When I returned to my residence after meeting Sama Myeong, someone was waiting for me in the courtyard.
The person drinking, leaning against a great blade plunged into the courtyard ground, was none other than the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
On my way back, I had a sudden thought that he might come.
It seemed our relationship had developed to the point where such premonitions came true.
"Have a drink."
"I'd love to."
I took the cup offered by the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and drained it coolly.
"It feels so good to drink with you after such a long time, Elder."
"I thought you'd had your fill drinking with that drunkard."
"I hardly drank at all. He's abstaining until he cuts down the masterminds."
"Is that so?"
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon wore a look of surprise.
"The world of a drunkard is a mysterious one, isn't it?"
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon smiled faintly at my joke and took a drink.
After we had pleasantly shared a few cups, pouring for each other, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon finally brought up what he wanted to say.
"The Cult Master will grant your request."
"Why do you think so?"
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon answered, looking down at his own cup.
"Because if I were the Cult Master, I would have granted it."
Was that the only reason?
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon had a unique intuition about my father.
After all, he was the first to realize that my father had made a move to unify the Martial World.
"I just came from meeting the Grand Strategist. He said that, just as you predicted, Elder, my father is likely to give his permission."
Despite his premonition being correct, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon didn't seem pleased or boastful.
It seemed he was both pleased and worried about this trip outside the sect.
"Are you happy to be leaving with the Cult Master?"
"Yes, I am."
Just the thought of leaving the sect with my father made me happy.
But there was something I must not forget.
Even if I was with my father, I could not forget that our enemy was Hwa Mugi.
After sealing the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect, the Martial Alliance, and the Unorthodox Alliance, Hwa Mugi had walked the path toward the ultimate state of martial arts through endless training.
No matter what atrocities the Twelve Zodiac Kings who followed him committed, he never officially appeared in the Martial World.
In other words, he wasn't a man driven by worldly desires.
Why did he kill the three leaders of the Martial World? What kind of life had he lived before, and what kind of life did he live after?
It was a shame that I hadn't found out more about him while I was preoccupied with finding the materials for the Great Art.
At the time, I was afraid I might mess things up by getting too close to him.
In fact, I tried to stay away from him.
I thought that if I could just regress, I could fix everything.
In any case, the one certain fact was that he was no ordinary man.
That was why he might not appear until all the Twelve Zodiac Kings were dead, or he might suddenly show up out of nowhere.
Perhaps it was because of this Hwa Mugi that my way of life was decided as it is now.
I would live my life to the fullest without worrying about him.
Even if I wanted to respond in kind, I couldn't.
So, Hwa Mugi, you will have to adapt to my life!
Just as it was for me before my regression, it won't be easy for you to react to me.
I, too, am a person beyond common sense and expectations.
As I was lost in thought for a moment, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon suddenly said something unexpected.
"The Cult Master is blessed to have a son like you."
It was the first time he had said such a thing since we had met.
I was about to joke that of course, he would be at the top of a list of fathers with good fortune, but instead, I asked seriously.
It was the first time the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had ever said something like this.
"Do you really think so?"
"How many people in this entire sect would be this happy about leaving with the Cult Master?"
"I suppose that's true for the entire Martial World as well."
"Even so, don't mess around with the Cult Master too much when you're out there."
"Are you worried about me?"
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon shook his head, then nodded, then shook his head again.
"I think to myself, who am I to worry when you handle everything better than I do, but then again."
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon looked at me.
"From this angle, you're just a green kid, aren't you?"
How could I not understand his heart?
The reason older people feel anxious about the young is likely due to experience.
At that age, we all inevitably made unbelievable mistakes.
That's why he was worried.
Worried that I might make a mistake while out with my father.
Worried that the reason I hadn't made any mistakes so far was that I had been saving them all for this moment.
"I'm not a kid."
"In my eyes, you are."
"And yet you wish you could go back to my age."
I often get the feeling he yearns for his youth.
Although he always denies it like this,
"Not a chance."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want to live this life again."
His yearning for youth was sincere, but these words also sounded sincere.
"You could just live differently."
"How can a person live differently when they're still the same person?"
"You can. Because you lived this life well."
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon looked at me silently, then drained his last cup and stood up.
He pulled the Heaven-Slaying Blade from the ground and bid me farewell.
"Have a good trip."
"Yes, Elder."
As he turned and walked away, I called out to him.
"I'm going to see many things with my father on this trip. So, you too should live seeing the sceneries you want to see, Elder."
