Chapter 95: Demon-Subduing Awakening (7)

For a moment, silence lingered.

Eunsong was looking at Soyak with a smile.

And Namgung Byeok was staring back and forth between the two of them with widened eyes.

"No, wait a moment. Eunsong, you're bringing this child in already?"

"I am. She is a child who has already prepared herself."

"Now hold on a second. This may not be my place to say, but she's still a child. To be honest, she could still put revenge down and find another life, and with talent like this, she could do anything in the martial world—"

Soyak quietly closed her eyes.

Then she spoke in a clear voice.

"I'm sorry to cut you off, but."

"...Huh?"

"I followed Master Eunsong because he said he would let me drive a blade into the Sword Sovereign's throat."

"What?"

"I followed him because he said he would teach me martial arts, raise me, and let me kill the Sword Sovereign."

Soyak repeated it twice in a firm voice.

Then she looked steadily up at Namgung Byeok.

For a moment, Namgung Byeok felt a chill creep up his spine.

Black, empty eyes.

Like everyone else, he felt an instinctive unease before something immeasurable.

"...You."

"Master may already have told you, but I am the Heavenly Killing Star."

"The Heavenly Killing Star..."

"If I am fated to bring forth a Blood Calamity, then I will bring forth the Blood Calamity I want."

Namgung Byeok quietly closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then nodded.

If she was fated to bring forth a Blood Calamity.

Then she would bring forth the Blood Calamity she wanted.

Wasn't that quite a bold answer?

"Good. In the end, every revolution spills blood."

"...I suppose it does."

Soyak nodded.

So did Eunsong.

But Namgung Byeok still had many questions left.

"So, Eunsong. Have all your questions been answered?"

"I think I have heard the whole story."

"Then I think you should clear up one of mine too."

Namgung Byeok smiled with narrowed eyes.

Eunsong tilted his head.

"Go ahead."

"What in the world did you teach her? Like I said earlier, the moment my internal energy touched hers, it vanished."

"And yet you still managed to win."

"...What does it matter if the water is cold? The fire has already burned down to the foundation."

He meant that no matter how favorable her internal energy was in terms of elemental restraint, there was still too little of it.

That was something only he could say, standing at the threshold of the Transformation Realm.

Soyak was already advancing toward the middle stage of Transcendent Apex.

Who would dare say that she had little internal energy?

And now she absorbed the killing intent and malice around her and made it her own.

The internal energy someone else might build over decades of breathing exercises and meditation, she could gain in a single blood battle.

"So then, Soyak, it seems you still must train harder."

"I will do so."

"...Are you saying you're going to grab me and beat me down next, kid?"

Namgung Byeok asked with an incredulous look.

Soyak stared quietly up at him, then shook her head.

"I did not say I would beat you down."

"Then what?"

"If I cannot defeat you, then how could I ever kill the Sword Sovereign?"

It was perfectly true, so he had nothing to say.

Namgung Byeok let out a long sigh and returned to the main point.

"So then, what did you teach her?"

"I taught her nothing, sir."

"What? Kid, you answer me."

"It is true. Master Eunsong did not teach it to me."

That was true.

The Harmonization Scripture was a treasure handed down to her family.

Together with Falling Blossom Tranquil Edge and Falling Plum Elegy, it was one of the divine arts that had been passed down from Mount Hua.

And Soyak had learned it from her father.

"I learned it from my father. My father received it from Mount Hua."

"...That is a martial art of Mount Hua?"

"Yes. It is an internal method called the Harmonization Scripture."

"That 'Hua' is the Hua of radiance... that does not sound very much like Mount Hua. Isn't the 'Hua' in Mount Hua that same 'splendid flower' Hua?"

Soyak slowly nodded.

Then she gradually drew up her internal energy.

Deep below in her dantian, the black qilin ran through her blood vessels and meridians.

"...Hoo."

At the end of that deep exhale,

the star of the Army-Breaking Star rose in her black, empty eyes,

and then Auspicious Energy poured out as her hair and sleeves billowed.

"...That is an interesting energy. So then, Eunsong, what exactly is it?"

"When flowers bloom, they are meant to fall. Shall we call it the Grand Master's arrangement against a flower that does not fall?"

"A Mount Hua martial art that casts down a flower that does not fall? Then why did my internal energy..."

At that moment, Namgung Byeok's eyes widened.

Then he slapped his knee.

He seemed to have realized something.

"So the flower isn't the important part?"

"That is correct."

Soyak nodded.

Then she slowly gathered the internal energy racing through her body back into her dantian.

The Auspicious Energy flowing out of her vanished as well.

"It wasn't the flower... it was casting down eternity. I see..."

Only then was Namgung Byeok able to clear up the questions he had carried until now.

Not only the questions about Soyak's internal energy, but others as well.

"So that's why she could endure and remain standing even under such dense Demonic Energy."

"That's right."

"All martial arts in the world dream of eternity. The sky of the Namgung Household, the Malevolent God of the Demonic Cult, the Northern Sea of the Ice Palace, even Shaolin's reincarnation—every one of them claims to continue unbroken and repeat forever through endless ages..."

Namgung Byeok smacked his lips.

Wasn't this the very method for breaking nearly every supreme martial art and divine art that existed in the present world?

Because humans were finite and mortal, they dreamed of the infinite and the immortal.

