Wu Hook Frost Snow

A young woman slowly climbed the mountain path, reciting softly, "Taiyi neared the celestial capital; linked mountains reached the sea's far corner. White clouds closed behind a backward glance; blue haze vanished when entered. At the central peak the celestial divisions changed; shade and sunshine differed through the ravines. Seeking a home to lodge for the night, I called across the water to a woodcutter."

"Wang Mojie truly had a splendid gift. This poem about Cuihua Mountain has the makings of a work that will endure a thousand years." The young woman had long legs, a slender waist, and a graceful figure, with almond eyes, peach-blossom cheeks, and a beautiful face. Her plain robe had close-fitting sleeves, her clothes were practical, and a short saber hung at her waist. Clearly, she was a woman of the martial world.

Cuihua Mountain lay not far from Chang'an and formed an outlying spur of Zhongnan. It rose to a great height, steep and rugged, with towering cliffs and sheer walls. Looking upward, one saw swirling mist; looking down, drifting white clouds. During the reign of King You of Western Zhou, a landslide had occurred. Someone at the time recorded, "The three rivers dried up; Mount Qi collapsed." Thus, the mountain had a Heavenly Pool formed by the collapse of earth and rock after the landslide, a magnificent sight and a famed attraction of the age. Legend also held that Taiyi Zhenren had cultivated here and attained the Dao, so it was also called Taiyi Mountain. It had more than ten Daoist abbeys and pavilions and was one of the twenty-four sacred sites of the Daoist faith. The most famous of its temples was Taiyi Abbey.

The young woman's surname was Lu, her given name Moniang. She was nineteen and came from the Lus of Fanyang.

The Lus of Fanyang descended from the Jiang clan and took their surname from their fief of Lu. Their rise began during the two Han dynasties, and during the Tang alone they had produced eight chief ministers and more than a hundred successful metropolitan examination candidates. They were one of the foremost great clans of the age. With such a background, Lu Moniang ought to have sat quietly in her boudoir, silently reading poetry and the classics while awaiting marriage to a distinguished man of high birth, becoming the mistress of a great Lineage. Yet she had loved martial arts since childhood and had become a disciple of Daoist Guanlong of Taiyi Abbey on Cuihua Mountain. After completing her training, she had accomplished several deeds that shook the world. Her reputation in the martial world now stood exceedingly high, and she was known as Wu Hook Frost Snow.

She had returned to Fanyang to visit her family, then spent some time traveling the martial world, where she had encountered a major affair. Judging that a lone palm could not clap and her strength alone would not suffice, she had returned specifically to seek help from her school.

Her lightness skill was exceptional. Though the mountain path was steep, rugged, and winding, she trod perilous ground as though it were level and climbed without difficulty. Rounding a bend, she saw flying eaves and interlocking brackets in the distance: a great Daoist abbey. Calls rang out from within. "Shenting, Taiyang, Ermen, Jingming, Shenshu, Weilü, Jianjing, Taiyuan, Zusanli."

"Fengchi, Shanzhong, Jiuwei, Shenque, Guanyuan, Zhongji, Yingchuang, Zhangmen, Shangqu."

Hearing her second senior brother's familiar voice, Lu Moniang felt a little gladness. Without stopping to push open the gate, she used her lightness skill to vault onto the courtyard wall. In the northeastern corner sat a middle-aged Daoist, cross-legged, his complexion healthy and lustrous, calling out without pause.

A handsome boy of twelve or thirteen, with long arms and a narrow waist, roamed the courtyard with a longsword in each hand. His twin blades conjured blossoms of sword light as he thrust at two straw dummies in the courtyard.

Several rapid thuds sounded. The boy's left-hand sword struck all nine acupoints called out by the middle-aged Daoist without the slightest error, but his right hand strayed slightly, striking only seven correctly and missing two.

Her eyes brightened a little, and she could not resist cheering. "Your Shenshang Sword Technique-'All others come in pairs; these alone are Shen and Shang. Leisurely they come and go, never sharing the same quarter'-has reached nine-tenths mastery. At your age, my swordsmanship was nowhere near yours."

Seeing his junior sister, the middle-aged Daoist smiled. "Junior Sister Lu, you're back."

