Eon Ga-hye had ordered that we be treated as honored guests, but… frankly, I expected to hear all sorts of whispers behind our backs.
That was only natural, after all—the fact that Eon Ga-hye had been kidnapped by me and Tang So-wol wasn't going to simply disappear.
But contrary to my expectations, they truly treated our party with nothing but courtesy. There wasn't a trace of hostility, nor even curiosity.
The reason was simple. All their attention was fixed on Peng Woo-jin.
"That lad from the Paeng Clan is having a rough time of it."
Seomun Hwa-rin, watching from a distance as Peng Woo-jin sweated profusely while surrounded by the Eon Clan's retainers, shook her head.
"Well, at least it means we get to stay comfortable."
"That's true, but… watching him, I can't help but feel a little sorry for him."
To some extent, I agree with Seomun Hwa-rin's words.
The relationship between the Paeng Clan and the Eon Clan had never been good, and these days, hadn't that conflict reached its peak?
It was only natural that the gazes directed at Peng Woo-jin—whom Eon Ga-hye had brought along, claiming he was her beloved—were far from favorable.
The only reasons they didn't openly antagonize him were the fact that Eon Ga-hye had ordered them to treat him with courtesy, and that Peng Woo-jin had willingly offered his own body to protect her.
Instead, they watched him with extremely scrutinizing eyes, and whenever anything happened, they would interrogate him relentlessly.
It wasn't just one or two of them—every single elder of the Eon Clan he encountered acted that way, so from Peng Woo-jin's perspective, it must have been enough to drive him mad.
"Well, that aside, it's not like we're in a position to help him either. …Besides, the real one hasn't even arrived yet."
"Hmm. When did the Eon Clan head say he would arrive?"
"Considering the time it takes for the letter to arrive and the time it takes to travel here, it should take about seven days and nights."
"Hmph. Then there's plenty of time. In the meantime, try to do something about So-wol and Hyang-i."
"I've been trying, but… it's not easy."
The two of them hadn't fought. The misunderstanding about the previous night's sleeping arrangement had been cleared up.
In fact, Tang So-wol would talk to Seol Ri-hyang as usual and even joke around when she saw her.
It was just that, lately, Seol Ri-hyang had been avoiding Tang So-wol. No, she was avoiding me too. As if she had something to feel guilty about.
I could roughly guess what she was thinking… but I couldn't just let her keep running away, so I kept trying to strike up conversations.
She was probably chasing after Seol Ri-hyang right now.
"Then why are you standing here doing nothing?"
"I have some business with Senior Seomun Hwa-rin, that's all."
"You mean with me?"
Seomun Hwa-rin tilted her head in puzzlement. Her long white hair spilled to the side, and her bright red eyes blinked.
No matter how I looked at her, she was just an adorable girl.
But I knew better. Inside her dwelled a veteran martial artist—someone old enough to have lived longer than all my pre-regression years combined—someone worthy of being a clan head or a sect leader.
"B-business with me, you say?"
Whatever misunderstanding she'd had, Seomun Hwa-rin was practically bouncing on her heels, her face flushed with excitement.
I nodded at that sparkling, expectant gaze.
"That's right."
"So you've decided to become my adopted son after seeing how impressive I am…!"
"I think I've had a small enlightenment this time. Would you mind a quick sparring match…?"
"???"
"???"
For a moment, we just stared at each other, blinking blankly. Then, realization dawned on Seomun Hwa-rin—she'd gotten the wrong idea entirely. The light in her eyes went out.
As if to say "that's what you get," she plopped back down in her seat, her face flushed so red it looked ready to burst.
"Kyaaang!"
"…Ahem, please don't be so embarrassed. It's the kind of thing anyone could misunderstand, isn't it?"
"Kyaaang!"
"Isn't it said that people tend to see and hear what they're most preoccupied with? I was absorbed in my own enlightenment, and Senior Seomun Hwa-rin… yes. That's what it was."
"Kyaaaang!"
Seomun Hwa-rin sat crouched on the floor with her ears covered, but the senses of a Harmony Realm martial artist couldn't be blocked by something like that.
