"There's a place we need to stop by!"
Before returning to the Blood Dragon Sect, we decided to stop by a place Wang Parip guided us to.
Parip hyungnim woke up at dawn, bathed, and changed into a clean white martial arts uniform he had bought yesterday.
Then he spent a long ti tidying himself up in front of a bronze mirror.
Deoksam and I also dressed neatly and followed him.
"We're almost there."
He led us into a small, naless mountain.
He said it was a place he often ca to with his young sister.
He would occasionally stop and look around. He would touch a large tree, or silently watch a patch of overgrown grass. He must be rembering old mories.
The place we arrived at had a small burial mound. In front of the mound, there was a neat tombstone with only the three characters 'Wang Yeoryeong' engraved on it.
In the mountain, which was overgrown with bushes, this was the only place where the sun shone all day. Wang Parip must have cut down all the surrounding trees for his sister.
The grave was covered with small stones, perhaps to prevent wild animals from digging it up, and it was neatly organized, as if he had visited and looked after it often.
He pulled out a few weeds from around, and placed the wildflowers he had picked on the way in front of it.
And from his bosom, he took out a small hawk-shaped necklace with its wings wide open and gently placed it in front of it.
It is the last hawk decoration he carved.
From now on, we will not see him carving a hawk.
He silently stroked the tombstone with his sister's na engraved on it. He must be feeling warmth from that cold stone with her na engraved on it.
How much ti must he have suffered in front of this grave?
We cannot dare to guess how many words he couldn't say and how many things he wanted to do with her.
And so, Wang Parip stood there silently until the sun disappeared over the mountain, until the wildflowers he had picked lost their vitality and bowed their heads.
After a long ti, he opened his mouth with a hoarse voice.
"Farewell. I will always rember you."
For him, this is finally the end of mourning.
He must not have been free from the death of his young sister for a single day since then. He said he had never taken off his black martial arts uniform and mask since his sister died. To him, that was his mourning clothes. Today, he ca wearing a clean white martial arts uniform.
He is finally letting that child go and taking off the mourning clothes in his heart.
* * *
We returned to the Blood Dragon Sect.
On the way back, we talked a lot. We are now people who have to watch each other's backs. In this Central Plains where not a single mont can be predicted, these are the only people I can trust.
The Blood Dragon Sect leader, Ma Yeonggeol, greeted us with tears in response.
"Sect Leader! Was everything okay? Is your chronic illness okay?"
Since we were gone, everything must have been fine.
"I feel like I'm finally ho. Moreover, I'm really happy that you, the Sect Leader, are welcoming so warmly."
"Shouldn't you really go ho now? Your family must be very worried..."
"What a sad thing to say! You, the Sect Leader, are no different from family to !"
"Ah, becoming family is not that easy, so you should listen to my side of the story..."
I quickly took out a gift from my luggage, put it in his hand, and whispered in Ma Yeonggeol's ear.
"This is a plaster that is said to be a specific redy for anal fissures. It's made from houttuynia cordata and linden bark, and they say you just have to apply it to 'that place' three tis a day. I had a hard ti getting it, so please accept it without reservation."
I am a person who takes care of the people around like this.
Because I plan to be in his debt a lot in the future.
Seeing Ma Yeonggeol receive it with a bright face, he must have been suffering a lot from the pain. As soon as he received the plaster, he ran sowhere.
After visiting his sister's grave for the last ti, Wang Parip beca a different person. It hurt my heart more to think that he was originally such a bright person.
He was also satisfied with becoming a guest of the Blood Dragon Sect.
He said he had never settled down anywhere since he left the Hidden Killing Curtain for his sister's revenge. I told him, on behalf of the Blood Dragon Sect leader, to think of it as his ho and stay comfortably.
Well, in fact, I now have more influence in the Blood Dragon Sect than the sect leader.
He said he had many silent conversations with his sister in front of the grave. He said his sister told him to live his life for himself now.
He, who had never refused his sister's request, will follow this request well this ti too.
"Deoksam! I told you not to swing it like that. For a heavy weapon like an axe, speed is more important than strength. That way, you can minimize the opening after you swing."
Right now, Wang Parip is correcting the way Deoksam swings his axe.
As soon as Deoksam arrived at the Blood Dragon Sect, he requested a duel with Wang Parip.
And he lost lightly.
Wang Parip was different from , who had clashed head-on.
He dug in like a ghost between Deoksam's axe swings, which seed to swallow even the wind.
In the great storm where not even a needle could enter, he simply placed his sword on Deoksam's neck.
The reason Wang Parip was the vice-commander of the Azure Blade Unit was because he was the second strongest after .
Now? I don't know. He is already a complete assassin, and I am in a state of having only great potential.
Well, I didn't think I would lose though.
It would be much more difficult than dealing with Deoksam.
I carefully took out the Ink Blood Saber in a corner of the training ground.
In the distance, Deoksam stopped his axe work and was looking at with a worried expression.
Wang Parip, next to him, was also standing with a curious look.
Even if I collapse again, there are two people I can trust.
I have to get used to this bastard quickly. No, I have to use this bastard to draw out the power of my right arm.
