Before heading to Zhongyuan, it was late in the evening.
I sought out the Palace Lord in the dead of night to attend to my final matters in the North Sea.
"This place has always been accessible only to bloodline descendants, specifically those destined to take the position of the Palace Lord."
The location I found under the flickering light of a single lantern was an underground passageway, situated on the outskirts of the royal palace.
Why does everything here have to be underground?
Following the Palace Lord's guidance, I walked deep into the passage. As we continued, the Palace Lord suddenly broke the silence and spoke to .
"Young Master Gu."
"Yes?"
"I have sothing I wish to ask you."
"Please, ask away. I will listen attentively."
"Why did you choose to save Vioe-gun?"
It was an oddly-tid question, coming amidst the darkness and silence.
I steadied my breathing, glanced at him, and replied,
"What exactly do you an by that?"
"I an it quite literally. I made my deductions based on your actions, but I fail to understand your reasoning."
Hearing his words, I nodded slightly.
As expected.
‘So my assumptions were correct.’
The tension I felt when I first t the Palace Lord.
It confird what I suspected then—that his seemingly confrontational deanor was deliberate. It ant he had foreseen that I would need Woo Hyuk and had chosen to act accordingly.
"What if I were to say it’s simply because we’re friends? Would that be an insufficient reason?"
"How does it sound to you, Young Master Gu?"
"It does sound sowhat lacking…."
Could I add more to my explanation?
Certainly, if I wanted to.
"His condition suggested he’d be useful if I brought him along."
Woo Hyuk had been forcibly transford into a human weapon by Mang’s energy. He had grown significantly stronger, and with demonic energy infused in him, the likelihood of betrayal was slim.
There’s no bond more reliable than one forged through shared purpose.
"There also happened to be a suitable task I could entrust to him. The circumstances just aligned perfectly."
What’s more, Woo Hyuk was originally a key figure of Wudang. Though his current status was ambiguous, he had once been one of its most promising disciples.
Even though Wudang’s top master, the Hermit of Wudang, had an odd temperant and erratic behavior, under normal circumstances, Woo Hyuk would have been seen as a candidate for the next sect leader.
Considering all that, simply having Woo Hyuk by my side was imnsely advantageous.
He was not only a disciple of the next potential sect leader but also Wudang’s most talented rising star.
At his young age, he could already rival elders in martial skill, showcasing exceptional talent.
The value of keeping Woo Hyuk close was undeniable.
Even excluding such reasons, my decision wouldn’t have changed.
"Ultimately, aside from the reason I ntioned initially, there isn’t much else to it."
I saved him because he was a friend. Any additional justification would only serve as an excuse.
"Even if it discomforts you, Palace Lord, searching for any other reason feels burdenso."
"…I see."
After my response, the Palace Lord fell silent.
Under normal circumstances, taking Woo Hyuk like this would have been impossible.
It was likely only feasible because the Palace Lord had chosen to turn a blind eye.
‘Otherwise, as they say, I would’ve had to force my way through.’
The fact that such asures weren’t necessary proved the Palace Lord’s intentional leniency.
‘Should I be thankful?’
I briefly considered it, but I knew expressing gratitude or apology was aningless right now.
His daughter had succumbed to the Ice Essence, led a rebellion, and ultimately t her end.
Amid the palace’s unrest in the aftermath of war, the fact that soone involved in those events was being spared from execution couldn’t possibly sit well with him.
‘The re fact he’s calmly guiding now is astonishing in itself.’
I couldn’t comprehend what was going through his mind as he walked alongside .
What would I have done in his position?
I didn’t want to imagine it.
"One last question."
"Please, ask."
"Do you have a set goal, Young Master?"
"Excuse ?"
Out of nowhere?
A goal?
Caught off guard by the question, I paused briefly, but soon found an answer.
"It’s not sothing grandiose."
It hadn’t been originally, but perhaps through my regression, it beca sothing I felt I had to do.
"There’s sothing I must accomplish. And while I’m at it, I thought I might as well save the world too."
To stop the Blood Demon and Cheonma.
To prevent the impending bloodshed.
That was the goal I currently held.
As I ntioned this, the Palace Lord, walking ahead of , let out a faint laugh.
"Haha… You say it’s not grandiose, but those are lofty words indeed."
"It’s just a goal, so I decided to fra it ambitiously."
I deliberately phrased it as a jest. The Palace Lord didn’t seem entirely convinced.
Just as we resud walking, he spoke again.
"Then, what will you do once that goal is achieved?"
"..."
His words, flowing naturally, made stop in my tracks.
‘Afterwards?’
What would I do next?
A sense of unease filled as I pondered the question.
When it’s all over.
‘When everything ends….’
I tried to imagine what I’d do after completing my task, but nothing ca to mind.
‘I don’t know.’
