The subsequent course of the Dragon Phoenix Gathering did not deviate greatly from expectations.
As always, those from the Five Great Families and the Nine Great Sects and One Gang recorded high scores, while one or two talented individuals from among the wanderers or the smaller sects stood out…
Tang So-wol put up a decent fight, but in the end, she was defeated by a rising talent from the Shaolin Temple.
He must have trained his External Arts with such dedication that even a direct hit from an iron ball didn't faze him in the slightest.
Even if bladed hidden weapons had been permitted, he would likely have been a difficult opponent to overcome.
Yes. There was nothing that could be called an upset.
Pat pat.
"Cheon Hwi. Has your internal injury fully healed?"
"It has."
As Tang So-wol stepped out with Tang Jincheon to take care of some business, Seol Ri-hyang crept over and began kneading my shoulders.
I quietly turned around and stared at her.
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"I'm fine now, so I don't need a massage. Besides, a massage wouldn't heal an internal injury anyway."
"…Hey! You're the one who went on about meridian cleansing, aren't you? Huh? After doing something like that! I'm just trying to give you a simple massage, and you can't even stand that?! It's not like anyone's here anyway!"
"Th-This one is still present, you know."
Seomun Hwa-rin timidly raised her hand from the corner, but Seol Ri-hyang pretended not to see her and continued speaking.
"I'm not touching you in some weird place like you do, Cheon Hwi, it's just your shoulder! Don't misinterpret my kindness and just sit still!"
"This and that are different cases. And don't call it a weird place. It was my back."
"Ugh, whatever! If you have nothing to do, just stay put!"
Seol Ri-hyang shook her head vigorously, showing her stubborn attitude.
That's right. Nothing particularly unusual had happened at the Dragon Phoenix Gathering, but after that, something that could be called an anomaly had appeared.
Namely, the fact that Seol Ri-hyang clung to me sneakily whenever she had the chance.
I knew the reason. How could I not, after seeing what I saw during the last sparring match? It was just that Tang So-wol's final words, delivered through Voice Transmission, were also weighing on my mind, making things complicated.
I never imagined the day would come when I'd be wrestling with such a dilemma.
Had she given up on kneading my shoulder since it wasn't working as well as she'd hoped? Seol Ri-hyang was now patting my shoulder lightly with a loosely clenched fist.
I gently caught her hand and lowered it.
"I appreciate it, but really, that's enough. My internal injury has just about healed, so I should head to the training ground and test my condition by swinging a sword."
"Hmph. Martial arts… fine. No helping it then."
Seol Ri-hyang stepped back with a look of regret the moment I brought up martial arts. Then she stared at me openly, as if to insist that she was just this considerate a woman.
"Well? I know you've been itching to move all this time, Cheon Hwi, so I'm yielding right away. That's how considerate I am."
"It would've been perfect if you hadn't said that yourself."
I let out a dry laugh, picked up my sword, and rose from my seat.
The Geumhwa Merchant Guild's inn where I'd stayed when I first arrived in Muhan City was a really decent place, except for the fact that it only had one room.
But because I'd been kidnapped in the middle of things, the Murim Alliance gave Tang So-wol and Seol Ri-hyang rooms of their own, saying they wanted to be prepared for any eventuality.
And of course, Tang Jincheon, who arrived afterward, as well as Seomun Hwa-rin and myself, who came back with all sorts of rumors trailing behind us, naturally ended up staying at the Murim Alliance as well.
The annex, originally built to host multiple guests, was now almost exclusively occupied by our group.
Not that I minded—it was comfortable. The warm bedding and the meat dishes served at every meal were nice, but what I really liked was that the training ground was exceptionally well-built.
Well, of course. Nine out of ten people staying at the Murim Alliance would be martial artists, so it only made sense to have a proper training ground on the premises.
As I was fastening the black sword, still not quite familiar in my hand, to my waist, I heard a small sigh from behind me.
"Sigh. Kids these days are truly terrifying."
"Senior Seomun Hwa-rin. If you're not busy guarding the room alone, would you mind being my opponent for a bit?"
"Hm?! You're asking little old me? Of course I don't mind! Let's go right away!"
Seomun Hwa-rin hopped up and down excitedly, as if she was just glad someone had finally come to talk to her. Watching her, Seol Ri-hyang narrowed her eyes.
She seemed to open her mouth as if to say something, but then shook her head with a look of realization and followed behind me.
***
Not a soft bed, nor a creaky wooden floor—but a solid, flat stone floor.
My internal energy was full, my meridians were clear, and my body, well-fed and well-rested, brimmed with strength.
But there was something else that excited me more than all of this.
The hilt that fit snugly into my palm, and the heavy weight that traveled through my arm and into my shoulder.
Perhaps it was because I hadn't held a sword for this long—neither before nor after my regression. It felt like a missing piece had been filled, and everything was finally returning to normal.
"I think I can finally live again."
"You really are something else."
"Normally, I wouldn't have been this restless. But after seeing the Dragon Phoenix Gathering, I found it hard to hold back."
"I understand. I was quite impressed by the finals myself."
The finals had pitted the young head of the Namgung Clan against a disciple of the Shaolin Temple.
The Namgung Clan had been completely wiped out before the regression, not a single survivor left in their direct line.
Because of that, I had never even seen the Namgung sword in its corrupted form, so my expectations were high…
But seeing them in person, I understood why the Namgung Clan claimed to be the best sword family in the world.
Their words were arrogant, but they had the skill to back up that arrogance.
