‘Grandfather! Grandfather! Look at this! I learned the sword from Uncle Black Dragon today!’
The child first held a wooden sword when she was around four years old. She didn't even know how to hold the sword properly, and the image of her spinning around with it was still vivid in his mind. Whenever she happened to fall and get a scratch, she would burst into tears.
Even so, she would run to him, saying she loved it, and pester him for a sword sparring match. The child who returned after eight years had become an assassin. An assassin, at that, meant to bring down the Namgung.
“This grandfather is sorry for not being able to find you sooner.”
Namgung Mucheon’s expression was bitter as he stroked the hair of his granddaughter, who slept peacefully in his arms. The child’s martial strength was even greater than he had anticipated. The thought of how much she must have suffered for it made his heart ache.
How anxious she must have been, having to hide the sword techniques she possessed even after returning to the Namgung. Only now could he understand the child who had been so uneasy even after coming back home. Raised as an assassin for the Namgung, the child knew there was a force targeting them.
How frantic she must have been.
“Umm….”
The child furrowed her brow and shifted in his arms. Whatever she was dreaming, her face was scrunched in a deep frown. Namgung Mucheon infused a little more of his energy into the child’s body.
At that, her expression eased as if by magic. Soon, the child’s eyes fluttered open. She blinked with a dazed expression for a moment, then her eyes widened upon seeing Namgung Mucheon.
Thwack.
Namgung Mucheon lightly blocked the child’s jab with his palm.
“Did you sleep well?”
The child’s eyes grew wide again.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright.”
Seolhwa sat up. She was a little surprised to realize she had been lying in Namgung Mucheon’s arms.
‘Blue Dragon.’
In her dream, Seolhwa was in a field drenched in blood, killing people again and again. The faceless figures swarming from all sides were endless, no matter how many she killed, and the dead clung to her ankles, dragging her down. Just then, a blue dragon appeared from somewhere.
The moment the dragon, large enough to cover the sky, roared above her head, the endlessly swarming people, the spirits clinging to her ankles, and even the blood that soaked the ground completely vanished. Freed in an instant from a hell she could not escape, Seolhwa looked up at the Blue Dragon. In that moment, someone whispered in her ear.
‘Kill it.’
‘That is the target you must kill.’
‘Kill it! Now!’
That cruel voice filled her mind. Seolhwa reflexively threw a punch.
And now.
The moment she saw Namgung Mucheon, the voices tormenting her vanished all at once, like mist.
‘My body feels refreshed.’
Just like in the dream where the Blue Dragon appeared and made everything disappear, her body felt light.
“The hypnosis has been completely severed.”
Seolhwa looked back at Namgung Mucheon.
“Try circulating your energy. I said I would treat your internal injuries, but it would be best for you to confirm it yourself.”
Seolhwa nodded and sat down. Just as she was about to start circulating her Inner Energy with the Namgung’s internal method.
‘…I should probably tell him I learned the internal method from Father, right?’
The thought crossed her mind, and she lifted her head, but Namgung Mucheon’s voice came a beat faster.
“It seems you know the Namgung’s martial arts well.”
“…!”
Seolhwa froze.
‘In the end… I used it.’
The martial art to counter the Namgung was one she had created in her previous life by studying their techniques. She had not learned it in this life, but sure enough, her subconscious had brought out even the arts from her past life.
“Were you raised to be an adversary of the Namgung?”
Seolhwa quietly nodded.
“Are there many others who learned that martial art?”
“I created this art myself by studying the Namgung’s martial arts. I’ve never taught it to anyone.”
It wasn’t for nothing that her title in her past life was the Heaven-Destroying Sword. The sword that destroys the heavens. It was a title she earned because she had created a martial art that could dismantle the Namgung’s techniques.
“That is a relief.”
Namgung Mucheon stroked his chin. He let out a hearty laugh.
“Haha.”
“…?”
“I see now why they are chasing you. How furious they must be to have lost such a talented individual.”
Hahahaha.
It was a laugh of both satisfaction and pride.
“Can you help the Namgung with your martial art?”
“Help?”
“Your techniques seem to pierce through the weaknesses of the Namgung’s martial arts. It wouldn't be a big problem for those who have mastered a Namgung art, but mastering a single martial art is no easy feat.”
Seolhwa nodded.
There were those who devoted their entire lives to mastering a single martial art.
“Could your martial art not serve as a good stimulus to help supplement those areas?”
“…!”
A martial art that counters the Namgung's techniques. If they used that counter-art as a lesson to improve upon the weaknesses of the Namgung's arts, then?
“If we do that, the Namgung’s martial arts could also take another leap forward.”
Namgung Mucheon looked at Seolhwa with an appreciative gaze.
“The roots of the Namgung you spoke of might just grow even stronger.”
