A pause in space and time—
With this, Mumu had torn down the boundaries of reality, and light and darkness had begun to intersect.
Seeing this, the white-haired man clicked his tongue.
‘I was worried that this would happen.’
The other side beyond the boundary was trying to draw Mumu in.
Even if he tried to endure it, the boy would have no choice because this was the logic of these things.
‘I thought it would take at least 20 years or so.’
The boy had broken through those expectations. Mumu’s bands had been made using the purest form of iron.
At one time, there was a well-known saying that this material would allow anyone to open the six points within their body. However, as time passed, cultivation was used to create the purest and cleanest metal to restrain energy.
And how could a band that was strong enough to suppress a spirit beast break like this?
‘Was this child born with the energy of heaven, earth, sun, and moon right from the womb?’
The probability was close to one in a million.
The energy of heaven had distorted, and for one hidden moment, Mumu’s existence was already in a realm that transcended humans.
As long as he didn’t learn martial arts or cover growth principles, he had thought that this child would be able to live like an ordinary boy.
However, this only resulted in something else.
‘… A mistake in the plan.’
Instead, it seemed like the boy had grown even more.
By looking at the surroundings, he could tell that Mumu’s power was exponentially more than when the bands suppressed it.
This was no longer a state where he could ignore it.
‘Was it right to leave him alone?’
For a moment, the man wasn’t sure.
Mumu had already gone beyond the realm of humanity. He wasn’t sure if he should let this kind of human stay alive.
But he felt a tug when he looked at Mumu’s attempt to resist the world’s logic.
Pat!
Clack!
The old man placed the band back atop Mumu’s left wrist just as the boy was about to be dragged to the other side.
The light and darkness disappeared as soon as the band was placed back on, and the world’s broken boundary returned to normal as if nothing had happened.
“If it was just a little later, it would have been a mess.”
“Uh?”
Mumu looked at him, puzzled.
‘White.’
Mumu noticed the old man’s bright expression and felt warmth from him. This warm energy was only around the old man.
“Who are you?”
“Ah. It has been so long.”
“Been so long? So you know me.”
“I am sure.”
“Really? But I am meeting grandfather for the first time?”
“Hehehe.”
At Mumu’s words, the old man burst into laughter.
He thought that Mumu would have been stained by violence due to the traces of the fight he saw. On the contrary, however, the child was still quite innocent.
‘It was right to leave him to the scholar.’
Mumu’s stepfather wasn’t someone who knew about cultivation or warrior training but was a man who had pure energy within him.
So he had entrusted Mumu to him. It wasn’t the wrong choice.
Although it was invisible to the eyes of ordinary people, the bright light within Mumu was clear and innocent without a single blemish.
‘Thank god.’
This was what allowed Mumu to resist the pull. The old man then said,
“You saw me when you were young.”
“But I don’t remember.”
“Don’t try hard to remember it. We will always cross the road if we go along the right path.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means that, naturally, we would end up meeting.”
Mumu tilted his head at those words and then asked with curiosity,
“Uh? But grandfather, how did you get those strength-controlling bands?”
He could see three more bands in the old man’s hands. He had been sure that they had been broken.
To that question, the man answered.
“I brought them because you left them.”
“Ah…”
“I thought they would last for 20 years, but they couldn’t stand your strength.”
“Uh?”
Mumu’s eyes widened. This man knew about these bands, then?
“How does grandfather know about them?”
“Why wouldn’t I know? This old man is the one who gave them to you.”
“Uh? Grandfather did?”
Until now, Mumu had thought that these bands were given to him by his parents. Now, for the first time, he found out the truth.
Mumu asked,
“Why did you have to put them on? According to my father, I have had them since I was a baby… then maybe…”
“No. No. It isn’t what you are thinking.”
“Ah… I thought you were my real grandfather or something.”
“Hehehe. Not that.”
The old man smiled broadly at those innocent words.
Looking at Mumu, it seemed like he had grown up without knowing his real parents. There was nothing that could be done about his wish to see them.
Mumu then asked,
“Then why did grandfather have to put them on me?”
“Didn’t you feel it before?”
“Uh?”
What did he mean? Was he talking about that weird phenomenon?
“Didn’t you feel like the world stopped just now, and the light and darkness began to intertwine into a path that was leading you?”
“Path?”
“Right.”
“Are you talking about that force that was pulling me in?”
The old man nodded and answered,
“That is called the Logic of the World.”
“What is that?”
At his question, the old man took a light breath before saying.
“It is like the causality of everything.”
“Causality?”
“Yes, it is a bit difficult, but it is like order, karma, fate.”
