Black and White Martial Emperor (Wuxia Novel)

“Whew, brother. I was on edge the whole time.”
“Hm? About what?”
Yeon Jipyeong groaned.

“I thought Father was going to get angry, and my heart was pounding so hard.”
It seemed he had been tense, watching his elder brother speak so freely to their father.
Yeon Hojeong laughed before he realized it.

“Come on, you think Father’s some army officer? Is he our commanding officer or something?”
“Well, no…”
“Whatever anyone says, he’s our father, and you and I are his sons. If a son wants to speak warmly to his father, what’s wrong with that?”

“Heeey…”
Jipyeong stared blankly at him. It looked as if the thought had never once crossed his mind.
Hojeong tugged his little brother’s cheek.
“You rascal.”

“Ow ow ow! That hurts!”
“Don’t be too afraid of Father.”
“What?”

The smile on Hojeong’s face was strikingly soft—nothing like the Dark Emperor who had once been called the terror of the Orthodox martial world.
“You think Father wants to be stiff and unyielding in front of his children? Clan law and clan rules exist, so he feels he must set the example. That’s all it is.”
“Ah…”

“Well, even so, I still think he goes too far sometimes.”
“Cough!”
“Father has lived that way his whole life, and he will continue to do so. But the love he bears his sons has never changed, and it never will.”

Hojeong turned his body.
“Don’t sit around waiting for affection. Don’t think of it as something to be rewarded. It’s hard, but it’s better for your mind.”
“R-really?”

“Who says only parents are allowed to wait for their children?”
Jipyeong smiled as he watched his brother already walking far ahead.
“Now that I think about it, you’re right.”

His brother had been the one to let go of his resentment first. But the one who proved that was himself—by his own courage.
His relationship with Father was different, yet, in the larger sense, not so different at all.
“…Still scary, though.”
 

****
The next dawn.
“We greet the First Young Master.”

Unlike before, the Twin Guardians bowed with crisp formality.
Hojeong nodded.
“I’ve come to see Father.”

“Yes, sir.”
It seemed they had been informed beforehand. The Sword Gate Guard and the Blade Guard swung open the doors to the Clan Lord’s hall.
The view inside, spread wide before him, felt oddly new.

“The Clan Lord is presently at the training ground. You may go there.”
“Understood.”
Beyond the Clan Lord’s hall, past a modest bamboo grove, an open training ground appeared.

Whirr—
As Hojeong walked toward it, a strange resonance rose from his dantian. Though he hadn’t focused his will upon his inner energy, his True Qi stirred and trembled.
Resonance.

His Flying Swallow Qi seemed unable to contain itself. It felt frightened, yet also excited.
It was because of Yeon Wi.
Hooong—

At the center of the training ground, Yeon Wi sat cross-legged. A radiant aura of refined energy flowed from his body.
Though Hojeong had never trained in it himself, he knew instantly what martial art it was. The pressure seizing the entire ground, sharp and lofty, was unmistakable.
Sword Ultimate Essence.
That too was one of the Five Divine Arts.

Impressive.
It was not merely a matter of great completion.
Qi honed through endless refinement had reached saturation, then compressed, and now filled his body to the brim.

His comprehension of True Qi was on a level utterly beyond ordinary martial men. It was as if Yeon Wi himself declared: This is the Clan Lord of the Yeon Clan.
Wooong. Wooong.
The emanating force gradually subsided.

“You’ve come.”
He spoke even while circulating his energy.
For martial artists, the moment of regulating breath and circulation was when they were most vulnerable. Extreme concentration dulled awareness of external qi; even the slightest disturbance could lead to catastrophe.

But Yeon Wi was unbound by such risk. His mastery was that absolute.
At the very least, he is not beneath the Namgung Clan Lord.
Having clashed with the Orthodox martial world, having gauged the Nine Great Sects and the Seven Great Clans better than most, Hojeong saw clearly: his father’s martial attainment ranked among the foremost even within the Seven Great Clans.

“Are you prepared?”
“Yes.”
“Sit here.”

