"_" "Li Jinbao." "Mongols." "They have already destroyed the temple at North Peak." " Where are the nuns?" " In the cloisters." "East." "Remember the oath." "We fight to the end." "Life and death are one thread." "I will guard the scrolls." "Li Jinbao!" "Do not kill him." "The Khan will want this one." "What kind of monk is able to kill, by himself, 25 Mongol soldiers?" "Is it a form of dark magic practiced at your temple?" "You shall never know, shall you?" "What did you just say, monk?" "You destroyed a temple and all of the ancient scrolls that contained the answers you seek." "You monks were offering shelter to my enemies in South China." "No place defies the Khan." "I will ask you again." "If you hold your tongue, I will take your tongue." "What is this fighting art kept secret in a mountain temple?" "The art of peace." "You break the necks of trained soldiers, cut their throats, gut them like wild pigs, and you call it peace?" "You destroy a temple and call it destiny?" "Kings of the past would not have shown you grace." "Me, when I make war on a city," "I allow the craftsmen to live." "I conscript them into service..." "and they live." "Here." "You will reveal these Chinese secrets to my war ministers." "Reveal Chinese secrets..." "to fight the Chinese." "Prove yourself useful, you can live." "Defy my laws... you'll die a death far worse than that suffered by the monks who perished with your scrolls." "Oh, you find humor in my decree?" "There is only one Supreme Executioner." "And those who try to take his place are like children trying to carve wood as a master carpenter." "Most will injure their own hands." "You do not fear death?" "I do not cling to life." "There is a difference." "Remove him." "This wrestler is named Black Steppe Boar." "A prisoner captured in Scythia." "Do you know why he is named after the boar?" "His resemblance is extraordinary." "He is called Boar because he has killed such without a weapon many times." "Boar will advance." "He will seize you." "You will demonstrate how to break the grasp." "You cover my eyes?" "Is that just?" "The Great Khan wants a report on how you fight blindfolded." "He is a most capricious fool." "And if you were not cowards, you would tell him the same." "Quiet, monk!" "The general you killed was the son of Subutai." "Do you know that name, monk?" "I do not." "Greatest military commander ever to serve Genghis Khan." "You slayed his son." "This is a crime beyond crimes." "Yet... you do not cling to life, as you say." "Death means nothing." "What is a Khan to do?" "A merchant once gifted me a white crane from Lesser Armenia... a water bird that was most uncommon... because it had been born all black." "Black white crane." "I knew it was an auspicious being that would bring me fortune, but... that black white crane refused to stay on my lake." "Always, it would fly away." "Just its natural calling, you see." "So..." "I served him and my fortune... by cutting one wing." ""By law of the Grand Khan," "Lord of Lords..."" "Why do you think I had you fight blindfolded?" "Because I'm a capricious fool?" "Or to see if you are capable of your Taoist secrets and skills while in the dark?" ""So be it."" "Because I knew the moment you were presented, you would not be like the obedient painter... the resigned astrologer, the noble poet contented with wine." "You would refuse to serve the Mongol Empire." "To this day... that black white crane remains on my lake." "He is mine... and he is beloved." "Are you now ready... to teach my Ministers of Warfare?" "Tea for the monk." "Do not confuse me with one of your holy Buddhists." "Wine." "You were punished for killing the son of Subutai." "Never forget that." "I shall not." "The monks of Wudang spend their lives trying to achieve true emptiness." "For only when the sage can overcome the self does he enter into the Tao." "That is a dark mystery beyond all mysteries, and a gift you gave to me." "Blind?" "I now see the world with one hundred eyes." "Give him more wine." "I've just captured your horse." "I know." "Then know this." "There are four Taoist temples still standing in the Wudang Mountains." "My men will go there in a fortnight and burn them to the ground." "At my single command, your religion can be wiped off the face of this earth." "Or it can live... grow... thrive... if you prove its value to me." "By training your ministers?" "And someone else." "You must be the prince." "I am called Altai." "Why are you here?" "Lessons." "And what do you intend to teach me in these..." "lessons?" "I'm here to teach you that even the son of a royal khan is capable of humility and learning." "Then take the broom, Altai, and sweep my floor." "Good answer." "If only you believed it." "You are a little nomad weed in the garden of the world." "They wish you to grow into a flowering tree." "What is the most important part of such a tree?" "The many branches and the flowering." "I speak of legacy." "Ah!" "Thank you for untangling your elusive metaphor." "We begin with roots." "Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh." "May I ask a question?" "Do." "Uh, uh, uh!" "If you wish calligraphy on your wall, why not summon a painter who can see?" "Can you not read the character I made?" "It is a symbol for fire." "Then what is wrong?" " It's upside down." " Precisely." "This is the kung fu character for patience, control." "Remember this in the future, always," ""Never give way to anger."" "Sifu?" "Have I not trained you into exhausted silence yet?" "Today's lesson is done, My Radiant Highness." "You cannot see it, I know." "But..." "I assure you it has been overseen by a great Chinese architect... made from the most precious of woods and hides, and..." "Imbecile." "Someone has painted the character of fire upside down." "I did." "Hmm." "Huh?" "Hmm." "On this day of the New Year..." "I ordain this place the Hall of the Fourth Treasure." "I name you Hundred Eyes Minister of Martial Affairs." "And so..." "I ask of you, as a Wudang priest, give my son his Chinese name." "There have been 500 over time who have held the name Emperor of All China," "Son of Heaven." "Ordained by blood, there are those who would have been better suited to harvest cow dung than to rule the greatest empire on earth." "There are those who were as silver, a lesser metal, but worthy of coinage." "And then there are those... like cold stone, who force their strength and fury and win the title by fear and intimidation." "Blood is nothing." "Heart and spirit make the sage." "And by this..." "I give this boy the name Jingim." ""True gold."" "Hmm." "So be it." "He will walk out of here with this name, and carry it as his own into a tomorrow only the oracles can see." "As for you, priest... this temple is yours." "_"