“I want to help too!”
That very feeling was the burning desire welling up from deep within Seo Daeryong’s heart.
“Of course, I know very well that I might only become a burden. Even so, I want to fight for my master.”
With his master possibly in danger, he could not simply wait around at the safe house.
It would have been nice if Geom Mugeuk had at least joked that he would make an excellent hostage for the enemy, but Geom Mugeuk only stared at him in silence.
‘I shouldn’t have said anything.’
He had nearly died even in the makeshift prison cell if not for Jang Ho. That was the level of his abilities at present.
His desire to save his master was genuine, but that did not mean he could become a burden in such an important matter.
Seo Daeryong smiled and changed his attitude.
“I was only saying. You know me, don’t you? Have you ever seen me go somewhere dangerous? I’ll wait at the safe house for the Young Cult Leader to return with my master.”
Having said it aloud, his pride was wounded and he was still reluctant to give up, so he added awkwardly,
“Isn’t there some way to suddenly become much stronger in three days?”
Geom Mugeuk suddenly thrust three fingers forward, then immediately shot away.
“Where are you going, Young Cult Leader?”
But Geom Mugeuk had already vanished from sight.
Seo Daeryong was puzzled.
‘Why did he hold up three fingers?’
Was it because he had asked whether there was a way to become stronger in three days? Or because the Bongsan Sword Sect gathering was in three days?
Whichever it was, did he really need to hold up his fingers like that?
‘Where did he suddenly go?’
The vanished Geom Mugeuk did not return after one hour, nor after two.
He still had not returned by the time Seo Daeryong let out this half-joking lament.
“You forgot about me, didn’t you? Now I understand. You meant that you’d return in three days, right?”
Just then, someone descended behind him with the sound of rushing wind.
“That would be difficult. My movement technique is too fast for that.”
Seo Daeryong spun around in surprise.
“Where have you been—huh?”
Seo Daeryong could not finish his sentence.
Geom Mugeuk was drenched in sweat. If he had sweated this much despite his level of martial prowess, then surely he had—
“Did you unify the martial world? Or at least the Central Plains?”
“If I had, I’d be drenched in blood, not sweat.”
As he spoke, Geom Mugeuk took a small box from inside his robe.
“What is this?”
“The answer to your question.”
“Huh? What did I ask?”
“Open it.”
Seo Daeryong took the box and opened it. Inside lay a single pill that glowed with a brilliant blue light. At a glance, it radiated an extraordinary energy.
“No! I don’t want it! I’m not eating it. I won’t eat it even if I die!”
“Do you even know what it is?”
“It’s a spiritual medicine, isn’t it? I’m not going to remain indebted to you, Young Cult Leader. Give this to Lord Jang instead.”
“It’s not a spiritual medicine.”
“……It isn’t?”
To the still-suspicious Seo Daeryong, Geom Mugeuk revealed the pill’s true identity.
“It’s an Explosive Qi Pill. It will let you unleash your demonic arts with greater power, but in exchange, it will shorten your lifespan. You asked, didn’t you? Whether there was a way to become stronger in three days. Here it is.”
Seo Daeryong stared down at the pill with trembling eyes.
“How much will it shorten my life?”
“It differs from person to person. It might take away one year, or it might take away ten.”
The brilliant blue light seemed to tempt him, as though it were trying to devour a human life.
Then the face of the Blood Heaven Demon Blade overlapped with the pill.
‘Master.’
If his strong master had ended up in such a situation, it meant that he was in danger.
‘Regardless of what anyone else does, I can’t just sit here.’
Locks between people were often fastened not by some grand event, but by things that seemed insignificant. That had been the case with the Blood Heaven Demon Blade as well.
The lock had been fastened the moment he realized that his neat and meticulous master had put him to bed while he was drunk.
His master could have thrown him into any room—or even the stable—after seeing him making a drunken mess of himself. Instead, he had put him in his own bed.
That was when the lock had been fastened.
I’m going to come to love this person.
Today, Seo Daeryong took another step along the thread of fate that bound him to his master.
“You never know, right? If my master is truly in danger, I might be able to save him because I took this pill.”
“It might shorten your lifespan by ten years. Or even twenty.”
“If another person’s lifespan can be extended in exchange, then that’s fine.”
Without hesitation, Seo Daeryong gulped down the pill. Why was this terrifying medicine so sweet?
In any case, since he had taken the medicine, Geom Mugeuk hurriedly had him circulate his qi.
“Use your cultivation method to dissolve the medicine.”
Seo Daeryong sat down and began circulating his energy.
Geom Mugeuk injected a strand of internal energy into his back, helping him dissolve the medicine.
