The Road to the Salt Mountain
Clop, clop, clop!
A herd of war horses thundered across the plains.
“Kihyaho!”
“Die, you damn southern brats!”
The warriors of the northern grassland tribes charged north, their claw-like weapons gleaming as they swept toward the villages of Byeokra Kingdom.
These were the warriors of the northern wilderness.
In the three kingdoms of Byeokra, Yeon, and the Sacred Emperor’s realm, these men were called “barbarians” by the people, and they had grown rich from their raids.
But it was then.
Boong!
The head of their leader flew clean off in an instant.
“Eh…? What…”
While the others stood stunned, the remaining warriors dropped from their saddles with identical swiftness.
Yet the horses remained standing as if nothing had happened.
Boom!
Then, from the empty air, a towering man in black robes descended.
“Request completed. Argh, my shoulders ache…”
It was Oh Hyun-seok.
He shrugged off his mask, looking even hotter under the sun.
“At a hundred years old and more, what is this nonsense… tsk tsk.”
132 years old.
Before he fell into this strange world, his age had been exactly forty-two. Now he had lived an absurdly long life.
Yet something was off.
Even at a century and more, Oh Hyun-seok’s face showed almost no change from his forties.
He glanced back at the ruined village behind him.
‘Tsk… if I had arrived just a little sooner, those unnecessary deaths could have been avoided.’
He clicked his tongue, then slapped the rumps of the horses ridden by the fallen warriors, startling them into a gallop away from the scene.
Ninety years had passed since Oh Hyun-seok dropped into this world.
During that time his assassination skills had grown to terrifying levels. Now even those standing right beside him felt nothing of his presence.
Not even the most sensitive animals or the horses he had just used could sense him anymore.
Dududududu…
As the horses vanished from sight, Oh Hyun-seok began tidying up the broken village as best he could.
‘The war is growing worse.’
He let out a long sigh.
Thirty years ago, a dark qi had begun to drift across the entire continent.
At some point, people stopped hesitating to rob others, and even the martial sects and great families that once followed the proper way had begun to lean toward demonic and rogue paths.
And the trend on the continent had only worsened with each passing day. In hearts were now everywhere, and everyone cheated and stole from everyone else.
‘Just why has the world changed so dramatically…?’
Oh Hyun-seok recalled the world as it had been thirty years earlier.
Until then, people had been kind-hearted and lived with room in their hearts.
But one day, without warning, the people of the entire continent had suddenly become… strange.
While cleaning up the village corpses, Oh Hyun-seok’s sharp senses caught a faint sound from inside a house.
He walked into the blood-soaked house.
In the kitchen, a woman lay dead with blood pooling around her. A man who must have been her father stood with a hoe before the outhouse, dead as well.
He watched them for a moment, then opened the outhouse door.
A tiny gasp came from beneath the floorboards.
Oh Hyun-seok reached down and pulled a small girl up into his arms.
She looked around five years old. Terrified, she covered her mouth and stared at him with trembling eyes.
He smiled bitterly and said, “You must be the survivor of this village.”
After clearing the entire village of corpses, he took the girl with him and left.
“Come along. I’ll find somewhere suitable for you to live.”
Thus, Oh Hyun-seok carried the girl toward the capital of Byeokra Kingdom to collect the bounty on the northern warriors’ heads.*
“Immortal Art, Rain.”
Swoosh!
Rain began to fall.
Gwagwam glanced at the sky for a moment, then smirked.
“Is this what you call rain?”
He clasped his hands together and shouted, “Immortal Art, Rain!”
Krrrr!
In an instant the sky turned red, and blood began to pour from the heavens.
Chi-i-i-i!
The entire world turned crimson.
At the same time, red salt crystals began to sprout from the ground beneath him.
Facing Gwagwam, I held my ground and raised my hand to the sky.
“Immortal Art, Clear.”
Swish!
At once the clouds parted and the blood rain ceased.
