Seo Ran hardens her expression and looks at Seo Eun-hyun and Kim Yeon.
Until now, her parents have never worn such stern expressions.
And immediately after—
Seo Eun-hyun speaks.
"...Go inside, Ran-ah. From now on, you are forbidden from entering the city. If you want to meet with Kang Min-hee or the others like before, they will be called here instead of you going out. Do you understand? Within a month...an enormous disaster will befall the city."
Faced with Seo Eun-hyun's icy warning, she silently nods her head.
And it does not even take a full month for her and the Seo Eun-hyun family to confirm the identity of that 'disaster'.
"So it was drugs."
I mutter as if spitting out the words, gazing at the bandits who've died before me.
They have died from drug overdose, and right now, such drugs are circulating incessantly around Jeongyeong City.
According to what I heard, the inside of the city is supposedly dozens of times more saturated with drugs than the outside.
Step, step—
It's when I 'clean up' the path at the foot of Sword Peak Mountain that heads toward my home.
From a distance, familiar footsteps approach.
"Have you been well, Seo Eun-hyun?"
"As usual. How's the inside, Kang Min-hee?"
The only one among us who chose to disguise herself as someone of Seo Ran's age, not to become an 'adult' who protects her, but to be her 'friend'.
It's Kang Min-hee.
"It's the worst. Drugs being sold dirt cheap all the way from the Seo Kingdom have taken over the market. The emperor of Hyun Kingdom might declare war on the Seo Kingdom any time now. And...right now, Seo Kingdom is..."
"I know."
I recall the meteorite that fell to the west a few days ago.
That meteorite was no ordinary rock.
All of us who were there that day saw it with our own eyes.
'A massive Salt Crystal... In other words, a massive lump of ancient force fell from the sky.'
And that tremendous chunk of history crashed down, shaking the very axis of this planet and revising history at an absurd revel.
Countless histories were incorporated into this planet's own, and from the distant past—
The 'flow of eras' created by past Enders began to emerge atop this world.
She speaks.
"Sal Tree has begun to exert his power. As you already know...he's trying to imprison our egos into this world and crush us beneath the flow of the era until we're ground to death. After drugs spread and war breaks out, the civilization of this country will advance ahead rapidly...and the world will become one where Ran can encounter new fates every day, just like she wanted."
Kang Min-hee's face is stiff.
I, too, nod with a hardened expression.
We had never intended to create something like cultivators in this world.
We only planned to create a modest martial world, stimulate Ran, and make her the strongest under the heavens.
'That plan has become meaningless now.'
"The only ones outside are Oh Hye-seo and Hong Fan. And there are still about 600 years left before we can reach the place where the Heavenly Venerable of Time resides... For those remaining 600 years, we have to endure and survive the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable's attacks no matter what."
Kang Min-hee clenches both fists tightly.
"I'll go around with Jeon Myeong-hoon and the others to try and stop the flow of the era from progressing to buy us time. You two use that time to recover as much power as possible with Seo Ran. I don't know about us...but you two. At least you and Kim Yeon...must never be swept away by the era."
"..."
"You two are that child's mom and dad... Got it? Even if she seems frustrated with you two...she's still just a kid, and she relies on you far more than you imagine."
I nod as I listen to Kang Min-hee's words.
"...I'll take that to heart. Thank you."
"Hmph...whatever. Then move aside. I came today because I've got things to say to Ran."
Kang Min-hee says so and walks past us toward the house.
The only one among us who doesn't act as an adult looking after Seo Ran, but as a friend walking alongside her—Kang Min-hee.
For some reason, I get a powerful feeling that, among all of us, the one who will survive the longest with Seo Ran under Sal Tree's hand...
Will be Kang Min-hee.
"Hee Unnie..."
"Uigo Seo Ran, you brat. What's with the long face?"
Seo Ran throws her arms around Kang Min-hee, who has come to see her despite the situation being dire.
