‘This cannot be.’

The Abbot felt like his soul was being pulled out.

Everything was perfect.

The height of the Buddha’s Palm, which Hae Yeon unfolded, was not lacking. Of course, it could be described as blooming.

Just like a small flower, the palm, which was being used for the first time, was still not something that could be ignored.

But the disciple survived?

‘Just how?’

All the purity of Shaolin was entrusted to Hae Yeon, and they had taught him the best techniques after the war with the Demonic Sect.

A huge amount of effort went into this child.

To recover the pride which was wounded against the Demonic Sect and to stand firmly with their head held high, Shaolin risked everything for Hae Yeon.

But now, this child was being pushed back by a disciple of Mount Hua.

‘How can this be?’

Shaolin was the first and the best of the sects.

Shaolin had been able to maintain its position as the best in the world for hundreds of years due to its martial arts, which couldn’t be compared to those of the other sects.

But now Hae Yeon was being pushed back by a disciple of another sect?

‘It cannot be! This cannot happen!’

Moreover, wasn’t Chung Myung a third-class disciple of Mount Hua, which had fallen?

This shouldn’t be happening.

This competition was held for the world to know that Shaolin deserved the top spot among the sects.

“Hae Yeonnnnnn!”

The Abbot rose from his place and shouted, but then he saw it.

The sword of Chung Myung drew the most beautiful curve he had ever seen before.

He was the abbot who had devoted himself to performing the duties required of Shaolin’s sect leader, but in the end, he was someone who had devoted his life to learning martial arts.

Even if he had forsaken martial arts, there was no way his soul would forget it.

‘That is…’

His eyes looked at the sword of Chung Myung, which began to blur.

The hand holding the sword looked so natural, being wielded so amazingly.

If one swung the sword like that again and again, then they might even forget that they were holding a sword in the first place. It would be like having an extended arm. His sword was moving so naturally.

The weird sense which was rising in his body disappeared over time. And the eyes of Chung Myung turned more serious.

Shaolin showed what they held.

Through Hae Yeon, they proved that they were building up a kid through the efforts of the past hundred years.

But it was all in vain.

‘All for just that?’

The sword of Mount Hua was thrown away for the sake of being on top?

So he had to show them.

What they threw away.

The ones they had abandoned.

The beginning was on a circular path.

Perfection was always difficult to put into words.

His sword, which was drawn into a circle, pointed to the sky and fell down.

The circle which was formed was cut to indicate Yin and Yang, forming Tai Chi.

Eventually, the tip of the sword pointed to the center and stopped.

Yang was the sky, and Yin was the land.

The only people standing under the sky and on the earth were humans.

No matter how beautiful the sky was, or how strong the earth is, if there is nothing in the middle of them, they become useless.

Humans were added to the sky and the earth. Humans, along with the sky and earth, were known as the three treasures.

Sky, earth, and people.

Sword techniques were a way to kill such people.

However, if the sword could embody the path of the tao through a killing technique, then sword techniques would not be limited to just swords.

And that was evident here.

The thing Mount Hua had been pursuing for a long time.

It started from someone’s hand and was passed down. Mount Hua’s sword technique which had been developed over many years by adding many new things, was being reproduced in the hands of Chung Myung.

It started with the Equilibrium of Six.

Heaven, Earth, and Four Directions.

To contain the heaven and earth with a sword that knows its path.

If such a spirit could be embedded into a sword, wouldn’t that be the same as a universe?

Therefore, the one with that sword turned into a microcosm.

The human and the sword.

The sword of Chung Myung slowly pointed up and descended down.

It wasn’t a huge action.

He lowered his sword once.

But Hae Yeon felt like he was being sucked into the sword.

And…

Slash!

His dazed eyes opened wide as he looked down.

The hem of his clothes was cut off, fluttering like a butterfly falling to the ground.

‘When?’

He felt nothing. He didn’t even feel the blade falling on him.

However, the moment the sword was swung, he was cut.

His face was clouded in darkness.

‘Heart Sword?’

No, this wasn’t that.

It was too perfect.

It didn’t even allow for any wasted motion, it looked too perfect. There was no need for a sword to divide the sky or the sea.

Just cut things.

And the desired achievement came with minimal force. That was the supreme sword.

Hae Yeon’s heart began to beat slowly.

How much… how long did he spend to polish his sword to such a level?

His body trembled.

At this moment, Hae Yeon was able to realize.

What was the Martial Way?

Was it the Martial Way to crush down the opponent with stronger force? Was it the Martial Way to pursue greater destructive power?

No, it wasn’t that.

The Martial Way was the act of bringing the body into the perfect martial form. It was to embody what the mind drew into the world through the help of the body.

In other words, it was the level that Hae Yeon someday wanted to reach. It was the state of breaking free from the bonds of internal qi and techniques to turn one into the void.

Now he was seeing that in front of him.

The Martial Way, which he suspected he might not reach even after intense training and the efforts of decades, was now unfolding in front of him.

The moment he realized the distance between him and his opponent, something began to collapse in the heart of Hae Yeon.

‘I…’

Hae Yeon bit his lip at this unknown feeling and said,

“I am Shaolin’s Hae Yeon.”

If this continues, he could not even use his hands again. So his impatient mind made him go for the technique he was most confident in now.

Kwang!

His advance broke the stage.

Wooong!

He was once again using the Hundred Steps Divine Fist.