But the ground was already covered in the salt crystals Gwagwam had created.
“Immortal Art, Envelop.”
Sssss—
A sinister aura exploded forth.
The red salt crystals burst into a dark mist and grew into coral-like structures, trapping the area in total darkness and blocking out all sunlight.
I was instantly sealed inside a coral prison of darkness.
“Immortal Art, Transfer.”
Chi-i-i!
Yet under my art, the darkness in the coral crystals began to fade, and warm sunlight streamed in once more.
“Immortal Art, Subdue.”
Kiiiiing!
But in the next moment, Gwagwam’s Immortal Art crushed down on me.
Uuddd!
The salt crystals began to evaporate.
Salt turned into light, exactly like the phenomenon of salt transforming into a crystal ball!
At the same time, red light rays shot from the salt coral crystals and pierced straight toward me.
“Immortal Art, Regret!”
At the same instant, the pattern of the Eight Trigrams enveloped me and scattered the red light in many directions.
“Immortal Art, Steady.”
But the next moment, another set of Eight Trigrams broke through from the outside and invaded the inner pattern I had created.
The inner trigram ignored the outer one and absorbed the light rays.
Flash!
I collapsed to my knees, my entire body feeling as if it were being roasted alive.
“Winner: Oh.”
In the blink of an eye, the traces of my Immortal Art vanished completely.
Cheongmun Ryeong patted Gwagwam’s shoulder and laughed heartily before turning to me.
“Your strength has increased greatly. Your application of the Busi Technique is now very proficient.”
“It is thanks to my master and seniors’ guidance.”
I lowered my head and recalled the sensations of the Immortal Arts I had used moments ago.
Over the past eighty years, I had learned only four kinds of Immortal Art.
First was the Busi Technique of forecasting changes. It included the six arts of rain, wind, thunder, drought, wind, and frost, all corresponding to the Integration realm.
Second was the Busi Technique of inquiry and doubt. It was also called the Busi Technique. It consisted of rain, clear, envelop, transfer, subdue, steady, and regret. It mainly used human intention to rearrange phenomena.
Third was the Five Epochs and Three Spirits. It was the art of reading five stars and gathering the three spirits to complete the Eight Paths.
Fourth was the Eight Paths One Extreme. It was the final stage of training the Eight Paths and One Extreme to reach the Nine Palaces and enter the realm of the “True” Immortal Art.
After that, concentrating on the Five Elements and Five Matters would allow one to awaken the principles of the Ten Heavenly Stems, reaching the “final realm” of cultivation as explained by Cheongmun Ryeong.
“So far I have taught you the training method up to the Eight Paths One Extreme. You have completed the entire Busi Technique of inquiry and doubt. Although you lost to Oh, you still awakened your own way of using strength. The foundation is there.”
“Thank you.”
“In truth, I have taught you everything I can. The rest of your training will be something you can do even after leaving here. Correct?”
“…”
I was startled by Cheongmun Ryeong’s words and looked at him.
He grinned and said, “Why, didn’t you realize? I already knew you were someone who came from the ‘outside.’”
“I’m sorry I didn’t mention it until now.”
“Hahaha, it’s fine.”
He chuckled and patted my shoulder.
“Ever since ancient times, when one looks at ancient texts, it is said that people from the ‘outside’ world occasionally come here. And… those people from the ‘outside’ world rarely age even after tens of years.”
He looked at my face.
“I heard that people from the outside live much longer than us, and aging is thousands or even tens of thousands of times slower. Since you and your companions have remained unchanged in appearance even after ninety years, I thought you must be from the outside. And whenever I saw the way you speak or ask questions, you seemed like someone who would leave this world someday rather than a native.”
“…Yes.”
Of course I already knew I would not age.
My other companions had not aged either.
They had not yet found their memories, but I could guess the reason.
‘The lifespan granted by the realm outside is also applied here.’