And martial arts were the effort to reach something beyond the track of humanity itself.

But Soyak's Harmonization Scripture denied all of that.

It was a martial art that questioned infinity and eternity to death, that killed undying life and immortal permanence.

"...Understood. Is that all?"

"There are two more things my father gave me."

Soyak unfastened Falling Blossom Tranquil Edge from her waist and held it in her arms.

"This, Falling Blossom Tranquil Edge, and Falling Plum Elegy, which can only be learned by one who has mastered the Harmonization Scripture."

"A martial art suited to the internal method is always necessary. An internal method alone can do nothing."

"That is correct."

The Ninefold Heaven Plum Sword was not a martial art worthy of the Harmonization Scripture.

Even so, it was still a Mount Hua art.

Since it came from the same branch, she had been able to draw out the function of the Harmonization Scripture through the tip of her sword.

Then what if it were a divine art created to match that internal method?

Namgung Byeok smacked his lips again.

Perhaps.

Perhaps, depending on the elemental restraint involved...

That child might be able to defeat even a martial artist of a higher realm than herself.

"That's a pretty outrageous cheat."

Namgung Byeok muttered with a low chuckle.

But there was not the slightest sign that he was displeased.

If anything, he looked pleased.

"Is it?"

Soyak quietly looked up at him and asked.

And then she saw his smile.

The smile of a man who had found a way to feed poison to his own father.

"And the Namgung Household's young head already got thrashed, right?"

Thrashed.

At that word, Soyak pressed her lips together.

It was true that she had defeated Namgung Seon.

...But had she thrashed him?

Could it really be put that way?

She had won without much difficulty, but...

At that moment, Eunsong cut in.

Because he knew Soyak was not used to this sort of conversation, one mixed with rather coarse phrasing.

"She thrashed him. Absolutely thrashed him."

"...Master?"

"Did he so much as brush your collar?"

Soyak thought for a moment, then shook her head.

Namgung Byeok finally burst into another chuckle.

"So he couldn't even brush your collar?"

"He couldn't leave so much as a scratch. That is fairly satisfying, isn't it, Namgung Byeok?"

"I have no choice but to admit it. That's deeply satisfying."

"You seem to be in a good mood."

Soyak asked, puzzled.

Namgung Byeok shrugged.

"I told you. I was a bastard. And I got cast out. Do you think a cast-out bastard usually likes his own family?"

"...Usually not."

Soyak nodded.

Namgung Byeok slowly rose from his seat.

"Good. Then I'll be going now. Eunsong, you're heading to the Zhuge Household?"

"It seems I must."

"Seeing Zhuge Yeon twice in such a short time."

Namgung Byeok let out a soft snort through his nose.

Then he asked casually,

"Want me to give her a quiet heads-up that you're coming soon?"

"I would appreciate that."

"It's no difficult thing. Then I'll see you again."

Namgung Byeok opened the door and stepped outside.

The sun had already passed beyond the western mountains.

Only the stars and the dark moon remained in the sky.

It was a dark night.

He put the black gat back on, the one he had leaned by the door.

He adjusted his shoes.

And when he rose fully to his feet, Eunsong and Soyak followed him out.

"There's no need to see me off."

"I'm taking Soyak back to Flower-Haze Hall."

Eunsong answered with a chuckle.

Namgung Byeok smirked.

Then he waved to the two of them.

Soon after, his figure vanished into the darkness.

More completely than even Extreme Night Myriad Shadows Step when used by one who had reached his level.

"...When will we go to the Zhuge Household?"

"I think we should leave ourselves a little room. You still need to recover from the fatigue of travel. How would next week be?"

"I will prepare."

"Good. For now, let us return to Flower-Haze Hall. It is late, so I should take you back."

Soyak blinked.

Honestly, neither of them was really in a position to worry over the other anymore.

At least in terms of pure realm alone, Soyak now stood higher.

But the world was not a place where the one with more internal energy and better Sword Qi lived best.

Even after realizing that one truth, there was still far too much left to learn.

"Thank you, Master."

"Yes, you should be thankful. I am volunteering for an escort that is not necessary in the slightest."

Eunsong said it teasingly, with a chuckle.

Soyak had no idea how to respond to that kind of joke, so her whole body stiffened.

If she agreed, it would be disrespectful to her master.

If she denied it, that was not exactly wrong either...

"Th-that is, I mean..."

"I should tease you like this more often."

"...Master."

"If you think it's unfair, then you should have been the master, Soyak."

The smile would not leave Eunsong's mouth.

The pride of a martial artist was fine.

Jealousy toward a disciple who had surpassed the blue in barely three or four months was fine too.

But those were emotions he himself had to carry and refine into a drive for improvement.

They were not emotions to let spill outside in an ugly way.

As a master, he was purely glad for Soyak's growth.

Not simply as a single blade to drive into the Sword Sovereign's throat,

but—

'Was this how Grand Master Jeonggang and Master Myeonggon felt when they taught Eun Jeong?'

Even if one simply set her out and left her to grow, she flourished on her own.

Just watching that alone was satisfying.

That small, young body had already passed beyond the threshold of Transcendent Apex.

At that moment,

someone was standing in the narrow side path that led to Flower-Haze Hall, blocking the way.

Under the faint moonlight of the dark moon, with the left arm wrapped over and over in bandages.

It was Eunbyeok.