Lu Moniang asked curiously, "Second Senior Brother, is this the little junior brother Master took in at Chang'an a few years ago?"

The middle-aged Daoist replied, "Indeed. Master went down the mountain six months ago and brought Junior Brother Sun back to the abbey. Though our little junior brother is young, even I am astonished by the depth of his accomplishments in our swordsmanship."

The boy put away his swords and bowed respectfully. "Sun Mingke greets Senior Sister Lu."

Lu Moniang could not help smiling. "Jingling pendants and ringing jade, passing in and out of the palace gates. A most auspicious name."

Sun Mingke smiled and stuck out his tongue, displaying all a boy's liveliness.

After exchanging a few words with this little junior brother, Lu Moniang asked, "Second Senior Brother, where is Master?"

The middle-aged Daoist answered, "Master recently gained some insights and went into seclusion to create a new martial art. I'm afraid you won't be able to see him for the time being."

Surprised and delighted, Lu Moniang exclaimed, "Master is already among the supreme masters under heaven. If he has secluded himself to create a martial art, he must be creating an invincible divine art. I wonder how profound it will be?"

The middle-aged Daoist smiled without speaking, knowing why his junior sister was so delighted. Their master, Daoist Guanlong, was generous and kind, never withholding anything when teaching his disciples. Apart from this youngest disciple, all five who had joined earlier had learned martial arts of miraculous mastery and won great reputations in the martial world. If he truly created an unparalleled art of the age, he would certainly teach it to his disciples, never treasuring an old broom as though it were precious.

Sun Mingke rubbed the twin swords at his waist, his attention wandering slightly as he considered the shortcomings in his swordsmanship. Suddenly, he heard wind rushing toward his face. Instinctively, he drew both swords, and with a light clang, blocked a saber slashing down at him.

The boy focused his gaze and saw that his fifth senior sister, Lu Moniang, had attacked. She was smiling, but the short saber in her hand was swift as lightning, fierce as a driving storm. Not understanding why, he could only resist with all his might. Of the two longswords in his hands, the left was slightly longer, measuring three feet seven inches, and was named Xiaoguang; the right was slightly shorter, measuring three feet three inches, and was named Jilang. His swords interwove, their moves flowing without end as he unleashed Taiyi Abbey's secret Shenshang Sword Technique in surging waves, defending the foot and a half before him so tightly that neither wind nor rain could penetrate.

Daoist Guanlong ranked among the supreme masters under heaven, his martial arts long since at the pinnacle of perfection. Lu Moniang possessed exceptional talent and practiced diligently. Under such an excellent teacher, she had received Taiyi Abbey's true martial teachings, and her skills placed her firmly among the first rank of the martial world, at the bottom of its ten greatest female martial artists. She had thought that even while holding back, she could break through her little junior brother's swordsmanship in two or three moves at most. Yet twenty or thirty moves passed in moments, and still she could find not the slightest opening in Sun Mingke's swordplay. His swordsmanship was meticulous, every movement seemingly formed by nature itself. Unless she attacked with full strength and overwhelmed him with internal power, she truly could not win quickly through moves alone, countering each as it came.

After another ten or twenty moves, Lu Moniang sheathed her saber and drifted back. Smiling, she said, "Second Senior Brother, our little junior brother's swordsmanship is excellent indeed."

The middle-aged Daoist smiled. "If he weren't a fine talent, why would Master have taken him as a disciple and brought him up the mountain?"

"Little Junior Brother, why haven't you thanked your fifth senior sister for her guidance?"

Sun Mingke clasped his hands in salute and said cheerfully, "Thank you, Fifth Senior Sister."

"I used at least seven moves incorrectly just now. Three were too slow, three were too fast, and one had the wrong variation. I should have used Swallows and Wild Geese Fly Apart, not Galloping Horses on the Western Mountain."

Lu Moniang recalled their exchange carefully and could not help feeling deeply shocked. That's exactly right. I actually failed to notice those openings and use them to defeat him.

Is Junior Brother Sun truly so gifted? No wonder Master took him as a disciple.

After speaking, Sun Mingke suddenly shook his head. "Fifth Senior Sister's martial arts are too advanced. Even if I hadn't made a single mistake, I still couldn't have held her off."

