< Chapter 573 > To Hanam.
I exited the cave and wandered through the forest.
I didn’t know what time it was, but judging by the moon’s position, it seemed to be around the middle of the night.
“Shall we rest here?”
It was something I muttered after walking for quite a while.
I didn’t hear an answer. I simply stopped and swung my hand toward the ground.
Hwaraek—!
Flames erupted from my fingertips, igniting a fallen piece of wood.
Then, I pulled in more pieces scattered from the surroundings through the air.
With that, a campfire was complete.
The darkness lightened slightly. I sat down around it and passed the time.
Since rabbits were moving about nearby, I caught one and roasted it while I waited.
Tadak—! Tadak—!
Watching the rabbit slowly cook, I thought.
‘I’ll arrive within seven days and nights at this rate.’
At this speed, roughly that much time remained until I reached Hanam.
Originally, I would have moved while cutting back on sleep.
Even at the latest, I would have arrived within three days, but now that was impossible.
‘My body’s condition is no joke, that’s why.’
I had to move while conserving my body as much as possible.
‘If only I had Ttolttori… tsk.’
If that guy were here, I would have arrived not in three days, but within a day.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t use him either.
Because that guy had been sent to Jiseon. Since things had turned out that way, now was a time when I had no choice but to run on my two feet.
In a way, since I had to go while slowly managing my internal injuries, it might have been a better situation.
Recalling that, a smirk rose to my face unwittingly.
‘To think my body ended up in this state just from doing that once.’
I had used it excessively on purpose without controlling it. But seeing my body end up like this after using it just once, I had much to think about.
The road ahead was long.
I couldn’t afford to be shaken by merely this much.
‘That said, I can’t control it,’
I could only use it stronger than now, at best.
There was no controlling it to be weaker here.
If so… the remaining method was.
‘I have to grow stronger.’
I had to become stronger from this point so that using it like that wouldn’t be a problem.
‘If I complete that, I think it’ll roughly work out.’
If I could properly use what I had been trying to create, it seemed it would be resolved to some extent.
Of course, what would be better than those two was….
‘Rising in realm.’
It was breaking through what was blocked and reaching a higher realm.
The problem was.
‘As if that’s as easy as it sounds.’
It was a realm I couldn’t reach even with that overwhelming internal strength in my previous life.
The Transcendence Realm.
That place was truly somewhere one couldn’t reach by internal strength alone.
One couldn’t even set foot in it with trivial enlightenment.
With a wretched vessel, one couldn’t even attempt to contain it.
One had to achieve grand completion in martial arts and complete the Mindscape, making it wholly one’s own.
Paejon had said that if one wished to behold the Transcendence Realm, that was the condition.
In other words.
‘It means it’s far.’
It was something far, far away from me.
Besides, the vast majority of martial artists died without ever reaching the Transmutation Realm.
Realms were such that if one lacked talent, one couldn’t even reach the Peak.
‘I heard that even counting all those in the Transcendence Realm, there aren’t even thirty.’
Among countless martial artists, only that many had reached that place.
Aiming for that place with a body that had just turned twenty was a nonsensical notion.
Even while clearly knowing such a fact.
‘Still, I have to do it.’
In the end, I still had to do it.
I clenched my fist tightly.
At the same time, I recalled.
‘Just how far have I come now?’
I had poured three years into regaining the power of my previous life.
And in doing so, I hadn’t filled myself solely with internal strength, but rolled around with Paejon and filled myself with other things.
How far had I come doing that?
Looking at it objectively.
‘Eighty percent. A level slightly less than that.’
Having devoured every fortuitous encounter there was, I hadn’t even reached eighty percent.
It was laughable.
At the same time, it was frightening.
‘It must mean the efficacy of the Demonic Heavenly Absorption Technique is that remarkable.’
Rather than enlightenment, it was a power that had raised me, wrapped in gloomy emotions, to just before the Transcendence Realm.
It was just as the saying went: if you utilized the Demonic Heavenly Absorption Technique, you could easily accumulate power.
But.
‘Such hollow power is unnecessary.’
I knew it ultimately wouldn’t let me reach what I desired.
Slowly and heavily. That was what I needed right now.
‘…On the contrary.’
I was also faced with the damnable situation of having to change that slow speed and accumulate it quickly.
‘I have to do something about it.’
Just what was I to do?
I was still in a situation where I had to continue worrying.
Around the time I had succeeded in completing at least the shell of the Hwaryunseong.
Paejon, seeing this, said:
[“You have at least set foot in it. Now, fill it in.”]
Having succeeded in constructing the Mindscape, now fill in its incomplete interior.
This also meant completing the unknown domain called the Mindscape.
‘Did he say he’d teach me the fifth form if I did that?’
It was truly absurd.
Tuapacheonmu was said to consist of seven forms in total.
I had to finish the fourth form now and move on to the fifth.