I probably had a few million more years left.
My companions would live at least thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of years as well.
Up until now I had only told Cheongmun Ryeong I had learned some special technique, but it seemed he could no longer be fooled forever.
Currently I was the vessel of a criminal.
Yet using Immortal Art, I could maintain power at the Foundation Establishment level.
I heard that the qi accumulated through Immortal Art does not extend lifespan.
Of course, one could also extend lifespan directly through Immortal Art, like Cheongmun Ryeong was doing now.
“Hoo… Let’s sit for a moment. I’m exhausted.”
Cheongmun Ryeong rolled his sleeves, immediately creating a chair from the soil beneath his feet, and sat down to listen.
“You already know that my body has long since died.”
Thirty years ago.
Cheongmun Ryeong’s lifespan had ended.
Yet he had been sustaining himself through Immortal Art all this time.
Only so he could continue teaching me.
He said, “Until now, to teach you, I had to use a little of my power to resist the Heavenly Mandate. But soon I will have to leave again. Probably in one or two years. And… as your master, before I go, I have a request to make.”
Cheongmun Ryeong looked at Gwagwam.
“Oh, you are a child I raised from the moment you were born in this world, the one I watched grow under my guidance, the one I taught knowledge to. You know that yourself.”
“More than anyone else, yes.”
Gwagwam’s voice trembled.
“I know you are somewhat quick-tempered and have a hot-headed personality. I also know that at some point your philosophical direction changed drastically. And that happened… after you met someone and heard something. I have not asked until now. But now I must. When and where did you meet that person, and what did you hear that caused your personality to change so much?”
Gwagwam was silent for a moment, then clenched his lips.
“…That… I cannot answer that. Forgive me… this unworthy disciple… forgive me.”
He began to tremble as if about to cry and bowed his head.
Cheongmun Ryeong’s expression was bitter as he said, “Very well. Can you grant this request?”
“I obey your command.”
“When I die, you already know I will kill Seo Eun-hyun.”
I shot Gwagwam a glance.
I had known he would be hostile toward me, but I had not expected him to actually plan to kill his master.
‘What a madman…’
Cheongmun Ryeong continued, “Cannot you at least live peacefully with him without killing?”
“…”
Gwagwam said nothing.
Cheongmun Ryeong’s every command had been obeyed, but this one regarding me he did not want to hear.
He sighed and said, “Very well. Since your resolve is this firm… I will not try to persuade you. Then I have one last request.”
He looked into Gwagwam’s eyes and said, “Grant him a reprieve.”
“…”
“Allow this child to grow strong, to have enough time, to enjoy life to the fullest, and only when his life ends will you face him… Can you grant a long reprieve?”
Gwagwam lowered his head and said, “I understand. I will obey that alone.”
“Thank you.”
Cheongmun Ryeong nodded, then looked at me.
“Eun-hyun.”
“Yes, Master.”
“You have learned the Immortal Arts well so far. But… you have not yet completed your own Immortal Art, have you?”
“It is shameful, but yes.”
“Oh is my first disciple, so he has already completed his Immortal Art. You too must complete yours from now on.”
“I will do my best.”
Cheongmun Ryeong smiled faintly.
“Best effort alone is not enough.”
“W-what…?”
I looked up at him in confusion.
He laughed heartily.
“Effort alone is not enough. You have worked diligently for eighty years, but there is a realm beyond effort.”
“Th-that’s… what…?”
Did that mean I lacked talent?
Just as I was bewildered, Cheongmun Ryeong laughed again.
“Since you don’t know much about it yet, I will give you both a task.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Oh, listen well.”
Gwagwam and I bowed our heads before Cheongmun Ryeong and said, “Oh, you go east; Eun-hyun, you go west. Travel separately for a few years and return.”
“H-but then Master will…”
Gwagwam looked worried, but Cheongmun Ryeong waved his hand, still laughing.
