The next morning, I was in my private training hall.
I had slept soundly for the first time in ages. I had slept so well and woken so refreshed that I wondered if I had greeted a morning like this at any point recently.
When I woke after such a good sleep, feeling light as if I had finished some great task, I decided to attempt something I had been putting off.
At the center of the training hall, where no one could enter without my permission, I cast the Space-Time Transposition Art and the Secret Art of Temporal Heaven in succession.
Then time within the Space-Time Transposition Art began to flow slowly.
Now, through the Secret Art of Temporal Heaven, I could use three times more time than in reality.
Being able to use three times as much time as others was more tremendous than anything, but in a situation where my goal was the great completion of the Twelfth Star of the Nine Flowers Demonic Art, it was still insufficient. I needed to secure more time.
Even so, I spent half of my training time cultivating the Nine Flowers Demonic Art. The reason I did not devote all my training solely to the Secret Art of Temporal Heaven was that I never knew what might happen at any moment.
In the world within the Space-Time Transposition Art, I unleashed the Nine Flowers Demonic Art.
First Form: Annihilation.
Saaaaaaak!
The terrifying illusions of four evil spirits, chilling just to behold, appeared simultaneously in the east, west, south, and north, and swung their swords.
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
The frightening one, the handsome one. The one that gave off a strange sense of mystery, and the one that looked cleverer than anyone else. No matter when I saw them, they were reassuring, and I had seen them so often that they now felt almost like friends.
And in the meantime, there had been changes as well. The four evil spirits in the east, west, south, and north had become faster and stronger than before. Their positions of appearance, directions of attack, even the timing of their disappearance—I could handle them with greater freedom.
If I could achieve great completion of the Nine Flowers Demonic Art and summon the Heavenly Demon Soul, would I be able to form an emotional exchange with them as well? Would the Heavenly Demon Soul and the lesser evil spirits stand before me in such a relationship, like me and the Demon Venerables? I found myself harboring such pointless expectations.
Next, I displayed the Second Form: Great Destruction.
Sssssssss.
Originally, the frightening-looking evil spirit among the four directions split into six, but now two more had been added, and it split into eight.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwak!
The eight evil spirits swept away everything in front of them and surged forward. No matter when I used it, Great Destruction always made me feel refreshed.
Third Form: Great Demon Wall.
A massive wall of astral qi rose before my eyes. Just as Father had said—that the higher the realm, the smaller its size became—the Great Demon Wall had also become smaller than at first.
When it reached its final realm, it would become as small as a shield that blocked only one person’s body.
But I had a grand plan for this Great Demon Wall. I would take that perfected Great Demon Wall, small as a shield, and raise it at this size while preserving all of its power. It was something impossible to achieve with great completion of the Tenth Star. If I could achieve great completion of the Twelfth Star, then perhaps?
Until now, I had repeatedly trained up to the Third Form.
And today, I intended to display the Fourth Form for the first time. Having recently faced the Twelve Zodiac Kings, my perspective on martial arts had changed, and now that my realm had also risen, I felt that the time had finally come to train the Fourth Form in earnest.
Fourth Form of the Nine Flowers Demonic Art: Dark Flash.
The moment I displayed the Fourth Form, the surroundings flickered. I had the illusion that I had closed and opened my eyes.
Though it failed, it was not a bad start for a first attempt.
I recited the formula again and attempted the Fourth Form.
This time as well, the surroundings darkened and then brightened. The time they remained dark was longer than before. It was as if a lamp had been covered by a hand and then revealed again.
I repeated it, and repeated it again.
As was the case with most martial arts, the further one progressed in the Nine Flowers Demonic Art, the greater the amount of internal energy required. This Fourth Form also required an immense amount of internal energy, so it was not a martial art that could be used carelessly.
Because of that, even I, who possessed vast internal energy, had to replenish it through qi circulation and breath regulation from time to time.
And so the attempts continued.
At last!
Whoosh!
