Obtaining Darkness (3)
“Ah, you’ve arrived.”
Yang Cheon’s face showed not the slightest trace of apology.
“The headquarters is underground, after all. The air circulates well enough, but it must still have felt quite stifling.”
“It wasn’t exactly comfortable.”
His voice was noticeably stiff. He seemed quite displeased.
Yang Cheon kept his smile firmly in place.
“Still, I heard my subordinates took good care of you.”
That was hardly something to say to someone who had been kept waiting for a long time. Indeed, the displeasure on Jeok-yeon’s face—the leader of the Yeonhwa Sect, one of Botam’s factions—was impossible to hide.
Naturally, Yang Cheon didn’t care in the least whether she was upset or not.
“So, you wanted to see this person?”
Jeok-yeon spoke as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Didn’t you say you would respond to our proposal?”
“I did.”
Yang Cheon nodded.
“I certainly said that. However, as you know, our side has no choice but to consider this matter with great caution.”
“A great deal of time has already passed.”
“This is an issue that would still be insufficient even if we pondered it for several months. The name of Botam isn’t so light that we could reach a decision after merely a few days of deliberation, is it?”
It was a statement that showed just how much he respected Botam. Jeok-yeon’s expression softened slightly.
“I understand your concerns, Lord. But I hope you can understand that time is short for us as well.”
Yang Cheon tilted his head.
“I’m curious. Why exactly is time so pressing?”
Jeok-yeon frowned.
“Didn’t I explain this before? Our main sect wishes to step out into the world. We intend to transform it into a pure symbol of martial prowess rather than granting trials to candidates as we did in the past.”
“I heard that much.”
“If we delay too long, the other factions may begin scheming. The candidate of our main sect—this child here—possesses talent that truly overwhelms the others. Yet their greed only grows stronger with time. There’s no telling what they might do.”
Yang Cheon’s gaze naturally shifted to the woman standing beside Jeok-yeon.
She appeared to be around the same age as Bu Seon, yet the power she harbored was truly extraordinary. ‘No matter how many times I see it, it’s astonishing.’ Her aura was perfectly contained. In terms of pure martial force alone, she surpassed the leaders of major sects. Her strength was so immense that it didn’t feel far removed from Yeon Hojeong’s current level.
A genius like this was rare to find even once in a lifetime. Even Yang Cheon himself had not reached such a realm at her age. ‘If there’s a flaw, it would be that her lack of experience makes her excessively naive. Still, with her high level of martial arts, she should be able to handle most unexpected situations adequately.’
Yang Cheon spoke.
“Your name was Yeon Sim, was it not?”
Yeon Sim bowed her head.
“It is.”
“I find myself newly impressed. You have built up truly remarkable martial arts. Considering your age, you have reached the True Realm several years faster than I did.”
“You flatter me.”
“I would like to ask you something.”
Yang Cheon flashed a mischievous smile.
“Do you wish to become the next Sword Queen?”
It was an abrupt question. Jeok-yeon was more startled by it than Yeon Sim herself.
Yeon Sim lifted her head to look at Yang Cheon.
In that instant, she felt a pain as if her eyes were being burned away. ‘Incredible.’ She could sense it clearly. Through the Bodhisattva Art—the divine technique of Botam—her eyes perceived the truth. ‘This man is filled with desire that defies imagination.’
His build was neither large nor small, perfectly ordinary. At first glance, his features seemed kind; he didn’t appear to be a bad person at all.
Yet in Yeon Sim’s eyes, Yang Cheon was nothing but a pure mass of desire. Domination, victory, destruction, revenge—aggressive urges that a practitioner should never possess filled him to the brim.
To Yeon Sim, that was far more shocking than Yang Cheon’s absolute martial prowess.
“Why are you looking at me like that? My question seems to have caught you off guard.”
“……No.”
Yeon Sim closed her eyes.
“I do possess the desire to become the Sword Queen.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
“However……”
“However?”
When Yeon Sim opened her eyes again, her voice had grown considerably calmer.
“If becoming the Sword Queen means I must fight against those I consider family, then I do not wish for it.”
“Yeon Sim!” Jeok-yeon cried out.
“That is my honest thought.”
“How can this girl utter such weak words…!”
At that moment, Yang Cheon raised his hand to silence Jeok-yeon.
He looked directly at Yeon Sim and asked,
“Is that your true heart?”
“It is.”
“I see. In that case.”
Yang Cheon turned his head toward Jeok-yeon.
Her face was filled with both panic and fury. Despite all her persuasion, the heart of Yeon Sim—the successor of the Yeonhwa Sect—had not changed. That fact enraged her.
“You, the leader of the Yeonhwa Sect, come to me asking for my strength while failing to properly convince even your own successor?”
Jeok-yeon immediately spoke up.
“She is simply confused. This child understands our faction’s long-cherished wish perfectly well. Her words were merely spoken in momentary bewilderment due to the weight of the occasion. There is no need for you to concern yourself, Lord.”
“Do your ears truly hear that child’s statement as nothing more than a slip of the tongue born from confusion?”
“Of course.”
“Then I am even more disappointed. It means you have not even properly looked into the heart of your own faction’s successor.”
“……!”
Jeok-yeon’s eyelids trembled violently.
Yang Cheon looked back at Yeon Sim.
“I know that statement of yours was sincere. Had you dared to speak falsehood in front of me, I would not have forgiven it.”
These were the words of the King of Combat. They did not sound like a joke.
“That is precisely why I am disappointed in you as well.”
“……Pardon?”
