Even with summer arriving, my days did not change all that much.
It would be stranger if a little heat were enough to change them.
All I could do was feel that time was passing little by little with the changing weather.
“Whew.”
I was taking a brief rest after finishing a grueling training session.
Keeping my slightly heated body still, I gazed straight ahead.
Unlike me, who was resting, the space before me was filled with heat.
Heat caused by the inner qi being emitted by the martial artists.
Clang—! Clang, clang—!
Rough sounds rang out without pause.
The air was thick with the sensation of inner qi mixed into the breeze.
As for where the sounds were coming from, they were the sounds of Namgung Bia and the Hidden Dragon engaged in a full-fledged spar.
If you were wondering why the two of them had suddenly begun sparring—
it had become something of a trend ever since the day the White Lotus Sword caused that incident.
I watched it with interest.
‘This is a first.’
The two of them sparring.
The Hidden Dragon and Namgung Bia.
They were geniuses who would never have met in my previous life.
By the time Namgung Bia properly appeared in the Central Plains, the Hidden Dragon had already passed away.
It was simply fascinating to see the two of them sparring before my eyes now.
On top of that—
‘They’re quite vicious.’
Their spar was exceedingly fierce.
It had been the same during my previous spar with the White Lotus Sword, but this felt different.
The fact that their cultivation levels were so similar was plain to see.
Both were at the Mature Peak realm.
They were not quite strong enough to break through the wall leading to the Transcendent realm, but they were still at a level where they would never be beaten for being weak.
Clang—! Sparks flew into the air as their sword blades collided.
The traces left by the sword force coating their blades were also vivid.
Moreover—
‘They’re fast.’
Perhaps because both swordsmen placed an emphasis on speed, their physical movements were impressive, but so was their judgment.
My gaze turned toward the Hidden Dragon.
Even if I knew little about his martial arts, there was one thing I could tell.
‘Now that I look at him, his movements are quite rough.’
There was something rough about him for someone who was supposed to be a Daoist.
Were all Wudang disciples like that?
‘No.’
That fellow was simply unusual.
That much was certain.
Even compared to Daoists from other Daoist sects, his feeling was particularly different.
You only had to look at Yeongpung, who was called the Sword Dragon, for another example.
It was true that Plum Blossom Swordsmanship could not be used if it was rough in nature.
But Yeongpung possessed a neatness that was as close to the fundamentals as one could get.
You could say he was faithful to the basics.
In contrast, Uhyuk—
‘He’s insane.’
He moved however he pleased, possessing only the framework of the “waves” that Wudang pursued.
Perhaps that was also why countless people had given Uhyuk the title of Hidden Dragon.
Movements like those were impossible for anyone who was not a genius.
To break free from Wudang’s swordsmanship, construct his own sword path however he pleased while retaining only its framework, and then move without issue as he used it?
An ordinary martial artist had to expend all their concentration simply to avoid being devoured by the framework of their martial art.
The Hidden Dragon was the opposite, which was why he was called a genius.
And his opponent, Namgung Bia, was the same.
Crackle—! Lightning qi poured ceaselessly from Namgung Bia’s body.
Seeing that, I let out an incredulous laugh.
‘It increased again.’
The amount of lightning qi she was emitting had grown even further.
That meant the amount of inner qi Namgung Bia possessed had increased as well.
Did she secretly take some kind of elixir when I wasn’t looking? Why did it increase every time I saw her?
‘Even her ability to control it…’
The unnecessary movements made by the streams of lightning qi had decreased.
That meant Namgung Bia was gradually growing accustomed to controlling it. Furthermore—
‘The weight of the Emperor Sword Form has increased too.’
She had also grown more adept at using the Namgung Clan’s secret art.
Namgung Bia really was—
“Day by day, she’s becoming…”
“Pretty, isn’t she?”
“Prettier…!?”
At the sudden voice, I whipped my head around.
The White Lotus Sword was standing there, smiling brightly at me.
“Gah!”
Startled, I hurriedly backed away.
Seeing my reaction, the White Lotus Sword put on a wounded expression.
