The Sunset and the Dawn
While Seong-jin was occupied with Seo-saeng-won, Yeong-myeong was facing off against Baek-geom-ja.
"Even if I cannot use the Formless Sword, do you truly intend to fight me in such a wretched state?"
As Baek-geom-ja spoke, flames gathered once more upon his blade. Having lost his crystal sword, he had coated his weapon in the sword energy of Returning to Truth (Ban-bak-gwi-jin).
In contrast, Yeong-myeong’s sword showed no flames—not even a flicker of ordinary sword energy.
"It seems that with Qi Deviation looming over you, you cannot even properly circulate your internal energy."
Yeong-myeong was currently in a state where he could not exert his full power due to the Qi Deviation. Judging this to be the case, Baek-geom-ja clashed swords with him without hesitation. However, he recoiled in shock as Yeong-myeong’s blade burned through his own flames.
"How...?"
"The purple hue of the Purple Haze Sword (Ja-ha-geom) is the light of the sunset."
Even in the midst of the duel, Yeong-myeong was reviewing the enlightenment he had gained underground.
"The sunset must eventually fade, but just because the sun descends below the horizon does not mean it loses its heat. The heat of the sun does not simply vanish."
"What are you babbling about!"
Baek-geom-ja spat out his anger at Yeong-myeong’s cryptic words, but Yeong-myeong’s sword did not stop; it continued to target him. At a glance, the blade looked ordinary, but it contained a heat so perfectly controlled that it could not be felt from the outside. Compressed without a single ounce of waste, it boasted overwhelming firepower.
Yet, because Yeong-myeong’s body was not in a healthy state, he could not keep up with Baek-geom-ja’s movements. Baek-geom-ja continued to retreat, enduring without allowing Yeong-myeong’s strike to land. No matter how powerful the energy within the sword, it was useless if it did not connect.
Yeong-myeong focused the heat into the blade, surpassing Baek-geom-ja’s firepower even without the state of Returning to Truth, but there was a limit to the range a single sword could cover. Every time he cut through the flames, sparks of internal energy flew, slicing through his clothes and skin. As the minor wounds accumulated, he reached a point where he could barely handle the blood loss.
"If only you, if only you weren't here...!"
If the fight continued like this, Baek-geom-ja would surely be the one with the advantage. Yet, Baek-geom-ja was the one mentally cornered. He was frustrated that even after his betrayal of the sect was exposed and his plans had fallen into ruin, he still couldn't overcome Yeong-myeong’s blade.
Conversely, in this moment, Yeong-myeong felt more refreshed than ever.
'It’s just like that day when I first held a real sword.'
Memories long forgotten surfaced. Ever since it became clear that if he did not master the Purple Haze Divine Art (Ja-ha-sin-gong), the lineage would be severed because no one else in Mount Hua could learn it, Yeong-myeong had always lived with a sense of being chased. Enlightenment felt like it was within reach, yet it slipped away no matter how hard he tried.
Carrying the expectations of his sect, he could not bear the burden and left for the Cheonmu Academy as if running away. But there was no paradise where he fled. Even the peers who had once burned with competitive spirit began to look at him with eyes of admiration. From the moment Yeong-myeong reached Returning to Truth first, even offers for sparring ceased. Even those called geniuses of the world chose to watch him from below the stage rather than practice martial arts with him.
Loneliness settled in. Holding a sword was no longer enjoyable. The pressure to produce results tightened around his throat. He had endlessly searched for someone he couldn't see. A companion to walk the endless path of martial arts with.
And then, Seong-jin appeared.
-Heavenly Punishment.
When the lightning energy extending from a person’s fingertips reached the sky, it turned into a thunderbolt. How on earth could one manipulate lightning energy to make that possible? Was there anything else? Who would be stronger if they clashed? The emotions of his childhood, which he had forgotten, came back to life. The trajectory drawn by the tip of his sword began to dance with excitement.
'Like this, like this, and here, like this.'
The flames distorted brilliantly. Amidst the sparks that looked like falling plum blossoms, Yeong-myeong felt he had been reborn. Because, at some point, not a single spark was touching his body anymore.
"Great Senior Brother."
Yeong-myeong pierced through all the flames and stood before Baek-geom-ja. Before he knew it, his sword was resting against Baek-geom-ja’s neck.
"Let's stop now. If it's now, Master will forgive you, Brother."
"Master."
At the mention of Master, Baek-geom-ja’s body stiffened as if he had heard something shocking.
"I only ever wanted her to look at me."
There was a man who loved the great elder of the sect. But in her eyes, all the disciples of the sect were no different from her own children, so the man spent his whole life trying to earn her favor. He mastered martial arts, polished his scholarship, and cared for the disciples. To become someone worthy of the woman leading the sect, he tried to be capable of anything. However, she chose another disciple.
