On the Peak of Mount Kunlun
At the peak of Mount Kunlun, Jwasa reached into his robes, pulled out a necklace, and handed it to Seo-ah. "Lady Seo-ah. Before we enter Mount Kunlun, there is something I must ask of you."
As Seo-ah took the necklace, Jwasa continued. "Mount Kunlun is filled with more of the world's spiritual energy than anywhere else on earth. While you are approaching the First-Class realm, you are still closer to the beginning of the Second-Class. You will not be able to withstand the spiritual energy of Kunlun on your own."
"Then this necklace is..."
"Correct. It is a necklace that will protect you, Lady Seo-ah."
"I will keep that in mind."
Seo-ah followed Jwasa's instructions and put on the necklace. We then stepped into Mount Kunlun.
The terrain of Mount Kunlun was incredibly rugged. If Seo-ah had been asked to name the most treacherous mountain range in the world, she would have chosen the Tian Shan Mountains in Xinjiang, but as of today, that opinion was likely to change. And that wasn't all. The spiritual energy that weighed heavily upon the surroundings made it difficult even to breathe.
'My chest... it feels so stifled.'
However, she could not voice her complaints. She was the one who had insisted on coming here, and above all, Jwasa was climbing the mountain in silence beside her.
'I cannot be the one to groan before an elder does.'
With that thought, Seo-ah continued her ascent. If there was one fortunate thing about this grueling climb, it was that they didn't have to waste their energy dealing with wild beasts. Perhaps animals simply couldn't survive in such dense spiritual energy. If there were any creatures that had adapted to this, they would undoubtedly be spiritual beasts far too powerful for Seo-ah to handle.
And so, time passed.
The sun, which had been invisible before they started the climb, was now high in the sky. Seo-ah looked at Jwasa beside her. She had felt it since they first met in the cave—Jwasa was a man who always seemed precarious, as if he might shatter at any moment. It was only natural, given that an old man who looked like he should have been dead long ago was still alive. He had slept through the entire carriage ride, too.
But why was it? Ever since they entered Mount Kunlun, Jwasa’s already fragile appearance seemed even more perilous. She couldn't tell if he was simply exhausted from the difficult climb, or if his health had taken a turn for the worse. Or perhaps...
No. It didn't matter. The important thing was that, regardless of the reason, Jwasa would never stop climbing. Seo-ah decided to believe that he was just a bit worn out from the ascent, making his complexion look paler than usual. That was the most hopeful conclusion.
Seo-ah shook off the ominous thoughts.
"Jwasa-nim."
"......"
"Jwasa-nim!"
Despite her desperate calls, Jwasa had been climbing in a daze, only turning back to look at her when she raised her voice.
"Is something the matter?"
"Your complexion looks terrible."
"Haha... I suppose it's been a while since I've climbed a mountain, so I'm finding it a bit difficult."
'Wait... do masters of the Realm of Creation get tired from climbing mountains?' Seo-ah swallowed the question.
"Shall we rest for a moment?"
"Are you very tired?"
"That, and... we have the lunchbox that So-gwang packed for us."
Jwasa stood still, staring blankly at the sky before saying, "Let us do that."
Seo-ah sat down in a suitable spot with Jwasa and opened the lunchbox. Inside were some rice balls and a few meat dumplings, enough for a decent meal. Jwasa spoke up.
"It would be better if you ate it all, Lady Seo-ah."
"You need to eat too, Jwasa-nim."
"To reach the peak of Mount Kunlun, we will have to walk without rest tomorrow as well. I have reached the Realm of Creation, so I have no need to consume food, but you are different, are you not?"
"Even so, it's different if you don't eat at all. Just have a little."
Jwasa refused, but when Seo-ah continued to insist, he seemed to have no choice and took half a rice ball. And so, we resumed our climb.
The sun set. We found a spot to rest, ate, and lit a fire.
"I'm relieved. I thought we would have to catch wild beasts on the mountain and grill them like we did when we left Xinjiang. It would have been a disaster if not for the lunchbox So-gwang gave us."
"......"
Whether he was exhausted, Jwasa was already asleep before he could even answer Seo-ah's question. It was just like when he was in the carriage heading to Qinghai from Xinjiang.
Seo-ah looked at Jwasa from up close. It was certain. His complexion was much worse than before. No, it even felt like he had lost more weight from his already frail, skeletal frame.
'Should I stop him, even now...'
Seo-ah pondered over and over how she could possibly take Jwasa back down, but there was no obvious answer. In the end, as if giving up, Seo-ah lay down on the floor and then sat up in a cross-legged position.
'Since this place is filled with spiritual energy, my internal energy should build up well.'
Seo-ah had not been neglecting her internal energy training.
The next day, early morning. Seo-ah was stunned to see the surge in her internal energy. It was several times—no, dozens... hundreds of times more efficient than when she sat in a cross-legged position normally. She had only sat for four hours, yet she had gained a full five years' worth of internal energy.
