The Terminally Ill Young Master of the Baek Clan

Dark clouds heavily blanketed the sky.

On days with heavy snowfall, the boundary between heaven and earth became unclear.

It wasn’t quite to that extent yet, but a flurry of snow gently descended.

Unlike rain, snow drifted on the wind.

Like leaves from the celestial white poplar tree falling, a large snowflake traced the character ‘之’ as it silently fell.

That snowflake landed softly on the straight bridge of Yi-gang’s nose.

Naturally, the snowflake should have melted from his body heat, but it persisted for quite some time.

This indicated that Yi-gang had been outside for a long time, his cheeks flushed red.

“The snow is falling.”

Yi-gang was having such a conversation with Zhang Sanfeng.

It was two months into the three-month training period he had arranged with the Sword Emperor.

The Sword Emperor was not around. Despite the cold winter, he was likely meditating under a waterfall.

He focused more on his own training than on teaching Yi-gang. Recently, he seemed to have achieved a significant milestone, and the speed of his progress was astonishing.

「Do not rush, yet do not be too relaxed. Youth is your weapon, but it only matters if you wield it properly.」

Keeping up with the Sword Emperor’s progress appeared to be no easy feat.

He passed on the Radiant Shadowless Art to Yi-gang, but it was Yi-gang himself who had to break through his own limits.

Two months had passed, yet Yi-gang had not yet reached the level of a Supreme Peak master.

He sheathed his sword.

Click.

In the Central Plains, it was rare to find a sword art which focused on drawing techniques unless it was a swordsmanship of the land of Yamato.

However, the Radiant Shadowless Art was most effective when executed simultaneously with drawing the sword.

Yi-gang was now ready to perform the Radiant Shadowless Art, which he had tirelessly practiced over the past two months.

He swirled his body, settling the vital energy that had protected him from the cold.

If one became a Peak master, they gained more freedom from the cold and heat, but Yi-gang had not yet perfected this.

He had connected the major meridians, but the Great Yin Meridian Blockage was still his natural affliction. The severed major meridians limited his ability to protect his body with vital energy.

Even so, Yi-gang had stopped.

With that, the bone-chilling cold became even more pronounced.

If several more years passed, he might have to worry about death.

That’s what Yi-gang thought.

‘Have you no thoughts of achieving enlightenment, Sage?’

「Haha, first elevate your realm.」

Unlike previous souls, Zhang Sanfeng was neither required to achieve enlightenment nor could he transfer spiritual power.

「Can you read my heavenly signs? The young priest has the energy of the Big Dipper. Though you may face severe trials, if you overcome them, you will surely gain great fortune.」

‘Whether it’s a blessing or a curse, I still don’t know where I should go.’

Where to go? Yi-gang asked this question.

Each time he asked about ‘what next,’ Zhang Sanfeng did not say where it would be good to go.

He had promised to provide information about the Evil Cult, but there were a few topics on which he remained silent.

When asking about the reasons Zhang Sanfeng remained on earth, about the Heavenly Demon, or when there was a risk of revealing ‘heavenly secrets,’ he did so.

However, today was somehow different.

「…It might be good to search for your roots.」

“My roots?”

「The reason you were born with the Great Yin Meridian Blockage, or perhaps the cause that led to your reincarnation without the bonds of oblivion.」

He heard about roots but did not immediately recall what it referred to.

Soon, he realized it meant his maternal family.

Was it a suggestion to visit his deceased mother’s family home?

‘Then it’s Beijing.’

「Haha.」

Zhang Sanfeng reduced his speech with a laugh.

Yi-gang focused again.

In the meantime, his body had cooled further, causing him to shiver uncontrollably. Unable to sleep and hungry, the exposure to the cold made him feel like he might die.

The training of Radiant Shadowless Art started from that point.

“Hoo…”

As soon as Yi-gang exhaled, his body’s trembling stopped as if it were a lie. It was not an easy feat.

The shivering of a human body in the cold was an involuntary action to generate heat internally.

This indicated that Yi-gang’s willpower had finally come to control his physical body.

In this state, Yi-gang’s spirit became miraculously powerful.

And the Radiant Shadowless Art was executed.

Even the fluttering snowflakes could not approach Yi-gang’s area of influence.

Each full execution of the Radiant Shadowless Art left him bedridden for three days, but with each occurrence, small cracks formed in Yi-gang’s old vessel.

Another month passed like this.

One day, looking emaciated, Yi-gang was visited by Neung Ji-pyeong, Peng Gu-in, and Tang Eun-seol.

It was time for him to leave the Wudang Sect.

His hair, once cut, had grown long again.

Yi-gang tied his hair tightly back.

