The Woo Sword Vies for Supremacy
All fifty bandits lay crumpled on the ground, groaning.
"Grrrgh......"
Jang Pae, the bandits' leader, frothed at the mouth and convulsed.
His eyes had rolled back in his head—an alarming sight.
In truth, Baek Ho-yang had been especially harsh with Jang Pae and his lieutenants.
"I have placed a special seal upon you."
"Ngh...... A seal......?"
"I have blocked every meridian leading to your qi center. You will be unable to use martial arts for at least ten years."
The seal Baek Ho-yang had placed on the bandits was a sealing technique called the Heavenly Punishment Sealing Art, which shut off all the meridians connecting to the qi center and rendered inner arts unusable.
The seal imposed by the Heavenly Punishment Sealing Art would last a full ten years.
For at least a decade, they would be unable to use inner arts.
It was a punishment for Jang Pae and his lieutenants, who had committed atrocities relying solely on their strength and martial arts.
After ten years, the seal would release on its own.
Whether they would mend their ways by then was unknown, but at the very least, they would be unable to wreak havoc until that day.
Those bandits whose martial arts were weak or nonexistent received no seal. There was no need.
"How...... cruel......"
Having barely regained his senses, Jang Pae trembled with fury at Baek Ho-yang's handiwork.
Not a shred of qi could be felt in his qi center, and on top of that, there was scarcely any strength in his arms or legs.
The Heavenly Punishment Sealing Art had stripped him not only of his inner arts but of his innate divine strength as well.
Now he was merely large—with less muscle power than an ordinary person.
The same was true of Jang Pae's lieutenants.
"Fuck! I can't get any strength into my arms."
"Ngh! I can't feel a drop of inner arts."
Despair settled over the lieutenants' faces.
They had spent their entire lives bullying and plundering, trusting only in their superior strength and martial arts.
Now that they had become weaker than ordinary people, it was easy to imagine how bleak and wretched their future would be.
Baek Ho-yang had imposed upon them a punishment worse than death.
Jang Pae screamed, his eyes bulging.
"What grudge do you have against us that you'd use such a cruel technique? Just kill us instead! Old man!"
"And what grudge did you hold against the people of this village that you meant to slaughter and plunder them?"
"That's......"
"Do not give me any drivel about how the strong deserve to take everything, or how the martial world has always been a place where the powerful reign. I have heard those excuses so many times I am sick of them."
Through the war between the Heavenly Mandate Society and the Nine Great Sects, Baek Ho-yang had witnessed every shade of human nature.
Having seen the very depths of how ugly humans could become, he was utterly unmoved by Jang Pae's sophistry.
Baek Ho-yang turned to the village chief.
"I leave the disposal of these men to you. Kill them or drive them out—it is no concern of mine."
"Well......"
"Discuss it with your young men."
With those words, Baek Ho-yang returned to his seat.
The village chief stared blankly after him for a moment.
"That man is truly a marvel of the martial world. We must have been blessed by heaven not to have turned him away from our village."
Had Baek Ho-yang not arrived in the village when he did, they would have lost everything to the bandits.
The mere thought made his blood run cold.
The chief decided he must treat Baek Ho-yang with even greater hospitality and turned to the village youths.
The chief and the youths reached a decision quickly.
They would drive all the bandits out.
Killing them had never been an option.
People who had spent their entire lives farming could not easily take another's life, even with weapons placed in their hands.
Above all, the chief was loath to see blood spilled on this auspicious day celebrating his grandson's birth.
He feared the events of this day might cast a shadow over his grandson's future.
Even if they let the bandits go alive, there was no risk of retaliation.
As they had already confirmed, the bandits now possessed less strength than a small child.
In that condition, revenge was out of the question—they should be worrying about staying alive.
The youths dragged the crippled bandits outside the village.
The bandits tried to resist, but it was futile.
They no longer had the strength to overcome the village youths.
