Chapter 79
Whoosh.
Two shadows flickered atop the collapsed roof, and before anyone realized it, an elderly man and a middle-aged man with jade-like features stood imposingly before Bu Eun-seol.
"W-Wolf Lord!"
Ok Ho-bang, who had spotted them, bowed his head deeply in shock.
The middle-aged man, draped in blue robes with an immortal's grace, was none other than Domyeong—the Wolf Lord of the Eastern Drifters, Western Wanderers—who had left four years ago for closed-door cultivation.
"Have you been well all this time, Manager Ok?"
"How did you suddenly come here...?"
"It wasn't sudden."
At that moment, the old man standing beside Domyeong shook his head.
He was Yang Sa, the elderly servant who had faithfully attended Domyeong for over twenty years.
"The Wolf Lord had already returned to the Eastern Drifters, Western Wanderers by the time the Martial Refinement Tournament began."
"Since the start of the tournament?"
As Ok Ho-bang gaped, Yang Sa let out a sigh.
"From the beginning, the Wolf Lord only wished for you to manage the Eastern Drifters well. He never desired to elevate our standing in the martial world by borrowing the prestige of the Hell Blood Citadel or such."
"Th-That is..."
Cold sweat dripped down Ok Ho-bang's face as his hidden intentions were exposed, but Domyeong raised a hand to stop him.
"Don't blame the manager. Had it not been for him, how could I have spent four years in peaceful closed-door cultivation?"
He smiled warmly as he looked at Ok Ho-bang.
"After I left, Hell Blood Citadel had been eyeing our hall, hadn't they? Without Manager Ok, the Eastern Drifters would have scattered to the winds. The remaining wanderers would have been absorbed into the Hell Blood Citadel."
"Wolf... Wolf Lord..."
Tears of regret welled in Ok Ho-bang's eyes.
Domyeong was a man of formidable martial prowess, yet he had no ambition to expand the Eastern Drifters.
Ok Ho-bang, who had always resented this, had spent the past four years scheming to use Hell Blood Citadel's influence to grow their power and eventually oust Domyeong.
"Wolf Lord, I... all this time, I've actually..."
"I know. It's alright."
Domyeong patted Ok Ho-bang's shoulder.
"You merely did what you could do. You've endured far too much hardship in my absence."
At Domyeong's kind words, Ok Ho-bang shed hot tears once more.
"Wolf Lord! My Wolf Lord!"
Clutching Domyeong's arm, Ok Ho-bang wept with remorse.
Witnessing this, Yang Sa, Heuk-pyo, and even Hwa-ran and Hyeol-chu were moved to tears.
Only one person remained unmoved—Bu Eun-seol, who stood with an expression of utter boredom.
"So..."
Finally, Bu Eun-seol spoke in a low voice.
"Where is my sword?"
The Spiritual Subtlety Divine Sword was indeed in the Great Arsenal.
Ok Ho-bang pointed to a large chest at the entrance, filled with old swords still sheathed in their scabbards.
"The Spiritual Subtlety Divine Sword is here."
At his words, Bu Eun-seol peered inside the chest.
"Hmm."
His eyes gleaming, Bu Eun-seol lifted the chest with one hand.
Click.
A hidden mechanism activated, revealing another compartment beneath the large chest.
But surprisingly, this space too was filled with old swords, just like the ones in the chest above.
Rustle.
Without hesitation, Bu Eun-seol reached in and pulled out the most rusted and worn sword among them.
Devoid of any ornamentation and so corroded that the scabbard's surface resembled lumpy stones fused together.
"A fine blade."
Shhhhk.
Drawing the sword in one swift motion, flakes of rust scattered away, revealing a blade that gleamed with a dark luster.
This was the divine sword said to slice even souls into ribbons—the Spiritual Subtlety Divine Sword.
"You knew about the Spiritual Subtlety Divine Sword?"
Ok Ho-bang wore a stunned expression as Bu Eun-seol immediately found it.
"No."
Channeling his internal energy to strip away the rust clinging to its surface, Bu Eun-seol smirked faintly.
"It simply called out to me."