Perhaps it was because, that time long ago, when the Blue-Eyed Mad Demon possessed him, he had excessively used the Heavenly Thunder Bell. His hair, which had been pitch-black, now oddly bore a pale ash color.

His weight had decreased significantly over three months.

He looked more like a sick person, but his eyes remained lively. It seemed fitting, as if he had returned to the past.

He always wore rough clothes, but for the first time in a while, he donned a silk garment.

Swish—

The smooth silk contained high-quality cotton padding.

His demeanor quickly returned to that of a noble; even with the sword equipped, he looked exactly like he did years ago, albeit a bit thinner.

Peng Gu-in patted Yi-gang on the back.

“So, you really won’t tell me?”

He had asked Yi-gang countless times whether he had truly become a Supreme Peak master.

But Yi-gang, for some reason, never gave a proper answer.

“Well…”

“Man, you’re too much.”

Peng Gu-in seemed quite displeased that Yi-gang, whom he considered a sworn brother, wouldn’t answer. He grumbled constantly, as if to show his disappointment.

However, Yi-gang knew that all this was to hide his own turmoil.

The force that had attacked the Peng Clan was the Jiang River Fleet of Hebei.

The three strongest fleets among the 18 of the Jiang River Fleet had simultaneously attacked the merchant ships protected by the Peng Clan.

A clear provocation with a purpose.

After that, it was clear that the entire 18 fleets, and further, the leader of the Unorthodox Union were involved.

A conflict arose, and Peng Gu-hwi, who fought the leader of the Upper River Fleet, was severely injured.

It was likely he was quite heated up, given that he was a martial artist of the Peng Clan.

Yi-gang walked a bit further.

There, he found Neung Ji-pyeong and Myung Won.

Myung Won had come out personally to see them off.

“As soon as you leave, I will send the swordsmen of the Wudang Sect.”

“Thank you, Sect Leader Myung.”

Neung Ji-pyeong made a fist salute, and Myung Won returned the gesture.

If the Unorthodox Union really started to make moves, the Wudang Sect also had to be cautious.

No unorthodox sect dared operate near Mount Wudang, yet a little further on horseback, several unorthodox factions were eagerly looking for opportunities.

The Demon Cult, the Evil Cult, and the Unorthodox Union

This was an unprecedented situation where these three formidable forces stirred up simultaneously in the martial world.

The fate of the martial world was in jeopardy. Wudang was duly expected to again play the role of a leader of the orthodox martial world.

Golden Needle Phantom and Dam Hyun had returned to the Azure Forest a while ago because the Azure Forest could not remain idle in the current situation either.

Go Yo-ja had also returned to the Kunlun Mountains.

The people departing for the Murim Alliance were Neung Ji-pyeong, Peng Gu-in, Tang Eun-seol, and Yi-gang, totaling four.

This modest group began descending Mount Wudang.

The journey to Kaifeng would be long and perilous.

The snow that started falling yesterday showed no signs of stopping, and if they were not experts, they would not have dared to walk the mountain paths.

As they descended the silent mountain path, the signboard of the Wudang Sect soon disappeared from view.

Peng Gu-in broke the silence.

“It is certainly an honor that Sect Leader Myung personally saw us off, but still, it feels a bit regrettable.”

“What do you find regrettable?” Tang Eun-seol asked in response.

Her travel bag had become heavier than when she first arrived at the Wudang Sect.

Inside that bag were likely the poisons she had personally collected and refined during her stay at Wudang.

“Not having seen the Sword Emperor.”

“Ah.”

It might have been expected, but the Sword Emperor did not come to see them off.

However, it was true that over the past three months, the Sword Emperor had treated Yi-gang almost like his own disciple. The successors had hoped to converse with the Sword Emperor, who aimed above the level of an Absolute master, one last time.

“You haven’t seen him for quite a while either, right?”

“Yes.”

In fact, it had been a long time since Yi-gang had seen the Sword Emperor as well.

“He went into seclusion about a fortnight ago.”

“Really… can the Sword Emperor ascend to heaven?”

Yi-gang did not easily answer even when asked if he had become a Supreme Peak master.

But this time was different.

“I believe so.”

“Wow!”

Neung Ji-pyeong was also amazed.

“Wudang will be writing a new chapter in its history.”

If so, it would be the first joyful event for Wudang since Zhang Sanfeng.

Tang Eun-seol and Peng Gu-in still looked skeptical, but Yi-gang believed.

The Sword Emperor was now in a state like a pupa.

According to Zhang Sanfeng, it seemed he was challenging the final gate.

「Ascension is just like that. To spread one’s wings, one must break through the hard shell.」

In that old straw hut on the snowy mountain.

Yi-gang sincerely hoped that the Sword Emperor could shed his cocoon.

Indeed, as Yi-gang and Zhang Sanfeng had hoped, the Sword Emperor was stepping into a new realm.