Hojeong stepped up onto the training ground.
It was not so high a platform, yet it felt like ascending an immense flight of stairs.
He sat cross-legged in the very spot where his father had just circulated his energy.

“Recite the mnemonics of the Jade Wave True Formula.”
Hojeong calmly chanted the formula.
Yeon Wi’s eyes gleamed.

“You have remembered them well.”
“Yes.”
He sat down behind his son and placed a hand on the Mingmen acupoint.

“Guide your Flying Swallow Qi according to the Jade Wave mnemonics. I will assist the transformation.”
Hummmm—
Even before his father finished speaking, Hojeong drew up the Flying Swallow Qi.

Yeon Wi’s brow twitched.
Impetuous, as I thought.
He understood. Having been bound by the Flying Swallow Heart Method for over ten years, the boy would be desperate to leap into a higher art.

But with impatience, one could never reach true mastery of a Divine Art. He had said as much only yesterday, yet the lesson had not taken root.
Yeon Wi began to guide the surging Flying Swallow Qi with calm precision.
Once this is finished, I’ll have to chide him again…

And then—
Wooooooong!
All at once, the Flying Swallow Qi blazed up to its utmost.

Yeon Wi had intended to guide it through a single circulation. Yet the qi itself surged madly, boiling through the meridians.
Dangerous!
Crackling thunder!

Yeon Wi was taken aback. The qi raced with unprecedented speed, violent and fierce—yet supple.
It was natural. Brilliant. Like a raging river, but flowing perfectly along its course.
Whoooosh!

With stormlike force, several circulations passed—and then change began.
From a light-green haze, it shifted to the pure azure of a cloudless sky. The color of the heavens, a net of blue light.
The qi was transforming.

Into something higher, prouder.
Jade Wave True Qi!
The metamorphosis from Flying Swallow Qi to Jade Wave True Qi was occurring at a speed beyond imagination.

Ssshhhhh!
The dantian itself changed in shape and size—what had been a modest house expanded into a palace.
It was a marvel without compare. Even when Yeon Wi had advanced from the Flying Swallow Heart Method into the Sword Ultimate Essence, he had required fifteen days to alter his qi. His father had praised it as unusually swift.

But his son was different.
In less than half a double-hour of circulation, Hojeong had transformed nearly all his Flying Swallow Qi into Jade Wave True Qi.
How can this be…

Moments later—
“Hoo…”
Regulating his breath, Hojeong steadily drew in his qi.

Yeon Wi was struck again.
He’s sealing away his qi with practiced skill. As though he’s done this his entire life.
All Yeon Wi had done was nudge him—but the carriage had already descended the mountain and reached its destination.

Remarkable.
Flash!
Hojeong’s eyes opened.

A new brilliance filled his gaze, a subtle blue hue that slowly faded back to his natural color.
“It is finished.”
“I see.”

“I thank you for your guidance.”
Yeon Wi gazed silently at his son.
He showed no joy. Only calm composure.

As if he had always expected this outcome.
“You had no need of my help, did you?”
“Yes.”

It was an honest answer.
“But to feel Father’s qi was… a meaningful moment.”
Even Yeon Wi could not discern the full meaning of those words.

He remained silent for half a quarter-hour before speaking again.
“You said you know all the mnemonics of the Five Divine Arts?”
“Yes.”

“And the reason you chose the Jade Wave True Formula… stability, no doubt?”
Hojeong smiled.
“That’s right.”

Each of the Five Divine Arts was flawless, yet each bore its own character.
Among them, the Jade Wave True Formula was the most majestic and the most stable. Even when qi was driven harshly, the strain on the body was less than with other Divine Arts.
Yet its output rivaled any /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ of the others. For Hojeong’s nature, the Jade Wave True Formula was the right choice.

Yeon Wi, uncharacteristically, hesitated.
He felt there was something he wished to say to his son. But even he did not know what it was.
After a pause, he nodded.

“If ever you are blocked, come to me then.”
“Yes, Father.”
“You have worked hard.”

