Chapter 386

“Was it Miss Jin who saved my life?”

Il-mok contemplated the crimson vitality still lingering within his pathways, alongside the frigid yin essence that settled deep within his center. Being far from dull-witted, connecting the dots was a seamless endeavor.

The occurrences within the grand walls of the Potala Palace. The clash involving Dam Bin and Gu Yang-mun at the hidden sanctuary known as the Sacheon Secret Cave Blood Temple, among various other memories. As these historical threads wove together in his mind, Il-mok quickly brought his hands together in a respectful gesture toward Wi Jin-hak.

“Cult Leader, pressing matters demand my attention, so I must take my leave immediately.”

Without waiting for Wi Jin-hak to utter a word of acknowledgment, Il-mok pivoted on his heel, racing toward the chamber where Jin Ha-yeon resided.

Wi Jin-hak observed his martial brother sprinting away with incredible velocity, astonished that someone currently stripped of the ability to use lightness techniques due to severe internal trauma could move so rapidly. Turning his gaze toward Hwangbo Ak, he inquired,

“What manner of medical treatment did Miss Jin administer to provoke such a frantic reaction from our youngest?”

“Ha. Ha-ha… W-well, the finer points elude me.”

Stranded without a proper way to explain the intimate details, Hwangbo Ak could do little else but chuckle awkwardly like a fool.

Reaching the quarters, Il-mok voiced his inquiries with utmost care, prompting Jin Ha-yeon to look at him before offering her confirmation.

“That is correct, Young Master.”

“Word reached me that you were the one who mended my injuries. By any chance, did you employ the method associated with the Potala Palace?”

“It was not an exact replication of the Potala Palace technique, though it shared a fundamentally identical nature.”

In an instant, the words dissolved in Il-mok’s throat as a tempest of realizations clouded his mind. The young woman standing across from him had surrendered a priceless part of herself to preserve his existence. Even in contemporary times, a woman’s purity held significant weight for some, but it paled in comparison to the rigid moral codes of the current era. It was a harsh, uncompromising world where a woman abducted or falling victim to human captors would return to her kindred only to be cast aside and branded as ruined.

Yet, for the sole purpose of ensuring his survival, she had willingly embraced an immense sacrifice. Wrapped in a whirlwind of dizzying reflections, Il-mok first lowered himself into a profound bow before her, speaking earnestly.

“I am deeply remiss. For what has transpired, I will unequivocally assume full accountability.”

“There is no need, Young Master.”

Jin Ha-yeon cut through his declaration mid-sentence, her voice steady.

“I merely carried out the obligations expected of me as your personal attendant. You should not compel yourself to take responsibility out of mere obligation.”

Her words carried no falsehood. This remained true even though she had finally come to recognize and embrace the profound affection she held for Il-mok.

‘My emotions belong to me alone, after all.’

This was not a circumstance Il-mok had requested. It was entirely a path she had chosen to tread on her own accord. She possessed no desire to force her sentiments onto him simply because she harbored them. Resorting to such leverage felt uncomfortably close to the manipulative schemes of Gu Yang-mun, a man whose conduct she had utterly loathed in days past.

Hearing her serene declaration, Il-mok rose from his bowed posture and picked his words with deliberation.

“…My intention is not to take responsibility through mere obligation.”

Strangely, upon hearing Il-mok’s earnest clarification, a subtle grin graced Jin Ha-yeon’s features. While it was hardly the time for idle observations given the gravity of the moment, witnessing that fleeting smile made Il-mok truly realize that she had ascended to the profound heights of the Transcending Demon realm.

“I am well aware of how deeply your principles guide you. I also recognize that your profound sense of duty makes you wary of creating predicaments where you are forced to answer for them.”

Having shared consecutive years by his side, she had come to perceive the inner workings of his character.

“Are you not already carrying the immense weight of safeguarding countless followers? There is no reason to add the burden of someone like myself to your shoulders. More than anything, I am simply your devoted maidservant tasked with attending to you, Young Master.”

“Never have I viewed you as a weight to carry. Furthermore, you, Miss Jin, are no different to me than you have always been. Why should it ever be deemed an issue for me to stand by you and take accountability?”

In response to Il-mok’s counterargument, she offered a gentle shake of her head, her countenance remaining entirely collected.

“The circumstances do not permit it. Are we not currently locked in a brutal war, Young Master? If a catastrophic adversary were to manifest before us, how would you act? Should a terrifying entity on par with the Heavenly Blood Jiangshi launch an assault, would you not throw away your own life to shield me?”

“Is that not the only natural course of action?”

Jin Ha-yeon shook her head once more at Il-mok’s instinctive reply.

“That is precisely what must be avoided at all costs. You are the one who must endure, even if you must utilize my life as a stepping stone to do so, continuing the struggle for the preservation of those defenseless commoners.”