He had been in the straw hut for over a fortnight now.

Yi-gang had managed to catch some naps at least and consistently ate jujubes, pine needles, and raw chestnuts due to his strict diet.

However, the Sword Emperor had completely stopped eating a month ago. He hadn’t slept either.

Despite his physical deterioration, what did it matter? His eyes became clearer.

He had promised to pass on the Radiant Shadowless Art to Yi-gang and lead him to a new realm, but he could not keep that promise halfway through.

Yi-gang had left yesterday, and the Sword Emperor felt sorry he could not see him off. However, he soon forgot his regret.

He immersed himself into his inner being. He forgot all external objects and entered a state of selflessness.

He no longer sought the meaning of wielding a sword.

He entered the straw hut and sat in a meditative pose.

Though he had set aside his physical sword, one still remained in his heart, which he simply contemplated.

Perhaps ten days had passed when a propitious light began to emit from the Sword Emperor’s body.

Hyun Cheol, who had come to check on his condition, saw the light emanating from the straw hut, shuddered, and made a deep bow.

Since then, the finest swordsmen of Wudang had guarded the hut.

Daring not to disturb his enlightenment, they couldn’t come close, merely guarding from a distance.

And perhaps due to their efforts, the Sword Emperor was finally able to forget even the sword that remained in his mind.

When he forgot the sword, what remained was boundless emptiness.

Tears flowed spontaneously, and with them, the seven emotions and five desires of humanity.

The Sword Emperor’s body was now floating more than an inch above the floor.

The auspicious radiance above his head blossomed into three flowers, split into five-colored lights, and finally shone around his head like a halo.

‘O Founder.’

The Sword Emperor had finally forgotten Zhang Sanfeng.

When he first met Zhang Sanfeng, he felt an infinite sense of powerlessness. It was only when he realized that what he had always believed to be true was merely an illusion that he felt it was truly the end.

Yet, he wanted to abandon everything and start anew.

Thus, he forgot the sword and saw the emptiness.

Now, it seemed he could see the gates of heaven.

But he lacked a tiny bit to break through the wall and move forward.

What hadn’t he let go of? If only he knew, he would discard it all.

Still, time was on his side.

If he could take just one more step, if only a few more days were granted, it seemed he could break through the wall.

‘Is it like trying to hold sand, which slips through your fingers?’

However, the Sword Emperor could not do so.

A reason had arisen that prevented him from giving his all until the end.

Regrettably, he opened his eyes, which had been closed for a fortnight.

The old straw hut came into view.

As the levitated body fell back to the ground, the icy floor was felt through his hips.

The radiance that had been emanating from his body subsided.

As the light from the straw hut disappeared, he vividly felt the tension of the sect members who had been standing guard.

His senses had become that sharp.

It was incongruent with his aged and emaciated body.

He had almost transcended human limits.

The frail body felt only like a burden now.

Though he had reached an unprecedented realm never ascended before, the Sword Emperor’s expression was not bright.

Creak—

As he opened the paper door and stepped out, a blizzard swept through.

But the cold no longer harmed the Sword Emperor’s body.

In front of the straw hut, the sect members who had been standing guard gathered.

Upon seeing the Sword Emperor, they wept tears of joy and bowed deeply.

“Congratulations on your great achievement!”

“Congratulations on your great achievement, Senior Elder!”

They had sensed the transcendent calmness emanating from him.

The Sword Emperor raised his hand to stop the ensuing congratulations.

“Just a moment, I’ll go for a walk.”

“…Sorry?”

Hyun Cheol responded in confusion, daring to retort. What does he mean by a walk in this terrible weather?

But the Sword Emperor just added another sentence and walked on.

“Do not follow me.”

His words carried an undeniable force. He had reached the ability to imbue his speech with intent.

Leaving his frozen disciples behind, the Sword Emperor walked alone.

His steps seemed leisurely, yet his body moved swiftly as if using a lightness technique.

Despite this, he walked for quite a long time.

Deep in the mountains, where even disciples of the sect rarely traversed, there was a valley.

This old valley was formed as Founder Zhang Sanfeng battled the evil dragon and seven beasts.

It was a forbidden area, not visited by disciples, nor by reclusive past masters.

Yet, the Sword Emperor broke the rules and walked into the center of the valley.

It was a blizzardy day, so here, no one could see him.

Nor the guest he was about to meet.

Had he stood silently in the snow for a while?

The Sword Emperor turned around.

And to the visitor who had come to see him, he asked softly, “Who are you?”

He had been aware of the visitor’s presence since he was in the straw hut.

He had also roughly guessed what kind of being the visitor was.

“How can someone like you still exist in this world?”

To that question, the visitor, Heuk-am, responded.

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