Baek Sogo stared at her hair in the mirror, which had turned completely white.
Many things had happened, starting with the return to the Mountain of Mush. She spent over half a decade with double the amount of punishments than she started with her first time there. Now, she had just spent over 1,000 years in the Trial of Time given by Denir, the God of Time.
It took her another few years to fully catch up to the level of skill she had accomplished within the Trial of Time.
So now, Baek Sogo was finally leaving the quarters she had been staying in with Denir, where she had trained herself up to her current level.
She tucked away the pocket-sized mirror she had kept on her person. She felt that the face of herself in the mirror was unfamiliar to her.
Even her dark, jet-black hair had turned white. Her eyes were even turning white as well. Baek Sogo pressed down on her temples. Her time in the Trial of Time given by Denir had come with many side effects.
She hadn’t spent decades, or hundreds of years. She spent a whole 1,000 years in a space of nothingness, only training with herself and mental projections of opponents.
The martial arts she had originally learned, was re-written and newly formed, as she continuously trained, gained enlightenment and trained even more. Her martial arts that were learned systematically through the Murim Alliance, were completely gone from her repertoire.
She had gotten incomparably stronger than before.
It was an absolute fact. Mush’s blessing also served a purpose inside the spiritual world. Thanks to this, Baek Sogo was able to perfectly traverse and break through the wall to Transcendence.
Before entering the mountain of Mush again, Baek Sogo blindly followed orders and instructions given to her by the Murim Alliance.
However, she had become completely shocked when she was unaware of just how blindly she followed the questionable orders of the Alliance. In order to pursue her own ideals of justice and not have to bend down to anyone else’s ideals, she had become strong enough to not be pushed around in the world.
Her beliefs of upholding justice were…. different from others. At least they were different from the Murim Alliance.
The Alliance had continuously disappointed her and even made her re-think exactly what justice was.
How clueless was she? How many times had she turned a blind eye to death and incorrect prosecution of other martial artists? Several times, Baek Sogo had reformed her ideals and thoughts about the Murim Alliance.
The Orthodox and Unorthodox Sects, as well as political factions.
It was meaningless to her now. It was simply a label that blurred the truth.
There was no such thing as righteousness or justice when one served a political agenda. She felt herself to be a complete fool back when she was a part of the Alliance.
They never moved unless it was to satisfy their own greedy needs, and Baek Sogo was now aware of just how corrupt both factions truly were.
The consistent news of Lee Sungmin that she had heard about, she knew could not be true. The political factions just tarnished the reputations of others for their own gain. But what did they have to gain by tarnishing the reputation of him?Regardless, it was only when one truly became powerful enough to not be pushed around, were they able to pursue their own ideals.
Who in the world had the right to judge others’ morality and judgment? The only person able to judge someone else’s morality and ideals was their own self. And the only thing they could do was to judge it in comparison to their own.
Baek Sogo was no different from others. She did not view herself to be above or below any other individual. She was her own person.
Humans were always trying to dictate who was right or wrong, and Baek Sogo was no different. The only thing was, was that she knew that she was no different.
She knew she was placing a double standard on herself, and that her views were flawed. But that was simply how life was.
Because she knew this standard, she didn’t know what to do now. Well…. She had some idea.
‘I want to see a Priest.’
One of the people in the world who held religious beliefs. But unlike others, religious people were ones that gave things up for something other than themselves.
But the priest she wanted to see was a different type of priest than the religious one. It was a man who put himself in dangerous situations for others’ benefits, with nothing to himself. It was Lee Sungmin. He was this ‘Priest’ who had saved Baek Sogo, with nothing to gain from it.
She knew. He was now the successor to the Sama Order.
He was part of the group that was deemed ‘evil’ by the Murim Alliance. The formal successor to the Demonic Emperor, Sima Ryunju. But was it really the case that he was evil?
‘But, the Demonic Practitioners are vile sometimes.’
It was arrogant and narrow-minded to say that all Demonic Practitioners and Unorthodox Martial Artists were evil though. It was only the select few that were truly evil by Baek Sogo’s standards.
‘You’ve become more well-known in your own right.’Lee Sungmin, who had learned martial art techniques from her, was able to gain the martial nickname ‘Ghost Spear’ by killing ‘Solitary Blade’ Dokgo when he had murdered the head of the Volcanic Sect.
At around that time, Lee Sungmin was one of the rising stars within the talents known by all the political factions. Both Unorthodox and Orthodox Sects included. But at some point, he had now become the main star under the limelight.
When Baek Sogo had descended down the Mountain of Mush, she gathered the information of the outside that she had missed over the years through Erebrisa. In particular, the large amounts of notorious rumors about Lee Sungming, the Ghost Spear.