"...I didn't want things like the Purple Haze Divine Art."
He just wanted her to look back at him even once. He wanted her to consider him a special person, unlike the other disciples. What he had wanted from the beginning was not the Purple Haze Divine Art, but the attention of the Sect Leader. Baek-geom-ja realized this obvious fact only after being freed from the spell of Seo-saeng-won’s capture.
"I wished for what I shouldn't have. Because of that, you ended up like this."
Baek-geom-ja looked at Yeong-myeong, whose blood was gradually cooling due to the backlash of Qi Deviation. Once, he had considered Yeong-myeong like his own son. Since Byeok-ha-nang-rang considered the disciples of Mount Hua like her own children, he had also considered his junior brothers like his own children to stand by her side. But now, he had fallen into delusion and caused Yeong-myeong to die; how could he be so foolish?
"I have committed an irreparable wrong, but there is one thing I can fix."
"Great Senior Brother?"
At the same time, Baek-geom-ja’s hand was placed on top of Yeong-myeong’s head. Yeong-myeong did not avoid the touch, as there was no murderous intent in the action. It looked as if he were stroking his son’s hair. Soon, an immense amount of internal energy began to pour through the Baihui point connected to his palm.
Gyeok-che-jeon-ryeok (Transfer of Internal Energy).
The act of a martial artist who has reached a great realm passing all their internal energy to another person before death.
"Brother!"
Yeong-myeong, who grasped the situation, opened his eyes wide. There is no middle ground in Gyeok-che-jeon-ryeok. Internal energy is not a convenient power that can be attached and detached at will. Just as you cannot put money back into a piggy bank once you break it to take the money out, once you break the vessel, you cannot gather the flowing internal energy back up. The realm achieved by accumulating internal energy collapses once the energy is lost. This applies not only to the realm of martial arts but also to the realm of the physical body; even the owner of a sturdy body trained over many years becomes terminally ill if they lose their internal energy. Without internal energy, the trained body cannot be maintained, causing muscles, skin, and internal organs to collapse, leading to rapid aging. Eventually, it consumes even the Jin-won-jin-gi (True Essence), leading to death. Therefore, Gyeok-che-jeon-ryeok was something done only as a last resort when death was near.
"What Mount Hua needs in the future is not a Baek-geom-ja who betrayed the sect, but you, Yeong-myeong, the greatest talent of Mount Hua."
Baek-geom-ja, having passed on all his energy, collapsed as if falling. "Yeong-myeong, please take good care of Mount Hua, and the Sect Leader."
At the last moment, Baek-geom-ja looked with blurred eyes toward the detached building where Byeok-ha-nang-rang would be sleeping.
"So this is what it means to be blinded by jealousy."
Baek-geom-ja closed his eyes, self-mocking.
Yeong-myeong could not say anything as he watched. Seong-jin was quietly holding his place, considerate of him. However, the surroundings were too noisy to be frustrated by the miserable reality. The strike team of the Murim Alliance, drawn by the commotion, was gradually surrounding the inn.
Yeong-myeong, who had his eyes closed, opened his mouth as if to do what needed to be done first.
"...On the way to Hubei together, Brother Joo didn't say a word about the monsters. It seems there must be circumstances that require hiding it from others."
If things went on like this, he would be taken by the Murim Alliance and interrogated. Although it was not Seong-jin’s fault, there shouldn't be any room for doubt in the death of Mount Hua’s greatest sword, so it wouldn't be easy to keep the secret in that process. It was clear that it would be difficult to avoid leaking heavenly secrets in the process.
"I will buy some time, so Brother, hide yourself."
"...Is that really okay?"
"If it weren't for you, Mount Hua would have fallen into the hands of Seo-saeng-won by now. Everyone in Mount Hua owes you a debt, so if I can be of any help, I am willing."
The sight of him finishing what he had to do despite experiencing the death of his senior brother was Yeong-myeong’s own effort to keep Baek-geom-ja’s will. Seong-jin, feeling that fact, bowed his head quietly and then used Chuk-ji (Earth-shrinking) to leave the inn.
Immediately after.
"Don't move! Murim Alliance Strike Team!"
What the Murim Alliance strike team saw in the half-destroyed inn of Mount Hua was the Mount Hua Sword Dragon, covered in blood, holding Baek-geom-ja in his arms. Yeong-myeong was arrested on the spot, and by the next morning, everyone knew that a bloodbath had occurred at Mount Hua.
* * *
A few days passed. Yeong-myeong had not been released since being taken by the Murim Alliance.
