A Test of Purity
'He had to be at least ten years older than Raeji-sabu.'
It was probably because his profound internal energy had slowed his aging.
After a brief pause, the Red Shadow Hand Emperor took a sip of tea and smiled with obvious satisfaction.
"What do you think of our Hyea?"
"...?"
I’d thought he was going to bring up the purple jade orb, so this was honestly unexpected.
I hadn’t imagined he’d ask something like that...
Still, I didn’t let my guard down.
"Are you talking about your granddaughter, Sir?"
Raeji-sabu tried to figure out the headmaster’s intent, but the Red Shadow Hand Emperor only kept smiling faintly.
Namgung Hye.
A girl whose beauty ranked among the top ten in the academy.
The memory of our first meeting flashed through my mind.
A girl with black hair like ebony, trembling all over with tears in her eyes.
"W-wha...? Whaa...??"
And on the floor...
"......"
I still thought I could faintly smell it.
"I heard about you from Hyea recently... so speak comfortably."
What did I think of her?
A master of citron tea?
I shook my head hard and gathered my thoughts.
Even if he sounded casual, she was one of those women who, like Paeng Gayeon, went out of her way to help me in one way or another.
'If the Blood Cult rises, the Namgung family gets wiped out. That’s a little troubling.'
I’d need to start preparing for that too.
The Red Shadow Hand Emperor was watching me with his chin resting on one hand.
"Headmaster? I honestly don't know what you're talking about..."
Raeji-sabu looked back and forth between us, clearly confused.
Well, it had been a private conversation between just Namgung Hye and me, so it was only natural he didn’t know. She would have told her grandfather directly.
Here, I should just be blunt.
"Namgung Sojeo is..."
The moment I began carefully, the Red Shadow Hand Emperor, who had been studying me closely, burst into hearty laughter.
"Hahaha! It's fine! It's fine! The atmosphere seemed a little too stiff, so I was just teasing you."
At his easy laughter, Raeji-sabu let out a sigh as though he’d known it all along.
"Headmaster, your jokes have been going a bit too far lately."
Judging by their reactions, this wasn’t the first time.
'He’s good at acting.'
"Raeji, sometimes a man needs to loosen his shoulders... these days there’s just too much going on."
The Red Shadow Hand Emperor muttered tiredly, his face that of a middle-aged patriarch.
"That may be true, but still..."
"Of course, which is exactly why we must laugh in times like these. Hahaha!"
"Heh, ha-ha..."
"The Headmaster is right. Hahaha!"
"This young fellow is growing more and more to my liking! Hahahaha!"
He and the headmaster laughed together with great, booming cheer while Raeji-sabu wore a sour expression.
"You flatter me."
At a glance, it looked like a warm master-disciple relationship, but...
'Is he still probing me?'
Those sharp eyes had been fixed on me ever since the moment I entered the room.
So much so that no one but me would have noticed.
"Deliver what I was just about to say directly to Hyea."
"......"
"Is it embarrassing? I’ve gone on about pointless things long enough. Now to the point—take this."
He casually tossed me a bracelet.
'Damn... he made it from Jeongmabokwood.'
It looked like cheap jewelry at first glance, but the faint spiritual energy flowing along the three grain lines made it impossible to mistake.
If a martial artist who had learned demonic arts wore it, the result would not be pleasant.
"Headmaster. What is this?"
"A gift for you... no, a token of mine. It’s a fine piece, but do you dislike the material? If you don’t want it, you don’t have to wear the bracelet."
A token? What nonsense...
I knew exactly what it was, but I kept my face blank and lowered my head.
If I showed that I knew, he’d grow suspicious. Even now he was still quietly testing me.
"Thank you, Headmaster. To receive such a fine item... I’m sorry that my knowledge is lacking."
He stared at me for a moment, then smiled softly.
"No, it's only natural that you wouldn’t know. According to Raeji-sabu, you’re a disciple overflowing with both merit and talent. I can trust you with this."
"You overpraise me."
"Truthfully, I hadn’t meant to go this far, but a friend of mine has been terribly worried. Help with the mission for me, will you?"
The “friend” he was talking about was the Alliance Lord.
'So that’s what this is about.'
I thought I understood why he’d summoned me privately.
He already saw me as a strong suspect.
I could practically see it—he thought I’d been cornered.
On the surface he was asking for help, saying he trusted me with it, but his real purpose lay elsewhere.
If anyone had even brushed against that jade orb, some trace of demonic energy would surely remain.
In that case...
"What would you like me to do?"
"Hahaha! I like how quick you are. At the site of the mission you visited, an awful Blood Cult altar was discovered. After investigating, we found that countless commoners and orthodox martial artists were sacrificed—?!\"
While he was speaking solemnly, I casually slipped the bracelet onto my wrist.
It was always important to catch the other side off guard.
I played the part of an upright academy student who knew nothing at all.
"Human sacrifice... Then it’s only right we slaughter them all and raise the banner of the orthodox schools."
What he hadn’t expected, though, was this:
"......"
"Headmaster?"
The Red Shadow Hand Emperor stared at the bracelet and made an empty sound, almost as if he’d lost his bearings.
"You... are you all right?"
"As you can see, I’m perfectly fine. Why do you ask?"
The fact that I had trained in the peerless martial art known as Ilwol Eumyang Singong.
Purifying that level of demonic energy was nothing.
Bring me more.
I could feel his agitation clearly.
After looking back and forth between me and the bracelet for a while, the Red Shadow Hand Emperor abruptly turned around, clasped his hands behind his back, and looked out the window.
The sight was familiar. So that was who Raeji-sabu had learned it from when he mimicked the headmaster.
