-You’re not Shincheol.
It was a familiar na, one I haven’t heard in a while.
It was the na of the old man who resided within , and the na of the Divine Sword of Mount Hua.
However…
“Why are you…”
Why was this man in front of speaking his na?
This man, just what is he?
First of all, he had golden hair and eyes.
Not only did it remind of the Celestial Sword from my past life, but there was sothing odd about his half-transparent form.
Shincheol he said, right?
It was safe to say that no one was able to say Elder Shin’s na casually in the current tiline.
Only a few could—Cheonyoung, whom I t back in Shaolin, or Namgung Myung from the secret vault of the Namgung Clan, and other lingering heroes who left behind their souls.
This ant…
This person…
He didn’t seem like Namgung Myung, nor was he Cheolyoung.
That only left one possibility…
It could only be either the Heavenly Poison, or…
The na that ca into my mind, almost of its own accord.
“…Yeon Il-Cheon.”
The Iron Fist, Yeon Il-Cheon.
He was one of the five heroes who halted the Blood Demon’s Blood Disaster, the Zenith himself.
And like , he too was a regressor.
“…”
The man in front of , was he really Yeon Il-Cheon?
When I spoke his na, his expression shifted slightly.
Seeing his reaction, I asked.
“Are you the Iron Fist?”
The man responded.
-Yes, I am Yeon Il-Cheon.
He confird it—he truly was Yeon Il-Cheon.
I struggled to conceal my shock at his words.
His golden hair, eyes, and steel-like physique were unmistakable.
Everything matched the descriptions from the records, convincing that this was truly the Iron Fist. But one question still nagged at .
“The Light of Might said that you didn’t remain in this world.”
Back when I t with Cheolyoung last ti, he told Elder Shin that Yeon Il-Cheon didn’t get to leave his soul in the world.
Was the man standing before , who claid to be Yeon Il-Cheon, truly him?
Upon hearing my words, the man’s face reflected shock.
-You t with Cheolyoung?
“Yes”
-Not Shincheol?
We had t him together, of course, but I wasn’t sure if I should reveal that just yet.
I didn’t know much about the person in front of after all.
As I answered, the man glared at .
Why was he staring at like that?
-…What’s the current year?
“It has been many centuries ever since the Blood Demon disappeared.”
-Centuries, huh…?
The man’s eyes beca dim for a mont. What could he be thinking?
I didn’t let my guard down.
Could I burn it? Where are the possible escape routes?
Could I retreat from the entrance I had co from?
It’s possible that the entrance has been blocked.
What if I break through the wall with my flas? That would be risky, though, given I wasn’t sure what part of the basent I was in.
Which ant it wasn’t the safest option to alter the layout of this place.
Just as I was caught up in my thoughts,
-You have good eyes.
The man abruptly gave a complint.
-You seem to have lots of thoughts in your mind, that’s not a bad habit. For you to always expect the worst.
“…What do you an by that?”
Upon hearing my question, the man looked toward the entrance I had co through.
-You are not Shincheol.
He repeated the sa words as before.
Yes, I am indeed not Elder Shin, but does he think I don’t know that?
It only made him seem weird in my eyes.
“Well,”
-But you managed to enter through that door. And you’re standing before now. How is that possible?
I frowned slightly upon hearing him.
Did that an no one could enter this door unless they were Elder Shin?
…What’s going on?
I noticed this back when I t the Light of Might. Was there sothing truly special about Elder Shin? It felt like everyone was looking for him.
“…What do you an by that?”
-Moreover, you ntioned eting Cheolyoung. What exactly are you?
His words made pause and think.
The fact that Elder Shin’s soul was inside my body.
As the man had said, if this room was ant only for Elder Shin, could I have entered because his soul is inside ?
“Uh, about that…”
Just as I was about to explain, the man interrupted.
-I know that you have Shincheol’s soul inside you.
“…!”
He seed to already know.
“How do you…?”
-I knew ever since I t you, that Shincheol was inside you.
His firm tone triggered a dull ache inside .