Complete darkness settled around me.
The world went black, as though the light of the sun had vanished.
It was darkness itself, as if light had never existed in the first place, a pitch-black void where one truly could not see an inch ahead. It was a darkness that even the Divine Eye Art could not pierce.
Shiiing.
Within the darkness, a single streak of light cut across.
A single streak of light said to sever anything.
After the light passed, the surroundings brightened.
For now, I had faced an imaginary enemy, but if I had unleashed it toward someone real, that person would be lying ahead with their body severed.
‘I did it!’
I unleashed Dark Flash once more.
Darkness descended in every direction.
Shiiiing.
This time, the light was drawn diagonally. The direction of the flash could be determined according to the will of the one displaying the martial art.
Filled with a sense of accomplishment at successfully displaying the Fourth Form, I stood alone in the space of the Space-Time Transposition Art and laughed loudly.
If it was going to come easily, it could happen in a single day like this; but if it was going to torment you, it could take months or even years. That was the nature of an ultimate martial art like the Nine Flowers Demonic Art.
Of course, just as the other forms continued to develop, this was not the end of the Fourth Form either.
The more I trained it, the deeper the darkness would become, and the stronger its power. It had been passed down that a Dark Flash that had reached great completion could not be blocked by any protective astral qi.
When darkness falls, the opponent must die.
That is the Fourth Form of the Nine Flowers Demonic Art: Dark Flash.
* * *
When I finished training and came out, a welcome visitor had arrived.
“Young Cult Leader!”
The great saber he wore at his waist suited him so well now that the dignity of the Lord of the Yellow Springs Pavilion could be felt naturally. It was none other than Seo Daeryong.
“Have you eaten?”
“No.”
“I’m hungry. Let’s have lunch together and talk.”
I had a maidservant bring lunch for Seo Daeryong and me. Since I had trained for far longer than the time that had passed in reality, I was extremely hungry.
“Congratulations on safely concluding the talks yesterday.”
“Thank you.”
“Right now, it’s all anyone in the cult is talking about.”
“They’re only talking about the dancing, aren’t they?”
Unable to deny it, Seo Daeryong smiled awkwardly. The young alliance leader of the Sado Alliance dancing, and the Young Cult Leader of the Divine Cult and the Murim Alliance Leader’s granddaughter joining in to dance—it had been a major incident. The rumors would soon spread not only through the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, but across all of the Central Plains.
“I should have been there.”
Yes, if it had been Seo Daeryong, he would have danced with us. He would have made a fuss about how embarrassing it was, but he would have jumped in even before Jin Haryeong.
“I thought about sneaking over to watch, but I couldn’t do that either.”
Because only the unit leaders had been mobilized to guard the surroundings, he, as a pavilion lord, had been unable to attend.
“I don’t know about anyone else, but I wanted to see Miss Jin again.”
“You should have come. You could have kicked open the tavern door and shouted, ‘I am the champion who defeated Miss Jin in the final duel of the Little Dragon Tournament!’”
“If I had done that, the orthodox masters would have beaten me up. No, actually, Master would have thrashed me first.”
Geom Mugeuk laughed at Seo Daeryong’s banter.
“What about the results of the talks? Did they go well?”
“We decided to make it our top priority for the Demonic, Righteous, and Unorthodox factions to join forces and wipe them out.”
“You truly accomplished something remarkable.”
At Seo Daeryong’s admiration, Geom Mugeuk spoke humbly.
“Father was the one who accomplished it.”
Seo Daeryong quietly stared at Geom Mugeuk’s face.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I just think that at times like this, you’re allowed to brag a little. You achieved a great undertaking that will never happen again in this world, didn’t you?”
This was the reason he had come today as well—to say these words. It was what Geom Mugeuk had always done for him. He praised him without overlooking even the smallest thing, then praised him again. Thanks to the strength of those words, the gloomy, pessimistic mere investigator he had once been had come this far.
“This humility is already calculated bragging.”