Even now, she reacted every time I added a word, so she was clearly hearing everything.
"Ah, since we're on the subject, let me give you my answer again—my thoughts remain unchanged. I'm sorry."
"S-s-stop! That's enough, please just stop…!"
"Mmph!"
In the end, she couldn't hold out any longer. Seomun Hwa-rin leaped up from her seated position and clamped her hand over my mouth.
Tears welled in her eyes from shame. Then, with a different glint in her eyes, she nodded vigorously.
"Fine! A sparring match! That's all we need, isn't it! So just stop! Stop digging into my heart like that…!"
"I don't recall doing any such thing, but very well. Let's head to the training ground."
As I said that and took the lead, Seomun Hwa-rin followed behind me, slumped and deflated.
The training ground we arrived at before long was a strangely calming place.
Of course, it wasn't as if the Eon Clan had installed some formation to induce peace of mind or gather Natural Qi.
It was merely that, being a training ground set aside for honored guests, they had taken a few measures to keep the gwigi—which could be felt everywhere in the Eon estate—from encroaching upon it.
It wasn't as if I'd be directly exposed to it, and even if the gwigi spilling over from the surroundings were to affect my martial art, how much harm could it really do…
Still, having it absent was certainly better than having it present.
Leaving aside the fact that I was accustomed to gwigi, or that this much would naturally be suppressed by the killing intent melted into my internal energy.
In any case, it was true that it was a foreign energy unlike the usual.
Nodding inwardly, I stood at a spot a little removed from the center of the training ground and took my stance.
Seomun Hwa-rin, who stood across from me as if she hadn't been whining just moments ago, began to emanate a sharp aura.
Her face was still slightly flushed, but her expression had already shifted to that of a seasoned martial artist.
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Seomun Hwa-rin spoke.
"Your realm may be half a step short of Transcendent Peak, but I know that once you enter a life-and-death duel, you can gain the upper hand even against most Transcendent Peak martial artists. I witnessed you cut down the Lord of the Black Heaven Sword Gate with my own eyes, so how could I not know?"
"Yes, well. If my internal energy were sufficient, I could ascend to Transcendent Peak even this very moment."
"However, the Blood Flame Fist Demon was a being who surpassed the ordinary level even among Transcendent Peak martial artists. Not only was he fully matured, but he also wielded the troublesome martial art known as the Blazing Yang Art… I apologize for saying this, but I thought you would die or be driven to the brink of death."
"You saw correctly. If it had been the usual me, I would not have won."
Just as I had lost every time I crossed swords with him before my regression.
"I heard that it was Hyang-i's martial art that weakened the advantage the Blood Flame Fist Demon held through the Blazing Yang Art."
"In truth, even that fell one step short. It just so happened that I was lucky enough to take that one step…"
"You still think that step is not truly yours."
Seomun Hwa-rin's words were correct.
Whenever I had free time, I tried meditating, and I swung my sword alone, attempting to recreate that final strike from that day.
But like a mist settling down, only an ambiguity that seemed within reach yet could not be grasped lingered at my fingertips.
"Ahem. I roughly understand what you mean. In times like these, what matters is having an opponent you can clash against with all your strength. You came to the right place. I can receive everything you have, so do not hold back!"
"Thank you."
I straightened my small chest and bowed deeply to Seomun Hwa-rin, who was clearing her throat.
Even before the regression, she had often reviewed my martial arts or helped me internalize my enlightenment. In this life, too, I was receiving her help like this.
I opened my mouth, carrying the gratitude that naturally rose within me.
"Someday, I will find a way to repay you, Senior Seomun Hwa-rin."
"You have already given me more than enough… but I am a little curious. How do you plan to repay me?"
"Well, wouldn't it be fitting to grant one request that Senior Seomun Hwa-rin asks of me? Of course, it cannot be anything too strange."
"A wish-granting right…!"
Whatever had sparked her, Seo Mun Hwa-rin began to burn with enthusiasm.
Seomun Hwa-rin, who had somehow already clenched both fists, shouted in an excited voice.
"Come on! Bring it!"
"Heh."