“…Look at you. You’re reacting as though you saw some kind of bug.”
“How can you just pop out of nowhere like that…? You startled me.”
“If a bodyguard went around announcing, ‘I’m a bodyguard~!’ would they really be a bodyguard? You’re supposed to move quietly.”
“Why do you have to do that even to the person you’re guarding?”
“You know the saying: to deceive the enemy, deceive your allies first.”
I let out a deep sigh at the White Lotus Sword’s sunny smile.
That saying surely wasn’t meant to be used in situations like this.
‘What is wrong with this woman?’
She often popped out with a poof like this, and it was always startling.
I glared at the White Lotus Sword, making no effort to hide my displeasure.
Her smile, as though she enjoyed having startled me, was unbelievably irritating.
She had not been this bad when I first met her… I had no idea how she had ended up like this.
As quite some time had passed, my relationship with the White Lotus Sword had changed in its own way.
To put it another way, it would be more accurate to say that the way I viewed her had changed.
For one thing, I could treat her rather casually without any problems.
‘…What should I call this?’
From the perspective of a junior, perhaps I could say that she did not mind even if I acted a little insolently, so long as I did not use excessively harsh profanity.
Put kindly, she was broad-minded. Put another way, she was somewhat dull.
Once I realized that, I was able to treat her a little differently.
‘Even aside from that.’
I glanced at the White Lotus Sword’s shoulder.
That was where I had placed a restriction, with her agreement.
‘She really went through with it.’
The White Lotus Sword had said that if she could not trust herself, I should place one on her, so I had done it.
But I had never expected her to sincerely ask me to place a restriction on her.
Any martial artist who had reached the Transcendent realm would know how dangerous it was to place a restriction on their own body.
Yet the White Lotus Sword had accepted it without hesitation.
I had no idea why she had so readily agreed, knowing that I might use it to do something to her.
Of course, thanks to that, the White Lotus Sword had not caused another incident like the one before.
But it had also brought about one change unlike anything in the past.
“How do they look?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Those two. Who do you think is going to win?”
That was to say, the White Lotus Sword had begun speaking to me much more often.
It was understandable, since she was my bodyguard and therefore stayed by my side frequently.
The problem was that she had become a little exhausting because of it. As befitted her personality, she would sometimes ask strange questions.
Just like now.
‘Who do I think will win?’
The White Lotus Sword’s question forced me to knit my brows slightly.
It was a difficult question.
The Hidden Dragon and Namgung Bia were astonishingly similar in cultivation.
They were both at the Mature Peak realm, soon to face the wall of the Transcendent realm.
It was an extraordinary level for two people who had only just passed the age of twenty to reach.
‘…Even if I exclude myself as an exception.’
I was an exception, having gone back in time. I was not even a genius to begin with.
Normally, the Peak realm was a level that a martial artist from a prestigious clan could reach around the age of thirty after repeated effort.
Considering that it took another decade or so of hard work to reach the Mature Peak realm, one could understand why the current generation of young heroes was called the Generation of Shooting Stars.
In that respect, those two had—
‘Already surpassed the confines of the younger generation.’
And I was supposed to judge which of them would win?
‘…’
If they had been evenly matched, I might have been unable to tell, but no matter how I looked at it, they appeared similar.
However—
My gaze was fixed particularly on Namgung Bia.
Crackle—!
With a violent sound, sword force interwoven with lightning qi left traces in the air.
As I had said earlier, the lightning qi was incomparable to what I had seen when we first met.
But—
‘Hmm.’
The lightning qi shooting outward could not penetrate the space around Uhyuk.
It could not break through the waves, the ultimate art of Wudang.
‘He’s deflecting it well.’
The flow that Wudang sought as its foundation and the meaning of its martial arts.
Though Uhyuk’s sword was rough, it did not deviate from that meaning.
He deflected the attacks and gathered them in.
Uhyuk’s sword caught the sword force Namgung Bia had scattered, then swung once more.
The sword qi he sent forth repeatedly shot out at incredible speed.
Namgung Bia’s delicate control was enough to make one gasp in astonishment.
