Chapter 89: The Return (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 89: The Return (1)
-That strength is truly inhuman.
The Lesser Conversation Sword clicked its tongue in admiration.
I, too, was inwardly marveled by my own power as I surveyed the devastation within a sixty-foot radius. I hadn't even used a specific martial form; I had simply swung my sword while channeling my energy.
To think a mere sword strike could produce such destructive force.
"Guh... ugh..."
The man collapsed on the ground stared up at me, his face a mask of disbelief. He must have felt the overwhelming disparity in our power.
However, the effects of the Dragon-Tiger Golden Pill were truly remarkable. The bleeding was already stopping, and veins were bulging at the site of his severed limbs, showing signs of regeneration.
As I thought, I have to take his head.
"I'd like to make you suffer more, but I have to go help my masters."
I raised my sword to finish him off, aiming for his neck.
"Ha... ha... You monster."
The man finally spoke.
"Are those your last words?"
"Is it so wrong to want to overthrow a tyrant and benefit the world for the sake of the people?"
It seemed he wanted to preach his convictions to me at the very end. But I had no desire to engage in such a debate with him.
I looked down at him coldly and was about to swing my sword when he shouted urgently.
"I surrender!"
"What?"
A declaration of surrender suddenly came from his mouth. For someone so stubborn to say such a thing so abruptly—did he fear death that much?
"You're surrendering now?"
"The battle is decided. You can kill me whenever you wish, can you not?"
"And?"
"Even on a battlefield, one shows courtesy to the defeated if they surrender."
"You want me to treat you like a prisoner of war?"
"......I may have been expelled, but in a sense, you and I are fellow disciples. Surely your masters didn't teach you to kill a man who has surrendered and has no will to fight? That would go against the laws of Dohwaseon, wouldn't it?"
"Ha?"
-He’s desperate to live.
It was exactly as the Lesser Conversation Sword said. For a man with such immense pride and unyielding convictions to bow his head meant he was willing to endure any humiliation just to survive, biding his time for future revenge.
The man continued.
"I... I cannot die like this. If I die without achieving my grand cause, I will have no face to meet my junior sister who passed before me."
"........"
"Take me to the Master and the Immortals. I will abide by their decision."
How absurd.
As far as I could tell, this bastard knew exactly what he was doing. The Sword Immortal and the other seven Taoists were men of the Way who avoided killing whenever possible. He knew that if he begged, they wouldn't kill him.
A cold sneer escaped my lips.
"Go ahead and mock me. I have a reason to cling to life."
"You're pathetic."
"If you want to vent your anger, do as you wish. However, the price for my actions shall be determined by the masters, not by you—"
Ssh!
I brought my sword close to his throat. The man shouted in a panic.
"What are you doing? Did I not just speak to you?"
"You did."
"Then why are you doing this? If you are also a disciple of Dohwaseon..."
"Hey, Jagyeongjeong."
"Hey?"
"You're mistaken about one thing. I'm not a Taoist."
"!?"
His pupils shook. Indeed, he had mistaken me for a hidden disciple of the Sword Immortal all this time. Moreover, since I had received techniques from all eight Taoists as their joint successor, he must have thought I was bound by the laws of Dohwaseon.
"Then why did they... to someone like you...?"
"It's your karma. And while I haven't lived as long as you, I've endured enough storms in my life to know one thing for certain."
"What?"
"The only answer for someone like you is death."
"Wait—"
Slash!
Thud, roll!
Before he could finish his sentence, his neck was severed, and his head rolled across the ground.
Death was the only answer for a man like this. If left alive, he would undoubtedly become a source of future trouble.
"........"
His tenacity for life was truly persistent. Even with his head severed, he didn't die immediately. His eyes remained wide open as he muttered something, but without vocal cords, nothing but the sound of escaping air could be heard.
Did he have that many regrets?
I raised my foot over his head and spoke.
"Save your bullshit for hell."
Then, I crushed the head that was glaring at me.
Crunch!
The head was completely pulverized. There was no more movement, no sign of regeneration. The same went for the body.
"Whew."
In a way, this guy was unlucky. If he hadn't messed with the Lesser Conversation Sword, he might have achieved everything he wanted.
Anyway, it was time to return to my masters.
I reached out, and the Dharma Tool Cheondun, which had been stuck in the ground, flew into my hand.
Clap!
'Cheondun. Let's go back to the Master.'
It was my first time touching it.
-........
I tried to speak to it, but it gave no response.
It was a question that had nagged at me for three years and eight months. Even the Master, who could commune with swords, never held a conversation with this sword, which was essentially his companion from before it became a Dharma Tool.
I had clearly heard Cheondun's voice back then. So why did it remain so consistently silent now?
Regardless, I had to head back.
Just as I was about to leap toward the center of Dohwaseon, I glanced back at Jagyeongjeong's corpse.
-What is it?
'Better to be thorough.'
I approached the body and placed my palm over it. Flames flickered to life, consuming his clothes and flesh. I used Void Object Retrieval to move the fragments of his crushed head into the fire as well.