Seo Daeryong circulated his true qi once, twice, then three times. With Geom Mugeuk’s help, the medicinal effects were completely absorbed into his body.
After finishing his circulation, Seo Daeryong opened his eyes. His gaze was far clearer and deeper than before he had absorbed the pill.
From his dantian, he could feel an internal energy that was incomparably more profound than before.
After examining his condition, the first thing he said was,
“It wasn’t some strange medicine, was it?”
Geom Mugeuk’s relaxed smile served as his answer.
“What medicine was it?”
Then an unexpected name emerged.
“The Azure Jade Divine Pill.”
Seo Daeryong was startled at the name. It was a spiritual medicine even more effective at increasing internal energy than the Demon Essence Pill he had taken earlier. It was not some pill that made him stronger by shortening his life.
“This precious thing!”
“I thought you wouldn’t take it if I simply gave it to you.”
“Of course I wouldn’t! Take the internal energy back!”
“Unfortunately, I haven’t learned the Star-Absorbing Demon Art.”
“Young Cult Leader!”
Seo Daeryong looked at Geom Mugeuk with trembling eyes.
“You were lucky. Fortunately, there was exactly one left in a single place.”
It was an era in which even money could not easily buy spiritual medicines, but Geom Mugeuk possessed the wealth of experience he had accumulated before his regression. He knew better than anyone where people sold what. Besides, he had earned money during this journey as well.
“The old man will be pleased when he hears that you tried to help him even at the cost of shortening your life. He’ll scold you as a fool on the surface, but he’ll be genuinely moved. I’ll make sure to take credit for telling him, too.”
Seo Daeryong felt embarrassed and burdened.
“To be honest, I thought it was a spiritual medicine. There’s no way you would give me something like that, Young Cult Leader. And you made up the name on the way here, didn’t you? What kind of name is Explosive Qi Pill? It’s so tacky. Don’t think you can fool me again! I was the top student admitted to Hwangcheon Pavilion! I’m not some pushover who gets tricked wherever he goes!”
Of course, to Geom Mugeuk, he was the biggest pushover in the world.
“I’ll have to be careful around that top student from now on. He just stuffs things into his mouth without even knowing what they are!”
“No, that’s not what happened!”
Seo Daeryong was delighted. His greatest weakness was that his internal energy was insufficient compared to the powerful Heaven-Slaying Demon Blade Form, and Geom Mugeuk had made up for that weakness.
‘How am I ever supposed to repay this kindness?’
Just then, Geom Mugeuk held up two fingers.
“By the way, what does that mean? This time there are two.”
“It means I’m going to show you the second way to become stronger in three days.”
Geom Mugeuk went into his quarters and came back out with something.
It was a protective armor. One of the pieces of armor he had obtained by putting on four layers of armor from the treasures the Silver-Han Merchant Guild Master had given his father as a gift.
The White Scaled Armor.
As its name suggested, it was a protective armor of pure white.
“I thought it would suit you. I had originally intended to give it to you anyway.”
It suited him even better today. This pure-white armor was a perfect match for someone willing to risk his life for his master.
“No, I’m really fine.”
Seo Daeryong waved his hands and backed away.
“Please don’t turn me into such a shameless person.”
“I’m lending it to you.”
Of course, Seo Daeryong did not believe him. He was going to give it to him anyway.
“How much?”
“About fifty years?”
Seo Daeryong wore an expression that said, Of course.
Then Geom Mugeuk said something that stopped him from taking another step back.
“You said you wanted to help the old man, didn’t you?”
Geom Mugeuk approached and handed him the White Scaled Armor. Then he opened his collar and showed him what he was wearing underneath. He was wearing the Black Dragon Hidden Armor.
“I’m wearing one too, so why are you being so impertinent and refusing?”
“No, that’s not the issue!”
“If you were sincere when you said you wanted to help your master, then put it on.”
How could Seo Daeryong refuse when Geom Mugeuk put it that way?
Seo Daeryong took off his clothes and put on the White Scaled Armor. Yes, staying alive was probably how he could help Geom Mugeuk.
The burden was the burden, but the White Scaled Armor was truly incredible.
“Ah, this is wonderful! It’s so comfortable that it feels like I’m not wearing anything at all.”
“Though it’s that thin and comfortable, it can block even fairly powerful sword qi.”
Seo Daeryong planted his great saber into the ground and gazed at his reflection in the blade. It felt so unfamiliar. The treasured garments, the disciple of the Blood Heaven Demon Blade wearing those garments, and even the great saber reflecting this image.
“It suits you.”
“I must have saved you in my previous life, Young Cult Leader.”
