Wudang Sacred Scriptures

Grand Elder Yunhak Jin-in paused to steady his breath as he gazed upon the solemn Three Spirits Palace beneath the moonlight from atop Azure Cloud Bridge.

He felt as if Senior Brother Unseon Daoist was smiling at him from somewhere far off.

”Senior Brother is dead.”

After steadying his breath, Yunhak Jin-in awakened the slumber of Three Spirits Palace with a voice low, yet clear.

“Palace Lord of Three Spirits, the Grand Elder is here. Hurry and greet me accordingly.”

Lights flickered on in Gongshim Hall, where the Palace Lord resided, followed shortly by those in Sushim Hall.

“To arrive without word—what brings you here?”

Once Yunhak Jin-in had seated himself on the upper seat he had once yielded, Daoist Hyeon-hae asked respectfully.

“Is there any reason to ask what this is about?”

At Yunhak Jin-in’s rhetorical reply, Hyeon-hae Daoist spoke quietly.

“It seems you’ve heard news of Disciple Kwak Yeon.”

“The news is not ordinary news.”

Yunhak Jin-in placed the intelligence dispatch on the tea table.

He then observed intently as Hyeon-hae Daoist read through it.

After finishing it all with a calm expression, Hyeon-hae asked,

“What is it you wish to know?”

“I wish to know everything.”

Meeting Yunhak Jin-in’s burning gaze calmly, Hyeon-hae said,

“Though you are my Grand Uncle, I must remind you—I am, at present, the Palace Lord of this palace.”

“And?”

“I would hope you are not here to interrogate me.”

Hyeon-hae Daoist was no longer a child whining at every turn.

“...Indeed. I let excitement breach decorum, before the Palace Lord of Three Spirits, no less.”

Though there was unmistakable force behind his words, Hyeon-hae Daoist paid it no mind and responded,

“If you ask step by step, I shall answer.”

Yunhak Jin-in felt as if he had just been bested by a child—an unpleasant sensation. But now was not the time for trifles like that.

“Why did you speak falsehood?”

He asked, consciously smoothing his expression.

“The boy was never even on the mountain.”

“Has the Grand Elder ever once inquired after the boy’s well-being?”

“Didn’t Hyun-sang come? I heard he answered that the boy was away training.”

“That’s correct. He is undergoing itinerant cultivation.”

“How is that—?”

“There is no law saying one must only cultivate within the mountains, is there? Moreover, it was the final command of the Immortal Master.”

“The ❀ ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) Immortal Master ordered him to descend the mountain?”

“Yes. He commanded that Disciple Kwak Yeon continue the martial line, and thus enter the world to cultivate. Could a disciple ignore his master’s final words?”

“Then why was this descent not reported to the Ancestral Palace?”

“Since when has the Seventh Palace taken interest in the affairs of the Three Spirits Palace?”

“That’s...”

Momentarily at a loss, Yunhak Jin-in cleared his throat before continuing.

“Regardless, a disciple of Three Spirits is also a disciple of Wudang. His departure must be made known.”

“Grand Elder, did you read the report properly?”

“I’ve read it more than ten times.”

“Then how can you say that?”

“Palace Lord! I didn’t climb up here at this hour for a round of Zen riddles.”

“Then show me where in the intelligence dispatch it says that boy is a disciple of Wudang?”

“He—he called himself Kwak Yeon of Three Spirits Palace with his own mouth—”

Yunhak Jin-in’s face stiffened. He realized the Daoist name had never been mentioned.

“Are you saying the boy has renounced the sect?”

“That’s correct. This palace does not stop disciples who renounce the sect and leave the mountain. Nor does it report their movements to the Seven Palaces.”

Renunciation within the Daoist Transmission Line was the sole authority of the Palace Lord of Three Spirits.

Even if it was part of the Wudang Sect, the Transmission Line had long been set apart. It was maintained only for its symbolic value as part of the broader Daoist lineage.

“Under ordinary circumstances, that would be fair. But that boy learned Wudang martial arts. His movements must be known.”

“For what reason? Are you afraid he might leak Wudang techniques?”

“That as well, but—”

“Let me ask you, Grand Elder. Has that boy ever actually been taught Wudang martial arts? Did the Zhengwuguan ever teach him even a single line of martial formulae? To my knowledge, not once. More than that, was it not you who forbade him from training at the Zhengwuguan?”

“...”

Hyeon-hae Daoist pointed to a line in the dispatch.

“Here. The only technique he used at Waryong Hall was the Taiji Sword Technique. Is that not something widely taught in lay martial halls?”

Yunhak Jin-in felt a heat rising in his head.

He now understood the calm demeanor Hyeon-hae had held throughout.

He had clearly been preparing for this day for quite some time.

Yet Yunhak Jin-in could not stop. The matter was too grave.

“Palace Lord, it seems you were well prepared concerning that boy.”

“I’m sorry, but I prepared nothing. I merely followed the Immortal Master’s final instructions.”

Yunhak Jin-in once again recalled the shadow of Senior Brother Unseon Daoist.

‘Senior Brother Unseon, you truly laid your plans well to toy with me—sending him out to train, then having him renounce the sect.’

“...Regardless, none of that matters anymore.”

Barely suppressing his anger, Yunhak Jin-in continued.

“That boy has killed the Waryong Divine Sword, one of the Three Dragons of the Jeong Family. And no less than the head of the First Branch.”

“I don’t see what the issue is.”

“What?”

