The celebration continued until dawn.
Everyone drank and talked as if they would never meet again after this day.
But just as time flies when you are with good people, merciless time executed a Swift Step.
In the blink of an eye, the night was over, and it was time for farewells.
Han Seol was the first to say goodbye.
“I will pay my respects to the Alliance Leader and return to the Northern Sea after a few more days.”
She had grown close to Jin Ha-ryeong after talking with her all night.
She had decided to visit the Alliance Leader's Hall with Jin Ha-ryeong to greet the Martial Alliance Leader, stay a few more days, and then depart.
Truly, on this trip, she had experienced meeting all three leaders of the Righteous, Demonic, and Unorthodox Sects.
Bi Sa-in promised to see her again.
“I will see you next time.”
A farewell as composed and calm as possible.
And for that reason, his regret felt even greater.
Han Seol bowed her head and conveyed her gratitude.
“Thanks to you, I had a good look around the Central Plains.”
Blunt and a man of few words.
She was well aware that such a man had made a great effort for her.
“Next time, I will be sure to show you around the Northern Sea.”
As if to show it was not just a passing remark, she mentioned showing him the Northern Sea once more, and Bi Sa-in's mood brightened.
“I will eagerly await that day.”
Geom Mugeuk, who had been listening, interjected.
“What about us? We want to see the Northern Sea too! And drink Ice Wine on the snowy mountains!”
He naturally assumed Han Seol would say, ‘I invite all of you, too,’ but.
“Young Cult Master, you’ve been there before, haven’t you? You even had Ice Wine.”
With that, she gave a slight bow and turned away.
It was a clear display of her firm will to invite only Bi Sa-in.
A smile that he could not possibly hide escaped Bi Sa-in’s lips.
With a look that said, ‘I can’t let this slide,’ Geom Mugeuk dragged Jin Ha-gun into the conversation.
“And you still say you’re going to help the Ice Palace?”
Jin Ha-gun nodded resolutely and said.
“I must help. She said she’d invite me separately.”
“What? When?”
“With my sister.”
Geom Mugeuk feigned a shiver and said softly.
“The Main Sect will strike the Ice Palace!”
“I just said we’re going to help them!”
The Unorthodox Alliance joined the Martial Alliance in their stance.
“We will go to help as well.”
“You are all so cruel!”
Jin Ha-gun and Bi Sa-in laughed together.
Watching them, Geom Muyang suddenly had a thought.
‘When these three become the Cult Master and the Alliance Leaders, an era that the previous generation could never have imagined might dawn upon the martial world.’
A martial world that would never be seen again, neither before nor after.
And surprisingly, Geom Muyang felt that he, too, was quietly looking forward to that martial world.
He was curious about that martial world.
Jin Ha-ryeong bid farewell to Geom Mugeuk.
“Travel safely.”
She turned away more cleanly than ever before.
It was because she felt too much regret.
Was it because she had sensed the strange current flowing between Bi Sa-in and Han Seol? Parting with Geom Mugeuk felt more regrettable than at other times.
Of course, Geom Mugeuk did not just let her go.
“Don’t reveal your hidden ambition to your brother! If you get caught, run to us!”
Hearing Geom Mugeuk’s words from behind, a faint smile formed on Jin Ha-ryeong’s lips.
“To catch me and hand me over to my brother?”
“Huh? How did you know?”
“The three of you are always plotting like that, how could I not know?”
And so, Jin Ha-ryeong and Han Seol left first.
Han Seol, walking into the distance, turned back to Bi Sa-in and slightly lifted the teddy bear.
A bright smile spread across Bi Sa-in’s lips.
It seemed that for a while, the First Wolf, the leader of the Thirteen Wolves of the Unorthodox Path, would often be asked, “Is something making you happy?”
Now, the three successors bid each other farewell.
At the end, they did not forget about the peace of the martial world.
“Their leadership is still intact. So don’t forget that something similar could happen at any time.”
Jin Ha-gun and Bi Sa-in nodded at Geom Mugeuk’s words.
They had more than enough experience to know what their enemies were like.
“If anything strange happens, you must contact us. You know? You must never try to handle it alone!”
In the past, they would have let such words pass, but this time, both Jin Ha-gun and Bi Sa-in nodded.
“Well then, see you next time!”
The three of them exchanged glances and then started walking in different directions.
Geom Mugeuk, who had walked some distance away, turned back and shouted.
“I miss you already! When should we meet again?”
Jin Ha-gun and Bi Sa-in smiled silently and continued on their way without looking back.
Geom Muyang saw it.
The face of Geom Mugeuk as he joked until the very end and turned back again.
The playful look was gone, and his face was calm and serious.
This was who he really was, yet he was trying so hard.