Maybe I’d finally get so peaceful rest.
It was sothing I couldn’t quite figure out yet.
As I stood there, absentmindedly running my fingers over my lips, the Palace Lord glanced at and added,
"It would be good to think deeply about it, at least once. It’s not my place to ddle, but… you, Young Master, seem…."
Through the darkness, I could feel his cyan gaze.
"…as if you’re trapped in sothing."
"..."
With those words, the Palace Lord and I walked the rest of the way in silence until we reached our destination.
******************
The place we arrived at was a large underground chamber filled with shelves of mysterious books.
The cold air mixed with the scent of aged paper, creating a unique fragrance. For soone like , who had never been fond of studying, it was a sll I didn’t particularly enjoy.
I pulled a book from one of the shelves and inspected it.
There was no title written on it.
Curiosity got the better of , and I opened it slightly.
Srrrk.
“Ah, that book is enchanted. If soone outside the bloodline opens it, there will be conseq—oh, it seems you already opened it.”
“…You could have ntioned that a little earlier.”
“I didn’t expect you to open it imdiately.”
“My apologies. It just happened before I could stop myself.”
What should I do now? Should I just close it again?
As I stood there with an awkward expression, the Palace Lord spoke.
“Well, since you’ve already opened it, what do you think?”
“…About what, exactly?”
“Can you read the text?”
At the Palace Lord’s prompting, I looked down at the book again.
The pages were densely filled with writing, impossibly small and ticulous.
How could anyone write sothing so tiny?
“Yes, I can see it perfectly. Enough to make my head ache, actually.”
Perhaps it was because I had always disliked reading, but just looking at it was irritating.
“I see. So, you can read it.”
“Why? Is that a problem?”
“Yes.”
“…Pardon?”
“That book was designed so only bloodline descendants could read it.”
Wait… Then why can I see it so clearly?
Just as I was beginning to think sothing might be wrong, the Palace Lord continued.
“But it seems it doesn’t matter much for you, Young Master.”
“What do you an by that?”
The Palace Lord approached and took the book from my hands.
Rustle.
The sound of pages turning tickled my ears.
“You ntioned you were seeking knowledge about sorcery.”
“That’s correct.”
“Before that, do you even know what sorcery is?”
“…Not in great detail.”
Recalling what I’d heard before, I replied,
“I heard it was sothing brought by dragons.”
The Palace Lord nodded.
“That is correct. Sorcery is indeed a power brought by dragons.”
He placed the book he was holding onto the table with a thud and clapped his hands lightly.
Clap!
At that mont—
Fwoosh!
The lamps affixed to the walls lit up. It was obviously not my doing.
Was it so kind of energy manipulation? No, it felt different.
It wasn’t a trace of Samadhi True Fla, nor did it carry any heat like conventional fire arts.
It was sothing else entirely.
“…Just now.”
“That was sorcery. Judging by your expression, it seems you’ve already noticed the difference.”
I had noticed.
Sothing about it felt fundantally different. But—
‘What exactly is different?’
I couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
The Palace Lord laughed lightly at my perplexed expression.
“Strange, isn’t it?”
“Yes, very strange.”
“That is sorcery.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“An ability that defies logic—that is what sorcery is.”
“That’s an extrely vague explanation.”
It was vague to the point of being almost useless. Power that defies logic? That sounded more like poetic nonsense than a proper definition.
“Before we go further, may I ask why you wish to learn about sorcery?”
“Hmm.”
I paused briefly, not because it was a difficult question, but because I wanted to co up with a more convincing reason. Yet, no matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t co up with anything grandiose.
“I thought it might be useful.”
“…Useful?”
“It’s information I didn’t know before, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to learn about it.”
The difference between knowing and not knowing could be significant.
Since it was sothing I had neither seen nor heard of in my previous life, I thought it might be beneficial to at least have so understanding.
The Palace Lord didn’t show any noticeable reaction to my words.
Instead, he raised his hand lightly.
Swoosh.
I sensed movent from the bookshelf.
Thud.
A single book detached itself from the tightly packed shelves and flew into the Palace Lord’s hand.
Holding the book, the Palace Lord turned to again and asked,
“What about this ti? What do you see?”
“What do you an?”
“Did it seem like sorcery to you? Or…”
“You used Spatial Manipulation.”
This ti, it wasn’t sorcery—it was the art of drawing objects from the air.
“Oh.”
The Palace Lord reacted with a look of approval at my resolute response.
Seeing that expression, I couldn’t help but feel curious.
Why that reaction?
“You’re perceptive. Or was it just a lucky guess?”
“A guess? It’s clearly visible.”
“Hmm?”
Though they looked similar, it was undoubtedly the flow of energy.
The enchantnt shown earlier had an entirely different flow.
