yang had taught him was not something whose feeling could be grasped easily.
Even so, the thought that it was hard did not cross his mind.
He was still alive, still breathing, still walking.
***
Breathe, walk, move the fingers.
That was the entirety of Woo Geom-san's daily routine.
Because he was focused on breathing and walking, his speed was nothing impressive.
There were many days when they covered less than a few dozen li. Still, neither of them paid it much mind.
Walking fast was not important in the least.
What truly mattered was breathing properly and walking properly.
He had not been with Baek Ho-yang for very long, but Woo Geom-san was beginning to sense it dimly.
That walking properly and breathing properly were the beginning and the end of the Quanzhen martial arts that Baek Ho-yang intended to pass on.
And so, without a single word of complaint, he focused solely on breathing and walking properly.
Woo Geom-san recalled Baek Ho-yang's teachings and strove to follow them faithfully.
Baek Ho-yang came to realize that Woo Geom-san possessed extraordinary powers of concentration.
His talent was remarkable, but once he focused, he almost never let his attention stray.
This was an immensely valuable gift for learning martial arts.
Not only in martial arts—in any field, a person with such a gift had a high chance of growing tremendously.
Like most prestigious orthodox sects, the Quanzhen Sect's martial arts demanded a solid foundation.
Compared to the arts of the demonic and heterodox, growth was slower—but once a certain threshold was crossed, the achievements one could reach were incomparably higher.
The problem was that building the foundation was tedious and grueling.
Fortunately, Woo Geom-san did not tire of it easily and seemed to enjoy the very process of enduring hardship.
In some ways, it was almost to the point of seeming dull-witted.
But Baek Ho-yang knew.
That those who achieve true mastery are always the ones who dig deeply and doggedly into a single well, so steadily that they appear simple or even foolish.
Watching such a person grow was an immensely enjoyable thing.
All the more so for an old man like Baek Ho-yang, who had fewer days ahead of him than behind.
In the past, walking alone would have been so tedious that he would have hurried his steps. But now, there was not a shred of boredom—only pleasure.
"Hm?"
Baek Ho-yang came to an abrupt halt.
A fairly large river had appeared before him without warning.
At a glance, the river was enormously wide—impossible to cross without a boat.
Alone, he could have crossed easily using Water-Skimming Flight, but Woo Geom-san was with him.
Even if it took a little longer, taking a boat across seemed the better choice.
"We will have to walk along the river and find a place to board a ferry."
Baek Ho-yang and Woo Geom-san turned downstream.
Fortunately, they had not gone far before a small riverside village appeared.
At the river's edge before the village stood a dock large enough to berth a sizable vessel.
A fair number of people had gathered at the dock, apparently waiting for a ferry.
"Good fortune. It seems a boat is coming in soon."
"Judging by the number of people, it must be a large one."
"Is that so?"
"Yes! Given that there are not only people but horses and carts as well, it looks like a Cloud Horse river ferry is coming in."
Woo Geom-san had been born and raised at Woo Manor, which held shipping rights.
Naturally, he knew more about rivers and boats than anyone.
From the number of people and the volume of cargo gathered at the dock, he could estimate what kind of vessel was arriving.
"If it is a Cloud Horse river ferry, then it must be operated by one of the factions that hold shipping rights?"
"Most likely."
Without the permission of a faction holding shipping rights, no one could operate a Cloud Horse river ferry on a river this large.
The vessel coming here was almost certainly run by one of the Seven Great Water Gates.
The two sat near the dock like the other passengers and waited for the ferry to arrive.
Fortunately, they did not wait long before a great Cloud Horse river ferry appeared.
It was far larger than Baek Ho-yang had vaguely imagined, and he was slightly taken aback.
It was a massive vessel—over two hundred feet in length, thirty feet in height, and more than fifty feet in beam.
Woo Geom-san said.
"A vessel that size would be classified as Human Grade."
"Human Grade?"
"The Seven Great Water Gates classify Cloud Horse river ferries by size into five grades, designated as Heaven, Earth, Human, Wind, and Fire."
"Heaven, Earth, Human, Wind, and Fire? So you are saying this enormous Cloud Horse river ferry is merely mid-grade?"
"Yes! Heaven Grade and Earth Grade vessels are far larger and can carry many more passengers and cargo. However, they have difficulty navigating strong currents, so they are mainly used in the wide lower reaches of the rivers. Heaven Grade Cloud Horse river ferries in particular are over four hundred feet long and more than a hundred feet in beam—so large and sturdy they can even sail the open sea."
"Remarkable. A river vessel that can sail the sea."
"But Heaven Grade Cloud Horse river ferries are not only difficult to build—they cost several times more to operate than Human Grade vessels, so very few exist."
"That stands to reason. Then the narrower and rougher the waterway, the smaller the Cloud Horse river ferry?"
"Yes! The smallest, Fire Grade Cloud Horse river ferries, are only half the size of a Human Grade vessel. Naturally, they cannot carry as many passengers or as much cargo. But they are fast, so they are deployed for time-sensitive tasks."
Fire Grade Cloud Horse river ferries even employed specialized rowers.
Naturally, their speed was incomparably faster than ordinary ferries. That was why they were used to transport a small number of people or a limited quantity of cargo when time was of the essence.
The cost of passage was also extremely high, far beyond the reach of ordinary people.
"However, for reasons of cost and practicality, Human Grade Cloud Horse river ferries are the most commonly used. A Human Grade vessel can navigate most rivers and canals without difficulty."
"Thanks to you, I am learning things I never knew. I am grateful."
"Not at all."
Woo Geom-san scratched his head with a sheepish expression.
THUD—!
In the meantime, the Cloud Horse river ferry had docked.
A red banner fluttered at its bow.
"That is the insignia of the Red Tide Faction."