"…So it really was the Heavenly Killing Star."
Despite it being a reunion after a long time, Great Master Gakjeong skipped the greetings and asked straight away whether the Heavenly Killing Star was certain.
His body was here, but his mind was clearly elsewhere. That was how much the Heavenly Killing Star weighed on him.
At that, Great Master Jeonghyeon let out a bitter smile and opened his mouth to say something, but my answer came a beat faster.
"At least, that's how it seemed to me. The others are convinced as well. Of course, since I've never met a true Heavenly Killing Star, it could be wrong…"
"No. If Young Master Cheon says so, then that's how it is. At the very least, you're the martial artist who handles killing intent best in the Central Plains as far as this monk knows… and now, your realm is among the top in the martial world as well."
"Does it show that much?"
"Anyone who has reached the same realm at least once would know. Even one who cannot use Qi Sense."
Great Master Gakjeong nodded slowly, pressing his palms together as he continued.
"This monk's heart was hasty—forgive me. It has been a long time, Benefactor Cheon. And congratulations on becoming a new absolute master. It seems this old body will see a fresh wind blow through the martial world before it is buried in the earth."
"Thank you. Though I feel my path has only grown longer."
"The way of martial arts… no. Whatever the endeavor, those who seek to reach the end of that path all walk a similar road. The place you thought was your goal becomes yet another starting point. However, this monk has heard that there is something far more important than an old man's advice to a talented youth. Would you care to tell me a bit more?"
"Do you know how startled I was when I heard from my master that he had found a Heavenly Killing Star?"
Great Master Jeonghyeon laughed heartily and played along, but in his gaze there was a hint of resentment and something beyond it—resignation.
It was not directed at me. He had watched the Great Master Gakjeong cling to the Heavenly Killing Star ever since losing his disciple, and so he must have been displeased to see him entangled with one again.
That he would end up killing the Heavenly Killing Star again, and that this time he would flail desperately to save him no matter what.
Either way, he believed it would only feed the Great Master Gakjeong's lingering attachment and wound himself further.
Knowing this, the reason he had summoned the Great Master Gakjeong, and the reason the Great Master Jeonghyeon had come along without being able to dissuade him, was simple.
As he had said a moment ago, the existence of a Heavenly Killing Star was one of the most important matters in the martial world, where all sorts of bizarre and extraordinary events unfolded.
…And if it was proof that the Great Master Gakjeong had, even in part, uncovered some of the secrets of the Heavenly Killing Star, then all the more so.
He nodded inwardly and opened his mouth. Careful not to trigger the seal.
"First, let me explain why I came to the Diancang Sect."
Perhaps it was because, once all the extraneous matters were set aside, there wasn't much left to discuss. By the time we arrived at the training ground, I had managed to convey the gist of the situation.
At the sudden news that the abbot of the Shaolin Temple had come calling, Seomgeomja was taken aback.
Meanwhile, I exchanged brief greetings with Seomgeomja before heading straight to where Heo Soye was, accompanied by the Great Master Gakjeong.
There, Heo Soye sat cross-legged at the center of the training ground, with Jang Inam beside her, frequently checking on his beloved.
And standing across from the two of them, explaining something with great fervor, was Seomun Hwa-rin.
"Senior Seomun Hwa-rin. It's time for the shift change. Also, the guests we've been waiting for have arrived."
"Well, the way to overcome killing intent is ultimately to fortify one's will through daily practice—hmm?"
Seomun Hwa-rin turned to look at us, and like a flower blooming, her stern expression from just moments ago vanished, replaced by a radiant smile.
"Sir! It's only been half a day! But you say guests…?"
"It's been a while since we last shared a meal."
"You arrived sooner than I expected—I hadn't anticipated this at all."
Though they hadn't spent much time conversing during their stay at Shaolin Temple, the two were familiar enough to recognize each other on sight.
Seomun Hwa-rin, having recognized Great Master Gakjeong's face, exchanged a few light words with him before introducing Heo Soye and Jang Inam.
Then, watching Great Master Gakjeong engage in a series of questions and answers to first confirm whether Heo Soye was truly the Heavenly Killing Star, she opened her mouth.
"Senior Seomun Hwa-rin, just a moment ago you seemed to be teaching those two something—might I ask what it was?"
"Why wouldn't I tell you? I was teaching them the trick to enduring killing intent."
"You mean the trick to enduring killing intent rather than suppressing it?"
"Correct. They say that when a person is at their most difficult, the helplessness of being unable to do anything breeds resentment."
So it wasn't Heo Soye who had been receiving instruction from Seomun Hwa-rin, but Jang Inam.
That made sense. Unless one was a Seomgeomja who had reached the fully mature Transcendent Peak, no one in the Diancang Sect could easily subdue a rampaging Heo Soye.
Judging by the Aura he gave off, Jang Inam had only just crossed the threshold of the Peak Realm. Rather than helping from the side, his body would freeze under the killing intent, leaving him unable to do anything. Even I would have felt frustrated and ashamed in his position.
"I understand. But then, are you not going to tell anything to Lady Heo?"
"That girl knows how to vent her emotions, and she knows how to empty her mind and fill it with something new, but she is far from calm composure."
"Is that so?"
Seomun Hwa-rin was the type to giggle endlessly unless the moment was truly critical, but before the regression, she had been the opposite—always carrying a certain gravity, save for the occasional exception.
Of course, I thought the current her was better. The weight she carried before the regression had stemmed half from resignation.
It was better for her to be this bright and cheerful in everyday life. At least she looked happy, didn't she?
As I mulled this over in my head, Seomun Hwa-rin's eyes narrowed, and a solemn voice flowed from her lips.
