“Careful, careful. There’s a stone there. Watch your step.”
Seo Daeryong, who had been walking beside Dana, was anxiously scanning the ground.
“I’m fine! Anyone watching would think I’m crossing through a formation.”
Dana’s stomach was round and protruding. Pregnant, she was two or three months away from giving birth.
“It must be hard. Let me carry you.”
Seo Daeryong was not one to care about other people’s gazes. As he truly crouched down in front of her to carry her, Dana massaged his shoulders and said,
“Walking and moving deliberately is healthy for both me and the baby. I’ll head back, so go on now.”
“Let’s go home together. I’ll see you off and then go.”
“I’m fine, so go quickly. Master is waiting.”
Dana had come out to see Seo Daeryong off to his training.
“Can you go back alone?”
“Why? Are you worried enemies are lying in ambush on the way home?”
Though Seo Daeryong was making a fuss over everything, he had never been as happy as he was these days. He had been joyful when they married, but hearing that she was pregnant had truly made him ecstatic. The moment he heard the news, he had briefly lost his mind.
I’m going to be a father?
There was truly no way to describe this feeling. It was a joy of an entirely different nature than being admitted to Huangcheon Pavilion as the top student or becoming Hyeolcheon Doma’s disciple. It was such an immense joy that often it didn’t even feel real.
Of course, along with the joy, his worries were as great as Mount Tai. The baby had to be born healthy. Dana had to be safe. The child had to grow up healthy. He was already bringing in all sorts of future worries upon himself.
“Wait a moment.”
Seo Daeryong carefully placed his hand on Dana’s belly as she tried to turn back.
“He’s quiet today.”
Dana looked at Seo Daeryong with a smile. Could she really be this happy?
“I’ll be going now.”
“Go carefully. Don’t fall.”
“I’m a martial artist too! It’s not like my internal energy disappears just because I’m pregnant!”
After seeing her off, Seo Daeryong arrived at Hyeolcheon Doma’s residence.
“I’m late, Master.”
His demeanor was different from when he had been with Dana. When it came to training, he worked harder than anyone.
He greeted Hyeolcheon Doma and was about to head out to the training yard.
“Take this with you when you go.”
“What is this?”
What Hyeolcheon Doma handed him was medicinal ingredients.
“Ma Ui sent someone.”
“Ma Ui?”
“He said it’s good for both the baby and the mother, and to make sure she takes it.”
“But why would Ma Ui send this to me?”
“How should I know?”
He wasn’t close enough with Ma Ui to receive such a thing.
Then, a welcome voice came from behind.
“Why do you think? A friend asked him for a favor.”
Surprised, Seo Daeryong turned around to see Geom Mugeuk standing there.
“Young Lord!”
Seo Daeryong ran to Geom Mugeuk.
Hyeolcheon Doma, standing by the window, wore an even more surprised expression than Seo Daeryong.
“That person is a friend of Ma Ui?”
“Ah!”
Seo Daeryong looked at his master with a surprised face. He was a disciple, yet he hadn’t even known that?
In other words, it was his master who had prepared the medicine.
Before Seo Daeryong could say thank you, Hyeolcheon Doma disappeared inside from the window.
Geom Mugeuk spoke on Hyeolcheon Doma’s behalf.
“Disciple, I specially asked Ma Ui to prepare it. Elder, you could take some credit for this!”
Seo Daeryong shouted with a face full of emotion.
“Thank you, Master!”
No answer came from inside.
Geom Mugeuk congratulated Seo Daeryong.
“You’re finally becoming a father.”
“The one who seemed least likely to marry, the ugliest one, the most pathetic one, I… I’m becoming a father.”
Just thinking about it choked Seo Daeryong up.
“This is all thanks to the Young Lord and Master.”
“I’ll give you a congratulatory gift later.”
“It’s not necessary. The Young Lord’s very existence is a gift.”
“Really? I was going to give you something very expensive and nice.”
“…….”
“…….”
“My child doesn’t yet know the Young Lord’s existence… so maybe a gift is needed after all.”
Geom Mugeuk laughed loudly, and Seo Daeryong laughed along.
Then, Hyeolcheon Doma’s voice came from inside.
“If you’re here, stop yapping and come in.”
As Geom Mugeuk went inside, he said to Seo Daeryong,
“You’ll have to pass on secret techniques later. On how to raise a child.”
“Just let the birth happen first!”
With that, Geom Mugeuk entered Hyeolcheon Doma’s room. The moment he entered, he took a deep breath and smelled the air.
