Seo Jin was training with her sword in the courtyard of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect's safehouse.
The sword art she practiced was the Yellow Dragon Sword Technique.
The Yellow Dragon Sword Technique, as reinterpreted by Geom Mugeuk, was not difficult, yet profound.
It was the kind of sword art that revealed a new side with every increase in skill.
For that reason, the more her skill grew, the greater her admiration would become.
For the past few days, she had devoted herself to training.
During the day, she trained in swordsmanship, and at night, she honed her Ghost Arts.
It was the first time in her life she had ever trained so diligently in martial arts.
Even before this incident, she had been well aware that the Martial World was a frightening and dangerous place.
But living as a child of the Ghost Gate, she had never once felt true fear.
However, through this experience, she came to a realization.
The Martial World she had lived in until now was a sheltered one, like a greenhouse.
A Martial World where she only disciplined neighborhood ruffians.
The real Martial World was a place where the young man smiling brightly before her could be the Young Cult Master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect, and a barefoot martial hall instructor could be targeting that very Young Cult Master.
She learned that opening the greenhouse door didn't just lead to a strong wind, but could immediately be the edge of a thousand-fathom cliff.
If Geom Mugeuk and Lee Ahn hadn't come to help her this time, would she have been able to survive here?
Seo Jin's gaze turned once more toward the entrance.
It felt as if the door would open any second now.
The two Demon Sovereigns and Lee Ahn, who had left to retrieve the Young Cult Master, had not returned for several days.
‘You told me when you recruited me, didn’t you? To trust you.
I do trust you.
So please, come back soon.’
When she thought about it, the fact that this whole affair started because of her made her even more concerned.
After all, it had all begun while investigating the death of her hometown brother, Im Hyeon.
Just then, Gyo-seok and Yu Gwang from the White Dragon Class, who had come to the safehouse with her, emerged.
Now aware of their identities, they were extremely cautious in their dealings with Seo Jin.
"Were you in the middle of training?"
Seo Jin smiled at the two men.
"You can be comfortable with me."
"Still, we cannot do that."
To an ordinary martial artist, a demonic practitioner of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect was the very definition of terror.
Even while staying at the safehouse for the past few days, they felt as though they were sitting on a cushion of thorns.
Fearing they might encounter the demonic practitioners managing the safehouse and offend them, they didn't even raise their voices.
"It's frustrating, isn't it? They should all be here soon."
Gyo-seok, who had been watching Seo Jin's expression, spoke out in a half-resigned state.
"You’re going to kill us in the end, aren’t you?"
Seo Jin asked back with a puzzled expression.
They had been fine for days.
"Why are you suddenly saying that?"
Gyo-seok then glanced at Yu Gwang, who was standing beside him.
"This fellow said his anxiety disappeared this morning."
Yu Gwang, who always had the word "anxious" on his lips, had suddenly declared that his anxiety was gone today.
"I don't know why, but my heart has become calm."
At Yu Gwang's words, Gyo-seok let out a sigh.
"Thanks to you, I feel even more ominous."
"I said my anxiety is gone!"
"So why did it suddenly disappear!"
"Maybe something good is about to happen."
"No, you need to stay anxious! That makes me feel at ease."
These weren't just empty words; Gyo-seok's anxiety was genuine.
"I have a request. I've written a letter to my parents in my room. If I die, please make sure it's sent. Oh, don't worry. I didn't write a single word related to the Demon Sect, I mean, the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect. No one will know we were silenced by the Divine Sect."
It was at that moment.
"You think just anyone gets silenced?"
The three turned in surprise to see Lee Ahn entering.
"Branch Master! You’ve returned?"
Seeing her return safely, Seo Jin was overjoyed.
Behind her, the Fist Demon and the Plum Blossom Sword Sovereign followed.
Seo Jin respectfully greeted the Fist Demon and the Plum Blossom Sword Sovereign as well.
