Chapter 338: Royal Consort Record – Latter Part (2)
If there was the most leisurely person in the Sky Ocean rchant Union, it would be Musician Urak.
Having been brought to the Sky Ocean rchant Union by Yong Hwarin almost by accident, he had been staying in the residence assigned to him, unsure of what to do.
Having been more or less confined for several days, he felt stifled, so Yong Hwarin’s visit was welco.
"Have you been well?"
"Yes, thanks to you, Young Master Yong, I’ve been comfortable."
"For the ti being, you’ll have to stay here even if it feels suffocating. If I’m not mistaken, Dark Echo Valley might be looking for you. They know that you, Musician Urak, have read the Royal Consort Record."
In truth, Musician Urak had been worried about that as well, which was why he hadn’t budged from the Sky Ocean rchant Union despite the stuffiness.
After a bit of casual conversation, Yong Hwarin, thinking Musician Urak seed more relaxed, asked a question.
"Could you tell what you read?"
Urak couldn’t understand why martial artists were making such a fuss over sothing so trivial.
"What I read was sheet music. A martial artist might think of it as a mnemonic chant, but to , it appeared as a musical score. At first, I also found the writing strange, but after reading it several tis, I realized that the words were written as a lody."
Yong Hwarin thought that perhaps Master Gwi Ryeongja might have left his insights into Sword Control with Qi in the form of music.
And it made sense to him that the writing could be music.
In his previous life, Yong Hwarin had learned to play the flute for the sake of Omu Hall.
He had beco so skilled that it could be said he had reached the level of a musician.
So he understood the idea that writing could be turned into a musical score.
Traditionally, in the continent, musical notation that used characters to represent pitch was used.
There was the Gungsang Notation, which used the characters for Gung, Sang, Gak, Chi, and U, and the Yullyeo Notation, which used characters like Hwangjong or Daeryeo.
However, because these systems were cumberso, the Gongcheok thod, which expressed pitch with simple characters, beca popular.
The Gongcheok thod used seven characters—Sang (上), Cheok (尺), Gong (工), Beom (凡), Yuk (六), O (五), and Eul (乙)—to represent seven notes.
Notes an octave higher were expressed by adding the ‘person’ radical to the character.
For example, Sang (仩) was used to indicate a note one octave higher than Sang (上).
Because the characters for Gong and Cheok were included, it was called the Gongcheok thod.
Without basic knowledge of music, one would not understand Musician Urak’s words.
Urak was surprised that Yong Hwarin grasped the concept so well.
"You seem to know music quite well, Young Master Yong."
"I learned the flute long ago, so I’m familiar with it."
"Ah, no wonder. I thought it strange how easily you understood what I was saying."
Yong Hwarin was certain there was a reason Master Gwi Ryeongja had left the principles of Sword Control with Qi in musical form, and he intended to learn it from Musician Urak.
"If it’s not too much trouble, could you teach the lody from the Royal Consort Record?"
"It’s not difficult. If it’s you, Young Master Yong, you could master it within three shichen."
Musician Urak assud Yong Hwarin hadn’t been playing the flute for long.
He thought that, for a martial artist, learning music wouldn’t amount to much anyway.
But when Yong Hwarin mastered the lody from the Royal Consort Record in just one shichen, Musician Urak was greatly surprised.
"Now I see—you could beco a musician yourself, Young Master Yong."
"Hahaha, my playing skills are lacking."
"I’ve never seen soone who understood music to this degree yet lacked playing skill. If I may be so bold, could we try playing together?"
"Give a mont. I’ll go get my flute."
"I actually have a flute here. It might not be as fine as the one you own, but its clear sound is exquisite."
"In that case, I’ll borrow yours, Musician Urak."
Yong Hwarin borrowed the flute from Musician Urak and played the lody he had been taught.
Piri-ri-ri!
As soon as I began playing the flute, Musician Urak plucked his strings.
When I started playing the flute, I unconsciously fell into a state of egoless imrsion.
Playing the flute after so long, I was swept up in old mories.
While playing in that egoless state, I sensed my qi flowing in an unintended direction.
‘Ah, could this lody be a mnemonic chant for cultivating qi?’
Otherwise, there was no reason for qi to react to the music.
‘What a peculiar thod of qi cultivation. Doesn’t it feel as though my qi is surging toward the Upper Dantian all at once?’
The lody channeled my qi, driving it in an instant toward the Upper Dantian.
When my qi reacted more strongly than expected, I stopped playing the flute and took a breath.
‘If I’m not careful, I might fall into qi deviation.’
Though I stopped playing, Musician Urak remained absorbed in his trance, continuing to pluck his strings.
It was then that I realized:
‘Ah, these notes are stimulating the body’s acupoints—specific ridians, at that.’
I closed my eyes and tried to sense the lody from Musician Urak.
But since Urak was just an ordinary man without a dantian, his music carried only a faint energy without qi, so I couldn’t discern exactly which acupoints it was stimulating.
Still, certain ridians reacted each ti the strings were struck.
‘If soone with considerable internal strength played this piece, would I be able to tell precisely?’
Thinking this, I opened my eyes.
It occurred to that I knew soone who both understood music and possessed high internal strength.
‘Hui Mae once told she learned to play the pipa while living alone. If Hui Mae played this lody, I could figure it out.’
Leaving Musician Urak still imrsed in his playing, I called for Bukri Sehee.