A huge gust of wind blew toward Chung Myung.

With his serious eyes, Chung Myung looked at the golden winds which came for him.

He once again lifted his sword and lowered it.

Slash!

Split.

So natural.

The slash from the sword cut something down.

There was nothing in this world that could not be separated with a slash. And the sword of tao was something like that.

Cut things down.

Cut through air, trees, flags, even the elements, and sometimes bind people too.

Like a torrent that swelled in the pouring rain, the golden wind which came to Chung Myung was split to the left and right and moved away.

Kwaaang!

Fist qi which was cut down, blew toward the audience with a single slash.

It was an amazing force.

But no matter how strong the force was, it was meaningless if the target could not be hit. Not a single part of the qi reached the body of Chung Myung.

“Ahhhhh!”

However, Hae Yeon’s fist wasn’t done yet, it was still shining gold.

The Arahant Divine Fist.

Another one of the techniques known to be used to judge evil and destroy it.

This technique subdued the opponent through applying heavy pressure onto them, and it was currently emanating from Hae Yeon’s body.

Woong!

The pressure, which could even bend iron, made the stones beneath their feet become even more crushed.

The tip of everything began to crumble. Their hair was fluttering around.

But Chung Myung just stood there.

His eyes were still serious and cold, and his sword tip didn’t waver.

It seemed like nothing in this world could disturb Chung Myung.

‘What is he?’

Was it the Shaolin way, with the teachings of Buddha, to save all the beings in the world?

If not, weren’t there the Shaolin teachings of Dharma, which spoke about not hesitating to suffer for the sake of saving others?

Or was it the teachings of the great man who attained enlightenment after cutting off his own arm?

It was odd.

The moment one pursues self-interests and superficial needs, the Dharma fails to show, and Shaolin can no longer be called Shaolin. They will be people blinded by ego.

Everything in the world will change one day. However, it continues to move; one day, its momentum will fade.

Like a flower losing its color on the eleventh day. The things which reach the extreme point cannot be returned.

Yet, life should go on.

Even if the color of the flower fades, it will bloom again one day. And isn’t a flower that blooms also bound to die?

And a new one would bloom.

Even the old trees on the cliff, which no one takes care of, will have flowers blooming.

“Fly.”

Finally, the sword’s tip holding Chung Myung began to give birth to flowers.

And it moved.

He was drawing out Mount Hua.

Even in the cold snow or the gentle spring sun, and in the spirit of Buddha who lost themselves too.

The flower eventually blooms.

Where in the world will there be a flower which doesn’t bloom?

‘It isn’t a dog’s death.’

Sect leader sahyung.

Under the world you protected, Mount Hua will bloom again. Even if no one in the world knows.

Just like the roots of an old tree stretching out in the ground, invisible to others, but making the tree grow and making the flowers bloom.

What you did won’t be in vain.

So take a look.

A small flower formed in the air.

The small and lonely flower that looked sad.

‘Not me.’

But from his sword began the birth of another flower.

The plum blossom wasn’t alone now.

And if numerous flowers bloom, the plum blossom will cover the mountain and the world red.

The gaze of Chung Myung turned to the side.

And he watched.

His sahyungs, his sasuks.

And his pitiful kids, his sect leader, and the elders.

He clenched his fist and bit his lip.

‘Keep blooming.’

Each and every one of the plum blossoms of Mount Hua might be a bud now, but one day they will cover the world in red.

A small smile made its way onto his lips.

Will his sahyung be happy?

Because of this plum blossom?

‘No’

Hewouldn’t be.

The plum blossoms of Chung Myung were like ghosts.

What was lost and vanished was nothing more than a ghost.

So, of course, it could not be a happy instance.

Yet.

Chung Myung had clenched his fist when he saw Jo Gul make the plum blossoms bloom. When Yu Yiseol did it, he applauded her.

He might have even shed tears when he saw Baek Cheon do it.

Now new and varied plum blossoms were coming up in the dried land of Mount Hua. Plum Blossoms were blooming in the place where the old ones had fallen off.

So how can this be called futile?

‘Sahyung’

The plum blossom at the tip of Chung Myung’s sword.

From small bits to little buds to flowers, everything was blooming.

Yet not one was the same as the other.

Just as how people were different from one another in the same sect, plum blossoms cannot be the same despite coming from the same tree.

Soon they began to move in the gentle breeze.

Hae Yeon was shocked. The world seemed so red.

However, no matter how shocked he looked, he couldn’t try to erase this illusion.

“A scam!”

Hae Yeon screamed out loud in dissatisfaction. At the same time, a majestic golden light came out of his body.

Shining Light of Buddha.

The Light is something that pushes away the illusion and lies. He truly was someone who realized what Dharma means.

But…

‘Why?’

Hae Yeon was only shocked.

They didn’t disappear.

The golden light which touched the petals didn’t disappear but enveloped the light.

“Why…?”

He couldn’t understand this.

Amidst the petals which covered the world, the sword of Chung Myung moved gracefully. The figure of him dancing like a drunkard with the sword was like a painting.

‘What is an illusion, and what is reality.’

It was such a thing.

Right.

It is just such a simple thing.

The petals, which Hae Yeon thought of as an illusion, gave out a scent of plum blossoms, and the petals covered the world in red.

Yet.

One was not always sure if the sword was a fantasy or not.

The sword of plum blossoms made its way to the neck of the one representing Shaolin.