It wasn’t exactly pain, but a strange sensation of vibrations and twisting deep within .
This is-
It was unlike the usual hunger-driven whining of the beast.
Elder Shin?
I reached out to Elder Shin in my thoughts, wondering if it was him, but the sensation vanished as quickly as it ca.
I hoped that he would wake up soon, he had been asleep for far too long.
Only then could I begin to understand everything clearly.
However, he still gave no response.
-That’s why I ask. Who are you?
“If the Divine Sword of Mount Hua is in my body, then how is it a problem that I did all of the things you ntioned before?”
Back when I t the Light of Might.
The mont I heard Namgung Myung’s voice.
Or even now.
If all of this was intended for Elder Shin, doesn’t that an everything happened because his soul is inside ?
How could he find this so problematic?
The man shook his head at my question.
-It’s because it shouldn’t be only his soul that’s here. The person I should be eting with, should’ve been Shincheol himself.
“What nonsense are you talking about? How could you expect the Divine Sword of Mount Hua here?”
Elder Shin had already died.
The sa went for the man who called himself Yeon Il-Cheon.
The Light of Might, the Thunderous Sword, and the Heavenly Poison too.
Centuries had passed, aning they either perished in the Blood Disaster or succumbed to old age.
Yet, everyone was searching for Elder Shin.
Even when I first t the Light of Might, he fell into despair upon realizing I wasn’t Elder Shin, as if everything had gone awry.
What’s happening?
Who exactly was Elder Shin that everyone was searching for?
It felt as if they needed him to co back alive.
“Does that an that the Divine Sword of Mount Hua should’ve been resurrected?”
If not, how else could I interpret his words?
For him to say that Shincheol was ant to enter this secret vault.
I just couldn’t understand. When I asked with a frown,
-Yes.
The man responded.
“…What?”
His calm response left stunned.
What did I hear just now?
My eyes widened in disbelief, but the man kept speaking.
-Shincheol should’ve found this place after resurrecting.
“What are you-“
-In order to change the world’s fate, to break the curse and burden piled on this land, it was the decision we made.
-Because of that, we remained on this land, even if it ant leaving our souls behind.
If what the man said was true, then it ant that Elder Shin should’ve been resurrected on this land.
To change the world’s fate?
The fate of the world, along with the curse and burdens that had accumulated over ti.
Just hearing it gave a headache.
“What is this ‘fate’ that made you all stay here?”
The man’s gaze changed as he heard my question.
It felt as if he got more serious.
-Child of this generation, do you know about the Blood Demon?
“…Yes.”
Of course, I do.
How could I not? That damned bastard is the source of so many of my problems.
While I frowned in frustration, the man continued.
-What do you think the Blood Demon is?
“Pardon?”
What did he an by that?
He studied my expression for a mont, then spoke in a cold, deliberate tone.
-The Blood Demon is calamity itself.
Calamity.
It was a familiar word.
-It is the curse that befell the peaceful Central Plains. A calamity.
I needed to grasp the true aning behind his words.
Was he calling it a calamity because the Blood Demon wreaked havoc on the world?
I was able to tell that wasn’t what he necessarily ant by his words.
Calamity, this word surely had a different aning to it.
-You ntioned that centuries have passed since the Blood Demon vanished?
“Yes.”
-Even though you’re not Shincheol, the fact that you’ve found this place ans the Blood Demon has returned.
He was correct.
“…”
-What a pitiful story. It ans we couldn’t alter the world’s fate after all…
If the creature that tried to borrow Jang Seonyeon’s body was truly the Blood Demon, it ant that it still existed in this world.
Yet, I couldn’t see how this connected to my presence here.
“What does that have to do with what’s going on right now?”
-This world should have t its end in the grasp of the Blood Demon’s hand. That was the fate of it.
“What?”
The world should have t its end?
Was he referring to the Blood Disaster caused by the Blood Demon?
That didn’t make sense because they did a good job in stopping it, so what kind of nonsense was he on about?