Gyo-seok and Yu Gwang stepped back, bowed their heads, and held their breath.
After the two Demon Sovereigns went inside first, Seo Jin asked Lee Ahn.
"What about the Young Cult Master?"
"He'll be here soon."
Leaving the relieved Seo Jin, Lee Ahn teased Gyo-seok and Yu Gwang.
"You can send that letter yourself when you leave. You fool, save such useless worries for when you're big enough to actually get silenced."
At that, Gyo-seok asked joyfully.
"Are you really letting us live?"
"If I was going to kill you, I'd have done it already."
"Thank you."
Then Gyo-seok looked at Yu Gwang.
‘But why is your intuition so uncannily accurate?’
Realizing his feeling had been right, Yu Gwang gathered his courage.
"I have a request."
"What is it?"
"I want to follow you to the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect as well."
Gyo-seok, startled, tried to stop Yu Gwang.
"You! Are you crazy?"
Lee Ahn quietly looked at Yu Gwang.
It would be nice to have a subordinate who could sense danger well, but he was too young and naive to be brought along for such a reason.
"I refuse."
"May I ask why?"
What should she say to this clueless boy who didn't know what it meant to live as a demonic practitioner? That if a war breaks out, he would have to cross swords with his friends? Can you kill Gyo-seok, who's right beside you? That your parents, who sent you to a martial hall to learn martial arts, would faint? Are you okay with that?
Just as Lee Ahn was pondering how to persuade him, a clear answer came from the entrance.
"Because you're not skilled enough yet."
Turning around, they saw Geom Mugeuk entering the safehouse.
This time, both Lee Ahn and Seo Jin greeted him together.
"Young Cult Master!"
Although Lee Ahn had confidently told Seo Jin that Geom Mugeuk would arrive soon, she had been secretly worried.
After all, his opponent was who he was.
She might have said, "Who's worried about whom?", but who else would worry about Geom Mugeuk if not her?
"When you're exactly ten times stronger than you are now, come find Lee Ahn then."
In that moment, Lee Ahn knew.
This was the right answer.
Trying to explain it to him with this or that reason would only leave Yu Gwang with lingering regrets and a complicated heart.
But if he strived to become ten times stronger, he would grow into a fine martial artist.
And by the time he became ten times stronger, this incident would be a memory of his youth.
If he still remembered this and came to find them then, that could truly be called fate.
"Can you do that?"
At Geom Mugeuk's question, Yu Gwang answered forcefully.
"Yes! I will become ten times stronger and come see you again!"
After his loud declaration, Yu Gwang's expression darkened.
"Ah, I'm feeling anxious again."
Seeing this, Gyo-seok sighed.
"He'll be anxious until he's ten times stronger. I'll have to live my whole life hearing him say he's anxious."
"You told me I had to be anxious!"
Geom Mugeuk had a feeling the friendship between the two would continue just like this.
Even if he did come back ten times stronger, he felt the two of them would come together.
Yes, don't lose this friendship over something that, in retrospect, is nothing.
Keep it well.
Just then, Yeon Baek-jin walked out.
As he appeared, Gyo-seok and Yu Gwang excused themselves and went back to their quarters.
"You've returned?"
Yeon Baek-jin was curious about what had happened to his brother, but he dared not ask first.
How could Geom Mugeuk not know his heart?
"From now on, you are the Hall Master of the Yellow Dragon Martial Hall."
Those words told him everything.
That his brother was dead.
He was about to ask who killed him but stopped.
That would be no different from asking the Young Cult Master of the Demon Sect, "Did you kill my brother?"
He wasn't as surprised as he expected, nor was he as relieved or thrilled as he had thought he would be.
"He went without pain. He died without even realizing he was dying, so don't be too sad."
Even though it was the brother who had tried to kill him, the thought that he had died without pain was a relief, which must have meant that blood was indeed thicker than water.