“Are you worried about me? Don’t worry. I will go to the Sea Serpent King of the Dabcheon Desert and leave the Longevity Fruit there. When the time comes for me to die, you will both know when to return.”
“I understand.”
“Yes.”
Thus, Gwagwam and I parted in opposite directions in front of Cheongmun Ryeong.
‘It’s complicated… He is leaving…’
My heart was heavy.
The eighty years I had spent learning the Immortal Arts beside him flashed before my eyes.
‘Indeed, I had anticipated this for thirty years.’
In truth, Cheongmun Ryeong had died thirty years ago.
He had only been sustaining his life through Immortal Art.
What does it mean to endure death?
It was far too simple.
In the first cycle when I had learned to control qi under Cheongmun Ryeong, when I had gone through ten cycles of pain.
Back then I had forced my heart to keep beating to endure the pain…
Cheongmun Ryeong was also using Immortal Art to forcibly expel death.
‘Thinking about it now, the lifespan I had transcended back then was also a kind of Immortal Art.’
I shook off the thoughts and used the Body-Immobilizing Technique to reach Byeokra County’s Baekryeon Valley.
“I have arrived.”
In the small village of Baekryeon Valley, I entered the modest tiled house inside it.
“Ah, you’re here?”
Kim Yeon ran to me and greeted me in a small voice.
I asked in a small voice as well, “Are you sleeping?”
“Ah, just waking up. I’m still a bit dazed.”
We both quieted our voices and entered the inner courtyard.
An elderly woman in a pure white robe lay resting on a mat.
“Ah… you’re here.”
She greeted us happily.
“Long time no see, Seon-sa. Has it been a month?”
“…I visited last year. How is your health, young lady?”
“Hoho, young lady? You embarrass me. Just call me Baepa.”
“Baepa? You look exactly the same as before.”
I laughed heartily and stroked her hair.
The woman she called herself Baepa was none other than Buk Hyang-hwa, or Baekran in this cycle.
“My body is not quite what it was. Still, the vitality in my body has not diminished, and I am aging slowly. I probably have a few more years left.”
“…Please do not say such things, young lady.”
Baekran looked at Kim Yeon and me alternately with a slightly pleased expression.
“…Recently I have been dreaming.”
“Dreams?”
“Yes. In my dreams, I lived for hundreds of years as a young woman, traveling with the two of you, my teachers. I even ruled the world with a fleet, made many companions, lost them all to monsters, moved around and researched… It was a wonderful dream.”
“…”
Her dreams clearly seemed to represent the life of Buk Hyang-hwa.
I suddenly took her hand and asked, “Then… do you wish for such a life?”
If she wanted it, after Baekran died, I would find a way to bring her soul back to the outside.
But she shook her head.
“It’s fine. The dream life was certainly enjoyable, but there were times it was too difficult. Especially the terrifying ‘new’ things I saw inside the dream… I do not wish to be oppressed by that ‘new’ anymore. Hehe…”
“…”
“Anyway, thank you for being my talk partner in my old age and visiting me every time to take care of me, my teachers.”
Baekran smiled faintly and took Kim Yeon’s and my hands.
“When one grows old, sleep becomes hard… But this old woman sleeps more the older she gets. Ha-am… I cannot say goodbye as I used to… Sorry…”
After speaking, she smiled faintly and fell asleep exactly as she was, as if sinking into a deep dream.
“Hyang-hwa, you will die within six or seven years,” Kim Yeon said.
She was the third companion after Seo Ran to recover her memories after ninety years of time.
“When that time comes… will I be able to send you off properly?”
“Well… but there is something certain.”
“What?”
I looked at the dreaming Baekran.
