Chapter 442
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 442
Chapter Title: Did It Reach?
Mugeuk stopped laughing and turned his gaze toward Ha Mu-baek.
A sword was already in his hand.
Something that didn't need to be said.
Ha Mu-baek drew his sword.
Gwanghwi had already vanished, retreating to a safe distance.
"Come."
Ha Mu-baek brought his sword down from overhead in a single stroke.
Just like that one move Mugeuk had shown him.
Just like that sword strike whose profound principles he could not comprehend.
Nine Severing Abyss.
A single sword containing all the principles and harmony of Mugeuk Yi's Eight Severing Sword Sea.
Mugeuk calmly watched Ha Mu-baek's sword.
Then he slowly swung his arm.
A horizontal slash, different from before.
Swipe.
A small sound rang out.
And Ha Mu-baek's sword image vanished.
Bang!
With the following sound, Ha Mu-baek flew backward powerlessly.
Swish.
And the faintest nick on Mugeuk's sleeve, as if lightly scratched.
Confirming it, Mugeuk nodded.
Gwanghwi had reappeared.
His face was one of shock.
"It reached? You?"
An expression that hadn't anticipated this level.
"Impressive."
Mugeuk tried to speak calmly, but he couldn't fully hide his surprise.
He helped up Ha Mu-baek's body, which had sprawled pitifully.
Miraculously, there was no shock.
No.
It had recovered in an instant.
The moment he took Mugeuk's sword, he'd thought this was how it ended.
"Thank you."
Ha Mu-baek clasped his hands in respect and bowed at the waist.
Mugeuk looked at Ha Mu-baek as he straightened up.
"You're leaving?"
He read the resolve in those eyes.
"I just sparred and realized it. No matter how much more time I spend here, this is as far as I can go."
The sword scar engraved on the ceiling.
And Mugeuk's single sword shown here.
Ha Mu-baek instinctively knew those two were the walls and insights he could surmount as koans thrown at him.
Just moments ago.
In the clash.
He had resisted, but he felt nothing more.
"Time here is nearly infinite, and you could gain power endlessly within it."
"I've already stayed long enough for that. And I have things to do."
"Do you know how much time you've spent here?"
"How much?"
He didn't know.
He had lost track of time's flow and even himself, immersed in the sword.
So he asked.
Ha Mu-baek had felt it too—the sensation of slicing Mugeuk's sleeve, however faintly.
His realm had risen impossibly.
He worried if he'd spent too much time here.
'A hundred years? No way two hundred?'
Anxiety stirred.
Ten years here was one incense stick in reality.
Eighty years a single hour.
Even two hundred was less than three hours.
But Ha Mu-baek's elevated realm was at the boundary of mind and reality.
Not his physical body in the real world.
A rift would form between body and mind.
Factoring in time to reconcile them...
'Three hours is the limit.'
That was the leeway Ha Mu-baek had now.
"Thirty years."
Mugeuk answered, and Ha Mu-baek's eyes widened.
Hard to believe only that much time had passed.
"Too much?"
Ha Mu-baek shook his head vigorously at Mugeuk's question.
Like an eleven-year-old child again.
"N-no. Too little..."
"Heh heh. You know how extraordinary the realm you've achieved is."
Though it was power the size of a walnut.
Mugeuk's single sword he'd shown.
Because it contained even a fragment of its principles.
Perhaps enough to cleave the abyss.
"Yes."
"Impressive, but still not enough to annihilate the abyss. However, if you gain a new clue, return."
"Thank you."
Ha Mu-baek bowed once more.
"Then go well."
As Mugeuk waved his hand.
The world began to melt away.
The space suddenly started disappearing.
But Ha Mu-baek didn't panic.
He knew he was returning to reality from Mugeuk Yi's space.
So he waited calmly.
Soon.
The ancestral cave came into view.
He had last looked up at the ceiling, yet now he sat cross-legged.
"Hoo."
Ha Mu-baek let out a long sigh.
Thirty years.
Far less than expected.
But not short either.
And in reality, only three incense sticks had burned?
He still couldn't distinguish if this was reality or a dream.
Ha Mu-baek moved slowly, very slowly.
There was surely a misalignment between mind and body.
He couldn't move rashly.
Deep breaths.
He slowly raised his right hand.
It moved as intended.
But...
'What energy...'
Feeling the energy surging within him, he was startled.
His internal energy level was the same.
His body's strength unchanged.
Of course.
How could three incense sticks increase his internal energy or strengthen his body?
Yet.
The power generated by that internal energy's movement was different.
Enlightenment.
Thanks to the changed realm.
Efficiency had skyrocketed?
Before, one unit of internal energy yielded ten units of power.
Now, at least twenty.
At minimum, twice as strong.
And that was the floor.
So Ha Mu-baek suppressed his internal energy fully and moved cautiously.
The distance from a light step forward had changed.
For now, even walking required focus.
Thus, Ha Mu-baek retraced his steps upward.
His master still stood there.
"It took quite some time."
Wi Ji-gun spoke with a smile, as if he knew everything.
"Yes."