"From now on, the Yellow Dragon Martial Hall will be different."
His brother had run solely for the sake of making the martial hall the best in the Central Plains.
Yeon Baek-jin had no such ambition.
"Even if I only train one, I will raise a martial artist with proper character."
"You can start with those two who just went inside."
Yeon Baek-jin nodded and looked at Geom Mugeuk, Lee Ahn, and then Seo Jin.
Geom Mugeuk could feel it.
In the way Yeon Baek-jin looked at Seo Jin, there was no sign of the tragic fate that had gone to its extreme.
For Geom Mugeuk, this whole affair had been started to change the destinies of those two people.
‘I did it.’
And so, the matter of the Yellow Dragon Martial Hall was completely concluded.
Geom Mugeuk reported the events with the Sword King to the Fist Demon and the Plum Blossom Sword Sovereign.
"I've decided to be friends with him."
He told them honestly, feeling that the Demon Sovereigns should also be aware.
Neither the Fist Demon nor the Plum Blossom Sword Sovereign would have ever believed it if the words hadn't come from Geom Mugeuk.
The aura of the Sword King they had witnessed.
There was no space for another person to stand amidst that dense forest of blades.
"What kind of person is he?"
The Plum Blossom Sword Sovereign showed her curiosity.
As her opponent was a swordsman, her interest was natural.
"To be honest, I don't know him deeply either, but I did get this impression. He is a person who wants to be freer than anyone else, yet is tightly bound by those people."
At that, the Plum Blossom Sword Sovereign said something unexpected.
"Like you?"
Geom Mugeuk smiled as he looked at her.
It seemed that in the Plum Blossom Sword Sovereign's eyes, he too looked like someone tightly bound and yearning for freedom.
"Since there is someone who understands me like this, I think I can endure the pain of being tied down."
"Who in this world could tie down the Young Cult Master? You must have tied yourself."
For that reason, she thought the freedom Geom Mugeuk longed for would be all the more desperate.
"That's right. I am a person who wants to roam this Martial World freely. The reason I took my father on a journey was also because I wished for him to live a free life as well."
To that, another layer of honesty was added.
"But just as much as I want freedom, I also have an equal amount of ambition for power. It's not just any position, but that of the Cult Master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect, isn't it? Freedom is fine for a day or two, but what great freedom would make me unhesitatingly cast this position aside? I certainly have the desire to inherit it and manage it well."
Of course, before that, persuading his father to give up his unification of the Martial World within the promised five years came first.
Just then, the Fist Demon, who had been listening quietly, spoke calmly.
"You will be a good Cult Master."
Geom Mugeuk's gaze turned to the Fist Demon.
At times like these, one could feel the great power held in the silence of the taciturn.
If he were to say such a thing to someone, they would say, 'Flattery again!', but such a simple phrase from the reserved Fist Demon came flying with great power.
"A better Cult Master than my father, of course?"
Of course, to the Fist Demon, the existence of his father was an impregnable fortress.
"That would be difficult."
Geom Mugeuk smiled and asked.
Now was the time to express his gratitude to him.
"Leaving the chair that led to the underground, that was your intention, Master, wasn't it?"
The person the Sword King trusted must have been a true master.
Probably one of the Twelve Zodiac Kings.
The Fist Demon had left the chair even while fighting such a master.
The Fist Demon simply gave a slight nod, not taking any credit for it.
The less someone takes credit, the more one must express gratitude.
By recognizing his intention and expressing thanks with words, the difficult fight the Fist Demon had endured could be properly concluded.
Geom Mugeuk bowed his head respectfully, putting a period on it.
"Thank you very much."
*
That night, Geom Mugeuk opened the Space-Time Displacement Art.
For the first time in a long while, it was not for training, but for rest.
A white sandy beach where the blue sea stretched endlessly.
A comfortable chair under a tree with large leaves.
"Ah! This is so nice!"
As he leaned back comfortably in the chair, the words of contentment came out on their own.
