The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 39 – Part 9

Zhang Wuji did not take the book, however. "The true meaning of those sixteen characters, 'Supremacy in the wulin, a treasured dao that slays dragons, command all under heaven, none dare disobey,' I understand at last. The 'supremacy in the wulin' lies not in the treasured dao itself, but in the military manual found by following the map hidden within the blade. With such a manual to direct one against the enemy, every battle would be won, every assault would succeed, and in the end one would naturally 'command all under heaven, with none daring to disobey.' Otherwise, how could a single treasured dao truly command all under heaven? Brother Xu, I bequeath this manual to you. I trust you will carry forward Yue Wumu's[^wumu] legacy, recover our rivers and mountains, and march straight to Yellow Dragon."[^huanglong]

Xu Da was startled. “Your subordinate is unworthy of such a generous gift from the Order Leader. How dare I accept?”

Zhang Wuji replied, “There is no need for modesty, Brother Xu. I entrust this manual to you for the sake of all the common people under heaven.”

Xu Da was overjoyed. He held the manual with trembling hands.

Zhang Wuji continued, “Among the sayings that have circulated through the wulin, there are two more lines: ‘Were Heaven-Reliant not to emerge, who could rival it?’¹ The secret hidden within the Dragon-Slaying Dao and the Heavenly Jian is not limited to a military manual. There was also a martial arts compendium. My reading of these lines is this: the manual serves to drive out the Tartars. But if someone should seize great power and wield it tyrannically, replacing one cruelty with another, then the common people suffering under such a despot would eventually see a hero rise with the Heaven-Reliant Sword in hand to take the tyrant’s head. A man who commands a million soldiers, however his power may overshadow the world, might not survive a single strike of the Heaven-Reliant Jian. Brother Xu, I ask you to remember this.”

Xu Da was drenched in sweat. “Your subordinate shall obey the Order Leader’s command.” In his heart he thought, The Order Leader has entrusted me with the Book of Wumu. I must follow his teaching with the utmost care and put this book to proper use. He placed the Book of Wumu on the table and kowtowed four times in reverent devotion, then bowed again to thank Zhang Wuji for the gift. Thereafter Xu Da did indeed direct his troops as though divinely inspired, defeating the Yuan army time and again. In the end he led the northern expedition, driving the Mongols beyond the frontier walls and striking terror into the northern steppe, establishing a great legacy of martial achievement.

From that time forward, the heroes of the Central Plains pledged their allegiance to the Ming Order in earnest. For several hundred years the Ming Order had been despised, dismissed as demons and depraved heretics. Now, after this earth-shaking reversal, it became the foremost among the warriors of the Central Plains, accomplishing the great work of restoring the Han people. Later Zhu Yuanzhang conceived ambitions of his own. He schemed and plotted his way to the throne, but though he sought the title of Order Leader, he could never achieve it. Still, the men who had won his empire for him were mostly of the Ming Order, and so he could not but call his dynasty “Ming.” From the first year of Hongwu, the year Wu Shen, to the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the year Jia Shen, the Ming Dynasty’s two hundred and seventy-seven years of rule all rested on the Ming Order’s aid.

Once Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he was unwilling that the Ming Order should claim too great a share of the credit, nor did he want the court’s governance entangled with the Order Leader’s interference. He therefore strove to erase every trace of his connection to the Ming Order. Many meritorious generals who had risen from the Ming Order, simply for refusing to acknowledge him as Order Leader, were murdered in obscurity and without cause. Feng Sheng, Fu Youde, Lan Yu, and other great generals saw their entire families put to death, the purges spreading far and wide, as the histories plainly record. According to unofficial accounts, Chang Yuchun died young of illness, while Xu Da was poisoned by Zhu Yuanzhang’s hand. Of all the founding generals of the Ming Dynasty, only Tang He escaped with his life and died in peace. A colourless man, always obedient to Zhu Yuanzhang’s every command, he was the one the emperor did not suspect.