Both Jeok-yeon and Yeon Sim were left dazed.
Yang Cheon’s eyes deepened.
“If that true heart of yours will not change, then you should never have come here in the first place.”
“……!”
“Furthermore, in this era of heroes contending for supremacy, do you truly believe that I—filled with the desire to conquer the world—would look favorably upon a practitioner who lives with such soft and yielding convictions?”
“Lord.”
“Life is struggle!”
The two women flinched at the sudden thunderous resonance of Yang Cheon’s voice.
“If you do not wish to become the Sword Queen, that is one thing. But how can someone who clearly holds that dream in her heart shrink back in fear of struggle!”
“……?!”
“Is the sword you hold in your hand truly a fitting tool for cultivation? If it is a tool for cultivation, then why have you devoted yourself so deeply to the sword path! A sword is a weapon for killing! How can one who wields such a weapon truly cultivate properly!”
His words were extremely radical. Moreover, they essentially denied the several-hundred-year history of Botam.
Jeok-yeon spoke.
“Today’s meeting was to hear your decision, Lord. It is not a place to discuss the history of our sect.”
“Foolish woman!”
“W-what did you say?!”
“When did you declare that you would emerge into the world and spread the will of salvation because Botam’s centuries-old history was wrong? Yet now you find my words—that Botam’s history is mistaken—so unbearable to hear!”
“……!!”
“If you seek cultivation, delve into the scriptures and attain enlightenment through ascetic practice! If you desire the world, then wield your sword coldly as a tool of struggle! The Sword Queen? Did you truly believe that such a symbol within a group of practitioners would be of any help?!”
It was a scathing rebuke without mercy.
Because it carried Yang Cheon’s genuine conviction, his words held even greater power.
Perhaps that was why Jeok-yeon faltered. She could not find any words to refute him.
Yang Cheon gazed at Yeon Sim with burning eyes.
Yeon Sim wanted to turn her head away from that gaze. Yet for some reason, those burdensome eyes filled with desire kept drawing her in.
“You said you wanted to become the Sword Queen? Then become the Sword Queen! Do you wish to be a practitioner? Then release the sword! One who avoids struggle with a half-hearted mind that is neither one nor the other is nothing but a fool who has already lost without even fighting!”
“I-I……”
“Does this world look so easy to you that it would embrace even someone like that!”
“……!!”
The intense heat shook Yeon Sim’s heart to its core.
Yang Cheon’s eyes flashed.
“You possess talent. The talent and effort that allowed you to reach such a realm despite receiving Botam’s half-hearted teachings are truly remarkable. However, if one with talent turns away from and wastes that gift, that too cannot be considered right.”
“……”
“If you wish to waste your talent, then seek another path—the path without conflict that you truly desire. But if there is a desire within your heart to become a great swordsman, then accept that desire!”
Upon hearing Yang Cheon’s words, Yeon Sim felt as if the heavens and earth were being overturned.
Accept desire?
The enlightenment pursued by Buddhism was to suppress desire and seek the path of liberation. They had even labeled desire itself as evil and created the demon god Mara.
To Yeon Sim, who had been raised on such teachings, Yang Cheon’s statement was something she could never accept.
Yet, nevertheless, despite that.
Every single word of Yang Cheon’s speech struck deeply into her heart.
Those words are wrong. She knew that.
Those words are right. For Yang Cheon, they would be.
Then what about for herself?
‘What exactly do I want?’
In the end, it came down to that.
What shocked Yeon Sim was not that Yang Cheon’s words were correct. It was the realization that she had never once honestly looked into what she herself desired.
‘I was half-hearted.’
Yes. She had been half-hearted.
Most likely, not only her, but many swordsmen of Botam were the same.
‘But… simply wanting something is itself desire and affliction. For a practitioner to accept such a thing…’
Suddenly, Yeon Sim thought,
‘Did I truly want to attain the Dao?’
She didn’t know. She had pursued the Dao, and she had felt the compulsion that she must reach it, but she didn’t think she had truly desired it.
‘Then what was it that I wanted…?’
In that moment, Yeon Sim’s eyes trembled.
‘……The Sword Queen?’
Countless people had praised her talent.
Countless people had declared that she was the one closest to becoming the next Sword Queen.
Yet within Botam, there were several others with talent comparable to hers. Their existence had been enough to stimulate her.
‘Then why did I want to become the Sword Queen?’
What exactly was the Sword Queen? Wasn’t it merely a symbol of Botam?
A practitioner should not harbor greed for such a symbol. Yet she had. It was not an appropriate mindset for a practitioner.
Only then did Yeon Sim realize the truth.
‘I didn’t want to become the Sword Queen. I wanted to prove myself to the world by becoming the Sword Queen.’
She had possessed such a heart. She had held the desire to be acknowledged.
Yang Cheon smiled.
Yeon Sim, who had been staring blankly at the stairs lost in thought, saw her aura beginning to ripple little by little. ‘Not bad.’
Yeon Sim’s talent was extraordinary. If that talent were to fully bloom and he could make this genius his own, she would make for an excellent blade to strike a blow against the Sound Demon.
‘This is only the beginning. I will help you find your true self, so you must become a divine sword for me and point it at the Sound Demon.’
It was then.
“Lord.”
Baek Seo’s voice came from outside the grand hall.
“I am in conversation with guests. Unless it is urgent, come back later.”
“That is… the person who made an appointment with you has arrived.”
“Appointment?”
“It is Yeon Hojeong and his party.”
In that instant, a smile spread across Yang Cheon’s face.
“Let them in.”