Mumu’s expression became more confused at his words as he could not understand.
At this, the old man reached out to a fallen branch.
Tak!
He held the branch and drew a circle on the sand.
“Everything that is born has its own path and order, and it is known to be a moral order. But this ring isn’t limited to just one but innumerable.”
“Innumerable?”
“Yes.”
Shhh!
The old man began drawing circles and ovals over the original circle.
Each time they overlapped, a type of sphere would be formed.
“The Logic of the World creates numerous cycles that are constantly evolving. Normally, there shouldn’t be a way out of this circle.”
“Um..”
“Our lives don’t always stray away from this line and the circles drawn, and they stay within the loop. That is how fate works. As you can see, there are too many overlapping circles.”
“So difficult.”
“You don’t have to understand it all. Simply put, it is rare, but there are cases where they deviate from the circle once in a while.”
An existence outside the eye of heaven. Mumu was born there.
So the heavens were trying to take him back.
“… Are you saying I am out of this loop?”
“That is correct. Usually, you would need to train for a long time to even see the rings that would lead you out. In Buddhism, it is referred to as a shell.”
“Shell?”
“It’s just a word that is used. Those who cross this border are known to be supreme beings, transcendents, and more.”
Mumu tilted his head.
“Then… you mean I almost ended up going to a higher plane?”
“Well, simply put, yes.”
“Is it a huge deal if one transforms into one of the supreme beings?”
“If you crossed the border you saw, you would never be able to return. It is because you have already broken out of this loop.”
“But why did I?”
“The band had always played a role in suppressing your strength from breaking out.”
“This?”
Mumu raised his left hand.
Chik!
“… Ah.”
The band was already burning red and continued to glow.
‘Just one isn’t enough.’
The old man saw this and bit his lip.
Woong!
The other bands moved as two of them merged into one. As they merged, a five-colored band was formed, and he came to place it on Mumu.
At that moment, the red band joined it as well.
“Uh?”
The bands had been made of steel and looked like such in the past. However, now it was gold.
Crack!
Mumu’s muscles which had begun to swell up were slowly shrinking.
“Uh? This…”
And…
“It… is heavy.”
Mumu felt his body become heavier than before.
It felt much heavier than when he placed the dial on eight. This band also seemed to be suppressing more of his strength.
Mumu wondered why as he looked at the band and noticed that the dial had been changed from eight to ten.
“… There is a reason why it turned heavy.”
The old man then said,
“This is the original form of the band.”
“This is?”
“Right. Without this, it seems like it can no longer bear your strength.”
“…”
“I don’t have much time, so let’s just talk about this.”
“Uh? You don’t have time?”
The old man smiled and said,
“If possible, never take the bands off your body. Your power is already above the realms of normality. If you take it off and lose control like you did now, the path will open up once again to pull you to the other side.”
“… And I can not come back if I leave?”
“At least not until you learn to control it.”
Mumu looked a bit uneasy at this.
“Um. So there would be a way if I could control it?”
This question made the old man look at Mumu.
Despite reforming the complete form of the bands, he wasn’t sure how long they would last. In the end, he was sure they would meet again.
‘Control it by yourself…’
Mumu had been born with the energy of heaven, earth, moon, and sun. His body was already above any other.
Instead of trying to cultivate clear energy, it would be better to cultivate his mind.
The old man then said,
“Then will you follow this old man into his clan and try to hone yourself?”
“What do you mean?”
“I am talking about becoming a monk.”
“… Don’t they live in the mountains?”
“Hehehe. You are right.”
“That is…”
Mumu had already lived 17 years of his life in the mountains.
He didn’t want to become a monk and live there in isolation from other people. Seeing Mumu’s reaction, the old man nodded in satisfaction.
‘This is good.’
He pulled something out of his sleeves. The item was similar to a pouch. As soon as he opened it, something large popped out of it.
“Uh?”
Seeing Mumu’s curiosity, the old man smiled. The pouch was small, but it could hold a lot of things.
As he turned the pouch upside down, a black stone tablet emerged.
On it was a poem.
‘Uh?’
Mumu’s eyes shone.
Something about the black stone tablet looked familiar.
He looked at it with puzzlement as the old man said,
“This is a part of the enlightenment left by the sages who had left the way of martial arts long ago.”
“Enlightenment?”
“This is the second half of it, and it is engraved with the intent for those who read it to engrave it and to achieve a pure energy to hold their ground.”
“You are saying to cultivate the mind?”
“Even though the first half of it isn’t intact, what you need is to discipline the mind and control yourself, so this will be of great help.”