The Terminally Ill Young Master of the Baek Clan

Thud, thud, thud, thud—

The sound of four horses galloping was as loud as popping beans.

Neung Ji-pyeong had a horn plaque as an envoy of the Murim Alliance.

It served as a guarantee, and presenting it would typically prompt most merchant groups and stables to lend their best horses immediately.

The group started their journey on thoroughbred horses.

Neung Ji-pyeong was leading, and Yi-gang was at the rear.

They raced through the snow-covered passes without hesitation.

To protect their faces from the biting wind, they wrapped cloth around their faces, leaving only their eyes visible.

Yet, due to his long eyelashes and cold gaze, one could still recognize that it was Yi-gang.

Tied tightly around his waist was also the Divine Demon Disk, allowing Zhang Sanfeng to create an unusual scene.

He appeared like a ghost floating in mid-air, catching up to the speed of the horses.

Unlike Yi-gang, who ducked to avoid the wind and gripped the reins tightly, Zhang Sanfeng’s posture looked incredibly relaxed.

In this silence, Yi-gang and Zhang Sanfeng were having a conversation of thoughts.

‘Doesn’t ascending mean becoming an immortal?’

「You can say that.」

‘If one surpasses the Absolute realm, do they become an immortal?’

「That might be the case.」

At least, that was the goal the Sword Emperor aspired to. He wanted to become an immortal like Zhang Sanfeng.

But Yi-gang was curious.

‘What about Shaolin then?’

「Well, maybe become a Buddha.」

‘Or what happens if a worldly martial artist surpasses the Absolute realm?’

「Haha…」

They used terms like Ascended realm, but it certainly was strange.

Would a Shaolin monk become an immortal if he surpassed the Absolute realm? That didn’t make sense.

Then what about the Immortal Divine Sword? He must have surpassed the Absolute realm. But clearly, he did not become an immortal.

‘What about a demonic martial artist?’

「…」

‘Didn’t the Heavenly Demon surpass the Absolute realm?’

The Heavenly Demon and Zhang Sanfeng were definitely equal matches.

The Wudang Sect and the orthodox Murim claimed Zhang Sanfeng’s superiority, but Yi-gang secretly speculated differently.

Perhaps they were at least equals, or maybe the Heavenly Demon was superior.

In the first duel, Zhang Sanfeng won, but the second duel was undecided.

If the third duel had actually taken place, victory might have gone to the Heavenly Demon.

「A tea tree bears tea leaves, and an apricot tree bears apricots, priest.」

‘Everything is different, I suppose.’

「That’s right. But the commonality is…」

Zhang Sanfeng spoke softly.

About what awaits beyond the Absolute realm.

「…Perhaps, it’s about somewhat escaping the human constraints.」

After a martial artist became a Supreme Peak master, they were considered superhuman.

People leaping several meters high and slicing iron as if it were cloth—no commoner would see them as just another person.

And thus, if one entered the Absolute realm, they performed near-miraculous feats, just as the Sword Emperor did.

Then it truly became something non-human.

Just as a Taoist practitioner ascended to the heavens, becoming an immortal, other martial artists might have achieved something equivalent.

Yi-gang drove his horse lost in thought.

Meanwhile, a corner of his heart felt chillingly cold.

Startled as if he had fallen into cold water, Yi-gang looked at Zhang Sanfeng.

‘Did you not just feel that?’

「Hmm…?」

However, Zhang Sanfeng seemed not to have felt anything, only turning to look back at Yi-gang.

Yi-gang remained silent for a moment before turning his head to look behind.

Mount Wudang, which had been visible in the distance, was no longer in sight.

Was it because they had moved away, or was it still the fluttering snowflakes? Or perhaps both.

Yi-gang then looked forward again and galloped on.

---

“Heuk-am.”

The Sword Emperor looked at Heuk-am with a deep gaze.

“Are you refusing to reveal your real name?”

Heuk-am was a giant man. His build was massive, but he did not appear clumsy.

His unkempt hair was like the mane of a black lion, and his rough beard resembled needles.

If seen in a good light, he resembled a divine general sent by heaven, and in a bad light, he looked more like a beast than a human.

One thing was definitely extraordinary—his eyes.

“Such dark and ominous eyes.”

The eyes under his thick eyebrows were deeply sunken and dark, like looking into the well of night where nothing inside could be seen.

Even for the Sword Emperor, who had met countless people and cut down many demonic martial artists, those eyes were difficult to read.

Could the person before him be a demonic martial artist?

The Sword Emperor could not even be sure of that. If he were truly a demonic martial artist, he would at least be beyond the level of Unrestrained Demon.

However, considering that he felt his presence from the very start, he surely wasn’t inferior to the Sword Emperor.

