Light Novel: Volume 1 Episode 1
Manhwa: Chapter 1
Chapter 1 Episode 1. Spring Also Comes to Mount Hua (1)
A boy, who appeared to be merely sixteen or seventeen, could be seen laboriously climbing the mountain. His thick eyebrows beneath the cloth tied tightly around his forehead, his cold and frosty eyes beneath them, and his firmly closed lips seemed to show that he was extremely stubborn in nature.
The boy suddenly raised his head to look at the peak of the mountain.
Spikes of rock soaring towards the sky, as if swords were thrust upside down into the ground, came into view. These spires, positioned like blossoming lotus flowers, were the reason the highest peak was named Lotus Flower Peak.1
It was the Lotus Flower Peak, where the Mount Hua Sect, one of the Nine Great Sects, was located. To be precise, only the Jade Pond and Upper Palace, the symbols of the Mount Hua Sect, were established there, but people identified the Lotus Flower Peak with the Mount Hua Sect as a whole.
Unlike the Wudang Sect, which was concentrated at the peak of Mount Wudang, the Mount Hua Sect was evenly spread throughout Mount Hua.
The True Martial Temple,2 which could be considered the symbol of Mount Hua’s martial prowess, was located at the top of Cloud Terrace Peak, while other palaces like the Golden Heaven Palace, Precious Mystery Palace, and Spirit Treasure Palace were nested in places hidden from the outside.3,4,5
The most widely known places accessible to the public were the Jade Spring Courtyard6 at the entrance of Mount Hua and the Taiping Palace7 halfway up the mountain. The Jade Spring Courtyard was the furthest that the general public could go, which is why the true nature of the Mount Hua Sect remained unknown to the world.
“Huff!”
A ragged breath escaped the boy’s mouth.
The stairs he was climbing were part of a small stone staircase nestled between cliffs called Baichi Gorge. Narrow enough for just one adult to pass, Baichi Gorge was very close to vertical and extremely dangerous. There were nearly a hundred stairs, hence the name, Baichi8 or hundred steps.
To ascend Baichi Gorge, one first had to climb three hundred and seventy stone steps. This path, nearly vertical and known as Qianchizhuang or Thousand Feet Zhuang Path,9 was notorious for its rugged and difficult path.
Even warriors who had trained their martial arts to an extreme struggled to climb this path, but the boy gritted his teeth and continued to ascend. His legs felt as heavy as if weighted down by iron.
Sweat poured over his entire body as if it were raining, and his complexion had long since turned pale. The boy’s heart thumped as if it would leap out of his mouth.
Climbing a single step felt more painful than dying, but the boy didn’t complain or take a break.
But as he was stubbornly climbing the stairs, his left leg suddenly cramped.
He momentarily stopped ascending the stairs and looked down at his left leg. It was thinner and slightly bent compared to his right leg. Due to the deformity, he couldn’t exert proper strength on it. It also made walking difficult.
This forced the boy to walk with a slight limp. A condition people often refer to as ‘lame’ or having a physical disability.
While it wasn’t a significant issue in daily life, for a warrior training in martial arts, it was a fatal flaw.
Yet despite having a disabled leg, the boy traveled back and forth daily from the Jade Spring Courtyard at the entrance of Mount Hua to its summit.
The path that even skilled martial artists found arduous.
‘It’s okay! I can do this.’
The boy gritted his teeth and climbed the mountain once more.
His body was drained of energy, and his legs shook endlessly, but the boy’s gaze was fixed on the summit of Mount Hua.
He continued to walk towards the summit of Mount Hua. of the volcano. With each step, he was able to leave Baichi Gorge behind.
But leaving Baichi Gorge didn’t mean he had reached the summit of Mount Hua. He had only come about halfway to his destination.
The boy paused to catch his breath and looked around. Far away, beyond the Black Dragon Ridge, he could see the Lotus Flower Peak. That particular peak was the symbol of Mount Hua Sect, where the Jade Pond and Upper Palace were located. However, that was not the boy’s destination.
The place where he was heading was towards Cloud Terrace Peak, which was in the opposite direction. The West Peak, called Lotus Flower Peak, the East Peak, called Chaoyang Peak, and the South Peak, called Luoyan Peak, were all clustered together, but Cloud Terrace Peak stood alone, separate from the rest. Perhaps because of this, the place emanated a sense of loneliness.
Thick beads of sweat steadily rolled down the boy’s forehead. His two legs felt exceedingly heavy, and his disabled left leg, in particular, caused him great pain.
The muscles in his back and legs were swollen as if they would burst, and his joints ached fiercely as if they were being wrenched apart. His lungs expanded as much as possible to draw in more air, and his heart pounded wildly to supply fresh oxygen to his blood.
How far had he gone? The boy entered the bushes near the Cloud Terrace Peak. Beyond the bush was a hidden path, so secret that it would be undetectable from the outside.
After walking along the path for a while, a small pavilion appeared, precariously perched at the edge of a cliff. In front of the weathered pavilion, there was a small wooden platform, upon which sat a middle-aged monk.
The monk wore a tattered Taoist robe that seemed to have been patched up countless times.
After gazing at the landscape of Mount Hua for a long time, the monk seemed to sense someone’s presence and looked towards where the boy was.
The monk’s eyebrow furrowed.