The lessons from Cheongmun Ryeong came to mind.—The Immortal Art is something anyone can use. It is the power everyone is born with. From the moment you breathe, everything you see is part of the Immortal Art. Most people only tie it inside their own body and rarely extend it outward.—Therefore you must not become arrogant after learning the Immortal Art. It will not be easy, but remember this always. All living beings in the world live with the Immortal Art of life itself. That is why every living being here exists for a reason. Every life has a reason and purpose, and we call that destiny.—I left her room and thought, ‘Her dream is not an ordinary one.’ It was a dream related to us, and she was gradually becoming clearer about it near us.—Then perhaps Baekran’s dream existed so that she could tell us its ending one day.—“When that day comes, she will depart in the greatest peace.”
“…I hope so.”
I sat on the veranda and said, “I received a command from Master. From now on, travel west and return.”
“Is that so?”
“I plan to go with my companions, but will you go?”
Kim Yeon shook her head at my words.
“I have to take care of Hyang-hwa. I don’t think I can go.”
“Yes… I understand.”
“Be careful and come back. I will wait.”
I nodded slowly and headed toward the warehouse.
Inside the warehouse, someone was painting and carving.
It was Jeon Myeong-hoon.
Compared to ninety years ago, Jeon Myeong-hoon, who had not aged at all, was lying on the canvas painting someone with hollow eyes.
Wooden sticks and stones carved into “hands” lay scattered throughout the warehouse.
I looked at the person drawn on the canvas—a woman in a yellow robe, but her face was not drawn.
Jeon Myeong-hoon looked at me with hollow eyes and asked, “Seo Eun-hyun? Perfect timing. My thoughts… I can’t think of anything. Who is it?”
He trembled and said in a sobbing voice, “Who… I can’t think of who it is. Recently I’ve been dreaming. No, it’s not a dream. It’s a memory I forgot! But… it’s not coming back clearly. What do I do? What do I do?”
I looked at Jeon Myeong-hoon with bitterness and said, “Under Master’s command, I am traveling west… Will you come with me?”
“If I go with you, will I find this memory?”
I smiled bitterly and said, “It will help.”
“Th-then I’ll go. I’ll go! I’m going!”
The man quickly cleaned the warehouse and began preparing to follow me.
I left the warehouse and headed to the drawing room.
Kim Young-hoon was sitting in the lotus position, sweating cold sweat.
In this world, with qi too thin for a complete body exchange, he still looked the same as on Earth, yet he had not aged.
“Are you doing another spirit cultivation duel?”
“Um… not today. I was trying to trace back the source of the senses I possess. When I reach that source, I feel like I might be able to cut the entire world in two.”
“…”
‘That sounds like another kind of Immortal Art…’
I offered him the journey as well, and he nodded.
“Yes, I wanted to go to the country of Penglai, which lies beyond the west, anyway.”
“…Very good.”
I went to the next room to check on Seo Ran.
Like Jeon Myeong-hoon, he was painting someone on canvas.
The face was not accurate, but she looked quite beautiful.
I asked him if he would travel together, and he accepted without hesitation.
Since receiving treatment from Gwagwam eighty years ago, Seo Ran’s seizures had disappeared.
But from then on, he had kept drawing a certain woman again and again.
At first his drawing skill was poor and he could not identify the woman he was thinking of, but recently the outlines seemed much clearer.
I left home and headed to the next house where Oh Hyun-seok was staying.
“Brother Hyun-seok, are you there? Ah, perfect timing.”
I entered the inner courtyard and found Oh Hyun-seok.
“Brother Hyun-seok, I have a proposal… Uh, what is she?”
I looked at the girl eating with Oh Hyun-seok.
“Ah, the child I picked up after finishing the last request. Her parents died in the war. I searched for a family to raise her, but with the war clouds gathering again on the continent and people’s hearts turning hostile… I intend to take her with me for now.”
“Um… I see. Then perhaps…”
I made the same proposal to Oh Hyun-seok, and he accepted it readily.
“Good. Let’s go together. On another continent there will be someone to look after the child.”
Thus, except for Kim Yeon, all my companions headed toward Penglai Kingdom on the journey.