"This makes no sense!"
The disciples of Mount Hua were enraged by this. "Senior Brother Yeong-myeong is not that kind of person! This is a false charge!"
Baek-geom-ja had lost all his martial arts and fallen into an unconscious sleep, and the Mount Hua Sword Dragon had been taken away. In the midst of this, the Murim Alliance was keeping Yeong-myeong detained without any explanation, so the first to be turned upside down was the Mount Hua Sect. If Byeok-ha-nang-rang stepped forward, she could bring Yeong-myeong back and hear the explanation, but as a result of Seo-saeng-won poisoning her for a long time, she was still unable to leave her sickbed. The sect’s active top expert and the late-stage disciple had been taken at the same time. If it was revealed that the Sect Leader’s condition was not good, flies would naturally swarm. If the evil paths acted up in a situation like this, the main mountain would be in danger, even if the disciples in Hubei were fine. Eventually, Byeok-ha-nang-rang was in a state where she could not show herself to exercise influence, and the voices of the remaining disciples alone could not stop the Murim Alliance’s actions. Eventually, the disciples of Mount Hua began to request cooperation from other sects, and the first person they found was Dan-mok-cheong, a late-stage disciple of the Diancang Sect who was a relative of Yeong-myeong.
"Sigh, I think so too, but..."
"The Murim Alliance is detaining Senior Brother Yeong-myeong without even explaining the reason properly. I don't even know if he's alive...!"
"Shall I request a visit? Since we are blood relatives, the Murim Alliance won't be able to refuse without a reason. At the very least, I'll be able to know the reason."
"I beg of you!"
Thus, Dan-mok-cheong, who visited the Murim Alliance’s Law Enforcement Hall, was unexpectedly not refused a visit and was able to meet Yeong-myeong.
"Senior Brother Yeong-myeong! What is all this about!"
"Is that you, Cheong? It seems the people at Mount Hua were anxious about you."
Contrary to the worries of the Mount Hua disciples, Yeong-myeong greeted Dan-mok-cheong looking relatively clean.
"If you knew they were worried, you should have returned! Does the Murim Alliance suspect you of being the culprit?"
"No way. The traces left at the scene were clearly those of a third party. Unless the Murim Alliance is stupid, they know I'm not the culprit."
"Then why?"
"Because I, the only witness, am not saying anything."
Yeong-myeong said with a calm attitude.
"They can't let me go because I don't seem to be the culprit but there are no other clues, so they are holding me. They can't say they haven't found anything, so they can't make an announcement either. Maybe the Murim Alliance allowed the visit because they are frustrated too?"
At Yeong-myeong’s words, Dan-mok-cheong’s jaw dropped.
"No, Great Hero Baek-geom-ja is in that state, so why are you keeping your mouth shut? You can just talk!"
"I can't."
Seong-jin didn't tell him to keep his mouth shut or ask him to help him. But Yeong-myeong kept his mouth shut on his own. Because Seong-jin had helped him even though Yeong-myeong hadn't asked for help.
"I owe a debt that I must repay even if I give my life. If keeping my mouth shut is helpful, I will remain silent even if I am locked in a brain prison for the rest of my life."
Yeong-myeong’s resolve was firm. The only worry was Byeok-ha-nang-rang, who would still be on her sickbed. Since Baek-geom-ja had entrusted the Sect Leader to him, but things had turned out like this, that was his only lingering regret.
"So, even if you lock me up for the rest of my life, I will never open my mouth."
Yeong-myeong’s words were directed at the Murim Alliance officials who would be listening to the conversation. However, the answer came from the sky.
-A lifetime is troublesome.
A powerful heat ray cut through the ceiling of the brain prison, and a clear sky without a single cloud spread out overhead. A woman descended through the space where all obstructive obstacles had been erased. A person fell from the sky, fluttering her long clothes like a fairy. She landed on the ground slowly, as if defying gravity, but exuding an undeniable presence.
The 18th Sect Leader of Mount Hua. Byeok-ha-nang-rang, Dongbang Yak-rin.
"Master? I thought you were in Qi Deviation...?"
"I met a noble person and received help."
As Byeok-ha-nang-rang said that, she put down Seong-jin, whom she had been wrapping like a swaddle inside her clothes.
"Young Master Joo?"
While Seong-jin answered with a light bow, Byeok-ha-nang-rang continued.
"This incident happened because I didn't listen to that child’s heart. I cannot afford to lose you too because of that."
A commotion began to arise within the Murim Alliance due to the sudden appearance of Byeok-ha-nang-rang, who had collapsed the brain prison, but no noise could invade the space where she stood.
"Let’s go back, to Mount Hua."