The middle-aged Daoist smiled. "That is why you must keep practicing hard."

Sun Mingke's face immediately turned bitter, making even Lu Moniang laugh. She asked, "Have Third Senior Brother and Fourth Senior Brother returned?" The middle-aged Daoist replied, "They haven't returned to the mountain yet. They should certainly arrive in another day or two." Lu Moniang said, "I'll go pay my respects to Eldest Senior Brother first. Little Junior Brother, carry on practicing your swordsmanship." She drifted away and vanished into the depths of the abbey in moments.

The middle-aged Daoist resumed his stern, proper expression and recited several more acupoints.

Sun Mingke pondered, sighed, and drew his swords!

This time, the sword light trembled lightly, and both blades struck all nine acupoints on the straw dummies simultaneously, their tips missing by not the slightest fraction. In just this short time, his swordsmanship had actually advanced another level. Although the middle-aged Daoist knew that this little junior brother was extraordinarily gifted, mastering any martial art as soon as he learned it and progressing swiftly, he still found himself staring, dumbfounded.

After practicing his swordsmanship hard for half a day, Sun Mingke returned to his quarters and meditated for ten or twelve hours, allowing his internal power to circulate naturally. By the time he opened his eyes, it was deep into the night. As he slowly concluded his practice, he thought, My progress in this internal art keeps getting faster. Could I have practiced it incorrectly? Shouldn't a superior internal art become harder to advance in the deeper one goes? Once Master emerges from seclusion, I must ask him carefully.

He was about to sleep for a while-after all, he would have to practice again at daybreak. He had just lain down fully clothed when he heard a vast, prolonged cry, like ten thousand waves striking the sky, lingering without end. Immediately, voices erupted throughout the abbey, with people repeatedly shouting, "Grandmaster has emerged! Grandmaster has emerged..." Instinctively, he sprang up, snatched his swords, and rushed straight toward the mountain behind the abbey where Daoist Guanlong had secluded himself.

When Sun Mingke reached the rear mountain using his lightness skill, he saw a lean old Daoist standing at the very front, unsmiling and imposing in his solemnity. This was his eldest senior brother, Qi Taiyi. Taiyi's foremost disciple enjoyed a formidable reputation in the martial world and was known as the Eight-Armed Divine Sword. His martial arts and swordsmanship had reached miraculous heights, and he already held the standing of a grandmaster.

The middle-aged Daoist stood behind him, tranquil and detached, with a bearing like that of a divine being. This second senior brother of Taiyi Abbey rarely fought and had little reputation in martial circles, but his standing within the Daoist faith was exceedingly high. He had received imperial titles from two successive emperors and was one of the seven Zhenren of the Daoist faith under heaven.

There were also several dozen Daoists of varying ages, all third-generation disciples of Taiyi Abbey. Their seniority was insufficient, so they could only wait respectfully a hundred paces away, whispering among themselves in lively discussion.

Lu Moniang had thrown on a cloak, and a trace of excitement showed on her pretty face. Seeing Sun Mingke, she beckoned him to her side.

Suddenly, a section of rock wall trembled slightly, then burst apart with a roar. An old Daoist with a glowing, ruddy face strolled out, two streams of white Qi a foot and a half long issuing from his nostrils, curling and shifting. After the time it took half an incense stick to burn, the white Qi dwindled into wisps and dispersed completely. He murmured, "Fruit ripens and reddens of itself; the Dao attained, ten thousand tribulations cease. A hundred years of flourishing and withering are all as though within a dream." Seeing only four disciples waiting respectfully, he could not help chuckling. "Though not everyone is here today, this too is fate. I have comprehended a mental method, and I am in high spirits, so I shall teach it to you."

The lean old Daoist beamed, the middle-aged Daoist looked jubilant, and Lu Moniang could not suppress the upturn of her lips. All three were overjoyed. Daoist Guanlong was one of the five supreme masters under heaven, his martial arts miraculous enough to be called invincible. Any martial art he created was sure to be an exceptional art seldom seen in the world. To hear such profound martial truths was a great opportunity that a martial artist might not encounter once in a hundred years.