“Are you suggesting we introduce ourselves?”

“If you’re a human and not a beast, that’s usually how it’s done.”

“Hahaha…”

Heuk-am laughed lowly.

It was a scoff, as if he heard something ridiculous.

“My name is simply Heuk-am. I abandoned the name I was given at birth, but are you curious about the discarded name? I didn’t know you’d cling to such trivial matters.”

“…”

The Sword Emperor was curious about the identity of the man before him.

He tried to gauge him, but there was nothing to guess. He was not among the Ten Grandmasters, but he was a greater martial master than anyone the Sword Emperor knew.

If the Sword Emperor had continued to stay in the hut, then he would have come to the hut, and then many disciples would have died.

Even if the Sword Emperor had tried to stop him, it probably would have happened.

The opponent was more dangerous than a thunderbolt exploding right in front of him.

“Are you from the Evil Cult?”

“That’s right.”

“…Cult Leader?”

If it wasn’t the Demon Cult, he thought it was the Evil Cult.

If Heuk-am was from the Evil Cult, then he thought he must be the Cult Leader himself.

However, Heuk-am denied it.

“No.”

The Sword Emperor felt shocked.

He had never imagined that someone who wasn’t even at the pinnacle of the Evil Cult could be so powerful. If his subordinate was this strong, what would the Cult Leader be like?

How on earth did the Immortal Divine Sword manage to kill the leader of the Evil Cult?

“I am not the Cult Leader, but there is no one above me except for the Cult Leader.”

“…I see.”

They call him not ‘Lord Cult Leader’ but just ‘Cult Leader.’ The informal way of addressing in an organization known for its strict hierarchy indicated that Heuk-am’s position was not merely that of a minion of the Cult Leader.

He felt somewhat relieved by this, but Heuk-am scoffed at the relieved Sword Emperor.

“Is that so important?”

“…”

“It seemed like you were finally understanding, but you are still deluded.”

“You sound like a nonsensical monk.”

The Sword Emperor felt a fighting spirit.

The fighting spirit emanating from Heuk-am was so intense that his whole body tingled. The purpose of the opponent was clear, even without words.

Heuk-am came here to face off against the Sword Emperor.

“Consider it bad luck. Had you died in that state, you would have departed peacefully, and had I not been waiting for you, you would have achieved what you desired.”

The Sword Emperor was unaware, but Heuk-am was also feeling ambivalent emotions.

One was the discomfort of being played by Mang-hon.

The Sword Emperor was destined to die. If that had happened, there would have been no need for Heuk-am, who was monitoring Wudang, to intervene.

The sole command of the only true leader of the Evil Cult he followed was not to deal with a dying Sword Emperor.

It was to eliminate any situation that could threaten the Evil Cult. A senile Absolute master was not a threat.

But many things had changed due to Mang-hon.

The Sword Emperor had revived. It wasn’t just that he had regained his senses; he was trying to spread his brilliant wings.

If the Sword Emperor had completely achieved his great achievement, he would certainly have become a threat to the Evil Cult Leader.

That’s why Heuk-am left the abandoned estate.

He revealed his presence and threatened the Sword Emperor. He halted the metamorphosis of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.

He felt anger about it.

If the Sword Emperor had completely shed his old self, Heuk-am would have felt the utmost joy.

For he would have gained the opportunity to fight a battle worth risking his life for.

“The explanation is over.”

But Heuk-am couldn’t do it.

An early harvester who came to pick the fruit before it was fully ripe. That was the role of Heuk-am.

“Now die.”

He did not draw his sword.

He merely spread his arms wide and rolled his feet on the ground.

Boom!

Just that caused a noise that shook the earth’s axis.

The snow piled up on the ground burst forth all at once.

In this place filled under the full sky with white snow, Heuk-am reached out his hand.

The space tore along the trajectory created by his hand.

At that moment, when the Sword Emperor’s upper body seemed to be torn horizontally. The Sword Emperor also widened his eyes.

The obscured vision was of no concern.

It was unlikely that Heuk-am was trying to obscure the Sword Emperor’s vision with a trick.

The Sword Emperor simply slashed with his sword as he felt.

The sword filled with Sword Aura tried to cut Heuk-am’s hand.

However, Heuk-am’s hand, not even surrounded by Hand Aura, instead swallowed the Sword Emperor’s Sword Aura.

Crash!

The newly acquired pine patterned sword’s tip was in a situation to be chopped off along with the Sword Aura.

The flying sword suddenly flowed down across the back of Heuk-am’s hand.

It then aimed to pierce Heuk-am’s heart but was retracted right before his face.

The Sword Emperor swiftly retreated backward.

“…!”