“Are you back from the base of the mountain again?”
“Master.”
“It’s not like your legs will be healed by doing that, so why are you so stubborn about this? No, I suppose you’re not the type to listen anyway. If you did, you would have given up a long time ago.”
For the past five years, the boy had climbed Mount Hua every single day without fail. For an able-bodied person, it would take at least half a day to climb Mount Hua.
For the boy with a disability in his leg, he was bound to be much slower than normal people.
Everyone said that he had gone mad. Yet, the boy kept climbing the mountain anyway.
When the boy first climbed Mount Hua, it took him three days. His heart and mind were already at the summit, but his two legs couldn’t keep up with his will.
Particularly his left leg, which was twisted and damaged, caused him great pain. But the boy never once complained of the hardship or took a break.
One step at a time, without ever stopping, he slowly climbed the mountain, and when he finally reached the summit, he was almost in a state of collapse.
The boy’s condition was so critical that he would have lost his life if his master, the monk, had not performed life-saving measures in time.
An ordinary person would have stopped at that point. But as soon as the boy recovered, he climbed the mountain again. His will was so firm that the monk had no choice but to watch over the boy.
As he continuously climbed up and down the mountain, the boy gradually regained his strength. Soon, muscles started to form on his once skinny body. Now, after five years, he had gained enough strength and endurance to climb Mount Hua fairly quickly.
“Hoo! Come here.”
“Master, I’m fine now.”
“I’m the one who’s not fine, so come here.”
At the monk’s words, the boy sat down on the platform with a helpless expression. Then the monk extended his frail hands and began massaging the boy’s legs.
“Mmm!”
An involuntary whimper slipped through the boy’s lips.
The monk’s touch was relentless. The boy’s legs throbbed under his rough touch.
However, the moment of pain passed quickly and was instead replaced by a refreshing sensation.
“How can you be so reckless? Do you want to achieve ascension that badly?”
“I’m sorry, Master.”
“Amitabha Buddah! What do you have to be sorry for? It’s this useless master who should be sorry to you.”
“Not at all!”
The boy quickly waved his hands at his master’s self-deprecating words.
To the boy, his master was his savior. He had saved him from the brink of death, treated him, and took him as a disciple. Without his master, he would not exist as he was now.
“Dam-ho!”
“Yes!”
“You… No, never mind.”
The monk trailed off.
The monk’s name was Hyun-so, one of the elders of Mount Hua Sect. And the boy whose legs he was massaging was named Dam-ho. He was the sole survivor of the village attacked by bandits five years ago.
Everyone had given up hope for Dam-ho’s recovery upon seeing his injuries. However, Sage Hyun-so was different.
Even with limbs broken and qi pathways severely damaged, Hyun-so never gave up on Dam-ho. Although he wasn’t a physician, he did everything he could to heal Dam-ho.
Whether it was due to the help and intervention of the heavens or not, Dam-ho survived. Yet, he was left with a limp in his left leg as a result of his injuries. This was one aspect that even Sage Hyun-so’s efforts could not remedy.
‘My dear Ho. You poor thing, what should I do with you?’
A look of sorrow flashed through Sage Hyun-so’s eyes as he massaged Dam-ho’s leg.
The talent he saw in Dam-ho was extraordinary. But even more extraordinary was the boy’s will.
Perhaps because of the severe ordeal he had undergone in his youth, Dam-ho possessed a much firmer will than other boys his age.
If his body had been whole, he surely would have become a distinguished martial artist.
But Dam-ho was hindered by his left leg. While it caused no issues in everyday life, it was a fatal weakness for those who aspired to train in martial arts.
As with any sect, but especially within the Mount Hua Sect, footwork was of utmost importance in learning martial arts. Specifically, to become a main disciple and receive the teachings of Lesser Clear Heart Technique,10 one had to master the Nine Palaces Steps.11
The Nine Palaces Steps, known for its intricate and exquisite movements, was a high-level footwork technique that even the most talented disciples found challenging to master. Given Dam-ho’s leg condition, the technique seemed too elaborate for him to master. Despite having a valid reason for giving up, Dam-ho has chosen instead to climb the mountain daily, working on strengthening his leg muscles.
Whether he would be able to master the Nine Palaces Step or not remains to be seen, but Dam-ho trained himself diligently, never missing a day. Faced with such effort and determination from his disciple, Sage Hyun-so was moved to tears.
“Master, I’m okay now. You can stop.”
“Let’s continue a bit more.”
“But–”
“I want to do this. Let’s continue a little longer.”
“Master.”
Dam-ho cast his eyes downward.
For the past five years, Sage Hyun-so had always been consistent. He cared for Dam-ho with unwavering dedication, as if desperate to do just one more thing for him.
Without the care of Sage Hyun-so, Dam-ho would not have made it to where he is today. As Sage Hyun-so carefully massaged Dam-ho’s foot, he spoke,
“The only thing a man needs is a solid backbone. If your will is firm and unwavering, the heavens will take care of the rest. So don’t be so impatient, Dam-ho.”
Sage Hyun-so’s words sounded like the words of a true Taoist master.
‘Master, I don’t believe in heaven.’
Dam-ho’s response resonated only within himself.
SoundlessWind21’s Notes:
Here is also a list of changes or differences between the manhwa and the novel:
Anyway, thank you for reading!
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