But Uhyuk’s spirit, deflecting it, gathering it back up, and firing it away again, was equally astounding.
It was enough to make me laugh hollowly just by watching.
‘Damn geniuses.’
As expected, there was not a single thing likable about geniuses.
I clicked my tongue repeatedly inwardly, then focused on the spar once more.
The White Lotus Sword had asked which of them I thought would win.
I had said that I did not know much about it.
But in truth, it was something I knew instinctively.
My gaze turned toward Namgung Bia as before.
She continued the spar without so much as a frown, but I thought I understood.
That spar—
“The Sword Dancer will lose.”
Namgung Bia would lose.
At my decisive answer, the White Lotus Sword widened her eyes in surprise.
“That’s unexpected. You sound more certain than I thought you would…?”
“You asked me because you think so as well, did you not?”
I spoke while looking at her displeasedly, and the White Lotus Sword gave a sly grin.
“I thought you’d give a different answer because you always take your people’s side.”
“That has nothing to do with this.”
“Still, you’re not denying that girl is one of your people.”
“…”
I did not answer the White Lotus Sword’s teasing remark and abruptly turned my head away.
The spar was still ongoing, but my furrowed brows showed no sign of relaxing.
‘Why is she acting like that?’
On the surface, there did not seem to be any major problem, but both I and the White Lotus Sword surely knew.
Something was wrong with Namgung Bia.
Her destructive power and astonishing control were not the problem.
The problem lay in the spar itself.
Some unknown heart demon could be felt in the gaps between Namgung Bia’s movements.
How had a heart demon become mixed into the life of a woman whose only purpose had been to swing her sword?
I found that somewhat perplexing.
I thought of the Sword Demon Empress from my previous life.
Her sole goal had been to see the very end of her sword, and there had been no heart demon on that path.
Then why had such a heart demon become mixed into the Namgung Bia of this life?
As far as my thoughts reached, my eyes turned toward the White Lotus Sword.
Perhaps recognizing my gaze, the White Lotus Sword looked awkward and spoke to me.
“What were you going to say?”
“I have no intention of saying anything.”
She knew as well.
Immediately after the White Lotus Sword had faced Wi Seol-Ah, Namgung Bia, and Dang Soyeol all at once, some incomprehensible change had occurred in Namgung Bia.
Had she sensed something during that spar?
Was that why she was suffering from such a heart demon?
Even if that was the case—
‘…’
There was nothing I could do.
Nor did I have any reason to blame the White Lotus Sword.
More than that—
‘Why do I feel relieved?’
As I watched Namgung Bia struggle with her heart demon, I felt both concern and relief.
Perhaps it was because, in my previous life, she had pursued the end of the sword without living a life befitting a human being.
Seeing her trapped in a heart demon like this made her seem more human, and made me feel that she was heading toward a life different from the one she had lived before.
‘It might not be a good thing from her perspective, being the one bound by the heart demon.’
But Namgung Bia, troubled by matters of the heart like this, was instead giving me a sense of relief.
I also believed in her.
I believed that she would overcome the heart demon without much difficulty.
The White Lotus Sword, who had been watching me, pursed her lips in displeasure.
“I don’t like that expression.”
“Why bring that up all of a sudden?”
“I don’t like the way you’re looking at her as though you’re proud of her. As if she were just like you were in the past…”
“Like I was…?”
“Never mind. It’s nothing.”
Why had she stopped halfway through?
We exchanged a few more words when—
Clang—!
With a sound that pierced the ears, the spar came to an end.
The result was exactly as I had expected.
The tip of Uhyuk’s sword was touching Namgung Bia’s neck.
She had lost.
Namgung Bia stared at Uhyuk with her eyes opened as wide as they could go.
After confirming that much, I turned away.
Seeing me do so, the White Lotus Sword called out to stop me.
“Hm? Where are you going?”
“I’ve seen everything, so I should go wash up.”
“You’re not going to see that girl?”
“There’s no need. It would be better to leave her alone for now.”
I might have been able to solve her problem in her place if I stepped in.
But I did not want to do that.
I wanted Namgung Bia to overcome it herself and stand on her own.