Zhang Wuji and the others remained at Shaolin Monastery, tending the wounded heroes from the battles and awaiting Li Tianyuan’s return with the Dragon-Slaying Dao and the Heavenly Jian. Most of the gathered heroes wished to see with their own eyes the two legendary weapons that had been the talk of the jianghu for decades. With nothing pressing to do, they lingered on Mount Song.

After ten days or so, Li Tianyuan and Peng Yingyu returned from the island overseas, galloping back to Mount Song. They carried two long wooden boxes, which they presented to Zhang Wuji. He opened the boxes and found both the Dragon-Slaying Dao and the Heavenly Jian snapped in two at the hilt. The Dragon Sabre’s break was hollow within. Zhang Wuji fitted the iron sheet bearing the map into the gap. It seated itself perfectly, snug and secure, so the dao would make no sound when wielded. The Heavenly Jian’s break was similarly hollow, and could receive the other iron sheet inscribed with the words “Pudu, Shandong, Peach Blossom Island.”²

When the heroes learned the Dragon Sabre had returned, they thronged to the square to see it.

Zhang Wuji held the broken half of the Dragon Sabre by the blade’s spine with three fingers. It was still heavy in the hand. For a moment a hundred feelings crowded upon him. His parents had died for this blade. For nearly twenty years the jianghu had been in turmoil for its sake. The gathering at Shaolin had been for this dao above all. Who would have imagined the blade would reappear already broken and useless?

As he stood in thought, Wu Jingcao,³ the Metal Flag’s Flag Master, stepped forward. “Reporting to the Order Leader: your subordinate was a blacksmith by trade, and was taught the art of forging blades. Let me attempt it. Whether I can mend the treasured dao and treasured jian, I cannot say.”

Yang Xiao was delighted. “Flag Master Wu’s skill in forging is without peer in the world. I suggest the Order Leader let him try.”

Zhang Wuji nodded. “It would indeed be a pity to leave these two weapons broken. Let Flag Master Wu attempt it.”

Wu Jingcao turned to Xin Ran, the Blaze Flag’s Flag Master. “Forging blade or jian, the crucial matter is the heat of the fire. I need Brother Xin’s help. Shall we begin?”

Xin Ran laughed. “Building a fire and stoking it is my trade, after all.”

The two directed their men to erect a tall furnace, the mouth and fire-hole less than a foot across. Wu Jingcao set the hilt of the Dragon Sabre firmly within, the broken end aligned with the fire-hole. The Blaze Flag’s fuel of every kind was already to hand. In moments a great fire roared within.

Wu Jingcao’s right arm was gone. Only his left remained. Beside him lay a dozen or so implements. He watched the furnace fire without blinking, testing its heat with his tools whenever the flame changed colour. When the fire shifted from blue to white, he raised the steel tongs with his left hand, lifted the broken half of the Dragon Sabre, and pressed it against the hilt half within the flames. His torso was bare to the waist. Sparks splashed across his skin as though he did not feel them. His whole attention was upon the work.

Zhang Wuji thought, Forging blades and jian may seem a humble craft, yet it demands great skill and great fortitude. An ordinary smith could not endure this heat alone.

Suddenly came two sharp cracks. The two Blaze Order members working the bellows had fainted. Xin Ran and the Blaze Flag’s deputy rushed forward, dragged the fallen men aside, and took the bellows themselves. Both men possessed considerable neili, and as they strained at the work, the flames shot upward in a column, rising ten feet or more, a marvellous sight.

After half an incense stick’s time, Wu Jingcao cried out, “Aiya!” He leapt back, his face stricken. The onlookers started. Looking at his hands, they saw the iron tongs had melted and twisted beyond shape, while the Dragon Sabre had not stirred.

Wu Jingcao shook his head. “Your subordinate is unequal to the task. The Dragon-Slaying Dao lives up to its name.”

Xin Ran and the Blaze deputy halted the bellows and stepped aside. Their clothes were soaked through, as though they had climbed from a river.