In fact, the Namgung Clan took the championship at this Dragon Phoenix Gathering.
The Shaolin Temple's rising talent was also excellent, and the martial art he displayed was certainly admirable…
But since it was Fist and Leg Art rather than a sword, it moved me less, I suppose.
"Oh, this one still finds you, Cheon Hwi, the more astonishing. I have lived no small number of days and experienced no shallow amount of things, so I can confidently say I have seen quite many who are called geniuses. I myself, at this very moment, belong to such a category."
"I am well aware that I am talented."
"No, it is not merely that level. A genius is one who learns and comprehends quickly. They do what others can do with greater skill, and sometimes accomplish what others cannot."
"Yes. I suppose I am such a genius."
"To put it differently, a genius is one who shortens the process and produces a different result. …However, for you, Cheon Hwi, there was no process to speak of. You simply dropped in from somewhere, all at once."
"…"
"I do not intend to pry into that matter. After all, I have already glimpsed your mind once before."
"That is true."
At that time, I had needed to push myself a little to defeat the Lord of the Black Heaven Sword Gate.
That was why I had dredged up the memories buried deep within and forcibly wielded the enlightenment of my past life.
I had won because of it, but my body was left in shambles… and the Aura I had failed to properly contain must have spilled out in every direction, so Seomun Hwa-rin and the Lord of the Black Alliance must have sensed something.
"I know that it was not something you built in haste. It is extremely violent, but how could I, of all people, deny that path? However, that is…"
"It's fine. Please speak freely."
"I was going to tell you not to be too surprised?"
"What?"
I tilted my head, wondering what she meant by that, but only for a moment. Seomun Hwa-rin reached out one hand and began to beckon.
"I think it would be better to show you with my body rather than words. Come at me with everything you have."
"Then I won't hold back."
I wasn't sure what she meant by that all of a sudden, but the invitation to come at her with everything I had was welcome.
If Seomun Hwa-rin was an absolute master of the Harmony Realm, then even with my martial level largely recovered from my previous life, she should be able to handle whatever I threw at her.
So from the very start, I drew my Sword Qi without hesitation.
Wooong—
The sensation of sword and hand fusing into one. Internal energy surged from my Dantian, racing through noticeably widened Meridians before enveloping the entire blade.
A sword-red shimmer, resembling both a blaze and fresh blood.
It wasn't quite enough to call Sword Flame, but I was satisfied with the intensity of the Sword Qi, and I curled the corner of my mouth in approval—just as I was about to charge at Seomun Hwa-rin.
"Hm?"
I stopped mid-step, having belatedly noticed something off. Raising my head with a sense of disbelief, I saw Seomun Hwa-rin quietly nodding as if my suspicion was correct.
Closing my eyes for a moment, I focused my consciousness inward.
First, my internal injuries had fully healed. My internal energy had grown slightly compared to before, and since my Meridians had widened through internalizing Sword-Mind Unity, the amount of internal energy I could move at once had naturally increased as well.
As a result, the output of my Sword Qi had grown stronger too. All that remained now was to wield it to my heart's content.
…And yet, something was stuck. A sense of dissonance felt at the most fundamental level.
Focusing a bit more, I soon identified its source.
"Killing intent…"
"Ahem. I suppose I've changed a bit."
The killing intent that had been naturally dissolved into my internal energy. Thanks to that, the Crazy Wolf Life-Stealing Art, despite carrying various side effects, had reached a level of power rivaling a divine art.
But now, that very killing intent was different from before.
It wasn't that the killing intent had vanished from my internal energy. It was still deeply dissolved within it.
Of course, it wasn't that the killing intent had weakened either. The killing intent, poisoned as it was, remained just as threatening.
Then what was this sense of dissonance I was feeling now…
"Ah."
After pondering for a long while, I finally realized. This killing intent was certainly mine, but it wasn't the killing intent of 'me as I am now.'
The killing intent I had carried within me had flowed from that day, the day Seol Ri-hyang and Seomun Hwa-rin died in my previous life.
I had been told to forget, but I didn't want to, so I carved my own hell into my mind. That was why my time, my footsteps, had always remained frozen in the same place.
The Lord of the Black Heaven Sword Gate, whom I needed to avenge, was already dead, and Seol Ri-hyang and Seomun Hwa-rin could never come back to life.
Just as one cannot change the past, no matter how strong I became or how happy I grew, I would have to carry that day's hell in my arms for the rest of my life.
…That was what I had thought.
Who could have known I would truly turn back time and return to the past?
Seol Ri-hyang was alive and well, with all her limbs intact, Seomun Hwa-rin had taken an uneasy step toward an ordinary life, and the Lord of the Black Heaven Sword Gate, who would have caused both their deaths, had been cut down by my own hand.
I had truly changed the past.
The scene from that day remains vivid, and the emotions I felt then, the boiling killing intent, are unmistakably mine… but.
"How troublesome."
In truth, I no longer stand in the same place.
The long mourning had come to an end, concluding with the completion of my lost revenge.
Well, though it has become a thing of the past, it is still my memory and my emotion.
The image in my mind remains clear, and it would not be difficult to wield the terrifyingly thick killing intent settled at its bottom.
It is simply that I can no longer walk the same path.
"Heh."
If anger and killing intent are no longer my path, then where exactly am I supposed to go?
I still do not know the answer.
…Well. That is one thing, and the sparring bout is another.
"I'm coming."
"Huh?!"
Seomun Hwa-rin's eyes flew wide open in surprise.