788 ——————————–

True Martial Home

Master Hyuncheon looked bewildered when I handed him the obsidian and asked, “What’s that?”

“It’s a gemstone for transferring my memories to another.”

“…So, you’re a sorcerer, huh? Hehe….”

Master Hyuncheon mumbled with a sigh, “I can’t just accept a tool of such sorcery so recklessly. Reveal your true identity.”

“My name is Baek Woong.”

“I’d like to know exactly which martial sect you belong to…”

“I’m an expert qualified by the Thunder God Lineage and recognized by the Grand Master.”

At my words, Master Hyuncheon’s eyebrows twitched. “Thunder God Lineage? Hmm… I think I’ve heard of it. Isn’t it a branch of the White Lotus Sect?”

Looks like he knows a thing or two!

I nodded slowly. “It’s one of the Four Great Families of the White Lotus Sect.”

“Hehe… I’ve heard that White Lotus Sect often tries to associate with orthodox sects, and I’ve been informed about some of their families…but didn’t I hear that the Thunder God Lineage was expelled in the past? Is that correct?”

“That’s right.”

Realizing that continuing this conversation was a waste of time, I figured I didn’t need to go into lengthy explanations. I told Master Hyuncheon, “Even though I belong to the Thunder God Lineage, I’ve actually learned martial arts from other sects. For example…”

Swish swish swoosh!!

I dashed into a nearby training ground, picked up a wooden sword, and gracefully performed the Tai Chi Yau Ji Willow Sword. Following that, I executed the Seven Stars Shadow footwork, used the Three Treasure Technique to create a shadow clone, and soon my clones demonstrated the initial form of the Heavenly Escape Sword Technique and the Shadowless Soul-Removing Sword Technique. Finally, the Bowing Sky Slash sent ripples through the air.

Whoa….

“……!!”

Though the entire demonstration took only about 20 seconds, Master Hyuncheon’s eyes widened as he focused intently on all my movements. I finished my demonstration, lowered my sword, and said, “Like the Seven Great Techniques of the Wudang Sect.”

“T-this can’t be…. Tai Chi Yau Ji Willow Sword…, Seven Stars Shadow…, th-that’s definitely….”

Master Hyuncheon seemed to recognize the Seven Great Techniques. He then looked at me with deep contemplation.

“Are you the chosen one of Master Jang Sam-bong? Or perhaps a disciple of the renowned Bright Dragon?”

To Master Hyuncheon, the name Bright Dragon was a revered figure in the martial world. He was among the leaders of the current Wudang Sect, and even the elder council respected him. It was oddly gratifying to confirm Bright Dragon’s high status in the martial world after meeting him. However, I shook my head and said, “Master Hyuncheon, I’m not that.”

“What do you mean?”

I calmly replied, “Be it Jang Sam-bong, Bright Dragon, Shaolin Master, or even the Master of the White Lotus Sect… none of them have the right to judge me by the martial world’s standards. This isn’t just about my talent or skills; it states that I am beyond the confines of the martial world.”

“Such unfamiliar claims… I’ve never seen or heard something like this.”

“Please accept the memories of this gemstone. Then you’ll understand what I’m saying.”

“How can you expect me to accept such a dubious object…?”

“Hoo! I swear by my name. If this obsidian is harmful, I will willingly end this wretched life myself.”

Seeing my determined gaze, Master Hyuncheon seemed to contemplate deeply. Then he said, “Are you truly not here to bring harm to our Daoist Hall?”

“No. I came seeking your esteemed help because I accidentally stirred up a demonic calamity.”

“…Your eyes show sincerity. I will trust you this once.”

Whoa!!

Master Hyuncheon accepted the obsidian, and my memories flooded into him without filter, reaching twenty-four lifetimes. He trembled, seemingly astonished by the immense amount of memories, paused, and then stared at me with a confused look.

“You… Reborn Person…. I never thought such beings existed. And it seems we aren’t meeting for the first time….”

I bowed to Master Hyuncheon again. “I apologize for visiting like this. I didn’t want to cause any trouble, but my Spirit Power leaked, and a child in a woman’s womb is becoming half-human, half-demon.”

“……”

“You must understand my situation. Please help me.”

“Wait a moment. I need to collect my thoughts.”

As Master Hyuncheon requested, I stood quietly. After a long while of contemplation, he sighed and said, “Baek Woong…. You’ve gone through twenty-four lives filled with incredible adventures. Yet your remaining path stretches for countless miles. What a perilous world this is…”

“I think so too,” I muttered bitterly.

Who would have thought that collecting all the Seven Luminaries and passing the Sun’s trial would still lead to my death…

Master Hyuncheon added, “However, your willingness to reflect on your mistakes and seek resolution before your grand endeavor is commendable. I will do my utmost to assist you.”

“Thank you!”

“Hehe… What an unbelievable situation we have here… It’s marvelous…”

He still seemed like he couldn’t believe it and shook his head. The enormity of my past experiences seemed to hinder his sense of reality. It was evident he was struggling to adapt. A while later, Master Hyuncheon regained his composure and said, “I’ll prepare the tools to perform Daoist sorcery; when everything is ready, we can go to the Sacred Place together.”