“You’ve succeeded. Even when you’re humble, you look impressive.”
Seo Daeryong asked all sorts of questions about the talks. What the Murim Alliance Leader was like, what the Sado Alliance Leader was like, which masters had come with them, whether Jo Chunbae had been nervous. He asked every question he was curious about.
“Are you disappointed? That you couldn’t be there?”
“A little.”
“You should have asked. If it was a request from you, I would have granted it.”
If it had been Seo Daeryong, I might have specially placed him beside Jang Ho.
“Everyone already knows I’m close to you, Young Cult Leader.”
He had not wanted to become the subject of gossip that private favors had been exchanged. More than being criticized himself, he had wanted to avoid causing harm to Geom Mugeuk.
“So what? Times like this are when you show it off. I cherish our Pavilion Lord Seo this much, so no one but me had better bully him!”
“What do you mean, no one should bully me? That’s not praise!”
Even as a joke, Seo Daeryong felt pleased.
After the two finished eating, they came out into the yard.
“Don’t just scrape by with meals because you live alone. Make sure you eat properly.”
“I understand.”
Seo Daeryong, who had greeted him and was about to leave, stopped in his tracks.
“Oh, right. Have you heard news about Martial Artist Yi?”
“No.”
“You don’t know where she is either?”
“I’m sure she’s doing well.”
At the indifferent reply, Seo Daeryong shook his head with an expression that seemed to say, “How could you be so heartless!”
“You may not remember, but among your subordinates, Young Cult Leader, there is a person named Ian. She was the woman called the Pretty Heart.”
At Seo Daeryong’s banter, Geom Mugeuk played along.
“I feel like I might remember her.”
“That’s too much! At the very least, you should know where Martial Artist Yi is and what she’s doing!”
“Do you know?”
“I do. Martial Artist Yi is currently in the North Sea. Her heart is freezing in that cold place!”
“In the North Sea? Why there?”
“How would I know that?”
Ian’s purpose in leaving the cult had been to recruit Seojin, the younger sibling of the Ghost Spirit, as the second squad leader of the Ghost Shadow Unit. Since it was her first journey through murim alone, I had told her not to hurry and to look around many places before returning. It seemed she had gone all the way to the North Sea.
“Aren’t you worried?”
“What is there to worry about? She can use this chance to travel around and experience the jianghu. Meet villains, meet lechers.”
You fool, who’s worrying about whom?
Ian had as many as nine tails. Her Flying Heaven Sword Art was also at the Ninth Star.
She was kind Ian only in front of us. If there was anyone to worry about, it would be the enemies who stood before her.
Geom Mugeuk trusted Ian. He trusted her skill and intelligence, but there was something he trusted even more.
She was the one who had let me live and return like this. I trust the bond between us, and I trust her fate.
But Seo Daeryong did not seem to feel the same.
“Ah, our Martial Artist Yi is so innocent, I’m worried she might be getting deceived somewhere.”
“Like you during the martial tournament?”
Back then, Seo Daeryong had nearly fallen head over heels for a woman.
“Why are you bringing up something from so long ago? I won’t fall for it anymore. I’m spicy ginger now.”
“To me, you still look like a crisp green apple.”
Pretending not to hear, Seo Daeryong changed the subject back to worrying about Ian.
“She has to check everything with a silver needle whenever she eats. I wonder if she took enough hidden weapons with her. If she goes around without wearing a veil, all sorts of scoundrels will swarm around her.”
“By the way, how did you know Ian was in the North Sea?”
“I went and asked the first squad leader of the Ghost Shadow Unit. He said the last place they received contact from was the North Sea.”
It seemed he had gone to ask Cheongmyeon.
“Have you been to the North Sea?”
“Of course.”
“I’ve never been there even once. Then have you been to the Ice Palace too?”
“Naturally.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve even met the Lord of the Ice Palace?”
Geom Mugeuk nodded. Of course, it had been before his regression. He had ties with the Ice Palace back then.