'So this is why the immortals live here...'
Just then, Jwasa opened his eyes. We ate breakfast and decided to resume the climb. Seo-ah bit into a dumpling and asked, "Is there anything different about me today?"
Jwasa smiled and said, "Your internal energy has increased significantly. Mount Kunlun is excellent for that."
"'Excellent' doesn't even begin to cover it."
Usually, Jwasa would have chimed in, but his complexion was even more haggard than it had been before he slept. It meant he was too tired to respond. Seo-ah realized this and didn't bother with small talk. After breakfast, just before they started climbing again, Seo-ah asked him, even though she knew it would be useless.
"Shall we go back down, even now?"
"We cannot."
Jwasa, who had always been gentle with Seo-ah, cut her off coldly and firmly.
"You look like you're in very poor condition."
"I am fine."
In the end, Seo-ah could not stop him.
When the sun was high in the sky again, Seo-ah realized the true nature of the pressure that had been weighing her down. At first, she thought it was just the spiritual energy of the surroundings pressing down on her, but...
'That wasn't all.'
On top of that, her insides felt maddeningly stifled. Seo-ah had felt this sensation somewhere before. It was that 'intuition' she hadn't felt in a long time. The same sensation she had when the twins were sparring. In Jwasa's words, the ability to read the heavenly secrets was sounding an alarm within her.
Seo-ah decided to keep her senses sharp until this stifling feeling passed. But she soon found the cause of it. Jwasa, who had been walking ahead of her, collapsed to the ground without a sound.
"Jwasa-nim!"
Seo-ah checked on Jwasa, who had fallen to the ground. His body was as cold as ice, and he looked precarious, as if he might break at any moment. It certainly hadn't been this bad just this morning.
Just as Seo-ah was about to open her mouth, a metallic rasping sound escaped Jwasa's lips.
"No... no... we must... we must go."
Seo-ah watched as a supreme master of the Realm of Creation clung to her so pathetically. 'Why are you so strongly bound to the shadow of a dead person?' Seo-ah swallowed the question. It wasn't a situation where she had the luxury to voice such things. Seo-ah hoisted Jwasa onto her back.
"Where do we need to go?"
Jwasa pointed the way with a thin, trembling finger. Seo-ah climbed the mountain in silence. Unfortunately, there was no time to stop for lunch today.
The evening glow was setting in. Jwasa was still pointing out where she should climb with his thin finger. Seo-ah looked at his hand.
'His fingers have become even thinner.'
Yes. This wasn't old age, illness, or fatigue. Jwasa's time was flowing away very quickly. She had a guess. A forbidden technique.
'To uphold the will of the previous generation, I have simply paid a small price.'
That small price was being paid right now. The reason he couldn't leave the cave was likely because he knew his lifespan would be rapidly drained the moment he stepped out. That must have been why he hadn't come to find her himself for such a long time, but instead sent No-ya.
'Divine Maiden... I have been waiting.'
To deliver just those words, Jwasa had thrown everything away. Power. Authority. Life. Seo-ah could not understand him. She didn't know the details of the relationship between the Divine Maiden and Jwasa. But at least... to Seo-ah, who had experienced death, there was nothing more important than life itself. Even if the Divine Maiden had saved Jwasa countless times—and that was assuming the Divine Maiden were even alive—it was a different story. To be bound to a ghost that was already dead and gone, and to throw away everything for it, seemed incredibly foolish.
Perhaps, if this story were widely spread, the people of the Central Plains, who were obsessed with such tales of loyalty, might shed tears and praise Jwasa for his greatness. But at least to her, having lived in the modern world, the protagonist of this touching story was currently clinging to her back. Seo-ah thought Jwasa was truly stupid.
'What on earth was that innkeeper thinking when he looked at the previous Divine Maiden?'
At this point, Seo-ah wanted to see Jwasa's end, if only out of stubbornness. Yes. The end.
'I feel a bit relieved.'
She had perfectly identified the nature of this 'sensation' that had been weighing her down. Jwasa would die today. As her heart felt lighter, her mind grew heavier.
Night fell. The full moon and the stars illuminated Mount Kunlun. There were no clouds. They had climbed higher than that.
"This is the place."
The metallic rasping in Jwasa's voice had vanished without a trace. Seo-ah watched as Jwasa climbed down from her back and walked on the ground without any trouble. He still looked infinitely fragile. Nevertheless, the fact that Jwasa could walk so normally meant only one thing.
Jwasa was currently burning the very last ember of his life.
'Crackle. Crackle.'
Somewhere, it felt as if she could hear the sound of embers burning. Jwasa walked with a weary gait toward a tombstone that stood there. He pulled incense from his robes. On the peak of Mount Kunlun, the memorial service began.