Whoosh!
The remains were reduced to black ash within the flames.
-You certainly are thorough.
He was a man who had consumed the Dragon-Tiger Golden Pill and cultivated the Way. It was better to be certain than to leave room for unease.
Now, I had to go help my masters.
Flash!
*
It wasn't long after Jin Un-hwi had returned to the center of the sect.
A black shadow cautiously approached the corpse that was turning to ash. The figure let out a sigh as he looked at the blackened remains.
"Cruel bastard..."
After a moment, the black shadow pulled something from his robes. It was a sheet of yellow paper.
Unfolding the paper, the shadow began to mutter something as if chanting a spell toward the burning corpse. Soon, the smoke from the flames began to seep into the paper.
It was a bizarre sight. The smoke etched itself onto the yellow paper like a meticulous ink drawing. Once the entire sheet was filled, the smoke stopped being absorbed.
The black shadow folded the paper neatly, tucked it into a small pouch, and muttered while watching the ashes scatter in the wind.
"Gyeongjeong. I, Noejangjo, shall uphold your dying wish."
Swoosh!
As soon as he finished speaking, the black shadow melted into the darkness.
*
A sphere glowing like a blazing sun.
It was trapped within a grey barrier of light. They were containing it using the Dharma Tool, the Token of the Immortal Wall True Prison, but every time the sphere struck the shimmering walls, it grew even larger.
'Is it not ready yet?'
I looked at the eight Taoists while wiping away cold sweat. Every single one of them had aged into frail old men, having nearly exhausted their vitality, as they surrounded the barrier and chanted incantations.
-It feels like it’s going to explode at any moment.
The barrier couldn't withstand this immense power. In fact, the force of the impacts was only making the sphere stronger. I feared the glowing orb would explode and wipe out all of Dohwaseon.
Rumble!
As expected, the barrier was reaching its limit. In truth, this barrier wasn't just the power of the Token. I had injected my Innate True Qi into the red gem to temporarily amplify the Token's power.
It was Master Ha, the owner of the Token, who had taught me this method. I was pouring Innate True Qi into the Token of the Immortal Wall True Prison as if my life depended on it, but it cracked before I could even count to fifteen.
"Masters, I can't hold it any longer!"
It was at that very moment.
As Great Immortal Jeongyang raised his hand, the ground shattered, and something soared upward. It was a long strip of paper covered in scripture. I hadn't realized such scriptures were buried beneath the floor.
"Release the barrier!"
At Jeongyang's shout, I let go of the Token. My palm was scorched with burn marks as if it had been branded.
Sizzle!
"Kh!"
I practically threw the Token aside. The barrier trapping the sphere vanished instantly.
A brilliant light flowed from the long scripture paper that had erupted from the ground, and it immediately wrapped around the sphere that was on the verge of exploding.
'Can paper really withstand that heat?'
Just as I was worrying, the voices of the masters chanting their spells grew louder, and the scripture paper emitted an even brighter radiance.
"Ah!"
To my amazement, the sphere covered by the scripture began to shrink. It was as if the scripture was absorbing the heat and power of the orb. The sphere, which had grown to nearly sixty feet in diameter, gradually diminished until it was completely absorbed into the paper.
The scripture paper, which had been fluttering with brilliant light, soon lost its luster. Then, following Jeongyang's gesture, it dove back into the hole in the floor.
Rumble!
Once it was completely submerged...
Thud! Thud!
The eight Taoists who had been chanting collapsed to the ground. I was speechless at the sight of them, looking as though they had aged decades in an instant.
"Masters, are you alright?"
In response to my question, they could only let out ragged breaths. They had consumed far too much vitality to protect Dohwaseon.
Rumble!
Suddenly, a strange sound echoed from the hole in the cavern. Curious, I rode the Namcheon Iron Sword and flew up to look through the opening, where a magnificent sight awaited me.
-It’s returning to normal.
Just as the Lesser Conversation Sword said, the sky that had been filled with gold was gradually reverting to its original state. Dohwaseon was returning to its proper form. Because of the exploding sphere, Dohwaseon had drifted out of its flow and become tethered to the mortal world, but now it seemed it would soon return to its original state.
I descended back down. The Taoists who had collapsed in exhaustion were beginning to stand up one by one. They had protected Dohwaseon from Jagyeongjeong's scheme, yet their expressions were universally grim.
I was about to ask why when...
"Immortal. How much damage did the Dharma Tool, the Spirit Treasure Brush Method, sustain?"
"Sigh."
At the question from Master Jo, the Taoist in tattered robes holding a gourd bottle, Great Immortal Jeongyang let out a deep sigh.
As I stood there puzzled, the Sword Immortal approached me.
"Things have become quite difficult."
"......What do you mean by that?"
"The thing that just stopped the Dharma Tool's explosion was the Immortal's own Dharma Tool, the Spirit Treasure Brush Method."
"Ah... that was it?"