"That is so. The method I have thought of, I would have already tried it myself long ago. …In the end, what I know is not the way to control the killing intent of the Heavenly Killing Star, but rather the way to pierce through even the most dreadful killing intent and take a life, is it not?"
"I am not so sure. It cannot be concluded so definitively."
The more he exchanged words with Heo Soye, the stronger the blazing light in Great Master Gakjeong's eyes grew.
He, too, had committed countless karmic sins of killing in the name of upholding the Buddhist law. In fact, the very karmic sin that had carved into his body was the greatest reason he had killed a disciple he need not have killed.
So how is it now?
Great Master Gakjeong had only grown more obsessed, and this time, he was filled with the desire to properly aid the Heavenly Killing Star.
He had likely also resolved to kill me at an early stage if things went awry.
Having finished his conversation with Heo Soye, Great Master Gakjeong nodded as if he understood, then turned to me and spoke.
"Would you summon the others?"
"Understood."
After gathering Great Master Jeonghyeon and Seomgeomja, who had been exchanging formal pleasantries a short distance away, Great Master Gakjeong slowly began to speak.
"Sect Leader. I did not personally witness the rampage, but your daughter is certainly the Heavenly Killing Star. Too much aligns with this monk's disciple."
"Yes."
Seomgeomja nodded calmly, as if this was something he already knew. But the words that followed were enough to stir him slightly.
"And it seems the nature of the Heavenly Killing Star in your daughter is far weaker than this monk's disciple, or perhaps she controls it well on her own. To think she has maintained her sanity all the way to this age."
"Yes?"
Had he been bracing himself for harsh words? Seomgeomja blinked at the unexpectedly positive remark.
At that, Great Master Gakjeong continued with a warm, monk-like smile.
"Many in this era believe the Heavenly Killing Star to be a matter of constitution, but from what this monk has observed and experienced firsthand, that is not the case at all. In the first place, do you know why the Heavenly Killing Star is called the Heavenly Killing Star?"
"That is…"
Seomgeomja flinched, evidently not having expected to be questioned on this point. Instead, he opened his mouth.
"If it were a matter of constitution, then it would bear the name of 'physique.' Yet the fact that they deliberately named it after a star in the heavens is because it is something that human ability can never hope to contend with… a characteristic as unfathomable and impossible to resist as fate itself."
"Half right. The ancients called the Heavenly Killing Star a calamity of slaughter ordained by heaven, and so they likened it to a constellation. …However, this monk believes that while there may be providence in this world, there is no such thing as fate."
From the Great Master Gakjeong as he spoke emanated a fierce aura that had nothing to do with his level of cultivation—the raw, innate presence of a man.
"Neither in Buddhism nor in Taoism does anyone claim that all things in this world are fixed in form. There are things that change and things that do not, but in the end, the two intertwine and are forever in flux. That is why countless Buddhist disciples and Taoist practitioners strive to become better people and live better lives."
"Providence… is it. However, there is a saying: when fortune is exhausted, gold turns to iron, and when the time comes, iron turns to gold."
Nothing in this world is completely impossible. It is only that one does not know the method and the conditions are not yet met—but someday, it becomes possible.
What pleasant words those are. For me, who has read such providence and predicted the existence of the Heavenly Killing Star like Great Master Gakjeong, or who has changed countless futures through regression, they are not merely pleasant words to hear.
However, regardless of that, it is also true that it is impossible right now.
What was the reason I did not go to the Heavenly Demon and kill him right after his regression, the moment he was at his weakest?
Because I could not. With my strength at the time, I would have been struck down by the Demonic Cult's martial artists before I even reached the Heavenly Demon's location.
"It may become possible someday, but is not the present always what matters most?"
"The Cheon Lord speaks truly. …However, this monk's present has already passed."
Saying this, Great Master Gakjeong smiled bitterly and began to pull out the contents of the bundle he had brought with him, one by one.
"Although the Shaolin Temple keeps its distance from the teachings of Vajrayana, it is only the one who receives it that was mistaken—this too is the Buddha's wisdom."
"Is that not a Shaolin ritual implement that is no longer even used? When did you bring this, Master?"
Great Master Jeonghyeon looked at the contents with disbelief. Of course, Great Master Gakjeong simply brushed aside his disciple's complaints.
"Since no one uses it, no one would notice if someone took it."
Just as the Taoist sects had once been more skilled in sorcery than the sword, so too had Vajrayana, which used ritual implements and mantras, once flourished among the Buddhist sects.
Now, due to various problems, all Buddhist sects except the Potala Palace kept their distance from it.
Great Master Gakjeong intended to put it to use once more.
"And now, memorize the Oral Formula I am about to teach you. It cannot completely block the awakening of the Heavenly Killing Star, but it should be enough to prevent its instincts from running wild over trivial matters."
On top of that, he even passed on a heart technique containing both Shaolin martial arts and his own Enlightenment.
Great Master Gakjeong was full of enthusiasm, and Heo Soye actively joined in his teachings as well.
And so, without any real certainty, they held onto hope, and everything was going smoothly.
The Heavenly Killing Star had never once run wild, smiles had returned to the faces of Seomgeomja and Jang Inam, and even the skeptical Great Master Jeonghyeon had begun to harbor a faint glimmer of hope.
If things continued this way, they might truly create the first case in martial arts history of someone successfully controlling the Heavenly Killing Star.
That was what he had thought.
***
The awakening of the Heavenly Killing Star requires no trigger.
The sky is clear, so you want to kill. The rice you ate that day was delicious, so you want to kill… A lover's sweet words stir your heart, so you want to kill. That is the nature of the Heavenly Killing Star.
Heo Soye, who had been doing so well, ran wild. In the middle of a stroll through the courtyard with Jang Inam.