“The intelligence report details the atrocities of the Waryong Divine Sword quite thoroughly. The District Officer even issued an edict to make them public. There is no room for doubt. If a lay Daoist of Wudang carried out justice, shouldn’t that be praised?”

“You don’t understand how complex this is. That boy has damaged the alliance between the main sect and the Jeong Family. There were many ways to punish the Waryong Divine Sword—yet he chose to kill him outright, rejecting all other paths.”

“So, is the Jeong Family demanding accountability from Wudang?”

“That’s...”

“It seems there’s yet no message from the Jeong Family. Then let’s discuss this matter afterward—once we know what it is they want.”

Yunhak Jin-in realized he had acted in haste. Waiting first for the Jeong Family’s response would have been proper procedure.

“You speak correctly, Palace Lord.”

Yunhak Jin-in acknowledged the point without resistance and proceeded to address the true reason he had come.

“But before I descend, there is something I absolutely must know.”

“......”

“How did that boy attain the level of Manifestation?”

He had once struggled even to accumulate inner energy.

And now, this intelligence claims he’s reached the Fire and Sword Fusion state. The witnesses may have exaggerated, but regardless, he had overwhelmed the Waryong Divine Sword—a transcendent master.

“I’m no expert in martial cultivation, so I can’t speak to Disciple Kwak Yeon’s level. Our master was the one who instructed him.”

“Senior Brother Unseon did, then...”

“Non-transmission to outsiders. Without Master’s permission, how could I dare observe even a moment of martial instruction?”

“......”

“If Grand Elder had been that curious, you might’ve come a bit earlier.”

I notified you that our master was near death—yet you never showed your face.

You didn’t even attend the cremation ceremony.

Suppressing his bitter resentment, Hyeon-hae Daoist spoke.

“Then watch your footing on the descent. The mountain paths are quite slippery.”

Even at Hyeon-hae’s barbed farewell, Yunhak Jin-in had no cold retort. He left Gongshim Hall in silence—the very man once called Wudang’s Ice Valley.

Because the shadow of Senior Brother Unseon Daoist still lingered heavily.

“Junior Brother Yunhak, the place you belong is atop that mountain. Your ambition, it will endanger not only yourself but Wudang itself. So come follow this brother upward.”

Yunhak Jin-in had always wanted to prove those words false.

He was certain it had been Unseon Daoist who advised their master to pass the sect leader position to Yunyang, their fellow disciple.

You detested martial training so much you hid away in the mountains, and now you meddle?

Yunhak Jin-in wanted to protest:

“Look, Senior Brother. After Yunyang fell into such disgrace as sect leader—had I not been here, what do you think would’ve become of our Wudang?”

He had done more than anyone to fortify Wudang’s influence, building a rock-solid foundation.

In that process, he had cut away every worthless stone without hesitation.

There may be jewels among discarded stones—but the odds of finding treasure where the vein is already visible are ten thousand times higher.

And yet, from within that refuse, not just a gem but a flawless diamond had suddenly emerged.

So brilliant and vast that it dimmed the glow of every other jewel around it.

“Junior Brother Yunhak, I glimpsed the will of Heaven—you were fated to one day ascend to Three Spirits Palace.”

Unseon Senior Brother had spent his life mocking Yunhak Jin-in’s efforts.

“Let me say it again, Senior Brother—such a thing will never happen.”

Determined to prove that conviction to the specter of Unseon Daoist, Yunhak Jin-in looked back from Azure Cloud Bridge toward the Three Spirits Palace.

It gleamed golden in the first light of dawn.

Three Spirits Palace—faded, crumbling, long considered a ruin.

“Was there truly a martial lineage passed down in Three Spirits Palace all this time?”

Among Wudang disciples, there had long circulated a legend about the palace.

That Patriarch Zhang Sanfeng had sat in meditation there for a long time before his ascension, and perhaps left behind some true legacy within.

Wudang had even conducted multiple generational investigations of the entire palace to verify the claim.

So it was not entirely baseless rumor.

But despite exhaustive searches over generations, the conclusion was unanimous: nothing had ever been left behind.

“It was all just ghost stories.”

“Then how did that boy...?”

Yunhak Jin-in suddenly recalled his own master, the Wudang Sword Sovereign and Grand Patriarch.

He remembered, too, how his master had shared deep rapport with Senior Brother Unseon.

He remembered the day the Grand Patriarch broke his decade-long retreat and descended the mountain—he had gone first to Three Spirits Palace and met with Unseon Daoist.

“If our master left his final insights with Senior Brother Unseon during that meeting...”

Then everything would fall into place.

“Our master, uncertain when he might return, entrusted his final insights to Senior Brother Unseon. And Unseon passed them to that boy, Kwak Yeon. Because it was our master’s inner understanding, he felt compelled to take Kwak Yeon as his true heir.”

That was why Daoist Unseon of Three Spirits Palace had taken in a mere boy as his disciple.

“If so, then the martial arts that boy possesses must return to Wudang. They must be retrieved, no matter what.”

It was a deduction born of inference, but at this point, his word was the law of Wudang.

The problem was that the boy had renounced the sect and was under no obligation to obey Wudang’s command.

To summon a lay disciple back to the sect, he would need to have endangered the sect itself, or committed a crime of grave dishonor.

“Then...”

Yunhak Jin-in began descending the steps of Three Spirits Palace, all while expecting the Jeong Family’s accusatory dispatch to arrive soon.