“I will wait.”

Crash!!

As soon as Master Hyuncheon finished his preparations, we headed straight to Jo Young-chun’s house in the Sacred Place. Maybe it was because some time had passed that morning, but it was just becoming dawn, and the servants were busy combing their hair. I stood in front of Jo Young-chun’s house with Master Hyuncheon and asked, “Master Hyuncheon, how shall we resolve this?”

“First, leave it to me. I will explain things calmly to you as we proceed.”

With soft steps, Master Hyuncheon entered Jo Young-chun’s house and approached him, saying, “Greetings. I am Master Hyuncheon of Wudang…”

“……? You’re a Daoist from the Wudang Sect. But why have you just shown up at my house…?”

Jo Young-chun looked bewildered as Master Hyuncheon introduced himself. Then Master Hyuncheon said, “Last night, I sensed a malevolent demonic energy gathering within your wife’s womb, so I hastened over from afar.”

“Wh-what?”

“The child will emerge, killing the mother and bringing disaster to the surroundings. I’ve come to stop that disaster.”

“You’re insane! Get out of my house!”

Jo Young-chun’s face turned beet red as he yelled angrily. Servants rushed at once, and I bewilderedly sent a secret transmission to Master Hyuncheon.

[You can’t state it that directly!]

[For these matters, deceiving the subject often leads to worse outcomes. We have no choice but to talk straightforwardly.]

Boom boom!

“Ugh!”

Surprisingly, even without me stepping in, Master Hyuncheon effortlessly took down a dozen burly men in the blink of an eye with Tai Chi and Qi Techniques. Jo Young-chun’s face turned pale, so Master Hyuncheon recited a protective mantra and continued, “I mean no harm to you, your wife, or your unborn child. Thankfully, I arrived in time. If we eliminate this threat, your child can be born normal without becoming a half-demon.”

“Ugh… How can I believe that!!”

“Unfortunately, this isn’t an issue where I can seek your permission… If this child is born as is, it won’t just be the child and the mother who die; the entire village will face annihilation.”

“……”

“This certificate proves that I was a council elder of the Wudang before entering the Taejeong Temple…. Accept this.”

Whoosh!

As Master Hyuncheon tossed the certificate, Jo Young-chun caught it in surprise.

“If something goes wrong, I’ll take personal responsibility with my life. And you can take this certificate to the Wudang Sect for full compensation.”

“Are you really saying that such a disaster is upon my wife?”

“It is.”

“Then there’s no choice…”

We followed Jo Young-chun to his heavily pregnant wife. Master Hyuncheon explained the entire situation to her and said, “We need your cooperation. Only the three of us should remain in the closed room; no one else can enter. If someone opens the door midway, the demon will escape.”

“Understood.”

We entered a small room prepared by Jo Young-chun with the mother. I felt her pulse to induce sleep before asking Master Hyuncheon, “What do we do now?”

“…….”

After a moment of silence, Master Hyuncheon replied, “First, I’ll invoke the technique of the True Martial Emperor to repel the malevolent energy from her body. If that method fails, then Baek Woong must take action.”

Whoooooo!

Master Hyuncheon laid out the sorcery tools and began reciting his Daoist incantation. As the incantation surpassed half a moment, I felt a refreshing sensation. Having seen too many sorcerers either skip the incantation or use pure willpower in their spells, this was a rare sight. Of course, I shouldn’t compare them to someone as legendary as Cheon Gong-pyo or Illusory God Cheon Woo-jin.

Khhuuu!!

Tsuurr!!

Eventually, as Master Hyuncheon’s incantation reached effectiveness, I saw blue energy rise like thread from the belly of the pregnant woman. Master Hyuncheon, holding his position, flushed red with effort, and veins bulged all over his body.

“Oooh…!!!”

It seemed he was pouring out every ounce of his essence. He managed to extract about two spans but then lost strength, causing the blue energy to slip back inside.

“Cough! Cough! Cough! … Hack…”

Master Hyuncheon coughed up blood, indicating he had sustained some injury to his core energy.

“Are you alright?”

“…Hehe… You are far too powerful… This is… the Mythological Age’s….”

He sighed heavily and then told me, “Now, Baek Woong, it’s time for you to step in. Actually, this was your job from the start…”

“What do you mean?”

With a glum expression, Master Hyuncheon mumbled, “The incantation of the technique was my most powerful exorcist spell. But if this failed, you must absorb the malevolent energy using the same type of power known as Spirit Power.”

“How… how do I do that?”

“Spirit Power is akin to controlling demonic energy, and you learned how to handle it from a demon named Miho…. Now that I’ve revealed the outline of Spirit Power, you might succeed in re-absorbing it.”

“Okay! I’ll give it a shot.”

I nodded and focused on enhancing the Spirit Power within me while grasping the woman’s hand.

‘I can feel it.’