He was accused of murdering the Ironclad in plain sight, along with the murders of Zhuge Taeryong and Murong Seojin, and had become the successor of the Sama Order, the Young Leader that would succeed the Demonic Emperor, Sima Ryunju.
There had to be a reason for it right? Baek Sogo needed to talk to him to know the truth. She was curious to know what had truly happened and how he was doing in order to know what was going on.
The group called the Murim Alliance, which she had turned her back on, was likely to have falsely accused him. All this did was raise more questions for Baek Sogo.
However, what kind of misconception would there have to be in order for him to be the successor of the Sama Order? That much didn’t seem to be fake to her.
‘I can go to see you now.’
It was meaningless to think about it any further and decided to go. Baek Sogo turned to the direction of Hadras with the idea of going directly to the Sama Order Headquarters..
It would be a long trip. Hadras was very far from her location, but she did not intend to rush herself.
Before going to Hadras and meeting with Lee Sungmin, she intended to face the world that she had not seen before in full, and had even turned a blind eye towards.
She remembered what Denir had told her.
‘You have to be a dagger.’
Before leaving, Denir had said this to her. Baek Sogo did not understand what Denir meant by saying this at first.
As Mush did, Denir had also made Baek Sogo his incarnation.
Baek Sogo was also unsure of why Denir had made her his incarnation.
* * *
The City of Nerod had a very strong human being within it. It was home to the Tang Family.
‘The Sword of the Wudang is also very close by.’
Lee Sungmin was not here for the man known as the Sword of the Wudang. He was here to kill An Zun, who was a Transcendent warrior who had nearly killed him a couple years back.
But there was one person who could still worry Lee Sungmin. The Sword of the Wudang Sect, Geom-Seong, known also as ‘The Samurai’.
Geom-Seong was one of the 3 absolutes. The 3 absolute masters in the world that Sima Ryunju was part of.
‘Musin, the Sword of the Wudang and… my master.’
Lee Sungmin was finally acknowledging Sima Ryunju as his master.
Lee Sungmin could not possibly know who would be the strongest of the three, since he had never met the other two, but it was impossible for Lee Sungmin to confront a master martial artist who had equal power with Sima Ryunju.
Lee Sungmin could not imagine Sima Ryunju being defeated or in trouble with his monstrous strength, and knew precisely how capable the man Sima Ryunju was if he got serious. Lee Sungmin knew that he could not possibly defeat his master, so it was an obvious outcome if he tried to confront someone of his master’s level.
The only comforting thing that Sima Ryunju had left Lee Sungmin with was the information that Geom-Seong rarely came down from the Muhal Mountains, where he was secluded in training.
That, and he told Lee Sungmin to never be aggressive towards Geom-Seong first, since he could kill him within seconds.
(T/N : Following conversation is a past conversation with Lee Sungmin and Sima Ryunju and the format is self explanatory. But if you have questions about it, leave them below and I’ll try and answer them.)
– It’s possible that you will encounter Geom Seong, you brat. Never antagonize him unless you want to die. He’s a rather weird and particular individual, so he’s unpredictable. But, do know this : if he wanted, your head would be rolling on the floor before you even knew it.
– You want me to just walk into a tiger’s den alone and not fight back?
– As I said, just don’t antagonize him first in the case that you meet him. There’s a chance you won’t even meet him. But, there’s no way for you to fight against him, since his sword will never miss its target once he is determined to cut someone down.
Lee Sungmin was unsure at first when Sima Ryunju told him that he would die without even knowing if Geom-Seong wanted. But, there was no way he would ignore his master’s words, since they did contain wisdom of fighting against those called the strongest in the world.
The Sword of the Wudang was simply that powerful.
Lee Sungmin pondered on it as he adjusted the new armor underneath his clothes. It was the new magic armor that the Dwarven Chief, Mckendor and Selgerus had made for him using the leather and scales of the Dragon’s remains he had brought them.
He took the time to stop before he left, and test his new armor out. It was extremely conductive to his internal energy and amplified it to an absurd degree. What was even more pleasing was just how much his Draconic Energy felt in tune with it. His Dragon Fear was a completely new power when used in conjunction with the armor.
He finally had gained time to stop by the Dwarven Village, as he had been hoping to for the past few years, and it was the perfect time to get these new items, as he had faced a wall where he could not confront those stronger than him unless he had these incredible and legendary items.
Lee Sungmin was immensely satisfied when he first tried it on.
Even if he didn’t coat himself with his internal energy, he would be able to take attacks from an early stage Transcendent martial artist with the armor alone and come out without a scratch. Of course, that didn’t mean that he could go experimenting like that, but he was confident that even if his master attacked him in earnest, and he amplified his internal energy with it, he would at minimum be able to defend properly.