"Let go. I'll explain what's going on first. And I'll tell you what to do if something urgent happens, so listen carefully."
Kang Min-hee slips out of Seo Ran's hug and pulls out a few items she has brought with her.
"First...according to what the merchant group has investigated, Seo Kingdom is currently selling large quantities of drugs into this country. And there's a high probability that the Hyun Kingdom's royal family will declare war on Seo Kingdom. But...we're going to lose to Seo Kingdom."
"Pardon? But the Hyun Kingdom's martial world is the largest and strongest on the continent, and the martial arts of the royal guards are..."
"I know, they're strong. But that's all. We didn't create cultivation sects on this planet so you wouldn't be put in too much danger...no, never mind. There's no point in talking about that now, so I'll skip it... Anyway, what's important is this."
Kang Min-hee rummages through the belongings she brought with her and pulls something out.
And Seo Ran's eyes shine as she sees the silver object Kang Min-hee has taken out.
"What...is this, Unnie?"
"It's called a gun. It operates using the same kind of gunpowder you saw in those fireworks before...a deadly weapon. Come with me."
Kang Min-hee takes Seo Ran outside, loads the gun called a handgun, and points it at a large tree in front of the house.
"If you want to cover your ears, do it. It's pretty loud."
"Huh?"
Taaang!
Immediately after, when Kang Min-hee pulls the trigger, fire and smoke burst from the muzzle, and the bullet lodges into the tree.
"Ugh, my ears hurt."
"Did you see that, Seo Ran?"
"...Yes. It's incredibly fast."
Seo Ran nods, as if she understands what Kang Min-hee is worried about.
"Even I, who've trained in the Hyun Style Fighting Method, found it hard to follow with my eyes. But...if that's what a gun is, using gunpowder to produce that kind of speed and power, then it seems manageable. If they're mass-produced and given to soldiers, it might be a bit troublesome...but I don't think it's to the point that the peak masters of Hyun Kingdom won't be able to stop them."
"...Well, that's the normal reaction if you've only seen this much. But Ran-ah, watch closely. The flow of the era isn't something you can ignore so easily."
Woo-woooong!
Kang Min-hee begins infusing ghostly energy into the gun.
"...!"
Piyook!
Immediately after, when Kang Min-hee pulls the trigger again, the bullet fires this time without making any audible sound, aside from the tiniest trace of a click.
Pukwak!
The bullet pierces clean through the large tree she had aimed at and embeds itself deep into the rock behind it, to the depth of an entire arm.
"Guns have something called rifling. When you infuse internal power into the rifling, it maximizes its function, spinning the bullet to an extreme degree and boosting its penetration power to the peak. Moreover, when you envelop the gun with internal power, it's possible to eliminate sound entirely. And that's not the end."
Wooooooong!
Kang Min-hee infuses internal power into the gun once more and fires again.
Piyuk!
Again, only the faintest sound rings out, and in the next moment—
Tukwaaang!
The massive tree Kang Min-hee shoots explodes, leaving a hole the size of a human head in it.
"If you infuse the bullet, not the gun, with internal power, you can add properties to the bullet upon firing. What I did just now was maximize the explosive power and area of effect. Since the essence of Qi is explosion, it's possible to draw out that fundamental force through gunpowder and guns."
"..."
"And none of this requires a peak master. As long as Seo Kingdom soldiers train their internal energy for about three months, and then go through just a month of regimented training, all of this becomes possible. Can you imagine it, Ran-ah? Seo Kingdom soldiers, all wielding these deadly weapons, will conquer this country.
"No matter how hard Hyun Kingdom's martial artists, who aren't even cultivators, fight...they'll be wiped out. There might even be lunatics who lose their minds and claim the Seo Kingdom bastards are using Fire Arts, and try to counter it with Yin energy by smearing women's excrement on the city walls and throwing it."
Shuk—
Kang Min-hee hands the gun to Seo Ran and speaks.