“Ah, the smell of books! I’ve truly missed it!”
Hyeolcheon Doma asked with a still-surprised expression.
“Did you truly attain mastery?”
“No, it was difficult, so I just came down.”
Hyeolcheon Doma didn’t believe those words. Rather, his gaze toward Geom Mugeuk was full of certainty.
“You truly attained it.”
“Why do you think so?”
Hyeolcheon Doma’s thoughts were the same as his father’s.
“If you hadn’t attained mastery, you wouldn’t have come down.”
The playfulness vanished from Geom Mugeuk’s face. He respectfully cupped his hands and bowed at the waist.
“Thanks to you, Elder, showing me the right path, I have attained mastery and returned. Thank you truly.”
The gaze with which Hyeolcheon Doma looked at the bowing Geom Mugeuk also became exceedingly respectful.
Hyeolcheon Doma also cupped his hands and returned the courtesy.
“I offer my congratulations on your mastery of the Guhwamagong.”
This greeting was not for Geom Mugeuk but a show of respect for the Guhwamagong. One would show respect merely upon seeing the Guhwamagong unfold, let alone upon witnessing it reach grand completion.
After exchanging greetings, Hyeolcheon Doma looked at Geom Mugeuk in silence.
Geom Mugeuk had surprised him many times before, but he had never been as surprised as he was now.
Yes, he had believed Geom Mugeuk would naturally attain mastery, but he hadn’t known it would happen this quickly.
Even when he heard that mastery was looming before his eyes, he had thought it would take at least several years.
After all, even Geon Woojin, who was said to possess heaven-defying talent, had attained mastery much later in life.
“What do you plan to do now?”
In response to Hyeolcheon Doma’s question, Geom Mugeuk pulled a book from the bookshelf and sat on the bed, opening it.
“I’ve heard that the reason people who achieve great success fall is because they try to make drastic changes to their lives. One should change only a little, but they try to change too much at once.”
Geom Mugeuk looked up from the book at Hyeolcheon Doma.
“Nothing will have changed. Returning after departing the sect, I will still come to see you first, sit here and read books. I will learn martial arts from Master, spar with the Sword Venerable, and help the Poison King with his poison research.”
And with the power of this unchanging life, I will achieve the Grand Completion of the Twelve Stars.
* * *
Having returned to his residence, Geom Mugeuk unleashed the Space-Time Transference Art.
A vast plain unfolded before his eyes.
There, he summoned the Cheonma Spirit.
The Cheonma Spirit had not appeared before his father earlier, but now it manifested immediately.
‘Why did you not appear before my father?’
Looking into the Cheonma Spirit’s eyes, he could tell that at least it wasn’t because of fear. His father had guessed as much even without seeing the Cheonma Spirit.
Geom Mugeuk smiled broadly and explained the place to the Cheonma Spirit.
“This is a space I created using the Space-Time Transference Art. If we meet, it will mostly be here.”
There wouldn’t be many places in the outside world where the Cheonma Spirit could comfortably descend.
“So even if you don’t like it, don’t destroy it. It’s the space I value most.”
The Cheonma Spirit merely gazed at the world within the Space-Time Transference Art with heavy eyes.
“It’s fine. I’m well-trained at chatting away by myself in front of reticent people. If you were created from me, I don’t think you’d be reticent either. So it’s fine to show your true colors. I like talkative people—no, I like a talkative Cheonma Spirit.”
It would have been nice if it had at least smiled, but the Cheonma Spirit showed no reaction.
Then, Geom Mugeuk looked at the Cheonma Spirit’s waist.
“You! You’ve changed?”
Geom Mugeuk could tell the Cheonma Spirit’s appearance had changed. It was wearing a sword at its waist. And surprisingly, that sword resembled the Black Demon Sword in shape.
This was a change that occurred upon mastering the seventh form of the Guhwamagong.
And there was one more change.
Upon closer inspection, a faint pattern was engraved on the Cheonma Spirit’s chest, where there had been none before. Its body was as dark as pitch-black ink, so one had to look closely to confirm the faint pattern, and its exact shape was unclear.
He supposed he would only see the Cheonma Spirit’s final form after mastering all nine forms.
Whoosh.
Geom Mugeuk flew up to the Cheonma Spirit’s face. Thus, he met eyes with the Cheonma Spirit.
The gaze and demeanor of Geom Mugeuk floating in the air changed. No longer the bright and talkative self from moments ago, but the calm and silent self from before his regression. That gaze filled with deep loneliness conveyed his sincerity.
