According to stories I'd heard before my regression, this cave was said to contain a damaged secret manual and spiritual medicine—along with an old corpse.
But now, the cave held not only the manual and the medicine, but also a gaunt old man silently staring our way.
…So he was still alive at this point.
I froze for a moment. Then, sensing the killing intent stealthily reaching out toward me, I reflexively thrust out my sword.
Sreung.
"Young hero Cheon? Why the sudden sword—huh?"
Tang So-wol, who had been tilting her head in confusion, finally spotted the old man in the corner and stumbled backward with a start.
Her hand had already slipped into her wide sleeve, poised to strike at any moment.
Her guard, the Vice-Captain of the Poison Blood Squad, also stepped forward, mirroring her stance as he fixed his gaze on the old man.
A silent standoff. It was the old man who spoke first.
"Enough. It seems we've both been under a misunderstanding."
His voice was a little cracked, but it carried no hostility. Indeed, the killing intent that had been aimed at them had vanished without a trace.
She kept her stance but eased her aura slightly as she spoke.
"And who might you be, to be staying in such a remote cave?"
"I could ask you the same. By those green robes, you're from the Tang Clan. Why would you climb a small, distant mountain in Shaanxi? And not just any spot—but a place so deep that even wild beasts are scarce, let alone people."
"…That's the wrong question. Who did you mistake us for, to so quietly reveal your killing intent toward us?"
"You noticed that? It was only for a moment—you're a sharp young friend. Or perhaps I really am nearing my time to die."
That was true. I had only sensed the old man's presence after entering the cave and detecting his killing intent; outside, I had felt no trace of him at all.
The killing intent I had first felt was so subtle that I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't become sensitive to such things through practicing the Crazy Wolf Life-Stealing Art.
The reason Tang So-wol and the Vice-Captain of the Poison Blood Squad reacted a bit late was simple.
The old man before us had hidden his presence that cleanly, and their gazes had been captured by the secret manual and spiritual medicine placed in the center.
As the old man, who had been chuckling, straightened his posture, his faint aura sharpened into clarity.
Only then did the old man's figure, previously hidden in the shadowed corner, come into clear view.
Snow-white disheveled hair. Clothes stained dark red with dried blood. And one leg crudely severed.
So that was it. That was why he had dangled the secret manual and spiritual medicine as bait, while hiding his presence as much as possible.
With a body in such a state, he couldn't have lasted through many exchanges, so he must have planned to snap his opponent's neck in a single move.
Though I had no idea who he intended to face.
His frame was so gaunt he looked like he could barely lift a pair of chopsticks, but his eyes burned with fierce life as the old man spoke.
"Gwiyeong Sin-tu. It's been quite some time now, but that's what people used to call me."
"Gwiyeong Sin-tu…!"
Tang So-wol's eyes went wide as she spoke the old man's alias. Then she hesitated for a moment and whispered.
"Um. Young hero Cheon. Have you ever heard of the alias Gwiyeong Sin-tu? As a daughter of the Tang Clan, I've studied the notable figures of the martial world to some extent, but this is the first time I've heard the name Gwiyeong Sin-tu."
"It's only natural that you haven't. He was quite well-known among the masters of the previous generation, and he's been inactive for decades."
And he would remain so. In the future I experienced, the name Gwiyeong Sin-tu never appeared even once.
The only reason I knew the name was because the Iron Blood Faction Leader had mentioned it in passing.
In other words, only martial artists old enough to have achieved Rejuvenation would remember that name.
At my and Tang So-wol's subtle reactions, Gwiyeong Sin-tu shrugged his shoulders as if embarrassed.
"Heh heh. It's been a long time since I retired. Rather, I'm surprised that a young hero like you has heard of my alias."
"The person who evaluated my martial art once told me that in his youth, his family's martial arts were stolen by Gwiyeong Sin-tu. That's how I remember it."
"…Oh no. Surely you're not planning to avenge your master's grudge right now?"
"It's fine. You said you've already buried the grudges of the past in your heart, so it would be presumptuous of me to step forward and settle them on your behalf."
"That's a relief."
Gwiyeong Sin-tu let out a deep sigh.
This was the truth. The Iron Blood Faction Leader… Seomun Hwa-rin had decided that since the Seomun Clan's extermination, he would forget all past grudges and focus solely on his family's enemy.
Back when the clan was still intact, he had said he held no resentment toward a thief who merely stole some martial arts.
In the first place, the reason he had brought up Gwiyeong Sin-tu's name wasn't to insult him, but to cite him as an example of someone who, like himself, had learned many martial arts indiscriminately and refined them to suit himself, rising to the ranks of a master.