Now cleansed of rust, even the scabbard of the Spiritual Subtlety Divine Sword shimmered with an inky sheen.
Though it resembled a demonic blade at a glance, it was in fact a divine sword capable of repelling evil energies and severing even malevolent spirits.
"From now on, I shall call you Ink Sword."
Hmmmm.
At Bu Eun-seol's words, the Spiritual Subtlety Divine Sword—no, the Ink Sword—emitted a low resonance.
"Originally, this sword was prepared for the Wolf Lord's return."
The Spiritual Subtlety Divine Sword was a treasure Ok Ho-bang had obtained through a year-long search using wanderers.
But once his ambitions shifted, it became an offering meant for the master of the Hell Blood Citadel.
"Yet it seems the sword had another master in mind."
Ok Ho-bang studied Bu Eun-seol's profile as he spoke.
"I have no right to ask... but there is one request."
"Speak."
"Sa-ha. Please take care of that child."
Ok Sa-ha.
That was Heuk-pyo's true name.
"He's merely a wanderer bound by contract. You needn't concern yourself."
The icy response made Ok Ho-bang swallow hard and fall silent.
"My... my apologies."
Then Bu Eun-seol added one brief remark.
"Though I won't let him die."
'Won't let him die...'
Pondering those words, Ok Ho-bang secretly allowed a faint smile to surface.
He had finally grasped Bu Eun-seol's true nature.
'Now I understand. This man's temperament.'
Outwardly, he appeared cold-blooded and ruthless—yet he would never harm those under his wing.
And if anyone sought to harm them, he would defend them with his life.
"Thank you."
Ok Ho-bang bowed deeply.
Then, as if remembering something, his eyes widened.
"Are you leaving immediately?"
When Bu Eun-seol nodded, Ok Ho-bang spoke again.
"The Wolf Lord wishes to meet with you separately, Young Hero Bu."
"The Wolf Lord, you say?"
"Indeed."
As Bu Eun-seol frowned in annoyance, Ok Ho-bang smiled faintly.
"If you meet him, you will not regret it. That much I promise."
Garden Forest Pavilion.
Originally, it had been a place providing food and lodging for wandering martial artists with nowhere to go.
But now, it had become the residence of the Wolf Lord of the Eastern Drifters, Western Wanderers—Domyeong.
"Pardon the intrusion."
As Bu Eun-seol pushed open the door to the office, Domyeong, who had been writing some official correspondence at the desk, paused his brush and smiled.
"Come in."
Rising from his seat, he gestured to the table opposite him.
"Sit. First, have some tea."
The tea Domyeong served was neither Sun Moon Tea nor Dragon Well—but wild tea, brewed from leaves plucked straight from the mountains.
Bu Eun-seol stared blankly at the tea served in a plain, unadorned cup before taking a sip.
"Well? How does my hand-picked wild tea taste?"
Bu Eun-seol gave a faint, wry smile.
Every superlative martial expert he had met in the martial world thus far had shared a fondness for tea.
Not only that—they all seemed to take great pleasure in serving it to others and then immediately asking how it tasted.
"I'm no connoisseur of tea... but it has a simple, rugged flavor."
"'Simple, yet rugged,' you say."
For a moment, Domyeong's smile flickered between disappointment and satisfaction.
"I've been struggling to put that taste into words... and here you've given me the perfect answer."
"Is that so?"
"Mmm. Meeting a true master makes ten years of study feel like wasted effort, doesn't it? Haha."
Domyeong let out a hollow laugh, but in his eyes, a razor-thin glint flashed.
"I heard you're a disciple of Langya Pavilion."
"That's right."
"Strange. The Eastern Drifters, Western Wanderers have a fairly extensive intelligence network... yet I couldn't find a single shred of evidence confirming you as Langya Pavilion's disciple."
Domyeong stared straight at Bu Eun-seol.
Then, gazing into those endlessly clear, frost-like eyes, he murmured:
"Is the Wind Cloud Brigade Leader blocking the information?"
With a quiet chuckle, Domyeong muttered to himself as if lost in thought.
"Having acquired such an outstanding disciple... they must be protecting him at all costs."
