If you try to recall war.
No other words are needed; simply calling it hell would suffice.
No matter which street you walked down, it was filled with traces of the dead. The clear valley water lost its color, mixed with blood.
The brilliant sky was dyed red, and the towering castle walls were inevitably cracked and ruined here and there. Those who remained in the streets all wore expressions of fear, or else they were filled with emptiness as if they had already given up on everything.
There was no hope.
Their expressions said as much.
War was that kind of thing from the very beginning.
Just as there can be no such thing as a beautiful battle, war is the cruelest of them all.
Under the name of the Blood Tribulation, the world was gradually rotting away.
My previous life had been exactly like that.
Only a few years had passed since the Heavenly Demon appeared. A time that could be called short was enough to bring the world to that state.
Now, how many years remained before such a world arrived?
I knew that at least, it was not a time far off in the future.
Because the Divine Sword had existed then.
And because countless forces had followed the Divine Sword, overcoming the Blood Tribulation had been possible, but…
I knew all too well that such a thing was impossible for me.
Yet if I truly intended to take Wi Seol-ah’s place.
It meant I needed to accumulate at least as much power and force as she had.
The Divine Sword’s martial prowess was one thing.
‘A force.’
The countless people who had aided her were also a problem.
I could not possibly gather people through the prestige Wi Seol-ah had held, or through the gentle manner in which she had treated them. Not only because of my temperament, but because I had absolutely no experience in handling people that way.
It wasn’t a method that suited me either. There was no point in forcing myself to imitate her.
I had to find my own way.
‘My own way…’
It wasn’t that nothing came to mind.
Because I knew the easiest path right now.
It was.
‘Demonification.’
As I had done with Namgung Cheonjun, I knew I could corrupt others with my demonic energy.
Furthermore, I knew I could treat them like slaves, using demonic energy as a leash.
So, if I wanted to build a force, this method would suit me best. Precisely because I wanted to create a new force due to being unable to trust anyone.
If I organized it with people devoured by my demonic energy, I couldn’t see a better way, but…
‘But is that…’
truly the right thing to do?
Such thoughts brushed through my mind from time to time.
There was more than one thing I had hesitated over because I did not want to live that way.
Struggling like this because I wanted to live a life different from my previous life—if I ended up choosing this method.
‘What would make me different from the Heavenly Demon?’
No matter how I looked at it, if I took such actions under the pretext of moving to stop the Demonic Cult…
…wasn’t that no different from me creating the Demonic Cult myself?
Those thoughts filled my head.
Of course, even so.
‘…Do I have another way?’
This kind of worry was ultimately something I could only afford when there was a way other than this.
Just because it was not right, and just because I did not want to do it.
This was not a situation where I could decide whether or not to do it.
Because I had already internalized this fact, I had drawn a line from the time I made the list.
Those for whom being corrupted by demonic energy would not be a problem.
Those for whom living as demon-persons and dying would rather be better. I had sorted them out as well.
This was the last excuse I could make for myself.
‘Even if it isn’t right. I must bear that burden too.’
Mere words about taking the Divine Sword’s place would get me nowhere.
I know.
I am not the vessel for such a role.
That is precisely why I must use every means and method available.
Guilt? Regret? Hesitation?
I’ll say it again.
Those are luxuries you can afford only when there is another way.
Which is to say.
It meant that the current me had no such luxury to choose from.
There was no time to agonize.
If I had laid out a feasible plan, I had to execute it.
Now was the time to raise the power to execute it as quickly as possible.
Crack—!
To increase my speed, I put more power into my fist.
Boom—!
The moment it touched the wall, the cave wall collapsed from the impact.
Pain surged even from this small movement.
However, perhaps because I had experienced so much pain, now even this much only made my eyebrows twitch slightly. Should I be glad I’ve grown more accustomed to the pain?
To think I should feel glad about this, I wondered if my brain was gradually being steeped in training. Meanwhile, if I were to find a difference from before.
‘The movement has changed.’
It was a minute difference, but a change had occurred in the motion of extending my fist.
What should I call it?
Should I say it had become a bit cleaner? If not that, should I say some uncomfortable element had disappeared?
After worrying for a moment because I did not know how to express it, a fitting word came to mind.
‘Fluidity.’
Fluidity had entered my movements.
With that fluidity, it felt as though the way I exerted force had improved.
‘No, it’s not just a feeling.’
It was closer to conviction.
Training in Tuapacheonmu was clearly causing changes in my body.
Was this demonstrating what Paejon had spoken of—that it changes the body’s framework?
‘This is absurd.’
That things hadn’t improved no matter how desperately I trained.
To think a path would open just from learning one more mind technique.
‘…No, I suppose it’s a bit much to call it “just” one.’
It had reached the point where even breathing was painful; if enduring this itself was the problem, then it was indeed a problem.
However, if one could endure the pain, no one would be able to refute that there was no divine art greater than this.
Because anyone who experienced even a little of it would know.
I moved my body without rest.
My whole body was already drenched in sweat, and having moved while cutting back on sleep for several days, considerable fatigue had accumulated.
Nevertheless, I moved without a moment’s hesitation.
As if to say I would not stop until I reached my limits and lost consciousness.
Several days had already passed acting in that manner.
Perhaps because I was so focused, I had been feeling a strange sensation for a while now.
My body swayed.
It was not moving; swaying would be the right word for it.
Before I knew it, my body was flailing about on its own, as if beyond my will.
It was a movement that had lost control, but I did not try to forcefully seize it.
