Chapter 338: Royal Consort Record – Latter Part (2)

If there was the most leisurely person in the Sky Ocean Merchant Union, it would be Musician Urak.

Having been brought to the Sky Ocean Merchant 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 welcome.

“Have you been well?”

“Yes, thanks to you, Young Master Yong, I’ve been comfortable.”

“For the time 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 Merchant Union despite the stuffiness.

After a bit of casual conversation, Yong Hwarin, thinking Musician Urak seemed more relaxed, asked a question.

“Could you tell me what you read?”

Urak couldn’t understand why martial artists were making such a fuss over something so trivial.

“What I read was sheet music. A martial artist might think of it as a mnemonic chant, but to me, it appeared as a musical score. At first, I also found the writing strange, but after reading it several times, I realized that the words were written as a melody.”

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 become 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 cumbersome, the Gongcheok Method, which expressed pitch with simple characters, became popular.

The Gongcheok Method 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 Method.

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 me the melody 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 assumed 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 melody from the Royal Consort Record in just one shichen, Musician Urak was greatly surprised.

“Now I see—you could become a musician yourself, Young Master Yong.”

“Hahaha, my playing skills are lacking.”

“I’ve never seen someone who understood music to this degree yet lacked playing skill. If I may be so bold, could we try playing together?”

“Give me a moment. 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 melody 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 immersion.

Playing the flute after so long, I was swept up in old memories.

While playing in that egoless state, I sensed my qi flowing in an unintended direction.

‘Ah, could this melody be a mnemonic chant for cultivating qi?’

Otherwise, there was no reason for qi to react to the music.

‘What a peculiar method of qi cultivation. Doesn’t it feel as though my qi is surging toward the Upper Dantian all at once?’

The melody 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 meridians, at that.’

I closed my eyes and tried to sense the melody 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 meridians reacted each time the strings were struck.

‘If someone with considerable internal strength played this piece, would I be able to tell precisely?’

Thinking this, I opened my eyes.

It occurred to me that I knew someone who both understood music and possessed high internal strength.

‘Hui Mae once told me she learned to play the pipa while living alone. If Hui Mae played this melody, I could figure it out.’

Leaving Musician Urak still immersed 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 melody from Musician Urak. And when you play the melody 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 melody. Then we’ll go see Elder Demonic Master.”

“Alright.”

Bukri Sehee learned the melody 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 me and Bukri Sehee and said,

“You both have enough talent to become musicians right now. It’s a shame 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 melody 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 melodies more easily than ordinary people.

To Musician Urak, we must have seemed like geniuses.

After learning the melody completely, I took Bukri Sehee to see Demonic Master.

“What brings you both here?”

Demonic Master greeted us with a smile.

“We came 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 me smile in return.

“It’s nothing serious. Hui Mae has learned a melody, 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 me, 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 means you need several times 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 extremely 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 some 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 immeasurable, learns sound arts, she could likely face masters of the Transcendent Stage. The thought of teaching her excites me greatly.”

Demonic Master had never before taught sound arts to someone 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 emerge.”

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 time to leave the Sky Ocean Merchant 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 Supreme Yin Art could be felt this strongly.’

He had first felt the energy of the Black Tortoise Supreme Yin Art at the Hajeong Escort Bureau.

When Geum Yujin had wielded the Black Serpent Silkworm with the Black Tortoise Supreme 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 time he thought that one of the Four Great Divine Items was better in the hands of someone 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 Supreme 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 came into view, revealing Seok Unjeong.

‘It can’t be…’

Seok Unjeong stood with both hands raised, as if holding something.

In her hands was a stream of water rising from a water jar.

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