It appeared as though she still placed the greater salvation of the world above individual attachments, much like her past disposition, yet a subtle shift had occurred. Paradoxically, this perspective was born out of an intensely personal sentiment. It was the deeply protective desire to lay down her own life to keep Il-mok safe, rather than endure the agony of watching him perish in an attempt to protect her.

Il-mok remained incapable of fully deciphering that delicate transformation within her heart. Consequently, he systematically collected his thoughts and spoke with a calm demeanor.

“Once this conflict reaches its conclusion. Or perhaps, when my strength advances to such a degree that neither of us must face destruction for the other—would it be acceptable to revisit this then?”

The young man’s inquiry, slightly misaligned with the woman’s deeper emotional motivations, was met with a reply seasoned with deep consideration and a microscopic hint of yearning.

“Should your convictions remain unaltered when that day arrives, would you be willing to approach me with those words once more?”

Following Jin Ha-yeon’s departure from the chamber, Il-mok leaned his head backward, fixing his unblinking gaze upon the ceiling above for a quiet moment.

“‘Should your convictions remain unaltered when that day arrives’…”

One could interpret such a statement as a polite, roundabout dismissal, yet his instincts told him otherwise. Though he had journeyed through his current life entirely as a solitary man, he retained memories of romantic entanglements from his previous existence.

“It is likely her unique method of showing tenderness… perhaps.”

It was entirely possible she assumed his declaration stemmed solely from a rigid moral obligation, rather than genuine devotion. The unfolding of events had been so sudden that even Il-mok had not fully untangled the depths of his own internal feelings.

Still staring absently at the rafters, Il-mok soon corrected his posture, adopting a cross-legged position, and allowed his eyelids to close. Just as she had articulated, regardless of how one viewed the situation, they were in the midst of an active theater of war. It was an era where the sudden demise of either individual would surprise no one.

Therefore, Il-mok fully resolved to honor the declaration he had voiced to her. He would bring a definitive end to this conflict, or rise to an unparalleled peak of martial power capable of crushing adversaries as terrible as the Heavenly Blood Jiangshi. To realize this ambition, Il-mok initiated internal energy circulation and regulated his breathing, meticulously analyzing his previous engagement with the monstrous entity.

‘That victory was a miraculous stroke of fortune. Had the restless spirits bound to the Ascending Heaven Sword not granted me their aid, breaking through its monstrous defenses would have been impossible. Even if I had succeeded, the sheer act of taking in that corruption would have spelled my ruin.’

However, this specific miracle manifested only because the adversary happened to be the Heavenly Blood Jiangshi itself. Such a stroke of fortune would yield absolutely no advantage against a living master operating at a comparable tier of power.

He questioned whether such an absolute terror truly walked the earth, yet Il-mok had not cast aside the warnings whispered by his instructor, Hyeok-ryeon Il-hwi.

‘Even the righteous Wudang Sect possessed a venerable elder who stepped into a comparable boundary of power, even if he fell just short of my own achievements.’

Furthermore, Hyeok-ryeon Il-hwi had estimated that at least one or two additional masters of that caliber walked the vast lands of the Central Plains. Rather than blindly wishing his teacher’s apprehensions were nothing more than empty anxieties, the wiser path was to prepare himself for the absolute worst-case scenario.

Deep within his meditation and internal visual exercises, a striking realization suddenly manifested in Il-mok’s consciousness.

‘If one were to view this as a destiny-altering encounter, then so be it.’

He had gleaned no profound martial enlightenment from the physical exchange with the Heavenly Blood Jiangshi. Once liberated from the command of the Blood Cult Leader, the creature had lunged with primitive, predatory patterns, and subduing it had relied far more heavily on the mystical intervention of the Ascending Heaven Sword than any mastery of form.

What Il-mok recognized as a true stroke of destiny were the foreign forces currently housed within his physical frame. The crimson vitalities drifting through his vital acupoints, paired with Jin Ha-yeon’s frigid yin energy gathered within his lower dantian. Each force appeared to contain the equivalent of at least two decades of pure cultivation; thus, integrating them completely would yield benefits no different than consuming a legendary elixir.

Drawing in the natural energy of the world and channeling it in accordance with the core principles of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword, Il-mok blanketed the frigid yin force inside his dantian with the distinctive internal force of his own technique. He then attempted to marshal and assimilate the cold energy using the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword’s power, but before long, a highly unusual concept entered his mind.

It was a conceptual leap made achievable only because he had traveled past the rudimentary tiers of the Mind Landscape and grown highly adept at steering internal energy through pure willpower.