And I was certain she would.
The Namgung Bia I had seen in this life would surely be capable of it.
‘No. She would have been capable of it in my previous life too.’
The Demon Sword Empress might have been like that too.
It was simply that I hadn’t known.
Just as I was about to head toward the valley,
I heard the White Lotus Sword whispering behind me.
“…You shouldn’t resemble her in things like this, too.”
“What did you say? Resemble whom?”
“Nothing. Ah, if you’re going to wash up, noona can wash you….”
“That won’t be necessary.”
I snapped at the White Lotus Sword in disgust and quickly left the area.
That woman really was crazy.
Shaking my head, I disappeared toward the valley.
Left alone, the White Lotus Sword watched Gu Yangcheon’s back before whispering with a bitter smile.
“You resemble her…. Far too much.”
Her voice was filled with longing.
******************
Leaving the White Lotus Sword’s nonsense behind,
I headed toward the valley to wash my sweat-soaked body.
When I roughly stripped off my upper garments, I could feel how damp with sweat they were.
Right after the Nine Flame Fire Wheel Technique had reached the seventh star, my body had become one that would not produce even a drop of sweat through ordinary training.
Yet sweat had been pouring down me more and more with each passing day.
That was how grueling the training was.
I frowned as I thought of the insane old man who led this training.
‘That crazy old man.’
Pae Jon was indeed a madman.
I hadn’t really felt it when he told me to break through the cave while using the Fist of the Heaven-Splitting Dance.
It was only after entering the second stage of training that I truly understood.
I had been sparring with Pae Jon every single day without fail.
Since I had begun training at night with the Dark King, I had thought I might at least get some rest during the day.
—Until you learn the First Fist, we will spar every day.
He never let me take a break from sparring.
And there was an even bigger problem.
‘He wants me to spar while using the Fist of the Heaven-Splitting Dance?’
It was utterly absurd.
I was already on the verge of passing out from the pain, and what he meant was that I had to get beaten while using it.
‘I’m actually doing it just because he told me to.’
I twisted my aching body this way and that, letting out a hollow laugh.
As expected, it hurt beyond reason.
‘What a crazy martial art.’
Perhaps because the person who had created it was a madman,
the martial art itself was also completely insane.
It caused pain simply by being activated.
And getting hit while in that state doubled the pain.
Pae Jon said it was because I had yet to fully become one with it.
Seeing that, I understood why Pae Jon had forbidden me from using it in actual combat without permission.
‘If I were injured while using this….’
It wasn’t impossible that my heart would stop from the pain alone.
Whenever Pae Jon hit me, I found myself wondering if this was really right.
Thanks to that, I had to devote all my concentration just to enduring the pain.
‘And at night… he expects me to play with the Dark King?’
Ha. This was ridiculous.
He might as well have told me to die.
If sparring with Pae Jon was pain itself,
then sparring with the Dark King was a nightmare in its purest form.
‘He’s right. A nightmare. It really is.’
Over the more than a month since I had begun training with the Dark King, the number of times I died had only continued to increase.
I had died nine times on the first day, but now I was easily surpassing twenty.
Wasn’t it as if the Dark King was saying this to me?
No matter how hard you try, you cannot reach me.
That was how it felt.
Perhaps because of that, I felt utterly exhausted mentally.
Because it truly seemed as if there was no way forward.
‘What exactly am I supposed to realize through training like this?’
Pae Jon seemed to want me to understand something through this training,
but I couldn’t feel anything at all.
What exactly was I supposed to realize after experiencing so many deaths?
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure it out.
‘This is difficult.’
As my mind grew weary, it felt as though my body was growing weary as well.
Thus, I forced myself to ignore my mind, exhausted from one thought after another,
and finally arrived at the valley.
By the time I arrived, it seemed someone had already washed, as I saw someone coming out this way.
The instant we met, my eyes widened.
“Hm?”
“Ah.”
It was Wi Seol-Ah.
Wi Seol-Ah, whose hair was still dripping wet as though she had just washed.
“Young master…!”
Upon spotting me, Wi Seol-Ah broke into a bright smile.