Geom Mugeuk smiled meaningfully.
‘Sorry, but Ian was the one who saved me. You must have saved me in the life before that.’
Geom Mugeuk looked far into the future.
“Fifty years from now, if you return this to me and say, ‘I used it well,’ won’t we laugh as we remember this day fifty years ago? We’ll spend that day reminiscing about the past. It’ll be a wonderful time.”
The thought of that moment filled Seo Daeryong’s heart to bursting.
“Will I still be alive then?”
“That’s why you should always wear it.”
And as though there were still one more thing remaining, Geom Mugeuk held up a single finger again.
“What is it this time?”
“The last of the three ways to become stronger in three days.”
The final gift of the day remained.
“Your internal energy has increased, and you’re wearing protective armor. Now, it’s time to fight.”
Seo Daeryong’s eyes widened. He realized that Geom Mugeuk intended to train him through actual combat.
“I won’t teach you martial arts while the old man is here. But there’s no problem with having an actual sparring match, is there?”
To receive actual combat training from the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Church—this was a fortuitous opportunity that could not be bought even with a fortune.
Geom Mugeuk announced the start of the sparring match with a frivolous remark.
“I’m supposed to be the incarnation of greed, yet I’ve given you too many precious things. Wouldn’t beating you up a little help me feel better?”
Seo Daeryong neither refused nor rejoiced.
He merely stared at Geom Mugeuk in silence.
When the first actual sparring match ended,
Seo Daeryong was crying. He had truly tried not to cry, not wanting to burden Geom Mugeuk, but the tears poured down anyway. Did he really deserve to be loved this much?
“Did it hurt that badly?”
Seo Daeryong answered without raising his head.
“Yes, it hurt terribly. Do you feel better now?”
With his head bowed, he heard Geom Mugeuk’s voice.
“No. This is only the beginning. Get up.”
The tears did not stop easily.
* * *
Geom Ujin stood by the window, watching his son and Seo Daeryong.
Hwi stood one step behind him, watching as well. He wondered what the Cult Leader was thinking at that moment.
‘If I were you, I would be proud, Cult Leader.’
If he had a son like that, anyway. It was a life Hwi could never have.
After silently gazing at his son, Geom Ujin slowly walked to the tea table, poured himself some tea, and drank it.
“You heard what I said—that the person who caused this incident might be someone from my past, didn’t you?”
“Yes, Cult Leader.”
After hearing those words, his son’s words kept circling in his mind.
“Did anyone come to mind?”
“No, no one.”
Then Geom Ujin suddenly spoke.
“There is one person who came to mind for me.”
Hwi looked at Geom Ujin in surprise.
“I had completely forgotten him, but while recalling the past, I remembered. There was one person who had always troubled me.”
Geom Ujin toyed with the empty teacup.
“He’s already dead.”
“Then how can you be thinking of him?”
Geom Ujin poured tea into the cup as he answered.
“Because we never found his corpse at the time.”
“!”
What if it truly was him?
“So much time has passed.”
Thinking of the person who might have returned through all those years, Geom Ujin quietly drank his tea.
* * *
The actual combat training continued until the morning of the third day.
They sparred while saving even their sleeping hours, except for the time spent eating.
This actual combat training was on an entirely different level from all the training Seo Daeryong had experienced until then.
Seo Daeryong passed the brink of death countless times. There were so many moments when he barely escaped disaster. It was a continuous succession of moments when he thought, Ah, so this is how I die.
But he did not die. His sparring partner was Geom Mugeuk, after all.
It was sparring solely for Seo Daeryong’s sake. It was training and instruction meant to pull him up to the next stage, and then the stage after that.
Geom Mugeuk did not say a single word, yet he corrected Seo Daeryong’s flawed postures and habits. He did not say a word, yet he taught him how to move in one situation and respond in another. As sword and saber clashed, Seo Daeryong learned through his body.
Because of that, Seo Daeryong felt his skills improving with every technique he used. He did not realize it, but his skills truly were improving.
He had only said it as a joke. He had asked whether there was any way to become dramatically stronger in three days.
The great saber strapped to Seo Daeryong’s back gleamed in the morning sunlight. The Seo Daeryong of three days ago and the Seo Daeryong of now were two different people.
“Daeryong.”
“Yes, Young Cult Leader.”
“What should we do now?”
Seo Daeryong knew what Geom Mugeuk was feeling when he asked that question. He knew why Geom Mugeuk had devoted himself so completely to him over the past three days.
So that he would not feel like a burden.
So that he would be the one to say these words.
“We’re going to rescue my master now. Will you come with me?”