The Blade and Sword

CHAPTER 6-THE SECT'S ALLIANCE

Since the first time Koshin arrived at Unkensō, he was very close to his senior disciples, especially Kosei and Koyuki. Both of them always treated him like their own younger brother. They played and trained together. Even after Koshin got the cold toxin, his seniors especially Kosei and Koyuki were taking good care of him. That's why their bonds grew stronger that no one could ever break. Koyuki also gave Koshin a blindfold to cover his eyes so he can move freely even when the day is bright. Since then Koshin always wears it from year to year. For the record, Kotsuki and Koyuki are said to be the “two flowers of Unkensō” because of their beauty. Many disciples of Unkensō admired them both secretly but no one dared to get near to both of them, as they both were the seniors and also the faction captain. Even the disciples from other sects admired them both. Not only that, Koshin is slowly fond of Koyuki. However, Koshin doesn’t know how Koyuki felt about him. He only knew that Koyuki only treated him like her own younger brother. That's why Koshin doesn't dare to tell Koyuki yet about how he feels. Once a year, they will hold a spar tournament in Unkensō, to let all the disciples compete one against another, to see how far their martial-art has developed. Not only that, three winners from any faction can represent Unkensō to participate in the tournament that is held by “Goryō-Meishu”, once every two years. Each of the sect can bring three of their best disciples to join the tournament who are from sixteen to 22 years old. In other means, the Shō-mon and the elders can't join the tournament. The winner of the tournament will not only receive a reward (golds) from the Sect alliance organizations but they can also bring their sect to be in the big-four sect ranking in the pugilist world. So it's an honor for the participants to bring glory for their sect. Furthermore, the winner also will be granted a chance to challenge a representative from Goryō-Meishu. For those who win the fight against the representative, then their sect has a chance to be the next Goryō-Meishu if the other big-four sects agree. Even not 100% can be the next Goryō-Meishu, but still, it's a big chance for the participant to grab the chance. It’s a dream for any sect to be on top to lead the pugilist sect. However, it's not that easy. The representative from the Goryō-Meishu was very strong, especially the elders or even their best disciple. If they fail to challenge the representative, there will be consequences for them to bear which means their sect ranking in the pugilist Sect alliance organizations will drop to the bottom and the reward that they will receive from winning the tournament, will be cut to half either. But if the representative loses, they only drop into the big-four ranking and still have a chance to participate for the next tournament, to snatch back the title. This is the privilege of being the Goryō-Meishu. It seems like the rule wasn't fair, but this is reality. So, most of the winners of the tournament never dare to challenge the Ryū’unsō, that's why they always stay on top to be the Goryō-Meishu for so many years. Obviously, before Unkensō went down, they were the one who broke the records, to be the Goryō-Meishu for more than fifty years. But now, it's different. The current Unkensō wasn't as strong as before. For the last ten years, they were always out of the top five ranking. They didn’t have any competent person to earn a title for their sect. And for Ryū’unsō, they have become the Goryō-Meishu for over ten years since no one can ever defeat them. They were not only strong but also had connections in the imperial government. That's why other pugilist sects have to think twice if they really want to make enemies with Ryū’unsō. There was once when a number of unknown pugilists who were provoked by Ryū’unsō came to Unkensō to ask the Mugen-Keisho. Surely, the people at Unkensō won't surrender it so easily as the scripture was not only dangerous if spread into the pugilist world but also this is their sect's legacy. That's why they must protect it with their life, no matter what. Then a war occurred there. The Seimei-Sōshu even received the Mugen-Keisho from Kōgo but since he wasn’t a martial-art prodigy, he didn’t master it to level nine. That's why when those bad people know it then they dare to come for it. However, they didn’t know one of the elders of Unkensō, which is Kōgo, was the number one pugilist at that time. However, since Kōgo was still poisonous, he can't use much of his Qi-energy against them. But at that time, those bad people were outnumbered so it took some effort for Kōgo to drive them away. He strikes one of the levels of Mukeifūken-Ryū to beat them off. Even though they're not dead, they were still hurt quite badly.