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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: cyno
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What is Righteous Will? What is the True Path ?
Heavenly Venerable – The Righteous Sword of Wudang.
High Venerable – The Lone Nine Tyrants.
“First, I must apologize for visiting at such a late hour.”
The leader of the Wudang Sect—a faction that vies for the title of the Number One Sect in the Central Plains alongside Shaolin, bearing the name “Southern Wudang.”
“Heavenly Venerable, what brings you here? And… why is… Xiyan…?”
The absolute master of the Huashan Sect’s Lone Nine Swords, one of the Three Great Swords of the Central Plains , standing alongside Wudang’s Taiji Wisdom Sword.
“There is an urgent matter I must discuss.”
With only two days left before the Seven Flowers Tournament , the two had convened in the dead of night.
“Hmm… Are you suggesting a Sword Debate? Seeking revenge for the Huashan Sword Debate five years ago…?”
“If only that were the case. Unfortunately, the situation does not permit such a thing.”
The Heavenly Venerable placed a young girl he had carried from his residence before the High Venerable.
A girl with a large lump on her head—Baihua.
“Might I ask why you’ve brought my disciple here, Heavenly Venerable?”
“Rather, I have a question for you, High Venerable. Were you aware of Baihua’s usual conduct?”
“…? What do you mean? Are you implying something is wrong with Xiyan?”
“Your reaction tells me you were unaware. How fortunate—at least you have not been tainted by this.”
“This Lone Nine Tyrant has been in seclusion training. I only emerged for the Seven Flowers Tournament. I am still unfamiliar with worldly affairs, but… Are you saying Xiyan has caused some trouble without my knowledge?”
“First, let me recount Baihua’s actions when she came to me earlier.”
What followed was a lengthy explanation from the Heavenly Venerable, detailing Baihua’s behavior—how she had approached him with skills that clearly were not the result of mere practice. He left nothing out.
After listening in silence, the High Venerable finally exhaled deeply and responded with a darkened expression.
“…It is difficult to believe.”
“I understand. It is hard to accept. But I swear upon my sect’s honor—I speak only the truth.”
“I know. The Heavenly Venerable would not speak idly. It’s just… difficult to believe.”
“Then I am relieved.”
To the High Venerable, it was a thunderbolt from the blue.
After years of secluded training to reach the transcendent realm of Hua Jing, he had emerged to find two of his disciples listed among the Nine Dragons and Seven Flowers—a cause for genuine joy.
Yet now, he was being told that one of them, Baihua, had built her reputation through shameful acts—trading her body and wealth.
He wanted nothing more than to wake her immediately and interrogate her, but with her unconscious from the Heavenly Venerable’s strike, he could do nothing.
“This matter… I will handle it within my sect. I deeply apologize for troubling you.”
“Haha, think nothing of it. It is better to uproot the corrupted sprout now than later.”
“As for Xiyan… I will investigate those connected to her as well. Until then, I ask for your patience and trust.”
“Very well. This is Huashan’s affair, not mine. This old monk has his own sect to manage—I trust the High Venerable will resolve it properly.”
“Primordial Heavenly Venerable… Thank you for coming to me first instead of exposing this to others.”
“Then I shall take my leave. My apologies for the late intrusion, and thank you for your understanding.”
The two venerables exchanged a martial salute, and after the Heavenly Venerable departed from Huashan’s quarters—
“……”
The High Venerable silently glared at Baihua, who lay fast asleep.
Within his heart, the furious wrath of the Lone Nine Tyrants seethed like a boiling storm.
—
Wudang Sect – Kunlun’s Abode
“Sigh…….”
A woman with snow-white hair, her empty eyes staring into the void—Yu Hua, the leader of Kunlun, hailed as the Number One Woman in the Martial World and one of the Three Heroes of Wulin.
As if troubled, she kept biting her lips.
“Was I… right……?”
A tiny heart demon had taken root in Yu Hua’s mind.
Born from the fear of losing the target of her resentment and condemnation, she had branded the Sword Saint as evil—a demon that had grown from that moment.
Though it had existed before, the incident with the Sword Saint had amplified it.
“…Evil must be slain.”
Destroy evil, eradicate demons —this was Yu Hua’s sole creed, the belief that shaped her, the parent of her present self.
But when that evil and those demons vanished, she was struck by a terror she had never known—the terror of losing her purpose.
And so, even as she vaguely sensed the Sword Saint’s innocence, she unconsciously labeled him as evil.
At first, it was good. She had a clear purpose, unwavering as she continued her secluded training.
Under the pretense of gaining strength to oppose the Sword Saint, she never left seclusion, allowing other evils in the world to roam free.
Just like after the Great War of Righteous Blood, she was terrified of evil disappearing from the world once more.
But as time passed, as that fear faded and was forgotten—
“Divine Monk…….”