That smile seemed especially dazzling.
I was reminded of the time when Wi Seol-Ah had still been my servant, and she had faced me with her hair wet.
As soon as the memory surfaced, I approached her and used the towel in my hand to dry her hair.
“Huh? Y-Young master? Eek!”
“You! Should! Dry! It! Before! Coming! Out!”
How many men would stare at her if she went out looking like this? Where did she think she was going dressed in such an unnecessarily bewitching state?
Why hadn’t this improved at all, even as time passed?
Wi Seol-Ah gave a small shriek, but perhaps she liked my rough handling, because she subtly leaned into my touch.
Unbelievable.
“Do you like it?”
“Yes… I do.”
“…Ah. I see.”
I had asked teasingly, but her straightforward answer left me with nothing to say.
As I continued drying her hair, something suddenly occurred to me.
‘…Come to think of it, I could’ve just dried it with heat.’
It would have been faster to release heat. Why was I doing this?
The moment I realized that, I took back the towel and released heat.
For some reason, Wi Seol-Ah wore a disappointed expression.
“Make sure you dry it properly. What are you doing?”
“I was just about to dry it….”
“That’s a lie.”
“...”
Wi Seol-Ah thought about my accusation, then gave a small nod.
Wi Seol-Ah still wasn’t very good at lying.
Perhaps because she had been called out, she looked somewhat crestfallen. I gave a small laugh and asked,
“Want some yakgwa?”
“Oh…!”
At the mention of yakgwa, Wi Seol-Ah’s eyes flashed, but
it lasted only a moment before she quickly turned her head away.
“I-I’m not… a child anymore.”
“What was that reaction just now?”
“I didn’t react at all.”
It seemed she still liked sweet things.
I couldn’t understand why she insisted on pretending otherwise.
I smiled inwardly as I watched her.
The tightness in my chest, clogged with gloomy thoughts, seemed to ease a little.
Wi Seol-Ah, who was watching me, suddenly made a strange expression.
Then—
Swish.
She carefully touched beneath my eye.
Her hand was cold, perhaps because it had been in the water until just moments ago.
“What’s wrong? Is there something on my face?”
“No…. That’s not it… Young master, are you all right?”
“Hm? What about me?”
“…You look very tired.”
The expression on Wi Seol-Ah’s face as she asked was pitiful.
I was slightly surprised by her words.
I looked tired? Me?
‘Is it showing?’
It seemed that everyone I met had been asking me whether I was all right.
Apparently, there was something strange about my expression.
After realizing that, I forced a smile.
“I’m fine.”
“...”
Of course, Wi Seol-Ah’s expression made it clear she didn’t believe me.
‘What else can I do? I have to endure it.’
When things were difficult, I endured them. That was all there was to it.
“It’s just because I’ve been having nightmares lately.”
“Nightmares?”
“Yeah.”
A truly vicious nightmare that came every night.
Even for me, that many deaths had been too much.
I was tired.
That was all I could feel at the moment.
Then, as Wi Seol-Ah touched my cheek with a worried expression, I suddenly asked her,
“You… No. Wi Seol….”
“Yes?”
I had been about to call her, but suddenly pressed my lips shut.
Why was it so difficult to call her by her name?
“It’s nothing…. What do you think you should do if you have nightmares every night?”
It was a trivial question.
And it had nothing to do with nightmares at all.
Why had I asked her something like that?
I had merely been embarrassed to call her by name, so I had changed the subject.
Unaware of what was going on inside me, Wi Seol-Ah tilted her head repeatedly at the question.
Each time she did, the strands of her hair swayed, distracting me.
“Nightmares…?”
“I was just asking, so don’t worry about it….”
“Wouldn’t you try to wake up first…? It’s a frightening dream, after all.”
I smiled faintly to myself at Wi Seol-Ah’s words.
What she said was correct.
If I knew it was a nightmare, I would have tried to wake up first….
‘Huh?’
Something suddenly flashed through my mind at Wi Seol-Ah’s words.
‘If it’s a nightmare, you have to wake up.’
For some reason, those words struck me with startling clarity.