Employing the exact same principles of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword, Il-mok isolated a fragment of the crimson energy traveling along his meridians, guiding the force directly into the centers of his left and right palms before projecting it outward. The crimson vital energy and the frigid yin force, both securely encapsulated by the energy of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword, traveled out beyond his hands.

Much like the mechanics required when executing advanced techniques like Void Grasping or Wall-Walking, Il-mok anchored and directed the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword’s energy in the open space before him using his mental focus. The exact moment the two opposing forces emanating from his palms met in midair, Il-mok completely withdrew his mental grip on the protective layer of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword’s energy.

From a logical standpoint, it was impossible for the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword’s energy to peacefully coexist with either the frigid yin force or the corrupted blood energy. As a martial style born from dark arts, its fundamental nature was inherently volatile and violent. It had merely remained contained without causing a violent backlash because it was held under Il-mok’s flawless management.

The very moment that management dissolved, the frigid yin force revolted violently against the dark energy, while the crimson blood force similarly rebelled against it.

Pajijijik.

As the mutual opposition escalated to its absolute limit, the crimson force and the frigid yin energy smashed together, triggers a violent eruption of power.

Boom!!

Observing the precise outcome he had anticipated, a subtle grin surfaced on Il-mok’s face. The innovative concept that had sparked in his mind while contemplating how to absorb the foreign energies was precisely this application.

‘What if I were to forge a variation of sword thunder utilizing these two opposing forces?’

The technique known as sword thunder, which Il-mok had frequently leaned upon in the past, magnified the destructive output of his true qi by deliberately allowing his dark inner energy to run wild. But what if he could manifest a similar phenomenon not merely by unleashing dark force, but by intentionally crashing inherently discordant elements like frigid yin qi and scorching yang qi right from the beginning?

Driven by intense curiosity, Il-mok had temporarily insulated the two volatile forces—neither of which he could naturally command—within his dark qi to force a confrontation. And the actual manifestation surpassed his expectations. Even when employing a minute, thread-like quantity for the sake of experiment, it had generated a considerable detonation.

‘Should I succeed in forging true inner energy through the fusion of frigid yin and scorching yang forces, the resultant destructive capacity will be beyond measure.’

The primary obstacle blocking this path was that Il-mok lacked any established martial codex capable of manipulating either frigid yin qi or scorching yang qi.

“Young Master!!”

“A-are you unharmed?”

The entrance to Il-mok’s private quarters was violently thrown open as Jin Ha-yeon and Jeong-hyeon burst across the threshold in a panic. The sudden blast from moments prior had alarmed them, driving them to rush to the source.

Beholding their sudden arrival, Il-mok flashed a wide smile and offered words of reassurance.

“Be at ease. I was merely experimenting with the application of a martial concept, and it caused a minor disturbance.”

As he spoke, Il-mok directed his gaze toward Jin Ha-yeon.

‘She stands right before me. The ideal mentor to instruct me in the principles of the Bare Hand Demon Art.’

Simultaneously, Jeong-hyeon observed Il-mok with a deeply bewildered and troubled look upon her face.

‘H-he did not even draw his blade, yet he claims to have been testing a martial technique? W-what could that possibly signify?’

Il-mok turned his focus toward Jeong-hyeon and spoke in a gentle, reassuring tone.

“Miss Jeong, pray forgive my discourtesy, but I require a private audience with Miss Jin to deliberate on a specific matter. Would you be so kind as to afford us the chamber for a short duration?”

Jeong-hyeon’s expression shifted rapidly through a spectrum of conflicting emotions, but she swiftly mastered her features, lowering her chin in a respectful nod as she answered.

“…Y-yes, I shall take my leave.”

Jeong-hyeon possessed a vague understanding that a significant development had unfolded between Jin Ha-yeon and Il-mok. She had previously read through the contents of that specific text due to Jin Ha-yeon’s forceful prompting back within the Potala Palace. When pairing that memory with the sight of Jin Ha-yeon nursing Il-mok back to health and escorting him elsewhere, alongside the surrounding context, deducing the reality was a simple matter.

Naturally, Jeong-hyeon, whose reserved nature made interpersonal dialogue nearly agonizing, was far from the sort of individual to gossip about such private affairs. She merely endured her anxieties internally, keeping her thoughts entirely to herself.

Once the anxious-minded Jeong-hyeon had retreated from the room, Jin Ha-yeon addressed him with a completely serene countenance.

“Young Master, scarcely an hour has slipped by since our previous conversation drew to a close.”

Attempting to establish a firm boundary to signal her reluctance to revisit their emotional discussion, Il-mok offered a soft chuckle and responded.

“Have no fear. My reason for summoning you does not pertain to that matter.”

“If that is the case, whatever it is you require…”

“From this day forward, I desire for you to instruct me in the secrets of the Bare Hand Demon Art.”

“…I beg your pardon?”