The power of the Black-Scaled Blood Serpent!
I carefully raised my internal energy.
With just a little internal energy, the Ink Blood Saber reacted without fail.
I was caught off guard last ti, but today is different!
I will definitely grab your neck and ta you as my own.
I cald my breathing and raised my internal energy very slowly.
The Ink Blood Saber was drawing the internal energy that rose from my dantian. As if swallowing its prey.
I could feel the dark red blade shimring as if it were alive.
I swung the saber with a little internal energy.
The montum of the saber is definitely different.
It's as sharp as a snake in front of its prey. It moves lightly as if my right arm has beco a part of the Black-Scaled Blood Serpent.
I raised a little more internal energy.
Uh, oh! The force with which the Ink Blood Saber was pulling suddenly beca stronger.
My right arm, holding the Ink Blood Saber, stiffened.
Then, a strong pain as if I had been struck by lightning pierced my right arm again. I sat down on the spot and my consciousness faded away.
Wang Parip, who was by my side before I knew it, caught as I was collapsing.
To be beaten twice by this crazy snake bastard!
When I ca to my senses, Parip hyungnim and Deoksam were looking at with worried expressions.
Ah! It's mine, but it's not mine!
After that, I fainted more than ten tis in a day.
"At this point, shouldn't you give up? Give it to . I'll subdue that damn sword with my strength!"
"Ahem, Deoksam! Can you press down such a strange saber with strength? A saber like this should originally be guided well with the delicacy of internal energy. I'll try it."
Any martial artist would feel the desire to swing the Ink Blood Saber once they saw it. Even just lying there, it was emitting a different kind of montum.
In fact, Deoksam and Parip hyungnim were able to swing it without much difficulty.
"This is really amazing. To think that it spews out more power than the internal energy I injected. Isn't this a divine weapon?"
"Hyungnim! If I ask the Iron Skill Gang leader to just lengthen the hilt a bit and add more weight, it would be perfect for to use. In fact, you know that I have a talent for the saber too, right?"
The people who know are scarier. They're not holding a sword, but aren't they robbers?
Ah! They are holding a sword.
I have to put my foot down.
"This is mine! I will ta this snake bastard sohow. Hyungnim, don't covet it either."
After that, I rolled around in the training ground with the Ink Blood Saber for several days.
I even slept with it in my arms. With the mindset of taming a living wild beast.
Only after seven days and nights had passed was I finally able to swing the Ink Blood Saber with a little internal energy.
- Swish!
With just a little internal energy, the montum and sharpness were doubled. If I had reached this level in advance, I would have been able to deal with the Flying Lion Troupe much more easily at the Hidden Killing Curtain.
But I still couldn't unfold the Limitless Saber Art with the Ink Blood Saber.
It's still not enough.
My dantian's internal energy is also growing rapidly with the Sword Emperor's core technique, and I have regained so of my old sense through the several incidents so far.
But what if I face the Demonic Cult now?
What if I find the Heavenly Demon and face him?
Growing at a slightly faster rate than others is not enough.
Parip hyungnim and Deoksam will help , but in the end, I am the one who has to cut off the Heavenly Demon's head.
If I'm not ready, I might miss that chance.
"There's a place I have to go to for a while!"
"Where?"
Parip hyungnim and Deoksam asked at the sa ti.
"I'll have to ta this bastard!"
I replied, raising the Ink Blood Saber.
In fact, what I want to draw out is not the power of the Ink Blood Saber.
The Ink Blood Saber just resonates with the Black-Scaled Blood Serpent coiled in my right arm.
I have to make the power of the Black-Scaled Blood Serpent my own.
In the Valley of Abandoned Bugs, Gwideukja told to find his daughter, Na Yeryeong, if I couldn't control the power of the Black-Scaled Blood Serpent.
Gwideukja was such an outstanding sorcerer that he was even kidnapped by the Blood Cult because they coveted his abilities. But he said that his daughter was an even more outstanding child.
He said that the blood of a sorcerer had been flowing in Gwideukja's family for generations.
The blood inherited from his mother was passed on to his only daughter through him.
Proper sorcerers are very rare in the Central Plains.
Not those who research and learn sorcery like the Blood Cult, but real sorcerers who are born with the ability!
This is another realm from martial arts.
Of course, that doesn't an that you can beat a martial artist who has reached the pinnacle with just sorcery, or that you can make them helpless.
Most sorcerers just have the ability to prevent small misfortunes that are about to co, or to know the past or foresee the future a little. That alone is a great ability.
They say that the future is fixed, but they also spout words that they can change that future using their power.
It's a contradiction!
I don't believe their words that they can change the future with the power of sorcery.
The future is not fixed.
I will be the proof of that.
"Do we not have to go with you?"
"It's my personal business, but it would be a great help if you, hyungnim, ca with . After all, you're an expert at finding people."
Deoksam was already packing his luggage.
Deoksam, who had spent his entire life cooped up in the mountains, always wants to go sowhere.
"So where are we going?"
"Jinping County, Yunnan! To find Gwideukja's daughter!"
(End of Chapter)
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