If anything, their resistance only earned them sound thrashings.
Jang Pae and his bandits, battered and bloodied, were dumped deep in the forest.
This remote village sat in the depths of true wilderness.
Wolves roamed nearby, to say nothing of bears and other predators.
Whether the bandits could evade the beasts and reach a sizable town was anybody's guess. To be frank, no one cared.
Whether they lived or died was up to the bandits' own fortune and effort.
The lead youth spoke in an icy voice.
"You should be grateful we didn't kill you with our own hands."
"You rat-dicked bastard...... If I was in one piece, you'd already be dead by my hand!"
Jang Pae fixed his bloodshot eyes on the lead youth in a vicious glare. But he posed not even a fraction of a threat.
The lead youth snorted.
"Hmph! But you're not in one piece, are you? I wonder if you can even make it out of this forest alive. There are plenty of wolves and bears in these parts. Anyway, good luck getting home."
The bandits' weapons had all been confiscated.
They would have to escape this dark forest empty-handed.
Unlike the village youths, who knew every inch of the surrounding terrain like the backs of their own hands, the bandits were utterly lost.
The youths who had abandoned them melted into the darkness without a backward glance.
Left all alone, Jang Pae and the bandits let out anguished wails.
"Fuck! This can't be happening. It can't......"
AWOO—!
As if in answer, wolf howls echoed from nearby.
Despair washed over the bandits' faces.
"Fuck!"
***
Having witnessed how effortlessly Baek Ho-yang dispatched the bandits, the villagers' expressions changed.
Respect and fear coexisted on their faces.
Understanding how the villagers felt, Baek Ho-yang returned to his quarters at once. Woo Geom-san naturally followed.
The two laid out their bedding early and lay down.
If they were to set out on a long journey before dawn, it was best to sleep early.
Beneath his blanket, Woo Geom-san tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
Every time he closed his eyes, Baek Ho-yang's movements flashed before him.
'Following the Flow, Treading the Void, and the Flowing Void Steps.'
He had never imagined, not even in his dreams, that the "walking properly" Baek Ho-yang spoke of led to a supreme art called the Flowing Void Steps.
The Flowing Void Steps was a supreme art that soared far beyond anything Woo Geom-san had ever known.
'Could mastering Shaolin's Nine-Grade Lotus Steps or Immovable Steps achieve that kind of movement?'
Even Woo Geom-san could not be sure.
He had never once seen Shaolin Temple's footwork with his own eyes.
All he had was a vague sense that the Flowing Void Steps would not fall short of Shaolin Temple's legendary footwork in the slightest.
'Walking properly, walking properly......'
Woo Geom-san recalled Baek Ho-yang's stride.
Over the past three days, he had watched the old man's gait to the point of exhaustion as he trailed behind him. He had tried to imitate it, too.
Yet he had not been able to identify what made his walking different from his own.
He had to discover what it was that created the difference between Baek Ho-yang and himself.
Just then.
"The noise of you overthinking is so loud I cannot sleep."
Baek Ho-yang's rebuke came suddenly.
"Pardon?"
"I said the sound of your wheels turning is keeping me up."
"I'm sorry."
"No amount of trying to understand it with your head will help. Walking properly is not about understanding—it is about feeling."
"Feeling?"
"Yes. Do not rush to understand. You must feel with your body and accept nature as it is. So stop thinking and go to sleep."
"Yes!"
Woo Geom-san closed his eyes with his answer.
A smile crept onto Baek Ho-yang's lips.
Goals too grand or hopes too vague could easily exhaust a person.
No matter how firm one's will, the heart was bound to waver.
Baek Ho-yang had felt the need to plant hope and determination in Woo Geom-san. That was why he had shown him the Flowing Void Steps—the ultimate completion of walking properly.
Just as he had intended, Woo Geom-san had been so shaken that he could not fall asleep.
From tomorrow, the boy would surely find new strength and walk alongside him once more.
