ADLK 02

Chapter 2

Gyo-ha.

“To correct a flaw.”

This was the Taoist name the boy received. It was the first name he ever had.

But there was no time to rejoice in it.

“When people speak of the orthodox line of Taoism they all name Wudang, but if you trace the lines one by one, none compare to Kunlun. Since ancient times Mount Kunlun was where the Jinins1, on the verge of ascension, gathered to cultivate. Some among them were truly heirs to the Immortal lineage. Not only the Jinins—before Buddhism ever sprouted in the Central Plains, monks of great virtue came from Tianzhu. Kunlun is the sect founded by their descendants.”

In olden times, even the concepts of Taoism and Buddhism were vague.

Thus they were all called cultivators.

At first there were Twelve Gates.

These became Kunlun Sword Gate, Kunlun Blade Gate, Kunlun Immortal Gate, Kunlun Flying Gate, and Kunlun Cloud Palace.

They merged into five, and in time became the Kunlun Sect.

Naturally, its history ran deeper than Shaolin’s or Wudang’s.

“Kunlun is famed for sword and movement arts, but its Tao and Immortal teachings are excellent as well.”

In a cave deep in nameless mountains, a man spoke calmly.

The man’s name was Yun Heo.

He was Kunlun Sect’s Fourteenth Sect Leader.

“First, the inner cultivation method you will learn is the Primal Heaven Art.”

Kunlun’s foundational art.

“In truth, given your condition, cultivating an inner method is dangerous. It will only quicken your accumulation of qi.”

Gyo-ha listened quietly to his master.

“But without an inner cultivation method, your martial arts will be half-formed.”

An inner cultivation method was a sect’s foundation.

It was not merely piling up internal energy. Understanding and accepting the inner cultivation method was the very start of martial arts.

A sect’s spirit dwells in its inner cultivation method.

Naturally, if one could not learn it, one’s arts would be only half, as Yun Heo said.

“Normally you would learn Descending Goose Fist together with Primal Heaven Art, but you don’t have the time.”

Even now, internal energy was ceaselessly building up.

Gyo-ha’s body was no different from a volcano that could erupt at any moment.

“Your dantian is unfinished. Even if you establish your foundation, at most you have ten years.”

The remaining energy will spill from the dantian and flood your body.

Because the dantian was open, even drawing the energy back was impossible.

It may not matter now, but as the accumulation of internal energy speeds up, your body will be strained.

“Therefore you must keep your dantian empty at all times. The martial principles can wait.”

Gyo-ha blinked.

This was only natural. Everything that was currently being said was beyond his understanding.

Emptying the dantian. It was something that was easier said than done.

One can only empty what has been filled.

He had to reach the level of being able to emit his accumulated qi.

Only one who reached that level could be called a martial artist.

These were those commonly called third-rate martial artists.

People mock them as ‘third-rate,’ but it is by no means a low level.

Those who cannot emit qi cannot be called martial artists.

They are merely thugs with blades.

It was no different from telling him to run before he learned to walk.

“Th-then… how do I drain my qi?”

Gyo-ha felt it too. The warmth rising from his lower belly since some time ago.

Thanks to it, even when he ran, he did not pant.

But he did not know how to empty it.

“It’s simple. It’s no different from what you’ve been doing. We’ll just change it up a bit.”

“…Huh?”

What have I been doing?

Gyo-ha searched his memory, but nothing came.

Seeing his bewilderment, Yun Heo’s lip quirked.

“Get beaten a lot, and move a lot.”

“Iron hardens the more it’s hammered. The body is the same. Of course, that alone is not enough.”

“…”

“The will to survive. This is a living being’s most fundamental urge. To put it simply, when you feel your life is threatened, the qi sleeping in your dantian will move on its own.”

It is common to exceed one’s limits in moments of crisis.

With that, Yun Heo rose.

“From now on I will attack you using only Descending Goose Fist—with the resolve to kill you. You will evade it or endure it.”

He meant for him to watch and learn.

Normally, such a thing would be impossible. But Yun Heo was certain.