Seolhwa was surprised at herself. She had intended to use her past life’s memories to strengthen the Namgung, so why hadn’t she thought of this? She had been so focused on hiding the counter-art that she overlooked its potential to supplement the Namgung’s techniques.
Revealing her martial art to Namgung Mucheon because of the Blood Demon’s hypnosis had turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
“Yes.”
Seolhwa nodded repeatedly.
“Yes. I can do it.”
“Good. I will speak to the Martial Studies Hall Master. He is a peculiar fellow… but he is sincere when it comes to martial studies, so he will be pleased.”
‘The Martial Studies Hall Master. Namgung Mugang.’
Seolhwa recalled the Namgung Mugang she had seen in her previous life. He was Namgung Mucheon’s younger brother, a man with a large build like Namgung Mucheon's third son, Namgung Cheongsan. His boisterous and belligerent nature was also similar to Namgung Cheongsan’s, with one difference: his love for alcohol.
‘I remember his nose was always red whenever I saw him.’
His martial strength was on par with or slightly higher than that of the supreme master Seop Mugwang. Though their realms were the same, skill levels could vary greatly even within the same realm. Namgung Mugang was renowned for his strength among supreme masters.
‘In my past life, he was an individual who was said to have been able to reach the Transformation Realm if not for his drinking.’
He died by her hand. On the day Namgung Mucheon died at the hands of the Blood Demon, she had laced his wine with a poison that scattered one’s Blood Energy. Drowned in sorrow, he failed to notice that something was wrong with his drink.
Disposing of him when he couldn’t use his full strength was an easy task for Seolhwa.
‘In this life, I’ll have to tell him to be careful with his drinking.’
Every single master was part of the Namgung’s strength, and she couldn’t allow one of the top three fighters in the family to die so easily.
“And as for that martial art, let us say you researched it after you came to the Namgung.”
At Namgung Mucheon’s words, Seolhwa tilted her head.
“Will people believe that?”
That she had researched and dismantled a martial art in such a short time?
“Because you are my granddaughter.”
“That’s true.”
Being Namgung Mucheon’s granddaughter was a convenient position in many ways.
“Now, circulate your energy.”
“Yes.”
Seolhwa corrected her posture and immediately began to circulate her Inner Energy.
Fwoosh….
The clear energy filling the training grotto began to gather around her. Namgung Mucheon sat across from her, watching his granddaughter circulate her Inner Energy. Seeing the color of the energy rising around the child's body, Namgung Mucheon’s expression hardened slightly.
‘Red energy.’
Although she was clearly circulating her energy with the Namgung’s internal method, the aura surrounding the child was tinged with red.
‘…A blood-red sky.’
Countless Namgung person had learned the same internal method, but never before had anyone’s energy been red. The red tinge of the child's energy was likely because death had nested in her heart.
‘An ominous color. However, is it not a sky that evokes more fear than any other?’
A clear azure sky, a cloudy sky, a sunset sky—they were all the same sky. The only thing that mattered was that the child’s energy followed the energy of the heavens.
‘To think the Azure Sky Grand Evolution Divine Art is at the fifth stage.’
Namgung Mucheon was genuinely impressed. He had merely loosened the reins, yet the child's achievement was astonishingly great. Even if she already knew the Namgung's martial arts, to reach the fifth stage at once was unbelievable.
Only the color of her energy was red; the aura flowing from her was otherwise endlessly clear and pure.
Fwoooosh….
A short while later, Seolhwa finished circulating her energy and opened her eyes. She looked down at her hands.
“I guess I can’t be a blue sky.”
“The color of one’s energy is not important. What matters is what you do with that power. Your will is already with the heavens, so pay it no mind. How does your body feel?”
“Not bad.”
“Then let us begin the Bone Marrow Cleansing at once.”
“Yes.”
“Lie down.”
Seolhwa blinked.
“Lie down?”
Wasn’t it done while sitting?
“Bone Marrow Cleansing is a grand technique that puts a great strain on the body. It is best to receive it in the most comfortable position.”
The bones and muscles twist, and the meridians are forcibly opened. Normally, there were cases where one would pass out during the procedure from being unable to bear the pain. It was a dangerous technique for that reason and not one attempted lightly.
‘I suppose I should consider it a relief that she is dull to pain.’
Namgung Mucheon sat beside his granddaughter, who was lying on the floor. He let out a small laugh as he looked at his granddaughter gazing up at him with bright, clear eyes.
“Close your eyes, but do not fall asleep.”
“Yes.”
Seolhwa closed her eyes. Namgung Mucheon’s thick hand was placed over her Dantian.
“If it hurts, don’t hold back and let it out. If possible, it is good to feel the flow of energy.”
Energy rapidly gathered in Namgung Mucheon’s palm. Immediately after, from the point where his hand met Seolhwa’s Dantian, a deep blue energy burst forth, as if exploding.