No hostility could be sensed in Domyeong's eyes.
If anything, as he spoke, his gaze deepened as though lost in memories of the past.
"Do you know much about our pavilion?"
"Hohoho."
Domyeong let out a laugh—whether bitter or amused was unclear.
"As much as you do."
An answer laden with strange implications.
But Bu Eun-seol, as if wholly uninterested, asked in a low voice:
"What is your business with me?"
"My business...?"
At Bu Eun-seol's question, Domyeong rose and walked to the window.
"If I had to put it into words... 'Undoing What One Tied,' I suppose."
As he gazed outside, his eyes brimmed with deep regret and anguish.
"You are the Ten Demonic Heir, the rightful successor who will one day bear the weight of Langya Pavilion—am I correct?"
"I am."
When Bu Eun-seol nodded, Domyeong slowly turned around.
And in that moment, an overwhelming presence—one unseen until now—poured from his body.
"This Wolf Lord... was also once a disciple of Langya Pavilion. In the past."
Bu Eun-seol blinked once.
—Was once a disciple of Langya Pavilion.
That made no sense.
A disciple of Langya Pavilion remained so for life. The only ones who could be spoken of in the past tense were those who had died during training.
"I don't understand a word of this. If the Wolf Lord was once a disciple of Langya Pavilion, shouldn't you still be one now?"
At Bu Eun-seol's words, Domyeong's lips twisted into a bitter smile.
"By rights, I should have died in Langya Pavilion. But instead, I survived—and have been living in sin ever since."
"I detest games like Twenty Questions. If you have something to say, say it plainly."
"Very well."
Domyeong reached into his robes and pulled out a worn manual, offering it to Bu Eun-seol.
"My request is this."
He took a deep breath before continuing.
"Memorize this manual—then destroy it. If you do, I will have at last returned this martial art, intact, to Langya Pavilion."
As Bu Eun-seol accepted the manual, the words Fist Demon were inscribed on its cover.
"Fist Demon?"
Just as the title Sword Demon had been passed down through generations in the martial world, so too had Fist Demon.
But Langya Pavilion, which emphasized Practical Combat Martial Arts, had never placed much importance on fist techniques.
After all, facing an enemy bare-handed was far less practical and effective than wielding a sword or blade.
"Is what's written in this manual truly a martial art of Langya Pavilion?"
"Of course. The supreme fist technique of our pavilion."
Bu Eun-seol's expression turned peculiar.
"I wasn't aware Langya Pavilion even had secret manuals."
"Langya Pavilion does indeed possess them. It's just exceedingly rare for martial arts to be transmitted through them."
"In that case... did the Wolf Lord also learn from this manual?"
Originally, Bu Eun-seol had meant to ask, Under what circumstances are martial arts learned through manuals?
But seeing the torment in Domyeong's eyes, he changed the question. It wasn't as if he'd get an answer anyway.
"My talent was insufficient to master this fist art properly. And yet, out of greed, I couldn't bring myself to return this manual to Langya Pavilion."
Domyeong spoke with desolate eyes.
"Because I was a dead disciple—no, one who should have died."
There seemed to be some deep, untold story behind Domyeong's words.
But Bu Eun-seol didn't ask.
Every denizen of the martial world carried their own burdens. And they lived with those secrets buried silently in their hearts.
"All I have to do is read this manual and burn it immediately?"
"That's right."
Then Domyeong added something cryptic.
"This manual is incomplete. No matter how profound its techniques and martial principles, its ultimate essence is missing."
Bu Eun-seol had no particular interest in learning fist techniques. So without much thought, he nodded.
"Understood."
"You'll accept?"
When Bu Eun-seol nodded again, Domyeong broke into a bright smile.
"Thank you."
What exactly is he thanking me for?
But Domyeong's smile was that of a man who had finally shrugged off a long-carried weight.
"In return, I have a request of my own."
"Speak."
Bu Eun-seol murmured in a low voice.
Upon hearing those words, Domyeong narrowed his eyes slightly and gave a nod.
"I understand what you mean. Once word has been passed to all the intelligence organizations, I'll let Heuk-pyo know."