"Here, you rest too."
He placed the Secret Vessel on the spot he had made for it beside him.
Then, for a while, he gazed at the blue sky and the sea.
Feeling the sea breeze, carrying a gentle warmth, caress his face, his mood naturally lifted.
"Through this journey, I've learned a lot about you."
As the energy inside his body became his own, his feelings for the Secret Vessel also grew more intimate.
"Where are the other three energies?"
He had a hunch about one place.
The Martial Alliance.
A Secret Vessel had come from the Main Sect, and he had obtained orbs from the Unorthodox Alliance, the Wind Heaven Sect, and the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
In that case, wouldn't there be one in the Martial Alliance as well?
"There's one in the Martial Alliance too, right?"
If only you could speak.
Even if it was kept in the Martial Alliance, he couldn't just go to the Martial Alliance Leader or Jin Ha-gun and demand they hand over the orb.
Like the ones he had obtained so far, he would likely get it when it became his destiny to do so.
Geom Mugeuk decided not to rush.
It was the same when he first obtained the Secret Vessel.
He would leave it to fate and be at ease.
Geom Mugeuk cleared his mind and savored his time alone.
He dozed off in his chair and woke up to stroll along the beach, squatting down to watch a scuttling crab.
He lay down again and fell asleep, then woke up again to watch the sea.
Then he shouted.
"I really don't want to leave!"
The next morning, the carriages were prepared for the return to the Main Sect.
Three carriages.
The Fist Demon rode in the lead, the Plum Blossom Sword Sovereign in the middle, and Geom Mugeuk, Lee Ahn, and Seo Jin in the last carriage.
Separate carriages were prepared for the two Demon Sovereigns so they could travel comfortably.
Seo Jin, sitting opposite Geom Mugeuk, expressed her gratitude.
"Thanks to you, I was able to avenge my brother. Thank you, Young Cult Master."
Considering what you did for me in my life before regression, this is nothing.
Geom Mugeuk gave her a meaningful smile and asked.
"How do you feel about going to the Main Sect?"
After seeming to ponder what to say, Seo Jin suddenly extended her hand, palm up.
Hiss.
Black smoke rose from her palm, forming a black wolf.
It was small enough to fit on her palm, but it was a handsome wolf with a dignified gaze.
"When the Branch Master first recruited me, I was like this."
Hiiiisss!
More black smoke billowed in front of the wolf, forming the face of a large tiger.
The moment the tiger opened its mouth wide!
The handsome wolf burst with a pop and transformed into a terrified dog with its tail between its legs.
"This is my state right now."
Geom Mugeuk laughed at the sight of the dog.
To think she could perform such tricks and never showed him once during her wanderer days.
"It's just like me in front of my father."
As Geom Mugeuk petted the dog with a look of shared suffering, the dog made of black smoke rubbed its face against his hand.
Petting the dog, Geom Mugeuk said.
"Whether you’re a tiger, a wolf, or a dog doesn’t matter."
"Then what is important?"
The hope Geom Mugeuk had for Lee Ahn was conveyed to Seo Jin as well.
"What's important is whether you're happier when you get to the headquarters. I don't want an unhappy tiger."
Seo Jin hadn't known the Young Cult Master for long, but she knew that, at the very least, he meant those words sincerely.
Pop!
The dog disappeared, and in its place, the wolf from before was formed again.
"Even if I can't become a happy tiger, I will strive to be a happy wolf."
Yes, the her he met as a wanderer before his regression was like a wolf.
Live just like that, Seo Jin.
But this time, as a wolf that smiles brightly.
The thought of returning to the Main Sect brought a succession of faces he longed to see to his mind.
Faces he hadn't been able to see properly because he had left the sect in such a hurry.
Geom Mugeuk stuck his head out of the carriage window and shouted loudly.
"Alright, let's head for the Main Sect! This time, we go as fast as possible!"