“Even if that’s true, you guys- “
-If we had truly stopped the calamity, the Blood Demon wouldn’t have resurfaced in this era.
“…”
-We weren’t able to, which is why we resorted to sealing it.
That was exactly what the Light of Might had told .
He ntioned that the only thing the five heroes managed to do was seal the Blood Demon.
However, what did he an by the world’s fate?
I still couldn’t understand what he ant by those words.
Why was he claiming the world was ant to end?
-Because of that, we had to make a decision. We had to sohow stop the Blood Demon even after our deaths.
“…So you chose to resurrect the Divine Sword of Mount Hua?”
-That’s right.
“But how can you expect to…”
How could they hope to change soone’s fate when they were only human?
I considered asking him, but the sight of the man in front triggered a mory.
He, like , was a regressor, soone who had also traveled through ti.
Does that an he knew how to make such a thing possible?
-Judging by your expression, it seems you know a bit about . Who was it, I wonder? Did you hear from Cheolyoung?
“…No, I heard it from the Divine Sword of Mount Hua.”
-That bastard still has a loose tongue, huh? Strange that you’d believe such a ridiculous tale…
Well, that’s because I also went through a regression.
“I want to ask you sothing.”
I had countless questions, but organizing everything he had told was overwhelming.
“Just what is fate?”
To change the world’s fate, they made the decision to resurrect Elder Shin to this land.
I was curious.
Not of how they ca to that decision, but why they had to.
“You said the world was destined to et its end. I want to hear more about that.”
-It’s exactly how it sounds. The fate of the world… should’ve been in the hands of the Blood Demon.
“And who made such a decision?”
-I cannot say.
What kind of bullshit is that?
“Why not? Is it because I’m not the Divine Sword of Mount Hua?”
-Yes, it’s because you are not Shincheol.
“You said you knew his soul was within . Doesn’t that an you can tell ?”
-Precisely why I can’t tell you.
“…Pardon?”
What kind of nonsense was this?
My scowl deepened with rising anger, but his face only grew colder.
-It wasn’t only the Blood Demon we sealed.
“It wasn’t?”
-The most important thing was to destroy the calamity held by the Blood Demon.
“The calamity…”
That ant they had to destroy the calamity that would have drenched the Central Plains in blood, bringing the world to its doom.
That ans…
“…Does that an the calamity will return if the Blood Demon is resurrected?”
-No, it won’t return. It wasn’t sealed—it was burned to ashes.
“Then doesn’t it not matter?”
If the calamity was destroyed, why was there anything left to worry about?
Just what was their problem?
Upon hearing my question, the man spoke in a regretful tone.
-That was our mistake.
His words caught my full attention.
A mistake, he said.
“A mistake?”
-The calamity wasn’t truly ended. It was rely postponed. The Blood Demon’s disappearance didn’t take the calamity with him—it was delayed, waiting for another ti.
“But a calamity isn’t a tangible thing… You speak as if it cos back endlessly- “
I paused mid-sentence.
Calamity doesn’t just vanish.
They just get delayed.
The world’s fate cannot be changed.
As his words sank in, one na flashed in my mind.
The Heavenly Demon…?
One day, Elder Shin said this to .
The Heavenly Demon, whom I feared the most and often thought of, seed eerily similar to the Blood Demon from his tiline.
The man in front said that calamity is only delayed into the future.
Does that an that the next calamity is the Heavenly Demon?
If the world’s end was supposed to follow the Blood Demon,
Does that an it’s the Heavenly Demon?
If… that’s the case,
In my past life, the Celestial Sword had slain the Heavenly Demon.
Doesn’t that an the calamity was prevented?
I didn’t fully grasp the concept of fate, but didn’t that an Wi Seol-Ah had stopped the calamity?
Didn’t everything go well?
Just as I had that thought,
-Shincheol was our final hope to stop the calamity.
The man continued to speak.
He was basically telling that Elder Shin’s role was to co back around the sa ti of the next calamity, to stop it for himself.
…But that’s not possible?’
Where did it all get twisted?
There were far too many issues for to process all at once.