To think the condition for that was completing the realm of the Mindscape.
What a terrifying condition this was.
‘Then what, do I need to reach the Transcendence Realm for the final form?’
Somehow, it really felt like that, which was terrifying.
Because it really seemed like something Paejon would do.
That was what Tuapacheonmu taught.
It achieved artificial Rebirth.
It forcibly made one set foot in the realm of no-self.
It constructed the Mind’s Eye to let one see a new world.
Now, it was even making one construct the Mindscape.
Tuapacheonmu, literally speaking.
‘Power that makes humans transcend and shatter the heavens.’
I was beginning to understand the meaning of Tuapacheonmu that Paejon had explained.
That old man….
‘Does he really intend to become a god?’
It didn’t seem like a joke.
They say he’s a human mad for martial arts. Those words were exactly right.
Just how mad must one be to create something like this?
‘So he lost to the Heavenly Demon even after creating something like this?’
To think he lost to the Heavenly Demon despite creating the bizarre martial art called Tuapacheonmu.
Seeing this.
If Paejon’s physical body hadn’t been ruined due to rejuvenation, I wondered if the state of the world might have changed slightly.
Now, that was merely a useless worry.
‘Rather than recalling such foolish hope.’
I had to think about what I should do from now on.
“Sigh….”
I let out a deep sigh and stretched out my hand.
It was the moment I was about to eat the fully cooked meat to fill my stomach.
Then.
“…Where do you intend to go now?”
Seongyul, who hadn’t said a word the entire time we were moving, spoke to me.
I pulled out the meat and looked at him.
“I told you.”
That I was going to Hanam.
I had clearly said so.
“Do you mean to go immediately?”
“We have to go immediately.”
There was nothing good in delaying.
I could handle matters along the way if I wanted, but going immediately was the best choice right now.
‘Because there’s work to be done in Hanam.’
I had to arrive early and prepare.
“Why are you asking? What’s your real point?”
That was what I asked Seongyul.
He might have asked because he was curious about the destination.
But I knew Seongyul’s question wasn’t merely that.
He had laid the groundwork.
Surely, it seemed there was something else he wanted to ask me.
And sure enough.
As soon as the conversation opened with a question, Seongyul brought up his main point as if he had been waiting.
“…You told me, Young Hero, that you would tell me how you would use me.”
“I did.”
Those were words I had spoken to Seongyul at Mount Wudang.
“I still don’t understand that.”
“Mm.”
“I also don’t understand what you are trying to do, Young Hero.”
I thought I had told him enough, but Seongyul still didn’t seem to understand.
Or else.
He might not want to understand.
“You said you would attack Hanam in three months.”
“That’s right.”
That’s why I was going now.
“Attacking Hanam… could it mean you are going to attack the Martial Alliance?”
I didn’t bother answering this.
Because it was something that didn’t need an answer.
Attacking Hanam meant it was no different from striking the Martial Alliance.
When I expressed affirmation through silence, Seongyul’s gaze wavered slightly.
“…Why?”
The reason.
I pondered slightly at Seongyul’s question.
If I brought out the reasons, there were a great many.
For such a question, the simpler the answer, the better.
“Because it’s worth destroying.”
“…!”
“Reasons to destroy it are overflowing, yet no one seems willing to destroy it. So I’m going to do it.”
Was any other reason needed?
It was worth destroying. I wanted to destroy it, so I would.
“…”
Hearing the answer, Seongyul showed no reaction at all.
He was merely staring at me with trembling eyes.
Seeing that, I smirked.
“What, are you reluctant now?”
You said you’d do anything if it was necessary, whether it was killing people or whatever.
Are you hesitating now?
“That’s not it….”
“If you don’t want to, say so. If you wish, I’ll send you away.”
I would send him away if he wished.
Of course, that didn’t mean I’d send him to wherever he wished.
Seongyul seemed fine right now.
He was the Demon Sword of his previous life. Naturally, I couldn’t just send him off as he was.
I kept him by my side thinking I might be able to suppress his Heavenly Killing Star with the Draconic Edict.
If he were to hesitate now.
‘I’ll either make him a demon now or kill him.’
I would get rid of him without hesitation.
However.
‘His wavering isn’t necessarily a bad thing.’
There was no knowing why he was wavering.
Whether it was because he was reluctant to kill, or because attacking the Alliance, the center of the orthodox faction, gave him pause.
That in itself wasn’t bad.
Rather, madmen who would flare with killing intent and fighting spirit saying “good” upon hearing those words were more problematic.
So.
‘Shall I give him some justification?’
I wondered if I should give him some justification rather than deal with Seongyul.
“You.”
“…Yes.”
“That thing about being able to see others’ lies. Does it work on me too?”
Those were words Seongyul had said to me at Mount Wudang.
That he could sense others’ lies.
The question was whether it worked on me too. Hearing this, Seongyul paused for a moment and looked at me.
His pupils shook.