“If you go to the entrance of the Ice Palace, they freeze people and put them on display in a row.”
“Oh, surely not?”
“It’s true. They freeze everyone who stood against the Ice Palace and display them. This is what happens if you oppose us! A powerful warning.”
“Then all those people must be dead.”
“Who knows? Maybe when the ice melts, they move like jiangshi.”
As if the thought alone frightened him, Seo Daeryong flinched.
“That’s not all. If you go to the snowy mountains behind the Ice Palace, snowmen live there. Those snowmen cultivate a spiritual herb called the Ice-Snow Herb, and if you consume its fruit, you can gain tremendous internal energy.”
“Really? You can’t just lie to me because I’ve never been there.”
“If you don’t want to believe it, don’t.”
Seo Daeryong was already tempted. You fool, you’re this easy to deceive, and you’re worrying about someone else?
Stories of people being frozen alive and displayed, snowmen, and Ice-Snow Herbs were all legends passed down in tales.
“If you’re that worried about Ian, go look for her.”
“What about the Yellow Springs Pavilion?”
“Take leave and go. I’ll make it so you can be away.”
“What about my monthly stipend?”
“Of course you won’t receive it. It’s a personal matter. You should be willing to make that much sacrifice for Ian.”
Seo Daeryong blinked for a moment in contemplation, then took one step back.
“We’re not quite that close. And I’m very sensitive to the cold.”
Geom Mugeuk laughed at Seo Daeryong’s banter.
“Then I’ll be going.”
After Seo Daeryong left, Geom Mugeuk looked up at the sky. Though he had woken up in such a good mood that morning, he realized he had begun the day without looking up at the sky even once.
Ian, what is the sky like over the North Sea?
* * *
After sending Seo Daeryong off, the place Geom Mugeuk headed to was the residence of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
Geom Mugeuk, who had been about to stride in boldly while calling for the elder, stopped in his tracks.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon was in the flower garden prepared in the corner of the yard. It was that very flower garden where he had once pruned flowering tree branches with the Heaven-Destroying Great Saber.
There, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was planting flowers together with the One Flower Sword Venerable.
The man who had stood proudly before the orthodox and unorthodox masters yesterday and the man now planting flowers felt like completely different people.
At that moment, someone whispered beside Geom Mugeuk.
“They say late-blooming passions are the most frightening.”
When he turned around, it was the Drunken Demon. It was not something he should be saying, considering that lately he and Yeobin had been in quite the good mood.
“He’s been like that all morning.”
“What are you doing here, Brother?”
“I had something to say to the Sword Venerable.”
“Then go say it.”
The Drunken Demon’s gaze turned toward the two of them.
“Would I ruin such a good mood after so long?”
It was understandable that he hesitated. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon probably had no idea just how broadly he was smiling right now as he planted flowers with the One Flower Sword Venerable.
It seemed spring had come to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s heart as well.
Then the Blood Heaven Blade Demon shouted from inside.
“What are you two whispering about like a pair of rats?”
Geom Mugeuk shouted back to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
“Don’t mind us! We’re passersby! Just two rats passing through!”
Together with the Drunken Demon, he walked out of the place.
“Why were you trying to meet the Sword Venerable?”
“There’s something that’s been bothering me a little, so I was going to ask for her advice.”
“What is it?”
“Forget it. It’s nothing much.”
But Geom Mugeuk did not let it pass.
“Brother, a lot of problems that happen later come about because you dismiss them as nothing now, don’t they? What is it? Tell me already!”
Since Geom Mugeuk went that far, the Drunken Demon revealed what it was.
“There’s a place that sends me wine every year. Every year, without fail, when March comes, they send wine. But this year, the wine hasn’t come.”
If it had been an ordinary sect, he would not have brought it up like this.
“Where is that place?”
An unexpected name flowed from the Drunken Demon’s mouth.
“The North Sea Ice Palace.”