Zhao Min spoke. “Wuji gege, the Holy Fire Tablets⁴ could not be cut even by the Dragon Sabre, could they?”

Zhang Wuji said, “Ah, yes!” He took six Holy Fire Tablets from his robe and handed them to Wu Jingcao. “If blade and jian cannot be restored, so be it. But the Holy Fire Tablets are a treasure of our Order. They must not be harmed.”

Wu Jingcao received them with a bow. He saw the six tablets were neither gold nor iron yet hard beyond measure. He weighed them in his hand and bowed his head in thought.

Zhang Wuji said, “If you are uncertain, do not risk it.”

Wu Jingcao did not answer. After a while he roused himself from his reverie. “Your subordinate was rude. I beg the Order Leader’s forgiveness. These Holy Fire Tablets are forged of platinum and dark iron, blended with emery and other substances. No ordinary fire can melt them. I was greatly puzzled, unable to comprehend how they were originally cast. Forgive my abstraction.”

Zhao Min cast a sidelong glance at Zhang Wuji. “In future, when the Order Leader goes to Persia to meet a certain important person, you may take this man along and consult their master smiths.”

Zhang Wuji flushed. “Why would I go to Persia?”

Zhao Min smiled. “We understand each other.” She turned to Wu Jingcao. “Look, the Holy Fire Tablets are engraved with patterns and writing. The Dragon Sabre and Heavenly Jian could not damage them in the slightest. What tool was used to carve those patterns?”

Wu Jingcao replied, “The patterns and writing are not difficult. One coats the tablets in white wax, carves the patterns into the wax, then pours a strong acid over them. After several months of slow corrosion, changing the acid from time to time, one scrapes away the wax and the patterns remain. The small iron sheets hidden in the Dragon Sabre and Heavenly Jian were made the same way. What I do not understand is the original method of casting.”

Xin Ran called out, “Well, are you going to do it or not?”

Wu Jingcao said to Zhang Wuji, “Order Leader, have no fear. Brother Xin’s fire is fierce, but it cannot harm the Holy Fire Tablets in the slightest.”

Xin Ran was somewhat uneasy. If I stoke the fire to the utmost and damage our Order’s sacred treasure, I could never answer for it.

Wu Jingcao smiled. “You lack the skill for that. I take full responsibility.” He sandwiched two Holy Fire Tablets around the broken Dragon Sabre, then took up a fresh pair of steel tongs, gripped the two tablets, and placed the dao back into the flames.

The blaze climbed higher and higher. They burned for well over half a shichen.⁵ Wu Jingcao, Xin Ran, and the Blaze deputy, roasted by the fire, grew ever more haggard, approaching the limit of their endurance.

Iron Crown Adept Zhang Zhong exchanged a glance with Zhou Dian. With a slight wave of his left hand, the two darted forward to relieve Xin Ran and the Blaze deputy at the bellows. Zhang Zhong and Zhou Dian’s neili far exceeded the other two men’s, and the furnace sent a straight white column of flame soaring into the air.

Suddenly Wu Jingcao roared, “Brother Gu, now!”

The Metal Flag’s deputy drew a blade and ran to the furnace. A flash of white light. He thrust at Wu Jingcao’s chest. The onlooking heroes cried out in shock. Blood spurted from Wu Jingcao’s bare breast, drop by drop, falling upon the Dragon Sabre. The blood met the heat and instantly turned to curling blue smoke.

Wu Jingcao shouted, “It’s done!” He stumbled back several paces and fell sprawling to the ground. In his left hand he held a dark, heavy dao. The two broken halves of the Dragon Sabre were fused together.

Only then did the onlookers understand. Whenever a master smith’s casting failed, he would often drip blood into the blade. In ancient times Gan Jiang and Mo Ye themselves had leapt into the furnace to forge a weapon without peer. What Wu Jingcao had done was the echo of those ancient craftsmen.