Daoist Guanlong spoke slowly, each word falling like a pearl. "At the beginning of the nine profundities, before the two forms took shape, the empty void condensed its splendor, and the numinous wind gathered its essence. Divine writings formed within primordial unity; jade characters marked solitary transformation. They stood between being and nonbeing, shining before heaven's dark and earth's yellow."

"Before the great void, silent and without form, how did the true One exist? The true One moved, and primordial Qi transformed of itself. Primordial Qi was nonbeing within being, being within nonbeing, immeasurably vast and imperceptibly minute. Its mists gradually manifested, primordial unity remained unchanged: the beginning of all phenomena."

"Primordial unity held no things, silent and soundless. From it all phenomena were born; through it the five elements took form. What was born had limits; what took form had deficiencies. Birth upon birth, formation upon formation, through past and present it remained clear and unchanging. This was the Dao..."

After listening for a while, Sun Mingke felt a little surprised. He had already learned seventy or eighty percent of this internal cultivation method Daoist Guanlong was reciting. His master had explained its various profound principles in detail, with only slight differences in the particulars. As he breathed briefly according to the method, his lower abdomen abruptly grew hot, as though a blazing torch had been thrown into a pot of hot oil. The internal power accumulated in his dantian seemed to ignite, transforming into more than ten fiery threads that roamed through his eight extraordinary meridians and twelve primary meridians. Like trickling streams, like strands of silk, like a thousand rivers and a hundred ravines, they surged without cease, majestic as the sun and moon crossing the heavens, vast and mighty, accumulating ever more thickly. His entire body grew scalding hot...

"The utmost numinousness of the formless, empty, its spirit still and unknowable; its marvel was like a valley answering, yet not flowing."

"Before practicing the inner mysteries, first grasp the principles of change and adaptation. If the six dusts do not cease, do not forget the herding of the ox. About to enter the first stage, roam at will beyond the four seas. Thus, those who command the myriad spirits and together attain the manifold mysteries do not go beyond these writings. Devote yourself to emptiness and clarity, hold your will to supreme harmony, forget intent and embrace simplicity, gradually entering the lineage of immortals."

Daoist Guanlong let out a long breath and laughed. "This scripture gathers all I have learned in my lifetime. It may be called the Nine Profound True Scripture."

His disciples congratulated him together. "The wondrous method Master has created will surely blossom into a remarkable new branch of martial learning, allowing our Taiyi Abbey to stand apart."

Daoist Guanlong glanced at Sun Mingke, suddenly chuckled, and asked, "Have you memorized it all?"

Sun Mingke hurriedly answered, "I have."

Unable to suppress his doubts, he asked, "But why does it feel as though I've learned most of it before?"

Daoist Guanlong smiled. "I had the broad outline of this scripture more than ten years ago and had worked out seventy or eighty percent of it, but many details eluded me. Your senior brothers' martial paths were already set, and they could not change their strings and take a different road. That is why I took you as a disciple to test this art. What you learned was the first version of the Nine Profound True Scripture, so naturally most of it is familiar." He raised his hand and patted his youngest disciple on the head three times. The meridians within Sun Mingke's body surged and roared, and the dozen or more unruly streams of internal power were all subdued and gathered back into his dantian. Vital essence filled his body, and his clothes swelled and snapped fiercely. His cultivation abruptly grew stronger by far more than severalfold. Surprised and delighted, the boy spontaneously thought, Have I mastered the Nine Profound True Scripture?

Daoist Guanlong smiled without speaking, then turned to his sole female disciple. "How did you happen to return today?"

Lu Moniang hurriedly clasped her hands and said, "I returned to the mountain to seek help. Recently, a lecherous villain calling himself White Chrysanthemum has run rampant across several provinces. Not only has he violated more than ten women from distinguished families and sisters of the martial world, but he has also killed dozens of righteous martial artists who tried to hunt him down. I wished to ask several senior brothers to descend the mountain and slay this villain together."

Daoist Guanlong chuckled. "Your little junior brother has just learned the Nine Profound True Scripture. Let him go down the mountain to help you."

Lu Moniang still wished to plead, but Daoist Guanlong had already drifted away.

...Sun Mingke: In the first version, I was the protagonist! The author had someone tell my fortune, and they said I didn't have what it took to be a protagonist, so...