Gwiyeong Sin-tu smiled with relief at the words that there was no grudge, but soon his expression hardened as he spoke.
"I can see that neither you nor I have any intention of fighting each other. I don't know how you came to find this place, but how about we each go our own way now?"
"That's a bit difficult. We were playing a game of hunting for fortuitous encounters, and we actually found one."
"Why, are you coveting this secret manual and spiritual medicine?"
"I won't deny it."
"Young hero Cheon?!"
I let out a soft chuckle toward a startled Tang So-wol and added one more remark.
"Of course, I'm not saying I intend to take them by force. Though it would be difficult to do so anyway."
"This old man has no intention of handing them over, and you're not talking about taking them by force either… Would you care to explain in a little more detail?"
"I don't know what situation you're in, but you seem to be in a rather dire state, elder."
"At times like this, I'd like to put on a brave front in front of the young ones, but with one leg left and a body that hasn't eaten in nearly a month, even that's beyond me."
"We'll help you. In return, would you be willing to share some of your Spiritual Medicine?"
"So you're asking for the Spiritual Medicine as payment for my life. That's reasonable. No matter how precious Spiritual Medicine is, it can't be more valuable than a life. …However, in this case, I'm afraid I must decline."
"Why?"
My brow furrowed before I could stop it. Gwiyeong Sin-tu saw the expression on my face and let out a hearty laugh before continuing.
"First of all, it's because I have no lingering attachment to life. I've already passed ninety years of age. I've lived long enough, and I've accomplished nearly everything I set out to do."
"Nearly, you say…"
"Let me finish first. Actually, this is the most important reason… you must not take this Spiritual Medicine. To be precise, no one should take it."
"Why is that?"
"No matter how much martial artists are people who throw away their lives for the sake of a single sword, there is still such a thing as conscience. How could one be born human, and then grow stronger by devouring other humans?"
"I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you mean."
When I asked again, Gwiyeong Sin-tu spoke in a low, subdued voice.
"This is a Spiritual Medicine made by grinding up humans. I stole it from a monster of the Demonic Cult."
"…!"
There is only one person in the Demonic Cult who could be called a monster.
Heavenly Demon.
I had already learned that the Heavenly Demon had ascended to the position of Demonic Cult Leader and was preparing to invade the Central Plains — I'd found this out while interrogating Yeo Neung-hak, the Captain of the Vicious Hounds, whom we had captured some time ago.
But I hadn't expected his name to come up here.
"Could you tell me in more detail?"
Gwiyeong Sin-tu, who had been quietly watching me, slowly nodded.
"Very well. I shall begin from the start. …It is a truly shameful tale, but in my youth, I was a tomb robber."
The life story that followed was not one that could be called righteous, but it was certainly full of twists and turns.
Days spent digging up other people's tombs and selling off the burial goods to make a living. Gwiyeong Sin-tu had discovered an old martial arts manual by chance in the tomb of some martial artist, and had begun to study it.
And so Gwiyeong Sin-tu began walking the path of a martial artist, but old habits die hard—with the martial arts he had learned, he now began robbing the living of their wealth.
Money, spiritual medicine, martial arts, treasures… if it was valuable, he stole it without discrimination.
"Only two things were exceptions: a person's life, or something as precious as life itself. Stealing those would be useless, and hard to brag about."
For him, thievery was a means of testing his own achievements, a lifeline that satisfied his need for recognition.
"I lived my whole life as a shameless thief, and when I earned the alias Gwiyeong Sin-tu, receiving both contempt and awe in equal measure—there was nothing quite as thrilling as that."
"If it was that good, then why did you retire?"
"…Because there was nothing left to steal."
In his prime, no one could stop Gwiyeong Sin-tu. His martial level was only at the Transcendent Peak, but thanks to his utter devotion to stealth and Light-Body Technique, he could evade even the eyes of an absolute master at the Harmony Realm—if only for a moment.
"The last thing I stole was the previous Empress's undergarments."
"…Th-that's, well, quite impressive, I suppose."
Tang So-wol, who had been listening to the story, forced out a compliment in a voice dripping with contempt, but Gwiyeong Sin-tu merely shrugged his shoulders, looking pleased with himself.
"I've robbed the famous noble houses and sects of the martial world, and I've come and gone from the imperial palace—guarded by countless formations and masters—as if it were my own home. As far as a thief's accomplishments go, I've achieved everything there is to achieve."
The moment he judged that there was nothing more he could accomplish no matter what he did, Gwiyeong Sin-tu decided to retire.