With Gyo-ha’s aptitude, it would suffice.

Seeing the fist shoot for his head, Gyo-ha rolled.

Kwaang!

Yun Heo’s fist smashed the cave wall.

‘Insane.’

That could not be blocked.

He might be used to pain, but Gyo-ha did not wish to die.

But the next strike was already flying at him.

“Don’t try to think. Thinking only breeds hesitation.”

Cursing inwardly, Gyo-ha moved to live.

Thus began Kunlun’s teaching.

---

Flowers bloomed anew and withered again and again.

Though leaves fell many times, the mountain stayed ever green.

But in that time, the child grew into a youth.

Long hair down to his waist streamed in all directions.

When his feet struck the ground, a body ill-matched to his youthful face flexed.

In sheer size, he was no different from a grown man.

If anything, he overpowered adults in build.

Scars and muscles across his body moved as if alive.

With that, the youth drove out a fist.

Pung!

The boy’s fist, weighted with iron, tore the air.

Not only his arms. Like a criminal, iron shackles hung from both arms and both legs.

The youth was Gyo-ha.

Despite the shackles, Gyo-ha’s movements were light as a bird’s.

Next, Gyo-ha’s foot aimed for his opponent’s head.

Whirling Lotus Kick.

One of Kunlun’s transmitted kicking arts.

A cruel technique ill-suited to the Taoist way.

But the decisive strike sliced only empty air.

“Not a wild goose but a bat, I’d say. There’s totally nothing lofty about it.”

“…!”

At the voice from behind, Gyo-ha twisted.

His elbow targeted backward.

An almost instinctive motion.

But before it, his opponent’s palm touched Gyo-ha’s flank.

Cloud Crane Palm.

A gesture as elegant as a crane.

But the result was anything but elegant.

Koong!

“Urk!”

Gyo-ha’s body, driven into a tree, jolted.

At the same time, blood spurted from his mouth.

But there was no time to rest.

A fist flew straight toward the fallen Gyo-ha.

‘Damn it.’

Gyo-ha rolled to evade.

Lazy Donkey Roll.

A lazy donkey rolling on the ground.

It wasn’t a proper technique. It was just a name made to mock the user.

Shameful for a martial artist, but all too familiar to Gyo-ha.

Face is a luxury before death.

As Gyo-ha sprang up, a foot flew for his face.

“You still hesitate, it seems.”

Hesitation, my ass.

Gyo-ha spat a curse and raised both hands.

Kwang!

His body was hurled away once more.

Rolling across the ground, Gyo-ha struggled to his feet.

But unlike his trembling body, his mouth was smiling.

Eyes glinting like a beast’s.

Just as Gyo-ha lunged, the middle-aged man spoke.

“That’s enough for today.”

“…Already?”

Gyo-ha stopped and smacked his lips in regret.

At the sight, his master Yun Heo let out a dry chuckle.

‘Not merely strange, he is the strange itself.’

Yun Heo had been mistaken.

Gyo-ha was unlike those he had seen before.

He only wore a human mask, inside, he was different.

Not only Descending Goose Fist, but Cloud Crane Palm, and even Whirling Lotus Kick.

Having mixed numerous martial arts, he had turned them into a new style.

Its former forms were hard to find.

It was unlike the Taoist way.

Nor did it resemble the Army Gates or the Killing Gates.

‘He’s closer to a beast than a man.’

Gyo-ha brushed dirt from his body—looking more like a monkey than a man.

“You look something like a martial artist now.”

“…What good is that? Master doesn’t even draw his sword.”

At Gyo-ha’s grumbling, his master snorted.

“To make me draw my sword, you’ll need to die and come back at least ten times. Stop babbling and prepare dinner.”

At his nagging, Gyo-ha pouted, then turned without further complaint.

Yun Heo watched him nimbly descend the mountain.

“…Perhaps the time is near.”

If anything, it was late.

His mutter drifted into the air.

---

Crackle, crackle.

Flames rose from the campfire.

Two skinned rabbits were set over it.

And water boiled with blanched greens and grains.