I let out a dry laugh at her suddenly cheerful demeanor and drew my sword.
"Then I'll begin."
A blood-red Sword Qi rose like smoke above the black blade. But it quickly twisted and intertwined, swelling in size to take the shape of a blazing flame.
A kind of technique created by condensing pure internal energy without mixing in Intent.
Ordinarily, with my internal energy and Meridians not yet fully supporting it, the Sword Flame should have been weaker than before the regression—yet somehow it felt just as intense as it had been back then.
If we look at it this far, it's a good thing. But the problem is that I myself don't know the reason.
My Dantian and Meridians haven't changed much, so why has my internal energy become so much freer to command?
And this isn't just about internal energy.
"Hup!"
I kick off the ground and charge forward. But instead of launching my body with a big Thunder Step like usual, I take several short, quick steps.
Boom! Rumble!
Internal energy bursts out continuously through Yongcheonhyeol. The individual explosions are quieter, but they ring out without pause, echoing loudly across the training ground.
Honestly, this is a lesser tactic—one that fails to fully utilize the explosive acceleration of the Thunder Step. But when the essence of the Gwiyeongbo is layered on top, things change a bit.
Each step moves at a different speed. Even though he is clearly moving in a straight line, the movement defies adaptation, and a glimmer of interest appears in Seomun Hwa-rin's eyes.
"I knew you hadn't only mastered the Thunder Step, but… this is amusing."
"It's about to get even more amusing."
This was one of the methods he had attempted to reduce the consumption of Seol Ri-hyang's Yin Energy, which was being burned away by the Blood Flame Fist Demon's flames.
In the meantime, he had refined the technique, and the results were better than expected.
A grin stretches across his lips as he swings his sword. As always, the blade relentlessly targets the opponent's vital points and weaknesses.
With each swing, he pours the best trajectory and the optimal mystery into every strike, adapting to the situation.
Collarbone, waist, armpit, neck, wrist, eyes—all of it.
His sword strikes relentlessly target spots where a single cut would prove fatal or cripple his opponent's ability to fight.
Sometimes fast, sometimes heavy, sometimes flashy enough to deceive the eye.
It was something he had done countless times before. Yet each swing felt familiar and strange at the same time.
Had he always been able to wield his sword this quickly? Had he always been able to put this much weight behind his blade?
No.
It was simply proof that he had finally made his own the enlightenment he had thought he had already internalized, by revisiting it once more.
Ever since he had grasped Sword-Mind Unity and could swing his sword exactly as he envisioned, he had believed the precision of his Sword Art had reached its limit… but.
As the sword strokes he pictured in his mind grew clearer, the trajectories he actually traced became all the more vivid as well.
Of course, it wasn't enough to reach Seomun Hwa-rin, but—
"Impressive."
Clang! Clang-clang-clang!
The sword and her hand had clearly collided, yet the sounds that rang out were completely different.
That was because Seomun Hwa-rin was shattering my Sword Qi with her Aura-wreathed fist, catching it and scattering it apart, then knocking away the now-defenseless sword—those were the sounds that resulted.
Even as I pressed with a fierce offensive, she didn't so much as blink, and instead of counterattacking, she focused solely on receiving my sword. Seeing that, I decided to swing with a bit more boldness.
I held nothing back, pouring all my strength into each sword stroke, focusing only on cutting down the opponent before me.
My concentration steadily mounted. The sense of unity granted by Sword-Mind Union reached its peak, and the presence of the sword in my hand grew ever heavier. And then.
As with my battle against the Blood Flame Fist Demon, the history of my sword—everything I had built up until now—unfolded before me like a lantern reel.
I swung my sword, tracing my own footsteps.
At first, Seomun Hwa-rin tilted her head at the suddenly simplified swordplay, but as the strikes continued, her eyes grew wider and wider.
And then, the moment I poured out every sword I had, my body moved as if possessed, drawing a trajectory even I couldn't understand, moving before my thoughts could catch up.
"This is…"
Seomun Hwa-rin swung her fist with a troubled expression.
KWAANG!
It was the first punch she'd thrown not to defend, but to counterattack.