"I never took on a disciple. All I ever learned was thievery, and I was addicted to the thrill of success… but honestly speaking, stealing isn't exactly a good thing, is it?"
"At least you were self-aware."
"I was self-aware, and I did my best to keep out of harm's way. That's why I'm still alive at this age."
A martial art created solely for thievery, born from a technique dug out of a tomb, then refined through stealing and improving countless other arts.
Gwiyeong Sin-tu did not wish for his martial art to be passed down to future generations.
Having heard the story up to that point, Tang So-wol cautiously spoke up.
"Um. You said you stole martial arts from most of the noble houses, so perhaps…"
"Don't worry. A truly important secret art is more precious to a martial artist than their own life, isn't it? What I stole from the Tang Clan was a somewhat inferior whip technique and the recipe for a numbing poison."
"That is still a considerable secret."
Tang So-wol let out a hollow laugh, as if at a loss for words. However, she said nothing more, as she had no intention of holding Gwiyeong Sin-tu accountable for his crimes of long ago.
"After I retired, I lived a life of leisure on the wealth I had accumulated. But as death began to creep closer, I found myself feeling regret over all the things I had stolen over the years."
"Did you scatter it among the common folk like a righteous bandit?"
"Isn't that more interesting? My beginnings were as a tomb robber, so it's only fitting that my ending be as a tomb robber, too."
It wasn't that the aged Gwiyeong Sin-tu was digging up someone else's grave again.
Quite the opposite. He had wanted others to dig up his own grave.
He had gathered all the items he had stolen over the years, built a massive and intricate tomb, and planned to scatter the information about it across the Central Plains in the form of rumors and hearsay.
"But in my old age, a new greed took hold. I had already robbed the orthodox sects and even the Imperial Court's possessions. Wouldn't the picture be prettier if I added the treasures of the Outer Murim to it?"
For that reason, Gwiyeong Sin-tu robbed the North Sea Ice Palace and the South Man Beast Palace.
His body was no longer what it once was, so he couldn't steal anything too grand… but he did succeed in stealing a decent Yin-Cold Energy Cultivation technique from the North Sea Ice Palace, and a Heart Protection Armor made from a Spirit Beast's hide from the Beast Palace's secret vault.
"Lastly, I intended to take something from the Demonic Cult as well. Honestly, I wasn't too worried. As you know, the Demonic Cult's poison energy is formidable, but their martial arts are hardly impressive."
Gwiyeong Sin-tu had planned to steal even the poker used to maintain the sacred flame that the Demonic Cultists held in reverence.
But it was there that he saw it. The sight of people having their Innate True Qi extracted while still alive to create Spiritual Medicine.
"It was truly a horrifying scene, but surprisingly, no one forced them. They sacrificed themselves of their own will."
"Why in the world would they do such a thing…"
Tang So-wol wore a look of shock. But I thought I understood a little.
Demonic Cultists are either vengeful spirits filled with resentment, or those raised among them and instilled with that vengeance.
They simply lacked the ability to live quietly… and then a single figure appears.
"The Heavenly Demon. The Demonic Cult Leader of that era called himself that. And his martial level matched that arrogance."
There exists someone who will fulfill your deepest wish, even if you give everything you have to achieve it. If it would help on that path, you would gladly grind your own life into a single pill of Spiritual Medicine.
That is the terror of the Demonic Cult.
"No matter how far I've lived from righteousness and chivalry, this wasn't right. If I made one wrong move, a great storm of blood would sweep the Central Plains."
So Gwiyeong Sin-tu stole the Spiritual Medicine that should have been presented to the Heavenly Demon.
In return, one of his legs was severed by the Heavenly Demon, his qi and blood twisted from severe internal injuries, and even after escaping beyond the Xinjiang border, he was pursued by assassins from Assassin Valley who had taken a contract on him.
"After running and running, I ended up in this cave. Fortunately, there's been no sign of pursuit for a while, so either they gave up and left, or I managed to shake them off… but the problem is that my body is too damaged to move properly."
Gwiyeong Sin-tu, forcing a bitter smile, remained seated cross-legged on the floor.
"Do you understand now? This spiritual medicine must never fall into anyone else's hands. Its effect on enhancing internal energy may be remarkable, but it will certainly trigger Qi Deviation. Unless one is already a maddened Demonic Cultist, absolutely no one…"
Gwiyeong Sin-tu, who had been speaking in a firm tone, suddenly paused.
Then, letting out a deep sigh, he continued.
"…It seems my thinking was too short-sighted. I never imagined the uninvited guest would still refuse to leave."
The sound of unfamiliar footsteps came from outside the cave.
They were strangely light, like the footsteps of assassins.