That was all.

Watching Gyo-ha tear at a rabbit leg, Yun Heo spoke.

“How are the iron shackles?”

So saying, Yun Heo sipped the liquor before him.

At his words, Gyo-ha rolled his shoulders.

The heavy shackles moved with them.

“They’re fine for now.”

Gyo-ha waved his hand as if to show off.

Seeing this, Yun Heo’s gaze deepened.

The earlier wounds were gone.

They were wounds that would leave an ordinary man bedridden for days.

But Gyo-ha was already recovering.

Thanks to his peculiar constitution.

As qi ceaselessly flowed in and out, not only his flesh but even his meridians had hardened.

‘…Though there seem to be side effects.’

A huge frame ill-suited to his age.

Who would take him for fifteen?

Even grown men would avoid him on the road.

His face was boyish as befit his age. However, that made it look all the stranger.

More startling, Gyo-ha was still growing.

Thus his shackles had to be replaced often.

But even that was no great problem.

If anything, it offered many advantages in training.

The real problem was…

Crunch, crunch.

A rough sound was heard.

Too lazy to strip the bone, Gyo-ha was chewing meat bone and all.

‘…After nothing but real combat, the kid’s grown odd.’

Over five years, his battle sense had sharpened extraordinarily.

In senses alone, he surpassed even top experts.

But in everything else, he was like a child.

‘No, has he regressed instead?’

Sniff, sniff.

Watching his disciple sniff the meat, Yun Heo sighed.

“I’ll be away for a while.”

At his words, Gyo-ha’s hands stopped tearing the rabbit.

“Master, what do you mean?”

His tone was polite, but his eyes were full of mischief.

Is the old man drunk?

He stared at Yun Heo with just such eyes.

Yun Heo knit his brow, and Gyo-ha subtly swayed his upper body back.

A drag mark where his rear scraped the ground was left behind.

At that, Yun Heo clicked his tongue.

He had retreated to just beyond arm’s reach.

Truly uncanny senses.

He could swing the scabbard, but…

‘The instant I grab the blade, he’ll bolt without looking back.’

Yun Heo knew Gyo-ha well.

“I have some business to attend to, so I’ll be leaving the mountain for a while.”

“Me too?”

“No. It’s somewhere you cannot follow. I’ll return within two months.”

“…Then what about me?”

At his complaint, Yun Heo looked at him in disbelief.

“You’re no child now. See to yourself. How long must this master look after you?”

“That’s not what I mean.”

He meant his internal energy.

Gyo-ha’s constitution.

Even now, internal energy was accumulating on its own.

No, since learning martial arts, the speed was faster than before.

At this, Yun Heo shook his head.

At first he’d known some manners, when had he gone so crooked?

Tell him to empty his head and even basic etiquette was thrown away.

“By training alone you can use your internal energy now, can’t you.”

It’s possible. It was just immensely hard.

It moves only when the sky truly seems to turn yellow.

As Gyo-ha’s expression turned crooked, Yun Heo jerked his chin toward the back mountain.

“If it’s truly hard, roll off the cliff a few times. With that body, you won’t die easily.”

“…That’s not rolling, that’s falling.”

It wasn’t a slope one could roll down.

Telling a disciple to leap off a cliff. Is that something a master should say?

But Yun Heo’s words were true.

Not only would he not die easily, his energy would move to heal his injured body.

“In any case, take it so.”

With that, Yun Heo took another sip.

It meant he had no intention of speaking further; and Gyo-ha knew well how things ended if he kept pestering.

‘Horse-Face Master.’

Gyo-ha pouted and shoved the rabbit leg into his mouth.

Crunch, crunch.

Hearing it, Yun Heo sighed inwardly.

‘When I return, I’ll have to teach him letters first.’

He realized it far too late.

Of course, Gyo-ha could read basic characters.

What Yun Heo meant were the scriptures.

Gyo-ha lacked not only etiquette but common sense.

Who would see that and think him a disciple of Kunlun?

He talked like one, but was little different from a beast.

Yun Heo shook his head.