The Blade and Sword

CHAPTER 3-THE ALLIANCE LEADER

The Seimei-Sōshu and the other elders understood his condition and what he had done for Unkensō, so they didn’t dare to ask too much anymore. Totally, they’re 6 of them, 5 elders including Kōgo and Shō-mon (sect leader). What he taught Koshin, just for caution, if one day he suddenly passes away from the toxin inside his body, at least Koshin can protect himself with some martial-arts. Even Seimei-Sōshu and the other elders already promised him that if one day he really is gone, they will take good care of Koshin like their own. However, Kōgo still prepared the backup plan for Koshin's future. He knew there were so many unpredictable things that could happen suddenly, so preparing the backup plan, it's not bad either. He also told Koshin, if one day he's gone, and the people at Unkensō didn’t treat him well like they promised, then Koshin can leave Unkensō immediately, and look for a place for himself or return to his father's constable colleagues. Long ago when he started to taught Koshin the Mukeifūken-Ryū, he realized that he had already warned Koshin not to show in front of anyone about the Mukeifūken-Ryū, because it was forbidden, and will bring disaster to himself and Koshin. As it was told, the Mukeifūken-Ryū can only be learned by Seimei-Sōshu and the rule had been passed from the ancestor long ago, so they can't break that rule, except Kōgo who learned it by the circumstances. Besides the Mukeifūken-Ryū, Unkensō also has another sword-skill that can be learned by all the disciples, even the elders inside the Unkensō, with no restrictions including Koshin. It is called “Gogyōdōken-Ryū / Wǔxīngdàojiàn-Liú (FiveElementsPathSword-Style)”. Just like its name, this sword-skill only has five levels. Even this sword-skill is not strong as Mukeifūken-Ryū but still quite formidable and still can equalize with other sects sword-skill. Normally a sect has only one sword-skill which is separate in two methods. The normal disciple or the elders can learn until a certain level and for mastering it all, it can only be learned by Seimei-Sōshu or the future Seimei-Sōshu. However, Unkensō has two types of sword-skill which is Mukeifūken-Ryū that can only be learned by the Seimei-Sōshu and the other one which is Gogyōdōken-Ryū that can be learned by all the members in Unkensō. These both sword-skills have been passed from generation to generation and it is said comprehended by the ancestor of Unkensō. Certainly, Kōgo also handed over the level ten of Mukeifūken-Ryū to the Seimei-Sōshu as well, which was comprehended by himself many years ago when wandering in the pugilist world. But still it depends how far the Seimei-Sōshu can learn all of the Mukeifūken-Ryū. Actually, it's not really that beside the Seimei-Sōshu, no one can learn the Mukeifūken-Ryū, but still, there is someone who can learn it which is the Seimei-Sōshu direct disciple and also the future Seimei-Sōshu that been decided by the Seimei-Sōshu and the elders. However, they don’t know that there is actually one person who was more intelligent than this eldest senior, and also a prodigy. The one that Kōgo raised. Anyway, the Seimei-Sōshu and other elders have their own faction in the sect, like an organization branch except Kōgo, in other means they have five factions. But before that, Unkensō also split into two parts which are direct disciple and indirect disciple. That's why not all the disciples that join Unkensō can have the chance to join the faction. Only the qualified one and chosen by the elders, can enter the faction. For those who didn’t join the faction, they still can join the “indirect disciple”; as long as they can pass the test. This indirect disciple was actually under watch by Kōgo which means Koshin was also part of it. However, since he doesn’t often show himself in the sect, the other elders appointed one person to be his right-man to help him to lead those indirect disciples and Kōgo has no objection to that. Since these indirect disciples' numbers are larger than direct disciples, they need someone to watch them, otherwise who knows they will create any riot or even chaos. One faction in Unkensō, only about seven-eight disciples except the Seimei-Sōshu faction. Since the Seimei-Sōshu is the Shō-mon, he has so much to take care of so he wouldn't have time to handle all his own faction disciples. So for the Seimei-Sōshu, his own faction of disciples was only five disciples, including the eldest disciple. That's why joining the Seimei-Sōshu faction was very difficult for anyone unless they were really picked by the Seimei-Sōshu. Their amount was quite small compared to the big-four pugilist sects, especially “Ryū’unsō / Liúyúnzōng (CloudFlow-Sect)” which is the current “Goryō-Meishu / PugilistSects-AllianceLeader”. For the record, Ryū’unsō’s sect name was quite similar to Unkensō because actually the founder of Ryū’unsō was also once a disciple from the old Unkensō. However, this person was an acquaintance of Ryo-hyō so he dislikes Unkensō very much. He suspected that Ryo-hyō’s death must be connected to people in Unkensō. So the Shō-mon of Ryū’unsō always makes things difficult for Unkensō everywhere.