Wudang Sacred Scriptures

Just as Seok Geon’s fist looked about to smash into Kwak Yeon’s face, Kwak Yeon suddenly dropped to the ground.
Whoosh!

Seok Geon’s punch sliced through empty air, swiping just above Kwak Yeon’s head.
Using the momentum, Kwak Yeon sprung upward and slammed his left shoulder into Seok Geon’s side. It was a technique from Santajutsu, known as Shoulder Strike.
“Shit!”

Startled, Seok Geon instinctively stumbled three steps back. Had he not, he would’ve been knocked clean off his feet by the blow.
Kwak Yeon spun his wooden ball along to his left shoulder and said casually,
“Still all bark, huh, Little Brother Seok?”

Seok Geon’s face flushed red with fury.
“You bastard!”
This time, Seok Geon jumped into the air and threw a kick.

A wide, sweeping kick—the Mandarin Duck Kick.
If Kwak Yeon tried to dodge or crouch again, Seok Geon planned to chase him down and slam his head into the ground.
But instead, Kwak Yeon closed the distance, darting in toward him.

The Mandarin Duck Kick needed space to reach full force. Kwak Yeon, well-trained in close-quarter grappling, knew this flaw and exploited it.
Unable to continue with the wide kick without tripping himself, Seok Geon switched mid-air into a Twin Flying Kick.
He retracted his leg and immediately launched two rapid consecutive kicks.

Smack! Smack!
This time, Kwak Yeon had no choice but to retreat without counterattacking.
Letting his wooden ball roll down from his shoulder to his forearm and back again, Kwak Yeon said,

“Not bad that time, Little Brother Seok.”
Seok Geon was seething, but the bastard’s counterattacks weren’t easy to deal with, so he swallowed it down.
In the middle of it all, Seok Geon realized something: Kwak Yeon’s Taiji Sphere control wasn’t that refined. Every time he finished a move, he had to manually reposition and spin the ball again.
He’s just barely out of the beginner stage.

In that case, he shouldn’t give him space. He should unleash a barrage of short-range strikes.
If he’s too focused on keeping the wooden ball spinning, an opening will appear.
Seok Geon raised his own wooden ball to the back of his neck, hiding it from view, and charged at Kwak Yeon with all his might.

Whoosh! Whoosh!
He fired off a series of short punches left and right, keeping Kwak Yeon pinned, then launched into a Triple Joint Kick.
Swish! Swish! Swoosh!

Three successive kicks—short in range, but designed to leave no room for counterattack.
Seeing Kwak Yeon frozen in place like a wooden dummy, Seok Geon felt a thrill of triumph.
Each kick was aimed at a vital point: the groin, lower abdomen, and solar plexus—and he planned to finish with a straight punch to crush Kwak Yeon’s nose.

The wooden ball?
Screw it.
His goal from the start was to beat this bastard until he was bloodied and rolling on the ground—that’s why he told the other kids not to interfere.

His eyes were so bloodshot from straining that the veins had burst red.
But Kwak Yeon had already anticipated that Seok Geon would target his groin.
He’d been feigning inexperience with the Taiji Sphere techniques on purpose—constantly shifting the ball to lure Seok Geon into close combat.

Against someone from a prestigious martial family, with solid foundations and internal energy pressure, it was impossible to win on martial skill alone.
There was only one thing he had that Seok Geon didn’t:
A street brawl.

Kwak Yeon had long since gotten used to fistfights that relied on brute strength and grit.
But Seok Geon, raised in a prestigious household, had probably never experienced such a thing even once.
As the ball continued to spin, Kwak Yeon rolled it along his back and, using focused willpower, swelled the micro-muscles along his spinal meridians. The spinning gained speed and suction, and the wooden ball stuck firmly between the grooves of his back.

He couldn’t hold that for long—only a split second—but that was all he needed.
Crack!
Straightening his spine, Kwak Yeon pressed his right foot down onto the top of Seok Geon’s outstretched foot.

CRACK!
Pain burst through his sole, but it gave him just enough spring.
He leapt straight into the air and pulled his left knee up tight.

Fwoosh!
And now, from above, he stared down at Seok Geon’s bloodshot eyes.
Seok Geon didn’t understand what was happening.