Master Hyuncheon’s efforts were evidently paying off. I began to discern the fragments of Spirit Power that I hadn’t been able to sense before. I noted that this fragment was barely one-tenth of what I held, and as I tried to pull it in, it surprisingly absorbed with ease.

Zhuuu!!

‘Is it over…?’

It felt too easy. When I informed Master Hyuncheon that it was done, his expression turned momentarily shocked.

“……”

Then, wiping the blood from his lips, Master Hyuncheon stood up.

“Explain the situation to Jo Young-chun, and then we can leave…”

We conveyed to Jo Young-chun and his wife that everything had been resolved and exited the house.

“Oh my!! Thank you. Please, accept this.”

“No need….”

Jo Young-chun insisted on giving us gold bars, but we declined and headed toward the nearby mountain area. After walking for a while, Master Hyuncheon began, “Baek Woong…”

I could tell he had something to say. I nodded.

“Please, speak, Master Hyuncheon.”

“The truth is…, I could have just taught you the incantation of the technique and its key points. However, I forced myself to come here to resolve this alongside you…”

“……”

“Yet it seems…, my power is utterly insufficient…”

Master Hyuncheon appeared deeply disheartened. Seeing him, a comrade I had fought alongside and owed a debt to, struggling like this made me uneasy. I said to him, “No. Without you, this problem couldn’t have been solved.”

“Baek Woong…. Do you know what kind of incantation the technique of Taegyeongjeoksong is?”

“I’m not sure.”

“I was entrusted to the Wudang Sect since I was a young child, growing up learning martial arts and sorcery. I take pride in my exorcism skills, believing I rank among the top three exorcists at Wudang Mountain.”

“I see.”

“Since Wudang is the number one Daoist school in the world… many masters exceed me in martial arts; however, my ability to perform both martial and sorcery spells is my pride…”

I couldn’t understand what Master Hyuncheon was really getting at. Yet, as he continued speaking, my face grew solemn.

“The incantation of Taegyeongjeoksong channels the power of the True Martial Emperor to perform exorcism—a spell that ranks among the most powerful in Wudang. I’ve spent decades honing that incantation. But, I failed to overpower even the weak remnants of Spirit Power after fifteen years of experience. This is the first time I’ve ever faced something like this in my life. Typically, any demon would either perish or flee upon facing the Taegyeongjeoksong incantation.”

“……!!”

“That defines divine power…. A remnant of the Three Sovereigns, signifying a level of latent potential that no exorcist in the human realm could contest. If I’m this outmatched, then no worldly exorcist could hope to resolve this. Had we allowed it to continue, a half-human, half-demon of unparalleled strength would be born. Unless your ally, Illusory God Cheon Woo-jin, intervened…”

Was that the implication behind that earlier spectacle?

‘What Master Hyuncheon told Jo Young-chun wasn’t a threat, but the complete truth….’

What Zhuge Sa dismissed casually turned out to be a monumental incident, indeed. I was taken aback as I processed this, and Master Hyuncheon continued, “However, you managed to absorb Spirit Power using divine power. This indicates that your latent potential has surpassed that of the human realm…”

With a sigh, Master Hyuncheon said, “I’ve spent my life pursuing justice, but it’s too late to become your ally….”

“……”

I could sense Master Hyuncheon’s despair. He recognized the gap in strength between us had become insurmountable, leaving him in utter despair. He wished to aid me in martial arts and sorcery, but the situation was one where Spirit Power could solve everything.

Master Hyuncheon stated, “And now that I’ve recalled your memories, I feel such a lack of will to live….”

“Excuse me?”

“I cannot contain this sense of helplessness….”

What on earth does that mean?

I looked into Master Hyuncheon’s eyes, and in that instant, I realized the emptiness within them—a sign that he had lost his strength. It was evident that he had lost all desire for life, leaving me startled. Why would someone who seemed fine just moments ago suddenly feel this way?

Wobble.

I quickly supported Master Hyuncheon as he stumbled. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to have severed his ties to life, but he looked like a straw man. Confused, I asked, “How could my memories lead to losing your will to live?”

“…Hehe.”

He leaned against a nearby willow tree and replied weakly, “Surrounded by geniuses and outstanding individuals, you had many strong-willed companions…. So you didn’t realize that your memories proved the end (of hope)…”

“What do you mean?”

Master Hyuncheon’s white beard trembled.

“Baek Woong, you, as a Reborn Person, have unearthed forbidden secrets hidden within the heavens and the earth. The implications are cosmic despair (despair).”

I froze at Master Hyuncheon’s continued speech.

“The cycle of reincarnation in this world has been shattered; the dead enter the belly of the gods, the once Mother of Earth, the Heavenly Mysterious Woman, has fallen under the Emperor’s command, and false creator goddess Nüwa has sent the Queen Mother of the West to govern the Celestial Realm. Ordinary humans are mere toys for monsters while evil deities from the entire universe gather to foretell doom, and in a few hundred years, everything will await a despairing end and revelation….”

“…….”

“Ha… I regret not turning insane. It pains me that I practiced so weakly….”

I felt the weight of guilt in Master Hyuncheon’s sad laughter.

“Is there no salvation?”