Her ugly inner self began to surface. Like now.
A wavering of faith in her beliefs and values.
Further—distrust in her own life, her martial path, and her very reason for existence.
“Looking back, you were always right…….”
Suddenly, Yu Hua recalled an event from the Great War of Righteous Blood.
A scene began replaying in her mind.
—”Kill them all! Capture those fit to be slaves! Slaughter the elderly without exception!”
—”Leave the children—we need them for sacrifices! Especially the girls—the High Priest favors them, so capture them at all costs!”
A place where swords and blades clashed, where blood sprayed in all directions.
A battlefield.
Yu Hua had spent half her life on such battlefields.
Violence was more familiar to her than peace. Killing came more naturally than holding a warm conversation.
No one blamed her for it. It was the “aftermath of war”—something anyone who lived through it would suffer. Some even praised it as a medal of honor, a mark of heroism.
—”Those demonic bastards…! I’ll kill them all…!”
—”Yu Hua! Calm yourself! Losing reason will only lead to ruin!”
That day was no different from any other day of war.
An attack by the Blood Cult on a minor sect, a day when she and the Divine Monk had set out alone to stop them.
Corpses piled everywhere. Blood Cult disciples brandishing gleaming swords and blades, prowling like savages.
The moment she saw them, Yu Hua felt her mind grow cold with rage as she counted their numbers.
The urge to tear them apart surged violently within her.
The Divine Monk tried to stop her, but she ignored his warnings and unleashed a massacre.
Watching from behind, the Divine Monk sighed and began chanting sutras before rushing to aid another sect in need.
And when the battle ended—
Yu Hua had succeeded in slaughtering every last Blood Cult disciple.
But of the sect she was supposed to protect, only five survivors remained.
Worse—some of the sect’s casualties had been caught in the wild, sweeping strikes of her sword.
Meanwhile, the Divine Monk had allowed thirty Blood Cult disciples to escape—yet the sect he went to aid suffered not a single death.
That day, while she was drenched in the blood of others, the Divine Monk returned with numerous wounds of his own and quietly spoke words that burrowed deep into her heart demon.
—”…Yu Hua.”
—”The Blood Cult disciples you let slip will go on to claim more victims. What will you do about that?”
—”At the very least, as a righteous sect…”
—”Answer me. How will you take responsibility?”
—”Next time… before battle begins, count not the enemies to kill, but the allies to protect.”
—”……”
—”…We are not the Sword Saint.”
—”Wh-Why bring up the Sword Saint now?! Answer the question!”
—”We do not possess the heaven-shaking power to eradicate all Blood Cult disciples while protecting every innocent life.”
—”……!”
—”I… cannot answer. Even if the fools I let escape go on to commit atrocities elsewhere, this monk will resolve things as I did today—ensuring no one is harmed. If that means bearing a few more wounds, so be it.”
The Divine Monk removed his robe.
Beneath it was a physique unbefitting a monk who studied scriptures—bulging muscles and thousands of scars, more than any ordinary person could imagine.
As a seasoned warrior, Yu Hua recognized them—every scar was from protecting something.
Unlike her own flawless, unblemished skin.
“Haah…….”
At the time, she had not given it much thought.
But now, as her self-doubt and unconscious guilt toward the Sword Saint grew—
“Is the path I walk… truly righteous……?”
The Divine Monk’s words kept piercing her mind.
“What did the Sword Saint… say again…?”
Once, she had debated with the Sword Saint and the Divine Monk.
Her stance was, of course, “Expel Demons, Destroy Evil”.
The Divine Monk defined righteousness as “an abstract concept not to be carelessly defined, but if one must, it is guiding the lost world through fog with justice and righteousness.”
Finally, the Sword Saint’s argument was—
—”…Protecting.”
—”Hm? Venerable, what did you say?”
—”Sword Saint, speak a little louder.”
—”Protecting the light. Never giving up. Never growing weak.”
—”……”
—”……”
—”Not straying from reason. Advancing on the right path. Shielding the weak and preventing injustice. Avoiding acts that violate the Southern Palace’s laws. Not becoming evil disguised as righteousness. Never blindly trusting oneself. Always remembering that heaven and earth are watching. Never letting personal emotions ruin greater justice.”
—”……”
—”……”
—”For the sake of the True Path, I shall willingly become a tool. That… is righteousness.”
At the time, she could not understand his words. Nor the Sword Saint’s demeanor—as if gripped by some obsession.
Even now, nearly a decade later, she still could not.
“Yet in the end, he was just a hypocrite.”
Still, she could sympathize—just a little.
And that made it all the more terrifying. The fear of losing her way.
“Even he was a fraud.”
No matter how much she whispered it to herself, a heart demon, once born, does not vanish.
Not unless she accepts it—and overcomes it.
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