Elixir, Secret Technique Book, Teaching. The path commonly taken in Moorim meant these three things. Therefore, it can be said that it was normal that Yoon-seok learned swordsmanship from Cheon-ma. However, it wasn’t that common. In Moorim, the Teachings were strict, after all. Rather, they were extremely sensitive.
‘Some clan even say that if you want to retire, you have to have your limbs cut off.’
It was the custom of Moorim to send a slaughter squad if there was even a quibble over the legitimacy of a family or clan or if only a single verse of their martial arts was leaked to the outside. However, the Sword Sovereign had shown the sword he had perfected over the years to Yoon-seok for him to learn.
‘And he said he paid his debt…’
Yoon-seok was a little surprised. He thought their factions would only fight against each other but were the heads close? Indeed, the Sword Sovereign was the first to call Cheon-ma Young Lady Zheng.
“…Thank you.”
Yoon-seok looked at the Sword Sovereign and raised his arms respectfully. He didn’t know what the old man owed to Cheon-ma in the past, but he received an unexpectedly great favor. However, the Sword Sovereign looked at Yoon-seok with puzzlement.
“I hope you can pass it on to Young Lady Zheng. I paid off my debt with this, so please forget about it.”
“I don’t know what it is, but I’ll tell her as it is.”
At that moment-
“Fuaaaah!”
Namgoong Jin-jin surfaced from the pond and gulped down air. She held a rag the size of a book in her hand, and her face was bright. Of course, it was short-lived.
“T-the League Master…?!”
Namgoong Jin-jin, who soon noticed the Sword Sovereign, jumped out of the pond.
“League Master! It wasn’t him that killed the Bloody Sky Delusion Sword. It’s my fault! So if you want to punish me…”
Jin-jin stopped dead as the Sword Sovereign began to laugh.
“Since Young Lady Nangong said that, doesn’t it feel like I have become some corrupt official?”
“…?”
The Sword Sovereign sheathed his sword.
“The Co-Sect Leader has decided to take responsibility, so don’t worry about it.”
“What? What do you mean by that…”
“Let me explain.”
Yoon-seok intervened and briefly explained what had just happened. However, Namgoong Jin-jin’s expression was not bright.
“I heard that the head of the Black Alliance is a persistent person. In the end, I ended up harming you because of my greed…”
“I did it because I wanted to.”
It means that I didn’t do it for you. He must have said it five times, but again, it was like she wasn’t listening at all.
“…I will surely repay this favor someday.”
“Yes. Then let’s put it that way…”
Leaving behind Jin-jin, who seemed to be making a hard decision, Yoon-seok looked to the Sword Sovereign.
“I want to ask you one thing.”
“Do you know that’s the third time you’ve said that?”
Yoon-seok tilted his head.
“Is that so?”
“…Alright, go ahead and ask.”
“It’s nothing special, but the head of the Black Alliance, is he strong?”
“I heard that he is a man on the same rank as you, Young Co-Sect Leader. As I’ve met both of you, I think you’re similar to each other.”
A ranker in the 12th place? After all, only Cheon-ma and Heavenly Buddha were in the 1st place among the people from Moorim.
Yoon-seok asked again.
“Then, how many of the Moorim people are comparable to the head of the Black Alliance?”
“And again, your question became two.”
One becomes two, and two becomes three. That’s the way the world is.
When Yoon-seok looked at him, he burst into laughter.
“There are about three more as far as I can tell from the League.”
“Three…”
As expected from Moorim.
‘Then, there are two people in 1st place and four people in 12th place?’
Yoon-seok was amazed again at the potential of Moorim.
“Combat Sovereign, Wang Qi. Overlord of Bow, Shama Liu. Supreme Ultimate Sword King, Hu Yanzhen. I think these three are comparable to the head of the Black Alliance.”
One name caught his ears.
“Overlord of Bow.”
“Don’t you remember? I’m sure you’ve met him at Horizon Lake.”
“Ah…!”
He remembered. The old archer who annoyed Yoon-seok the most. The attack he showed at the end was the most impressive.