Because my last remaining instinct was telling me not to.
Pain was felt from the foot I had stepped forward with.
Neither my knees nor my waist were in proper condition.
From my dantian, I constantly unleashed Tuapacheongong.
My internal energy overflowed and flowed, so it had not ceased for several days.
At best, this was the level of moving my body while using a mind technique, so there was no question of my internal energy running dry.
My vision was blurred.
Did I need to forcibly fix my gaze?
There was no need.
Movements that had stretched out countless times moved on their own even without my will.
The pain gradually dulled.
Was this the No-Self Realm, tainted with fatigue?
Knowing that this was not a state one could reach through something as meager as this, I found it rather amusing.
None of it mattered.
For now.
‘A little more.’
I wanted to surrender my body to this sensation for just a bit longer.
It was an indescribable discomfort.
Because I knew this subtle sensation would break if I tried to come to my senses even briefly.
A contradictory sensation that I had to deliberately ignore.
Should this too be called enlightenment?
What would happen if I escaped from this sensation? I was a bit curious about that.
At that moment.
Pitter-patter.
‘Ah. Damn it.’
Was that worry just now the problem?
My mind gradually became clearer.
The sensation I had been holding onto vaguely began to return to its original state.
Should I try to forcefully find it again?
Just as I thought that—
“Stop there.”
Someone appeared and grabbed my body.
My body, which had been moving on its own, was forcibly brought to a halt.
“…Ha….”
Then, the strength that had been maintaining my body suddenly gave way.
And I slumped down right there.
“Haa…. Haa….”
I placed my palms on the floor and barely held myself up.
Was I this exhausted?
Sweat droplets flowed down my face and dampened the ground.
Only then did I feel that my supporting hands were trembling violently.
I hadn’t noticed. It seemed my body had already reached its limit.
As I swayed and gasped for breath, someone spoke to me from behind.
It was Paejon.
“I wondered how long you would go, and here you are doing it until sunrise.”
“…Yes…?”
I had to open my eyes wide at Paejon’s words.
That much time had passed…?
Paejon, having seen my expression, laughed briefly and continued.
“It seems you don’t even know how much time has passed.”
I was sure Paejon hadn’t been there just moments ago.
Just when had he appeared? How long had it been since he appeared?
At least, it was not in my memory.
Had that much time really passed while I was engulfed in that hazy sensation?
“…”
In that situation, I stared at Paejon in silence.
He grinned.
“Are you disappointed?”
“…No.”
“No, my foot. Your face is brimming with lingering regret.”
Was I?
I hadn’t thought so, but it seemed to show on my face.
“Don’t you dare think I interfered. If I hadn’t grabbed you there, things would have gone terribly wrong.”
“I didn’t think that.”
I could tell just by looking at my body’s condition.
If I had continued as I was, I would have overexerted myself.
My body was right at its limit now.
The No-Self Realm was one thing, but Paejon had probably saved me because my body would have been injured. I knew the reason, so it was not something I particularly minded, but…
Upon hearing my answer, Paejon pouted his lips as if displeased.
“…Saying that makes it no fun again.”
“What do you want me to…”
In my bewilderment, the moment I tried to speak, Paejon threw something with a swish.
I snatched it with a strengthless arm; it was a gourd.
The inside sloshed; it seemed something was in it.
“Wet your throat first, at least. Tsk tsk… To think I’m so old I’m fetching water for a brat.”
“…Thank you.”
My throat had been parched anyway, so after paying my respects, I gulped it down at once.
After swallowing some of whatever this was, I felt like I might actually survive.
As I was drinking my fill, Paejon asked me.
“How was it? The feeling of briefly reaching that place.”
After swallowing a few mouthfuls, I asked Paejon with doubt.
“What place?”
“The place you just reached.”
“…”
“It was hazy, and you didn’t want to leave it. Yet, didn’t you feel an anxiety that you might slip out if you made even a momentary mistake?”
“…That…”
“It is the right direction, so do not think it strange.”
At Paejon’s words, I had to wear a strange expression.
I had thought it was simply something akin to enlightenment, yet listening to his explanation, it felt slightly different from the enlightenment that befalls martial artists.
“The reason I told you not to regret it is that it is a place you must reach someday anyway.”
“A place I must reach someday?”
“Have you heard of the No-Self Realm (無我之境)?”
“Yes.”
The sensation of forgetting oneself and becoming one with one’s movements.
This was a phenomenon that often appeared when martial artists attained certain enlightenments.
They say it is like a dream to those who seek enlightenment.
“What you experienced is indeed a kind of No-Self Realm.”
Did that mean the phenomenon I had just experienced could be called enlightenment?
But if so, Paejon’s words did not quite fit.
As that doubt crossed my mind, Paejon spoke.
“To be precise… it could be called a No-Self Realm created by Tuapacheonmu.”
“…Yes?”
My eyes widened at Paejon’s explanation.
Tuapacheonmu creates a No-Self Realm?
As I asked with a strange expression, I could see the corners of Paejon’s mouth rise slightly.
“I hadn’t thought I would need to give this explanation so soon. You experienced it faster than expected.”
“…”
“You must have heard that my martial art was born solely for my own greed.”
“Yes.”
The martial art Paejon had created to become a superior martial artist—that was Tuapacheonmu.
“To be exact, I wanted to transcend human limits.”
“…Limits… you say.”
“Yes. A martial art created for that purpose.”
Human limits.
Did that mean he had wanted to become a god or something?