"Hmm. Just in case, shall I apply a strong anesthetic poison beforehand so you won't feel any pain?"
"…"
It was the tone of someone granting the bare minimum of mercy to a person heading to their death.
Jang Inam's level was the early stage of the Peak Realm. Considering he was around thirty years old and had started learning proper martial arts late, it was certainly impressive—but not enough to compare with the current Heo Soye. However.
"It will be fine. Lady Heo's Heavenly Killing Star has bloomed, but she hasn't completely lost her reason yet."
Even at this very moment, Heo Soye was crouched down, struggling to suppress the killing intent she could no longer control, and Seomun Hwa-rin was watching over her.
Ready to cut off Heo Soye's breath at a moment's notice.
"I can't say about later, but for now, you don't need to worry about taking a sword strike. …The real question is whether Brother Jang can push through that killing intent."
"Hmm."
Jang Inam let out a low hum, his gaze fixed on Heo Soye. Right now, I was holding back the killing intent pouring out of her, so it was manageable, but just moments ago she had been collapsed on the floor, barely able to breathe.
For him to approach Heo Soye with only his own strength… it could cause severe internal injuries, or perhaps even trigger a Qi Deviation.
If luck was against him, it might even lead to death.
Jang Inam was well aware of this.
"As I said a moment ago, this isn't a sure method. It's just a guess based on what my senses tell me, along with what I heard from Great Master Gakjeong. I could be wrong, or perhaps simply touching her won't be enough and something more will be required. Either way, it could mean risking danger for nothing."
"…"
Jang Inam, who had kept his mouth firmly shut, spoke after a moment.
"It doesn't matter."
Jang Inam wore a resolute expression, as if he had made up his mind. It was the same look I had seen in my childhood—the one that had taught me that not all martial artists were cruel, and that they didn't need to be.
"Cheon Hwi. Do you know what I asked of the Seomun Clan Head?"
"I recall it was a lesson on enduring killing intent."
"Correct. Soye said that if it came down to it, she wanted me to be the one to kill her. So I asked for that lesson, and the Seomun Clan Head gladly helped me. …I suppose the reason Soye is enduring this now is because she wants to meet her death at my hands, not anyone else's."
"…"
Living a life no better than a death sentence, what must it feel like to choose death at your beloved's hands rather than killing them yourself?
What must it feel like to hear such a request from your beloved, and then to train for that very purpose?
I couldn't possibly know. Perhaps no one in this world could know, unless they were the one standing in that position.
But there was one thing I could be certain of.
"It was something I had to do anyway. I simply lacked the ability and had given up… but you gave me another chance. Thank you."
As he said this, Jang Inam wore a carefree smile, and not a trace of doubt or hesitation could be felt from him.
Jang Inam, who had seemed ready to rush to Heo Soye at any moment, paused briefly, then turned around and bowed deeply to Seomgeomja.
"Thank you for everything. For accepting me into the Diancang Sect, and for allowing my marriage to Soye."
"…I'm sorry. I placed a heavy burden upon you."
"It is a burden I must carry, so Sect Leader… no, father-in-law, please do not let it weigh on your heart."
Only after saying this did Jang Inam rise from his seat. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, then unbuckled the sword at his waist and set it down on the floor.
"Brother Jang. Are you truly certain?"
"Was it not you, Cheon Hwi, who said that Soye must be faced without any hostility or murderous intent?"
"That is true, but…"
"Above all, Soye asked me to kill her, but frankly, I do not wish to do so. Is that not only natural? Who would want to kill their own beloved with their own hands?"
"Then…"
"If I fail, there will be no helping it. I will hold no resentment whatsoever, so do not worry about me—just put Soye at ease."
"Understood."
I nodded and sent a Voice Transmission toward Seomun Hwa-rin.
I told her to return for now so that Heo Soye and Jang Inam could have their private audience, and that if I failed, she and Great Master Jeonghyeon could do what needed to be done then.
At first, Seomun Hwa-rin seemed to tilt her head, wondering if this was really alright, but after seeing the mood on my side and Jang Inam's resolute expression, she began walking back toward us, keeping her guard up against Heo Soye.
Jang Inam, in contrast, stepped out from the protection of the others and once again faced Heo Soye's killing intent head-on.
"Kuh!"
He had only taken a single step, yet his body instinctively shrank back.
But this time, instead of collapsing where he stood, he bit down on his lip until it bled and forced himself forward, step by step.
Had he suffered an internal injury from forcing his body to move through sheer stubbornness? At some point, black blood began spilling not from his lips but from deep in his throat, staining the front of his robes.
Killing intent is a technique born when the most fundamental application of Intent meets internal energy. Therefore, what one needs to endure it is either vast internal energy or a will honed through training.
Jang Inam's internal energy was nothing remarkable, so the only thing driving him forward must be his sharply whetted will.
And the will he was displaying right now… was clearly surpassing his own limits.
There was no sword at Jang Inam's waist, and his arm was not whole either, yet his footsteps did not stop.
As if he himself had become a single arrow loosed from a bow, he never once halted or retreated, only pressing forward with his eyes fixed ahead.
Toward Heo Soye, who waited at the center of that killing intent blazing like the sun.
"Ah."
Only then did I understand. A way of life that throws oneself entirely into a single goal, reaching out toward one aim.