"It's not as fantastical as the fireworks your parents prepared, but...it's my own practical birthday gift to you. Take it, Seo Ran. When you reach the standard your parents mean by 'number one under the heavens', I'm sure even these powerful weapons won't matter... But until you reach that level, survive this chaotic era with this."
And so, that day, Seo Ran gains a new means of escape from the Martial Arts she never liked.
After Seo Ran received the gun from Kang Min-hee—
Just as Min-hee said, the world began to change rapidly.
Hyun Kingdom and Seo Kingdom went to war, and as she predicted, Hyun Kingdom suffered a crushing defeat.
Even the martial arts that boast countless deep-rooted histories, the various orthodox and devilish internal energy methods that exist in Hyun Kingdom, all proved useless.
Because that simple yet terrifying weapon called a 'gun,' once infused with a little internal energy, displays a horrifying power that tears through even martial arts with long-standing histories.
Even a third-rate martial artist who has just begun cultivating internal energy, with a bit of regimented training and a bit of internal energy infused into the gun, is sufficient to kill a peak master.
The entire nation, including the capital Jeongyeong City, was turned upside down.
The once-esteemed position of peak masters, achieved through powerful martial arts and intense self-discipline, became meaningless.
You can sense the enemy's intention to strike beforehand?
You know the optimal trajectory for attack?
It doesn't matter. If the speed of the bullet is maximized with shooting arts that infuse internal energy into the gun, then whether you know the intention or the direction of the attack, you won't be able to dodge or block anyways, and will just get shot and killed.
So what if you know the optimal trajectory for attack?
It's meaningless if you have no means of long-range response anyway.
At least those who have become peak masters through the bow have a slight chance of resistance, but even then, guns can fire continuously and conduct volleys far more easily than archers, so they are swept away without contest.
In this disparity created not by Martial Arts but by technological gap, Hyun Kingdom is utterly defeated by Seo Kingdom.
Seo Kingdom either occupies various regions of Hyun Kingdom as concession territories or demands reparations, and several of its corporations enter Hyun Kingdom, introducing numerous modern innovations—starting with something called the railroad.
In that era of upheaval, Seo Ran and her parents survive.
And five years have passed since Seo Ran first received the gun.
Seo Ran becomes an adult.
The day before Seo Ran's twentieth birthday.
I, ironically—
No, not ironically. Most likely, just as the Heavenly Venerable of the Sal Tree intended—
Only on this day do I learn the method to regain my main body and leave the Unruly Realm to reach the Nether Treading Ship.
'Death.'
Yes.
If I am liberated from this body and freed from the laws of this world, I can immediately regain my main body.
And...
Worried about the outside world, I begin to weigh whether I should leave or not.
'Should I go...or not?'
In this world where the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable has played his hand and sealed away all forms of authority, I am powerless.
Creating a clone or another incarnation is impossible. The only option is to discard this body I wear.
And that means...
I must leave behind my daughter, who still has not awakened to her fate and cannot withstand our main bodies, and inflict upon her the wound of parental death.
'Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable...'
By this point, I clearly understand what the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable wants.
Sal Tree wants to separate me from the one I love most in the most brutal way possible...
And through that, make me awaken to my fate.
This is the level of scheming that a Heavenly Venerable operates on.
In direct confrontation, he may only be my equal...
But when he begins to shake the entire situation from behind the scenes through prophecy and Immortal Arts,
Then none of us can easily resist the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable.
'What am I supposed to do...?'
If I want to protect my daughter and family from the flow of the era as prophesied by Sal Tree,
I must abandon this body and return to my main form to confront Sal Tree's prophecies and Immortal Arts aboard the Nether Treading Ship.
But to confront Sal Tree, I will be leaving my daughter with the cruelest kind of parting,
And that will directly trigger my fate's development that Sal Tree desires.
Forced into this ultimatum by the Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, I begin to contemplate what I must choose.