Even his reply was careful.
"Did you meet him?"
"Yes."
"Then you know everything now."
"Yes."
"What mission did you receive?"
Wi Ji-gun's mission.
To nurture promising successors and watch the world's state.
For signs of the Primordial and the Myriad Desolation.
During Wi Ji-gun's active days, a trace of the Primordial appeared, but he missed it.
The current situation.
He had obtained part of the Primordial power.
Shaolin's swift action made him vanish before Wi Ji-gun noticed.
"Live as you wish."
Ha Mu-baek said calmly.
"It seems the long wait has finally ended."
Wi Ji-gun nodded.
"Pardon?"
"As I expected, you're the one the Ancestor awaited. My master, grandmaster, and I all received the same mission."
"Ah..."
The mission had changed for the first time.
"Live as you wish, but it won't be easy. It means even if you stay still, you may entangle with the Primordial and Myriad Desolation."
Ha Mu-baek nodded silently.
"You spent decades there, yet you seem unrecognizably stronger. That power might suffice for your mission."
Wi Ji-gun had been there too.
He knew time flowed differently.
He roughly estimated from when Ha Mu-baek entered underground.
"How long were you there, Master?"
"About three years. I completed Mugeuk Yi's Eight Severing Sword Sea there."
Wi Ji-gun answered with eyes lost in memory.
"You entered already complete. I can't imagine your realm."
"You're too kind."
Despite Ha Mu-baek's humility, Wi Ji-gun gazed proudly at his disciple.
"What now?"
At Wi Ji-gun's question.
Ha Mu-baek slowly shared his thoughts.
"I should head back to the Righteous Heaven Alliance headquarters first."
"Hm?"
"The Grand Tournament will end soon, so the Fierce Dragon Corps will deploy to the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest a bit earlier than usual. I might be a step late, but now I must join them not as their instructor, but as their Corps Leader."
"A change of heart."
"Yes. I can't leave Seol-ran in that dangerous place forever. And after this trip to the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest, I've made up my mind."
Ha Mu-baek's eyes gleamed.
"To wipe it out completely."
His voice carried firm resolve.
"Hm."
Wi Ji-gun stroked his beard.
"Before, I lacked power, but now I don't."
Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
Vast expanse.
Even mobilizing countless warriors and laborers.
Hard to believe it was walled with a great wall.
No matter how strong Ha Mu-baek was then.
Alone, it was impossible.
But last time.
Visiting the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest, he felt it.
This might be worth attempting.
And today.
He was certain.
He could do it.
"Need my help?"
Wi Ji-gun asked, seeing his disciple's resolute eyes.
"Keep an eye on those kids. I might be a little late."
Wi Ji-gun nodded at Ha Mu-baek's words.
Ha Seol-ran was among them.
"If something happens... I'll prioritize Seol-ran first. But I'll watch the others carefully too."
"Thank you."
Ha Mu-baek bowed to Wi Ji-gun.
"Then you'll go straight to the Alliance?"
"I planned to stop by Muchang first. Someone said they'd follow."
Wi Ji-gun knew it was Han Seol-bing without being told.
"But now, no time for that. Need to adapt to this body."
"I'll pass the message. Then go."
"Yes, Master."
Thus, the two left Dongjeong Lake, parting ways.
Wi Ji-gun toward Muchang, Ha Mu-baek toward Luoyang.
The final day of the Grand Tournament, around lunchtime.
The last semifinal match would begin shortly.
Originally planned for two days, the fierce competition and many participants extended it to three.
Now, the end was in sight.
Lunchtime filled the Devouring Dragon Pavilion with people.
No direction spared.
All tournament spectators flooded in for meals.
Amid it, Han Seol-bing ate alone in the north pavilion.
A table for four, yet no one joined.
Because of the aura she exuded.
'I said we'd go when the tournament starts. Clearly.'
Han Seol-bing radiated cold energy, thinking of Ha Mu-baek.
She knew he left urgently before the tournament.
But he'd said they'd go when it started, so she expected him back by yesterday at latest.
No word even a day later.
'Alone?'
Impossible.
He'd never done that before.
Yet the thought crossed her mind.
Because his atmosphere when mentioning the ominous Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest differed from usual.
An vibe even from Hocheon Corps days she'd never seen.
As she wondered if he'd left her behind, deeming her unable to handle it.
"Heh heh. Here you are."
A figure sat opposite Han Seol-bing with food.
No one dared approach her aura.
Yet he sat fearlessly.
Han Seol-bing looked up.
"Elder..."
She was startled by the man before her.
Wi Ji-gun.
The Dragon Training Pavilion's sweeper, but truly Ha Mu-baek and Ha Seol-ran's master.
And the one who'd vanished with Ha Mu-baek.
He'd returned.
"Mu-baek went separately."
Han Seol-bing's eyes widened in surprise.
"He meant to come here, but something unexpected came up. Asked me to relay a message. Meet there."
No need to say where.
Going to meet Elder Gong Son, the Strategist.
"Th-thank you, Elder."
Her hands moved busily in reply.
She finished eating in seconds and vanished.