Of course he doesn’t.
There was no martial manual in the world that taught you to offer up the sole of your foot like that.
WHAM!

His bent left knee slammed directly into Seok Geon’s jaw.
Fortunately for Seok Geon, Kwak Yeon didn’t put his full force into it—or he’d be eating porridge through a straw for the rest of his life.
As Seok Geon’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed, Kwak Yeon caught him and said softly,

“Be grateful this was for your brother’s sake. That’s the only reason I let it end here. You should thank him.”
“Gkkkh…”
As Seok Geon’s wooden ball rolled toward the ground, Kwak Yeon gently flicked it upward with the tip of his foot and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

“And this is a lesson from your brother’s friend. Don’t go around harboring malice toward people.”
“…Gkkhh?”
Balancing both wooden balls on his shoulders proved difficult, and Kwak Yeon staggered slightly.

Trying to regain balance, he accidentally stepped between Seok Geon’s legs.
“GAAAAHHHHH!”
A scream of pure agony echoed across the Grand Arena.

Watching Kwak Yeon turn with both wooden balls resting neatly on his shoulders, Instructor Hyeonmun spoke.
“Hyeonho, make the call.”
Instructor Hyeonho snapped out of his daze and shouted,

“Seok Geon! Eliminated!”
But Seok Geon had already passed out and couldn’t hear it.
At that moment, a thunderous voice rang out from the platform above.

“Stop the match! A participant is injured!”
Grand Elder Unhak Jin-in rose to his feet, glaring in disapproval at Instructor Hyeonmun.
“A friendly Contest for the Pearls has resulted in injury. An investigation will be conducted, and those responsible held accountable.”

Instructor Hyeonmun responded immediately.
“Respected Grand Elder, the injury occurred during a scramble over the ball.”
“Whether it was just a scramble over the ball or something else—once the Precepts Hall’s noble disciple regains consciousness, we’ll investigate the details thoroughly. Be advised.”

With a cold tone, Grand Elder Unhak Jin-in turned to Hyeonho Dojang and barked,
“Hyeonho, resume the afternoon duels immediately!”
 

****
The children returned to Eternal Wudang as if they had been chased out of the Precepts Hall, each one wearing a worried look as they glanced at Kwak Yeon.
It should’ve been a moment to celebrate.

“Kwak Yeon, thanks to you, we actually had a shot. But now they’re saying there’ll be an investigation… I’m worried.”
“Isn’t the Grand Elder being way too harsh? Seok Geon was the one who tried to injure you first.”
“Exactly! Everyone saw it. And now he says there’ll be an investigation to assign responsibility? That bastard was even using internal energy pressure!”

The Eternal Wudang disciples were genuinely worried about Kwak Yeon.
Kwak Yeon felt proud, knowing their concern was sincere.
“The kids will understand your intentions,” he recalled what Instructor Hyeonmun had said.

“I’m fine. Thanks, all of you, for being concerned.”
“Of course. If it weren’t for you, we would’ve lost without doing a thing.”
“Right. You should’ve seen the faces of those arrogant bastards turn pale. That felt amazing.”

Jeong I-chu cautiously spoke.
“But… what happens with the match result? You took Seok Geon’s ball, and Jangsan still had his. Seven to seven! Is it a draw?”
“Hey, who cares about that? The important thing is that Eternal Wudang didn’t lose.”

“Honestly, if the match hadn’t been stopped, we probably would’ve lost.”
At that moment, Instructor Hyeonmun’s voice thundered through the courtyard.
“You brats! You think now’s the time to chat? The Nine Palaces Palm Technique demonstration is coming up! If you don’t pass that, you can’t even begin training in the Surface Palm Technique! Get to the training ground immediately!”

The kids rushed off to the training ground in a panic.
On the way, Seok Jangsan grabbed Kwak Yeon by the sleeve.
“Hey, can we talk for a sec?”

“What’s up?”
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you? For me.”
“Well… yeah, that was part of it.”

“There another reason?”
“Didn’t you hear what Jong-su said earlier? If things kept going the way they were, we wouldn’t have lasted long. No one knows that better than you, right?”
“So you really provoked him just to get the Contest stopped.”

