---
title: "Chapter 1: The Tale Begins"
slug: "ch-1"
novel: "legend-of-the-northern-blade"
number: 1
views: 1780000
likes: 132000
wordCount: 3200
createdAt: "2018-07-27"
---

Jin Mu-Won emerged from the Misty Mountains after twenty-three years of isolation. The path downward—the same path his father had carried him up as an infant—seemed longer now, as if the world itself had expanded during his absence.

His father's final words echoed in his memory: "The world will forget us. When you're old enough, you must go down and reclaim our legacy. Restore the name of the Northern Blade."

Behind him lay a stone monastery that had been his entire universe. Training grounds worn smooth by decades of his footsteps. Meditation chambers where he'd sat for months learning to sense the flow of ki. A graveyard containing only one inhabitant—his father, buried beneath a simple stone marker bearing a single character: "Blade."

For twenty-three years, Jin Mu-Won had been the monastery's sole resident. He had trained alone, sparred against straw dummies and animated combat golems, studied the ancient martial techniques inscribed on the monastery's walls. His father had filled journals with knowledge—techniques that were impossible by normal martial standards, fighting styles that transcended conventional combat theory.

The world below was chaos.

When Jin Mu-Won finally reached the foothills and encountered another human, the shock was mutual. A young merchant, no older than thirty, stumbled backward in surprise at the sight of this man descending from the hidden peaks. Jin Mu-Won wore simple robes, his long hair unbound, his appearance suggesting either a wandering monk or a beggar.

"Who are you?" the merchant demanded, suspicious.

"Someone lost," Jin Mu-Won replied calmly. "Can you tell me what year it is?"

The merchant's suspicion deepened. "It's the 127th year of the current dynasty. If you're from higher up in the mountains, you should know that cultivators and martial artists have changed much in recent years. The Eight Great Sects now control most of the continent. There are tournaments, competition systems, rankings."

Jin Mu-Won absorbed this information carefully. Twenty-three years of changes, compressed into names and designations. The world had organized itself in his absence.

"Tell me about the Northern Blade School," he said.

The merchant's expression shifted—pity mixed with curiosity. "They're extinct. Disappeared over seventy years ago. The sect leader and his disciples vanished during a conflict with the Shadow Sect. Some say they were all killed. Others claim the sect leader found a hidden realm and took his students there. Why? Are you connected to them?"

"Perhaps," Jin Mu-Won said. "Take me to the nearest city."

Three days later, Jin Mu-Won entered the bustling marketplace of Feng-yang, the nearest major city to the mountains. The overwhelming sensation of so many people in one place nearly incapacitated him. He'd never seen more than his father in his entire life. Now thousands of humans surrounded him, their energy overwhelming his cultivated senses.

But beneath the chaos, he felt patterns. Martial artists moved differently than ordinary people—the way they carried themselves, the unconscious grace in their movements. He counted at least thirty genuine cultivators in the marketplace, individuals with developed ki networks and trained bodies.

Jin Mu-Won found his way to a library, a sprawling collection of texts maintained by a merchant's guild. Using information from his father's journals, he began researching the history of the last seventy years.

What he discovered was both encouraging and troubling. The Northern Blade School had been prestigious, respected, powerful. But then—decades before Jin Mu-Won was even born—the sect had been accused of heresy. The techniques they taught were considered darkly unconventional, bordering on forbidden cultivation paths. When they refused to submit to the Eight Great Sects' authority, conflict became inevitable.

The final battle was recorded in official histories: the Northern Blade's last leader, facing off against three sect masters simultaneously, had fought so magnificently that his name became legendary. But ultimately, numbers won. The sect was scattered. Its techniques were declared forbidden. Its teachings were hunted and destroyed.

Yet somehow, Jin Mu-Won's father had survived. Had escaped with at least some of the Northern Blade's legacy. Had raised his son in solitude, preparing him for this moment.

As Jin Mu-Won read through the records, searching for any mention of the sect leader's fate, a name appeared in a footnote: "Seo Noe—last presumed leader of the Northern Blade School. Status: deceased (official assumption)."

Seo Noe. His father's name.

The record said he was dead. Assumed killed in the final battle. But his body had never been recovered. Which meant there was a possibility—

"You're interested in the Northern Blade?"

Jin Mu-Won turned to find an elderly woman watching him from across the library, a gentle smile on her weathered face.

"You are," she said with certainty. "I can see it in your eyes. You have their technique. The way you moved when you walked in—I haven't seen anyone move like that in seventy years."

"You knew the Northern Blade School?" Jin Mu-Won asked.

"I knew someone from it," the woman replied. "A long time ago."

And with that simple statement, Jin Mu-Won's quest truly began. Because this woman was clearly more than she appeared, and if she had known someone from the Northern Blade, then the organization's legacy might still persist in the world.

The tale of recovery was about to begin.