‘I could never live like you, not even if I died.’
The two brothers walked in silence for a while.
“Brother.”
When a long time passed with no words, Geom Muyang asked.
“You called me, why aren't you saying anything?”
“I just felt like calling you.”
After walking for a while longer, Geom Mugeuk spoke again.
“Brother, make me a promise. That you’ll grant me one request later on.”
“No.”
“Without even hearing what the request is?”
“It’s bound to be something ridiculous.”
“That’s why I’m asking you. Who else would grant such a ridiculous request?”
The sun was rising on the distant horizon.
Naturally, the two of them stopped walking and watched the scene.
Through this trip out of the sect, Geom Muyang had seen a new side of life.
He had only left the sect to catch the one who made the counterfeit weapons.
Furious at the fact that his brother was almost killed.
His life had been set.
Catch the culprit and kill him.
He had lived this single-minded, predetermined life and had considered it his own.
But this time, he encountered a different side of life.
He saved the sister of the man who made the counterfeit weapons, watched the rain from under the eaves, observed someone from afar, and played the flute in front of people.
Geom Muyang looked at Geom Mugeuk standing beside him.
The light that flew in, awakening the world, brightly illuminated his brother’s face.
Come to think of it, his brother had been saying it all along.
Let’s live a different life.
Let’s not fight a successor battle where we kill each other.
Let’s have a different kind of successor battle.
When Geom Mugeuk felt his gaze and turned to look, Geom Muyang said.
“Should we run?”
A smile brighter than the spreading sunlight bloomed on Geom Mugeuk’s lips.
Because it was the first time his brother had suggested they run together.
“Sounds good.”
The two began to dash forward, using their lightness arts.
Running alongside his brother, Geom Mugeuk shouted.
“Let’s go. Home!”
At the Main Sect, news they had been desperately waiting for awaited them.
“The Cult Master has completed his seclusion training.”
At that news, Geom Mugeuk and his brother headed straight for the Cult Master's Hall.
He had actually expected the seclusion training to last much longer.
After all, it was training for the next stage of the Nine Calamities Demon Art, in which he had already achieved Great Mastery.
But he came out sooner than expected.
Then again, for someone like his father, the duration probably meant nothing.
Had he truly made progress with the Nine Calamities Demon Art?
“Finally, my time as Acting Cult Master is over!”
“Are you sad about it?”
“Sad? Ugh, you don’t know, brother. How much work that position has. Maybe Father faked his seclusion and ran away because he didn’t want to work either.”
“Are you my father?”
“How did you know? I left the sect because I didn’t want to work.”
Geom Muyang shook his head with an expression that said he was unbelievable.
“Ah, after seeing Father, there are so many people to meet! Alright, everyone, form a line!”
Geom Muyang thought he should meet with the Gwak siblings first.
Since he brought them all the way here, he had to take care of them.
And so, the two of them entered the Cult Master's Hall.
Geom Mugeuk and Geom Muyang slowly walked side by side along the path of blood.
Their father was sitting in the Grand Advisor's seat, looking unchanged.
‘Father, thank you.’
He knew now.
How precious and valuable it was to have someone by your side, unchanging.
One day, such a day would come.
A day when he would have to walk this path of blood alone and sit in the empty Grand Advisor's seat.
Walking up to the base of the Grand Advisor's seat, Geom Mugeuk greeted loudly.
“Father, I have completed my duties and returned to the sect!”
Geom Muyang also greeted with polite respect.
“I have returned, Cult Master.”
Geom Woojin looked at the two of them in turn and said calmly.
“Did you have a good trip?”
“Yes!”
The two men’s resounding answer echoed through the Cult Master's Hall.
“Congratulations on finishing your seclusion training.”
As he greeted him, Geom Mugeuk stared intently at his father.
“Why do you look at me so?”
At his father’s question, Geom Mugeuk shook his head.
“No matter how I look, I can’t tell. What were the results of your seclusion training?”
“I trained, that’s what matters. Why are the results so important?”
“They are important. It wasn’t just anyone, it was your first seclusion in a long time, Father.”
Geom Mugeuk sensed a certain confidence in his father’s eyes.
It was a change he would have never noticed before.
He had never even looked at his father’s face like this.
But now he could tell.
Because he kept looking and looking, he could now see the subtle difference.
What that confidence meant.
‘Father has achieved something!’
Eleventh Star? No. Even before the seclusion training, his father’s martial arts had been improving through continuous practice.
Then what?
Twelve-Star Great Mastery!
His father’s life had changed recently, and his martial arts must have changed with it.
Geom Mugeuk’s heart began to pound fiercely.
The Twelve-Star Nine Calamities Demon Art! What kind of power would it have? Did the evil spirits change too? And what about the Heavenly Demon Soul?