“I couldn’t stand seeing Instructor Hyeonmun looking so defeated anymore.”
“That’s why you stirred things up at the cafeteria too?”
Kwak Yeon nodded.

“Figured I needed to provoke him enough to come at me with a grudge.”
“Damn it… You just won’t admit you did it to protect my pride, will you?”
Seok Jangsan let out a low sigh and continued.

“To me, that guy was a wall I had to climb. A punk I could’ve crushed with one hand, but I had to keep swallowing my pride every time he mocked me… because I was afraid my mom would get kicked out because of me. I got so used to it, I started shrinking inside. I didn’t want you to see me like that.”
“I get it. I really do.”
“…Huh?”

“I’ve got two older brothers. They used to beat me up all the time, and I never once fought back. Even now, when I see their shadows, I feel like hiding.”
“……”
“So honestly, I’m grateful to you for putting up with it all this time. And hey, if you ever meet my brothers—beat the crap out of them for me, will you?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll grind them into paste.”
“Whoa, not that hard. I mean, they’re still my friends’ brothers.”
Kwak Yeon’s cheeky grin made Seok Jangsan chuckle.

“Anyway, let’s go train. You’re probably fine, but I haven’t even passed the Nine Palaces Palm Technique yet.”
Seok Jangsan watched Kwak Yeon jog ahead, staring after him for a long moment.
 

****
Instructor Hyeonmun was deeply conflicted.
That kick had been too clearly intentional. There was no way to stop the Precepts Hall from conducting an investigation.

But even so, he had no desire to call Kwak Yeon in and question him.
If he asked, Kwak Yeon would surely admit to it.
And once the head of Eternal Wudang knew the full story, he’d have no choice but to report it to the Precepts Hall leader.

All he could do was hope that Seok Geon, the injured party, would claim it was just an accident.
But how likely was that?
He’s not even mature enough to care about saving face as a noble-born.

Just as Hyeonmun let out another weary sigh—
“Instructor Hyeonmun, are you inside?”
A late-night visitor had come to Eternal Wudang. Unexpectedly, it was Hyeonmyeo Dojang of Namam Palace.

“Instructor Hyeonmyeo? What brings you ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) here at this hour?”
Hyeonmyeo usually never even glanced in Eternal Wudang’s direction.
“I come bearing a message from the Lord of Namam Palace.”

“The Lord? What matter would bring them here?”
“Apparently, during the Contest, our lord took a liking to one of your disciples.”
“…Wait—”

“Yes. The lord wishes to appoint that child as a direct disciple of Namam Palace.”
It was a stunning development.
“They could’ve waited until training was over before making that decision…”

“The Lord wants to reserve him in advance.”
“Which disciple did the Lord select?”
“A boy named Jeong I-chu. Said he was impressively quick with his hands. Supposedly suits the Moonshadow Sword Technique well.”

After Hyeonmyeo left, Hyeonmun found the whole thing strange.
Did they really like him that much?
They say life’s fortunes are unpredictable.

To think that while he attended the Contest worrying over Eternal Wudang’s survival… one of their own would be chosen as a frontline disciple.
And Hyeonmyeo wasn’t the only one who visited.
Hyeonok Dojang of Hyeonmu Palace came next, saying their lord had chosen Seok Jangsan—and insisted they promise not to send him to any other palace.

And even after that, two more disciples were selected.
In Seok Jangsan’s case, three different palaces had tried to claim him, creating an awkward situation.
In the history of Eternal Wudang, this had never happened before.

If four of their disciples became official frontline warriors, Eternal Wudang’s standing would be solidified.
Overjoyed, Hyeonmun then remembered the other three who weren’t chosen.
All three of them had failed to manifest internal energy pressure. That must’ve been obvious to the palace lords.

At least the other two—aside from Kwak Yeon—had the seed of internal energy forming in their danjeon. But Kwak Yeon still showed no sign at all.
To execute the Nine Palaces Palm Technique while holding all nine bricks, internal energy pressure was a must.
And now the Grand Elder was preparing to investigate him.

That boy doesn’t have time to spare—he should be pouring everything into mastering the Nine Palaces Palm. If he ends up punished on top of that…
Instructor Hyeonmun’s face darkened with worry.