In addition, a variety of enchantments were added to the armor as a gift by Scarlett when he came back from the Dwarven Village to the Sama Order.
It had the highest level of auxiliary enchantments Scarlett could cast on it. It was made to be incredibly lightweight, could repair itself if it ever did happen to get scratched, and even regenerate minor wounds on his body in the areas it did not cover.
Although Sima Ryunju had said Lee Sungmin would die immediately back then, when he saw the armor Lee Sungmin had brought back, he was inclined to change his mind, but didn’t say anything.
However, despite how impressive the armor was, Lee Sungmin was even more ecstatic when he received his new spear.
It was created by straightening out a rib bone and fang of the Dragon materials he had brought, and even if he didn’t rouse his internal energy into his attacks, he was confident that he could penetrate nearly everything with its sheer power and unparalleled sharpness on the spear tip.
Lee Sungmin wondered if he even had to rouse his internal energy with the spear if he were to fight Jehu again. The spear was able to penetrate nearly everything, and even if it didn’t, just by mixing his power into it, he would definitely be able to injure Jehu or even kill him if they fought now.
‘Before that, I need to focus on killing An Zun first with this spear. Maybe I’ll be able to properly test its limits against him.’
“Here’s your order.”
A small bowl of noodles with a clear broth was placed in front of Lee Sungmin. Lee Sung-min was wearing a skin mask on his face along with his signature straw hat.
He was pretending to be a 3rd rate martial artist, one of the weakest and crudest of warriors in terms of martial art knowledge, and could be found anywhere on the continent.
Since he was still a public enemy to the Murim Alliance, he could not be brazen with his actions despite saving Tang Ah-Hui during the failed subjugation of Kim Jonghyun.
Tang Ah-Hui’s birthday was tomorrow.
The question remained if An Zun would come to Tang Ah-Hui’s birthday again. Lee Sungmin was not to sure about it. There was a chance Tang Ah-Hui was grasping at straws and spouted random bullshit, but Lee Sungmin didn’t think that was the case. Still, there was a window of opportunity, and Lee Sungmin planned on capitalizing on it.
The movement of An Zun completely encapsulated stealth. Lee Sungmin could still remember the ghostly and elusive techniques that An Zun used against him when he almost died.
‘At least I know the meeting spot.’
Tang Ah-Hui had told Lee Sungmin where she would meet with her ancestor every one of her birthdays.
Under a tall tree in the backyard of the small annexed set of buildings used by Tang Ah-Hui as her residence. So far, every single birthday she had, An Zun had appeared at midnight and given her special presents he had made for her.
‘Tomorrow I’ll be able to check.’
It would not be easy, as one thought. He first had to break into the party without anybody knowing of his identity beforehand.
Among the places he needed to go, which was the group of annexed buildings where Tang Ah-HHui resided, was heavily guarded.
‘I’m not so confident in fooling her.’
It still wasn’t too bad. As Lee Sungmin was now a Transcendent, he would be able to hide his presence fairly well. Though, for someone like Tang Ah-Hui who specialized in stealth, it might be a bit tricky.
Though Tang Ah-Hui had no reason to alert others of Lee Sungmin’s arrival, he was still wary of her. But, the biggest reason he had to make sure he was hidden well enough was because of An Zun. If he hid poorly, An Zun would likely notice and realize that Lee Sungmin was there to kill him and would run away.
Lee Sungmin knew his plan was full of loopholes.
But, he didn’t come unprepared. He was here today, a day early, to make sure he was prepared and to go over the layout of the Tang Family’s Main Branch.
Lee Sungmin heartily consumed his noodles as he prepared to head back to his room in the inn he was staying at.
Until midnight of the next day, Lee Sungmin had no intention of leaving the room he had rented at the inn.
‘Jehu shouldn’t show up this time.’
Lee Sungmin prepared for the worst of possibilities that Jehu might come as a formality, but it was unlikely.
He wished that either he or Juwon had died in the Forest. He didn’t know much about what had happened after he left.
‘But I’m sure he’s somewhat hurt.’
Jehu, who was known to be able to somehow return to the Murim Alliance, had gone into seclusion after the fight with Juwon. He had transferred all his responsibilities to the next in command, since it was likely he was severely injured.
For Lee Sungmin, who knew the truth of why Jehu had gone into seclusion, he was certain that there was a high possibility of Jehu being critically injured.
‘A wound that cannot be healed, even by a priest.’
It was hard to tell what had happened, but in fights against other Transcendent beings who had a certain mastery over the control of space, the wounds one would receive were not easy to treat.
Potentially, it could all be a farce. There was a chance Jehu had actually died in the forest against Juwon, and the Alliance was trying to hide it. Lee Sungmin grinned as he thought of the chaotic mess he had started.