Hearing my answer, the Palace Lord tilted their head slightly as if intrigued.
“Fascinating.”
“What is?”
“When I experienced the sa thing back then, I responded by saying it felt sohow different. My father, the previous Palace Lord, declared that I had a talent for enchantnts.”
Sohow different? It felt more than just different to .
“If that’s the case, then I would say you possess an exceptional talent for enchantnts, Young Master. Though I’m not certain.”
“…Is that so?”
Talent, huh.
Hearing that, I couldn’t help but stifle a wry smile.
‘Could I actually have sothing after all?’
In my previous life, I had endured being called incompetent, a fool, and worse. To suddenly discover a talent now felt absurd.
And of all things—
‘It’s not even martial arts but so obscure force like enchantnts.’
It wasn’t exactly a pleasant feeling.
As these idle thoughts crossed my mind, the Palace Lord handed the book they had brought.
“Read it.”
I accepted the book and opened it imdiately.
It wasn’t much different from the earlier one. The dense text made instinctively frown again.
Still, since I had been told to read it, I decided to give it a try.
“Hm?”
I suddenly noticed sothing strange.
Not in the book itself, but in how I was reading it.
This…
‘Why can I read this?’
From what I knew, the scripts of the Northern Sea and Zhongyuan were completely different.
So why was I reading it without any difficulty?
Realizing this, I looked back at the Palace Lord.
“As I ntioned earlier, enchantnts are the dragons’ creations, and this book is also imbued with enchantnts. It’s designed so that only those of the bloodline can read it.”
“…So the fact that I can read it ans?”
“It ans that the barriers created through enchantnts don’t apply to you. Because you are a dragon.”
So even being able to read this is due to the power of enchantnts?
If it were blocked by enchantnts, shouldn’t I be unable to read it at all?
‘A power brought by dragons…’
It seed to imply that Mang or the Blood Demon had brought this power.
What purpose did they have in bringing it here?
‘And co to think of it, the Divine Doctor ntioned sothing as well.’
Not just in the Northern Sea, but even in Zhongyuan, the Divine Doctor had spoken of enchantnts.
‘It was during the ti he healed Jegal Hyuk’s throat.’
Back when the Divine Doctor used the White Demon Stone to treat Jegal Hyuk,
I had watched the process as part of an agreent.
He had placed the White Demon Stone on the ground, drawn countless mysterious patterns around it, seated Jegal Hyuk in the center, and spent hours with his eyes closed.
Was that enchantnt as well?
Considering that Jegal Hyuk’s throat was healed, it’s safe to assu he accomplished sothing.
An illogical, unreasonable power.
It was undeniably different from martial arts.
“The information about enchantnts that I promised to provide you, Young Master, is right there in your hands.”
I looked at the book again.
“…Just this one book?”
With so many books surrounding us, it felt stingy to only receive one. I glanced at the Palace Lord with suspicion.
“Don’t look at it that way. Breaking the rules of the Ice Palace to give you this is already an exception.”
So I’m supposed to be grateful for even this?
Tch.
“Moreover…”
As the Palace Lord continued speaking, I began reading the text in the book once more.
“The book in your hands contains the thod to form a ring around the heart, which is essential for using enchantnts.”
Their explanation reached my ears, but my eyes remained on the text.
‘A ring around the heart. It doesn’t seem all that different from the guidelines for practicing internal techniques.’
Most internal techniques involve gathering energy from the surroundings into the dantian and converting it into inner energy.
Techniques like Nine Flas Firewheel utilized that inner energy to unleash heat.
Even the martial arts of other clans and sects, despite their differing styles, followed the sa principle.
But—
‘This “ring” is…’
Starting by forming a base in the middle dantian was odd enough.
Focusing on the middle and upper dantians while ignoring the lower dantian entirely was even stranger.
‘So, if I do this, I can use enchantnts?’
Should I give it a try?
“Although I cannot show you the other books due to the rules, I believed it was only right to at least reveal the introductory part to you.”
‘Let’s see… this guideline says to….’
“I’m afraid I can’t let you take it with you. Even as the Palace Lord, this is the best I can offer.”
The Palace Lord kept talking, but I ignored them, focusing instead on guiding the faint energy to encircle my heart.
Then—
Click.
I felt sothing settle into place. Simultaneously, I sensed a faint ring forming around my heart, just as described.
“Even I, who was praised for my talent, took three months to master it, so there’s no need to rush—”
“Done.”
“Take your ti to carefully— Wait, what did you say?”
Wearing a refreshed expression, I spoke to the Palace Lord.
“I’ve completed the ring. Fortunately, it wasn’t too difficult. Oh, can I read the next book? It feels like there’s still plenty of ti left.”
“...”
For so reason, the Palace Lord’s expression twisted.
I felt like I’d been seeing that expression a lot today.
Why?
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