I looked at him quietly with a question of ‘why is he like this?’ and Seongyul said to me:
“…I… don’t really know.”
“Mm?”
I had to tilt my head at those words.
He doesn’t know?
I thought for a moment after hearing Seongyul’s words.
‘Is it because I haven’t lied to him yet?’
Come to think of it, I didn’t think I had told him any separate lies.
Was that why? Or else.
‘Is there something else?’
I didn’t know. But it didn’t matter.
It was something I could check either way.
‘Perfect, this is exactly the justification I was going to give him anyway.’
What I had been planning to tell him anyway was just right for checking.
I immediately looked at Seongyul and spoke.
“Then, can you check whether what I’m saying is a lie or not?”
“What….”
“You know what? Qinghai Yijian died.”
Saaa.
The moment I brought up Qinghai Yijian, Seongyul’s atmosphere changed drastically.
Color seeped into his pupils, and the air became tingling and different.
It seemed my words had stimulated his Heavenly Killing Star.
Still, I didn’t stop.
I continued speaking to him with a slight smile in my eyes.
“It was because of the Martial Alliance.”
Saaaaaah—!
The moment I spat it out, a dark aura began emanating from Seongyul’s body. Seeing this, I asked:
“How about it. Does this sound like a lie?”
“…What… are you saying now….”
Seongyul’s yellow eyeballs darkened bit by bit. Should I leave him like this a little longer?
He seemed to have suppressed it well until now since our first meeting. I was curious what would happen if I unleashed it once.
Furthermore.
‘Might as well see how far I can suppress it with the Draconic Edict.’
It was also a place with few people around.
Even though I had internal injuries, I thought that much would be fine.
While watching Seongyul’s killing intent rapidly swell with such intention, at that very moment.
Sarak.
“…?”
I suddenly felt something behind me.
“What do you mean by that. Explain right—”
“Shut up.”
“…!”
Seongyul’s killing intent, which had been growing, instantly collapsed.
“Keuk…!”
Its form shattered, and the backlash struck Seongyul.
At this, Seongyul’s physical body shook.
As Seongyul staggered at the sudden backlash.
I too had to frown at the pain I felt from my heart.
Just as with Seongyul, this was also the backlash of forcibly drawing out the Draconic Edict.
Because I used it urgently instead of preparing and releasing it properly, the damage was greater.
But it couldn’t be helped.
‘What?’
Something was caught in my senses. Faint, but definitely something.
The problem was.
The presence was very close.
By distance, it was less than ten paces.
To only sense the presence at this point despite being that close meant.
It meant the opponent’s level was quite high.
‘This is troublesome.’
My senses weren’t working properly because of my internal injuries, but even taking that into account, the opponent’s level was high.
‘Who is it?’
Who on earth could it be?
Who would approach hiding their presence like this?
‘Someone from Mount Wudang?’
It probably wasn’t Mount Wudang. The circumstances said so.
‘Then, the Beggar Sect?’
That was the most likely.
Ubongchwigae had imposed a prohibition, but he might have sent people.
But….
‘If it were truly the Beggar Sect, I don’t think they would have come this close to check on me.’
They would have watched from afar if they were watching. They wouldn’t have approached like this intending to do something.
Coming this close meant.
‘They got through Nahi, who should be patrolling far away.’
Nahi would be watching somewhere in this forest right now.
I didn’t feel any sense that Nahi had been taken down.
In other words, it meant the opponent had come all the way here having pierced through her senses.
Oooong—!
I raised energy in my body.
I felt a faint pain in my heart but ignored it.
Just what kind of fellow was it?
I had to find out.
Hwaahak.
The moment my senses began to spread widely and I moved quickly.
Ung—!
“What…?”
As my senses spread, I simultaneously felt the presence.
This was.
‘Behind me?’
Right behind me.
The moment I felt that, I gathered energy in my hand and turned around.
Immediately, as I was about to burst into flames without hesitation.
“Wang!”
“…!”
Someone raised their hand high and made a cute sound the moment I turned around.
Seeing this, I widened my eyes.
A small stature, a raised hand, and light greenish hair were the first things I saw.
The woman was looking at me with wide, round eyes.
The shining pupils within those large eyes were exotic.
I had to look at that with a blank expression.
Because it was someone I had never expected.
As I was looking at her with an unidentifiable expression, this time the woman tilted her head instead.
“Aren’t you surprised?”
“…Hah.”
At her words spoken as if disappointed, I couldn’t help but let out a hollow breath.
“I prepared so hard for this… Hing….”
The woman who had appeared having pierced through my senses was someone I knew well.
Breaking through the brief silence, I spoke to her first.
“…Long time no see.”
At those words, the woman smiled.
It was still a bright and kind smile.
“Yes, I missed you very much, my lord.”
On a deep night when the moon had risen.
The wild Dang Soyeol appeared before me.
And very suddenly at that.