—Soul Arrow.
That was probably the first time his b Immortal} was activated.
[You took damage close to death.]
[You have become rigid for 10 seconds, and all damage is ignored.]
If it wasn’t for that, there was a high possibility that he would have died instantly from that arrow.
Greed appeared in Yoon-seok’s eyes. Combat Sovereign? Supreme Ultimate Sword King? They were pretty good, and Yoon-seok could tell how they fought just by looking at their nicknames. However, the Overlord of Bow was different.
‘A long-range fighter!’
Among those from the duel, the most valuable was someone with long-distance capabilities. Well, compared to a healer, it was a drop in the bucket.
“Where can I meet him? I’d like to talk to him.”
To be precise, Yoon-seok wanted to recruit him. Cheon-ma, the King of Steel, Lavan already had too many close-range fighters.
‘Su-yeon also said that we should be able to cope in all situations.’
Yoon-seok’s eyes began to twinkle with anticipation. And looking at this, the Sword Sovereign politely asked.
“I’m asking because I’m really curious. Is there something wrong with your head?”
“…I’ll ask you back just in case. Are you picking a fight with me?”
“No way? It seems you ask because you don’t know.”
When Yoon-seok stared at him, the Sword Sovereign coughed.
“The Overlord of Bow is someone of the Black Alliance.”
“Oh, so he is a member of the Black Alliance?”
Yoon-seok didn’t know.
“But what does that matter?”
When Yoon-seok asked back as if he couldn’t understand, he replied with a gloomy voice.
“…Well, if you show up there, the head of the Black Alliance won’t stay still, will he?”
Oh, was that the problem? If so, Yoon-seok didn’t think he needed to worry.
“I will take care of that part. Anyway, doesn’t it matter? If I go there and say that I killed the Bloody Sky Delusion Sword, I think the League would welcome it.”
“…It’s true, but it makes me very sad for you to say that.”
He said he was sad, but what Yoon-seok felt in his voice was annoyance. Yoon-seok, feeling a bit sorry, added an explanation.
“It can be difficult if he rushes in so I will meet him quietly.”
“What if it doesn’t go your way?”
“Well, I should call the Sect Leader too.”
Cheon-ma was also a teammate who would participate in the Queen Battle, so she would likely cooperate.
“…What should I say about you, Young Co-Sect Leader? You’re not like a Demon Follower but feel very much like one.”
It was a strange way of speaking, but Yoon-seok didn’t think deeply about it. It was a compliment.
* * *
“Do not tell anyone about what you have. Surely those who seek it will appear.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“What do you mean thank you…? Rather, I am sorry that I seemed to have disappointed you.”
“No… So-so and I… fully understand your decision, League Master.”
Understand she said… this was not what Namgoong Jin-jin, who secretly infiltrated their prison to murder a man, should say. However, no one mentioned it.
“It may be too much in my lifetime, but I hope the name of the Namgoong Family will be heard again in Moorim someday.”
With those words, the Sword Sovereign disappeared.
“…So-so seems to have finished her task.”
Yoon-seok turned his head at Jin-jin’s murmuring. He could see thick smoke billowing out in the distance. The Namgoong Family manor was on fire.
“Don’t you feel sorry about it?”
“So-so must have already packed everything we needed.”
He didn’t ask in that sense, and no doubt Jin-jin knew about that too. It must have been an expression of determination to move toward the future, not the past, that she answered that way.
“Sis!”
Namgoong So-so returned. And this meant that it was time for them to part.
“I will not forget your kindness until the day I die. I will tell your story to the children I will have someday… no, even to the children of those children. I will tell them over and over again so that no one will ever forget it.”
To be honest, it would be scary if a family from a distant dimension did that in a hundred years, but… instead of ruining the mood, Yoon-seok smiled and nodded.
“Please do.”
What he just said would be her ambition. She promised to rebuild her family someday.
“Then we’ll get going now. Wherever you go, I hope you’ll be well.”