There had been many changes since he regressed, but this was the moment he was facing the most powerful change of all.
‘Congratulations, Father!’
That feeling must have been reflected in Geom Mugeuk’s eyes and expression.
Geom Woojin sent a look that said, ‘Don’t tell me you’ve noticed?’, and Geom Mugeuk replied with a look that said, ‘Don’t you want to boast?’
‘Boast to your heart’s content to these sons of yours.’
Of course, Geom Woojin was not the type of person to boast like that.
Instead, a scolding came down.
“I hear you caused trouble while I was away! Did you not know that you two are not supposed to leave the sect together?”
“I know. That’s why I went with the Demon Sovereigns.”
His father would have received a full report from the Grand Strategist, who must have been worried sick that they had left together.
A report that the Poison King and the Demon Buddha were with them, and that the Wind Heaven Sect Leader and the Soul-Devouring Demon Sovereign had also joined.
But a report was just a report.
Geom Mugeuk reported to his father what had happened while he was away.
It was something he had always done upon returning from a trip outside the sect.
To tell him in detail about the parts that could not be known from a report alone.
Another kind of conversation between his father and himself.
He showed this side of himself in front of his brother.
Brother, maybe you’d be better at these kinds of conversations.
So watch carefully.
Of course, Geom Mugeuk would not miss the chance to tease his brother in this situation.
At the end of his report, he brought his brother into it.
“Brother saved Master Craftsman Gwak’s sister. In the past, he’s someone who would have given an order like, ‘It’s a hassle, just get rid of them all!’”
Geom Muyang made a dumbfounded expression, but their father did not stop the report.
“I believe that saving the siblings this time is as meaningful in many ways as killing the mastermind. We’ve made a skilled young artisan our person, and more importantly.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at his brother standing beside him and continued.
“It was an event that showed me how much my brother has changed.”
A hint of panic flickered in Geom Muyang’s eyes, but he said nothing in front of their father.
“Lately, my brother is becoming more and more cool.”
“What’s this? You’re praising your brother?”
“He’s right next to me, isn’t he? You’re supposed to curse someone when they’re not around.”
A sneer formed on Geom Woojin’s lips.
That unchanging sneer put Geom Mugeuk’s heart at ease.
‘You have no idea how much I wanted to see that smile.’
When the mood was this good, it was time to give a gift.
“Oh, and we have a gift for you. It’s a gift my brother chose.”
Geom Woojin’s gaze turned to Geom Muyang.
Geom Muyang took a scroll from his robes and held it up with both hands.
When Geom Woojin extended his hand.
Swish.
The scroll flew through the air and into his hand.
Slowly unrolling the scroll, Geom Woojin looked down at it without a word.
His father stared at the scroll for a long time.
This was the first time his father had looked at something for so long.
The scroll hid his father’s face.
But for some reason, Geom Mugeuk felt like he knew what kind of expression he was making.
After looking at the painting, Geom Woojin rolled up the scroll and placed it beside him.
“No, don’t just put it down like that. That painter was something else. If you store it well, you might be able to sell it for a high price later.”
Geom Woojin looked down at Geom Muyang in silence.
A father’s gaze upon his eldest son.
In that gaze, Geom Mugeuk felt his father’s old regrets.
At this moment, his father was regretting.
It would have been better if he had become the successor without killing his brother.
Father, we will surely fulfill that unrealized wish.
We will live our whole lives preserving our brotherly bond.
Geom Mugeuk took out something thickly wrapped from his bosom.
“There is one more gift.”
Geom Muyang had seen his brother grabbing it from the carriage when he heard their father was out of seclusion.
He had wondered what on earth he was packing.
Swish.
That, too, flew into Geom Woojin’s hand.
“They’re pajamas, Wuhan-style floral pajamas. If I hadn’t seen them, it would be one thing, but once I saw them, I just couldn’t pass them by.”
Geom Muyang was flabbergasted.
It seemed he had gone back and bought those floral pajamas after all.
‘You fool, do you think Father will wear that?’
He expected his father’s roar to come down.
But his father silently placed that gift beside the other one.
As if he was pleased with these two gifts, his father’s expression was gentle.
“Go and rest.”
Geom Mugeuk and Geom Muyang bowed respectfully and turned to leave.
After taking a few steps, Geom Mugeuk turned back as if he had just remembered something.
“Oh, Father, let’s go hunting sometime, the three of us with brother.”
He could feel his brother beside him tense up.
He must have been worried that their father might not be inclined.
It was a truly unnecessary worry.
Because his father’s decision was far too quick.
“We leave tomorrow at dawn.”
Yep, a man who never considers his children’s schedules, that’s our father.