First of all, I hadn’t t anyone in my past life who resembled a reincarnation of Elder Shin.
There were far too many problems to call Wi Seol-Ah the reincarnation of Elder Shin, and though I wondered if it might have been Yung Pung, his abilities and circumstances in my past life didn’t add up.
…Did he die without knowing?
It was possible, but then there was the matter of the treasure that held Shincheol’s soul.
In the end, it seed that Elder Shin failed to resurrect and his soul beca trapped in a treasure.
I didn’t understand it fully, but after sacrificing so much and waiting hundreds of years, they had ultimately failed their mission.
That’s why Cheolyoung fell in despair.
I sowhat understood.
Having reached that conclusion, I asked the man.
“Why was it Elder Shin, of all people?”
The Zenith of the ti, and the heart of the five heroes, was Yeon Il-Cheon.
Given how Elder Shin often spoke of Yeon Il-Cheon’s imnse strength, it should have been Yeon Il-Cheon resurrected, not Elder Shin.
-You heard from Cheolyoung correct? That I wasn’t able to remain on this land.
“Yes.”
-He is correct. Unlike them, I wasn’t able to remain.
“…Then exactly are you now?”
He claid to be Yeon Il-Cheon, so what did he an?
-I am just a mory of the past. A mory that remained to inform Shincheol of everything if he ca to this place.
A mory of the past?
I had heard of sothing like that,
But such a thing was possible?
He left it behind in a secret vault, protected by a Formation?
Was it really set to activate the mont Elder Shin arrived?
That seed far beyond the capabilities of re humans.
This ant that Cheolyoung I t back in Shaolin, Namgung Myung, and even Yeon Il-Cheon right now were all just destined encounters for Elder Shin.
-It is sin to travel through ti, as it defies the fate given to them by a higher entity.
-It’s why I couldn’t remain on this land, and why Shincheol was the best person out of all of us.
It is sinful for a person to regress.
I was extrely concerned by that phrase, but I chose to set it aside for now.
“It should have been Elder Shin, you say.”
-Yes, Shincheol… He is our hope.
The old man who curses, drools over won, and yells at whenever I have girls around… carried such a heavy burden?
No matter how hard I tried to wrap my head around it, it just didn’t fit.
If the man’s words were really true,
“…Then what should I do?”
What did I need to do?
I had absorbed Elder Shin’s soul and Qi, and now I was getting all these revelations when all I wanted were so treasures.
So what did I need to do now?
I then slid a question in.
“Uh… Should I just leave now?”
I was asking if I could leave since I could ask Elder Shin later when he wakes up.
What choice did I have, really?
There wasn’t much I could do with things as they were.
Sure, I’d heard so shocking stuff, but none of it ant I could take action right now.
But what about the treasures inside the secret vault?
If these treasures were ant for Elder Shin, didn’t it make sense for to take them?
When I continued to look around awkwardly,
-Even if one tries to change fate, it will return to its original place.
-No matter how much one struggles, they will only learn this in the end.
He then suddenly started to say random things with a heavy tone of voice.
-How you managed to get here.
-How you have Shincheol’s soul inside you.
-What do you think that ans?
“…Pardon?”
Why was he suddenly behaving like this?
A strange feeling began to creep over .
Why the sudden shift in his deanor right in the middle of his explanation?
-The twisted fate that we used all of our strengths to achieve…
-Was undone, restored to its original path by soone’s interference.
Rumble.
As he spoke, the secret vault began to tremble.
“What are you…!”
-You may not leave this place.
“What did you say?”
His words left speechless.
I can’t leave, he says?
“What kind of nonsense is this? Are you taking your anger out on because things didn’t go your way?”
What does he expect to do?
He turned violent out of nowhere.
Rumble!
“Fuck …?”
The room trembled harder. Sothing was definitely happening.
I made a break for the entrance—
Zaaap!
But I hit an invisible barrier and was thrown back.
“Agh! Ugh, why are you doing this!”
I yelled after being repelled, but his expression only grew colder.