The Flowing Void Steps was a footwork conceived by the Vast-Heaven Master, the third founding patriarch of the Quanzhen Sect, and refined over several generations to completion.
This footwork—which followed the flow to claim space—was so extraordinary that an ordinary person could never learn it.
In the Quanzhen Sect's long history, only five people had ever completed the Flowing Void Steps.
Even Baek Ho-yang had completed it only after grueling effort.
Whether Woo Geom-san could complete the Flowing Void Steps was something even Baek Ho-yang did not know. But he was satisfied that he had at least planted the will to rise to the challenge.
Just moments ago, the sound of the boy's thoughts churning had been deafening—yet now only the quiet rhythm of steady breathing could be heard.
He had fallen into a deep sleep before he knew it.
'Sleep well.'
With Woo Geom-san's breathing as his lullaby, Baek Ho-yang, too, drifted quietly to sleep.
Having slept deeply, the two opened their eyes early the next morning before dawn.
They rose at once, folded their bedding, and stepped outside.
They were at the well, washing their faces and preparing to set off on the long road, when someone approached cautiously.
It was the village chief.
The chief spoke with the most respectful demeanor he could muster, choosing his words carefully.
"I hope you slept well?"
"Thanks to your hospitality, I slept soundly."
"I am glad. Are you planning to leave the village right away?"
"I am."
"Won't you stay a few more days? I have not yet properly repaid you."
"I did not act expecting repayment, so please do not trouble yourself."
"But still......"
The chief trailed off, reluctance plain in his voice.
If an expert like Baek Ho-yang remained in the village, they would never have to worry about bandit raids again.
Baek Ho-yang read the chief's thoughts.
"My grandson and I have somewhere we must go. I understand your feelings, but we cannot stay here long. Forgive me."
"Not at all. Truly, the help you gave us last night alone is more than enough. This country fool was just indulging in wishful thinking, so please pay it no mind."
The chief let go of his reluctance and answered with a courteous bow.
He held out a bundle he had prepared in advance.
"Please accept this, at least."
"What is it?"
"I have packed some food for the road and a bit of money for travel expenses."
"The money is not necessary. I will gratefully accept the food."
"The money is only a few coins. If you refuse even this, our hearts will be too uneasy to let you go."
"Well!"
"Please, do not refuse the humble hearts of these country folk."
Faced with such earnestness, Baek Ho-yang could refuse no longer.
"Then I will accept with gratitude."
The moment Baek Ho-yang agreed, Woo Geom-san stepped forward and took the bundle from the chief.
It had been fitted with straps so it could be carried on the back.
Grateful for the kindness of the chief and the villagers, Woo Geom-san shouldered the bundle.
Woo Geom-san bowed deeply to the chief.
"I accept this with gratitude. Thank you."
"It is we who are more grateful. I pray you travel the long road in safety."
The chief bowed in turn to Baek Ho-yang and Woo Geom-san.
Baek Ho-yang said to Woo Geom-san.
"All this bowing over a trifle is making me uncomfortable. Let us be on our way."
"Yes! Let us go."
Woo Geom-san answered with a bright smile.
The two left the house, the village chief behind them.
Outside, many villagers had gathered to see them off.
The villagers paid their deepest respects to Baek Ho-yang.
Their unexpected gesture drew a warm, hearty laugh from him.
"Ha ha!"
Ever since intervening in the war between the Nine Great Sects and the Heavenly Mandate Society, his chest had felt as heavy as if a block of lead had been placed upon it.
Yet receiving this pure, unguarded warmth from the villagers had lifted some of that crushing weight.
Baek Ho-yang inclined his head to the crowd in a slight bow, then left the village with Woo Geom-san.
Once they had put some distance between themselves and the village, Baek Ho-yang burst into a great laugh.
"Ha ha ha!"
WHOOOOSH—!
As if answering his laughter, a sudden gale swept across the land.