At that, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon turned back to me and said firmly.
"I am already living that way."
From the look in his eyes, I could feel it.
That I was standing within that scenery.
After the Blood Heaven Blade Demon left, I entered my room and immediately activated the Space-Time Displacement Art.
Even for me, achieving Twelve-Star Great Mastery in the Nine Calamities Demon Art in five years was impossible.
It required an absolute amount of time dedicated to martial arts training.
The reason I promised five years was because I trusted in the Heavenly Time Secret Art.
The Heavenly Time Secret Art, which used to grant me three times the normal time, had now increased to four times the duration thanks to my consistent training, even cutting back on sleep.
It meant that for every hour others trained, I could train for four.
Moreover, my inner energy had greatly increased during my trip to the Northern Sea, making my training even smoother.
Somehow, I had to increase the time gained from the Heavenly Time Secret Art to tenfold.
However, as my level of mastery rose, training would become more difficult, and achievements would slow.
Hard work was the only way.
I performed the Nine Calamities Demon Art from the First Form, Annihilation Form, to the Fourth Form, Darkness Flash, in one go.
Then, I circulated my heart technique to replenish my inner energy and calm my mind.
Now, for the first time, I was about to perform the Fifth Form of the Nine Calamities Demon Art.
When I leave with my father, there would surely be an opportunity to learn the essence of the Nine Calamities Demon Art from him.
For that moment, I intended to be able to perform up to the Fifth Form before we left.
The Fifth Form of the Nine Calamities Demon Art, Soul-Severing Demon Strike.
The training for the Fifth Form itself was dangerous.
It was a form known to inflict fatal injuries or even death on the practitioner if performed incorrectly.
Therefore, I focused my mind more intensely than when performing any other form.
I must execute it with the mindset that a single mistake meant death.
I recited the formula for the Fifth Form and slowly drew my sword.
At that moment,
The surroundings changed.
The sky and my vicinity grew dark and eerie, like just before a typhoon hits.
An ensuing silence.
It wasn't just any silence.
It was an absolute silence that swallowed all the noise in the world.
Even in the middle of a noisy battlefield, all sounds would vanish.
The moment I thrust my sword!
Shhhhhh!
Ten streaks of Sword Qi poured down vertically from the sky.
Thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud!
The streaks of Sword Qi plunged into the ground around me!
The Sword Qi created thin, deep holes in the ground.
They were so deep their ends couldn't be seen.
It was truly an attack that struck down from above like a thunderbolt, aimed at the crown of an enemy's head.
Since it was my first time performing it, the Sword Qi didn't land where I wanted.
In fact, two streaks fell right next to me.
They had nearly hit me.
Among the many vital points of the human body, the most difficult to defend is the crown of the head.
Even protective energy has the hardest time guarding that spot.
Imagine Sword Qi striking down on that point as fast as a thunderbolt.
Furthermore, this was no ordinary Sword Qi.
Imbued with the essence of the Nine Calamities Demon Art, it was a powerful attack that could tear through an opponent's protective energy and slice their head vertically.
Of course, the inner energy consumption was so immense that it was a form that couldn't be used carelessly.
Finally, the essence of the Soul-Severing Demon Strike was that it was a form for dealing with multiple enemies.
For now, it was ten streaks, but as my mastery of the Nine Calamities Demon Art grew, the power of the striking Sword Qi would increase, and their number would gradually grow.
Imagine it.
Dozens of streaks of Sword Qi striking down simultaneously from the sky like divine punishment, piercing through the heads of dozens of enemies.
How many enemies could my father strike down at once with the Soul-Severing Demon Strike?
Twenty? Fifty? A hundred?
I had never experienced the Nine Calamities Demon Art at Great Mastery, so I couldn't know what it looked like.
The second Soul-Severing Demon Strike was unleashed.
Shhhhhh!
Again, a thunderbolt of Sword Qi rained down vertically.
Thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud thud!
The Sword Qi was still beyond my control.
Overall, they had moved a little farther away from me, but one of them landed even closer than before.
It was a truly perilous form.
I took a deep breath and calmed my mind.
It will never fall on me.
Trust myself!
A deadly form that one could never master without this belief.
I performed the Fifth Form again and again.
The Sword Qi still defied my will and threatened my life, but it was alright.
Repetitive training would save me more surely than any protective energy.
After all, my night was long.
Three days later, Sama Myeong came to my residence.