Zhang Wuji hurried to help him up and examined the wound. The cut was shallow, nothing serious. He applied golden-wound ointment and bound the gash. “Why go so far, Brother Wu? Whether this dao could be mended was of no great consequence. You have suffered needlessly.”

Wu Jingcao said, “A scratch of flesh, what does it matter? I am sorry to have troubled the Order Leader.” He rose and lifted the Dragon Sabre to inspect it. The join was seamless. Only a faint trace of blood remained along the seam. He could not suppress his satisfaction.

Zhang Wuji saw that the two Holy Fire Tablets, after their time in the furnace, were indeed unharmed. He took the Dragon Sabre and brought it down upon two long spears seized from Yuan soldiers. With a soft hiss the twin spear-shafts snapped clean through. The blade cut iron as though it were clay.

The heroes roared their approval. “A fine dao! A fine dao!”

Wu Jingcao held out the two broken halves of the Heavenly Jian. He thought of Zhuang Zheng, the Metal Flag’s former Flag Master, and the dozens of his brothers who had died beneath this jian. Tears spilled from his eyes. “Order Leader, this jian killed my Brother Zhuang. It killed many good men of my flag. Wu Jingcao hates this jian to the bone. I will not mend it. I accept whatever punishment the Order Leader decrees.” Tears streamed down his face as he spoke.

Zhang Wuji said, “That is Brother Wu’s sense of loyalty. What crime is there in it?” He took the two broken halves and walked to Jingxuan of the Emei Order. “This jian was originally your Order’s possession. I ask the Shitai to keep it, and to pass it to… to Zhou… to Lady Song.”

Jingxuan said nothing. She took the broken jian.

Zhang Wuji held the Dragon Sabre and considered for a moment, then turned to Kongwen. “Abbot, this dao was obtained by my sworn father. Now my sworn father has taken refuge in the Triple Gem and belongs to Shaolin. This dao ought to remain with the Shaolin Order.”

Kongwen waved his hands. “This dao has changed hands many times. In the end it was your Order Leader’s men who recovered it at such cost, and your Order’s Flag Master who restored it. Moreover, all the heroes of the world now acknowledge the Order Leader as their chief. By talent, by virtue, by ties of obligation, by right of position, the Dragon Sabre should naturally be held by Order Leader Zhang. It is Heaven’s principle and righteousness itself.”

The heroes echoed him. “The wish of all. Order Leader Zhang need not decline.”

Zhang Wuji could only accept. He thought, If by means of this treasured dao I can truly command the heroes of the wulin to drive out the Hu barbarians together, it would serve a pressing purpose. The heroes were murmuring among themselves: “Supremacy in the wulin, a treasured dao that slays dragons, command all under heaven, none dare disobey.” Below those lines were two more, “Were Heaven-Reliant not to emerge, who could rival it?”, but the onlookers had seen the Heavenly Jian broken beyond repair, and no one spoke those words now. The men of the Metal Flag bore a bitter hatred of the Heavenly Jian, and seeing the Dragon Sabre restored whole while the Sword lay in two useless fragments, every one of them was glad.

Footnotes

1. 倚天不出，谁与争锋 – Yǐtiān bù chū, shéi yǔ zhēng fēng. “Were Heaven-Reliant not to emerge, who could rival it?” The second half of the inscription, paired with the Dragon Sabre’s prophecy. ↩

2. 桃花岛 – Táohuā Dǎo. Peach Blossom Island, the island stronghold off the coast of the Eastern Sea. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 吴劲草 – Wú Jìncǎo. Flag Master of the Metal Flag of the Ming Order, a blacksmith by trade. ↩

4. 圣火令 – Shènghuǒ Lìng. The Holy Fire Tablets, twelve sacred relics of the Ming Order, forged from platinum, dark iron, and emery. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 时辰 – shíchén. The traditional Chinese division of the day into twelve double-hours, each lasting approximately two modern hours. ↩