Before long, Bukri Sehee arrived at Urak’s quarters in response to my summons.
"Big brother, what is it?"
I gave the spoiled Bukri Sehee a brief hug.
"It’s nothing much. I want you to learn a lody from Musician Urak. And when you play the lody he teaches you, I want you to infuse qi into the notes."
"I can play the pipa, so learning it won’t be hard, but I don’t know how to channel qi—will that even work? If you infuse qi into the notes, isn’t that sound arts?"
"Don’t worry about that. Elder Demonic Master will teach you how to infuse qi into the notes. First, learn the lody. Then we’ll go see Elder Demonic Master."
"Alright."
Bukri Sehee learned the lody from the Royal Consort Record from Musician Urak.
It took less than one shichen for her to play the piece skillfully.
Music ian Urak looked at and Bukri Sehee and said,
"You both have enough talent to beco musicians right now. It’s a sha for people with such musical gifts to live only as martial artists."
Though he had been a musician for many years, Musician Urak had never seen anyone learn a lody so quickly.
But that was because we had trained in martial arts.
With internal strength surpassing the Three Gaps and well-developed Upper Dantians, we could understand and absorb lodies more easily than ordinary people.
To Musician Urak, we must have seed like geniuses.
After learning the lody completely, I took Bukri Sehee to see Demonic Master.
"What brings you both here?"
Demonic Master greeted us with a smile.
"We ca to ask a favor of you, Elder."
"If it’s a request from Young Master Yong, I’ll do anything."
The sincerity in his words made smile in return.
"It’s nothing serious. Hui Mae has learned a lody, and I’d like you to teach her how to infuse qi into it. As you know, Hui Mae has a great deal of qi stored within her, so it shouldn’t be difficult."
"So you’re talking about sound arts."
Demonic Master knew a few types of sound arts.
"What’s so difficult about that? Who knows, maybe a master of sound arts will appear in the murim. Do you know why there are so few masters of sound arts in the jianghu, Young Master Yong?"
Yong Hwarin, having never thought about it, shook his head.
"I do not. Please tell , Elder."
The thought of Bukri Sehee learning sound arts piqued his curiosity.
"Learning sound arts isn’t difficult. But fighting on equal footing with masters using them is truly hard. You see, sound arts aren’t fought with techniques, but by infusing qi into each note, and each note must carry enough qi to block the opponent’s technique. That ans you need several tis more internal strength than your opponent to face a master of your level. To confront a master with just a single note, you need that much qi."
Yong Hwarin nodded.
"Now that I hear it, sound arts are quite a difficult martial art."
"To put it another way, to face a peak master of one Gap, you’d need at least the internal strength of Three Gaps. In that sense, it’s not an efficient martial art. However, sound arts are extrely effective against multiple opponents, which is why they’ve managed to survive."
It was indeed the kind of extensive knowledge Demonic Master was known for.
"Then in so ways, this might be the perfect martial art for Hui Mae."
"That’s exactly why I said it. If Bukri Sojeo, whose internal strength is imasurable, learns sound arts, she could likely face masters of the Transcendent Stage. The thought of teaching her excites greatly."
Demonic Master had never before taught sound arts to soone with as much internal strength as Bukri Sehee.
He was quite eager to see just how much power she would display after learning it.
"How long will it take?"
"Bukri Sojeo is very intelligent, so she should be able to learn how to infuse qi into the strings quickly. Since she has a dantian, she only needs to learn how to channel her qi."
"I’ll be in your care."
"Don’t worry. If she learns smoothly, the jianghu will soon see a master of sound arts erge."
Seeing Demonic Master’s anticipation, Yong Hwarin smiled faintly.
Since they were already here, Yong Hwarin entrusted Bukri Sehee to Demonic Master and went to see Geum Yujin.
He felt they needed to speak to resolve the feelings left between them.
Until now, he had tried to avoid clashing with Geum Yujin as much as possible for his sake.
But the ti to leave the Sky Ocean rchant Union was approaching, and he could not avoid him forever.
As Yong Hwarin approached Geum Yujin’s quarters, he felt a strange energy.
‘It seems he’s training. To think the energy of the Black Tortoise Supre Yin Art could be felt this strongly.’
He had first felt the energy of the Black Tortoise Supre Yin Art at the Hajeong Escort Bureau.
When Geum Yujin had wielded the Black Serpent Silkworm with the Black Tortoise Supre Yin Art, the distinctive aura had been unforgettable. In fact, it was after sensing that energy that he had willingly handed over the Black Serpent Silkworm to Geum Yujin.
No matter how much he trained with the Black Serpent Silkworm, he knew he could not produce that oppressive, unique aura.
It had been the first ti he thought that one of the Four Great Divine Items was better in the hands of soone who practiced one of the Four Great Divine Arts.
Yong Hwarin moved toward the source of the energy.
When he spotted Geum Yujin in the backyard, he approached, intending to speak, but froze mid-step.
‘What is this? Geum Yujin is just standing still.’
He couldn’t understand how the powerful aura of the Black Tortoise Supre Yin Art could be emanating so strongly when Geum Yujin wasn’t training.
Then, as he turned to the right, the spot hidden behind a wall ca into view, revealing Seok Unjeong.
‘It can’t be…’
Seok Unjeong stood with both hands raised, as if holding sothing.
In her hands was a stream of water rising from a water jar.
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