The scripture paper that had erupted from the ground was the Spirit Treasure Brush Method, hailed as the greatest among the eight Dharma Tools of Dohwaseon. I hadn't realized it was kept at the very heart of the sect. I had assumed Jeongyang carried it with him.
The Sword Immortal spoke with an apologetic look.
"Originally, once you finished your role as our proxy and returned, we intended to use our vitality and the power of the Spirit Treasure Brush Method to alter the flow and send you back to your own time. But that has become difficult."
"Does that mean......"
"It seems impossible until the damage to the Spirit Treasure Brush Method is repaired."
I bit my lip hard at those words. Even without the issue of the Dharma Tool, looking at the masters' condition, it seemed impossible to send me back immediately. It would only be possible once they had recovered their vitality to some extent.
Just how long would that take?
I approached the sighing Jeongyang and asked.
"Immortal. How long do you think it will take for the Spirit Treasure Brush Method to recover?"
Jeongyang stared at me intently. I continued.
"Please be honest with me. Even putting the Dharma Tool aside, seeing how much vitality you all have exhausted, I don't think it will be a short time."
Every one of them looked ancient. The energy I felt from them was incredibly frail. I had to consider the time needed for them to recover this vitality as well.
"It will take at least a year for the Dharma Tool to recover naturally, and I suspect it will take at least three to four years of recuperation for us to recover our vitality to a sufficient degree."
'.......Ah.'
I couldn't bring myself to let out a sigh of disappointment in front of them. If the masters hadn't risked everything to protect Dohwaseon, I wouldn't even have a home to return to. And I couldn't exactly go outside and wait for hundreds of years. Even with the Golden Imperial Body procedure, I didn't know if I could maintain my sanity and emotions for that long.
'Three or four years......'
My stay had been extended once again. And even that wasn't certain. It depended on the masters recovering enough vitality to handle the Spirit Treasure Brush Method. In the end, there was no choice but to wait.
Just then, Master Jang, whose hair had turned completely white, approached me.
"This actually works out well."
"Pardon?"
"I already felt your spear techniques were a bit clumsy and lacking. While you're staying here, I shall pass on the ultimate secrets of the Golden Spear True Scripture to you."
It wasn't just Master Jang. Master Ha, who had taken the lotus from behind her ear, also spoke.
"Since you're staying longer anyway, I shall train your Mental Focus so that your Essence, Energy, and Spirit reach a perfect balance."
"My senior brother and sister are right. I taught you the basics of the Snow Sound Flower Sun Dance, but I haven't taught you the true essence yet. This is the perfect time to pass it on."
"This sounds interesting. Then I shall also..."
One by one, the seven Taoists competed to tell me what they would teach me. Looking at them, a hollow laugh escaped my lips.
Should I be happy about this? It felt like a 'morning three, evening four' situation—a strange mix of emotions.
The Lesser Conversation Sword spoke to me.
-Since it’s come to this, train properly. That Golden Emperor guy... think about how much he must have refined himself over all those years just to defeat you.
'......You're right.'
Come to think of it, the successor of the Sword Immortal that the Jonju feared was me. I only realized that after learning his true identity.
'Is my coming to the past also destiny?'
It was too coincidental to be anything else. If so, as the sword said, the Jonju—no, the Golden Emperor—would have spent hundreds of years making every possible preparation to find and kill me.
In that light, three or four years wasn't a long time at all. It might even be too short a period to prepare.
'.......Training, huh.'
I pushed aside my disappointment at not being able to return immediately and performed a fist-and-palm salute to the eight Taoists.
"I ask for your guidance once more."
.
.
.
*
There was a crudely built thatched hut in the middle of a forest.
A man in shabby clothes walked toward it, carrying a massive load of firewood on an A-frame carrier on his back. Setting the carrier down in front of the hut, the man wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.
He muttered to himself.
"I don't even sweat anymore, but I can't break the habit."
Since 'that day,' he had become different from ordinary people. He didn't sweat, and he could survive without eating. He didn't even have basic physiological needs.
In truth, the act of gathering firewood to make a fire and cooking food was meaningless, but if he didn't do these things, he couldn't feel that he was truly alive.
"Sigh. Young Master."
A lot of time had passed since that day. Even Young Lady Sama Yeong, who had waited with him until the end, had disappeared after receiving word that her father was seriously injured, and there had been no news since.
It was still a mystery. Why had the Young Master disappeared?
Shortly after he entered the Mist Forest, the forest itself vanished. But after that, the Young Master never reappeared.
"Young Master...... are you truly dead?"
If that were really the case, it was too tragic. To disappear again after such a brief reunion.
Feeling hollow, the man picked up a gourd bottle that had been sitting on the porch. It was filled with liquor. Just as he uncorked it and was about to take a drink...
"Since when did you start drinking? A-Song."
"!?"
The man doubted his own ears. Thinking he was hearing things, he set the bottle down and turned his head.
"Yo-Young Master!"
There stood Jin Un-hwi, the Young Master who had been missing all this time.