"Grand Strategist, welcome!"
"Have you rested well?"
"I've rested very well."
In truth, I should have answered like this:
For a martial artist, isn't martial arts training a form of rest?
Until just a moment ago, I had been engrossed in martial arts training within the Space-Time Displacement Art.
For the past three days, I had been practicing the Soul-Severing Demon Strike, and now I could finally strike somewhere near my intended target.
My accuracy was still poor, but at least I had moved past the heart-stopping stage.
Sama Myeong had come to deliver one piece of news.
"The Cult Master has given his official permission."
As expected, Sama Myeong's prediction was accurate.
"Thank you! It's all thanks to your efforts, Grand Strategist."
If he had been dead set against it, I wouldn't have been able to leave this time.
Even if my father wanted it, he couldn't easily ignore the strong opposition of the Grand Strategist.
It was definitely thanks to Sama Myeong's compromise.
"While you are away, the Cult Master will be officially recorded as being in seclusion training. We considered informing the Martial Alliance and the Unorthodox Alliance, but concluded it would be better not to, in case the information leaks."
As someone whose top priority was my father's safety, this was a natural decision.
He added another layer of caution.
"And the Heavenly Demon Guard will follow you secretly."
The ones led by Hwi.
The finest guards in the Martial World, who always accompanied my father wherever he went.
I really wanted this trip to be just with my father, but I couldn't insist on that now.
Since Sama Myeong had compromised, I had to compromise as well.
Instead, I proposed a middle ground.
"Instead, let's have only Uncle Hwi follow us."
I guessed the reason Sama Myeong wanted to send them.
Protecting my father was an important mission, but it was more likely for maintaining regular contact with the Main Sect.
They needed to know our movements to prepare for any unexpected situations back at the sect.
However, Hwi alone was more than capable of handling such a task.
"In any case, the guards will be following from a distance in secret, so you won't need to worry about them."
"That's not the reason. If our enemies are watching us, they'll be paying attention to my father's seclusion training. The timing isn't right for him to enter seclusion. If they suspect it's a deception, they'll undoubtedly check on the Heavenly Demon Guard. If they notice their absence, they'll realize my father has left the sect."
Of course, I don't believe the enemy's spies have infiltrated as far as the Heavenly Demon Hall.
This was an effort to leave with as small a retinue as possible.
I had expected more persuasion would be needed, but Sama Myeong readily agreed.
"Very well. Let's have only Branch Master Hwi go."
I feigned a look of realization.
"You intended to send only Uncle Hwi from the beginning, didn't you, Grand Strategist?"
"If I had suggested only Branch Master Hwi go, the Young Cult Master would have found another reason to insist on going alone with the Cult Master."
"Ah! You've read me completely, Grand Strategist."
At my sigh, Sama Myeong smiled and said.
"The destination is Shaanxi."
Shaanxi was quite a distance from here, so I would have plenty of time with my father.
"It is not an urgent matter, so you may travel slowly."
He didn't mention the mission, as if I would find out when we arrived.
It was his consideration.
A way of telling me not to think about the mission until we arrived, but to spend time with my father.
"How will you be traveling?"
"Sometimes by carriage, sometimes walking. I'd like to go as our hearts desire at the time."
"I will prepare accordingly."
Finally, he informed me of the time of this historic first departure.
"You will leave tomorrow. At dawn, you will slip out among the transport carriages leaving for the outside."
After meeting with Sama Myeong, I went to my father's residence.
"Father, I'm here."
Then, my father's voice came from inside.
"What is it?"
"I came to see you, Father. I have something to tell you."
A moment later, my father opened the door and came out.
For some reason, he looked slightly flustered, which was unlike him.
"This is the first time you've left the sect for such a long period since becoming the Cult Master, isn't it? I'll help you pack. You know I'm an expert traveler, don't you?"
"That's not necessary."
My father refused with a blunt face and turned away.
I thought he was acting differently toward me today, but then, through the closing door, I saw a glimpse of the room inside.
Clothes were spread out on the bed, and a large leather pouch was also visible.
Various other items were scattered here and there.
My father is packing!
I thought he had sent Sama Myeong to my residence instead of summoning me to the Heavenly Demon Hall to proceed with the matter secretly, but it turns out he was busy preparing for the trip.
My father is looking forward to this trip, too.
I smiled brightly and said in a loud voice from outside the door.
"Father, don't forget to pack your nightclothes!"