“The reason I called you today is that I wanted to congratulate you on learning your first martial art. Being congratulated felt quite good.”
Geom Mugeuk spoke calmly to the Cheonma Spirit.
“Congratulations.”
Then, Geom Mugeuk saw it. A flicker in the Cheonma Spirit’s dark, deep pupils. Of course it understood his words.
‘It definitely feels emotions too!’
* * *
An old man sat in the darkness.
His waist was ramrod straight, and his hands were gathered before his dantian. His two eyes gleaming in the darkness dominated the dark.
Srrrk.
Then, a black circle appeared on the floor before the old man, and a person clad in black garments rose up.
The person in black prostrated before the old man and reported,
“The Young Lord has returned to the sect.”
The old man’s two eyes blazed intensely in the darkness.
“He has finally returned!”
It was as if he had been waiting for Geom Mugeuk to descend from Daecheon Mountain.
“Tell them to proceed.”
“Yes.”
The moment the old man’s command fell.
“Please withdraw that command for a moment.”
The person who revealed herself there was none other than Gaye, the Saintess Palace Lord. She was the one who had previously informed the old man about the appearance of a bead filled with red energy in the world. In that place where everything was black, she wore pure white martial robes.
“What business do you have?”
“Please come with me for a moment.”
She was not one to seek him out unless it was urgent.
The old man rose from his seat. The person in black disappeared back into the floor.
As the old man moved, an astonishing thing occurred. The darkness surrounding him moved along with him as if it were a living creature.
This was not simply dark energy emanating from his body. True darkness was following him.
Ssssss.
The darkness shifted into various forms. It floated along covering the old man’s body like a cloud, and changed shape to make him look like an evil ghost.
Then, as if light were descending from the sky, a single thread of darkness fell from the ceiling and covered him from head to toe.
That darkness was alive as if it possessed life.
At the end of the corridor where the two arrived, above the door was a pattern of an astrolabe and six beads.
Entering, it was the place where the two had conversed before.
In the corner sat a large astrolabe, and the ceiling was covered with constellations—precisely that place.
“What is the matter?”
Gaye looked up at the ceiling with trembling eyes.
“Please look there.”
The old man looked up. At that moment, fierce eye light burst forth from the darkness.
Among the stars painted on the ceiling, fire had ignited in the largest star at the center.
There was only one thing this meant.
“He has awakened.”
“!”
A silence of shock and astonishment flowed. Something truly unimaginable had occurred.
“He awakened on his own?”
“That is correct.”
“That is impossible!”
At the angry old man’s momentum, the darkness surrounding him scattered in all directions as if fleeing. Thus, the old man’s full form was revealed.
The traces of years upon his face. Wrinkles layered like the rings of an ancient tree made it impossible to guess his age. His features were covered by wrinkles, unrecognizable.
All who saw him would feel this. How could someone so old sit so upright, how could he emit such intense eyes, and how could he produce a voice with such deep resonance?
He was the current Dark Palace Lord.
Dark Palace Lord Hwamugyeong (Hwa Mugyeong).
Hwamugyeong, who kept his composure in all matters, was flustered at this very moment.
“How is this possible?”
Then, a person’s name left Gaye’s mouth.
“The day the Young Lord descended the mountain, he awoke.”
“!”
Hwamugyeong’s eyes blazed intensely.
“What does that mean? Do you mean the Young Lord’s descent awoke him?”
Surprisingly, Gaye believed so.
“I believe the two are connected by a single fate.”
Therefore, she spoke with conviction.
“It was definitely the Young Lord who awoke him.”
When the plan using Biheolsa failed, Hwamugyeong had pondered thus:
Should he awaken him?
At that time, Gaye had dissuaded him, saying the martial arts world would become a sea of blood. Hwamugyeong knew that awakening him was truly the last resort. He also knew that there was a difference as vast as heaven and earth between being awakened by another and awakening oneself.
“Even if he awakens, he cannot break the seal of the place where he is imprisoned.”
It was precisely then.
Pop.
Fire ignited in one of the countless stars on the ceiling.
The two watched with startled eyes.
Pop.
Fire ignited in another nearby star.
Pop, pop!
This time, fire ignited in a star and immediately went out again. Then fire ignited in yet another star.
This star would brighten and go out, that star would brighten and go out. Just as this repeated several times,
Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop.
A constellation was completed. One of the countless constellations completed itself and began to shine.
Both Hwamugyeong and Gaye knew well what this meant.
“He has begun to break the seal.”