There was no long conversation, as yesterday. Yet between father and son, more had been shared.
Just as Hojeong was about to bow and leave the training ground, his eyes strayed to the weapon rack.
There, countless arms were displayed.

“You train with many weapons, Father?”
“A martial man must be able, even with a mere branch in hand, to wield it with the full force of his art. For that, one must know many weapons.”
It was true.

The martial world killed without warning. One had to be able to fight at their best even in the worst of moments.
Hojeong had learned this in battle. Yeon Wi had grasped it through his own path.
“May I take a few?”

“Oh?”
Yeon Wi was curious what this astonishing son would demand now.
“Take what you will. Which ones?”

“First, an iron staff.”
“An iron staff?”
“Yes.”

“And then?”
Though his lips curved in a smile, his eyes grew tinged with something feral.
“An axe.”

 
****
“…Therefore, it will take five to six months before she fully recovers.”

Looking down at the young woman, her body bound in splints, the middle-aged physician spoke.
“And her internal injuries?”
“Not as grave as one might think. The real concern is less the internal damage than the harm to her spirit.”

“Her spirit?”
“Yes, it seems she suffered a great shock. Her inner injuries will stabilize soon enough, and her outer wounds will heal within half a year. But the mental blow… there is no remedy for that.”
“I see.”

The middle-aged man, Namgung In, looked far more composed than expected.
He patted the physician’s shoulder.
“She was a reckless child, but still a daughter of Namgung. She will overcome such wounds of the heart. Please, see to her with all your skill.”

The physician bent deeply, honored.
“Of course. At most half a year—but she will likely recover sooner.”
“I trust you.”

Namgung In patted his shoulder again and stepped out of the infirmary.
He lifted his eyes briefly to the sky.
Then a young man approached.

“Father.”
“Hyun.”
The youth was a figure of striking beauty, his handsomeness almost ethereal. Yet his build was broad and commanding, giving him an air of mystery.

This was Namgung In’s second son, Namgung Hyun.
“How is Sanghwa?”
“She took a severe beating.”

His father never exaggerated. If he said it was severe, then it was truly grave.
Namgung In shook his head.
“Looking into it, the fault was Sanghwa’s. I sent her to learn and grow, yet she only grew worse.”

“She has always been vain and arrogant. If this experience becomes her foundation for growth, it will be for the better.”
“I think the same.”
“But.”

Namgung Hyun’s gaze turned cold.
“Learning the preciousness of life at the hands of a brigand does not mean we forgive the brigand.”
“The opponent was of the Yeon Clan.”

“A clan barely fifty years old.”
“A clan that in fifty years rose to stand among the Seven Great Clans. Martial men are not fools. Without such merit, they would never have been named alongside the Six Great Clans.”
“However great they may be, they dared to touch Namgung.”

“The cause lies with the Yeon Clan.”
Namgung Hyun fell silent.
Namgung In spoke evenly.

“Your uncle has already apologized.”
“Apologized?”
“Yes.”

Namgung Hyun’s lips curved.
“Then the Yeon Clan will let the matter rest?”
“They would, even without the apology.”

“But with it, they will be reassured.”
“Indeed.”
“Uncle may have blundered, but his handling afterward was swift.”

“If we were to trouble the Yeon Clan, yes.”
Namgung In regarded his son.
Even at the cold glint in his eyes, the father’s face remained calm. His expression resembled Yeon Wi’s in its composure, though of a different nature.

“You mean to endure this?”
“Of course. I will not play such a foolish hand as to pit ourselves against a power of that level, merely because one child was broken.”
With a serene face, he spoke words of cold severity.

Namgung Hyun smiled at his father’s response.
“As you should. A Clan Lord must not act rashly in such matters.”
Namgung In’s lips bent in a curious smile.

“You’re not thinking of going down to Jiangsu Province, are you?”
“Of course not. They hold the cause; there’s nothing to be gained by haste.”
“Then what?”

Namgung Hyun asked in a voice rich with meaning.
“This year… when is the gathering of the Seven Great Clans’ younger generation?”