The Namgoong sisters left like that. They didn’t say where they were going, and they didn’t even bother to ask Yoon-seok. Regardless, he was sure the two of them would get through it just fine.
“…Should I leave soon?”
Yoon-seok moved away slowly as he watched the fire consume the manor. He moved forward, step by step. For some reason, he wanted to walk today.
* * *
The Leader of the Extermination Squad, Jin Muzhen. The Demon Brain, Chen Yun, and one of the duel rankers remaining in the Demon Sect, Zheng Dayun the Sword Demon. Hundreds of infamous Demon Followers gathered in one place to see only one person’s face up close and bow their heads.
“Long Live! Long Live! Long Live the Leader!”
The sight of hundreds of men on their knees shouting as one was daunting. However, there was no emotion in the person’s expression walking between them. As if every time she visits, such a thing should always be there.
“It’s been decades, but it’s still the same here.”
She climbed the stairs naturally and sat on a chair at the top. And at that moment, an old man who had been on his knees raised himself.
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you. Cheon-ma.”
The bookkeeper of the Moon and Sun Sect, Chen Yun the Demon Brain. About thirty years ago, he was left in charge when Cheon-ma left, saying she would live in seclusion until she returned.
“Why did you call so many?”
“I will send them right away.”
The hundreds of Demon Followers all disappeared at the Demon Brain’s words. All that was left now was Cheon-ma and the Demon Brain.
“…I was looking forward to it, but it seems like you didn’t want to come back.”
“It’s just boring to be here. Don’t you know that?
“Yes. However, when I heard that Zheng Squad Leader and Jin Squad Leader had met you at the Tower, I was a little excited. Did you even appoint a Co-Sect Leader?”
“Yeah, he’s a good boy.”
“How did you do it?”
The Demon Brain was the second most important figure in the Moon and Sun Sect, and in fact, he had taken that place during the absence of the previous Heavenly Demon. Therefore, he also knew how the Cheon-ma was chosen.
“Who knows. All sorts of weird things happen in the Tower. Maybe it was the challenger who reached the Heavenly Sword Cave.”
“…”
“Anyway, let’s stop talking nonsense. Why did you grow old during the time I was away?”
“How can a mere ordinary man fill your empty seat?”
“Seeing that you’re blaming the Sect Leader, it seems that you still have your rude tongue.”
“It is the only talent I possess, so please don’t be too angry.”
It was their first reunion after thirty years, but the conversation between the two was as natural as if they had just met yesterday. But such a quiet time was often short-lived.
“How can I be so generous with you? A man who said he could look over this place dared to tell me a lie.”
There was a profound echo in Cheon-ma’s voice.
“Life and death coexist. It arises when the inner qi of embracing the mystery of love is intertwined.”
“…?”
“You won’t say you don’t remember this, right? You said it yourself, not anyone else!”
“…!”
The Demon Brain, who didn’t understand what she was saying at first, opened his eyes wide and hit his forehead on the floor. No, how the hell did she know?
He couldn’t see Cheon-ma from this angle, but his frustrated expression was full of such doubts. However, his clever brain, which allowed him to reach this spot with a body that didn’t know martial arts, quickly understood the situation.
‘No way…!’
Looking back, Sword Demon and Jin Muzhen said the two seemed to have a special relationship beyond the normal teacher and disciple. Soon after, he confirmed the truth with a trembling voice.
“Is it the Co-Sect Leader…?”
“Yeah, I found out thanks to that kid.”
“It can’t be…!”
The Demon Brain roared. And then.
“Mother!”
‘…Mother?’
Yongyong, in human form, jumped out of Cheon-ma’s bag.
“Didn’t I tell you to stay still until I called you?”
“But, I can feel Father’s energy in this world!”
‘…Father, Mother?’
“What? Is that true?”
A soft smile tugged Cheon-ma’s lips upward. It was the kind of expression that even the Demon Brain, who had spent most of his life looking after Cheon-ma, was only now seeing for the first time. Like a woman in love…
“Ah, aaahh…”
He felt his head spinning, and the Demon Brain touched his forehead. Then…
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