He had suffered a loss right from the first move trying to gauge his opponent.

Heuk-am had sized up the Sword Emperor, but the Sword Emperor could learn nothing about Heuk-am’s move.

What Heuk-am had wrapped around his hand was not Hand Aura. It was as if darkness, or something like darkness, was coiling around his hand.

Heuk-am frowned as if displeased.

“If you don’t want to die without understanding why, show everything you have.”

Although it was his destiny to harvest unripe fruit, he had no intention of completely giving up on the fruit that was the Sword Emperor.

He came to taste everything.

The Sword Emperor held his sword with a darker expression.

Heuk-am rolled his feet again.

Koo-woong!

This time, the earth’s axis trembled, and both rock fragments and a snowstorm erupted simultaneously.

The Sword Emperor did not hesitate to use his supreme ultimate technique.

The sword energy condensed into a tangible Sword Aura, and the Sword Aura compressed, wrapping around the pine patterned sword like a gem.

And then the fiercely swirling snowstorm and dust abruptly stopped.

The Sword Emperor’s supreme ultimate technique had advanced further than before.

The time across the entire wide basin seemed to freeze. Within it, the Sword Emperor moved as swiftly as the wind.

He was poised to instantly slice through Heuk-am’s motionless neck.

Heuk-am stood rigid.

Even Zhang Sanfeng, who was within Yi-gang’s body, needed time to resist the Sword Emperor’s supreme ultimate technique.

Much more so now than before. In the frozen time, the Sword Emperor’s sword could not be stopped.

It surely must have been so.

However, the Sword Emperor’s sword did not behead Heuk-am.

Thud—

At some moment, the sword was caught in Heuk-am’s hand.

The stopped snowstorm scattered in all directions again, obscuring the view.

Soon, the blizzard settled, and the visibility returned.

The Sword Emperor muttered to himself.

“Hmm…”

Had he seen an illusion? He thought momentarily, but he was certain that wasn’t the case.

Heuk-am had also used his own supreme ultimate technique.

Unlike the Sword Emperor, whose effects were clearly visible, the nature of Heuk-am’s supreme ultimate technique was difficult to guess.

“I’m sure I told you to show everything.”

Heuk-am reached out again towards the Sword Emperor’s neck.

The Sword Emperor unleashed his supreme ultimate technique once more.

He stopped time, and this time, he slashed at Heuk-am’s face.

Whoosh.

Time started to forcibly flow again.

The face of Heuk-am, which should have been pierced, was just an inch away from the sword.

“Fine, I’ll draw everything out myself.”

Heuk-am attempted to grab the Sword Emperor’s sword again.

When he defended using his supreme ultimate technique, it was blocked again.

This happened about three times.

From then on the Sword Emperor tried to stop time using his supreme ultimate technique, but time didn’t stop anymore.

Swoosh!

The tip of Heuk-am’s hand brushed past the Sword Emperor’s nose.

The view flickered intensely.

It was a critical moment; he almost lost his life.

The Sword Emperor realized why he could no longer unleash his supreme ultimate technique.

Heuk-am was becoming increasingly familiar with him, even countering the Sword Emperor’s supreme ultimate technique with his own.

It was so immediate that the Sword Emperor’s supreme ultimate technique was effectively sealed.

“If you cannot withstand this move, you will die.”

Heuk-am warned and then spread his hand.

He then pushed forward his fully spread palm like the Shaolin’s Demon-Breaking Palm.

His hand appeared to grow larger.

No, it must be an illusion. It felt so because a massive wall of Aura Qi, like an iron wall, was pushing towards him.

“Haat…!”

The Sword Emperor used the most profound move he could muster.

The pinnacle of the Soft Sword, which even stopped the explosion of Heaven-Shaking Thunder.

Taiji Wisdom Sword.

Selfless Azure Sky.

A brilliant golden light suffused the pine patterned sword held in the Sword Emperor’s hand.

The sword traced a graceful curve, forming the shape of Taiji.

And it clashed with the palm technique of Heuk-am, resembling a Great Hand Seal.

He couldn’t block everything.

Nor could he deflect it at all.

The Taiji was crushed by the black palm, and the Sword Emperor hidden behind the Taiji suffered the same fate.

He tried to dodge but couldn’t.

The sword and the right hand that caught it, the arm, the shoulder, and half of the upper body were smashed and flew away due to the wall of Aura Qi.

“Gulping.”

The Sword Emperor coughed up bright red blood.

His right hand was unharmed. His upper body hadn’t flown away.

What he saw was just an illusion.

However, it was not false; it was a reality that could certainly have happened.

Heuk-am commanded, “Show everything you’ve got.”

The Sword Emperor sensed his impending death.

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