“For fucks sake, it’s not my fault that you guys failed, so why are you suddenly doing this! Whatever the Blood Demon is, I’ll stop it!”
I’ve been busting my ass trying to stop the Heavenly Demon, and now the Blood Demon gets thrown in too—
“So you can’t be doing this to !”
I didn’t know why he was trying to erase from existence.
Does he have anger issues or sothing?
The space around started to crumble.
Instinct told I was screwed if I stayed any longer.
Should I explode this place?
I didn’t know if I had enough strength, but I didn’t have ti to think it over.
I opened my palm, gathering my Qi.
I hadn’t expected to do this right after recovering from my injury.
If I used the Flaming Sphere again, I’d definitely hurt myself.
But I’m not in a situation where I could worry about getting injured.
I first have to survive.
Swoosh-!
Flaming-
-You are the calamity.
“…What?”
Just as I was about to unleash my Secret Arts with full force, his words caused all my Qi to dissipate.
I was stunned into silence.
“You bastard, what the hell did you just say?”
-I don’t know what kind of life you’ve led.
“I asked what the fuck you just said, you bastard.”
-How Shincheol’s soul ended up inside you, and how you reached such a level at your age.
-Moreover…
-How you were able to regress like . I don’t know any of it.
“…!”
He knew about my regression too.
How? Just how?
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the ti to debate that.
“…What does that have to do with you calling a calamity? Shouldn’t you keep alive then?”
If he knew how I’ve been dealing with everyone else’s ss since my regression, shouldn’t he be helping ?
“Why the hell are you trying to kill , you crazy bastard?”
-The one who let slip from their grasp once won’t be foolish enough to let it happen again.
“You’re talking nonsense aga—“
-Have you never thought your regression was odd?
“…What?”
-That is fate.
Rumble-!
With a violent vibration ringing in my head, I felt my end approaching. My body refused to move, snared by his words.
My regression…?
His words hit like a knife to the chest.
It felt as if everything in my head went away and was now filled with heavy thoughts.
You are the calamity.
I kept getting reminded of what the man said to which made it hard for to breathe.
Craaack…!
As the space around began to collapse, I felt my body breaking apart with it, struggling to pull myself out of my spiraling thoughts.
Yet, I was completely paralyzed, unable to move.
Then,
Swish-!
My hand moved, but not by my own will.
“…Huh?”
My limbs began to move, but it wasn’t controlling them.
-…What…!
The man’s eyes widened in surprise, clearly not expecting this either, but I was just as confused.
It felt as if soone was controlling my bod-
[ You have no trust in yourself. How about you take that dick off of you. You dumb idiot. ]
“…Ah?”
The mont I heard that voice, my foggy mind cleared, as if wiped clean.
The coarse voice of an old man—the voice I had longed to hear.
“Elder Shin?”
As soon as I said his na, I heard a chuckle in my head.
Hehe.
-…Shincheol.
The man muttered in disbelief, but Elder Shin remained silent.
Unlike with the Light of Might, he wasn’t even greeting him back.
Instead, he guided my hand towards sothing in the distorted space, pulling cloth away from the treasures, searching for sothing.
“Elder? This isn’t the ti for you to…!”
I tried to rush him, but he kept moving my hand.
Then in the end, he grabbed sothing from the pile of objects.
-…You will regret it, Shincheol.
The man spoke as he watched.
[ Regret? ]
Finally, he grabbed sothing from the pile.
[ As always, this is my decision. I will have no regrets. ]
That playful yet confident tone—it was unmistakably Elder Shin.
-Shincheol…
[ You’ve gotten worse over the years, Il-Cheon. ]
-…
[ But it was still nice seeing you. ]
As Elder Shin spoke,
Swoosh-!
The object in my hand released a scent, filling the room with the overwhelming fragrance of plum blossoms.
The Taoist Qi was powerful and grand, unlike anything I had ever experienced before—far beyond anything I’d encountered.
[ Hold your breath, kid. ]
Elder Shin’s voice echoed as my vision was overtaken by a sea of plum blossoms.
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