That is the true secret art of the Diancang Sect. The Sa-il Sword Technique is merely a branch meant to serve it.
If I were to forge my own secret art, what I would have to melt into it is my every enlightenment, my very way of life itself, filled with all I have lived.
Jang Inam, drenched in blood, reaches out with his one remaining left arm. And so, the moment his fingertips—like an arrowhead—touch Heo Soye's face.
Woong—
A strange tremor of energy spreads outward from Heo Soye, then contracts, drawing the murderous intent—so fierce it could be felt from afar—into a single point.
Having taken back all the killing intent she had vomited forth, Heo Soye loses consciousness and collapses, and Jang Inam, who had strained himself to embrace her, collapses in turn.
Great Master Gakjeong, who had been watching all of this in a daze, rushes breathlessly toward the two and checks their pulses.
"Whew…"
Great Master Gakjeong lets out a deep sigh of relief, as if all the strength had drained from him. He raises his voice and shouts.
"Both of them are safe! They're half-dead, so we need to summon a physician right away!"
It was the moment the Heavenly Killing Star's awakening came to a close.
***
Afterwards, they stayed at the Diancang Sect for a few more days, observing the aftermath.
First, Jang Inam's internal injuries were severe, but thanks to timely treatment, they did not develop into a major problem.
Rather, it seemed the enlightenment he had felt at the time was not exclusive to me—Jang Inam's realm had grown by leaps and bounds.
Once she fully completed her recovery phase, she would be perfectly fine—no, she would become an even more outstanding martial artist.
The Sect Leader, grateful that Seomgeomja had saved his daughter and believing he would become the future of the Diancang Sect, did not spare what little support he could offer.
Next was the most important one—Heo Soye.
"Senior Seomun Hwa-rin. How was she today?"
"Nothing happened today either. No, wait. She looks far better than before."
This time, the three of them—including Great Master Jeonghyeon—took turns examining Heo Soye.
Her condition was so stable it was almost miraculous. So much so that the somewhat expressionless face she had worn while suppressing impulses that used to burst out at any moment was gradually regaining a variety of expressions.
She even said she felt no impulses at all, as if she had truly returned to her childhood.
"I never expected things to resolve this smoothly. Her talent remains, and only the killing intent has faded. I thought I'd be lucky to get away with giving up one of the two, and in the worst case, I figured both Jang Inam and Heo Soye might die that day."
"Still, you never know. Don't let your guard down too much."
"Well, that's something for those of you staying a while longer to handle."
If Heo Soye's Heavenly Killing Star had truly been pacified, much of the credit would go to the Grand Ritual that Great Master Gakjeong had uncovered among the musty old scriptures.
So Great Master Gakjeong, who understood this best, would remain for a few more months to monitor Heo Soye's condition.
After that, the Shaolin Temple would check on her regularly.
"Speaking of which—Vajrayana."
A branch of Buddhism that emphasizes mantras and rituals. It was unfamiliar in the Central Plains, but at the Potala Palace, Vajrayana was apparently the dominant tradition.
Although it was a power shunned for its many side effects, it was true that it possessed special properties that martial arts could not replicate.
I had no intention of learning Vajrayana's power now, but it was worth looking into more closely.
The Potala Palace existed in Tibet beyond Xinjiang… and the Demonic Cult was situated nearby.
The Heavenly Demon's power, which was difficult to explain with existing martial arts, might have come from something other than martial arts after all.
If that were the case, it would be of great help someday when I faced the Heavenly Demon.
"You there. It's fortunate things ended well… but what do you plan to do about Hyang-i?"
"That's what I'm wondering. What should be done…"
Seol Ri-hyang, who had been training alone on a different training ground, also sensed Heo Soye's killing intent and belatedly tried to head toward its source.
The problem was that the closer she got, the more her body froze from the thickening killing intent, so it took her a long time, and by the time she arrived where we were, everything was already over.
And she seemed shocked by the fact that Jang Inam, whom she had inwardly thought weaker than herself—and who probably actually was weaker—had managed to push through the killing intent that had given her so much trouble and reach Heo Soye's location.
She started training excessively even though she was already doing well, and kept pestering me to release killing intent at her.
"I think I roughly understand what you're getting at, but still."
"Ahem. Hyang-i tends to worry too much about not being able to help on her own."
"She's actually improved a lot since the fight with the Blood Flame Fist Demon."
Seol Ri-hyang was fundamentally a proud person. To be precise, she had grown up in an environment where pride was all she had to hold onto.
And now, next to her stood someone her own age who had reached a level she could never hope to catch up to, and she still felt a slight sense of indebtedness toward that person—so it was only natural.
"Well, we'll have a good talk on the way to the Murim Alliance. It's a disposition she's probably aware of herself, so she'll be fine soon enough."
"Then that's a relief."
I nodded along with Seomun Hwa-rin and began gathering my belongings in the room.
We were set to leave the Diancang Sect tomorrow and head for the Murim Alliance.
Along with the letter written by Great Master Jeonghyeon, the abbot of Shaolin Temple, detailing the commotion that had occurred here.
***
"They found the Young Palace Mistress…!"
"Huh."
I hadn't expected to run into people from the North Sea Ice Palace at the Murim Alliance, but there they were.