Under Heaven — All Under Heaven Was There
All Under Heaven was there.
On the thirtieth day, Sowoon gathered everyone who had been studying at Namsan.
The hundred and fifty stood again as they had at the beginning, spaced at arm's length.
Now they aligned in ranks like soldiers.
A rabble (烏合之卒) is not a group incapable of fighting.
It is a group incapable of forming ranks.
"You stand too far apart.
Close in. Form a dense formation.
I have words to say. Come nearer."
It was the first time he had summoned them all together.
They understood now.
They sensed there would be instruction and stood at arm's length as usual.
When told to close the gap further, several looked puzzled.
When distance narrows, training becomes harder.
To learn and refine, one requires space.
Distance between people resembles the space needed to refine oneself.
To become another self, one needs room.
Sowoon leapt lightly atop a marked rock.
He seemed as weightless as a child.
"A month has already passed.
If one claimed to reach a realm in a single month, who would believe it?
You have trained diligently.
Each of you must have gained some measure of understanding."
"Let us think.
Why do we sweat so?"
"To dominate the martial world with superior skill?
Does that bring peace of mind?
Did you stand here to settle old grudges through your own strength?"
"I speak thus because it is time for you to depart.
One month.
I promised instruction.
You now know the method.
You have seen that practice yields result.
If you press on, you may reach distant realms none have yet touched—
a no-man's land (無人之境),
a ground untrodden."
"In each of your sects, the leader is called Heaven (天).
Heaven of your world.
What lies beyond that heaven?"
"Each sect has its own training method and internal system.
Yet you sought this unworthy man because you believed there was a faster path, a more effective way.
Here, you now understand why."
"There is no such law in this world.
Elixirs can raise internal energy—
but they only defeat those who have not taken elixirs."
"Instead, I ask:
Why do you cultivate martial arts?"
"The answer to that question is the most vital key to crossing realms.
Think deeply."
"If you train merely to beat the leader of the back alley,
you will never reach Great Completion.
I say this without hesitation."
"The reason must burn with pure aspiration.
For me, it was to repel the barbarians.
To protect the nation."
"You have heard the name—the boy-general of Haran.
That was I."
"To repel the barbarians, even in the heart of battle I wielded the sword with inhalation seals, explosive seals, and the subtlety of flow (流離).
There, my will toward martial study, the purpose of my training, and the necessity of survival became one."
"If you learn martial arts as a mere craft—like learning how to slaughter chickens—
you stop there.
No matter how skillfully you slaughter chickens, you remain at slaughtering chickens."
"I wish for you to step toward a greater intent.
That path leads to Great Completion."
"Do not regard the fence of your sect as Heaven.
You have already glimpsed what lies beyond that heaven.
You have learned it."
"I hold another identity.
I am a scout of the White Dragon First Unit under the Northern Expeditionary Army.
I scout well."
"Soon, I will return to the distant deserts of Haran.
I will don armor, bear shield and spear, and ride.
Like Guan Yu astride Red Hare, like Lü Bu driving back foes."
"The fundamental reason I cultivate martial arts is one:
that lands like my home are never again trampled by barbarian hooves."
"All Under Heaven's martial world gathers here.
The elite of every sect stand present."
"Why do you cultivate?"
"To avoid falling behind neighboring clans?
To collect wealth under the name of protecting the weak?"
"Do you believe such intent leads to Great Completion?"
"A chicken-killing blade kills chickens.
An ox-killing blade kills oxen.
What blade saves a nation and its people?"
"I have taken this as my final lesson to you.
It is instruction of spirit."
"No matter how diligently you train,
if your purpose is clouded, your gain is shallow.
If the root is not upright, attainment does not endure."
"I wish to make this clear.
And I hope the manner of conveying it becomes clearer still."
"Return to your sects and live according to their original purposes.
On that path, Great Completion is difficult.
So I see it."
"How can one who spends strength pressuring neighboring clans for advantage reach the realm beyond heaven?"
"Remain here and dig roots from the earth while you continue training.
Or establish a new intent and begin again.
That is the path I commend."