"It's nothing. ...Mm, yes. Go on the mission wearing that."
"What mission are you referring to...?"
"Any of them will do. I just want to see your skill. Raeji."
"Yes, Headmaster."
"For this matter, I’ll leave it to you."
Before his teacher could even answer, he issued the order to clear the room.
"You may leave now."
'He must’ve been pretty rattled.'
At this point, the headmaster had been the one caught in the trap.
*
After seeing the two of them off, Baekli Jijeong continued looking out the window.
"Jijeong, my judgment was correct, was it not?"
"I can only marvel at your sharp insight."
To my surprise, an elderly man with snow-white hair stepped out from an empty patch of space.
As though he’d been standing there from the beginning.
"That child could never have cultivated demonic arts. ...Children do sometimes grow suddenly."
"I’m reminded every time that my own cultivation is lacking."
His prediction had fallen apart beautifully.
If even a speck of demonic trace had remained on Cheon Sojin, the divine object would have reacted and shredded his meridians to pieces.
'And he wore it without hesitation...'
Even until the moment he left, he had kept the bracelet on.
The foul energy sent by the investigator was a horrid evil force, thick with resentment. Its density was enough to make one click one’s tongue.
It was not something a student who hadn’t even reached Transcendent / Grandmaster could cleanse in the short term.
Much less a technique one could expect from someone at that level.
'If something like that existed... yes, it would have to be the martial arts of a Great Immortal. Far too absurd a thought.'
Without realizing it, he let out a dry laugh.
In that case, he had no choice but to admit it.
Cheon Sojin was innocent.
He felt sorry toward his friend, but at the same time he was pleased by the perceptive granddaughter.
'Could the culprit be the daughter of the Guyang family? If I say I’m investigating, that Guyang brat will throw another fit...'
"I handled the rest as you instructed."
"Heh-heh, thank you, thank you."
"Not at all. How could I refuse your request, Elder? You are a living—"
"Doesn’t that make me sound terribly old?"
The old man stroked his beard, apparently amused by something, and laughed heartily.
Leaning on his staff with a gourd in one hand, he looked like an immortal from legend.
"Did you take a liking to that child?"
"I did. That fellow who’s the Alliance Lord’s son was all shine and polish on the outside, but empty inside. I’ve watched many children carefully for years, and they were all just hollow shells!"
The old man took a swig from the gourd.
"He wasn’t cultivating demonic arts, but he’s definitely hiding something."
"Surely you know by now that such a thing no longer matters? The celestial mandate has already begun to stir."
"What do you mean?"
"I intend to make that child my successor. He’s the sort who can’t bear injustice, and contrary to what I’d heard, he was a remarkably brave boy! If taught well, he’ll inherit my place and become a great pillar of the orthodox path."
Baekli Jijeong asked politely in an understated tone.
If others had seen this scene, it would have caused an uproar, but he merely cupped his hands respectfully as though it were only natural.
"You favor Cheon Sojin alone? What about our Hyea as well..."
"Enough."
"......"
"I don’t have many days left to live. To be honest, I don’t even have enough time to properly teach a successor."
"I misspoke."
"No, no. How could I not understand the heart of a man who thinks of his own blood?"
The old man nodded as if he understood. Then he looked out at the blue sky beyond the window and continued.
"I’ll teach him martial arts, but I have no intention of passing on my ultimate techniques or secrets. There’s still more to test."
"Is that because of the precedent with Kongchul...?"
The old man slowly nodded.
"Too much power makes a person arrogant. I failed to raise that child properly. I don’t want to make that mistake twice."
"That wasn’t your fault, Elder."
"It was. It’s all my karmic burden in the end. ...I still mourn the fact that his body was never found."
"......"
"Everything is Heaven’s will, I suppose. That child is probably still drifting along the lower reaches of the Yangtze, paying for his sins..."
Muttering in a somber voice, the old man shook his head once, as though trying to shake the memories loose.
"I’ll take my leave now."
"Take care, Elder."
As though he had never appeared, the old man slowly walked back into the void.
As though he had never been there at all.
Before long, only a man’s quiet breathing remained in the room.
"......"
The martial arts of a Demi-Immortal were a great opportunity just to witness once.
And now the successor to such a peerless art was right in front of him.
That was nothing short of a tremendous stroke of fortune for him.
'I should tell Hyea to do her best.'
It wasn’t because he wanted the martial art.
A successor of a Demi-Immortal...
Even if the Alliance Lord himself made a move, he would not be easy to bring down.
If a man like that stayed by Hyea’s side, could there be anything better?
'I can’t lose my granddaughter too.'
He no longer believed in the empty prestige of the Namgung family after that day.
Hadn’t he already tasted the helplessness of his own strength once?
He lifted the now-cold tea and drank it down.
"Bitter."
Today, for some reason, its astringency felt especially strong.
*
*
*
'I can come by in the morning.'
I decided to talk about the matter concerning the Jade Light Hall again tomorrow.
The mission was annoying, sure, but being able to train the ultimate techniques at my leisure was a huge gain for me.
I walked alone through the night.
I couldn’t feel even the faintest human presence, and only the cry of an owl drifted from somewhere in the distance.
Maybe that was why...
I felt a little lonely.
"......"
I was, by nature, a man who was indifferent to loneliness.
That didn’t mean I was incapable of feeling it.
Whenever I felt that emotion, I...
And then, in that very moment, a girl with purple hair came into view.
A face I knew all too well and had seen so many times before; she was pacing in front of the main gate as though waiting for someone.
I closed my eyes and opened them again, thinking I must be seeing things.
But...
She was still standing there, exactly where she had been.
Why the hell was she there?
'This is worse than being lonely.'